Chaos is for fighting...?

Hello, everyone, The Verderer here with some interesting tactics that you may have thought of...But probably not. It all comes down to this: Chaos is considered to be a "fighty" army. Khorne Berzerkers, Demon Princes, Chaos Terminators, etc. are all very fighty, and are therefore seen on a lot of gaming tables. But does it have to be that way?

The current metagame calls for lots of high-strength, low AP shots, and plenty of vehicles. As you can guess, this is not Chaos Space Marines' strength, which leads to many people assuming that they are useless, and either selling their models or proxying them as Wolves or Blood Angels. However, I believe that Chaos can keep up with the metagame. Not with Lash, not with Berzerkers, but with shooting power.

So, in a list like this, you will, of course, look straight at Obliterators. They are an obvious choice for shooty lists, seeing as they have lascannons, and, more importantly, the ever-feared plasma cannon. Two units of these are invaluable in a list like this. Why only two? You shall see...

Next up is troops. You're going to want troops who can shovel out an incredible amount of shots, at pretty long range. Solution? Noise Marines with Sonic Blasters. A unit of 7 can send out an impressive 21 shots when standing still, or 14 shots while on the move, both at 24" range. That's not even mentioning the Blastmaster, which can pin enemy units, giving you another round of firing. Very good in my book, we will want to load up on these.

Next up is HQ. Who to lead a shooty army? A Tzeentch demon prince immediately springs to mind, but the enemy is probably going to reach your line at some point, let's face it. Therefore, you will need something to counter attack with. My solution to that is simple: Chaos Lord with a Demon Weapon, perhaps with some terminators or Berzerkers for a counter attack. Cheap and effective, just the way I like it.

Now, with some points left, lets look back at the Heavy Support section. With one slot left, I see one last obvious choice: A Defiler. This beast will be able to take out entire marine units with one shot, and handle itself well in combat. And, if the battlecannon should be destroyed, you can use its secondary weapons, or use it as a wall to block enemy units.

So, piecing it all together, the list would look something like this:

Chaos lord w/ Demon Weapon, Terminator Armor

5 Terminators w/ Icon of Slaanesh, Reaper Autocannon, chainfist

8 Noise Marines w/ 7 Sonic blasters, blastmaster

8 Noise Marines w/ 7 Sonic blasters, blastmaster

8 Noise Marines w/ 7 Sonic blasters, blastmaster

8 Noise Marines w/ 7 Sonic blasters, blastmaster

Defiler w/ Havoc Launcher

2 obliterators

2 obliterators

total: 1,750 points

Pretty much, castle up! The noise marines should be in front, then the terminators behind them, and then finally the defiler and oblits. In the case of objectives, advance slowly, and keep firing, and/or Deepstrike oblits.

Well, that's all for today. Leave any questions or such as comments!