The time has come for our Tips and Tactics breakdown of the Codex: Chaos Space Marines. Are you ready to delve deeper into the Warp?
Servants of the Dark Gods rejoice! Our Tips and Tactics breakdown for the Codex: Chaos Space Marines is here and there is a lot to cover. While this codex may not be as large as the Space Marine counterpart, it is full of information for you CSM players. Now, Death Guard and Thousand Sons will be getting their own codices in the next few weeks/months. The Index: Chaos and the Codex: CSM is still applicable to them but there will be some caveats to watch out for when choosing Traits and psychic powers,
That said, it is time to dive right into the Stratagems, Warlord Traits, Relics, Dark Hereticus Disciplines, and more to see what’s hot and what looks promising. Here is a quick and dirty sample of our Tips and Tactics breakdown.
For the complete Tips and Tactics breakdown, be sure to scroll down and press play on the full video below.
FYI: The new Dark Hereticus powers are available to both Thousand Sons, and Death Guard per the new errata that GW just posted: Chaos Space Marines Updated Already By GW
Where the Index: Chaos lacked a purpose for the choosing a Mark of Chaos, the Codex: CSM takes advantage of them to maximize their battlefield capabilities. Certain units and characters will have their Legion and Mark of Chaos keywords open and ready for you to slot whatever you need in. GW has stated that that with this keyword structure, you could have a unit with the Iron Warriors keyword and Nurgle for their Mark of Chaos. It sounds a bit odd but when you start working out the process, it becomes much clearer. This brings far more tactics and methods of play to CSM players. Unless there is specific wording that states otherwise (e.g. the World Eater keyworded units cannot bear the Marks of Slaanesh, Nurgle, or Tzeentch).
Now, your Chaos Space Marine detachment must consist of Legion keyworded units to be considered CSM detachment. However, your Battle-forged army can have a CSM detachment, Chaos Demon detachment, etc. to maximize your powers, traits, and relics. A positive here is that if your detachment has Fallen units or Fabius Bile, it can still use its Legion Trait. However, Bile nor the Fallen units can never benefit from a Legion Trait. Couple this with the Mark Of Chaos benefits and you are going to have a lot of combo potential for your Chaos armies.
We have 6 general powers and 3 Mark of Chaos powers to choose from with this codex. A possible combo that may be worth exploring is the Gift of Chaos/Death Hex to snipe pesky enemy elites or characters. Open up with Gift of Chaos to drop some mortal wounds down. With D3+3 damage rolls, you can inflict at least 5 wounds, on average. Then drop Death Hex on said elite or character to negate any invulnerable save they have until your next Psychic phase. This will have your Shooting and Fight phases be more devastating for your opponent, which may lead to a tactics change or blowing through Command Points to re-roll failed saving throws.
Codex: Chaos Space Marines: $40
Death to the False Emperor!
The Chaos Space Marines are superhuman traitors grown strong on the power of the Dark Gods. The ultimate nemesis of the Imperium, they surge from hidden lairs and hellish warp storms to fall without warning upon their victims. Murderous warriors clad in baroque power armour fight alongside teeming human Cultists and hulking Chaos Terminators; gargoyle-mouthed daemon engines stomp to war alongside growling battle tanks and hosts of malevolent entities spawned from the warp. Leading this malefic throng are the Champions of Chaos, evil warlords who have plagued the empire of Man for ten thousand years and more. Now, as the skies bleed raw Chaos energy, their time has come. Let the galaxy burn!
Codex: Chaos Space Marines contains a wealth of background and rules – the definitive book for Chaos Space Marines collectors. Within its pages, you’ll find:
Background
– Let the Galaxy Burn: the terrible origin of the Chaos Space Marines, their betrayal of the Emperor during the Horus Heresy that ushered in an era of damnation, a timeline detailing the Ages of Betrayal, Retribution and Apotheosis with key battles and atrocities in gruesome detail (with a further timeline detailing the horrors of Abaddon’s various Crusades) and a map detailing the current, tainted state of the galaxy;
– Information and details of the 7 major Chaos Legions – The Black Legion, Alpha Legion, Iron Warriors, Night Lords, Word Bearers, World Eaters and Emperor’s Children – with histories, key battles, heraldries and colour schemes for each;
– An in-depth look at each of the characters and units available to each Chaos Space Marines army, with appropriately grisly background;
– A showcase of beautifully painted Citadel miniatures, depicting the colour schemes of the Chaos Space Marines expertly painted by the ‘Eavy Metal team.Rules
Everything needed to get your Chaos Space Marines ready for galaxy-smashing combat in games of Warhammer 40,000 is within:
– 45 datasheets covering the Chaos Space Marines range, featuring their rules and statistics for use in games;
– Army abilities and wargear lists, alongside a brief explanation of their use and the use of keywords;
– Rules profiles for every piece of wargear and every weapon in the Chaos Space Marines’ arsenal;
– Points values for all miniatures, weapons and wargear for use in Matched Play games;
– Rules for Battle-forged armies – 8 Legion Traits, 1 for each of the original Legions and 1 for Renegade Chapters;
– 24 Stratagems of which are Legion-specific; the Dark Hereticus psychic discipline with its 3 powers specific to the Marks of Tzeentch, Nurgle and Slaanesh and 14 weapons and artefacts available only to Chaos Space Marines;
– 6 Warlord Traits usable by any Chaos Space Marines Warlord and a further 7 which are Legion-specific;
– 6 unique Tactical Objectives for Chaos Space Marines.
The Codex: Chaos Space Marines is available now online and in local Games Workshop stores. Be sure to press play on our Tips and Tactics video below for the full codex breakdown.
For more on the Codex: Chaos Space Marines and all things Warhammer 40k, visit Games Workshop!
About the Author: Juan Lopez
