Pink is the New Black

With my Tau, I know what I want. I knew I wanted to play Mechanized Tau when I got into the game originally, and over the past two years I've continued that trend. Sure, I have a few static elements, such as Broadsides, but I've always had a clear vision in my mind of how I want my Tau armies to be built and how I want them to play out. With Chaos, though, I'm amazingly fickle and indecisive. The codex is just so very different that, as I've mentioned in the past, it takes a lot of adjustment for me to get a good feel for it. There are just so many options and ways to play it that I haven't been able to decide on just one way.

That said, it does seem like I jumped to playing a Khorne list rather quickly. Well, there's a reason for that. The person from whom I bought my (mostly) unassembled Chaos collection had been working on a Khornite CSM army before he moved on to other games, so half of it was already put together. This gave me an easy springboard to playing Chaos Marines. Even the Defiler with the extra close combat weapons was something he was already building towards, with extra CCW bits neatly packaged and set aside. For my second Chaos army, though, I want something that I put together myself. Deciding on that hasn't been nearly as cut-and-dry. At first, I was looking at playing a Tzeentch army, mostly because I had an Ahriman already painted and playable. Next, I leaned towards playing a Black Legion list, partly because I had Abaddon and partly because it was easy. However, after kicking around some ideas and putting a little bit of deep thought into it, I've finally made my decision.

Slaanesh.

Well, Emperor's Children/Slaanesh-themed CSMs, anyway. There's something about the sheer excess, fluff-wise, that appeals to my Chaos sensibilities. It's bright and garish and in your face, much like Khorne, but for very different reasons. It's also an interesting hybrid between the pure assault-iness of Khorne and the pure shootiness of the Tau. I think there's a lot of fun modeling and painting opportunities as well. Of course, the most important question is, what can I build? Here's what I've pieced together so far:

HQ: Chaos Sorcerer (1#, 155 pts)
1 Chaos Sorcerer @ 155 pts (Mark of Slaanesh; Familiar; Lash of Submission; Warptime)

Elite: Possessed (7#, 241 pts)
5 Possessed @ 241 pts (Icon of Slaanesh)
1 Possessed Champion
1 Rhino (Daemonic Possession)

Troops: Noise Marines (7#, 270 pts)
5 Noise Marines @ 270 pts (Sonic Blaster x4; Blastmaster)
1 Noise Champion (Doom Siren; Sonic Blaster; Power Weapon)
1 Rhino

Troops: Chaos Space Marines (11#, 265 pts)
9 Chaos Space Marines @ 265 pts (Icon of Slaanesh; Plasmagun x2)
1 Aspiring Champion (Power Weapon)
1 Rhino

Troops: Chaos Space Marines (11#, 265 pts)
9 Chaos Space Marines @ 265 pts (Icon of Slaanesh; Meltagun x2)
1 Aspiring Champion (Power Fist)
1 Rhino

Heavy Support: Obliterators (2#, 150 pts)
2 Obliterators @ 150 pts

Heavy Support: Obliterators (2#, 150 pts)
2 Obliterators @ 150 pts

Total: 1496 points

On one hand, the list satisfies my fluff quota. I'm running units of 6, the magic number of Slaanesh, I'm using Lash of Submission, and my one possessed Rhino is full of possessed marines. On the other hand, it still feels solid and fits my play style. The whole thing is mechanized (with the Sorcerer riding shotgun with the Possessed) apart from the Oblits, and each troop squad has its job. The melta squad hunts down armor, while the plasma squad focuses on those low Armor Save/Feel No Pain units that tend to be a thorn in my side. Meanwhile, the Noise Marines focus on killing standard troops, and the Oblits just provide whatever's needed at the moment.

The best part about this list, though, is that I'm probably 85% there; I have almost everything I need to build this list. To complete this army, I would need to buy a box of Noise Marines, an fourth Obliterator, and 2 more Rhinos. I could probably use 2 more Rhinos after that, so that everything will eventually be modeled as Slaaneshi, but for now I can borrow the Rhinos from the Berzerkers. For around $100, I could get the last few components for this army and get it thrown together.

Now, eventually I may replace the Sorcerer with a Slaanesh Daemon Prince with wings and Lash of Submission - the point cost is the same - but I don't have a Daemon Prince model, and I wouldn't know where to begin to model one. For now, the Sorcerer and his possessed posse will serve my purposes. I'm sure this list will shift over time, but I think it's a good base to start from.

Now, I just need to throw my Abaddon up on eBay...

Image © Games Workshop.