With Grey Knights on the Way, What of Daemons?

There’s no hiding it, the Grey Knights are on the way!  Since I know none of you have seen any illicit download (nudge, nudge, and a big wink!), allow me to be the first to tell you they’ll have Preferred Enemy: Daemons.

So what’s the mean for Daemons players?

Nothing.  There won’t BE Daemons players!  (…and /end article.)

Hello again Oh Blogosphere; Brent here, the walking, talking, “Oh man, it’s Tuesday!” statement of Gonzo Journalism.  In my world, you all woke up last Tuesday shocked and disappointed to discover no Brent article on Bell… but sadly it’s not my world.  Meaning you probably didn’t notice.

I’ve been pretty sick lately, but I hate missing a deadline so allow me to apologize regardless.

With that out of the way, let me explain what today’s poor offering is all about.  It’s all about DON’TS.

• Don’t Write Tactics Articles
• (Corollary:  Avoid Strategy Articles)
• Don’t Dump Lists on Bell
• (Corollary:  Leave That to Goatboy)

I’ve got a new one I’m considering adding… Don’t Do Counts-As On Bell (poor Goatboy!), but I haven’t decided quite yet!  To that end, I decided that, even though this is an article on Daemons, I’m going to show off a Bell Reader’s Necrons Counts-As Adeptus Mechanicus Army.  I chased down Mark after he commented on one of my articles – what an evil genius!  Love it!

So this is an article in an article, really, where I’m bringing you something cool to look at as you bask in the warm glow of the Daemons wisdom I’m going to drop on you!

I don’t generally enjoy writing tactics or strategy articles, or as I call them, the Here’s How to Play Your Army articles.  To my mind, these are sort of thankless – after all, everyone has an opinion… some of them are even worth listening to!

Moving on, I don’t like to dump lists on an unsuspecting public, especially not on Bell of Lost Souls.  That’s probably foolish, since I know how popular these types of articles are.  Still, I’ll leave these types of articles to those who enjoy it.  You can find all that by joining the Pink Army or swimming in the Big Blue Shark Tank.

Have fun!

Bottom line, I firmly believe 1) practice is more important than magic lists and 2) what works for one doesn’t always work for another.

Also, let’s face it, the Bell audience doesn’t seem to like Spamming units, which is unavoidable with some ‘Dexes… like mine.  Best to steer clear.

Still and all, the Grey Knights are about to bust up my beloved Daemons of Chaos, so it’s time to break my own rules!

Yea, yea – I know Hard Boyz isn’t for another half a year or more!  So why am I writing this now?

Last year was a huge disappointment for me.  I’d practiced hard with Daemons and fully expected to do well.  I was geared up to play when I realized something I’d missed…

…the first round of Hard Boyz was scheduled on the day I graduated college.

AAAAGGGHHHH!!!!  Stupid college!

Now here we are this year and GW not only changed the date on me but also are releasing their final answer for a tough-to-use Codex… the Grey Knights!

Bottom line?  My days with Daemons may well be numbered.  If I’m going to write this article, I have to do it now – I’ve heard the Black Box will be in stores next week.

The Lists 1 of 2: Customized

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So here we have my personal version of the army, or as I like to think of it, Optimized But Customized; fit for my personal use.

You should be able to click on the file to the left, but in case you can’t, here’s the breakdown:

Tzeentch Herald x4 Units

Fiends x3 Units

Plaguebearers, 10 with Icon

Plaguebearers, 5

Horrors, 10 with Changeling and Icon

Horrors, 5 x2 Units

Hounds of Khorne, w Kharnak

Daemon Princes of Tzeentch, x3 Units

I call this army Bolt ‘n’ Beast… which sounds somewhat better than Bolt, Breath, and Beast.  I play an aggressive game of shooting with my Tzeentchian units and use the Fiends for close combat.

The Hounds make a sort of poor man’s unit of Fiends.  The ‘Bearers ability to hold objectives I combine with the more aggressive Horrors shooting – and these last still have an invulnerable save, when it comes to that.

The Lists 2 of 2: Optimized

Here’s the optimized list, which on paper is probably superior.  I include it here so you can see what I consider ‘best’ – just keep in mind I’m not sure I buy that as a concept.

Tzeentch Herald x4 Units

Fiends x3 Units

Plaguebearers, 10 with Icon

Horrors, 5 x5 Units

Hounds of Khorne, w Kharnak

Seekers, 5 x2 Units

Daemon Princes of Tzeentch, x3 Units

It sacrifices extras on units like the Daemon Princes and does away with over-large units like the Horrors in order to max out the Force Org and add in the Seekers… although without doubt there are purists out there who’d cut this list to the bone!

For me, based on my experience, I’ll keep the Bolt, Breath, and Gaze powers on the Chariots because I consider them, after too many games to count, required.  Niceties like the upgrade on the Fiends stay as well; allocating a wound at the proper time can keep a full model in the fight, plus Str6 is nice against Vehicles.

I like my upgrades on the DP’s, but running light with just Bolt is very viable; if there’s nothing to shoot at, run!

I don’t really have the space to talk about the subtle components of either list; for example, as a general rule I’ll split my Waves evenly… or that I think Icons are largely unnecessary (yea, I included ’em – I’m consistently inconsistent).  It is what it is.

So, What Other Options Are There?

Like I said earlier, everyone has their own way of running armies and Daemons are no exception.  In my now classic series of introduction articles, the Schoolboy’s Primer series (1, 2, 3), I discussed these matters in more detail…

…saying, for example, that Daemon Princes are better than Soul Grinders in a Mech-heavy environment. I still believe that, but plenty of great players swear by Grinders.

I also think Fateweaver is crap:

I don’t advocate for armies that depend so heavily on one unit. If Fateweaver works, you’ll probably do okay, if Fateweaver doesn’t you’ll lose. He’s the linchpin, and any decent army will target and kill him quickly.

And no, you can’t stop it. Unlike many situations, where uselessly dumping firepower into one unit is a bad idea, here it’s the only idea. It only takes one wound and a bad Leadership Test, then bye-bye baby. That’s really not what you’re shooting for, though – Fateweaver is only Toughness 5 with 3 Wounds: a reroll only does so much.

I say all that, but Farmpunk from the Back 40K noted a player in his area is very successful with Fateweaver, and those dudes are all cut-throat tournament players!

I’ll say this, if I was going to make any major change to my list I’d probably consider dropping a unit of Fiends for a block of Crushers – something to anchor the army.  Still, that has problems, too: how would I split my army?

The Bottom Line

The Grey Knights are coming, the Grey Knights are coming!  In a real way, this article may be the last gasp of a dead and dying Codex.

Or rather another way of saying it, do you think Codex: Chaos Daemons will join the ranks of Codex: Necrons as practically unplayable in the new environment?

I honestly don’t think so: am I engaging in wishful thinking?  How will the new army kick around my list?  Generalities will work just fine!

And what did you think of Mark’s Counts-As?  Awesome or what!  Keep in mind, when you see the whole thing together it’s quite easy to keep the units separate.  He casts his own parts, just to make sure!

Those are today’s questions, but as always feel free to comment on anything and everything.  I may not respond but I assure you I read and consider every word.  If you’ll take the time to write it, I’ll take the time to read it.

So, thoughts?  Comments?  Hugs and gropings?

Author: Brent