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So, for a Christmas present, I found a Kharybdis Assault Claw ( https://i.yuki.la/tg/1390591260973.pdf Imperial Armor 13 added Daemonic Possession) under the tree. Now to use it at the next Maelstrom event at the local store.

1850pts Khorne Daemonkin

*Blood Host Detachment*
+ Core +
Slaughtercult

Bloodthirster of Unfettered Fury

7x Bloodletters
- 1x Bloodreaper
8x Bloodletters, Banner of Blood, Instrument of Chaos

9x Cultists, 1x Flamer
- Cultist Champion [Autogun]

Chaos Spawn
Chaos Spawn

4x Possessed
- Possessed Champion
- Chaos Rhino

+ Auxiliary +
Soul Grinder [Baleful Torrent]
Maulerfiend [2x Magma Cutters]
Helbrute [Reaper Autocannon, Powerfist with built in Combi-bolter]

*Formation Detachment*

Fist of Khorne ( http://i.imgur.com/lEGUEwq.jpg )
Kharybdis Assault Claw
19x Berzerkers, Replace 2x Bolt Pistol w/ Plasma Pistol
- Berzerker Champion [Bolt Pistol, Close Combat Weapon, Melta Bombs]

Using a couple of tricks here:
1. The Rhino I listed under the Possessed is actually going to be used by the Cultists. Rhino starts empty, then the Cultists hop in and they drive around till they both die.
2. Boodletters with Banner/Instrument acts as a landing point for any summons and I start them in Deepstrike along with the Soul Grinder, Instrument of Chaos will let both come in same turn, land near the enemy so the Baleful Torrent can burn some things.
3. Helbrute and Maulerfiend are my can openers.
4. Two independent Spawn for more chaos and blood tithes. They actually avoid fights and run around taking fire and grabbing objectives as needed.
5. And of course the key element, first turn charging 20 Berzerkers... ( http://pro.bols.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Blood-Oath-FAQ.jpg )

Possible known opponents: Orks, Tyranids, Necrons, Blood Angels, White Scars, and other random SM factions.

Still trying to figure out the better wargear options for the various units.

Looks pretty good but why not go for the Bloodthirster of Insensate Rage?

 Dr. John Hemlock wrote:
Looks pretty good but why not go for the Bloodthirster of Insensate Rage?

Not a valid choice for the HQ of the Slaughtercult.

And would have to sacrifice a lot of things to fit one in as a Lords of Slaughter option.

Well, you would only need to find the points for a herald in the slaughtercult, which shouldn't be too hard.

I would definitely give the bezerkers a banner of wrath to reroll charge distances (700 pts shouldn't be at risk of a double 1!)
And give the champion a power fist or axe of khorne.

As to cuts. the hellbrute does look kinda out of place, but i guess one gun is better than no guns. The cultists aren't objective secured, so I don't know if they will work as you intend. Blood host cultists are supposed to die!

Interesting list. I love idea of the assault claw but I think your battle plan could be tweaked a little. A lord with Kortlath is less points than a bloodthirster and you get a free bloodthirster when he dies.

The helbrute is pretty meh compared to a unit of fleshhounds. I feel like you would be better served with another maulerfiend rather than a deep striking flamer soul grinder.

The cultists in a rhino doesnt really make any sense. They are supposed to sit on a key objective and force your opponent to deal with them. WIth no rhino, what is the game plan for possessed on foot?

Your assault claw is a huge blob of points that will get killed if you don't get into combat with the rest of your army fast enough. Yes they will probably kill something turn 1, but you need to get the rest of you army into combat after that. Unfortunately, really the best way to do that is with movespeed.

Your army is woefully lacking on high str/anti armorI would free up the points from the thirster, helbrute, flamer on the cultists, banner of blood on the letters, and maybe even trim down the claw to get a gore pack. The alpha strike should be there to hold the enemy in place and mitigate his most deadly shooting so the rest of your army can get into place for big charges.

Captyn_Bob wrote:
Well, you would only need to find the points for a herald in the slaughtercult, which shouldn't be too hard.

I would definitely give the bezerkers a banner of wrath to reroll charge distances (700 pts shouldn't be at risk of a double 1!)
And give the champion a power fist or axe of khorne.

As to cuts. the hellbrute does look kinda out of place, but i guess one gun is better than no guns. The cultists aren't objective secured, so I don't know if they will work as you intend. Blood host cultists are supposed to die!

The herald has no place to be a good part of, can't go with the Berzerkers, he slows down the already slow Possessed or very fast Spawn. And my idea for the Cult is already a 10man squad to do the Flamer which is a great source of damage to use against the Orks or Tyranids that I am expecting to be there. And a basic Herald does nothing, I would have to upgrade him to around 125 points for him to do anything (Jugger/Exalted Locus of Wrath)

A Banner on Berzerkers is a waste of points, I should be within 1"-2" of my primary charge target thanks to the Kharybdis Assault Claw working exactly as a SM drop pod.

Hellbrute is a source of ST7 for destroying vehicles at range, I thought about just using the MultiMelta but the range is too short and I want him to stay back.

Power fist and Axe of Khorne are too high cost for a character that might not even survive turn one after getting challenged out and killed. The MeltaBomb is incase of Monstrous or Vehicle fighting.

early morning response might change later...

1 s7 autocannon is not going to do anything to hurt armor. It would take half the game to kill a simple rhino with that and with 6" movement good luck charging anything.

Thinking about dropping helbrut and maulerfiend, using herald with the hatered locus and doing a gore pack.

Not a bad thought. I'm still concerned about the lack of anti-tank. Flesh hounds can deal with rear armor 10 stuff, but if you run into anything tougher than that you may have an issue.

Manfried wrote:
Interesting list. I love idea of the assault claw but I think your battle plan could be tweaked a little. A lord with Kortlath is less points than a bloodthirster and you get a free bloodthirster when he dies.

The helbrute is pretty meh compared to a unit of fleshhounds. I feel like you would be better served with another maulerfiend rather than a deep striking flamer soul grinder.

The cultists in a rhino doesnt really make any sense. They are supposed to sit on a key objective and force your opponent to deal with them. WIth no rhino, what is the game plan for possessed on foot?

Your assault claw is a huge blob of points that will get killed if you don't get into combat with the rest of your army fast enough. Yes they will probably kill something turn 1, but you need to get the rest of you army into combat after that. Unfortunately, really the best way to do that is with movespeed.

Your army is woefully lacking on high str/anti armorI would free up the points from the thirster, helbrute, flamer on the cultists, banner of blood on the letters, and maybe even trim down the claw to get a gore pack. The alpha strike should be there to hold the enemy in place and mitigate his most deadly shooting so the rest of your army can get into place for big charges.

Now, later in day I can address this fully.

Soul Grinder Deep Striking in is going for things that I need to hit with ignore cover (ST6, AP4 Torrent) or attacking vehicles in the back row with it's ST7 Harvester Cannon and third turn charge of the Power claw. His large base size causes landing issues, which is why I am combing it with the Bloodletters, one successful deep strike reserve roll means the Bloodletters Instrument pulls in the Soul Grinder, Bloodletters still scatter, but the Soul Grinder, when placed within 6" of the banner holder does not.

The Cultists was just a fun idea I had, they can hop in, move 12, flat out another 6 to get to the other side. Then if they pop the Rhino or ignore it I don't care, the cultists are now close to the front line where they can still be a distraction or cause a little bit of chaos. Using units in ways that people do not normally expect is just something that I do.

A Lord with Kortlath with usable gear is 205-230 points. You need to put him on a Juggernaut for mobility and give him a Power fist for that extra swing and anti vehicle. Puts him at 205, adding optional 4++, 230, saving 20 points.

The Fist of Khorne as listed above is only 35 points higher than the minimum due to the melta bomb on the champ and the two Plasma Pistols (ST7 AP2) which can be used to pop a transport to get to the guys inside. These berzerkers are willing to give up rage/furious charge to do a multi charge to lock more things into combat.

KDK overall does lack anti armor and even anti air. Anything above 11 or in zoom/swoop is usually just ignored. And in my meta, that is pretty much just drop pods and their armor of 12.

With that all said, here is a rough draft of a BH + Gorepack + Fist list:

1850pts Khorne Daemonkin

*Blood Host Detachment*
+ Core +
Slaughtercult

Herald, Locus of Wrath, Juggernaut (goes with a hound unit)

8x Bloodletters
8x Bloodletters, Banner of Blood, Instrument of Chaos

4x Possessed
- Possessed Champion

+ Auxiliary +
Soul Grinder [Baleful Torrent]
Gorepack
2x Chaos Bikes, 2 Melta
--Bike champ

2x Chaos Bikes, 2 Melta
--Bike champ

10x Fleshhounds
10x Fleshhounds

*Formation Detachment*

Fist of Khorne ( http://i.imgur.com/lEGUEwq.jpg )
Kharybdis Assault Claw
19x Berzerkers, Replace 2x Bolt Pistol w/ Plasma Pistol, 1x Chainaxe
- Berzerker Champion [Bolt Pistol, Axe of Khorne, Melta Bombs]

Draco765 wrote:

Manfried wrote:
Interesting list. I love idea of the assault claw but I think your battle plan could be tweaked a little. A lord with Kortlath is less points than a bloodthirster and you get a free bloodthirster when he dies.

The helbrute is pretty meh compared to a unit of fleshhounds. I feel like you would be better served with another maulerfiend rather than a deep striking flamer soul grinder.

The cultists in a rhino doesnt really make any sense. They are supposed to sit on a key objective and force your opponent to deal with them. WIth no rhino, what is the game plan for possessed on foot?

Your assault claw is a huge blob of points that will get killed if you don't get into combat with the rest of your army fast enough. Yes they will probably kill something turn 1, but you need to get the rest of you army into combat after that. Unfortunately, really the best way to do that is with movespeed.

Your army is woefully lacking on high str/anti armorI would free up the points from the thirster, helbrute, flamer on the cultists, banner of blood on the letters, and maybe even trim down the claw to get a gore pack. The alpha strike should be there to hold the enemy in place and mitigate his most deadly shooting so the rest of your army can get into place for big charges.

Now, later in day I can address this fully.

Soul Grinder Deep Striking in is going for things that I need to hit with ignore cover (ST6, AP4 Torrent) or attacking vehicles in the back row with it's ST7 Harvester Cannon and third turn charge of the Power claw. His large base size causes landing issues, which is why I am combing it with the Bloodletters, one successful deep strike reserve roll means the Bloodletters Instrument pulls in the Soul Grinder, Bloodletters still scatter, but the Soul Grinder, when placed within 6" of the banner holder does not.

The Cultists was just a fun idea I had, they can hop in, move 12, flat out another 6 to get to the other side. Then if they pop the Rhino or ignore it I don't care, the cultists are now close to the front line where they can still be a distraction or cause a little bit of chaos. Using units in ways that people do not normally expect is just something that I do.

A Lord with Kortlath with usable gear is 205-230 points. You need to put him on a Juggernaut for mobility and give him a Power fist for that extra swing and anti vehicle. Puts him at 205, adding optional 4++, 230, saving 20 points.

The Fist of Khorne as listed above is only 35 points higher than the minimum due to the melta bomb on the champ and the two Plasma Pistols (ST7 AP2) which can be used to pop a transport to get to the guys inside. These berzerkers are willing to give up rage/furious charge to do a multi charge to lock more things into combat.

KDK overall does lack anti armor and even anti air. Anything above 11 or in zoom/swoop is usually just ignored. And in my meta, that is pretty much just drop pods and their armor of 12.

With that all said, here is a rough draft of a BH + Gorepack + Fist list:

1850pts Khorne Daemonkin

*Blood Host Detachment*
+ Core +
Slaughtercult

Herald, Locus of Wrath, Juggernaut (goes with a hound unit)

8x Bloodletters
8x Bloodletters, Banner of Blood, Instrument of Chaos

4x Possessed
- Possessed Champion

+ Auxiliary +
Soul Grinder [Baleful Torrent]
Gorepack
2x Chaos Bikes, 2 Melta
--Bike champ

2x Chaos Bikes, 2 Melta
--Bike champ

10x Fleshhounds
10x Fleshhounds

*Formation Detachment*

Fist of Khorne ( http://i.imgur.com/lEGUEwq.jpg )
Kharybdis Assault Claw
19x Berzerkers, Replace 2x Bolt Pistol w/ Plasma Pistol, 1x Chainaxe
- Berzerker Champion [Bolt Pistol, Axe of Khorne, Melta Bombs]

How did the fist of khorne go?

I would love a follow up. The fist of khorne is such a cool formation.

Manfried wrote:
I would love a follow up. The fist of khorne is such a cool formation.

Three rounds of The Fist of Khorne doing what it should, the rest of the army was lacking the ability to do the Maelstrom cards I drew so I did not do very well in the Tournament.

Our local event format tends to play slow, 2.5 hour rounds end up being only 2-3 rounds. We do play Maelstrom missions with minor house-ruling of discard impossible, d3=2 points, d6=4 but I kept drawing cards like control all markers (no Objective secured due to blood host), make 'Nids fail moral/fear/pinning check, with only drawing a couple of the kill a unit which I was able to score each time.

But the Fist performed it's job.

Game 1 vs Necrons it dropped down in a spot that I hopped for a scatter onto one/two of three Vehicles (two Doomsday arks and a Catacomb Command Barge) but got a "hit" on the die.., but the 'zerkers jumped out and slaughtered the warrior unit it charged, Necron's turn absorbed some immortal and CCB shots losing only a few guys, then slaughtered the Catacomb Command Barge that charged them on the Necron's turn, which freed it up to charge the 10+ Immortal unit which was not destroyed due to some high rolling for armor and reanimation and but lost enough to cause a moral check, which passed with snake eyes. The Assault Claw got a few shots off, and then I had it fly off the board to prevent the nearby Warsythe lychguard from getting to it and really did not have any where else to go with it since it landed so far behind her deployment line.

Game 2 vs Tyranids playing "contact lost" mission: He went first and spread his 'gaunts out so landing spots for the huge drop pod were minimal and he covered as many markers as possible. Was able to drop off to the side of a 30 gaunt squad, via charging in to the fight pulled it off the marker it was holding at it's back and killed 20 of them in the melee with only 2 deaths for my 'zerkers. I did not shoot at them since they were just over 6" away due to the Claw scattering back a little bit. Then it was able to shift over and hold a genestealer unit that outflanked nearby. Time was called, we had only a few points each, I scored one card and had line breaker, he only had one point from his cards.

Game 3 vs another KDK list. He had the D'thirster and the 300 point one in a cad with a bunch of cultists and he copied my idea of cultists in rhinos with out knowing it. I tried to drop the Claw behind the D-thirster since I knew I could take it down with 'zerkers, had a bad scatter and landed where I could not disembark the 'zerkers. So I used the Heat Blast ability of the Claw, rolled a 6, and hit three units with the st6 ap5 ignore cover, causing the death of two Fleshhounds, 5 out of 8 cultists and 2 cultists in another squad. His turn, the D'thirster turned around and attacked the Claw, it was able to do destroy it, but no exploding, by this time he left enough space for my 'zerkers to get out and they all charged it next turn, and he could not save enough wounds. They then got into a fight with the fleshhounds that turned around and charged when time was called at the end of that Game Round...

Alright cool, tho worrying that the butcherhorde is underperforming. Ah the hope that objectives won't matter if you kill enough enemy.. classic world eaters.

I find it hard to imagine a situation where you can't disembark at all.. but heat blast is a nice consolation.


I guess you are playing it that you can't place the fist onto vehicles when choosing your deep strike location. Maan, why is that such a common thought.. I don't see it at all.

Captyn_Bob wrote:
Alright cool, tho worrying that the butcherhorde is underperforming. Ah the hope that objectives won't matter if you kill enough enemy.. classic world eaters.

I find it hard to imagine a situation where you can't disembark at all.. but heat blast is a nice consolation.


I guess you are playing it that you can't place the fist onto vehicles when choosing your deep strike location. Maan, why is that such a common thought.. I don't see it at all.

The game three where I could not disembark, the 20 'zerkers are hard enough disembarking within 6" of the hull when out in the open let alone a bad scatter into a small opening where three units of troops mostly surround you. The Claw is an assault vehicle so I do not have to worry about standing around no matter what turn they get out.

The unit has to follow ds rules, place model then scatter can't place models on top of each other.