New 10th Edition 40k Chaos Space Marines are here – from Stratagems, Datasheets, and army rules; here is our review guide on how to play them.
Exciting changes to the Chaos Space Marines army’s gameplay, rules, and style are here with the release of their new Warhammer 40k index cards. This review guide provides an overview of the new index cards, including Stratagems, Datasheets, and army rules, to help players understand how to play Chaos Space Marines in 10th Edition Warhammer 40k. Additionally, we’ll take a closer look at the new rules, giving you everything you need to dominate the battlefield. Get ready to unleash the power of Chaos and conquer your enemies with these legions!
How to Play Chaos Space Marines in 10th Edition 40k: Rules Guide
The rules come from Warhammer Community.
You can make Dark Pacts as many times as you like during a game, so the only limit is how many souls you want to offer up to the Chaos Gods in return. Even a Cultist Mob can gain great power through their patron’s blessing, turning their scavenged blades into something deadly and profane that can threaten any enemy unit.
This is actually pretty wild, as every unit in your army (with the keyword) can get huge buffs. Plus, all you have to do is pass an LD test, and even the Legionaries have LD6+, meaning you should statistically pass, and even if you do fail, it should only be one model falling.
Chaos Space Marines Combat Patrol
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Chaos Space Marines Slaves to Darkness Detachment Rules
Every god gives you different bonuses, and people mix and match for the best buffs, depending on what you want! This adds a ton of power to your forces and makes Dark Pact so much better.
Dataslate changes to detachment rules and units.
They were doing really well in the meta, so they did get hit with some big NERFS in the latest Dataslate. Profane Zeal now only re-rolls wounds, Dark Obscuration got hit with a range increase, Mutants, and Torment models go to OC1, and lastly, Accursed Horde goes to your command phase. Despite the NERFS, they are still quite strong; lists will just have to change up.
New Chaos Space Marines 10th Edition Warhammer 40k Datasheets
This squad can be kitted out to deal with almost any target, at almost any range – whether you want them to shred hordes at range with a reaper chaincannon, flamer, and boltguns, or tackle elites up close with roaring chainswords and a pair of heavy melee weapons. The right Dark Pact can make them even better at their chosen task, or help them to further diversify their death-dealing.
They can still take a massive range of weaponry, which is quite nice. The Havoc Autocannon gets two shots at Strength 9, -AP, and 3 Damage, while the Reaper Chaincannon gets eight shots but does hit on a 4+. Veterans of the Long War is still also here and now; it allows you to re-roll wound rolls of “1” or all wound rolls if they are on an objective.
Lastly, if you give them a Chaos Icon, you might as well do Dark Pact every turn, as you can re-roll the LD test.
New Datasheet
Old Datasheet
Abaddon is a rare character – he bestows powerful Aura abilities on nearby allies even while leading a unit, and can choose which of them to apply every turn. Appropriately for one who holds the Chaos Gods in open contempt, his Dark Destiny lets him generate a Command point every time he seals a Dark Pact and prevails in the resulting battle of wills – for the Ruinous Powers are just another tool in his grand ambition for the galaxy.
Abaddon actually has his statline go down a little with less toughness. However, here are all the changes below:
- One less toughness and move.
- Drach’nyen now has Strength 14 (up 5), now has devastating wounds and not D3 Mortals.
- Talon of Horus has one more Strength but fewer attacks and one less AP.
- He can now lose more than three wounds in a phase (unless Epic Hero or some other rule we don’t know yet does it)
- His aura now can be different each turn, re-roll hits, Invuln saves, or re-roll LD tests.
- Dark Pact can give you CP.
New Weapons
Chaos Space Marines are known for their desire to let the galaxy burn, and wield profane weapons warped over millennia or crafted in infernal forges for just that purpose. The notorious baleflamer has been the bane of heavy infantry since Heldrakes first darkened the skies, and it returns more reliable than ever, with more shots and the new ability to ignore cover.
Flamers still auto-hit, which is nice, but the new rule is called Torrent, which makes sense to go across all factions. With D6+3 attacks, D2, and Strength 6, this should be able to chew through infantry.
Likewise, the fleshmetal guns that sprout from Obliterators receive profile tweaks and a scattering of new weapon abilities to help each profile stand out even more for its specific job – whether that’s melting vehicles at close range or shredding hordes aplenty.
All three of these are pretty specialized, and each is quite strong. Focused Malice can tear through tanks, Ruinous Salvo can kill tough infantry, and Warp Hail should be great for infantry.
Latest 40k Rules Updates For the Chaos Space Marines:
The latest updates for the Chaos Space Marines 10th Edition rules will be released in what Games Workshop calls a Balance Dataslate, sometimes along with accompanying points changes as well.
You can see all the latest Balance Dataslate updates here in our post, which breaks down the most recent changes.
How To Play Warhammer 40k Chaos Space Marines: Points
You can find the latest points for playing this faction in 10th Edition Warhammer 40k here on our Munitorum Field Manual Points Updates Page.
Chaos Space Marines YouTube Review:
Watch the video below for some more insights into the faction.
Is It Still Worth Playing Chaos Space Marines?
Do you like chaos? If you do, then play CSM! They are quite a decent army in terms of win rate, have a lot of really cool units, and are super fun to hobby on. Even with the recent NERFS, they are still strong and have a huge range of models, meaning more choices!
Updates, in general, for any game are just good business. That being said, it also seems like in 2023-2024, GW will have its hands full trying actually to get out all these codexes.
However, CSM is fairly early on the list, and you should only have to play with the index for a few months. So, even if there are things you don’t like, there are chances they will get changed before too long.
The new 10th Edition Chaos Space Marines Stratagems, Datasheets, and army rules have brought exciting changes to the gameplay and style of the army. With the index rules, players can unleash the power of the Chaos and dominate the battlefield with these marauders.
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About the Author: Travis Pasch
Travis Pasch
Job Title: Head Writer & Editor
Socials: @paschbass
About Travis Pasch: Travis has been a Warhammer 40k hobbyist since the 1990s, playing the game since Third Edition. Through extensive traveling, he’s seen a lot of the miniatures hobby from across the world, giving him a unique perspective on the latest gaming topics and trends.
Travis’s brother even owns a commission painting studio, where he’s picked up a lot of good advice and techniques for painting Warhammer and tabletop miniatures over the years, as well. Travis joined the Spikey Bits team in 2019 and has been the lead writer since 2020.
Currently, he’s working on converting all his 40k Adeptus Mechanicus models and becoming a true tech enjoyer, complete with both sad and happy robot noises!
