40K @ 500 Points? (Daemonhunters)
Can 40K be played at 500 points? A 500 point army offers a good starting place for the new/casual players while providing an interesting and refreshing and fastpaced look at the game for veteran players.
At such a point level you really have to examine what you plan to take, how to make it work, and trust in the dice- no room for Spam razorbacks here! Best of all you can get in triple the amount of games in the same time a 1750-2000 point game would take- no need to worry about winning or losing- just play again!
“Narrow minded fool! What do you know of the warp? What you have been told from those in the classroom and from dusty old tomes? I have tasted the power of chaos and spat it from my mouth! The end justifies the means, and I will pursue those ends to any means!”
Inquisitor Hermonius Xon (Branded Radical)
Right away, the bad news is that Grey Knights are pretty much out- two small 5 knight squads + psycannon, with a terminator and a Grand Master + trinkets is just not enough- at the end of the day GK’s are still space marines. So that leaves the inquisitorial route, which is good news because the storm troopers in the =I= codex are still a fantastic buy. This is the core concept that we are going to build around plus making use of a little known and never used unit: daemonhosts!
Next are our two mandatory troop choices- 10 storm troopers strong with one melta gun x 2 and we are set there. Modeling there are a lot of options here- generic Cadian guard is the quickest and easiest. Visually I like the Vostran First Born sets- pick up three of them, proxy the included flamer for a melta, and you have enough troops for the two storm trooper squads and the inquisitorial henchmen. You won’t be using the heavy weapons in this list, but they could later proxy for a heavy weapons servitor with some slight changes and/or objective markers.
Finally the two daemonhosts fill out the list offering more possibilities- buy two of the host models or convert your own- hosts can really be any model.
28 models @ $145 dollars from the GW site if you want to go that way.
So now you have your models painted and converted up and we can move onto mission tactics. As a starting point we are going to divide the army into two group- the Inquisitor and Henchmen + Daemonhosts in one and the two IST squads in the other. Basically the first group is going to go out and wreck things while the second group supports, stays alive and captures/holds objectives.
The use of cover and LOS blocking terrain is going to be key to the game since using transports to protect the Storm Troopers are out based on their point cost. Place any objectives that you can in cover, get the Storm Troopers there and hold fast. Keeping them alive is more important than shooting so be prepared to go to ground for the 3+ cover save as needed.
Your Inquisitor goes front and center and heads toward your opponent. Any shots fired at him are shots not taken against your ISTs. You want to exploit the fact that most players shoot at the closest unit. Remember that the warriors have a targeter, and both frag and krak grenades to deal with any vehicles, and that the Inquisitor can make use of the Iron Will rule which we will talk more about in a moment.
Finally the daemonhosts- these deepstrike in next to your opponent, absorbing shots, hoping to roll the right power at the right moment and assaulting things. The Inquisitor will hold the line till the hosts arrive. Now onto the missions…
Seize Ground
You will want to place any objectives in terrain as best as possible and mirror as many as you can on both sides of the board since you won’t know if you are going first or second yet. Place them 12 from the edge, sides if possible, center if your opponent has potential out flankers.
When you deploy the Storm Troopers head to the objectives and get in cover, secure and stay. If any vehicles get past your Lord and Deamonhosts the melta guns are there on the ISTs to pop them and then rapid fire with the hell guns on the guys inside. Try to move to hold two objective within 12”-24” of each other so both Stormtrooper groups can cover each other with 24” shots if needed.
The Inquisitor and his henchmen float around near your own two troop units to act as a speed bump or siphon unit as needed, and again to take wounds. The only time this really changes is if there is a big boom vehicle like a Leman Russ or heavy tank that needs to get taken out- head for it and pop that melta into is as best you can. As a speed bump unit the Inquisitor is great for stalling assaulters- your opponent moves to assault, shoots, you auto fail LD and fall back so they can’t assault. Next turn auto-regroup and fire the Storm Troopers in the unit and on the objectives at your opponent. Don’t forget those targeters can also be used to judge ranges.
With the Daemonhosts you are going to target your opponent’s troops first and move to assault them when you can. Keep the two hosts together and use them as if they are a single unit.
Capture & Control
A variant on the seize ground strategy where the ‘hosts are going to be doing all the work. Place two troop units on your objective in cover. Lord is used as a speedbump and the Daemonhosts are held ready to teleport in. With the Lord you are going to advance forward trying to intercept your opponent. Again using Iron Will to fall back as needed and slow down any assaulters or incoming units. Keep pushing forward as a distraction. When the hosts come in bring them in to your opponent’s objective area and try to then run into cover for the 3+ save. If you can hide them behind LOS terrain all the better. Again, the target is your opponent’s troops holding their objective, and/or to contest their objective.
Annihilation
This is the hardest mission for the radical 500 point army as it has no long or mid range shots and has to walk across the battlefield. Deploy as far forward as possible and start advancing. Bring the hosts in near any isolated targets and go for the kill points. Once your ISTs or Lord start getting smaller in size start running and hiding them to deny the kill point. Pretty straight forward.
Final Thoughts?
A big piece of the fun with this army is the randomness of the Deamonhosts- if you get what you need in the moment they are crazy unstoppable in such a low point game, on the opposite side roll something odd and they are useless for the turn- nothing you can do about this but trust in the Emperor even if you are a radical!
So I hope you enjoyed this, and I’d love to hear your thoughts on 40k at 500pts. What would you take, and what alterations would you consider to keep the playing field a little more even. If you have some good lists from your favorite codex, jot them down below. Have fun out there!
