Opinion

So, where do we begin with the Daemonic Codex for Warhammer 40k?

Well, unlike a lot of reviews done via quick posts on forums or a mention on podcasts, I wanted something that would last.

I figured giving my editorial opinion on the book is the best way to do this, and still do what I wanted to do--which is give everyone an in-depth look at the Daemon Codex.

My opinion on this book? It's a new army for 40k. Sadly, like the 'robots' or more aptly, the Terminator book...it's not a good addition to the 40k universe. Unlike the Necrons, who suffered from a dearth of models but few distinct roles...oh boy, GW figured out half of the issue. Now this book has plenty of models, sadly the majority of them have the same role--kill infantry and hope to attrition vehicles to death. Not exactly a real diversity to influence people to buy said army, right?

Half the model range is old (crappy in my opinon, honestly who wants more plastic already??) and the other half is a mix of new metal, new plastic, some good models and quite a bit of bad.

There should be a shooty army and I'd give my left nut for some kind of mechanized demon army. So much could have been done, but wasn't. I was real disappointed with this book, especially the fluff part (make believe) not matching the reality of gameplay.

So here it is. I've organized it into sections, and I've done my best to keep it readable and in order but lemme tell ya that blogging an opinion piece sure isn't easy.

At the top of the blog you'll find links to sort the content for easier viewing.
Be warned the HQ section is rather large, as is the Army Lists section.

I hope you enjoy this labor of love.

Sincerely,
Andrew E. Sutton aka 'Stelek'

PS I originally was going to include some of Goatboy's artwork, sadly it made the page load slow (ok, Blogger makes it load slow lol) so I removed it. Sorry Goatboy!

Daemon Primer

Randomness: Daemons are random. You'll have to accept that as part of your army. It can be either fun or frustrating. Try and make it the former, even though often it isn't--especially in tournament play. Here's how Daemons are random:

1) They split into two waves, and because of reasons I'll list later, are often screwed when they only drop in one half of their army. Which happens 33% of the time.

2) While you can make an even army, where there are equal amounts of the same thing in both halves...the force organization chart is uneven and doesn't split equally. Not only that, but the 'best' stuff the Daemon army has available are in Elites and Heavy. You also lose quite a bit of power in the army by making an even list, as most of them are simply half power lists which don't pack all the punch of a 2 wave army.

3) Deep striking. You will find deep striking to be very random indeed. Most units should drop in terrain if that will improve their save--you get your invulnerable save against any mishaps, which are usually 1 per unit which isn't that big a deal. You are bound to scatter 2/3 of the time, and the average is 7 on 2D6. So the best place to deep strike is 8-12" away from the enemy. Closer for slow units, farther away for fast units. Shooty units can deploy almost anywhere, most have a decent range and can shoot from wherever they end up. Even if you do mishap into someone, you only have a 33% chance of being killed. Keep that in mind.

The other important rule of the Daemon army that most players forget, is that you don't get a 1-2 punch with waves 1 and 2 on turns 1 and 2. You get a first punch, then you dribble in as normal reserves in subsequent turns and deep strike in.

I believe you cannot make a tournament army and win with this army reliably when facing a well-built balanced army and an equal opponent. The army needs everything to work in it's favor and it's very random. Don't let a few GT victories with a new army fool you into thinking otherwise, veteran players will learn how to beat down Daemons some day. I expect this guide to help in that regard.

Important note: In many of the armies I list here, I've put in units that really are not good as one might have learned from the unit descriptions. However, themed armies require subpar units as do other armies whose style does not necessarily work better with the 'best' troops in a given slot.

Gifts of Chaos

Here we have the 'undivided' gifts, available to almost anyone.

Boon of Mutation: So instead of annihilating the enemy in close combat, you can turn one into a spawn. A worthless holdover from the Chaos Space Marine codex, leave this power in the trash bin it was retrieved from. Ahriman is a sad panda.

Breath of Chaos: Very good at killing infantry. In single bursts, does virtually nothing to vehicles. Only a massed flamer unit can add up a bunch of hits, and even then...I've seen how random it really is. Use it for killing infantry first and always, vehicles only when it's incidental or the only target--you'll be disappointed when your flamer doesn't do much.

Chaos Icon: Woohoo, you can deep strike your CC army and not scatter. Boohoo, by the time you are in position for whatever to drop into position, your enemy has already reacted and either blocked the deployment or rendered it useless. Leave it at home, and scatter. You are already playing a random army, don't mess with the system!

Iron Hide: It's power armor. On Daemon Princes, it's a huge piece of expensive wargear.

Daemonic Flight: Jump Pack movement, and again...Daemon Princes pay through the nose for it.

Apparently carrying the jet fuel or magic juju beans to power these two items through the warp into realspace is very taxing...

Daemonic Gaze: A decent S5 anti-marine ranged attack. If you get it for free, great. If you want to boost your shooting a bit, go ahead and grab it. Since you can't really make torrent of fire heralds or daemon princes, it's pretty much a pathetic attempt at shooting.

Unholy Might: +1 bonus to strength. Bring it wherever possible, gives you utility against vehicles and better chances to wound opponents. Really, you want this one.

Instrument of Chaos: Piece of shit fantasy gear in a sci fi world. A points burner when you don't have anything else to spend 5 points on. Call it the searchlight upgrade for the Daemons.

Gifts of Khorne

Khorne units only.

Blessing of the Blood God: Arguably the best 5 point upgrade in the entire book. Gives you a 2+ save against any damaging psychic power or force weapons, and since there are a lot of those running around now...it's probably a good idea to take it. Especially with the rebirth of psykers in 40k, being able to protect yourself against much of what they do is a good thing.

Death Strike: A single S7 shot. Meh. Gives Khorne a quasi shooting attack, but S7 isn't very good even against Rhinos. 5+ to pen? Better than nothing I guess...

Fury of Khorne: Makes your attacks rending. With the rending nerf and the low number of attacks available to most units that can bring this...odds are, it won't ever fire. But again, it is better than nothing. Bring it if you fear Dreads and are running a pure Khorne army.

Hellblade: It's a power weapon, but isn't really an upgrade you can buy. Bloodletters and Bloodcrushers get it for free.

Gifts of Tzeentch

Tzeentch units only.

Bolt of Tzeentch: The best anti-tank ranged weapon the Daemons have. Sorry Soulgrinders, you don't hit jack when needed and these do. Sadly it still isn't a melta, so Daemons tend to get run over by vehicle heavy armies.

Master of Sorcery: This lets you fire a second weapon (or a third if you are a Daemon Prince). Since you can't torrent anyone with more than 4 shots (or 4 shots plus a flamer, and only on a MC) it's allright but doesn't come into it's own without the last Tzeentch power, We Are Legion.

Soul Devourer: Just stupid. On DP, they make high LD characters take LD tests or die. So they don't do much. They aren't bad on a Tzeentch Herald, which is really the only place I think you'll ever see them.

Warpfire: A S4 anti-horde shot. Nothing wrong with it, except you cannot make any kind of shooty herald or daemon prince with this and Daemonic Gaze + Master Of Sorcery, because someone thought that was too overpowered. Obviously someone from Fantasy who never played 5th edition in his life. Good call, Alessio!

We Are Legion: This lets you shoot one enemy unit, and in a strange twist...brings back the old 'fry a tank and charge the infantry' that was so detested back when 3rd edition was around. Essentially you can do this with a DP: Fire at a tank, kill it. Flame an infantry squad to death. Charge a 3rd unit, and kill it. Yeah, this is the one you've been looking for--the 'break the rules' item every Codex just has to have. Enjoy!

Gifts of Slaanesh

Slaanesh units only.

Aura of Acquiescence: Super nerf grenades! Nobody gets assault bonuses, and you go in init order. Not bad for the highest init units in the Codex...and the most fragile.

Pavane of Slaanesh: Mini-lash. Can be used once per enemy unit to move them D6". You can build an army around this, but if it's a Slaanesh army....just how far did you drop from the other guy, mr. fleet and/or beast-cavalry charge range??

Rending Claws: Gives Rending, duh! Also counts as a pair of CC weapons, so you get +1 attack.

Soporific Musk: Hit & Run that for every Slaanesh unit only fails on a 6. Yes please! Great ability, if you don't have it but can buy it...do!

Transfixing Gaze: Ho hum, deny one enemy one attack. Since you go first and are probably going to torrent the enemy dead...who cares about this? Silly ability.

Gifts of Nurgle

Nurgle units only.

Aura of Decay: So you stink like poop. So what? It's a S2 hit. Leave this non-armor piercing ability at home. You have so many other ways to kill the enemy. Everybody laughs at this, even freaking Grots. Wounds on a...4+, on my grots? When the other guy stops laughing, go ahead and roll your uberness.

Cloud of Flies: Super Nerf Grenades. Since Nurgle is so damned slow initiative wise, seems pointless on the offense. Helps mitigate attacks in, which is also a bit pointless given how tough Nurgle units are anyway. Will save your GUO and DP, that's about it.

Noxious Touch: Equip your Daemon Princes of Nurgle and you wound everyone on a 2+, most of those with a re-roll to wound. Great Unclean Ones come with it for free, and they do the same thing. Basically anything you manage to hit, you are almost certain to wound.

Plaguesword: Plaguebearers get this for free. Let's you wound on a 4+. Great against MC, who really don't like this but are also likely to fuck up your Plaguebearers before they get a chance to swing. It's a free upgrade, not something you can buy (or need to).

Daemonic Steeds

Mounts, what make Heralds the mini-MC they are.

Juggernaut of Khorne: Not bad, but you really want to give these guys Chariots. This is for people with say the Skulltaker on a Juggernaut model from the original Daemon boxed release, but for everyone else--skip this and bring a chariot model you converted up.

Disc of Tzeentch: Makes you Jump Infantry. It's not bad when jumping from a Tzeentch unit and flaming someone, but if they don't die...you know you're totally dead. I'd skip and go with a herald on a chariot.

Mount of Slaanesh: Makes you Cavalry, but since the Chariot does too...skip this and go directly to jail, do not pass go, do not collect 200$.

Palanquin of Nurgle: Nurgle doesn't get a Chariot because Nurgle gets Epidemius, and the Tallyman is really good at hiding. Don't bring a Palanquin of Nurgle, bring another Plaguebearer.

Chariot of Khorne: Only gives you 1 extra wound over a Jugg, but it costs 15 points versus 35 points. Curses, GW strikes again. Makes this herald a mini-MC, and that's a good thing for you.

Chariot of Tzeentch: Gives you a 5 wound shooting machine on a Jetbike with T4. Bring several!

Chariot of Slaanesh: Gives you a 5 wound Hit & Run beast unit. With T4 and a 4+ save, much better than what Slaanesh usually gets. Again, bring several to really make them felt.

In short, the only model who can use a non-chariot is Epidemius (so he stays alive forever against shooting). Everyone else should forgo the non-chariot mounts and get a Chariot. They make your heralds very powerful indeed.

Summary: So, the reason you don't usually (ever?) take the non-chariots is because they are such good deals. Making every Herald a mini-Monstrous Creature is what it's all about. You are more vulnerable, since you lose IC status, but you generally double (or better) your wounds, improve your toughness and armor saves...your S and A values...there's just no real comparison between being mounted on a steed and being mounted on a chariot. The most dangerous Daemon armies have 4 heralds on Chariots. Khorne is very killy, Slaanesh is killy and annoying, and Tzeentch gives you the mobile anti-vehicle capability Daemons lack.

Bloodthirster

In a nutshell: The big bad Khorne flying monster. Your typical Monstrous Creature, with higher than normal strength and number of base attacks. Also is max weapon skill, so he hits most models in the game on 3+, which is normally good. He's been buffed with a higher than normal I value, and furious charge. His true cost to the veteran player is 270 points, you must buy Unholy Might. Base strength 8 means instant death for many characters, you wound virtually all MC on 2+, and when you charge normal vehicles you will pretty much autopenetrate all of them. I'd really recommend Blessings of the Blood God for 5 points, because for 5 points you won't get mind war'd. The biggest bonus however is a 2+ save against wounds caused by force weapons--NOT just using the force weapon as a psychic attack (he's immune to that anyway) but because the wording says 'wounds caused by'. So Grey Knight Grand Masters better have a Daemonhammer and will likely lose the combat anyway, but if they have just the standard force weapon...good luck.

Pros: Big, mean. Flies, a big bonus for Daemons who are usually slow. Immense strength lets him crush tanks, something Daemons lack.

Cons: Not enough value for the points cost. 275 points and a 3+ save with 4 wounds? Easy to drop that. Ask any Tyranid player why they run 3 Dakkafexes, 2 Gunfexes, and 2 Tyrants. One or two is easy to kill! 7 or 8? Not so much. One pathetic shooting attack that should have been included in the base cost, fast skimmers are very frustrating for bloodthirsters.

Tactics: Land at 12-15" from the enemy, you should be safe and still be able to charge something next turn. If you can't, fly + run is alot of distance followed by another fly + charge the next turn. He is a primary tank hunter, do NOT let him get bogged down killing fearless models or in a swarm of enemies. There are other parts of your army that do this better. He is not very good against tanks that move 12" or more, because of his lack of re-rolls to hit.

Final word: If you have the model already, fine go ahead and use it. It'll scare the noobs a while, then it won't and you'll start becoming frustrated. Best to leave this guy at home and pick another HQ choice who doesn't cost so much.

The Blue Scribes

In a nutshell: Mr. Flexible. He can cast just about anything you'd want him to, and is the only herald in the army who can use daemonic gaze and warpfire. An excellent shooting combination against infantry, sadly it's in an army that doesn't really need this. If however you need a kitchen sink, he probably has one somewhere and is never really useless.

Pros: He can use Bolt and Pavane, which for most or all Daemon armies is invaluable. He can of course use any shooting attack, but those are the ones you'll most often call upon him for. Flexibility is his best asset, not out and out kill factor.

Cons: Sadly, he's a 2 wound T3 independent character and cannot be mounted on a chariot. So his survivability and mobility are limited, and you pretty much have to bring a Horror unit to ensure he survives beyond the turn he drops. That significantly increases your cost from 130 to 250 or more. He can be used successfully with the Changeling Horror unit as your 'sole' unit, just remember when you drop if there are any blast or templates in range on the other guys turn, you are probably going to get fried in your deep strike formation.

Tactics: Always Bolt first. Then try to Pavane. He might Pavane again if you go first, and that's illegal...so his ability is wasted. Never really hurts to Bolt something! If you are going for a shooting barrage from him, use Daemonic Gaze (far) or Breath of Chaos (near) first. Then go with Pavane or Warpfire, if you don't get the first power again. Do yourself a favor and do not try to Pavane then Breath of Chaos. A sneaky git trick is to knowingly suicide him, much like a Tau Melta/Flamer HQ suit, by putting him right in the middle of the enemy army. Toss out aura of decay twice in a horde army and people start getting annoyed! Aura + breath of chaos is also just as annoying, if not a bit more so.

Final word: He is totally dependent on shooting. If he gets tied up, he's done. He cannot have the power weapon upgrade, so is not exactly awesome in CC and with his attendant horrors, will fold under pressure from everything but basic Tau and Grots. Going solo = dead.

Epidemius

In a nutshell: The Tally. That is all Epidemius is about. No upgrades, no CC tricks, no real shooting, no real surprises. He's a support unit, no more and no less.

Pros: He makes Nurgle units more effective in CC, especially those that don't start effective (namely Nurglings, Plaguebearers and to a lesser extent, Beasts of Nurgle). Nurglings are annoying with the Tally up, but the real benefit is to Beasts of Nurgle. They are survivable and more dangerous by far than Plaguebearers. The worst they can do (1 in 6 chance) is be as 'good' as they are. They are better the other 5 times.

Cons: Problem is, all the Tally does is make your marginally effective troops become more dangerous and survivable. The GUO and 3 Nurgle DP you are likely to run in such an army, don't really get more dangerous. The GUO gets a boost to FNP. Against a typical marine army, if you've killed 20 models...aren't you usually halfway home? Nurgle has low CC attacks on Plaguebearers, and you usually don't see them get into combat because they are slow and tend not to do anything once they are there. The biggest drawback is, the Tally does not improve your ability to kill tanks! So while your Nurgle Four Horsemen combo (the aforementioned GUO and 3 DP) might be nasty, they usually cannot bring the Tally up AND kill tanks. Especially as the most common build gives them Breath of Chaos to get Tally up quickly.

Tactics: Sit him in the back with a Plaguebearer unit as escort and ring up the tally with other units.

Final word: He can be effective in a properly built Tally army, but he isn't exactly going to do anything but the Tally. Don't forget that.

Fateweaver, Oracle of Tzeentch

In a nutshell: Hello Dolly! One of four major game-making units in the Codex. He's pricey as all hell, but giving everyone in range a re-roll for any save (except FNP, sorry Nurgle!) is probably worth most of the price you pay. He is a MC that flies (Daemons need that), and he has all the Tzeentch toys except Warpfire. He is however primarily utility, not meant for CC or anything and using two of four HQ spaces is a hidden cost you must weigh when considering whether to bring him. He is totally useless in an army not built around him, so don't bring him unless you plan to use him as your lynchpin.

Pros: 3+ re-rollable invulnerable save. BS5 for his shooting attacks, and can fire gaze, bolt, and breath at 3 targets (ok and boon too if you really want to).

Cons: Grey Knights with Pyscannons. Chaos Sorcerors with Lash. CC. Mass torrent of fire. Even a 3+ re-roll doesn't last against guided-doom war walkers with scatter lasers. Or anything that can get close and rapid fire, T5 isn't strong enough. Marine Librarians with re-roll invulnerable saves counter your ability, and that's a sad day. You'd think this guy would get psychic defenses, but apparently the master of magic gave that right to Khorne and Marines (oh and Eldar).

Tactics: Sit back behind a wall of bloodcrushers, or some shooty Tzeentch Heralds and DP's. Own many many armies. Fear Land Raider armies.

Final word: He's got to be the heart of your army tactics. Don't mess around with this one, just make him integral and be done with it.

Great Unclean One

In a nutshell: Big, ugly, hard to kill. Unlike the rest of the Nurgle units, is also quite capable of killing you in close combat.

Pros: A big fat target that most enemies will find very hard to drag down, given the 5 wounds and 25% wound rate and T6...that's 20 hits you have to put on T6. Not exactly easy. Personally I'd bring 2 GUO before I brought Epidemius along, the Tally is nice but 5 Nurgle MC don't need it nor really benefit from it.

Cons: Slow as dog shit on a winter's day. Did I mention it's slow? Ok, sort of slow. The MC status helps a bit but still, he's no spring chicken. Also utterly incapable of doing anything ranged wise.

Tactics: Lumber forward. If you bring two, you should probably bring two flight/armored nurgle DP with Noxious Touch as the hitting power of your army, and hope you can do enough damage that before those units die...your plaguebearers are relatively safe. In a Nurgle army, anyway. In a mixed army with a Plaguebearer unit sitting in the back, they make excellent guardians of your objective. Few will come anywhere near you, and for 5oo points you have a nearly invincible objective grab. Throw everything else at the other guy and see what people think of Nurgle then.

Final word: For a basic 160 points, is very worthwhile for a Nurgle army as the Heralds are such crap. Bring 2, don't upgrade, and watch as they stay around forever. If you face GK, keep them in cover! Go ahead, ask me how I know. ;)

Herald of Khorne

In a nutshell: Killy death. If you see this guy coming your way, you'd better drop him before he gets there. :)

Pros: He's a very strong multi-task destroyer. The only herald that comes with a power weapon and knows how to use it. Mounted (always should be mounted, yes?) he's a bad ass and hard to put down. S7, 5 attacks on the charge, T5, WS6, I6...yes please?

Cons: His only real drawback is he is slow. The way you mitigate this is by running multiple heralds of Khorne. Given his ineffecteviness against Dreads, you might consider rending but I think having other units handle Dreads so he can rampage among infantry is probably best.

Tactics: This is a mini-MC. A slow 'minime' bloodthirster, a little weaker but against regular troops and most MC he's still very dangerous. In the end, he's a super bloodcrusher unit all by himself. Use him accordingly.

Final word: Put him in a Chariot, and unleash the beast! Never run a herald of Khorne on foot, it's just silly. Drop him and his other friends right in front of the enemy and when the smoke clears, charge!

Herald of Nurgle

In a nutshell: Definitely not the tallyman. Does not offer a whole lot to a Chaos Daemon army, but let's take a look.

Pros: Hard to kill, about as hard to kill as well 2 or 3 Plaguebearers. What this unit really gives you, is a herald to go with your plaguebearers and give them a shooting attack. Not a bad thing really, also not great.

Cons: It's not great for one reason--plaguebearers and their heralds still do not win CC fights. Sure they can beat up Tau and IG, but that doesn't say a whole lot. Essentially, you get one shot with breath of chaos or an annoying aura of decay until you get dragged down.

Tactics: You can, if you wish, bring these in a Nurgle themed army but unlike the other Heralds which are excellent buys...only Epidemius is really any good in this class. Bring along GUO's instead, for double the cost you get a much more useful unit.

Final word: Crap. Utter crap. There are better ways to spend your points, not the least of which is standard plaguebearers. Invest in those instead (after you've bought some GUO's).

Herald of Slaanesh

In a nutshell: The REAL Eternal Dancer. While not as power weapon killy as the Khorne heralds, they do make excellent bounce and pounce units to support the rest of your army.

Pros: A very fast unit, good at tying enemy units down while slower units move into position; or using Pavane to move units out after you hit & run away during their turn. Lots of rending attacks (7 charging), decent WS5 and S5/I8 charging due to furious charge...makes Harlequins cry. This Herald also has the Super Nerf grenades that the other units do not.

Cons: Will not do well against super killy CC units. Will not really do that well against line troops, but with your first set of attacks dragging down a couple and then repeating a slightly less damaging round before withdrawing...makes for a very useful unit but can't stand being shot at, so if you cannot take a beating you should not commit to the fight.

Tactics: The way I think they should be run is with Chariot, Soporific Musk, Pavane, and Unholy Might. Run up, tie someone up, if you beat them in combat you have a very high I and are likely to catch them. Use two of them together to really hit the enemy hard with a bunch of attacks. Withdraw and Pavane, then charge with your other units and re-charge. You can really pull people out of their defensive positions, which is what this unit excels at.

Final word: A very handy unit, having a possible 24" charge range will really spook people if you bring 4 of them along. Don't forget you can't Pavane and Fleet, and Pavane only hits 50% of the time...so if you are counting on a good Pavane to drag the enemy closer so you can assault with these girls, fleet instead. Use Pavane after you get them into combat and H&R away.

Herald of Tzeentch

In a nutshell: One of my personal favorites, able to move and fire the Daemons 2nd best (ok, really 1st best but whatever) anti-tank shot. Also able to fire at marines out in the open and hurt them with it's standard attack and the at shot (or split fire). I see many players running flamers as their heralds, or the blue scribes. Heralds gain power when there are a lot of them, mounted on chariots. This unit is the same, mounted on a chariot it's a Jetbike unit...you don't really have to mount it on some crazy flying contraption...almost any model will do really (within reason, of course).

Pros: The only Herald able to fire reliable anti-tank, anti-infantry, and bring a power weapon. Not that I'd advise it, but I've enjoyed seeing the Herald kill a lone marine or two. It isn't wise to run this out on it's own in Jump Pack mode, it's easily killed. Bringing it in Chariot mode gives it a bunch of wounds and effectively it becomes very difficult to bring down as it takes 10 (yes, TEN) wounds to drop it. Think of it as a old school 4th edition vehicle, able to move and fire a heavy weapon and a anti-infantry volley...but at different targets.

Cons: It is not a CC unit, it can barely hang with IG and Tau on the charge...this is however a very useful shooting unit. Don't move closer than you have to, you can be easily annihilated by a rapid fire unit and any kind of CC unit will usually crush you and wonder what that spot on the ground was before they stomped it.

Tactics: Cannot stress this enough: Keep it out of combat and at max range...you'd be surprised just how much damage 3 or 4 of these guys do over the course of a game. BS4 is priceless, if you want a shooty Daemon army and don't bring these...you are asking for other armies to laugh at your pathetic shooting and roll you.

Final word: The best counter Daemons have against mobile mech armies. If you have any dreams of winning a tournament when you face something your Bloodcrushers can't handle, this unit is the one that will do it via shooting.

Keeper of Secrets

In a nutshell: The big competitor to the Bloodthirster, this beast has a little more subtlety than the BT does, with a slight reduction in power. The FW Keeper is a wonderful model, if sadly a bit huge and easy to shoot at...not that the normal one is much better but hey size does matter. ;) Just don't uhh tell her that. lol

Pros: Fleet, monstrous creature, tough, brings pavane and hit & run to the table. With S7 won't instant kill anyone, but is still incredibly dangerous and has more attacks than the BT does. Also comes with super nerf grenades, so at I10...guess who's going first, always? WS8 trumps almost everyone into giving up the 3+ to hit. Quite a beast in CC. Seeing this slaughter a unit on one side of the board and race to the other side to slaughter another the next turn that's 24" away is indeed something to see.

Cons: No armor save, can't hurt Monoliths, no real shooting ability. Sorry, the list is kind of short...for big expensive units, this one is a terror. Can be dragged down just as any other big MC can be, but it better be--this one will crush you underfoot if you don't, just like the BT. Biggest weakness really is hordes of enemy troops, you might slaughter a bunch on your way in but don't go in unsupported--most armies troops can hit you on a 4+ and that's bad news.

Tactics: Personally I favor the big drop, putting 5-8 big targets down and dribbling in the other units later. Gives people the willies I guess, seeing a bunch of MC standing around just one turn away from assault. If you can get into CC (and the other guy stays) you are safe, and can slaughter some more then flee combat the turn after.

Final word: A worthy unit for any Daemon force focused on big scary units, this one feels a little overpriced with the standard upgrades but there's not a whole lot you can do about that. If you want big and scary, it's this or the Bloodthirster. Pick your poison--she will serve you well.

Ku'gath, The Plaguefather

In a nutshell: Why, GW, why? Giving Nurgle a very expensive GUO to help it 'compete' against the other super characters is pointless when their characters do something for the army, and this guy does nothing--well, he makes it suck a bit by taking so many points away. Let's see if he's really worth his almost double points cost...

Pros: Has a large ordnance template. Can create free 3-wound KP's for the enemy in KP missions, but in 2/3 of the missions his ability to create contest units is not a bad thing (the fact there is only 1 nurgling summoned is though). He comes with all of the upgrades a normal GUO gets, except the most important one...the strength boost, and the crap one--the instrument of sucky wargear created with no imagination. He has +1W and +1A. For 110 points more than the usual GUO, which is only upgraded with Breath of Chaos...is he really worth it?

Cons: I don't think so. He is not the ubermensch! Is a crappy template that only kills 25% of the non-power armor it hits, +1W, +1A, and the 3 subpar Nurgle abilities you get for free (Breath of Chaos is a good upgrade, not worth 30 points but it's worth something) really worth the extra points? Nope. It's like GW forgot that to sell models you need good rules, this guys rules frankly suck.

Tactics: In objective missions, you can annoy your opponent by putting down Nurgling bases. You also can fire another template in a template heavy Grinder army. Big deal. Nobody is scared of those in 5th edition since they don't ignore cover.

Final word: I'm not really sure why this character was added, he doesn't have anywhere near the Synergy of say Epidemius or The Masque, who cost far less. In game terms, he's got an extra wound and for the extra 110 points he does not impress anybody. Bring a Greater Unclean One instead.

Lord of Change

In a nutshell: Worthless bird beak.

Pros: It's only 83 points less than Fateweaver, has +1 stats over Fateweaver in almost every category. Not really CC because of low attacks, and when you buy all the powers you are almost as capable as Fateweaver...sadly, you then end up costing 27 more points than him.

Cons: It's only 83 points less than Fateweaver, and you have to BUY all those powers? Screw that. No special army wide abilities, either. Oops? GW puts too much faith in the 3+ invulnerable save, and costs this unit too highly.

Tactics: Ok, you can annoy the shit out of people by pairing this guy with Fateweaver for two jackasses with a 3+ save while they shoot you. Doesn't really make for a good case when 2 heralds with slightly less accurate shooting get to shoot twice for every shot you take.

Final word: Not a very good buy considering what you get for all of those points you spent, is a big fat points sink. Land Raiders never knew what being a points sink was until they saw this guy strutting his stuff. Get Heralds and leave the birds at home.

The Masque

In a nutshell: The Masque is a simple unit. She gives you 3 Pavanes to reposition foes.

Pros: She's relatively cheap, and for utility...nothing to complain about, she moves units around and that's always powerful. That's about all she does really, you can get hot with your invulnerable saves but hoping you make a bunch of 3+ saves isn't a strategy for survival. ;)

Cons: Unfortunately, she has only 2 wounds and isn't much of a close combat threat which is the only place she's safe (relatively safe). So is it worth 100 points to drop the Masque and hit 2 of 3 times with Pavane? Whenever the oppponent wants her dead, she usually dies (always in KP missions). Her usefulness against mech and gojira style lists is also questionable, given how she cannot affect mech and Pavane can only subtract D6" from a MC move for a turn. As you can't pavane units immediately but have to complete your deep strike first, you can't really break up a solid deep strike defense either. Sadly, she is not an IC so you cannot ever really protect her. If the other guy wants her dead, she'll die. 3 Dark Eldar Warriors rapid firing is very dangerous indeed! Nobody else in the Daemon army will see Imperial Guard and scream 'Oh no, they have LASGUNS!'. ;)

Tactics: Drop her where she can Pavane at least 2 enemy units. If she is facing a mech army, stick her in the second wave. If you face IG or Tau, you will probably die but she can tie those guys up for quite a while if she can get into combat. She doesn't have a whole lot of use in any other way, so keep in mind she's utility and very vulnerable.

Final word: If I was running a mass template style demon army, she'd have a bit of a use but I'd still want another herald around to help me move enemies. You can make a army around 3 soulgrinders and ku'gath + masque and another slaanesh herald...but if you face mech or MC lists, you are going to have a bad time of it. I'll put such a list in for you lash/template freaks. ;) Otherwise, while good for utility...she's easily killed, so don't count on her to stay around for long.

Skarbrand, The Exiled One

In a nutshell: Very expensive, but....he's a army wide Chaplain. He's not a flyer, but he is fast enough with fleet, and he is a bloodthirster. Protect him as long as possible, he's worth every penny in a Daemon army.

Pros: He's a Bloodthirster. He makes your entire very assault oriented army, re-roll to hit rolls. What else needs to be said? A normal chaplain is half the cost, and nowhere near as effective or as dangerous.

Cons: He makes the enemy hate you too. Make sure you go first and kill him.

Tactics: He's a huge asset to Daemons, especially when facing vehicles--because he does not give preferred enemy, he simply gives re-rolls to hit so you can slam vehicles. Against infantry he's often overkill on a full friendly unit, but on small remnant units he is a force multiplier, letting them do damage as if they were larger than they really are. Such is the joy of re-rolls to hit across your entire army.

Final word: He's going in my army. I think he's hard to protect and a huge target, but he's very very good for a Daemon army. Give him a try.

Skulltaker

In a nutshell: Khorne Herald on Crack. PCP. Coke. Meth. All at the same time.

Pros: He's a bit weaker than the normal Khorne Herald strength wise, but with a higher weapon skill and an additional attack. His main strength is...he can zap almost any IC or MC that isn't immune to instant death on a 4+ with his super fantasy rending attack.

Cons: Same as the Khorne Herald, he's slow and can be dragged down by enemy shooting before he gets anywhere.

Tactics: Point him at nasty enemies who are not immune to instant death, or at those who are but have lousy invulnerable saves--he'll kill them both.

Final word: He's 60 points more than the usual Khorne heralds, but he gets all the Khorne goodies for free and they aren't worthless. So in a multiple herald army, bring him to make it so nasty enemies like Wraithlords and C'Tan focus fire on him.

Beasts of Nurgle

In a nutshell: Competes with the Bloodcrushers for an elite slot and is only 5 points cheaper. It's still a decent unit, sadly it really can't compete with the Bloodcrushers for effectiveness. Random attacks, slow and purposeful movement...and they aren't even real beasts! Just infantry. Given how the Daemon list's generally 'best' troops are Plaguebearers...these guys are a little lost for purpose in 40k.

Pros: So, the Pros of a subpar unit. They are T5, 2 wounds, FNP...their best feature is they do have random attacks, so when there are a few of them running into you, they tend to hurt. Unless you have armor, then...different story! So, end of Pros and on to Cons.

Cons: They are identical to 2 Plaguebearers but cost +5 points for the honor of random attacks being added. Not exactly imaginative game design at work. Sure, when powered by a fully charged up Epidemius, they can be quite scary. Sadly, basic Plaguebearers do the job better: They are scoring, they are virtually identical in combat, and I just don't understand what role this unit is supposed to play. The ability to field that stupid box of 10 spawn from apocalypse?? Yay. =/

Tactics: Much like Plaguebearers, you can use these units to tie people up in CC. Don't try it on anyone with all power weapons. They'll cut you to pieces. Granted those units were rare but now quite a few armies have them. Doom-boosted Howling Banshees, Terminators, Dark Eldar Incubi, Nob Bikers, Acid Maw Nids, even the Seer Council will get through your 5+/4+.

Final word: If they had been cavalry as advocated when playtesting this list, then sure they'd have a place. Sadly, they aren't. Thus, they suck big donkey balls. If you have an extra elite slot and want to run some spawn models because you like them, then go crazy. If you don't own any spawn, don't rush out to buy any unless you are going to buy a nurgle themed army. It's the only place they have a use...and even that is pushing the boundaries of reality quite a bit.

Bloodcrushers of Khorne

In a nutshell: Hey new kit, let's make them overpowered so they sell like hotcakes. Coming soon to a Daemon army near you! ;)

Pros: Gee, where to start. WS5. S5. T5. 2 wounds. An armor save. Power weapons. Furious charge for S6 and I5. 4 attacks on the charge. Good against just about everything.

Cons: Slow slow slow. Too effective. Almost anything they touch, dies. Sure normally that's great, but in 5th edition that's not so good when the opponent has sacrificial units, blocking units, and heavy shooting units standing by to smoke you. They are also incredibly vulnerable to enemy Dreadnoughts, who they realistically cannot deal with.

Tactics: Avoid Dreadnoughts and Land Raiders. Try not to get suckered into bad charges, you are T5 but only have a 3+ save so you can be torrented down. Besides that, charge! Don't be afraid to run right up in front of someone if they are trying to keep out of charge distance. You'll either get eaten or you'll eat them the next turn, but it's better than dying slowly and not doing much.

Final word: One of the, if not the, best units in the Codex. They really do, well, crush the enemy. This is one of those few cases where rules and model match up in the GW universe. The model is sweet, the rules are over the top, can't imagine why everyone has ten of these. They also work very well in Fantasy. Unless you have no need for a deadly CC unit, you should probably invest the dough and get some of these.

Fiends of Slaanesh

In a nutshell: Another competitor for place in a Daemon army against Bloodcrushers. They have a better value than say Beasts of Nurgle, for they can do what most Daemon armies struggle with: Beat down vehicles in CC. I don't think much of the models, but you can easily fix that by running something else and have it 'count as'. Despite their looks, these are not an anti-infantry unit! On to the Pros, men! (Ok, and women!)

Pros: What can this unit possibly bring to the table that Bloodcrushers cannot? Outside of the HQ and Heavy slots, you have very few ways on tackling certain armor. Land Raiders, Monoliths, fast movers (6" plus), Ironclad Dreads, Deffdreads, regular Dreads, Defilers, Soul Grinders. All of these trump Bloodcrushers. Even Killa Kans give them a headache. Not so with these girls. Sure, they are not nearly as survivable, but they are much faster and give you an answer to enemy armor of all types. Sure, Bloodcrushers might be able to blow apart vehicles with AV10 on the rear facing. Then there are the 5 dread or 3 LRC armies your Daemons cannot deal with effectively. Throw these beasts in. They have a relatively crappy WS of 4. Against most vehicles, that's meaningless of course. It's how many attacks you have. 6x6=36 attacks. Compare to Bloodcrushers, who have 4 attacks each. Takes 8 at almsot double the points to get this number of attacks. They are the higher strength, but you are rending and can rend ANYTHING in the game. Unlike most units, you have Hit & Run. That means you can run in, beat the crap out of a unit, and run away. Field 3 units of these with Skarbrand and life is looking up. Did I mention these are beasts, and can therefore fleet and charge 12"? Even Eldar, most hated of Foes for Daemons, have a difficult time getting away from these.

Cons: They are only T4, and only have a 5+ save. As there are a max of 6, they are vulnerable to being torrented down. So, stick them in cover when they come down! With 6 that's still only a 66% chance you'll suffer one wound. Having a 4+ cover save makes them quite a bit more hardy.

Tactics: Well, sadly, I hit on many of the tactics in the Pros section. Give them re-rolls to hit with Skarbrand, and they are very nasty indeed. I think when you compare how this unit handles tanks vs other Daemon choices, you'll find yourself hard pressed to say no. 36 attacks against a fast moving vehicle is at least one rending hit. 36 against a non-moving vehicle is 6 rending hits. It's all kinds of good.

Final word: While these can torrent down enemy infantry units in CC, and can do a fine job of it when no vehicles are on the table...you really want these for their anti-tank punch. Crushers are great for mowing down infantry. They suck against mech hordes, and heavy mech just laugh at their one guy with rending attacks. This unit? People won't be laughing long when you hit them with it.

Flamers of Tzeentch

In a nutshell: Flamer death for everyone! Wounds on 4+, Glances vehicles on 4+...no cover saves...what's not to like about that? Seems like a solid unit, let's take a closer look.

Pros: They are Jump Infantry. They can land and shoot warpfire, then move up and crush infantry with massed flamer templates. They are also a decent tank-hunter unit with their BS4 bolt of tzeentch. With a 4+ invulnerable save and T4 they are decently protected.

Cons: WS2. 1 wound. I3. They do have 2 attacks (3 on the charge) but they really aren't good in CC against anyone but Tau and IG. This is very much a alpha strike unit, able to really really hurt something. Then they get fried. Tactics time!

Tactics: You can use these as very expensive Horrors if you really want to. Since they are only slightly more survivable (T4 vs T3) and slightly more shooty (BS4 vs BS3) this obviously isn't the best use of them. Flaming things is. Drop them 12-16" from the enemy, shoot some infantry, and setup for a flame attack on your real target. If you can clear out the area around your target with other shooting and/or threatening assault troops, you can often alpha strike a unit to death and setup for another alpha strike elsewhere. That's the best way to use them, many players like to icon drop them in for a first turn barrage...there is no need to, and you hurt yourself in the process. People will know what you have planned, but with a rather large 18-22" zone of death around them there is only so much one can do to stop it, you can only counterattack after they do their damage. As a Daemon player, making that as hard as possible (or as dangerous as possible) is indeed the fine art of war and using this unit properly. Always buy the bolt of change if you are bringing this unit. Being able to fire bolts of change at BS4 makes this unit invaluable.

Final word: A very flexible unit, able to deal with infantry easily (a hallmark of Daemon armies) but not able to deal with tanks as easily but they can do it. However, it's an entirely shooty unit, a glass hammer. Shooting the unit down isn't difficult, one rapid fire will usually see it eliminated. Close combat by almost anybody will also see it destroyed. You can use that to your advantage of course, sucking people in to questionable charges or poorly positioned rapid fire units; then hit those units with an assault. All in all, a decent alternative to Khorne Bloodcrushers. Should have been 30 points if you ask me, they seem a bit overpriced.

Bloodletters of Khorne

In a nutshell: Power weapons on basic troops! The 40k universe turns upside down, news at 11!
Well there's gotta be some kind of downside, right? Read on!

Pros: For a little less than a Vanilla Space Marine, you get WS5, 3 attacks on the charge, and power weapons. Seems like a good deal to most people. Let's not forget they have furious charge, so they go first...hit on 3+...wound on 3+....yeah, they are a real beat down for marines.

Cons: Mobility. 5+ save. If regular marines can be torrented to death and they have a 3+ save, what do you think will happen to guys with power weapon attacks? You guessed right, death en mass from everything the other guy has. Boo!

Tactics: Run at enemy, hope you make it. Sadly, while quite dangerous to basic troops (and even basic AV10 vehicles when charging) they aren't exactly hard to get rid of. So, how do you make these guys work for you instead of being annihilated? Why, multiplicity of target syndrome, of course. Works best in a Khorne army, where you might be slow you can offer a lot of power weapon attacks on every unit you've got. ;)

Final word: In a pure Khorne army or a (gasp, umm...what's a heretic to a heretic? umm..believer!) mixed Khorne/Tzeentch army you can make use of these guys. Sadly if you try to use them as anything but a minor threat, you'll find yourself back in the warp before you can scream 'Blood for the...wtf!'. ;)

Daemonettes of Slaanesh

In a nutshell: One of the troops available to a Daemon army, sadly they really aren't any damn good. Think about it, if they had power weapons...would you take them? Yeah, Bloodletters are still better. It's like someone designed this unit during 4th edition years ago, and never revisited it when 5th revised rending.

Pros: High Init, 4 attacks on the charge, fleet, super nerf grenades. They are moderate threats against light infantry like Guard, and can drag down Marines through sheer number of attacks.
The short list ends right about there.

Cons: They can't really handle any kind of CC threat or rapid fire pointed their way, T3 just doesn't cut it. They can't kill even basic AV10 tanks with any reliability. They can be safely ignored by most armies, I've moved tactical squads right next to them and shot a more threatening unit to pieces and taken the charge.

Tactics: Since they aren't point costed appropriately at a more sedate 10 points, your tactics are rather limited. You can bring a bunch of them, and try to swarm the enemy with your 'horde' of Daemonettes. You'll find yourself in for a rude surprise when 60 marines quote unquote 'swarm' you back. Or 180 Orks/Gaunts. Your best tactic is to not bring this underperformer in anything but a themed army.

Final word: Great model, the one previous. The others are all just...either ugly or some kind of pathetic attempt by GW to cover up their shame. It has inadequate rules and is too highly priced to be of much good to any Daemon player. Skip this turkey.

Nurglings

In a nutshell: What was once annoying as hell in 4th edition, is just very irritating in 5th edition. They are very hard to get rid of in terrain when shooting at them, and make for excellent objective contesting units.

Pros: 3 wounds, 5+ invulnerable, immune to instant death, can use swarms and go to ground to take themselves to a 2+ save...talk about serious pain in the ass.

Cons: Utterly useless in doing just about anything else. Can't really CC anyone to death, but they can tie people up for a very long time if there's a lot of them. They can however get smushed by a solid CC unit in no time flat.

Tactics: Use them to contest objectives in midfield, and soak up fire in nearly unlimited amounts when sitting in terrain and going to ground. Just don't forget to spread out, you are vulnerable to blasts after all--Tau will ruin your day if you forget. ;)

Final word: You can if you wish really dump points into your non-troops choices by taking 2 min size Nurgling squads but it does make things quite risky in winning missions. You should really use Nurgling squads as a cheap way to boost your total army size. It does increase your total KP count, but they are difficult to earn so I think it's worth taking them in almost any Chaos Undivided army.

Pink Horrors of Tzeentch

In a nutshell: Semi-shooty anti-infantry, in a world where everyone has 4+ cover saves and in an army with plenty of power weapon armed units. Definitely has a niche purpose if you want a shooty army, but if you really want to kill the other guy for sure--the power weapon squads seem like a better choice.

Pros: 3 BS3 S4 shots @ 18". Can move or fire, so for shooting at infantry it is quite fine. As a backup, you can (and should usually) give them a anti-tank shot. Does make the rest of the units shooting useless, but gives you more flexibility to handle transports from 24" then followup against the infantry inside the next turn. Remember you need multiple units to do any reasonable damage to vehicles due to the low strength and low accuracy. They also have a 4+ invulnerable save, which is good when out in the open.

Cons: T3. T3. T3. People, when you land this unit on the table and the other guy has so much as a IG grenade launcher--do not fire! RUN! Spread that unit out. You can be annihilated by blasts if you really want to, but you probably don't want to just give up a unit for nothing. lol

Tactics: Drop and roll (run) is my advice. Much as people want to be able to drop down and roll a bunch of dice, being less vulnerable to blast, ordnance, and flamer templates is much more important to having said unit after you pick off 3 Orks, ok? When facing a mech army, sometimes you have to suck it up and fire those bolts at max range...which is better than someone moving a transport full of rapid fire troops on top of you and unloading. You should pretty much always stay at long range and spread out as much as possible, firing at enemy infantry. You cannot fight in CC, ever. Everybody kills you. lol

Final word: A moderately useful shooting unit, not very strong in attack or defense. The 4+ invulnerable save is neat, of course you could just get a 4+ cover save in terrain. Call it the middle of the road shooty unit, able to shoot a bit but unable to CC at all.

Additional information:

I almost forgot the Changeling. If you bring a Pink Horror of Tzeentch unit, you probably want to consider him. Especially in tournament play. He can make your opponent fail LD tests and be unable to shoot. Of questionable use against most armies due to their high LD (like all the other LD bending abilities as most negative modifiers have been removed from 40K5E) but it can make your initial drop a little bit smoother against a heavy gunline army. In friendly play, you're probably already earning dick points for bringing a turn 2 auto-assault power weapon horde against your friends...so don't be a supercock and bring the Changeling too, so they can't shoot you either. ;)

Plaguebearers of Nurgle

In a nutshell: Best troop available to Chaos Daemons. For 5th edition, they are very difficult to get rid of and for troops in objective missions that is awesome.

Pros: T5, Feel No Pain, 5+ invulnerable...totally can't kill you, but unless you are facing a crazy shooting unit (guided/doomed scatter laser war walkers) or a good CC unit (terminators) they just won't drop. Stick them in cover for extra fun, go to ground...and you have a 3+/4+ save. Talk about annoying. It's the Nurgle theme song: You can't kill me, nyah nyah. lol

Cons: Well, they suck in CC but do at least scare Wraithlords and C'Tan a bit, since they can wound them on a 4+. They cannot shoot either. Hard to kill is pretty much all they've got going for them, don't ever forget it.

Tactics: Drop, run into cover. Remember you cannot FNP deep strike casualties, so it's probably best not to drop into cover. Nurglings can suck it up, these can't. They can tie people up in CC, but they need support from other elements or they'll be whittled down slowly but surely. So either hide them, or hide behind them and counterattack.

Final word: Most Chaos Daemon armies should have Plaguebearers. All the other SCORING troops are easily eliminated, and in 5th edition...that's one way of winning and without plaguebearers, no matter how mighty the rest of your army might be--it's one you will be vulnerable to. Use them to soak up fire from the rest of your army when scoring troops are on the line, but make sure you protect them from annoying things like Thunder Shield Terminators, who like to eat Plaguebearers for breakfast. ;)

Flesh Hounds of Khorne

In a nutshell: One of the best Fast Attack choices available to the Daemon armies, if not the best. If you just have to fill the FA slot, this is a very good unit to bring along with all the goodies they get. Speaking of goodies...

Pros: 3 attacks on the charge at S5 and I5. Beasts, which gives them mobility the Daemon army as a whole severely lacks. Of all the fast attack choices, this one at least has the virtue of being better than 'crap' when compared to tactical marines, right? They also come with a 2+ save against damaging psychic powers, and what's really amusing is this also gives them a 2+ save against force weapon hits. Not a force weapon attack (psykers can't execute one on Daemons anyway) but it makes the default weapon of all psykers utterly useless against these (literally!) demon dogs from hell. :)

Cons: Still only T4 with a 5+ save. Not exactly survivable. Better than the other white meat, the Seekers of Slaanesh, but they still die to rapid fire or concentrated heavy weapons fire. Which leads us to how to avoid this...

Tactics: While I don't recommend more than one pack, you can really make one pack an excellent unit. Still pricey for what it does compared to other Daemon units, but having a fast beasts unit is invaluable. Ask any Tyranid player how useful they really are. So, to make this one pack really good; add Karanak and upgrade another model to rending capable. This gives the whole unit Move Through Cover, which combined with Beasts movement is truly a unit that can get through cover quickly, which boosts their survivability. I'd recommend a squad of 15 to make it difficult to get rid of Karanak. Without him, you lose one of your renders (the better one) and move through cover.

Final word: While most people don't really believe in sacrificing units that consist of 15 point models, this is really what this unit is for. Making it better able to do it's job and hang in until the rest of the army arrives isn't a bad thing. You can play hide and go seek with your plaguebearer/bloodcrusher armies with mobile enemy armies if you really want to, but you won't like how that works out most games. Having something that can reach out and lock down a enemy unit, even pull enemy models towards you, and give your normally slow infantry models a free assault move forward the next turn...that really is priceless.

Furies of Chaos

In a nutshell: Lost WS and I from the non-sucky Chaos Space Marine book. Must be because...meh, some stupid GW reason. Model not selling, make it suck worse and remove it from the line! Ugly anyway. Harpies much better looking. These can't be joined by a Herald so they have a very weird 'we are chaos but we hate chaos undivided' concept going on.

Pros: 3 attacks on the charge, jump pack troops. S4. Not horrible. You can run a bunch if you want to, I think that's about the only way to run them is in large numbers. They do compare favorably to the other Fast Attack choices, but as I've said elsewhere in the review...

Cons: Daemon Fast Attack choices are models looking for a home. The unsuck home. Sadly, that's where they are right now and will probably stay. See, their problem is, in CC...they tend to get beaten up by tactical marines. While marines aren't the lowest of the low or anything, they are the de facto standard you need to compare against. No rending, furious charge, or power weapon attacks nor any upgrades at all. Definitely the black sheep of the Chaos Daemon family.

Tactics: Use just like most other jump pack troops. These are, however, even more fragile than marine assault troops so you really need to support them. Locking up a enemy unit then hitting them with a big unit of these guys is I think the best and really only tactic for this unit. If you think of them as a flanking unit, not a main combat unit, I think you won't be far off.

Final word: More utter crap from GW. Do not buy Harpies to sub for these models, the current 'official' models are such utter rubbish I can only see them being replaced with a plastic kit in a few years time or see the entire unit/line being binned entirely. If you have them, I hope you can field large (12-15) units so they can bring some use to your Daemon army. Otherwise, skip this subpar unit (rules and models--a double whammy) entirely.

Screamers of Tzeentch

In a nutshell: 100% speedy sacrifice units. The only units they can really beat in CC are IG and Tau, against everyone else...they fail. Their primary purpose seems to be against Land Raiders, which while popular you can't really buy units just to kill one kind of vehicle. ;)

Pros: They do have T4 and a 4+ invulnerable save, and as jetbikes can turboboost around they can boost it to a 3+ save. Since they have no real shooting and against fast moving vehicles don't do a whole lot with their 1 attack apiece (meltabomb rule)...I suggest they are primarily a sacrificial unit first and an anti-raider unit second.

Cons: WS3, I3, 1 wound, 1 base attack. Just no good in CC and can't shoot, but they are the fastest thing you've got available. Not much solace for such utter crap, but make do with what you've got.

Tactics: Use these as a screen, they are great for blocking movement towards your assault elements (better to charge Bloodcrushers than be charged, after all) and your shooty elements (almost all of which fold to CC).

Final word: If you have the models and 100 points to spend, they aren't terrible choices. Buying new models though, I'd probably not do so until they do something better than sucking the sweat off of a real units balls, ok? ;)

Seekers of Slaanesh

In a nutshell: Faaaaast. Lots of attacks for cheap. A nice looking model too, sadly it's metal but what can ya do? Sometimes GW makes great models, and sometimes great rules, but almost never do they make great rules and great models. Funny, yes?

Pros: Like the Fiends, they are a torrent of CC attacks unit. They have 5 attacks on the charge at Init 6. They come with rending claws and the unique Daemon grenades--I like to call them super nerf grenades, for while they do indeed have an effect...they also don't have any effect on tanks, which sucks since Daemons really need it. Shooting this unit is the way to get rid of it, you can CC it but you probably shouldn't. Just like Fiends, there are too many attacks and unless you are I7 they'll be going first. Harlequins beware, these girls have got your number.

Cons: Unlike the fiends, they don't have a whole lot of survivability nor any utility against vehicles. They are also only WS4, so...they can run down IG and Tau. Woopdeedoo.

Tactics: When you need a unit that can reach out and get into combat quickly, this unit is one of the few you have that is fast enough to do so. I'd recommend they only be used against enemy infantry, as they have very little use against enemy tanks. Sure, they have rending. They are like Sniper Rifles. S3+6+D3. Autoglance on a rend, pen on a 3+. While dangerous against vehicles sitting still, they have a hell of a time against fast moving vehicles but when it comes to pisspoor shooting or pisspoor assault...you suck at it either way so hey why not? 5x6=30 attacks, 6 hit, 1 rend. Not exactly...uber. It's something, which is often all you can hope for in a Daemon army. You really do need to remember that this unit is easily destroyed, so keep it in cover at all times--you are safe assaulting through it as you have the super nerf grenade launcher to protect you. ;)

Final word: While all of the Fast Attack choices are 'viable', that's really only if you close your eyes and don't look at the HQ and Elite choices--then they're pretty decent. As soon as you open your eyes though, you'll find they are quite mediocre and pretty much very expensive hormagaunts is all you have in your Fast Attack slots. Sorry!

Daemon Prince of Chaos

In a nutshell: Pretty much the same big badass from the Chaos Space Marines Codex. The differences are, a few options are incredibly high priced (flight, armor) to get you to buy the Soulgrinder. Yeah I know, I'm being cynical again. Just the way it is, sadly the DP model sold itself a long time ago. ;)

Pros: With all the different marks available and the individual sub abilities each mark grants, this is strangely one of the most configurable units left in 40k. You can make it shooty or assaulty, give it a utility role...just about anything.

Cons: No fleet. The armor and flight upgrades are very very pricey. The lack of fleet makes them very slow or very expensive.

Tactics: Slaanesh gives you Hit & Run and Pavane--don't buy flight, pull enemies towards you then H&R out. Khorne gives you psychic immunity and more CC killy--you'll need armor to survive and flight to get there. Tzeetnch gives you a better invulnerable save and anti-tank shooting, this is a standoff unit, you don't need flight or armor. Nurgle gives you a better toughness and a nasty 2+ re-roll to wound, sadly to really make this unit shine you need flight and armor. The way you run these units really depends entirely on your army build, but those are the basics.

Final word: While very configurable, because of the ridiculous price points of flight and armor, most armies should just go with Soulgrinders instead. They don't have utility like the Daemon Princes do, but they do have a big fear factor. Anyway, there's nothing wrong with Daemon Princes but giving them better survivability and better mobility makes them very pricey. You can however run 3 big DP's and 2 Greater Daemons and you'll have a army people don't like, the 5 MC list. :)

Soul Grinder of Chaos

In a nutshell: The only vehicle Chaos Daemons get. It's a huge model, and has a massive assault range it's 6" move, fleet move, and 6" assault does not adequately represent. Sadly, with it's poor ballistic skill, high cost on weapon upgrades, and integrated weapons array...it's not a very good shooting platform.

Pros: It has an impressive AV13 on the front and sides, which makes it very difficult to get rid of. As it's immune to stunned and shaken results, it can keep moving and keep firing. It makes for an excellent assault vehicle, if it doesn't get immobilized.

Cons: BS3. All ranged weapons in the mawcannon are destroyed with 1 weapon result. Very poor rules writing skills there. You will terrify some opponents with the Soul Grinder, and against other opponents...you'll find them big unwieldy pieces of junk. Moreso than other vehicles that are immobilized or weapon destroyed but still have a use--the Soul Grinder becomes little more than a battlefield decoration. Much like any other Dreadnought, once immobilized they are often just ignored. Strangely enough, where in a KP mission you'd probably focus fire into a crippled Dreadnought to score the vehicle, with a Soul Grinder you really shouldn't bother. Focus your fire into the other easier to kill parts of a demon army, and count your lucky stars you aren't going to be CC'd by one of these.

Tactics: Well, first the bad news. Given the usual amount of terrain and chances of deep strike deviation...you are more likely to mishap or wander into terrain with this beast than not. So it really should be part of your first wave and the first guys dropped, to minimize as much as possible this risk. If you intend to drop them later, you should have icons to let them land where necessary. Since they don't have bases, you can twist and turn them to get them right where you want them--when deep striking and when moving to assault. I've never seen diagonal movement before. Oh, haven't experienced it before? Well, this is how it works: You have two big claws outstretched from your hull. Since you don't have a base, you can move towards an enemy normally then 'turn' and get an extra 3" of distance by spinning. Fleet forward, spin some more. When you move in to assault, spin around obstacles...units...whatever, odds are you'll be able to assault. Yes, it's lame and in my opinion it's close to cheating but what can you do? It wasn't a big deal with the Defiler because the Defiler was easily stopped and not an optimal choice for a Chaos Space Marine army.

As far as shooting goes, well...it's not very good. It has the only S10 AP1 shot in the army, which you really do need...but it's BS3. So while you need it, I can't recommend it for tank-busting--it's a red herring. You are much better off using the large template at range to help fry enemy infantry, unfortunately that's a role the entire Daemon army is already geared towards. Much better, I think, to assault with the Soul Grinder. 5 attacks on the charge gives you a good chance at hitting even fast moving vehicles, which means against most vehicles you'll automatically penetrate.

Final word: It gives you an armor value heavy demon. For 135 points, it's pretty good. You probably should take the shooting upgrade 'Phlegm', primarily so you can shoot at long range (it is the longest range weapon you've got) and if immobilized, are still at least an annoyance. For 160 points, compared to the Daemon Prince...it's quite a bit better in many ways. It does however give heavy anti-armor oriented armies something to shoot at. Which can be a good thing or a bad thing. Usually it's bad, however against a army that has mixed capability units Soul Grinders are very helpful. You can't fire bolters and meltaguns at Grinders and hurt them, where Daemon Princes you can usually kill one with one volley. I hate the model (both Defiler and Soul Grinder versions) but for effectiveness they are usually very good buys.

Daemon Guide

So, these are the tables I carry around in my head.

If you are looking for tactics, you'll find those in the unit descriptions and in the example army lists.

You will however find your tactics mandated by what units you bring to the table.

So, I hope this Daemon Guide helps you decide what to bring, knowing what each units role is...well, that's key to building your army and having an in-depth understanding of what each unit is capable of combined with the tactics in each units description and you should be well on your way to understanding the Daemon Army and using it properly..

The table is kept simple, all questions are in yes/no format. For more in-depth reasoning, please view each units entry.

Here are the explanations for what each rating is:

Melee: This unit is capable of melee, if not capable of ranged is solely effective in close combat.

Ranged: This unit is capable of ranged attacks, if not capable of melee it should remain out of close combat.

Anti-Infantry: This unit deals with enemy infantry and does so well.

Anti-Tank: A little more tricky, this unit has a good chance at getting penetrating hits on AV10 (normal vehicles) in close combat. Shooting attacks are not considered, as almost all of a Daemon armies shooting is S8 AP1 (Bolt of Tzeentch) which is fine against light tanks but is not a heavy tank killer. Nor are attacks against enemy Dreadnoughts in close combat, as most of a Daemon army is stymied by such mechanical beasts.

Tough: Whether it's a high armor value, high toughness, a special ability, or a combination; the unit is difficult to get rid of.

Fast: Due to fleet, cavalry, flight, or beast status; this unit is fast and is able to move faster than standard infantry movement. Being able to run does not make a unit fast, being able to fleet does--because you can assault afterwards, and in a slow assault oriented army being fast is good.

Daemonic Unit	Melee	Ranged	Anti-Infantry	Anti-Tank	Tough	Fast
Bloodthirster	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
The Blue Scribes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes
Epidemius	No	No	No	No	Yes	No
Fateweaver Oracle	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Great Unclean One	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Herald of Khorne	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Herald of Nurgle	No	No	No	No	Yes	No
Herald of Slaanesh	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No	Yes
Herald of Tzeentch	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes
Keeper of Secrets	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Ku'Gath Plaguefather	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Lord of Change	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
The Masque	No	Yes	No	No	No	No
Skarbrand Exiled One	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Daemonic Unit	Melee	Ranged	Anti-Infantry	Anti-Tank	Tough	Fast
Skulltaker	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Beasts of Nurgle	Yes	No	Yes	No	Yes	No
Bloodcrushers of Khorne	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Fiends of Slaanesh	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No	Yes
Flamers of Tzeentch	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes
Bloodletters of Khorne	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	No
Daemonettes of Slaanesh	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	Yes
Nurglings	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	No
Pink Horrors of Tzeentch	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	No
Plaguebearers of Nurgle	No	No	No	No	Yes	No
Flesh Hounds of Khorne	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No	Yes
Furies of Chaos	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	Yes
Screamers of Tzeentch	No	No	No	Yes	No	Yes
Seekers of Slaanesh	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	Yes
Daemon Prince	Yes	No*	Yes	Yes	Yes	No*
Soulgrinder	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes

The only real exception to the yes/no format are the Daemon Princes, who can be both ranged and fast units but by default are not.

Mixed Army: Daemonzilla

Time for the first of the army lists, this one is the Daemon version of Gojira, the Nidzilla list full of lots of MC.

Tactics after.

2000 Pts - Chaos Daemons Roster - Daemonzilla

1 Bloodthirster @ 270 Pts
Unit Type: Monstrous Creature; DG: Daemonic Flight; DG: Iron Hide; DG: Unholy Might; S: Furious Charge; S: Daemon; S: Fearless; S: Invulnerable!; S: Eternal Warriors

1 Bloodthirster @ 270 Pts
Unit Type: Monstrous Creature; DG: Daemonic Flight; DG: Iron Hide; DG: Unholy Might; S: Furious Charge; S: Daemon; S: Fearless; S: Invulnerable!; S: Eternal Warriors

2 Bloodcrushers of Khorne @ 95 Pts
Unit Type: Infantry; DG: Iron Hide; DGK: Hellblade; sW: Rending; sW: Power Weapon; DGK: Fury of Khorne (x1); DG: Instrument of Chaos (x1); S: Furious Charge; S: Daemon; S: Fearless; S: Invulnerable!; S: Eternal Warriors

2 Bloodcrushers of Khorne @ 95 Pts
Unit Type: Infantry; DG: Iron Hide; DGK: Hellblade; sW: Rending; sW: Power Weapon; DGK: Fury of Khorne (x1); DG: Instrument of Chaos (x1); S: Furious Charge; S: Daemon; S: Fearless; S: Invulnerable!; S: Eternal Warriors

2 Bloodcrushers of Khorne @ 95 Pts
Unit Type: Infantry; DG: Iron Hide; DGK: Hellblade; sW: Rending; sW: Power Weapon; DGK: Fury of Khorne (x1); DG: Instrument of Chaos (x1); S: Furious Charge; S: Daemon; S: Fearless; S: Invulnerable!; S: Eternal Warriors

5 Plaguebearers of Nurgle @ 75 Pts
Unit Type: Infantry; DGN: Plaguesword; S: Feel no Pain; S: Slow & Purposeful; S: Daemon; S: Fearless; S: Invulnerable!; S: Eternal Warriors

5 Plaguebearers of Nurgle @ 75 Pts
Unit Type: Infantry; DGN: Plaguesword; S: Feel no Pain; S: Slow & Purposeful; S: Daemon; S: Fearless; S: Invulnerable!; S: Eternal Warriors

5 Plaguebearers of Nurgle @ 75 Pts
Unit Type: Infantry; DGN: Plaguesword; S: Feel no Pain; S: Slow & Purposeful; S: Daemon; S: Fearless; S: Invulnerable!; S: Eternal Warriors

5 Nurglings @ 65 Pts
Unit Type: Infantry; S: Swarm; S: Small Targets; S: Vulnerable to Blasts/Temp; S: Daemon; S: Fearless; S: Invulnerable!; S: Eternal Warriors

9 Furies of Chaos @ 135 Pts
Unit Type: Jump Infantry; S: Daemon; S: Fearless; S: Invulnerable!; S: Eternal Warriors

9 Furies of Chaos @ 135 Pts
Unit Type: Jump Infantry; S: Daemon; S: Fearless; S: Invulnerable!; S: Eternal Warriors

9 Furies of Chaos @ 135 Pts
Unit Type: Jump Infantry; S: Daemon; S: Fearless; S: Invulnerable!; S: Eternal Warriors

1 Soul Grinder of Chaos @ 160 Pts
Unit Type: Vehicle (Walker); cW: 2x Dreadnought CCW; rW: Harvester; rW: Mawcannon - Vomit; rW: Mawcannon - Phlegm; S: Fleet; S: Daemon

1 Soul Grinder of Chaos @ 160 Pts
Unit Type: Vehicle (Walker); cW: 2x Dreadnought CCW; rW: Harvester; rW: Mawcannon - Vomit; rW: Mawcannon - Phlegm; S: Fleet; S: Daemon

1 Soul Grinder of Chaos @ 160 Pts
Unit Type: Vehicle (Walker); cW: 2x Dreadnought CCW; rW: Harvester; rW: Mawcannon - Vomit; rW: Mawcannon - Phlegm; S: Fleet; S: Daemon

Total Roster Cost: 2000

Each unit of Bloodcrushers is a mini-MC.

This gives you 2 flying MC units, 3 fleet MC, and 3 slow MC. You have plaguebearers to give you survivable troops, and furies to give you the numbers you need to protect your MC from enemy hordes.

Yes, furies are not awesome but they can keep up with the 5 big MC without having to rely on fleet rolls. They are what makes this army work. You just can't avoid being hit.

The Nurglings are just an extra unit to drop on the other guys objective and make him kill that unit too.

Use the Bloodcrushers as a followup wave, and to keep people away from your Plaguebearers.

Primary Drop:

Bloodthirster x2, Soulgrinder x3, Fury x3.

Secondary Drop:

3x Plaguebearer, 1xNurglings, 3x Bloodcrushers.

Mixed Army: Chaos Undivided

A true believers army, if such a thing is possible. ;)

Mostly this army is for those folks who bought the point release box and have a very Undivided army style.

2000 Pts - Chaos Daemons Roster - Chaos Undivided

1 Epidemius @ 110 Pts
Unit Type: Infantry; S: Independent Character; DGN: Cloud of Flies; DGN: Plaguesword; rDGN: Aura of Decay; DGN: Noxious Touch; S: Feel no Pain; S: Slow & Purposeful; S: The Tally of Pestilence; S: Daemon; S: Fearless; S: Invulnerable!; S: Eternal Warriors

1 The Blue Scribes @ 130 Pts
Unit Type: Jump Infantry; S: Independent Character; rDG: Boon of Mutation; rDG: Breath of Chaos; rDG: Daemonic Gaze; DGT: Master of Sorcery; DGT: We Are Legion; rDGN: Aura of Decay; rDGS: Pavane of Slaanesh; rDGT: Bolt of Tzeentch; rDGT: Warpfire; S: Watch This!; S: Daemon; S: Fearless; S: Invulnerable!; S: Eternal Warriors

1 The Masque @ 100 Pts
Unit Type: Infantry; DG: Instrument of Chaos; DGS: Aura of Acquiscence; DGS: Rending Claws; DGS: Soporific Musk; DGT: We Are Legion; rDGS: Pavane of Slaanesh; sW: Rending; S: Fleet; S: Hit & Run; S: The Eternal Dance; S: Daemon; S: Fearless; S: Invulnerable!; S: Eternal Warriors

1 Skulltaker @ 140 Pts
Unit Type: Infantry; S: Independent Character; DG: Iron Hide; DGK: Blessings of The Blood God; DGK: Fury of Khorne; DGK: Hellblade; sW: Rending; sW: Power Weapon; S: Furious Charge; S: Skulls for the Skull Throne!; S: Daemon; S: Fearless; S: Invulnerable!; S: Eternal Warriors

4 Flamers of Tzeentch @ 170 Pts
Unit Type: Jump Infantry; rDG: Breath of Chaos; rDGT: Warpfire; rDGT: Bolt of Tzeentch (x1); S: Daemon; S: Fearless; S: Invulnerable!; S: Eternal Warriors

4 Beasts of Nurgle @ 150 Pts
Unit Type: Infantry; DGN: Noxious Touch (x1); S: Feel no Pain; S: Random Attacks; S: Slow & Purposeful; S: Daemon; S: Fearless; S: Invulnerable!; S: Eternal Warriors

4 Bloodcrushers of Khorne @ 160 Pts
Unit Type: Infantry; DG: Iron Hide; DGK: Hellblade; sW: Power Weapon; S: Furious Charge; S: Daemon; S: Fearless; S: Invulnerable!; S: Eternal Warriors

8 Bloodletters of Khorne @ 128 Pts
Unit Type: Infantry; DGK: Hellblade; sW: Power Weapon; S: Furious Charge; S: Daemon; S: Fearless; S: Invulnerable!; S: Eternal Warriors

8 Daemonettes of Slaanesh @ 112 Pts
Unit Type: Infantry; DGS: Aura of Acquiscence; DGS: Rending Claws; sW: Rending; S: Fleet; S: Daemon; S: Fearless; S: Invulnerable!; S: Eternal Warriors

6 Pink Horrors of Tzeentch @ 112 Pts
Unit Type: Infantry; rDGT: Warpfire; rDGT: Bolt of Tzeentch (x1); S: Daemon; S: Fearless; S: Invulnerable!; S: Eternal Warriors

7 Plaguebearers of Nurgle @ 105 Pts
Unit Type: Infantry; DGN: Plaguesword; S: Feel no Pain; S: Slow & Purposeful; S: Daemon; S: Fearless; S: Invulnerable!; S: Eternal Warriors

7 Nurglings @ 91 Pts
Unit Type: Infantry; S: Swarm; S: Small Targets; S: Vulnerable to Blasts/Temp; S: Daemon; S: Fearless; S: Invulnerable!; S: Eternal Warriors

6 Seekers of Slaanesh @ 102 Pts
Unit Type: Cavalry; DGS: Aura of Acquiscence; DGS: Rending Claws; sW: Rending; S: Daemon; S: Fearless; S: Invulnerable!; S: Eternal Warriors

8 Furies of Chaos @ 120 Pts
Unit Type: Jump Infantry; S: Daemon; S: Fearless; S: Invulnerable!; S: Eternal Warriors

1 Soul Grinder of Chaos @ 135 Pts
Unit Type: Vehicle (Walker); cW: 2x Dreadnought CCW; rW: Harvester; rW: Mawcannon - Vomit; S: Fleet; S: Daemon

1 Soul Grinder of Chaos @ 135 Pts
Unit Type: Vehicle (Walker); cW: 2x Dreadnought CCW; rW: Harvester; rW: Mawcannon - Vomit; S: Fleet; S: Daemon

Total Roster Cost: 2000

What do you do with a crazy army like that?

Well, just hope your enemy wonders the same thing! ;)

Here's how this army goes:

Epidemius goes with the Plaguebearers.
The Blue Scribes goes with the Pink Horrors.
Skulltaker goes with the Bloodletters.

Wave 1 Drop:

Beasts of Nurgle.
The Masque.
Flamers of Tzeentch.
Blue Scribes/Horrors.
Bloodcrushers.
SoulGrinders x2.

Wave 2 Drop:

Skulltaker/Bloodletters.
Nurglings.
Seekers.
Daemonettes of Slaanesh.
Furies.
Epidemius/Plaguebearers.

You want to get a lot of nasties down on your first drop, and then ninja in faster or more dangerous but less survivable reinforcements as the game progresses.

Mixed Army: Khorne and Nurgle

Killy and Resilience. What's not to like?

2000 Pts - Chaos Daemons Roster - Khorne and Nurgle

1 Herald of Khorne @ 110 Pts
Unit Type: Infantry; DG: Iron Hide; DGK: Hellblade; sW: Rending; sW: Power Weapon; DG: Unholy Might; DGK: Fury of Khorne; DS: Chariot of Khorne; S: Furious Charge; S: Daemon; S: Fearless; S: Invulnerable!; S: Eternal Warriors

1 Herald of Khorne @ 110 Pts
Unit Type: Infantry; DG: Iron Hide; DGK: Hellblade; sW: Rending; sW: Power Weapon; DG: Unholy Might; DGK: Fury of Khorne; DS: Chariot of Khorne; S: Furious Charge; S: Daemon; S: Fearless; S: Invulnerable!; S: Eternal Warriors

1 Herald of Khorne @ 110 Pts
Unit Type: Infantry; DG: Iron Hide; DGK: Hellblade; sW: Rending; sW: Power Weapon; DG: Unholy Might; DGK: Fury of Khorne; DS: Chariot of Khorne; S: Furious Charge; S: Daemon; S: Fearless; S: Invulnerable!; S: Eternal Warriors

1 Herald of Khorne @ 110 Pts
Unit Type: Infantry; DG: Iron Hide; DGK: Hellblade; sW: Rending; sW: Power Weapon; DG: Unholy Might; DGK: Fury of Khorne; DS: Chariot of Khorne; S: Furious Charge; S: Daemon; S: Fearless; S: Invulnerable!; S: Eternal Warriors

3 Bloodcrushers of Khorne @ 130 Pts
Unit Type: Infantry; DG: Iron Hide; DGK: Hellblade; sW: Rending; sW: Power Weapon; DGK: Fury of Khorne (x1); S: Furious Charge; S: Daemon; S: Fearless; S: Invulnerable!; S: Eternal Warriors

3 Bloodcrushers of Khorne @ 130 Pts
Unit Type: Infantry; DG: Iron Hide; DGK: Hellblade; sW: Rending; sW: Power Weapon; DGK: Fury of Khorne (x1); S: Furious Charge; S: Daemon; S: Fearless; S: Invulnerable!; S: Eternal Warriors

3 Bloodcrushers of Khorne @ 130 Pts
Unit Type: Infantry; DG: Iron Hide; DGK: Hellblade; sW: Rending; sW: Power Weapon; DGK: Fury of Khorne (x1); S: Furious Charge; S: Daemon; S: Fearless; S: Invulnerable!; S: Eternal Warriors

7 Plaguebearers of Nurgle @ 105 Pts
Unit Type: Infantry; DGN: Plaguesword; S: Feel no Pain; S: Slow & Purposeful; S: Daemon; S: Fearless; S: Invulnerable!; S: Eternal Warriors

7 Plaguebearers of Nurgle @ 105 Pts
Unit Type: Infantry; DGN: Plaguesword; S: Feel no Pain; S: Slow & Purposeful; S: Daemon; S: Fearless; S: Invulnerable!; S: Eternal Warriors

7 Plaguebearers of Nurgle @ 105 Pts
Unit Type: Infantry; DGN: Plaguesword; S: Feel no Pain; S: Slow & Purposeful; S: Daemon; S: Fearless; S: Invulnerable!; S: Eternal Warriors

7 Plaguebearers of Nurgle @ 105 Pts
Unit Type: Infantry; DGN: Plaguesword; S: Feel no Pain; S: Slow & Purposeful; S: Daemon; S: Fearless; S: Invulnerable!; S: Eternal Warriors

8 Plaguebearers of Nurgle @ 120 Pts
Unit Type: Infantry; DGN: Plaguesword; S: Feel no Pain; S: Slow & Purposeful; S: Daemon; S: Fearless; S: Invulnerable!; S: Eternal Warriors

5 Flesh Hounds of Khorne @ 75 Pts
Unit Type: Beasts; DGK: Blessings of The Blood God; S: Furious Charge; S: Daemon; S: Fearless; S: Invulnerable!; S: Eternal Warriors

5 Flesh Hounds of Khorne @ 75 Pts
Unit Type: Beasts; DGK: Blessings of The Blood God; S: Furious Charge; S: Daemon; S: Fearless; S: Invulnerable!; S: Eternal Warriors

5 Flesh Hounds of Khorne @ 75 Pts
Unit Type: Beasts; DGK: Blessings of The Blood God; S: Furious Charge; S: Daemon; S: Fearless; S: Invulnerable!; S: Eternal Warriors

1 Soul Grinder of Chaos @ 135 Pts
Unit Type: Vehicle (Walker); cW: 2x Dreadnought CCW; rW: Harvester; rW: Mawcannon - Vomit; S: Fleet; S: Daemon

1 Soul Grinder of Chaos @ 135 Pts
Unit Type: Vehicle (Walker); cW: 2x Dreadnought CCW; rW: Harvester; rW: Mawcannon - Vomit; S: Fleet; S: Daemon

1 Soul Grinder of Chaos @ 135 Pts
Unit Type: Vehicle (Walker); cW: 2x Dreadnought CCW; rW: Harvester; rW: Mawcannon - Vomit; S: Fleet; S: Daemon

Total Roster Cost: 2000

You are a bit on the slow side, and against fast armies you'll have problems--that's just the way it is. You have a handful of faster units, those units goals is to push forward and lock units in position for your other units to arrive and slaughter them.

Note that the 4 Heralds of Khorne, the 9 Bloodcrushers, and the 3 Soulgrinders are quite similar to a Demonzilla list. This one is slow, but has more wounds to go around and more units to split the enemies fire.

Wave 1:

4xHeralds, 3xBloodcrushers, 3xSoulgrinder.

Wave 2:

5xPlaguebearers, 3xFlesh Hounds.

Simple enough really, put the scary stuff down and if you fail...you get resilient stuff and some fast cavalry and you have 10 units to roll for on turn 2. Half should come in, which should make things easier as all of them are quite dangerous. :)

Mixed Army: Nurgle and Slaanesh (Infantry)

The Dance of Death army.

2000 Pts - Chaos Daemons Roster - Slaanesh and Nurgle

1 Keeper of Secrets @ 220 Pts
Unit Type: Monstrous Creature; DGS: Aura of Acquiscence; DGS: Soporific Musk; S: Fleet; S: Hit & Run; S: Daemon; S: Fearless; S: Invulnerable!; S: Eternal Warriors

1 Keeper of Secrets @ 220 Pts
Unit Type: Monstrous Creature; DGS: Aura of Acquiscence; DGS: Soporific Musk; S: Fleet; S: Hit & Run; S: Daemon; S: Fearless; S: Invulnerable!; S: Eternal Warriors

6 Fiends of Slaanesh @ 180 Pts
Unit Type: Beasts; DGS: Rending Claws; DGS: Soporific Musk; sW: Rending; S: Hit & Run; S: Daemon; S: Fearless; S: Invulnerable!; S: Eternal Warriors

6 Fiends of Slaanesh @ 180 Pts
Unit Type: Beasts; DGS: Rending Claws; DGS: Soporific Musk; sW: Rending; S: Hit & Run; S: Daemon; S: Fearless; S: Invulnerable!; S: Eternal Warriors

6 Fiends of Slaanesh @ 180 Pts
Unit Type: Beasts; DGS: Rending Claws; DGS: Soporific Musk; sW: Rending; S: Hit & Run; S: Daemon; S: Fearless; S: Invulnerable!; S: Eternal Warriors

7 Plaguebearers of Nurgle @ 105 Pts
Unit Type: Infantry; DGN: Plaguesword; S: Feel no Pain; S: Slow & Purposeful; S: Daemon; S: Fearless; S: Invulnerable!; S: Eternal Warriors

7 Plaguebearers of Nurgle @ 105 Pts
Unit Type: Infantry; DGN: Plaguesword; S: Feel no Pain; S: Slow & Purposeful; S: Daemon; S: Fearless; S: Invulnerable!; S: Eternal Warriors

7 Plaguebearers of Nurgle @ 105 Pts
Unit Type: Infantry; DGN: Plaguesword; S: Feel no Pain; S: Slow & Purposeful; S: Daemon; S: Fearless; S: Invulnerable!; S: Eternal Warriors

7 Plaguebearers of Nurgle @ 105 Pts
Unit Type: Infantry; DGN: Plaguesword; S: Feel no Pain; S: Slow & Purposeful; S: Daemon; S: Fearless; S: Invulnerable!; S: Eternal Warriors

6 Plaguebearers of Nurgle @ 90 Pts
Unit Type: Infantry; DGN: Plaguesword; S: Feel no Pain; S: Slow & Purposeful; S: Daemon; S: Fearless; S: Invulnerable!; S: Eternal Warriors

1 Daemon Prince of Chaos @ 170 Pts
Unit Type: Monstrous Creature; DG: Daemonic Flight; MC: Mark of Slaanesh; DGS: Soporific Musk; S: Hit & Run; S: Daemon; S: Fearless; S: Invulnerable!; S: Eternal Warriors

1 Daemon Prince of Chaos @ 170 Pts
Unit Type: Monstrous Creature; DG: Daemonic Flight; MC: Mark of Slaanesh; DGS: Soporific Musk; S: Hit & Run; S: Daemon; S: Fearless; S: Invulnerable!; S: Eternal Warriors

1 Daemon Prince of Chaos @ 170 Pts
Unit Type: Monstrous Creature; DG: Daemonic Flight; MC: Mark of Slaanesh; DGS: Soporific Musk; S: Hit & Run; S: Daemon; S: Fearless; S: Invulnerable!; S: Eternal Warriors

Total Roster Cost: 2000

5 MC with Hit & Run. 3 other units with Hit & Run.

All of which can handle most vehicles, and deal well with enemy infantry.

Once locked with the plaguebearers, people will find your army very annoying as you zap in and out of combats.

Wave 1:

3 Daemon Princes, 3 Fiends,1 Plaguebearer.

Wave 2:

2 Keepers, 4 Plaguebearers.

Why aren't the Keepers in the first wave?

So they don't get annihilated.

Drop the rest of the army into cover and start moving towards the enemy. The DP should get behind cover so they can jump forward then assault.

You are very fast in this drop, and afterwards...you just hope you can plant enough fear of your offboard Greater Daemons showing up suddenly to keep the other guy pinned down as you close in with your 6 killy units.