How To Build A Chaos Space Marine Army In Warhammer 40K

A dark mirror to the Space Marine Captain, the Chaos Lord also gives his unit a discount on Stratagems once per turn, and once per game he can empower himself to become even deadlier in melee. Put one in charge of your deadliest unit and watch the heads roll.

Your spooky support spellcaster. Makes his unit harder to hit by default and can zap nearby enemies with his Infernal Gaze. As a fun bonus, any time he damages an enemy unit, they must make a Leadership Test or take Mortal Wounds.

While the Chaos Space Marines hog all the glory, their devoted cultists do the legwork, spreading corruption at ground level. The Dark Commune is a five-model unit: the Iconward lets you re-roll Leadership Tests for Dark Pacts, the Mindwitch kills nearby Infantry with Psychic shooting, the Blessed Blades chop people up in melee, and the Demagogue gives their flock a modest Invulnerable Save alongside a once-per-game buff to their mobility and melee punch.

Attaching this unit to a big blob of Cultists will make them more than simple cannon fodder.

A big nasty Daemon with a taste for blood. They can’t join units and lack Lone Operative, so they’re more fragile than they look. To compensate, they hit damn hard and buff nearby units – and if you want to go full throttle, you can give them a pair of Wings. Doing so causes them to lose the buff aura, but gain movement speed, Deep Strike, and the ability to deal Mortal Wounds on a successful Charge.

An interesting quirk is that their stats change depending on which Chaos Mark they carry: Khorne makes them stronger in close combat, Tzeentch improves their shooting, Nurgle makes them tougher, and Slaanesh makes them faster.

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

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

Your elite melee blenders. Chosen are stronger, tougher, and faster than Legionaries but more expensive. Use them as shock troops, taking on your opponent’s elites face-to-face.

Your ranged damage specialists. For such a melee-heavy army, they are surprisingly mobile and reliable – their Stabilizing Talons remove penalties to hit, and they lack the Heavy keyword on weapons that normally rely on it, allowing them to fire while moving. Have them focus on doing one thing well: Lascannons or Autocannons for heavy targets, Heavy Bolters or Chaincannons for anti-Infantry.

Tanky walking turrets with Deep Strike. Plop them down into cover and watch them shred whatever you need them to; Vehicles, elite troops, hordes, they’ve got you covered. They also pack a wallop in melee and can give themselves Indirect Fire once per game after making a Dark Pact.

They may not look too pretty, but like any good horror monster, they are deceptively strong and unexpectedly fast. Between the run-of-the-mill Mutants, you’ll also get some big uglies called Torments: they have multiple wounds and are more likely to bring down something Space Marine-sized.

It’s not just Space Marines who can fall to the dark side: sometimes members of the Astra Militarum become corrupted by Chaos, and what you’re left with is a very functional unit for Objective camping. They even count as being in Cover while holding down an Objective, and the trio of special weapons they carry allow them to take potshots at whatever passes their position.

Extra scary Chaos Space Marines with Jump Packs. A versatile and speedy threat, they come with an aura that debuffs enemy Leadership Tests and can be paired with a Chaos Lord wearing a Jump Pack to maximize their potential. Also good for taking Objectives that are too far away for your Cultists to reach.

A classic battle tank, valuable in many army lists. The Annihilator wants to hunt Vehicles and Monsters, while the Destructor hungers for Infantry. If you need something in the middle, the Destructor can be given a mixed loadout to take on light Vehicles and heavy Infantry.

Short range aside, none who stand before you can deny the power of a Demolisher Cannon. This Vehicle is even better for Chaos Space Marines than their loyalist counterparts since they want to be up close and personal as often as possible.

The rolling brick, now with extra spikes. This is the most expensive – and most reliable – transport you have access to, and it can put out some serious firepower at the same time. As a melee-heavy army, you have no shortage of units that want to ride in this thing, from Chosen to Khorne Berzerkers to Chaos Terminators. It will take a chunk out of your point budget, but there’s nothing finer to carry your band of psychopaths into Charge range.

Your only Dedicated Transport is nothing to sneeze at, with the same self-repair feature as the loyalist version and with even better guns strapped to the top. If you need to get a unit into the fray without breaking the bank, you can’t go wrong with a Rhino.

Affectionally known as “Dinobots,” these giant Daemon Engines serve two distinct roles: the Forgefiend is a powerful (if self-destructive) gun platform, and the Maulerfiend is a fast-moving melee brute.

Both are ideal for destroying Vehicles, though they can deal with Infantry too, if given the right weapon options. Both ‘fiends tend to draw fire quickly, so they pair well with Warpsmiths to heal them or Detachments that make them harder to kill.

Black Legion

When in doubt, copy the loyalists. This is your general-purpose detachment, giving you the ability to mark one unit as your Focus of Hatred, and letting you re-roll failed Hit rolls against them until the beginning of your next Command phase. This is a direct copy of the Space Marine Army Rule, Oath of Moment – and that’s a good thing, because Oath of Moment rocks.

You also have a modified version of Armour of Contempt, the Space Marines’ signature Stratagem, which is a great defensive tool.

Any

Alpha Legion

The sneaky, insidious kind of evil. You can give a handful of your Battleline units Infiltrate, potentially gaining Objective control before the game even begins. The rest of your Detachment benefits revolve around being slippery and mobile, weakening enemies before moving in for the kill.

Legionaries, Cultists

Red Corsairs

Piratical plunderers who like to go fast, all their guns gain the Assault ability, and they get deadlier when their target is on an Objective. They also have strong synergies with Transports, have another version of Armour of Contempt, and most of their rules work equally well at range or in close combat.

Most units in this game want to go faster – especially melee units – and winning fights on Objectives usually means winning the game, so it’s hard to go wrong with the Raiders.

Any

Night Lords

Specialists in psychological warfare, the Dread Talons force your opponent to make repeated Leadership tests, and gain benefits when they fail. Situational, but powerful when it works; you’ll want to stack as many Leadership debuffs as possible, then pile on the damage.

Raptors, Warp Talons, Chaos Lords with Jump Packs

Iron Warriors

Do you hate when your fanatical followers get blown up by incoming fire before they can tear apart their foes with blades and fists? Then this is the Detachment for you: incoming attacks that are stronger than your Toughness get reduced, and your Stratagems focus on making your Chaos Space Marines an absolute pain to kill. Your Cultists can’t reap the same rewards, but they’re supposed to die anyway.

Legionaries, Havocs, Chosen

Word Bearers

Random chance and blind faith: a perfect combination. Every unit in your army is either dedicated to a specific Chaos God, or to the concept of Chaos Undivided – your choice determines what sort of buff they get while making a Dark Pact, and which of your Stratagems gain extra effects for them.

This Detachment can get complicated quickly and relies on you regularly making Dark Pacts (which can sometimes hurt you more than your enemy) but can also be devastatingly powerful when used well. Recommended for experienced players.

Any, Helbrutes

Any

Do you want to lead a cult? This Detachment flips the entire concept of Chaos Space Marines on its head, turning you into a self-destructive melee horde army with occasional Chaos Space Marine support. Your Detachment Ability turns Traitor Guardsmen into Battleline units and gives you an additional way to buff yourself at a cost; Desperate Pacts, which work just like Dark Pacts but give you extra Movement and Charge distance instead of weapon abilities.

Most of your Stratagems also require you to make a Desperate Pact, so the odds are good that you’ll end up losing a lot of models to the whims of the dice. If you decide to go down this twisted path, you’re going to want a Dark Commune (or two), and as many Cultists as you can get your hands on.

Dark Communes, Dark Apostles, Cultists

Any

This is a great detachment if you love heavy metal – and by that, I mean gigantic masses of Vehicles that blot out the sun with their fumes and dust. All your Vehicles get stronger here, and they can make extra-dangerous Dark Pacts to dramatically increase their lethality.

These bonuses get even better for Daemon Engines, who can effectively leverage all the available Stratagems to rip and tear through the enemy like a machine possessed.

Warpsmiths, Maulerfiends, Defilers