Chaos Daemons Tactica: Pink Horrors of Tzeentch

[Tenebris]

Greetings lords of the daemonic legions and welcome in this first instalment of the Chaos Daemons Tactica. This is the first of a series of topics in which we will discuss the units in the Chaos Daemons codex and try to understand its use in gameplay. 

 

The first tactica is about Pink Horrors of Tzeentch.

 

The Pink Horrors of Tzeentch appear as a rather mediocre deamon statwise but they are really the force multipliers of a daemons army. In 7th edition they are the stars rocking in almost every daemons list and offering their services as allies too. The Pink Horrors are now the premier warp charge batteries, perfect bunkers for the Heralds with Daemonology and great first turn summons via this psychic discipline. The more Horrors we have on the board the more psychic power we can launch effectively but this is just one of their uses, for they have many more.

 

Still IMO they are one of the best OS units in the daemons book. In ruins and when on ground they are incredibly tough to dislodge from an objective and they are still 100% effective even when 2/3 of the unit is in cover, for you only need a LOS of a single model in order to use the psychic power.

 

As summons they are the top daemon to summon in the first two turns, in order to place a resilient unit on an objective and to boost your warp charge pool. One or two summons of them are a subtle but telling game changer and benefit every army with the access to a psyker or a summoner. 

 

In combat they are not as effective as the other, more direct and dedicated troop choices in the daemons book but I have seen them reliably pour warp fire and even have a say for a turn in close combat. They are meant to be a stopgap unit, a support option yet with proper placing your adversary has to go against them, especially if they sit on an objective. 

 

Supported by Daemonology they become quite a nice meatshield unit when something nasty is charging your ranks. In my experience with the buffs they have reliably tanked power weapon wounds because with Grimoire and the Tzeentch Daemon rule they can become quite resilient to power weapons. 

 

They are not on the other hand a frontline unit. Tzeentch is sneaky and his Horrors are to be used as that. I consider them the swiss knife of the daemons troop choices for with some forward planning and a clever use of cover they can last the entire game and constantly buff you in your psychic phase. Daemonology made them the stars of the daemons book and I think they will retain this role for quite some time.

 

How do I use them? IMO the best load-out I have found is a classic Herald bunker with 11 Horrors and a Herald of Tzeentch with Mastery Level 3. This can be a shooty unit, a summoning bot or even a nasty roadblock when positioned properly. 

 

So what do you think? How do you play your Pink Horrors of Tzeentch? Which are their good and bad sides? Do you have any tactics to recommend?

[Xenith]

I'm unsure, but do you have to roll to hit for flickering fire? So your 2d6 shots, generally comes up about 7, meaning 3-4 hits with horrors bs of 3? Summoning with them is probably better!

[Tenebris]

Yes, they roll to hit. The shots are not that bad, FnP is, but even so I think they are best used as a cheap Warp Charge battery that can reliably hold an objective and shoot from time to time. As I have said, they are usually my first summon, so between them and the unit on the table I have an average of 3 WC (the first squad is 11) for the first three turns. Played right, those Warp Charges can be quite a boon. 

[Captain Idaho]

Is there merit in a psychic barrage list instead? Build a couple units designed for maximum amount of firepower (including Heralds) that sit back and gang up on infantry targets.

 

I'm glad we're talking about Horrors. I liked them when they first arrived on the scene and I think they are a useful unit on the table despite what the initial reaction was from many players.

[Tenebris]

Well in 6th they were solid in the shooting role, too bad that the psychic power is somehow meh with the FnP to the adversary unit. Point is that you cannot reliably shoot with psychic powers. Roll to cast, Deny the Witch, roll to hit, roll to wound... too many chinks to reliably have a "shooty" psychic phase. The witchfire powers are awesome when all goes to plan, but there are many variables in between to make them balanced. 

 

The Horrors are my favourite Chaos Daemons models, also their fluff is awesome IMO and I love the idea of a jabbering horde led by a smart and serious Herald. So far in the 7th they are my warp charge battery and objective keepers yet they still shoot, someday, somehow, when I have too few warp dice left to cast anything more serious. 

[Valkyrion]

Slightly off topic but speaking of horrors - was it ever said why the splitting into two blue horrors was dropped?

With GW's policy of 'encouraging' players to buy more models I would have thought this was right up their alley! (I kid, sort of)

[Uprising]

Slightly off topic but speaking of horrors - was it ever said why the splitting into two blue horrors was dropped?

With GW's policy of 'encouraging' players to buy more models I would have thought this was right up their alley! (I kid, sort of)

That would get extremely confusing for both players, and extremely easy to abuse. 

 

Another idea is use the portaglyph to spam msu of horrors and get 1 warp charge from each.  I would think your opponent have more to worry about then 3 unit of 3 ish horrors in back field. 

[Captain Idaho]

I haven't got the rules to hand but is it best to take larger units of Horrors since lots of small units are going to end up putting only a few wounds a piece on a target then the opposing target unit will get better and better feel no pain rolls? Or was it end of a turn?

 

Personally not sold on using lots of units as Warp Charge generators since it's fairly inefficient and can be neutered if your main castor gets killed or Culexus'd. One or two can boost nicely though.

[TheDarkOne]

I routinely play 33 horrors, and 2 ML3 tzeentch heralds at 1500 and up. 

 

I use the portal every game, and summon almost exclusively horrors from there (why would you spawn 1-6 of anything else?).

 

By turn one's psychic phase (If I go first, or haven't lost a single horror to shooting going second), I have a 50% chance (portal spawning) to have 13 warp charge from this 597 points of infantry.

 

I always roll on daemonology for the horrors from my army list, and usually for the spawned horrors, though I do sometimes roll on Tzeentch if I want to get the beam power out into the field.

 

I rarely summon units of horrors with Daemonology primaris, but I  will make tzeentch heralds with demonology ml2 regularly. 

 

Summoning greater demons is a priority fo these pink bastartds, so 9 rolls on demonology at the start of the game has a pretty good chance of getting 1 6. 

 

Then turn 1, I summon a lord of change (who may deepstrike into a cursed earth bubble if I'm fortunate), and he'll usually take his powers from tzeentch as a flying shooty monster.

 

the other thing I'll mention about horrors and heralds and shooting, is that you'r pretty uch guaranteed to get one shooting power off per phase, if you can draw out your opponnents denial dice with scary summoning stuff, or in my case, crippling telepathy from Be'lakor. once they've spent their dice preventing their devastators form being terrified and dominated, they won't have much left to protect their vulnerable vehicles form S6 (with the herald's locus), however much warp charge i have left after my opponent has run out of denial dice, will typically go into a multi D6 flickering fire attempt from a herald or unit of horrors.

 

i'll also add that the locus ads strength to all psychic shooting,including the demonology shooting powers, that my horrors do become stuck with sometimes. +1 Strength to the torrent shooting can make a big difference.

 

I will also typically play with one big nasty demon prince hq, Be'lakor, meaning that on turn 1 I have 15 natural warp charge, +1 for portal summoned horrors, +D6 to work with. 

 

That said, Belakor can be downright unstoppable if he's allowed to cast all his powers, which he usually can if I channel all my warp charge through him...

[Tenebris]

I happen to have 33 Pink Horrors and three Heralds, I will try this list someday, perhaps with some Knight support. Sounds fun, cheap and very effective. 

[TheDarkOne]

1500

 

Be'Lakor

Herlad of Tzeentch, ML3, Exalted Reward (Grimoire), Exalted Locus

Herlad of Tzeentch, ML3, Exalted Reward (Portal), Exalted Locus

 

Beast of Nurgle

Beast of Nurgle

 

11 Horrors - Icon (for sumoning deepstrike if I don't get cursed Earth)

11 Horrors

11 Horrors

 

10 Flesh Hounds

14 Furies w Mark of Slaanesh

 

Soul Grinder, Baleful Torrent, Mark of Tzeentch

 

I ran this for a bigger tournament in July, and it turned out pretty good. 

 

To make it more competitive, I'd drop the Furies and beasts for more dogs and another grinder... or maybe 2 burning chariots or something... but the core of Be'Lakor, 33 horrors and 2 heralds, is always solid. the dogs and soul grinder are both such good value I would be loathe to trade them out.

 

The beasts were situationally useful, but its so easy for them to get pulled into combat with what my opponnent wants, rather than what I want, that i would swap them for something more reliable...