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I don't see many posts around here for smaller Daemon lists. Actually its kinda tough to find any good 1000point Daemon lists anywhere. So with that in mind I wanted to post up the one I am currently playing. I hope it can help any other new Daemon players as it is fairly simple and I am having some success with it...

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HQ

Bloodthrister + Blessing of the Blood God (275)

ELITES

3 x Flamers of Tzeentch (105)
3 x Flamers of Tzeentch (105)
3 x Flamers of Tzeentch (105)

TROOPS

5 x Bloodletters of Khorne (80)
5 x Bloodletters of Khorne (80)
5 x Bloodletters of Khorne (80)

FAST ATTACK

5 x Flesh Hounds of Khorne + Fury of Khorne (85)
5 x Flesh Hounds of Khorne + Fury of Khorne (85)

1000 exactly.

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Turn 1. Army Half I want to come in.

3 x Flamers of Tzeentch
3 x Flamers of Tzeentch
3 x Flamers of Tzeentch
5 x Flesh Hounds of Khorne + Fury of Khorne
5 x Flesh Hounds of Khorne + Fury of Khorne

Some notes about the list.

Flamers are used as suicide troops mainly. Dont be scared to drop them VERY close to the opponents troops. I play Daemons with a suicidal attitude and its the only way its worked for me (also its a lot of fun). Drop them first and kill a huge amount of the enemies troops. Hounds drop slightly behind them. With the huge threat range of the hounds they will be in cc by turn 2. Your opponent then has to kill the flamers or kill the hounds. If the Flamers survive the turn then great. Even if they are in cc it lets the hounds attack unscathed and Bloodletters to drop in close ready for a next turn cc. If the opponent kills the hounds then you punish them with another Flamer shooting phase. As your Bloodletters drop in nearby.

The small unit sizes are not by accident. I play against a few "shooty" armies. I use multiplicity of targets to split fire. I would rather they wipe out a 5 man squad than a ten man squad. By forcing the opponent to use his huge "shooty" monster/tank to use up all of its guns against 5 models lets me move the rest around and hopefully get into cc.

If you do not get the drop you want on turn 1 dont worry too much. Drop the troops on any objectives and go to ground if needed. Drop the Bloodthirster behind some cover but close to the enemy. Fly him over all cover next turn and cause mayhem, hopefully you will have some flamers in on turn 2 and you can start killing troops.

Daemons for me are a very fun army. If the dice gods like you then this army can be very powerful. If not then its still fun to play with as long as you don't take it all to seriously. Dropping 3 units of flamers and killing half the opponents army on turn 1 is something most people remember

To re-cap. Flamers drop close, kill and hope to survive. Hounds drop further out ready for a turn two cc. After that drop the Bloodletters close to any engaged models and the Bloodthrister where you see fit. With his huge threat range he will be a fearsome killing machine. (dont forget the hounds and Bloodthrister have a 2+ inv save against any wounds cause by psychic powers).

That's it. Hope this helped someone.

Hmm if i were to use that list i would switch the BT to come down the same time as the flamers, he will also drop down and has 18 inch charge range. Plus my guess is that the opponent will actually not target him with everything as they have just experienced 9 flame templates. Also it may just be me, but i would rather switch out the hounds for more Bloodletters, a decent DP, 5 Horrors w/bolt, or my personal favorite, 2 Khorne Heralds on a chariot.

1st drop can be 3 flamers and a BT, along with one chariot. The BT probably wont be shot to hell because they will have experienced 9 templates and will probably be devoting their forces to killing the flamers, also you have 18 inch range, and your chariot is no slouch in combat (mini DP) and should be dropped slightly closer to get into combat in turn 2 or 3. Bloodletters on objectives and other chariot near the fight.

How do you deal with mech armies out of curiosity. Flamers don't do nearly as well when they can only glance Rhinos.

I actually really like that take on the list. Very nice idea about dropping the Bloodthirster with the Flamers. I also have 2 chariots made up which I could use instead of the "dogs". Thanks for the ideas. Like I said this is just to help out new Demons players (like me).

Regarding Mechanised armies. I really don't face many in 1000 points due to the circuit I play in. But Flamers can glance anything (not just rhinos) so that's always an option. Apart from that its really just the Thirster and the fact that my Flesh Hounds have a chance to rend up to a max AV 14 (on the charge). Although the rending is very unlikely.

For more anti tank you could put bolt on the flamers but its just not worth the points in my games.

Rhinos are just an example, actually you are better off against the LRs (there are less of them) and if you stun/immobilize it (which you should) you can kill it off pretty easily with 6 s9 hits with 2d6 penetration.

I was asking because i too have difficulties against all mech lists, especially eldar. I use Bloodthirsters to try to catch and kill them but if they have 3-4 fast vehicles that can move 12 and still shoot i have a difficult time.

Yeah, I see what you mean. I run a small 1000point Mech Eldar army as well. Catching fast skimmers is really the job of Screamers I would think, but I just cant justify using them at this level of points.

Things I have used in the past to do this job (apart from the Thirster and Flamers) are:

Tzeentch Herald on chariot with Bolt. Dependable Str 8 shot can ruin a rhinos day. Also very mobile and has 5 wounds with a 4+ inv. Plus its reasonably cheap. 4 of these would be my first choice against rhino or serpent spam.

I have also used Slaanesh Fiends. They are fast, rend and have a unit of 5 enough attacks to get through. They can put hurt on most things. I just prefer maxing out flamers right now.


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Been thinking about your idea of replacing the hounds. I would love to replace them with 2 Heralds on Chariots to see how they do.

What would you give the Heralds though?

I mean removing both hounds only gives me 170 points. Not sure if I can get much for that even with Heralds being really cheap. I don't have the codex to hand as i'm in work.

Fiends do work and I do like them, but right now i have been using an MC heavy 1500 point list. So far it has 4 wins and 1 draw so its not doing too bad.

Ah the good old tz herald, really i think the only two good heralds are tz and khorne. Put them on chariots and let them go to town.

An all tzeentch army can be pretty good at 1000 points,

4 Heralds of Tzeentch on chariots w/ Bolt, Master of Sorcery @100 each so 400
3x5 Horrors with Bolt @95 each so 285
3x3 Flamers @105 each 315
1000

Flamers do what flamers do, Heralds can take out tanks and MEQs, horrors can take out 4+ save and tanks. Also can shoot at MEQs.

One thing about this list is that cover is not much of an advantage (4+ inv) so put objectives in the open which can be funny as people have to stay out of cover to hold the objective and are ripe for shooting.

Nice I'm saving that one to try out in the future. Love the shooting power of it and its a nice change from having to get into cc all the time!

I edited my last post. Not sure if you read it.

Just wondering what you would put on your Khorne Heralds apart from the chariots? I have never used them at all. Plus how much would they cost? If I remove the hounds I have 170 points to play with.

Thanks for the help.

well that was why i suggested khorne heralds on chariots is because they come out to 85 points a piece (with no other upgrades) it gives you 4 attacks at s5, I5, ws6 base and with furious charge your doing well.
I would normally suggest unholy might at 15 points, allows you to glance dreads after round 1, and have a decent chance against most tanks except LRs and Monoliths. Blessing for 5 is sometimes worth it, depends on how much psychic users you have going around, here i dont have many, or they are all using support spells like doom or the re-roll inv saves one. Fury can be useful, being able to kill monoliths/raiders and penetrating Dreads, but i usually dont take it when i use them (although having run into more and more dreads i might have to, but thats why I have 2 Bloodthirsers right now)

My usual set up is simply herald chariot, unholy might 100.

But since you had 170 left i would just do 85 point cheap ones. They dont die easily (the same as a Daemon Prince with Iron Hide) and will definitely have your opponent worry, plus i think it fits your MSU style.

I'd suggest not taking the Flesh hounds. They just.... kind of suck. I can't put it any better. They're fast attack that isn't fast.

crazypsyko666 wrote:I'd suggest not taking the Flesh hounds. They just.... kind of suck. I can't put it any better. They're fast attack that isn't fast.

I appreciate you posting mate, but I don't think you are using the hounds right if you think they suck.

In a Khorne (theme) army they are a great choice. Cheap, furious charging at Str 5, 3 attacks, 2+ inv save against psychic wounds and they are beasts. This means they move 6", fleet, and charge 12". I don't see how you can say that Flesh Hounds are not fast. A 18+ inch threat range is pretty fast in my book.

Their job in my list is not to be an uber killy unit. They simply assault and hold a unit in cc until the Boodletters get there. Their huge threat range means they will get into cc unless your opponent shoots them. And if your opponent is shooting the hounds then the Flamers will punish him for not killing them.

Best to read my first post. I have included the tactics for the army in that.

This army needs soul grinders. In my personal experience they always succeed. I like to take 3 of them with Phlegm, along with the masque, to form my first wave. The masque pavanes units closer together, and the grinders blow the absolute bejeezus out of them. From there, the army varies according to my mood, and the whim of the dark gods (rolling dice to pick units is fun.)

A 3 Soulgrinder army with the Masque at 1000points would be fun, I agree.

If you include enough units to get all 3 grinders plus the masque down on turn 1, I can imagine the carnage.

I have used Grinders before and I have had mixed results. You really need to use more than 1 to get the benefit. So 3 is a good idea. The reason I don't use 3 is that they cost so much and I can't bring myself to part with the cash.

I am happy with the original list and I hope new Daemon players try it out. The only thing I might consider changing so far is the hounds for 2 Khorne Heralds on Chariots. Grinders really don't have a place in the army as it stands. A 3 Grinder army is a whole other ball game (and other list).

Out of curiosity what else would you have in your 3 Grinder + Masque list?

I hear what you're saying about Hounds, but I'm not conviced. They're nifty in larger games where you can drop a huge pack of them amidst the MSU tactics you're looking at, but all in all they're pretty splashy.

Arctik_Firangi wrote:I hear what you're saying about Hounds, but I'm not conviced. They're nifty in larger games where you can drop a huge pack of them amidst the MSU tactics you're looking at, but all in all they're pretty splashy.

That's totally fine mate. I was very sceptical about using them as well. I enjoy them each having 3 Str 5 Attacks on the charge and 1 model also rending, but really that's not why I use them. They are simply there cause they tie up units quickly and they only survive due to my opponent shooting my Flamers instead of targeting the "crappy" hounds

But I would maybe use Seekers for this task instead, or even take nurglings and drop them closer to the enemy. Lots of Daemon units can be used to tie up things till your Bloodletters, Heralds or Bloodthrister can assault into cc. I just choose hounds as its a Khorne / Tzeentch list.

To anyone who's not used them I would recommend giving them a try. Just make sure that when they come down, your opponent has other higher priority targets on the board. They will not survive long to ranged fire. But then again what does in the Daemon army. :p

Daemon_Dave wrote:

crazypsyko666 wrote:I'd suggest not taking the Flesh hounds. They just.... kind of suck. I can't put it any better. They're fast attack that isn't fast.

I appreciate you posting mate, but I don't think you are using the hounds right if you think they suck.

In a Khorne (theme) army they are a great choice. Cheap, furious charging at Str 5, 3 attacks, 2+ inv save against psychic wounds and they are beasts. This means they move 6", fleet, and charge 12". I don't see how you can say that Flesh Hounds are not fast. A 18+ inch threat range is pretty fast in my book.

Their job in my list is not to be an uber killy unit. They simply assault and hold a unit in cc until the Boodletters get there. Their huge threat range means they will get into cc unless your opponent shoots them. And if your opponent is shooting the hounds then the Flamers will punish him for not killing them.

Best to read my first post. I have included the tactics for the army in that.

I really shouldn't post before I go to sleep.... Yeah. I agree. Therefore I revoke my statement.

well yes for a khorne army hounds are great they do a lot of damage too they arent just for tiening people up hahah

If I were playing against you in an objective based mission I would kill all the Bloodletters so you can't hold any objectives. 3 squads of 5 each is very thin.

G

Green Blow Fly wrote:If I were playing against you in an objective based mission I would kill all the Bloodletters so you can't hold any objectives. 3 squads of 5 each is very thin.

G

Of course you would. That would be a good tactical plan. I would be doing exactly the same thing to your troops with my Flamers.
Trick is that I would be placing them as far away from your nasty things as possible.

Seriously though, at 1000 points I don't think I'm that light on troops. Sure I could have more and possibly leaving out the hounds would give me that option but as it stands I have had no problems. It all depends what army I'm against I suppose. As the only Daemon player in my group I have no worries so far.

Thanks for the post though

the point of having daemons is that they will be in reserves, so at worst they come in round two, after you have experienced the loss of a few squads. At the same time though i agree that is what i would try to do as well.

Now if the gods disagree with you... well you are going to have a tough game

Yeah, when the Gods don't like me the game is tough.

What lists are you guys using at 1000 points? I know tiekwando posted a Tzeentch list but I would love to see as many 1000 point lists as possible for Daemons.

Go, on. Share with the group

Hmm i usually play 1500, but i have played a few games with the following list

BT, unholy might 270
5 Horrors Changeling 90
5 Horrors, bolt 95
5 Horrors Bolt 95
3 DPs, MoN, Iron Hide, Noxious Touch

Wave one is all the Monsters, wave 2 is all the horrors, and again pray the gods agree. Otherwise horrors go in a corner and hide and you wait for reinforcements. Works ok, a bit slow against fast vehicles, although the horrors can get lucky and take them out, changeling is just for sheer fun factor (i made an IG veteran squad with 3x melta fire at a lemun russ 6 inches away.

Shares the same problem, horrors are easily dealt with if the enemy is give the opportunity, but my MCs can tie up most units and come out on top.

Nice. I have wanted to try a Demonzilla list at 1000 points. I will give this a try

The DP's will have to get dropped near the enemy which means they will take some punishment the turn they come down. They are toughness 6, 3+ save and 4 wounds though. Plus the Thirster is a huge threat on its own.

I have a friend who plays Nids with lots of MC's. Those DP's would ruin his day if I can get them into cc. Noxious Touch is excellent.

Thanks for that

Yep i drop them pretty close, i tend to be very aggressive with my daemons and so far it has worked out. And yeah if your opponent's units can all draw a bead on a single DP then you are going to loose one. Maybe even the blood thirster (though i try to drop him so they can either move and rapid fire, or stand and shoot their heavy weapon).

Watch out for autocannons, they are one of the best anti BT weapon out there. Plasma guns are great as well.

My order of things i dont want to face are:
1)autocannons/assault cannons - long enough range and enough shots at high strength to cause a few wounds which i then have to save. I group them together only because if you play against Guard you will see one, and against marines the other.
2)plasma guns - again high s and low ap means my DPs are saving on 5s, and BTs on 4s
3)Missile Launchers- ignores my armor and can launch frag missiles at my horrors
4)Heavy Bolters - Enough shots to cause some wounds and can kill my horrors
5)MM,Meltaguns, Lascannons, etc. High strength and ap1 are really limited as they dont do any better than a missile launcher, which is usually the same price, and they cannot launch Frags. These will shoot your DPs, and if they hit they have a good chance of causing an unsaved wound, but only 1. If you are using nurgle this is no longer the case and these should be targeted instead of missile launchers

This can of course be generalized, but the essence is that multishot high strength heavy weapons need to be neutralized early, not only because they can hurt the BTs and DPs but also because they can turn to killing our horrors when they arrive.

*edit you can probably improve my list by switching out some horrors for plague bearers, and using the extra points to add some additional horrors to the remaining squad. Something like 2x5 plague and 7 man horror with bolt.

Thanks for the tips.

My biggest fear in my gaming group is a winged hive tyrant with 2x twin-linked devourers.
They fire 12 shouts that re-roll hits and re-roll wounds. One round of shooting has seen it easily kill a greater Daemon.

My mate runs 2 tyrants in his list. Both armed like that. 1 winged, 1 walking. Real pain.

12 shots hitting 8 out of 9 times and wounding 5 out of nine times. Yep that would be difficult. Along with two dakka fexs that is a tough one to beat. Should cause 2 wounds at either the DPs or the BT, but with that many shots, good rolling on his part could easily see 4 wounds. Of course if your BT survives he can nearly kill a tyrant on his own if he charges. A daemon prince will also have a good chance of winning in the end, unless there are implant attacks and +1 I, where things get dicey.

(BTW that fits into the lots of high strength shooting as something to try to nuetralize )

you must remember his hive tyrant doesnt have an invu save those are one of the things you drop your flamers beside a squad of flamers would probably take out 1-2 wounds after shooting. then your other squad just has to be near enough so that even if he moves next turn you can still move and shoot him. i think he'll target the flamers before the DP's mainly because he is playing nids and templates can kill more in 1 turn then a MC. you'll be hoping he targets your mc's before the flamers

It always seems to hit about 11 out of 12 in the end. With 3+ to hit, and re-rolling misses. Normally only 1 or 2 miss much to my terror.

After that its the fact that living ammo re-rolls wounds as well that really ruins my day. But you are right, a bloodthirster will kill the tyrant in cc. Even a Nurgle Prince will give it a good try.

I would love to drop my flamers right next to it but in the Demonzilla list posted above there are no flamers. I still have to play my friend with my 1000 point list in the first post so I can let you know how it goes.

Also one or both of his Tyrants has a 2+ save and 5 or 6+ invulnerable. I think its a 6+ invulnerable. I know its not likely that he will save any MC wounds though.

I have found flamers to be decent against them, causes a wound or two, but that is pretty much all you can get, of course with your list you have a chance of killing it as long as they all land somewhat close. Just watch out for the return fire.

My biggest fear for your list is kp missions, as it will not be too difficult to wipe out a few cheap units and get the win, even with the game going against your opponent. Of course with even decent luck on the flamers, and good positioning they can make or break a 1000 point list.

KP missions will be interesting. It all depends if I get the drop I want and how much the flamers can wipe out on turn 1, like you said.

That's one of the things I like about Daemons. The randomness of the army comes into play right from the start. Its always entertaining, you just have to learn not to take it all seriously.

Your list does not have enough of the units needed to shield the Bloodletters. As it stands now only the BT can do that but it's not enough. Even if your Bloodletters go to ground in cover it won't take much shooting to drop a squad with focused fire. Maybe one can survive if it comes in late and you go second. If you are going to keep the flesh hounds I would take one squad of ten.

G