STARTING A CHAOS SPACE MARINES ARMY IN 11TH EDITION: SWEARING YOURSELF TO THE LONG WAR
Chaos Space Marines are the villain army of Warhammer 40,000, and 11th edition is a gloriously good time to swear yourself to the Long War. Ten thousand years of spite, spiked armour, and burning eyes — and unlike their loyalist cousins, no two warbands need look alike. Black Legion menace, Word Bearers crimson, or a renegade scheme entirely your own: the Traitor Legions reward hobbyists who want their army to feel personal. They also reward patience on the table, trading the loyalists' discipline for brutal, close-in violence and a deep bench of daemonic toys.
The first box
Begin with the current Combat Patrol-style starter set. Chaos Space Marine starters are reliably built around Legionaries — the core infantry whose baroque, trophy-hung armour defines the faction's silhouette — usually with a character and something monstrous in support. Legionaries are also the perfect painting classroom: pick your warband's scheme on squad one, and every later purchase inherits it. A word on the new edition while you're at the till: 11th edition refreshed points and datasheets across the board, and starter boxes rotate over time, so check the current points before you build a list around any single unit.
The second offering
Once the first squad wears your colours, broaden the warband rather than deepen it. A Helbrute gives you a rage-filled walker that paints up fast and towers over your infantry. Chosen are Legionaries turned up to eleven — veterans dripping with options and character. Havocs bring the heavy guns and, crucially, the most gloriously overwrought weapon sculpts in the range. A squad of cultists, if you fancy them, adds cheap bodies and a fun palette-cleanser between power-armour projects.
A champion worthy of the pantheon
Every warband eventually kneels to someone. Abaddon the Despoiler is the obvious summit — the Warmaster of Chaos is one of the great character kits in the game, and finishing him feels like a hobby graduation. If you'd rather crown your own champion, a Chaos Lord or Sorcerer conversion built from spares does the job with more personal spite. Either way, save the centrepiece until your core squads are painted; a warlord deserves an army to lead, not a pile of grey shame.
Recommended: Abaddon The Despoiler
Purchases to defer
- A second Combat Patrol before the first is painted — the Dark Gods reward devotion, not hoarding.
- Every daemon engine at once; buy one, learn it, then let the Warp tempt you further.
- Legion-specific upgrade sprues for a Legion you haven't actually committed to yet.
- Anything bought purely because a points change made it fashionable — points move, paint is forever.
The ledger of the Long War
Ten millennia of grudges only work if somebody writes them down, and your collection deserves the same dark diligence: log each kit the day it arrives and record honestly whether it's boxed, built, or finished. That finished column is the real victory condition — it's what turns a shelf of intentions into an army that looks terrifying across a table. When you want the full roster of what the Traitor Legions can field, from Legionaries to the Warmaster himself, the complete unit catalogue lives on the Chaos Space Marines faction page under Data.