Warhammer/Tactics/8th Edition/Daemons of Chaos

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Why Play Daemons of Chaos

There are a number of reasons to play daemons of chaos, so we'll deal with the minor ones first. The Daemons are pure, concentrated evil - destruction incarnate, really. They have some pretty slick models and a lot of options in the army, however, these reasons are overshadowed by the premier reason to play the Daemons.

Do you hate losing? I mean, do you REALLY hate losing to the point where you enter a fugue state immediately after you rage quit when a turn doesn't go your way? Well then Daemons of Chaos is the army for you! This is the army book written by the infamous dickface himself, arguably his first attempt to break an entire game system and utterly buttrape its canon. Yes, he did it in Fantasy before 40K. With Daemons of Chaos, you can field generic lords that can tear apart special characters of other armies, magic items that are immune to things that effect magic items, the most fuck-off troops in the game, and did we mention that the entire army at least causes fear and has a 5+ ward save? Play Daemons and you may never lose again.

Unit Analysis

At first, Daemon units might seem frail with their lack of armour and few available options... until you look at their stat lines and their special rules. The power of the Daemons lies here and access to Daemon gifts only buffs them further. That said, these are not the 40K Chaos Daemons and so you don't get to deep strike your entire army. In fact, you deep strike none of it - you setup just as other armies. Remember that supposed frailty issue we were murmuring about earlier? Turns out Daemons can at least be shot at to keep them at bay, with almost nothing to contribute with in the shooting phase. Although unlike other armies, they all get ward saves against it.

A note on gifts: they do NOT count as gear, which means anything that counters gear does not counter them (like the lore of metal Law of Gold spell). Furthermore, weapon gifts stack while armour gifts do not.

Lords & Heroes

All your lords are greater daemons of one sort or another (unless its a daemon prince). They're huge. They're deadly. They cause terror. They ALL start at 450 pts. base, which restricts their appearances to only higher point games in 8th edition, but then again they all have a strength and toughness of 6, too. Each God has its own greater daemon, which has its own strengths and abilities befitting its dark master.

Bloodthirster: Khorne's greater daemon, an absolute close combat powerhouse! On top of the usual daemon awesomeness, he comes with a hand weapon and heavy armour, can fly, has magic resistance (2) and quite possibly the hardest stat line for generic characters. Ever! Seriously, it's mostly 6's and 8's with a WS of 10 thrown in for good measure. This guy is susceptible to shooting, given that he will attract ALL war machine and general ranged attacks from your opponent, because if doesn't, he has to face a fucking Bloodthirster in close combat and get raped. This guy is also the only greater daemon that can't use magic, which has the strange ability of making him the potentially cheapest of the lot - you don't even have to buy this guy much, but if you must, Obsidian Armour for magic resistance, although Armour of Khorne is better for coping with arrows, muskets and other mundane attacks. Dark Insanity is hilarious for giving your 'Thirster a potential 14 attacks especially coupled with immortal fury (re-roll misses). Awesome Strength (of 10), sounds cool, but not worth it at 75 pts., but if you must, pair it with soul hunger and go character hunting. Firestorm Blade makes a nice companion to this guy too, although not really worth it unless being spammed by regenerating foes. Axe of Khorne (+1S, killing blow) is VERY useful if you have 25 pts. to spare on this guy.

Lord of Change: This guy is a spellcaster that can scare the shit out of Slann! DEFINITELY worth sinking the 85 pts. to make this guy a level 4 wizard as he comes preloaded with all the spells from the Daemon Lore of Tzeentch, thus giving him immediate access to one of the most broken spells in the game: Glean Magic! This little fucker allows you to hijack spells from enemy wizards and cast them against him, WHICH THEN CAN'T BE DISPELLED (can't be used to summon stuff, though)! Your opponent has to dispell glean magic first, which can be cast again because of its low casting cost. Oh, did we mention that this guy is a greater daemon with fly, flaming attacks and WS, BS, I and A scores that lord-level mages would turn gay for? Some really expensive options that dabble with its already amazing magic abilities; avoid Spell Destroyer unless you're going against Vampires or Tomb Kings. Twin heads is pretty slick though, and iridescent corona is a great, dickish way to defend yourself in hand to hand.

Keeper of Secrets: Probably one of the best choices here, solid magic ability, excellent close combat skills and a ton of wacky gifts that can really fuck with your opponent! On top of being a greater daemon, it's fast (M10, I10, always strikes first) and has armour piercing. The Daemon Lore of Slaanesh can be amusing, especially against low-Ld armies, but it can also make this guy's ability jump from good to cheating. Speaking of which, avoid the urge to drop the 100 pts. for Spirit Swallower; the KOS' isn't a longevity monster (see below), s/he's a morale rapist. That said, one of the funniest configurations is the "come at me, bro," whereby you tool your KOS with Siren Song + Soporific Musk and/or Allure of Slaanesh, march 20" out towards your opponents hardest cavalry unit, cast Phantasmagoria if you rolled it (enemy Ld tests on 3d6 choosing the highest) and use Siren Song. This forces a unit to either flee or charge the Daemon and since most cav units will be able to charge, they will rush at the daemon and strike AFTER the KOS - that's if they pass their leadership test due to Allure of Slaanesh! Then once they break, they roll an extra D6 and choose the lowest. For additional fun, grab the Temptator gift and if your opponent was smart/dumb enough to have a character (or even his general) in that unit, you can have the satisfaction of making said character your bitch and using him to attack the unit he's in - serious fun!

Great Unclean One: He's fat, ugly and slow. He also has 10 motherfucking wounds! Also throws down with poisoned attacks and comes stock with a flail. The Daemon Lore of Nurgle is pretty slick for shredding low T/S units, but no need to really splurge here. This tubby motherfucker's gifts can be hilarious, and by that we mean will make your opponent rage quit in a cloud of cheese. If you should be facing Ogres, kit this guy out with the Balesword and you will mow through the army with auto-d6-wounding ease! Yes, this will make him wound automatically and cause d6 wounds per wound but 75 pts., it doesn't have much use aside from this. The best way to tool up a GUO is by taking the Trappings of Father Nurgle, giving him heavy armour and regeneration (4+). Other hilarious gifts include Noxious Vapours (GREAT for high elves, removing always strikes first and replacing it with always strikes last) and slime trail (denying charging enemies rear or flank bonuses since now). Pestilent mucous and stream of bile are also awesome for extinguishing tarpits.

Daemon Prince: The other generic lord-level unit. Cheapest by far, clocking in at a basic 300 pts. plus an additional 75 pts. of gifts and buffs up to a level 2 wizard. Similar to the prince from the Warriors book, but it doesn't fly, only causes fear and can join regiments. Decent lord choice in smaller point games and can be the greatest wizard ever due to its awesome stat-line. Seriously, there are very few army books where the wizards have 5's and higher for most of their stats! An interesting quirk, you can give these guys a mark and in doing so, they can take up 50 pts. of their 75 pts. limit of gifts from the greater daemon of that particular Chaos god.

Heralds: Your generic hero choices that come in 4 flavours as below. Note, all the heralds have an ability called "Locus," which makes them share their special power with a unit of troops of that Chaos god. They can also ride mounts or chariots of their gods.

• Herald of Khorne: Close combat awesome! WS7, S6 and lots of killing blow attacks WITH HATRED! His locus power shares Hatred with any bloodletter or bloodcrusher squad he joins. Can also take 50 pts. of gifts, recommended are the Firestorm Blade, Soul Hunger and unless mounted on juggernaut or chariot of Khorne, take Armour of Khorne. Keep in mind that this is the most expensive generic herald.
• Herald of Tzeentch: Magic awesome! Not much of a stat line, but he comes as a level 2 wizard with a 4+ save base. His locus power shares his ward save with units of horrors. Advisable to take the Master of Sorcery gift, giving him instant access to every spell from any of the 8 lores of magic. You could instead put him on a Disc or Chariot of Tzeentch, but you're wasting the locus power.
• Herald of Slaanesh: A very cost effective herald, comes with a pretty kickin' rad stat line with armour piercing, but the true awesomeness comes with the locus power: this guy/girl bestows ALWAYS STRIKES FIRST on him/herself AND a unit of daemonettes or seekers. Put this thing on a Steed of Slaanesh, stick him/her in a unit of seekers and give it the torment blade. Enemy cavalry will rush it thinking it a light target only to be struck first and having to take a leadership test in order to strike back. Can be made a level 1 wizard but not really worth it.
• Herald of Nurgle: Tough as nails! T5, regeneration and poisoned attacks, his locus power shares regeneration (4+) with a unit of plaguebearers. Best to give this guy a palanquin of nurglings to give him more poisoned attacks and he can still be put in a unit of plaguebearers. Give him noxious vapours and/or slime trail and your unit of plaguebearers suddenly becomes terrifyingly awesome!

Named Characters

Like the ones from 40K, only better and considerably so. There are three Greater Daemon and four herald characters.

Note: Under the current edition, named characters tend to be overpriced; you can pretty easily emulate most named characters from scratch and save yourself some points. That said, a few named characters do have abilities and wargear or wargear combos unique to them, so if you absolutely need to have them, go ahead. Just make sure you're really getting your points worth.

Skarbrand, the Exiled One: 650 pts. for the angriest sonnova bitch of a bloodthirster ever! He also has three stats maxed out to 10 (M, WS and I) whilst re-rolling wounds and bypassing armour with his axes. He also has S5 breath weapon while bestowing friendly and non-friendly units with hatred. Keep in mind that unlike other bloodthirsters, Skarbrand does not fly.

Kairos Fateweaver: 650 pts. for the greatest magic user in the game - seriously, even compared to Slann! He's a level 4 wizard that knows no less than 14 spells that you may CHOOSE, not roll for, you CHOOSE which spells you want before the game. His stat line is god-awful but you're taking this guy for the magic phase rape.

Ku'gath, the Plaguefather: 650 pts. for a nigh-indestructible monstrous, poisoned stone-thrower that wounds on a 2+. He also rides a Palanquin of nurglings, but the real cool feature is, again, the fact that he hurls nurglings fit to burst from sucking his fatass off! They drop an artillery dice of wounds on a 2+ on an enemy unit in range (with no effect on a misfire). Can effectively neutralize war machines that would otherwise be shooting at him.

Uzhul Skulltaker: RAPE INCARNATE! Essentially a herald of Khorne without the locus ability, a WS and I of 9, flaming attacks, magic resistance and heroic killing blow on a 5+! Great for hiding in a unit of bloodletters or bloodcrushers - just watch out for those always strikes first characters.

The Masque of Slaanesh: Although better than her 40K incarnation, still not really worth it as she cannot join units. Pretty good in close combat with her unnatural reflexes and awesome at disrupting units with her eternal dance.

Epidemius: The Nurgle version of Skulltaker, with T6, regeneration (no locus) and gives continuous buffs to Nurgle units in your army. Pretty sweet if you have the points to spare.

The Blue Scribes: A tougher herald that randomly generates bound spells. Not really worth it.

Core Units

Bloodletters of Khorne: At 12 pts. per model you are VERY hard pressed to find better core units in all of Warhammer Fantasy. They have a M, WS and S of 5, magic and killing blow attacks, Magic Resistance 1, a 5+ ward save, immune to psychology. Take them in 10-wide hordes, equip with a Skull Totem, sneak a herald of Khorne or two or Skulltaker inside, march them out anywhere and DARE your opponent to charge them with whatever he's got. Fucking dare him!

Pink Horrors of Tzeentch: Where bloodletters shine in close combat, horrors excel at magic. A unit of horrors is essentially a wizard that hurls bound spells from the Daemon Lore of Tzeentch depending on the unit's size. Obviously best taken in large blocks as to generate more horrors with the Firestorm of Tzeentch spell. Hide a Herald in this unit for added longevity and some additional spells.