Daemonic Tactica - Presented by Glenn Ford

Aka Gremoire Lord of Chaos, High Elf Lord Egalthan, Goblin Warlord Looztoof

 

 

 

Out of the Northern Wastes come the cries and screams of the tortured. The beasts ripping the flesh from their bone. The daemons suck the marrow from their bones. Contained in these tombs are the Daemonic Tactica. Here you will learn about the nightmares and horrors that the lands of mortals fear. Even the undead and ancient lizards fear the power of the Chaos Gods!

 

There are many ways to present a tactics article. The most common is a "review" of each unit and list its strengths and weaknesses. This will be covered in this document, but in addition I will try to explain how I approach a battle. When I plan an army, I rarely know what I will be facing. With this in mind, my army designs try to attack categories of enemies. These categories fall into the following:

 

    • Missile Fire composition
    • Balanced Missile and Assault composition
    • Swarm armies
    • Assault Elite

 

In addition to how to attack each category, I will give a sample army. The variations on armies are endless, but the armies I will present are armies that have been used with success in local tournaments and with friends. Now to the armies. I will list Khorne, Tzeentch, Nurgle, Slaneesh, Allies I like, Demon Rewards, and finally Categorized Tactics.

 

 

 Khorne Daemons

Khorne Daemon armies are by far the most popular armies. You can field an army that has a lot of power and not spend a lot of money. I, unlike many, don’t feel that Khorne is a "beginners" army only. If you are new to the Daemon world, Khorne is definitely a good fit. But those with more experience can certainly enjoy and experience success with Khorne as well.

BloodThirster - The Bloodthirster is an awesome specimen. There are very few who can equal the power of one. I would only field a Bloodthirster if the game is 3000 points or more and then very rarely. You will find people don’t enjoy playing against them very often.

Strengths - How can you state the obvious? They fly, cause terror, have 10 attacks and can get 2 demonic rewards custom fit for your diabolical goals. Their high strength, toughness, wounds, and number of attacks make them an army in one model.

Weaknesses - Their points cost. 750+ points in one model is almost insane. If I see a player who enjoys fielding this, I will play many nasty tricks of my own. Van horstmans speculum, black gem of gnar, talisman of ravensdark being my favorites.

Uses - If you DO use the bloothirster be very very careful for the exact reasons (and more) that I listed under weaknesses. Don’t ever think you are invincible, your not! If you think in this fashion you can be successful. Avoid LOS to any cannons or you may find yourself dead very quick. What I usually do is cause as many terror tests as possible on turn one and two. By turn two the rest of my SMALL army (since the BT takes all my points) is ready to charge on turn 2 or 3. I usually then try to avoid enemy characters by charging units without characters, or take a flank after you engage the front with some other daemon unit (like fleshhounds). This may be a matter of interpretation in your gaming world, but in mine if the front is engaged, the flanks/rear are open for fliers to charge.

Khorne Daemon Prince - For the points a much better buy, IMO, than a bloodthirster. With 10 attacks at a starting strength of 6 and 2 demon rewards to fit to your taste, it’s a truly scary character.

 

Strengths - Terror, Fly, Frenzy (if careful), high strength. All make for a powerful character that can wipe out units by itself.

Weaknesses - Frenzy can cause you to charge before you really want to. A smart opponent will try to lure you into a trap. Lack of magic items make you very vulnerable to opponent characters juiced up. Try charging a high elf lord whose ready to fight khorne and you will die.

Uses - I use these in pairs. Yes, some say its cheese, but you need a backup for when things go bad. So be prepared to lose one and then figure out how to beat what caused you your lost precious deamon prince. The same uses I listed for Bloodthirsters I would recommend here. If you do go with a pair, try fielding 12 harpies (13 if you can afford it, as they wont take a casualty panic, or 9 if you cant afford 12) to help attack with your daemon prince. Help? You ask why? Well I hate charging that unit with the talisman. But its not so bad when 12 harpies (that’s 2 ranks) charge the rear of the unit at the same time (that’s another +2combat resolution). On top of that, I'll always get the charge off first and even with 10 attacks needing 6's to hit I'm going to hit once or twice or more if real lucky. So I find harpies in large blocks very useful if I fear my opponents magic combinations.

Bloodletters - There are some who consider these too expensive and fragile. I find them to be quite useful. My opponent either ignores them or fixates on them. Either way I like it. They usually ignore them and go after my big guys. See my Sample Army section below and you would ignore these also perhaps.

Strengths - Cause FEAR, D3 wound weapon, WS 5, Strength 4. Not to mention given a musician they can always march. I usually enjoy fielding the Battle Standard Bearer with the War Banner of Khorne. Who says a Khorne army can't shoot? <evil grin>

Weaknesses - Toughness 3 and points cost for their fragility.

Uses - I try to hide the Weaknesses on a unit of Bloodletters with the Standard of Shielding and the BSB I listed under strengths. This makes for a very good unit. I usually field between 10-16, with 13 being my favorite number. (this includes the BSB,etc) Put this unit in the center and let them go straight ahead, shooting their war banner the whole way to weaken the unit they want to engage. With the standard of Shielding their odds of survival go WAY up. If your REAL lucky you could get a good chaos mutation at the beginning of the game too! A T3, 3+ save model is as good as a T4, 4+ save model versus most missile shots and HtH troops. (assumption most enemies are Str3 or Str 4)

 

 

 

2500 Pt. Chaos - Daemons Army

Khorne Annihilators

Unit Name

##

Mv

Ws

Bs

St

To

Wo

In

At

Ld

Sv

Cost

Daemon Prince (Khorne)

1

6

7/8

7

6

5

4

8

5/6

10

3

395.0

Fly; Cause Terror; Daemonic Save; Mark of Khorne; Frenzy; Chaos Armor

  Demonic Reward

Battle Master; WS +1 per increment (max 10); Whip & Axe of Khorne; Extra whip attack does 1 wound on a hit; All other attacks with axe do D3 wounds

[75.0]

Bloodletters

3

4

5

5

4

3

1

6

2

10

4

340.0

Cause Fear; Daemonic Save; In HtH, D3 wounds per wound; Standard Bearer; +1 Combat Result; Juggernaut

  Banner of Might

Unit adds +1 to-hit in HtH combat

[50.0]

  Juggernaut

3

7

3

-

5

5

3

2

2

10

4

[210.0]

Cause Fear; Daemonic Save; One attack (crush) automatically wounds with no save; Shooting: 1-2=Rider, 3-6=Beast

Flesh Hounds

6

10

5

-

5

4

2

6

1

10

4

210.0

Cause Fear; Daemonic Save; Immune to magic weapons and spells cast against them are automatically dispelled

Daemon Prince (Khorne)

1

6

7

7

6

5

4

8

5

10

3

410.0

Fly; Cause Terror; Daemonic Save; Mark of Khorne; Frenzy; Chaos Armor

  Demonic Reward

Daemonic Robes; All attacks by enemy are at -1S (includes spells and shooting); Spellbreaker; If army has no wizards, deamon uses Dispel cards as Level 4 wizard and may re-roll any failed dispel attempts

[90.0]

Bloodletters

19

4

5

5

4

3

1

6

2

10

4

420.0

Cause Fear; Daemonic Save; In HtH, D3 wounds per wound; Standard Bearer; +1 Combat Result; Musician; +1 Combat Result if tied; Bloodhorn allows unit to March Move even if enemy troops are within 8" at start of movement

Dragon Ogre

2

6

4

2

5

5

4

2

3/4

7

5/4

388.0

Cause Fear; Immune to Lightning; Lightning causes Frenzy if able to charge enemy next turn; Second Weapon; Light Armor

  Dragon Ogre Champion

1

6

5

3

6

5

4

3

4/5

7/10

5/4

[208.0]

Second Weapon; Light Armor

    Crown of Command

Ld 10; Bearer and unit take Break tests on unmodified Ld of 10

[50.0]

Harpies

12

4

4

-

4

4

2

2

1

6

X

180.0

Fly

Chaos Spawn

2

2D6

3

-

4

5

3

3

D6

10

X

140.0

Cause Fear; Attacks always hit automatically; Move during compulsory movement directly towards enemy (but will move around obstacles); Immune to Psychology; Never Break; Always pass all Ld tests

Total Army Cost: 2483.0 Pts.

Validation Results:
Roster satisfies all enforced validation rules

Troop Type

Count

Points

Unused

Percent

Warlord

N/A

805.0

1695.0

32%

Retinue

N/A

1110.0

1390.0

44%

Allies (0% - 25%)

N/A

568.0

57.0

22%

Magic Item Summary

4

265.0

N/A

10%


Roster created with Army Builder - Copyright (c) 1998 by Lone Wolf Development, Inc.

 

 

 

Tzeentch Daemons

Tzeentch provides you with a different approach, nearly opposite, then Khorne. Where Khorne hits your with direct brute force, Tzeentch slips in, hits you quickly, and slithers away to hit you again. The Daemon selection with Tzeentch leaves a little to desire for my personal tastes, but you can have a truly fearful army with the arsenal available

 

Lord of Change - My favorite model. J But beyond that a very expensive 525 model. Truly fearsome in its own right, but why not take a dragon as an ally who has an unmodified save of 4+ for 450 points? Shrug. The Lord of Change can be customized to a level 1-4 sorceror, but at 50points per level. So you would pay 725 points for a level 4 sorceror with no protections other than their bad ass toughness 7. Unfortunately with powered up characters, black gem of gnars, etc I wouldn’t pay for one of these guys in a game less than 3000 points. If you take one, follow the guidelines I suggest under the Bloodthirster.

Strengths - Some of the best Demon Rewards. My all time Favorite is Flames of Tzeentch. With your BS7 I doubt you'll miss. Terror, Fly, high S,T,A all make the lord of chaos very tough.

Weaknesses - Points Cost. Greater Daemons in general all too expensive. You lose one, and your losing a large percentage of your army. I prefer to spread the points out a bit more.

Uses - Very similar to the Bloodthirster except I would use more the flames of Tzeentch and spells. Time your charges appropriately and crush your enemy.

 

 

Tzeentch Daemon Princes - I think these Daemon Princes are my favorite. Too bad I don’t like the lesser daemons as much. Giving them Mastery of Sorcery, or Flames of Tzeentch and you get ranged firepower.

Strengths - Fly, Terror, S6, T5, A4 and the ability to customize. A true chaos character with little ability to cheese on magic items (demon rewards)

Weaknesses - Expensive! One cannon hit, one nasty magic combo and your toast. Wish we had black amulets or golden crown of atrazar for DP's

Uses - My favorite is 2 DP's both with the Flames of Tzeentch. Give one the Robes and the other level 1+ Mastery of Sorcery. Flame them up! 2d6 S5 range 24" with BS7? How could you go wrong? In tandem DP's are quite the flavor. I don’t like just 1 DP in an army. Call me cheesy I guess. I consider it riskier for me in that I have so many points in 2 models. I wouldn’t want to fight a Black Orc Warlord with the Flail of Skulls and black Amulet vs. my DP. He would whoop butt on poor little DP. Guess who costs a lot less? You got it, the black orc warlord. So use what the DP was given that other lords aren't. Your flying ability, Terror and demon rewards. Find out how to use them effectively for each type of army you usually play against.

Pink Horrors - This is an unusual unit and often one that causes many variations in interpretations. I won't have a separate section for blue horrors, but as you know, when a pink horror is slain, it splits into 2 blue horrors. Many consider Pink Horrors to be ineffective, but I find them to be quite enjoyable. Try a block of 9, 13, or 17.

Strengths - Spell casters with some good potential spells, get to store a card. And the splitting can be considered a strength or a weakness. I consider increasing my unit size, and thus my rank a bonus. Just don’t take away the spell I really want and I am happy. Fear is always a +.

Weaknesses - Down right expensive for a T3 no-save. A shooty army will just total destroy a unit of horrors in no time flat.

Uses - They excel in HtH with 2 str4 attacks and initiative 6. Heck, even if the enemy charges you and kills your front rank of pink horrors, your blue horrors get to fight back. I use this unit sparingly. Give it the banner of sorcery and hope the magic phase goes your way. Screen this unit as long as you can, they are so vulnerable to shooting. Don’t let cavalry hit these guys (at least heavy cav) or you will lose bad. If you want to be a sneaky Git, get the Battle Banner for this unit. Let them kill your pink horrors, thus giving you more rank, and with the battle banner and your blue/pink horrors killing a few you will win a lot of combats.

Flamers - This is a great unit. I love the look of the model and I love its special abilities. Don't leave home without at least 1 unit of these if you play Tzeentch. Its movement of 9, shooting ability, and ignoring obstacles are all great things in one unit.

Strengths - Fear, Strength 5 with 2 attacks, BS5 with each hit causing d6 hits, movement 9 inches, crossing obstacles with no penaly, toughness 4 with 2 wounds and 4+ save! Wow! This is a buff model. As long as you can live with a WS3 and I2 that is. J

Weaknesses - 50 points per model leaves you with no rank and you can get standards. This often leaves them to fight likewise enemy units, ie ones with no rank or little rank. I guess you could try taking an 800 point unit of 16 flamers. Heh. Never seen that done before. I would recommend not doing that. J

Uses - A common theme. Examine what the unit does well and what it does not do well. This unit is not going to "tank" a large RnF unit or very many elite units. They DO excel at flank maneuvers and should be used to get around your enemies flanks to kill skirmish units, missile troops, war machine crew and flank charges to negate rank bonus. In order to have them able to perform all these you need at least a unit of 6. It always sucks to work so hard to get on the flank and have 1 model die, now you cant negate rank with flank charge. L I would try to squeeze 7, but I often find I don’t have the points either. 6 works well if your careful in deployment and your first turn movement. Don’t forget to make your enemy to make those fear tests (as with all your units, fear can win you the game on those lucky days)

 

 

 

2000 Pt. Chaos - Daemons Army

Sample Tzeentch

Unit Name

##

Mv

Ws

Bs

St

To

Wo

In

At

Ld

Sv

Cost

Daemon Prince (Tzeentch)

1

6

7

7

6

5

4

8

5

10

4

350.0

Fly; Cause Terror; Daemonic Save; Mark of Tzeentch; May re-roll one dice roll that affects him, adjusting roll by +1/-1

  Demonic Reward

Daemonic Robes; All attacks by enemy are at -1S (includes spells and shooting); Flames of Tzeentch; Shoot flames using BS at first unit in path within 24" for D6 S5 hits

[65.0]

Pink Horrors

9

4

5

5

4

3

1

6

2

10

X

450.0

Cause Fear; When killed, split into 2 Blue Horrors (placed at back of unit); One level of magic per 5 models in unit (Pinks only); Standard Bearer; +1 Combat Result

  Battle Banner

Adds +D6 to the combat result of unit

[100.0]

  Blue Horrors

0

4

3

3

3

3

1

7

1

10

X

[0.0]

Cause Fear

Daemon Prince (Tzeentch)

1

6

7

7

6

5

4

8

5

10

4

410.0

Fly; Cause Terror; Daemonic Save; Mark of Tzeentch; May re-roll one dice roll that affects him, adjusting roll by +1/-1

  Demonic Reward

Flames of Tzeentch; Shoot flames using BS at first unit in path within 24" for D6 S5 hits; Master of Sorcery (x2); Gain 1 spell level for each increment purchased

[125.0]

Flamers

7

9

3

5

5

4

2

4

2

10

4

350.0

Cause Fear; Daemonic Save; Shoot flames with 6" range (no long range) for D6 S3 hits; In HtH, D3 wounds per wound; Cross obstacles without penalty

Harpies

11

4

4

-

4

4

2

2

1

6

X

165.0

Fly

Dragon Ogre

3

6

4

2

5

5

4

2

3/4

7

5/4

270.0

Cause Fear; Immune to Lightning; Lightning causes Frenzy if able to charge enemy next turn; Second Weapon; Light Armor

Total Army Cost: 1995.0 Pts.

Validation Results:
Roster satisfies all enforced validation rules

Troop Type

Count

Points

Unused

Percent

Warlord

N/A

760.0

1240.0

38%

Retinue

N/A

800.0

1200.0

40%

Allies (0% - 25%)

N/A

435.0

65.0

21%

Magic Item Summary

3

290.0

N/A

14%


Roster created with Army Builder - Copyright (c) 1998 by Lone Wolf Development, Inc.

 

Nurgle Daemons

Nurgle is a fun army. Nurgle is sort of the my comical daemon army. I like to use them to keep spirits light. Don’t get me wrong. They are not a weak army. They are just, for some odd reason, more fun to play if your in a goofy mood. Must be all that puss leaking out of their bodies and the maniacal grins with rotting flesh.

Great Unclean One - burp! Hehe. What a model. Large and grotesque! Gotta love it Beyond that I'm not a fan of this greater daemon for the same reason as the others. It's just too expensive. It is fun to field on occasion to confound your opponent. But I do get a little sick of showing up at a local gaming store and seeing every daemon army with a Greater Demon.

Strengths - Strength 7, Toughness 8, 10 wounds, 7 attacks!, ws 7! Shiver! Tough guy isnt he? Pile on top of that some great Rewards like Cloud of Flies, most opponents will need 5's even to hit this big beast. Don't forget to look at all those other rewards, like Daemonic Arrogance is great. Since your sooooo slow you will probably get charged by anything on foot or mount, its nice to have a leadership of 12. Har har! You will probably lose a combat by 1,2,3 points if against a large RnF battle banner carrying unit, but LD 12 makes you save on an 8 even if you lost by FOUR! Which I doubt would happen. With 7 attacks you will likely kill 4 of your enemy. Nurgle Spells always nice too!

Weaknesses - Slow and expensive. I like to call this guy chariot bait! evil grin!

Uses - Hrmmm. Many ways, but under strengths I listed a few. Demonic Robes are always nice, but I prefer the leadership 12. Heck, He's already a T7. Cloud of Flies for the points rock. Have this guy march right up with your plaguebearers and lay waste with stream of corruption. A wonderful ability on those low initiaive army. High I armies will make this a waste of points. By far, I prefer Cloud of Flies and Daemonic Arrogance. Put the spell casting into your troops and perhaps an ally. Spread the wealth around. If you make this your main wizard, people can beat you just by eliminating this one model.

Nurgle Daemon Princes - Oh what fun we can have! Take those nasty spells, or perhaps Ill go with stream of corruption and radiance of dark glory (land behind your enemy, make them take terror tests on their turn and you also can belch goop on them!). Fit these guys for a sneaky plan. Spell focused, HtH focused, Psychologically focused or a mix of 2.

Strengths - A demon prince is a demon prince right? Wrong! Each one has some neat abilities. Khorne I place as the hardest hitting, Tzeentch as the best shooting/utility, and Nurgle I place as one tough SOB. Nothing like a Toughness 6 Daemon Prince given the Robes to lower your opponents strength by one. (this usually makes the armor penetration one less also so you'll make more saves maybe). On top of that Cloud of Flies and you have something near impossible to hit! Sometimes its fun to take Cloud of flies and boost your WS to 9 (10 is worthless) with Battle Master. Anyone with a WS of 4 or less will need 6's to hit you. Guess What? That’s many a unit. Muuuahaha.

Weaknesses - As with all daemon princes, they really are quite fragile versus a tooled up character. Sword of Hero, Blade of Darting Steel+potion of Strength, Frostbrand+potion of strength, etc. Use your DP's wisely.

Uses - Compliment Compliment Compliment. As with other DP's don’t go solo crazy on some unit. Bid your time and hit in unison with other units. A group of plague bearers with the battle banner being a favorite. Or a large group of chaos hounds in the flank as you hit the front. The Nurgle Rewards are wonderful, use them. Decide on their purpose. HtH, give them cloud of flies and something else, Terror+spells is always fun. Try master of sorcery+dark radiance or Master of Sorcery+stream of corruption. Either one is jolly fun. Land to the side/rear (out of any charge arcs) and cause chaos on your enemy. A) they don’t march move, b) You cause terror tests, c) you have spells usually short ranged, d) that flame template can wipe out whole units if they are low initiative armies you fight.

PlagueBearers - A fun model to paint and a very effective fighter. I wish more people would play this army. In my neck of the woods, it seems I am the only one. Ah well.

Strengths - Str4, 2 attacks, WS5, I6, LD10, 4+ save, Fear, spell casters level 1-4, store a magic card turn to turn. Enemy is -1tohit (so usually they will need 5's, not many have WS 6), and their weapon autokills if you cause one wound that the enemy doesn’t save for!

Weaknesses - Silly Daemon T3. But you can get the war banner of nurgle and make one unit T4. At least until your opponent targets your 120point battle standard bearer (+ the cost of the banner, so he is 220 points!!!) and kills this 1 wound T4 model. Fooooget it.

Uses - A core block of damn good infantry who can cast spells and most opponents need 5's to hit in Hth. I would have to screen them with Dragon Ogres, Harpies, or Chaos Hounds. Try Putting 3 Dragons Ogres in front, thus blocking LOS to your plaguebearers and just march across the table. Seek out the enemy infantry and engage quickly.

PlagueBearer Riders - I personally haven't played them due to a lack of models that I could use. Many consider their movement to be slow, but d6+2" compulsory + 6" charge is pretty far. Your going to average 12-13 inches on a charge. At 105 points per model your paying a premium. I prefer BloodCrushers.

Strengths - All the same as plaguebearers plus one tough monster that cant be flank charged with their slime trail.

Weaknesses - 105 points per model is an awful lot. Your rider has the same problem as bloodcrushers with a toughness 3, you could be running around without many riders. L

Uses - Put them left or right center and get in HtH quickly! Give them the banner of might and put those d6+2 attacks per model to use! Granted the d6 are only at str 3 J

Nurglings - Never seen anyone who really wanted to field many of these. Maybe you could be the first.

Strengths - Fear and impossible to lap on. That’s about it

Weaknesses - strength 3, toughness 3, 30 points, leadership 7? Leave this unit at home.

Uses - None that I would want to use.

 

 

 

 

2000 Pt. Chaos - Daemons Army

Sample Nurgle Army

Unit Name

##

Mv

Ws

Bs

St

To

Wo

In

At

Ld

Sv

Cost

Daemon Prince (Nurgle)

1

6

7

7

6

5/6

4

8

5

10

4

375.0

Fly; Cause Terror; Daemonic Save; Mark of Nurgle

  Demonic Reward

Cloud of Flies; Enemy is -1 to-hit in HtH; Daemonic Arrogance; Immune to Panic; Break tests taken use Ld12

[60.0]

Daemon Prince (Nurgle)

1

6

7

7

6

5/6

4

8

5

10

4

455.0

Fly; Cause Terror; Daemonic Save; Mark of Nurgle

  Demonic Reward

Daemonic Robes; All attacks by enemy are at -1S (includes spells and shooting); Master of Sorcery (x2); Gain 1 spell level for each increment purchased

[140.0]

Plaguebearers

12

4

5

5

4

3

1

6

2

10

4

465.0

Cause Fear; Daemonic Save; Weapon auto-kills on a 4+ (excludes Undead & Daemons); Enemy are -1 to-hit vs. unit; One level of magic per 5 models in unit; Standard Bearer; +1 Combat Result

  Banner of Wrath

Bound spell for D6 lightning bolt with 24" range, requiring L.O.S.; Each bolt does 1 S4 hit (no armor save)

[75.0]

Plaguebearers

11

4

5

5

4

3

1

6

2

10

4/3

385.0

Cause Fear; Daemonic Save; Weapon auto-kills on a 4+ (excludes Undead & Daemons); Enemy are -1 to-hit vs. unit; One level of magic per 5 models in unit; Standard Bearer; +1 Combat Result

  Standard of Shielding

Unit receives +1 on all Saves, or a Save of 6+ if no armor to begin with

[25.0]

Chaos Champion (Nurgle) (cw)

1

4

7

7

5

4/5

1

7

3

9

X/5

134.0

Mark of Nurgle; Lance; +2S on cavalry charge; Light Armor; Chaos Steed

  Black Gem of Gnar

One use only; Usable against model in base contact; Both models frozen in time until a player rolls a 6 at the start of his turn

[25.0]

  Chaos Steed

1

8

4

-

4

4

1

4

1

5

X

[0.0]

Marauder Horsemen (cw)

4

4

4

3

4

3

1

4

2

7

5

184.0

Flail; +2S in first turn of any HtH combat; Light Armor; Warhorse

  Warhorse

4

8

3

-

3

3

1

3

1

5

X

[0.0]

  Leader

1

4

6

6

4

4

1

6

2

9

5

[52.0]

Flail; +2S in first turn of any HtH combat; Light Armor; Chaos Steed

    Chaos Steed

1

8

4

-

4

4

1

4

1

5

X

[0.0]

Total Army Cost: 1998.0 Pts.

Validation Results:
Roster satisfies all enforced validation rules

Troop Type

Count

Points

Unused

Percent

Warlord

N/A

830.0

1170.0

41%

Retinue

N/A

850.0

1150.0

42%

Allies (0% - 25%)

N/A

318.0

182.0

15%

Magic Item Summary

5

325.0

N/A

16%


Roster created with Army Builder - Copyright (c) 1998 by Lone Wolf Development, Inc.

 

Slaneesh Daemons - Slaneesh is one of my favorite armies. It has some of the better troops and by far the best flavor that fits my personality. (Khorne and Tzeentch tie for 2nd in my book) If you want fast troops, slaneesh reigns supreme. Add on top of that some unique rewards for the daemon princes and you have a great army core.

Slaneesh Keeper of Secrets - Sometimes not having a flier is an advantage. Me personally, I prefer to have a flier. The keeper of secrets and GUO are the only ground pounders. I follow with my same theme of leave these guys at home in anything but the big 3000+ point games.

Strengths - Surprisingly little give the cost. Compare a KoS to any 450point dragon and I would rather have a dragon. Strength and toughness 7 are nothing to laugh at. This is quite a formidable opponent. If you field him, make him durable. Daemonic arrogance and daemonic robes would work well together. An effective toughness 8 and leadership 12 are a great combination. J

Weaknesses - Compared to LoC and Bloodthirster, he doesn’t match up. He can't fly and he has one more wound than a LoC. That’s the difference. Not to mention the LoC has an initiative of 10 compared to the KoS 7.

Uses - I would use his terror and durability as with other greater daemons. On top of that I would coordinate a flank charge with a unit while the keeper hits the front. If you do this you will crush almost any unit. The downside to this is your daemon will be facing the wrath of any characters in the front. Not being able to fly makes it hard to use this guy in the flank. L

 

Slaneesh Daemon Princes - Ahh. Unbreakable. A lovely word. Of course you can be driven off which may become a problem. Here is where you need to make yourself a bit more useful.

Strengths - Same as all other daemon princes. Fly, terror, good stats. On top of that add aura of slaneesh (I wish this was the same as the chaos warrior reward) and you cant be broken [from your mark included] (but you can be driven off) and you have a versatile leader.

Weaknesses - As with all daemon princes, a tooled up character will slaughter a DP. And of course there is always the Black Gem of Gnar or other cheap tricks those other players like to use. Grin

Uses - I recommend giving the Aura of Slaneesh to one of your DP, along with something like DaemonBlade. Give the other DP Mastery of Sorcery and Dark Radience. Use the 2nd DP more as an auxiliary attacker. Of course you have to look out for missile fire. DPs can die quickly to missile fire. Daemon Robes don’t help against toughness 3 missile fire, as they will need a 6 to wound either way. So you need to decide who you usually face and what rewards to pick for your opponents style.

Daemonettes - I just love these chicks. J Although I prefer the mounted type and will reserve most of my praise to them.

Strengths - Strength 4, Fear, 3 attacks, 4+ save! Magic level +1 for each 5 models or fraction there of.

Weaknesses - Ick. Toughness 3, movement 4, and 35 points each. Enough said.

Uses - One big block is fun and gives you some good magical ability. If your lucky you will get the spells most useful to this slow moving unit. By all means find a way to screen this unit if you have something like harpies or chaos hounds. Even one round can save you many casualties. (as by end of turn 2 all those missile fire troops should be dead, have no LOS, fleeing, or engaged)

Daemonettes on Steeds - Here is true mobility. Not to mention a nice looking mount. I like to paint mine lich purple on top and tentacle pink on the bottom. Quite the pleasurable look!

Strengths - Speed! 24" movement/charge. And hitting pretty damn hard. This is the unit you want the champion in for that extra strength 5 and extra attack.

Weaknesses - Toughness 3 and cost. Standard Daemon weaknesses. See uses.

Uses - I like to take a unit of 6 + champion = 7 total. This gives me a little room for losing 1 or 2 and I also get to pick 2 spells to begin with. I usually add a musician and standard. The musician allows you to charge and your enemy may not stand and shoot. For the standard you have several options with the banner of might being my personal favorite. A total of (assume 5 frontage) 16 strength 4 attacks with +1tohit and 5 strength 5 attacks with +1tohit (your champion) for a total of 21 attacks!!!!! Most units you face you will need 2's to hit for the daemonettes and 3's for the steed's attacks. Your looking at 15-17 hits on an average day! That would mob up many a unit. Try real hard to coordinate your attack with harpies, daemon princes, or a Keeper and you should be able to crush most units easily.

Fiends of Slaneesh - A really damn good unit over looked. I usually don’t field them because I run out of points and want the spell casting + fighting ability of daemonettes, but in a larger game you would always see a unit or two of these in my armies.

Strengths - Minus 1 to hit this unit, fear, and 1 hit automatically wounds! Hey Mr. Treeman, can you say we have Rank and File, and we auto wound? Don’t discount this possibility.

Weaknesses - 30 points for a str3, toughness3, initiative 3, weapon skill 3, leadership 8? Nah. Daemonettes first, if spare points add these guys. No standard, musician or champion. L

Uses - Keep them home unless your playing 2500+ and/or you want a little variety. No way would I want them over daemonettes. Those extra 5 points give me a big advantage.

 

2000 Pt. Chaos - Daemons Army

Sample Slaneesh

Unit Name

##

Mv

Ws

Bs

St

To

Wo

In

At

Ld

Sv

Cost

Allure Of Love (Princ)

1

6

7

7

6

5

4

8

5

10

4

400.0

Fly; Cause Terror; Daemonic Save; Mark of Slaanesh; Immune to Psychology; Never Break in combat and do not flee if unit flees

  Demonic Reward

Aura of Slaanesh; Enemy models in base contact must roll Ld test to attack bearer (use Ld of each model); Daemonblade; No armor saves can be made by enemy in HtH

[90.0]

General (Princ)

1

6

7

7

6

5

4

8

5

10

4

460.0

Fly; Cause Terror; Daemonic Save; Mark of Slaanesh; Immune to Psychology; Never Break in combat and do not flee if unit flees

  Demonic Reward

Master of Sorcery (x2); Gain 1 spell level for each increment purchased; Radiance of Dark Glory; All enemy troops within 6" are -1Ld (excludes Undead & Daemons)

[150.0]

Daemonettes

11

4

6

5

4

3

1

6

3

10

4

445.0

Cause Fear; Daemonic Save; One level of magic per 5 models in unit; Standard Bearer; +1 Combat Result

  War Banner

Add +1 to combat result of carrying unit

[25.0]

Daemonettes

6

4

6

5

4

3

1

6

3

10

4/3

510.0

Cause Fear; Daemonic Save; One level of magic per 5 models in unit; Standard Bearer; +1 Combat Result; Musician; +1 Combat Result if tied; Siren Flute precludes enemy from Stand-and-Shoot vs. charge (excludes Undead & Daemons); Steeds of Slaanesh

  Banner of Might

Unit adds +1 to-hit in HtH combat

[50.0]

  Steed of Slaanesh

6

12

3

-

4

5

1

6

1

10

4

[90.0]

Cause Fear; If attack hits, resolve wounding as per rider delivering the blow; Daemonic Save

  Daemonette Champion

1

4

7

6

5

3

1

7

4

10

4/3

[90.0]

Steeds of Slaanesh

    Steed of Slaanesh

1

12

3

-

4

5

1

6

1

10

4

[15.0]

Cause Fear; If attack hits, resolve wounding as per rider delivering the blow; Daemonic Save

Harpies

12

4

4

-

4

4

2

2

1

6

X

180.0

Fly

Total Army Cost: 1995.0 Pts.

Validation Results:
Warlord 'General (Princ)' does not satisfy relationship with followers.

Troop Type

Count

Points

Unused

Percent

Warlord

N/A

860.0

1140.0

43%

Retinue

N/A

850.0

1150.0

42%

Allies (0% - 25%)

N/A

285.0

215.0

14%

Magic Item Summary

4

315.0

N/A

15%


Roster created with Army Builder - Copyright (c) 1998 by Lone Wolf Development, Inc.

 

 

 

Army Composition - Many people have opinions on what even the term army composition is. The definition used in this document is 'The use of characters, units, war machines and magic developed cohesively with a common goal, to defeat your enemy". If you remember the beginning of the document, I mentioned I try to plan an army around defeating certain categories of enemy. This section is devoted to what I would use to defeat certain enemy army compositions.

 

Missile Fire Composition - There are many wonderful armies in the warhammer world and missile heavy armies are one of them. I recently played a 2000 point game against a friend of mine who plays dark elves. In fact, he wrote the dark elf section on my website. In his army he fielded enough repeating crossbows and repeating bolt throwers to shoot about 100 shots a round! This is true massive missile fire composition. It is a little daunting to face an army with such an array of missile fire.

Screening Troops - When I fight against a missile fire composition army I go with lots of heavies. This means multiple wound high toughness troops. Bloodcrushers, while hard as nails, have a T3 rider with a 3+ save and usually don’t have more than 3 in total. So to compensate I usually pick allies with T4 and preferably multiple wounds. Look at harpies, chaos hounds, or beastmen and use them as screens. If he can't see your prized units he cant shoot them! If you want to give even more protection to a unit load up on magic. Standard of shield + an allied chaos champion with the ruby chalice. I also love to use dragon ogres as a screen. In the games I played I usually use a screen of harpies and dragon ogres for whichever daemon army I play.

Speed - No matter what army you face, mobility helps. If you can charge on turn two a missile laden army is going to fall quickly if you are designed for HtH. FleshHounds, Flamers of Tzeentch, and Daemonettes on Steeds being my favorites. I often field armies where my slowest moving unit is M6, with perhaps ONE M4 unit as a core infantry daemon unit.

Balanced Missile and Assault - Most players I play against prefer to play a balanced army, often composed of missile and assault (hand to hand) units. Empire, High Elves, Dwarfs, Dark Elves, etc can all do this and do it well. Now your presented with multiple threats and this is the army composition most of my enemies play.

Guess who? - This is the game I try to win. When I setup a game time to play a friend we rarely say what army we are playing, but you get to know how your friends like to play. You need to keep your common opponents guessing. I therefore mix up my armies (daemon and others, but lets stick to daemons for this article) as much as possible. How do you do this with daemons? Quite easily really. If I want to go heavy assault/magic with tons of speed I use slaneesh. If I want to go heavy missile fire, good magic, and pretty darn good HtH I go Tzeentch. If I want all out assault I got with Khorne. Nurgle I usually play in a mixed army of nurgle/tzeentch or nurgle/slaneesh. The point is do not show a pattern of your army composition. Most Balanced Missile and Assault foes will tend to have the same equality on missile and assault. Ys, they may pick different units, or different magic items, or different characters but if you look at the percentage break down of your foes armies, they usually go with a 50/50 or 30/70 missile/assault composition (any NN/MM where NN+MM = 100). Why do people do this? I'm not sure but I know I try to avoid this exact pitfall.

Speed - In every Speed counts. See speed above, but it needs to be focused differently here. You will need to out flank your opponent. With most mixed armies there will be 1 or more large hard core assault units that you need to deal with. Use the common tactics I presented under Daemon Princes. Compliment the daemon princes with frontal and flank assaults with your speed daemons (no pun intended, hehe).

Fight Fire with Fire - In the Guess Who section I mentioned several types of army compostions. Fight fire with fire focuses in on Tzeentch. Load both Daemon Princes with Flames of Tzeentch and grab two units of flamers. Get in and start shooting. If you can eliminate your opponents missile ability with harpies, terror, or your shooting ability (quickly if shooting) or magic you now have the upper hand and can widdle down your opponents large core troops for that final assault. I love to play Tzeentch versus Wood Elves. Wood elves cant compete in the shooting phase with Tzeentch unless real lucky. 2d6 Str5 hits from your Daemon princes will wipe out a unit a turn (for fighting ability at least). Your Flamers of Tzeentch move so fast they have an effective shooting range of 15 (9" regular move + 6" shooting) with only -1 to hit, or an effective BS of 4 since there is no minus for long range from flamers of tzeentch. This same concept works well versus high elves and dark elves.

Who Cares? - Sometimes the best approach to designing and fielding your army is to ignore what your enemy fields and field something you consider to win no matter what. An army that is super mobile and can have your entire army charging on turn 2 doesn’t much care what your opponent fields. The exception to this is when your enemy fields an all assault army also. Watch out J

 

 

 

Swarms - Facing a large Skaven or Orc and Goblin army can present some daunting challenges for a small elite daemon army. There are several methods I use when fighting against swarms.

Psychological - Bring out the Dark Aura and cause some -1LD tests. Fly around his entire army and cause test after test after test. Also try to attack units that will cause other units to test for panic, unless they just look to buff or well protected by flanking units.

Roll the Flank - If you concentrate the energy of almost all of your army into a small portion of the enemies army you are doing two things. You will most certainly win combats, and 2 you are at one far end of the table leaving many of the swarm units far far away from seeing any combat soon. If your lucky you will see the domino affect on panic tests. So hit the flanks hard with speed and power.

Kill the General - Often a swarm army live and dies with its leader. Most generals will protect their leader with many forms of magic items. If you know this to be the case, don't try it. But if presented with a weakness, take a risk and try to kill the general.

 
   

 

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