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Hey folks. I'm new here. I've been browsing around a week or so trying to get ideas for a new army. I hate to ask too many questions when I don't even have the rulebook/codex yet. In the past I've painted 40k/fantasy models but I've never attempted playing. I'm getting back in to the hobby and this time my intention is to actually build an army I can play with. Start small and build up over time kinda thing. I don't have any friends that play so I'll be teaching myself, and hopefully playing at the local GW store, everyone there has been super friendly so far.

I'm partial, but not entirely attached to SM and Crimson Fists is what I've painted in the past. My question is this: Is there an army that would give me close combat AND psyker abilities? I would put more weight on CC, but psykers just sound very cool. Fast, assault, stealth are all attributes I'd love to use on the battlefield. I'm not really competitive, I don't plan on doing anything more than friendly play, but i don't want to lose every game either.

I've messed around with an army builder and tried researching SM lists and from what I've gathered there isn't a whole lot of either of those going on with SM.

I would recommend sending this over to the Tactics or Army List forums.

Good idea!

CC+ spells? Yeah, you can do that.

The first and most obvious is Grey Knights. They all get power/force weapons, and they're all psykers. Their front-like psychic powers aren't much to write home about (their sergeant's only psychic power in most cases is a +1S buff), but they also have higher level psykers that have access to divination (the strongest discipline - reroll misses, ignore cover saves, etc.), and divination psykers that also run around in terminator armor with thunder hammers.

Second to this I'd say is probably eldar. They don't have nearly as many psychic units, but the psychic units they do have are very strong, and can be kitted out for close combat. A seer council on jetbikes with a bunch of witchblades is a fast, beaty squad, where everybody gets a psychic power.

Third I'd have to say is CSM. They're sort of the opposite of eldar - not as psychic, but much beatier. They have monstrous creatures that can both smash apart tanks (because they're monstrous), and also cast psychic powers. Likewise, you have some good HQ choices that are beaty and can cast like Huron and Ahriman. Plus, they have sorcerers as an HQ choice which allow you do to things like take invisible nurgle bikers which are practically indestructable, or invisible maulerfiends which, if the phrase "invisible maulerfiend" doesn't make you think of something scary, then nothing will.

Fourth I'd say is tyranid. Until very recently, they might have been the top of this list, but their new codex just stripped them of book powers. They're beaty, and they have a lot of unis with psychic powers, but, like grey knights, their abilities are somewhat limited, without also having access to book powers like divination.

Outside of this, it's sill possible to have battle psykers, but they're going to be more of a unit in your army and less of a general theme.

I think the title of this thread should be read "Chaos Daemons"

That's great info! I'd say CSM are very aesthetically pleasing to me and would give me a reason to buy the dark vengeance box.

Eldar is up there also. Tyranid scare me with the amount building and painting it would require. There are a few daemon kits I like but some look very intimidating to paint.

Don't let the paint scare you away my friend, they are awesome. And in the current world of 40K, guess what?! You can have both!

Seriously though, consider collecting some of each Daemons and CSM (there are several units that cross over anyway). Both armies can ally with each other, and there are some very nasty combos you can create from their unholy collaboration.

Some strong units to consider from each would be:

Daemons:
Pink Horrors and/or Daemonettes - arguably the best troop choices for daemons

Daemon Princes - big nasty things with wings that are also psychic monstrosities who beat serious face in CC (am I on the right track?)

Fateweaver - look into him. He is pretty much THE Psyker in 40K. He is a huge force multiplier and helps mitigate some of the randomness that is daemons

Flesh Hounds of Khorne - while they don't provide psychic abilities of their own they are a very fast and hard hitting CC unit. Even better when supported by psychic powers such as prescience.

CSM:
Nurgle Bikers - tough as nails to kill and excellent for escorting big baddies into combat

Nurgle Chaos Lord on Bike - Loves to beat face and likes to do it even more when he's got his aforementioned buddies around.

Daemon Princes: see above

Be'Lakor: THE Daemon Prince. Knows more psychic powers than just about any other psyker in the game AND he's quite the beat stick in CC. Can also be taken in Daemon armies. Another big force multiplier on par with Fateweaver.

Heldrake: has nothing to do with CC or psychic powers, but, well, they're awesome. (who doesn't love roasting your foes alive in daemonic fire?)

There are some great ideas there. I'm really thinking CSM + Daemons are the direction I'm going. I read on another blog that a Daemon Prince using Lash of Submission I can pull a unit closer then assault. Sounds very cool!

Now I'm trying to select which legion would be best for me. The Lash requires Mark of Slaanesh and I'm not sure how or if that will limit the legions I could choose. It sounds like I can't mix the Marks. Maybe Emperor's Children. Thousand Sons look great and have the psyker stuff but they are Tzeetch.

Interesting that nobody mentioned priests and SoB.

If you want to run Red Scorpions, you can make their HQ Sevrin Loth Lord Highness, King of the Challenges. Guaranteeing you get Iron Arms and Endurance on a guy who can drop an extra charge point to boost him armor to 2++ is pretty great. Best part is it takes all 3 of your warp charges to do that, so you won't insta-gib the guy you're swinging at on your turn.

It just sort of kind of requires a Land Raider, or a Drop Pod with Vanguard Vets rocking Storm Shields so they don't get shot to death before he gets a chance to psychic steroid himself.

I'm gunna have to agree with what others have said. If you like the Chaos aesthetic, and want an army of powerful psykers and close combat monsters....check out a Chaos Daemons Monster Mash list. They are fun to play, fun to play against, competitive, and best of all since they are usually low model-count, cheap and quick to buy, build, and paint. Plus the big-bads are always the most fun to convert and paint.

My army @ 1850pts is comprised of about 40 models. I'll plumb the depths of dakka and see if I can find an old army list I posted for ya.

**Edit. Couldnt find it. Must've been on BnC and lost in the Great Crash. So I've typed a new one just for you


Yeah...the amount of psychic powers this army can throw out a turn is just crazy (13, in case you were wondering ). I have all the Nurgle units roll on Biomancy, so they have psychic powers that boost them to insane levels in close combat. Oh, and a Great Unclean One with 3 Biomancy spells.....will. Never. Die.

If you want maximum close combat and psychic powers then you want Chaos Daemons with perhaps an allied with Chaos Space Marines detachment. You can very easily run an army entirely centered around CC and psychic powers without any non psychic shooting attack even available. You can also run this sort of army in a variety of different ways with great success. Chaos Daemons is also my favorite army to play at the moment.

The eldar do fulfill your desires but only if you run a jetbike seer council. They also will require a significant amount of non psyker, shooting support units. I would not worry about painting being a problem as other than getting all the gems painted properly there are some simple schemes. They are a great army and a lot of fun to play as, just be aware that you will need shooting.

Grey Knights might seem like they would fit the bill at first but if you play the army you know that their shooting is a very important component to the army. They also don't have as flashy of psychic powers as the daemons or eldar. They could still fit the bill but you cannot neglect the shooting of your grey knight army and expect to do well at all.

Space Marines are the same but with much less psychic abilities.

Imperial Guard + Inquisiton allies can also fit the bill but their real work will be done in the shooting phases and probably by vehicles.

Tyranids are also an entirely viable option but they are less flexible in terms of variety of builds than the daemons and their powers are not quite as flashy. I will leave more comments on them for others as I am not impressed by the new codex or old codex so I have not built up a functional army of them. From across the table and reading their codex I would only start them if their models and fluff attract you to the army as you will need a lot of love and patience to make it work.

So let me tell ya, having a baby really cuts into hobby time! I'm back at work now and that's why I have time to reply again.

I did manage to get out and buy the Dark Vengeance box and the CSM codex. I've decided to use that to start my CSM force and upgrade from there, and eventually add Daemon allies.

I've pretty much forgotten all my painting skills (what little I had anyway) and my first attempted Emperor's Children marine isn't looking good at all.

One thing I noticed is that I can't find the Lash of Submission anywhere in the codex. Is that weapon no longer available? It wouldn't be a huge deal, but it sounded like a fun trick.

Currently I'm thinking Daemon Prince HQ, 2x CSM squads (emperor's children), possessed squad, noise marine squad, raptor squad, and maybe havocs or olbiterators for long range support. Slaanesh themed, CC heavy, lots demonic, twisted, mutated things.

Allies would be at least Keeper of Secrets and Demonettes.

Does that make any sense? Am I going in the right direction or am I way off base?

Lash of submission was the previous codex. Daemonettes are awesome beautiful models and greater daemons are fun painting projects whilest also being universally great beat sticks psykers (with possible exception of his flabbyness the GUO.)

if you are worried about painting then pink horrors are about as easy as it gets:

spray paint red (not too thick)
dry brush pink
wash red
dry brush pink
wash again watered down red.
paint bangles and optionally feathers

I wouldn't say I'm worried about painting, it's just going to take some time to build my skills back up. Years ago when I picked up painting 40k I was very much a beginner and wasn't aware of some of the more advanced techniques. I'd just prime then paint primary colors. I think the most advanced thing I did was using a wash. Looking back at those figures they seem very dark and dull. That's one of the main reasons for going with Emperor's Children, using brighter colors, having models that stand out a bit more.

My first thought for you was also Chaos Daemons. My friend runs a flying circus list with princes, fate weaver, and pink horrors as troops. Lots psychic buffs/shooting and big burly demons for CC.

I'll have to look closer at the Daemons. I never gave much thought to making them my primary force with CSM allies. There's quite a bit more CSM stuff I like than the Daemons.

Can I make my allied force larger than the primary force? There aren't any rules against that right? As long as I follow the required force org chart then I can build however?

Well I'll be damned. Not a single fellow has yet mentioned BA!