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There's a 1600 point tournament coming up, so a few of us were getting together to practice today. Here's what I brought:

HQ
Chaos Lord, Mark of Slaanesh, chaos bike, power fist, sigil of corruption, burning brand, VotLW, meltabombs, gift of mutation - 200

Troops
30 cultists, 3 flamers, 25 autoguns - 170

5 Noisemarines, blastmaster, 3 with bp/ccw - 125

5 Noisemaeines, blastmaster, 3 with bp/ccw - 125

10 Noisemarines, 2 Blastmasters, 7 with bp/ccw - 240

Fast Attack
5 Chaos Spawn, Marks of Slaanesh - 165

Heldrake, Baleflamer - 170

Heavy Support
Maulerfiend, Lasher tendrils - 135

Maulerfiend, Lasher tendrils - 135

Vindicator, Daemonic Possession - 135

Totals 1600 exactly.

First game was against coteaz jokaero spam in chimeras

Second game was versus chaos daemons with 3 daemon princes and a lord of change plus horrors, plaguebearers and more plaguebearers.

Did I just get lucky or is this list decent?

The list is quite decent but has room for improvement.

1. Your lord's kit contradicts his benefits. You have a speedy and hard hitting slaanesh lord with a fist being forced to swing at I1. Swap the fist for something that suits your speedy lord better such as a lightning claw maybe even the murder sword if you face a lot of deathstars in your meta.

2. Your cultists have contradicting wargear as well either shooty cultists or CC cultists you can't have both, either swap flamers for stubbers or drop the autoguns

3. Same goes for your noise marines let them sit back and fire away with blastmaster, the BP CCW combo would work with a siren since they will be assault oriented but blastmasters indicate sitting back and shooting so don't bother with BP CCW and just boltguns

4. Why the one block of ten over 2 more blocks of 5 noise marines? Min maxing them is one of the best ways to run them because it lets you split fire with the blastmasters and it forces your opponent to split his fire.

5. Vets isn't really worth it on the lord since he is fearless unless you really want that hatred vs SM since he is already LD10

The lord's wargear is a sad tale of "I can't do sh*t against a 2+ save". He's always up against them. The bike helps him take it on the chin and give it back.

10 noisemarines with 2 blastmasters allows double stacking. For example say you get a nice shot on an enemy unit where 6 of 10 models are bunched up and the other 4 are spaced out. Two five man squads will fire once, kill 6, fire again, kill just one because the remaining models are spread out. Two blastmasters in one squad allows you to get twelve hits in one salvo, potentially wiping out the entire unit.

However, I've had issue with only having 2 units able to do damage at range and having only 3 scoring units, so I've split one squad into 2 so I can pop a rhino with a single shot rather than wasting them.

VotLW is just for hatred rerolls.

Do you get lots of mileage out of cc cultists? It would save me 25 points from their autoguns... what would you spend it on? 5 more cultists? A banner? Sonic Blasters?

With the updated FAQ https://www.games-workshop.com/gws/content/article.jsp?categoryId=1000018&pIndex=1&aId=3400019&start=2 the Maulerfiend is only 100 pts. so with tendrils that 110. I just saved you 50 points!! lol

Inquisitor Cyotle, you may want to re-read the FAQ. Maulerfiends are still reg. price; it's the Helbrute that dropped down to 100pts.

Spellbound, I agree with Mr. GumyBear. Yes your Lord may not be able to wring the necks of 2+ troops, but you're spending all those points to make him speedier than ever... then unceremoniously dumping him on his butt with a power fist. Lightning claw not only lets him use his I6, it'll help to make sure everything you hit gets hurt. Plus this way you're forcing the 2+ to make more saves than they otherwise would, some of which they'll eventually fail. The re-roll will help you make the most of every hit you land, 'cause wounding is the important part.
Toss in a combat familiar if you've got the points; again, the more saves they make the quicker they'll eventually fail!

Sorry, I'll consider other adjustments to the list but the lord needs his powerfist. I've tried other configurations and even took Lucius, who basically has a lightning claw (S4 ap3, shred, three or more attacks) and he never performs well, ever. 4+ rerollable isn't as reliable as a 2+, and this also allows me something better against walkers and the like.

It's unfortunate that I can't use his init buff, but the mark is mainly to unlock noisemarines as troops. Consider this waste of his initiative to be a casualty of 6th edition's AP3 power weapons and claw system.

 Inquisitor Cyotle wrote:
With the updated FAQ https://www.games-workshop.com/gws/content/article.jsp?categoryId=1000018&pIndex=1&aId=3400019&start=2 the Maulerfiend is only 100 pts. so with tendrils that 110. I just saved you 50 points!! lol

Dude.... It says the Hellbrute is 100 points. Maulerfiend... Still the same

Also, funny note... On your list.... 30 cultists, 3 flamers, 25 auto guns...... 3+25=28... Leaving two sad cultists without any weapons


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And also....CURSE YOU SLANNESH!!!!!! why in khaines name do you have to follow us and when we die try to suck our souls? It's just wrong man! Or is it girl....

It's whatever will get you to surrender your soul at the time!

When you feel that incredibly burning curiosity to try the "other side" and figure lack of opportunity will hold your insatiable curiosity in check BAM there's a daemonette showing you her masculine side!

Yes, 2 cultists lack weapons. They wander out in front to get picked off first.

That's actually something I'm considering doing for the squad. Rarely can I shoot turn 1, and rarely have they not taken any casualties by turn 2. Lopping off 5 auto guns is enough for a melta bomb somewhere, and ten would get me a combi-weapon. Might be worth it...

I'd drop 115 points of the not so necessary upgrades and get a lvl3 sorcerer (or if wanting to stay in theme you could drop a bit more and get MoS).

If you dropped (and all of these are non-essential imo for various reasons):
--VotLW, melta bomb and Gift off lord
--1 cultist, autoguns, flamers off cultists
--MoS on spawn
--Lasher tendrils off maulerfiends
--Possession off Vindi

You'd have the points to get a lvl3 sorcerer. Maulerfiends or your lord and spawn posse with invisibility = money. Getting fearless telepathy power for your cultists is nifty also. Biomancy isn't too shaby either. You can also make him your warlord so you are free to be more aggresive with your chaos lord.

Slaanesh sorcerer isn't bad either but arguably not worth his points unless you had more sonic weaponry, I'd drop a few cultists to get him if you wanted to stay in theme but if it were me I'd just leave him plain or get him a bike.

Does the sorcerer really bring that much to the table? It seems like I'm really gambling at that point whether I'll get those powers. Invisibility on spawn seems nice though.

 Spellbound wrote:
Sorry, I'll consider other adjustments to the list but the lord needs his powerfist. I've tried other configurations and even took Lucius, who basically has a lightning claw (S4 ap3, shred, three or more attacks) and he never performs well, ever. 4+ rerollable isn't as reliable as a 2+, and this also allows me something better against walkers and the like.

It's unfortunate that I can't use his init buff, but the mark is mainly to unlock noisemarines as troops. Consider this waste of his initiative to be a casualty of 6th edition's AP3 power weapons and claw system.

The other option then is to scrape up the points to give him a fist and a lightning claw. This lets him swing at his high initiative against 3+ armor saves while still having the ability to crack 2+ armor as well. And, because they are both specialist weapons, you gain an extra attack. Its a little pricey, but it is effective.

 Spellbound wrote:
Does the sorcerer really bring that much to the table? It seems like I'm really gambling at that point whether I'll get those powers. Invisibility on spawn seems nice though.

I think so.

1) Putting aside his powers for a moment, being able to use your chaos lord without fear of giving up slay the warlord is a notable addition to the list.
2) You have a great list for a sorcerer as you have fearless units for him to join and numerous units that could use his blessings
3) As for the gamble, yes it is true you aren't going to get invisibility every game. With three rolls on Telepathy you will get it 50% of your games. There's also matchups like Tau or helldrake spam where its less useful.

However the other powers are pretty good, with only one meh power (Dominate, which is great when it works but relying on failed leadership tests is a gamble). In some armies Mental Fortitude is a waste but being able to give cultists fearless (or pop them up after they have gone to ground or fallen back) is nice. Terrify is matchup dependent but forcing a morale check in the movement phase and stripping fearless is handy. Puppet master is good, especially against armies with powerful single model shooters (which is fairly common) or where the unit is all very shooty (oblits, dark reapers, broadsides, etc). Hallucinate can be brutally effective or painfully ineffective but all in all worth having. Then there's the primaris which while short ranged can be devestating.

And if you get lucky and get invisibility early you can always try for something good in biomancy.

So you already know your list works without invisibility, so now its just deciding whether what you lost to add the sorcerer is made up for on the whole. In my opinion it is, as most of what I listed to remove is filler (imo).
--VotLW (hatred against marines is nice -- when you play against marines. Pretty rare nowadays in comparison to everyone else)
--melta bomb (already have a fist, one bomb is not gonna solve land raider issues)
--Gift (a nice way to burn 10 points but far from neccesary)
--1 cultist, autoguns, flamers off cultists (cultists are meat for the grinder, and generally upgrades for them aren't all that neccesary)
--MoS on spawn (they strike last often enough on the charge, and aren't deadly enough in assault to make the extra I all that great for 15 points)
--Lasher tendrils off maulerfiends (a worthwhile upgrade but not mandatroy and actually the added anti-landraider ability of the cutters is not a bad thing to keep in your list)
--Possession off Vindi (it does suck when you can't shoot a vindi, so its worth taking, but in 6ed ignoring stun/shake is less powerful due to glance changes)

All in all your list is still just as powerful, but now gets the psychic boosts and a warlord that can afford to stay out of the thick of things.

 Green is Best! wrote:

 Spellbound wrote:
Sorry, I'll consider other adjustments to the list but the lord needs his powerfist. I've tried other configurations and even took Lucius, who basically has a lightning claw (S4 ap3, shred, three or more attacks) and he never performs well, ever. 4+ rerollable isn't as reliable as a 2+, and this also allows me something better against walkers and the like.

It's unfortunate that I can't use his init buff, but the mark is mainly to unlock noisemarines as troops. Consider this waste of his initiative to be a casualty of 6th edition's AP3 power weapons and claw system.

The other option then is to scrape up the points to give him a fist and a lightning claw. This lets him swing at his high initiative against 3+ armor saves while still having the ability to crack 2+ armor as well. And, because they are both specialist weapons, you gain an extra attack. Its a little pricey, but it is effective.

This is exactly what I have on all 3 of my Lords, and 2 out of 3 of my Space Marine Captains, it's very effective, and very helpful, and you're only sacrificing a boltpistol/plaspistol shot for it (and obviously the extra points) but so worth it!

 BrotherOfBone wrote:

 Green is Best! wrote:

 Spellbound wrote:
Sorry, I'll consider other adjustments to the list but the lord needs his powerfist. I've tried other configurations and even took Lucius, who basically has a lightning claw (S4 ap3, shred, three or more attacks) and he never performs well, ever. 4+ rerollable isn't as reliable as a 2+, and this also allows me something better against walkers and the like.

It's unfortunate that I can't use his init buff, but the mark is mainly to unlock noisemarines as troops. Consider this waste of his initiative to be a casualty of 6th edition's AP3 power weapons and claw system.

The other option then is to scrape up the points to give him a fist and a lightning claw. This lets him swing at his high initiative against 3+ armor saves while still having the ability to crack 2+ armor as well. And, because they are both specialist weapons, you gain an extra attack. Its a little pricey, but it is effective.

This is exactly what I have on all 3 of my Lords, and 2 out of 3 of my Space Marine Captains, it's very effective, and very helpful, and you're only sacrificing a boltpistol/plaspistol shot for it (and obviously the extra points) but so worth it!

However he has the burning brand and the fist, so he'd have to be allowed to swap out the twinlinked bolter on the bike in order to have all 3 (and that is contentious and has not been FAQd as far as I know).

So min maxing Noise Marine squads without a Rhino is good?

Puscifer wrote:
So min maxing Noise Marine squads without a Rhino is good?

Essentially, yes.. It's just one more scoring unit in your pocket, and you can also fire at different stuff ;D

Id run Lord, MoS, bike, PF, LC, votlw, melta bomb, Soc.

Dropping the gom- overpriced for what it is and the burning brand- heldrakes do it better and the pf/lc is an awesome combo. With the pf you can drop the melta bomb too (esp if there is 2 maulerfiends causing havoc)

Like has been said i really dont think the spawn need the MoS.

I would make the cultists ass cheap as possible. Try them in a few games- imo their pretty useless without a lord in there to be the guy that actually does something. If theyre running out of reserves for a backfield objective they dont need to be so big. If your using them to screen then that sort of works. If theyre in there to score id just turn em into naked vanilla marines.

Ive had mixed luck with chaos sorcs- they arent back but theyre far from reliable. If you were cutting points for one id just think about cutting a few more for another heldrake (if you want the list to be propperly competitive). Otherwise sorcs can make for fun games.


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Oh and murder sword is terrible.