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Hello all,

I am mostly playing AoS at the current time, but some of my friends are stuck in 40k, so i wanna start a new 40k army to play with them.

However, i have a hard time deciding between either Daemons or Skitarii. I was wondering if anyone could provide some input on their differences, general playstyle and recommendations. I have played a bit of 40k before, but not a lot so i am not an experienced player at all.

I think the main pro's of going daemons is obviously that i can use them in AoS as well, but i don't want that to be a deciding factor, since i already have an AoS army and the variety might be a good thing for me. However, i am just not sure of how viable Skitarii is on its own? I don't wanna ally in anyone else at first, and focus on one army. However, i can see it being nice down the road, as i am also interested in Imperial Guard later, but i don't wanna start there since a friend of mine plays them.

So, what do you guys think? Or should i just collect an entirely different army because they both suck ****? ^^

Thanks <3

At smaller games skitarii is awesome. I can think of quite a few easier armies to start with. That said hey make great allies and an and for a small game army. However in matches above 1250 it's definitely advisable to ally in admech or grey knights.

Both are fun but they play nothing alike aside from both having tons of shenanigans.

Do you like to shot stuff, and hate psykers -> Play Skitarri / Admech

Do you like to assault stuff, and love psykers -> Play daemons.

I don't have a great deal of experience with Skitarii as I've never Vs'd them or played using them, but have read through their rules, so can't speak too much to them except that I know they can be pretty powerful in smaller games but work best when allied with Cult Mechanicus or other armies in bigger games.

As for Daemons, they are very diverse in how warriors from each God plays and their style, and provide a very diverse range of painting if you collect an Undivided army with units from each of the 4 While Daemons lack decent armour they all have a 5+ invul which is nice , and you can tailor your army lists to fit any play style you like ! Dominate the magic phase with tons of Tzeentch Daemons or run headfirst at your opponent with a Khornate style list ( Even Slaanesh can be scary as they run very fast and can hit pretty hard).

Personally I find the modelling and painting opportunities to be greater (as well as the list writing side) with Daemons, however it really comes down to what you feel you will enjoy painting the most

 Soldier0Fortune wrote:
I don't have a great deal of experience with Skitarii as I've never Vs'd them or played using them, but have read through their rules, so can't speak too much to them except that I know they can be pretty powerful in smaller games but work best when allied with Cult Mechanicus or other armies in bigger games.

As for Daemons, they are very diverse in how warriors from each God plays and their style, and provide a very diverse range of painting if you collect an Undivided army with units from each of the 4 While Daemons lack decent armour they all have a 5+ invul which is nice , and you can tailor your army lists to fit any play style you like ! Dominate the magic phase with tons of Tzeentch Daemons or run headfirst at your opponent with a Khornate style list ( Even Slaanesh can be scary as they run very fast and can hit pretty hard).

Personally I find the modelling and painting opportunities to be greater (as well as the list writing side) with Daemons, however it really comes down to what you feel you will enjoy painting the most

Yeah i can see the point, but isn't painting daemons also very "non-innovative"? I mean, the color-scheme are kinda pre-set isn't it? I never see people variete due to the heavy emphasis on the lore? I never see khorne that isn't red for instance. I know i can just do it, but i think people will find it weird somehow xD

seerex wrote:

 Soldier0Fortune wrote:
I don't have a great deal of experience with Skitarii as I've never Vs'd them or played using them, but have read through their rules, so can't speak too much to them except that I know they can be pretty powerful in smaller games but work best when allied with Cult Mechanicus or other armies in bigger games.

As for Daemons, they are very diverse in how warriors from each God plays and their style, and provide a very diverse range of painting if you collect an Undivided army with units from each of the 4 While Daemons lack decent armour they all have a 5+ invul which is nice , and you can tailor your army lists to fit any play style you like ! Dominate the magic phase with tons of Tzeentch Daemons or run headfirst at your opponent with a Khornate style list ( Even Slaanesh can be scary as they run very fast and can hit pretty hard).

Personally I find the modelling and painting opportunities to be greater (as well as the list writing side) with Daemons, however it really comes down to what you feel you will enjoy painting the most

Yeah i can see the point, but isn't painting daemons also very "non-innovative"? I mean, the color-scheme are kinda pre-set isn't it? I never see people variete due to the heavy emphasis on the lore? I never see khorne that isn't red for instance. I know i can just do it, but i think people will find it weird somehow xD

Nah, you can paint stuff up really imaginative with demons. I've seen some really cool armies, while Skitarii really benefit from a uniform colour scheme. They look ridiculous if they don't all look the same.

That said, I'm a Skitarii guy, and if you're fine with a very limited codex, they're a very fun army to play. It is a third of a codex, though, and eventually you'll want to branch into the rest of the Ad Mech, most probably.

seerex wrote:

 Soldier0Fortune wrote:
I don't have a great deal of experience with Skitarii as I've never Vs'd them or played using them, but have read through their rules, so can't speak too much to them except that I know they can be pretty powerful in smaller games but work best when allied with Cult Mechanicus or other armies in bigger games.

As for Daemons, they are very diverse in how warriors from each God plays and their style, and provide a very diverse range of painting if you collect an Undivided army with units from each of the 4 While Daemons lack decent armour they all have a 5+ invul which is nice , and you can tailor your army lists to fit any play style you like ! Dominate the magic phase with tons of Tzeentch Daemons or run headfirst at your opponent with a Khornate style list ( Even Slaanesh can be scary as they run very fast and can hit pretty hard).

Personally I find the modelling and painting opportunities to be greater (as well as the list writing side) with Daemons, however it really comes down to what you feel you will enjoy painting the most

Yeah i can see the point, but isn't painting daemons also very "non-innovative"? I mean, the color-scheme are kinda pre-set isn't it? I never see people variete due to the heavy emphasis on the lore? I never see khorne that isn't red for instance. I know i can just do it, but i think people will find it weird somehow xD

So what if they do? Some people might give you weird looks or something (I had a guy disparagingly say "I just don't get how that makes sense" to my wraithlord/daemon prince kitbash, to which I replied "Okay"), but honestly more people are going to say "Oh cool!" The "Oh cool" people are who really matter

BossJakadakk wrote:
So what if they do? Some people might give you weird looks or something (I had a guy disparagingly say "I just don't get how that makes sense" to my wraithlord/daemon prince kitbash, to which I replied "Okay"), but honestly more people are going to say "Oh cool!" The "Oh cool" people are who really matter

"I don't see how that makes sense."
Good, that's how Chaos is supposed to work.

Right? It's not about understanding, it's about BEING, man!

Demons since you play AoS, since they work in both.

With that said, I play Admech primarily as "War Convocation", which is IMO the best way to play them and I love it.

 Bulldogging wrote:
which is IMO the best way to play them

Well, I mean it makes them about 200% more powerful, so yeah, I don't think anyone can argue. It does however demand that you buy an imperial knight, which for a lot of us is like "nah."

Daemons. But I'm biased :3

If you go daemons, make sure you take a long look at how they operate in regards to random tables, invulnerable saves, and the daemonic instability and warpstorm rules. Additionally, the Curse of the Wulfen supplemental rules are pretty snazzy. I think the biggest pro here is that due to maturity of the line, you'll have a larger number of army options with daemons currently. The biggest con is likely the complexity of rules interactions.

My vote is for Skitarii, mainly because they are a change of pace from the factions in AoS. I'm building mine up now and they have a lot of unique rules for such a small Codex.

I think they work great for small-medium sized games as a single army, but their weaknesses are more apparent as the points go up. Extra movement only goes so far when there are transports that can move 12+ inches in a turn, and the low toughness begs for some beefier options to soak damage. That seems like a major knock against them, but their special rules negate many of their short falls as long as your enemy cannot cover all areas (hence the point limit). But on a positive note, you can always start Skitarii for 750-1000 points then add some of the other Cult/Titan choices. I think they should share a single Codex anyway given their fluff... And I'd bet that I'm not the only one.

The War Convocation is strong, but IMO it is the only reasonable option if you want to build towards 1750+. Free upgrades are a nice consolation prize for lacking some of the choices common in other Codexes, and it is nice to have buffs that work for your entire army. Especially since they are focused on range for the most part.

In the end, go with what seems more interesting to you. Daemons never interested me in terms of fluff (I prefer the Cultists/CSM), but I always wanted to learn more about the Adeptus Mechanicus while reading various novels. And there is always the Dark Mechanicus if you love Chaos. They are a fun army to paint (not so much to build with having to match up the robe parts), and look great when you're done. Good luck with whatever you choose!

From a painters perspective.

Do you love to paint all sorts of exotic skin -> Play daemons.
Do you never ever want to run the risk of having to paint any skin -> Play admech / skitatii

Y'know, some of your fantasy units can fit in with your 40k armies.

Take mine, for example: I use Dryads to use up my leftover Rad carbines and Galvo's, Skellymen from a Tomb King's batallion as Adsecularis, and Clan Skrye Skaven for Cult stuff; Stormfiends are the same size [and hitbox] as Castellan robots.
But I've not gone and done it so simple; my army's fluff suitably accomodates these fantasy units.
And it's also borderline heresy.

Now, having said that, whilst Skitarii was what I started with, (and I was just doing low point games), I did eventually branch into the Cult, and then Taghmata. I do enjoy the Skits, but the limited codex (and damn robbery of money that are the Ironstriders) did, after 3 months, land Ikit Claw and an entourage of Stormfiends on my lap.

Recently, though, I've been delving into the Skitarii lore and fishing out custom units to make and use. There's absolutely loads buried in the books and stuff.
What I've currently got is a bunch of Hoplites (made them 4 months ago, before I saw the FW ones), and an Araknakratos spider tank.

That aside, I've always had an interest in Tzeentch daemons. I used to watch Dark Crystal over and over as a child, and I also really like Fraggle Rock.


To summarise:
Skitarii are really good fun in low point games. - Dantes_Baals. [Their Start Collecting formation is marvelous]
" " nice if you can't paint typical humans to save your life. - oldzoggy
" " fine if you cba with that awkward Psychic phase.
" have lots to offer in their lore, being very good candidates for kitbashed units.
" " probably the best basic troop choice in 40k (Vanguard).
But it's easy to keep forgetting rules for them, as there's alot of them. (But I keep checklists to run through each turn)