Let's get it Started, again
Okay, so last week I told you about an email that I'd received from a new player that was starting a Space Marine army and I put together an article giving him some suggestions as to how to get started and where he might go from there. He told me he had a couple of friends that were getting started as well. Well, this week I got this email from one of his friends...

"Hey, my friend is starting with a space marine army for warhammer 40k and he suggested you to me. You know him as H.B. Any way, we go to the same school and we play against each other. I was wondering if you could give me some advice for planning out a chaos marine army? If you can give me any advice on how to start a 1500 point army It would be appreciated."

I responded that I'd be happy to help and (since he hadn't mentioned what he was considering purchasing) I asked if he already had any models. This was his response...

"Yes, I have the battle force which includes 15 Chaos Space Marines (includes 1 Chaos Space Marine Champion, 1 Chaos Space Marine Icon Bearer, 1 Chaos Space Marine with heavy bolter and 1 Chaos Space Marine with plasma gun), 5 Possessed Chaos Space Marines (includes 1 Possessed Chaos Space Marine Champion), 8 Khorne Berserkers (includes 1 Skull Champion) and 1 Chaos Space Marine Rhino."

Okay, let me break that down and add a couple of very basic bits of wargear to see what we have to work with and roughly where we are, point-wise.

15 Chaos Space Marines (includes 1 Chaos Space Marine Champion, 1 Chaos Space Marine Icon Bearer, 1 Chaos Space Marine with heavy bolter and 1 Chaos Space Marine with plasma gun) Powerfist for Champ, Icon of Chaos Glory 300
-With a powerfist champ, a plasma gun, a Heavy Bolter and a good chunk of bodies, this is a solid and well-rounded unit. I'd also consider splitting it into two smaller, more specialized squads, or even losing the Heavy Bolter for another Champion w/fist and a melta gun for two solid assault squads.

5 Possessed Chaos Space Marines (includes 1 Possessed Chaos Space Marine Champion) 140
-These will really need a Rhino to shine, and they don't always look like much, but that's an awful lot of S5 attacks hacking into a unit...

8 Khorne Berserkers (includes 1 Skull Champion) Power Weapon and Melta Bombs for Champion 203
-These guys also shine best with a Rhino. I chose a Power Weapon for the champion to take advantage of all of those attacks and so that he has a chance to knock powerfists out of small squads before they can return the favor. The Meltabombs are just a 5pt insurance policy for a force that has very little antitank. (See more on this later.)

1 Chaos Space Marine Rhino. Extra Armor 50
-Rhinos are vital to an assault-based army. While Extra Armor only protects you from one result on the Vehicle Damage Table, movement is a pretty important thing for a transport unit. Very worthwhile to get.

693 pts so far. Doesn't include an HQ or any additional wargear, and really needs an additional rhino or even two. Let's plan toward 1000pts first, then look toward 1500.

Well, we need an HQ model, some antitank capability and another transport or two for this list to function.

A Flying Daemon Prince will be very helpful in giving an HQ model and some solid antitank capability, plus fantastic assault power. Daemon Prince, Wings 130pts.
-I like to keep these guys cheap and cheerful. Only get what you really need. Later on, you may decide that you need a psychic power or something, but try the vanilla version first so you don't get caught up in all the extras. Remember, this is just starting out. You can always add on things later.

2x Rhino, each with extra armor. 100pts.
-This allows you to mount up almost all your squads (you'll have to split the Chaos Space Marine squad so that one can fit into this Rhino.)

77pts left in 1000, that leaves some room for additional equipment or wargear to taste.

This guy made a pretty good Daemon Prince once upon a time.

Kill! Maim! Burn!
There are different ways to play Chaos Space Marines, but probably the best way to get started is a straight-up mechanized assault force. Not only is this a fairly simple way to get started, it also makes good use of the units in the Battle Force set and the units are pretty much staples of most Chaos Armies.

A mechanized assault force basically works by ramming as much as possible down the enemy army's throat as quickly as possible. You want to provide a lot of threats closing in on the enemy force at the same time. (If you only provide a few threats at a time, the enemy can easily deal with them as they arrive.)

Formation
You will generally want to keep your units in a tight wedge formation. Start the Rhinos close together and as close to the edge of your deployment as possible, but try to get at least some cover for them. You definitely need to keep the Daemon Prince hidden or in very good cover. The mechanized squads will deploy directly behind the Rhinos, in case the Rhinos are destroyed during the first turn.

Tactics
Mount up and drive straight forward, then pop smoke. The Daemon Prince can either zoom up behind the Rhinos or hop behind terrain to stay safe. Next turn, drive up and unload your units, preferably behind the Rhinos for cover. If the Daemon Prince can reach a decent unit, go ahead and charge in, otherwise try to keep him under cover. Next turn, unleash hell.

Once in a great while, you may encounter an army that has more assault capability than you. This army isn't really designed for this, but those transports can help you outmaneuver them and concentrate your power on small portions of the army at a time.

Where do we go from here?
Once you've gotten a handle on how your new army works, then you can try to determine where you want to go from there. If you like the way the Daemon Prince works, maybe check into a Summoned Greater Daemon. If you like the way the various Rhino-borne units work, you can pick up some others. You might also experiment with Plague Marine units, or even Terminators assaulting out of a LandRaider. Alternately, you might add some shooting with a Predator or two, or some Obliterators. Finally, if you really like raining down death and destruction, try a Defiler or an aggressively deployed Vindicator.

If you enjoyed this, email me and let me know

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