Elric Greywolf's Daemon Tactica

Hello Folks! So as I've been playing more and more games with the 2013 Daemons book, I've decided to write down some of my observations about how to best use the various units. Enjoy!

Written by Elric Greywolf Aug 2013

Note: This article uses tactics best-suited to 6e. I haven't played enough games in 7e to develop a viable strategy, and I don't own enough models to go with the popular "CONJURE EVERYTHING!" idea. I'll re-write as I play.

Daemons Tactica

The great diversity in point cost, model count, and survivability of different units makes this Daemon book well-suited to a variety of play styles. Want hordes? The troops are 9-10pts a model; fit in two FOCs! Want an elite army? Take two min troops (Plaguebearers?) and max out your Elite and Heavy choices! Fast options: Cav, Beasts, and FMCs. Things don't get much faster than that! The entire army has the option to Deep Strike, allowing for troops when* and where* you need them.

• The author does not endorse reliance on Deep Striking, which is designed to be risky.

The Daemons book, though, has a very obvious split between A) Troops and B) Everything Else. Our troops are insanely fragile, with a 5++ and mostly T3 (with the exception of Plaguebearers who are T4 and usually have a 3+ cover). On the other hand, our HQs are monsters (usually literally!), our Elites are beasts (again, literally 2/4 times), and our Heavies are squadrons of vehicles or FMCs. The strategy I’ve found to work best is what I’ll call Multiple Threat Overload—MTO. With the changes to scoring in 7e (ie. EVERYTHING scores), it's less important than it was to specifically keep your Troops safe. Sure, they have Objective Secured...but they're not tough enough to make that important most of the time.

Warp Storm

The Warp Storm is potentially game changing. Those higher numbers (10-12) are just plain fantastic for you, while the lower (2-4) are TERRIBLE. The Damage results (5, 6, 8, 9) can do good things, but rolling the result is usually pretty underwhelming since it rarely effects the enemy units. While I can live WITHOUT the good results, I cannot live WITH the bad ones. I therefore consider the Warp Storm more of a bonus than a necessity. However, since it can hurt me so drastically, and since there's a 7/36 chance (~20%, or once per game) every roll that it will, I need a way to manipulate the table so that bad results show up less. The way to do this is either A) take Daemons as allies (in which case you don't roll on the table), or B) get the Lord of Unreality Warlord Trait. I'll mention the Trait more in Fateweaver's entry, since it's standard on him. Suffice to say, when the Warp turns against you, it's really bad.

Instability

Daemons have a rule that makes them, in essence, like 5th ed Fearless: never fall back (never surrender!), never get pinned, but take casualties equal to what you lost in combat. This means that, when you're an assault-oriented army, you NEED to win combat, even if it's only by one. While losing combat DOES have the potential to return all your lost models into play, there's no way you should ever expect that to happen. When you assault, make sure you can win. If you know you can't win, expect to lose the whole unit in one go: whatever the enemy doesn't kill, the Warp will claim back!

HQs

Fateweaver

Fateweaver is perhaps the strangest MC in the game. He's worse at combat than a Riptide. His "Two Heads" psyker rule makes him interact in strange ways with himself; I often come up to a situation where I want to use Divination and Telepathy in the same turn...but I can't! There's definitely some tough decisions to make in the casting of psychic powers, so choose carefully! On the shooting side, the Tzeentch powers are very versatile. AP1/2 gives good killing power against Termies and vehicles. Blasts and Assault 2-4D6 are good at slaying massed infantry. As an MC, he can use two (TWO!) PSAs. At BS6, he's able to get very accurate blast scatters.

BUT the real reason to take Fateweaver? Re-rolls. I cannot stress enough how often this re-roll has saved my bacon. There are two places I always use this re-roll: the first is in my turn for the Grimoire. Casting the Grimoire is the first thing you should do in your turn: if you fail, use Fatey's re-roll; if you naturally PASS, then you can use the re-roll for a failed psychic test D6, or a run move, or that stupid DP who missed his Hellfire shot, or the Portalglyph, or an assault roll (don't waste it on a run move). There are lots of options, but ALWAYS do the Grimoire first; this way, you won't be torn about wanting to save it for the Grimoire later when you take a Perils and want to use it NOW!

The second place I use the re-roll is in the enemy turn, for Grounding tests. Nothing is more demoralizing to the enemy to see you fail a Ground check, only to have you say, "I get to re-roll that," and then pass! HAH! The basic rules already favor FMCs; making them even HARDER to kill is just mean-spirited (and awesome!) Now, Fateweaver isn't limited to ONE re-roll...his Warlord Trait lets him retry the Warp Storm. If you get the dreaded Instability result, you can try again. If you're feeling risky, you can retry that "Warp is Calm" and hope for damage against the enemy! Having Fateweaver also means you don’t have to take Instruments on your squads, since if you get a particularly bad result (like “Glorious Rot” when playing pure Tzeentch), you can just try again with the trait instead of with the Instruments.

Overall these two abilities--Staff of Tomorrow and Lord of Unreality—really make him worth the points. Daemons are random, and ol’ Fatey lets you control some of that randomness and mitigate the damage that your own list can cause itself!

Anecdote: Belial and ten Deathwing Termies Deep Struck into a nice little formation. Between the Bolt of Change and Infernal Gateway, Fateweaver killed seven Termies in a single round! Next turn, he mopped up the four remaining bodies. Fan-Fatey-Tastic!

Lord of Change

Tzeralds

Tzeralds, as with most things Tzeentch, suck in combat. It’s not worth it, in my opinion, to give them Greater Gifts; if you have an extra 10pts for a Lesser, you might choose another scoring body instead. Tzeralds shine with their psychic abilities. At PML3, these guys DtW most other things on a 4+, giving you a good defense if you happen to face Eldar, Tzeentch Marines, or JotWW.

But of course, you don’t take three levels of mastery to get a 50% DtW. (Well, at least I don’t!) You take it to get awesome buffs! Two rolls on Divination and one on Tzeentch gets you some pretty fantastic stuff. Forewarning+Grimoire on a Tzeentch unit gives you a 2++ re-roll-able (!!!). A unit of TL Horrors with Perfect Timing and STR6 shooting (from Locus of Conjuration) simply cannot be ignored for long. Making Marines re-roll their successful armour saves from Misfortune is exceedingly valuable. Basically, any of Divination is always worthwhile.

There are three places to stick your Tzeralds: on foot with Horrors, on a Disc with Flamers, or on a Disc with Screamers.

I’ve never tried buffing Flamers, because I use them as suicide squads...but more on them later. Twin-linking your flame templates is a good strategy, although I believe that the potential of Tzeralds might be wasted on Flamers.

Screamer Star is a viable way to run your list. 2-4 Tzeralds with a full unit of Screamers is nothing to be scoffed at, but does run you anywhere from 550-700pts, depending on load-outs. But here’s something I don’t like about Screaming Star: Tzeralds and Screamers have two different roles, and they’re not multi-purpose. Tzeralds (shooty) with Screamers (assaulty) wastes the potential of one or the other. All that shooting will wipe its target, leaving nothing to charge. Or you'll not shoot at anything so that you CAN charge....but that’d be silly! Tzeentch powers are GOOD—you need to use them! My recommendation would be one PML1 Tzerald on a Disc with some Screamers, which will let you re-roll hits for Lamprey Bite! Give him the Portalglyph, so that by T1 you can have the Portal deployed in a much greater area. Finally, we have Pink Death Star, which is my favorite! I run 17-18 Pink Horrors with three PML3 Tzeralds. I roll on Divination with all three Tzeralds until I get Forewarning, and make sure to have at least two Prescience powers—one for the Horrors, one for a DP. I cast the Grimoire on the Horrors, and these guys are un-killable! In all the games I've played, they've died only once. My op chose to shoot at them when the Grimoire failed (even with the re-roll!). While he killed the Horrors (with ALL his shooting), he lost a DKnight because he ignored the Princes! I can’t think of a better way to bog down center field than 8D6 TL Str6 AP4 Ignores Cover shots! This unit is my anti-Flyer, my anti-horde, and my anti-Death-Star all rolled into one!

Overall, Tzeralds give fantastic buffs; PML 3 lets them take care of their own squad, as well as another squad that happens to be nearby. Hope for a nice beam attack to buff all that shooting with some AP2!

Anecdote: My Pink Death Star gets bogged down by a unit of Nobs. Of course, I can’t manage to get through their 2+ armour...but they can’t manage to get through my 2++ re-rollable! My three Tzeralds somehow got to the front of the unit (through consolidation), and so had to pass some LOS! in order to not get insta-gibbed. Round two of the combat, I roll a one for my LOS!, a one-one for my Tzerald save! NOOOOOO! Round three.........the SAME THING HAPPENS! Fortunately, the Tzerald with Grimoire is the one sitting in the back refusing challenges, so my save stays good. But COME ON! :)

Sleralds

Sounds a bit like Slaan...but I’m sticking with the spelling! Contrary to their birdlike cousins, Sleralds can be beastly in combat, what with Beguilement and Etherblades. They can’t be quite as survivable as Tzeentch, but what Slaanesh lacks in saves it makes up for in speed. WS7 I7 A4 and rending means you WILL win challenges against similarly-priced characters, and massacre sergeants. An Etherblade (AP2) means you can reliably win against Termies! PMLs aren’t wasted on these guys (since Telepathy is the greatest discipline). Acquiescence from Slaanesh is also a fantastic power because losing models in OW is really sucky.

There are three squads that Sleralds can go with: Daemonettes, Fiends, and Seekers. IMO it’s a waste of a Herald slot to put one with basic Girls. It’s important for the Slerald to actually make it to combat, and while Girls are some of the fastest infantry out there, they aren't that survivable. One more T3 body in a unit of Girls won’t do a whole lot...although a Locus of Grace would help move faster across a terrain-filled board.

With Seekers or Fiend, you’ll of course need a mount. Now comes the tough decision: Grace or Beguilement? With a 5++, a failed DT is basically a death sentence, so Grace is the way to go. Beguilement is...beguiling...but I’m not sure it’s worth it to lose models when moving through terrain. I’ve lost 25% of my Seekers (3/12) before they make it into assault, and I think having the extra attacks from more models is better than re-rolling the fewer attacks.

Beasts already have MoC, so Beguilement is the obvious choice. I haven’t personally tried Fiends yet, but I’d be willing to bet they’re pretty effective (albeit expensive). I’m not quite sure of the usefulness of Swiftness, since Slaaneshi units are already so fast. I suppose it’d be good against Eldar and GK halberds...but then you’re list-tailoring instead of making a TAC list, which is rarely useful.

Overall, I think these ladies shine in squads of Seekers. But if you’re going all-Slaanesh, then stick one in each of your Daemonette squads. I’d go with Beguilement or Grace, dependant on the unit type the Slearld’s accompanying, and the points you’re willing to spend on upgrades. At the very least, a Lesser Etherblade for AP2 is worth the few points.

Anecdote: A mess of Seekers charge a Suit team, after surviving a withering hail of fire on the turn I Outflanked. The Slerald declares a challenge, and massacres the Commander in a glorious flurry of blows. Iridium Armour can’t stop an Etherblade! (Also, moving through a forest the turn I came on is what taught me about the goodness of the Locus of Grace!)

Daemon Princes

I’ll review Princes here, and refer you up to this place in the Heavy Support section. I used to be all about the Princes. But with the changes to FMCs in 7e, they became seriously less-good. I used to love a Tzeentch list, but now I'm beginning to be drawn to Nurgle. If only I didn't have to take a GUO to unlock these as Heavy....

Now, there are five routes to go with your Prince(s): Khorne, Tzeentch, Nurgle, Slaanesh, and Be'lakor. There are various special rules that benefit each, depending on your strategy.

Khorne gets Furious Charge, and can potentially get Rampage and/or Instant Death. S7 on the charge, with +D3 attacks (since a single-model unit will usually be outnumbered) isn't bad...but other Daemons can do this same thing better. Khorne cannot take psychic powers, which is a big problem.

Nurgle gets Shrouding; if there are ruins on the field, that makes your cover save BETTER than your armour, and in area terrain will equal it! Nurgle really benefits from the Balesword, which, in addition to getting re-rollable Wounds on most things, also has ID against those pesky Dreadknights, Wraithknights/lords, and Characters. The biggest problem here is S&P: no Sweeps means the foe will flee combat in your turn without the DP having killed a unit, and then the Prince will die in the enemy turn to shooting. Rolling on Biomancy (for Endurance and Iron Arm) make this guy pretty survivable. And I8 with a Balesword means he becomes the ultimate anti-MC. It's a good buy, I think.

Slaanesh gives a better run, and Rending. While Rending might be useful if you don't want to Smash, it's mostly a waste on MCs, who are already AP2. The real benefit to taking Slaanesh is the Lash of Slaanesh which, when combined with Wings and Iron Arm, is the most powerful Skyfire weapon in the game (and also the most expensive!). Also with Fleet, you can use your Jump Pack in the move phase, and still get a charge re-roll; combined with the faster run and re-rolling run, Slaanesh is by far the fastest-moving DP.

Tzeentch gets to re-roll saves of 1, adding 5.5% to the pass rate of your 5++ (38.5%), and 11% to your 3+ (77%). Tzeentch also gives access to the Staff, which is +2STR for only 10pts, and causes EXPLOSIONS! The Psychic Phase nerf to Tzeentch's special rule, though, means you're paying 25pts for a bit of a better save; this is overpriced compared to what the other "Daemon of X" rules do.

Be'lakor, for being the oldest Daemon Prince, is--drolly--a fairly new addition to the game. Knowing all of Telepathy is very attractive, as is his Warlord trait, which helps him add WC to your pool. He's certainly not as tough as a Biomancy Prince, but his 4++ and Shroud means he won't die too soon. He's expensive, but used correctly he can kill a unit a turn. With Invisibility standard he doesn't ever need to Swoop, and can therefore bounce from combat to combat, starting on the bottom of T1 (if you go second and your opponent is dumb).

I'm sliding toward always taking Be'lakor. I really can't see why you would take Khorne, unless you're doing a themed army. Tzeentch has better strength with the Staff; all three others can access Biomancy; Nurgle and Tzeentch both have better rules; Slaanesh moves faster. All-in-all, skip Khorne DPs.

Anecdote: Perhaps the most embarrassing moment for my Prince was when he died in Overwatch to Grots :/ I needed to run his Troops off the table, and thought I could do it with a Prince who had a single wound. Unfortunately, that Grot was an expert marksman. Hilarious :) On the upside: Hammer and Anvil Deployment. 2000pts, me against an Ork/DA team with 1000pts each. While one of my Princes flew about harassing Rhinos and Lootas, the other one (who had both Warp Speed AND Iron Arm!!) killed five Nobs, a Tac Squad, and finally the Chapter Master and his retinue of Termies. I’ll say it again: WOW!

Troops

Daemonettes (The Girls)

If you're into Slaanesh, then 20 Daemonettes is a decent unit. They're cheaper than Seekers, which means you get more wounds for the same price (although less attacks). Take the Rapturous Standard, and there's a good chance that Marines will need 5's to hit back. Now, they're still STR3...but they're fast: move 6", Fleet-run D6+3, Fleet-charge. Small, short models also means it’s easy to keep them out of LoS.

I’ve recently been trying to decide between Plaguebearers, Girls, and Horrors, for objective campers in my list. Horrors being the only unit with guns is an obvious choice...but I also find that MY objective (that is, the objective in my own deployment zone) often gets assaulted. People like moving their assault units across the board, things DS/Outflank, yada yada—the enemy ends up in your deployment zone. And since Pink Horrors are terrible in combat, it’s down to the other two choices. I don’t consider Bloodletters because they are an offensive unit: ‘letters like charging. Both their Khorne rule and their standard support this idea. But for an objective camper, I want a unit that can GO TO GROUND without any real penalty. Plaguebearers don’t need to GTG, since they have Shrouding. But they also only have one attack. GIRLS, on the other hand, get 2 attacks base with Rending and WS5, even if they go to ground for that improved cover save! And if the enemy doesn't shoot at them, they can charge for 3 attacks, as compared to the ‘bearers’ two. Plaguebearers glance vehicles on 6+ (rusty swords), but Girls can rend on a 6+, and potentially pen! I think this makes them better against AV10-11, a teensy bit worse on AV12, and they can’t hurt AV13-14. But if high AV vehicles are in your deployment zone, you should have a better strategy than Troops to take care of these heavy-hitters. Girls are decent campers, and their speed also makes them good at moving from one TacObj to the next. Combine both these traits, and you have a pretty great TAC unit. Three units of 10 is cheap and can cover a variety of objectives.

Overall, I’m liking the Girls as my objective units. They are fast enough to get places if I change my mind about where I want them mid-game; they have a decent amount of attacks; they can Pen light vehicles. They do better against Xenos (being only STR3), but with the right support (ie. Enfeeble) they can do just as well against Marines. They work well as a support unit for my Tzeentch-heavy list; they’d do amazing things at a full complement, charging headlong across the board.

Anecdote: My Girls squad charges a full TAC Squad. They're Prescienced up, so are ready to go. I lose one to OW, but still have ~10 that get into combat. That's about 30 attacks. Girls hit first, and needing 3+ with re-rolls, do about 30 hits (I think they missed two). My opponent's face falls in dismay. Then I roll to wound...and get about 10 of those, right on average. My opponent makes his saves, and loses three Marines. He then attacks back, kills a mess of Girls, and I lose due to Daemonic Instability. We laugh about how worried he initially was. Waaa-waaaaah.

Horrors

My Horrors are a mix of blue and purple, so I rarely refer to them as "Pink." Whatever I call them, though, they're a solid Troop.

Bloodletters

Bloodletters are a situational unit. If you're facing Marines, they're a much better pick than Girls. DSing a unit of power weapons next to his Havo-stators forces a Marine to focus on the 'letters.

Elites

Flamers

Fast Attack

Screamers

Seekers

Heavy Support

Daemon Prince

See the HQ section for an analysis of the monstrous creature currently known as Prince.

Sample Army Lists

1000 points

2000 points

Categories: Chaos Daemons 40K Tactica