Do you think that Imperial Space Marines are lame? Are you fond of cavorting with daemons and making dark pacts with the ruinous powers? Are you generally bitter and angry all the time about the rules your army receives? Are you a fan of painting trim on every surface of every model in your army? Well then grab an eight-pointed star and strap in because we’re finally talking about Chaos Space Marines! In this guide, you’ll find everything you need to know about the army, the units, the relics and powers, and how to play them.

Army Overview

Chaos Space Marines look like Marines, but don’t let that fool you: They lack many of the tricks that Space Marine armies have, with none of the benefits of Doctrines nor the range and shooting prowess. As a faction, Chaos Space Marines have access to some of the best melee units in the game, including Possessed, Berserkers, and Daemon Princes, and access to some great psychic powers, but tend to fall short when it comes to options for mobility and shooting options – most CSM transport options are overpriced and CSM shooting tends to lack AP and be mid-range at best. So for many Chaos Space Marine armies, the game plan is to build around your best units and creating a protected delivery method for them.

As with the rest of these articles, the idea is not to give an exhaustive review of every unit and option. Instead, we’ll cover each section with a general discussion of the good units, relics and stratagems, point out any traps, and then discuss how these pieces fit into a competitive army. This is primarily a review of the units and options that are specific to Chaos Space Marines, but Chaos Space Marines often see play in Chaos Soup armies, and we’ll be covering some of those cases as well.

As always, a guide like this represents a time and place. This was written in April 2020, after the release of Psychic Awakening: Saga of the Beast (and during the global COVID-19 Pandemic).

Army Strengths

Psychic Powers. Chaos Space Marines have some of the game’s best psychic powers in the Dark Hereticus discipline. As a result, Chaos Sorcerers – with their ability to throw out non-faction-gated buff powers like Warptime and Prescience – are some of the game’s best units, and they can take Jump Packs.

Chaos Space Marines have some of the game’s best psychic powers in the Dark Hereticus discipline. As a result, Chaos Sorcerers – with their ability to throw out non-faction-gated buff powers like Warptime and Prescience – are some of the game’s best units, and they can take Jump Packs. Melee Combat. Chaos Space Marines are generally pretty good when it comes to melee combat. Berserkers are one of the game’s best melee units, and Possessed can be absolutely insane with the buffs you can give them. Lords Discordant are absolutely blenders, and Chaos Space Marine daemon vehicles and Helbrutes are also pretty good in this area. It’s very easy to build a Chaos Space Marine army that can wreak absolute havoc once it reaches the enemy.

Chaos Space Marines are generally pretty good when it comes to melee combat. Berserkers are one of the game’s best melee units, and Possessed can be absolutely insane with the buffs you can give them. Lords Discordant are absolutely blenders, and Chaos Space Marine daemon vehicles and Helbrutes are also pretty good in this area. It’s very easy to build a Chaos Space Marine army that can wreak absolute havoc once it reaches the enemy. Great HQ/Character Options. Chaos Space Marines have access to some great character options in the form of Daemon Princes, Lords Discordant, Chaos Lords, and Sorcerers, to name a few. There’s a ton of versatility at the top of any Chaos Space Marines list, with options for both heavy hitters and cheap HQ slot fillers.

Chaos Space Marines have access to some great character options in the form of Daemon Princes, Lords Discordant, Chaos Lords, and Sorcerers, to name a few. There’s a ton of versatility at the top of any Chaos Space Marines list, with options for both heavy hitters and cheap HQ slot fillers. Cheap Troops. Chaos Cultists are 4 points per model, allowing you to fill out a Troops slot for 40 points. That’s helpful, because Chaos Space Marines are a particularly CP-thirsty faction now.

Chaos Cultists are 4 points per model, allowing you to fill out a Troops slot for 40 points. That’s helpful, because Chaos Space Marines are a particularly CP-thirsty faction now. Specialist Detachments. Chaos Space Marines have access to a whole supplement’s worth of Specialist Detachments, and several of them are good enough to be worth playing in a competitive army.

Chaos Space Marines have access to a whole supplement’s worth of Specialist Detachments, and several of them are good enough to be worth playing in a competitive army. Cross-Faction Synergies. Because of the DAEMON and <MARK OF CHAOS> keywords, Chaos Space Marines have a lot of interactions with Chaos Daemons, with auras and abilities that can benefit units in both armies. Likewise, they share HERETIC ASTARTES with Thousand Sons and Death Guard. This can lead to some powerful combinations in soup armies, and tends to make up the backbone of strong competitive Chaos lists.

Army Weaknesses

Durability. Your average Chaos Space Marine has Toughness 4, 1 wound, and a 3+ save. That’s just not great, and it means that many of your hard-hitting melee units such as Berserkers are also pretty fragile. In most games your biggest challenge will be figuring out how you’re going to deliver your melee units into the enemy lines in one piece.

Your average Chaos Space Marine has Toughness 4, 1 wound, and a 3+ save. That’s just not great, and it means that many of your hard-hitting melee units such as Berserkers are also pretty fragile. In most games your biggest challenge will be figuring out how you’re going to deliver your melee units into the enemy lines in one piece. Shooting. Chaos Space Marine shooting is generally not very good; most CSM guns top out at 24″ or 36″ range and most of the army’s core units rely on AP 0 boltguns, which are not good. While Chaos Space Marines certainly have some better shooting options, such as Hellforged Deredeo Dreadnoughts, Hellforged Leviathans, and Obliterators, these are few and far between.

Chaos Space Marine shooting is generally not very good; most CSM guns top out at 24″ or 36″ range and most of the army’s core units rely on AP 0 boltguns, which are not good. While Chaos Space Marines certainly have some better shooting options, such as Hellforged Deredeo Dreadnoughts, Hellforged Leviathans, and Obliterators, these are few and far between. AP and Damage. Because of when the codex was published (and re-published) and the weapon options Chaos Space Marines have, you’ll notice they have a pretty rough lack of 2+ damage or high AP shooting, and this is something that extends to their Troop melee options as well. The result is that competitive Chaos Space Marine armies tend to be built around the few units that either have access to multi-damage weapons with some AP or can, through sheer volume of attacks, making up for these shortcomings.

Because of when the codex was published (and re-published) and the weapon options Chaos Space Marines have, you’ll notice they have a pretty rough lack of 2+ damage or high AP shooting, and this is something that extends to their Troop melee options as well. The result is that competitive Chaos Space Marine armies tend to be built around the few units that either have access to multi-damage weapons with some AP or can, through sheer volume of attacks, making up for these shortcomings. Subfaction Traits. Faith & Fury is a huge help to Chaos Space Marines armies, which needed a boost to its subfactions. But even with new stratagems, some issues remain: The CSM subfaction traits don’t apply to Cultists or non-Helbrute vehicles, and many of them are just underwhelming to begin with (the Word Bearers’ ability is particularly heinous). As a result only a couple of theses even matter.

Faith & Fury is a huge help to Chaos Space Marines armies, which needed a boost to its subfactions. But even with new stratagems, some issues remain: The CSM subfaction traits don’t apply to Cultists or non-Helbrute vehicles, and many of them are just underwhelming to begin with (the Word Bearers’ ability is particularly heinous). As a result only a couple of theses even matter. Mobility. Chaos Space Marines have a couple of pretty mobile units and some units that can deep strike, but almost all of their transport options are pretty bad. The army has a couple of ways to help make charges out of Deep Strike (from more than 9″ away), but these are limited to specific units. There are also a few other options we’ll discuss later.

Chaos Space Marines have a couple of pretty mobile units and some units that can deep strike, but almost all of their transport options are pretty bad. The army has a couple of ways to help make charges out of Deep Strike (from more than 9″ away), but these are limited to specific units. There are also a few other options we’ll discuss later. CP Thirsty. A lot of the best Chaos Space Marine strategies rely on copious use of stratagems, particularly those from Faith and Fury. This means that Chaos Space Marine armies can end up blowing through a ton of CP pretty quickly, and so you’ll need to have a plan for how to generate and use that CP when you build your game plan.

Competitive Rating: Strong

Chaos Space Marines have as a faction been up and down over the course of 8th edition, though mostly down – there have been several competitive Chaos Space Marine armies, though rarely among the top tier of options, and generally they’ve been limited in their versatility. With the release of Faith and Fury however, the floodgates have opened, and Chaos Space Marines now find themselves working with some very strong builds and multiple options to build around in competitive lists.

Chaos Space Marines Rules

In this section we’ll cover the main rules for the army, starting with the faction’s army-wide special rules, then diving into the Stratagems, Warlord Traits, Relics, and powers available to all Chaos Space Marines, and then we’ll finish off with a look at each of the traitor legion options, their subfaction-specific rules, powers, Stratagems, and relics, and how they stack up against each other.

Where to Find The Rules

Chaos Space Marines require more books to play competitively than any other faction, even loyalist marines. If you’re going to play seriously, you probably need all of the following, and that’s before you start souping in Daemons, Thousand Sons, or Death Guard:

Codex: Chaos Space Marines v.2 – Is the second publication of the faction Codex (it has a white skull with a “II” on its cover) and has all of the basic faction’s rules and datasheets. You will know you have the right book if it has the datasheet for the Lord Discordant and prayers for Dark Apostles.

– Is the second publication of the faction Codex (it has a white skull with a “II” on its cover) and has all of the basic faction’s rules and datasheets. You will know you have the right book if it has the datasheet for the Lord Discordant and prayers for Dark Apostles. Imperial Armour Index: Forces of Chaos – has the rules and datasheets for Forge World units like the Kytan Ravager, Hellforged dreadnoughts, the Blood Slaughterer, and characters like Arkos the Faithless.

– has the rules and datasheets for Forge World units like the Kytan Ravager, Hellforged dreadnoughts, the Blood Slaughterer, and characters like Arkos the Faithless. Vigilus Ablaze – has the rules for the Black Legion, renegade chapters, and specialist detachments.

– has the rules for the Black Legion, renegade chapters, and specialist detachments. Psychic Awakening: Faith & Fury – has the rules for Daemon Weapons, plus Stratagems, Relics, and Warlord Traits for each of the Emperor’s Children, Alpha Legion, Night Lords, World Eaters, Word Bearers, and Iron Warriors.

– has the rules for Daemon Weapons, plus Stratagems, Relics, and Warlord Traits for each of the Emperor’s Children, Alpha Legion, Night Lords, World Eaters, Word Bearers, and Iron Warriors. The Shadowspear Chaos Codex Booklet – is the only place you can find the Psyker-specific Warlord Traits for Chaos Space Marines.

– is the only place you can find the Psyker-specific Warlord Traits for Chaos Space Marines. You will also need the following FAQs: Codex: Chaos Space Marines Vigilus Ablaze Faith & Fury Imperial Armour Index: Forces of Chaos



If you want to soup in other Chaos factions, you’ll want to have the following:

Codex: Thousand Sons and Psychic Awakening: Ritual of the Damned for Thousand Sons.

and for Thousand Sons. Codex: Death Guard for Death Guard

for Death Guard Codex: Chaos Daemons and Chapter Approved 2019 for Chaos Daemons

Faction Special Rules

There are a few army-wide special rules that Chaos Space Marines have access to regardless of which legion they hail from or which god they’ve devoted themselves to.

Death to the False Emperor

When fighting an IMPERIUM unit in melee, a hit roll of a 6+ gives the attacker an additional attack with the same weapon. This is solid when it’s on and worthless when it’s not. The upside is that Space Marines are everywhere so now you can at least count on it being active for about half your games. This is also not dependent on unmodified rolls of a 6, so you have several tricks to make it fire off more often, though it also means that Thunder Hammers and Power Fists won’t really get to use it.

Hateful Assault

Units with this rule — basically everything except for Cultists — get +1 Attack in any turn in which they charge, were charged, or heroically intervened. This is a really good boost for your melee units, and will do wonders on large squads of Possessed or Berserkers.

Malicious Volleys (formerly Bolter Discipline)

When a unit with this ability stays stationary during the Movement phase (or is a TERMINATOR, BIKER, or HELBRUTE) fires a Rapid Fire bolter weapon, it can make double the number of attacks. A solid update to all Chaos Space Marines that showed up in January last year and was reprinted in Faith & Fury, this mostly helps Bikers and Terminators live up to their full potential by giving you four shots per model, albeit still at S4 AP0.

Marks of Chaos

Almost every unit in the Chaos Space Marines army has the <MARK OF CHAOS> keyword, which can be replaced by one of KHORNE, TZEENTCH, NURGLE, or SLAANESH, allowing the unit to devote itself to a Chaos god. There are several powers, relics, and Stratagems which are only available to devotees of a particular Chaos god, and some Legion traits require that your whole army be devoted to a specific god. Marks also fuel the army’s ability to do

Daemonic Ritual

A rule across the Chaos factions, a Chaos Space Marines Character can opt to not move during the Movement phase and instead attempt to summon a unit of Daemons, with the restriction being that if you have a Mark of Chaos, you can only summon something that shares that keyword with the character. You roll up to 3 dice when you do this, and you can summon a unit with power level equal to or less than the result you roll. If you roll doubles, you take a mortal wound, and if you roll triples, you suffer D3 mortal wounds. The summoned unit has to be placed within 12″ of the character and more than 9″ from an enemy model. This is a cooler ability in theory than execution. The theoretical upside to summoning is that you can pick a unit at the moment you summon, giving you a lot of possibilities and the ability to pick a unit that will fit your current situation and opponent. In reality, it’s slow, hard to rely on, and it requires you spend points and time on a character not moving and fighting in order to put a unit on the table you still had to pay points for, and most of the time you’re better off just taking a Daemons Detachment and putting the units you want into the Warp before the game with the appropriate Stratagem. The big upside to summoning is that you can summon Daemons without ruining your Chaos Space Marines faction bonus (they won’t lose their legion trait if the whole detachment is from the same legion and the only daemons are ones that you summon), but you’re seldom going to want to do this.

Legion Traits

Chaos Space Marine armies have access to a large variety of subfactions, each with their own special rules called Legion Traits. To pick a legion, you replace your <LEGION> keyword with a Legion of your choice (it can’t be Death Guard or Thousand Sons, who have their own rules). If every unit in a detachment has the same Legion keyword, then Legion Traits apply to all INFANTRY (excluding Cultists), BIKERS, HELBRUTES, and CHARACTERS in that detachment.

In addition to having special rules for each legion’s units, each legion also has access to its own Warlord Traits, Relics, and Stratagems, and some have access to their own special characters.

A Special Note on Codex Traits

Note that, unlike with Space Marines, not all legion rules are faction-locked; while the Faith and Fury and VIgilus Ablaze Stratagems, Warlord Traits, and Relics require a full legion detachment, those in Codex: Chaos Space Marines are not, so you can give a World Eaters Warlord the Slaughterborn warlord trait in a mixed detachment, or use the In Midnight Clad Stratagem on a Night Lords unit in a mixed detachment. There aren’t a ton of reasons you’d want to mix detachments, particularly now that you’ll want access to a legion’s Stratagems, but there are a few use cases for doing this, such as having an extra Supreme Command detachment of characters whom you want to have from several different legions. We’ll talk more about that later.

Despoilers of the Galaxy

In a Battleforged army, all troops in Chaos Space Marines detachments gain this ability, which is the standard “Objective Secured” rule that all armies get, which makes your Troops’ claims to Objectives stronger than non-Troops’. It’s often overlooked but it’s an important rule for helping capture contested objectives, and gives real value to Cultists, who can mitigate their squishiness with massive blobs that are tough to dislodge from objectives.

Psychic Powers

For Chaos Space Marines, you have access to two disciplines: The Dark Hereticus disipline and the Malefic discipline. The Dark Hereticus discipline is the stronger of the two and available to most of your psykers, while the Malefic discipline is only available to Masters of Possession.

The Dark Hereticus Discipline

Most Chaos Space Marine psykers have access to the Dark Hereticus discipline, one of the strongest psychic disciplines in the game. The only downside to it is that a lot of the powers are on the higher end of Warp Charge casting requirements, and Chaos Sorcerers don’t have a ton of ways to make them easier to cast. The big upside however is that these powers are not legion-locked, so a Night Lords sorcerer can cast Prescience on an Iron Warriors unit. Because of this and their overall power level, the powers you can pull off here make a Chaos Sorcerer or two basically auto-includes in Chaos Space Marine armies, and worth splashing in a sorcerer or two in a Death Guard army.

N.B. Some of these ratings may seem off if you’re used to playing against Thousand Sons, who can also use these. The value changes for them because of their range and cast boosts, plus the sheer number of slots they need to fill. These ratings reflect the use of these powers in Chaos Space Marine detachments.

Infernal Gaze (WC 5). Pick a visible enemy unit within 18” and roll 3D6. For each 4+ you roll, that unit takes a mortal wound. Easy to cast, targeted mortal wounds. It’s not a lot, but you could do a lot worse. You’re rarely going to be taking enough psykers to make use of this, and you’ll often rather have casting redundancies than spending a slot on this. C

Pick a visible enemy unit within 18” and roll 3D6. For each 4+ you roll, that unit takes a mortal wound. Easy to cast, targeted mortal wounds. It’s not a lot, but you could do a lot worse. You’re rarely going to be taking enough psykers to make use of this, and you’ll often rather have casting redundancies than spending a slot on this. Death Hex (WC 8). Pick a visible enemy unit within 12”. Until your next psychic phase, that unit can’t take invulnerable saves. This is very good, particularly when paired with strong long-range shooting. Unfortunately, Chaos Space Marines don’t really have a lot of that, but it’s still a strong power to have for when you need to pop over and shut down the invuln on something. The biggest downside of Death Hex is that it’s WC 8, and you also shouldn’t be afraid not to take it, or to discard it with Chaos Familiar if there are no targets for it or you kill all of them. A



Pick a visible enemy unit within 12”. Until your next psychic phase, that unit can’t take invulnerable saves. This is very good, particularly when paired with strong long-range shooting. Unfortunately, Chaos Space Marines don’t really have a lot of that, but it’s still a strong power to have for when you need to pop over and shut down the invuln on something. The biggest downside of Death Hex is that it’s WC 8, and you also shouldn’t be afraid not to take it, or to discard it with if there are no targets for it or you kill all of them. Gift of Chaos (WC 6). Pick a visible enemy unit within 6” and roll a D6. If you roll higher than the target’s Toughness, that unit takes D3+3 mortal wounds. If you kill a character this way, you can add a Chaos Spawn to your army. Against most targets you’re looking at failing this two thirds of the time. And when it does succeed and you kill a character, you won’t get to add the spawn because you didn’t pay reinforcement points for it. Skip this one. D

Pick a visible enemy unit within 6” and roll a D6. If you roll higher than the target’s Toughness, that unit takes D3+3 mortal wounds. If you kill a character this way, you can add a Chaos Spawn to your army. Against most targets you’re looking at failing this two thirds of the time. And when it does succeed and you kill a character, you won’t get to add the spawn because you didn’t pay reinforcement points for it. Skip this one. Prescience (WC 7) . Pick a HERETIC ASTARTES unit within 18”. They get +1 to all hit rolls until your next psychic phase. This power is amazingly good. Great on big squads, great on big WS/BS 4+ Daemon Engines, great for targeting flyers. Your first psyker will almost always have this and Warptime. A

. Pick a HERETIC ASTARTES unit within 18”. They get +1 to all hit rolls until your next psychic phase. This power is amazingly good. Great on big squads, great on big WS/BS 4+ Daemon Engines, great for targeting flyers. Your first psyker will almost always have this and Warptime. Diabolic Strength (WC 6) . Pick a HERETIC ASTARTES model within 12” of the psyker. Until the start of your next psychic phase, that model gets +2 Strength and +1 Attack. This is very good for pumping up your Winged Daemon princes before they charge into battle, or helping Huron, Maulerfiends, or Venomcrawlers tack on some extra attacks and beat strength thresholds with their weapons. A

. Pick a HERETIC ASTARTES model within 12” of the psyker. Until the start of your next psychic phase, that model gets +2 Strength and +1 Attack. This is very good for pumping up your Winged Daemon princes before they charge into battle, or helping Huron, Maulerfiends, or Venomcrawlers tack on some extra attacks and beat strength thresholds with their weapons. Warptime (WC 6). Pick a HERETIC ASTARTES unit within 3”. That unit can immediately move as if it were the Movement phase. Errata’d to not work on units that just arrived on the battlefield, but even with that adjustment this is still one of the strongest powers in the game. It’s incredibly useful for double-timing key units around the table, capturing objectives and setting up first-turn charges. You will want to have this on somebody in almost every game. On a Sorcerer with a jump pack, you can have this reliably within 3″ of any unit you need it for all game long. A+

God-Specific Powers

There are also three additional powers you can access if your Psyker has the Mark of Tzeentch, Nurgle, or Slaanesh. All three of these are good.

Tzeentch: Weaver of Fates (WC 6). Pick a visible TZEENTCH Heretic Astartes unit within 18″. Until the start of your next psychic phase, improve its invulnerable save by 1 to a maximum of 3+, and if it didn’t have an invulnerable save, it gets a 5+. This is a great way for helping protect valuable units, and helpful on everything from Terminators and Obliterators to Daemon Engines and Vehicles you’d want to protect. Caps out at a 3++, but stacks with other abilities to help you get there. The only downside is that the Mark of Tzeentch is less useful than some of the others on many units. A



Pick a visible TZEENTCH Heretic Astartes unit within 18″. Until the start of your next psychic phase, improve its invulnerable save by 1 to a maximum of 3+, and if it didn’t have an invulnerable save, it gets a 5+. This is a great way for helping protect valuable units, and helpful on everything from Terminators and Obliterators to Daemon Engines and Vehicles you’d want to protect. Caps out at a 3++, but stacks with other abilities to help you get there. The only downside is that the Mark of Tzeentch is less useful than some of the others on many units. Nurgle: Miasma of Pestilence (WC 6). Pick a visible NURGLE Heretic Astartes unit within 18″. Until your next Psychic phase, your opponent must subtract 1 from all hit rolls that target that unit. This is a powerful ability, great for protecting Nurgle units and one key to the “Possessed Bomb” armies that run a max-buffed Possessed unit with the Mark of Nurgle. It’s particularly good when combined with the Alpha Legion trait to stack an additional -1 to be hit and the Dark Apostle’s Benediction of Darkness to get you to -3 to be hit outside of 12″. A

Pick a visible NURGLE Heretic Astartes unit within 18″. Until your next Psychic phase, your opponent must subtract 1 from all hit rolls that target that unit. This is a powerful ability, great for protecting Nurgle units and one key to the “Possessed Bomb” armies that run a max-buffed Possessed unit with the Mark of Nurgle. It’s particularly good when combined with the Alpha Legion trait to stack an additional -1 to be hit and the Dark Apostle’s Benediction of Darkness to get you to -3 to be hit outside of 12″. Slaanesh: Delightful Agonies (WC 6). Pick a visible SLAANESH Heretic Astartes unit within 18″. Until the start of your next Psychic phase roll a D6 each time a model in that unit loses a wound; on a 5+ it doesn’t lose that wound. Another strong buff, great for improving the longevity of units that are likely targets since the result is effectively a 50% increase in the wounds. Wonderful for large blobs of Cultists who otherwise don’t really have a save at all. A

The Malefic Discipline

On the other side of things, Masters of Possession have access to the Malefic discipline, which is mostly buffs for DAEMON units. These are particularly good if you’re running armies that are heavy on Possessed or Daemon Engines, but are very skippable if not. The big drawback to them is that the Master of Possession himself is unable to take a jump pack or teleport in, so these powers are severely limited by how far you can move the caster. They’re all also locked to the caster’s <LEGION>, meaning they can’t affect other Chaos Factions’ units, and aren’t suitable for mixing legions.

Incursion (WC 7). When cast, you can immediately attempt to summon a unit of DAEMONS to the battlefield using the Daemonic Ritual ability as if it were the Movement phase and when you do so, you roll 4 dice instead of 3 and can’t summon any mortal wounds as a result of doubles or triples. This is already much better than the regular Daemonic Ritual, in part because it doesn’t lock you into standing still, but it’s even more hoops to jump through to do something that just isn’t all that helpful to most game plans. This would be more useful is summoning was something you actually wanted to do. C

When cast, you can immediately attempt to summon a unit of DAEMONS to the battlefield using the Daemonic Ritual ability as if it were the Movement phase and when you do so, you roll 4 dice instead of 3 and can’t summon any mortal wounds as a result of doubles or triples. This is already much better than the regular Daemonic Ritual, in part because it doesn’t lock you into standing still, but it’s even more hoops to jump through to do something that just isn’t all that helpful to most game plans. This would be more useful is summoning was something you actually wanted to do. Sacrifice (WC 4). Pick a model within 2″; it takes a mortal wound. Then you pick a friendly <LEGION> DAEMON model within 18″ to regain D3 lost wounds. Also if the target is a Daemon Engine and the wound was put on a friendly <LEGION> Warpsmith, you gain 3 lost wounds instead. This is a pretty marginal power – doing 1 mortal wound instead of D3 when you could be Smiting an enemy within 2″ isn’t the best deal even if you get D3 back, and there just aren’t enough reasons to jump through the hoops to get the full 3 by hurting your Warpsmith, especially because he can already be healing daemon engines himself. D

Pick a model within 2″; it takes a mortal wound. Then you pick a friendly <LEGION> DAEMON model within 18″ to regain D3 lost wounds. Also if the target is a Daemon Engine and the wound was put on a friendly <LEGION> Warpsmith, you gain 3 lost wounds instead. This is a pretty marginal power – doing 1 mortal wound instead of D3 when you could be Smiting an enemy within 2″ isn’t the best deal even if you get D3 back, and there just aren’t enough reasons to jump through the hoops to get the full 3 by hurting your Warpsmith, especially because he can already be healing daemon engines himself. Mutated Invigoration (WC 7). Pick a friendly Chaos Spawn, <LEGION> Possessed, or <LEGION> Cult of Destruction (obliterators/mutilators) within 18″. Until your next Psychic phase, that unit gets to re-roll for Mutated Beyond Reason if it’s a Chaos Spawn (the bonus it gets to its attacks, rolled on a D3), it can re-roll the number of Attacks it gets if it’s a Possessed unit, and it can re-roll one of the dice when determining the Strength, AP, or Damage of a Cult of Destruction’s attacks. This is best-suited to making sure Possessed end up with 2+ Attacks per model, which dramatically increases their melee output. The Obliterator re-rolls are theoretically useful, but Obliterators are usually teleporting in and will be far away from a footbound Master of Possession. It’s solid insurance on Possessed, though. B+

Pick a friendly Chaos Spawn, <LEGION> Possessed, or <LEGION> Cult of Destruction (obliterators/mutilators) within 18″. Until your next Psychic phase, that unit gets to re-roll for Mutated Beyond Reason if it’s a Chaos Spawn (the bonus it gets to its attacks, rolled on a D3), it can re-roll the number of Attacks it gets if it’s a Possessed unit, and it can re-roll one of the dice when determining the Strength, AP, or Damage of a Cult of Destruction’s attacks. This is best-suited to making sure Possessed end up with 2+ Attacks per model, which dramatically increases their melee output. The Obliterator re-rolls are theoretically useful, but Obliterators are usually teleporting in and will be far away from a footbound Master of Possession. It’s solid insurance on Possessed, though. Possession (WC 5). Until the start of your next Psychic phase, the AP on the Psyker’s melee weapons improves by 2 and each time he destroys an INFANTRY Character in the Fight phase, you can add a Chaos Spawn model to your army, or a Greater Possessed if the model killed was an ADEPTUS ASTARTES or HERETIC ASTARTES. If he kills a vehicle, it automatically explodes – no roll is made and the psyker is immune to the explosion results. You only get the Possessed or Spawn if you can pay the reinforcement points for it, making this not particularly useful for anything other than buffing your Master of Possession in melee, where having an AP-3 Force Stave isn’t so bad, but you aren’t liable to kill too many things with it. C

Until the start of your next Psychic phase, the AP on the Psyker’s melee weapons improves by 2 and each time he destroys an INFANTRY Character in the Fight phase, you can add a Chaos Spawn model to your army, or a Greater Possessed if the model killed was an ADEPTUS ASTARTES or HERETIC ASTARTES. If he kills a vehicle, it automatically explodes – no roll is made and the psyker is immune to the explosion results. You only get the Possessed or Spawn if you can pay the reinforcement points for it, making this not particularly useful for anything other than buffing your Master of Possession in melee, where having an AP-3 Force Stave isn’t so bad, but you aren’t liable to kill too many things with it. Cursed Earth (WC 7). Improve the Invulnerable save of friendly <LEGION> Daemon units by 1 (to a max of 3+) while they’re within 6″ of this psyker until your next Psychic Phase. This is a huge buff, turning most of those 5+ auras into 4+ and stacking with Weaver of Fates to get to that 3+. The fact that it’s an aura means that you’ll need to keep your Master of Possession with the units he’s buffing, but it also means you can boost multiple units or Daemon engines at the same time. This and Infernal Power are where the real money is at in the Malefic Discipline. A

Improve the Invulnerable save of friendly <LEGION> Daemon units by 1 (to a max of 3+) while they’re within 6″ of this psyker until your next Psychic Phase. This is a huge buff, turning most of those 5+ auras into 4+ and stacking with to get to that 3+. The fact that it’s an aura means that you’ll need to keep your Master of Possession with the units he’s buffing, but it also means you can boost multiple units or Daemon engines at the same time. This and are where the real money is at in the Malefic Discipline. Infernal Power (WC 6). Until the next Psychic Phase, re-roll hit and wound rolls of 1 for friendly <LEGION> Daemon units within 6″ of the Psyker. This is the big money power for Possessed bombs. It’s easy to cast and powerful as hell. Works wonderfully on Daemon Engines as well, and re-rolling wounds in the Shooting phase is generally not something that Chaos Space Marines have access to. A

Prayers to the Dark Gods

With the release of Vigilus Ablaze and the new Dark Apostle unit, Chaos Space Marines got access to a whole new set of buffs with Prayers to the Dark Gods, which were cool and unique until Space Marines got a million of them, including chapter-specific litanies. Every Dark Apostle knows the Dark Zealotry prayer by default (though there’s frustratingly no card in the faction’s Datacards for this), plus one chosen from the list of 6 prayers, plus an additional god-specific one if they have a Mark of Chaos.

Most Prayers to the Dark Gods affect a single target unit, which allows units to move away from the Dark Apostle as needed after receiving a buff (though they’ll be out of position the following turn if this happens). Prayers happen at the start of the Battle Round, which is great for Benediction of Darkness but also means they’re generally going to be a pain to remember, and they go off on a 3+, though this can be improved to a 2+ by spending 10 points on a couple of Dark Disciples, something you’re always going to want to do. Like all the new powers, Prayers are locked into only affecting the <LEGION> of the Dark Apostle chanting them.

Dark Zealotry – Re-roll hit rolls in the Fight phase for attacks made by friendly <LEGION> units within 6″ of this priest. This is a fine ability, but will usually play second fiddle to everything else you want to do, since a lot of the other prayers do things that you can’t really get anywhere else in the Chaos Space Marines army. That’s OK though, because it’s literally free. The downside is that you are going to forget it exists because there’s no card for it. B-

Re-roll hit rolls in the Fight phase for attacks made by friendly <LEGION> units within 6″ of this priest. This is a fine ability, but will usually play second fiddle to everything else you want to do, since a lot of the other prayers do things that you can’t really get anywhere else in the Chaos Space Marines army. That’s OK though, because it’s literally free. The downside is that you are going to forget it exists because there’s no card for it. Benediction of Darkness – Pick a friendly <LEGION> unit within 6″ and until the start of the next battle round, subtract 1 from hit rolls made for attacks with ranged weapons that target that unit. This is a great way to boost a unit’s longevity, and works on anything in your army, making it great for making things like Kytans and Lords of Skulls more survivable as well as massive squads of Possessed. The only downside is the range, which makes it really easy to “outkick your coverage” with a unit that will get the prayer bonus, then be out of range to get it again next turn. A

Pick a friendly <LEGION> unit within 6″ and until the start of the next battle round, subtract 1 from hit rolls made for attacks with ranged weapons that target that unit. This is a great way to boost a unit’s longevity, and works on anything in your army, making it great for making things like Kytans and Lords of Skulls more survivable as well as massive squads of Possessed. The only downside is the range, which makes it really easy to “outkick your coverage” with a unit that will get the prayer bonus, then be out of range to get it again next turn. Litany of Despair – Your opponent has to roll 2D6 and drop the lowest when they take a morale test for a unit within 6″ of this priest. This is easily the least exciting prayer and will rarely be more useful than well, any of the others. C-

Your opponent has to roll 2D6 and drop the lowest when they take a morale test for a unit within 6″ of this priest. This is easily the least exciting prayer and will rarely be more useful than well, any of the others. Omen of Potency – The priest gets +3 Attacks and his melee weapons become AP-4. Dark Apostles aren’t exactly big melee fighters, what with their 3 Attacks at S5. Upping them to 7 attacks on the charge with AP-4 is a significant improvement, but it’s not giving you enough that it’s worth taking this over buffing nearby units. C+

The priest gets +3 Attacks and his melee weapons become AP-4. Dark Apostles aren’t exactly big melee fighters, what with their 3 Attacks at S5. Upping them to 7 attacks on the charge with AP-4 is a significant improvement, but it’s not giving you enough that it’s worth taking this over buffing nearby units. Warp-Sight Plea – Pick a friendly <LEGION> unit within 6″. Add 1 to hit rolls for attacks made by ranged weapons for models in that unit. A great way to boost the shooting efficiency of a unit, and a good supplement/redundancy to Prescience on a Sorcerer. Shame it doesn’t affect melee attacks though, since it would have been wonderful to get another +1 to trigger some of the abilities that CSM have in the Fight phase. A

– Pick a friendly <LEGION> unit within 6″. Add 1 to hit rolls for attacks made by ranged weapons for models in that unit. A great way to boost the shooting efficiency of a unit, and a good supplement/redundancy to Prescience on a Sorcerer. Shame it doesn’t affect melee attacks though, since it would have been wonderful to get another +1 to trigger some of the abilities that CSM have in the Fight phase. Soultearer Portent – Pick a friendly <LEGION> unit within 6″. Add 1 to wound rolls for attacks made with melee weapons by models in that unit. Another great buff, and one that combines well with Veterans of the Long War to ensure that you’re wounding your targets on a 2+/3+. It’s extremely good with Nurgle flavoured Possessed bombs. The downside is that it requires you moving up and getting in with your Dark Apostle, which is a lot tougher than hanging back and dropping Warp-Sight Plea and Benediction of Darkness. A



– Pick a friendly <LEGION> unit within 6″. Add 1 to wound rolls for attacks made with melee weapons by models in that unit. Another great buff, and one that combines well with to ensure that you’re wounding your targets on a 2+/3+. It’s extremely good with Nurgle flavoured Possessed bombs. The downside is that it requires you moving up and getting in with your Dark Apostle, which is a lot tougher than hanging back and dropping Warp-Sight Plea and Benediction of Darkness. Illusory Supplication – Friendly <LEGION> models within 6″ have a 5+ invulnerable save. This is a really solid ability for when your Priest is going to be babysitting units like large blobs of Cultists on an objective, where the lack of a decent armor save makes them easy to kill and a 5+ invulnerable save (plus a 5+ feel no pain from the Delightful Agonies psychic power, ideally), can really give them staying power. On the other hand, most of the units you’re going to bring with you are either already rocking a 5+ invulnerable save, or are too fast for the Apostle to keep up, really limiting the usefulness of this prayer in a Chaos Space Marines army. B

God-Specific Prayers

You get these free if your Apostle has a mark. All four of them boost the Dark Apostle chanting them, and mostly they’re helpful in a pinch as a “back-up strategy for when your Apostle is getting into combat and wouldn’t be better off firing off his main chosen power or Dark Zealotry.

Khorne: Wrathful Entreaty – The priest gets +2 Strength. Lets you swing at S7, which is a strong upside against vehicles, and less useful against other targets since you were already S5. C+

– The priest gets +2 Strength. Lets you swing at S7, which is a strong upside against vehicles, and less useful against other targets since you were already S5. Tzeentch: Mutating Invocation – The priest regains D3 lost wounds. Priests don’t have a ton of wounds to begin with, so chances are once you’ve started losing them, you’re going to die, but if you’re holding on it’s got some utility. C+

– The priest regains D3 lost wounds. Priests don’t have a ton of wounds to begin with, so chances are once you’ve started losing them, you’re going to die, but if you’re holding on it’s got some utility. Nurgle: Feculent Beseechment – The Priest gets +2 Toughness. More useful overall than +2 Strength or regaining D3 wounds as it helps you avoid losing them in the first place pretty well and stops you from being wounded on a 2+ by most attackers. Helpful when you’re facing down a pretty nasty opponent and you just need to survive one extra round to hold them up. B-

– The Priest gets +2 Toughness. More useful overall than +2 Strength or regaining D3 wounds as it helps you avoid losing them in the first place pretty well and stops you from being wounded on a 2+ by most attackers. Helpful when you’re facing down a pretty nasty opponent and you just need to survive one extra round to hold them up. Slaanesh: Blissful Devotion – The priest can Advance and Charge in the same turn. This is the least exciting buff, but lowkey the most useful, since it helps your Apostle stay in lockstep with some of the units you’ll likely want to be buffing if you want his aura buffing units that are going to be getting stuck in for melee combat. Note that you won’t need it if you’re running Red Corsairs, but in most other cases, this is a strong backup to have. A-

Stratagems

Chaos Space Marines have access to an OK number of Stratagems through their Codex, and access to a significantly larger number through supplements like Vigilus Ablaze and Faith and Fury, though those are gated/specific to certain subfactions so we’ll cover those under the section for each subfaction. Here we’ll be covering the ones that every Chaos Space Marines detachment has access to, excluding the legion-specific ones that are usable in mixed detachments. We’ll note which ones those are in our Legions section.

Beseech the Chaos Gods (1 CP). Use at the start of your turn to give a unit that didn’t dedicate itself to a Chaos God a Mark for the rest of the game. In theory this allows you to be very versatile, making game-time decisions on what buffs you want to have for a unit. In practice, it’s very clunky and the number of cases where it is useful is small enough that you’re better off marking the unit during list building and saving the CP. If you really want to go this route, the Black Legion have a better version. C-

Use at the start of your turn to give a unit that didn’t dedicate itself to a Chaos God a Mark for the rest of the game. In theory this allows you to be very versatile, making game-time decisions on what buffs you want to have for a unit. In practice, it’s very clunky and the number of cases where it is useful is small enough that you’re better off marking the unit during list building and saving the CP. If you really want to go this route, the Black Legion have a better version. Blasphemous Machines (1 CP). Use when a Heretic Astartes vehicle shoots in the Shooting phase. Until the end of the phase you can ignore penalties for moving and shooting or advancing and firing assault weapons. This is a helpful buff, particular on your daemon engine vehicles that start at BS 4+. Not quite as good as Daemonforge, but they work well together anyways. A

Use when a Heretic Astartes vehicle shoots in the Shooting phase. Until the end of the phase you can ignore penalties for moving and shooting or advancing and firing assault weapons. This is a helpful buff, particular on your daemon engine vehicles that start at BS 4+. Not quite as good as Daemonforge, but they work well together anyways. Chaos Boon (1 CP). Use at the end of a Fight phase after one of your non-Daemon characters kills an enemy Character, Vehicle, or Monster. Roll 2D6 and you get a random buff. On the low end, this can turn you into a Chaos Spawn (2) and on the high end you can become a Daemon Prince (12), though note that this result may be worse than what you had if the unit rolling was a special character. The rest are OK, and most of the time you’ll get to choose which non-spawn or non-daemon prince buff you want because a 7 lets you do that. On the other hand, it’s a hard feat to pull off, the risk is too high, and most of the buffs don’t matter that much if they happen that late in the game. To make matters worse, this thing takes up the space of four Stratagems, robbing Chaos Space Marines of 3 other strats and reducing the total number the faction has access to. That alone is enough to make this Stratagem detestable. D

Use at the end of a Fight phase after one of your non-Daemon characters kills an enemy Character, Vehicle, or Monster. Roll 2D6 and you get a random buff. On the low end, this can turn you into a Chaos Spawn (2) and on the high end you can become a Daemon Prince (12), though note that this result may be worse than what you had if the unit rolling was a special character. The rest are OK, and most of the time you’ll get to choose which non-spawn or non-daemon prince buff you want because a 7 lets you do that. On the other hand, it’s a hard feat to pull off, the risk is too high, and most of the buffs don’t matter that much if they happen that late in the game. To make matters worse, this thing takes up the space of four Stratagems, robbing Chaos Space Marines of 3 other strats and reducing the total number the faction has access to. That alone is enough to make this Stratagem detestable. Chaos Familiar (1 CP). Use at the start of your Psychic phase to replace a power on any Heretic Astartes Psyker with one from the Dark Hereticus discipline. Helpful if you need to quickly pivot to a different power mid-battle, or if you want to get cute you can use it to get Dark Hereticus powers on a Master of Possession. Neither is particularly strong. C+

Use at the start of your Psychic phase to replace a power on any Heretic Astartes Psyker with one from the Dark Hereticus discipline. Helpful if you need to quickly pivot to a different power mid-battle, or if you want to get cute you can use it to get Dark Hereticus powers on a Master of Possession. Neither is particularly strong. Daemonforge (1 CP). Use in the Shooting or Fight phase when a Daemon Vehicle is chosen to attack. You can re-roll failed hit and wound rolls for that model for the rest of the phase. This is also very, very good. Many of the faction’s best units are Daemon Engines and so being able to quickly and cheaply tap into free re-rolls for them makes things like the Lord of Skulls and the Venomcrawler all the more deadly. A

Use in the Shooting or Fight phase when a Daemon Vehicle is chosen to attack. You can re-roll failed hit and wound rolls for that model for the rest of the phase. This is also very, very good. Many of the faction’s best units are Daemon Engines and so being able to quickly and cheaply tap into free re-rolls for them makes things like the Lord of Skulls and the Venomcrawler all the more deadly. Daemon Shell (1 CP). Use just before a Heretic Astartes character fires a bolt pistol, boltgun, combi-bolter, or a bolter in a combi weapon. You only get to make a single hit roll which you can’t re-roll and if you hit, the target takes D3 mortal wounds, but if you miss, you take D3 mortal wounds. This can be helpful in a pinch but it’s a Stratagem that never sees use because you’re using your CP for everything else. C

Use just before a Heretic Astartes character fires a bolt pistol, boltgun, combi-bolter, or a bolter in a combi weapon. You only get to make a single hit roll which you can’t re-roll and if you hit, the target takes D3 mortal wounds, but if you miss, you take D3 mortal wounds. This can be helpful in a pinch but it’s a Stratagem that never sees use because you’re using your CP for everything else. Endless Cacophony (2 CP). Use at the end of your Shooting phase and pick a SLAANESH Infantry or Biker unit. It gets to immediately shoot again. This is one of the faction’s best powers, and the reason you’ll often want your shooting units marked as Slaanesh. Works wonderfully on Obliterators, Bikers, Terminators, and Havocs. A+

Use at the end of your Shooting phase and pick a SLAANESH Infantry or Biker unit. It gets to immediately shoot again. This is one of the faction’s best powers, and the reason you’ll often want your shooting units marked as Slaanesh. Works wonderfully on Obliterators, Bikers, Terminators, and Havocs. Fire Frenzy (1 CP). Use in the Shooting phase, before a Helbrute shoots. If it didn’t move in the Movement phase, you can fire all of its weapons twice at the nearest visible enemy unit. Note that this doesn’t work on HELBRUTES, it only works on Helbrute units (so not Leviathans or Contemptors and the like). Regular Helbrute shooting is bad enough that if you’re taking one, it’s going to be as a cheap melee threat, and that means you’re never going to have a use for this. Best-case, you might use it on a Sonic Dreadnought holding a missile launcher, but even that’s a stretch and the closest target restriction kills it. C



Use in the Shooting phase, before a Helbrute shoots. If it didn’t move in the Movement phase, you can fire all of its weapons twice at the nearest visible enemy unit. Note that this doesn’t work on HELBRUTES, it only works on Helbrute units (so not Leviathans or Contemptors and the like). Regular Helbrute shooting is bad enough that if you’re taking one, it’s going to be as a cheap melee threat, and that means you’re never going to have a use for this. Best-case, you might use it on a Sonic Dreadnought holding a missile launcher, but even that’s a stretch and the closest target restriction kills it. Flakk Missile (1 CP). Use when an infantry model fires off a missile launcher at a unit that can FLY. You only make a single hit roll this phase, but you add 1 to the hit roll and if you hit the target takes D3 mortal wounds. This is a situational tactic in the best of times, and often won’t be something you’re seriously considering. You also will rarely if ever even have missile launchers in your army to begin with. C

Use when an infantry model fires off a missile launcher at a unit that can FLY. You only make a single hit roll this phase, but you add 1 to the hit roll and if you hit the target takes D3 mortal wounds. This is a situational tactic in the best of times, and often won’t be something you’re seriously considering. You also will rarely if ever even have missile launchers in your army to begin with. Fury of Khorne (3 CP). Use at the end of the Fight phase. Pick a KHORNE Infantry or Biker unit and it can immediately fight again. Yeah, Space Marines get this for any any of their guys and you only get it for Khorne but it’s still a powerful tool in your arsenal and particularly brutal when paired with Berserkers, who get to pile in, fight, and consolidate three times. It’s also great on Terminators and Abaddon. Real shame you can’t use it with Lords Discordant, though. A

Use at the end of the Fight phase. Pick a KHORNE Infantry or Biker unit and it can immediately fight again. Yeah, Space Marines get this for any any of their guys and you only get it for Khorne but it’s still a powerful tool in your arsenal and particularly brutal when paired with Berserkers, who get to pile in, fight, and consolidate three times. It’s also great on Terminators and Abaddon. Real shame you can’t use it with Lords Discordant, though. Grandfather’s Blessings (2 CP). Use at the end of your Movement phase on a Heretic Astartes NURGLE Infantry or Biker unit. A model in that unit heals D3 wounds or, if no models have missing wounds, then you can return a single dead model back to the unit. This is going to give you the most bang for your buck when combined with units that have expensive multi-wound models. The most notable of these being Obliterators, where being able to potentially return one is a huge points boost. Otherwise, it’s situationally OK on Possessed or Bikes, and you’ll usually want to spend your CP elsewhere. C+

Use at the end of your Movement phase on a Heretic Astartes NURGLE Infantry or Biker unit. A model in that unit heals D3 wounds or, if no models have missing wounds, then you can return a single dead model back to the unit. This is going to give you the most bang for your buck when combined with units that have expensive multi-wound models. The most notable of these being Obliterators, where being able to potentially return one is a huge points boost. Otherwise, it’s situationally OK on Possessed or Bikes, and you’ll usually want to spend your CP elsewhere. Killshot (1 CP). If you have 3 <LEGION> Chaos Predators within 6″ of each other in the Shooting phase, you can pop this to give them +1 to wound rolls and damage rolls against MONSTERS and VEHICLES for the phase. It’s a decent buff, but it’s not a good enough reason to bring three predators and if you lose one you’re suddenly holding nothing. C+

If you have 3 <LEGION> Chaos Predators within 6″ of each other in the Shooting phase, you can pop this to give them +1 to wound rolls and damage rolls against MONSTERS and VEHICLES for the phase. It’s a decent buff, but it’s not a good enough reason to bring three predators and if you lose one you’re suddenly holding nothing. Linebreaker Bombardment (1 CP). If you have 3 <LEGION> Chaos Vindicators within 6″ of each other, you can, instead of shooting with any of them, pick a point on the battlefield within 24″ of all three and roll a D6 for each unit within 3″ of that point, adding 1 if the unit has 10+ models and subtracting 1 if it’s a character. On a 4+ the unit takes 3D3 mortal wounds. This is a holdover from early edition design and while Marines had their relevant Stratagems removed, Chaos Space Marines are stuck with theirs. Even with a gun buff Vindicators aren’t good enough to make this work; they aren’t fast enough or tough enough to make this reliable, and they aren’t good enough on their own to make it worth it if you lose a Vindicator on turn 1 and can’t use this stratagem. C

If you have 3 <LEGION> Chaos Vindicators within 6″ of each other, you can, instead of shooting with any of them, pick a point on the battlefield within 24″ of all three and roll a D6 for each unit within 3″ of that point, adding 1 if the unit has 10+ models and subtracting 1 if it’s a character. On a 4+ the unit takes 3D3 mortal wounds. This is a holdover from early edition design and while Marines had their relevant Stratagems removed, Chaos Space Marines are stuck with theirs. Even with a gun buff Vindicators aren’t good enough to make this work; they aren’t fast enough or tough enough to make this reliable, and they aren’t good enough on their own to make it worth it if you lose a Vindicator on turn 1 and can’t use this stratagem. The Great Sorcerer (1 CP). Use at the end of the Psychic phase to allow one of your TZEENTCH Heretic Astartes Psykers to manifest one more psychic power this turn. This is a solid way to make sure you’re getting the most out of your Sorcerers, though Tzeentch casters are pretty rare because it’s usually better just to take them as Thousand Sons. B

Use at the end of the Psychic phase to allow one of your TZEENTCH Heretic Astartes Psykers to manifest one more psychic power this turn. This is a solid way to make sure you’re getting the most out of your Sorcerers, though Tzeentch casters are pretty rare because it’s usually better just to take them as Thousand Sons. Tide of Traitors (2 CP). Once per game you can use at the end of your Movement phase to pick up a unit of Chaos Cultists (take them off the battlefield) and set it up again wholly within 6″ of a battlefield edge and more than 9″ away from any enemy models. You can only use this once per game. This is a powerful effect for moving a large squad of Cultists to a key position and it used to be very strong but now that Cultists have been nerfed into irrelevance it’s no longer something you build around. A-

Once per game you can use at the end of your Movement phase to pick up a unit of Chaos Cultists (take them off the battlefield) and set it up again wholly within 6″ of a battlefield edge and more than 9″ away from any enemy models. You can only use this once per game. This is a powerful effect for moving a large squad of Cultists to a key position and it used to be very strong but now that Cultists have been nerfed into irrelevance it’s no longer something you build around. Veterans of the Long War (1 CP). Use when a Heretic Astartes infantry or biker that isn’t from a Renegade Chapter shoots or fights. Add 1 to wound rolls for that unit until the end of the phase. This is one of the core abilities of the Chaos Space Marines army, and an amazingly powerful build-around Stratagem. Being able to up the wound output of a large unit of Bikers, Obliterators, Havocs, Berserkers, or Possessed makes them an incredibly lethal force, and it’s amazing when combined with Stratagems that let you shoot or fight twice, so you can double your return on CP investment. One of the faction’s best Stratagems. A+

Specialist Detachments

The Vigilus campaign (Vigilus Defiant and Vigilus Ablaze) introduced the world to Specialist Detachments. Then those were promptly forgotten and never mentioned again. But for some factions – Chaos Space Marines being the most notable – they’re a very important addition to the army, and make several key builds viable. If you’re a more casual player looking for thematic links, many of them also tie into specific legions (such as the Host Raptorial to the Night Lords and the Devastation Battery to Iron Warriors), but with the exception of the Bringers of Despair (Black Legion), they aren’t restricted in any such way.

Bringers of Despair

The only legion-exclusive Chaos Specialist Detachment, the Bringers of Despair is a Black Legion-only detachment that gives Terminators the BRINGERS OF DESPAIR keyword. This is one of the weirdest specialist detachments, because it’s written in such a way that leads me to believe it was intended for Black Legion armies that aren’t bringing Abaddon, or for armies that pack multiple squads of Terminators like a kind of Black Legion Deathwing. The WL trait is designed around turning a Terminator Lord into a mini-Abaddon, and likewise one of the Stratagems is focused on helping nearby units pass morale. You can use both of these to some effect with Abaddon in your army too, but the reality is that you probably won’t need them.

Warlord Trait: Chosen of the Warmaster. Re-roll hit rolls of 1 for attacks made by friendly BRINGERS OF DESPAIR while they’re within 6″, or if the model was already a Chaos Lord, you can instead re-roll all hit rolls. So you can either give a Terminator Sorcerer a Chaos Lord aura or upgrade a Terminator Chaos Lord’s. The upgrade option here isn’t bad, but there are other warlord traits you’ll likely want more. B

Re-roll hit rolls of 1 for attacks made by friendly BRINGERS OF DESPAIR while they’re within 6″, or if the model was already a Chaos Lord, you can instead re-roll all hit rolls. So you can either give a Terminator Sorcerer a Chaos Lord aura or upgrade a Terminator Chaos Lord’s. The upgrade option here isn’t bad, but there are other warlord traits you’ll likely want more. Relic: Foecleaver. Replaces a power axe with one that’s S+3, AP-2, D3 damage and gives +1 to hit rolls against IMPERIUM units. It’s an interesting kind of near-power fist that works very well with Death to the False Emperor and, if you’re also running Abaddon, can mean proc’ing extra attacks on a 4+ (or a 3+ with the Prescience psychic power). Not too bad! But it’s only against Imperium armies and while those are the most common armies you’ll be up against, it’s not going to do much other than be a semi-power fist against other factions. B

Replaces a power axe with one that’s S+3, AP-2, D3 damage and gives +1 to hit rolls against IMPERIUM units. It’s an interesting kind of near-power fist that works very well with Death to the False Emperor and, if you’re also running Abaddon, can mean proc’ing extra attacks on a 4+ (or a 3+ with the Prescience psychic power). Not too bad! But it’s only against Imperium armies and while those are the most common armies you’ll be up against, it’s not going to do much other than be a semi-power fist against other factions. Stratagem: Brutal Subjugation (1 CP). Use at the start of Fight phase. Pick a Bringers of Despair unit from your army. Each enemy model slain by this unit in the Fight phase counts as double in the following morale phase. This is an interesting way to help boost Terminators’ damage output, since killing 4 intercessors and saddling your opponent with a +8 to their roll is pretty solid, but having to do that before you start swinging makes it a bit harder to predict, and even in those cases, an opponent can just pay the CP to keep a unit around early on. C

Use at the start of Fight phase. Pick a Bringers of Despair unit from your army. Each enemy model slain by this unit in the Fight phase counts as double in the following morale phase. This is an interesting way to help boost Terminators’ damage output, since killing 4 intercessors and saddling your opponent with a +8 to their roll is pretty solid, but having to do that before you start swinging makes it a bit harder to predict, and even in those cases, an opponent can just pay the CP to keep a unit around early on. Stratagem: Chosen Enforcers (1 CP). Use when a friendly HERETIC ASTARTES unit within 18″ of a Bringers of Despair unit takes a Morale test. They automatically pass. This isn’t bad, but it requires you be within 18″ of the Enforcers and you’re paying 1 CP for the opportunity to use it, meaning that you better be using this multiple times or finding value out of the Detachment in some other way if you want to avoid wasting CP. C

Cult of the Damned

The Cult of the Damned is based around running large blobs of Cultists, and affects Dark Apostles, Dark Disciples, and Chaos Cultists, giving them the CULT OF THE DAMNED keyword. At the time it was written, Cultists were 5 points per model and had just lost the ability to get legion traits, plus they were dropped down to squads that maxed out at 30 models. Since then they’ve dropped back to 4 points per model, but the loss of legion traits leaves them as little more than detachment filler these days. The buffs in here are designed around helping keep the Cultists on the table and making them more of a combat threat, but Chaos already has tons of great combat threats, both on the cheap side (Bloodletters) and the elite side (Possessed, Berserkers). This might be more workable if Cultists still came in squads of 40, but in the world we live in, there’s not really an army concept that this detachment helps. If you’re taking a Cult of the Damned Detachment, it’s for the Dark Apostles, which can get to 1+ litany chants with the Chorus of the True Faith Stratagem, but even that’ll be overkill most of the time.

Warlord Trait: Exultant Preacher. You can re-roll charges for friendly Cult of the Damned units within 6″. This is a strong ability if your army is working with a lot of melee cultists. Unfortunately, if your army is built around melee cultists, it’s also really bad. B

You can re-roll charges for friendly Cult of the Damned units within 6″. This is a strong ability if your army is working with a lot of melee cultists. Unfortunately, if your army is built around melee cultists, it’s also really bad. Relic: The Inferno Tome. This gives the bearer a ranged weapon that’s 8″ range, Assault D6, S5 Ap-1, d3 damage, auto-hitting. It’s an interesting additional weapon to have, but not super exciting. Goes on a Dark Apostle and while this detachment will have you racing forward with him alongside combat cultists, it’s still probably not something you want to spend a relic slot on. C

This gives the bearer a ranged weapon that’s 8″ range, Assault D6, S5 Ap-1, d3 damage, auto-hitting. It’s an interesting additional weapon to have, but not super exciting. Goes on a Dark Apostle and while this detachment will have you racing forward with him alongside combat cultists, it’s still probably not something you want to spend a relic slot on. Stratagem: Ritual Offerings (1 CP). Use when an enemy model is destroyed by a Cult of the Damned Cultists unit in the Fight phase. That unit automatically passes Morale tests for the rest of the battle. The “rest of the battle” rider is neat, but the times you want this are for when your Cultist blob has wiped out a unit in combat, but taken enough losses that it’d like take significant morale losses on top of that. With a Dark Apostle nearby, that means losing something like 8+ models, at which point your unit has at most something like 20 models and has already lost a third of its combat efficiency. It’s better than spending 2 CP for Insane Bravery but the entire point of Cultists is that they’re cheap and now you’re spending 1-2 CP to save a 120-point unit of T3 6+ save dorks that will become progressively less effective at fighting. C

Use when an enemy model is destroyed by a Cult of the Damned Cultists unit in the Fight phase. That unit automatically passes Morale tests for the rest of the battle. The “rest of the battle” rider is neat, but the times you want this are for when your Cultist blob has wiped out a unit in combat, but taken enough losses that it’d like take significant morale losses on top of that. With a Dark Apostle nearby, that means losing something like 8+ models, at which point your unit has at most something like 20 models and has already lost a third of its combat efficiency. It’s better than spending 2 CP for Insane Bravery but the entire point of Cultists is that they’re cheap and now you’re spending 1-2 CP to save a 120-point unit of T3 6+ save dorks that will become progressively less effective at fighting. Chorus of the True Faith (1 CP). Use when a Cult of the Damned Dark Apostle in your army chants a prayer. If there are any friendly Cult of the Damned Cultists within 6″ of that Apostle, they get +1 to their prayer attempt. You pair this with Dark Disciples and boom–you’ve got a 1+ prayer roll that you literally cannot fail (as there is no rule saying that a roll of 1 always fails for chanting prayers). This isn’t worth a 2 CP investment to get to this point, since having a 2+ and re-rolling will cover you most of the time just fine, but there’s conceivably a 2 Apostle/3 cultist Battalion that could be funny with this, though it’s hard to imagine that you need 100% reliability on your prayers to make that worth building. B

Daemonkin Ritualists

One of the three Specialists Detachments that sees regular tournament play, the Daemonkin Ritualists detachment gives the Daemonkin Ritualists keyword to all Dark Apostles, Dark Disciples, Masters of Possession, Possessed, and Greater Possessed in the detachment and focuses on buffing Possessed and Masters of Possession. You’re primarily taking this for the Vessels for the Neverborn Stratagem, which is a key buff for the large Possessed squad that makes up the core of the Possessed Bomb strategy. The Warlord Trait is also a strong boost for the unit. The relic and second Stratagem are pretty skippable, though.

Warlord Trait: Shepherd of the True Faith. Each time you roll an unmodified wound roll of 6 for an attack made by a melee weapon for a friendly Daemonkin Ritualists unit within 6″, that attack does an extra mortal wound to the target. The big benefit here is with a 20-man blob of Possessed, where the sheer volume of attacks you’re putting out will mean a reliable stream of additional mortal wounds to finish off your targets, especially bigger ones. B+

Each time you roll an unmodified wound roll of 6 for an attack made by a melee weapon for a friendly Daemonkin Ritualists unit within 6″, that attack does an extra mortal wound to the target. The big benefit here is with a 20-man blob of Possessed, where the sheer volume of attacks you’re putting out will mean a reliable stream of additional mortal wounds to finish off your targets, especially bigger ones. Relic: The Burning Rod. Upgrades a force staff – so basically the Master of Possession’s weapon – to one with S+3, AP-1 and D3 damage, that lets you drop an additional mortal wound on the unit of your choice within 1″ of the bearer. Not nearly strong enough to be worth a relic slot in a Chaos Space Marines army. D

Upgrades a force staff – so basically the Master of Possession’s weapon – to one with S+3, AP-1 and D3 damage, that lets you drop an additional mortal wound on the unit of your choice within 1″ of the bearer. Not nearly strong enough to be worth a relic slot in a Chaos Space Marines army. Stratagem: Vessels of the Neverborn (1 CP). Use at the start of the Fight phase on a Daemonkin Ritualists DAEMON unit from your army that’s within 6″ of a Daemonkin Ritualists Master of Possession. It gets +1 Strength and +1 Attacks until the end of the phase. This is straight fire, and the reason you’re taking this detachment. You will open-palm windmill slam this onto a large squad of Possessed 100% of the time, and this is basically the only reason to have a Master of Possession in your army. Sure, they can do other things, but this is why they’re here. Remember that because it’s until the end of the phase, if you end up fighting twice with Fury of Khorne , the Stratagem still applies. A+

Use at the start of the Fight phase on a Daemonkin Ritualists DAEMON unit from your army that’s within 6″ of a Daemonkin Ritualists Master of Possession. It gets +1 Strength and +1 Attacks until the end of the phase. This is straight fire, and the reason you’re taking this detachment. You will open-palm windmill slam this onto a large squad of Possessed 100% of the time, and this is basically the only reason to have a Master of Possession in your army. Sure, they can do other things, but this is why they’re here. Remember that because it’s until the end of the phase, if you end up fighting twice with , the Stratagem still applies. Stratagem: Souls of the Devoted (1 CP). Use at the start of your Movement phase. Pick a Daemonkin Ritualists POSSESSED unit from your army and a friendly Daemonkin Ritualists character within 6″ of that unit. The Possessed takes D3 mortal wounds and the character regains that many. This is pretty much trash, since your Master of Possession’s protection is the Character rule (and if he’s getting targeted outside of that, he’s not gonna survive to use this), and because your Possessed wounds tend to be more valuable than the Master of Possessed. D

Devastation Battery

The Devastation Battery specialist detachment gives <LEGION> CHAOS LORDS, WARPSMITHS (this includes Lords Discordant), HAVOCS, and OBLITERATORS the DEVASTATION BATTERY keyword and access to a host of useful buffs and Stratagems that really help boost the effectiveness of Chaos Shooting. The only reason this hasn’t made any kind of competitive impact is that Chaos Shooting still stinks, and the best units in the Chaos Shooting arsenal are Forge World Dreadnoughts, who can’t benefit from this detachment. Still, there’s an outside case to be made for running your Obliterators as part of one of these, or if you’re going to run Havocs, you may as well, though you won’t have the most competitive list.

Warlord Trait: Armour Bane. Re-roll wound rolls of 1 for attacks made by friendly Devastation Battery units within 6″ if the target is a vehicle. The real upside here is that, while Marines are lousy with (an even better version of) this ability on Lieutenants, Chaos just doesn’t get many ways to re-roll wounds, and none for shooting, and so it’s a powerful improvement to either Havocs, where you’ll want it on a barebones Chaos Lord to provide double-auras, or on a Terminator Lord teleporting in with Obliterators. The vehicle restriction isn’t ideal but you’ll almost always have a target or two to make use of this. The upside is that the Field Commander Stratagem is used before the start of the battle, giving you a little leeway if you aren’t sure if you want to spend the CP every game. A

Re-roll wound rolls of 1 for attacks made by friendly Devastation Battery units within 6″ if the target is a vehicle. The real upside here is that, while Marines are lousy with (an even better version of) this ability on Lieutenants, Chaos just doesn’t get many ways to re-roll wounds, and none for shooting, and so it’s a powerful improvement to either Havocs, where you’ll want it on a barebones Chaos Lord to provide double-auras, or on a Terminator Lord teleporting in with Obliterators. The vehicle restriction isn’t ideal but you’ll almost always have a target or two to make use of this. The upside is that the Stratagem is used before the start of the battle, giving you a little leeway if you aren’t sure if you want to spend the CP every game. Relic: The Daemon’s Eye. At the start of your Shooting phase, pick a friendly Devastation Battery unit within 6″. Enemy units don’t get the benefit of cover against that unit’s weapon this phase. Another solid ability, though notably worthless if you’re playing Iron Warriors. Helpful against the modern version of the Raven Guard Chapter Tactic, but there will likely be enough games where this doesn’t matter to make not taking it the right move. B-

At the start of your Shooting phase, pick a friendly Devastation Battery unit within 6″. Enemy units don’t get the benefit of cover against that unit’s weapon this phase. Another solid ability, though notably worthless if you’re playing Iron Warriors. Helpful against the modern version of the Raven Guard Chapter Tactic, but there will likely be enough games where this doesn’t matter to make not taking it the right move. Stratagem: Wall-Breakers (1 CP). Use at the start of your Shooting phase. Pick a Devastation Battery unit in your army and you can re-roll damage attacks for ranged weapons in that unit targeting BUILDINGS until the end of the phase. Welp, here’s one of the other reasons no one uses this Detachment. You’re never going to use this ability outside of narrative play. F

Use at the start of your Shooting phase. Pick a Devastation Battery unit in your army and you can re-roll damage attacks for ranged weapons in that unit targeting BUILDINGS until the end of the phase. Welp, here’s one of the other reasons no one uses this Detachment. You’re never going to use this ability outside of narrative play. Stratagem: Punishing Volley (1 CP). Use at the end of your opponent’s first Movement phase, if you didn’t have the first turn. Pick a Devastation Battery unit in your army and it can shoot as if it were the Shooting phase. This is flat-out amazing…if you can actually use it. It’s basically a free extra round of shooting before your opponent gets to take an action, but the requirements that you be going second and have the unit on the table to shoot with means that it’s mostly going to apply to Havocs outfitted with long-range weapons, and your opponent can play around it if they know it’s coming. Still, it’s a powerful ability and it only costs 1 CP. A

Fallen Angels

More a novelty than anything you’d actually use, the Fallen Angels detachment gives the FALLEN ANGELS keyword to a Vanguard Detachment of FALLEN, plus Chaos Rhinos and Chaos Sorcerers, letting you essentially expand the number of Fallen units you can work with. The abilities it gives you aren’t particularly good, and there’s no special warlord trait, only an extra ability that Cypher gets if he’s in there (which he will be, because otherwise what are you even doing).

Agent of Discord. Cypher gets this in a Fallen Angels detachment. It makes it so that enemy units within 12″ of Cypher can’t use any abilities, Warlord Traits, or Relics that let them gain/return/refund CP, and the range on it ups to 18″ while there are 10+ friendly FALLEN ANGELS within 12″ and 24″ if there are 20+. It’s remarkably narrow for a faction that no one plays and given the hoops you have to jump through, but it doesn’t cost you another CP.

Cypher gets this in a Fallen Angels detachment. It makes it so that enemy units within 12″ of Cypher can’t use any abilities, Warlord Traits, or Relics that let them gain/return/refund CP, and the range on it ups to 18″ while there are 10+ friendly FALLEN ANGELS within 12″ and 24″ if there are 20+. It’s remarkably narrow for a faction that no one plays and given the hoops you have to jump through, but it doesn’t cost you another CP. Relic: Caliban Steel Blade. Replaces a force sword with one that gives you D6 damage on wound rolls of 6+. It’s a marginal improvement, but at least you can use Veterans of the Long War to cause it to go off on rolls of a 5+.

Replaces a force sword with one that gives you D6 damage on wound rolls of 6+. It’s a marginal improvement, but at least you can use to cause it to go off on rolls of a 5+. Stratagem: Without a Trace (1 CP). Use at the start of the enemy Shooting phase to give a FALLEN ANGELS unit that is entirely on/within a terrain feature -1 to be hit until the end of the phase. A fine way to help keep a unit of Fallen around, and you can stack it on your FALLEN ANGELS Rhinos’ smoke grenades to get -2 to be hit for one unit. Which won’t really matter because there’s no reason to shoot a rhino full of fallen. C+

Use at the start of the enemy Shooting phase to give a FALLEN ANGELS unit that is entirely on/within a terrain feature -1 to be hit until the end of the phase. A fine way to help keep a unit of Fallen around, and you can stack it on your FALLEN ANGELS Rhinos’ smoke grenades to get -2 to be hit for one unit. Which won’t really matter because there’s no reason to shoot a rhino full of fallen. Stratagem: Ancient Enmity (1 CP). Use when a FALLEN ANGELS unit fights. You can re-roll wound rolls for attacks made by that unit targeting DARK ANGELS until the end of the phase. OK, sure. I mean, if you’re playing with Fallen it’s probably for a narrative game against Dark Angels anyways. D

Host Raptorial

One of the three competitive Specialist Detachment, Host Raptorial gives <LEGION> Jump Pack units the Host Raptorial Keyword. From there the detachment gives you access to a fantastic warlord trait and two solid stratagems – Vicious Descent and Terror Strike, the later of which works very well with the Night Lords rules from Faith & Fury. Armies planning to use Warp Talons as disruption vectors or as melee threats essentially need the Host Raptorial detachment, both for the bonuses it gives and the help it provides making additional charges out of Deep Strike.

Warlord Trait: The Tip of the Claw. Add 2 to charge rolls for HOST RAPTORIAL units within 6″. This is amazingly good, taking you from a 28% chance of making a 9″ charge out of Deep Strike to a 58% chance before you add in any re-rolls. For Warp Talons, who don’t have access to the icon of Khorne, this is extremely important. And because it’s an aura, it can benefit multiple units at a time. If you’re taking Warp Talons, you’re putting them in a Host Raptorial and if you’re taking a Host Raptorial, you’re taking this trait. A+

Add 2 to charge rolls for HOST RAPTORIAL units within 6″. This is amazingly good, taking you from a 28% chance of making a 9″ charge out of Deep Strike to a 58% chance before you add in any re-rolls. For Warp Talons, who don’t have access to the icon of Khorne, this is extremely important. And because it’s an aura, it can benefit multiple units at a time. If you’re taking Warp Talons, you’re putting them in a Host Raptorial and if you’re taking a Host Raptorial, you’re taking this trait. Relic: Chiropteran Wings. When you move over units in the Movement or Charge phases, roll a D6 for every enemy unit you pass over and on a 4+ they suffer D3 mortal wounds. This is an interesting, quirky relic that would be a lot better if you were actually likely to put your warlord on the battlefield turn 1 and have him jump over units. Otherwise it’s a fun ability but you want your Jump Pack Lord to be a murderblender in melee combat and this isn’t as good as your other options, which is a bit of a shame. C+

When you move over units in the Movement or Charge phases, roll a D6 for every enemy unit you pass over and on a 4+ they suffer D3 mortal wounds. This is an interesting, quirky relic that would be a lot better if you were actually likely to put your warlord on the battlefield turn 1 and have him jump over units. Otherwise it’s a fun ability but you want your Jump Pack Lord to be a murderblender in melee combat and this isn’t as good as your other options, which is a bit of a shame. Stratagem: Vicious Descent (1 CP). Use when a Host Raptorial unit is set up on the table at the end of the Movement phase. You can re-roll hit rolls for that unit until the end of the turn. OK so on the plus side, this is really strong and you want to use it almost every game. Also, it’s worded so it can help you with shooting if you decide to bring Raptors as a fun goof. On the other hand, that same wording will screw you over time and again because you’re going to forget the correct timing for using this Stratagem. Strong ability, just set a reminder or make sure you don’t forget to pop it off before your Movement phase ends. A

Use when a Host Raptorial unit is set up on the table at the end of the Movement phase. You can re-roll hit rolls for that unit until the end of the turn. OK so on the plus side, this is really strong and you want to use it almost every game. Also, it’s worded so it can help you with shooting if you decide to bring Raptors as a fun goof. On the other hand, that same wording will screw you over time and again because you’re going to forget the correct timing for using this Stratagem. Strong ability, just set a reminder or make sure you don’t forget to pop it off before your Movement phase ends. Stratagem: Terror Strike (1 CP). Use when an enemy unit is destroyed by a Host Raptorial unit from your army. Enemy units within 6″ of that unit get -1 to their Ld until the end of the turn. Theoretically you can stack this in the Shooting and Fight phases if you get real solid with Raptors and Warp Talons but more realistically you’d use it after mulching a unit with Warp Talons. It’s near worthless on its own but combined with the Ld modifiers you can get from the Night Lords’ Legion Trait, you can easily get that to -3 or -4 and turn 1-2 casualties on a squad into something more troubling. C+

Soulforged Pack

The third competitive Chaos Space Marines Detachment, though less popular than it used to be. The Soulforged Pack gives the SOULFORGED PACK keyword to WARPSMITH (nb: Lords Discordant have this) and DAEMON ENGINE units. The key benefits of this detachment are based around pushing Daemon Engines into melee combat. It’s good with the faction’s best Daemon Engines, both smaller options like the Venomcrawler or Maulerfiend, and larger options like the Kytan Daemon Engine or the Lord of Skulls. If you’re taking Daemon Engines, you want this, if only for the ability to get additional movement and the ability to Advance and Charge in the same turn.

Warlord Trait: Master of the Soulforges. Add 2″ to the Move characteristic of friendly Soulforged Pack Daemon Engines within 6″. A nice little boost that’s particularly good for Daemon Engines that want to get into melee combat as quickly as possible. You want to give this to a Lord Discordant, who will benefit from the boost himself, and going from 10″ to 12″ movement is a solid upgrade and it’ll help him keep up. A

Add 2″ to the Move characteristic of friendly Soulforged Pack Daemon Engines within 6″. A nice little boost that’s particularly good for Daemon Engines that want to get into melee combat as quickly as possible. You want to give this to a Lord Discordant, who will benefit from the boost himself, and going from 10″ to 12″ movement is a solid upgrade and it’ll help him keep up. Relic: Mecha-Serpents. Custom mechatendrils (they replace a Warpsmith’s/Lord Discordant’s Mechatendrils) that do exactly one additional attack for each enemy model within 1″ at S+1, AP-1 and 2 damage. It’s interesting, but unlikely to be something your Lord Discordant actually gets much use out of, despite his large base size. The upside is that there are plenty of other things you’d rather give a Lord Discordant. C

Custom mechatendrils (they replace a Warpsmith’s/Lord Discordant’s Mechatendrils) that do exactly one additional attack for each enemy model within 1″ at S+1, AP-1 and 2 damage. It’s interesting, but unlikely to be something your Lord Discordant actually gets much use out of, despite his large base size. The upside is that there are plenty of other things you’d rather give a Lord Discordant. Stratagem: Daemonforge Overdrive (1 CP). Use at the start of the Fight phase. Pick a Soulforged Pack Daemon Engine in your army. It counts as having double the number of wounds left for the purposes of determining which profile to use. This is a nifty ability to have in your back pocket, but keep in mind that some Daemon Engines improve at melee combat as their wounds decrease. B

Use at the start of the Fight phase. Pick a Soulforged Pack Daemon Engine in your army. It counts as having double the number of wounds left for the purposes of determining which profile to use. This is a nifty ability to have in your back pocket, but keep in mind that some Daemon Engines improve at melee combat as their wounds decrease. Stratagem: Infernal Engines (1 CP). Use at the start of your Charge phase to let a Soulforged Pack Daemon Engine Charge even if it Advanced this turn. This is really good and for some high-movement daemon engines like the Kytan, pretty much guarantees you can get off a turn 1 charge. Just make sure you don’t outkick your coverage with your extra speed. A

Warlord Traits

Chaos Space Marines warlords have access to 6 generic traits in the codex, plus a set specific to legions that were reprinted in Faith and Fury along with new legion-specific traits, so we’ll talk about those later on. The Codex Warlord Traits are, overall, fine but not amazing-but Vigilus and Faith & Fury add some real gems (which we’ll cover in the legion sections). Shadowspear also added 6 additional traits exclusive to psykers that have inexplicably not been reprinted anywhere but are very solid, particularly if you’re playing a Black Legion or Alpha Legion army, each of which is able to take multiple warlord traits.

Codex Warlord Traits

Eternal Vendetta. Re-roll failed wound rolls in the Fight phase against ADEPTUS ASTARTES targets. Cool against Marines but completely worthless at all other times. F

Re-roll failed wound rolls in the Fight phase against ADEPTUS ASTARTES targets. Cool against Marines but completely worthless at all other times. Flames of Spite. If you roll a 6+ to wound with a melee attack made by your warlord, the target takes 1 mortal wound in addition to any other damage. This can be really nasty when paired with a Dark Apostle and Veterans of the Long War, allowing you to knock out mortal wounds on rolls of a 4+. It’s also pretty solid on a Warlord who can put out a ton of attacks, most notably a Lord Discordant. B

If you roll a 6+ to wound with a melee attack made by your warlord, the target takes 1 mortal wound in addition to any other damage. This can be really nasty when paired with a Dark Apostle and Veterans of the Long War, allowing you to knock out mortal wounds on rolls of a 4+. It’s also pretty solid on a Warlord who can put out a ton of attacks, most notably a Lord Discordant. Unholy Fortitude. Your Warlord gets +1 Wound and ignores incoming damage on a 6+++. Won’t make your warlord any better in combat, but will help keep them alive and can be particularly helpful on a larger target like the Lord Discordant. B

Your Warlord gets +1 Wound and ignores incoming damage on a 6+++. Won’t make your warlord any better in combat, but will help keep them alive and can be particularly helpful on a larger target like the Lord Discordant. Hatred Incarnate. Re-roll wound rolls of 1 for attacks made by your Warlord. This is solid, particularly if you aren’t going to have an Exalted Champion around – which is most of the time. It’s not amazing, but it’s among the better Codex options. B

Re-roll wound rolls of 1 for attacks made by your Warlord. This is solid, particularly if you aren’t going to have an Exalted Champion around – which is most of the time. It’s not amazing, but it’s among the better Codex options. Lord of Terror. When enemy units take morale tests within 6” of your warlord, they roll 2D6 and take the highest result. This will rarely matter, though it can potentially be a little bit more valuable if you’re rocking a lot of Night Lords morale debuffs. Still not worth taking over your other options, though. D

When enemy units take morale tests within 6” of your warlord, they roll 2D6 and take the highest result. This will rarely matter, though it can potentially be a little bit more valuable if you’re rocking a lot of Night Lords morale debuffs. Still not worth taking over your other options, though. Exalted Champion. You get +1 Attack. If there’s a less flashy trait than this, I’m not sure what it is. Still, it may not be flashy, but it’s solid and Chaos Warlords will take all the attacks they can get. A

Shadowspear Warlord Traits

If a Psyker Character is your Warlord, you can generate a trait for him from this table instead of the of the one in Codex: Chaos Space Marines. These are solid but haven’t been printed anywhere else, and can be kind of a chore to find. These are particularly useful for Black Legion armies using the Council of Traitors Stratagem to get warlord traits on a Dark Apostle and a Sorcerer.

Arch-Sorcerer. Your Warlord knows an extra psychic power from any discipline they have access to. A great way to get that third power you often need if you want the extra versatility on your sorcerer, so you can have Warptime, Prescience, and either Death Hex or the god-specific power. A

Your Warlord knows an extra psychic power from any discipline they have access to. A great way to get that third power you often need if you want the extra versatility on your sorcerer, so you can have Warptime, Prescience, and either Death Hex or the god-specific power. Devourer of Magic. Your Warlord can attempt to deny an extra power each phase, and when they do they regain 1 lost wound each time they successfully deny. The extra deny is a pretty nice bonus here, and regaining wounds is just icing on the cake. B

Your Warlord can attempt to deny an extra power each phase, and when they do they regain 1 lost wound each time they successfully deny. The extra deny is a pretty nice bonus here, and regaining wounds is just icing on the cake. Reader of Fate. Once per battle, you can re-roll a failed Psychic test or Deny the Witch attempt. In addition, each time your warlord manifests a psychic power, roll a D6 and on a 6 you gain 1 CP. This is also a neat way to help push through powers and save CP, and is one of a very few means that Chaos Space Marines have to regain CP (the other being the Trusted War-Leader Warlord Trait). B

Once per battle, you can re-roll a failed Psychic test or Deny the Witch attempt. In addition, each time your warlord manifests a psychic power, roll a D6 and on a 6 you gain 1 CP. This is also a neat way to help push through powers and save CP, and is one of a very few means that Chaos Space Marines have to regain CP (the other being the Warlord Trait). Infernal Gaze. Increases the range on Smite to 24″ for your Warlord. Neat, but Thousand Sons just get this as their legion trait and there’s nothing stopping you from taking a detachment of those. A

Increases the range on Smite to 24″ for your Warlord. Neat, but Thousand Sons just get this as their legion trait and there’s nothing stopping you from taking a detachment of those. Warp Lord. You can re-roll rolls of 1 when taking a Psychic test for your warlord. One of the few dependable ways to help improve your casting odds that Chaos Space Marines have access to, and a great way to help avoid getting Perils of the Warp. Extremely helpful for ensuring that you get off Prescience when you need it. A

You can re-roll rolls of 1 when taking a Psychic test for your warlord. One of the few dependable ways to help improve your casting odds that Chaos Space Marines have access to, and a great way to help avoid getting Perils of the Warp. Extremely helpful for ensuring that you get off Prescience when you need it. Daemon-Bound Power. Add 1 to your Warlord’s Strength and you can re-roll damage rolls for their force weapon. This is really only going to matter on Sorcerers and Masters of Possession (Daemon Princes can still take this but all they get is +1 Strength, though that’s not nothing), and most of the time you won’t want to focus on making those better at melee when they could be better at casting. C

Relics

Chaos Space Marines have access to a variety of relics; there are those in their codex, which include a set of god-specific relics and a set of legion-specific relics, plus another set of legion-specific relics in Vigilus and Faith & Fury. Note that legion relics are not locked to legion detachments — even those in Faith and Fury can be taken for a <LEGION> character as long as the Warlord is a Chaos Space Marines character (you don’t need a legion detachment). Overall the Chaos Space Marine relics are pretty damn good – there’s something for every build here, and almost every legion has at least one stand-out relic.

Talisman of Burning Blood – KHORNE model only. You can advance and charge in the same turn, and you can re-roll failed charges. Great relic, great boost for a Khorne character, and a great way to make sure you are keeping up with a unit holding an Icon of Wrath. A

KHORNE model only. You can advance and charge in the same turn, and you can re-roll failed charges. Great relic, great boost for a Khorne character, and a great way to make sure you are keeping up with a unit holding an Icon of Wrath. Eye of Tzeentch – TZEENTCH model only. Get +1 to your Psychic tests when attempting to manifest Smite. Just kind of a “meh” bonus, especially when there are other options out there. C

– TZEENTCH model only. Get +1 to your Psychic tests when attempting to manifest Smite. Just kind of a “meh” bonus, especially when there are other options out there. Intoxicating Elixir – SLAANESH model only. The model gets +1 to its Strength and Attacks. Straight upgrade to any character you slap it on, especially Daemon Princes, Lord Discordants and Smash Lords, and it’s relevant on all three. Lords Discordant in particular enjoy having 9 Strength on the Charge and 8 afterward, and the extra Attack is especially meaningful when it can also proc additional attacks thanks to the Flawless Host legion and Warlord traits. A

– SLAANESH model only. The model gets +1 to its Strength and Attacks. Straight upgrade to any character you slap it on, especially Daemon Princes, Lord Discordants and Smash Lords, and it’s relevant on all three. Lords Discordant in particular enjoy having 9 Strength on the Charge and 8 afterward, and the extra Attack is especially meaningful when it can also proc additional attacks thanks to the legion and Warlord traits. Puscleaver – NURGLE model only. Replaces a power sword with a relic that’s S User, AP-2, D3 Damage but it wounds on a 2+ if the target isn’t a VEHICLE. Cute, but dropping to AP-2 hurts it and most of the time the Murder Sword is a better option. C

NURGLE model only. Replaces a power sword with a relic that’s S User, AP-2, D3 Damage but it wounds on a 2+ if the target isn’t a VEHICLE. Cute, but dropping to AP-2 hurts it and most of the time the Murder Sword is a better option. Axe of Blind Fury – KHORNE model only. Replaces a power axe with one that is S+3, AP-3, D3 damage and gives the bearer Kharn’s ability, i.e. you can’t re-roll hit rolls of 1 for attacks with the Axe of Blind Fury and instead 1s are allocated to a friendly unit within 1″ if there is one. This just isn’t a big enough buff for that downside, and it suffers from only being D3 damage. If this was flat 3 damage, we’d be talking. C

– KHORNE model only. Replaces a power axe with one that is S+3, AP-3, D3 damage and gives the bearer Kharn’s ability, i.e. you can’t re-roll hit rolls of 1 for attacks with the Axe of Blind Fury and instead 1s are allocated to a friendly unit within 1″ if there is one. This just isn’t a big enough buff for that downside, and it suffers from only being D3 damage. If this was flat 3 damage, we’d be talking. The Murder Sword – Replaces a power sword. S +1 AP-4, 1 Damage. But at the start of the game you nominate one enemy CHARACTER to be the sword’s target and whenever you hit that character, you do a mortal wound instead of the normal damage. That’s hilariously strong but having a sword that only works on one character and is terrible everywhere else just isn’t a great strategy. Though it is funny against something like knights, where it will be near-impossible for your opponent to hide their character. On the other hand, you aren’t going to do 24 mortal wounds to it before it stomps you to death. C

Daemon Weapons

Faith and Fury introduced a new set of relics for every legion to access in Daemon Weapons. Daemon Weapons are a set of five relics that can be taken by Characters in any Chaos Space Marines army; four are dedicated to a spe