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I hate teasers... j/k can't wait to see how it all unfolds.

The teaser photos look fantastic. Can't wait to see all of the eye candy and to see who got up in the end.

Photos for battle report are uploading, God knows how long that will take. I'll post a link when it's done.

Without spoiling anything, Luke and I spent quite a bit of time talking about the army afterwards and we're going to tweak it so that I can play it in our next local tournament (next weekend). Luke wrote up a list for me that includes nearly all the figures in the army, but that takes better advantage of the good units and rules in the demon dex. Most of the figures were able to be included in the competitive list which I was very happy about. The casual list will still include everything of course. The tournament has a single FOC restriction, so the Chaos SM units needed to either be dropped or re-purposed... but we were able to keep nearly everything including all the principle monsters.

Couple of thoughts after two games...
- The army looks fantastic on the battlefield and is just fun to play. So glad I added the skeletons as they're really great looking en' masse. Well worth the monumental PITA that it was to assemble them.
- Karanak (the werewolf) isn't necessarily bad... but he costs about 40-60 pts more than he's actually worth. He's more of a Khorne Hound support character, but you pay the points for much more than that.
- Furies are bad as an assault unit and have no guns. However in small groups as objective grabbers that can easy sneak around terrain (because of the small number of bases) or deep strike, they may still have value.
- Dice rolling aside (see Drac in the battle report) everything else did OK given the circumstances, though I am really excited about the suggestions that Luke has made. Having a cool looking, themed army is great. Having a cool looking, themed army that works well would be fantastic!
- Luke says I need more "Things"... Ramos Asura, I'm looking at you!

Ramos is now thing 3.. congrats on getting your figures painted for free. "
Thanks son!" It'll probably be cheaper to adopt than pay him.

What book is Karanak in? The reg demon codex?

Finally got the battle report up. Lord what a chore! There's a reason I don't do these very often any more...

Halloween Chaos vs. Iron Hands

That bat rep is great, especially the pics with two beautiful painted armies! Looking forward to seeing the updated list

Battle report was really well done and entertaining. Interesting to see how the list did on the tabletop.

Thanks guys. I will post the modified list.

Going to play in a 90,000 point Apoc game today. Bringing all my biggest stuff. Will post pics on my MW blog (probably tomorrow).

Great bat rep, great table and armies there.

90.000? I'm hopping on a plane right now!

As I already said, this army is just crazy.

I love the picture of the skeletons, with the autumn trees behind it gives the photo a kinda romantic feel.

 Solar_lion wrote:
Ramos is now thing 3.. congrats on getting your figures painted for free. "
Thanks son!" It'll probably be cheaper to adopt than pay him.

Wouldn't I qualify for Thing 0, seeing as Im a wee bit older than the Things? Ooh Or perhaps I predate the Thing system... Creature Zero...? Entity Zero? The mind boggles...





BatRep was a great read, Gits. Sounds like it was a really fun game. Sounds like you've got a great guy to help you refine the list. Looking forward to what the army turns in to!

 Gitsplitta wrote:
- Luke says I need more "Things"... Ramos Asura, I'm looking at you!

They were a fun little project and shouldnt be too hard to replicate, should you have the need. Just lemme knooooow!~

It was very fun and Luke is indeed very helpful & fun to play.

A couple of folks had asked about the competitive list... here's what we (mainly Luke) came up with.

1850 pts, single CAD, chaos demons

HQ: Great Unclean One, 3 rewards, L3 psycher (Frankenstein's monster)
HQ: Chaos Heralds
- Skulltaker on Juggernaught (Headless Horseman)
- The Changeling (Thanatos / grim reaper)
- Herald of Tzeench on Disc, L3 psycher (witch)
EL: 5x Flamers of Tzeench (ghosts)
TP: 10x Bloodletters
TP: 3x Nurglings (goblins)
TP: 3x Nurglings (goblins)
TP: 3x Nurglings (goblins)
TP: 11x Plaguebearers (mummies)
TP: 20x Plaguebearers w/ plague banner (zombies)
FA: 5x Furies (bats) - note: Dracula has been demoted to a fury
FA: 5x Furies (bats)
FA: 11x Flesh Hounds (wolves) - note: werewolf has been demoted to a flesh hound
HV: Demon Prince, nurgle, 3 rewards, wings, L3 psycher

So, lot's of Nurgle stuff which is very survivable. Three beat-sticks in the GUO, Skulltaker & Prince, ObSec troops, some fast objective grabbers & a lot of psychic support. Should be decent once I figure out how to play it competently.


@Ramos: Picked up a bunch of the dogs cheap off e-bay & have an idea how to make my own tentacles. When I get the builds done, I'll be in touch.

That looks good! The only thing I don't like (although I know it's necessary for single CAD) is the loss of Dracula as a character and the Comtemptor as a dread.

For when you can run single CAD + allies, I suggest taking the GUO points and adding an ally of CSM with Dracula as HQ, skeletons as a troop, and Contemptor as elite. Does it need a pod to be useable?

Remember this is specifically for a competitive build. I could do all those things, but then the army wouldn't function as well (and for this tournament I can only have one FOC). For casual play, there will be a chaos SM CAD.

I start painting the mummy "sergeant" (a mummified liche-priest) tonight, as well as starting to work on more elements for the display board. I have to be very disciplined again this week as getting the headless horseman built and painted in time is going to be a challenge. Luckily I already have an appropriate base all made up, so all I have to do is paint the figure (the bases themselves can take quite a while to do). After taking a few days off I think I'm ready to go again.

For the build, I like to run "semi-competitive" sometimes . The Contemptor just doesn't seem like the best GUO to me, and you have a really easy way to get it in there - but I was wondering about how the rest of the list functions to see if that fits. Are most things "deep striking" in? Because then it would seem like the Contemptor might need a ride to get in the action.

Looking forward to the horseman

I'm not sure I understand what you're getting at. Most of the army could deep strike, not sure that's the plan though. It proved to be very problematic in the last game.

I'm talking about your "normal" list (not for the single CAD event). It'd be nice to have it as competitive as possible, so running all the heralds in a single HQ category like you did, downgrading Karanak to a flesh hound, etc are all great changes even for your normal list.

But I'm just wondering what is needed for the CSM allied detachment to be more competitive in your normal list, so maybe you could pick his brain on that when you see him! A jump pack HQ, troop unit, and dreadnought would work great as an allied detachment, but just wondering strategically how to use the dreadnought. I don't think CSM have pods so he would need a Dreadclaw to deepstrike, so maybe he's better off just walking on?

I have found that putting a chaos lord on a bike with MoN with a group of spawn works well. Could easily put the jump pack chaos lord with them he is fast enough to keep up and if you run from cover to cover should get into the thick of it pretty quick.

As for the Contemptor dread with out some ranged weaponry you are forced to move him forward, and dreads are just not that easy to get into combat. Mine get shot up before they get close, if your opponent lets you proxy weapons put 2 kheres assault cannons on him that will allow him to take out infantry, light vehicles and flyers.

Ah yes, I get it now.

Have to put some thought to it. Unfortunately with the prevalence of grav, vehicles are ridiculously easy to immobilize. I could get a dread claw, but that pretty much shoots the whole Halloween theme out the window. I do have a missile launcher thingie for him. At least that would allow him to shoot after being immobilized.

That dread claw would make a great "Great Pumpkin" ;-P.

The great pumpkin is supposed to rise up from the pumpkin patch... not come hurtling down on top of it from the sky!

 Gitsplitta wrote:
Ah yes, I get it now.

Have to put some thought to it. Unfortunately with the prevalence of grav, vehicles are ridiculously easy to immobilize. I could get a dread claw, but that pretty much shoots the whole Halloween theme out the window. I do have a missile launcher thingie for him. At least that would allow him to shoot after being immobilized.

 Gitsplitta wrote:
The great pumpkin is supposed to rise up from the pumpkin patch... not come hurtling down on top of it from the sky!

Frankenstein's Monster... FROM SPACE!

If you don't like the Great Pumpkin (I do... I really really do) a giant casket with lightning striking it would be a cool Dread Claw drop pod. Throw on Ork KFF bitz all over.

Okay, I just love the idea of the great pumpkin or giant casket preferably giant casket! He's the mini that started it all... needs a home!

Yorkright wrote:
I have found that putting a chaos lord on a bike with MoN with a group of spawn works well. Could easily put the jump pack chaos lord with them he is fast enough to keep up and if you run from cover to cover should get into the thick of it pretty quick.

There you go! That's the Headless Horsemen, Dracula, and The Things all with a home in a competitive CSM CAD . In fact, it gives you a pretty nasty "hammer" to go with all of your tarpit units. Frankenstein's Monster just needs a ride and it's set!

***Pumping creative juices in Gits' general direction***


Edit - Some thoughts on the details:

It would be nice to up the competitiveness of the fluffy list (meaning the one with everything included). Taking another CAD is fine, honestly there's no real advantage to an "allied" force unless you're just trying to grab min units in order to get some key advantage. It's a matter of efficient points expenditure really. If I put points into a bunch of CSM stuff, I have to nerf my beat-sticks, which puts me in exactly the same position I was in the last battle. It's entirely likely that I'll end up with multiple versions of this army... some having a CMS ally with spawn-based death-star and some not. I'm fine with that, gives me lots of interesting options for play.

For the dreadclaw... perhaps a giant coffin on an appropriately sized base would be an adequate nod to the army theme?


Finished the mummy-priest this morning before heading off to work. Unfortunately no time to take a photo. Will get you something tonight. I think it turned out pretty well. Also finished another of the large trees. I start on the Headless Horseman tonight. Need to get the build done and at least primed, perhaps even some base colors down. Also need to start my graveyard that will be add-ons for the display board (like the trees).

Dreadclaw is specifically for the Frankenstein's Robot?

Have you ever seen/read Mary Shelley's Frankenstein? (The movie's pretty close to the book), instead of just the Hammer film or pop-culture versions? Because Adam (the Monster) was brought to life not on an open mesh platform with a direct lightning strike, but in a giant copper tub filled with amniotic fluid that then had the lightning's charge sent through it.

So not so much a coffin (that's more Dracula's thing) as a huge electrically-powered device. If you could figure out how to model a lightning bolt striking it, that would be awesome. Maybe have a little Igor next to it.

I was just grabbing at something easy and thematic. I like your idea but I'd need a lot more to go on for a build. The problem with the tub is that it's totally the wrong shape/profile for a drop pod, and I would like to keep things reasonably recognizable as possible.

I'll think about it. Maybe wander through the hardware store and see if I get inspired by something.

Well you could use a normal drop pod, and then steampunk it up with plenty of wheel handles and lightning conductors, maybe some "windows" to show the fluid inside. etc.

Doesn't have to look like a giant copper bathtub with a screw on lid. Just take that aesthetic and do up a drop pod.

That's actually not a bad idea, Dr H! You could totally "weird science" up a drop pod. There are even a few alternative drop pods out there that might lend themselves to it.

Dreadclaw would be really awesome!