What calls you to the four winds?

[Paradigm]

Why do you play chaos?

 

A few weeks ago, I decided I'd throw together the random bits in my box and create an army out of whatever I had the most of. Since I already play CSM and I played mostly Codex Marines from the birth of fourth until about three years ago, I decided it wouldn't be powered armor. l had a ton of tau parts, as it turned out, about a 1000 points worth sitting around the man cave. I know not how they came to be. Besides a kill team I built a while back, I haven't done much with tau. So I built the army. Bunch of Kroot, min squad of Firewarriors, couple broadsides and battlesuits and a few piranhas. I thought, why not give it a shot? I've played a few games with them. Against Orks, against, Necrons, against Space marines, I couldn't put up any kind of fight. Granted the dex is old, but we weren't playing anything other than fun lists.

 

I didn't win a single game. I didn't even come close. In one game I was tabled by turn 3 without a single kill point. At first I thought that it was due to my inexperience with Tau. The more I played the more I realized, "I didn't want the damned xenos ingrates to win". I wanted to win sure, but to me, the tau aren't "me" enough to justify the damned blue-skins a victory anyway. Let alone that I continually overestimated them. Against Orks I reveled in the total and complete destruction leveled upon my army. It blew my mind how fast they crumbled in assault. Against Necrons I was out shot and didn't have the tools to take them down at all. I waxed nostalgic every time a space marine made his armor save, I was outclassed in every way.

 

Sure there were some cool things. I liked the Tau models. I really liked how the piranhas performed. As an army though, I just couldn't hold them back and still enjoy the fight. Where is the battlefield savagery? No tau will ever stand triumphant upon a pile of dead-found-wanting.

 

No matter what army you play as, if it isn't power armor, it feels fragile. It feels mortal.

 

The reason I play 40k isn't a desire for an army of redshirt idiots sopping up lead the other guys throw at me, it's because I want to make the other poor bastards soak up the lead I throw at them. Then I want to laugh about how all those slugs and pulses and flashlights tickled through my war-plate, and how I made the other guy's head go pop when I decided to tickle them back.

 

Any sort of space marine could do these things, but only a Chaos Marine can really enjoy them.

[Warsmith Aznable]

Thematically, because I want to be able to do anything with my warband without someone telling me "Space Marines don't do that!" Also because I like outsiders and rebels, and if there's tragedy involved that's even better.

 

Gaming wise, because I want to be able to do whatever strange modeling conversion or paint scheme I like.

 

And bad guys are always cooler to play. Well, this is 40k so everybody is kind of a bad guy, but Chaos Space Marines don't need to have the bad aspect explained about them, they're just full on bull-goose loony when it comes to badness.

[Azekai]

The concept of superhuman beings that are broken, anguished to their core and then find salvation in their very brokenness . . . what isn't to love?

Plague marines have had their psyches shattered and their bodies twisted and blighted, yet they find strength in their utmost despair and live to make the galaxy pay for the atrocity of its own existence.

 

Mechanically, they are about as powerful as you can get with the current dex, and even though that ain't saying much, I still relish playing with my (sort of) T5 cancer marines.

 

Greater glory to the Plague Father.

[Papewaio]

Well, it's not like I could ignore the voices.

[Yogi]

Chaos combines a whole bunch of themes I like. No other faction can hold my attention for long.

[Menkeroth]

Agree with Yogi. Only Chaos suits me. It combines everything i like, including moral and philosophical aspects. I love my army and this faction and will never play others (except my second army, Dark Angels, for my soul is divided into the service for Tzeentch and the loyalty to Lion El'Johnson :tu:). But DA're very close to Chaos so it matters little :) and so i'll play them and my Tzeentch marines till the end of times and for my last breath. For the Changer of the Ways!

[Vesper]

Well, to be perfectly honest, I started with 3.5 dex, it was the marvel that corrupted me forever. I just love the look, the variety of themes behind Chaos. Plus, they are the antithesis of the SM, which is always good to take.

[Jiron]

I have played Dark Angels some years ago. I tried to manage every battle how the Lion would manage it. I have put my best efford to plan every possibility and to find the weak spots of my enemy and strike those hard. And I always got kicked. Once I have fought a battle against the Black Legion. I saw the guy for the first time and never again. He played perfect "Water" and he put it well.

 

Two years later I have started Chaos. I deployed Khorne Berzerkers from the Battleforce with amazing satisfaction. Those guys just slaughtered everything in their path. That day I became sold to Khorne for ever on. I have also tried to make some shooty armies or some balanced lists because my friend thinks that what I usually play is too "indelicate". Well, it's subtle as flying chainaxe but it works.

 

I just love the thrill of furious assault. The moment my guys jump out of a rhino to crush the enemy. I enjoy the fear in my opponents eyes when his precious marines are to be reciving charge of the Khornates.

 

Blood for the Blood God! Let the Universe drown in it!

[ThisisJimmy]

I'm not 100% sure just why Chaos speaks to me more than any other race. I really like the psyche of Chaos followers, the fact that they have let go of all restraints and are living their lives according to their own desires. I like that they have looked at the face of insanity and given into it completely. The imagery that a 10,000 year old being that has been created to wage war doing so with abandon is just awesome to me, and randomness that is Chaos allows so much more customisation and story telling.

[Aqui]

I used to be a fervent Black Legion player using the Realm of Chaos books. I'd love to be able to play Chaos again (mainly because of my DIY Traitors), but with all the speculation of what is and isn't going to be the new 'Dex on the block, I don't want to get the current Chaos rules only to find that the new one is getting released.

 

For me, it's all in the back ground. The mighty and proud can fall, their ambitions being their downfall. The meek can rise and take power for themselves.

 

And if one is truly able, one can carve out an Empire, whilst making others burn! :P

[Dammeron]

Chaos appeals to me on various levels:

 

As mythology, it is superb; dense and evocative, with potentially infinite scope for expansion or individual narrative. Its creeping inevitability; the fact that it is fuelled even by those that actively attempt to deny its influence, lends the 40K universe a wonderful moribund quality, all of the conflicts that occur therein redundant next to the undeniable damnation of all involved.

 

As metaphysics, it is enlightened, acknowledging that the realm of gods, daemons, angels and otherwise supernatural powers is the province of metaphor and abstraction, leant impetus and significance by our own emotional weakness and psychological imperfection. The fact that it makes the metaphors flesh is neither here nor there; even the process of their material manifestation is a matter of dissolving the parameters between thought and matter; the subjective and objective. There is a wealth of ideas to plumb here; many that are more fruitful and coherent than those traditional ideologies of similar subject can provide.

 

Aesthetically, Chaos seeps and radiates a grand, majestic malevolence; archaism, gothicism; the surreal, the abstract...so much is bound up in the manner in which Chaos manifests and presents itself symbolically; the images that are quintessential to the concept. There is an undeniable ethos to Chaos that is difficult to find elsewhere; a resonance that is the core of its allure. In this regard, it draws influence from a variety of different arenas, from popular fiction to philosophy, from ancient occultism to post modern cinema, serving as a kind of well of varying themes, references and concepts.

 

The Devil has the best tunes; always has, always will.

[HJL]

Well, I play Word Bearers because I hate them utterly. Odd isn't it? I hate them so much that I want an army of the most diabolical bad guys in 40k.

[Araziel]

For me, its the fact that every person's view of Chaos is different.

 

Customisation is also a key factor. If I want to make a Chaos Terminator exploding into a Spawn, I can. If I want to attach a heap of corpses onto a Rhino hull, I can.

No other army can offer that for me.

 

I've thought about starting loyalists many a time, even gotten to the planning stages, army list writing etc, and never ended up getting anything because I'm limited to what I can do far, far too much.

[Excessus]

In second edition I was about to choose a loyalist chapter, but got put off by their strict rules and limitations. I felt the lure of chaos calling and bought that codex instead.

 

 

The legions, the Thousand Sons tragedy, the heresy, it was soooo awesome! Ancient archaic machines and 10k year old veterans in ancient equipment fighting an eternal war! Much MUCH more awesome than playing boring good guys! What ultimately sold my fate was the 2nd ed codex...the stories and characters, the models and units, the corruption and "crazy" stuff, the conversion possibilities...it got me hooked straight away...

 

 

 

Nowadays I still love the "flexible structures" of a warband, much more so than the rigidness of a chapter. The corruption and old enmity is awesome, all the stories, all the tragic anti-heroes and villains...

 

 

 

How can you not love chaos???

[minigun762]

I started Chaos for a very simple reason. I, like many others, started with Loyalists but soon realized just how many other loyalist players were out there. I wanted to play marines but do something different so Chaos was the natural choice.

[Kol Saresk]

My first introduction into the Warhammer World wad Lord ofthe Night. Been a fan since then.

[Trevak Dal]

At first, I wanted an Assault Army different from my Shooting Army (Tau), and I got a really great deal on a lot of guys. I really, really liked Khârn and Beserkers, though background wise I like the Alpha Legion and Black Legion. The conflict between the Dark Angels/Fallen interests me, and the new stuff on the Badab war feels very similar to the US Civil War (Astartes Rights instead of States Rights being the issue) so that sort of drew me in.

[Blackmonkey0]

40K for me is satifying my need to carve blue space marines up with chainsaws but the route of this obsessionis below:

 

 

It was the Chaos Gate PC game back in the day (still playing it on my netbook now).

When the cultists charge forward droning 'Come to Chaos' and the Berzerkers charge yelling 'Blood for the Blood God' and trhe sound of revving chainsaws.

Basically the game cemented Chaos as the ultimate evil enemy alongside Decepticons and Skeletor - showing my age now.

[Brother Keyaetus]

Im pretty much cursed (maybe blessed?) by tzeentch to constantly change my paint scheme for my chaos, once Im done repainting them again I think my models deserve a +1 to their saves and armour values due to the layers and layers of paint on them :D

 

I think that the fact that alot of chaos marines are ones from the great crusade and heresy (my favourite parts), sure some chaos marines have been made after, or maybe brought in from renegades or such, but I just dont make that be the case for me.

 

Or maybe its the fact that I hold such a grudge against space marines, since they have been the 'prime enemy' for me, along with guardsman next, and its always been an uphill struggle thanks to the marine/guard player having more money for me so more variation in their lists while I stick to my snail-paced growing chaos marines.

[Cpt_Reaper]

I play them because my warband's fluff is the polar opposite to my DiY Dark Angels successor. The Chaos Codex lets me do that. Well, the Tyrant's Legion does to but I only just got that. Anyway, onto the why...

 

At the very core of the reasons I play Chaos are two mottos: "Because I can" and "You asked me to." When I play my Chaos warband, as it is with every army I play, I see every game as fluff. I am the commander, he is me. When I play my Angels of Shadow, Grey Knights or Guard I am fighting for a reason. I am trying to kill the xenos, purge the heretic and cleanse the unclean. When I play my Chaos, I am fighting because I can fight. I kill the alien because it's in my way, I purge the heretic because their corpse-god says me an' mine gotta lay down and die so they can live in perfect world, I cleanse the unclean because my Defiler is hungry. I am free to fight whoever, for whatever reason.

My warband are mercenaries, partly because I want a merc force and partly because when a friend says "I need a team mate" I say "My Chaos will fight for you." They aren't really Chaos, I mean there are those in the warband that follow a god and ask for blessings, but as a whole they fight for the highest bidder. Chaos is the only grey codex: you are not the good guy, you are not the bad guy.

 

Long story short: Codex: Chaos Space Marines is freeing. You can fight for a god, for a man, for yourself or simply because you can.

[Iron Father Ferrum]

Well, it's not like I could ignore the voices.

 

You hear the voices too?!?

 

[/dawnofwarvoice]

 

 

Well, to be perfectly honest, I started with 3.5 dex, it was the marvel that corrupted me forever.

 

Me too. Long story short, I had never played a bad guy in any game ever before, and I found the experience oddly liberating. I went with the Alpha Legion because their devotion to teamwork, their adaptability, their spy networks, and their preference for 360 degree assaults all appealed to me. They are the SOF of the Traitor Legions, in their own way the most formidable of all the forces of Chaos.

[Vesper]

Well, to be perfectly honest, I started with 3.5 dex, it was the marvel that corrupted me forever.

 

Me too. Long story short, I had never played a bad guy in any game ever before, and I found the experience oddly liberating. I went with the Alpha Legion because their devotion to teamwork, their adaptability, their spy networks, and their preference for 360 degree assaults all appealed to me. They are the SOF of the Traitor Legions, in their own way the most formidable of all the forces of Chaos.

 

They were really great to play, back then. So different in a cool way. I miss those times.

Oh, and congratulation on your victory, you filthy loyalist.

[Zynk Kaladin]

If I had the money (and GW didn't have such redic prices) I would definitely make a small Night Lord warband and a Khorne warband. I don't know why, but imagining being "the bad guy" is just plain fun... it's different. Also dark blue is just plain sexy.

[Rik Riorik]

I play Chaos because of the Index Astartes articles. Because of the Word Bearer one in particular. It was in the first White Dwarf I ever bought and I always really enjoyed reading it even though I played Warhammer Fantasy Battles. But then a friend of mine got me into 40k. I didn't knowanything about 40k though so I didn't know what armies there were. At the time I had never contemplated ever playing an "evil" army though.

 

I thought the Space Wolves seemed kewl, but as my mate had them as one of his armies I didn't fancy them. Also as a Dwarf player I felt they were just a little too much like Dwarfs in Space and I wanted something with a bit of a different feel this time around.

 

For some reason or other I settled on Blood Angels. I think it was the influence of my mate telling me they were rock hard in close combat and I wanted something that could dish out some serious pain there after having played Dwarfs that always got butchered by enemies on the charge. Also the Angelic thing really appealed to me and I kitted out my Librarian with wings instead of a jump pack because it just felt right.

 

But even as I made my own BA succesors (Heartrenders, I believe I called them) I never really fancied playing them. In much I think it was also due to the horrible little excuse for a Codex that they had back in those days (3rd edition). It felt like a pamphlet. It just didn't feel like an army. And when the Imperial Guard got their shiny Doctrines Codex I jumped at the chance of playing them instead and got the big box. I started converting up my own special Penal Legion, the Kuirlaand Freedom Brigades. They were centered around the idea that legionaires were criminals serving in the Brigades who if they survived their service long enough could regain their freedom. But interest in playing took a hit at that time and eventually my enthusiasm had gone for them as well.

 

It wasn't until in the months leading up to the realease of the latest Chaos Codex that I finally decided that I really wanted a 40k army and realised that I'd always been pulled towards the Word Bearers. I loved the old 3.5 Codex and I had read it sooo many times and really thought it was, alongside the old Craftworld Codex, the most interesting Codexes of their day because of the variety. So I was stoked for the release of the 4th edition Codex. Even more so when seeing the new models. But never before have I been so underwhelmed. The difference between 3.5 and 4th is so huge it is breath taking and it is only in a bad way.

 

Oh I went away on a tangent there didn't I? Well the reason anyways I was drawn into the Word Bearers is because of their connection more so than any other Legion, loyalist or not, to the occult, to the religious, to the supernatural. Perhaps because I am such a logical and scientific person in real life I have this draw towards those things that I know cannot be.

[Coryphaus 101]

Because, simply, they're awesome. Demi-gods that have the choice to do whatever they please, some becoming even more like gods, others simply doing whatever they want. That, and they're real 'survivors' compared to SM. They've been around for 10,000 years, use ancient or salvaged equipment and still kick whoever's ass they choose to. They are the essence of veterans! I like Word Bearers because, out of everyone except maybe the Alpha Legion, they seem to be the most unified. Gods of war worshipping gods of war and bringing their gifts to the battlefield to destroy everything! The codex is a disappointment though. Especially because Raptors are all but useless.