Goatboy’s 40k Monday – Return of the Demonic Horde
Goatboy is back with a much better look at the demon codex. Lets take a look at all the goodies that the Ruinous Powers have dropped in our laps.
I am very excited about the book as I feel there is a lot of potential for the types of armies I play – the Hammer style lists. It also has a good deal of tricks involved in the list as well as the ability to tailor lists on the fly with the “random” nature of the gifts chart.
The book seems to throw a lot of interesting design on the page. There are a lot of deviations from their normal design choices but I think this adds to an army and makes it something different from what most players are used too. This is what makes the book exciting for me. It constantly forces me to rethink every game as I look at the options I have and what is going to happen during any specific battle.
Let’s look at the things I like about it. The biggest improvement that I see is how HQ units really add to the army. The use of Loci to change the structure of these large blobs as well as give you access to Psychic powers and an assault “monster” in most cases really gives you an edge up when compared to most other books. Look we all talked about taking 4 Rune Priests to cover the table in mind bullets and now we have that option again with the chance to have 4 different casting heralds that for the most part don’t suck to bad in combat. This is amazing especially when you add in the fact that they are cheap and you will most likely still have 80 bodies on the table to hide them in This is all for a bit over 1000 points in most unit choice cases too. What other army can do this?
From there you can easily fill the army in with anti flying options that are either pain in the butt robotic machines or flying MC’s that can wreck most things in combat, vector striking, or whipping their butts to death (Lash of Despair will be AMAZING – watch out for MoS MC’s with Wings). This army will be on you turn 2 and if you can’t survive a massed assault of that level then you need to rethink your list.
The Demon army is a horde build that isn’t nearly as painful to play as some of the other horde options with the abilities that allow for fast movement and quick turns as you move, engage, and tear apart your opponent. I am a big proponent of the assault phase as it usually does more damage then shooting and involves movement which we all know is a major factor of the 6th edition landscape. In fact – if you are not designing quick movement options in your armies then you are missing out on one of the major ways to win games in 6th. You mix this with large units and you got a recipe for pain for your opponent.
I know the Warp Storm table has caused groans for some but I look at it as an advantage. You have the ability to hurt your opponent and you have the ability to protect your troops by carrying a tune on whatever skin flute device your troop decides to play. I know there are some terrible rolls too and I am sure I will roll them during my testing but I think the advantage is well worth the risk. Plus you will have games just like you had with the Stormlord when you just go crazy with the 6’s and blow up a parking lot of doom.
I wanted to start out the list discussion with looks at some Mono god designs. These are used in order to mitigate the Warp Storm table and see what the gods are designed to do. This way we can see if there is a need to dip into another god’s set of rules and abilities or if you we can cover the bases as needed.
Slaanesh – Turn 2 Electric Bugaloo
This army will be in your face turn 2 and if you design it to work in waves you will most likely have the best luck. Daemoneetes got WS 5 and lost an attack. I really prefer the increase in WS to push the amount of rends into higher levels. Fiends took a bit of a dump and I think you really would rather see a push into more bodies on the table top.
1850 – Pure Slaanesh
HQ: Keeper of Secrets, Greater Reward X 2, Lesser Gift
HQ: Herald of Slaanesh, Locus of Grace
HQ: Herald of Slaanesh, Locus of Grace
HQ: Herald of Slaanesh, Locus of Grace
HQ: Herald of Slaanesh, Steed of Slaanesh, Locus of Beguilement, Greater Gift, Lesser Gift
Troops: Daemonettes X 20, Instrument, Alluress
Troops: Daemonettes X 20, Instrument, Alluress
Troops: Daemonettes X 20, Instrument, Alluress
FA: Seekers of Slaanesh X 20, Instrument
Heavy: Daemon Prince, Mark of Slaanesh, Wings, Warp Forged Armor, Greater Gift X 2
Heavy: Daemon Prince, Mark of Slaanesh, Wings, Warp Forged Armor, Greater Gift X 2
This hits right at 1850. Your anti flyer is the DP and if you are facing against the flying circuit spam take the Weapon Lash of Despair. You will have 2d6 strength 6 attacks that you can whip out your butt as you fly over and vector strike anything as needed. It isn’t the best – but at least you have something. The dragon can be a pain but you will always have a 5+ save to it and again you can try to get a butt shot with the whip action.
I like pure Slaanesh as it will look good on the table top, mitigate the Warp Storm table and allow you to field a “fluffy” army as well. It also has 80 models as well. You use the Daemonettes as the first wave and then Seekers come to clean up later.
1850 – Pure Khorne
HQ: Bloodthirster, Greater Reward X 2, Lesser Reward
HQ: Herald of Khorne, Greater Gift, Lesser Gift, Juggernat, Locus of Wrath
Troops: Bloodletters X 20, Instrument
Troops: Bloodletters X 10, Instrument
Troops: Bloodletters X 10, Instrument
FA: Flesh Hounds of Khorne X 20
Heavy: Skull Cannon of Khorne
Heavy: Daemon Prince, Mark of Khorne, Daemonic Flight, Greater Gift X 2, Lesser Gift
Heavy: Daemon Prince, Mark of Khorne, Daemonic Flight, Greater Gift X 2, Lesser Gift
Again this is a monster mash list that is coming to hurt you. It is weak versus flyers and the troop section isn’t nearly as impressive as I would like it to be. Still if you army is just sitting around this list will get in with some MC’s and do some damage. The Flesh Hounds will run rampant on the table top as well with the Herald leading them and allowing rerolls to hit.
1850 Pure Tzeentch
HQ: Lord of Change, Greater Gift X 2
HQ: Herald of Tzeentch, Locus of Conjuration. Level 2 Psyker
HQ: Herald of Tzeentch, Locus of Conjuration. Level 2 Psyker
HQ: Herald of Tzeentch, Locus of Conjuration. Level 2 Psyker
Troops: Pink Horrors X 20, Instrument, Iridescent Horror
Troops: Pink Horrors X 20, Instrument, Iridescent Horror
Troops: Pink Horrors X 20, Instrument, Iridescent Horror
FA: Screamers of Tzeentch X 9
Heavy: Soul Grinder, Mark of Tzeentch, Torrent Flamer
Heavy: Soul Grinder, Mark of Tzeentch, Torrent Flamer
Heavy: Soul Grinder, Mark of Tzeentch, Torrent Flamer
This one feels off a bit. I like Tzeentch but it feels that it goes against the grain of what a normal demon army should be – Engaging Horde. Still I feel Tzeentch will be a nice addition to combo armies and I expect to see them a lot. The Screamers can engage and with Prescience they can be scare as they grind into an opponent.
1850 Pure Nurgle
HQ: Great Unclean One, Greater Gifts X 2, Lesser Gift, Level 2 Psyker
HQ: Herald of Nurgle, Locus of Fecundity, Palanquin of Nurgle, Greater Gift
HQ: Herald of Nurgle, Locus of Fecundity, Palanquin of Nurgle, Greater Gift
HQ: Herald of Nurgle, Locus of Fecundity, Palanquin of Nurgle, Greater Gift
Troops: Plague Bearers X 20, Instrument
Troops: Plague Bearers X 20, Instrument
Troops: Plague Bearers X 20, Instrument
Heavy: Soul Grinder, Mark of Nurgle, Torrent
Heavy: Soul Grinder, Mark of Nurgle, Torrent
Heavy: Daemon Prince of Nurgle, Daemonic Flight, Warpforged Armor, Greater Gifts X 2, Psyker X 2
This is one of those groan lists as it will take forever to remove them from their cesspools. One squad will deep strike to ensure you get across the field. The anti air options are somewhat weak with just the Grinders hoping to roll 4+’s. Still it is an exercise in what could be a mono build Nurgle list.
Most likely you will mix your armies as it just covers all your bases. If you want to take a Greater Demon then you will have a fight at the heavy slot based on what you need for your army. The anti flyer options run in the Soul Grinder, Whip Frenzy Slaanesh DP’s, or mind bullet friendly Tzeentch MC’s. If your format has a lot of FW then you will most likely move towards a horde and engage army as those pesky Sabre platforms don’t have a whole lot of room to leave the upcoming Demonic insertion.
Next time I will look at a combo list and my initial thoughts on building this army before I take it to Adepticon. Yup – the plan looks to be two years in a row with Demons. Let’s see if I can get lucky and not get bogged down by extremely well played Orks.
Your turn! Which Chaos God do you think makes the best mono-build lists?
