Specific Review of Codex: Chaos Daemons

Picture shamelessly taken from this BoLS post dated 3/3/13.

I suppose I could say "Yes" to to above question.  But the reasons for that might not be what you think.  As any cursory inspection of the blog will reveal, I am primarily a Salamanders Space Marines player.  I probably have somewhere in the neighborhood of 12k points of the flame loving crusaders, and I'm fine with that, or more accurately, my wife is okay with that.  On the other hand, even with that sort of diversity available within that codex, I was tired of playing power armored super-humans, and more importantly, I was tired of painting snot green (or whatever the hell the new color is called...I'm still using up my supplies of the "old" snot green).  I needed a new army that would maintain my interest in the hobby by selecting one that had: a different play style, a different "look", was something that wasn't too popular in my shop, and was something that I could get excited about.

Rather than go into excruciating detail about the specifics, I ended up choosing Tzeentch Daemons.  It is my preference to only play mono-god lists due to the influence of the past background material.  Perhaps in Apoc could I envision the Gods working together to accomplish a task, but never for something as trivial as a 1500-2000 point game sized force.  Yes, this was post White Dwarf update.  No, that was not why I selected them.  I had originally settled on Nurgle Daemons, but there were about a half dozen of the lads at the shop who played them.  A handful had Khorne and Slaanesh, and exactly zero people played Tzeentch.  Still, I think it's worth noting that as powerful as the Screamers and Flamers were in the previous update, I never took more than 9 of each in my three 1500 point games.

So, where did that leave me?  I made plans to attend Adepticon again after getting burned out on the Team Tournament.  I was to participate in the 40k Friendly event and the Combat Patrol.  I would bring my new Daemons, I wouldn't worry about award-quality paint jobs/conversions, and I would focus on fun.  I carefully selected my list, acquired the models, and got to work.

Here is the list I planned on taking:

Herald of Tzeentch w/Bolt, Disc, We Are Legion, & Master of Sorcery
Herald of Tzeentch w/Bolt, Disc, We Are Legion, & Master of Sorcery
(18) Horrors of Tzeentch w/Changeling
(8) Horrors of Tzeentch w/Bolt (Herald would accompany)
(8) Horros of Tzeentch w/Bolt (Herald would accompany)
(4) Screamers of Tzeentch
(5) Screamers of Tzeentch
(3) Flamers of Tzeentch w/Pyrocaster
(3) Flamers of Tzeentch
(3) Flamers of Tzeentch
Daemon Prince w/Flight, Might, Gaze, Bolt, & Mark of Tzeentch

That list was silly with sacred numbers.  I had 9 screamers, 9 flamers, Horror squads in sacred number denominations once the heralds were attached, and 9 total units altogether.  It was glorious.  I had anti-horde, anti-vehicle, anti-elite unit, anti-flier, a unique deployment system, gorgeous models and a solid ruleset  that I was beginning to fall in love with.  Short story long?  I enjoyed the hell out of them.  I was excited about my hobby again.

This is why we can't have nice things.

Enter the new codex.  Can I be nit-picky for a bit?  I hate hardcover codexes.  HATE them.  They should be softcover the way God intended.  There, I'm done with that for now.  There's plenty of press out there discussing the pros and cons of this new codex.  Those folks are likely much more qualified that I am to discuss this book in an objective manner.  That's not what this post is about.  This post is how the army that I carefully selected and built for a specific purpose is no longer playable in the manner it was when I selected it.

Here is my new list that I'll be taking up to the 40k Friendly event.  I haven't come up with my combat patrol list.  I just don't have the heart for it at the moment:

Lord of Change (Lvl 2 -Divination & Change) w/(2) Greater & (1) Lesser Rewards
Herald of Tzeentch (Lvl 2 - Divination & Change) w/Exalted Locus of Conjuration
Herald of Tzeentch (Lvl 2 - Divination & Change) w/Exalted Locus of Conjuration
(20) Pink Horrors of Tzeentch
(20) Pink Horrors of Tzeentch
(9) Screamers of Tzeentch
Burning Chariot of Tzeentch
Burning Chariot of Tzeentch
Daemon Prince (Lvl 1 - Biomancy) w/Mark of Tzeentch, Flight, & (1) Lesser Gift

There are some things that I find intriguing with the new book.  The Greater Daemons and Daemon Princes seem like they might be worth taking, but that's about it for me.  I hate that my horrors are so cheap, because now they're shit.  Yes, I can get twin linked S6 shooting from them now, but I lost a whole lot of total shots, any opportunity to overwatch (which has saved them from assault in the past), and a point of invulnerable save (even though I do now get to re-roll 1's).  Additionally, the move away from innate abilities towards psychic powers was a poor one in my opinion.  Now any army with any sort of Psychic defense (Grey Knights, Space Marines, Tyranids, Eldar, etc.), not to mention failing my Perils test or my opponents lucky Deny the Witch rolls, could conceivably shut down my entire army.  Talk about building a narrative.  I think the reason I'm so disappointed with this new codex is the changes to my Pink Horrors.  They were the backbone of my army, and they've changed so dramatically.  I can't even take squads of 9 anymore.  It seems like sacred numbers were an afterthought to the design of this book.

So, in closing, the book wasn't what I wanted it to be.  Not even close, actually, I consider it to be a great disappointment.  But, I had a very narrow definition of what I wanted, and I'm naturally a very unlucky person, so I'm not surprised that the list that I became attached to no longer plays the way I wanted it to.  All that said, I will play the lists at Adepticon since I had to register the army I was playing in the 40k Friendly, so I'm stuck with it.  I may even play a few games with them at the shop, but I doubt it.  I wouldn't play Apoc with this codex unless I absolutely had to.  Turns out the way to refresh my desire for my Salamanders was to sprinkle my Daemons with the salty tears of despair.  :)

My overall rating?  Inconclusive.  I had no desire to play anything but a limited mono-Tzeentch build so I can't speak to it's overall quality.  It does, however, lose points for being unnecessarily a hardcover book.

My specific rating?  1.5 stars out of 5.  This may go up or down as time goes on and I see what I can do with it, but my initial opinion of the units is poor, and my opinion of random charts for gifts and "warp storms" is very low.

New Year? New Resolution: Blood For the Blood God!!!

While I haven't shifted the focus of my latest army from Tzeentch Daemons to that of Khorne, I did spend a bit of time celebrating the New Year's holiday with my gaming buddies listening to some artists straight from the dawn of metal.  I know very little of their history, but I did rock out to their tunes.  Enjoy!



Lyrics for this madness can be found here.



And Bolt Thrower can be deciphered here.


P.S.  I am 99% done painting my 40 Pink Horrors of Tzeentch (only eyes, bases, & touch ups remain).  I am about 20% done with my Daemon Prince, Flamers, & Screamers.  They are primed, based, and washed.  The next steps will include the highlighting and detailing, but I don't expect that to take too much time...

Tzeentch Daemons Road Test

Last night Grenn Dal, from Xeno For The Win, and I played a game to test out our respective 1500 point 40k Friendly lists for Adepticon 2013.  He had a Tyranid list, the specifics I can't remember although it wasn't a dead-hard list due to the nature of the event we are preparing for.  My list was something like:

Tzeentch Herald
Tzeentch Herald
18 Horrors w/Changeling
8 Horrors (joined by Herald)
8 Horrors (joined by Herald)
3 Flamers w/Pyrocaster
3 Flamers
3 Flamers
4 Screamers
5 Screamers
Daemon Prince

The sacred number of 9 is used where possible here.  9 total units, Horror units in multiples of 9 (when joined by Heralds), 9 Flamers, & 9 Screamers.  The Daemon Prince is obviously the odd man out there, but I have yet to find an opponent that will let me field them in units of 9.

While I did not win the roll for my preferred wave (seriously?), since this was my first ever game with Daemons, and a play-test to see how the army performs under the most common circumstances, Grenn Dal graciously allowed me to drop my preferred wave first.  Karma, being the bitch that it is, I mishapped twice on turn 1.  Oh well, the Dark Gods are fickle indeed.

We focused on the game too much for a decent battle report, but here are my thoughts:

• Deepstriking is key.  If I don't master this, my enjoyment will be limited with this army.  I was too agressive at times as well as too conservative in others.  Need to find a balance.
• Pink Horrors are miserable in assault (no shock there), but surprisingly decent at shooting, especially the larger squads where I could use volume to counter my lack of quality shooting.
• Camping Heralds inside Horror squads gave me a great deal of flexibilty with their "We Are Legion" boon.  Need to remember to declare all shooting, regardless of target, prior to rolling dice.
• Minimum squads of flamers don't hit very hard and are not at all resiliant to mass shooting or assault.
• Screamer HAVE to get the charge off against dedicated assault units.
• Vector striking is awful nice, but with the 90 degree turn restriction, Flying Monstrous Creatures in Swoop mode are a tricky ballet.

I like the list, and will be trying it out against a variety of opponents in the coming months as I work to improve my use of the army.  I may consider going with 3 units of 3 screamers and 2 units of 4 & 5 flamers going forward, but that remains to be seen.  In any event, the game vs. Nids was fun, the forces of change came away victorious in their first outing, and I'm looking forward to getting in my practice with them.

EDIT:
(Grenn Dal's list)

HQ

Tyranid Prime –lashwhip /bone sword regen

Troop

10 Genestealer – broodlord toxin sacs

10 Genestealer – broodlord toxin sacs

Fast

5 Ravener - rending claws, Devourer

5 Ravener - rending claws, Devourer

3 Shrike – lash whip/ bonesword toxin sac

Heavy

Trygon Prime – bio pulse, regen

Elite

Zonathrope

Zonathrope

And now for something completely different...

Not really, but it's been so long since I posted anything up here I was straining to think of something suitably clever.  I believe I failed.  In any event, I was previously doing yeoman's work on painting up my birthday gift that the lads got together for me.

It's coming along, but I needed a break

Painting it, however, was a bit of a challenge.  I don't want to screw it up and the fact that I've been doing nothing but Salamanders for the past few years was wearing me down.  That AND learning a new edition of the rules sort of burned me out.  Not that I hadn't done well enough with it, as I had won both a local Rogue Trader (solely on the basis of soft scores...I went 1 - 2 on the day) and a five week league held at the shop.  I just needed something...different.

I had long held an admiration for all things Nurgle, and set about creating plans and shopping list for a Chaos Daemons list with Chaos Space Marine allies.  I planned on using the Daemons both for 40K and for a Warhammer Fantasy skirmish game that we were planning for the shop.  The marines were to be pre-heresy Forgeworld models, and all was to be awesome.  Then I went to one of our Apocalypse games and almost all of my opponents had Nurgle armies.  The last thing I wanted to do was join that infectious crowd.  What was I to do?

East, I just had to Change My Ways!!!

It turns out that I was destined to head into the shifty embrace of the Dark Gods but we had guys who played all of the flavors except Tzeentch.  Challenge Accepted!  My fledgling Tzeentch Daemon army was born.

On top of that, I managed to snag one of the coveted slots in this year's 40K Friendly event at Adepticon.  Now I was burned out on the Team Tournament, but I wanted to head back to Chicago and try something different.  So Friendly tournament on Friday and Combat Patrol on Saturday is where I'll be found in 2013.

The Dark Gods have blessed my efforts with a Daemonic Familiar.
She INSISTS on helping me out every time I paint.

Obviously, I'm still shopping for suitable Battlefoam trays.  Suggestions are welcome.

The lads are still in progress, but I'm optimistic.  No competition quality here,
I'm just going for a fun, table-top ready quality.

Damn finecast.  My Changeling's staff broke like it was it's job.
I hacked off it's arm and put a Horror arm on it.
My conversion skillz are sick.

I'm done rambling folks.  Updates to follow, I promise.

The Indy Open 2013

Interested?  You should be.  Go here and redeem my faith in humanity.

P.S.  I'm not dead or out of the hobby, just been in a serious funk lately.

What's New Today?

Apparently we are.  Or, more specifically, Aerion & CVinton are.  This gorgeous tank that was converted by CVinton and painted by Aerion has a brief mention on Games Workshop's Blog.  While they may not be shameless self promoters, I am certainly the proud owner of their excellent collaboration.  Good show lads.  Good show.

A Midsummer's Apocalypse Dream

Defense in Depth

This past Sunday the lads got together at our store, Fantasy Books & Games in Fairview Heights, IL, and held one of our semi-annual Apocalypse games.  Organized by Brandon, the store manager, we have every resource at the store's disposal available to use.  Previous games have seen every flavor of formation, wonky deathstar units, super heavy vehicles, and gargantuan monstrous creatures.  We enjoy our frequent leagues and open play weeks, but these Apoc games, and the craziness that they inspire, are a real treat for us.

The occasion for this battle was for the recreation of the Battle for Helsreach Hive during the third battle of Armageddon.  There were three tables.  The largest, which was three tables put together that represented the outskirts of the hive.  A wooded table (Ork Deployment area), a "no man's land" of trenchworks, and a city board.  The trench board and city board were the Space Marine deployment areas.  Additionally, there was a board representing a space hulk and another board that was a defense laser.  Loyalists controlled the laser, which was able to fire on either the Hulk, or the main board.  Orks controlled the Hulk, which was able to fire upon the defense laser board or the main board.

Main Board, Marine Side

Main Board, Ork Side

Defense Laser Board ("laser" command is on the far end of the board)

Space Hulk Board.  Bombardment Cannon control is the 4 rooms in the middle

Like every one of our games, we had plenty of shenanigans on the tabletop.  We had three stompas, one skullhamma tank, 11 Ork planes, 2 mega dreads, and plenty of boys, trukks, wagons, etc.  The space marine players mainly brought regular units, but they brought a lot of them.  Seriously, a lot.  This was a "bring everything you own" type of game, and we were quite surprised to realize that the marine players had just over twice as many points on the main board as the Ork players did.  I don't consider the game a "win" for the marine players, even though they had control of more objectives.  Rather, I give the game to the Orks, who accomplished so much with half as many points of models.  It was truly an awe inspiring performance.

Ork-Eye View

Two Ironclads & Bray'arth Ashmantle drop in to say "hello"

Want to learn the rules for the new Ork Planes?  Play with a dozen of them.

Bray'arth fell to this Mega-Dread, but he took out a Super Heavy Rocket Launcher
& survived the resulting explosion prior to it.

It was a great time with many memorable moments that were discussed over beers afterwards.  And that, my friends, is why you play the game.

Which takes me to the after game party.  The group of guys that I play with try to celebrate each other's birthdays when we can.  We try to pool together and buy the guy something that he may not have bought on his own, typically something from forgeworld.  This time around, it was my birthday that was celebrated.  And I am truly humbled and blessed to report that this was the gift I was given:

As if that's not more than enough, they got me Salamander chapter doors as well

I don't have the means to express my thanks.  I play with a fantastic group of guys, and I hope I can show them the gratitude that they deserve.  So to Brandon, and the rest of you, thank you so much.