New CSM Player Help

[DoomLucky]

Hi everyone! So, I used to play Blood Angels back in 5th but with the changes to the codex that came with 6th my interest faded and I haven't painted a thing since. The new wave of chaos models, however, has completely blown me away, so I'm considering easing my way back into the hobby with a Chaos Marines army. Naturally, having only ever played as a filthy loyalist, I'm a tad out of my depth, so I'm hoping you guys can help. For me, modelling and painting takes priority, so I'll be picking a legion more based on how the look, how much room I'll have to tinker and convert and add a bit of character, rather than their power on the table top. I was thinking of starting with a small force, 750 points maybe, and just getting a bit of painting done to get started. 

 

So, I'd love to hear your recommendations. What legion would you recommend to a new chaos player? What's the best way to get started? Are there any great guides or books you'd recommend reading? Good first purchases, your favourites and preferences, tips, anything, let's hear it.

[Xenith]

Pick the legion who's background grabs you the most, and you can paint without too much trauma.

 

The first models to buy are the ones that you think are cool and inspire you to paint them. As you said, you lose interest in an army when you don't like the rules, so building and army based on rules is a bad idea as rules change. Build the army based on the models you like the most, as these models will be the same.

[Dragonlover]

I'll echo Xenith. Play what you think looks cool, paint what you want to. If that happens to dovetail with effectiveness/you can make it work, all the better!

 

That said, you could do worse than Shadowspear, an extra box of CSM and a Chaos Lord as a starting point.

 

In termos of what Legion to go for rules wise, that'll kinda depend on what you want to do. Punch things in the face? That'll be World Eaters. Sit back and shoot? Probably Alpha Legion.

 

Dragonlover

 

P.S - Welcome aboard! You need anything, feel free to PM.

[Sception]

I'm, as ever, a big proponent of the Black Legion. It's the largest and most diverse Chaos Marine subfaction, with the most variety in terms of warbands flying its banner, so you can feel free to follow your inspiration in terms of whatever models appeal to you without ever worrying about this or that unit choice being unfluffy. Black armor with gold trim is a super striking look aesthetically as well.

 

You also get access to that fabulous new Abaddon model, though admittedly he's a bit much for your initial 750 points and should probably wait until you have a bit more of an army together.

 

We're also two books into a really fantastic novel series from ADB on the origins of the Black Legion, imo among the best CSM book series out there, and it does a great job establishing the Black Legion ethos and building up Abaddon as a dynamic and compelling character.

 

 

Down sides are that you will need both the codex and vigilus ablaze, since some of the new Black Legion stuff didn't make it into the updated codex, which is admittedly a bit of a bummer. You'd probably eventually end up wanting vigilus ablaze for the specialist detachments anyway, so its not that big a deal.

 

Also black and gold, while they are quite striking, can both be a bit of a bother to figure out in a way you like. The how to paint abaddon video on gw's youtube has some decent methods, but they take a while, and I'd recommend doing the trim first, then the armor panels.

 

Also, it could be argued that some other CSM subfactions have better legion traits then the black, though I personally feel we make up for it in strategems, warlord traits, artefacts, and special characters, especially with the additions from vigilus ablaze.

 

 

In terms of where to start, competitive CSMs in 8e of late, to the extent that they've been a thing at all, have been mostly about cultists, daemon princes, and daemonic or renegade knight allied detachments. It's too soon to say what if any new competitive tournament builds will come out of the updated codex. Possibly none. And, frustratingly, chaos cultists are super hard to come by these days, as gw only sells them in packs of 5 (not even a while unit), with no access to their squad leader or special weapon options.

 

But if you are, as you say, more concerned with modeling and painting than winning games against top end eldar and imperial soup lists, then you'll be fine. CSM based lists can have enjoyable games against the likes of pure ork or pure space marine lists.

 

As such, I would abandon competitive concerns & build units you like or that seem fluffy. That said, there are ways to get a bit of an edge in while still playing something fluffy & good looking. For instance, 10 csms in a rhino is fun & fluffy, but 2x5 chaos marines in the same rhino is more flexible & gets you an extra unit champ, while 5 chaos space marines in a rhino plus 5 havocs in a rhino gets you flexibility, boots on the ground, and some respectable firepower, all while maintaining the feel of mechanized power armor that you had when you started with a more plain unit to 10 marines.

 

Consider starting with one winged daemon prince, one box of new chaos marines, two rhinos, two boxes of new havoks, 2 packs of forgeworld 30k legion rotor cannons, 1 pack of forgeworld 30k legion combi weapons. The rotor cannons are out of stock right now, likely due to chaos players eager for that new gun, but should be back in before too long.

 

Build it up as 2x 5 csms, each with 3 bolters, one plasmagun, and a champion with a combi plasmagun & chainsword or chainaxe, maybe a power weapon instead of the chain weapon if you want to be fancy. Then 2x havoks each with 4x rotor cannons plus bolter/chainsword champ. Daemon prince with armor, wings, and whatever your preference of weaponry. Put 1 csm squad and one havok squad in each rhino. Rhinos drop the csms onto objectives while screening the prince's advance, havocs get out and start shooting as soon as they're in range, preferably turn one.

 

Gets you playable patrol with a solid base of mobile infantry with some reasonably threatening firepower, plus a nasty psychic flying monster.

 

 

From there, you could expand into a proper battallion by adding some cultists for screening & objective camping plus maybe some deep striking terminators with a terminator sorcerer or even abaddon himself to lead them.

 

The terminators can be built up a number of ways: cheap & efficient with combi bolters and chain axes; or splurge for melee with power weapons, fists, mark of knorne, & the khorne icon to reroll that long bomb assault; or splurge for range with combi plasma & mark of slaanesh. If your rotor cannons can get in range to strip away screens turn one, then a slaaneshi plasminator squad can nuke just about anything turn two, especially bolstered with guidance from a sorcerer or rerolls from abaddon.

 

 

Leastwise, that's more or less how I would go about it, just one example of putting together an army based on the models & units that I happen to like. Alternatively, you could pick up a box or two of shadowspear, one or two maulerfiends, and the lord discordant when it releases, and have a more aggressive, more daemonic & mechanical force, with a bunch of fast, hard hitting monsters. Or maybe a melee oriented elite force with berzerkers (I recommend converting from new CSM models rather than using the old berzerker models) in land raiders. Whatever appeals to you, really. Again, we're not exactly a top table tournament army these days, and ince you abandon that sort of ambition you're free to take the units you like and just let them do what they fo on the table.

[ChazSexington]

1) Aesthetic and convertability.

2) Lore. 

3) Playstyle and competitiveness.

 

Within these, what are your preferences? There's so many ways to go down this path, especially post Vigilus.

[undivided_apostle]

In terms of books my favorite books

 

First heretic I view it as the prologue of the horus heresy

 

Betrayer, because Kharne is awesome.....

 

The talon of horus. I really enjoy it its origin story for black legion.

 

In terms of picking a legion black legion is the safe choice but just make sure the fluff matches what you like about csm.

 

For first units daemon princes's are an excellent hq choice.

[Ardaric Vaanes]

There's always the option to paint your dudes your way and play whatever legion suits your fancy?

 

As for physically building your army, well that's up to you, but two troops choices and a HQ are always a solid choice, just like the good old days of Force Organisation charts.

 

I reckon they'll re-release the start collecting box with the new CSM models soon enough so you could wit for that to drop? If you like to tinker and convert stuff there's plenty of models with great potential in the Chaos lines. Daemon engines are my favorite closely followed by Tanks (I'm an Iron Warriors player).

[GreaterChickenofTzeentch]

I second Malisteen's recommendation of the Black Legion....and for another reason as well....they're historical rivals with the Blood Angels since the Heresy, so it would make for some nice dioramas with your existing collection or even cool narrative games if you have to introduce someone else to the game and let them borrow your old Blood Angels.

 

Another point: What color do you like painting for trim and small details? Choose an army based on that because you're going to be doing a lot of it. :)

[DoomLucky]

Thanks all, there's some fantastic advice here. I'll be spending my evening digging into the backgrounds of the various legions to see if anything hooks me. 

 

1) Aesthetic and convertability.

2) Lore. 

3) Playstyle and competitiveness.

 

Within these, what are your preferences? There's so many ways to go down this path, especially post Vigilus.

 

1) Aesthetic is priority number one. I already know I won't be going for World Eaters; I already have a force of blood red maniacs with chainswords so I'd like to mix it up a little. I'll be looking at converting once I've got a better handle on painting chaos models and tackling all the little details. My army will undoubtedly spend more time on the shelf than the tabletop, so looking good and being a fun project is more important than anything else.

2) I haven't read too much into the lore. I have a very, very broad sweeping view of what each Legion is about, but haven't delved too far into individual backstories and characters, so it's hard to say really what I'm looking for in this regard.

3) Competitiveness doesn't bother me. I won't be entering any competitions and any games I do play will be against friends just for fun. I'm not overly bothered about tabletop performance, but fun strats and tactics are of course always a bonus.

 

Almost everyone has pointed out that it's worth just grabbing whatever looks cool and painting it. Personally I think the Daemon Engines are the coolest models in the chaos range, particularly the Forgefiend, Maulerfiend and the new Venomcrawler. As a BA player I'm also naturally drawn to the raptors and warp talons - does anyone know if these will be getting new models in the coming releases? The new Master of Possession model in the Shadowspear box looks awesome, so I might try and grab him and the squad of marines from the box off of eBay for cheap as a start.

[GreaterChickenofTzeentch]

Thanks all, there's some fantastic advice here. I'll be spending my evening digging into the backgrounds of the various legions to see if anything hooks me. 

 

1) Aesthetic and convertability.

2) Lore. 

3) Playstyle and competitiveness.

 

Within these, what are your preferences? There's so many ways to go down this path, especially post Vigilus.

 

1) Aesthetic is priority number one. I already know I won't be going for World Eaters; I already have a force of blood red maniacs with chainswords so I'd like to mix it up a little. I'll be looking at converting once I've got a better handle on painting chaos models and tackling all the little details. My army will undoubtedly spend more time on the shelf than the tabletop, so looking good and being a fun project is more important than anything else.

2) I haven't read too much into the lore. I have a very, very broad sweeping view of what each Legion is about, but haven't delved too far into individual backstories and characters, so it's hard to say really what I'm looking for in this regard.

3) Competitiveness doesn't bother me. I won't be entering any competitions and any games I do play will be against friends just for fun. I'm not overly bothered about tabletop performance, but fun strats and tactics are of course always a bonus.

 

Almost everyone has pointed out that it's worth just grabbing whatever looks cool and painting it. Personally I think the Daemon Engines are the coolest models in the chaos range, particularly the Forgefiend, Maulerfiend and the new Venomcrawler. As a BA player I'm also naturally drawn to the raptors and warp talons - does anyone know if these will be getting new models in the coming releases? The new Master of Possession model in the Shadowspear box looks awesome, so I might try and grab him and the squad of marines from the box off of eBay for cheap as a start.

Raptors and Warp Talons won't be getting new models yet. Their aesthetic is already similar to the new CSM box and their new kits were released, along with many of the Daemon Engines, during the last major release for the range during 6th edition, so they're relatively new.

 

I recommend looking for an old starter box called Dark Vengeance on ebay and getting the Chaos Lord, Chosen, and Cultists from that. Really nice looking miniatures.

[Azekai]

Any interests in Night Lords? Basically any Chaos warband can have raptors attached to it, but the Night Lords are particularly known for it, and their paint scheme grants them a unique look.

Another good 'aesthetic' legion is the Emperor's Children.

A couple of greater possessed might fit really well into a small point starter army too- basically budget daemon princes. They will also benefit from the Malefic spells of the master of possession.

[DoomLucky]

Any interests in Night Lords? Basically any Chaos warband can have raptors attached to it, but the Night Lords are particularly known for it, and their paint scheme grants them a unique look.

 

Another good 'aesthetic' legion is the Emperor's Children.

 

A couple of greater possessed might fit really well into a small point starter army too- basically budget daemon princes. They will also benefit from the Malefic spells of the master of possession.

 

I've just been doing some reading and both the Night Lords and Emperor's Children seem really cool. The other legions that grabbed me were the Word Bearers and Crimson Slaughter. It's tough, it seems like every legion has their own awesome backstory and cool characters. 

[GreaterChickenofTzeentch]

If Daemon Engines are your thing, Brazen Beasts might be worth a look. Thousand Sons and Iron Warriors can also put together pretty good Daemon Engine armies.

[Sception]

Night lords are more associated w/ jump troops, iron warriors more associated with engines, but those are units which can be reasonably found in any non-cult legion or renegade chapter.

 

It's worth pointing out that Black Legion happily do both *and* have a unique special character who's all about buffing raptors... but that said you can absolutely make a better generic jump hero, particularly via the specialist detachment.

 

Speaking of specialist detachments, vigilus has good ones for both jump units and daemon engines. The jump formation can even almost make warp talons ok with a boost to charge range. You don't necessarily need the book right away, but given your unit preferences you'll want it sooner rather than later, especially if you want to play black legion or a renegade chapter instead of one of the pre-heresy legions.

 

 

If those are the units you're most interested in, finding an imperial player to split a box of shadowspear with is probably an ideal starting point.

 

The raptor/warp talon models arent getting replaced. They look current already, with the arguable exception of their shoulder pads. There is a distinct new shape to chaos pauldrons, and if you want your jump troops to match that particular detail, you'll either need to get some on the secondary market, or press mold some greenstuff duplicates.

[InAction]

Hey, been kind of in the same boat as DoomLucky as of late and would also appreciate some advice if I decide to take the plunge to become a Chaos convert. Of the stuff I've seen that's coming out soon, all of it looks great, but in particular I've really liked what I've seen of the Terminator and Havoc models. I'd been giving thought as to what warband I'd want to play, and Emperor's Children has largely been what's appealing to me - I really would like to play with some Noise Marines. (No idea what the upgrade kit is like.)

[MegaVolt87]

I can relate DoomLucky, just coming back to the game myself. Go with what legio's lore + aesthetics appeal the most, all the other stuff like models just clicks with time, well it did for me anyway.

[Guzzlrr]

My hobby has revolved around what I perceive as cool I originally had my own brew Renegades black armor with Crimson Trim But then I Read a storm of iron and everything changed. I woukd suggest picking something you've read or look at and thinks cool, Because remember no matter how it's painted It can always use other traits as you please like my Iron Warriors have seen more use as Black Legion of late haha so you do you boo.

[Xenith]

As per above. There is no rule saying how your models have to be painted. Black Legion variant schemes/sub-warbands include those that originally stuck with the Sons of Horus scheme, for example. 

[Sception]

@InAction: My first post in this thread included an example of how I'd start collecting a CSM force that emphasized havocs and, eventually, terminators.

 

It's worth pointing out that many great CSM offensive gimmicks - including deep striking jump units, deep striking plasminators, and daemon engine rush - are all heavily stymied by chaff screens and bubble wraps.  As such, even if you're not looking to dominate in the shooting phase, sacrificial units of rotor cannon havocs to try to clear those units turn one is still a pretty valuable unit to take.  If you're not taking them specifically, then it's important to consider what other options you have for doing that job.

 

hades fiends and/or auto/heavy bolter predators chilling under a noctilith crown?

 

non-deep-striking terminators marching up the field with combi bolters (and chain axes to keep them cheap)?

 

multiple squads of basic chaos marines (maybe red coursairs for the extra CP & replenishment/outflanking stratagem) with their own rotor cannons?

 

fire raptor gunship(s)?

 

dual dakka renegade knight?

 

 

The point is, you want something.  We've got a ton of cool, hard hitting units that want to be right up in the enemy's face turn two /at the latest/.  Some of them - daemon engine rushes in particular - can be assaulting the enemy backfield turn one.  You want that stuff to be hitting high value targets, not wasting their damage output on cultists & conscripts, so it's important to have at least something in your list that can be meaningfully peeling back layers of protection from opposing formations yesterday.

[GreaterChickenofTzeentch]

@InAction: My first post in this thread included an example of how I'd start collecting a CSM force that emphasized havocs and, eventually, terminators.

 

It's worth pointing out that many great CSM offensive gimmicks - including deep striking jump units, deep striking plasminators, and daemon engine rush - are all heavily stymied by chaff screens and bubble wraps.  As such, even if you're not looking to dominate in the shooting phase, sacrificial units of rotor cannon havocs to try to clear those units turn one is still a pretty valuable unit to take.  If you're not taking them specifically, then it's important to consider what other options you have for doing that job.

 

hades fiends and/or auto/heavy bolter predators chilling under a noctilith crown?

 

non-deep-striking terminators marching up the field with combi bolters (and chain axes to keep them cheap)?

 

multiple squads of basic chaos marines (maybe red coursairs for the extra CP & replenishment/outflanking stratagem) with their own rotor cannons?

 

fire raptor gunship(s)?

 

dual dakka renegade knight?

 

 

The point is, you want something.  We've got a ton of cool, hard hitting units that want to be right up in the enemy's face turn two /at the latest/.  Some of them - daemon engine rushes in particular - can be assaulting the enemy backfield turn one.  You want that stuff to be hitting high value targets, not wasting their damage output on cultists & conscripts, so it's important to have at least something in your list that can be meaningfully peeling back layers of protection from opposing formations yesterday.

Other good ones include max size bike squads with lots of combi-bolters and chainswords. Roll up, fire twice with Slaanesh to blow two chaff squads out of their shoes and then multi-charge two more.

 

There's also the idea of possibly starting a 10-man Terminator unit on the table, Advancing them and then throwing on Warp Time to get them close enough while using the Black Legion Trait with Combi-weapons to fire all components as Assault. Use Dark Apostle prayers or Psychic Powers to boost to-hit chances and provide protection. If you don't go first, Prepared Positions and some care with deployment should help a good chunk of the squad survive. Bonus points for using Punishing Volley on some nearby Havocs to hit enemy guns pre-emptively before they can fire on first turn.

 

This then creates a massive threat that must be dealt with before it closes enough to fire at full effectiveness and multi-charge. It WILL die, but the right buffs can force your opponent to sink a huge amount of resources into killing it and if you build carefully, the cost is not out of order for a combined fire sink/chaff clearing tool. Just make sure you have other heavy hitters to exploit the threat.

 

 

Also, the Lord Discordant with Mecha Serpents is possibly the god king of single model chaff clearing units because of his large base and ability to attack once for every model within 1 inch in addition to his and his Helstalker's normal swings.

 

A Khorne-Marked LD with that gear who can fight twice would be a nightmare for horde armies....especially if supported by allied Khorne Daemon characters and/or Lasher Maulerfiends.

 

Rhino with 2 Combi-Bolters, a Havoc Launcher, and 2 Havoc Squads, each with 4 Chaincannons, can really make a dent as Malisteen said.

 

As a note, you also need to deal with flyers these days and the LD is pretty good at it. You can either auto-hit at 18 in Str 6 with a Baleflamer or you can fire two Autocannon shots at 3+ despite moving (BS starts at 2+, gives himself +1 because he's a Daemon Engine, -1 for moving -1 for flyer without using any strats to mitigate) and a Magma Cutter on 2+ if you can get within 6 inches. Don't underestimate Magma Cutters that have the BS to actually hit things.

 

Havocs or Forgefiends can handle anti-air too, with help from a Dark Apostle and/or a Sorcerer.

 

A further note on Magma Cutters: they are Pistols these days and if you're planning on sending Maulerfiends with an LD, they can shoot them on 3+ with no penalty for moving and can shoot them in CC every shooting phase. Lasher Tendrils are better all around for the points, but if you're going to kill things like Knights, the guaranteed Damage 3 per shot is no joke and having one with Magma Cutters along, plus another Magma Cutter on the LD could help quite a bit.

[Sception]

Dont run your combi bolter terminators, even with black legion trait, unless there's nothing in range and line of sight otherwise. At least, not if you're using the new bolter rules. Firing a rapid fire weapon as assault instead cuts the number of shots in half since you lose the rapid fire ability to shoot twice *and then* tacks on a -1 to hit penalty on top of that. Absolutely not worth it.

[GreaterChickenofTzeentch]

The purpose of the Advance is to run and then Warp Time to threaten an easy charge on Turn 2 or come from far out of position behind cover to suddenly be a threat. The shots will be reduced in effectiveness for one round (notice I said you'd fire at full effectiveness later), but you're looking to close at roughly 16 inches in one turn since the increase from Advancing stays for the second move in similar effects that allow double moves. This is disruptive to your opponent's thought process, can steal early objectives, and is calculated to prompt them to fear what will be done next turn so that they counter charge or focus the Terminators. The fact that you can also fire with a -1 while doing so allows you to threaten one important target or clear some chaff at the same time. Prescience and/or the appropriate Prayer before beginning the process cancels the -1 handily. Then next turn, you drop to normal movement rate and use the guns at full effectiveness before charging.

 

I said Combi-Weapons when I mentioned it and it works with all 4, though Combi-Bolters would be the least effective, with Meltas and Flamers probably benefitting the most. I personally think the tradeoff is worth it on that one turn, but others may not.

[DoomLucky]

I think I'm torn between three legions at this point, since all of them have different aspects that I like.

 

1) Iron Warriors. I love the cold, bitter persona that comes with these guys. They're absolutely brutal, but in a devoid-of-any-feeling way rather than a revelling in the glorious fountains of blood kind of way. I like the emphasis on tanks, big guns and Daemon engines, and the hazard stripes give them a totally unique look. 

 

2) Night Lords. It seems wherever I go I'm drawn to jump pack infantry. Warp talons and raptors are among my personal favourite models in the chaos range from what I've seen, and with a few nice additions from FW they could make some truly terrifying models. I dig the blue and bronze, and the Night Lords dreadnought models on FW would also make awesome collection pieces down the line.

 

3) Word Bearers. God, I love the dark red and silver scheme on these guys. Their lore is probably the backstory that grabbed me most upon a first read, and the idea of Dark Apostles and sorcerers leading armies of possessed and Daemons both summoned and bound to engines is definitely a cool one. 

 

Hopefully I can settle on one idea soon. I've just managed to grab the 10-man squad of Daemonkin marines from the Shadowspear box on eBay for £13 (the 10-man box available for pre-order is £35). I'm thinking I'm gonna split them as 2 5-man squads; one with the champion, 3 chainsword marines and the plasma gun, and the bolter marines and the autocannon in the other. They're not optimised tabletop squads, but for the extreme discounted price they'll make nice tester squads to try out some colour schemes and techniques on. Thanks for all the help guys, excited to be venturing back into 40k again!

[GreaterChickenofTzeentch]

I think I'm torn between three legions at this point, since all of them have different aspects that I like.

 

1) Iron Warriors. I love the cold, bitter persona that comes with these guys. They're absolutely brutal, but in a devoid-of-any-feeling way rather than a revelling in the glorious fountains of blood kind of way. I like the emphasis on tanks, big guns and Daemon engines, and the hazard stripes give them a totally unique look. 

 

2) Night Lords. It seems wherever I go I'm drawn to jump pack infantry. Warp talons and raptors are among my personal favourite models in the chaos range from what I've seen, and with a few nice additions from FW they could make some truly terrifying models. I dig the blue and bronze, and the Night Lords dreadnought models on FW would also make awesome collection pieces down the line.

 

3) Word Bearers. God, I love the dark red and silver scheme on these guys. Their lore is probably the backstory that grabbed me most upon a first read, and the idea of Dark Apostles and sorcerers leading armies of possessed and Daemons both summoned and bound to engines is definitely a cool one. 

 

Hopefully I can settle on one idea soon. I've just managed to grab the 10-man squad of Daemonkin marines from the Shadowspear box on eBay for £13 (the 10-man box available for pre-order is £35). I'm thinking I'm gonna split them as 2 5-man squads; one with the champion, 3 chainsword marines and the plasma gun, and the bolter marines and the autocannon in the other. They're not optimised tabletop squads, but for the extreme discounted price they'll make nice tester squads to try out some colour schemes and techniques on. Thanks for all the help guys, excited to be venturing back into 40k again!

Congrats on narrowing things down. Good luck with the rest.

[Daemon Prince Marbas]

I think I'm torn between three legions at this point, since all of them have different aspects that I like.

 

1) Iron Warriors. I love the cold, bitter persona that comes with these guys. They're absolutely brutal, but in a devoid-of-any-feeling way rather than a revelling in the glorious fountains of blood kind of way. I like the emphasis on tanks, big guns and Daemon engines, and the hazard stripes give them a totally unique look.

 

2) Night Lords. It seems wherever I go I'm drawn to jump pack infantry. Warp talons and raptors are among my personal favourite models in the chaos range from what I've seen, and with a few nice additions from FW they could make some truly terrifying models. I dig the blue and bronze, and the Night Lords dreadnought models on FW would also make awesome collection pieces down the line.

 

3) Word Bearers. God, I love the dark red and silver scheme on these guys. Their lore is probably the backstory that grabbed me most upon a first read, and the idea of Dark Apostles and sorcerers leading armies of possessed and Daemons both summoned and bound to engines is definitely a cool one.

 

Hopefully I can settle on one idea soon. I've just managed to grab the 10-man squad of Daemonkin marines from the Shadowspear box on eBay for £13 (the 10-man box available for pre-order is £35). I'm thinking I'm gonna split them as 2 5-man squads; one with the champion, 3 chainsword marines and the plasma gun, and the bolter marines and the autocannon in the other. They're not optimised tabletop squads, but for the extreme discounted price they'll make nice tester squads to try out some colour schemes and techniques on. Thanks for all the help guys, excited to be venturing back into 40k again!

Oh my Gods this is where I'm stuck too between Iron Warriors, Night Lords, and Word Bearers. Iron Warriors for the relatability factor, Night Lords for aesthetic, and Word Bearers for backstory, appearance, and summoning.