Editing Warhammer 40,000/Tactics/Kill Team(9E) Chaos (section)

==Legionaries (Nachmund)==
===Why Play Legionaries===
*'''Pros'''
**Full-on focus on the tanky APL3 CSM without any meddling cultists.
**Your CSM can actually take Chaos Marks.
**Quite a few specialists and heavy weapons.
**Easy to field a full team with either the ''Kill Team: Legionaries'' or a plain ''Chaos Space Marines'' box.
*'''Cons'''
**Being full marines, you're going to lose out in the numbers game against anything except other marines.
**While a lot of your operatives have plenty of focus on melee, your shooting focus will pretty much be stuck at your heavy gunner and bolter warriors.

===L Wargear===
*'''0-1 Aggression Stimulants (3 EP):''' Alignment-free combat drugs that let the bearer re-roll one attack die when they charge. Good thing is that a lot of your operatives have a preference towards melee.
*'''Frag Grenade (2 EP):''' Basic frag grenade with limited range and Blast to cover groups. 
*'''Krak Grenade (3 EP):''' Basic krak grenade with limited range but high damage and AP1. 
*'''0-1 Warded Armour (3 EP):''' Grants a 2+ save, but like the Dark Eldar's shadowfields, the moment this pops your save decays back to a 3+. Pick this if you're really worried about guns that can punch past your armor, as that's the only place where your 2+ save applies.
*'''Suspensor System (3 EP):''' The bearer can move 3 circles/6" with a heavy weapon before firing, making it a welcome blessing for your heavy gunner.
*'''Malign Scripture (2 EP):''' Balefire Acolyte only. This allows your psyker to cast twice once per battle, though you can't guarantee that the second power will go off. If you do use it, you have to roll a d6, with a 1-2 causing 3 mortal wounds to themselves and wasting the power.
*'''0-1 Tainted Rounds (3 EP):''' +1 to both damage profiles for one bolter or bolt pistol (standard or tainted). A basic but pretty strong upgrade for an operative that would like to focus on their guns.
*'''0-1 Grisly Trophy (3 EP):''' Grants the bearer a 3"/square aura that deals a penalty of 1 attack on any ranged or melee attacks on enemies inside this radius. Great for overwhelming enemies, especially if you pair this with a Butcher or Chosen.
*'''Malefic Blade (2 EP):''' An extra melee weapon that deals 3/5 damage, making it a bit better than punching the enemy on a crit.

===Chaos Blessings===
Unusually, each operative here has the {{W40kKeyword|<Mark of Chaos&gt;}} keyword on their statlines and you can pick whatever mark of the big four you want for each one (Or none at all!) and get a benefit for each. The only real restrictions here is that you can't include opposing marks (No Khorne and Slaanesh, no Nurgle and Tzeentch).
*'''Favoured of the Dark Gods:''' Of note here is that once per turn you can use one strategic ploy that shares the same {{W40kKeywords|<Mark of Chaos&gt;}} as one of your operatives with this rule (The chosen, aspiring champion, or icon bearer). For {{W40kKeyword|Undivided}} operatives, this allows you to use Hateful Assault or Malicious Volleys for free.

*{{W40kKeyword|Khorne}} - '''Wrathful Onslaught''': Whenever this operative fights in melee, they can turn one hit into a crit if they didn't already score a crit.
*{{W40kKeyword|Nurgle}} - '''Disgusting Resilience''': Allows this operative to turn one save into a critical save, turning them into a wall against bullets.
*{{W40kKeyword|Slaanesh}} - '''Unnatural Agility''': Adds +1"/triangle to this operative's movement.
*{{W40kKeyword|Tzeentch}} - '''Empyreal Concordance''': Whenever this operative shoots, they score crits on a 5+. The ideal pick for gunner legionaries, especially with the heavy bolter or autocannon.
*{{W40kKeyword|Undivided}} - '''Vicious Reavers''': Whenever this operative fights in melee or shoots an enemy within 6"/pentagon, you can re-roll one hit roll, providing more consistency in close quarters.

===L Psychic Powers===
Unlike most post-Compendium kill-teams, you can't actually cast twice per turn with your psykers without rolling. Instead, you auto-cast one power and have to roll a d6 if you try casting a second power, with a 1-2 triggering failure and 3 MWs.

*'''Fireblast:''' Provides a magical grenade with decent damage on top of No Cover and Blast to negate any obstacles and Splash to give a few extra MWs on a crit.
*'''Malign Influence:''' A pretty hefty buff, providing a visible ally with Lethal 5+, No Cover and Brutal to crush anything they come across.
*'''Siphon Life:''' Another ranged attack that does decent damage, though it's now subject to cover. If you score 2+ hits with one of them being a crit, you can restore d3 wounds to an operative within 6"/pentagon of the caster.

===L Campaign Additions===
<tabs>
<tab name="Tac Ops">
*'''Sacrilegious Mutilation:''' Revealed the first time you kill an enemy. That enemy and any future dead enemies will transform into corpse tokens that become additional objectives that your operatives can spend an action to claim. You gain 1 VP for two and four uses of this special action each.
** While this is very thematic, the issue is that this will force your operatives to go out of their way to perform their rituals. For a crowded fight, this is even more problematic as this action won't work if there are nearby enemies so you might be racing enemies to claim this spot.
*'''Dark Desecration:''' Mark one piece of Heavy terrain during your first turn. Whenever you kill two or more enemies within 1"/triangle of this operative, you gain 1 VP, and gain a second if you accomplish this and have enough operatives next to this terrain with a total APL that exceeds that of any nearby enemies.
*'''Savage Butcher:''' Pick one operative. This operative scores you 1 VP when you kill 2+ enemies and another for killing 3+ operatives.
</tab>
<tab name="Spec Ops - Send a Message">
''Note - This counts as the Purge Order Spec Op for terms of repeating''

#''Unclean Rites'': Finish five games where you won VP by performing either the Sacrilegious Mutilation or Execution Tac Ops. Fortunately, both of these key off of murdering the enemy hard.
#''Message Delivered'': Finish one last game where you managed to kill the enemy leader. You've got some of the scariest melee monsters, so you don't have much to worry about.

Completing this Spec Op scores 2 RP and increases your asset cap by one. In addition, the lucky operative who killed the leader for that last game gains an extra 5 VP for their badassery.
</tab>
<tab name="Spec Ops - Tainted Journey">
''Note - This counts as the Perform Ritual Spec Op for terms of repeating''

#''Profane Violation'': Finish five games where you scored VP from the Dark Desecration or Plant Banner Tac Ops. Both Tac Ops will require you to guard an important spot.
#''Dominance'': Finish one last game where you score VP from the Seize Ground Tac Op. 

Finishing this Spec Op scores you 1 RP and increases your asset cap by one. In addition, you get two pieces of Rare Equipment, which gives you quite the advantage.
</tab>
<tab name="Battle Honors">
#'''Apostle of Chaos:''' Grants Favoured of the Dark Gods. Useful for anyone that isn't a leader or the Icon Bearer, as they already have the rule.
#'''Warp-Blessed:''' Improves this operative's save by +1. Considering that all your operatives are already 3+ space marines, a 2+ is pretty bonkers.
#'''Devastating Assault:''' This operative's melee weapons gain Brutal. While absolutely bonkers on any weapon, special props go to the Butcher's chainaxe, who can use this to become an absolute nightmare to fight.
#'''Servant of the Dark Gods:''' The first time this operative suffers a crit in the turn, you can downgrade that crit to a mundane hit.
#'''Fuelled by Hate:''' This operative adds +1 to their APL when their wounds are below half their maximum. It's a bit of a compensation for the crippled movement the Injured condition inflicts, but it has uses in desperate drives for objectives or kills.
#'''Vengeance Incarnate:''' Improve the WS/BS of one weapon this operative wields by +1 to a max of 2+. This is another really powerful buff for your non-leader operatives that usually hang at around 3+.

</tab>
<tab name="Requisition">
*'''Marked for Greatness (1 RP):''' Only usable on an Ace rank or higher operative. Once per game, this operative can turn one hit into a crit if they didn't score any other crits.
**While this looks like this ability is permanent, it actually lasts for as long as this operative has the most XP. The moment another operative gets more XP than your chosen operative, they lose the ability and you have to spend RP for that one to gain the ability.
*'''Eye of the Gods (1 RP):''' Only available after a game where you killed an enemy {{W40kKeyword|Leader}} operative. The operative who killed the leader scores d3 XP and is cured of all Battle Scars, a very handy set of perks for this deed.
*'''Cast Aside (0 RP):''' Whenever you roll for Battle Scars on an operative, you can instead shut down the power tied to their {{W40kKeyword|&gt;Mark of Chaos>}} keyword for d3 games. While it's inconvenient to lose the mark benefits (and no, you won't even qualify for {{W40kKeyword|Undivided}}), you're keeping an operative alive at peak fighting shape.
</tab>
<tab name="Assets">
*'''Unclean Shrine:''' Only available once you get an operative with the Ace rank or higher. When updating your operatives, the one who scored the most kills gets 1XP.
*'''Relics of the Heresy:''' Grants two pieces of Rare Equipment, which is awesome. However, they only remain on your list as long as you actually have this asset and those items go away the moment you sell off this asset.
*'''Sacrificial Altar:''' One operative can ignore a hit once per game.
</tab>
<tab name="Rare Equipment">
#'''Brands of the Damned (3 EP):''' Allows the bearer to use a tactical ploy that shares the same {{W40kKeyword|&gt;Mark of Chaos>}} keyword as he does (Or Veterans of the Long War if you're using {{W40kKeyword|Undivided}}). It's pretty much the same as the Favoured of the Dark Gods in application.
#'''Gauntlets of Vengeance (2 EP):''' Operatives without a melee weapon besides their fists only. Their punches gain an additional attack and Relentless and Rending, making for a more reliable weapon, though still an emergency one.
#'''Pages of Scabrius (3 EP):''' Legionary Balefire Acolyte only. This allows the bearer to cast a second power, but this does come at a potential risk.
#'''Icon of Chaos (4 EP):''' Legionary Icon Bearer only. Bringing this on the field makes all allies immune to the Injured condition, a massive help at keeping your killing power up since it has infinite range and works on all marks.
#'''Daemon Axe (3 EP):''' Legionary Butcher only. Their massive chainaxe now has an extra attack. Nice. Wicked. This thing is already a terrifying weapon.
#'''Relic Bolt Pistol (2 EP):''' Upgrades a bolt pistol or tainted bolt pistol, adding +1 attack and Relentless for improved accuracy. This means more to a basic pistol, which won't have Balanced for at least one re-roll.
</tab>
</tabs>

===L Units===
This Seek & Destroy/Security Kill-Team is composed of 6 of the following: 

*1 Legionary Chosen or Legionary Aspiring Champion
*5 of the following:
**0-5 Legionary Warriors
**0-1 Legionary Gunner
**0-1 Legionary Heavy Gunner
**0-1 Legionary Icon Bearer
**0-1 Legionary Anointed
**0-1 Legionary Balefire Acolyte
**0-1 Legionary Butcher
**0-1 Legionary Shrivetalon


*'''Legionary Aspiring Champion (Combat, Staunch, Marksman):''' A slightly stronger traitor with the improved WS/BS. Unlike the Compendium version, you're stuck with a melee focus with this guy and you have quite a few options for loadout. Alongside Favoured of the Dark Gods' free ploy usage, this guy gains a free action once per turn when he kills an enemy, making him the sort to lead from the front.
**Shooting provides you with only the bolt pistol (with balanced for a surprise re-roll) or the more potent plasma pistol for shooting. For the fighting, you've got quite a few options. Your base chainsword comes with the ability to turn basic parries into critical parries, shutting down anything with Brutal.  The power weapon has slightly better crits than the chainsword with Lethal 5+ but taking the exclusive power maul gives Stun to overwhelm on crits. The power fist remains your last option, meant for serious damage with Brutal to crush enemy defenses.
*'''Legionary Chosen (Combat, Staunch, Marksman):''' The opposite number of the aspiring champion with all the same stats and free ploy. While his gun options remain the same, his 3+ BS makes focusing on guns less than ideal. His lone melee option is a wicked daemon blade, with damage that outstrips all but a power fist and Lethal 5+ to ensure that those crits keep rolling. This guy thrives off being in combat, as scoring crits lets him restore 2 wounds each turn (though this won't help him cheat death) and he has an aura that severely hampers the fleeing distance of any enemies that dare try and fall back within engagement range.
*'''Legionary Warrior (Combat, Staunch, Marksman):''' Your basic heretic marine comes with more wounds than a tactical marine, proof of their many centuries of experience in the Long War. As the basic trooper, you can freely choose between the basic bolter or the chainsword+bolt pistol approach depending on what you intend on focusing on. 
*'''Legionary Gunner (Staunch, Marksman):''' The gunner can't pick up a chainsword, but they do have some impressive guns. The flamer compensates for its low damage and short range with Torrent covering crowds. The plasma gun gives you AP1 and the chance to overcharge for AP2 at risk of exploding. The meltagun is similarly short-ranged, but carries a serious punch with crits dealing mortal wounds.
*'''Legionary Heavy Gunner (Staunch, Marksman):''' Your heavy gunner has options for firepower but Heavy means this guy will likely be stuck on the back lines. The heavy bolter comes with Fusillade to split fire as you wish with P1 to possibly puncture armor on a crit. The missile launcher gives you a choice between either the frag missile's blast radius or the krak missile's direct heavy damage with AP1. The new addition to the armory is the reaper chaincannon, a mean sonuvagun with Ceaseless and Fusillade with plenty of shots to compensate for the rather average damage output.
*'''Legionary Icon Bearer (Combat, Staunch, Marksman):''' The basic warrior comes strapped with an icon for the +1 to AP standard to many similar icon bearers. Instead of any unique action to bolster their allies, this icon bearer is more selfish and comes with the same free ploy usage as the leaders.
*'''Chaos Space Marine Anointed (Combat, Staunch, Scout):''' A [[Possessed Marines|possessed marine]] in all but name. Their claw is about as powerful as a chainsword but with Rending for extra crits. Once per game, you can let the daemon take full control of their host, letting them become a literal melee monster in exchange for being able to anything else. This gift has some serious perks, like being able to fight twice in an activation without using Hateful Assault, a 5+++ save, and adding Ceaseless and Lethal 5+ to their claw for maximum nastiness.
*'''Legionary Balefire Acolyte (Combat, Staunch, Marksman):''' Your resident Psyker, though only able to cast once compared to forces like the Warpcoven Sorcerers or Veil Dancer Shadowseers and forbidden from aligning with Khorne. While armed with what amounts to a Balanced bolt pistol and a free hand, their melee attacks deal extra mortal wounds each time they score crits. This can lead to the balefire acolyte being able to handle most enemies without needing to cast, but they will need their powers the moment enemy marines show up.
*'''Legionary Butcher (Combat, Staunch):''' An absolute bruiser among brutes, touting a massive chainaxe with damage on par with a power fist and Reap. This chainaxe is built for taking initiative in fights, as it gains Ceaseless when this operative fights on their activation and gains Relentless if they charged. That doesn't mean that they have no defensive value though, as their axe negates supporting attackers (foiling mobs) and has an extended engagement range, turning them into a sizeable roadblock to any attempts to fight them.
*'''Legionary Shrivetalon (Combat, Staunch, Scout):''' The resident [[Night Lords|Kurzeaboo]] of the team. Rather than a chainsword, this traitor carries a pair of knives with unassuming damage but Lethal 5+ to get in some easier crits. On top of that, they always fight first, even when defending, and can spook a nearby enemy operative (and robbing them of an AP) whenever they kill an enemy. This turns them into an assassin, meant to sweep in and clean up any wounded enemies and soften up future foes for your foes.
**Their other goal is objective denial. Once per game they can blow 2 AP into placing a spoopy sign. When enemies try to pick up an objective within 3"/square of this mark, the action costs an additional AP, while anyone capping an objective within 3"/square of this sign lowers their effective APL by 1. Considering that most enemies have an APL of 2, this can turn those objectives into lost causes, possibly foiling certain Tac Ops and missions that require that specific objective.

===L Ploys===

<tabs>
<tab name="Strategic Ploys">
*'''Malicious Volleys (1 CP):''' Any operatives can shoot twice with any bolt weapons but cannot fight. This is especially dangerous for the heavy bolter, which has blanketing fire.
*'''Hateful Assault (1 CP):''' Any operatives can fight twice but cannot shoot. This means considerably more for your traitors due to the extra accessibility of chainswords.
*'''Blood for the Blood God! (1 CP):''' When a {{W40kKeyword|Khorne}} operative charges, their attacks deal +1 extra damage. Note that this is after accounting for any other modifiers, meaning that this even applies on crits.
*'''Perpetual Aggression (1 CP):''' When a {{W40kKeyword|Khorne}} finishes a fight action without being engaged with an enemy, they can walk up to 3"/square towards the nearest enemy, allowing them to get right back into combat without wasting an action on charging. This can even work after having moved, which means that charges are fair game.
*'''Mutagenic (1 CP):''' When a {{W40kKeyword|Nurgle}} operative takes damage from a non-crit, that damage is reduced by 1 to a minimum of 2 damage. While useless against lasguns, this can reduce bolters into being as painful as lasguns and blunts the effectiveness of other guns.
*'''Implacable (1 CP):''' {{W40kKeyword|Nurgle}} operatives won't count as injured and ignore penalties to their APL or their BS. This actually does quite well for your gunners, who'll want their full BS for overwatch while also having value for any melee marines.
*'''Graceful Killer (1 CP):''' Add +1 to the crit damage for a {{W40kKeyword|Slaanesh}} operative's melee weapons. 
*'''Delicious Agony (1 CP):''' When a {{W40kKeyword|Slaanesh}} operative fights, they can resolve two hits at once if they score their first hit on an injured foe. This is made to guarantee killing blows against an enemy without needing to worry about parrying.
*'''Protected by Fate (1 CP):''' When a {{W40kKeyword|Tzeentch}} is shot, they can turn a failed save into a pass if you have any critical saves. Considering that you lack any manner of invulns, you'll be wanting this against a bad round of shooting.
*'''Aetheric Ward (1 CP):''' A {{W40kKeyword|Tzeentch}} operative gains a 4++ save. Proper for laughing at any high-AP weapons like meltas.

</tab>
<tab name="Tactical Ploys">
*'''Veteran of the Long War (1 CP):''' If an operative fights or shoots but misses every attack, they can fight/shoot once more. 
*'''Unending Bloodshed (1 CP):''' When a {{W40kKeyword|Khorne}} operative is killed in combat with an enemy, you can make one last desperate attack before going down like a bitch.
*'''Mutability and Change (1 CP):''' A {{W40kKeyword|Tzeentch}} operative adds +1 to their APL for this activation.
*'''Malignant Aura (1 CP):''' A {{W40kKeyword|Nurgle}} operative gains a 3"/square aura that reduces the defense of any enemy operatives inside it by 1. This won't mean much by itself, but it can make some easy pickings for a gunner. This is especially a worthwhile pick when stacked with the Chosen's aura of inescapability.
*'''Sickening Captivation (1 CP):''' Mark an enemy within 3"/square of a {{W40kKeyword|Slaanesh}} operative. This enemy suffers -1 to their APL. For most, this essentially robs them of their ability to fall back, but even marines will be forced to either retreat and do nothing else or stay and fight another turn.
</tab>
</tabs>

===L Strategies===
<div class="toccolours mw-collapsible mw-collapsed">
'''CSM Strategies:'''
<div class="mw-collapsible-content">
Generic Chaos in Kill Team is a bit of a mixed bag. While in theory access to both marines and cultists should give you enough flexibility to adapt to many threats, the lack of options on their wargear stops them from being trully great. At least in vanilla Kill Team, they got a lot of shinny new toys in Elites and Commanders, but let's talk about the base game first.

Starting with the traitor astartes, we have the aspiring champion, the toughest guy you could take in the basic game. With 2 attacks (3 against Imperium, 4 with the right speciality and 5 with the chainsword, but why would you give it that, though?) and access to a power sword or a power fist, this unit is your prime melee guy. This thing can do a lot of damage, especially good against heavy armoured units. Throwing this at GEQs is somewhat of an overkill, unless said unit is really dangerous, like a guardsman with a plasma or a melta. The Aspiring Champion cannot get boosted by the chaos marks, though, only the regular chaos marines and cultists can, so no more than 4 attacks. Though, to be fair, 4 should be enough to reliably kill most things, the power sword has AP3 and the power fist has Sx2, AP3 and D3 Damage. This makes it a lethal member of your team, with the drawback of it being a rather obvious target. Every unit that could realistically take it down will shoot at it, least it reach melee. And considering it only has one wound, you have to be careful on how you make it reach the enemy lines. They can at least be effective at ranged with the plasma pistol, though is bett for melee when someone charges him.

Chaos Marine Gunners rather basic: options range between heavy bolter, plasma rifle, flamer and meltagun. Meltagun is rather situational, considering it needs to be close to reliably hit (but when it does, it can turn into goop anything, D6 damage is great). Flamers are on the weak side, more for defending against charges than an offensive weapon due to their 8" range. So the choice is between plasma and heavy bolter. To take advantage of all of the specialisms, you want a plasma sniper and a heavy/demo heavy bolter. The plasma is self-explanatory, re-rolling ones means that you can overcharge the weapon safely. Heavy heavy bolter will be able to move around the map without the hit roll penalty, although considering it has a 36" range, you might rather let it stand still and add the demolition's +1 on the wound rolls. This combination makes it the best sniper of your team, though it is probably somewhat mediocre compared to the choices of other teams. 

Regular Chaos Marines are your run of the mill marines. Either chainsword with bolt pistol or boltgun, with both frag and krack grenades for good measure. You know what these do, don't expect miracles from them. Sadly, unlike SotA Marines, they can't naturally boost the surrounding unit's leadership, they instead recquire a relic for that. The regular marines have one relic, and ONLY one relic on the team. The Undivided relic boosts surrounding unit's leadership, Khorne's makes everyone re-roll charge rolls (very good for melee focused teams, of course), Nurgle's hurts enemy leadership, Slaanesh's makes surrounding allies get a DEATH TO THE FALSE EMPEROR ar 5+, which is really good, probably better in melee than Khorne's relic, and Tzeench makes the bearer into a psyker that only attacks on a 6+ roll, but with no perils. Melee focused teams will go for Khorne's and Slaanesh's, while ranged teams will preffer the Undivided to boost the cultists. Tzeench's is nice but very unreliable, with 1/6 chances of actually doing something, and Nurgle's relic is simply not that good. 

</div>
</div>
<div class="toccolours mw-collapsible mw-collapsed">
'''Counterplay:'''
<div class="mw-collapsible-content">
A team that can reliably take down marines while not sacrificing power against hordes is a good team against it. The guy who gets the Beseech the Gods stratagem has to become an instant target, especially if the aspiring champion, the plasma or the heavy bolter have it, though keep in mind that these are already high priority targets, it just changes the focus of the first attaks. Regular marines will have enough firepower to deal with the traitor scum, while the units with basic equipment will pretty much always kill the cultists. Same with Imperial Guard, plasma spam for the marines and attack spam for the grunts. AdMEch can use the infiltrators with the power sword to charge first and deny the enemy the chance of attacking first, the transuranic arquebus to obliterate whatever it sees, as well as the plasma guy (in fact let's just take this out of the way, PLASMA IS THE BEST COUNTER AGAINST MARINES OF ALL KIND, PERIOD), plus, ranger/vanguard spam is excellent against them. Other Chaos teams have ways to deal with astartes' high saves, though cultists will be able to give poxwalkers a run for their money, considering how weak they are without the disgustingly resilient rule. Tzaangors overpower cultists in melee pretty much every time, and rubric marines have enough toughness to just walk straight to them and roast them with magic flamers. Necrons will laugh at anyone who tries to kill them with autoguns, so once they've dealt with the big guys, the game is over. Orks might outnumber and overpower chaos marines, and once in melee, cultists are fucked. Eldar of all kinds will ignore most of the damage caused by the cultists (another reason to use the flamers with them, because something is eventually bound to get in). SotA will have problems with them, but that's where you want you negavolt cultists and your rogue psyker to carry your team, while the black legionnaires boost them and the rest deal with the cultists. Tau will have no problems dealing with regular chaos marines if they can keep them at a distance (a full mixed melee team with Khorne relic is great if you manage to reach the Tau lines with enough dudes, if you play Tau you'll prioritize the Aspiring Champion and the guy with the relic). A Lictor and Genestealer charge should be enough for tyranids to deal with the marines, but be wary of the counter-offensive if the astartes survives. 

Overall, the strategy against heretic astartes is simple: Big guns focused on their big guys, cheap units on the rest. 
</div>
</div>

===L Example Teams===

</div>
</div>