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Hi folks, havent played 40k in about 6 years I think, I believe I was playing 3rd edition then, so have never touched 4th edition.

Currently, wanting to make a Chaos Deamon army, so I can actually have an army for 40k and fantasy, and then if I want to work on any other armies, i can take my time, since I have an army for both.

Kind of waiting for 5th ed rules to come out, but would like to start grabbing minis and getting to work.

For those who have played the daemons so far, anything I should steer clear of?

With not playing the game for awhile, kind of not sure whats good to go with and whats not.

As far as the build of the army goes. I would like elements of all 4 chaos gods in the army, due to, well also using the minis from this army, for our Dark Heresy game. But leaning more towards Khorne and Nurgle for the main part.

I would throw out a list, but well, right now, most of this is looking like greek to me, since I dont have a 4th ed rule book, since I know 5th is coming out soon.

Thanks for any help.

Ok, have worked out a rough army, like I said, havent played in awhile, so not even sure how well this army will play. I kind of think it is kind of hodge podge. Any advise would be great.

Have made it 1750pts, just for GT schemes.

HQ BloodThirster 295
deathstrike
blessing of the bloodgod
unholy might

HQ Epidemius 110

HQ Herald of Khorne 130
juggernaut
deathstrike
fury of khorne

Elite Flamers of Tzeentch (3) 135
bolt of Tzeentch

Elite Bloodcrushers of Khorne (3) 155
fury of khorne
Chaos Icon

Elite Beasts of Nurgle (3) 115
Noxious Touch

Troops Bloodletters of Khorne (10) 200
fury of khorne
chaos icon
instrument of chaos

Troops Nurglings (6) (2 groups) 78

Troops Plaguebearers of Nurgle (5) 115
noxious touch
chaos icon
instrument of chaos

Troops Pink Horrors of Tzeentch (5) 125
changling
bolt of tzeentch
chaos icon

Fast Attack Screamers of Tzeentch (3) 48
Fast Attack Screamers of Tzeentch (3) 48

Heavy Support Daemon Prince of Nurgle 195
Iron Hide
Unholy Might
Mark of Nurgle
Cloud of Flies
Noxious Touch
Auro of Decay

Comes out to 1749. Thanks for any help.

Hmmmm. I'm not sure you have enough solid Nurgle damage-dealers to make Epidemius worth taking, nor enough to benefit from his boosts even if enough damage is caused. I think the choices you have are perfectly fine ones, just maybe drop Epidemius himself and go for something else.

If you're going with a herald on a jugger, why not just take Skulltaker? His 4+ rending is a real good buy, and the juggernaught makes him even tougher than he already is.

Is fury of khorne the rending ability? It's really a waste on Bloodcrushers. Aside from tanks, there's nothing in the game your S5 won't wound on a 6 anyway, and you have power weapons. So auto-wounding a wraithlord and ignoring its save [rending] or just plain wounding it with a 6 roll and ignoring its save [cuz you're strong and have a power weapon] is about the same.

Beware flamers - cool as they are, when you deepstrike and shoot you can't hit your own models with flamer templates. Inevitably at LEAST two models will find themselves unable to fire due to the way deepstrike makes you arrange yourselves.

It's expensive as hell, but you may want to consider flight for your prince. They're just too easily avoided otherwise, really.

Bloodthirster:

Bloodthirsters already cost too much, even without buying upgrades for them. If you must get one, do so raw, or with just the 5 point upgrade. Unholy might, in particular, costs too much for something that is rarely used.

Epedemius:

You don't have enough nurgle-marked units that deal early wounds in your army to justify epi. I'd say ditch him and get a regular herald in a chariot. He really needs to be in the center of his own list.

Flamers:

This is a fine unit, but it isn't usually worth while to buy bolt for a flamer unit, it's more economical in a pink horror unit, and only slightly less accurate. You mostly want flamers using their Breathe of Chaos, rather than firing anything else.

Bloodcrushers:

This is a great unit, I'd drop the fury of Khorne, as they already have power weapons, but a 3 Bloodcrusher squad w/Icon is a fine unit.

Beasts of Nurgle:

These are really bad, they are basically each a pair of plaguebearers with d6 attacks instead of 2...but they can't carry an Icon and don't score. I'd drop these guys entirely and use the points elsewhere.

Bloodletters:

I'd say drop the fury of khorne, and the instrument, since you've got power weapons and you are unlikely to tie many combats, and I'd hand the Icon off to someone you'd prefer the enemy shoots at, rather than your most fragile/deadliest unit.

Nurglings:

Great unit

Plaguebearers:

I'd drop noxious touch, though with the little damage and high resilience it might be worth it to keep the instrument. I'd say these guys get to keep their Icon, as well, since they are suited to Icon bearing and not much else.

Pink Horrors:

Great unit, but I'd drop the Icon, as once again, you don't want the enemy firing on these guys.

Screamers:

I'd say go with either Flesh Hounds, or Seekers (preferably) for these slots/points. Screamers are one trick, while Seekers can also do anti-infantry work. Even Flesh Hounds do fine when they charge a vehicle in 5th.

Daemon Prince:

Man, you've got this guy way way too kitted down. Noxious Touch on a guy with s this guy is a bit too much, and aura of Decay is a bad power, period. Iron Hide is definitely necessary, but I think that the MoN (while good with Epi) is not necessary if you decide to drop him, and unholy might is, as ever, not worth that many points. Keep in mind that many times this guy is just going to land and get blasted. Points spent on making him more deadly in melee could go towards getting more stuff down.

I realize this doesn't average out to a coherent recomendation as to what type of list to play, just what I don't like about your proposal, so I'll list my rules of Daemon list creation.

1. HQ is 4 heralds on Chariots, Tzeentch w/Master of Sorcery, We Are Legion and Bolt of Tzeentch, Khorne w/no options, or Slaanesh w/hit and run are all acceptable. (In an Epi list it should be 3 Nurgle Heralds on Palanquins w/Breathe of Chaos).
2. Those 4 Herald chariots each get Icons.
3. All slots are filled with roughly 80-100 point units.
4. Troops may be Tzeentch or Khorne (or Nurgle, in an Epi list)
5. Elites may be Tzeentch or Khorne (or unfilled, in an Epi list)
6. Fast Attack may be Khorne or Slaanesh (or unfilled, in an Epi list)
7. Heavy Support may be Daemon Prince w/Iron Hide, Daemonic Gaze or Daemon Prince w/Mark of Tzeentch, Bolt of Tzeentch, or Soul Grinder with either shooty upgrade. (Or Mark of Nurgle, Breathe of Chaos in an Epi list)

Once you've run this thing straight down the line a few times, I encourage you to experiment, but I've found that the recommendations above give decently competitive lists.

Thanks

Yeah, was looking at Epidemius, and wondering if I should either take him out, or take other stuff out and add more Nurgle stuff.

This is a rough draft, just to throw a list out to work with. Still trying to see if I like the concept of the army yet, or if I even have one.

I hate doing armies that everyone else does, but not sure daemons have been out long enough to see if there is a preffered army.

Personally, I like Nurgle models, they are just twisted. Plus I like Khorne models. Tzeentch and Slannesh models, not so much.

But think I really need to have some Tzeentch units in the army, for some shooting capabilty, specially screamers.

Just trying to figure things out, before I go out and buy new models.

edit - since I was writing this at same time that 40kenthusiast was writing. What does Epi list mean? With coming back, not sure what it means, and isnt one of the abbreviations that shows up highlighted giving me options.

Thanks for the advise though, gives me some things to think about.

Epi list, meaning, a list which relies on Epidemius counting away to give it it's punch. That is, you buy a bunch of nurgly things that aren't ordinarily worth it, with the understanding that they'll benefit from his Count and become CC beasts.

Ah thanks, should of figured that out.

Also, a lot of the extra stuff I bought for various things, was just to see if I gave them everything how many points I would have left.

My other concern in the army, is if I have enough models. Doesnt seem like I have enough. Kind of seems like the daemon army is a half way between a horde type army and shooty. Am I thinking this right?

Thanks

Buddy, you are all over the board. You have to have some idea of what you are going to be doing. If you know you want to rip through units in assault then Bloodletters will work wonders. Shooting is really fun if you max out Horrors, and for down right speed, Daemonettes hit hard. Nurgle is always tough and can take amounts of fire most units cant.

If you are taking a Greater Daemon, you dont really need the extra wargear. The Bloodthirster is already tough at 250pts. If you want Might just for the S8, then that's fine. Heralds work better in pairs. It helps you not have to choose what HQ drops first.

I dont really know how Daemons play in Fantasy, but for 40k I have found units played in pairs work better. It helps when you split them up for the Daemonic Assault roll. Bloodcrushers are really tough, but wont really last long as they are a big target to players. 40pts per model makes alot of guys smile when they rapid fire at it with 10 marines. I dont like the Beast of Nurgle. Much too slow for my taste. I tend to lean towards the Fiends. They are fast, have 5 attacks with rending, and have Hit and Run.

This is kinda what I would aim for

Bloodthirster - 250pts (A)

Plaguebearers (10) - 175pts (A)
Icon

Plaguebearers (10) - 175pts (B)
Icon

Bloodletters (10) - 170pts (A)
Fury of Khorne

Bloodletters (10) - 170pts (B)
Fury of Khorne

Horrors (10) - 180pts (A)
Bolt of Change

Horrors (10) - 180pts (B)
Bolt of Change

Fiends (2) - 60pts (A)

Fiends (2) - 60pts (B)

Soul Grinder - 160pts (A)
Phlegm or Tongue

Soul Grinder - 160pts (B)
Phlegm or Tongue

Total - 1740pts
Hope this helps.

Ok, I keep going back to this, just cause well I love the Nurgle models a lot, and want as many as I can in the army.

Would I be completely nuts, and well pretty much gimped, if I had a mostly Nurgle army?

All nurgle with epidemus is quite powerful. It will take about 3 Nurgle DPs to get the tally up fast but it is definently dangerous. Nurglings with Epi really rocks. The only "bad" thing in a nurgle army is the beasts, imo they are the worst elite choice.

Also, 3 flamers can almost always flame.

As with all demon armies you will be dead to getting your prefered side in on the table in round 1, even more so with epidemus.

The list looks quite good.
However, I'd replace the Soul Grinders by Daemon Princes.
This gives the army three big nasty MCs.

Ok, here is my latest plan. Basically, its a Nurgle/Khorne army, since those are the models I like anyways. Total comes out to 1743, so can add a few things for more if needed.

Let me know what you think. I know it basically has zero shooters, but I like HTH anyways. I dont mind losing anyways, not if I have a nice army to look at while dieing. But I think if I can get to HTH, I should be able to rip into things.

Thanks for all the help so far.

Herald of Khorne
Juggernaught

Herald of Nurgle
Palaquin, Chaos Icon, Cloud of Flies
Unholy Might

Bloodcrushers of Khorne (5)

Bloodletters of Khorne (10)

Bloodletters of Khorne (10)

Plaguebearers of Nurgle (10)
Chaos Icon

Plaguebearers of Nurgle (10)
Chaos Icon

Nurglings (3)

Nurglings (3)

Flesh Hounds (5)

Daemon Prince of Nurgle
Mark, Iron Hide

Deamon Prince of Khorne
Mark, IronHide, Daemonic Flight

SoulGrinder (Nurgle)
Tongue and Phlegm

Forgot to add. basic plan, would be for my Nurgle Units to land first with the Chaos Icons and to provide cover. Basically all the units labeled Nurgle, comes out to about 858 points.

Next round, would be my Khorne units, comes out to about 810 points.

A Soul Grinder can be killed by a lucky shot.
Therefore, I'd replace him by another MC.
As you like Nurgle, why don't you take Papa Nurgle.
He's definitely hard to take down within 6 rounds.