Hey everyone. Lately I've really been thinking of ways to get some mobility for the troops in my Chaos Space Marine army. Mobility for us can be a real problem as we have no way of making our bikes, or jump infantry troops, unlike our loyalist brethren. This makes claiming backfield objectives much harder, as you get to try and trek up the board, getting lit up by enemy fire the whole way. By the time you get there (if you even do), you're unlikely to have much left push a unit off the objective, or hold it against even a stiff breeze that decides it wants you gone. So, what do we have for options?
Well we have the old reliable Rhino. A super cheap troop carrier designed to get your guys where they need to go in a hurry, and offer them a measure of safety in the meantime. This is the theory anyways, and it worked great in 5th edition. However, since the change to 6th has come along, our Rhinos have become, more often than not, nothing more than an easy kill for first blood for our opponents. One option is to keep all your troops that are in Rhinos in reserve, and come in turn two (hopefully) after first blood is already off the table. The only problem here is reliability. If you can't get your reserves to work for you, your Rhinos may not come in until turn 3 or 4, and by then it's going to be hard to get to where you need to go in time anyways, so now all those points for the squads are wasted.
Another option, and to me a better one, is to make sure that you try and play with some LoS blocking terrain, and as much cover as you can. Your opponent can't kill what they can't see, and even if you have to deploy in view, a ruin can do wonders for your first turn survivability. Add in a 50% chance for night fighting, and you've got a decent chance of at least surviving the first turn intact, allowing you to boost up and get moving.
The third option that I've been toying with is more one of target saturation. Try and put as many scary units on the table as possible. Things you're opponent will both have to deal with immediately and that also won't die like a chump. Daemon Princes are great for this, and thinks like Las Predators can usually soak a lot of fire while being a major threat to MCs, elite infantry, and of course vehicles. Defilers are hit and miss in this role. The battlecannon can be a threat to certain armies, but armour 12 isn't anything to write home about.
Our next option for mobility is quite expensive, but more often than not will get the job done. Landraiders. These guys are usually too pricy for my tastes, but with the way my meta has been lately, the idea of loading them up with some troops and just cruising forwards has become more and more appealing to me lately. My main issues with them come from their lack of firing points, and our strange absence of any varient patterns whatsoever. What gives? Has the Dark Mechanicum never made some weird Daemon Landraider? Have we never stolen ourselves a Crusader? Oh well, I suppose that's just how it is.
So what should we take in our Raiders or Rhinos?
Khorne Berzerkers in raiders have served me well, particularly if you put 'em with Kharn, or a beatstick Lord. You can sort of point them at whatever you want to get hurt and let them loose, and usually they'll get the job done quick. They're real problem is that once you cleared an objective, they're not so great at holding it. The enemy can just sit there and shoot them down while they sit there and rage impotently, firing their measly pistols in frustration.
Plague Marines seem like the best choice, as they'll beat up basically any other troop unit in the game, given time, and maybe a bit of luck. Their main problem is their price, which when you put in some special weapons, and a full squad, and add that to a Landraider, is going to be very expensive. Still, I think they're your best option.
Noise Marines, I don't think would perform well in this role. They would have to get quite close in order to fire their guns effectively, and they're nothing special in assault. Their main advantage is once they get on an objective they can sit there and fire away with Blastmasters and any other sonic weapons you may have brought to the party, and if you give them the Icon of Excess, they can be pretty tough too. Still, I think keeping them back to defend your own objectives is a better role.
Thousand Sons are similar to Noise Marines in that they're a more shooty unit more suited to sit in the back or midfield and blast away. I can see potential cruising around into a good position and then bailing out to pump some AP 3 into some marines who thought they would be safe behind cover, but it seems pretty circumstantial to me.
And finally we get to the lowly Chaos Space Marines. I've been having a hard time making these guys work effectively in smaller 5 - 10 man units. They're just too easy to kill. Even with the Mark of Nurgle or an Icon of Excess I find that they don't have the damage output to really do enough damage to whatever they were shooting to put it down, or at least cripple it enough that it can't hurt you. Maybe taking a whole bunch of squads of them and swarming opponents could work, but it seems like a whole lot of investment, and it heavily hinges on your opponent positioning his units in a way to make this possible. Mark of Khorne and with the Icon of Rage in a Landraider seems to work ok, but at that point you may as well just take Berzerkers for the extra WS. I don't know. Just not sold on them yet.
Overall, I think I like the idea of Landraiders a bit better, especially because people aren't seeming to bring as much melta these days. What do you guys think?
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