Warhammer 40K: Chaos Daemons Rumors – Skarbrand Edition
There’s another big set of rumors doing the rounds on the Chaos Daemons – this time focussing on Skarbrand.
Rumors have been all over the places these last few years. In 8th Edition of Warhammer 40K, rumors pretty much entirely died off. Then they very slowly started to come back in little spurts now and again. Since the beginning of 2022, something has changed and rumors have come back in force – in a level not seen in over 5 years!
Here’s the latest set of rumors from YouTube, Dakka and B&C that have been doing the rounds of late.
I presenting these as is – take them with a big heaping of salt. Still, we now have 4 sets of rumors that specifically is talking about Chaos Daemons. It will be useful to note purely as a placeholder to compare to later rumors and actual releases. We also now have the official GW unveiling of the Chaos Daemons Codex cover.
Rumor Dump 1 (via YouTube / Collated by B&C) – July 11, 2022
Common Changes
-Greater daemons are limited to 1 per detachment. But GD’s received better stats and more wounds. “similar to a knight'”. Beefier.
-Many unit sizes are limited to 10 for troops (daemonettes are 20), 6 for elite. Essentially moving to being more “elite” and less hoard type.
-Most auras are now command abilities
-Most units deepstrike for free without using CP.
-New “daemon save”. invulns will be gone, and replaced with a new type of save that cannot be modified by AP. And thus not ignored by any abilities that ignore invuln. The save will change depending on if the attack is from ranged or melee and each god has different variations of this. E.g. Tzeentch units like a LoC will have a 3+ vs. ranged and 5+ vs. melee.
-Furies are gone
-Summoning is gone or changed. No more setting aside points. “more like a homing beacon affect”.
-New faction ability that is similar to warp tides from 7th ed. New pts system to use abilities. Uncertain if this will allow “free” units. Stronger if you are a mono god army. Weaker if you mix and match unless your army has Belekor.
-Sounds like toward the end of the year release.
Tzeentch
-Horrors split for free on a 5+ now.
-Treason of Tzeentch now turns off auras instead of controlling a model
-Infernal gateway better, now when you roll the 12+ it does flat 3 MW instead of d6. And the biggest change is that instead of measuring from one model to see if nearby units are hit, it measures from every model in the original target unit.
-Kairos gets a + to cast, the bonus being the battle round number.
-LOC keep +2 to cast.
Khorne
-Bloodletters are 2 attacks, S5 -3AP D2. Can get buffs that do auto wounding 6’s, re-rolls, and bonus attacks.
-New unit name found, the Rendmaster. Possibly just a rename for the bloodthrone. 9 wound character model.
-Bloodthirster has 8 attacks at AP-4 3+D3 damage. or sweep 16 attacks D1 AP-3.
-All khorne units got +1 toughness, 4+ new daemon save against shooting,
-Bloodcrushers have 5 wounds.
Nurgle
-Plaguebeareres T5 and 2W.
-Disgustingly resiliant in line with DG. -1 damage.
-Nurglings now FA or Elite(source is not certain) No longer troops and obsec
-plagueswords have AP now, and overall a lot easier at wounding things for all nurgle
-Beasts of Nurgle stats got way tankier. capped at 3 instead of 9.
-At least 1 wound has been added to everything
Slaanesh
-Lots of ways to gain abilites to fight on death, fight last, or fights first
-Chariots are T6 and are more deadly. and fast enough to deal with movement restrictions i.e. ruins.
-Daemonettes improved in offense. Full re-rolls and auto wounding 6’s with the right buffs
-Epitome no longer has the “no fall back” ability, and more focused on spellcasting
-Masque is better at putting out buffs and debuffs
Rumor Dump 2 (via Dakka‘s TonyH122 / B&C) – July 14, 2022
General:
-Further confirmation of daemonic saves, including two profiles for range/melee
-GUO has 4+/5+ against range/melee.
-LoC has 3+/5+ against range/melee.
-Icons: Give the ICON keyword, which is somehow relevant to the new Warp Storm table.
-Instruments appear to give morale re-rolls.
GUO Details
-GUO has 4+/5+ against range/melee.
-T8, 22W
–GUO still has 5+++
-Vomit attack: 7″, d6 auto-hits, S5, AP-2, D1.
-Bilesword has: Cleave at +1S, AP-3, Dd6, 6s to hit auto-wound; Sweep at SU, AP-3, 1D, double attacks.
-Bileblade: SU, AP-3, D2, re-roll wounds, and ‘improves casting’
-Flail: 7″, d3+3A, SU, AP-3, D2.
-Nurgling attacks in addition
-Bell has a resurrection-style resurrection action for Plaguebearers
-Gives Nurgle CORE re-rolls
Khorne
-‘most improved’
-Most have 4+/4+ or 4+/5+ against range/melee.
Tzeentch
-3+ against ranged for most, but not all units.
-Always has a worse save against melee.
Conflicted
-Apparently another user states that Pink Horrors, Plaguebearers, and Bloodletters are all 10pts each.
-People are generally doubtful of this, at least if the other rumours of their buffs are true.
Rumor Dump 3 (via 40K Reddit & Discord) – July 19, 2022
Warp Locus
” Happy Monday ya filthy heretics. A few keen eyed individuals (most everyone) had noticed the “Warp Locus” keyword on certain CSM units (Maater of Posession, Khorne Lord of Skulls). Well I’m here to tell you at least part of what it does. As you may have heard, you will be able to deepstrike Daemons for free–but that’s not all! When in the Warp these daemons gain special deepstrike rules.
They can deepstrike as normal, or if you set them up wholly within 6″ of a Warp Locus unit, they can be set up just outside 6″ from enemy units! (Instead of 9″). If you have allegiances you gotta stick with your friends. Warp Locus isn’t a particularly common keyword, but an important lynchpin to enable brutal strategies.
No longer are you shelling out 2 or 3 cp to get a virtually gaurenteed charge with Bloodletters. I mean you will still be able to enhance charges in other ways, but now the floor is much higher. Looking to counter or stop your enemy from dropping hell on your doorstep? You’ll want to remove enemy Warp Locus models as efficiently as you can. But that certainly won’t be simple in most cases. The cool news is that deepstriking via the Warp has some other interesting rules if you’re pure Daemons that make it even more appealing; those fighting daemons should generally stay out of daemonic territory, and keep a good sense of leadership.
That’s it for that. A good mechanic to keep in mind as you read any upcoming information. I think it offers some good counter play, while also enabling some of the most reliable charges in the game. [PSA: As always understand things can change before release. So salt it a bit. ”
Rumor Dump 3 (via 40K Reddit & Discord) – July 25, 2022
Skarbrand
“Time for the angriest of Daemons – Skarbrand!
As is appropriate for Skarbrand, his damage output has gone from “middling” to “through the roof”. His bellow has quite literally doubled in potency, and at top profile you get the choice between 9 attacks at S16 ap-4 D3+3 damage ignoring invulns or a whopping 18 at s8 ap-2 d2. His “rage embodied” also remains the same as ever, though the range has shortened a tad to only 6″.
The beast is no slouch durability wise either – with 20 wounds, t8, and a 4+ save in both melee and shooting, he’s far from easy to take down, but if you’re still worried just feel free to deep strike him – everyone in daemons can do that, remember?
Oh yeah one other thing – he’s a Warp Locus.”
~What do you think? As always – Caveat Emptor…
