Goatboy’s 40K: PRAISE THE CHAOS GAWDS I Can Run 9 Daemon Princes!
Arooo!!! My dreams have come true, and GW says it is ok to play with 9 Daemon Princes. But can it win?
Now I don’t think it is super good – but dangit I will try it, enjoy it, and lose like a boss with it. I mean at this point it seems if you ain’t playing them dern Space Elves or some kind of Imperial ABC soup then you’re doing it wrong. So with that in mind – let’s first discuss the best Daemon Princes.
The Usual Suspects
- Daemon Prince of Tzeentch aka Mr. McCasty Castface! – The Thousand Sons Daemon prince seems to be the best currently on the block. Between having a flat 4+ inv save, access to all the good spells, and casting two a turn, you got a real powerhouse. These guys are probably my favorite with the basic loadout of Wings plus 2 Malefic Talons. These are a must-have for any mad Daemon Prince Nonsense list – most likely in a Supreme Command unless you want to throw around some Tzaangos.
- Daemon Prince of Chaos (Mark of Khorne) aka King Big Dumb Knight Killer Sword – In today’s current environment of Knight nonsense you need this guy to get up there, punch someone in the face with his sword, and maybe get lucky to take out 2 of them. The Sword gives the guy a set of 6 Strength 10 attacks that hit on a 2, reroll wounds vs. Knights, and cause d6 damage. Heck if you roll a 6 to wound you do another d3 mortal wounds. If this guy were a Chaos Space Marine guy, he would be amazing.
- Daemon Prince (Mark of Slaanesh, Iron Warriors Legion) w/Fleshmetal Exoskeleton – This guy can be a linchpin in a Cultist army or just a fantastic beat stick. He has access to an FNP psychic power, FNP Stratagem, and he regains wounds. Oh, he has a 2+ armor save as well. An Alpha Legion Chaos Space Marine with a Mark of Nurgle could also be good as throwing out a -2 to hit guy as the only Daemon Prince available to shoot is something interesting to think about.
- Daemon Prince of Nurgle (Death Guard) with the Armor Plate and if you warlord a 4+ Disgusting Resilient – I do like this guy, but he doesn’t always fit in an army. If I could take a Spearhead Detachment with 3 Daemon Princes, then this guy might be a better option – but for right now he fits towards the back end of Daemon Prince Circus.
Getting the Band Back Together
With that in mind – let’s build a list. I think the better Daemon Prince Circus lists will run 4-6 princes mixed with either some bigger prince like stuff (Morty, Magnus, Knights) or some other form of high damage output (there is a mortal wound bomb army out with FW – waiting on Chapter Approved to see if any points change before I even mess with it). Of course with my title being all about 9 Daemon Princes I have to play with that many.
First will take 3 of the best princes and throw them in a Supreme Command. These are the spell lynchpin of your army. They also fight pretty good and if you want you can make one the Warlord to get a 3+ inv save. I don’t think that is the best as their Relics are rather meh – so saving some CP for the other Daemon Princes is probably better.
Thousand Sons Supreme Command
HQ: Daemon Prince of Tzeentch, Wings, Malefic Talon X 2 – 180pts
HQ: Daemon Prince of Tzeentch, Wings, Malefic Talon X 2 – 180pts
HQ: Daemon Prince of Tzeentch, Wings, Malefic Talon X 2 – 180pts
(There is a weird thought that these guys could take Warp Bolters – I think I agree with a buddy in that you can’t as it is a new Dataslate. Maybe GW will add a gun like the Deathguard ones have)
From there I think we need a Battalion. Will go with Daemons as we can take a ton of Nurglings and seed the battlefield to cause all kinds of targeting issues. Hiding them all over the place means your Princes can be safe as they are under ten wound characters.
Daemon Battalion
HQ: Daemon Prince of Chaos, Mark of Khorne, Wings, Malefic Talon, Big Axe – Spend 1 CP – Skullreaver Relic – 180pts
HQ: Daemon Prince of Chaos, Mark of Tzeentch, Wings, Malefic Talon X 2 – Spend 2 CP – Impossible Robe – 180pts
HQ: Daemon Prince of Chaos, Mark of Slaanesh, Wings, Malefic Talon X 2 – 180pts – Or get Forbidden Gem to turn off a knight a turn or Morty, etc
Troops: Nurglings X 3 – 54pts
Troops: Nurglings X 3 – 54pts
Troops: Nurglings X 3 – 54pts
Troops: Nurglings X 3 – 54pts
Troops: Nurglings X 3 – 54pts
Troops: Nurglings X 3 – 54pts
Finally, we get a Chaos Space Marines Supreme Command. You could swap this with a Death Guard one if you wanted as you get a similar Daemon Prince with the Plate and automatic FNP. I like the idea of gaining wounds back.
Supreme Command – Iron Warriors
HQ: Daemon Prince, Mark of Slaanesh, Wings, Malefic Talon X 2, Warp Bolter – Warlord (Exalted Champion) – Relic – Fleshmetal Exoskeleton – 183pts
HQ: Daemon Prince, Mark of Slaanesh, Wings, Malefic Talon X 2, Warp Bolter – -1 CP Relic – Intoxicating Elixer – 183pts
HQ: Daemon Prince, Mark of Khorne, Wings, Malefic Talon X 2, Warp Bolter – -2 CP Relic – Talisman of Burning Blood – 183pts
Pts: 1953
Kicking Butt – Daemon Style
This army leaves you with 47 points left over – which you could use to summon some Brimstone Horrors if you want to have a turn not to get shot at. The Iron Warriors set up could be swapped out for Death Guard guys – you would auto get FNP, get a 2+ save guy, but you lose out on some utility spells, etc. If you went in that direction, you might change the Slaanesh Daemon Prince into a Nurgle Prince to get access to a Heal spell if needed.
So is this list any good? Most likely not but it sure looks fun to push around a ton of monsters. I do think the more interesting list might be something with 3 Close Combat Weapon Knights or a mixture of the big bad Renegade Castellan, two baby knights and some Daemon Princes with Nurglings. Heck, I just did the points, and it works. Muhahahahaha. We’ll leave that for another time though – until then may you open up a portal to the Warp, bring in a bunch of misbegotten monsters, and bring about the new age of Chaos.
~Anyone want to party with 9 Princes?
