Well most of us have seen that there are new daemons headed our way in the next few weeks. What makes this awesome is that it’s for some new units and also for some of the most fiddly of the current range. What makes it even more awesome is that in addition to some new units getting entries similar to the Storm Talon/Dakka Jet some of the old entries are being updated. Namely Flamers and Screamers. The only contention is going to be their invul saves but for a second let’s assume they’d have the saves the units would normally have in the Daemon book.
So why is this so awesome? How often do you see flamers or screamers currently? The change to 6th might have boosted how often you saw screamers until vehicles started to drop off the scene but Fiends and Crushers have always been the babies of the elite slot. This means you rarely saw flamers due to cost effectiveness outside of a 3-man suicide squad. Well that’s changed!
Screamers seem to have gotten a major boost. They’ve added an extra wound, brought them up to 3 attacks, and changed their cc weaponry to Armorbane St5 AP2. They did bump the points to 25pts per model but seriously? This unit is a steal at this price. It’s still a jetbike which means you can redeploy it up to 24” the turn it deepstrikes by using turbo-boost (rules for deepstrike only disallow further movement in the movement phase and allow shooting and turbo-boosting is instead of shooting). You also get a 4++ cover when you do this (which will only matter on how the invul save thing works out) and Hammer of Wrath hits. Honestly, this unit for me has absolutely eclipsed the Fiend due to quality of wounds and cost difference. Which is good because that leads me to: Flamers!
Well flamers dropped by 12pts making them only 23pts per model. But they also got an additional wound out of it. What this means is that for cheaper than a purifier you get a model that is jump infantry armed with Breath of Chaos and 2 wounds. What it also means is that you can take Heralds of Tzeentch on discs in the unit so that you can do wound allocation shenanigans to keep them alive longer. With the changes to screamers and the ability to get some CC out of them as your fast attack you now have the slots in the elite section to take advantage of the new rules and models.
Lastly you’ve got the new chariots. The Fast Attack one will probably almost never see use. Fast attack if you’re a Slaanesh purist will be better served with a H&R Herald on Mount with Mounted Daemonettes. If you’re not a purist then Screamers or Flesh Hounds (for those who play a lot of GK’s) will be best. So I don’t see it working out.
Now the normal chariots are squadrons of 1-3 vehicles with the chariots special rule. They are only 40pts per model for AV 11/11/10 HP2. Not only that but you get d6 st4 rending hits per HP as impact hits when you charge. Plus the Daemonette on top which, unless you kill your opponent, will die in the ensuing combat but will add some more wounds. Did I mention the chariots have fleet and what counts as offensive/defensive grenades? Well they do so the charge ignores difficult, outside of a dangerous check, due to vehicle rules, re-rolls their assault range, and isn’t impacted by moving through terrain. So for 120pts you get a squadron of 3 chariots that can potentially charge 24” and impact with 6d6 St4 Rending hits plus 15 rending st3 attacks. That’s pretty solid. You can also swap out the seeker standard chariots for the exalted one but I’d probably only do this to one chariot. Use the 2HP chariots as shields for it so it hits harder with up to 4d6 Impact hits.
Oddly enough the fact that we’re now 90% plastic for daemons means I’ll be building an actual daemon army out of actual daemon models instead of my admech counts-as which will be modified and used as allies for my Iron Warriors J
Here are two lists I’m thinking of for Nova. It will depend on how they rule the invul saves but I think they’re pretty nasty. The second is only a slight modification on the first:
HQ
Herald of Tzeentch – 65
Disc, Daemonic Gaze
Herald of Tzeentch – 65
Disc, Daemonic Gaze
Herald of Tzeentch – 65
Disc, Daemonic Gaze
Elite
7 Flamers – 161
7 Flamers - 161
7 Flamers - 161
Troops
10 Horrors – 170
10 Horrors – 170
10 Horrors – 170
Fast Attack
6 Screamers – 150
6 Screamers – 150
6 Screamers – 150
Heavy Support
3 Seeker Chariots – 120
3 Seeker Chariots – 120
3 Seeker Chariots – 120
Total: 1,998
Models: 81
Wounds: 114 (not including chariot riders)
The alternative would be:
HQ
Herald of Tzeentch – 65
Disc, Daemonic Gaze
Herald of Tzeentch – 65
Disc, Daemonic Gaze
Elite
7 Flamers – 161
7 Flamers - 161
Troops
9 Horrors inc. Changling – 158
10 Horrors – 170
10 Horrors – 170
10 Horrors – 170
Fast Attack
6 Screamers – 150
6 Screamers – 150
6 Screamers – 150
Heavy Support
3 Seeker Chariots – 120
3 Seeker Chariots – 120
3 Seeker Chariots – 120
Fortifications
Aegis w/Comm-Link – 70
Total: 2,000
Models: 85
Wounds: 107 (not including chariot riders)
