The Chaos Space Marines for 9th Edition have finally arrived and it’s time to get down to dissecting the top tactics for Heretic Astartes. This new codex comes jam packed with tons of new rules, new miniatures and new ways to cavort with daemons and reign terror on your enemies. Let’s dig into the Top 5 Chaos Space Marine Tactics after we take a quick look at the codex in general first.
Why should you play Chaos Space Marines?
When considering playing Chaos Space Marines there are a few questions you should ask yourself before sinking your hard earned cash into a new army. First, are you tired of the Imperium? Let’s face it, no one is a “good guy” in Warhammer 40k – it’s all dark, it’s all evil and the driving forces of the Imperium only churn out misery and death.
Second, if it’s all evil all the way down – are you the kind of person that would just embrace it? If you’re the kind of person that would jump headlong into a pact with an evil being from another dimension, well congratulations you should say goodbye to the Imperium and hello to your Heretic Astartes brethren.
In all seriousness, if you’re looking for a new, powerful, and interesting army to play – with a lot added to them that they did not previously have Chaos Space Marines is the way to go.
Chaos Space Marines Army Overview
In the past Chaos Space Marines didn’t quite match up to their less daemonic bretheren in the Space Marines. They lacked a lot of the special rules and tricks up their sleeves that regular Space Marines, from any faction, seemed to have. With the release of this new codex, however, that’s simply not the case. And we’re not just talking about the fact they get two wounds…
Honestly, Games Workshop has outdone themselves with this codex. We’re not even going to begin scratching the surface in this article with all of the very unique and interesting rules, objectives, and tidbits that they have come up with. It really makes Chaos Space Marines thrive in 9th edition.
Chaos Space Marines Tactics:
We polled our pro players for their thoughts on the top 5 tactics they’d like to see employed by Chaos Space Marines players now that the new codex has dropped. Our pro players consist of Colin Mcdade, David Villareal, Josiah Cook, David Hall and a few others that always place consistently in the top tournaments when they enter.
Chaos Space Marine Tactic Number 1:
Stack Lucius The Eternal with 9 Noise Marines with Sonic Weapons inside a Dreadclaw Drop Pod.
Then, come down on your first turn to take advantage of the half range rule. You’ll get +1 damage on their sonic weapons.
Then the Noise Marines can make a charge-in and have Lucius make the enemy unit fight last and be able to make mince meat of them.
Chaos Space Marine Tactic Number 2:
Don’t be afraid to push forward with Abaddon The Despoiler. He’s a monster and deserves to be treated as such. He’s durable and hits like a truck.
First, he can only take 3 wounds a phase. That automatically makes him super tough.
Second, he has a 2+ armor save and as infantry can benefit from cover, benefits from Look out Sir (Models cannot target a unit that contains any Character models with a Wounds characteristic of 9 or less with a ranged weapon while that Character unit is within 3), and Armor of Contempt.
Third, opnce per turn the first failed saving throw he takes 0 damage, and he has at least 9 attacks in melee that will do 3 damage each and d3 mortal wounds for each roll of a 6 to wound.
Push Abbadon to the front and let him do what he does best!
Chaos Space Marines Tactic Number 3:
This is a simple one: combine the Chaos Land Raiders (who have toughness 9) with the Iron Warriors.
The Iron Warriors have no re-roll to wound against them.
This is a serious nut to crack and you should be able to slaughter your foes across the table.
Chaos Space Marines Tactic Number 4:
Combine nine Obliterators with Alpha Legion.
Deep Strike two squads while you conceal the third squad on the table.
The third squad will be unable to be targeted by any other unit on the table unless that squad is the closest.
Again, another powerful combo that should devastate your opponents.
Final Thoughts on Chaos Space Marines Tactics
We’re very excited to see how CSM bring some really exciting combos to not only our Battle Reports, but also the meta in competitive play. Will they carry the weight to see the top of the podium at tournaments? Time will tell.
As always we’ll be having a discussion all day today about the new codex in our free Facebook group: Game Talk for Gamers. Every. Single. Day. We talk 40k and today we’ll be discussing the new Chaos Space Marine Codex!
Lastly, want exclusive tactics on how to wreck your opponents in 40k with Chaos Space Marines? Our 4 Pillars of Army design will do just that and we’ve got Chaos Space Marines in our members area. Not a member yet? Let’s fix that.
