Know thy Nemesis: the new Chaos Daemons know how:

Greetings brothers. Since Tuesday. i got my copy oft the new chaos daemons book and thought after posting the rumors since the past 2 days I post a little guide about the changes of our nemesis. As a daemon player this book is so full of fluffy and nice things that I seriously cant get enough of it. In both fluff and playstyle its not as disappointing to me as the GK codex is. No offence for people who like the dex though.

Note that I have the book in German and translate on my own so it might be possible that some names differ from the English original. Also I only post information that has been posted on different open puplic sites already. I won’t go into detail and determine the costs just as vaque example of how it changed.

To scroll more easily through this guide I will make marks on the index so you guys can search for it to skip to the desired (for example press CTRL + F and search for [3.2] to go directly to tzeentchs units. I sort units in this guide like in the new book. Based on The God and then the FOC instead of FOC like on other Codices

Index:
1. General Rules [1.0]
2. Warlord Chart [2.0]
3. Units [3.0]
- Khorne [3.1]
- Tzeentch [3.2]
- Nurgle [3.3]
- Slaanesh [3.4]
- Undivided Daemons [3.5]
4. Psychic powers [4.0]
5. Wargear [5.0]
- Daemonic Gifts [5.1]
6. What to expect [6.0]


General Rules [01]


What Changed:

Daemons Lost Eternal warrior and Fearless. They now follow the rule Daemon of the Warhammer 40k Rulebook. There is only one unit in this codex that still got eternal warrior, Skulltaker
Also all Daemons now got a 5+ invulnerable save. No longer do lords of change run around with a 3+ invul.
There is one exception to the Flat 5+ invul across the board. Fateweaver, oracle of tzeentch.

the leadership of all daemons got lowered to a variety between 7 and 9 – Daemon bane becomes on NFW becomes stronger with that.

Also the Wave Deepstriking is gone. All units in this book can deepstrike but don’t have too. You can place them on the board at the start of the game like any other army now.

Heralds also have changed. Before you could take up to 2 for 1 HQ slot. Now its 4 for 1 HQ slot per primary Detachment. So max 8 at 2k+ points. The role they play now also changed. They became more of a buffer unit with presences for them and their unit. There are 3 types. Lesser, powerful and Exalted presences. Only one presence can be bought per herald and only one can be active per unit at a time. They don’t stack and only the one with the Highest tier applies to the unit. What those do we come to later.
All heralds apply the special rule of the presence to the unit they get added to. Not only Troop choices can be effected by his presences.

Also units still don’t run around with characters like sergeants or justicars. But one model in the unit can upgrade to become one. All champion upgrades cost the same for every unit. As much as a psychic power of a GK Libby.

Daemons now also got psykers.

Daemonic Instability:
a new rule that all units in this book got. (even daemon princes). Its basically a auto pass on fear, pinning and morale checks in shooting. It works differently in close combat. If the unit lost combat they stick to the fight like fearless units but have to do a instability test wich is a test on the Leadership with 2d6. If passed, nothing happens. If failed the daemon unit suffers as many wounds as it failed its instability test by.
Close combat results get counted in like morale check. After those wounds have been taken and models have been removed the remaining models stay in combat like with the special rule fearless.
There are 2 random events in daemonic instability in close combat:
If they roll instability and do a double 1. All wounds caused against the daemon unit in this phase gets restored instantly, they gain all lost wounds and models lost in this phase.
If they roll instability and do a double 6. All models in the unit get destroyed instantly.

Daemon off:
All daemons are daemons of a certain god or have to be upgraded to become a daemon of one. except furies of chaos. They are the only ones who can stay godless, but can become daemons of X. between the gods are differences and all daemons have special rules according to their god.
Daemon of Khorne:
All daemons of Khorne got the Special rule Daemon. They also gain the special rules : Hatred (Daemons of Slaanesh), Furious charge and in case of chariots they don’t deal D6 S6 hammer of wrath hits. They deal D6 S7 hammer of wrath hits.
Daemon of Tzeentch:
All daemons of tzeentch got the special rule Daemon. They also gain the special rules: Hatred (Daemons of Nurgle), when casting psychic powers they add +3 to their leadership for the psychic test. In addition they reroll all failed saves of 1.
Daemon of Nurgle:
All daemons of Nurgle got the special rule Daemon. They also gain the special rules: Hatred (Daemons of Tzeentch), shrouded, slow and purposeful and units consisting entirely of Daemons of Nurgle count as having defensive grenades.
Daemon of Slaanesh:
All daemons of Slaanesh got the special rule Daemon. They also gain the special rules: Hatred (Daemons of Tzeentch), Rending, Fleet and can always run 3” further than normal. So running is d6+3”. Units consisting of entirely of cavalry can run 6” further than normal. Vehicles with the exception of walkers turboboost additional 3”.

Warp Storm:
Also a new rule. If the daemon army is the primary detachment this rule takes effect. the results are devastating and random and nicely put the way chaos works to the table.
At the start of each daemons shooting phase The daemon player rolls 2D6 and results the chart below:

2: all units with the special rule daemonic instability have to do a instability test (friend and foe)
3: a random selected character model with the special rule daemonic instability (friend and foe) has to do a instability test with 3d6
4. all models with the special rule Daemon suffer a -1 to their invulnerable save. (friend and foe) this lasts until the next time the daemon player rolls on the warp storm table.
5: tzeentchs Storm of fire. For every enemy unit on the board as well as every friendly nurgle unit the daemon player rolls a D6. each unit on wich a 6 is rolled they the Daemon player places a 5” blast on a model of his choice within this unit. After that roll to scatter (2D6, no ballistic skill) every unit under this blast suffers as many S 4 AP 5 hits as models that are under or scratched by the 5” blast. These hits have the special rule Ignores cover and Barrage.
6: Nurgles Glorious Rot: For every enemy unit on the board aswell as every friendly tzeentch unit the daemon player rolls a D6. On a 6 the unit suffers D6 S 4 AP 3 hits with the special rule ignores cover and poison (4+). The controlling player decides which models take the hit. Vehicles suffer these hits on the side armor
7: nothing
8:Slaanesh Strikes: For every enemy unit on the board aswell as every friendly Khorne unit the daemon player rolls a D6. On a 6 the unit suffers D6 S 6 AP - hits with the special rule ignores cover and rending The controlling player decides which models take the hit. Vehicles suffer these hits on the side armor
9: Khornes Wrath: For every enemy unit on the board aswell as every friendly Slaanesh unit the daemon player rolls a D6. each unit on wich a 6 is rolled they the Daemon player places a 3” blast on a model of his choice within this unit. After that roll to scatter (2D6, no ballistic skill) every unit under this blast suffers as many S 8 ap 3 hits as models that are under or scratched by the 5” blast. These hits have the special rule Barrage.
10: All units with the Special rule daemon have improve their invulnerable save by 1 this lasts until the next time the daemon player rolls on the warp storm table.
11: Nominate a random enemy psyker. This model has to do a leadership test with 3d6. If it fails it is removed from play with no saves of any kind allowed. The daemon player may place a herald of his choice (without upgrades) within 6” of where the enemy psyker stood. After that the Herald is in control of the Daemon player but may not assault this turn.
12: you summon a completely new unit (the daemon player can decide between horrors, bloodletters, plaquebearers and daemonettes) with 2D6 + 3 models. These models appear via Deepstrike.

As you guys can see, chaos became quiet random and deadly. Even if you can keep the units in check the Warp storm may seriously wreck havoc.

Warlord Chart [2.0]
As all 6th edition codices this one also got its own warlord chart and its certainly one of the best the codices so far have to offer.

1. Living Death : all of the warlords CC attacks cause instant death.
2. Slayer of Mortals: the warlord and his unit have the special rule hatred.
3. Herald of Doom: as long as the Warlord is alive, all enemys have -1ld if they do fear tests
4. Immortal Leader: the warlord and every friendly unit within 12” may reroll failed instability tests.
5. Lord of Unreality: as long as the warlord is alive, the daemon player can reroll the result on the warp storm table.
6. Warp beacon: the warlord counts as having a 6” teleport homer for every friendly unit with the special rule daemon.

Units [3.0]

Khorne [3.1]

Khorne got some major changes and many things are no longer what they did before. Especially price changes and drastically changes to statlines:
Don’t forget that every unit in this section got the special rule :

b] Daemon of Khorne: [/b]
All daemons of Khorne got the Special rule Daemon. They also gain the special rules : Hatred (Daemons of Slaanesh), Furious charge and in case of chariots they don’t deal D6 S6 hammer of wrath hits. They deal D6 S7 hammer of wrath hits.


HQ

Skarbrand (MC:C):
Good old Skarbrand got some drastically changes. He is now way cheaper (2 rhinos cheaper). Also his profile changed. He has the highest possible WS, BS and I possible in the game. his Strength got reduced by 2 but he got one wound more. He still runs around with a power armor save. He got a Breath that Is basically a heavy flamer without AP. He also rocks in with 2 close combat weapons, one got life bane, the other got armor bane. With 2 weapons he got another bonus attack. He still got the bubble like before but they reduced the range by halve and all allies and enemys within gain Rage and Hatred now.
He always comes with the Daemonic Warlord Trait : Living Death
He still didn’t redeemed his sin by khorne and still is not able to fly. But what gets in his wake will get ripped to pieces. Be careful guys only assault him if you know you take him down. And make use of psyk out grenades. Shooting him is the best option

Bloodthirster (FMC:C):
Same Base Costs but more bang for your buck. Comes with the highest WS and BS possible as well. S got decreased by a point but his W, I and A got increased. He comes with the power armor standard like always but now also got the Axe of Khorne wich lets him use instant death on 6’s to wound. He also comes with the fiery whip as standard. Same profile as a plasma pistol but 1 less strength however no gets hot.
He may take up to 50 points worth of daemonic gifts. We get to that later.
He is scary if he gets close. Especially if you give him some gifts. Same as for skarbrand.. be careful. He can become especially tough because he can fly. Also given the right gifts it can become a pain to kill him.

Skulltaker(I:IC):
He is now cheaper (a bit more than a rhino) but has changed to the worse. His statline increased. His WS is almost the highest possible and so is his BS. His S and I increased. He still got his hellblade wich cuts through power armor but lost its 4+ rending coupled with instant death. He now only got instant death on 6’s to wound and lost rending in general. He keeps his power armor save due to his mantle as well as eternal warrior. He can still take a juggernaught wich now became cavalry and increases his S, T, W and A.
As a Herald he now comes with one of those Presences. In his Case the lesser Presence of Stubbornness. Wich grants him and his unit the Special rule Adamantium Will. He is ok and cheap. But nowhere as scary as he used to be. He always has to issue and accept challenges. So use that to your advantage with some terminator equivalent armor.


Karanak (B:IC):
He is a HQ now and costs a Grey Knight more than Skulltaker. His Profile Got Boosted significantly. Higher WS, T, W, I and A. he now also got hatred from the start as well as scout. His collar got changed a bit for now it grants him a +2 increase to the deny the witch roll. In addition it causes every enemy psyker within 12” to get a perils in the warp attack on any double roll on their psychic test. Not only on double 1 and double 6
At the start of the game he can nominate a enemy character and as long as that model lives he can reroll all hits and wounds against said character and his unit.
He also comes with the powerful presence of rage. Wich grants him and his unit the special rule Rage.
He is nice but I don’t think we will see much on the board.

Herald of Khorne (I:IC):
Costs less now (around a purifier). His WS and BS exceed that of a GKGM. His S and I got boosted as well.
Still running around with a hellblade.
He may take one of three presences wich differ in points as the tier increases.
Lesser presence of stubbornness: like Skulltaker, for him and his unit Adamantium Will.
Powerful presence of Rage: Like Karanak, rage for him and his unit.
Exalted presence of Wrath: he and his unit gain the special rule hatred.
He can also buy a Juggernaught changing his unit type to cavalry and also a S, T, W and A boost
He may also get the new model: Blood throne of Khorne. Its basically a Vendetta Armored open topped chariot wich causes D6 S7 hammer of wrath hits. He can also regain HP if he makes unsaved wounds with the hammer of wrath on a roll of 4+. Also a Herald of Khorne on this thing applies his Presence to every Khorne unit within 6” of the Chariot. Its also possible for him to gain a terminator armor equivalent save if he gets the right daemonic gift. thanks to the chariot rules.
He may take up to 30 points in daemonic gifts.
As all heralds, the herald of khorne is able to get a AP 2 weapon that strikes at initiative as a lesser gift. Watch out for him he can become quiet a fearsome foe.


TROOPS

Bloodletters(I):
They got cheaper. For the old price of 5 you get 8 now. Though their profile changed. They now got a BS as high as their WS. They lost 1 T and 1 A. still running around with hellblades wich are the same AP as before.
One Bloodletter can become a champion. He gets a boosted profile and becomes a Character. He as access tho 20 points worth of Daemonic gifts.
One can obtain a Instrument of chaos, another one can obtain a Icon of chaos wich can further be upgraded to a Banner of Blood. Unit size 10-20
While they lost durability and offensive potential they make up for it in synergy with other khorne units. Add a presence from a herald of khorne to them and they are back to the old number of attacks on the charge. This time however they can strike at initiative if they assault through terrain if you combine them with a other khorne unit : the Skull cannon. They come in masses now and are fearsome foes for power armor. They still suffer to shooting wich is the best way to take them down. Especially with psybolt ammunition.

ELITE

Bloodcrushers (C):
Khornes elite infantry is now Cavalry. They are a bit more expensive (1 GK Libby Psychic power) and the profile changed. They lost a point in T and also lost the power armor save. they gained a point in W however. Also they got a BS as high as the WS.
Still rocking with hellblades around the table but are now so much faster and gained a hammer of wrath hit.
One Bloodcrusher can become a champion. He gets a boosted profile and becomes a Character. He as access to 20 points worth of Daemonic gifts.
One can obtain a Instrument of chaos, another one can obtain a Icon of chaos wich can further be upgraded to a Banner of Blood.
Unit size 3-9
They lost in toughness and that means psyrifle dreads are their biggest bane. Instantly killing whole models per shot if they fail the invulnerable save is huge. Given that they lost the armor save.
Still they are fast. Very fast now and also have access to synergies like bloodletters have. Presences and the skull cannon of khorne.

FAST ATTACK

Flesh hounds (B):
Got a point more expensive but gained +1 WS and W. also they are scouts now. Come with the collar of khorne as standard as well wich grants them a +2 to the deny the witch roll. They can’t get any upgrades except unit size however.
They became so much better in this codex, are fast, hit hard and became more durable. still can get synergy with other khorne units. I think we will see them often now.

HEAVY SUPPORT

Skull cannon of Khorne (V):
The new model. Its cheaper than a Psyrifle dread. Comes with the same armor value and HP. but the BS of a venerable dread. It is a chariot so it is able to assault with D6 S7 Hammer of wrath hits. Like the Blood throne, this thing can regain lost hull points this way. What’s more important is its cannon. The Skull cannon. It’s a 36” S8 AP 5 5” blast that ignores cover. And has a additional special rule. Friendly units assaulting enemies that the cannon shot at don’t decrease their I if they charge through terrain.
I think in khorne armies this thing will see a lot of plays. Its synergy with other units is great. Also being able to assault with it and moving the next turn out of combat to shoot again is very nice. It will see also much play in lists that mix gods due to the synergy.
Its hard to tell how to take this thing down because it got a nice range. On top of its armor value its still a daemon so it also got the BRB invulnerable save. Lots of shots at it are the best way to take it down. Or hammer it to death.

Tzeentch [3.2]
Ah the great Changer of ways. His units lost the better invulnerable save from the last book but gained in other aspects, everything got so much cheaper in addition. You will see LOTS of psykers with psychic level 3 on tzeentch daemons as well as many attacks that simply are too strong for any armor save to hold ground against. Also they got access to the divination lore. Wich seriously boosts the damage they can dish out.

All units in this entry are Daemons of Tzeentch so the rule applies to all:

Daemon of Tzeentch:
All daemons of tzeentch got the special rule Daemon. They also gain the special rules: Hatred (Daemons of Nurgle), when casting psychic powers they add +3 to their leadership for the psychic test. In addition they reroll all failed saves of 1.

Many of the tzeentch shooting attacks cause Warpfire:
A unit suffering one or more unsaved wound has to do a Toughness test. If they fail they suffer another d3 wounds with no armor or cover allowed. If they pass the test the unit gains a 6+ feel no pain. If the unit already got feel no pain it is improved by 1.


HQ

Fateweaver, oracle of Tzeentch (FMC:C):
The headache for every enemy and he got cheaper (almost a rhino) and his statline changed in every way. He now got the worst WS possible, his I got reduced and his invulnerable save is now a 4+ instead of the old one.
He however got a better BS and gained 2 wounds more.
He. Or shall I say both of his heads are psyker level 4 but there are some twists to it: both heads know all Spells of Tzeentchs lore of change. In addition the right head can generate one power in both, Pyromancy and divination. The left head can generate one power in both, Biomancy and Telepathy.
The trick however is that the daemon player has to decide at the beginning of each of his turns wich head he uses. So you have only to deal with a single psyker level 4 at a time. However he got a huge arsenal of spells.
He lost his reroll bubble totally now. His stave however lets the daemon player reroll one dice per turn.
He always comes with the Warlord Trait: lord of Unreality
He is scary, the potential of spells he has access to makes him a foe that can adapt to almost any situation. Also tzeentchs lore is both devastating or a blessing for the enemy. But we come to that later. Having him flying and being able due to his stave to reroll a single d6 also makes it harder for him to fail a grounding test. Also his reroll on the warp storm table makes it less risky for the daemon player.

Lord of Change (FMC:C):
Got cheaper (a GK) but his profile got boosted. +1 WS, BS, W, I and 2 more A. he starts as a psyker ML 2 and can upgrade to become a psyker ML 3 for the same point costs as any new codex currently has. He generates his psychic powers from the Daemon lore of Tzeentch and Divination.
He may take up to 50 points worth of daemonic gifts.
Boy oh boy. The old one was mean… but only if you spend over 300 points into him.. this one now is a pain from the start and only becomes better. He is a flying MC as well and as such not that easy to take down and fast. The same tactica as the Bloodthirster goes for him : only assault him if you know you win. Otherwise it can turn out horrible.

The Blue Scribes (JB:C):
These 2 little fellas got cheaper. (Almost a chimera) better WS and T. but worse BS, I and A.
Unlike other tzeentch daemons they are not a psyker. They also are not independent characters, but a jetbike.
Still they can cast psychic powers. Each turn the daemon player chooses a lore of the BRB for them, rolls a D6 and casts the Rolled spell rolled in the chosen lore without having to do a psychic test.
They also have another special ability. For every psyker that casts a ability place a token next to the scribes. At the start of the scribes turn. The daemon player rolls a d6 for each token. On each roll of a 6 a friendly psyker within 12” gains another warp charge.
They are not really durable and the fact that they have to run alone only makes it worse.. I don’t think we will see them much.

The Changeling (I:IC):
He is now a HQ but costs a lot more. (a bit more than 2 rhinos) his stats changed to the better however. +1 WS, BS, W. he is a psyker ML1 and generates his powers from the lore of tzeentch.
His old ability changed. It now allows the changeling to copy the WS, S, T, I and/or Attacks of a enemy in base contact.
He comes with the lesser presence of Transformation wich allows a unit of horros that he joined to gain d3 blue horror tokens instead of 1. I explain the blue horror rule in the horror entry.
He is nice but situational we will see the herald of tzeentch more often than him. His copy ability however is funny. Watch out not to put something strong in base contact with him or the shot can fire backwards for you

Herald of Tzeentch (I:IC):
Got a bit cheaper, just a bit but gained 1 point in WS and lost a point in I. he starts as psyker ML1 but can get up to ML 3 and still be under 100 points. He generates his psychic powers from the daemonic lore of tzeentch and Divination.
As all heralds he also has access to presences wich buff him and his unit.
Lesser Presence of Transformation: like the Changeling. D3 blue horror markers instead of 1.for the Herald and his unit.
Powerful Presence of Change: roll a D6. The Herald and his unit change their S to the rolled Result (yeah possible S6)
Exalted Presence of Conjuration: the herald and his unit add +1 S to their psychic shooting attacks.
He may take a Disc of tzeentch wich grants him a bonus A and changes his unit type to jetbike.
He can also take the chariot wich is basically a Dark elder Raider armored chariot wich is fast, open topped and a skimmer. Its hammer of wrath attacks also cause warpfire.
He can take up to 30 points in daemonic gifts.
This guy is dirt cheap and insanely powerful. With access s to a horrendous arsenal of gifts like the other heralds. Watch out for him and a big unit of horros. I explain that in the last part of this guide.

TROOPS

Pink Horrors(I):
Boy did they become cheap. Almost halved the price and they still gained +1 in WS. They however lost the shooting attack and can only shoot with psychic shooting attacks. So no overwatch. They are a brotherhood of sorcerers and as such psyker ML 1. However they generate warp charges based on the amount of models in the unit. 1-10= 1 warp charge. 11-15= 2 warp charges and16-20= 3 warp charges they are still psyker level 1 however.
They gained a new special rule. Blue horrors. After a pink horror has been slain in CC the daemon player places a blue horror token on to the unit. At initiative step 1 that blue horror causes a S2 AP- hit against the unit in combat.
One Pink Horror can become a champion. He gets a boosted profile and becomes a Character. He as access tho 20 points worth of Daemonic gifts.
One can obtain a Instrument of chaos, another one can obtain a Icon of chaos wich can further be upgraded to a Banner of Curses.
Unit size 10-20
They changed drastically. Don’t be afraid to charge them because they can no longer overwatch. Their primary shooting spell wich gets explained later is devastating with the right combination.

ELITE

Flamers of Tzeentch (JPI):
They got hit with the nerfbat. Hard. Same statline and points since the update. However they lost the normal shooting attack and also the flamer is now S4 ap 4 Warpfire.. their close combat attacks also cause Warpfire.
One Flamer may become a champion wich boosts his statline and makes him a Character and can take up to 20 points in daemonic gifts.
Unit size 3-9
They changed drastically. However they are still a viable unit that causes enough wounds on a enemy unit to suffer heavy causalities and are still dirt cheap. They lost the hated eternal warrior but now reroll failed invulnerable saves of 1.

FAST ATTACK

Screamers of Tzeentch (JB):
Also got nerfbuffed a bit. Same statline and points since the update. They also lost eternal warrior but now reroll failed invulnerable saves of 1. They still got the “fly over attacks” but the S5 AP 2 armor bane attacks got changed. Instead of all attacks attacking with this profile the Screamer now strikes with S4 AP – but can chose to sacrifice all those attacks for a single S5 AP 2 armor bane hit.
Unit size 3-9
Still fearsome foes and fast. Be careful what you assault them with.

HEAVY SUPPORT

Burning Chariot of Tzeentch (V):
The new model. Costs as much as a brotherhood champion. And is a fast, open topped skimmer with the AV of a dark elder Raider. The rider. a Exalted Flamer of Tzeentch is the one doing the shooting. He got a boosted profile and is a character. he has 2 weapons to chose from: a S5 AP 3 torrent, torrent, warpfire Flamer and a 18” lascannon with d3 shots. He can also select up to 20 points of daemonic gifts.
This thing hits hard and is very fast. Being a fast skimmer and also having a invulnerable save in addition to the skimmers cover saves are nice. However the AV is low. the damage this thing puts out is fearsome for both infantry and every type of vehicle. Expect to see it a few times in daemon lists. A psyrifle dread should have no problem with it however.

Nurgle [3.3]

Nurgle had some Drastic Changes. No longer Feel no pain across the board. They lost it entirely but can gain it through heralds. Also the troops got less durable in case of their T BUT all of them gained shrouding. So a unit of plaquebearers sitting in a ruin runs with a 2+ cover save. Also all of them (except nuglings) still got plaque swords witch grants them poison (4+) in CC. also don’t underestimate heralds or bigger units of nurgle in CC. they are as fast as a space marine. And thanks to biomancy they can also become tougher than ever. Also they got a real “counter assault” unit.

As all units in this entry follow nurgle they gain the special rules from being a daemon of nurgle.

Daemon of Nurgle:
All daemons of Nurgle got the special rule Daemon. They also gain the special rules: Hatred (Daemons of Tzeentch), shrouded, slow and purposeful and units consisting entirely of Daemons of Nurgle count as having defensive grenades.


HQ

Ku’gath the Plaquefather(MC:C):
This one got cheaper (a bit more than a rhino) and his profile is fearsome… his BS decreased by 1 but he gained 1 T , W, A and 2 I. his pie plate is now a AP worse however. He can no longer spawn nurglings but can heal them a bit. He is a psyker ML 1 and generates his powers from the daemon lore of Disease.
If enemies assault him they suffer the Disordered Charge rule from the BRB.
He always comes with the warlord trait : immortal Leader.
He is tough as nails. Hide him behind a unit and he got a power armor save as cover save. He no longer got feel no pain though so that’s a plus. Shooting him down is still the best bet.

Great Unclean One(MC:C):
This one actually got more expensive (a bit less than a rhino) but he can be even more tougher than Ku’gath. His BS decreased but his T, W I and A increased. He starts as a psyker ML 1 and can go up to ML 3 for the same points as the others. He generates his powers from nurgles lore of disease and biomancy.
He may take up to 50 points worth of daemonic gifts.
Having the option to roll on biomancy can make him to a monster. If he gets iron arm you better take some psylencers because his T can get to the highest possible value.. also he gains eternal warrior this way. If he gets in combat hope for daemon bane to kill him (if you are able to wound him…) better avoid him, he is pretty slow.

Epidemius (I:IC):
Same point cost. Better profile higher WS, BS, S, W, I and A. his tally got worse however. It no longer is a all nurgle units on the board buff but instead a 6” bubble. The bonuses also changed.
He comes with the lesser Presence of Virulence: wich causes his and his units to hit rolls of 6 to have poison (2+)
He is all right but I think we wont see him much anymore. The normal herald got more interesting

Herald of Nurgle(I:IC):
As cheap as the tzeentch one. Also got a better profile. Better WS, BS, S, I and A. does not start as a psyker but can become one up to ML 2 for the same cost as the others. He generates powers from the daemon lore of disease and biomancy. As all heralds he also has access to presences wich buff him and his unit.
Lesser Presence of Virulence: the herald and his units to hit rolls of 6 got the special rule poison (2+)
Powerful Presence of fertility: The Herald and his unit change gain the special rule Feel no Pain
Exalted Presence of Affliction: the herald and his units to hit rolls of 6 the enemy instantly suffer another S4 AP - hit with poison (4+)
He may take a Palanquin of Nurgle wich grants him a bonus A and some W.
He can take up to 30 points in daemonic gifts.
This one is also quiet durable. And cheap! And like every other herald has easy access to AP 2 weapons. Couple that with biomancy and nurgles lore and he can become a heavy tarpit for the enemy unit. Better shoot him down wich becomes hard as well thanks to shrouding


TROOPS

Plaquebearers (I):
They got cheaper. Now you get 10 for the old price of 6. Also their profile changed drastically. Like all nurgle daemons they lost feel no pain but gained shrouding. They got a increased BS but lost one point in T aswell. Still running around with plaque swords though.
One Plaquebearer can become a champion. He gets a boosted profile and becomes a Character. He as accsess to 20 points worth of Daemonic gifts.
One can obtain a Instrument of chaos, another one can obtain a Icon of chaos wich can further be upgraded to a Banner of Diseases.
Unit size 10-20
They changed but are now harder to kill with shooting. Its still possible to gain feel no pain with the herald of course. Aswell as other buffs due to biomancy. They became better overall. Best bet is to use flamers or assaulting them. Though you won’t get additional attacks for doing so.

Nurglings (I):
Pesky Little rats became a bit more expensive and lost their biggest strength: eternal warrior. Though they gained infiltrate and the profile got boosted as well +1 WS, W, I and A. also they got the same BS as WS.
They cant buy upgrades except more bases.
Unit size 3-9
As GK you wont see them often. Though they are small and got shrouding each wound with S6 instantly kills a whole base

ELITES

Beasts of Nurgle(JPC):
Almost as expensive as a paladin. Their W doubled and they got 1 more attack. They got it will not die and 2 nice special rules: if assaulted, the unit does not gain bonus attacks nor furious charge (disordered charge)
And attention seekers. In the enemies assault phase. If a enemy unit assaults within 12” of the beasts of nurgle the beast of nurgle unit can declare a charge against them, that’s what I call counter attack.
Unit Size 1-9
If they get played keep out of range from them if you assault something. Getting flanked by tough guys while assaulting a already tough unit of nurgle may become a deathtrap.


FAST ATTACK

Plaque Drones (JPC):
Finally a fast attack choice for nurgle and its also a new unit type. Jump pack cavalry. They move like cavalry but can fly over units and terrain and can still use fleet in the assault phase to reroll the distance. They cost a bit more than a terminator. They are tougher than plaquebearers and got 3 times more W aswell as A.
They may get skulls as a shooting attack wich is basically a stormbolter without the ap and halve the range… but poisoned (4+), they can also decide between poison (3+) weapons and the option that one of their attacks cause instant death.
One Plaque drone can become a champion. He gets a boosted profile and becomes a Character. He as access to 20 points worth of Daemonic gifts.
One can obtain a Instrument of chaos, another one can obtain a Icon of chaos wich can further be upgraded to a Banner of Diseases.
Unit size 3-9
Think of them as the old plaquebearers.. but faster.. with shrouded… hammer of wrath hits. able to instant kill precious multiple wounds models. They lack feel no pain and adding a herald to them only slows them down. But a champion upgrade with a lesser gift can get a ap2 weapon that is master crafted.. so 1 hit with reroll that is ap 2 and causes instant death… be careful with these guys. Use your higher initiative and use force weapons on them.

HEAVY SUPORT

None


Slaanesh [3.4]

Much changed here. They were fast but now they are faster. But everything got cheaper. They have acess to the lore of telepathy. Also they got various abilities that hinder the enemy big time.
As all heralds the ones here make good support for units in this section. They also however are frightful character killers.

All units in this entry follow the rule:

Daemon of Slaanesh:
All daemons of Slaanesh got the special rule Daemon. They also gain the special rules: Hatred (Daemons of Tzeentch), Rending, Fleet and can always run 3” further than normal. So running is d6+3”. Units consisting of entirely of cavalery can run 6” further than normal. Vehicles with the exception of walkers turboboost additional 3”.

HQ

Keeper of Secrets(MC:C):
Got cheaper (almost a rhino) but got improved in WS, BS and wounds. Rest remains the same. He has the fluffy rule preferred enemy : elder/dark elder and starts as psyker ML 1. He can go up to ML 3 with the same costs as the others. He generates psychic powers from Slaaneshs lore of excess and telepathy.
He may take up to 50 points worth of daemonic gifts.
Out of the 4 big ones. He is the least frightful one though he still causes problems with his profile in addition to the psychic powers available to him. Better shoot him down because CC can become troublesome.

The Mask of Slaanesh (I:C):
Still has to run solo but got cheaper (a bit more than a purifier). Her profile boosted aswell. WS, BS, S and A. she got hit & run and can reroll failed invulnerable saves.
her new special rule is the eternal dance wich she uses in the shooting phase that has a 12” range and needs line of sight. She can chose between 3 dances.
Dance of Binding: the enemy unit reduces its WS by -5 (minimum 1). In addition the enemy unit can only move, run, assault and fall back D3” instead of normal. This lasts until the next shooting phase of the mask
Dance of death: the enemy unit gets as many S1 AP 2 hits as there are models in the unit, these wounds ignore cover and causalities are removed like shooting
Dance of Dreams: the enemy unit reduces its BS by -5, in addition the unit cannot use the special rule counter attack and cannot fire overwatch. This lasts until the next shooting phase of the mask
The dances are really heavy. But she has to run alone.. as her enemy you may have one unit being crippled by her after that its pretty much easy to kill her

Herald of Slaanesh (I:IC):
Costs as much as the tzeentch and nurgle one. Got a boosted profile as well. Higher WS, BS and S.
Can become a psyker up to ML 2 with the same prices as the others. Can generate powers from the Daemon lore of slaanesh and telepathy. As all heralds she also has acces to presences wich buff her and his unit.
Lesser Presence of Grace: The Herald and her nit gain the special rule move through cover
Powerful Presence of Agility: The Herald and her unit increase their I by +5 (yes, halberds 2.0)
Exalted Presence of Seduction: The her unit reroll all failed rolls to hit, in addition the enemy cannot decline challenges and the daemon player chooses wich character accepts the challenge.
She may take a Steed of Slaanesh wich grant her a bonus attack, change her unit type to cavalery and grants the special rules outflank and acute senses.
She can also decide to take the exalted chariot of Slaanesh. Wish got the same AV as a rhino but one more HP. In addition it causes d6 s 4 AP – rending hits per hull point remaining on its hammer of wrath attacks.
She can take up to 30 points in daemonic gifts.
Yeah.. she is fast and can get even faster. Or getting rerolls to hit with challenges.. what really hard is on her that she can, as all heralds take a easy accessible AP 2 weapon that is master crafted. If she pays a bit more that weapon also has +1 A. couple that with the reroll to hit and the ability to select the enemies character for challenges makes her a really nice hero killer. Better shoot her down but she is really fast… on a slaanesh steed she is able to move 12” and run d6+6” thanks to being a daemon of slaanesh.

TROOPS

Daemonettes (I)
As cheap as the new Plaquebearers and horrors. They lost the assault grenades one point in I and A but gained a point in WS and a high BS.
One Daemonette can become a champion. She gets a boosted profile and becomes a Character. She as access to 20 points worth of Daemonic gifts.
One can obtain a Instrument of chaos, another one can obtain a Icon of chaos wich can further be upgraded to a Banner of Delight.
Unit size 10-20
There are now more on the table and they increased in speed. Thanks to the herald they can overwhelm the enemy in rending wounds but they still lack good T and a save… psybolt ammunition loaded, rock on!

ELITES

Fiends of Slaanesh (B)
Cost one GK Libby psychic power more than before but gained +1 W and I. however they lost almost halve their attacks and a point in S. also they lost hit and run.. so what’s left? 2 new special rules of course!
The first reduces enemy psykers LD by -1 if they are within 12”
The second causes every enemy unit that got assaulted with at least one fiend of slanesh to suffer a -5 on their initiative – wow.
They don’t got other upgrades but unit size.
Unit size 3-9
Same as bloodcrushers but a bit faster on the board. Still the same weakness. S8. Better shoot them
With a added herald on steed they also can reroll to hit if she gives the right presence…. Nice unit overall.

FAST ATTACK

Seekers of Slaanesh (C)
Decreased in points (1 GK Libby psychic power) higher WS and BS but lost one I and A. also they lost the assault grenades but gained acute senses and outflank.
One Seeker can become a champion. She gets a boosted profile and becomes a Character. She as accsess tho 20 points worth of Daemonic gifts.
One can obtain a Instrument of chaos, another one can obtain a Icon of chaos wich can further be upgraded to a Banner of Delight.
Unit size 5-20
Expect to see them a lot. They are the fastest cavalry on the board. 12” move + d6+6” run. Expect 20 man units with a geared up herald of slaanesh inside to overwhelm you in tons of hammer of wrath hits followed by even more rending attacks that most likely will get rerolls while the herald goes off to kill some characters.
At all costs : don’t use close combat. Even with psyk out grenades it becomes hard to deal enough damage before they strike back and cause damage in return.

Hellflayer of Slaanesh (V)
Chariot open topped, fast. a bit more expensive then a chimera and comes with the AV of a rhino but one less HP. it causes d6 s 4 ap – rending hits per hullpoint remaining on its hammer of wrath attacks. In addition. The Exalted allures gains a extra attack for each unsaved wound by the hammer of wrath of attacks. She got the WS of a paladin but better initiative.
The Exalted Allures may take up to 20 points worth of Daemonic gifts.
Unit size 1
Its not that good and will most likely don’t see much play. If it however is on the board. Unload hell on it because it can move 12” turbo boost another 15” so its more than likely in assault on turn 2 and then it does hurt. As every daemon it still got a 5+ invulnerable save.

HEAVY SUPORT

Chariot Squadron (V)
The chariot squadron has the size of 1-3 per HS slot. It consists of chariots of Slaanesh and/or Exalted chariots of slaanesh. It can be mixed.
The chariot of Slaanesh is a Chariot. open topped, fast. a bit more expensive then a rhino and comes with the AV of a rhino but one less HP.
The Exalted Chariot of Slaanesh is also a Chariot. Open topped and fast. it costs a bit more than 2 Rhinos and got the same AV as a rhino but one more HP. On both sits a Exalted Allures wich got the same statline as the Hellflayer one but do not gain Additional attacks after the hammer of wrath.
Unit size 1-3
They are fearsome if they assault you. Especially a unit of 3 exalted chariots… if they clash into a unit and still had all remaining hull points left the unit will suffer 12d6 S 4 AP - rending hits. So on average 15 wounds of wich 6 are rending. Ouch. Just like the hellflayer. Fire on them and they are gone sooner than they hope.

Undivided Daemons[3.5]
There are 3 units in this book that are undivided. 2 of those have to select to follow a god of the players choice (costs additional points however) the only exception are furies, they can select to become daemons of… but don’t have too.
If a undivided Daemon becomes a Daemon of a certain god he gains the special rules of the corresponding god.

HQ

Daemon Prince(MC:C):
Same costs and profile as in the new Codex : chaos space marines. The wings and power armor saves cost the same but becoming a daemon of x costs are different. He can also become a psyker up to ML 3 if he is not a daemon of Khorne. he generates powers from his gods Lore and Telepathy, Telekinesis and biomancy.
He may take up to 50 points worth of daemonic gifts.
Like the Chaos Space marine version but a lot more random as described in the Daemonic gift Section.
Daemon princes can become Heavy support selections if the Daemon player uses a greater daemon of the same god as HQ selection. For example a lord of change allows daemon princes of tzeentch to become heavy support selections.

TROOPS

None

ELITES

None

FAST ATTACK

Furies of Chaos (JPI)
Costs less than halve the original price, lost a A but gained T and I. their LD however is horrible and as such they suck big time on instability tests.
They may be upgraded to become daemons of x and gain the rules
Unit size 5-20
Not much to say about them. Wont probably be much on the table given the other options available in this slot.

FAST ATTACK

Soulgrinder(W)
Same base cost. Same statline. Different start equipment. Only a powerfist and the harvester now but oh boy that one changed. The harvester is no longer the stormbolter with 6 shots it is now a weapon with 2 profiles. The first being 48” S7 ap 4 heavy 3. The other being 48” S7 ap 4 heavy 3, skyfire.
He now no longer comes with the flamer as standard as his mawcannon. you can buy him one of the previous editions weapons with 2 changes. The 5” blast now is ordnance aswell and the flamer now got the torrent rule.
He can buy a NDK greatsword priced sword wich is only AP 3 and master crafted.. not really worth it. He ignores shaken & stunned results on a D6 roll of 2+
He has to become a Daemon of x wich have different prices. gaining the special rules of the god he is a daemon of.
They where strong before and are now better. Nice firepower and anti air fire coupled with the same or even better durability (a nurgle one can easily get a 3+ cover save).

Psychic powers[4.0]

Each god with the exception of khorne got a own lore. In each is a primary power in addition to 3 others.
unlike codex : chaos spac marine, a daemon dos not have to generate at least one power from the lore of his god. but can only take up to a maximum of the halve of his total spells from his gods lore.

Tzeentch Lore of Change
Throughout the board all offensive shooting attacks. And powerful ones aswell. Varying between high amounts of fire, Strength and AP to be a threat for everything.

Horros. Even though they can get 3 warp charges with enough models they can only obtain the first, the second or of course the primary power. Wich is the best option for them at bigger unit sizes


All of them have the special rule warpfire:
A unit suffering one or more unsaved wound has to do a Toughness test. If they fail they suffer another d3 wounds with no armor or cover allowed. If they pass the test the unit gains a 6+ feel no pain. If the unit already got feel no pain it is improved by 1.

Primary Power:
Witchfire: 24” S 5 AP 4 Assault 2d6, soulblaze, warpfire. 1-3 warp charges*
*for each additional warp charge spend after the first the assault value gets increased by d6. So 3 warp charges = Assault 4d6

The first one:
Witchfire: 24” S D6+1 ap – Assault 1 3” blast, warpfire

The second one:
Beam : 24” S D6+2 AP 2 Assault 1 warpfire

The third one.
Witchfire: 18” S D6+4 AP 1, Assault 1 3” blast, warpfire

Nurgles Lore of Disease

A mix between Damaging Poisoned attacks and blessings that actually are against the enemy.

Primary Power:
Witchfire: Flamer S – AP 3 Assault 1 Poison 4+

The First one:
Witchfire: 12” S 1 AP 2 Assault 1 5” Blast. Poison 4+

The Second one:
A Blessing. The psyker causes every enemy that is in the same close combat as them to reduce the enemys WS and I by d3

The Third one:
Nova: every enemy unit within 12” has to do a toughness test.. if failed they suffer a wound with no armor or coversaves allowed. After that the next model in the unit has to do a toughness test or suffer the same consequences, and so on and so on.

Slaaneshs Lore of Excess

One word: Annoying. For the enemy of course.

Primary Power:
Beam : 24” S 6 AP – assault 1 rending

The First Power :
Curse: a Enemy unit within 18” reduces its initiative by -5. In addition it cannot use the special rule counter attack and cannot fire overwatch.

The Second Power:
Focused Witchfire: 24” the target has to do a leadership test on 2d6. If t fails it suffers a wound with no armor or cover saves allowed. If it dies the next model in the unit is hit and has to do the same test. And so on and so on.

The Third Power:
Nova: every enemy within 12” has to roll 2d6 and has to subtract their LD. For every point remaining the unit suffers a wound with no armor or cover saves. After all wounds have been applied each unit hit has to do a pinning test.

Wargear [5.0]

Here are explanations to 2 types of wargear that units may get. Instruments of chaos and icons, aswell as the banner upgrade.

Instrument of Chaos:
A Instrument of chaos allows a unit in deepstrike reserve that passed its reserve roll to let another unit automatically pass the reserve roll aswell. There are some conditions for it however:
-The follower unit has to consist entirely of models with the unit type daemon.
- it has to be in deepstrike reserve.
-it hasn’t already rolled for reserve this turn.

In addition, the instruments of chaos have a protective effect against certain warp storm effects. This only affects lists that have multiple gods units, mono god lists are not affected.
The protection works this way : if I roll on the warp storm table and roll the khornes wrath result. Every enemy and friendly slaanesh unit gets rolled on a D6. With a icon of chaos inside of a unit of khorne daemons I am able to reroll a single D6 that affects a friendly slaanesh unit. To avoid it being hit on a 6 by khornes wrath.
You gain a single reroll per round for each unit with a Instrument of chaos to the corresponding God.

What does that mean for Grey Knights: a chaos daemon player with allied chaos space marines or vice versa is able to use the instrument of chaos to guide units of obliterators, daemon princes, or any other daemon with them. Making keeping them in reserve more reliable.
Also if the enemy uses multiple gods in his army then it’s a nice idea to allocate precision shots at the model carrying the instrument of chaos. So the enemy may hurt his own army if he got a bad dice roll.

Icon of Chaos:
Icons have 2 effects aswell. The first being that a unit carrying a icon of chaos always adds +1 to the close combat result to determine who won.

The second effect is that it works as a teleport homer with some varying rules:
-units of the same god as the one carrying the icon deepstrike within 6” of the unit without scatter
-units of other gods and daemons in general that deepstrike within 6” of the unit carrying the icon only roll 1D6 for scatter instead of 2D6.
- units that don’t entirely consist of daemons are not affected by the icon

What does that mean for Grey Knights: a chaos daemon player with allied chaos space marines or vice versa is able to use the icon of chaos as Teleport homers for of obliterators, daemon princes, or any other daemon with them. Making deep striking them more reliable.
Also the daemons win combat by 1 even if it’s a draw.
Here its also a nice idea to allocate precision shots at the model carrying the icon of chaos. So the Daemon is may have to test more often instability tests.

In Addition. Every icon can become a banner. A banner still follows the icon rules but in addition it got a once per game use effect as well.

Banner of Blood: in the assault phase, before declaring a assault the unit may use the banner. If it does so it does not assault 2d6”. It instead assaults D6+6”. So a 100% guaranteed 7” assault minimum.

Banner of Curses: in the shooting phase, before declaring your target the unit may activate the banner. Every enemy unit hit by attacks caused by the banner suffers additional 2d6 S 4 ap - hits

Banner of Diseases: in the fight sub phase. Before striking blows. the unit may use the banner. If it does so all of its attacks got the special rule Poison (2+)

Banner of Delight: : in the fight sub phase. Before striking blows. the unit may use the banner. If it does so every enemy unit bound with the unit carrying the banner reduces its WS by –D3.

This is also something to look out for. It is one use only but the uses can become devastating if used right. Precision shots help here as well.

Daemonic Gifts [5.1]

Be careful, this is a lot but it is also what makes chaos, chaos. It shows how the daemons work and that you can never really expect that the enemy is the same even though he got the same setup.
Daemonic gifts are based in 3 tiers. Lesser, powerful and exalted gifts. A Daemon cannot have the same Gift twice other daemons can take the same result as the previous one.
They are basically 3 types of D6 charts. If you already got a gift you reroll until you get a different gift. So you buy said gifts and roll on the charts:

Lesser Daemonic gifts:

1. Burning Blood: for each unsaved wound suffered in CC by the daemon, the enemy instantly takes D3 S 4 AP 5 hits. These wounds count towards the combat resolution.
2. Cleaving Strikes. Each to hit roll of 6’s causes the daemon to strike at double strength.
3. Corrosive breath: the Daemon gains a shooting attack: flamer S 5 AP 5 assault 1 armor bane
4. Spell breaker: the daemon gains the special rule, Adamantium Will
5. Warp breath: the daemon gains a shooting attack: 18” S 8 AP 4 assault 1, Soul blaze
6. Warp stalker: the daemon and his unit improve their reserve roll by 1.

Powerful Daemonic gifts:

1. Corpulence: The Daemon gains +1 T and the special rule it will not die.
2. Daemonic toughness: the daemon gains the special rule feel no pain (4+)
3. Dark Blessing: the daemon rerolls all failed invulnerable saves.
4. Hellfire gaze: the daemon gains a shooting attack: 18” S 8 AP 1 assault 1 Lance.
5. Touch of uncreation: the Daemons close combat attacks gain the special rule Armor bane and Life bane.
6. Unbreakable Skin the daemon gains a 3+ armor save

Exalted Daemonic gifts:

1. Blessed Twice: roll again on this chart (reroll every result of 1) and roll a additional one on the lesser Blessing Chart. Apply both results to the Daemon.
2. Rift bringer: At the end of each Close Combat phase the Daemon has to roll 2D6 and adds +1 for each 3 unsaved wounds he caused in this phase. If the rolled result is 9 or higher a new unit of daemons is born like the warp storm chart result number 12.
3. Soul eater. At the end of each close combat phase, roll a D6 if the daemon caused at least 1 unsaved wound. If the result is 2+ the daemon gains +1 W. he can go up to a maximum of 10.
4. Unholy rage: the daemon gains the special rules Rampage and Rage.
5. Warp bond: if the daemon is slain don’t take him off the board as casualty. Instead place him into the active reserve, the daemon then in the following phase reappears with 1 Wound
6. Wind of chaos: the daemon gains a shooting attack: 24” S 2D6 AP 4 Assault 1 3”Blast. If the rolled strength result is 11 or 12. It counts as being S 10 but it is a 5” Blast instead

So this now appears a bit random doesn’t it? Well it is.. and that’s chaos. However. Each chart also got a option to skip the result and gain, corresponding to the tier of the char either a : Magical weapon, powerful magical weapon or a hell forged artifact. These are:

one Lesser Daemonic gift can become a magical weapon

Aether Blade: S user AP 2 Specialist weapon, Master crafted.
The daemon may also take a weapon to his corresponding god instead:
Khorne - axe of khorne: S user AP 2 Specialist weapon, beheading (every to wound roll on 6 causes instant death)
Tzeentch - Stave of Change: S +2 AP 4 Concussive, specialist weapon warpdecay ( a character or MC killed by this weapon explodes D6” and causes D6 S 5 wounds to every unit in its range. Even the user of this weapon and his unit)
Nurgle – Mace of Pestilence: S +1 AP – Specialist weapon, carrier (for every unsaved wound caused the victim has to do a toughness test. If failed it suffers a additional wound with no armor or cover save allowed.)
Slaanesh – Ghostreaver Sword: S user AP 5, Specialist weapon, Rending. Ghostreaver (for every unsaved wound caused the victim has to do a Initiative test. If failed it suffers a additional wound with no armor or cover save allowed.)


one Powerful Daemonic gift can become a powerful magical weapon:

Powerful Aetherblade : S +1 AP 2 Specialist weapon, Master crafted.
The daemon may also take a weapon to his corresponding god instead:
Khorne - Blood blade: S user AP 2 Specialist weapon, unwieldy. Bloodlust (the user of this blade got the special rule Rampage)
Tzeentch - Mutating Warp blade: S user AP 3 Specialist weapon, Warp mutation (every character or MC slain by this weapon becomes a Chaos spawn on a D6 roll of 2+)
Nurgle - Diseased Blade: S user AP – specialist weapon, poison (4+) instant death
Slaanesh - Whip of Despair: 12” S user Ap – Assault 2D6


a Exalted Daemonic gift can become a Hell forged item:

each item in this list can only be taken once per army.

The Eternal Blade: S +1 AP - Specialist weapon, Glory seeker (the user rolls each fight sub phase a d3 and adds the result to his WS, I and A until the end of the phase)

Grimoire of true names: (and you guys thought only GK got this )
At any time in the movement phase. The user may nominate a friendly or enemy unit within 24” and has to have at least one model with the special rule Daemon. Is it a enemy unit. All models in this unit worsen their invulnerable save by 1.
If it’s a friendly unit roll a D6. On a 1-2. All models in this unit worsen their invulnerable save by 1. (except the user if he is in the unit as well). On a 3+ All models in this unit improve their invulnerable save by 2. (except the user if he is in the unit as well).

Portal Glyph:
At any time in the movement phase. The user may deep strike a 3” blast marker within 12”. This blast marker scatters 4D6”. If it lands in impassable terrain, a unit or goes off the board it moves the minimum distance required to be placed within 1” of no obstacle. After that it is treated as a immobilized vehicle with the following profile: BS 0 12/12/12 1HP
At the end of the movement phase. Roll a D6 for the portal. On a 4+ it spawns a unit of D6 daemons of players choice (bloodletters, horrors, plaquebearers, daemonettes) the unit disembarks the portal like a normal vehicle. The unit comes without upgrades but count as a normal unit.

Doom stone:
At the beginning of each fight sub phase. Every enemy model in the same combat that do not have the special rule daemon have to do a leadership test.. if they pass nothing happens. If they fail they reduce their leadership by D6 for the rest of the game. a model that goes below LD 0 by this instantly get taken off the board as a casualty without saves of any kind allowed.


As you guys can see. One gift can become 8 different ones. Important is. Unlike generating psychic powers. All daemonic gifts get rolled and then the player decides if he wants to swap one for a magical weapon/powerful magical weapon/hell forged artifact.
here Is a example of how it works in game:

Bob plays a khorne list. he got a Bloodthirster and he got the option to take up to 50 points in Daemonic gifts. So he can either buy 5 lesser gifts, 2 lesser gifts and a exalted one, one lesser and 2 powerful ones, 3 lesser and 1 powerful one Or a powerful one and a exalted one
He decides for his Bloodletter to roll 1 Lesser and 2 Powerful ones. And goes for the chart:
He rolls a 4 on the lesser gift chart. a 5 on the powerful gift chart and another 5 on the powerful gift chart so he has to reroll. He does so and rolls a 2.
So his Bloodthirster got the ability spell breaker from the lesser gift chart and the abilities Touch of uncreation and Daemonic toughness. He may change his spell breaker ability for a magical weapon but cannot select the axe of khorne because he already got that.he could take the aetherblade and gain a bonus attack . Thinking about the profile of the Bloodthirster bob decides to swap the touch of uncreation for a powerful magical weapon, he can now select either the powerful aetherblade or the Blood sword. He goes for the blood sword wich comes in handy as it also grants +1 attack for 2 specialist weapons but also grants him the rampage rule wich is also awesome for lonely or small units.


What does that mean for us as GK? One word : chaos. It is hard to foresee what a enemy gets or if he simply goes for a single roll and grabs one of the magical weapons/powerful magical weapons/ the hell forged artifact, dependent on the enemy he faces.. one time the bloodletter champion has a +1 S ap2 weapon, next time he faces he can, dependent on the roll even have a 18” S 8 AP 1 assault 1 lance. (and that’s why most daemons now got a BS)
But one is for sure. Even though you can see the same list twice. Its units will most likely not be the same all the time.

What to Expect: [6.0]

Change. This codex is random in many ways. The warp storm chart. instability test. And daemonic gifts can change every game. especially on tournaments chaos daemons come hard to predict. One game the herald of nurgle takes the plague mace against orks, the other game he selects the aetherblade against marines. He may have different special rules.
The lord of change runs one game with a rerollable invulnerable save in addition to feel no pain 4+ and the stave of change. The other game he may get hellfire gaze, corpulence but keeps his stave of change.
One is for certain. This codex is unpredictable. Even for the daemon player himself due to the warp storm table and instability test but its up for the daemon player to move the unpredictableness in his favor and a good one will do just that.

Things we most likely will expect?

Seekers of slaanesh in 20 man blobs… guided by a herald of slaanesh on steed that shred to pieced any infantry they may find. Cherry picking the characters with the herald and moving so fast over the table that they become a high pressure unit.

20 man blobs of horrors with banner of curses, a herald of tzeentch inside with a presence of conjuration also with psyker level 3. Primary power in divination, the primary in tzeentchs lore of change and the third one who knows what, maybe the anti vehicle spell if he is lucky or the 4+ invul form divination with rerolls of 1s thanks to being tzeentch’s daemon. What to expect of this unit? The herald buffing the reroll to hit on his unit. then the horrors activating the banner. Firing the primary tzeentch spell for 4d6 S 6 AP 4 hits. Rerolling to hit. The herald also fires the same spell for 3d6 S 6 AP 4 hits. After that the banner ticks in for another 2w6 S 4 AP- hits. That’s 7 dead marines right there for math hammer. If things go wrong less, if things go good way more.

Soul grinders of chaos. Probably nurgle. These things running around with a 3+ cover save become ugly. And there is nothing they cant kill with shooting or take on in assault.

Lords of change, psyker level 3, flying over the board with at least a stave of change so they hit harder than a nemesis dread knight (without great sword) if they do get in combat, while still boosting up the army with divination and blowing things to pieces with the lore of change.

Great unclean ones that become so tough that you need S 7 to be even able to scratch them on 6’s having a 3+ cover save and maybe even a feel no pain while they slowly move across the board using biomancy and nurgles lore of disease to increase their units abilities or decrease those of the enemy.

Bloodthirsters becoming so fearsome in close combat again with the right gifts that you seriously consider avoiding him at all costs and try to tarpit him as long as you can.

And many more. I hope this insight helps you guys to get a nice look into our old, new nemesis. For any questions I am there to answer them


so with todays release and this briefing you guys are dismissed. happy hunting! =][=

your faithful Ordo Malleus Inquisitor : Souba

Very well done Brother Souba, I'll be refering to this from time to time to make strategies against our hated enemy. Certainly makes our opponent VERY unpredictable, should be an intersting fight if I find a Daemon player.

Great work Souba!

Wow! That is a lot of work Brother. Thank you VERY much.
I assume this is not a copy right infringement?

Constantine wrote:Wow! That is a lot of work Brother. Thank you VERY much.
I assume this is not a copy right infringement?

pretty sure, considering many other sites have similar and even more information posted and didnt had a problem.
also looking around this board GW might think the same about our Book

but i added a poll to it and if some of you think that way i will of course do some changes.

Thanks for the read. I've been slowly accruing Juan Diaz deamonettes for my Cult of Slannesh Dark Elves, maybe I'll see if I can magnetize them as per Constantine's bases in his PLOG.

Great post Souba!

Great work Souba! Thanks for taking the time

I'm pretty sure we're fine since no one can just rely on your post and effectively use it as a codex.

Thanks brothers, I just wanted to make sure we weren't stepping on any toes.

incredible job, brother ... i began to read it, while imagining some strategies...
I guess, as i said before, that we will see the Culexus again !
i'm happy they lost, eternal warrior, fearless (for most) and that they get nerfed in Ld... could be very useful for us !
again i DO regret our fearless old rule !!
Aubec

Wow, thanks for this, looks like are foe has become super random (good and bad), I really don't like the fact they can spawn new units and in sizeable numbers...

I agree that there is a lot of randomness in the Daemon force.
IMHO that is VERY fitting AND FLUFFY!!!
I think that it would be great fun to play against them

I am concerned about how to address the larger Daemons though....

one thing for the burning chariot of tzeentch. the flamer of tzeentch on top of it does the shooting and here is the problem with that : both weapon profiles are heavy. so if the chariot even moved a inch he can no longer fire the flamer. serious letdown

Souba wrote:one thing for the burning chariot of tzeentch. the flamer of tzeentch on top of it does the shooting and here is the problem with that : both weapon profiles are heavy. so if the chariot even moved a inch he can no longer fire the flamer. serious letdown

Hmmmmmmmm..... That does seem strange. Quite the objective holder then I guess.

it will probably be fixed with the errata or something because that way it does not really make sense for a vehicle that is made out of paper.

Chariots are vehicles, and vehicles are relentless (BRB, pg 71).

SJ

Tee hee hee

I just realized our dreadknights are more devestating to Daemons than ever! They come with the dark excommunication psychic power as standard, pit one against a herald or greater daemon and he'll kill it for sure!

Andarius the Red wrote:Tee hee hee

I just realized our dreadknights are more devestating to Daemons than ever! They come with the dark excommunication psychic power as standard, pit one against a herald or greater daemon and he'll kill it for sure!

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!! That is awesome!

jeffersonian000 wrote:Chariots are vehicles, and vehicles are relentless (BRB, pg 71).

SJ

vehicles are relentless. units that get transported however are not (BRB, pg 78). units firing out of a a vehicle that moves 1-6" they count moved. units firing out of a a vehicle that moved 6+" can only snapfire. as a normal infantry unit can only fire snapshots with heavy weapons after moving and they cannot fire template/blast weapons.

Andarius the Red wrote:Tee hee hee

I just realized our dreadknights are more devestating to Daemons than ever! They come with the dark excommunication psychic power as standard, pit one against a herald or greater daemon and he'll kill it for sure!

that may be true but the NDK cannot use the force weapon. all greater daemons hit a NDK on 3+ wound him on 2/3+ and got more attacks. most of the time they even strike before the NDK. in addition they got more wounds. so dont count on a NDK just that easily. if you mathhammer it down a greater daemon without gifts wins the fight at the second round of combat. at the first round its a draw.

Souba wrote:

Andarius the Red wrote:Tee hee hee

I just realized our dreadknights are more devestating to Daemons than ever! They come with the dark excommunication psychic power as standard, pit one against a herald or greater daemon and he'll kill it for sure!

that may be true but the NDK cannot use the force weapon. all greater daemons hit a NDK on 3+ wound him on 2/3+ and got more attacks. most of the time they even strike before the NDK. in addition they got more wounds. so dont count on a NDK just that easily. if you mathhammer it down a greater daemon without gifts wins the fight at the second round of combat. at the first round its a draw.

So what are we going to need to do against Greater Daemons?

Constantine wrote:

Souba wrote:

Andarius the Red wrote:Tee hee hee

I just realized our dreadknights are more devestating to Daemons than ever! They come with the dark excommunication psychic power as standard, pit one against a herald or greater daemon and he'll kill it for sure!

that may be true but the NDK cannot use the force weapon. all greater daemons hit a NDK on 3+ wound him on 2/3+ and got more attacks. most of the time they even strike before the NDK. in addition they got more wounds. so dont count on a NDK just that easily. if you mathhammer it down a greater daemon without gifts wins the fight at the second round of combat. at the first round its a draw.

So what are we going to need to do against Greater Daemons?

the easiest way is as ridicilous as it sounds either a Brotherhood champion or a grandmaster with a hammer, rad and psychostroke grenades.
the psyk out grenades reduce the I of a greater daemon down to 1. so you strike at the same time. the GM got the better invulnerable and only the lord of change is still able to instantly kill him (the stave adds +2 to his strength) if he fails a save.

the brotherhood champion is able to keep the greater daemon in close combat for a long time for the GK to kill the rest. using defensive stance and just using the 3+ invul with rerolls. if he has the chance to take the GD with him aswell.

other things are shooting. all greater daemons only got a invulnerable save from the start the only exception is the bloodthirster. the great unclean one can get the same type as cover save however. considering the gifts they can become tougher but that is random (even though the chances can become high if the daemon player uses his cards right)

So soften them up with SB/Psycannon fire, and then jump in with a GM or Champ......