Leaks are sprouting up all over the place and this is the latest most comprehensive rumor set collected out there for 40k Daemons.
Overall I am still a huge fan, I still think this book is going to be a very well balanced tome just like the previous two 40k codices like I was saying yesterday (and it looks like the author below agrees as well).
I think the “nerf” to Bloodcrushers is okay for faster movement and more wounds, and the Plaguebears at T4 while disappointing, can still be boosted and smart players can still make them work for objective grabs I think.
I also like the semi mischievous feel to the gifts and warpstorm now, because it seems like there will be a ton of models moving around so fast, there has to be a drawback, or perhaps bonus to help them along. Chaos is fickle after all….
I think this book has the potential to be, or is trying to force Daemons to become a horde type list (IMHO), which also sells dem models. But just like Chaos Space Marines, and Dark Angels GW seems to be doing us a solid and making elite type army build still viable in each book as well (i.e. Abaddonwing, or Deathwing / ravening, or Triraiders). What are your thoughts on the book from what you’ve heard? -MBG
Collected from Imperator Guides, and BoLS:
Howdy all, Learn2Eel here with a first look at the new leaked Daemons rules! I am really excited to discuss these, as it is clearly obvious Chaos Daemons are a much different army – and one that I feel is much more powerful and balanced, too. Now, as the rumours I’ve found are congested into a massive pile, I have decided to break each unit or section down and analyse them individually with regards to the old codex and what this could mean in the meta. Thanks all, I hope you enjoy!
This compilation comes by way of Bell of Lost Souls courtesy of Hero. Enjoy!
Daemonic Gifts
First up, we’ve got the Lesser Gifts for you. These are the basic upgrades that are applied to a Daemon character – from Heralds to Daemon Princes and Greater Daemons – and are taken at 10 points per model. The way the Daemonic Gifts system work is that instead of picking your wargear as per any other army, you must pay for gifts of varying tiers and roll on a corresponding chart to see what you get. This means that you can never be sure what equipment or abilities your characters will have; this is quite random, and can be very difficult to swallow for competitive play, but they are nonetheless very cheap benefits that you won’t find anywhere else at such a low cost. The ‘0’ result on each Daemonic Gifts chart is what you can switch your roll out for – much like a Primaris psychic power. This means that if you get something you don’t like, you can switch it out for a free, and powerful, upgrade – often, taking the ‘0’ option will be most advantageous as it can give your characters some very powerful weapons that would never feature in other codices for such a low cost.
Coming from 4chan as I get it… Nothing more at this time.
All deamons still got a 5+ invul, this counts also for every vehicle.
Lesser Gifts:1: burning blood. each time you take a unsaved wound the enemy that caused the wound suffers d3 s 4 hits with ds 5. no cover saves allowed. those wounds count towards the combat result
2: cleaving strike: each hit on a 6 causes the daemon to strike with double strength (max 10)
3: corrosive breath : flame : s 5 ap 5 assault 1 armorbane
4: spellbreaker: the daemon got the rule adamantium will
5: warpbreath: 18″ s 8 ap 4 assault 1 soulblaze
6: warpstalker : the daemon and his unit get +1 on reserve rolls..
you may also decide to change your roll for the
0: magical weapon. the daemon gains a aetherblade (s user ap 2, mastercrafted specialist weapon).
daemons of khorne may take a bloodaxe ( s user ap 2 instand death on 6’s specialist weapon),
daemons of tzeentch a stave of change (s+2 ap 4, concussive, specialist weapon. warpcurse: a model slain by the user of this weapon explodes and hits every unit within 6″ inculding the user of the stave for d6 s 5 ap – hits) ,
daemons of nurgle a mace of pestilence (s+1 ap – specialist weapon, disease: for each unsaved wound the model has to make a toughness check or suffer another wound without armor/coversaves)
daemons of slaanesh a ghostreaver sword. ( s user ap 5 rending, specialist weapon, ghostreaver: same as the nurgle one but initiative test)
For 10 points, these are all quite good to have. Burning Blood is ok, whilst Cleaving Strike is unreliable but surely useful for vehicle hunting and instant death. Corrosive Breath is nasty, giving the character a template weapon that on averages rolls a 13 for armour penetration, and can penetrate an AV14 vehicle on a 10+! Adamantium Will is useful, particularly for Khorne Daemons, whilst Warpbreath is ok. Warpstalker can be very useful to get a particular unit out early on. Overall, they are quite decent for their cost. The real treats are found in the weapons; the generic one is an AP2 at Initiative master-crafted weapon that would probably cost upwards of 25 points in other codices! The Bloodaxe is also good, particularly on a Herald of Khorne, whilst the Stave of Change is a funny – if risky – weapon to use, though it is cheese on a Lord of Change. The Mace of Pestilence is much like a very cheap, weaker version of the useful Black Mace, whilst the Ghostreaver Sword can be nasty in the right hands. They are very good and, for 10 points, it seems like we can’t go wrong. So basically, for a mere 10 points, we can give our already exceedingly cheap Heralds an AP2 at Initiative weapon that, combined with their already brilliant close combat abilities, makes them into nasty character killers that can go toe to toe with Terminator-armoured Captains and the like, all for much less!
Now for the Greater Gifts, these function just like Lesser Gifts, though they are a lot more beneficial in terms of the random powers and are 20 points each.
Greater Gifts:
1: corpulence : the daemon got +1 toughness and the special rule it will not die
2. daemonic toughness the daemon got the special rule feel no pain (4+)
3. dark blessing: the daemon may reroll failed invul saves
4 hellfiregaze : 18″ s 8 ap 1 assault 1 lance
5 touch of decay the close combat attacks of the daemon got armorbane and lifebane
6 unbreakable skin, the daemon gets a 3+ armor save.
and the 0 if you decide for it:
mighty magical weapon:
you gain a mighty aetherblade (s +1 ap 2 mastercrafted, specialist weapon
daemons of khorne may take a bloodblade: (s user ap 2, specialist weapon, unwieldly, bloodthirst: the wielder gains the special rule rampage
daemons of tzeentch may take the mutating warpblade (s user ap 3, specialist weapon, warpmutation: a character slain with with weapon becomes a chaos spawn on a 2+
daemons of nurgle may take pestielnce sword (s user ap – poison 4+ instand death. specialist weapon, rustbreath: every armor pen throw of 6 is automatically a glancing hit if it wouldnt be a penetrate allready)
daemons of slaanesh may take whip of despair ( 12″ s user ap – assault 2w6)
As you can see, these gifts are much more powerful – at least as far as the random rules go. Corpulence can make the Daemon incredibly tough to kill and, if used on certain daemons, make them immune to instant death by conventional means as well – a Daemon Prince, for example, would become Toughness 6 with this! Daemonic Toughness is very strong too, as Feel No Pain (4+) means you will ignore any non-instant death wound an incredible 50% of the time! Dark Blessing is perhaps even more disgusting, as re-rolling failed invulnerable saves can make a huge difference between life or banishment for the daemon. Hellfire Gaze is a very nasty anti-tank weapon that is dirt cheap and can reliably destroy a Land Raider, whilst Touch of Decay can turn a Greater Daemon into a devastating mould of death – Armourbane meaning Smash is unnecessary for the most part, and Fleshbane making other monstrous creatures weep. Unbreakable Skin is obviously very useful for daemons that are worried about small arms fire, particularly Lords of Change and Heralds. Overall, these are some incredibly powerful gifts and all of them will give you a good reason not to switch them out. As for the weapons; the Mighty Aetherblade is even deadlier, whilst the Bloodblade is likely of reduced usefulness compared to a Bloodaxe due to Unwieldy. Mutating Warpblade is extremely nasty, especially as Chaos Spawn are now quite decent – this can be used to hold up enemy units as you break from combat, denying the enemy their needed shots! The Pestilence Sword is quite good, with Poisoned attacks and Instant Death – provided it is used on a model with a decent number of attacks, it will be a big threat to any monstrous creature or character. The Whip of Despair is interesting, though I feel it isn’t as good as the others. In short, if you want a good weapon for your Herald, I would just pay 10 points for the Lesser Gift instead – otherwise, this chart provides so much more bang for your buck.
Lastly, let’s look at the Exalted Gifts; again, these function exactly the same as the other Daemonic Gifts, save that they are 30 points each.
Exalted Gifts:
1: blessed twice: roll twice again on this chart. reroll another 1. xou apply both results without further costs
2: riftbringer: at the end of close combat phase in wich the daemon caused at least 1 unsaved wound you roll 2w6 and add 1 for each 3 unasved wounds the daemon caused. is the sum is 9 or higher a new unit of daemons will be created like the warpstorm table result number 12
3: souleater: at the end of the close combat phase, if the daemon caused at least one unsaved wound you roll a d6. on a 2+ the daemon gains another lifepoint (and may go up to 10 lifepoints)
4: unholy rage : the daemon gains the special rules rampage and rage
5: warpflame. the first time this daemon is slain dont remove him from the game but take him from the table instead. the daemon may come back from reserve with 1 wound remaining.
6: winds of chaos : 24″ s 2w6 ap 4 assault 1 3″ explosiv. fluktuation : roll the strenght after caling the target, if its 11 or 12 its counting as s10 but is a 5″ blast instead of 3″
and the 0 again:
the daemon may take a hellforged artifact of his choise from the armory.. note that these are uniqe and only once taken:
eternal blade: s +1 ap – specialist weapon, honorseeker: at the beginning of the assault phase in wich the wielder is bound to roll a d3. the result will be granted to the wielders WS, initiative and attacks.
grimoire of true names: you may use it at any time in your movement phase. the target hast to be within 24″ and at least one model with the special rule daemon has to be within the unit.
is the unit a enemy it has -1 on reserve rolls. is the unit a friendly unit roll a d6. on a 1-2 the all models in the unit (except the user) with the special rule daemon suffer -1 on the reserve rolls. if you roll a 3+ all models with the rule daemon have +2 on their invulnerable saves until your next turn.
portalglyph: may be used once per game. you may place it in the movement phase (does not matter when) place a 3″ blast within 12″ around the user. and let it scatter 4d6. if the marker goes off the board or cannot be placed it will move the distance so it can be placed (droppod) after that its a vehicle with the following profile : bs 0 12/12/12 hp 1
after placing the portalglyph you roll a d6 at the end of your movement phase. on a 4+ a new unit of d6 daemons (of your choisem horrors, daemonettes, plaguebearers or bloodletters) the unit got no upgrades but counts as a normal unit of its type.
the stone of the damned: at the beginning of the assault phase. every enemy character models that are not daemons have to make a ld test. if it passes, nothing happens. if it loses. the model has -d6 on his ld value. if a model goes below 0 this way. it gets removed instantly without saves allowed.
Sadly, I think the gifts on this chart are weaker than the Greater Gifts. Blessed Twice is obviously the best one, giving you essentially two Greater Gifts for the price of one. Riftbringer is good, albeit unlikely to go off – unless your character kills a lot of models in a combat, which will usually only be possible on a greater daemon, your average roll will be 7 or 8 – 2 or 1 short of the 9 required to spawn a unit. However, it should happen once out of every three times the character kills a model, meaning that it most likely will net you a free 10-strong (on average) unit of Lesser Daemons! Souleater will be very nasty on certain characters, but not ones with few wounds that are prone to instant death from double strength I believe – laugh maniacally if a Great Unclean One gets it! Unholy Rage is ok, but not worth the investment – especially if you are a Herald of Khorne or Slaanesh that can get similar abilities and grant them to a unit for cheaper. Warpflame is decent, and can be a funny way to deny Slay the Warlord to an opponent, but is otherwise outshone. Winds of Chaos is a decent shooting attack, but it isn’t worth the points you pay for it. As for the ‘Primaris’ gear, the Eternal Blade is pretty good, though the 10 point Aetherblade may still be the best option as this one isn’t AP2. Still, adding D3 to a models’ Weapon Skill, Initiative and Attacks values can be extremely nasty – particularly on a Daemon Prince or Greater Daemon! Whilst a Bloodthirster or Keeper of Secrets doesn’t really need it, a Lord of Change or Great Unclean One could benefit immensely from them. The Grimoire of True Names is a strange item, but one that can two out of three times will provide a very large defensive buff to any one unit within 24″ – casting it on a tough unit such as Plaguebearers in cover that have Feel No Pain from a Herald would be nearly impossible to shift. The Portalglyph is very interesting, given that it spawns free Daemon units half the time – however, it can easily be destroyed and thus must be used carefully. The Stone of the Damned is nastier than it seems – provided you use it multiple times. A Leadership 10 model should fail such a test once out of three or four attempts, ergo, meaning two game turns should be enough. Use it on low Leadership enemies, and it can potentially kill them – however, I think it is a bit too unreliable. Overall, the Exalted Gifts pale in comparison to the Greater Gifts – I think you would be better off getting a random roll from the Greater Gifts and taking a weapon from the Lesser Gifts.
Psychic Powers
Much like Chaos Space Marines, Chaos Daemons have their own psychic disciplines, with access to a smattering of rulebook disciplines based on what god the daemon embodies. Whilst I think these are generally superior to the Chaos Space Marine psychic powers, they are nonetheless quite random and potentially outshone by their available counter-parts from the rulebook. Enjoy!
Psychic Powers
Tzeentch: primaris: 24″ s 5 ap 4 assault 2d6, warpflames, soulfire. 1 warpcharge.
for each additional warpcharge you gain a additional d6
1-2: 24″ S d6 +1 assault 1 3″ explosive, warpflames
3-4: 24″ beam s d6+4 ap 2 assault 1 warpflames
5-6: witchfire: 18″ s d6+4 ap 1 assault 1 explosive 3″ warpflames.
The Primaris is much like Warpfire from the previous codex, just better (though with the added restrictions and disadvantages of psychic powers and Deny the Witch). This is also the basic power for Pink Horrors, and one that is quite nasty when used at higher mastery levels. Our daemonic psykers can become Level 3 (with the exception of Fateweaver) and thus this would mean you can potentially have an assault 4D6 S5 Ap4 weapon with Soul Blaze at 24″! Nasty! That’s an average of about 14 shots or so, which can feasibly kill off quite a few units. It is kind of irritating that it can’t be used in Overwatch, and the random number of shots factored with Deny the Witch, passing a psychic test and rolling to hit can make for a lot of work to get it off. Still, paired with Prescience and Perfect Timing, it can be absolutely brutal. The 1-2 power is ok. The 3-4 power is unreliable but can be a decent way of blowing up a tank, as with the 5-6 power. In fact, the 5-6 power can be a very good tool against Terminators and the like – a minimum Strength of 5 and AP1 on a small blast is quite nasty. Of course, we have to get to the mediocre Warpflames rule – essentially, any unit that suffers casualties/unsaved wounds from a weapon/power with the special rule has to pass a Toughness test or suffer a few extra hits, and if they pass, they get 6+ Feel No Pain. Given that even Toughness 3 enemies have a 50% chance of passing this test, this will usually harm your efforts more often than not. Overall, the Tzeentch psychic powers are ok, but nothing special.
Nurgle:
primaris: witchfire : flame s – ap 3 assault 1 poison 4+
1-2 : witchfire, 12″ s 1 ap 2 assault 1 5″ blast 4+ poison.
3-4 : blessing, the psyker gains at the beginning of each assault phase a d3. all enemys in base contact have the score reduced on their WS and initiative
5-6 : nova: every enemy within 12″ has to do a toughness test or suffer a wound without armor or coversaves allowed. if the unit loses a model it has to do another toughness check and so on and so on.
Now we are talking. A Primaris power that is a Poisoned AP3 template? Hell yes! I also find it quite humorous that the 1-2 power here is an even deadlier version of the 5-6 Warp Charge 2 power for Nurgle Chaos Space Marines! The blessing is quite nice, especially as even though it affects enemy units they cannot Deny the Witch against it. Reducing their Weapon Skill and Initiative can make a huge difference, especially when trying to win combat with Plaguebearers and the like. The 5-6 power is ok, but should only be used in a congested area with lots of enemy units – fewer, bigger units will suffer little damage from this. Surprisingly, the Nurgle witchfire powers are exceptional and the blessing is quite good too – these are great psychic powers!
Slaanesh
primaris : beam ; 24″ s 6 ap – rending assault 1
1-2 : malediction, a enemy within 18″ has -5 initiative and can not use the special rule counter attack nor can it overwatch
3-4 : 24″ focused witchfire. enemy has to do a leaderchip tests or takes a wound without armor or coversaves allowed. if the model dies you nominate another random model in the unit. and so on and so on….
5-6 : nova : 12″ every enemy has to roll 2w6 on and take the ld of the result. for every point remaining on this roll the unit suffers a wound without armor or cover saves allowed. after that the units have to do a pinning test-
The Primaris power isn’t bad at all, a S6 Rending beam can do quite a bit of damage with some luck, though it isn’t great. The 1-2 power is incredibly good, especially when used against enemy units that will traditionally do a lot of damage to your fragile Daemons from Overwatch and Counter Attack. This works a treat with your lower Initiative units as well, meaning Bloodletters and the like will all be able to wreak havoc before enemies can even touch them! The 3-4 power is ok, and a decent if unreliable way of sniping out sergeants and special weapon holders. However, the universally high Leadership of most armies in the meta means this isn’t too useful. The 5-6 power is much better though, as it affects every unit in range and when used in a congested area against Leadership 7-8 armies, such as Chaos Space Marines or Dark Eldar, can cause a lot of casualties. These are good powers.
I think the Nurgle Lore is the best, with Slaanesh a close second and Tzeentch comfortably last. Is that to say the Tzeentch powers are bad though? Not really; the Nurgle and Slaanesh lores are more versatile, and some of their powers are even more likely to do a lot of damage through witchfire than the damage-focused Tzeentch lore. However, one thing that needs to be discussed is the switching out of powers – essentially identical to Chaos Space Marines, we must take one power from our god, and can then choose powers from the rulebook disciplines. Tzeentch Daemons have access to Divination, which makes up for their otherwise mediocre base lore – Divination is incredible, especially when used on cheap Tzeentch psychic Heralds that can buff friendly units, including Chaos Space Marines, like crazy. Divination is amazing, and completely makes up for the Tzeentch lore. Nurgle Daemons can take Biomancy, which is another powerful lore that can make their units even tougher! The look on an opponent’s face when they realize they have to try and kill a S9 T10 W6 Great Unclean One with Eternal Warrior is simply priceless. Slaanesh Daemons come with Telepathy, which is a good albeit less fruitful discipline overall – though paired with their now high Ballistic Skill, it can give them a very cheap and powerful Primaris power which meshes with their Slaanesh powers – Psychic Shriek. Invisibility and Hallucination are great powers that any Slaanesh Daemon would be foolish not to try and claim. Overall, I think our psychic powers are decent to good depending on the god, though the real treats come with switching the Tzeentch powers out for Divination – the applications of these are simply astonishing. Want to give Havocs re-rolls to hit? Want to give a Soul Grinder a 4+ invulnerable save? Do you want to see a Lord of Change re-rolling all of its failed to hit, to wound and saving rolls? I think that though psychic powers do make their abilities more random and counter-able, they are a sight more powerful and have a lot more applications beyond merely trying to destroy enemy units.
As a note, as it is too small a section to do on its own, let us look at Banners;
Banners
horrors can for additional 20 points get the banner of curse… wich once per game causes a additional 2d6 s 4 ds – hits to any unit hit.
nurgle banner is :once per game all models in the unit have poisoned weapons 2+
slanesh: every enemy in base contact with the banner has -3 ws
“banner of blood. ( the unit may once per game assault 6″+d6 instead of 2d6.”
The Banner for Horrors is ok, especially to maximise the damage to an enemy unit – its best application is for scoring First Blood or wiping a unit off of an objective.
The Nurgle Banner is nasty, especially if you really need something dead – when combined with Plague Drones that have the Instant Death upgrade, this could lead to one very dead monstrous creature!
The Slaanesh Banner appears to not be a one use only item, and provides a very strong buff – my best guess is that “once per game” was left out by accident. -3 WS can make a huge difference, though Daemonettes already have a very high base Weapon Skill.
The Khorne Banner would be incredibly useful, particularly for a unit like Bloodcrushers that is capable of a first turn or second turn charge, just to make sure they can reduce the number of shots coming at them by getting into combat quicker. This would also potentially reduce the impact of Overwatch.
Overall though, for 20 points, they are ok, but perhaps those points are better spent elsewhere.
Khorne Daemons
This may shock you a wee bit, as the new-look Khorne Daemons are quite different to the old ones. The hallmarks include much cheaper units, weaker Bloodletters, much improved Greater Daemons and the impetus that Khorne’s ‘martial prowess’ carries on to ranged weapons as well. Khorne Daemons have Furious Charge, as they always did, so no change there though. Enjoy!
First off, we will start with Skarbrand, the named Bloodthirster character.
Skarbrand
ws 10 bs 10 s 6 t 6 w 5 i 10 a 6 ld 9 sv 3+
every unit (friend and foe) within 12″ have rage and hatred (everything!)
got a s 5 ap – flamer…
his weapons
murder : s user ap 2 lifebane
deathstrike s user ap 2 armorbane
225 points. his warlord trait is the all attacks cause instant death.
I’m not sure they made him dirty enough. Provided your opponent isn’t someone like Draigo or an Iron Arm Swarmlord, you will kill pretty much any enemy character in the game with no difficulty. Seriously. This guy is insane; WS10 means at worst he hits on 4s but almost everything in the game is a much lower WS than him, meaning most units will also be hitting him on 5s. Whilst his Strength has been reduced (a feature of Bloodthirsters; they are now S6 which isn’t all that bad), he has an extra wound, and his Initiative is jaw-dropping. Striking before anything else in the game that isn’t a Keeper of Secrets or Howling Banshee, Skarbrand can kill anything before it even gets to attack – particularly because, get this, all of his attacks inflict instant death. I kid you not. But what makes these varying rules so brutal, you might ask? His weapons combine to give him a total of seven attacks, whilst his axes have Fleshbane and Armourbane, meaning he wounds anything in the game on a 2+ and can destroy vehicles without Smashing! Put it this way; against an even more expensive Mephiston, Skarbrand (assuming no charges) will strike first with seven attacks, hitting on 3s, wounding on 2s, and instant killing Mephiston without any saves allowed. Ridiculous. The Swarmlord, the premier character killer in the game when loaded with Iron Army and Warp Speed? Unless it rolls Iron Arm, it will literally die before it can even attack! Only Draigo and other high invulnerable save Eternal Warrior characters can hope to stand against Skarbrand, and even then, they stand the risk of failing. That he grants Rage and Hatred (Everything) to friendly and enemy units within 12″ will more often than not be a big bonus for your units over an enemies, particularly given most enemy units will want to stay out of charge range of your Bloodletters and the like, who become irrationally good killers when paired with those benefits. For 225 points, Skarbrand is insanely powerful – just remember he can’t fly, and that any sane opponent will be gunning for him!
Bloodthirster
250pts
ws 10 bs 10 s 6 t 6 w 5 i 9 a 6 ld 9 Sv 3+
axe of khorne (instantdeath on 6s)
whip of khorne ( 12″ s 6 ds 2 assault 1)
may take up to 50 points in daemonic gifts.
Now you might be thinking, huh, that’s been nerfed, and at the same price too? Not really. Bloodthirsters are appropriately priced once you realize they have become flying monstrous creatures through the edition change, making them far more likely to reach an assault. They also have access to a lot more, cheaper and better upgrades than before – 20 points to give it a Greater Gift that is virtually guaranteed to make it obscenely hard to kill. Not to mention, BS10 means their decent shooting attack is virtually guaranteed to hit. That, and an extra wound, an insane Initiative of 9 and an extra attack over their old incarnation makes them appropriately destructive killing machines. Paired with the very nice Daemon Warlord chart, Bloodthirsters look to be back in vogue! And the Axe of Khorne…nice!
Skulltaker
100pts
ws 9 bs 9 s 5 t 4 w 2 i 9 a 4 ld 8 sv3+
always has to accsept and issue challenges.
got eternal warrior and his sword is
s user ap 3 soulblaze and kills on 6’s
comes with the adamant will presence.
may take a jugger for 45 points
Hmm. He’s gotten a lot cheaper, but he is also a lot less killy in terms of the whole ‘Instant Death at AP2 on a 4+!’ thing. However, he now has an insanely high Initiative, is the only in codex Eternal Warrior, and has WS9 to boot, meaning a lot of enemies will hit him on 5s. Adamantium Will makes him less likely to succumb to psychic powers, and his sword is still quite useful. I think he is ultimately ok. Putting him on a Juggernaught would be very fun. I think basic Heralds will be more common though.
Karanak
120pts
ws 7 bs 0 s 5 t 5 w 3 i 6 a 4 ld 6 sv 6+
before placing the armys on the board nominate his prey(character). as long as this model is alive karanak rerolls all to hit and to wound rolls against the prey and its unit
got the rage presence from the start.
Wow, Karanak is a lot different to the unit upgrade character from before! Now essentially a tricked out Herald that from the sounds of it can join units other than just Flesh Hounds, Karanak looks to be a useful character hunter that is quite hardy. Having the Rage Locus is great, meaning you could shove him into Bloodcrushers and the like and give them absurd amounts of attacks – though this is likely best used on Flesh Hounds who need the extra attacks to make up for the lack of power weapons. Not bad at all.
Flesh Hounds
16pts
ws 5 bs 0 s 4 t 4 w 2 i 4 a 2 ld 7 sv 6+/5++
scouts
collar of khorne: +2 on deny the witch rolls.
Talk about being a lot better! For only a point more than before, they now have an extra wound and that all important WS5 that makes them useful against elite characters and enemy infantry. Paired with Furious Charge and Karanak, Flesh Hounds look to put out absurd amounts of high Weapon Skill, high Strength attacks that can take a lot more punishment than before. Scouts is a great rule to have for sure. Much better!
Khorne Herald
55pts
ws 7 bs 7 s 5 t 4 w 2 i 6 a 3 ld 6 sv 6+
30 points into gifts
lesser presence of stubborness (may misstranlate here): 10 points the model and his unit have adamantium will
presence of rage : 20 points the model and his unit gain rage
presence of wrath: 25 points the model and his unit got hatred (everything!)
may take a juggernaught 45 points or a
Juggernaut ; +1 t +1 w + 1 a and becomes cavalry.
bloodthrone for 75 points
A stat-line that would make Space Marine Captains and the like jealous, all at a ridiculously low price, Khorne Heralds have some great abilities – particularly centred around the ‘loci’ that allow them to buff friendly units, such as Bloodletters, immensely. For those who don’t know, a Locus is an upgrade for a Herald that grants both it and any unit of the same god it joins a particular benefit. This is lost if the Herald dies. The Herald of Khorne has some brutal wargear options – the best of which is probably the cheap 10 point Lesser Gift Axe of Khorne, though the Greater Rewards can give the Herald some irrational buffs that make it much hardier. The first Locus is decent, though only really handy against psychic-heavy opponents such as Tyranids and Grey Knights. The second Locus is a decent way of giving an absurd number of extra attacks to a unit that traditionally hits hard – Bloodletters with 3 attacks each on the charge will butcher almost anything. The third Locus is also very good, though you need to weigh up that the extra attacks will probably be more useful in that first round anyway – plus, Khorne Daemons have naturally high WS anyway. The Juggernaught and Blood Throne are both good options.
Bloodthrone
bs 0 12/12/10 3 hullpoints.
if the bloodthrone causes at least one hammer of wrath wound he regains a hullpoint on a 4+
a herald on a bloodthrone brings his presence to every khorne unit within 6″ instead of only the unit he is in.
open topped transport but can only carry the herald
Yowza! That is one very durable chariot that can regain hull points no less! A decent addition for a Khorne Herald to get them where they need to be. Not to mention that an increased Locus range can be very useful, but you will need to be smart with your deployment and movement to use it well.
Bloodcrushers
ws 5 bs 5 s 5 t 4 w 3 i 4 a 3 ld 7 sv 6+
hellblades. and they cost 5 points more then currently.
cavalry
one may become a bloodhunter for 5 points gaining 1 attack and can take up to 20 points in gifts.
may take instrument, icon and banner.
From the sounds of it, Bloodcrushers have lost their 3+ armour save, but they are now much quicker and arguably harder hitting too. Still, they are quite expensive and not as tough as they used to be. They will need to watch out for battle cannons in particular. Otherwise, three wound models with 5+ invulnerable saves is quite tasty, and as long as you get them into combat quickly, they should do fine.
Bloodletter
10pts
hellblades – ap 3.
WS 5 bs 5 s 4 t 3 w 1 i 4 a 1 ld 7 sv 6+
one may be a hellfighter with the possibility to get up to 20 points in rewards.
one may take instrument of chaos 10 points, (if you deepstrike this unit you may nominate another unit of the same god to deepstrike right after them without reserve roll. in addition the warpstrom table roll of the same god wich wipes on the opposing god you may reroll the d6 if the unit is hit.
one may take ikon of chaos 10 points and may (still a homer but only works for units fo the same god) upgrade that for banner of blood for 10 points. ( the unit may once per game assault 6″+d6 instead of 2d6.
Particular emphasis on “change”. They are so much cheaper now, and prove that now Chaos Daemons truly are a Daemonic Horde! Though they are more frail than before, with a middling Toughness of 3, they still have a 5+ invulnerable save which is a lot better than many other units of equivalent cost. WS5 and S5 AP3 attacks on the charge is still very nasty, even if they do have less attacks than before. They need to be viewed differently than before though; they are still MEQ killers, but need to be used both a bit more delicately and in much greater numbers. Hordes will be the best way to run them I feel, and they gain some incredible and important buffs by being paired up with a Herald of Khorne – granting the entire unit Rage makes them dish out potentially 60 WS5 S5 AP3 attacks on the charge, meaning literal death to almost any non-+2 armoured unit in the game! The Icons of Chaos gel very well with other Khorne units that you don’t want to get shot early on, such as Skarbrand. The instrument is useful if you are using a lot of reserves. Also helps with the Warpstorm chart, which is great! You can also take ‘sergeants’ with potential for nasty AP2 weapons and the like. Good stuff! I think that though they are definitely weaker, their low cost for still very good combat ability make them more viable. Hordes!
Overall – Khorne Daemons are quite a bit better. Skarbrand and Bloodthirsters are now costed appropriately, whilst Bloodletters can be taken in hordes. Did I mention all the upgrade potential and buffs Heralds can grant to your units?
Nurgle Daemons
Nurgle Daemons have arguably seen even bigger changes than Khorne Daemons, some of which you may not be happy about. Live happily in the knowledge that they tend to be a lot cheaper though. Being a Daemon of Nurgle grants Shrouded and Slow and Purposeful – the latter they already had, but the former makes cover-jumping so much more worthwhile for all Nurgle units. Even the Greater Daemons will get a lot of benefits from this!
Ku’gath
260pts
ws 6 bs 3 s 6 t7 w 7 i 4 a 6 ld 9
still got his 4+ pieplate but its ap 3 now.
psyker level 1
and can heal 1 w per turn on a single unit of nurglings…
I would say he is better than before – he is certainly a lot harder to kill! A much higher Initiative and more attacks also gives him quite a bit more oomph in combat, meaning he can kill pesky Warscythe-wielding Necrons before they strike. Though his offensive capabilities appear to have been reduced, given that he can take an AP3 flamer template as a Primaris power from the Nurgle discipline, that probably isn’t the case. Healing Nurglings is ok. Overall, much cheaper, and arguably a bit better too. Good stuff.
HUG ME
Great Unclean One
190 points
ws 6 bs 3 s 6 t 7 w 6 i 4 a 5 ld 9
psyker level 1
poison (4+)
cann roll for pestilence and biomancy. may be upgraded up to psyker level 3 for 25 pts per level.
may take 50 points of lesser, mighty and exhalted gifts.
More expensive than before, but a damn sight harder to kill, Great Unclean Ones are also more killy what with a higher Initiative and Attacks values. Though they have Poisoned (+4) as opposed to Poisoned (+2) melee attacks, this is still just fine when one considers they will wound most things on 2s with re-rolls or 4s with re-rolls. Being a psyker with access to Biomancy is particularly nasty, especially if you pay for higher Mastery Levels. Warp Speed, Iron Arm or Endurance would be insane on a Great Unclean One, making it either an ungodly killing machine or almost impossible to kill. Take your pick – the Nurgle powers are also a good way to boost its offensive capabilities. Taking a Greater Gift on the Great Unclean One is recommended for the sheer laughs that will be had if it becomes Toughness 8 with It Will Not Die! Good stuff.
Nurgle Herald
ws 5 bs 5 t 5 w 2 i 4 a 3 ld 8
45 points. may take up to 30 points in gifts.
may be psyker up to level 2 for 25 points each.
may take presence of virulence: 10 points the model and its unit got poison 2+
presence of fertility 20 points the model and its unit gain feel no pain.
presence of affliction. 25 points. the model and his unit gains for every 6 on the enemy’s to hit rolls instantly attack with s4 ap – and poison 4+ (next to the normal attacks)
palanquin 45 points: gains +2 w +1 a and is bulky.
Though the statline isn’t as crazy as the Khorne Heralds, it is still very good – the best part is how darn cheap it is. It can be a level 2 psyker potentially, which is a good idea given the great shooting and support abilities from the Nurgle and Biomancy lores. The real meat of this ugly slug though lies in the Loci; the first is 10 points to give an entire unit 2+ Poison – which is ridiculous – essentially meaning Plaguebearers would become almost unparalleled monstrous creature killers for almost nothing. 20 of them with a cheap Herald with the 10 point Aetherblade and the first Locus would only come out to about 245 points. Seriously. The one that will be the most popular one I bet is the second Locus; giving the Herald and his unit Feel No Pain. This is very significant, especially given both how cheap it is and the loss of Feel No Pain from Nurgle Daemons in general. Running it in that same formation used earlier (255 points now) is guaranteed to make any opponent shake their head in disgust, especially if they are in cover paired with the almighty Shrouded! The third Locus sounds ok, but I think the others are better. I really like this guy.
Plague Drones
42pts (9 max)
can get the 3+ poison for 5 pts per model
can also get instant death attacks for 5+ per model
T5 W3 A3 Jet Pack Cavalry with Shrouded, Slow and Purposeful and Poisoned (+4) attacks. All for 42 points – I think they are adequately priced there, but I think the upgrades are too cheap. 5+ points per model for Poisoned (+3) or Instant Death attacks? The latter is amazing when paired with their natural Poisoned weapons and speed – charge into an enemy unit such as a Tervigon, and laugh as it dies to a single failed armour save through sheer weight of attacks. Against the typical ‘Crushergon’ of today’s meta, 235 points of Plague Drones – 5 with the Instant Death attacks – comes in at the same points and will kill it without a fight. No, really. Carnifex got you down? Laugh at it with these guys. Havocs on the high level of a ruin thinking they are safe from you? Jet pack up there and teach them a lesson. Cheap, good, effective.
Plaguebearer
9pts
ws 3 bs 3 s 4 t 4 w 1 i 2 a 1 ld 7
daemon of nurgle so really they are shrouded… but no fnp nor t 5
As I said, Daemonic hordes! Worse than before, due to the loss of both a point of Toughness and Feel No Pain, but considerably cheaper and with the addition of both Fear and Shrouded. Considering Plaguebearers are best used as objective-sitters in cover anyway, Shrouded is extremely useful – +2 cover saves for the unit sitting on a home objective in a ruin is sure to really mess with any opponent. They are also insanely cheap. Paired with a Herald with the Locus that grants Feel No Pain, and they will be unreasonably hard to shift. A good, albeit different unit.
Nurglings
15 pts
ws 3 bs 3 s 3 t3 w 4 i3 a 4 ld 7
infiltrators
Hmmm. These are ok, but the loss of Eternal Warrior means they aren’t quite the be-all end-all tarpit unit they used to be. Still, they are quite decent and cheap too, especially with Infiltrators.
Overall – Nurgle Daemons have taken some hits, but I think they are better than they were when one considers the synergies of units – particularly involving Heralds. The new Plague Drones are quite good, whilst Plaguebearers are still a premier objective-bunker unit.
Tzeentch Daemons
Tzeentch Daaemons have definitely gotten some big buffs – if you don’t count the White Dwarf update – and the fact that you can now take a Tzeentch Greater Daemon that can seriously out-perform a Bloodthirster in combat at a very low cost is crazy. As a special note; Tzeentch Daemons treat their Leadership value as +3 for the purposes of psychic tests, and I assume this is capped at 10. This means that every Tzeentch Daemon psyker – even Pink Horrors – are Leadership 10 for psychic tests!
Fateweaver
300pts
ws 1 bs 6 s 5 t 5 w 5 i 2 a 1 ld 9 4+ invul.
can reroll a single dice per turn.
psyker level 4. one head knows all of tzeentch +1 roll on pyromancy and prophecy, the other one knows all tzeentch and 1 roll on telepathy and biomancy you have to decide wich head is used at the start of every turn.
no longer make a ld or dissapear after getting wounded.
no reroll bubble
Woah. Much different to his previous incarnation, Fateweaver is still grossly expensive and still unreasonably powerful. The only mastery level 4 psyker in the codex, Fateweaver is extremely versatile; what with two heads that know a few different spells, plus the Tzeentch powers, each. Whilst he apparently still re-rolls his invulnerable saves (according to another rumour), he is definitely easier to kill once on the ground – however, his obvious use is as a flying monstrous creature that dots around and provides a lot of support and offensive power from above. His abominable WS, I and A values mean you need to stay away from combat at all costs, though having 5 wounds and no more “run away on a failed leadership test” means he is arguably a lot harder to kill than before, especially if he still re-rolls failed saves. The real crux is his ability to re-roll a single dice every player turn (confirmed to be player turn in another rumour) – we don’t yet know if this means he can re-roll any D6 across the game, or only those that affect him. From the wording, I believe it is the former, and as you may have guessed already, the implications of this are absolutely staggering. The roll to see if night fighting happens? You can re-roll it. The roll to save your Bloodthirster from death by a force weapon? You can re-roll it. The roll to see if Imotekh gets back up? You can re-roll it. The roll to see if Fateweaver falls out of the sky? You can re-roll it. This is absolutely insane if it works as I think it does, and can quite literally change the game at the drop of a hat. You want Fateweaver, even if it is for far different reasons than before.
Lord of Change
230pts
ws 6 bs 6 s 6 t 6 w 5 i 6 a 5 ld 9 and 5+ invul (like every other daemon)
starts as psyker level 2. can get a additional level for the same price as others.
can roll on tzeentch lore and divination.
can take up to 50 points in gifts.
Much cheaper than before, and much more powerful, with cheaper and better upgrades to boot! Did I mention Divination? Do yourself a favour and follow this build I devised; Mastery Level 3, take a Lesser Gift and take the Tzeentch weapon, and take two Divination powers. Unless you roll badly, you can laugh at how your 265 point giant psyker bird is even better in combat than a Bloodthirster for a similar cost whilst providing amazing support abilities. You know a S8 Concussive flying monstrous creature with this crazy stat-line and incredible psychic powers is good, especially for how cheap it is. A worse invulnerable save by a fair margin sucks, but more wounds and being a flying monstrous creature certainly do compensate for this. And again, taking a Greater Reward or rolling the right Divination powers will fix that issue in record time. A must have for Tzeentch players.
Herald of Tzeentch
45 points
ws 3 bs 4 s 3 t 3 lp 2 i 3 a 2 ld 8
psyker level 1. prophecy and change as powers.
may take up to 30 points in daemonic gifts.
psyker levels up to 3 for 25 points each.
take up to three presences.
presence of tranmorification 10 points ( for each dead horror you place d3 blue horror markers instead of 1)
presence of change 20 points you roll a d6 at the start of each turn. your model and his unit gain the strength of the d6 roll.
presence of conjuration: 25 points +1 strength on the power of psychic powers by the model and his unit.
may take a disk of tzeentch 25 points
Disk of tzeentch: +1 a and jetbike
chariot of tzeentch 50 pts
Damn! Very cheap, a better stat line than before – and Divination! The implications of this are astounding. Take a Mastery Level 2 Herald of Tzeentch for 70 points, chuck it with a Horrors unit and throw Prescience out like candy to units that sorely need it; battle brother Havocs, Obliterators, or in-codex Horrors, Soul Grinders, and so on. Oh yes. And getting the other powers – like giving a Bloodletter horde a 4+ invulnerable save, or forcing Draigo to re-roll successful saves against Skarbrand – can have a huge effect on a game too. I could probably end it there, but the Herald can also take some cheap upgrades if you wish – though the Herald of Tzeentch generally doesn’t need any upgrades aside from the extra Mastery Levels and the Loci. Speaking of Loci, the first one makes your Blue Horror attacks (i.e. combusted Pink Horrors) more common, which is neat. The second Locus is odd, and I assume it means “in addition to your base Strength” – meaning you can potentially make a unit of Horrors, and himself, S9 and use them to bust open a Dreadnought. Neat! The third one is doubtless what you have come for though, as giving +1 Strength to the already high (albeit random) strength Tzeentch witchfire powers is awesome – how does 4D6 S6 AP4 shots with Ignores Cover from the Herald sound, especially when the target has to re-roll successful saves? Juicy, I say! Tzeentch Heralds are pretty good, and their mount options are decent – turning into a Jetbike and running with Screamers whilst carrying the Strength bonus Locus is sure to have a few cheese wheels thrown at you.
Chariot of Tzeentch
100 pts flat.
10/10/10 all around 3 hp
flamer on the inside got 3 lp otherwise same profile as the rest.
my take the blue horror upgrade 10 pts (-1 ld for every enemy within 6″.
can take up to 20 pts in gifts
open topped, fast, skimmer, chariot.
Some will probably say it is too weak, but the White Dwarf paints a pretty picture (we still haven’t had confirmed rules for this, it is the Burning Chariot we are looking at by the way); it wiped out an entire Tactical Squad easily and can blow up Land Raiders reliably. Suffice it to say, it sounds a lot better than the glass cannon from Dark Angels – the Land Speeder Vengeance – and much cheaper too. Also, you can give gifts to the Exalted Flamer? Lols shall be had!
Flamers
same, but loose awesome flamer attack, replaced with
s4 ap4 and causes warpflame wich basically causes the enemy to force a toughness check after wounds have been caused. if he fails he suffers d3 additional wounds without armor or cover allowed. if he makes the test he gains 6+ feel no pain or if the unit already got feel no pain it becomes better by 1.. they cost the same as of the update.
Whilst some will say they have been nerfed majorly – and yes this is true – they were right up there with Screamers as the most broken unit in the game. Now, they are appropriately costed and their abilities make them perfect harassers – the loss of AP2 may suck, but they will still maul light infantry and give even MEQs trouble through sheer weight of saves. Ergo, they are now a decent to good unit as opposed to a horrifically over-powered one. Yes please!
Screamers
same (and re-roll 1)
So they are better than they were, minus the loss of Eternal Warrior and the addition of Daemonic Instability. Some big changes, but in reality, they are still one of the most points-efficient close combat units in the entire game. They are still awesome. You want them.
Pink Horrors
9pts
ws 3 bs 3 s 3 t 3 w 1 i 3 a 1 ld 7
for psychic tests they add +3 to the ld
Brootherhood of sorcerers
Blue horrors: if a pink horror is slain place a blue horror marker.. at initiative 1 the blue horror attacks causing the enemy unit to suffer one s2 hit with ap –
horrors can only cast change dicipline, not divination.
horrors get 1 warppoint, 2 at unit strength 11-15 and 3 at 16-20. they generate psychic powers at the start of the game like normal psykers but can only roll on tzeentch lore.
2d6 shots base +d6 for each additional warp point. in additon they have access to the other spells of lore of tzeentch, you roll for them like you do with psykers. making them psyker level 3 gives great benefit.
Nine point Horrors. That aren’t much worse than what they were before and, in some cases, better. Oh yes. They count as Leadership 10 for psychic tests, and are the first unit with the Brotherhood of Sorcerers USR. Good stuff. They also cause some extra hits on enemy units if they die, which isn’t bad. Their Tzeentch powers are mediocre, but arguably better than what they had before – their Primaris, like the old Warpfire, has less shots though but a higher Strength. In essence, they are less suited to mass fire and better throwing out strong witchfire powers like AP1 blasts and AP2 beams. In that sense, they are more versatile than before and can more reliably deal with vehicles. As rumoured, the extra mastery level up to three based on how many models are in the unit is pretty sweet. Knowing all but one of the Tzeentch powers means the unit will be incredibly versatile, will throw out a lot of firepower, be reasonably hard to shift, and all for less than 200 points. Throw a Tzeentch Herald with Divination and a Locus into the mix, and things get really interesting!
Overall – Tzeentch Daemons are great now, particularly the Lord of Change and, as before, Screamers. Whilst Flamers have been (justifiably) nerfed, Pink Horrors are now crazily cheap and can provide a lot of diverse firepower. The Heralds of Tzeentch are great, and with Tzeentch psykers having access to Divination, thinks are really looking on the up! Also, Screamers are still great.
Slaanesh
The Daemons I was probably most interested to study, as they really needed a lift to be competitive, and I must say that Phil Kelly didn’t disappoint. I think a case could be made that Slaanesh Daemons are the most cost-effective of the bunch by a fair margin, and I will show you why.
Keeper of Secrets
170pts
ws 9 bs 6 s 6 t 6 w 5 i 10 a 6 ld 9
psyker level 1
prefered enemy eldar/dark eldar.
can get psyker level up to 3 for same costs as everyone else
can take up to 50 pts in gifts.
Compare this to the Daemon Prince. It is 15 points more than a Daemon Prince of Slaanesh and gets; +1 BS, +1 T (huge, no instant death from S10), +1 W, +2 I, +1 A, Preferred Enemy Eldar/Dark Eldar, and it is a mastery level 1 psyker base that usually costs the Daemon Prince +25 points. Yeah. Unless you are running a winged prince (which, if you are using a daemon prince, you should) there is literally no reason to field a daemon prince over a Keeper of Secrets. It is crazily cheap, and very quick to boot. As well, as Keepers of Secrets are very small as far as monstrous creatures go, most opponents won’t perceive them as a massive threat that needs to die immediately. Ergo, they are incredibly likely to make combat and will wreck face when they do. A Bloodthirster doesn’t do much a Keeper of Secrets can’t, as an example. You want one of these. They make similarly costed Hive Tyrants feel like gutting themselves. Again, you want one. As always, the Greater Gifts work a treat on this beastie.
Masque
75 pts
ws 7 bs 6 s 4 t 3 w 2 i 7 a ld 8
may take up to hit and run. unnatural reflexes (may reroll failed invul saves)
eternal dance: at the beginning of the shooting phase you decide for wich dance she makes against a single non vehicle unit within 12″
dance of binding: the enemy has -5 WS (minimum 1) can only move d3″ only d3″ run and only d3″ assault. also the unit can only fall back d3″
dance of death: the unit suffers as many strength 1 hits as models are in the unit. these hits have AP 2 and igore cover.
dance of dreaming: the target has -5 bs and cannot overwatch. until the next turn of the mask.
She’s got a very good stat line, and she is exceedingly cheap. Re-rolling her failed invulnerable saves is sweet, and Hit and Run allows her to bogey out of any combat she doesn’t like. Also, her dances literally ‘sway’ people; these are rather nasty. The first can severely neuter an enemy assault unit, making them mince meat for units such as Bloodletters and the like, but the more interesting applications revolve around the severe movement crippling effects – D3″ inches for any kind of moving, including running and charging, means you can literally control what a unit does. Don’t want those Thunder Hammer/Storm Shield Terminators charging you? Done! Don’t want those poor Sternguard falling back too far to escape your Daemonette hordes? Too easy. The second dance is nothing special, but works a treat on units above 12 – you should reliably kill two models from the unit this way. Not so good for horde units though; the casualties that are inflicted will probably be drowned in Daemonette attacks anyway. The third dance is crazy – basically neutering an enemy unit’s shooting. Worried about being shot by and Overwatched by an enemy Tactical Squad with your Daemonettes? Laugh at them and watch as the grin on your opponents face rapidly shifts into a glare. Sadly, she still can’t join units apparently, which means you need to be very careful with her – don’t ever make her your Warlord!
Herald of Slaanesh
45 pts
ws 7 bs 6 s 4 t 3 w 2 i 7 a 4 LD 8
same psyker upgrades as nurgle as well as gifts..
presence same costs.. here are the tiers:
presence of grace : model and unit gains move through cover
presence of agility (30pts) the model and its unit have +5 on its initiative (yes you read that right)
presence of seduction. the model and its unit may reroll to hit rolls in close combat. the user always has to accept challenges or issue them. but the user of the presence decides wich character the enemy takes for the challenge.
slanesh horse. 15
chariot 30
exhalted chariot 80
Steed of slaanesh: +1 a and outflanking and acute senses. also becomes cavalry
Teehee! A very good profile, all for an extremely low price. The gifts and stuff are pretty decent, but I think Heralds of Slaanesh are fine given they have Rending anyway. Being a psyker is worthwhile, especially how cheap they are base; the Slaanesh powers are quite decent. Now, for the Loci; the first gives her and the unit Move Through Cover, which is ok for how cheap it is, and maximises their speed. The second one will effectively make her and her unit Initiative 10 – which is insane, though for how good it sounds, remember that the natural I5 or higher of Slaanesh Daemons means you will strike first against most enemies anyway. Against enemies such as Dark Eldar, Hormagaunts, or Eldar though, it is invaluable. The third one is pretty crazy, and though you have to issue and accept challenges, it is funny that you get to pick who takes up the challenge for your opponent – meaning you won’t have to fight Kharn and instead can butcher the poor Skull Champion. Nice! That and re-rolling to hit across an entire unit that already has a mass of Rending attacks at high Weapon Skill is brutal.The Steeds and Chariots are all pretty good.
Fiends
ws 4 bs 0 s 4 t 4 lp 3 i 6 a 3 ld 7
models that getsin contact by one or more feinds gets -5 to their initiative
they got a 12″ aura that decreases enemy psykers LD by 1
35 pts a piece
Though they are arguably weaker than they were before despite being more expensive, Fiends now provide some crazy debuffs to enemy units – -5 to enemy Initiative to enemies in base contact with Fiends is nuts. Combine that with units such as Bloodletters or Daemonettes and watch the carnage ensue. The 12″ anti-psyker aura is decent, and becomes almost painful for your opponent if you roll an 11 on the Warp Storm chart. No, really! These are still good.
Seekers
ws 5 bs 4 s 3 t 3 lp 1 i 5 a 3 LD 7
outflank, acute senses
12 points a piece
You haven’t seen cheap until you’ve looked at these. Ridiculously, they are only three points more than a regular Daemonette despite being Cavalry, having Outflank and Acute Senses, as well as +1 attack. And that Daemonette is still good value. I’d be hard pressed to find faster, harder hitting cavalry units that are this cheap in any other codex, especially when you consider Slaanesh Daemons that are Cavalry run 6″ plus D6″. You will get turn two charges with these, owing to Fleet, and with four WS5 Rending attacks each on the charge at Initiative 5, you will put out enough attacks to make Space Marines tremor in fright. Want to know how a 120 point unit of 10 does when charging into 10 Tactical Marines? Assuming none have died from shooting or Overwatch, you will average; 4 Rending kills, and then a further five armour saves, two of which will be failed. Ergo, that 120 point unit just wiped out six out of 10 Tactical Marines, a unit that costs 170 points base, before they could strike. Yep. That’s exactly right. And those four rending attacks also just killed a 160 point base Carnifex. Ludicrous. These things are ridiculous.
Daemonettes
9pts
ws 5 bs 4 s 3 t 3 w 1 i 5 a 2 ld 7
rending + 3″ run
Whu…? A point cheaper than a Bloodletter, but instead of being S4 with a power weapon and Furious Charge, they are I5 with 2 attacks and Rending Claws, added to the fact they have Fleet and add 3″ to their Run moves. Yeah. Daemonettes probably epitomise more than any other Lesser Daemon the phrase “Daemonic Horde”, and I am dead serious. With massed high Initiative and Weapon Skill Rending attacks, they can go toe to toe with monstrous creatures as well – if not better – as Plaguebearers, and deal with MEQs almost as well as Bloodletters whilst being cheaper and much quicker. In my personal opinion, these are the best of the four Lesser Daemon units for a host of reasons – their speed, their cost, Rending which even makes them capable of wrecking tanks and glancing walkers to death, and a huge number of attacks that, when buffed by a Herald of Slaanesh with the re-rolls to hit Locus, become absolutely devastating against almost any enemy. Terminators will wish they never see your Daemonettes on the battlefield, as twenty of them are cheaper than five Terminators and statistically will kill them without suffering a single wound. Crazy. These are crazy good.
Overall – Slaanesh Daemons are utterly phenomenal now, having received some major boosts that both make them able to field more models than any other Daemon army, but units that are arguably as powerful as their kin too. They are also the quickest daemons by some margin, and thus much more likely to get to their preferred hunting ground – melee. They are fantastic and arguably the best of the bunch.
Undivided Units
The Undivided units are good, though we don’t know the full picture yet. Generally speaking, I would recommend Greater Daemons over Daemon Princes though, whilst I expect Daemonettes, Horrors and the like to be more useful than Furies. The Soulgrinder seems to be a fantastic choice though. Best of all though, you can dedicate each of these units to a Chaos God – even the Soulgrinder! Nice!
Daemon Princes
warpsmithed armor with a 3+ armorsave for 20 points.
they can be made heavy support with the corresponding greater deamon (and charakter GD) fromt he same god.
They are essentially exactly the same as Chaos Space Marine Daemon Princes, albeit with different options (excluding Wings and +3 armour). Giving a Daemon Prince two Greater Gifts and one Lesser Gift will go a long way to making it really powerful, though the unfortunate truth is that you are probably better served with a Greater Daemon. Greater Daemons are tougher, more powerful, and generally more cost effective. Daemon Princes aren’t bad though, and seeing as the corresponding Greater Daemon makes Daemon Princes dedicated to a particular god Heavy Support choices, you can use them as part of a flying monstrous creature-spam army. That you can make them a Warlord is cool. Overall though, Greater Daemons are better, but Princes aren’t bad at all.
Chaos Furies
ws 3 bs 0 s 4 t 3 w 1 i 4 a 1 ld?
infantry with jumpmodule (like crisis)
Can be to khorne/nurlge/slaanesh/tzeentch
I didn’t see how much they cost, but I am assuming they are very cheap. Jump Pack infantry with an ok stat-line that can be dedicated to one of the Chaos gods – ideally, these will probably be the ‘Cultist’ equivalent of Chaos Daemons. Expect them to be in the 5-8 point mark. They look fine as meat shields though.
Soulgrinder
135 pts + upgrade to god needed
Comes with close combat weapon and the harvester
Harvester is now a weapon with 2 profiles…
autocannon with 6 shots
autocannon with 3 shots and skyfire
Can can get the flamer (wich is now torrent) for 20
phlegm for 30
tounge for 25 points
Wow! It’s standard weapon is now so much better – a six shot Autocannon is very nasty, and having a 3 shot Autocannon with Skyfire makes the Soulgrinder a pretty decent anti-air platform! We don’t yet know everything about the different main weapon profiles, but it seems like they are a good investment – imagine a Tongue Soulgrinder firing at aircraft, shooting both a S7 AP4 3 shot weapon and a S10 AP1 1 shot weapon; paired with Prescience from a cheap as chips Tzeentch Herald, and you have a winner. However, looking at it, I seriously wonder if Phil Kelly changed his mind about the Defiler – the Soul Grinder is 60 points cheaper than a Defiler, and though it has less weaponry, it is AV13/13/11 which is far superior in a meta where S7 is the norm. I dunno. All I can say is that the Soulgrinder is one very cost-effective vehicle that no longer suffers the handicap of having to deep strike. Also, apparently, it can be dedicated to a Chaos God too (per the White Dwarf). Shrouded Nurgle Soul Grinder anyone?
Final Thoughts
This article is already too long, so I will keep it short. I think Chaos Daemons, despite their random nature, look set to be a more powerful codex overall than either Dark Angels or Chaos Space Marines, and I say this with full confidence. Between cheap and powerful horde units, hardcore Greater Daemons and a vast array of inexpensive and powerful customisation options, they look like a widely varied codex with a lot of oomph.
About the Author: Rob Baer
Rob Baer
Job Title: Managing Editor
Founded Spikey Bits in 2009
Socials: Rob Baer on Facebook and @catdaddymbg on X
About Rob Baer: Founder, Publisher, & Managing Editor of Spikey Bits, the leading tabletop gaming news website focused on the hobby side of wargaming and miniatures.
Rob also co-founded and currently hosts the Long War Podcast, which has over 350 episodes and focuses on tabletop miniatures gaming, specializing in Warhammer 40k. and spent six years writing for Bell of Lost Souls.
Every year, along with his co-hosts, he helps host the Long War 40k Doubles Tournament at Adepticon and the Long War 40k Doubles at Las Vegas Open, which attracts over 350 players from around the world.
Rob has won many Warhammer 40k Tournaments over the years, including multiple first-place finishes in Warhammer 40k Grand Tournaments over the years and even winning 1st place at the Adepticon 40k Team Tournament.
With over 30 years of experience in retail and distribution, Rob knows all the products and exactly which ones are the best. As a member of GAMA (Game Manufacturers Association), he advocates for gaming stores and manufacturers in these difficult times, always looking for the next big thing to feature for the miniatures hobby, helping everyone to provide the value consumers want.
While he’s played every edition of Warhammer 40k and Warhammer Fantasy (since 5th Edition) and has been hobbying on miniatures since the 1980s, Titans of all sizes will always be his favorite! It’s even rumored that his hobby vault rivals the Solemnance Galleries, containing rulebooks filled with lore from editions long past, ancient packs of black-bordered Magic Cards, and models made of both pewter and resin.
