A Thousand Points of Light: Chaos Space Marines (Part 2) by Patrick Eibel
Codex: Chaos Space Marines offers a lot of possibilities for building armies, and in this second of three installments, we’ll look at the Iron Warriors, the Night Lords, and the Alpha Legion. Remember, these lists—like all the others in this series—are meant for brand-new players or for players looking to start a new army. These lists are not meant to be “killer” lists for winning tournaments or trouncing people at the local gaming shop. Rather, they are foundations that players can build upon as they desire.

Iron Warriors--What To Buy

• Chaos Warsmith: $10.00/ £5
• Two Chaos Space Marine squad boxes: $50.00/ £24
• Iron Warriors boxed set: $30.00/ £15
• Three blisters of Chaos Space Marines w/ heavy bolters: $24.00/ £15
• Chaos Space Marine w/ plasma gun: $9.00/ £3
• Basilisk: $35.00/ £20
• Four Obliterators: $60.00/ £15

All prices are from the Games Workshop website as of May 2004. Prices may vary, do not include taxes, and are meant only as a guide.

Iron Warriors--1000 point list
Most of the army is straightforward. From the plastic Chaos Marines box, you will need to make two squad leader types (just don’t use the power fists) and two heavy bolter carriers. One leader and one heavy bolter will be used in the Chaos Marine squad; the others will be used for the Havoc squad. 

You will need to use two plastic Marines to fill out the Iron Warriors squad. Try to assemble them to look as close as possible to Iron Warrior miniatures. The rest of the plastic Marines will be used for the Chaos Marine Squad. Please note that you will have three Marines left over, which you should save to expand the army in the future. 

If you want to save money, you can assemble one of the spare plastics as a meltagun Marine and not buy the plasma gun Marine, but I like the added firepower for the squad. 

• Iron Warriors Warsmith w/ Mark of Chaos Undivided, kai gun, servo arm (120 points)
• Squad of two Chaos Obliterators (140 points)
• Squad of two Chaos Obliterators (140 points)
• Chaos Space Marine Squad Alpha: Aspiring Champion w/ close combat weapon (ccw), bolt pistol; seven Marines w/ bolters, ccws; one w/ plasma gun, one w/ heavy bolter (168 points)
• Chaos Space Marine Squad Beta: Aspiring Champion w/ ccw, bolt pistol; seven Marines w/ bolters, ccws; one w/ melta gun, one w/ lascannon (176 points) 
• Chaos Havocs w/ four heavy bolters (130 points)
• Chaos Basilisk with indirect fire (125 points)

Iron Warrior Tactics
This army wants to stand back and shoot. The Havocs and Chaos Marine squad with the heavy bolter should be assigned to troop-killing, while the other Chaos Marine squad and Basilisk should be on vehicle- and big-creature duty. The Obliterators can manifest weapons to support either role as needed. In the event that you need to maneuver to meet the mission objectives, try and use the Obliterators, as they will be able to move and fire without penalty. 

Night Lords--What To Buy

• Daemon Prince: $30.00/ £18
• Chaos Space Marine squad box: $25.00/ £12
• Two Chaos Marines w/ plasma guns: $18.00/ £6
• Two Chaos Marines w/ missile launchers: $16.00/ £10
• Chaos Raptor box: $35.00/ £20
• Chaos Raptor w/ melta gun: $7.00/ £6
• Two Chaos Raptors w/ bolt pistols and ccws: $14.00/ £10
• Two Chaos Dreadnoughts: $80.00/ £50

All prices are from the Games Workshop website as of May 2004. Prices may vary, do not include taxes, and are meant only as a guide.

Night Lords--1000 point list
This army is also pretty straightforward to assemble. The only real conversion you will need to do is to use the claw from the plastic mutations sprue from the Chaos Marine box to replace the hand of the Daemon Prince that wields a sword (you will need to remove most of the arm from the plastic claw, but otherwise it should be a straight swap). 

I have used generic Chaos Marines for the troops instead of the special Night Lords models because I wanted the missile launcher and plasma gun Marines to match the rest of the troops. If you would like to convert Night Lords models to wield these weapons, you are welcome to substitute the models. 

The Chaos Dreadnoughts come with a variety of parts. Hopefully, your box will include the weapons you need to assemble the models as described. Otherwise, you may need to hunt down a Chaos accessory sprue, purchase some bits, or swap weapons other than what is listed to make it work under the points value. 

• Daemon Prince w/ Mark of Chaos Undivided, Daemonic Aura, Daemonic Flight, Daemonic Strength, Daemonic Talons, Sorceror w/ Wind of Chaos power (150 points)
• Chaos Space Marines Squad Alpha: six Marines w/ bolter, ccws; one w/ plasma gun, one w/ missile launcher; all with Night Vision and Stealth Adept Skills (140 points)
• Chaos Space Marines Squad Beta: six Marines w/ bolter, ccws; one w/ plasma gun, one w/ missile launcher; all with Night Vision and Stealth Adept Skills (140 points)
• Chaos Raptors Squad: Aspiring Champion w/ lightning claw and bolt pistol, Mark of Chaos Undivided; four Raptors w/ bolt pistols, ccws; two Raptors w/  melta guns; one Raptor w/ flamer; all with Stealth Adept skill (295 points)
• Dreadnought w/ heavy bolter, havoc launcher, Daemonic Possession (135 points)
• Dreadnought w/ plasma cannon, havoc launcher, Daemonic Possession (145 points)

Night Lord Tactics
Fair warning: I think this list will be difficult to use successfully on a regular basis. You have one really nasty assault unit–the Raptors led by the Daemon Prince–supported by a moderate amount of firepower. The greatest advantage this army has is the bonus cover save it gets from the Stealth skill, so use the terrain to your benefit. Your support units should be deployed to provide maximum support to the Raptors. Once the Raptors reach close combat, you can use the firepower on the remainder of your opponent’s forces. With practice, this army should provide fits to all but the shootiest of opponents.

Alpha Legion--What To Buy

• Chaos Lord: $10.00/ £7
• Two Chaos Space Marine squad boxes: $50.00/ £24
• Two Chaos Marines w/ melta guns: $18.00/ £6
• Two Warhammer Chaos Marauders boxes: $60.00/ £30
• Daemonettes box: $40.00/ £15
• Defiler: $50.00/ £30

All prices are from the Games Workshop website as of May 2004. Prices may vary, do not include taxes, and are meant only as a guide.

Alpha Legion--1000 point list
You will want to purchase the Chaos Lord with the big axe and plasma pistol, not the one with the power fist and combi weapon. Note that you will end up with two spare plastic Chaos Marines. To save money, you may opt to order two melta guns as bits and model two of the plastic Marines with them. For the sake of simplicity, I chose to list the separate figures. 

• Chaos Lord w/ power weapon, plasma pistol, Mark of Chaos Undivided, Infiltration skill, Furious Charge skill, Daemonic Aura, meltabombs (145 points)
• Sixteen Chaos Cultists w/ Infiltrate, Furious Charge, and Mark of Chaos Undivided and Icon (112 points)
• Sixteen Chaos Cultists w/ Infiltrate, Furious Charge, and Mark of Chaos Undivided and Icon (112 points)
• Fourteen Chaos Space Marines w/ bolt pistols, ccws; two w/ melta guns; all w/ Infiltrate and Furious Charge skills (340 points)
• Eight Daemonettes (120 points)
• Defiler with havoc launcher and Living Vehicle upgrade (170 points)

Alpha Legion Tactics
This list presents an interesting challenge. Most of your army, except for the Defiler, can Deep Strike or Infiltrate, so you merely have to weather your opponent’s shooting and then charge. You will want to deploy on one flank to minimize the damage inflicted from enemy shooting. Use the Defiler to take out tanks or pin Devastator units. Avoid missions that do not use Infiltration (I know, not always possible). The expression on your opponent’s face when you set up all those figures just outside his deployment zone should make this worth playing. 

Related Pages
Introduction to the series
Other lists in this series
 

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© Copyright Patrick Eibel, May 2004. Used with permission.
 

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