The ATC has come and gone and now the next big 40k event is rapidly approaching. I plan to bring a different list to NOVA come see the new Khorne Daemonkin!
Why the change, you ask? Let’s compare:
At ATC:
| HQ | |||||
| Bloodthirster of Insensate Rage, Warlord | |||||
| Bloodthirster of Insensate Rage | |||||
| Troops | |||||
| 9 Bloodletters | |||||
| 8 Cultists | |||||
| Fast Attack | |||||
| 5 Flesh Hounds | |||||
| 5 Flesh Hounds | |||||
| 5 Flesh Hounds | |||||
| Gorepack | |||||
| 5 Flesh Hounds | |||||
| 5 Flesh Hounds | |||||
| 5 Flesh Hounds | |||||
| 5 Flesh Hounds | |||||
| 3 Chaos Bikes, Melta bombs | |||||
| 3 Chaos Bikes, Melta bombs | |||||
| Lord of War | |||||
| Chaos Knight Paladin of Khorne, Dirge Caster | |||||
This list packed a punch. The Knight and the D-Thirsters are great, but taking them together made me lose the level of MSU support that really makes the KDK heavy hitters shine. I have played 18 games with this list now, and it is certainly capable of doing really well, but I think that for the NOVA open I need something different:
For NOVA:
| HQ | ||||||
| Bloodthirster of Insensate Rage, Warlord | 275 | |||||
| Bloodthirster of Insensate Rage | 275 | |||||
| Troops | ||||||
| 8 Bloodletters | 80 | |||||
| 8 Bloodletters | 80 | |||||
| Fast Attack | ||||||
| 5 Flesh Hounds | 80 | |||||
| 6 Flesh Hounds | 96 | |||||
| Gorepack | ||||||
| 5 Flesh Hounds | 80 | |||||
| 5 Flesh Hounds | 80 | |||||
| 5 Flesh Hounds | 80 | |||||
| 5 Flesh Hounds | 80 | |||||
| 3 Chaos Bikes, Melta bombs | 81 | |||||
| 3 Chaos Bikes, Melta bombs | 81 | |||||
| Gorepack | ||||||
| 5 Flesh Hounds | 80 | |||||
| 5 Flesh Hounds | 80 | |||||
| 5 Flesh Hounds | 80 | |||||
| 5 Flesh Hounds | 80 | |||||
| 3 Chaos Bikes, Melta bombs | 81 | |||||
| 3 Chaos Bikes, Melta bombs | 81 | |||||
This is back to the list I ran at Adepticon, straight MSU KDK plus Double D-Thirster. I really like how the mass hounds support the thirsters, and I did not like how the things that counter the thirsters, such as mass grav, also countered the knight. Here, with 51 hounds it is very easy to protect the thirsters from what can kill them, and get them in to do the heavy lifting against what the hounds can’t kill. NOVA is also a unique format where mass MSU hounds can be very good at winning progressive objectives, while still having the offense to engage other MSU builds, such as a battle company.
That being said, with the NOVA FAQ Deathstars will be as powerful as THEY HAVE EVER BEEN, and I expect them to be everywhere. This makes MSU even more important. A full powered deathstar will be all but impossible to kill. The only option is to play around it. My two losses last year were to a deathstar and a battle company, and this list is far superior to the list I ran at NOVA last year and I have way more experience now. That being said, I still need to bring my A game and be ready to play against some of the best players in the country. We will see how I do.
Regardless of how I end up this year, I am excited to represent PURE KDK at a national tournament and show everyone what they can do!
About the Author: Horton Doughton
