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As the title states, I'm desperate to shave points, and wondering how dumb it would be to drop a Meltagun from each unit of 7 Plague Marines, so they'd only have 1 per squad.

..... where to begin ...how many points are you playing? what does the rest of you're army have? what do you fight agains? and most importanly how do use them?

with out knowing that the best any one can say is If you're using them as an anti tank then you should keep both if you're just taking them because you can you could drop both

We would like to see your army list. Meltas are the best anti-tank guns in the game.

Ok. To elaborate, I was trying to squeeze a Greater Daemon into my 2K list, without sacrificing any models. Here's the before and after. You tell me if it's worth it.


Without Greater Daemon:

(HQ) Daemon Prince with Wings, Mark Of Nurgle, Nurgles Rot
(HQ) Daemon Prince with Wings, Mark Of Nurgle, Nurgles Rot

(Fast Attack) 7 Chaos Raptors with 2 Flamers inc Champion with Power Weapon & Meltabombs + Chaos Glory Icon

(Heavy) 3 Obliterators
(Heavy) 3 Obliterators

(Troop) 7 Plague Marines with 2 Melta Guns inc Champion with PowerFist & Rhino
(Troop) 7 Plague Marines with 2 Melta Guns inc Champion with PowerFist & Rhino
(Troop) 7 Plague Marines with 2 Melta Guns inc Champion with PowerFist & Rhino
(Troop) 7 Plague Marines with 2 Melta Guns inc Champion with PowerFist & Rhino


With Greater Daemon:

(HQ) Daemon Prince with Wings, Mark Of Nurgle
(HQ) Daemon Prince with Wings, Mark Of Nurgle

(Fast Attack) 7 Chaos Raptors with 2 Flamers inc Champion

(Summoned) Greater Daemon

(Heavy) 3 Obliterators
(Heavy) 3 Obliterators

(Troop) 7 Plague Marines with 1 Melta Gun inc Champion with PowerFist & Rhino
(Troop) 7 Plague Marines with 1 Melta Gun inc Champion with PowerFist & Rhino
(Troop) 7 Plague Marines with 1 Melta Gun inc Champion with PowerFist & Rhino
(Troop) 7 Plague Marines with 1 Melta Gun inc Champion with PowerFist & Rhino

Don't squeeze in the greater demon. He isn't any good. Leave him out. Break your Oblits into 3 squads of 2 instead of 2 squads of 3. You will be able to target more if you need to.

While I disagree with Typeline about whether the Greater Daemon is good (he's actually quite a steal at the price), your army isn't configured to take advantage of a Greater Daemon, since you only have a few expensive Champions.

You should only take Greater Daemons when you have lots of inexpensive champions, like Terminator Champions and Chaos Space Marine Champions, so you always have disposable champions on the board, preferably with a method of closing with the enemy as quickly as possible. Possessed are surprisingly good at this, when equipped with a Rhino.

You give up too much when you do so, as Nurgle's Rot is fantastic for clearing large numbers of troops and units, for when you face Imperial Guard, Tyranids, or even Orks, and you'll need the Melta Guns because you only have Obliterators for support and no Icon to land them with.

I generally find that one special weapon has about half the firepower that two would have.

Nurglitch wrote:While I disagree with Typeline about whether the Greater Daemon is good (he's actually quite a steal at the price), your army isn't configured to take advantage of a Greater Daemon, since you only have a few expensive Champions.

You should only take Greater Daemons when you have lots of inexpensive champions, like Terminator Champions and Chaos Space Marine Champions, so you always have disposable champions on the board, preferably with a method of closing with the enemy as quickly as possible. Possessed are surprisingly good at this, when equipped with a Rhino.

So you don't think the stripped down Raptor Champion with no wargear is a good trade? I know it's a big gamble, but it seems like chances are pretty good that reserves arrive by turn 3 and the Raptor squad could use cover to stay alive long enough to drop a GD deep in enemy territory. But I'm a total noob still stuck in the modeling stage.

Recluse:

No, because it means that the Raptors need to start the game on the board, because otherwise if the Greater Daemon arrives on the board in the second turn, there won't be a suitable host available.

And, as you foresee, keeping a small squad of Raptors alive in enemy territory is going to be tricky. Bikes are a better Daemon delivery system because they can move faster and they're more survivable (though considerably more expensive). Several small units of Raptors could work, but you don't have the points available.

Alright, thanks for the mentoring. I'll save my Greater Daemon dreams for higher point games. Though I'm really not into motorcycles ... how's infiltrating or outflanking Chosen for demon delivery?

A chosen champion infiltrating behind solid terrain is my preferred method of getting a GD into position. The champion can be naked, with the rest of the squad using the special weapons. Ideally, youll want an icon also in order to teleport terminators or something as support.