Tactica: Kill Chaos Daemons!
Hey, Mercer from Imperius Dominatus here, how goes it?
Chaos Daemons have risen up from the bottom of the pile and gone to almost top dog. Many players are struggling to combat against Daemons, but like all armies, they are beatable. Let’s sharpen our long knives…
I originally brought Daemons to use in Fantasy, as I was thinking of getting into that. I decided to use the Daemons in 40k, after all I could use the army in both games so it’s a two for one bonus. Luckily for me about two weeks after purchasing my first Daemon models the W.D Daemon codex update hit the shelf. It really was all down to timing. I couldn’t get into the groove of Fantasy in the end, so looks like I gained Daemons as a pure 40k army.
Below is my own Daemon list. I appreciate it’s not the typical Daemon ‘net list’, but it’s not far off it. I’ll talk about how to beat my own Daemon army and then move onto units that the net list Daemon army would have i.e Fateweaver.
I also appreciate that my list has Soul Grinders and these aren’t the most optimum choice, but I like ’em, so sod it :P.
Chaos Daemons ‘Dirty Magic’ – 2,000 points
HQHerald of Tzeentch – chariot of tzeentch, mastery of sorcery, we are legion & bolt of tzeentch
Herald of Tzeentch – chariot of tzeentch, mastery of sorcery, we are legion & bolt of tzeentch
Herald of Tzeentch – chariot of tzeentch, mastery of sorcery, we are legion & bolt of tzeentch
The Masque
Elite5 x Flamers of Tzeentch
5 x Flamers of Tzeentch
5 x Flamers of Tzeentch
Troops10 x Plaguebearers of Nurgle
10 x Plaguebearers of Nurgle
5 x Plaguebeaers of Nurgle
5 x Plaguebeaers of Nurgle
Fast Attack6 x Screamers of Tzeentch
6 x Screamers of Tzeentch
Heavy SupportSoul Grinder – phelgm
Soul Grinder – phelgm
Soul Grinder – phelgm
Know your enemy
If you do not know what something does then use the tongue in your head and ask. No one should refuse to let you know the rules for any unit. I would like to point out that I run through all my units telling my opponent’s what they do. Yeah sometimes they forget, but at least they are not totally in the dark. I think this is the best and fair way of doing things.
Daemons are quite a unique army thanks to the large bunch of special rules they have. Naturally they all have the ‘daemon’ special rule which gives ALL units a 5+ inv save and the ‘fear’ special rule. They all have eternal warrior, so no such thing as gibbing a Herald of Tzeentch with a meltagun. All Daemon models are fearless, so do not expect them to run away any time soon.
The most interesting special rule for Daemons is ‘daemonic assault’. This rule forces all Daemons to deep strike. What is more interesting is that the Daemon army must be split into two equal parts if possible, then you roll a D6 and on a 3+ the Daemon player gets the declared half they want, if not it’s the other half.
When rolling for table side and deployment you need to choose carefully. When choosing table sides you want the side with more terrain, you can use this terrain for LOS blocker and also help to cause issues with the Daemons deep strike – they will get dangerous terrain tests if they land in terrain. Sure with more terrain means spreading your army out more, but that’s not too bad as two of Daemons’ baddest units require for your units to be bunched up. What you need to do is spread your units out so chances of deep strike mishap is increased, but do not spread your units too thin, I recommend a gap between units of about 4″-6″.
If possible you always want to let Daemons go first. See Daemons work upon the alpha strike principle, they want to hit you hard and cause as much damage as possible. They are like Dark Eldar, a glass hammer army, except they deep strike and do not have paper boats. Because Daemons want to alpha strike, letting them going first or second in respect to the alpha strike is no difference; they will hammer you whether they go first or second.
The big reason for letting Daemons go first is because they do not deploy and deep strike in, you always deploy first. If you end up going first, then the Daemons will deep strike AFTER you and you will lose a turn of shooting. So suck up the alpha strike and let the Daemons go first, you do not want to lose that turn of shooting if you can help it.
With Daemons deep striking and coming in piece meal you get a break. You need to deal with units based upon target priority and take advantage of them coming in via deep strike. This is how:
Kill the burny burny stabby stabby
The two units which carry the weight of the Daemon codex are Screamers and Flamers. Sure there’s other units which are pretty decent i.e Daemon Princes and Fateweaver, but I’ll talk about those later. The W.D update made Screamers and Flamers totally bad ass, after all, W.D needs to sell the funky new models!
When playing Daemons I put my eggs all in one basket and want my aggressive wave first; this is made up of Screamers, Flamers and Heralds. If I get the other wave then I play defensively. It’s all about the alpha strike and Daemons need to cripple the enemy before the enemy can react. After all, there’s no point having Screamers arriving on turn 3 and then they cannot assault until turn 4. There’s also no point having a Soul Grinder come down first turn as all the anti tank guns will be aiming at it, at least use Screamers, Flamers and Heralds to take out or reduce these threats. I hope that explains why I put all my eggs in one basket.
So, what do the ultra bad ass Screamers and Flamers do?
Well, Screamers will chew up anything in combat with their S5 AP2 armourbane attacks, each Screamer has 4 attacks on the charge. Oh they are also a jetbike and they get a funky slash attack move exactly the same as Dark Eldar Reavers.
Flamers are the word for anti infantry and are also a dab handy at taking out vehicles. Their main form of attack is a flamer template which wounds on a 4+ and NO armour saves are allowed. As it’s a flamer template there’s no cover saves either. They also glance vehicles on a 4+, which is excellent since the induction of hull points – Land Raiders fear Flamers. If they scatter out of burny death range then it is not so bad, they have an assault 3 S4 AP4 18″ attack; excellent for killing xenos. To close the gap quickly they are jump infantry. They are also handy in assault, think Space Marine Sternguard.
Both these units have 2 wounds a piece and have a 5+ inv save.
How do you kill these buggers? Anti infantry fire power is the answer. Don’t try firing meltaguns at them or lascannons as they will laugh at you, remember they have eternal warrior. Both of these units are T4 and while their save is an invulnerable it is only 5+. The Flamers are particularly easy to kill when they arrive via deep strike as they are bunched up. Drop blast templates and flamer templates on them to hit as much as you can. Flamers are a good alpha strike unit so will be hitting hard and up close.
It will take about two Tactical Squads to blow either of these units to pieces with rapid fire. Here’s the maths for your information:
10 x Tactical Marines rapid fire 20 shots – 13 hit – 6.5 wound – 4.4 failed saves (2 models dead).
When both of these units are depleted they aren’t a real threat or hard to deal with. Both units are best to be destroyed via shooting, but combat can be used once they are thinned out. It is always best to charge a Screamer than a Screamer charge you!
Against Flamers beware of the wall of death from overwatch. If you do charge them then make sure it’s with a handy sized unit and that the models you want to keep are in the middle of the unit and not at the front taking hits. A depleted unit of two Flamers will kill two enemy models via overwatch. In combat a Tactical Squad would just about kill two Flamers, providing they are full strength of course and took minimum damage from overwatch.
Speaking of assault, when there’s a Screamer threat try and bunker down in terrain. Screamers do not have grenades so when they assault they will be I1. Also they are jetbikes and when jetbikes enter or leave terrain they need to take dangerous terrain tests. The terrain acts as a sort of assault damper.
You’re next, son
Once you’ve got the two big nasty units out the way there’s the Heralds and The Masque to deal with.
The Masque is a brilliant utility unit who can pavane three enemy units, basically can move each unit D6″ wherever the Daemon player wishes. Very good for bunching units up for Flamers and Soul Grinder attacks and moving the enemy out of terrain (excellent defence against Screamers as Screamers have no grenades) so Screamers can assault. Also The Masque is handy for disruption i.e moving units off objectives or moving units so they cannot draw LOS I.E Devastators.
Then you’ve got your cheeky Heralds of Tzeentch. These fellas are jetbikes and are T4 have 5 wounds along with a 4+ inv save. They are the dedicated anti tank with their bolts which are 24″ S8 AP1. If that wasn’t enough they come standard with an anti infantry shooting attack that is 18″ S5 AP3 assault 3. They can also split fire and fire both weapons thanks to the master of sorcery and we are leigion daemonic gifts.
Both the Masque and Heralds will go down to shooting or combat. The Masque isn’t too bad in combat, but only has two wounds and is T3 and has a 3+ inv, so weight of attacks will smash her flat. It’s best to assault Heralds though as 1. this locks them in combat so no shooty shooty and 2. they are WS2 and pretty poor in combat.
Die dirty scumbag!
Plaguebearers and Soul Grinders are the least threatening things in my list, but both can be nasty in their own rights.
Plaguebearers are for holding objectives, well the units of 5 are, while the units of 10 get stuck in close combat and tarpit units. Plaguebearers are T5 and have feel no pain along with a poisoned weapon. They are not awesome in combat, but they will chip units down over time.
Soul Grinders are basically an av13 Defiler.
Both units should die to shooting. Plaguebeaers won’t get feel no pain against S10 weapons as it will instagib them – drop a Vindicator shell on them when they deep strike as they cannot run to spread out because they have the slow and purposeful rule. You never want to charge these units unless you have the right tools for the job. Make sure to have Plaguebearers depleted if you want to charge them.
Soul Grinders do not like haywire grenades. These will mush them up very easily. They are I3 so anything like a hammer, chain fist or power fist will strike after. If you have no haywire then try and get in the rear armour as it is av11 and unleash dakka hell. Note if a Soul Grinder is immobilised then just ignore it or tackle it to disable the mawcannon. As they are av13 they do not like high strength stuff like lascannons, ordnance etc. Meltas also annoy them. Keep in mind that they ignore crew shaken and stunned results thanks to daemonic possession.
And the rest….
The typical Daemon list which is hitting tournaments at the moment is like mine above, except no Heralds, Soul Grinders and fewer Plaguebearers. HQ is Fateweaver and maybe a Bloodthirster. Min units of Pink Horrors are troops and flying Daemon Princes fill heavy support.
Fateweaver is an awesome army utility as all Daemon models from the codex can re-roll failed saves. This is any failed saves by the way i.e cover, armour or invulnerable. Unfortunately this ability only extends 6″ so not all Daemon units will be effected. Pick apart units not in the bubble and I have found via experience to kill Fateweaver last. Use your weight of fire power against Fateweaver and he will go down. It’s even better if you have skyfire as no doubt the big two headed chicken will be flying. Btw Fateweaver is T5 so even anti infantry fire power can cause the pain. Don’t expect Fateweaver to go down without a massive fight. Something to note, if Fateweaver does fail his save (after re-rolls) then he must take a leadership test and if he fails he runs off the board.
Bloodthirster is a high strength flying monstrous creature. Basically this big red guy flies around doing vector strikes and lands and smashes face. The Bloodthirster has a 3+ armour save and 4+ inv, so use anti tank weapons to nuke him. Of course skyfire goes without saying.
Daemon Princes can come in various forms with various marks and daemonic gifts. More than likely a flying Prince will just be flying about doing vector strikes and tackling enemy air units. Like Fateweaver, they are T5 base (T6 with MoN) and will go down to anti tank fire. Like the other winged beasties, you will need skyfire to get reliable hits.
Pink Horrors are typical xenos; weak mediocre armour save and ballistic skill. They have the same shooting attack as the Flamers (S4 AP4 assault 3) and they have access to a bolt too. Mostly they come in min units of 5, though sometimes larger. As they are T3 and 4+ inv anti infantry fire will waste them easily. They are pretty rubbish in combat too.
I hope all the above is going to help in cracking Daemon skulls. If I have left anything out or anything you want to share then let me know and I’ll add it into the article.
