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Originally Posted by Drax  the legions are not what they were - they are split and constantly warring.
the legions still sustain losses the same way any other force would, and so either grow smaller in number or replace their losses with fresh meat - such new recruits don't have the experience of the originals. |
It is true that the Legions aren't very cohesive, and do go so far as to make war with one another, there's also the idea that, theoretically, the 'freshest meat' would die first in those battles, while the experienced ones would somehow survive by hiding, defecting, or just plain winning.
The Thousand Sons don't have the 'rookie' problem, as they just reincarnate every couple dozen, maybe a few hundred years. But, a lot of marines that are 'dead' and are awaiting resurrection, have been dead since the Burning of Prospero, as detailed in the third Space Wolves book.
There's also the idea of inferior technology, as the CSMs haven't exactly been making newer sets of armor, merely twisting the old ones. Also, you have, as I have heard, the fact that while Chaos doesn't learn new tactics well, the Space Marines are adapting all the time. Well, the non-Ultramarine descended ones. The Ultras have their book, after all, but I suppose they haven't exactly been annihilated yet, so I guess it's good for something.
It is necessarily true about the tactics bit, as these examples show:
World Eaters: Kill! Maim! Burn! No change from that
Thousand Sons: Fling spells everywhere and have your most experienced marines fight off entire squads on their own. Which, apparently, some can. kind of scary.
Alpha Legion: Infiltrate. 'Nuff said
(These are the tactics I've gleaned from the books.)
Also, the time dilation theory works both ways, so while a CSM may experience 10,000 years realtime in 10 hours warptime, he might experience 10,000 years warptime in 10 hours realtime.