Noise Marines in the previous codex were a joke; expensive and nowhere near as cost-effective as Plague Marines. I would even go out on a limb and say they were perhaps the worst of the cult troops.

So what changed?

Well, Phil Kelly gave them a new lease on life, and I can finally pull mine out of the closet! I have been play testing them for a few games now, and I thought I would share my musings on them. First, the list:

HQ

Dark Apostle
Chaos Lord - mark of slaanesh & power weapon

Elite

Hellbrute
Hellbrute - reaper autocannon

Troops
10 x Noise Marines - 2 x blastmasters
20 x Chaos Space Marines - mark of slaanesh, veterans of the long war, bolt pistol, close combat wepaon, 2 x flamers, icon of excess - Champion w/ lightning claw, melt bombs, gift of chaos
30 Cultists - 3 x flamers

Fast Attack
Heldrake  

Heavy Support
5 x Havocs 4 x autocannons
Vindicator - twin-linked bolter
Vindicator - twin-linked bolter
         
The general idea of the list is that the Noise Marines and Havocs camp in the back and have fun shooting, while the Cultists (w/ Dark Apostle), Marine blob (w/ Lord), and Helbrutes go up the field. Vindicators go midfield for additional fire support.

Tournament worth for reaping souls for the Dark God?