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Dakka,

I've decided to start a daemon army and have decided on Slaanesh and am looking to build a 1000 point army as a starting point. This is what I am leaning towards. Any input, suggestions or insight is appreciated, as I am totally new to daemons.

HQ:
?? This is the area I am undecided on the most. I don't really want to do FMC spam, as I play that with my nids, so right now I am looking away from the KoS. Two main options right now are a herald or Be'lakor

Troops:
Daemonettes x10
Daemonettes x10
Daemonettes x10

These could be combined into units of 15 if need be, but right now are the backbone of the army.

FA:
Seekers x15

Squishy as hell, but can hit hard. I love the models and would more than likely put the herald here.

Heavy:
Soul Grinder - MoS

Princes are out with no greater daemon as an HQ, so a grinder is the default choice. Fleet and extra run movement are the biggest reason for the lack of guns. Plus, grinders I see as a good CC unit.

So that's what I'm looking at starting with. Any ideas on how to move forward with the list is helpful. Thoughts on the HQ slot is appreciated as well. If I'm wrong in my thoughts above, please let me know. Thanks.

I recommend investing in two Heralds of Slaanesh: one on a steed and the other on foot. You may be able to get them to Mastery Level 1 apiece, but definitely invest in giving them both a Greater Reward for the Greater Etherblade default choice. Give the mounted Herald the Lesser Locus of Grace (MTC for the Seekers) and name that your Warlord. You could get lucky and roll the trait on the Slaanesh Warlord Table that gives her and her unit the ability to Run and Charge. That's huge for the Seekers as they get the +6" on the Run instead of the usual Slaanesh bonus of +3". Even if you don't roll that most of the results on the Slaanesh Warlord table will work.

I would consider beefing up the Troops into two 15-man squads instead of three 10-man squads. That'll give your footborne Herald some added protection. You could also cut out 5 Daemonettes to add a few more Seekers to the Seeker squad to boost its numbers to protect your Warlord.

Don't know if this helps, but those are my suggestions.

For what you are running i suggest taking heralds on steeds to run with the seekers as your HQ. Heralds can be taken 4 per detachment and take only a single HQ slot. You can take loads of stuff on them I suggest take a Exalted Locus of Beguilement (this lets the whole unit reroll to hit and the herald with it can make specific characters accept her challenges) and then on a different herald take the Grimoire of True Names as this lets you get a daemon unit +2 invul for a 3++ (this well make up for the seeker's lack of durability so they get to combat). Psyker levels are neat but optional. Take greater rewards when possible (those are extra durability)

Soul Grinders are good but they are the only vehicle pretty much so as such they really want 2-3 tor the armor saturation. A single Soul Grinder will be the focus of every anti tank weapon in your opponent's army since their is nothing else for them to shot at so take mutiple helps divide that up a bit. A single one at only 1000 pts is probably fine but if you make a larger list I suggest taking a second soul grinder be you first priority.

I would actually advise against running seekers with all of the new info from the wulfen book, are you familiar with the demonic decurion? So for future referance if you take what I suggest it gives you to choose to (only if you want to) +1 or -1 on warpstorm table - which is very VERY important in some games as rolling a 3 has a chance to not only kill your warlord first turn but also its whole unit! (Which means all seekers) the new decurion also lets you re-roll daemonic instability tests (also amazing if your a daemon player) and when you capture objectives in games it allows you to keep them untill the enemy contests (meaning once you take it you can move your units off the objective and still keep it).

These bonuses are just the icing on top of the cake, each formation has its own special rules. Here are the best ones to take for slannesh themed armies.

Flayertroupe ----------- must include 1 herald of slannesh and 6 units of daemonettes or seekers

(this lets your loci equiped to the herald effect any unit within 12 inches meaning any daemonette blobs become beyond menacing, IMO much better than seekers, cheaper too. In addition any unit of this formation that gets in combat minus' 1 from the enemies weapon skill and initiative, which is also amazing against armies like SW, SM, and other combat capable armies)

1 Herald of slannesh

6 units of 10 daemonettes

(Which cost 585 points without upgrades you might want to upgrade if your doing higher point games with a loci of beguilment meaning ALL daemonettes in 12 get re-roll to hit...)


Forgehost---------------- This would only be reccomended in games around 1100 or more as its expensive for 1000 points but one of best formations in game, it contains 3 soul grinders

(This OP AF formation allows you after one of your soul grinders causes a wound, all soul grinders can RE-ROLL TO HIT AND WOUND ROLLS... Jesus)

3 Soul Grinders


Now if you want to only go 1000 points I reccomend flayertroupe, with daemonic flock (5 furies) and maybe a daemon prince but If you want literally the most competative list you need Soul Grinders (forgehost) and the Flayertroupe

Thanks for all the replies and suggestions so far, I appreciate it. So far I have only bought 2 boxes of daemonettes so I am not locked into anything within the original list I posted. I had not gotten a chance to read the demonic incursion rules yet, but it looks like I may need to pick up the Wulfen supplement to see them for myself.

Soul Grinders with re-rolls to hit and wound sounds just gross. Along with a 12" bubble for loci, it seems well worth it to run the flayertroupe. So if I take the flayertroupe and the forgehost as suggested, that will fulfill all the requirements of the Slaanesh daemonic incursion? That seems pretty legit and not too restricting. Thanks again!

Yup, so to clarify, when taking the demonic incursion you have to take 1 core and 1 auxillary, the flayertroup (1 herald and 6 daemonette units) are a core formation and the forgehost (soul grinders) are an auxillary. Both have won me many games and are very strong

On higher point games you can start adding daemon lords to the formation but all thats is something to worry about at a later time, its a reasonably flexible decurion

Ya that's all you need to run it. It requires 1 core and 1 auxiliary with 0-3 command choices.

Flayertroupe is core, Forgehost is auxilary.

Another auxilary choice is a single unit of furies which is 35 points (45 if you make then slaanesh). It's a good choice if you want to save points for other things. For damage Forgehost is definitely a good choice though.