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What better choice for my 25,000th post? How to play DKoK and optimize your martyrdom!

General Principles:

Unfortunately the most important thing to remember with DKoK is you're playing an index army. No stratagems, weak power level on most units, etc. If you're thinking of building an all-DKoK army outside of a very low power meta you're probably doing it wrong. But it's not hopeless, there are still some things you can do to make the faction work as a supplement to a codex army. So, instead of trying to apply the DKoK faction rules to an entire army we need to look at what we can do with the DKoK-only units. But first, the army-wide rules/changes:

*DKoK do not get a conventional regimental trait. You do kind of have this in the special rules, but you also pay for it (~1ppm extra it looks like) so it isn't a true regiment bonus. And you have no vehicle half of the rule. So, see all those tanks in the list of additional units you can take in a DKoK list? Pretend they don't exist. Put them in some other detachment, anything is better than the zero benefit you get by applying the DKoK keyword. DKoK are a pure infantry army.

*All infantry/cavalry units are WS 3+. If you aren't taking power weapons of some kind on every model that can carry one and giving serious thought to using them you're probably paying the wrong faction. It's a 33% damage buff, 50% for power fists, and you pay for it. Extra bayonet stabs are not nothing, but you really want to be adding extra power weapon hits.

*All units ignore shooting casualties for morale purposes. This seems great, but DKoK can't take conscripts and you pay the ~1ppm tax and loss of a better regimental trait. If your squad costs 10 points more than a codex unit you need to save at least 3 models from morale losses to come out ahead, and by the time you're averaging enough casualties to roll that high the unit is pretty much dead anyway. And it's even worse on MSU grenadiers/cavalry/etc, where it's effectively impossible to get any benefit. But hey, your objective campers won't break and run if they get shot at. Take the benefit, but don't consider it to be worth much.

*Orders are different, and arguably worse. Your re-roll 1s to hit order is gone, replaced with a useless morale order (you already don't run), which makes plasma more suicidal. You're still taking plasma, but orders are less critical. FRFSRF is replaced by making lasguns pistol 2, giving you the same firepower at long range but not the 4 shots at close range. On the other hand, you can now shoot with a unit in melee, giving you more incentive to get up close and start stabbing.

*You get a limited subset of units: the ones mentioned here, and a bunch of tanks you'll never take. Again, it's a support detachment.

On to the units:

HQ:

Marshal Karis Venner: upgraded commander. 3 orders per turn, Sv 4+, a rule that random-damage weapons always roll a 1 (though if you're getting shot by them you've probably screwed up), the stock 5++ for an IG HQ, and LD 9 that gets shared in a 12" bubble to all Imperial units. Pretty cost-effective unless you can't make use of the extra orders, and the LD bubble can hilariously let you teach space marines how to be brave under fire. Probably an auto-take unless points are tight.

Marshal: stock HQ officer, except with Sv 4+ and the 1-damage rule. Does the same as codex officers, you're going to take them for the same reasons. But take a power fist!

Field officer: the codex junior officer, except in an HQ slot. Cheaply fills mandatory HQs, at the cost of less efficiency in orders.

Death rider squadron commander: now here we get to something interesting. Death riders are the first reason to take DKoK at all. M 10", T4, Sv 4+/5++/5+++ (against STR 4 and less), W4, A3, hitting at STR 5 AP -2 D D3 when you charge with two more attacks at STR 4 AP - from the horse, and you ignore the penalty for charging into terrain. IOW, a fast HQ unit that hits hard and costs the usual IG efficient price. Only one order per turn, but stabby stabby! Or "move move move" to send a squad of death riders 20+2D6" in a single turn to grab that objective. An excellent candidate for carrying the power sword relic, btw. And you can (and will) also take a demo charge, effectively a Basilisk shot in a one-use grenade.

Troops:

Infantry squad: 10 guardsmen, a special weapon, no heavy weapon. IMO just a worse version of the codex squad, but it's 50 points to fill mandatory slots or toss some cheap screening units into an army if the DKoK detachment is your only IG. Functionally the same, they take up space on the table and soak up attacks that would otherwise hit important things, and maybe do some damage in the process. Interestingly the sergeant is BS 3+ (being a former grenadier fluff-wise), so feel free to take a plasma pistol.

Grenadiers: take codex storm troopers, trade the deep strike ability and doctrine for WS 3+, and make special weapons a fixed 2 instead of 2 per 5 models, and add a couple of bad options (heavy stubber and heavy flamer) that you'll never take. Obviously these are your plasma delivery unit in the troops slot. You can't deep strike, but a Centaur carrying them gets a 9" pre-game move, giving you a turn-1 threat that storm troopers can't do post-nerf. 5-man MSU of course, there's no point to adding models when you can't take more plasma. You're probably taking at least a unit or three of these.

Transports:

Centaur: it's a Chimera with lower T/W, 5-man transport capacity, and a pair of heavy stubbers as its only guns. The good part? They're dirt cheap, only 54 points each, and it's a tiny model that can easily hide out of LOS. Probably one of the few transports to actually be useful. Grenadiers love them, command squads might consider them.

Storm Chimera: Chimeras are trash. Giving it the ability to buy a 2+ save against lasguns (STR 4 weapons and below) that will never shoot at it doesn't make it less trash. Oh, and you get an autocannon over a multilaser, but shrug. The Centaur does everything it can do at a much cheaper price.

Elite:

Command squad: limited to two special weapons, but can take a vox and a flag. The flag is awesome, +1 LD and +1 attack to every unit within 6". Remember how you are a melee army? Take a flag. The only downside is it's a 4-model unit with no character protection, so hide it until it's time to charge. But hey, when it works it's a lot of buff. Amusingly you take the plasma guns in addition to the lasguns, not instead of them, so you've got guardsmen dual-wielding rifles.

Engineers: oh hello, the second reason to take DKoK. These are amazing in every way. SV 4+, BS 3+, two plasma guns in a 5-model squad (again, MSU every time), a mortar with the stats of a heavy bolter, melta and poison gas (wound on a 2+, AP -2, D D3) grenades, and STR 4 shotguns that get D2 and wound on a 2+ if you "overheat" them. Oh, and by unofficial response from FW they can take the Hades drill they had access to in previous editions. Which is essentially a mini melee dreadnought that will eat anything it charges (just save a CP re-roll for the D6 attacks) and deep strikes the entire unit. This is a MSU ball of hate, so much firepower in a ~130 point package that can appear anywhere on the table. You're taking at least one squad with a drill, and probably 2-3.

Commissar: standard commissar. You are already immune to morale. Why is this unit even in the book?

Quartermaster cadre: creepy dude and creepy servitors that give a medi-pack (repair a wound or dead model on a 4+, lol) and, more importantly, a 6+++ to all DKoK units within 6". Is it worth it? Shrug? It costs ~45 points, almost as much as an entire infantry squad, will you be able to save that many models? Depends on how many infantry squads you take, I guess. Auto-take if you're spamming enough meatshields to make it pay off.

Death rider command squad: four basic death riders (W2, A2, otherwise same stats as the HQ version) with BS 4+ on their laspistols at +1 ppm. Oh, and you get to outflank up to 5 units of death riders. If you're taking death riders this is your first squad of them. Outflanking your scary death ponies anywhere on the table to threaten a charge from behind is very strong, and it's only +4 points for the ability to do it.

Death rider commissar: a useless morale buff, but on a horse. Take a death rider officer instead, which is a shame because the (OOP event only) model is one of the most badass things GW has ever made.

Fast Attack:

Death riders: that bit from the HQ section about "the first reason to take DKoK"? Still true. At 16 ppm these are death incarnate. Show up 9" away from any table edge (you did take the command squad, right?) and threaten your opponent's objective campers/artillery/etc, or just run them up the table and declare some charges. The term "distraction carnifex" applies 100% here. They're either going to draw a ton of fire and die horribly so that the rest of your army can keep shooting, or they're going to reach melee range and deal way more than 16 ppm worth of damage to whatever they hit. And as an added bonus they're the fastest non-flyer unit IG have, making them great for objective grabs. Every DKoK army should be taking these, it's probably the single best tool you can add from the list.

Heavy Support:

Heavy weapon squad: the codex standard, but with a couple of options. Twin heavy stubbers are a "shrug" vs. heavy bolters, but heavy flamers are interesting. You mitigate BS 4+, and at 22 ppm they're actually reasonably efficient at delivering those heavy flamers. The drawback is you'll probably need to invest in a Valkyrie to drop them, but it's not a bad beginning to a turn-1 alpha strike. Or just give them mortars and do what codex HWS do, camp objectives and fill mandatory heavy support slots at the lowest possible cost. Cadian HWS are better in this role of course, but it's only 90 points to bring all three copies of DKoK mortars.

Mars-alpha LRBT: codex LRBT, but instead of a useful regimental trait you get a 2+ save against the STR 4 or less weapons that nobody is shooting at a LRBT when guardsmen are on the table. Oh, and you can take a plasma cannon or mult-imelta in the hull slot if you don't understand why a lascannon is better, because copy/paste errors are amusing. Please don't take these when Tallarn JSJ tanks exist.

Conclusion:

Note the theme in good units vs. bad? DKoK get their strength from MSU "distraction carnifex" units that want to get up close and kill stuff or die trying. Your core is going to be death riders and Hades engineer squads, possibly supplemented with grenadiers in Centaurs, getting up close ASAP while your conventional units (probably from another army) get to sit back and shoot. It's effectively an alternative form of screen, instead of holding stuff back with a horde of bubble wrap you hit your opponent from behind and force them to move backwards to deal with the threat instead of rushing straight at your main guns. And if they don't? Well, death riders don't get that name for nothing. CHARGE.

Maybe we should wait for a proper rue release before a DKOK thread.

As it is, it's just "Guard -2".
DKOK Are the worst of all worlds.

Klone12 wrote:
Maybe we should wait for a proper rue release before a DKOK thread.

There is no hint that such a release is happening in the foreseeable future. What we've got is what we've got, we might as well discuss it.

As it is, it's just "Guard -2".
DKOK Are the worst of all worlds.

Except, as I pointed out, they have some units that are "Guard +1" and worth taking. The whole point here is to figure out how to use them instead of just giving up.

Klone12 wrote:
Maybe we should wait for a proper rue release before a DKOK thread.

As it is, it's just "Guard -2".
DKOK Are the worst of all worlds.

Ayyy lmao, that statement:
If you really want guard -2 go take a look at the R&H index in the same book.
Beyond: ogryn berserkes, Marauders, the list might aswell get completely rewritten.
(not to mention that covenants half the time don't work)

What a timely post...

Trying to figure out a Krieg list for my Adeptus Arbites.

Edit - DEATH RIDERS! Sold! The Arbites are getting mounted riot squads! To the Empire Outrider cave!

 Peregrine wrote:

Unfortunately the most important thing to remember with DKoK is you're playing an index army.

I thought that we can use the generic stratagem/trait/relic from the AM Codex? The FAQ stated that we can't use the regiment specific stuff, but we respect all the keyword for the generic ones.
I'm missing something or remembering badly?

I recently purchased a bunch of Death Korps, and have come to terms with the fact that the army's never going to be competitive.

It feels a little dirty, but using the models as counts-as for other regiments seems like the only good way to play the korps at the moment, with the exception being mass Death Riders.

I might end up doing a little bit of both. A brigade/battallion of death korps, with artillery/tanks being cadian or catachan.

Nice! DKoK tactica! Great post, but can I add a few things? Firstly, DK can use codex stratagems, but not regimental-specific ones. There's no reason not to, they have all the right keywords.

Secondly, the Centaur/Grenadier combo that gives the tank a 9" scout move, which is one of the best reasons to take Krieg, could do with spelling out. Two or three of these can deny turn-1 DS shenanigans from the usual suspects like TSs.

Third, as we have no regimental bonus to lose, there's really nothing stopping us from mixing in other units in the same detachment. Why is this important? Well, as you know Krieg have no way of rerolling hits, which is frankly a huge handicap. Yarrick solves this problem like a boss (his buff works on all AM), and is now down to 100pts, which makes him pretty much autoinclude imo. Suddenly those engineers with shotties and plasma can actually do what they were meant to do. It's a shame that such a key hq for Krieg has to come from outside the regiment, but on balance, at least it's the man himself. I can live with it. The other big deal is a priest, who massively buffs our CC. It's hard not to take one along with your command flag, to output some embarrasingly high numbers of attacks...

Great write up and gratz on the 25k post!

Thanks for the write up. This thread inspired me to take a look at the DKOK I've left since selling most of it (to replace it with regular gaurd). The models I've left sounds like exactly the right stuff. 20 Engineers with 3 centaurs, Hades drill and 25 Death riders. Tempted to test some lists. Mix it with some hellhounds and cyclops bombs and hit the opponent in the face with agressive guards.

Incidentally, I've found footslogging Krieg to be a great compliment to Imperial knights.

Good write up, but allow me to comment on some things.

Although, please take any claim to quality I make with a grain of salt. I’m just starting in 8th edition and have yet to play even a single game.

*All infantry/cavalry units are WS 3+. - *All units ignore shooting casualties for morale purposes

For what it’s worth, (not much at the moment) I think this is a fair increase to the effectiveness of the crewed artillery that DKoK can take, since crew count as a seperate <REGIMENT> unit. Not enough to make them actually worth taking, except for maybe the Rapier Laser Destroyer, but a notable boon if GW should ever make the bloody things viable again.

Your re-roll 1s to hit order is gone, replaced with a useless morale order

It’s actually an order that allows any Infantry or Cavalry model killed in the fight phase to immediately make a single attack.

Grenadiers

Right now the regular Grenadiers are very amusingly listed as having W2 A2 because GW can’t even handle correctly editing in a bullet point for the HW team’s stats. Abuse it while you can, I guess?

Storm Chimera

I think this is the unit that would benefit the most from the “+1 ap against weapons with 4 or less strength” what with it having only T7. I’d actually be interested in using it, it’s just unfortunate that it costs an entire 20 points more than a normal Chimera even before the ablative armour and AC (both 10pts). That’s a crazy markup.

Engineers

There is some delicious potential for unit wiping shenanigans with the engineer’s gas grenades and the Grenadiers! stratagem, especially now that they can be used more than once, but the Hades doesn’t hold up.
Not being able to move until the charge was fine when you were popping up literally under (and through) an enemy unit, but now being forced to be nine inches away, and with the grenades being a 6” shooting attack instead of a pre-emptive on the charge, I think you’re severely hampering yourself by taking the Hades, especially now that it’s lost the melta cannon and can’t shoot. Sure you can use the Carcass Shot to good effect, but you don’t have any re-rolls if you overheat and you can’t take, say, Yarrick, along with that squad unless he comes in a seperate transport.

What sounds ridiculously good in my mind is a squad of engineers in a Valk, or even some other transport. Being able to pile out up to nearly 1” away from the enemy makes a huge difference, and transports allow you to move after you disembark so you don’t even need to be that close to begin with. A transport full of Engineers and Grenadiers! ought to equal a dead enemy unit, potentially even a monstrous creature, and then whatever damage you inflict on a charge to boot.

Mars-alpha LRBT

I think you’re severely discounting the possibilities of the DKoK Leman Russ tanks. The Mars-Alpha trait isn’t amazing, but it is free and it is universally applicable. You are going to save some wounds with it.

Furthermore, DKoK have the most effective and also the cheapest Vanquisher variant at only 15pts including the Heavy Stubber. The stubber pushes the re-roll to hit range out to 36” with is pretty damn good, and even better is that it isn’t a locked re-roll like the Cadian or TC order. Very importantly, “...it may re-roll any hit rolls with the vanquisher cannon.”

And if you still want to plasma spam you’re actually allowed to take a TC with DKoK as the regiment, albeit in a normal Leman Russ from the Codex Astra Militarum rather than one of the Mars-Alpha patterns.
But a TC is lame, instead you should take a Trojan Support vehicle. A 90pt Chimera without a turret or Las Array, with half the carry capacity, but sporting a little crane on the back that magically gives a single <REGIMENT> Vehicle within 6” the ability to re-roll any failed hit rolls. It’s not quite as good a re-roll as the Co-Axial but it affects the entire vehicle, isn’t range limited, and they’re still optional rolls, so I’d say that more than makes up for it.
DKoK being allowed to take these is found in the FAQ because editing bullet points is hard.

Of course, Astra Militarum can also take Trojans, it’s just to say that DKoK isn’t without the ability to have a strong armour force.

I like the writeup, interesting points.
As others have said, you still get the AM codex strategems and similar.

Could you direct me to where Forgeworld have said you can use DKor engineers with the hades drill? Would love to do so if this is allowed.

Are you allowed to take bullgryn or primaris psykers or the non regiment stuff in dkok?

Cultiststeve wrote:Could you direct me to where Forgeworld have said you can use DKor engineers with the hades drill? Would love to do so if this is allowed.

Forgeworld, to my knowledge, has not officially said this. In the FAQ it just says to give the unit, which includes the Veterans, the DKoK regiment tag. That's kinda useful, as vets get a better ranged weapon selection, but also pretty stupid and counter-intuitive.

https://whc-cdn.games-workshop.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/imperial_armour_index_forces_of_the_astra_militarum.pdf

Page 6:

Q: There is no datasheet for a Death Korps of Krieg Hades
Breaching Drill Squadron – is there a datasheet I should use for
this unit?
A: Use the Hades Breaching Drill Squadron datasheet
from Imperial Armour – Index: Forces of the Astra Militarum.
Replace the unit’s <Regiment> keyword with Death
Korps of Krieg.

Being able to use Engineers with the Hades in 8e, while I'm sure is what is supposed to be the case, and which I'm also sure no one you're playing against will complain about, is as far as I can tell drawn from this anecdotal Reddit post. https://www.reddit.com/r/Warhammer40k/comments/6ws3ae/dkok_engineers_rules_clarification_from/

IVIOOSE wrote:Are you allowed to take bullgryn or primaris psykers or the non regiment stuff in dkok?

It appears that they would work the same way as with other regiments.

Thanks NowhereMan, thats was I was looking for. Now to convince my gaming group.

And you can take anything from the AMdex in a deathkorp detachment. They all share the "Astra Miltarum" faction keyword. (And Death Korp cannot lose their regimental trait as it is just a special ability, not an actual regiment trait.)

NowhereMan wrote:
For what it’s worth, (not much at the moment) I think this is a fair increase to the effectiveness of the crewed artillery that DKoK can take, since crew count as a seperate <REGIMENT> unit. Not enough to make them actually worth taking, except for maybe the Rapier Laser Destroyer, but a notable boon if GW should ever make the bloody things viable again.

Remember that the crew are "characters" and can't be shot 95% of the time, having morale immunity against shooting is of negligible value. And the crewed artillery post CA nerf are unplayable trash, they're more expensive than the codex guns for a weaker unit.

There is some delicious potential for unit wiping shenanigans with the engineer’s gas grenades and the Grenadiers! stratagem, especially now that they can be used more than once, but the Hades doesn’t hold up.
Not being able to move until the charge was fine when you were popping up literally under (and through) an enemy unit, but now being forced to be nine inches away, and with the grenades being a 6” shooting attack instead of a pre-emptive on the charge, I think you’re severely hampering yourself by taking the Hades, especially now that it’s lost the melta cannon and can’t shoot. Sure you can use the Carcass Shot to good effect, but you don’t have any re-rolls if you overheat and you can’t take, say, Yarrick, along with that squad unless he comes in a seperate transport.

Very wrong IMO. Remember, the Hades is cheap. It's a classic "distraction carnifex" unit, it arrives, presents a massive threat (including the plasma guns that immediately fire on arrival), and draws a level of attention far disproportionate to its cost. So either your opponent kills the decoy instead of something more expensive or they get killed by it on the following turn. Or you just roll that 9 for charge distance and kill something immediately. It's only ~130 points for a 5-man squad with plasma guns and a drill, and that's terrifying for its price.

The Mars-Alpha trait isn’t amazing, but it is free and it is universally applicable. You are going to save some wounds with it.

Nope, 100% wrong. First of all it isn't free, the DKoK tanks cost more points than their codex equivalent. Second, opportunity cost is a thing. You're paying the price of a powerful regiment bonus that you won't have if you take the weak DKoK one. And it's unlikely to save any wounds in a meaningful game, if your opponent is shooting STR 4 or less weapons at your tanks instead of infantry then the game is probably over in all but name by that point. Contrast that with, say, the Cadian trait where you just re-roll 1s and get more firepower every turn.

Furthermore, DKoK have the most effective and also the cheapest Vanquisher variant at only 15pts including the Heavy Stubber. The stubber pushes the re-roll to hit range out to 36” with is pretty damn good, and even better is that it isn’t a locked re-roll like the Cadian or TC order. Very importantly, “...it may re-roll any hit rolls with the vanquisher cannon.”

It's still trash because GW is bad at math. Even with a full re-roll to hit the vanquisher is barely doing more damage to its ideal target (T8 tanks) than a basic LRBT, and the vanquisher is trash against everything else. Don't fall into the trap of thinking that a fluff description makes a unit good.

But a TC is lame, instead you should take a Trojan Support vehicle. A 90pt Chimera without a turret or Las Array, with half the carry capacity, but sporting a little crane on the back that magically gives a single <REGIMENT> Vehicle within 6” the ability to re-roll any failed hit rolls. It’s not quite as good a re-roll as the Co-Axial but it affects the entire vehicle, isn’t range limited, and they’re still optional rolls, so I’d say that more than makes up for it.
DKoK being allowed to take these is found in the FAQ because editing bullet points is hard.

This is a very bad idea. You're paying ~50-70% more points for 50% more firepower, which is a very inefficient idea. Contrast this with a tank commander, who pays (assuming you use the re-roll 1s order) ~10-15% more points for ~38% more firepower. Trojans are only efficient when they're buffing Shadowswords and similar LoW-level threats.

Of course, Astra Militarum can also take Trojans, it’s just to say that DKoK isn’t without the ability to have a strong armour force.

But the point is why would you ever want to do it? It's 8th edition, you can just bring another detachment with a better regiment for tanks. There's no reason to keep them in the same detachment as the DKoK units that are actually worth taking.

I just take a Gorgon for my transport

Quartermaster cadre: creepy dude and creepy servitors that give a medi-pack (repair a wound or dead model on a 4+, lol) and, more importantly, a 6+++ to all DKoK units within 6". Is it worth it? Shrug? It costs ~45 points, almost as much as an entire infantry squad, will you be able to save that many models? Depends on how many infantry squads you take, I guess. Auto-take if you're spamming enough meatshields to make it pay off.

Note:If you could choose to not take the servitors, it'd be nice. You can't.

Because the Quartermaster is a CHARACTER but the servitors are not, make sure you agree with your opponent (or the TO) what that means for the targeting characters rule before the game begins....

*DKoK do not get a conventional regimental trait. You do kind of have this in the special rules, but you also pay for it (~1ppm extra it looks like) so it isn't a true regiment bonus. And you have no vehicle half of the rule. So, see all those tanks in the list of additional units you can take in a DKoK list? Pretend they don't exist. Put them in some other detachment, anything is better than the zero benefit you get by applying the DKoK keyword. DKoK are a pure infantry army.

I agree a pure infantry - and cavalry - force makes sense. Between death riders, command squads and heavy weapon squads, you can field a full cult of sacrifice brigade without trouble.

Death rider commissar: a useless morale buff, but on a horse. Take a death rider officer instead, which is a shame because the (OOP event only) model is one of the most badass things GW has ever made.

This, unlike the infantry version, at least does something. Because he's a DEATH RIDER, he can be one of your five outflanking DEATH RIDER units - officer, commissar, three squadrons - accompanying a command squadron. I agree a second officer might be better, but at cavalry should at least consider the commissar in passing, since they want to be charging into melee where cult of sacrifice doesn't work and various enemy leadership debuffs do.

Admittedly the demo charge is hard to pass up.

There is some delicious potential for unit wiping shenanigans with the engineer’s gas grenades and the Grenadiers! stratagem

Yeah. Do not screw with assault pioneers. Against non-vehicles, it's like throwing an entire squad's worth of demo charges! More pleasingly, even with regular infantry, Grenadiers! lets you bung 10 krak grenades at the enemy, enough to seriously inconvenience heavy infantry or light tanks who think "they're just guardsmen".

*All infantry/cavalry units are WS 3+. If you aren't taking power weapons of some kind on every model that can carry one and giving serious thought to using them you're probably paying the wrong faction. It's a 33% damage buff, 50% for power fists, and you pay for it. Extra bayonet stabs are not nothing, but you really want to be adding extra power weapon hits.

Hmm. Yes and no. Officers don't get improved WS over guard regulars, and probably supply more cost-effective damage via Without Mercy! and Fix Bayonets! than by trying to punch someone (although the odd power fist doesn't hurt), but giving watchmasters power weapons is not a bad idea. At the same time, remember that they are 2 attack, WS3+ models - equivalent to a basic tactical sergent - and the unit they lead is a 50 points squad of normal humans with rapid fire weapon not pistols-and-blades. Your goal is to shoot the crud out of people and charge the shell-shocked remnants, not to pretend you're orks.

Also, Death Riders already have lances, which frankly is as good a melee weapon as they need. Not taking an upgraded melee weapon also allows the option of taking a brace of hot-shot laspistols, which in addition to looking badass on cavalry (giving them a whole dragoon look) is a nice option for free to give armour-piercing double-taps in an extended fight.


Also - since Cult of Sacrifice isn't a regimental doctrine, technically you don't lose it if you include a non DEATH KORPS unit. Not sure what would be worth picking (since most things I'd suggest including are covered by "advisors and auxilia"), but worth remembering.

Two embeds definitely worth thinking about are priests (for +1 attack which stacks with regimental banners) and Old Man Yarrick - he's good in any army, but in an army which lacks Take Aim! or Born Soldiers and therefore has basically no access to rerolls, Hero of Hades Hive is awesome.