Bad TheoryHammer: Chaos Daemons
(Image Credit: GW)
Daemons actually bring a lot to the table. I will admit, I'm not a huge fan, but can you guess what my favorite Chaos deity is? I'll give you a hint: it's not who you think.
Daemons are actually one of the Factions that I think got a pretty darned good boost in general. With the way Invulnerable Saves work, they're better off than ever before (to Chaos with your AP weapons!) and they can bring a lot of stuff to the table. Sure, they lack a lot of shooting, but they can bring the heat in a lot of other ways, and they are really surprisingly resilient.
So, let's get into the Operatives. I'm going to skim over things because, let's be honest, there's about as many Chaos Daemon operatives as there are Space Marines, and most of them have about as much variations.
This will be a different sort of Bad TheoryHammer post. Rather than going into equipment and ploys at the end of the unit summaries, I'm going to talk about them as they apply to each sort of Daemon, because honestly, they're pretty specific.
Oh, and one more thing! I should point out that Daemons can have multiple Icons (and always should) because the extra effective APL for claiming objectives is very nice.
Bloodletters
(Image Credit: GW)
As mentioned, this is going to be a little different of a Bad TheoryHammer post (have any of them been the same, really?). Bloodletters are your premiere melee fighters--4 attacks hitting on a 3+ with Lethal 5+ and a 4/6 damage profile is pretty amazing. The Leader, of course, hits even better. Icon improves your saves quite a bit and the Horn makes you faster, which is always a good thing for a melee-focused Fire Team (and believe me, Bloodletters will always be melee-focused).
Equipment
Well, you have Brass Horns and Scorched Skulls. The Horns are strictly win-more in my opinion: if you're getting a charge, whatever you're charging (within reason) is going down, but hey, they're only 1 EP. The Skull is an interesting choice if you're really wanting some flexibility in your Kill Team. They actually make a pretty interesting ranged weapon that sort of turns your Operative into a Deathwatch-light or something.
Ploys
Unstoppable Ferocity is going to help you win even more up close. And this is going to sound like a broken record eventually, but Ephemeral Regeneration (especially) and Warp Surge (kind of meh) will help keep you alive to get those kills up close. Unfortunately, there are very, very few things a Bloodletter can one-shot, so you're going to REALLY want to be able to heal so you can go kill something else.
Daemonettes
(Image Credit: GW)
I'm sorry. I just can't do it. GW has done Daemonettes dirty and I think by accident. I promise that if a revision comes out, I will cover these fully, but with what I think is the accidental lowering of attacks for the Horn and Icon, I just can't recommend these ladies at all. Which is sad, as they are some brilliant minis.
Until such time as they don't get messed with for taking a Horn or an Icon, Bloodletters are strictly better. If and when that changes, they might find their way onto a Kill Team. Just... not today.
Plaguebearers
(Image Credit: GW)
If you guessed that Nurgle was my favorite Chaos deity, take a drink or something. I'm not buying, but you won! I love these guys, but I wouldn't play them in Kill Team. This isn't a bad thing--I don't hate them or anything. They're just too darned slow! I want my Kill Teams running around like a chicken with their collective heads cut off, not trying to shamble up to an objective with the worst range (seriously) of just about anything in Kill Team.
Equipment
This is me being dead serious (please note: just my opinion). Short-ranged weapons on a slow model just beg to be mocked. If you think your slow Plaguebearer is going to get in range to puke over a bunch of dudes, I'm going to sell you some oceanfront property in Arizona. I'm not a big fan of Plaguebearer equipment, in case that isn't obvious. It's appropriately nasty, but it's just not what I'm looking for in this particular Kill Team (which is shoring up obvious weaknesses).
Ploys
Uncle Nurgle doesn't really bless his minions with a lot of ploys. Giving out -1 WS and BS up close is nice, I suppose (injured). The real benefit is, again, Regeneration, because your basic Plaguebearers are already effectively 11-ish Wounds and healing 2d3 is pretty darned nice. Helps you sit on an objective and claim it. But, even that falls to the ultimate Objective claimers of the Daemon Kill Team...
Horrors of Tzeentch
I am including Pink, Blue, and Brimstone altogether here, because you're probably going to be running all of them (well, maybe not in your Roster).
Horrors are the only Operative you can take in a Roster that have a natural ranged attack, and you REALLY want that. Effectively, each Pink Horror has a Bolter (sort of), each Blue Horror has an Autopistol (sort of), and each Brimstone Horror just sort of exists. They are clearly the weakest Operatives you can take for close combat, but that's not why you're taking them. You're doing so to use some pretty fire to deal with enemies at range.
Equipment
Ritual Dagger is... Actually pretty nice here. It gives your Iridescent more options, although it's sort of like putting a Power Weapon on an IG Sarge--sure, you're better in close combat, but you're still not GOOD at close combat. Trinket of Flux to upgrade your shooting can be very nice--getting a minimum of 4 damage is great when you're going up against things with, say, 8 wounds.
Ploys
Here's where Tzeentch shines. Glistening Barrage, particularly if you take a full Pink and full Blue Kill Team, ups your damage a lot. But that's not the big thing.
Split is... well, it's amazing. It's VERY expensive to run at 2 CP, but being able to replace an 8-wound Pink with two 6-wound Blues does several amazing things. Firstly, it allows you to stick around on an objective when you've been shot down or whatever. Also, keep in mind it DOUBLES your APL on an objective if you're on it when you split. Secondly, it means that there is absolutely no way an opponent can wipe you out with a single attack--they gotta get you three times there to be able to do anything. In a 4 TP game with limited activations, you aren't shifting a Tzeentch team.
Note you can only Shift once per phase, so you're not turning 6 Pinks into 12 Blues any time during a game.
Archetypes
Bloodletters are solely Seek and Destroy. Daemonettes (I'm still sad) are Seek and Destroy or Recon. Nurgle and Tzeentch are Security, with Blue Horrors as a team bringing the Security/Recon. I always think Security is the best Archetype at the moment and would suggest that pretty much no mater what you run (unless you can't).
The Unofficial Bad TheoryHammer Roster
Iridescent Horror
Pink Horror Icon Bearer
Pink Horor Horn Bearer
10x Pink Horror Warriors
Bloodreaper
Bloodletter Icon Bearer
Bloodletter Horn Blower
4x Bloodletter Fighters
With a solid box of Blues and Brimstones behind me, this Roster gives me the ability to have some missiles to send at the opponent or just to play 12 very, very hard to shift bolter (and some better) Daemons. The Bloodletters provide a scary amount of close-ranged fighting while the Horrors can go around and collect objectives while firing off and splitting to their lack of heart's content.
I'll note this list also stymies Custodes a bit because, well, they just went through one Daemon to find out there are two more beating their APL on an objective.
But, that's all I've got to say about that. Go away now!
Comments
Post a Comment