Disciples of Be'lakor in Arks of Omen!

So with Arks of Omen on the horizon and the point changes and dataslates out in the wild, I wanted to talk about the Disciples of Be'lakor and how all the changes affect the followers of   the first Prince!

Disciples have been a very strange mini faction, since it's Daemons with the options to add a Chaos knight Korvax and CSM legion specific to Be'lakor letting you soup while still being a "single faction". Though today we won't talking about the CSM options as personally I don't see them as making a Disciples list very optimal for competitive play with the options you already have available through Daemons and Knights.

Today I want to talk about why Disciples could be the best way to run Daemons going into the Arks of Omen meta!

Arks of Omen detachment 

So the new detachment kind of screws us over since we can no longer get god specific warpstorm abilities unless you play pure mono god, and of course Disciples is Undivided.

Though the new detachment works quite well for Bellys servants despite the Warpstorm issues.

Since the knights you take gain the Disciples keyword, you can include them in the main detachment in a Lord of War spot. You also can open up elite spots (since Fiends, Flamers and Beasts are probably going to be the most common units we use) as our 3 compulsory slots along with the 3 optional slots.

Key Units 

Be'lakor:

So of course, for Disciples of Be'lakor you must run, Be'lakor. Be'lakor is still good and is the best monster we have running into a more shooty meta. Yes armies can bring him down in a single turn, but it takes a fair bit to do so allowing the rest of your units to go a turn relatively untouched.

Belly still brings that great Undivided locus allowing you to bring any Daemon units in 6" away from the enemy, not to mention his AP-4 in a post Armour of Contempt world that also ignores invuls is very valuable. He must be your warlord but in Disciples, his chapter master re-rolls doesn't just affect Legiones Daemonica core, but any selected Disciples unit (exluding vehicles) within 9". 

Beasts of Nurgle:

So Beasts for me were a fringe unit that I always liked the look of since the new book got released. Even though they only took a 10pt drop, that's still 30pts less for 3 beasts, and with the capability to do 2 mortals on 6's to hit, combined with Bellys chapter master re-rolls warlord Trait (which affects any selected Disciples unit), they can really punch hard.

Their ability to fully heal at the end of the Phase is super solid and paired with the draught of terror strat to bring a model back on 1 wound when an enemy model flees the battle within 12", is amazing to keep your beasties around for a while.

Nurglings:

So Nurglings, more specifically Disciples Nurglings got a huge buff in the fact that your Ark of Omens detachment doesn't have to have mandatory troop choices, meaning you don't need a troop tax to take these guys if you don't want to. Couple that with the fact they gain obsec in a Disciples of Be'lakor list and your off to the races with your little scuttling pus bags!

Flamers:

Yes, Flamers are still a super good unit and perform alot of rolls in a Daemon list for a good point cost despite their nerf. Tough vs ranged attacks, fast infantry with fly and still a ton of shots. They'll also be great as your action monkeys since you're going to want to take alot of non infantry units like Fiends, Hounds and Beasts for other gods.

Fiends:

Fiends were good before, but going down 5pts each makes them even better while letting you take more in your lists. 14" move that can go through walls, and with the Legion of shades strat, can go straight through enemy models in the move/charge phase!

Hounds:

Hounds are now probably our best cheap trading unit. Their combat is decent on the charge and their speed allows them to clear small screens and contest midfield objectives. They are also very good tech pieces for psyker heavy match ups with in built denies and bumping up the Contempt for Sorcery strat to a 3+ if within 12" of the casting psyker.

Wardogs

So, I think if you're taking Disciples you need to take full advantage of the house korvax option! The best option competitively for allied knights is 3 wardogs, with Brigands for good varied ranged options and good back to midfield obsec option, or karnivores for super fast, hard hitting obsec to press your opponent! Executioners also provide decent shooting, with their ap-2 more valuable now AoC is gone!

With being house Korvax, you get to daemonic Surge to get either +3" move, +1 to wound for one of that models weapons or transhuman in exchange of taking either 1 mortal wound for a random ability or d3 to choose.

On top of that you get the household bond to allow you to use one of the harbinger abilities once per game, this could be removing obsec for models within 12" of your Knights, -1 to hit at range or combat against the knights, or forcing your opponent to target the closest unit in the shooting phase if they fail a dread test, and halving any charges vs a Chaos knight unit.

The best part about house Korvax though, is their knights of shade stratagem. You pick one titanic or 2 wardog models in your movement or charge phase, the selected units can move through models and terrain as if they weren't there!

This is amazing and allows your karnivores to hop around behind terrain for protection and then springing out like an evil robotic jack in the box!!

It's also great to hop over those screens to steal high up objectives or to rip apart those key units in your opponents list. 

This strat has the potential to make or break games.

Key Stratagems

There are a few special stratagems here available to Disciples, though I won't be going over the ones that specifically affect the CSM.

Legion of Shade 1cp

You use this at the start of the move or charge phase and pick a disciples unit. That unit can move through models. Basicly pseudo fly. That's amazing and remember it's all Disciple units, so you can use this on one of your Knights and then Knights of Shades on your other 2 knights to have 3 wardogs hopping straight over your opponents units!

This is also fantastic on units like Fiends or hounds since they have the real speed to take full advantage of this!

Draught if Terror 1cp

You use this at the start of the moral phase, and select one of your daemonic units. They gain the draught of terror aura. While an enemy unit is within 6" of this unit, each time a model flees from that enemy unit, one model regains one lost wound.

If no models have lost any wounds, you instead can return one destroyed model with one wound.

The best use of this by far is beasts of Nurgle. Since Beasts always fully heal at the end of phase, you'll only be returning beasts back with this on a wound, and then it fully heals at the end of the Phase!!

This is obviously great for units of Fiends and Flamers too, but imagine your opponents phase when that beast that took ages to kill pops back up on 7 wounds again.

Blessings of Be'lakor 2cp

You can choose to ignore one failed saving through for a Disciples model, turning the damage to 0.

Be'lakor had to be on the Battlefield to use this. Of course the big man is the obvious choice for this strat, but don't forget your Knights can also benefit from it aswell! Not to mention your beasts, ignoring that wound that would kill it, meaning it can just jump straight back up to 7 wounds again (can you tell I'm really high on Beasts in Disciples...)

I'll be testing out a few different Disciple lists leading up to my first event of the new season on the first weekend of February, hoping racking up some good early ITC points!

It's an exciting time for us Daemon players and it's awesome that our Army of renown seems to be in a very good spot!! I do expect to see alot of Disciple lists to start popping up and