True Daemon Lord

Today I'm going to pick a few Daemon lists that done quite well last weekend (19th/20th November) and talk about them. We'll be looking at lists that managed to win or podium events. I have not picked every list, but the ones I liked the most, there were a few more that I could have picked but alot of them are pretty similar so instead I picked two generally typical lists and two very different lists! Finn Decker-Kraken GT 2022 Undivided Battalion  HQ- Bloodthirster- Warlord:Brazen Hide, Blooddrinker Talisman, great axe, Indomitable Onslaught  Changecaster- Infernal Flames, Gaze of Fate Fluxmaster- Bolt of Change, Infernal Flames, Staff of Change Troops-  1x10 Blue Horrors 3x10 Daemonettes  1x3 Nurglings Elites- 3x5 Flamers Khorne Patrol HQ- Skarbrand  Troops- 2x10 Bloodletters This list went 5-1 finishing 2nd at a decently sized GT. You have the standard 15 Flamers with two heralds for re-roll wounds of 1 and both of them having Infernal flames giving Finn some...

This past weekend I took a revised version of my current infantry list. Unfortunately while I managed to go 3-2, it felt like playing on hard mode, my three winning games had me exhausting all my player skill reducing my opponents scores while I also had a hard time scoring that high. Game 1 vs Ynarri Secondaries: Reality Rebels-8 RND-4 Psychic Interrogation-6 So game 1 was against an amazing player in Clement Tournade (the event winner). He had a horrible Ynarri list consisting of 27 Harlie players, the Ynarne, scorpions, banshees, warlocks, a couple psykers and a bunch of swooping hawks. This didn't go well, he consistently screened me out using the terrain to prevent my reserves from getting to anything juicy and my Flamers were forced to just hit what he wanted them too. Overall I suffered with swooping hawks jumping out, killing a unit and then jumping back behind other units screening them. I made some very poor decisions with both Secondaries plus my positioning which cost m...

So, I don't think it is any secret that Daemonettes and Bloodletters are two of the best units in the Daemon codex. With both of them being troop choices, pretty much every list sees some combination of one or both of these units. They are both staples of my current infantry list that I've had great success with on the competitive scene. Today though, after having alot of experience with both units in the new codex, I want to compare them both and discuss their strengths and weaknesses vs eachother and which one is potentially stronger. Hopefully helping people see what role each unit is stronger at peforming in your lists and point people in the right decision for their list if they are deciding on the quantity of each unit or if they are only looking at taking one of them. Speed: Daemonettes have a 10" move compared to the Bloodletters 6". The slaaneshi daemons take the biscuit here allowing them to get to the midfield faster while also getting across the board easi...

This past Saturday, I attended Priority Orders, an event regularly run in Brighton. Ben is a great TO and as per usual ran another great chilled event. List wise, I decided to make one small change, dropping 10 Daemonette for a Fluxmaster, moving Fractal Mind over to him and making the Fateskimmer more focused on mortal wound damage. The reason I wanted the fluxmaster was because he is infantry, so can jump foward 12" with fly, cast a psychic action and then get Shrouded stepped back by Be'lakor. He is also able to doing certain actions while being protected aswell should I need him to. He also can cast either Infernal Flamers or Gaze of Fate due to Fractal Mind which maximised his uses for his points cost making him an amazing tech piece and point scorer. I also now have given the Fateskimmer double mortal wound powers and can now really dent units with the mortal wound output. The List: Undivided Battalion Detachment  HQ: Fateskimmer: Retinue of Horrors, Bolt of Change, Infe...

Today we go over the poster boy for Plagues and sickness, the Great Unclean One. uunfortunately in the new codex, Nurgle has been kind of pushed to the way side and I personally think the Great Unclean One is not very good, but can be quite fun to play none the less. Stats: The biggest thing is of course that toughness 9! Not exactly a common stat so off the bat catches your attention, unfortunately there isn't alot more resiliency on top of that. He does come with 22 wounds and 4+ daemonic save at ranged, but for some reason only a 5+ in combat... He comes with a puke attack, which is just a heavy Flamer. With a 7" move and a massive base he can definitely be slowed down unfortunately... But that is where manifestation comes in to play. Wargear: Bilesword: You have two profiles here, mighty strike at str8 ap-3 d6 damage that automatically wound on unmodified hit rolls of a 6. That d6 damage is super unreliable unfortunately. It has a sweep profile aswell, str7 ap-3 1 damage d...

Today let's talk about the angriest of greater daemons, the bloodthirster. They got a serious glow up from the last codex and are the serious combat monsters you'd expect the chief of Khornes Daemons to be! Stats: They have that magical fly keyword with a 12" move. The usual 20 wounds but with a very nice T8 and 4+ daemonic save vs ranged and in combat. 8 attacks aswell is great but what you'd expect. He also has an inbuilt shout which is d6 str5 ap-2 1 damage auto hitting shots at 12".  He also has a fantastic ability, relentless carnage. At the end of the fight phase pick an enemy unit in engagement range and roll a d6 (subtracting 2 if the target was an infantry character), on a 2+ you cause d3 mortal wounds. This is great if you don't quite manage to kill something, this has the chance to knock those last couple wounds off of something. Wargear: So the Bloodthirster has a few options. Either a great axe or an axe and a flail/whip. Great Axe of Khorne: StrX...

Today, we'll be going over Tzeentchs most powerful Daemon, the Lord of Change. Stats: With a 12" move and fly plus the ability to teleport around the board for 2cp with the Warp Portal strat, he is very mobile which allows him to get away from potential danger aswell as getting to units he can target with powers. He's T7 with 20 wounds, but has that magical 3+ Daemonic save vs ranged and a 5+ vs combat which makes him pretty Resilient. With 3 casts and denies aswell, he is one of the most powerful psykers in the game (and rightfully so!)  Exalted Traits: Architect of Deception: -1 to hit vs ranged. This helps him to be abit more resilient, though you don't want him close to the enemy all that often and can get the same effect outside of 12" from the warpstorm. Master Mutator: Roll a dice at the end of the psychic phase for each enemy unit that suffered a mortal wound as a result of a psychic power from this model. On a 2+ that unit takes an additional mortal wound...

Let's talk about Slaaneshs most fearsome Daemon today, the Keeper of Secrets! One of the most fearsome and elegant monsters in 40k, she'll cut you limb from limb and gain extreme pleasure from doing so.... Stats: She comes with a staggering 16" movement, so even being a monster that has to move around obstacles, she has so much movement that she can clear alot of things and still get to a target. T7 and 20 wounds with a 4+ save from range but unfortunately just a 5+ in combat... She is always -1 to hit which is very nice and adds some survivability. She is strength 6, which is abit low but then her Whitstealer sword bumps that to 8. Throwing 6 attacks at strength 8, ap-3 with 3 damage and any model she wounds with her sword is -1 to wound in melee for the rest of the game, which is cool but you generally want whatever she hits to die. She also gets 4 malefic attacks with her crab claws at strength 6, ap-4 and 3 damage which is fantastic, especially into anything with power...