Do the Bitz have anything to do with your units?

[Hexclaw]

Do any of the pieces you can attach to your figure have any effect on them? And does it matter what pieces you used for your model? (Such as if one of your models had a morphed head with a spike coming out of it (One of the heads that comes with a Bitz pack in the Chaos Space Marine troop pack), and your Chaos god was Khorne)

[Brother Valerius]

If they represent upgrades that the unit does not normally come with, yes. If not, no.

 

And no, it doesn't matter what heads etc you use to build the models. That's a purely cosmetic choice. The only thing that matters is equipment, and even then it only matters if it is not something which is standard (so you don't have to make sure every tactical marine has a bolt pistol, for example, or grenades).

[Jacinda]

For a long time, these conversions and mutations have been encouraged for a CSM army. A spike here and there is just added decoration. Same goes for a tentacle for an arm in the middle of a squad or maybe someone with a bladed forearm. But if the whole squad is sporting several mutations each it looks like a unit of possessed CSM. And that is more or less the boundary you want to stay with in. Does it look like the model is carrying a certain piece of war gear or look like a different type? Chaos troops have horns. Either added to their armor or growing out of their skull does not matter. A horn is just a bit of decoration. But if you try to make a model with the bladed forearm I mentioned and put three knife blades on the back of his arm is that going to be mistaken as a lightning claw? Maybe. Just use a little common sense here.

[darth_giles]

As a longtime Chaos player, the WYSIWYG rule is difficult. That's the absolute best I can say about it, because sometimes its makes me want to find whoever wrote it and turn them into a Spawn. I always clearly mark my champions, which should leave me free to mutate and convert my rank-and-file troops, right? Aparrently not, because that tentacle arm isn't actually a chainsword, and the big Arnold-sized grabbing arm looks a little bit like a power fist. And these bitz have been unchanged on the mutation sprue since 3rd edition!

 

Oh, and I *always* go over my army list before the game with my opponent, so he'll be totally informed that the "unit of possessed" over there is really just a squad of mutated CSMs and there are NO POSSESSED IN MY LIST!

 

/thundershoe

[Brother Valerius]

As a longtime Chaos player, the WYSIWYG rule is difficult. That's the absolute best I can say about it, because sometimes its makes me want to find whoever wrote it and turn them into a Spawn. I always clearly mark my champions, which should leave me free to mutate and convert my rank-and-file troops, right? Aparrently not, because that tentacle arm isn't actually a chainsword, and the big Arnold-sized grabbing arm looks a little bit like a power fist. And these bitz have been unchanged on the mutation sprue since 3rd edition!

 

Oh, and I *always* go over my army list before the game with my opponent, so he'll be totally informed that the "unit of possessed" over there is really just a squad of mutated CSMs and there are NO POSSESSED IN MY LIST!

 

/thundershoe

 

Isn't a chainsword standard equipment for a CSM? If it is, you don't have to represent it on the model... unless the tentacle arm is an upgrade or something, which would be weird.