Warhammer 40K Hot Mess – Daemons of Khorne Bloodcrushers
Let’s take a deep dive into a hot mess of a 40K unit and some thoughts in how we can fix them up. Man why do Bloodcrushers just… suck?
I remember having way too many old-school metal Bloodcrushers of Khorne. They went together so badly and I lost so many weird little pieces. Do you remember how the spikes were supposed to slot into the shoulders of the Bloodcrusher? How many times did they stay in? I was so happy to see the awesome new plastic ones finally that I grabbed a whole lot of them when they came out. Too bad they weren’t good then and they are still just as bad now.
The Calvary keyword is one of the worst things in current 40k. I almost wish they didn’t have anything and just kept fast infantry status. But you are a horsey rider that gets no real benefits like they used too. Gone are the days of Advance and Charge, extra toughness, and other fun things. Instead you get a weird Daemon with crappy armor, kinda of blah stats, and a Bloodletter riding on top.
Bloodcrusher Basics and Why Calvary?
These are supposed to be the elite “Knight” like options for the Daemons of Khorne. They are supposed to come in, crush you in a tidal wave of bronze, and maybe get a skull or two. So let’s talk about ways to make them more interesting. I apologize as a lot of the concepts to make them better comes from Age of Sigmar as they seem to have a bit better of a handle on how to make Khorne too sweet.
Oh and fix Calvary. It needs to be worth something to have on a unit. It should also get to use cover and terrain like other models. Oh and it should Kool-aid man thru walls.
Let’s give them some Armor dangit!
Khorne was supposed to be one of the armies that cared about armor. The Bloodthirster has a 3+ save and why don’t these guys get that too? Heck make it have some kind of Armour of Contempt ability or some kind of Spite of Khorne where they either ignore AP or just ignore some damage? They need to have something that makes them tougher that isn’t just a better Invulnerable save, FNP, or something else.
Assault Options
These guys need to scare the dookie out of you when they come crashing in. The first thing I would add is some kind of Mortal wound output that is just a part of their rules. Make it where all the “Bloodcrusher” attacks when they charge cause mortal wounds. Make it on a 6+ or give it some kind of hard limit as they come crashing in. Or just 1 mortal wound per Crusher in engagement range to really amp the idea that they are stomping the crap out of you. On top of that make any leader/herald get some cool weapon upgrades to make them unique.
Icons and Upgrades!
Let’s really hammer the idea of them being some kind of Knights of Khorne. Maybe give them options for a bunch of different Icons that do different things. For example give more attacks if hitting a bigger unit. Maybe a better strength each time they crush thru something. Or just a way to stampede thru a unit and continue on to the next one. They just need some cool charging options because they at least already have a sweet sword to carry. So why not add some other things.
Or how about just cool upgrades for their leaders? I love the idea of Heralds but why not give an option where the Herald gets added on for free if you take a unit. They deploy together and he is the leader of his merry band of blood thirsty idiots of destruction. I just think for a really sweet kit you could do a ton of neat options and upgrades to make them scary.
Make Units of Bloodcrushers Worth It!
They need more wounds, more abilities to hurt the enemy, and a reason to be on the table top. It is a very nice model that just needs some love. Oh and make the Calvary keyword something valid. It needs to do more than just be a hinderance and old bit of left over rules. It has to do something other than just say you can’t use terrain like everyone else can.
Let us know how you would fix the unit, down in the comments!
