The Black Hulk

The Elite

Chaos Space Marine Veterans

One of the finest troops in the game. What else can you call a squad of Aspiring Champions who can infiltrate? (Albeit without the wargear slots) There are so many things you can do with these guys, it's worth decking them out for different eventualities. Since they can infiltrate, you can put them, no wait, you MUST put them in a strategically important place. Places where you know the enemy is going to want to seize, or start them in behind cover near the enemy army. Equip them very well. Give each a bolter, and extra close combat weapon (all these extra attack dice are worth it, you know). As my Veterans are the elite, I give them more exotic weapons, such as Power Axes, Power Fists, Plasma Pistols, Hand Flamers, you get the idea. These warriors have had plenty of time to scavenge for weaponry, so don't be ashamed to take Post-Heresy Weaponry (although keep in the spirit of the game). I often plump for a Power Sword on one of my Veterans. You might want one heavy weapon in the squad. If you do this, consider what you will be shooting at; if it's mainly infantry with a save of 3+ on a single D6 and worse, a Heavy Bolter is a wise purchase, as is a Missile Launcher. If you plan to do some Terminator hunting, take a lascannon and give the Champion in the unit a Vortex Grenade. If you want to blow up some vehicles, Krak grenades and a lascannon, or, in the case of light vehicles, an Autocannon are wise purchases. After all this, your Veteran Squad is going to be expensive; but then again, if you want to play with masses upon masses of troops buy some Beastmen. That said, don't make the Veteran Squad too expensive. An effective squad of four veterans plus an Aspiring champ with a good piece of wargear should only set you back 245 points. It is possible to make an entire army of Veterans, but it isn't as good as it sounds. You will be completely wiped out as you will be seriously outnumbered by all armies consisting of anything but Terminators.

Nurgle Plaguemarines

These troops are great. Toughness of five, and you don't even have to pay extra for the boltguns. Although they come with a plagueknife, you're better off sitting these troops in cover so that they can fire away and cause lots of wounds to summon Nurgle Daemons. However, they are ...competent in HtH and are great defenders. A Champion in the squad should be given a Nurgle Reward that will boost their HtH power, such as a plaguesword (kills all mortal creatures on a 4,5,6). Blight grenades are excellent area-denial weapons against beings with low armour saves. It's easy to use these troops the wrong way; I must re-iterate, do not go looking for a melee with these troops. You can't give them assault weapons, so they will be seriously outclassed by better HtH troops. Think of them as the most tactical troops you can get. They are well worth the points.

Slaanesh Noise Marines

In my opinion the most powerful of the "cult" troops. They may not be masters of HtH combat, but the Sonic Blaster is a powerful weapon, make no mistake. And the Blastmaster... well. The Doom Siren gives a nasty shock to those near the squad. The best bit is that they are immune to psychology and never break! Their Psychic Cacophany is dangerous, though. You must always remember it can just as easily be your sorceror that gets hurt. Keep Noise Marines well away from your sorcerors. Apply this restraint in no way whatsoever to enemy psykers. One of my favorite tactics is to open the gate near an enemy psyker, and send my Noise Marines through. Not only do you bring the cacophany to the enemy, but you also get good shots at the enemy. Remember, though, that you must send more than just a few Noise Marines to wreak havoc. Send in some HtH troops in first, and support them with Noise Marines. Photon Flash Flares are a bit pricey at 5 points per model, but are worth every point against IG and Orks. On the Champion side of things, I reccomend the Allure or Gaze of Slaanesh if you are worried about being charged, but if you just want to liquefy the enemy, give the Champion a Blastmaster (it's legal!) and a targeter. Now the Blastmaster weilding Champ has an effective weapon skill of 6, letting him hit automatically if there are no other modifiers! Very useful! Whoever said Slaneesh was the weakest of the Chaos Gods? :)

Thousand Sons Marines

These troops are often overlooked. Why? That little "If Energy Drain is played, the Chaos player must choose D6 Thousand Sons as casualites as their souls are sucked away" clause in the army list. So they never really notice that they are walking nullifies, and that they are immune to psychology, blinding attacks, gases and toxins. Tyranid Venom cannons, Spineifists and Devourers must halve their strength value too! And they aren't affected by Hellfire shells and Graviton guns! These troops are best used to protect you psyker. In fact, I think they should be used to protect a psyker, as you can only have them if you take a Thousand Sons Sorceror. It fits the fluff. They can be armed in a variety of ways, and you should keep them with a sorceror, as they cannot be accompanied by a Champion. It's best to use these troops as an escort for a Tzeentchian psyker primed for HtH. Give the Thousand Sons HtH weapons, make the sorceror Level 2, give him a Force Axe (+3 strength, -3 save mod) and pray he gets the Bolt of Change. What you have here is a extremely powerful squad, and one that fits the fluff at that!

Khorne Bezerkers

Tactics? Bezerkers? Lets just say there are not exactly synonyms. Basically, all you want to do with Bezerkers is to get them into hand to hand as soon as you can. Bezerkers should never go straight down the middle of the battlefield, never. All that will happen if you do this is:

1. They will get shot to pieces.
2. They will run into the enemies finest troops, be overwhelmed, and get cut to pieces.

No, what you want to do with Bezerkers in to tear down a weakened flank and attack the the enemy's heavy weapons and weaker troops. If you really want to charge down the middle, make sure you have a *big* squad, of at least 10. Put a champion in with them, and give him a good HtH weapon, and perhaps a wargear item or a Chaos reward (Axe of Khorne is an old favorite, +1 to str, D3 wounds). Remember, you want to charge first, so use that triple charge distance ability. Bezerkers go well with Chain Axes, but you may want to have some with Chainswords, to make use of their parry while frenzied skill. Bezerkers are powerful troops, as they have a 2+ save, and can easily get a combat score of 14! Any opponent will have a tough time topping that one. Never charge terminators, unless it is with other Terminators. Of course, there is a real reason you take Bezerkers for...

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