Editing Warhammer 40,000/6th Edition Tactics/Chaos Daemons (section)

====Heralds====
The following HQ selections are Heralds and differ from the Greater Daemons and Princes because up to four Heralds may be taken in a single HQ slot in a primary detachment, meaning you could have lots of them if you wanted to (but not as an allied detachment). The following count as Heralds: Skulltaker, Karnak, Epidemius, and the Changeling as well as the four generic Heralds. The Masque and the Blue Scribes don't however. 

*'''Herald of Khorne''' - With WS7, BS7, and initiative 6, the Herald of Khorne is a 55 point character/TEQ killer. Just watch out for the strike back, because you're only 6+ 5++... As for what to equip him with, either one of the Etherblades, Blade of Blood or Axe of Khorne, really depends on what you want to throw him in. If you plan on butchering hordes with your unit of choice, an Etherblade is a better choice (hordes with higher toughness values should be dealt with via Greater Etherblade); units with higher initiative or model count are better served with the Blade of Blood. The Axe is meant for challenges and chopping the heads off of Monstrous Creatures, so take that instead if wish to spill blood in a badass way. Additionally, you could take two of these weapons and get the benefits of both.
**'''Blood Throne of Khorne''' - Your personal Khornate Pimpmobile. It's the slowest but toughest of the chariots (Armor 12 with 3 HP, with a 50% chance to regain one every-time it wounds something), and its Hammer of Wrath attacks are at Strength 7. It offers your Herald good protection and mobility, but more than anything else it broadcasts his Locus to all Bloodletters within 6". Just imagine this massive blob of power weapons with either 3 attacks each on the charge or Hatred for everything...
***'''Skulltaker''' - The new book changes how he rolls. WS9 I9 4A, 3+ Armor, Eternal Warrior, Adamantium Will for the whole unit and a power sword with Soul Blaze that has Instant Death when you roll a 6 To Wound. All this at the bargain price of 100 points. Yeah, he must always issue and accept challenges, but if he's not actively hunting the opponent's most dangerous character you're doing it wrong. Put him on a Juggernaut with at least three Bloodcrushers to Look Out Sir, and watch as he gets into combat much faster than last edition (He still keeps his 3+ Armor save with this option). Unfortunately he lost his 4+ rending so The Taker of Skulls will be decapitated by models with a 2+ and is rarely more useful than a standard Khorne herald with an <s>Etherblade</s> Axe of Khorne. I think the main use of Skulltaker is in 500-1000 point games as he is only 100 points or 145 points with his upgrade and can beat any other non 2+ save HQ into the pavement. Another appealing option for Skulltaker is to put him on a Juggernaut and run him with a pack of 10-20 Flesh Hounds. Skulltaker can take care of any high armor models that would otherwise tarpit the hounds. Plus, the high model count in the unit grants re-rolls in challenges and will help him take down your opponent's special snowflake that much easier. 
***'''Karanak''' - This big ol' doggy is made for hunting down special snowflakes. You can nominate one at the start of the game: Karanak will get to re-roll ALL To-Hit and To-Wound rolls against him/her/it, and at that point it's only a matter of getting him in melee. Don't think that daemon-Cujo here is a one-trick pony though. He's got a better statline than a vanilla Herald, Hates everyone and everything, gives his whole unit Rage and as a frosting all psykers within 12" suffer Perils of the Warp on a double (problem, Grey Knights?). All this for a only 120 points. Alternatively, putting him in a squad of Bloodletters isn't a bad idea, because his Loci grants Rage, and MEQs will be slaughtered by them, especially with Karanak's marked Hatred! Not the best way to use Karanak, but an interesting combo none the less.

*'''Herald of Nurgle''' - These guys actually got a buff this time around. They have got high WS, BS, S and T but MAINLY provide your Plague units with FNP. These guys can be Psykers and can take from Plague and Biomancy. Keep them lv 1 and take Plague for either some very nasty witchfires or an amazing blessing that turns your Plaguebearers into scary CC killers. They also hit at Initiative 4 with AP 2 (if you give them the Etherblade) which is awesome as you can actually kill something relatively tough without being killed first! Can't recommend these guys enough!
**'''Epidemius''' - As of the new codex, Epidemius got nerfed hard. He's only just usable in a Nurgle based army. He could possibly pump up your units to absurd levels, so long as they are Daemons of Nurgle within 6". Now as he only has a 6" bubble that he gives buffs to (+1T, +1S, +1FNP, etc) and he only buffs Daemons of Nurgle, not Mark of Nurgle, he will be rarely used. The Buffs got better but the area of effect makes him far less useful than before, especially as he doesn't even give FNP to his unit to start with like a cheaper Herald could.

*'''Herald of Slaanesh''' - A decently balanced faster unit. Give her an Etherblade, Greater Loci of Swiftness and a Steed of Slaanesh or Exalted Chariot. Stick her in a squad of Seekers so that you have yourself an angry mob of initiative 10 Daemons being lead by an even bigger Daemon with AP2, or a squad of angry fast Rending machines on Speed.
**'''The Masque''' - The Masque is only 75 points. She is now 5++ with re-roll and three dances to choose from that debuff -5 to WS another to BS with no overwatch and one that causes them to literally dance themselves to death. Debuffing BS -5 and preventing overwatch sounds particularly delicious. She can't join units so be extra careful with her, but her nerfs are the last word in countering death stars so consider her carefully if you opponents use them often. Dancing starts at the start of the shooting phase, she still free to run after the dancing begins so she can jump out in move, nerf something, then run into cover.
***A very important note, though she's in the herald part of the book, she's not actually listed as a herald so she takes up a full HQ slot by her self not the 1/4 a normal herald takes up, a MAJOR detriment. 

*'''Herald of Tzeentch''' - A lot of dakka in a small package. Upgrade to Mastery 2/3 and if you roll on Change, hope for the third power or take the primaris and roll all others on divination. A lot of dakka with great div buffs zipping around on a disk is very effective. A solid choice. The chariot he can take has weaker armor than a rhino (10 on all sides) meaning that bolters can glance it to death with sixes, but hang on and you don't want it. This guy is amazing if you roll an 11 on your warpstorm, since the new Herald has to be BASIC and Tzeentch Heralds happen to be Psykers as basic, so you gain a nice Divination bonus for free, whereas the other Heralds are only really usable with upgrades.
**'''Exalted Flamer''' - A recent issue of White Dwarf weekly now allows single units of Exalted Flamers to be taken outside of their chariot for half the points cost.  Though it gained independent character, it isn't jump infantry unlike regular Flamers and its shooting attacks are still classified as heavy weapons.  Actually, it's kinda better this way as it allows it to hide away in terrain along with some Pink Horrors and provide some extra ranged power while camping some objective.  Counts toward your Herald allowance.
**'''The Changeling''' - Now works similarly to the fantasy Changeling, with the caveat that you only alter your own profile. You can replace any or all of your WS, Strength, Initiative, toughness, and/or attacks with that of a single model in base contact. Might be useful to tie up a generic close combat character, but will quickly get outclassed by anything with special snowflake gear. Statistics will never be in the Changeling's favour. The best you can hope for is 50%, given the target has no wargear at all. One fun trick is against characters that have an 'X' or '*' for their characteristic like Crowe's attacks. Since this means the longhand description counts as his characteristic, you copy that as well. The question is: do you use the same stance as Crowe, choose your own, or just copy the number of attacks and forgo the rest of the benefits? Discuss this with your group before playing while we wait for an FAQ, but you may have to wait a while as GW doesn't seem to care much about FAQing rule discrepancies in the Daemons codex. It's been months and all we have are some corrected typos.
**'''The Blue Scribes''' - Cheap multi-purpose character who should be kept out of melee at all costs. They lost "Watch this!" and now have a Hellforged Artefact "Scrolls of Sorcery" for which each turn you choose a discipline, roll d6(no primaris swap) and auto-manifest the power with no tests needed and no charges expended(as they aren't actually psykers) and a spell siphon ability that recycles used charge points by enemy psykers on a 6. Makes decent support with horrors around as you can cycle those warp charges onto them and then use there flicker fires to dump that extra spell charge into even more mind bullets.