Models:
*Plastic to Metal ratio, While most of the Troop Choices are plastic you'll find that a fair amount of the other Infantry models including HQs and Elite and Heavy Support to be metal. Luckily other then an HQ choice and Obliterators you could almost get away with a full plastic force.
*How old the current models are, Most of the models are quite old, there have been some updates to the HQ Daemon Princes, Obliterators, and the new Defiler, but other then that most of the models have been around for about 5 years or longer.
*Anything new coming out soon, as of right now there is no News of new stuff.
*Large back catalogue of Classic/OOP models? There is still a small catalogue of the Classic models on GW's website, but ebay seems to be full of older models.
*Fun/easy to paint, many schemes available to choose from? There are many schemes available for Chaos Space Marines, all ranging from Dark to Darker, and can be varied even more by the Chaos God that your army may choose to follow.
The larger models can be quite fun to paint, but the Chaos Armor itself can get a little tedious to paint as you have to outline almost every arm, shoulder pad, breast plate and leg. Still the models are fairly easy to paint as you do not need advanced painting skills to be able to pull the details off the models.
*How many models in an average army of 1,500-2,000 points, Most armies will consist of about 45-60 models.
*Costs in £/$ in collecting the average army, relatively cheap or expensive when compared to other armies, You will probably be looking at close to $500-600 for a 1,500 point army. If you concentrate on having higher point models and large vehicles this could possibly drop to about 450. This seems about average for most armies.
Background:
*Small summary of the race's history, A Chaos Space Marine is a towering warrior, whose brute strength is tempered by inhuman skill. Armed with a fearsome bolter, protected by a suit of power armour and the product of intense training and genetic manipulation, he is far beyond a mortal man, transformed into a lethal, superhuman killing machine. The Chaos Space Marines were once Humanity's ultimate warriors, dedicated to the defence of the Emperor and the Imperium of Man. Having since sworn themselves to the Dark Gods, in exchange for untold power and immortality, they wage war on the very worlds they once fought to protect. Though their noble ideals and goals have been cast aside, their superhuman bodies and military skill remain, leaving them to degenerated into psychotic killers.
*How do they get on with other races, They don't. Pretty much that simple. The Chaos Space Marines are mostly blood driven to destroy the universe.
Play Style:
*General playing style, A Chaos Space Marine army is an army of the most blood hungry, feared warriors to have walked the void. An army of elite, battle hardened veterans it will often be out numbered, relying on its greater skill and equipment to win the day. The Chaos army list is very flexible, allowing you to create an army suiting a number of playing styles.
*Themed army list types, there are a couple of themes, which can be seen in the Chaos Space Marine Codex. These themes are usually broken between Legions, and Gods.
Chaos Legions:
The Black Legion - is a Legion of Chaos Space Marines united to the pursuit of a single purpose and opposed to the infighting that consumes so many of their Chaos Space Marine brethren, as they serve Chaos Undivided. They are always brought together in great numbers when it is the will of their Warmaster, Abaddon the Despoiler, the heir of Horus. Whenever the entire Black Legion is called to battle it marks the beginning of another of Abaddon's Black Crusades against the Imperium of Man.
Word Bearers - are one of the nine First Founding Space Marine Legions which betrayed the Emperor of Mankind during the Horus Heresy, becoming Chaos Space Marines, their allegiance pledged to their Daemon Primarch Lorgar and to Chaos Undivided. The Word Bearers were also the first Space Marine Legion to be corrupted by the Ruinous Powers of Chaos and through their actions they corrupted the Warmaster Horus and brought on the terrible civil war of the Horus Heresy in all its savagery.
Alpha Legion - are the Chaos Space Marines Traitor Legion about whom the least is known. They are experts in infiltration and their armies contain many Chaos Cultists in addition to regular Chaos Space Marines. The Alpha Legion's Primarch was named Alpharius, who was actually one of the identical twin Primarchs Alpharius Omegon, two brilliant and secretive Primarchs, one of whom was reportedly later killed after the Horus Heresy by Roboute Guilliman, the Primarch of the Ultramarines.
Night Lords - are one of the nine Traitor Space Marine Legions which betrayed the Emperor during the Horus Heresy, becoming Chaos Space Marines. They do not worship any of the four Chaos Gods individually, but acknowledge them equally in the form of Chaos Undivided as they ruthlessly spread terror and fear amongst the galaxy's inhabitants.
Iron Warriors - once formed the Emperor's most able body of siege troops. The Iron Warriors Primarch, Perturbo, excelled in siege and trench warfare above all else and his treatise on fortifications and their destruction formed the basis of several sections of the Tactica Imperium.
Chaos Cults:
Death Guard - are one of the Traitor Legions of Chaos Space Marines. They worship and devote themselves exclusively to the Chaos God Nurgle and as a result of his 'gifts', they are Plague Marines—men eternally rotting away within their Power Armour but immune to pain or minor injury.
Emperor's Children - are a Legion of Chaos Space Marines who solely serve the Chaos God Slaanesh, the Prince of Pleasure.
Thousand Sons - are one of the Traitor Legions of Chaos Space Marines who are sworn solely to the service of Tzeentch, the Chaos God of change and sorcery. The main feature that distinguishes the Thousand Sons from the other Traitor Legions is the sheer number of psyker mutations that have always existed among the Space Marines in this Legion. They prefer to use Chaos Sorcerers and guile in combat, relying on their psychic abilities and sorcerous knowledge to earn them victory.
World Eaters - are one of the Traitor Legions of Chaos Space Marines who now inhabit the Warp rift known as the Eye of Terror in the Imperium of Man's Segmentum Obscura. The World Eaters are also one of the twenty First Founding Space Marine Legions, though they were also one of the first to betray the Emperor for Chaos. The World Eaters are the dedicated servants of Khorne, the Chaos God of War and Murder, and live for nothing more than to spill blood in his name. The World Eaters'Primarch, Angron, was one of the first of the Space Marine Primarchs to join with the Warmaster Horus when he turned against the Emperor of Mankind and began the Horus Heresy.
*Competitive list types, - Most of the current competitive lists contain Plague Marines as Troops riding in Rhinos with 2 Melta Guns, 1-2 Daemon Princes, and 2-3 units of 2-3 strong Obliterators for Heavy Support.
*Current tournament standings, The Chaos Space Marines can still hold their own in most tournaments but they are starting to show their age. While not often in the top three it's hard not to find them in the top 10.
Misc:
*How popular is the army, Is one of the more popular armies across from Space Marines, seeing as how they are the evil twin.
*When was the book released, The current Codex was released in September 2007.
*When is the next one due if known, there has been no word of a new coxed.
*Any race specific forums, I've not found any Chaos Space Marine Forums, if you find one let me know and I'll update.
***If you find any information on here outdated or inaccurate please let me know so that I can update, thanks***
