Servant of the Ruinous Powers

[Fueldrop]

My buddy has decided to get into 40K and has chosen to throw his lot in with the dark gods. Unfortunately, the changer of ways has seen fit to ensure that our local gaming store is without a copy of the CSM codex.

He'll be getting one in on Friday though, so no long term harm done there.

Beyond that, does anyone have any advice for my friend?

[Rissan4ever]

Kill! Maim! Burn!

That's the best advice I've got.

[Fueldrop]

Kill! Maim! Burn!

That's the best advice I've got.

I can't really ask for better advice than that.

[Dalleron]

supposedly, death guard rhino's and oblits are all he needs. Fill out with a DP of some sort. If he isn't going based on fluff in any way lol.

[Fueldrop]

He's something of a fan of the Night Lords, so he's trying to make a somewhat fluffy army along those lines

A whole bunch of us at the local store have been throwing him old SM models to convert and the like, so he's getting some forces like that. Also cultist, lots and lots of cultists...

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[URL="http://www.wargamesfactory.com/webstore/dark-futures/apocalypse-survivors-men"]BTW here's his cultists.[/URL]

[Dont-Be-Haten]

How is your friend wanting to play CSM? You should let him know that overall the codex is not that great at the moment, unless you play with allied daemons, or allies via one of the supplements. Even then I wouldn't really recommend CSM as a starting army. Even if you all are playing for funsies, it is going to be hard on him getting started. You could recommend he get the Khorne Daemonkin book, because it is much more forgiving than C:CSM.

But you can offer this advice to him:

Do not get overwhelmed with upgrades. Go for minimal upgrades, on lords and aspiring champions.
Terminators are great cheap suicide squads, always give a squad of 3 combi-Meltas and a chain fist. Its 112 points or so.
Nurgle Obliterators are fantastic heavy support.
Do NOT put a mark on the Sorcerers. Max them to lvl 3, and roll telepathy; unless you get the Relic from the Crimson Slaughter that lets you roll Divination. 2 Are better than 1.
Cultist are the only really good troops choice in this dex unless he wants a themed list or not.

Any specific questions?

Edit: [url]http://www.lounge.belloflostsouls.net/showthread.php?56386-40k-Night-Lords-1850-Campaign-Fluff-list[/url]

I have a very fluffy 1850 Night Lord list I'm planning on starting in the next Month in a half, if he's wanting to go for fluffy; but my build is how I interpret the Night Lords Fluff.

[Rissan4ever]

My other best advice is to pick a part of the fluff he really likes, and build an army based on that. That will hold his imagination through the modeling and painting process, and will make the army more fun to play once it's on the table.

[Fueldrop]

How is your friend wanting to play CSM? You should let him know that overall the codex is not that great at the moment, unless you play with allied daemons, or allies via one of the supplements. Even then I wouldn't really recommend CSM as a starting army. Even if you all are playing for funsies, it is going to be hard on him getting started. You could recommend he get the Khorne Daemonkin book, because it is much more forgiving than C:CSM.

But you can offer this advice to him:

Do not get overwhelmed with upgrades. Go for minimal upgrades, on lords and aspiring champions.
Terminators are great cheap suicide squads, always give a squad of 3 combi-Meltas and a chain fist. Its 112 points or so.
Nurgle Obliterators are fantastic heavy support.
Do NOT put a mark on the Sorcerers. Max them to lvl 3, and roll telepathy; unless you get the Relic from the Crimson Slaughter that lets you roll Divination. 2 Are better than 1.
Cultist are the only really good troops choice in this dex unless he wants a themed list or not.

Any specific questions?

Well he ended up with Chaos through a strange set of events.
At first he wanted 'nids. Then his friend said "Hey, I'll go you halves in Dark Vengeance". Then his other friend said "Hey, if you do that I'll buy the Chaos dudes off you when I get some money and you can get your 'nids"
Then the guy with the dark angels half said "sod it, I'm going guard. That's where the real men are!"
Then the other friend said "You know what? I'm going to grab orks."
So he kinda got left holding the ball with CSM, and after a few games decided he liked them.

I'll pass on the general advice, it looks good.

Specific questions:

Best configuration for cultists (melee or ranged, large blobs or bulk small groups?)

Are marks + Icons worth it on standard marines? If so, which ones are best bang for buck?

What's the best deathstar unit for CSM?

On an unrelated note, I was looking through the available disciplines for chaos sorcerers and while telepathy is always awesome, there are other good options too (Biomancy for relentless FNP 4+, Pyromancy + Telepathy for 2+ cover at all times, ect).

Thanks for all the advice thus far.

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Final thing: Since Night Lords are all about terror tactics, what options do CSM have for causing Pinning, Morale, or Ld penalties? Also, what stealth/shrouded options do they get? Not counting psyker shenanigans at this point, as while telepathy has all that it's just not the same.

[Dont-Be-Haten]

Well he ended up with Chaos through a strange set of events.
At first he wanted 'nids. Then his friend said "Hey, I'll go you halves in Dark Vengeance". Then his other friend said "Hey, if you do that I'll buy the Chaos dudes off you when I get some money and you can get your 'nids"
Then the guy with the dark angels half said "sod it, I'm going guard. That's where the real men are!"
Then the other friend said "You know what? I'm going to grab orks."
So he kinda got left holding the ball with CSM, and after a few games decided he liked them.



I'll pass on the general advice, it looks good.

Specific questions:

Best configuration for cultists (melee or ranged, large blobs or bulk small groups?)

Are marks + Icons worth it on standard marines? If so, which ones are best bang for buck?

What's the best deathstar unit for CSM?

On an unrelated note, I was looking through the available disciplines for chaos sorcerers and while telepathy is always awesome, there are other good options too (Biomancy for relentless FNP 4+, Pyromancy + Telepathy for 2+ cover at all times, ect).

Thanks for all the advice thus far.

- - - Updated - - -

Final thing: Since Night Lords are all about terror tactics, what options do CSM have for causing Pinning, Morale, or Ld penalties? Also, what stealth/shrouded options do they get? Not counting psyker shenanigans at this point, as while telepathy has all that it's just not the same.

You pick telepathy for invisibility, because that is a huge intimidation factor, and forces your opponent to choose between that and shrouded. Plus psychic shriek is a fantastic spell to cast. I usually put them on a bikes or in TDA. As far as Death Stars go, I don't really, have a good pick for you there. Closest thing I can recommend is the blood thirster or a daemon prince with the black mace, wings, MoS or MoN, and power armor.
Cultist should be taken cheap with no upgrades and left in reserves. Just GtG when shot at. Marks and icons gets super expensive quick.
Icon of vengeance is really the only one I'd spend the points on for fearless. Cause veterans adds up quick and not having ATSKNF sucks.

Raptors, and the Crimson Slaugher have great fear inducing effects, but you can't take VotLW with that supplement.

[Charon]

Beyond that, does anyone have any advice for my friend?

Do not start Chaos, saves you a lot of grief as they are nowhere near the background suggests it and loyal Space Marines are just better and cheaper.

Final thing: Since Night Lords are all about terror tactics, what options do CSM have for causing Pinning, Morale, or Ld penalties? Also, what stealth/shrouded options do they get? Not counting psyker shenanigans at this point, as while telepathy has all that it's just not the same.

Nothng. You don't even have different Legions.