Warhammer 40,000 Chaos Space Marines Army Guide

Among the myriad events that dot the history of Warhammer 40,000, few are as impactful to the galaxy at large as the Horus Heresy. When discord began to ferment between the Primarchs – the adopted sons of the Emperor – half of them stood by the Emperor’s side, while the others turned to Chaos, and their Legions of Space Marines followed suit.

Today, that rift can be seen first-hand in the form of the Heretic Astartes, better known as the Chaos Space Marines: fearsome warriors, twisted from their intended purpose by the Chaos Gods that they now worship. Callous, sadistic killers wielding weapons from a bygone age, they sow destruction across the galaxy with the aim of doing what Horus failed to accomplish – destroy the Imperium of Man.

Why Play Chaos Space Marines

Because some people just want to watch the galaxy burn. On the tabletop, the Chaos Space Marines are an elite, melee-focused army with an emphasis on high-risk gameplay and random chance. You don’t have access to all the fancy Wargear and high-tech gizmos that the loyalist Space Marines do, but you make up for it with Daemons and Warp-trickery.

Army Rules

The Chaos gods are always watching, but their favour is mercurial. This fact is represented in the Chaos Space Marine Army Rule: Dark Pacts. Any time a Chaos Space Marine unit shoots or fights, you can declare that it is making a Dark Pact. If so, they must make a Leadership test – on a failure, the unit suffers between one and three Mortal Wounds. After the test is passed or failed, the unit gains either Sustained Hits or Lethal Hits for the rest of the phase.

Unless you have ways to mitigate the damage (or increase the reward), this Army Rule is situational at best. Use it when you absolutely must destroy a particular enemy and hope that the gods smile upon you.

Important Units

The mortal forces of Chaos take many shapes, some of which may be familiar to players of the loyalist Space Marines. While the Heretic Astartes may lack options in comparison, the Traitor Legions have many ways to turn the tide.

Characters

Every Warband worth its scars has a powerful leader behind it. Whether you prefer to harbour screaming despots, scheming witches, or subtle cult leaders, there is no shortage of ambitious individuals to appoint.

Chaos Lord	A dark mirror to the Space Marine Captain, the Chaos Lord also gives his unit a discount on Stratagems once per turn, and once per game he can empower himself to become even deadlier in melee. Put one in charge of your deadliest unit and watch the heads roll.
Chaos Sorcerer	Your spooky support spellcaster. Makes his unit harder to hit by default and can zap nearby enemies with his Infernal Gaze. As a fun bonus, any time he damages an enemy unit, they must make a Leadership Test or take Mortal Wounds.
Dark Commune	While the Chaos Space Marines hog all the glory, their devoted cultists do the legwork, spreading corruption at ground level. The Dark Commune is a five-model unit: the Iconward lets you re-roll Leadership Tests for Dark Pacts, the Mindwitch kills nearby Infantry with Psychic shooting, the Blessed Blades chop people up in melee, and the Demagogue gives their flock a modest Invulnerable Save alongside a once-per-game buff to their mobility and melee punch.
Daemon Prince	A big nasty Daemon with a taste for blood. They can’t join units and lack Lone Operative, so they’re more fragile than they look. To compensate, they hit damn hard and buff nearby units – and if you want to go full throttle, you can give them a pair of Wings. Doing so causes them to lose the buff aura, but gain movement speed, Deep Strike, and the ability to deal Mortal Wounds on a successful Charge.

Your Chaos Lords and Sorcerers can take multiple types of armour/upgrades, with each one changing how they function and which units they can lead.

Battleline

Your traitorous foot soldiers, taking down the Imperium one battle at a time.

Legionaries	The most common type of Chaos Space Marine. Able to take a variety of weapons – including the option to swap their Boltguns for Chainswords and Bolt pistols – they are a solid, multi-purpose unit that can fill many roles in your army, though they really shine in melee. Their Unit Rule also makes them a fantastic escort for a Chaos Lord, increasing his already formidable melee potential.
Cultist Mob	The human followers of the Dark Gods, good for holding Objectives and taking up space while the Space Marines kill people. They are fragile and unreliable but can be made more dangerous with the leadership of a Dark Commune.

Legionaries

The most common type of Chaos Space Marine. Able to take a variety of weapons – including the option to swap their Boltguns for Chainswords and Bolt pistols – they are a solid, multi-purpose unit that can fill many roles in your army, though they really shine in melee. Their Unit Rule also makes them a fantastic escort for a Chaos Lord, increasing his already formidable melee potential.

Cultist Mob

The human followers of the Dark Gods, good for holding Objectives and taking up space while the Space Marines kill people. They are fragile and unreliable but can be made more dangerous with the leadership of a Dark Commune.

Infantry

From the lowly Cultist to the mighty Obliterator, you’ll have plenty of choices for how exactly you want to dominate your enemies.

Chosen	Your elite melee blenders. Chosen are stronger, tougher, and faster than Legionaries but more expensive. Use them as shock troops, taking on your opponent’s elites face-to-face.
Havocs	Your ranged damage specialists. For such a melee-heavy army, they are surprisingly mobile and reliable – their Stabilizing Talons remove penalties to hit, and they lack the Heavy keyword on weapons that normally rely on it, allowing them to fire while moving. Have them focus on doing one thing well: Lascannons or Autocannons for heavy targets, Heavy Bolters or Chaincannons for anti-Infantry.
Obliterators	Tanky walking turrets with Deep Strike. Plop them down into cover and watch them shred whatever you need them to; Vehicles, elite troops, hordes, they’ve got you covered. They also pack a wallop in melee and can give themselves Indirect Fire once per game after making a Dark Pact.
Accursed Cultists	They may not look too pretty, but like any good horror monster, they are deceptively strong and unexpectedly fast. Between the run-of-the-mill Mutants, you’ll also get some big uglies called Torments: they have multiple wounds and are more likely to bring down something Space Marine-sized.
Traitor Guardsmen Squad	It’s not just Space Marines who can fall to the dark side: sometimes members of the Astra Militarum become corrupted by Chaos, and what you’re left with is a very functional unit for Objective camping. They even count as being in Cover while holding down an Objective, and the trio of special weapons they carry allow them to take potshots at whatever passes their position.
Raptors	Extra scary Chaos Space Marines with Jump Packs. A versatile and speedy threat, they come with an aura that debuffs enemy Leadership Tests and can be paired with a Chaos Lord wearing a Jump Pack to maximize their potential. Also good for taking Objectives that are too far away for your Cultists to reach.

Vehicles

It’s not just flesh-and-blood entities that can be tainted by Chaos – the machine spirit of a tank can also become corrupted, and the spirits of Daemons can be bound to a Vehicle to create a terrifying Daemon Engine.

Chaos Predator Annihilator/Destructor	A classic battle tank, valuable in many army lists. The Annihilator wants to hunt Vehicles and Monsters, while the Destructor hungers for Infantry. If you need something in the middle, the Destructor can be given a mixed loadout to take on light Vehicles and heavy Infantry.
Chaos Vindicator	Short range aside, none who stand before you can deny the power of a Demolisher Cannon. This Vehicle is even better for Chaos Space Marines than their loyalist counterparts since they want to be up close and personal as often as possible.
Chaos Land Raider	The rolling brick, now with extra spikes. This is the most expensive - and most reliable - transport you have access to, and it can put out some serious firepower at the same time. As a melee-heavy army, you have no shortage of units that want to ride in this thing, from Chosen to Khorne Berzerkers to Chaos Terminators. It will take a chunk out of your point budget, but there’s nothing finer to carry your band of psychopaths into Charge range.
Chaos Rhino	Your only Dedicated Transport is nothing to sneeze at, with the same self-repair feature as the loyalist version and with even better guns strapped to the top. If you need to get a unit into the fray without breaking the bank, you can’t go wrong with a Rhino.
Forgefiend/Maulerfiend	Affectionally known as “Dinobots,” these giant Daemon Engines serve two distinct roles: the Forgefiend is a powerful (if self-destructive) gun platform, and the Maulerfiend is a fast-moving melee brute.

Detachments

One of the main reasons the Chaos Space Marine Legions have not yet toppled Imperium of Man is because they can’t stop arguing about the best way to do it. Some want to chip away at the foundations, conducting terror raids and hit-and-run strikes, while others want to sway the masses with the dark majesty of Chaos. However you want to use your Chaos Space Marines, there is guaranteed to be a Detachment for you.

Below is a list of your available Detachments, along with the Legion that inspired them:

Detachment	Inspiration	Description	Suggested Units
Veterans of the Long War	Black Legion	When in doubt, copy the loyalists. This is your general-purpose detachment, giving you the ability to mark one unit as your Focus of Hatred, and letting you re-roll failed Hit rolls against them until the beginning of your next Command phase. This is a direct copy of the Space Marine Army Rule, Oath of Moment – and that’s a good thing, because Oath of Moment rocks.	Any
Deceptors	Alpha Legion	The sneaky, insidious kind of evil. You can give a handful of your Battleline units Infiltrate, potentially gaining Objective control before the game even begins. The rest of your Detachment benefits revolve around being slippery and mobile, weakening enemies before moving in for the kill.	Legionaries, Cultists
Renegade Raiders	Red Corsairs	Piratical plunderers who like to go fast, all their guns gain the Assault ability, and they get deadlier when their target is on an Objective. They also have strong synergies with Transports, have another version of Armour of Contempt, and most of their rules work equally well at range or in close combat.	Any
Dread Talons	Night Lords	Specialists in psychological warfare, the Dread Talons force your opponent to make repeated Leadership tests, and gain benefits when they fail. Situational, but powerful when it works; you’ll want to stack as many Leadership debuffs as possible, then pile on the damage.	Raptors, Warp Talons, Chaos Lords with Jump Packs
Fellhammer Siege‑host	Iron Warriors	Do you hate when your fanatical followers get blown up by incoming fire before they can tear apart their foes with blades and fists? Then this is the Detachment for you: incoming attacks that are stronger than your Toughness get reduced, and your Stratagems focus on making your Chaos Space Marines an absolute pain to kill. Your Cultists can’t reap the same rewards, but they're supposed to die anyway.	Legionaries, Havocs, Chosen
Pactbound Zealots	Word Bearers	Random chance and blind faith: a perfect combination. Every unit in your army is either dedicated to a specific Chaos God, or to the concept of Chaos Undivided – your choice determines what sort of buff they get while making a Dark Pact, and which of your Stratagems gain extra effects for them.	Any, Helbrutes
Chaos Cult	Any	Do you want to lead a cult? This Detachment flips the entire concept of Chaos Space Marines on its head, turning you into a self-destructive melee horde army with occasional Chaos Space Marine support. Your Detachment Ability turns Traitor Guardsmen into Battleline units and gives you an additional way to buff yourself at a cost; Desperate Pacts, which work just like Dark Pacts but give you extra Movement and Charge distance instead of weapon abilities.	Dark Communes, Dark Apostles, Cultists
Soulforged Warpack	Any	This is a great detachment if you love heavy metal – and by that, I mean gigantic masses of Vehicles that blot out the sun with their fumes and dust. All your Vehicles get stronger here, and they can make extra-dangerous Dark Pacts to dramatically increase their lethality.	Warpsmiths, Maulerfiends, Defilers

Sample Armies

Even within a single Traitor Legion, no two Warbands are the same, and there are as many ways to make a Chaos Space Marine army list as there are Heretic Astartes themselves. Each of the lists below is designed to showcase the strengths of its associated Detachment, but don’t take them as gospel – use your own dark cunning to create the force that will tear down the Imperium once and for all.

Black Flag (Renegade Raiders)

• Chaos Lord (Enhancement: Mark of the Hound)
• Sorcerer
• Cultist Mob
• Legionaries
• Chosen
• Chaos Predator Destructor
• Chaos Vindicator
• Chaos Rhino x2

Strategy

Your opponents seem to think that they can touch your Objectives – but you saw them first, so they’re basically already yours. Your Chaos Lord will lead the Legionaries in one Rhino, while the Sorcerer protects the Chosen in the other. The pair will drive up the board with the Predator and Vindicator following behind, launching broadsides at anything they see. The Cultists will take the safer Objectives near your Deployment Zone, holding down the fort while the higher-ups hunt their prey.

The Lost And The Damned (Chaos Cult)

• Dark Commune (Enhancement: Incendiary Goad)
• Dark Commune (Enhancement: Warped Foresight)
• Cultist Mob x2
• Traitor Guardsmen x2
• Accursed Cultists x2
• Obliterators

Strategy

The most important thing in this list is redundancy, and the second most important thing is redundancy. For every Cultist, Torment, or Traitorous Guardsman your opponent kills, you always have more. You will clog the board with sheer volume of models, making Objectives untouchable while tying your opponent’s valuable units down in unproductive melees.

Your Accursed Cultists will race ahead of the horde, using their free movement ability to close the distance and Charge as soon as possible. Each of your Dark Communes will lead one of these units, further enhancing their durability and calling a Dark Ritual when you’re within striking distance to ensure the non-believers pay with their lives. The Obliterators are here to give you convenient anti-tank shooting via Deep Strike, and because other units that could accomplish the same goal would take up space that you need for your horde.

Tortured Metal (Soulforged Warpack)

• Warpsmith (Enhancement: Tempting Addendum)
• Warpsmith (Enhancement: Invigorated Mechatendrils)
• Cultist Mob x2
• Raptors
• Forgefiend x2
• Maulerfiend
• Venomcrawler

Strategy

Warpsmiths are the Chaos version of Techmarines, repairing your Vehicles and buffing them at the same time. The Warpsmith with Tempting Addendum will stay tucked between the Forgefiends, giving them re-rolls to hit at the cost of a few Mortal Wounds that he will heal on the next turn. The other Warpsmith will use the increased movement from his Enhancement to keep up with the Maulerfiend, keeping it healthy as it sprints toward your opponent’s toughest units.

Meanwhile, the Venomcrawler will take a flank path and pick off enemy Infantry – if it dies, it wasted your opponent's time while the 'dinobots' deal damage. If it lives long enough to kill something in melee, it will get stronger and start decimating enemy Infantry. The Cultists will run around stealing Objectives and the Raptors will wait in Reserves to Deep Strike behind enemy lines.

The above is the detailed content of Warhammer 40,000 Chaos Space Marines Army Guide. For more information, please follow other related articles on the PHP Chinese website!