Chaos space marines are very similar to the space wolves in
many respects. They have some great core units that can bring massed firepower
or close combat power to the board. Chaos also has some tar pits that can be
used to slow down your forces. In general the codex is solid, however I think only certain units shall make it onto the board while others will never be seen. . The best way to understand the codex is to
split units into categories based on what roles they fulfil.
Fire support:
The first thing to do is look at their big guns. Do they have some forge fiends or other daemon engines? These monsters are hard but not impossible to kill, they have an invulnerable save and the ability to regenerate hull points. Unfortunately while these daemon engines are still on the board they will be doing some serious damage with their ranged fire or combat abilities. The only method that seems to do any good with these monsters is massed firepower. If you face a Forgefiend you could try to get unit with a power fist or melta-bombs into combat with it, you may not bring it down quick but you can prevent it firing for a few turns.
For a Maulerfiend avoid combat at all costs as this monster can chew through almost anything and the majority of the space wolf army can do very little against it in combat. Similarly defilers are a beast to be avoided in combat.
In general I would say that these monsters need to be torn up by a torrent of missile, plasma or lazcannon fire. Keep your grey hunters far away from these beasts as two melta or plasma guns cannot bring the same kind of damage as a squad of long fangs. The only caveat on that is if you can get into these beasts rear arc, with armour ten even a bolter can do some damage. A ten man squad of grey hunter with plasma guns should on average strip two hull points off these beasts when they get behind these monsters. A wolf priest with a plasma pistol and saga of the hunter can let you slip a squad into the rear of the enemy’s formation and bulk out the squad’s firepower.
The first thing to do is look at their big guns. Do they have some forge fiends or other daemon engines? These monsters are hard but not impossible to kill, they have an invulnerable save and the ability to regenerate hull points. Unfortunately while these daemon engines are still on the board they will be doing some serious damage with their ranged fire or combat abilities. The only method that seems to do any good with these monsters is massed firepower. If you face a Forgefiend you could try to get unit with a power fist or melta-bombs into combat with it, you may not bring it down quick but you can prevent it firing for a few turns.
For a Maulerfiend avoid combat at all costs as this monster can chew through almost anything and the majority of the space wolf army can do very little against it in combat. Similarly defilers are a beast to be avoided in combat.
In general I would say that these monsters need to be torn up by a torrent of missile, plasma or lazcannon fire. Keep your grey hunters far away from these beasts as two melta or plasma guns cannot bring the same kind of damage as a squad of long fangs. The only caveat on that is if you can get into these beasts rear arc, with armour ten even a bolter can do some damage. A ten man squad of grey hunter with plasma guns should on average strip two hull points off these beasts when they get behind these monsters. A wolf priest with a plasma pistol and saga of the hunter can let you slip a squad into the rear of the enemy’s formation and bulk out the squad’s firepower.
The chaos flyer is a worry for some people, previous posts
on this blog have advised you to ignore flyers and focus on the ground troops.
I don’t fully agree as there are many situations where killing the flyer early
will give you a much better standing in the rest of the game. However the Heldrake
is an overpriced flyer and cannot do as much damage as most of the other flyers
in the game, so focus on any other target. It can make a strafing run which can
inflict some wounds to your units but it brings a very weak array of weapons to the
field. It can have either an ap3 flamer or a four shot strength 8, ap4 auto
cannon. It isn’t going to be impacting massively on the game unless you get
very unlucky.
This section of the codex is the priority of the long fangs; they can pummel the daemon engines and vehicles from a distance and limit the impact of these units on your scoring units. Letting the heavy guns focus their fire out there leaves grey hunters to focus their fire on infantry. The range of their mainstay weapons, missiles and lazcannons, gives them a distinct advantage over chaos lists. The majority of these constructs have weapons with a maximum 36” range. Since long fangs have the range advantage you should take the field with superior fire. Like with Tyranids, splat the big monsters and then mop up whatever is left. Once these units are dealt with then you can bring the firepower to bear on the scoring units in the opponent’s army.
This section of the codex is the priority of the long fangs; they can pummel the daemon engines and vehicles from a distance and limit the impact of these units on your scoring units. Letting the heavy guns focus their fire out there leaves grey hunters to focus their fire on infantry. The range of their mainstay weapons, missiles and lazcannons, gives them a distinct advantage over chaos lists. The majority of these constructs have weapons with a maximum 36” range. Since long fangs have the range advantage you should take the field with superior fire. Like with Tyranids, splat the big monsters and then mop up whatever is left. Once these units are dealt with then you can bring the firepower to bear on the scoring units in the opponent’s army.
The threats in your half of the board:
The next ream of units I would be aware of is the fast or the deep striking units. While the scoring units are important and the heavy guns need to be spiked you cannot afford to have your units tied up in combat or taking firepower up close. These units also add the random element to your games, when they turn up dictates how well you can respond to the enemy’s forces. The later they arrive the better it is as you should have fewer threats to reply to.
Chaos terminators are a real threat in this codex; they are dirt cheap and can take a variety of weapons to chew through space marines. From the basic model with a power weapon of choice, to powerfists and lightening claws, this unit can bring pain. The only grace is that these models cannot take storm shields. Massed plasma is the key to destroying this unit, long fangs can help tear them apart but if you have grey hunters in close they can do it just as well. With plasma gun and bolter fire you can reap a sizeable tally of these monsters before they get to charge you. If they do get into close combat you had better pray for a lucky mark of the wolfen rolls as the basic terminator can make a meal of space marines. With marks and icons they can be a fierce unit in melee, so much so that they can cut the heart out of your infantry squads before they can even attack.
The next ream of units I would be aware of is the fast or the deep striking units. While the scoring units are important and the heavy guns need to be spiked you cannot afford to have your units tied up in combat or taking firepower up close. These units also add the random element to your games, when they turn up dictates how well you can respond to the enemy’s forces. The later they arrive the better it is as you should have fewer threats to reply to.
Chaos terminators are a real threat in this codex; they are dirt cheap and can take a variety of weapons to chew through space marines. From the basic model with a power weapon of choice, to powerfists and lightening claws, this unit can bring pain. The only grace is that these models cannot take storm shields. Massed plasma is the key to destroying this unit, long fangs can help tear them apart but if you have grey hunters in close they can do it just as well. With plasma gun and bolter fire you can reap a sizeable tally of these monsters before they get to charge you. If they do get into close combat you had better pray for a lucky mark of the wolfen rolls as the basic terminator can make a meal of space marines. With marks and icons they can be a fierce unit in melee, so much so that they can cut the heart out of your infantry squads before they can even attack.
Obliterators and mutilators are a bit of a threat to the back lines of your army. These creatures can really mess up your squads but their removal is no different than terminators. Hit them with massed ap2 weapons and just splat them. Lazcannons do wonders for removing these and other two wound terminator equivalents.
Mutilators are of limited danger as they have to spend at least one turn standing in the open before they can even think about charging your units, couple this with slow and purposeful and you won’t be seeing them in many competitive lists. Obliterators have been a common sight on the chaos lists for a long time and they do pack a punch when they land in an awkward spot. The worst case would be if you faced a squad blessed with the mark of nurgle as this would make them more difficult to remove from the board and takes away any chance at instant killing them.
Raptors now have the glory of being the cheapest jump
infantry unit in the game. They can take massed numbers and spam the board with
cheap jump troops. These guys are not a
big deal as there is nothing special about them. They are just jump troops with a few extra
bells and whistles.
Warpclaws on the other hand are some of the most expensive jump troops in the game. They have twin lightening claws and can carve up marines like butter. By blinding units when they deep strike they can really limit your firepower by taking key units out of the game for a turn. They also have a 5+ daemon save to ensure that they will survive to get into combat. For both of these units there is only one answer, don’t get into combat and shoot them until they break or die.
Warpclaws on the other hand are some of the most expensive jump troops in the game. They have twin lightening claws and can carve up marines like butter. By blinding units when they deep strike they can really limit your firepower by taking key units out of the game for a turn. They also have a 5+ daemon save to ensure that they will survive to get into combat. For both of these units there is only one answer, don’t get into combat and shoot them until they break or die.
These units can be dealt with by grey hunters due to the
number of shots that your troops can pump out. Loading up on plasma and taking
large squads can give you sixteen bolter rounds and four plasma bursts. The
hail of bullets can be further augmented by rune priests and wolf priests that
can grant re-rolls or preferred enemy. I would prioritise daemon engines and
armour over these units with your long fangs until they become an imminent
threat. While a raptor squad will be a problem in a turn or two the battle
cannon on a defiler is a serious threat to your army now.
The core of the army:
The generic troops choices are comparatively easy to handle. Chaos cultists are weak and poorly armoured. The only worry for cultists is that they would be made fearless by an icon, attached character or by Typhus’s plague zombie rule. A squad of grey hunters can tear apart a full cultist squad on the charge and can on paper wipe out over twenty cultists with minimal losses. Even plague zombies can’t last long before a squad of grey hunters.
The generic troops choices are comparatively easy to handle. Chaos cultists are weak and poorly armoured. The only worry for cultists is that they would be made fearless by an icon, attached character or by Typhus’s plague zombie rule. A squad of grey hunters can tear apart a full cultist squad on the charge and can on paper wipe out over twenty cultists with minimal losses. Even plague zombies can’t last long before a squad of grey hunters.
Chaos space marines are solid units but they are not too scary. Since they lack “And they shall know no fear”, there is a lot greater chance to break them or cut them down in combat. Grey hunters can give these traitors a run for their money but it is not as cut and dry as you might like. It’s better to charge into these units when you have a distinct advantage. If you are coming up against a full twenty man squad of marines getting stuck in combat is a poor idea. Withdraw and keep them out of assault range. If you take plasma cannons in large numbers an ideal way to take out these hordes is to bunch them up and drop blasts on them.
The devotees of the gods are all more problematic foes; they
each have the benefits of their respective gods and are fearless. The only option
for you to deal with these units is to kill them quickly but there is no one size fits all method. Berzerkers excel in combat so never get
into combat with them; focus on the long range attacks.Even charging them isn't a great idea.
On the other hand, Rubaric marines are the complete opposite; being deadly at 24” and leathal at less than twelve, they are rather mediocre in combat. They do not even getting the chance to overwatch. For Magnus’s spawn you would do better trying to tear their heads off up close.
Plague marines are still hard to kill. They are tough, feel no pain and have poisoned blades but strike slowly in combat. This is a unit where charging in and unfurling the wolf banner might do the most damage, short of a few shots from a vindicator .
The Noise marines are the most interesting models. They strike fast in combat and can dish out a surprising amount of firepower and I see them as the most deadly of the four due to their all-round abilities. This is the squad that krak missiles were developed for, just avoid these perverted pleasure fiends and blast them when they get too close to your important units.
On the other hand, Rubaric marines are the complete opposite; being deadly at 24” and leathal at less than twelve, they are rather mediocre in combat. They do not even getting the chance to overwatch. For Magnus’s spawn you would do better trying to tear their heads off up close.
Plague marines are still hard to kill. They are tough, feel no pain and have poisoned blades but strike slowly in combat. This is a unit where charging in and unfurling the wolf banner might do the most damage, short of a few shots from a vindicator .
The Noise marines are the most interesting models. They strike fast in combat and can dish out a surprising amount of firepower and I see them as the most deadly of the four due to their all-round abilities. This is the squad that krak missiles were developed for, just avoid these perverted pleasure fiends and blast them when they get too close to your important units.
The leaders of the cult:Chaos has some very under-priced HQ units as such you can expect to see them being made use of. The Chaos Lords shall probably be given a few dark gifts to bump their efficacy so I wouldn’t be surprised to see them sporting an invulnerable save and two types of specialist weapon to min/max their combat efficacy. I don’t see an easy answer to tackling these characters, maybe a lone wolf with a thunder hammer and storm shield in a challenge can get the job done but I wouldn’t hold my breath. The only way to kill a combat monster is to hit it with a bigger combat monster.Thunderwolf lords can cut them down but that is a large investment to have a sure fired character killer.
The Dark Apostles make a combat unit even harder; they require a strong hand to wipe them out. Luckily they only have a power maul, so drop a Wolf Guard squad leader in there to challenge him. It should be a slow battle but a Wolf Guard in terminator armour should be able overcome the zealot.
The Sorcerers have been slashed in price and can take up to three mastery levels. Rune priests can make the best stab of cancelling their power of any of the psychics on the board. Just like rune priests the sorcerers are not combat characters. They can be matched by a wolf guard or trounced by a more lethal character.
Since the lord and apostle grant fearless to entire units it is likely you’ll
be seeing them fielded in large squads. Snipers, jaws of the world wolf and
precision strike are the only hope you have to wound the characters outside of
a challenge. While the apostle and
sorcerer can be taken in an assault fairly easily the chaos lord will only be
surpassed by a wolf lord.
Daemon princes are a huge threat in a small game. They have
a poor armour save and cost a lot but they can cut through units with immunity.
As the game grows in points this unit become less of a threat, heavy fire is
the only way to deal with this creature especially if they turn up mid game due
to some lucky chaos boons. Flying daemon princes are an uber threat, hard to
hit, hard to wound and coming with an invulnerable save, these goons should
survive to get into combat no matter what you throw at them. As such I think
the only thing to do when facing a daemon prince is to unfurl the wolf banner
and hope for the best. Throw a character under the bus and drag the combat out
for another player turn. The longer that brute is in combat with that one squad
the less time he is cleaving another one apart.
A risky option would be to charge the monster with a unit of grey hunters with an attached rune priest. If you work the charge correctly you can keep the rune priest out of the engaged models at the start of the combat and as such out of a challenge. When the priest’s initiative step comes around you can pile into the engaged models. With the rune priest’s ability to wound on a 2+ and all of the attacks from the remaining grey hunters you stand a chance to take the beast down.
A risky option would be to charge the monster with a unit of grey hunters with an attached rune priest. If you work the charge correctly you can keep the rune priest out of the engaged models at the start of the combat and as such out of a challenge. When the priest’s initiative step comes around you can pile into the engaged models. With the rune priest’s ability to wound on a 2+ and all of the attacks from the remaining grey hunters you stand a chance to take the beast down.
Everything else:
For the rest of the units there are a few general issues. Every unit of worth can take marks and icons for the respective gods. Taking out models with icons is a priority; they can strip fearless and other major advantages from enemy units. Use the options available to you to target these models, their death is a priority. On combat units slanesh’s mark with an icon of excess is a dangerous combination, they’ll hit you first and have feel no pain against most of your attacks. While khorne still offers the best result for charging or being charged, grandfather nurgle makes units harder to kill. Tzeentch isn’t great as a mark in my opinion but there may be combinations out there that are dangerous so don’t discount its effectiveness. Be very aware of which mixture of buffs the units on the board have. The last thing you want is a fearless horde with feel no pain sitting on an objective.
For the rest of the units there are a few general issues. Every unit of worth can take marks and icons for the respective gods. Taking out models with icons is a priority; they can strip fearless and other major advantages from enemy units. Use the options available to you to target these models, their death is a priority. On combat units slanesh’s mark with an icon of excess is a dangerous combination, they’ll hit you first and have feel no pain against most of your attacks. While khorne still offers the best result for charging or being charged, grandfather nurgle makes units harder to kill. Tzeentch isn’t great as a mark in my opinion but there may be combinations out there that are dangerous so don’t discount its effectiveness. Be very aware of which mixture of buffs the units on the board have. The last thing you want is a fearless horde with feel no pain sitting on an objective.
In conclusion:
In the end I don’t think there is anything too broken in the chaos codex. Read your enemies list well and focus on the units in order of importance. Make sure to allow that order to be fluid and responsive to the dynamics of how the game goes. Mindlessly following a preset strategy is all well and good in turn one but no battle plan has ever survived contact with the enemy. Where possible you should take apart the big guns, savage their scoring units and then take apart whatever is left while hoping to keep as much of your scoring units alive in the process. To this end your list should max out on long fangs, greyhunters with plasma and rune priests with divination. These should offer you the best results for bringing ranged attacks to bear on the enemy. The rest is down to picking off the right units in the right order and a bit of luck. Once you have the tactics down then you should reap a tally of the traitor kin.
In the end I don’t think there is anything too broken in the chaos codex. Read your enemies list well and focus on the units in order of importance. Make sure to allow that order to be fluid and responsive to the dynamics of how the game goes. Mindlessly following a preset strategy is all well and good in turn one but no battle plan has ever survived contact with the enemy. Where possible you should take apart the big guns, savage their scoring units and then take apart whatever is left while hoping to keep as much of your scoring units alive in the process. To this end your list should max out on long fangs, greyhunters with plasma and rune priests with divination. These should offer you the best results for bringing ranged attacks to bear on the enemy. The rest is down to picking off the right units in the right order and a bit of luck. Once you have the tactics down then you should reap a tally of the traitor kin.
