Malefic powers

[Commander_Moustache]

This has probably been brought up, but my search fu is weak, but how good/useful is using deamon summoning powers?

[Iron Skull Mask]

Hey Moustache (I always wanted to use this adress... :D), summoning can be quite strong if you have an army dedicated to it. Have a look at the daemons forum. They are best suited to build summoner lists because of the perils rules for malific. Your standard list looks roughly like this: Kyros, 4 Heralds of Tzeench, 2+ units of horrors, some units of screamers and some also use soulgrinder(s) or daemon prince(s). Thing is, summoning is slow and heavy hitters like Bloodthirsters won't attack before round 4 or 5. On the other hand summoning is pretty flexible, as you can always cough up the right unit for the situation - if the dice abide that is.

[Commander_Moustache]

Well I mean in non deamon lists. I want to knwo if it is still worth it even with the perels

[Teetengee]

depends highly on a. how friendly to proxies your enemies are, b. how much you are willing to abuse any given rule, c. the interpretation of unbound(i.e. the henchmen squad restriction), and d. whether your summoner has the daemon rule.
for instance several tzeentch heralds plus buckets of henchmen squads of psyker plus 2 warriors plus potential coteaz tax (see c.) means you can just throw some dice at cursed earth and then start dropping pink horror squads for more warp charges, or whatever other things you need as you are already averaging 15-20 warp charges per 500 points easily

 

more reasonably you can do as the above posters have mentioned, although Kairos is not as necessary any more (keep in mind some people don't let him generate on malefic)

if you take Prophet of the voices daemonheart(I think it is that one) or a psyker daemon prince it can work (and spell familiars make it even better) but you really need to avoid those perils to make it worthwhile. (unless ALL you roll is 6s, then you can just perils and POWER UP!!)

 

EDIT: Thanks Inc

[incinerator950]

Prophet of the voices.

[Commander_Moustache]

Well actualy I was asking because I am planning on using it for my space wolves. Summoning the "spirits of Fenris" to aid them in battle (havent worked out the count as or conversions just yet). And no, none of you can convert me to the dark powers. My moustache wont let me

[Tenebris]

Tomorrow I am bringing a Daemon Prince of Tzeentch with a Spell Familiar and Masterly Level 3 to the first game in the local campaign with the express intention to see how summoning is effective. On larger point games where you can have Heralds and several Sorcerers it can become a strategy, since you have warp charges, while tomorrow I am testing the waters with rerolls and d6+3 charges per turn. Not much but should even two summons come on the board I move the scales in my favour. 

[hornywingythingy]

For CSM/demons? A perfectly valid tool in the box, less so for other races without demonic sorcerers, cept cheaty eldar who can cancel the perils with their helms.

[Tenebris]

So I have field tested my 310 points of Daemon Prince and it worked like a charm. I got the full return of my investment via summons and several glancing hits on ork vehicles. The Spell Familiar is golden, I am not leaving home without it (as long as the FAQ peace lasts).

 

I rolled 5 and 6 on the Malefic table, I switched 6 for the Primaris. I begun with summoning Horrors to cap an objective in a ruin and to provide my DP with an extra Warp Charge. Following I have summoned Flamers (who were golden in killing orks spilling from vehicles), Daemonettes which killed his Warboss and Plaguebearers which glanced his Battlewagon to death. I ended by summoning an extra unit of Horrors to cap the last objective, again in ruins. 

I also got the Bolt of Tzeentch power and I used to inflict a glance and a pen on a second Battlewagon. 

 

In the end, the DP worked like a charm. The Spell Familiar saved me from several Perils and allowed me to use the DP like a summon bot who simply flew around and summoned daemons every turn. For what was a low point game at 1000 points I quickly got the advantage as my conjured daemons came forth. 

 

A note though, I will have to invest into an Icon of some kind since I found conjuring quite a challenge on a board set up for Planetstrike missions from Sanctus Reach.