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trying to put together a semi-competitive Skarbrand demon list seems like one of the toughest challenges of the demon codex. im keeping it at 1750 (GT size). Skar and 80 nettes runs 1420 barebones (no icons) which leaves just enough room for 2 grinders. while this looks nice on paper, bad scatters and one popped grinder early and your nettes are going to die, and fast. along with that, if skar dies, you have an even harder time pulling it out. so, that being said, id like to see what everyone thinks about building an effective list centered around Skarbrand. this is my take on a skarbrand list, id like to see some others.. this is more a discussion rather than posting a list and looking for feedback i put it in Army Lists instead of Tactics because well, its a list building discussion.

here we go....
Skarbrand [300]

16 Bloodletters [266]
Fury

18 Demonettes [277]
Icon

18 Demonettes [277]
Icon

10 Horrors [180]
Bolt

5 Horrors [95]
Bolt

5 Horrors [95]
Bolt

12 Seekers [209]
Trans. Gaze

3 Screamers [48]

[[1747]] total

in a list like this, dropping skar close and hoping he survives is paramount, you need to get him stuck in so he cant be shot, so he would be in the second wave. there is a serious lack of anti-tank, so the screamers are there for popping that stationary russ/vindicator etc.. i think a big unit of seekers (8 or more) will emerge as one of the better fast assault units in the game with thier 19-24" charge and horrendous ammount of attacks. combined with skar, there will be lots of rends out of them.

now for the letters/nettes. it has become clear that you will need large units in order to survive most enemies. horde orks just put out to many attacks to survive after the first turn of combat with a small unit and a shooty army will just tear through small units of 5+ save demons. the horrors are there to add a shooting element to the army because you are going to need to soften up some units before the letters/nettes charge in. str 4 ap 4 is a scary gun against alot of armies, and you are either going to have to eat some nasty shots, or recieve an assault from a big unit of demons that will more than likely do quite a bit of damage.

anyway, i am curious to see what you guys think, is a Skarbrand list viable? can it do well against the power builds? can it do well at all? or is it a lost cause?

I was considering a similar list, but I just can't help but think the Daemonettes are too fragile. Especially considering they won't be able to consolidate into combat anymore.

So then I considered running FateWeaver & Skarbrand, but even with re-rollable saves, they are still just T3.

Now I'm thinking maybe a shooty Tzeench list would be best.

If you want to run Skarbrand, you could run something like this but I don't think it'd be terribly effective as shooting down 5 MC is entirely possible within one turn.

1750 Pts - Chaos Daemons Roster

1 Skarbrand, The Exiled One @ 300 Pts
Unit Type: Monstrous Creature; DG: Instrument of Chaos; DG: Iron Hide; rDG: Breath of Chaos; S: Bellow of Endless Fury; S: Fleet; S: Furious Charge; S: Rage Embodied; S: Daemon; S: Fearless; S: Invulnerable!; S: Eternal Warriors

1 Bloodthirster @ 255 Pts
Unit Type: Monstrous Creature; DG: Daemonic Flight; DG: Iron Hide; DGK: Blessings of The Blood God; S: Furious Charge; S: Daemon; S: Fearless; S: Invulnerable!; S: Eternal Warriors

1 Daemon Prince of Chaos @ 245 Pts
Unit Type: Monstrous Creature; DG: Daemonic Flight; DG: Iron Hide; MC: Mark of Nurgle; DGN: Cloud of Flies; DGN: Noxious Touch; rDG: Breath of Chaos; S: Daemon; S: Fearless; S: Invulnerable!; S: Eternal Warriors

1 Daemon Prince of Chaos @ 245 Pts
Unit Type: Monstrous Creature; DG: Daemonic Flight; DG: Iron Hide; MC: Mark of Nurgle; DGN: Cloud of Flies; DGN: Noxious Touch; rDG: Breath of Chaos; S: Daemon; S: Fearless; S: Invulnerable!; S: Eternal Warriors

1 Daemon Prince of Chaos @ 245 Pts
Unit Type: Monstrous Creature; DG: Daemonic Flight; DG: Iron Hide; MC: Mark of Nurgle; DGN: Cloud of Flies; DGN: Noxious Touch; rDG: Breath of Chaos; S: Daemon; S: Fearless; S: Invulnerable!; S: Eternal Warriors

5 Pink Horrors of Tzeentch @ 120 Pts
Unit Type: Infantry; rDGT: Warpfire; rDGT: Bolt of Tzeentch (x1); DG: Chaos Icon (x1); S: Daemon; S: Fearless; S: Invulnerable!; S: Eternal Warriors

5 Pink Horrors of Tzeentch @ 120 Pts
Unit Type: Infantry; rDGT: Warpfire; rDGT: Bolt of Tzeentch (x1); DG: Chaos Icon (x1); S: Daemon; S: Fearless; S: Invulnerable!; S: Eternal Warriors

5 Pink Horrors of Tzeentch @ 120 Pts
Unit Type: Infantry; rDGT: Warpfire; rDGT: Bolt of Tzeentch (x1); DG: Chaos Icon (x1); S: Daemon; S: Fearless; S: Invulnerable!; S: Eternal Warriors

3 Screamers of Tzeentch @ 48 Pts
Unit Type: Jetbike; S: Turbo Boosters; S: Warp Jaws; S: Daemon; S: Melta Bombs; S: Fearless; S: Invulnerable!; S: Eternal Warriors

3 Screamers of Tzeentch @ 48 Pts
Unit Type: Jetbike; S: Turbo Boosters; S: Warp Jaws; S: Daemon; S: Melta Bombs; S: Fearless; S: Invulnerable!; S: Eternal Warriors

Total Roster Cost: 1746

However while big MC seem to be all the rage...this is what I'd run if I was you.

Skarbrand + Beasts to guard Epidemius + Skulltaker and Bloodcrushers....gives a 'Everything is T5' army.

The Khorne units will let you deal with the enemies CC units while you try to run the tally up.

Khorne also lets you deal with vehicles, which Nurgle can't....and Skarbrand will let Epidemius get his tally count up quickly, and so you'll take a few more hits.

You're still T5, and there's alot of FNP running around.

I think the beasts unit is quite amusing as a bodyguard for Epidemius...who wants to charge that? They aren't very good but x7 probably let's you punish people in a nasty way. lol

1750 Pts - Chaos Daemons Roster - Khorne's Tallyman

1 Skarbrand, The Exiled One @ 300 Pts
Unit Type: Monstrous Creature; DG: Instrument of Chaos; DG: Iron Hide; rDG: Breath of Chaos; S: Bellow of Endless Fury; S: Fleet; S: Furious Charge; S: Rage Embodied; S: Daemon; S: Fearless; S: Invulnerable!; S: Eternal Warriors

1 Epidemius @ 110 Pts
Unit Type: Infantry; S: Independent Character; DGN: Cloud of Flies; DGN: Plaguesword; rDGN: Aura of Decay; DGN: Noxious Touch; S: Feel no Pain; S: Slow & Purposeful; S: The Tally of Pestilence; S: Daemon; S: Fearless; S: Invulnerable!; S: Eternal Warriors

1 Skulltaker @ 175 Pts
Unit Type: Infantry; S: Independent Character; DG: Iron Hide; DGK: Blessings of The Blood God; DGK: Fury of Khorne; DGK: Hellblade; sW: Rending; sW: Power Weapon; DS: Juggernaut of Khorne; S: Furious Charge; S: Skulls for the Skull Throne!; S: Daemon; S: Fearless; S: Invulnerable!; S: Eternal Warriors

12 Plaguebearers of Nurgle @ 180 Pts
Unit Type: Infantry; DGN: Plaguesword; S: Feel no Pain; S: Slow & Purposeful; S: Daemon; S: Fearless; S: Invulnerable!; S: Eternal Warriors

12 Plaguebearers of Nurgle @ 180 Pts
Unit Type: Infantry; DGN: Plaguesword; S: Feel no Pain; S: Slow & Purposeful; S: Daemon; S: Fearless; S: Invulnerable!; S: Eternal Warriors

12 Plaguebearers of Nurgle @ 180 Pts
Unit Type: Infantry; DGN: Plaguesword; S: Feel no Pain; S: Slow & Purposeful; S: Daemon; S: Fearless; S: Invulnerable!; S: Eternal Warriors

12 Plaguebearers of Nurgle @ 180 Pts
Unit Type: Infantry; DGN: Plaguesword; S: Feel no Pain; S: Slow & Purposeful; S: Daemon; S: Fearless; S: Invulnerable!; S: Eternal Warriors

7 Beasts of Nurgle @ 245 Pts
Unit Type: Infantry; S: Feel no Pain; S: Random Attacks; S: Slow & Purposeful; S: Daemon; S: Fearless; S: Invulnerable!; S: Eternal Warriors

5 Bloodcrushers of Khorne @ 200 Pts
Unit Type: Infantry; DG: Iron Hide; DGK: Hellblade; sW: Power Weapon; S: Furious Charge; S: Daemon; S: Fearless; S: Invulnerable!; S: Eternal Warriors

Total Roster Cost: 1750

wow i totally overlooked the potential of a Skarbrand/Tallyman list. hrmmm

on paper skar would be a hugee boost to the nurgle killy power.. which is crap. but now they might actually be decent.

the only problem is Skar is going to go down realll quick if you cant get him stuck in and stay stuck in so he doesnt bite it to shooting.

Correct.

That's what Skulltaker + Bloodcrushers are for.

Throw them in to as many units as possible in conjunction with the beasts of nurgle and have a pleasant day.

IMHO, its a bad idea to run Skarbrand with nurgle units. You're guaranteed to go last in CC, which means your opponent will be getting more benefit from Skarbrand than you will.

Stelek's lists are brilliant.
But Skarbrand is not a must have, a Bloodthirster might serve you equally well.

I ran Skarbrand in a pure khorne game on Friday. It was against 1k Sons so pretty one-sided :S but still a good time. I dropped 48 bloodletters in the first wave and Skar didn't show until Turn 3, so in reality the turns were his rerolls would have been most useful were wasted (and not needed anyway).

In fact there was a point that my letters assaulted 10 lesser demons in cover and, without frags, that meant his demons got to reroll against me, whipping out the 8 or so demons that charged in. Could have done without that. So while Skar's rerolls are cool in theory, I think I'd rather run a normal 270 point S8 thirster in his place, particularly against things like genestealers and anything with I5 or higher.

- Salvage

Well a regular BT is just fine, someone wanted to run skarbrand. The tallyman combo at least gives you a reason to run him.

Skarbrand + khorne units = even more ghost models vaporized...kinda pointless, yes?

Giving you more attacks with nurgle at least gives you a chance to get the tally up to the point where nurgle units become very dangerous in CC.

I ran a Skarbrand + all Slaanesh list this weekend and it demolished a DH + WH list. It might've been the most lop-sided victory I've ever witnessed.

All it took was one HoS on a chariot to come around the corner and it was all over.

And you were playing 4th edition?

Correct.

We played with mostly city buildings, so I don't think the 5th LOS rules would have changed much.

However, I was able to chain CC once, so that would have changed the outcome some. Unfortunately, I was not able to do that with Skarbrand so he died.

Demons are very good in 4E. Multiple assaults, multiple chains from said assaults. Their only weakness really is vehicles, and skimmers make them cry.

In 5E, vehicles aren't so bad for them but the loss of consolidate is a serious loss.

Yea, their great toughness, great saves, and low point cost will really come in handy after winning a combat!

Humor is good.