The burning question.

I had a great game against Grazer yesterday at Warhammer World. Dave (Smokey D) was also there having a great time playing  a 200pts Kill Team campaign, but I'm sure he'll want to talk about that himself!

I lost my game, but it was an interesting test of my daemons. This time I played a 80/20 Tzeentch/Khorne list to try some combinations out. I won to go first, so I plonked my army down ready to do fly all the big stuff 24" and everything else between 12"-18". As we had rolled Hammer & Anvil this would have put my right in Grazer's face ready to do some big monstrous creature punching of his tanks.

However, he stole the initiative and so he proceeded to hurl ordnance and a mass of Str 5-7 weaponry at me. I lost a Soul Grinder and took a collection of wounds but most of my big stuff stayed in the air through my 'magic' dice. He had vendettas in reserve which scared me more.

On my turn I got a lot closer to him and fired a reasonable amount of (mostly psychic) shooting at him. I took at least one chimera down, but more importantly I would be within range for next turn. Also, my troops started to deep strike now and were in good positions.

Turn 2 was a turning point for me. Most of Grazer's shooting was ineffective although a couple of my big dudes were down to one wound now. This helped even out the battle somewhat, and over the next few turns I started to work my way through his tanks and infantry. I took his vendettas down on turn 5/6 if I remember right.

I didn't however win though. I grabbed the relic on turn 4, but he hauled up a Chimera and unloaded a squad which overwhelmed the 3 horrors defending. On turn 6 I blasted them off it again, leaving the relic undefended. In fact at the end of turn 6 Grazer had a solitary Storm-Trooper Squat left, I had about 10 troops, some flamers, an immobilised Soul Grinder and a Tzeentch chariot remaining.

But I lost on points in the end, a good game though and I'm really starting to get a handle on my army now.

I discussed with Grazer the possibility of a house rule on my Burning Chariot of Tzeentch. If you search the interwebz, you'll know all about the controversy surrounding the heavy weapons on the rider. It means you can't move and fire. Normally as a fast skimmer it would be able to fire 12" and fire both weapons, but I think the intention is that it can move 12" and fire ONE weapon. Until this is FAQ'ed I'm going to suggest that we play it where it can move 6" and fire ONE weapon or move flat-out and fire none. This seems a reasonable compromise between RAW and RAI.

Other than that, I'm loving Kairos. He (it?!) isn't as powerful as before, but he's a LOT more fun to play!

AoA Khorne List – 1st Play-Test

Grazer offered to give me a game this Thursday and was happy for me to proxy my little heart out to try out a Khorne CSM/Daemons list I’d been thinking about for the Age of Armies project. So, I’ll just dive straight into the list (and the proxies!):

Chaos Space Marines (Primary)

HQ
Chaos Lord (Mark of Khorne, Axe of Blind Fury, Juggernaught) (Carnifex)

TROOP
Khorne Bezerkers (x8 w. Rhino) (Assault Marines & Rhino)
Khorne Bezerkers (x8 w. Rhino) (Assault Marines & Rhino)
Cultists (x15, Sgt w. Shotgun) (Grazer’s own Squats!)

FAST ATTACK
Helldrake (Baleflamer) (Winged Hive Tyrant)
Helldrake (Baleflamer) (Winged Hive Tyrant)
Chaos Spawn (x5, Mark of Khorne) (Raveners)

HEAVY SUPPORT
Maulerfiend (Tervigon)

Chaos Daemons (Ally)

HQ
Bloodthirster (Swarmlord)

TROOP
Bloodletters (x10) (Genestealers)

FAST ATTACK
Flesh Hounds (x8) (Various 40mm Nids)

HEAVY SUPPORT
Soul Grinder (Trygon)

Allies

So, I've been thinking of alterations to my daemons list having suffered a crushing defeat at the hands of Grazer's squats - in fact it was almost exactly like the scene from Enemy at the Gates when the Soviet conscripts run towards the Nazi guns and get mowed down almost to a man.

By the end of turn 1 I'd lost my Lord of Change and most of my screamers. My Daemon Prince had come crashing to the ground but had around half its wounds remaining though. Everything else including my Burning Chariot of Tzeentch was out of range and likely to get blasted to pieces by the massed armour facing them. My soul grinder was a shining beacon of hope due to most of Grazer's weaponry being fairly low strength and it put up a valiant effort but was ultimately fruitless.

Here is my list:

HQ - Lord of Change w/2 x greater rewards
HQ - Tzeentch Daemon Prince w/daemonic flight, Psyker level 2, staff of change, 2 x greater rewards
TR - 16 Horrors
TR - 16 Horrors
EL - 9 Flamers
FA - 3 Screamers
FA - 3 Screamers
HVY - Burning Chariot of Tzeentch
HVY - Soul Grinder

I know what the 'internet' reckons are good and bad units but it's an army that feels cohesive if a little lacking in punch. I've had some thoughts about changes to this:

1. Run some heralds of Tzeentch, probably on discs (I love the models). These can run with the Horrors of leap forward with the Flamers as required.
2. Give the Horrors icons and deep strike a good chunk of the army. A little like daemons of old. With almost everything having some shooting ability, it's not a bad strategy.
3. This was admittedly a 1500 point list and I prefer to play around 1750/1850. At this point I would have another Soul Grinder and some more screamers. This would help.
4. I've ran pair of Soul Grinders in the past with the S10/AP1 shot. Normally one of them would successfully hit and do some damage against AV11/AV12. With the updated codex this is more viable as it means moving and firing the Harvester Cannon and Warp Gaze. With fleet not being what it once was this isn't a bad idea.
5. Run a mixed god list. Not very likely...

Allies

Another option is allies. Daemons can ally as follows:

1. CSM - fluffy and practical. Top choice really. I like the idea of a Tzeentch Sorcerer Lord summoning daemons with cultists playing a large part.
2. Eldar - now this doesn't make a great deal of sense, BUT I do have around 3K points of Eldar.
3. IG - Hmm, chaos renegades anyone? I like this one, some nice modelling potential.
4. Orks - Again, I have a large Ork army. This sort of makes sense, the Orks will ally with anyone if there is potential for krumpin' sum 'eadz.
5. Tau - Not an obvious combination, but there is some new Tau models out VERY soon. Also a great looking army and big guns will work well with the daemons.

I'm going to try and play Eldar and Orks as allies first and see where it leads me.

Any thoughts?