Soulstorm

and the followers of chaos devoted more resources to attracting the blessings of the chaos gods. Their sacrifices made, the gods answered with making availible to them more deadly means to achieve their ends

With the t2 phase, comes the addition of heavy duty abilities and troops capable of immense destruction. However, these will inevitably cost more to unlock and utilise, and here i present some helpful tips to maximise your economy:

TTT:

• try to lp2 as many points as you can between t1 and t2. However, do not spend too much money on lp2's if your troops are being pressed.
• always try to have two generators, if not more before t2. this provides a bare minimum for your sorcerer + zerkers combo.
• Lp2 points from the most contested regions, then to economy areas (where your buildings/generators are), then to uncontested areas.
• If you float, build more gens. The gradual build up of power lends itself to an automatic global buying time.
• go for five gens -> power global -> gen 6. This is the most economic way of attaining power.
• get that thermo plasma! it is by far the most effective means of gaining power, but be warned. In almost all maps these are located well away from either players base, and will need be built in a time when you are sure you get reap the rewards from them.
• Spread your gens out. In a line, and they're sitting ducks for a marauder run. clustered together, and you save your opponent the time of trying to find all of them.
• opponents will tend to try to use a commander to tank the Lp2. Your lp2 will shoot the commander first. However, if possible, order your Lp2 to attack his rank and file troops.
• never, EVER get a lp3. the money required for it simply a waste, the revenue required to just negate its horrifically high cost takes ages to earn back. In fact, build this unless your a fan of large maps...

chaos sorcerer
and if anything *unfortunate* were to happen to the Chaos lord, the sorcerer would take command. Master of sorcery, they command immense power, and are rightly feared by their enemies


The first thing you should get upon entering t2, for the abilities he possesses he is comes at a very modest price. assuming you had those tow generators, that 75 power shouldn't be a problem.

TTT:

• doombolt does excellent morale damage on top of physical damage. Couple this with a few more blows/casualties and the target squad(s) will break quite quickly.
• Chains of Torment is a must have. Inexpensive, their only real quirk is their requirement for some micro to use well.
• the sorcerer has ONE teleport. Either use this to get out of sticky situations, or teleport right into the enemy ranks for immediate disruption.
• Cast chains when your forces are closing in. order ALL units to kill this chained unit.
• the two effective ways of casting chains are to either send your sorcerer around behind your enemy, casting, and teleporting out (risky) or to teleport your sorcerer into their ranks, and casting immediately (less risky)
• WARNING When casting, the unit the sorcerer is attached to stops. this means that if he is attached to a zerker squad, they will stay absolutely still whilst he is casting. This is most noticable when charging into combat. To counter this, attach the sorcerer whilst charging, but un-attach him when the time comes to cast.
• WARNING 2 There is currently a bug which means that the sorcerer casts the spell, but the targeted unit is unaffected. The animation plays, the spell is paid for, but the buggers will keep running. Not nice, but at the moment we can minimize this by being within casting range as much as possible when casting.
• it is advisable not to target the chained squad with your sorcerer for his disruption attacks can make it so that the squad survives with one far-flung member. to offset his absence, doombolt the target.
• I do not recommend getting the corruption upgrade, except maybe for IG. As this ability does friendly fire, this hinders your assault troops. Has some use for movement limitation though. (i.e, deterring pursuit)
• i recommend getting the commander veteran 1 upgrade before going t3 at the minimum. As well as increasing the sorcerers fighting abilities and hp, it decreases the recharge time of his spells, meaning more squads will fall before you.
• the sorcerer does even more building damage than the lord does. Use him to knock down Lp2's. Same rules about attaching and target priority apply.
• you can chain heroes as well as units. Use it to kill that annoying chaplain, or wait till the hero is almost dead, and chain the unit he joins. Two birds with one stone.

khorne berserkers
disciples of the blood god, they care not what or who their enemies are, or what the obstacles are, only that they be allowed to fight, to shed blood for the blood god, be it their enemies', or their own.

Fast, durable, and incredibly powerful, khorne berserkers are typically the unit most chaos players make a bee-line for in most match ups. Rules of combined arms for maximum effect apply. In this case, its with the sorcerer, for with him, zerkers will win all cc situations if equal numbers are involved in t2. (huge bs spam not withstanding)

TTT

• If possible, make sure you are at least 1v1, if not better, in cc situations.
• try getting two squads of zerkers before reinforcing both of them.
• Pronged attacks work for several situations: Zerkers driving enemy towards your guns, or your zerkers coming in the direction your opponent is retreating
• one squad per ranged squad! I KNOW this sounds obvious but the amount of people i see sending two squads to chase that dancing reaper is just baffling..
• on that note, focus all zerkers on the chained target if applicable.
• Don't be afraid to switch targets. Get the squad closest to you.
• be careful of vehicles and buildings. Zerkers pay for their infantry-owning cc power in those aspects.
• first thing upon getting t3 imho is MoK, if armoury is available. These insta-break morale susceptible units. Very handy against a massed wall of ranged firepower. note: The enemy will not be able to issue orders to broken units for 3 seconds. Against morale-immune horded orks, this means they will run away, but come back at 100% morale. Get those free hits in when you can. Secondly, this ability is gold against warp bests. thirdly, infiltrated units are equally affected by this ability.
• Use rhino's to transport your zerkers to the enemy line. If he has his own transports, then chase it with your transport, whilst knocking down his.
• don't forget about their pistols. In those few rare occasions, it may be worthwhile going to ranged to finish off that two man, distractingly low hp squad with their pistols.
• perhaps the most brutal combination in the game is Chains + MoK They are broken, won't fight back, and won't move. Very easy meat for your cc units.

horrors

and the barriers between realms weakened, and chaos's influence grew. from the warp, demons poured forth alongside the warp-tainted marines, ready to kill in the name of chaos

the Tier2 anti-vehicle unit. If I'm not going vehicles, i try to get at least a squad of these before hitting t3. The reason for this is, whilst delaying my t3 tech, (250 req is NOT cheap) it also means that my t2 fighting force is still a very real threat that can't be contained with the lone or pair of vehicles.

TTT:

• Remember that horrors deep strike! Put them in heavy cover if applicable, or in as an advantageous position as possible. (NOT on the tops of buildings like in FC. they can't teleport)
• when not in use, putting them back into their circle is a good idea.
• Horrors can be used to tie-up enemy units. Use this against ranged walls, such as sm, whilst your cc troops close in. deep strike them right in their lines (they cant stop this!) and with timing, they should arrive just as your cc troops are starting to be under fire.
• broken horrors do not suffer accuracy penalties. However, they take damage twice as much. AS such, it may be better to let them stick it out and finish that vehicle. (hh, for example)
• Remember to keep an eye on what your horrors target. so many times have i seen them target infantry instead of that vehicle nearby...

chaos vehicles

Common criticisms of chaos players include their rather single-track minds and their playing styles. raptor harass to zerkers and chains to quick t3.
I, for one, cannot exactly blame them. Aside from being a chaos player myself, chaos vehicles just aren't that attractive. more expensive and weaker in both hp and raw firepower then their counterparts, they would appear to be completely uneconomical.
however Chaos vehicles appear quite early, (sm predator not appearing till t3) and do bring formidable firepower to the table. On top of that, theres the chance your opponent not expecting vehicles, and the additional shock factor is very large indeed. As a result, there is the possibility he may have gone all-out on anti-infantry, instead of having some anti-vehicle just in case. A balanced force means that your opponent can't afford to specialise, and has to to spend more req countering your new threats. In the case of sm, that means not in most cases not specialising his squads.

Remember that non-walking vehicles are not affected by positive cover, but are slowed down

Chaos predators
A pair of these in t2 is devastating to most armies. Powerful and with good speed, they can cut down fleeing enemies and reap a bloody harvest. However, they are not without weaknesses, the largest of which is the need for large quantities of power. They are also vulnerable when not supported.


TTT

• If your enemy flees, keep moving. By this i mean move alongside and ultimately overtake and in front of them. This means the predators spend time with no fire-on-the-move (FoTm) penalties, as would be the case if they constantly spend their time catching up til they could fire at maximum range.
• If your under attack from Cc units, keep moving!
• on the same note, you can use your tanks to *ram* enemy infantry out of the way, as vehicles take precedence. This is useful against infantry with setup times, such as SM rocket launchers.
• having a heretic behind the predator to make field-repairs extends their life by a large margin. But be warned, you are incredibly likely to lose your heretic this way if your opponent realizes what's going on.
• Judge the situation. Sometimes its better to have your predators lead the charge against say, a wall of hb, and your troops in rhinos coming after, and vice versa if your facing a wall of anti-vehicle firepower.
• It isn't their primary role, but predators aren't bad at anti-vehicle duties either, if the need arises.
• In t4, predators get a 1000 health buff, making them more able to slog it out. Upgrade to twin turret las-cannons first before going for the sponsons, if at all.
• do NOT upgrade predator tanks if they are low on health as a rule of thumb, but it might be necessary to upgrade them anyway if your in-danger of being over-run by an armoured spearhead.

Chaos rhino
It's only a rhino? what harm can it... (last words of a false lackey)
Vehicle armour shell for your not-quite-so-durable troops.
Cheap, fast, effective, and with a nice amount of hp. Use these to give your troops that little-extra something. Either to over-take and utterly annihilate your opponent, or for that fast getaway when thing's aren't so rosy.

TTT

• ramming is a good thing to do once your troops are dropped off.
• don't over-exert your rhino. If you do, your troops will be foot-slogging under very heavy firepower in some situations, and believe me, that is NOT a situation you want to be in. (unless you have possessed around the corner, but thats another story. hehehe)
• remember that they only contain two slots. And remember that possessed take up two slots.
• i recommend having at least two if not all three rhinos. In the afore-mentioned scenarios, it means that you have a back up plan, which is always good.
• why have so many rhinos i hear you cry? Remember: All war is based on deception. Your opponent expects troops in those rhinos, especially if you showed your infantry firepower earlier on. But present him two, or three, and he won't know what, if anything, is in each one. It's quite fun to drive all three in at once at different areas, and watch his head spin.
• on the same token, drive an empty rhino into his territory to some area. when your nearly there, send your REAL transports in to your target. With luck, your empty rhino will sit there giggling to itself as your opponent realises he's been fooled.
• smoke launchers are an invaluable upgrade which can give you that much-needed edge in a firefight. Or cover for prudent retreat >.>

defilers

Jack of all trades, the defiler is probably the epitome of multi-tasking. Faring well in cc, ranged and artillery, defilers will quite happily cater for your needs. Combined arms principle. Ranged army? use that battle cannon to disrupt his firing wall, or advance into cc. Zerker army? Vehicle armour is tough to penetrate with anti-infantry weapons, and makes an excellent damage sponge, or use it on ranged to disrupt their ranged power.
BUT the defiler pays for all of this with the fact that it is master of none. Beaten by ALL other CC vehicles in cc, and beaten either in cost or raw power from ranged specialists, do not over-estimate their power.

TTT

• Instead of having your defilers with your main army, it may be an idea to take one, if not two, of these monsters to raid your enemy's economy. Rip up lp's, bash gens, and run away if he decides to respond.
• As stated, having your defilers on ranged mode means they can't be danced. Battle cannon causes impressive disruption, and the flamer and autocannon aren't to be sniffed at either.
• ALWAYS CC anti-vehicle units, unless you have support nearby to take care of them.
• Defilers do very respectable anti-commander damage. Having them hunt that oh-so-cocky one is quite a nice strat. And the synch kill of them being killed is just too good to miss.
• Whilst defilers die in 1v1 situations versus other walkers, they still do good damage. So, we have the option of killing that weakened walker, or doing as much damage as possible to the walker, and finish it off with other means.
• On this note, don't make half-assed attempts to kill walkers and buildings if it means losing your defiler. They will just repair and come back far more effectively than you can.

Hell Talons

currently in soulstorm 1.buggy0 (no pun aimed at buggo himself intended), these new additions are considered to be incredibly powerful for their cost and abilities.
Some players are now going vehicles instead of zerkers and chains purely because of the raw power these babies possess. With good micro, it is almost impossible to counter them effectively without air superiority fighters. But even then, there are ways around that...

TTT

• They aren't cheap. Get 5-6 gens before constructing the machine pit and purchasing them.
• i recommend getting the t2 globals before producing these. Yes, the earlier the better, but having no back up option is a sure-fire way to fail.
• you need the first vehicle cap increase for two hell talons, and the second for four. plan ahead. Remember, production and research take time. Go for talons before research. This means that the talons built, and will be released as soon as the research is done.
• Talons do pants all damage vs infantry, and are the exact opposite of zerkers.
• I find that talons work best in pairs. so i tend to get the two before advancing to t3. I do like to go all out however from time to time, as this can lead to out-right victory in some occasions.
• if faced with anti-aircraft vehicles, (such as sentinels) hell talons will win They will take damage, so retreat and repair if required. But if those generators are still there, smash them.
• Talons don't fire properly if they're over impassable terrain. Move them over them and onto flat ground, before opening fire.
• Blast that thermo generator before his generators. Late tier troops need power, and talons excel at removing that power. After power has been removed, smash his lp's to cripple his economy.
• He has anti vehicle troops? Oh well. They are foot slogging, and as such, smash the generator (its worth taking a few hits instead of letting it live if your talons will survive) and zoom off to the other side of his base. Or retreat if need be.
• especially effective vs scourges. They have two jumps yes, but after that they slog it out on foot. If you see them, just fly away and raid somewhere else. Beat them at their own game.
• remember that your talons have anti-air craft weapons. Not particularly powerful ones, but at 3k hp, can still do some fair amount of damage. This is why i advocate using pairs. either he gets a 1v1 situation, or you have two talons to his one, one talon takes the punishment but both are returning fire.
• sometimes, your opponent will be canny enough to build air-superiority fighters (if applicable). There are two(three) counters to this.
• 1 the method of attrition. Blast all his generators ( AND THERMO GENERATORS) This way, even if he does get his planes, he will have little power to keep it up.
• 2 build a squad of horrors. Retreat, and fly them over your horror squad, and turn around and engage, or dance around the horrors if necessary. If he runs, pursue.
• 3 Blow up his vehicle factory. enough said.
• Don't forget about the virus bomb. According to wiki it does pants all damage. But it's free, so heck, drop it on them if you can. Be warned, don't do this if your about to engage in cc, as it will spread to your troops.

Tier 3 analysis
And the barriers weakened still further, with the Chaos Gods bestowing keen interest in the fight. some of the most terrifying of Chaos's servants were made availble, to deliver that crushing blow needed to seal victory in Chaos's name.