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After playing the codex for a few months now I've noticed that you need a hand full of extra Daemons around just for the random chance of extra deamons showing up. I have a few questions of what daemons to summon when. I understand that whats on the table will greatly effect my choice so I am just looking for some general info.

1 Daemonic Possession, At first I thought rolling an 11 and getting a free Herald would be really nice till I saw it in action. I was considering a Tzeench herald so it could shoot before it just dies could be good but does it even generate a warp charge the turn it shows up? Then I thought about a Khorne herald because with 2W at T5 it may survive some shooting and get to strike first at AP3 before dying in CC. The same could almost be said for the Nurgle but I really don't see the herald of Slaanech surviving any shooting.

2 Summoned from the Warp, Getting 2D6+3 Daemons for free sounds sweet at first but a little less as good the more I think about it. I would only expect getting 10 models + or - about 2 when this dose go off leaving your unit with very little hitting power. Again I thought about dropping down and casting flickering fire but I am asking my self the same warp charge question. Plaguebearers could be very good grabbing a home field objective in some cover. Bloodletters or Daemonettes could be good if I get 10+ in my unit and they don't land in front of a shooting unit.

3 Portalglyph, I would only really consider summoning 1 of 2 units with this gift, Plaguebearers or horrors. Then I would only use these units for 1 thing, objective grabbing. Horrors if i needed to shoot a little while they are sitting on a objective. PBs if I wanted lasting power.

Riftbringer, So lets say I don't want the book or Portalglyph and rolled a 2 on my gifts. I could see this power being good. If I have a Prince in CC in my opponent turn and I drop a unit of bloodletters or deamonettes that can assault the next turn this could change the course of the game all together!

What units do you like to summon?

Plaguebearers/nurgle herald.

But then i run mono-nurgle

Plaguebearers aren't bad. They are sturdy, and can poison/glancekill anything out there given time.

Daemonettes could be good scoring from portal. Trade-off less durability vs far better mobility when compared with Plaguebearers

Plaguebearers are nice as the plague bearers can GtG in the open for a 4+ cover save and if you want you can charge a vehicle.

I believe units always start with their warp charges as a psyker that enters play from reserve has it's charges to use in shooting phase.

Saying this pink horrors are probably the single best unit to generate. This is due to the fact even a unit of 1 horror can cast flickering flames and deal out some serious punishment.

For heralds I like nurgle heralds as they are tough and can GtG if they really need to. Also I have almost all nurgle models so there is that... Honestly the big benefit of 11 is to kill a 100+ pts model and give you a random distraction unit.

Tzeentch heralds are probably better for the utility as they are incredibility flexible with divination or can do some decent damage with change.

Deep striking units get their warp charges because DS happens same time as charges refresh, all the daemon summoning happens after that. RAW they don't seem to get them. Intended who knows, though it would balance out spawning a single horror and then riddling something with 2d6 shots.

Even if they can't shoot, pink horrors make great summons for holding objectives. I rank them more survivable then plaguebearers for weathering fire if they gtg in terrain.

For offensive summons however its really situational depending on range and type of nearby threats. Armor? Pop out some plaguebearers to glance it to death. Marines? Blood letters. Portalglyph spawned in the middle of nowhere? Daemonettes to sprint into range.
The great thing about daemon summoning is that you have a choice between 4 completely different units that can each perform a unique role. Honestly? I would say model some bizarre, vaguely shaped daemons that combine the swirly colors of all 4 gods and use these as your generic summons so you're not stuck with just one variety without buying a ton of models. Use tokens or some other means to easily differentiate them for your opponents benefit.

I've actually won a game because the warpstorm table gave be a unit of daemons (daemonettes I picked), and deepstruck them near an objective. They scattered but the extra 3" was really a life saver. I'd never count on that as a winning strategy, but daemonettes are definitely worth a look as an option to switch the focus of a game, as could bloodletters in the right circumstance (especially against some soft targets)

 sickening wrote:

1 Daemonic Possession, At first I thought rolling an 11 and getting a free Herald would be really nice till I saw it in action. I was considering a Tzeench herald so it could shoot before it just dies could be good but does it even generate a warp charge the turn it shows up? Then I thought about a Khorne herald because with 2W at T5 it may survive some shooting and get to strike first at AP3 before dying in CC. The same could almost be said for the Nurgle but I really don't see the herald of Slaanech surviving any shooting.

So, like others have already said, a Tzeentch Herald cannot cast any powers on the turn he pops into existence, because Warp Charge points are generated before he arrives, and so he doesn't have any to spend. I keep an extra Herald of each god on hand, because they all have their uses. Yes, they most likely will be killed on the next turn, no matter what god they are devoted to, but you can use this to your advantage in a way...scare some MEQ by dropping a Khorne Herald into striking distance, or TEQ with a Slaaneshi Herald...these two units represent a palpable danger to those units if not taken out quickly, and any firepower your opponent devotes to killing them is less firepower killing your troops/big gribblies.

2 Summoned from the Warp, Getting 2D6+3 Daemons for free sounds sweet at first but a little less as good the more I think about it. I would only expect getting 10 models + or - about 2 when this dose go off leaving your unit with very little hitting power. Again I thought about dropping down and casting flickering fire but I am asking my self the same warp charge question. Plaguebearers could be very good grabbing a home field objective in some cover. Bloodletters or Daemonettes could be good if I get 10+ in my unit and they don't land in front of a shooting unit.

Much like the Heralds, this is very situational. My usual go-to guys here are Horrors or Daemonettes. Horrors can arrive backfield and next turn can churn out some serious dakka, and Daemonettes are fast enough to run for some cover the turn the arrive, and again, pose a distraction threat to help wherever needed. Plaguebearers are only taken if i REALLY need an objective, and i've yet to take Bloodletters, though i always have a dozen on hand...

BEWARE THOUGH...this has lost me a few games too...a small unit scattering into the open on a kill point mission will make you cry tears of rage.

3 Portalglyph, I would only really consider summoning 1 of 2 units with this gift, Plaguebearers or horrors. Then I would only use these units for 1 thing, objective grabbing. Horrors if i needed to shoot a little while they are sitting on a objective. PBs if I wanted lasting power.

Same caveat as Warp Storm-summoned daemons....i wouldn't take it in a kill point mission, as it's at least one forfeited victory point (the portalglyph itself). Can be used for some light-hearted trolling in a monster-mash list though

Riftbringer, So lets say I don't want the book or Portalglyph and rolled a 2 on my gifts. I could see this power being good. If I have a Prince in CC in my opponent turn and I drop a unit of bloodletters or deamonettes that can assault the next turn this could change the course of the game all together!

What units do you like to summon?

Never tried Riftbringer myself, but i'd imagine its a high-risk, high-reward type of thing. Major issue i'd have with it is that even from exalted rewards, there's soo much better available to you, and the Grimoire is just too good to leave at home. Plus, unless your daemon is an absolute monster in combat (i'm looking at you Slaaneshi units), you probably wont kill enough models to vastly increase your odds of rolling that 10+. You would need to kill on average 9 models in one turn to have a 50% success rate (average result 2D6 is 7, 9 kills ---> 7+3 = the required 10).

The main power in summoning is being able to chose which unit best fits the situation and your current needs.