Look Out Sir! Changes = Army Change

It may seem like a knee-jerk over-reaction, but I very strongly believe that the Ork list I'd been working on becomes FAR less functional without the ability to pass wounds around to the Nobs so massive damage could be absorbed without losing any models...

I don't want to sound like I'm whining...I'm really quite in favor of the way the LOS! change was made, and am very grateful it was done. A lot of "abuse" was being done to the poor LOS! rules, making situations that not only broke my suspension of disbelief but also made things less fun.

In other words, it was bullshit.

Yeah, I was using that same bullshit...I wanted a tough as nails list to wreck things with, and I had it. I'm happy that I didn't have too much time or money invested in the Orks before deciding to switch to...the Daemons!!

Yes, that's right, I'm going to pull out a completely different kind of bullshit and spam Flying Monstrous Creatures!

The models are already painted, though some need some detail work and all need some touch-up due to the rough handling I give things...they usually live in a shoebox. Yeah, I suck.

Lots of old...some of these models are probably older than many of you!

Points being what they are, combined with trying to not spend more money on more models (I've spent enough!), I'm somewhat limited on what I can bring. I'd love to have a lot more Flamers and a few more Screamers, but will make what I have work.  Here's the list I'm planning on using:

Fateweaver
Lord of Change

3 Flamers
3 Flamers
3 Flamers

5 Horrors (The Changeling; Bolt of Tzeentch)
5 Horrors
5 Horrors
5 Horrors

5 Screamers
5 Screamers
5 Screamers

Daemon Prince (Wings, Mark of Tzeentch, Unholy Might, Bolt of Tzeentch, Gaze of Tzeentch)
Daemon Prince (Wings, Mark of Tzeentch, Unholy Might, Bolt of Tzeentch, Gaze of Tzeentch)




Can you tell I've been a Daemon fan for a long time?

 I almost feel like I'm trying to pack in too many things here, but still I kind of like it...it appeals to how my brain works. I like having the Changeling...he seldom actually makes a difference, but the threat of him can really confound people. I can only think of two times he's done something for me: once he had a Broadside blow up a Hammerhead; recently he had a Strike Squad blow up their brother-squad's Razorback. I don't expect those kinds of results very often, but I do intend to tell my opponents about them, just to get in their heads a bit!

I'd not mind having more Bolts in the units, but at BS3 I'm just not that excited about them. BS4, yeah, but as we said in the Navy, 50/50/90: if you've got a 50/50 chance, 90% of the time it will go against you. The one Bolt I do have in there is because I couldn't come up with anything more constructive to do with 10 points!

Having only 4 units of 5 troops will probably be a problem in book missions, but I think in Nova style it leaves me not too bad. I can focus on 1 or 2 objectives and use the speed in the rest of the army to contest the others and push things towards Table Quarters, where I feel this list excels: it's hard to overcome 4 fast beasties worth about 250 points each that can land in any quarter they want to!



The Wonder Twins! Shape of, a skeletal giant man-parrot!
Form of, a giant emaciated two-headed man-parrot...with a book on a stick with a fish on top?


Many folks don't seem to like the Lord of Change, but I think when paired with Kairos he's incredible. I love my super-old model, too! S6 and T6 makes him pretty tough, but that 3+ Invuln, rerolling if I've got these two teamed up, makes him extremely resilient. His only moderate negative is his low A3. Some fun...since Kairos Fateweaver is LD9, the Lord of Change is the defacto Warlord...most folks will assume it's Fateweaver, while those that ask or get it will have to choose if they really want to try to take down this guy, or focus on the force-multiplier Fateweaver, or just suck up the pain these two dish out and kill off the rest! Bad Choices!




Mercer, these are the OLD models!

 If I could add anything, it would of course be more flamers. Units of 3 leave me feeling like I don't quite have enough to get the job done. Drop 4-5 templates on a unit, the unit disappears. Drop 3, and it ALMOST disappears. I would of course prefer the former! Still, making lemonade from lemons, units of 3 have advantages: they're cheap, they're easy to fit in to tight spaces, and their giant elbows evoke distracting gales of laughter from my opponents!


Another mix of old and new! Note the 'based' flying stands...
they were ripped off their 40mm square bases, and I have no spare stands!


As good as Flamers are, I'm even more in love with Screamers. Flamers are so impersonal...they just float up and immolate you and all your friends in one giant glob of chaos fire goo...but the Screamers get up close and eat your face off! Their incredible speed, Slash Attack, and vehicle-munching ability really makes them my favorites. And the new models have those wicked eyes...I love em!

So the list is really just a slight tweak to what I ran at a Feast of Blades qualifier last month where I did pretty well, going 3-0 for first place, including a win (on table quarters!) against a pretty stout Grey Knights list. I've dropped one FMC and added in more Flamers and Screamers...which really are the work horses.

My list building philosophy is one of Bad Choices. I design and maneuver so that my opponent has nothing but bad choices when it comes to what to shoot at...shoot at that, and this will get you....shoot at this, and those will get you...and the trinity of FMC, Flamers, and Screamers fits that pretty well.

Many will wonder why I chose Gaze instead of Breath for the Princes, and believe me it's not an easy choice, but it comes down to wanting to be able to deliver some respectable firepower from a distance and not get up close until I'm ready. Gaze is certainly not a great ranged attack, but ya know what, it's not bad either...consider this: if all 4 of my FMC fire at an MEQ squad, they will do on average about 9.5 wounds...that's a dead squad, and I'm still safely Swooping around 24" away. Moreover, with Skyfire I can threaten AV10-11 on enemy Fliers quite handily...thank you for Skyfire, GW!

When I want to get close, I have Might on them. I'm expecting the tournament formats to follow the NOVA precedent and have Unholy Might affect Vector Strikes. If the opportunity is there to Vector Strike an enemy flier, I'd much rather do it with S6 than S5! Moreover, when I dive in to melee (which I will do, that's my style!) I'd much rather be wounding those terminators on 2s than 3s...that's half as many failures! It will be wasted when bashing vehicles, as I'm sure to be Smashing, and if I need to free up points this is where I'll go first.

So this is the list with 4 FMC, but I could just as easily drop one of them, add in two more units of horrors and fill up the Flamer units quite a bit...definitely something I'm considering, I just don't want to have to buy and paint more flamers!

To get this tournament ready, I'll need to finish switching them all from THE SQUARE BASES PROVIDED to the round bases that I'm arbitrarily required to put them on.

Yes, I'm bitter.

See, I use these guys, primarily the Horrors and Flamers, but including Screamers, for Fantasy primarily. Sadly, the Fantasy locally is virtually non-existent these days. Combined with their not being the most fun army to play in 40k 5e, I've had them languishing in the basement for many years. Now they get to come out, but...

I contacted two TOs, and both insist that they must be on round bases. Nobody can give me a good reason why...any advantage that may be gained by having corners is just as much a disadvantage too. The rules say put the models on the bases provided...well, the Daemons are provided with square bases! Grumble grumble!

But, I understand and respect the TOs' decisions...it's really just about avoiding Drama on game-day. They don't want some whiny sore loser blaming dice, terrain, and square bases on their losses dragging down what should be a fun time with their vitriolic virtual verbal diarrhea.

So, that jab being taken and my respect to TOs around the world verbalized, I'm going to go thru the arduous task of ripping off those square bases (all of them are Slotta...those things get glued in there tight!) and am going to put them on something moderately fancy...skulls!




Blood, SKULLS, and Fire!


I'm buying a bunch of these, but am very concerned that they won't get here from Poland in time. Backup plan is just simple sand painted grey, as pictured on the square bases above.

Yeah, I know...I'm not supposed to be spending any more money on this plastic crack, but I'm an addict...and skulls are cool!

First test for this army will be in a small RTT at Comic Book Heaven in White Plains, NY this Saturday...I'm told it's a great gaming venue (home to folks like Fritz and Jawaballs), but though I've lived less than an hour away for almost 10 years, this will be my first visit!

Tonight and tomorrow will be continuing to put the guys on round bases to prepare for Saturday, and so they're ready to Base if I don't receive my package from Poland before BFS!

Wish me luck this weekend! Look for some Bat Reps coming soon!