Chaos Space Marine Unit Reviews: 20 games in!

So far, I have 20 games of 8th edition under my belt and I have used quite a few units in my games and have developed some thoughts on those units that I figured I'd share based on experience. I have mostly played Death Guard Detachments, but I have played quite a few other detachments in Chaos as well. I have managed to collect a great winning streak and I feel like I should start tallying all the Storm Ravens I have killed (at least 15 of them). Hopefully, you can glean something from my write-up, especially if you just haven't had as much time to get games in as I have. I will limit this review to only the units I have played.

Guest Post: Jeff's Initial Space Marine Army List Thoughts

Initial Army List Thoughts

With all the choices out there, its hard to choose exactly what chapter you want.  Thankfully the quasi build-a-chapter style of the new book can really help those power armor fan boys out there!  Jeff chimes in today with his well written thoughts on picking your chapter.  

Welcome back. In my previous post, I introduced myself and what I am planning. Today I would like to share with you my initial thoughts in regards to the various chapter tactics and potential army lists with each of them

Reanimating the Necron Airforce

By Chris Vinton

I blew the dust off my necrons to take to Indiana and it was quite the learning experience.  I've played them since they came out and they are my go to army.  Because of how long I've played them I am able to wield them as if an extension of myself.  Until this weekend I didn't notice but it seems as if the world around me is forcing me to evolve...or devolve.

The Case For Heavy Bolters

Ho,

Fly back to do the impossible (that might be a little dramatic... how about difficult?): Make a case for the much maligned heavy bolter.
And make a case I will.

Deep Strike the Right Way

Ho,

Fly back to continue a discuss about alternative deployment that can be found here.
I plan on getting a little more in depth into one of the alternative modes: Deep Strike.
And I love Deep Strike. It is A-Mazing.

He's Behind You! Alternative Deployment and YOU!

False alarm!
Whew, you probably thought Guardsman Sly Marbo himself was creeping up behind you, preparing to demolition charge your Land Raider. Luckily, after a big sigh of relief, he isn't.
Fly Molo back again to talk some theory hammer... something I've been having to do as of late as opposed to real Warhammer.

MiGT Best General: Jesse Zischke's Grey Knights

So I showed up to the inaugural Michigan GT with my Grey Knights and a dream and ended up coming away with the best general award.  In a sea of Tau and Eldar builds the Knights needed to represent for the imperium.  Here's the list:

Using Your Nerd Crush Unit

... and maybe win a game with it!
Fly Molo back again.

There was a time back in 5th edition where I played a lot of Chaos. I had somewhere around 30,000 points of mixed Chaos Marines forces and I could field whatever I needed, except triple Vindicator lists (which strangely I can now, but I own less points) or triple Land Raider lists. Most options were available to me.

Why I Don't Play Pool

Deploying Terrain for Advantage Part 1

Ho,
Fly Molo in the hizzy. Ahhhhh terrain.
In 1996 I was a freshman in highschool. I had befriended a group of dudes who played Magic and Warhammer. They were friends since grade school and were from the 'other middle school,' that was shrouded in mystery. I fit right in though, considering I was a Magic player. Learning Warhammer came shortly after.

Tau How to: Supporting Fire

Tau Supporting Fire

When an enemy unit declares a charge, all friendly models with this special rule in units within 6" of the charging unit's target can choose to fire overwatch as if they were also targets of the charge. 

By Chris Vinton

Support fire is a unique rule to the Tau Empire. This rule highlights the old saying "the best defense is a strong offense." If your list depends on this rule to win games your deployment is crucial. Layers of units and exact deployment both make and break this tactic. 

New Chaos Daemons First Glances: Nurgle

Old School here to add my thoughts to the storm of delight and gnashing teeth that is the Internet's knee jerk reaction to the release of any new codex. This time, Daemons are in the hopper and for me, as with any CSM player, I am happy to see my battle brothers receive an update. Now it's no secret around these parts that OST loves some Nurgle! With that in mind (and while everyone is excited about Slaanesh, as they should be) I am going to first look at Nurgle through the eyes of a CSM player primarily but I will also do a little armchair action on Nurgle Daemons proper.

Chaos Marine Blast Masters: Great or Just a Bunch of Noise?

Alright, OST here to talk about my beloved CSM and the improved ability of Noise Marines to take Blast Masters in a minimum squad. For those of you who don't know the recent FAQ changes changed the ruling on Blast Master from one per ten Noise Marines to one in a five man, two available for a 10 man squad. This has led to tons of rejoicing in the online community praising the 5 Man Noise Marine squad as the best troop choice for Chaos, but is this true?

Chaos Space Marines in 6th Edition: Nurgle, Tzeentch and Slaaneshi Marked CSM

Old School here with another edition of Chaos Space Marines in 6th Edition. Last time we looked at Regular CSM troop options and regular CSM marked by Khorne. Today we will follow that up by talking about regular CSM marked with Nurgle, Tzeentch and Slaanesh. Let's start with Nurgle ...

Chaos Space Marines in 6th: Basic and Khorne Chaos Space Marines

Old School here to begin talking about the 6th Edition Chaos Space Marine Codex and how I feel about the units based on my experience with the units and general observation from the table.  I have had some time with the codex now and will cover it from a perspective of what works, not so much a "what works in the current meta" stance. I encourage readers to add to this through comments regarding their experience as well.

So where else would we start than with the unit the whole book is named after: Chaos Space Marine. In this post, I will cover the basic CSM options and then look at the mark of Khorne and its options. This single troop choice has so much meat to it that it cannot be handled thoroughly in a single post.

Your Questions and Topics, The Lord Solar Answers... (part 2)

The topic that I was asked to talk about for this installment was by ServvsUmbrarum who also has a blog, The Initiate, (though he has not posted in awhile, hopefully this will encourage him to!) He asked:

"I've got about 2k worth of guard and I was wondering if you could cover an odd topic but something I've been struggling with.

How can one build an army list that is both fun to play with and against. One of my biggest issues with the way I play guard is that I just sit back and shoot. I love my other codex's because I'm constantly moving, weighing options but my current Guard list is just so...sit there and shoot, target priority being the only real skill I have to use.

So I guess the topic I'd like to see is. "How to make a dynamic guard list that works with the unique nature and strengths of the codex without parking lot.

I hope this makes sense. I never like to make my opponent feel disengaged from the battle and am a strong believer in the 'social contract'."

Necron Hybrid Mech Part 1: The 1500 Pt Core, Thoughts from Experience

Old School here with some thoughts from the table tops. I have always believed that Experience Creates Generals and Netlists Create Generics, so while the web loses its collective mind over Necron Air Forces, I want to talk about a list concept I have run since picking the codex up in 5th Edition and how it has translated to 6th edition based on my experience with some secondary information provided through observations of CVinton's performance with a similar take on the Crons. I will say now that this article isn't meant to create another netlist or say "This is the best," it is simply an article about a single concept based on a year of play with the new codex and with these units in particular.

Orks in 6th Edition: Da Times they are a' Changin'

Hello Everyone,

General Chaos here with the State of the Waaagh! address. Assaults are dead! Well lets back that up, they are not dead but they took a big kick in the tail end for us Ork players. Multi-Assaults suffer losing that extra attack, getting Bolter shells in the face from overwatch can really hurt in assaults, and without some very specific movement and placement losing that all important Power Klaw Nob can be devastating. Makes me want to take my Choppa and go home. But us Orks are good at one thing besides Krumpin' ead' and that is we can adapt.

Tau 6th Edition: First Impressions

Sammy here and like all tau players I have been just praying that my favorite army would get something in the new rules to help them out. While indeed they did get some help, it was not in the way I expected. As follows I will detail a few of the bonuses that I think may bring back Tau as a playable and possibly more competitive army. I do recognize however that as no local tournaments have been run yet this all just on a observational basis.

Dark Angels in 6th Edition Part 4: Brothers in Arms

Old School here, if you plan to take the Dark Angels as your main detachment or as an ally, there are some great options now and we are Brothers in Arms with some that offer us a good boost. I will be covering Brothers in Arms in this post and will follow this up with a very brief post later concerning other allied options, but that post may not come for some time. As always with these early 6th edition posts, I am not an expert and I think there is much to be learned from discussion as this is a new game for all of us at this point. I don't want to waste your time building it up any more, so here we go ...

Dark Angels in 6th Edition Part 3: The Best of the Rest

Old School here with another post for Dark Angels in 6th Edition. So far we have covered Deathwing and Ravenwing. Today's post is about the rest of the book (at least from the perspective of units I have used on the table). Here is where we delve into territory where our old codex may be screwy in terms of options and points cost, so while I will lightly tough on allies below, it's not the focus. Allies will be part of the next post. Also throughout this post will be images from other hobbyists with great DA models, most are linked! Here we go ...