My First 1,500pts 40k Sample List (Black Legion)

[Godless Zealot]

Hello all this is a first draft for my first 1,500pts 40k army based on the Black Legion. Would appreciate any thoughts and possible suggestions or tweaks. Note this is for a new player to 40k to start playing friendly games against a wider audience but ultimately not for tournament play etc.

HQ
Sorcerer (Mastery Level 2), Aura of Dark Glory, Veteran of the Long War 105pts

Troops
9 Chaos Space Marines, extra ccw, Veterans of the Long War, Meltagun and a Power Fist 187pts
Rhino, extra armour 45pts

10 Chaos Space Marines, extra ccw, Veterans of the Long War, Plasma Gun, Autocannon and Melta Bombs 198pts
Rhino, extra armour 45pts

20 Chaos Cultists, Shotgun, Heavy Stubber and Autoguns 115pts

20 Chaos Cultists, Flamer and Mark of Khorne 135pts

Elites
Helbrute 100pts

Fast Attack
10 Raptors, Flamer, Power Sword and Veterans of the Long War 220pts

Heavy Support
Forgefiend 175pts

Forgefiend 175pts

Total Points 1,500

Let me know what you think!

[Caitsidhe]

Hello all this is a first draft for my first 1,500pts 40k army based on the Black Legion. Would appreciate any thoughts and possible suggestions or tweaks. Note this is for a new player to 40k to start playing friendly games against a wider audience but ultimately not for tournament play etc.

Friendly games or not, it doesn't hurt to tweak a bit for survival. I will make some suggestions which would require you to tweak points here and there.

HQ
Sorcerer (Mastery Level 2), Aura of Dark Glory, Veteran of the Long War 105pts

You certainly cut your HQ to the bone. If you are going to go this route I would go for the slight cost increase and put the Sorcerer int Terminator Armor.

Troops
9 Chaos Space Marines, extra ccw, Veterans of the Long War, Meltagun and a Power Fist 187pts
Rhino, extra armour 45pts

10 Chaos Space Marines, extra ccw, Veterans of the Long War, Plasma Gun, Autocannon and Melta Bombs 198pts
Rhino, extra armour 45pts

Hrm. You are rigging for close combat and in my experience the MoN and running on foots would be better than the vehicle. You won't lose that much speed. You also have lots of scoring units. I would combine the two units into one large MoN twenty man squad. Kit the Champion out with twin Lightning Claws, Gift of Mutation, and Melta Bombs. Do your special/heavy weapons loadout however you want. Bear in mind that MoN is good going with MoS and taking the Icon of Excess is also good.

20 Chaos Cultists, Shotgun, Heavy Stubber and Autoguns 115pts

20 Chaos Cultists, Flamer and Mark of Khorne 135pts

I'm not actually huge on more than one Cultists unit for objective camping. I would rather tweak points and get something else. I don't se eth epoint in the MoK on them at all.

Elites
Helbrute 100pts

The Hellbrute is fine. You can also tweak points and for just a few more points get (2) Mark of Nurgle Obliterators either as individuals for target splitting and reserve options or one unit.

Fast Attack
10 Raptors, Flamer, Power Sword and Veterans of the Long War 220pts

I like Raptors. However, I would point out that if they are your "go to" assault unit you probably don't need the extra combat weapon on your basic csm. You are going to shoot a lot more than you get into combat. If you go with the Raptors, give them a Mark. Kit the Champion out with twin lightning claws and Melta Bombs. Give him Gift of Mutation for the heck of it. Raptors can go all the way up to (15) I believe and I would almost suggest doing so to make sure you have maximum impact when you hit. Take at least one Melta.

Heavy Support
Forgefiend 175pts

Forgefiend 175pts

Total Points 1,500

Let me know what you think!

I don't like relying on vehicles for my Heavy Support, but that is jus tme. I still prefer Obliterators over these guys.

[Godless Zealot]

Thanks for the feedback! Well that certainly gave me some food for thought about where to go next. I'll have to do some list tweaking based on those considerations. Thanks for your input.

[Denzark]

I like your list. The only thing I think you could/should change, for a first list, is to lose a forgefiend and go for a Heldrake. they are a good kit to make, will give you some anti-air capability, make people crapa da pantsa and let you flame stuff up and good.

[Godless Zealot]

Thanks for the input. A Heldrake sounds like a good alternative to boost anti air capabilities. I originally considered it but was put off by the fact I haven't really learnt the rules for flyers yet.... Anyhow, more stuff for me to consider I feel I'm spoilt for choice! I guess I should just go for aesthetics and coolness factor for the time being and just start getting in some games until I get a better feel for what works right for me. Thanks Guys.

[entendre_entendre]

Your 10-man squad doesn't really need a Rhino if they have an Autocannon. However, without it, your lone Rhino will be blown to smithereens by most AT fire on the board. The simple answer might be to swap the AC for a Meltagun or Plasmagun. This will keep the temptation of sitting back with the unit away and you can make your CSM do what they do best: close range firefights/combats.

I like your 2 cultist blobs. Good scoring potential even under heavy fire, just stick them in cover while your marines rush forwards. You can also play a bit more aggressively with your cultists since they're in a decent sized block, just don't expect them to survive. :P

Heldrakes are good, I mean really good. The 5+ invulnerable save means you will never need to use your Jink save, which will keep that Baleflamer (always take one of these, its free) firing. Swap out one of the Forgefiends for this and you'll have enough points for the Dragon and a plasmagun in your 10-man.

If you can, give your Sorcerer a Sigil of Corruption, a 4+ invuln is far better to a 5+ for 10pts more. Don't know where to get the points (Cultists?), but it's worth it, especially if you plan on getting him in Close Combat.

[Godless Zealot]

Ok thanks. So a revised list based on the help I've had here would be:

HQ
Sorcerer (Mastery Level 2), Sigil of Corruption, Gift of Mutation, Veteran of the Long War 125pts

Troops
9 Chaos Space Marines, Extra CCW, Veterans of the Long War, Meltagun and a Power Fist 187pts
Rhino, extra armour 45pts

10 Chaos Space Marines, Veterans of the Long War, Plasma Gun x 2, and Melta Bombs 185pts
Rhino, extra armour 45pts

20 Chaos Cultists, Shotgun, Heavy Stubber and Autoguns 115pts

20 Chaos Cultists, Flamer 95pts

Elites
Helbrute 100pts

Fast Attack
10 Raptors, Meltagun, twin Lightning Claws, Gift of Mutation, Melta Bombs and Veterans of the Long War 255pts

Heldrake 170pts

Heavy Support
Forgefiend 175pts

Total Points 1,497