Blood, Skulls, and Fire!: July 2008

Monday, July 14, 2008

My Daemons

I'm hoping to attend my first Warhammer Fantasy Battles Grand Tournament this November in San Antonio, TX...The Alamo GT! Since I had a good number of demon models from my Hordes of Chaos army, and since the Daemon book is the only really functional (IMO) chaos book right now, I started working on a Daemon army. I've always had a fondness for a strong magic phase, and Tzeentch daemons fit that bill nicely...but I didn't want a one-dimensional army (not to say that those Tzeentch armies with 20+ power dice are weak, but that's not for me!), rather a well-balanced force that would push my opponent in every phase of each turn. To 'win' in the movement phase, I looked for things with speed. Tzeentch Heralds on Chariots (flying!) sure seemed like a good combination...speed and magic! Chaos Furies are cheap and could be handy to pick on war machine crew, lone wizards, or for cross-fire kililng. I'm very much addicted to the Fiends of Slaanesh...M10 is incredible, and a unit of 2 is enough to win fights against Light Cav or Skirms without breaking a sweat: perfect for running down a flank! I looked at Bloodcrushers, but their cost (both points and $$) are too prohibitive. Flesh Hounds, on the other hand, fit the bill nicely, with M8 and very sexy combat stats (WS5, S5, A2, W2). For the shooting phase, I'd originally planned to take Flames of Tzeentch on my Heralds, as well as a unit of 6 Flamers. The Flamers have never done my wrong, even when I've misused them they still somehow manage to make me wish I had two units of them. Some time playing with the Flames of Tzeentch, however, made me feel the points were a bit wasted so I've dropped them. 6d6 shots from the flamers (average 21-ish) gives me a good number of shots, although at short-ish range. I sure would like to have some bolt throwers, but can't have everything! :) For the Magic Phase, I turned to mighty Tzeentch: two heralds on chariots both with mastery of sorcery. They can cast any spell I want them to, and allow for some customization depending on my opponent. I've also settled on two units of 16 Horrors. I'd like to have a few more to give them some buffer to maintain level 2, but haven't come up with the points. Level two lets them cast Gift of Chaos if they're in the area of melees, and they're able to use their two dice to cast Flickering Fire with something like a 92% success rate. For Melee, I turned to Khorne. Two units of 5 Flesh Hounds...surprising how many people underestimate these things! A Khorne Herald on Chariot carrying the Banner of Unholy Victory. He's able to break even ranked units on a charge: with impact hits and jugger & herald attacks, he'll do something like 5 wounds, plus 3 on average from the banner. Moreover he's Unit Strength 5, so a flank or rear charge will negate enemy ranks. Beautiful! Skulltaker on a Juggernaut is a recent addition, chosen because I need something to deal with enemy characters or Greater Daemons. I didn't want to leave him alone to attract every cannon-ball and bolt thrower, so got a unit of 16 Bloodletters with Full Command to be his personal escort. I'm not real pleased with the stats of the Bloodletters, but wanted to have a ranked unit. Depending on how opponent plays things, with Skulltaker in the unit they'll either be 4-ranks 5 wide, or 3-ranks 6 wide. So, that's my thoughts for the army, and here it is all laid out: 2x Herald of Tzeentch on Chariot with Master of Sorcery & Spell Breaker (one is General) Skulltaker on Juggernaut Khorne Herald BSB on Chariot, Armour of Khorne(3+AS) and Banner of Unholy Victory (extra d3 to Combat Resolution) 5 Chaos Furies (Dread Turkeys!) 16 Bloodletters with Full Command 2x 16 Horrors 2x 5 Flesh Hounds 6 Flamers 2 Fiends of Slaanesh Now to get the models made and painted by Novemeber!

Tuesday, July 8, 2008