New Chaos Daemon Codex List & Analysis: Part 3 (Chaos Space Marine Allies)

After the nonsense that was fine tuning the Chaos Space Marine/Daemon list of the last few months, I really feel like just having a good time. I enjoyed my list, it played how I liked and allowed me to come from behind to win in many circumstances. Honestly though, it wasn't fun for many of my opponents. At the GT last weekend my round two opponent only had two models left after my second turn (vendetta and a wolf priest) and my third round opponent only had three models left after my third turn (three ork flyers).  I quickly realized it was not a list to bring to friendly games, and if the new codex wasn't just released I would bring it to local tournaments either. While I had fun, if I bring a list to a tournament where we both are having fun, then it will be more enjoyable for the both of us. On top of this, 6th edition is way too rock-paper-scissors right now to rely on a list. A bad draw on the wrong mission makes any amount of mathhammer and playtests void. All we can rely on the "competitive" 40K is skill. I like to think I have some of that, and learning more with every game I play, but since the list matter less now than it ever has I think it is a great time to start having fun in the hobby. This was my teams philosophy when we finally built our list for the Adepticon team tournament. we thought about adding wraiths to our necron players list, but then we said it would be more fun to have a second C'Tan. Yes, it is going to be that much fun.

Speaking of fun, I tested out the daemon list with the Al'Rahem blob, and it was a good time. I spent the night after playing it dreaming of whether I would go for a nurgle-look blob or if I would pick up some dreamforge eisenkern models for a more clean look. I kept looking through the book and reading other's thoughts though and kep fitting new things in, things that pushed the guard out. Sometimes my nidzilla genes act up and I get a lust for flying monstrous creatures. I made a list that had nine juggernauts and four khorne heralds on juggernauts, I couldn't contain the coolness of it. Plus, with the number of conversions I already need to do before Adepticon, building and painting a guard blob is probably a bad idea. So without further build, here is my fun daemon list;

3rd Overall and Undefeated with CSM at the Dark Star GT

The title says it all. This last weekend 70 players gathered for a two day, five round, 1850 point warhammer tournament.

I had a blast, going 5-0,  and successfully beating my 3-2 record from last year, despite having the highest strength of schedule of anyone in the top ten. Despite my strong record I must say that out of all my events with the Chaos Space Marines, this weekend actually was the most challenging. The Minnesota meta brings a fantastic variety of armies, and this leads to many unique challenges. I found myself consistently saying, "You have me on the ropes," to my opponenets as I faced new threats such as multiple wraithlords, speed freak orks with triple dakka jets and more bikes than I have ever seen, hyper-aggressive Dark Eldar (going second and not having my preferred wave with night fight) and of course there was the finals too.

Connor, a friend who I traveled to Indy with and who I have playtested against, was my foe on table one in the last round. He was playing Fateweaver, three units of screamers, three units of flamers, and four of plaguebearers. Five months ago I said this was the one list my army couldn't beat. Back in December we played each other and he clobbered me.

CSM/Daemon List For Dark Star GT and a RTT Report

I have been painting up a storm getting ready for the Dark Star GT which is this weekend. Last year’s Dark Star marked my first venture into Grand Tournament gaming, and with my 5^th edition Tyranids finished tied for 13^th in generalship (though fell to 44^th after factoring in my lack registration points due to signing up through the waitlist and getting second to last in painting). I really feel I can place well this year, A) Because my list might be a bit cheesy (due to the White Dwarf daemons still being legal), B) I have greatly improved as a player this year, and C) my army is fully converted and is already at a three color minimum (with a more forgiving paint rubric than last year). This means I have three days to finish my bases and do enough highlighting to get those points too. I even have a fancy new display board (made from a large portrait from I got at a thrift shop) to help my score in that department. My list, the last hoorah of Tzeentch daemons spam, is similar to what I played at the Indy Open;

Typhus

25 Plague Zombies

10 Plague Zombies

10 Plague Zombies

10 Plague Zombies

Heldrake (Baleflamer)

Heldrake (Baleflamer)

6 Havocs (4 Lascannon)

The Masque

9 Flamers of Tzeentch

5 Horrors of Tzeentch

9 Screamers of Tzeentch

Soul Grinder (Phlegm)

Aegis Defense Line (Comms Relay)

It is hard to get motivated to paint some of these models which I don’t plan to use anymore (specifically the Masque and screamers), but all in all I am glad to get some of these models done, especially the zombies, as even before any of their green layers they are looking pretty sick. I had a chance to bring this army to a three round RTT that had 19 players at it, most of which were preparing for the Dark Star.

New Chaos Daemon Codex List & Analysis: Part 2 (Imperial Guard Allies)

Unfortunately the opponent who I had planned to film the battle report with and I did not have time to finish our game, so there will not be a video this week. I will give you a quick summary of the two games I have played and then give a list which is very different from what I have previously suggested; an allied Al'Rahem blob. But first, I will actually provide the conclusions I have came to thus far.

1) The problem is not the horrors, seekers, or heralds. These are working like a charm. The problem is that the rest of the list does not synergize in a way which protects their weaknesses. One of the big reasons for this is that the Great Unclean One, despite his great point cost, is too slow to do anything of note even when deep striking off of an icon and thus is not even targeted by my opponents.

2) My ally is not an efficient use of points. Yes the heldrake is great, but I am paying a huge tax to get it in the list. These are points that are putting me "behind the eight ball."

What I need is an efficient ally who can at a minimum match what I can do with my heldrake and havocs. Enter the traitor imperial guard:

Herald of Slaanesh (Greater Reward/Ex. Loci/Psyker Level 1/Steed)
Herald of Tzeentch (Exaulted Locus/Psyker Level 3)
Herald of Tzeentch (Exaulted Reward/Psyker Level 3)
Herald of Tzeentch (Exaulted Reward/Psyker Level 3)
17 Horrors
10 Plaguebearers
20 Seekers (Heartseeker)

CCS (Astropath/Chimera/3 Meltagun/Vox)
Infantry Platoon 
~1 Squad (Meltagun)
~2 Squad (Meltagun/Power Axe)
~1 Squad (Meltagun/Power Axe/Vox)
~PCS (Al'Rahem/Chimera/3 Meltagun/Vox) 
~1 Special Weapons Squad (3 Flamers)
~Commissar
Vendetta

New Chaos Daemon Codex List & Analysis: Part 1

Three of the top five most read posts on this blog are from my Chaos Space Marine “List Building and Analysis” series. As such it only makes sense that I do the same with Chaos Daemons. I am on a strict timetable as I need to come up with a new list and build and paint the conversions by Adepticon, so look for these posts to be coming in rapid succession!

The new codex means some proxies meet the tabletop.

Knowing I would be at the Indy Open, I preordered a copy of the new codex in Indianapolis.  This meant that while I was painting all night Friday, and on the ten hour drive home, the four of us who made the trip from Minnesota got to make ourselves familiar with the book and start working out some combos. As such not all of the ideas in this post are my own. Extra credit goes to Hulksmash who I have been bouncing ideas off of.

My original plan was to keep the CSM as my primary detachment and just ally the daemons so that I could keep using two heldrakes, but the fact that I cannot put four heralds in a single unit for an allied detachment put that plan to the kibosh. I decided to make a list that included most of the units I wished to try out (excluding Beasts of Nurgle, which as cool as they are happen to be far too pricy).

Check the list out after the jump!

Badger Airbrush Signs On To Sponsor The Renegade Open GT!

Big news this week for the Renegade Open GT, as Badger Airbrush has signed on for not one, but two, Gold Level sponsorships. This means there will be an additional $1,000 dollars in prize support for this event, which is HUGE!

Prizes will include at least 2 renegade Krome airbrushes, at least 2 Patriot airbrushes, at least 2 full sets of Minitaire paints, at least 2 Minitaire 12 colors starter sets, and at least 2 Minitaire ghost tint sets. That is awesome! Thank you Badger Airbrush (which is an American made product) for supporting our event.


Speaking of the event, registration has begun, with numerous warriors already signed up. Don't be left out in the cold this November, make sure your name is on the list. Don't forget, if you are local to the MN area you can register in person at any of our pillar stores for $5 off the registration cost.

6-1 At The Indy Open

I had a great time in Indianapolis at the Indy Open GT. I was painting right up until 11PM the night before in my hotel room to get my army to look at least half way decent (I didn't get lowest paint score!). While I didn't win the GT I did have an impressive showing, only losing one game (to Hans who won the last Indy Open and took 2nd this year) and winning my bracket. I doubt I will do battle reports as the new daemon book makes the tactical side of reports defunct, though I took pictures so I may post them another day. Here is my army and a list of my games:

Typhus

15 Plague Zombies

10 Plague Zombies

10 Plague Zombies

Heldrake (Baleflamer)

Heldrake (Baleflamer)

5 Havocs (4 Lascannon)

The Masque

9 Flamers of Tzeentch

5 Horrors of Tzeentch

9 Screamers of Tzeentch

Soul Grinder (Phlegm)

Aegis Defense Line (Comms Relay)


Round 1: MSU GK

He had first turn and combat squaded everything. By the time he moved up and used the jump move on his now four squads of interceptors I had very little space to land my deep strikes, leading to a soul grinder mishap. At the end of my second turn I only had 19 models on the table. Typhus was forced to roll five saves and failed four of them, dying. It was an uphill climb, but with some major help from my Heldrakes when the dust settled on turn six I was winning by a slim margin.