# CSM: Favorite allies?



## venomlust (Feb 9, 2010)

Hey everyone, just curious what you fellow CSM players like taking for an allied detachment.

I've heard a little bit about daemons, but not much else.

What sort of allies do you take? What are their strengths/how do they augment your army or fill in the gaps not covered too well in our codex?


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## Supersonic Banana (Jul 23, 2010)

Daemons are popular for allied Tzeentch Herald for tasty mastery level 3 Divination which is a great force multiplier for <100 points. Re-roll to hit on forgefiends or plasma chosen is just nasty.

Guard are also good for large stubborn blobs to sit on objectives and First rank second rank as well as Vendettas which probably would be the best flier if not for the 'drake and Vendettas can be taken in squadrons so its easy to add a couple to your army.

Tau are another solid choice being one of the best shooty armies (if not THE best) in the game at the moment and have Strength 7 shooting in every FOC slot so can easily pop transports and mow down infantry. They also have the most widespread skyfire of any army currently.

Dark eldar could be interesting as they provide tons of poisoned shooting that really helps against the MCs and FMCs that almost every army brings along these days as well as easy access to lance weapons so you have some OK anti-AV 13/14 without having to walk within melta range and they are fast enough to pretty much ignore One Eye Open.


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## scscofield (May 23, 2011)

Daemons and IG are both strong choices. Both have options and units that mesh well with the lists that can fielded in CSM.


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## neferhet (Oct 24, 2012)

scscofield said:


> Daemons and IG are both strong choices. Both have options and units that mesh well with the lists that can fielded in CSM.


I love to mix chaos and IG for the "cannon fodder" effect


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## Dakingofchaos (Sep 29, 2009)

I like to field guard but normally end up getting tabled (sometimes I roll my dice in slow motion to make the game last longer). If I'm feeling filthy then Tzeentch Daemons all the way!


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## Nordicus (May 3, 2013)

Daemons all the way - Some of the combos you can make are just plain nasty! Plus, you get to get a Soulgrinder. 

I mean, who doesn't want a Soulgrinder? Seriously have you seen the thing? Half daemon, half machine, all up in your face with a sword the size of a small country. Just admit it, you want it.


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## neferhet (Oct 24, 2012)

Nordicus said:


> Daemons all the way - Some of the combos you can make are just plain nasty! Plus, you get to get a Soulgrinder.
> 
> I mean, who doesn't want a Soulgrinder? Seriously have you seen the thing? Half daemon, half machine, all up in your face with a sword the size of a small country. Just admit it, you want it.


My soulgrinder has a c.o.c.k. the size of a small country. An african country. :laugh:


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## Saintspirit (Jul 31, 2013)

I have only allied with daemons as of yet, but I have found they work incredible together with my CSM. I am definitely getting some more, just haven't decided yet really.


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## LukeValantine (Dec 2, 2008)

Black legion is all I will ever need in a ally. After all who doesn't want one extra of each slot with virtually no down side whatsoever.


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## Mossy Toes (Jun 8, 2009)

Nordicus said:


> I mean, who doesn't want a Soulgrinder? Seriously have you seen the thing? Half daemon, half machine, all up in your face with a sword the size of a small country. Just admit it, you want it.


*gags*

Have you seen the stats on that super-expensive sword? I've literally never seen such a pointless, overcosted upgrade in all my time playing 40k.

Soul Grinders are still abso-bloody-lutely fantastic, though.



LukeValantine said:


> Black legion is all I will ever need in a ally. After all who doesn't want one extra of each slot with virtually no down side whatsoever.


*coughVotLW*

It is kind of broken how codex supplements have catalyzed the process that Allies began by basically doing away with the concept of forge org restrictions. Spam-permissive, etc. Whatever, it's the shape of the game now, and I'll take it.


To the OP:

Daemons are the obvious choice, being the battle brothers and having an awful lot of utility. Want to fill the gaping hole that CSM have in the place of AA? Take a Daemon Prince of Slaanesh with a greater gift with a Lash of Despair (and 3 powers in Biomancy if you're feeling lucky for Iron Arm). Want Prescience? Yes, of course you want Prescience--on your Forgefiend, on your havocs, on your dakkapred, on your massive block of Noise Marines, etc, so you can take Tzeentchi HQs. Soul Grinders vs Defilers? Better bite the pillow hard, Defilers, it's gonna be a rough night. Tired of cultists fleeing off the board as soon as they get sneezed at? Stick some Horrors behind an ADL for a 2+ rerollable cover save when they go to ground, or grab some plaguebearers and throw them in a ruin for another way to get a 2+ cover save. Only cost a bit more than cultists and they never run away. Want to supplement your biker list with more wounds? Bring 20 Flesh Hounds. Run your melee walker mech assault army with Maulerfiends and a Soul Grinder (though I'd rather run a Daemons list with 3 Soul Grinders and a Maulerfiend). Add Skarbrand to DS in on T2 in your Slaanesh + Huron infiltrating footslogger blob list, so your I5 army gets a massive buff on their charges. 

(Hmm, have to write that last list now)

Yeah, Daemons have a lot of excellent synergy with CSM, in addition to being their only mutual battle brothers. Take advantage of that ability to cast psychic powers on each other, I say!

Guard have good potential: they can provide scoring blobs easily, can give you a weight of las and autocannon fire for cheap, and can also supplement an armor list well as well (for all that those aren't too competitive in 6e). the flyer synergy has been mentioned, though everybody might hate you forever for taking both of the best flyers in the game whose strengths complement each other perfectly, if you do.

(Seriously, imagine it. Near the end of the game an enemy rhino full of marines is sitting on a their objective. The Vendetta offloads a Platoon Command Squad with 4 flamers behind the rhino (on the objective), then lascannons it into oblivion. The Heldrake roasts most of the tightly packed marine squad that pours out, and the PCS flames the two or three survivors into oblivion, claiming the objective for themself. Roll for game end, it ends, and you have crushed you opponent. All right, time to stop drooling and get your hand out of your pants.)

I haven't tried Tau or Dark Eldar, but Supersonic Banana's post covers my thoughts on the subjects handily.


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## MidnightSun (Feb 10, 2009)

Personally, I'd avoid Dark Eldar. They can throw out a bunch of shots, yeah, but can't Score, and you _need_ to score to win. If you fight a whole bunch of Riptides and Wraithknights, then maybe, but otherwise I'd leave them at home.

I think your best options are Necrons (to put out bucketfuls of shots and add resilience/backfield scoring), Tau (to put out bucketfuls of shots and add backfield scoring and anti-air), or Imperial Guard (to put out bucketfuls of shots and add resilience/backfield scoring). Guard are good since you can fit so much into an Allied Detachment, but I don't think they're as good as Tau other than putting a lot of Scoring bums on objectives (although at the end of the day, that's how you win, so that's a big point in their favour); Tau give you a lot of shooting answers, and although their Scoring stuff isn't very resilient, it's long ranged and their non-scoring stuff... well, ok, let's stop beating about the bush. Riptides are fucking awesome. R'Varna Battlesuits are the unit you take if you're allowed Forge World. Tau have some very, very strong anti-tank/flyer and indeed anti-infantry options that hugely benefit the close-range/close-combat CSM. Necrons clash a little with CSM in that they're both tough, close-range armies with strong flyers, but you can get a lot of dakka out of a small number of Necrons, and they can also get a lot of out an Allied Detachment due to Night Scythes being dedicated transports.

Daemons are the obvious answer, of course, because Battle Brothers combined with Divination is extremely strong. Bring a couple of Horrors and an Aegis Line to score in the backfield (why Horrors? Because Go to Ground for a 2+ re-rollable cover save), Herald with Grimoire and Divination, and a Screamer blob. Kind of wants Fateweaver to make it better, but 3+ is still not so bad.

Midnight


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## venomlust (Feb 9, 2010)

Wow, thanks so much for the in depth responses, guys. I learn something new every day on this forum. Those answers sum everything up quite nicely for me.


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## Iron_Freak220 (Nov 8, 2009)

And nobody mentioned the Necrons. The Necrons open up the tanks and the CSM open up the bodies. Them and the IG are the only useable allies that provide something that the CSMs don't already have. 

Daemons are popular because of fluff and that one herald but they generally only add more close combat to an army that is already great in close combat. 

The Necrons add real quality firepower and flyers for cheap as well as AV13 for durability.


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## Nordicus (May 3, 2013)

Mossy Toes said:


> Have you seen the stats on that super-expensive sword? I've literally never seen such a pointless, overcosted upgrade in all my time playing 40k.


Oh I agree completely game-wise. But it looks so cool!


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