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So I am thinking of some heavy cavalry for my daemon allies army with CSM. While my list is still in its early stages, I am left with a choice between these two units Bloodcrushers and Plague drones as a heavy cavalry unit. I call it Apples vs Oranges because they are quite similar in some ways, but different in others. Both are fast and can carry icons to let you drop your units without much scatter. They both are quite effective in melee, but in different ways and this is where they are different. Bloodcrushers seem to be amazingly strong with furious charge and AP3 weapons. Plus I am probably gonna give them karanak to grant them scout and the rage rule meaning that each bloodcrusher on the charge get 5 attacks at S6 and AP3, plus they are WS5 and I4. To me that is the most beautiful statline, its like music to my ears However, they are still T4 and only have the normally 5++ save meaning they can die pretty easily, especially to missile launcher that instant kill them. Heck, even bolters can chew through them pretty quickly.

On the hand, you got Plague Drones which are T5 meaning only demolisher cannons and railguns can instant kill them and they are overall more resilient. SInce they have the MoN too, they get the shrouded special rule, however since they have to take a dangerous terrain check to move into cover. They still have 3 wounds like bloodcrushers so its probably safe to move them into terrain, but its still not ideal. They also have poisoned weapons which is nice and at S4 it means they can re-roll their wounds against most marines. On the downside, they are I2 and WS3 meaning they aren't as likely to hit as bloodcrushers and will generally strike last. Unlike Bloodcrushers, Plague Drones also lack the ability for heralds or special characters to join them, really it seems like an oversight that GW didn't let HoN ride a plague drone, whereas HoK can ride a bloodcrusher. Compared to bloodcrushers as well, they have several options available to them such as making one attack have Instant Death or giving them poison (3+) or the Death's Head ranged weapons, at 12" assault 2 and poisoned (4+), not bad. Ultimately, I'm not trying to debate which upgrade is the best, but whether access to these upgrades make them better than bloodcrushers.

So what do you guys think? Bloodcrushers or Plague Drone? the daemons riding the mechanical bulls or the daemons riding the fat flies? Let me know what you think.

Crushers are better, especially since you can grimoire and forewarning them for a trololo 2++.

Blight Drones are slow and purposeful so they can't sweep, which is terrible for any supposed assault unit.

True, Forewarning would be good on them. I was planing on having a Lord of Change, but then again plague drones can get the 2++ too. I dunno, I will agree that crushers are much better in assault. I'm just afraid they die too easily.

Either way both models look cool and I would be happy to paint either.

why not take both as crushers are elites while droes are fast attack

I'd take neither and go with fleshhounds (you get about 3x as many for the cost, and they have 2 wounds each, scout moves, anti-psyker collars, more attacks per point, more survivable per point.) oor beasts of nurgle, which are like plague drones on steroids (Really, don't know what GW were doing, making new drones worse than beasts.)

well the op did say they want to make a calvary list if i made a list for daemons it would include a both fleshhounds and crushers and a herald for each unit

Yeah, my list is still in it infancy stages, but I do want to include flesh hounds as well. They are amazing for their points. Beasts of Nurgle aren't bad. They are very tough with 4 wounds and the It Will Not Die rule, but they're also 52 points a pop. Its not they aren't worth it, but its still a significant point sink since I feel like I would want a unit of three.

But yes, overall I want a cavalry army, or just in general fast units. I know the monster mash lists with two GD and three demon princes are popular right now, but style-wise I prefer the quick units. I was also considering Seekers of Slaanesh, but since I dont really want to use daemonettes that much (more because I dont like the look of the models) I'm just sticking with plaguebearers and bloodletters which if I need a unit with an Icon to help them drop in behind enemy lines it would make sense to go with a nurgle or khorne icon carrier, thus the choice between plague drones and bloodcrushers.

I like the drones better.

- much more resilient

- deliver GUO and PB's by icon

- faster

- provide valuable auto-glances (on 6's) against heavy armor

Wyrdeone wrote:
I like the drones better.

- much more resilient

- deliver GUO and PB's by icon

- faster

- provide valuable auto-glances (on 6's) against heavy armor

They can't sweep, which is crippling for any assault unit.

I guess I kinda like the idea of taking both, but considering both are small elite units (i.e. could get destroyed in one turn with some bad roles) it might be bad to have both units. What do you guys think? I've never played daemons before so the frailty of many of the units worry me, but since my other two armies are Thousand Sons and IG I wanted something vastly different.

If you're going to use small units, Blight Drones are better because they're more survivable. If you're going for a cavalry unit, the bigger the better, i.e. 10 Bloodcrushers.

The only thing I would use Drones for is as a fast icon/tarpit. They are perfect for that role, but not much else. However, as that is exactly the role you're looking to fill, I would recommend them over Crushers.

Crushers need more numbers (4 minimum) and support. Ie Herald, Grimoire, Divi buffs in order to operate and at that point you're basically building a list around them. It could work, but I'm not sure it's ideal.

Take 3 Drones, keep them cheap. Really, just an icon and mayyybe an etherblade so they have a chance at actually killing something.

Well, to be honest, I was thinking if I took the Plague drones, I would probably just do 3 as a tough icon-bearer unit. Although I think I would still give them the rot proboscis for 3+ poison which against any T4 gets a reroll, for 15 points I think that's worth it since its basically like +1S.

Anyway, I've made a list that includes both. I really wanted to include flesh hounds too, but I couldn't find the points. I was wondering if you could give me any constructive criticism.

http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/528377.page

Plague Drones are useful mainly because of the Icon of Chaos they can carry. Being able to move 12" + Run and then be a stable beacon deep in enemy territory is what makes them interesting to me.

cowmonaut wrote:
Plague Drones are useful mainly because of the Icon of Chaos they can carry. Being able to move 12" + Run and then be a stable beacon deep in enemy territory is what makes them interesting to me.

They can't run, they're slow and purposeful. They can assault move 2d6", however.

I've used


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I have had good experiences with the drones

I use them as a tough to kill icon bearers, which upon completing that task either hunt vehicles with their 12" +2d6" movement with auto glance on 6's or they get into terrain on the opponents side to take line breaker if I need the point. With shrouding, t5,w3 you can't reliably shoot them out of terrain, and assaulting them lead to prolonged combats. They can be quite annoying.