How do you justify a DP dying?

[Moress]

Hey all,

 

I know this is kind of a dumb question, but one of the reasons I find it hard to justify playing a Daemon Prince fluffily, is what happens when he "dies" on the battle field? I know daemons don't really die, rather their material body is banished back into the warp where they recoup their powers and can haunt the realm of mortals once more, but I mean, it seems like this great prince of the warp dies alot, and when he does die and get's sent back to the warp, what happens to the rest of the warband now that their leader is gone?

 

I guess I just find it kind of funny because I can see a Chaos Lord "dieing" much easier since he got, knocked out, incapacitated, or lost a limb or something and can no longer fight for the day, but the Chaos Lord would still be there to command his troops. It's also a little more believable when the CL dies/knocked out because he's still a mortal.

 

Hope this doesn't come off as a really dumb question, it's just something that has been really been nagging at me lately.

[Drudge Dreadnought]

The way i've always imagined it is after the battle the remaining marines gather up the bodies of their fallen enemies and do a great ritual that both desecrates their enemies and re-summons the Prince if he fell.

[Dràyhèn]

Not a dumb question at all, I think about it everytime I lose him.

 

Mine never dies, he is too tough for that.

I just imagine my prince getting severely wounded, roaring out in agony and hatred, damning my enemy and flying out of the centre field behind the lines, bellowing orders.

And my sorcerer disappears when things start to get too hot.

 

Yeah, some might say it cowardly, I call it tactical fall-backing.

[Spareknikov]

I see what you mean and it's not dumb at all hahah.

 

I like to see my Prince go out and return in an Alucard-from-Hellsing kind of way, seeing as he's Tzeentchian. He either returns to his vast Throne Room upon his ship the Jormungandr or collapsing, looking extremely dead and rising from the grave laughing/fethed off in an extremely cool fashion.

[Razrhaghul]

not every casualty in a 40 game = death. rather it represents the models inaction for the rest of the game.

 

I actually generated pros/cons for my chaos guys. basically instead of actively falling to chaos, they were deceived, and their souls have since been cursed to a lesser "schizophrenic" Tzeentch deity (Yanus and Sante, same guy doesn't realize it, pits rival factions of chaos against each other for fun).

every death is a blessing, in which the marine is resurrected on their floating ship/keep but ultimately suffers from it. with new life means they lose something, a part of their original person; a limb, a memory, mutation and ultimately a part of their soul and become spawns.

same goes for the DP, has since sworn off anything for the Imperium or chaos, in hopes of banishing the Sante and freeing his men and his souls.

 

so when my DP falls in battle, he doesn't get killed, rather resurrected and he is rewarded with a little less of himself. This made more sense with the last dex, when I'd add some wings, an extra horn, maybe a limb or so, granted I could add/sub things from a DP, so I haven't played chaos since...

[Sons of Horus]

for some reason mine rarely dies :wub: i mean yeah sure he's a massive fire-magnet but i always roll fives for saves :eek

[LuNCHBiZZLe]

I didn't loose mine to often either when I fielded him but when I did I justified it with IW fluff live guys grab the dead guys and go to work on the tanks,marines,DP,and gear till it works again.

[Raibaru]

This is actually quite an interesting thread. I think the most practical is what the above guy said and they just return to the warp and flee before the final deathblow can come. If you read the demon codex, the tzeentch special character does this often.

 

Hell, you could make a casualty model where it's just burned up ground and some smokey warp like residue left behind and put it on the table where it died.

 

If you're lucky, maybe your opponent will let you use it as cover :lol:

[Corpse.]

IIRC (Unofficial) A daemon slaying hammer created by the DH inquisition slew a daemonic device (where the eldar said no to it) either sent the thing back to the warp, or opened it up for whatever end that was in store for it.

 

Other sources mentioned that the prince is weak, or vulnerable being sent back to the warp in the same way. Being called a halfbreed (dubious to other daemons even of the same deity) I can imagine it being a rough and tumble existence. They are put as a support option for daemon armies, not a leader. (For the most part, some can play him like he's a leader).

 

Either way the princes dont like being sent back with a sore rear end. (both by the sender and reciever =p)

 

Though the warband might have a power struggle if they arent entirely loyal. Making for strung together warbands including lots of different minded followers to deviate. Making pacts and deals a sort of double edged sword.

[chillin]

for some reason mine rarely dies :) i mean yeah sure he's a massive fire-magnet but i always roll fives for saves :D

 

So that's where all my 5+ invul. save rolls go...SoH has them :devil:

I never make them.

[chillin]

The way I see/imagine it is that the daemons body (or physical manafestation of a body, however you want to think of it) takes so much damage that the body is destroyed or at least disrupted to the point where the daemon has to go back to the warp at least temporarily until the daemon can summon the power to remanafest on the physical plain.

[Lord Humongous]

Being called a halfbreed (dubious to other daemons even of the same deity) I can imagine it being a rough and tumble existence. They are put as a support option for daemon armies, not a leader.

 

The "discrimination" they face is more of the "glass ceiling" variety, not the lynch mob sort. The Chaos Deamon codex makes reference to them acting as Lieutenants in the daemon armies- that's a trusted and respected role, just not one that gets full command. I suppose you could call that a support role, but its a damn site better than being a private, which is what most of the daemons are.

Daemon princes who command CSM forces are probably powerful enough / able to set up the needed systems to send (and receive) telepathic messages to their underlings from the warp. That's handy when they get disrupted, but it also frees them to return to the warp voluntarily.