Hmm. Seems I have been away from the blog for about a month. Funny, as soon as I declared I was a casual player (mostly) my enjoyment of the game went up but my need to blog about it went down. Hrm, could it be that blogging about casual 40K isn't as entertaining for me? I don't think that is the case but we shall see as time goes by.
Well to kick me out of my blogging rut I am going to post up my new tournament army. Yeah, I know. I'm all casual playing now, but still, a lot of good friends in my club are competitive players and I want to travel to some events and have fun with them - which brings me to the Redstone Rumble 2015 in October. For the past two years that tournament was a blast and full of 40K and friendly fun. OK, so admittedly I am a rather laid-back person and having fun for me is probably a lot lower on the expectation dial than most. Still, fun is fun no matter what your personal tastes are.
A couple of months ago I posted up my Daemonkin tournament list. I have played it (or variations of it) now and then and have gotten a better feel for my army and the codex, but also, a lot has changed in the 40K meta of late. When the codex first came out I think it was a good codex, not great, but it could potentially play a spoiler on top tables at tournaments but probably not win any either. And now fast forward a few months and WHAM! GW is throwing powered up codices at us left and right. Make no mistake, the powered up codex trend is a real thing: Eldar, Skitari, Space Marines, Dark Angels, they are all powered up and making a mockery of the balanced codices that came before. So yeah, Khorne Daemonkin is today what I'd call an OK codex. It isn't going to wow anyone and in a serious tournament atmosphere it won't make it past the middle tables.
So all that being said (I'm not knocking Daemonkin at all, I still love the codex), I'm just being a realist. Anyway, I have been wracking my brain for the past few weeks while trying to put together a list that can compete at the best level that it can so I can have some fun at a competitive event. The list combines some of the best units of the codex and is a fairly balanced take-all-comers list, at least as close as I can get to a balanced list with a pure Khorne Daemonkin army. Heh.
I have spouted flowery girly words for long enough, here is the list already.
KHORNE DAWGAPALOOZA 1850 points
The Apostles of Murder Warband
COMBINED ARMS DETACHMENT: Khorne Daemonkin
HQ
Chaos Lord ( The Reaver Immortal)
- juggernaut, sigil of corruption, power fist, lightning claw, mb, blood-forged armor (relic)
Chaos Lord
- juggernaut, sigil of corruption, power fist, blade of endless bloodshed (relic)
TROOPS
Bloodletters x8 - blood reaper
Bloodletters x8 - blood reaper
FAST ATTACK
Heldrake - baleflamer
HEAVY SUPPORT
Maulerfiend
Maulerfiend - tendrils
GOREPACK FORMATION
Chaos Marine Bikers x3 - melta-gun x2, melta bomb
Chaos Marine Bikers x3 - melta-gun x2, melta bomb
Flesh Hounds x15
Flesh Hounds x15
Flesh Hounds x7
=1849
Breaking it all down.
So I wanted a kick butt Khorne list but at the same time put some balance in to it and make it versatile because you never know what kind of lists you will be playing against in tournaments, especially in these crazy days of 40K.
Kick Butt Twins
The kick butt comes in the form of the two Chaos Lords. They are both pricey, because of the relics I gave them, but that Blood-forged Armor's Eternal Warrior is something I have been waiting for a long, long time and so worth it. I love Juggerlords and have been playing them for years, the biggest weakness they had with my play style is that they couldn't handle strength 10, I've witnessed too many of my juggerlords get punked by Instant Death - well no more! Now my warlord doesn't have to dodge those tough fights like a damn coward and can now just charge right in and do some major work on some chumps where needed and when needed.
The other juggerlord is carrying the Blade of Endless Bloodshed to get me some more Tithe points - delicious, delicious Blood Tithe! Do note how the Blade can generate a Blood Tithe even in your opponent's assault phase! This lord's job is to get stuck into combat ASAP and start killin' for the Blood God. I originally wanted to give this juggerlord the Axe of Ruin but eh, it is way pricey and in the games I ran the Axe it never came into play - the lord never died so no instant Bloodthirster. I think I would rather play on the side of caution and make sure my points give me something back because getting free Blood Tithe is certainly worth it.
Versatile Troops
I've written an article about Daemonkin Bloodletters and as explained there, I like them. These guys can deep strike where I need them for objective grabs, supporting units or setting up future attacks. Yeah, they are fragile to shooting but I can always summon more, right?
HellTurkey
This guy can be so damn helpful supporting my attack, grabbing late objectives and flaming units that I can't get to with my red tide. Vector striking is a boon, even against flyers, which is a weakness of this list, I really have no other way to fight flyers unless I summon in a Bloodthirster. With so many uses, the HellTurkey is a must include for balanced lists.
The Buster Twins
And yes, I really like Maulerfiends, I auto-include them in all my lists. These guys are really helpful against high armor vehicles, T 5, 2+ armor and Knights. The one-two punch of tendrils and magma-cutters can chop down Knights in one turn - if they survive the Knight's initial melee attacks which they should because of the helpful tendrils. I love 'feinds because they have so many uses and they scare the poop out of your opponents, making them, if nothing else, fire magnets so the rest of your army has a better chance to make it into assault.
Gorepackaplooza
While not the most economic, the required two biker units do bring much needed melta into the list, helping to balance out the list and deal with those pesky knights, armor 2+ and vehicles. Not only that but bikes are premiere objective grabbers - very important in games that use maelstrom objectives and a lot of the tournaments do, all the ones my club runs and plays at certainly do.
And then there is the Flesh Hounds and we all know how good they can be. I'm running 37 in three packs. The little pack of 7 is a utility unit to run interference, grab objectives or eat overwatch. The other two packs of 15 are the independent character protectors, and arguably one of the best units in the game at doing so. They have one mission - to ram the juggerlords down the enemy's throat. The fact that they have Hammer of Wrath and Preferred Enemy Psykers from the formation is just the icing on the cake.
I have had success with Outflanking my Khorne dawgs and it is always a useful option to have, I like using Outflank when facing a horde wall or a potential crippling alpha strike.
Anybody have anything to contribute to the tweaking of the list? Anybody have experiences with lists like this? I'm eager to hear and to learn.
I like it but the Bikers seem forced into the list. At 1,850 I can't see those 2 x 3 Biker squads doing much of anything. I would expect they get targeted early and removed, especially since they are your only anti-vehicle shooting. They're cheap enough though, so not out much even if it happens.
ReplyDeleteMaybe you have had better luck with small Bloodletter squads than I have. When I run them that small they just get vaped upon arrival by small arms fire. Doesn't take much tor remove those guys. I tend to just summon the suckers if I need them. However, they are a cheap way to fill out troops.
I had the same concerns with the bikers. I'm fairly certain that unless I need the melta to kill something that they will be hiding behind cover the entire game (or waiting in reserves) just to get malestrom objectives during the game.
ReplyDeleteI love the bikers...melta, fast grab, outflank, scout...Anthony you should really just rush them into combat instead of hidding them. More blood tithe. As far as the Maulers and trying to keep the letters from soaking fire, I find skullcannons are far more effective. Just one skullcannon has turned the tide for me 3 times within the last month. I use napoleon's maxim of ALWAYS taking artillery to support troops. Especially ones that can't shoot for themselves lol
ReplyDeleteI do want to try skull cannons, just don't have a model yet. I can certainly see where it would be advantageous to summon a unit that can shoot the turn it pops in.
DeleteLol and to comment on how the new DA codex is powered up....lol no sir. I've since sold my DA units that I can't flip into fallen in my daemonkin. They took the essence and flavored battle doctrine out of that dex. I could go into detail but the only thing that concerns me with the dex and going against it, is overwatch and bikes. I can thin the numbers out with my skullcannons, and bikes are easily dealt with by simply charging them with hounds or spawn or juggs. I love DA, but they fucked this new codex up. Deathwing don't become a factor till halfway through the game, nurfed knights, nurfed warlord traits, NO NAMED BANNERS, including the dakka banner, even though weeks before they came out with a decal sheet for them....it was a complete hatchet job!
ReplyDeleteI can tell you are not happy with the new DA codex and I can see where you are coming from. Not being a DA player myself I am basing my opinion of the new codex from blogs and friends reviews.
DeleteLol I gotcha. I am sorry if I came across as a jerk, wasn't meaning to imply that your opinion was invalid. I just really don't see how the DA codex is better. They have is better jink and overwatch at the cost of first turn terminators, 2 awesome named banners, ability to field only the 1st company without penalty, no longer making them or the ravenwing troops, nurfed DW knights and nurfed warlord traits?
DeleteLol no thanks
What do you usually spend your Blood Tithe on during the game?
ReplyDeleteWhat units/models do you have available to summon in a game?
Thanks.