Order In! The Strength Seven Solution?

Something like this.

Well, I've pulled the trigger. Autocannons and lots of Chaos Space Marines are soon to be on their way to my door. Two squads of Autocannon Havocs should be just what the Dark Gods ordered. That's sixteen strength 7 shots per turn, with plenty of ablative wounds. Then there are the three additional ordinary Chaos Marine squads that will be toting around plasma guns. Lots more firepower, and almost zero close combat. I'll see how this direction turns out.

It is a bit dangerous to drop my close combat deterrents, but in the end it's been shooting, not hand to hand that carries the day. I'm sick and tired of being mowed down on my way into position, and that's going to stop in a really big hurry.

Currently I have air superiority, but once Demitra takes flak missiles in his army, that'll nerf that. I'll be leaning on my Havocs to clear them out ASAP. With a 48" range I can pretty assurredly lean on the ACs to at the very least mangle the enemy Devastators, but offing every last missile launcher? That's a taller order. At least I'll have two or more shooting phases to clear out rocket-toting jerks, which with 32 shots should (hopefully) mop them up. I'm too lazy to do the math now, but the numbers at least look good. I'll also get the drop on them with at least one baleflamer, and the Burning Brand of Skalathrax won't be far behind...

But that's just making them priority one. there are plenty of other things on my hit list.

I've really backed off on the toys, making my squads leaner and meaner (in a sense). Veterans of the Long War is totally gone from my list which, while I may miss the Leadership boost, will do away with one point per model and will remove the (if I'm going to be honest with myself) useless Hatred rule. It has yet to perform at all, and when fighting against enemies with Preferred Enemy (Chaos Space Marines) it's pretty pointless in close combat. I get one round of re-rolls to hit, you get to re-roll ones both to hit and to wound forever. I'm pretty much doomed if you get your mitts on my dudes. Why bother?

That's not to say I've entirely forsaken close combat. No, melee is a fact of life (even when offing things with overwatch fire), and you need to be prepared for it. To this end my Aspiring Champions all have power weapons of some descriptor, excepting the Havocs which, provided things are going right, should never see melee.

Admit it Chaos players, you miss this.

Basically what I've been leading up to is this:

HQ
Chaos Lord (warlord) w/ power axe, The Burning Brand of Skalathrax.- 110 pts.

TROOPS
14 Chaos Cultists w/ flamer; Cultist Champion w/ shotgun- 77 pts.
14 Chaos Cultists w/ 13 autoguns, flamer; Cultist Champion- 88 pts.
9 Chaos Space Marines w/ 2 plasma guns; Aspiring Champion w/ power fist, plasma pistol- 210 pts.
9 Chaos Space Marines w/ 2 plasma guns; Aspiring Champion w/ power fist- 195 pts.
9 Chaos Space Marines w/ 2 plasma guns; Aspiring Champion w/ power axe- 185 pts.
9 Chaos Space Marines w/ 2 plasma guns; Aspiring Champion w/ power axe- 185 pts.

FAST ATTACK
Heldrake w/ baleflamer- 170 pts.
Heldrake w/ baleflamer- 170 pts.

HEAVY SUPPORT
9 Havocs w/ 4 autocannons; Aspiring Champion- 180 pts.
9 Havocs w/ 4 autocannons; Aspiring Champion- 180 pts.

TOTALS
1,750 points
1 HQ
0 Elite
6 Troops
2 Fast Attack
2 Heavy Support
93 miniatures

It looks really good on paper, and it's well rounded. There are Fast Attack choices for The Scouring and Heavy Support for The Big Guns Never Tire. There are lots of Troops for grabbing objectives, and they're well armed (except of course for the Chaos Cultists, but whatever). I haven't sunk too many points into an HQ choice that is cheap to begin with and should remain so. There's also a theme. It's a freshly turned chapter without time to earn any marks or become veterans. That goes with their color scheme. I would have liked to mix the kits up with loyalist parts, but I need the parts that come in the Chaos Marine box more. Plus my first plasma squad was already built.

I haven't determined how I'll step up to 1,999 points (not 2,000 because two Force Organization Charts is dumb) yet, but I'm leaning toward Helbrutes or Terminators. I guess that will be determined by my spending money allowance.

Here's hoping this isn't another gigantic mistake like my last armies have been.

THIS JUST IN:
My Chaos Marines and Autocannons just shipped. Woohoo!