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Hello, this is a first attempt at a Daemon list. Let me know if this is a good start and how it could be improved. Right now I think I am at 1785 pts so have about 65 pts for additions/changes. Many thanks!

HQ
Fateweaver
Herald of Tzeentch (will be with the screamers, includes Exalted Reward, Disc and ML3)
Herald of Khorne (will be with the bloodcrushers, includes Exalted Reward, Locus of Wrath and Juggernaut)

Elites
Bloodcrushers x 4 (includes Icon)
Fiends x 6
Fiends x 6

Troops
Bloodletters x 10 (includes bloodreaper and Instrument)
Bloodletters x 10 (includes bloodreaper and Instrument)
Bloodletters x 10 (includes bloodreaper)
Pink Horrors x 10 (includes iridescent)

Fast
Screamers x 6

I dunno how much to comment (I'm starting out chaos too and got next to no help on this site) but here's my suggestion
You have no long ranged fire at all, which can be a problem when facing armies that like to move away from you Tau/Eldar
You also have, as far as i can see, nothing to deal with high armor 13/ 14. This also means you're going to have a struggle fighting high toughness models eg Wraithlords, Wraithknights, Great Unclean Ones ect.
You are also throwing about a third of your points in with your HQ (I always do that too but i try not too as it means you are top heavy...)
Also you have a lot of points invested in fiends of Slaanesh...

Of course i'm just as green to this army as you are but hey-ho, i'm just looking at it from a player point of view.

You have a LOT of close combat- 1400
Bloodcrushers, Fiends, Bloodletters, Screamers
Minimal shooting- 400
Fateweaver, Pink Horrors

I know daemons have a weakness in lack of shooting, but what shooting they do have is quite good.
So...
HQ
I find that Fateweaver might be a bit overrated. Yes he is VERY good. But he will be hunted down by anyone who knows anything about Chaos. eg Against a tough Tau army you'd be lucky for him to make it to turn 2. I personally think that that big a target could be a risky move for 300 points.
The herald of Tzeentch isn't on a disk so he will slow down the screamers a ton, and i personally think he doesn't need to be mastery level three. It's a lot of points for some risky psychic powers/feel no pain donations.
I don't really know too much about khorne stuff because i dislike him and do not plan to take anything of him in my army... But the herald seems okay

Elites
I think you have far too many fiends, one set of six is good, but two sets i think is a bit too much. Maybe swap out one set for a group of 10 Daemonettes with an instrument and an Alluress.
The bloodcrushers seem pretty good, but again i don't really know much about them.

Troops
I personally think you could shave off one set of bloodletters for a set of Daemonettes (I'm a Slaanesh lover xD) because i think Daemonettes would be much better against 2+ saves due to rending and double the attacks. 10 Bloodletters punch out 21 attacks on the charge and 10 Daemonettes punch out 31 attacks on the charge.
Maybe also consider a set of 20 Pink horrors for more shooting.

Fast
Screamers are okay, but i think Fleshhounds are the way to go here, because you can get more wounds, which makes them more of a tarpit/problem for opponents.

Heavy
Consider a soulgrinder for some long range, or maybe a skull cannon of khorne? I don't know much about that either.
But just get a bit of high strength shooting in there. Plus skyfire with the soulgrinder.
Maybe consider a flying prince too, because everyone raves about them so they must be quite good...

I hope i've helped somehow :3

2 squads of 4 Fiends will probably be enough; the extra points will be better-used in other ways.

Your Bloodletters need more models. 10 T3 models with a 5++ won't last against much. Having 15 in a unit makes them last long enough to get into assault.

Non-MC Daemon units are mediocre on their own; they HAVE to be buffed by Heralds do do much. But only your Screamers and 'crushers are getting buffs in this list.
The Screamers don't need that much--a PML1 Tzerald on a Disc to TL the unit is enough to kill a Rhino or two, or even some small TAC squads and will distract enemy shooting from other, more valuable units.
The 'crushers look like a solid unit. I assume you'll give the Grimoire to the Kherald, so they at least have a decent save.

The 'letters and Horrors won't do a whole lot without Heralds to buff them.
Consider two squads of 15 'etters (since you'll have the Portalglyph if you need more troops).
Put in 6 more Horrors, to get 4D6 shooting. Put in a Tzerald with Locus of Conjuration, and PML2. This will give the unit 6D6 Str6 TL shots. It'll cost 244pts, but it can kill whole Tac Squads in a single turn, or even 5 Termies! In two turns, it will have made up its points.

I will also vehemently disagree with the above poster regarding Fateweaver. He is fantastic! Re-rolling the Warp Storm table is incredibly valuable since the lower results pretty much guarantee a loss for Daemons! And his 1D6 re-roll per turn helps with things like Perils (got snake eyes? roll one of those 1's again!), failed Grimoire, and failed Grounding tests.
Not to mention that he can shoot an AP1 blast (at BS6!) and an AP2 beam in one turn, resulting in more dead Termies than you can count.

Thank you TWilkins for the detailed response! You've given me something to chew on. Let me digest before commenting on your suggestions. And the Herald of Tzeentch was supposed to have a disc with him, just forgot to type it in, thanks for the catch!

You're more than welcome
We're both Daemon-noobs so we can help eachother xD
Maybe you can critique my list sometime too
And no problem about the disc, i thought you might have forgotten but i wasn't sure.
But as far as Fateweaver goes, i have seen so many games where he has just been gunned down on turn one or two and the threehundred points have been wasted effectively.
I'm not saying he isn't good, because he is amazing. But he is probably the biggest target in all of 40K

Fateweaver gives himself the grimoire... 2+ invul. He's not getting gunned down

Fateweaver can't take the grimoire...

A dp can. And confer it to Fateweaver...

Yes, but then you have about 500 points of your army concentrated around Fateweaver... In my opinion it is just a lot of points for one model.
Plus, even with a 2++, if you roll a 1 against that Heavy Wraithcannon. You're gone.

He can reroll his one... Also a herald can take the grimoire. It's only 30 points. Not bringing Fateweaver to smooth out the randomness of the codex is a big mistake. Besides the flying circus list is the most competitive one we have. Wanna see a badass 2k list? Look for mine I posted. Should still be on this page.

Yeah i understand that a flying circus is the most competitive list we have. But not everyone wants to play that kind of list, and if you look at the thread we are on, he clearly doesn't want a flying circus because he only has one FMC.
I was just giving out my personal opinion that Fateweaver is very good, but lets take into account that he is the biggest target in 40K, and people will hunt him down.
If you don't get first turn, or your opponent steals the initiative. He doesn't get the grimoire then and he will be hunted down until he is gone.
Some armies do this better than others. Tau will shoot him to oblivion, Space marines can use their thunderfire cannons or whirlwinds, with the maneuverability of Eldar they could get around your cover save. There is a lot of potential for loss.
I think that Fateweaver is just a very big gamble, especially when you think how much you could get for those points. Maybe in a 2000+ game he is better to use, but in a <2000 point game then there is maybe better places to spend 300 points.
In this list for example. Removing fateweaver could throw in a soulgrinder and a set of troops.

I've never lost fateweaver first or second turn... If that is a thing that happens it doesn't happen often.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
At 1500 pts I've yet to lose with fateweaver, 3 tzeentch dps and 2 squads of plague bearers


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Also there's nothing in the OP that states he.doesnt want to go flying circus

Firstly, saying "I've yet to lose..." means nothing unless you specify how many games you have played...
And you need to realize that some people won't want an amazing list that wins all of the time. That'd bore me...
Some people will much rather lose with a fluffy, creative list that they have made themselves rather than a universal 'template' list.
And honestly... I don't imagine many people have a particularly fun game against you when you're playing 4 FMC's in 1500 points.
For example, you'd beat me hands down with my eldar, because I would never have a list that would be able to combat that in a 1500 point army.
Tau would probably stand a chance to beat you...

And i'm not trying to be rude here so please don't take offence, but it seems that your list is simply winning by default. It doesn't look like it would take much skill to use.
But good job in throwing together a list that can win all the time for about 150 pounds.

Thanks. I love smashing people then going out for drinks and getting smashed respectfully. I don't care about the cost of the army or how.much skill it takes. Rolling up with 4fmc is just plain fun and that's why I play the game. And for the record my circus list has played about 15 games including a local tourney win.

Well i personally wouldn't get much out of that
I would much rather win every few games with a list i made myself and worked on and used to the best of it's ability, rather than win all the time just because my models are better then theirs...
Anyway, to refer it back to the original post... I guess he;ll just read our debate and decide whether to use Fatechicken or not.

To the op, I would highly recommend Fateweaver.

I would recommrnd replacing the bloodcrushers with as many flesh hounds as possible. They are by far one of the best units in the codex. And share the opinion about fateweaver. Yes he will gather all of the enemy shooting and propably drop in a few turns, but that means the enemy is not shooting at your fragile glasshammer units and they survive a turn or two longer to get into assault. Do not compare units like "he is 300pts so he is useless if he does not kill more than 300pts of the enemy" some units will be worth it by just drawing the enemy fire off from your other units.

Hey guys, thanks for the feedback. I guess I should explain a bit on how I see using this list:

The heralds with the Exalted Gifts would most likely get a grimoire and a portalglyph (still not sure who gets what). The idea would be to cast the portal early on behind ruins probably on my deployment, though sometimes I would try to use it offensively. The grimoire would be used on Fateweaver most of the time, since being Tzeentch he would reroll those 1s.

The bloodcrushers would move forward and act as beacons for the bloodletters.

Elric, here is where I am not sure in regards to the unit size of the bloodletters. I have a feeling that having MSUs would make the ‘letters a bit more survivable since it would put an upper limit to how many models the opponent can kill with one of his units before I get to charge.

I agree that the Tzeentch Herald could do ok with just ML1 if he is with the screamers, so will most likely implement that change. Originally I was thinking of having the Herald be with the horrors so had given him ML3.

As for the horrors themselves, right now I am just thinking of using them for backfield objective holders. If they get to shoot, great, otherwise they will be going to ground in some area terrain ruins and enjoying some 2+ cover saves. This could change of course, and if I do go for increasing the horrors to above 15 models I would consider dedicating a herald for them.

TWilkins, in regards to the Fiends you may be right, two units may be a bit too excessive. I just have a gut feeling that they could play a very important role in keeping my assaulting units in the game a bit longer. Most of the awesome damage is dealt on the charge with the bloodletters, so guaranteeing to strike first means that if I am not able to completely wipe out the opponent’s unit on the charge, that I will most likely be able to finish off the combat during his turn as I would not have lost that many units when he gets to strike back. A 5++ save is not going to allow me to stop those close combat attacks that well.

Also on the debate between daemonettes and bloodletters, although the daemonettes have more attacks, the bloodletters end up doing more wounds due to higher strength value (S4 base vs S3 from daemonettes and Khorne Daemons get Furious Charge which gives them +1S). I did a quick calc to see how many wounds 20 Daemonettes and 20 Bloodletters could do to a marine squad if both units had their respective heralds allowing for rerolls of missed hits (Locus of Wrath/Beguilment). The Daemonette would cause 15 normal wounds and 3 rending wounds, the bloodletter would cause 24 wounds at AP3. That’s enough extra wounds over the Deamonettes to cause enough 2+ saves to fail and net similar kills to the Deamonette’s 3 rending wounds.

As far as dealing with AV14, I do not have much except the screamers, S5 AP2 Armorbane. 1 Attack per screamer (6 of them in the unit) should do the trick. But other than that, I do not have much else.

And Twilkins, I’ll search for your threat tomorrow morning and post my thoughts. More feedback is definitely welcomed!

I have been playing a lot of daemon games lately so maybe I can help.

The bloodcrushers are a point sink that are inferior compared to hounds. If you want to use the models, I would suggest running two to three Heralds on juggys with a small group of hounds. I cannot begin to tell you how many games a group of hounds with a Herald of Khorne with Grimoire has won me the game. Scout with 2++or 3++ is very powerful.

Screamers are ok. In theory, they pop armor. In actual games, it is very hit or miss with 1 attack each at WS 3. I use them to take out walkers that threaten my hounds. Only put a herald with them if you are going full screamer star.

In the debate between daemonettes and bloodletters, I would pick daemonettes. You are forgetting in your calculations the I 5. Yes bloodletters deal more wounds, but at T3 I4, they are usually dying at the same time they are killing. I4 is too low with them being that fragile. Daemonettes have always done wonders in my games. With rending, they can reliably take down vehicles and MCs. Also, +3 to your run moves is great on a scoring unit.

Fateweaver has never died before turn 3 in any of my games and I rarely grimoire him. They are too worried about my hounds with herald scouting on their doorstep . Fatey needs saturation of targets that way they have to choose what is more dangerous.

-Drakkol