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Hi folks,

As the title says, I have a 800pts game tonight against a Slaaneshi army. The guy has much experience and is a good player I think. The last time he played, he almost tabled a Grot list I'm usually struggling against. AFAIK, he owns two/three daemonettes squads, one or two chariots and cavalry units, some Slaanesh chaos beasts.

I saw his army crossing the board very, very, very quickly and then drown the enemies in S3 AP- high I attacks. I have for me weight of las fire, hellhounds and light artillery (Griffon heavy mortar tank or heavy mortar FW batteries, but I feel it is not going to be enough to stop him from reaching my guys.

So, do you guys and girls have any idea how to deal with Slaanesh Deamons? Advices, tactics and so on? I must say we play medium-intensity lists so, despite having quite a good range of IG models at home, I can't really use Russes, Basilisks or flyers.

Thanks in advance for help !

Put a skirmish screen of infantry out front - that is, if you've got a full platoon, blob up most of them but detach one squad and form them in a line out front.

Slaaneshi cavalry and chariots will cover the ground to you in one turn. You won't stop them reaching your lines - but you can let them reach the front line, murder them, then be stuck in rapid-fire range. It doesn't take much small arms fire to blow seeker cavalry to pieces.

Don't worry about giving them a cover save for intervening units; after all, mortars and hellhounds don't care and they've already got a 5++ save anyway.

If you can provide someone good at denying psychic powers, that's also probably a good call. Slaaneshi psykers get access to telepathy, which is a very nasty discipline; invisibility, and the lethal-to-low-leadership units powers terrify and psychic shriek.

Spam blob platoon with as many autocannons as you can and support them with flamer command squad, your Hellhound is also a great choice. Put a 50men conscript squad with powerfist comissar in front of the main platoons blob. Sit them inncover if you can so those daemons are hitting you at I1 when they charge you. Tie down those Daemonette for a few turns.

Calculate the distances between your army and your opponent is important, if you foresee they can go around terrains when charging you, move the conscripts forward and charge them instead. If you expected their only way to reach you is to charge through terrains, then just sit still and shoot.

Thanks Locarno !

Slaaneshi cavalry and chariots will cover the ground to you in one turn. You won't stop them reaching your lines - but you can let them reach the front line, murder them, then be stuck in rapid-fire range. It doesn't take much small arms fire to blow seeker cavalry to pieces.

Do I understand I will be charged turn 1? Could two 20-men conscripts with commissars could do the trick, both occupying ground and providing a screen of cheap bodies to the rest of my army?

How tough is the chariot? I have sentinels with LC which usually do well against big stuff but I feel this one is kind of hard to bring down? What does its stats look like? Should I dedicate a Vet squad with PG or MG in chimeras to counter this threat?

What units would you prefer if you had to choose?

Spam blob platoon with as many autocannons as you can and support them with flamer command squad, your Hellhound is also a great choice. Put a 50men conscript squad with powerfist comissar in front of the main platoons blob. Sit them in cover if you can so those daemons are hitting you at I1 when they charge you. Tie down those Daemonette for a few turns.

Calculate the distances between your army and your opponent is important, if you foresee they can go around terrains when charging you, move the conscripts forward and charge them instead. If you expected their only way to reach you is to charge through terrains, then just sit still and shoot.

That is nice advice, thanks. Deamonettes have no frag grenades? And I guess he is not going to advance straightforward and let himself get shot to death?
Do you know if Slaanesh armies have ways to deepstrike or outflank?

 RazgrizOne wrote:
Thanks Locarno !

Slaaneshi cavalry and chariots will cover the ground to you in one turn. You won't stop them reaching your lines - but you can let them reach the front line, murder them, then be stuck in rapid-fire range. It doesn't take much small arms fire to blow seeker cavalry to pieces.

Do I understand I will be charged turn 1? Could two 20-men conscripts with commissars could do the trick, both occupying ground and providing a screen of cheap bodies to the rest of my army?

How tough is the chariot? I have sentinels with LC which usually do well against big stuff but I feel this one is kind of hard to bring down? What does its stats look like? Should I dedicate a Vet squad with PG or MG in chimeras to counter this threat?

What units would you prefer if you had to choose?

Spam blob platoon with as many autocannons as you can and support them with flamer command squad, your Hellhound is also a great choice. Put a 50men conscript squad with powerfist comissar in front of the main platoons blob. Sit them in cover if you can so those daemons are hitting you at I1 when they charge you. Tie down those Daemonette for a few turns.

Calculate the distances between your army and your opponent is important, if you foresee they can go around terrains when charging you, move the conscripts forward and charge them instead. If you expected their only way to reach you is to charge through terrains, then just sit still and shoot.

That is nice advice, thanks. Deamonettes have no frag grenades? And I guess he is not going to advance straightforward and let himself get shot to death?
Do you know if Slaanesh armies have ways to deepstrike or outflank?

Slaaneshi chariot are AV10 all around I think they are some 3, but they are flat out further, and inflict more HoW hits with rending, so use as many autocannons as you can

Yes most daemons don't have grenade, including daemonettes and bloodletters, unless they are supported by skull cannon.

Wow, dude, that seems brutal. I'm afraid I will have to choose with targets carefully and I will not avoid CC anyway. Sounds like some conscripts will be sacrificed for the Emperor tonight!

My plan will thus looks like this : a big line of conscripts supported by artillery and heavy weapons and a second wave of fast armoured units to counter attack where it is needed and seize objectives. I will see haw I could maximize weight of fire and hope my mortars will be accurate.

Does that sound legit

Neophyte2012 wrote:

 RazgrizOne wrote:
Thanks Locarno !

Slaaneshi cavalry and chariots will cover the ground to you in one turn. You won't stop them reaching your lines - but you can let them reach the front line, murder them, then be stuck in rapid-fire range. It doesn't take much small arms fire to blow seeker cavalry to pieces.

Do I understand I will be charged turn 1? Could two 20-men conscripts with commissars could do the trick, both occupying ground and providing a screen of cheap bodies to the rest of my army?

How tough is the chariot? I have sentinels with LC which usually do well against big stuff but I feel this one is kind of hard to bring down? What does its stats look like? Should I dedicate a Vet squad with PG or MG in chimeras to counter this threat?

What units would you prefer if you had to choose?

Spam blob platoon with as many autocannons as you can and support them with flamer command squad, your Hellhound is also a great choice. Put a 50men conscript squad with powerfist comissar in front of the main platoons blob. Sit them in cover if you can so those daemons are hitting you at I1 when they charge you. Tie down those Daemonette for a few turns.

Calculate the distances between your army and your opponent is important, if you foresee they can go around terrains when charging you, move the conscripts forward and charge them instead. If you expected their only way to reach you is to charge through terrains, then just sit still and shoot.

That is nice advice, thanks. Deamonettes have no frag grenades? And I guess he is not going to advance straightforward and let himself get shot to death?
Do you know if Slaanesh armies have ways to deepstrike or outflank?

Slaaneshi chariot are AV10 all around I think they are some 3, but they are flat out further, and inflict more HoW hits with rending, so use as many autocannons as you can

Yes most daemons don't have grenade, including daemonettes and bloodletters, unless they are supported by skull cannon.

slaanesh chariots are 11/11/10

You will surely have at least one round of shooting chance before those deep strikers or out flankers charge. So don't worry and shoot down those slaaneshi daemons deployed on board in the first turn as much as you can in your first one or two turns, don't let them tie down your shooty squads early on.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 RazgrizOne wrote:
Wow, dude, that seems brutal. I'm afraid I will have to choose with targets carefully and I will not avoid CC anyway. Sounds like some conscripts will be sacrificed for the Emperor tonight!

My plan will thus looks like this : a big line of conscripts supported by artillery and heavy weapons and a second wave of fast armoured units to counter attack where it is needed and seize objectives. I will see haw I could maximize weight of fire and hope my mortars will be accurate.

Does that sound legit

The plan looks good, if you have the points, use wyveens instead of mortar heavy weapon squads.

Sadly, I have to avoid wyvern for balance. And I don't use HWT, I'd rather play Sentinels, which are way better for doing the same.

I'm currently hesitating between a Hellhound or a second big blob of conscripts with flamers and commissar. The tank is fast and deadly, but not as durable as the infantry, which is a pain in such numbers...

I don't think conscripts will hold up too well against slaanesh daemons. The chariots hammer of wrath will bypass the FnP, and there will be lots, and lots of attacks from the other units. It will slow the daemons down a turn or two, but also keep you boxed in and away from any objectives.

A single wyvern is not imbalanced. A unit of 3 pretty mean. Wraithknights are imbalanced.

Honestly, if you're worried about chariots, Chimeras with multilaser/heavy bolter do pretty well, and autocannons chew them to bits. The more hull points you take off, the fewer HoW hits they get. They do have a save (5++ usually), but they can also insta-die to autocannons. Veterans with plasma guns will eat the chariots for lunch.

Also, some (heavy) flamers will make mincemeat of Daemonettes. In general, most Slaaneshi stuff is very glassy, but fast, and everything has Rending. Also, virtually all Daemons can deep strike - but if they do, they get to spend a turn being shot to bits before they can charge. That's suicide against Guard or Tau, so I don't expect most Daemon players would try that unless they have a way to silence your guns first.

 gwarsh41 wrote:
I don't think conscripts will hold up too well against slaanesh daemons. The chariots hammer of wrath will bypass the FnP, and there will be lots, and lots of attacks from the other units. It will slow the daemons down a turn or two, but also keep you boxed in and away from any objectives.

A single wyvern is not imbalanced. A unit of 3 pretty mean. Wraithknights are imbalanced.

Slaanesh chariots HoW at S4

High Rate of fire is usually the key to demons. Most don't have very good saves and for Slaaneshi demons high toughness. If you like sentinels, the multilaser or heavy flamer will be your friend.

 CrownAxe wrote:

 gwarsh41 wrote:
I don't think conscripts will hold up too well against slaanesh daemons. The chariots hammer of wrath will bypass the FnP, and there will be lots, and lots of attacks from the other units. It will slow the daemons down a turn or two, but also keep you boxed in and away from any objectives.

A single wyvern is not imbalanced. A unit of 3 pretty mean. Wraithknights are imbalanced.

Slaanesh chariots HoW at S4

Oh, ouch. Nevermind then. I was thinking of other chariots being S6. Nevermind then, that stinks. They will still have a load of HoW attacks, and then after that a load of attacks based on wounds caused.

Expect a big unit of seeker cavalry or fiends of slaanesh plus a herald with grimoire for a 2+ save on his star and lots of telepathy for invis. Aside from that, many nettes, maybe a keeper, and probably a few soul grinders.

I'd mech up with as many autocannon/3 flamer vet squads as you can and stay in your transports since seekers and nettes are S3. Rending, sure, but still only s3. On that note, punisher russes will be your friend.

Do not blob up. They are a CC army and do not like being shot at, even with las guns.

Tank shock with chimeras after he kills a unit. This will force him to bunch up and makes your templates much more effective.

Individual armored sentinels can hold up a squad of regular demonettes or seeker cavalry all game.

If you have s8, it will ID out fiends of slaanesh. Highly recommended.

Volume of fire is key, but don't be afraid to flamer/heavy flamer up because he's going to be all up in your business.

As a Slaanesh Daemon player here are some things to keep in mind when facing them:

While S3 Rending doesn't seem like much, they love facing mechanized units. Every Daemonette has 3 attacks on the charge. Get enough into close combat against your tanks and they'll roll more than enough 6 +d3 to glance your vehicle to death.

You won't get charged on Turn 1 unless you're foolish with your deployment or top of turn movement. Fiends and Cavalry move 12". The former Runs 4-9" w/ Fleet while the latter Runs 7-12". Extremely fast and in your face. The Chariots can move 12+12" between Movement and Running.

The Chariots are not only S4 on the HoW, but they're also Rending and get d6 HoW hits for every Hull Point remaining. If he fields Exalted Chariots an untouched Exalted Chariot from a squad that gets into base contact will dole out 4d6 S4 Rending attacks at I10. Nothing to scoff at.

If you can deploy into cover, do so. Slaanesh can't do much against you if your front lines force its units to charge into cover. You remove the initiative advantage and can volume attack to cut down how many wounds you take in return.

IAs a Slaanesh player I would personally be more concerned about an Infantry heavy list than a mech heavy list. Volume fire is potent against them. Having the means to issue multiple Orders--especially First Rank Fire, Second Rank Fire--will only serve you all the better, especially since your lasguns will be wounding on 4+ instead of the usual 5+.

I would encourage you to use cheap MSUs where possible. You need volume of fire and a chance to shoot every time you get it, so MSUs would be good. If they get charged, they will very likely die in one round of combat, leaving the daemonettes, chariots and seekers vulnerable for one turn of shooting. Spread out your forces so that while you're able to cover each other with your guns, you are also not lumped together for them to declare a multi-charge.

Also I discourage using flamers. They work in theory, but with the speed of Slaaneshi Daemons you'll never get to use them; they will be in charging range before you get into firing range. trying to Wall of Death them is sub-par at best, since you only get so many hits in and it's unreliable. If you must use a template weapon, a Hellhound would probably be better since it can stay out of charge range while still burn them up.

Thanks for the huge amount of insights people. My game have been postponed from yesterday to this evening so I'll give you a list of what I'm going to bring :

IG - 800pts.

HQ

CCS - voxcaster
Inquisitor - Mastery lvl.1
Inquisitor - Mastery lvl.1

Troops

20 conscripts - 2 flamers, voxcaster
20 conscripts - 2 flamers, voxcaster
10 Vets - 2 PG, Chimera with ML and HF.
10 Vets - 2 PG, Chimera with ML and HF.

Fast Attack

2 Armoured Sentinels with AC

HS

Mortar Griffon Tank.
-------

I tried a mix between blob and MSU, since you guys seem divided on the way to go. Inquisitor would provide cheap Divination (perhaps rending attacks if I'm lucky) for massed conscripts fire.
Vets would seize objective and target chariots. With the help of their Chimeras which would block charge lines and tank shock.
Griffon has a rule making it TL.

I tried to make it balanced, feel free to say what you have to say.

Grab some comissars or Priest for the Conscripts, they are extremely important to the those blob.

Also, take autocannons or just keep the default multi-laser on the Sentinels, you already got a ok amount of flamers from else where. Let the sentinel go hunt the chariot from afar.

Use Santic Daemonology for at least one of the inqusitors if you are taking them, make them Malleous (I am sure you will) and try to arm them with Rad Grenades if you can, if you still have the points, take Grimoire of True Names to nerf the challenging opponent -5 on I and WS (and it is only 5pts !!!!!) and go challenge the Slaaneshi Herarld (for fun, shout out "I know your name" )

Don't worry, the Inquisitors will go with those poor guys. If I could get the Rending power, it could be very very nice!

And I changed the Sentinels weapons for an AC! Or maybe ML ? Always the same dilemma....

Very nice idea for the Inquisitor. That being said, I'm spare on points. I'll see what I can do.