A beginners guide to the Black Legion

[hairyyahoo]

You to you all.

So heres my shamefully transparant attempt to be the first poster on this forum. Go me!

Now on to the helpful stuff. Please bear in mind that these are just my opinoins and should under no circumstances be taken as gospel. Please add to or challenge my views, and we may all get to understand our armies a bit better.

As the title says, I'm just gonna focus on the Black Legion, or "vanilla" Chaos Space Marines (CSMs), and leave marked troops for others to cover. I will have a look at daemons though cos theres nothin more quintosentially Chaosy then deamons!

Just a Quick note on Gifts. There are 2 types of Gifts, Daemonic Gifts which are given to characters and Vehicle Gifts that go on Vehicles. You cannot, under any circumstances apply a Daemonic Gift to a Vehicle! The 2 are not interchangable, even if the codex isn't always clear on this. Just trust me.

Marks of Chaos. These can be applyed to your characters and troops to give them different atributes. The only one I'm gona touch on is the Mark of Chaos Undivided (MoCU), which helps with moral tests and allows your units to take a free Icon so that they can summon Daemons.

HQ- Daemon Princes, Lords, Lieutenants and Sorcerors

One of the greatest strengths of any Chaos list is the character that leads it. What makes them so powerful is often a selection of daemonic gifts and as there are too many possible combinations to go into in depth I'll leave this to your own exploration.

*Chaos lords start with the stat line of the best SM leaders and even without upgrades are formidable fighters. Add to this a plethora of daemonic gifts and some handy wargear, not to mention Daemon Weapons, and they quickly become combat monsters!

*If you give a Lord Daemonic Stature and/or 51+ pts of gifts they are classed as Daemon Princes and become vulnerable to certain wargear in other armies (notably Daemon Hunters). There are no other benefits to being a Daemon Prince, and they do NOT have to be sommoned.

*Lieutenants are almost as good as lords, having 1 less wound and less points to spend on gifts and wargear. They can still be more than a match for other armies HQs and are better in small points games.

*Any HQ character can also be made into a Sorceror and have access to psychic powers and wargear.

*Greater Daemons. Can only enter the table by possessing a unit champion before the game, Greater Daemons are very powerful in assult but suffer from a special type of instability that could see them disapear the turn after they arrive. Bit of a risky propersition but then so is worshiping the Chaos Gods!

ELITE

*Chosen CSMs. Unless being used to infiltrate (veteran skill) the Daemon Icon close to the enemy, the most common use for these guys is as Terminators. Slightly more restricted weapon options compared to SM Termies and armed with a power weapon and combi-bolter, which can be upgraded to combi- meltas or -flamers and powerfist/chainfist/single lightning claw, Chosen Terminators are still a tough nut to crack and have the option of deep striking. Can also upgrade multiple Champions who have access to Daemonic gifts, making a very hard hitting but ultra expensive unit. Can be used as retuine units for characters and all units take up only 1 Force Organisation Slot. Limited numbers.

*Possessed CSMs. Consider them as heavy assult infantry and you won't go far wrong. Without upgrades you get a CSM with +1 str and a 5+ inv save in addition to the 3+. Not too shabby! But give them Daemonic Talons and they become spectacular!! Rending hits will take care of power armour nicely and str5 rending will tear through even a Land Raider with some luck (done this myself).

*Obliterators. Walking guns for any occasion, Obliterators can choose from a list of weapons to fire each turn and then use powerfists in combat. Can also deepstrike and benefit from Teleport Homers. Only weakness is Slow and Purposefull rule, meaning random movement.

TROOPS

*Chaos Space Marines. Same stat line as SMs but no "...And They Shall Know No Fear". Armed with a Close Combat Weapon (CCW) and either a bolter or a bolt pistol, CSM squads can be used for either shooting or assult, and can be given either 1 heavy weapon and 1 special weapon, of 2 special weapons. A popular set up is to have 2 squads, 1 with CCWs and one with bolters. Champoins can also be given Daemonic Gifts for some extra muscle in combat, and units as a whole can purchase 1 or more veteran skills. All in all, more versitile than their Imperial counterparts. Also used for Daemon summoning when given an Icon (free with MoCU)

*Daemons
Bloodletters- ultimate power armour killers
Daemonettes- str4 rending can hurt anything
Plaguebearers- wound anything on 4+, Rot can hurt light infantry
Horrors- 2 wounds, short ranged shooting, recomend upgrading to;
Flamers- 18" move and fire heavy bolter.
All Daemons are held in reserve and summoned onto the battlefield via Icons ,similar to deepstrike but not dependant on scenario special rules. Suffer from Instability

FAST ATTACK

*Raptors. Armed for combat and moving as jump infantry, upto 3 special weapons, Champion has access to Daemonic gifts and the unit can have a veteran skill. Also able to withdraw from combat at the end of the turn. Expensive and fragile, Raptors are best used to support ongoing combats or tank hunt with melta guns. Handy veteran skills include Furious Charge and Tank Hunters.

*CSM bikers. Highly mobile, tough and with an extra attack, bikers can quickly move to put pressure on the enemy from an unexpected direction. 2 special weapons and a Champion can see them equiped for anything but high points cost will likley mean they are outnumbered so make sure suport is close at hand! Can also bear Mark of Chaos and carry Icons for Daemon summoning. Popular uses include giving the Champion a Teleport Homer and an Icon for the squadron and rushing them forwards into a good position for when the reserves arrive.

*Daemonic Beasts.
Flesh Hounds- high strength and initiative, fast movement
Screamers- flying, high strength and initiative, can withdraw from combat
Furies- Flying, high strength and initiative, low leadership
Daemonic beasts are summoned in the same way as other Deamons. Suffer from Instabillity.

HEAVY SUPPORT

*Havocs. Chaos devistators, Havocs can have either 4 heavy weapons or 4 special weapons, or a mix. Best talored to either tank hunting or troop killing, however missile launchers can do both and with the Tank Hunter veteran skill can hit with the strength of lascannons.

*Predators. Mainline battle tank, Predators can have a mix of weapons but the most useful is the "Detstuctor" pattern (twin lascannon turret, lascannon sponsons) or the "Anihalator" pattern (autocannon turret, heavy bolter sponsons). Access to Vehicle Gifts can increase survivability and firepower. A very tough Predator has a Mutated Hull, Daemonic Possession and Parasetic Possession, giving +1 on all armour, imunity to crew shaken/stunned dammage and a 50% chance to heal imobilised and weapon destroyed dammage. This can get very expensive!

*Dreadnaughts. Tough walkers that provide some shooting but really own any combat that they are involved in, the trick is gettin them into combat before they catch a facefull of lascannon! Dreadnaughts are often the target of choice for enemy heavy weaons. Use cover cleverly and apply the same Vehicle gifts as for Predators and you have a chance. Fire Frenzy rules make Dreadnaughts unpredictable and potentially dangerous to your own side.

*Defilers. Same armour as Dreadnaughts but armed with a battle cannon, which can be upgraded to indirect fire, Defilers act as mobile artillery. Common tactics involve hiding behind cover and lobbing battle cannon shells at the enemy but with the added survivability of the Vehicle gifts it can wander aroung the table shelling the enemy too. Also counts as a monsterous creature and at str10 and literally tear vehicals and fortifications to pieces! Comes with Daemonic Possession as standard.

*Land Raider. 'Nuff said! Good way of delivering Terminator Lords with Chosen retinues into the enemy lines when deepstrike is unavailable. personally, not a big fan of Raiders butI can see the appeal!

Well thats the lot, the A to Z of Chaos. Hope you find it helpfull. I'm off to apply a cold compress to my wrists now. Happy gaming!

[Khadhar'phak]

What you've given is a Pro and con list basically. Thee are a few things that I want to add, is that Chaos space marines have access to larger squads, which can benefit you in both shooting and combat. In terms of combat, 20 CSMs can wipe the floor with most other infanty, and in shooting, 40 rapid fire shots at Str4 and Ap5 with no upgrades is just scary, even for those of high armour or toughness. Also, If you forgo marks, you can add some nasty Vet. skills that really compliment each other. E.g. Infiltrate and Furious Assault. Also, Sorcerers (you didn't really go into them) have access to some terribly destructive psychic powers, such as Doombolt, which is basically an assault heavy bolter. Sorcerers are also still great combatants, and you shouldn't neglect giving them gifts or Daemon weapons. Remember, one of the main benefits of a Black legion force is the variety. Get some other marks in there! You can benefit from FREE champions for starters! And Tzeentch sorcerers are even more destructive then regular sorcerers. Nurgle marines just soak punishment, and Khorne bersekers are (duh) Berserkers. Remember that they will become elites, so you may want to limit yourself to one marked unit. Marked units may also only have one Vet, skill. in the end, make a force that you will enjoy playing. I, for one, stock up on infantry. Lot's of unmarked, vet. skilled infantry, with a Dread, and Havocs for support.