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Slaaneshi Daemons in 8th


WarriorFish

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Obviously it's not the best time to be considering the fine details with the new Codex on the horizon, but I've been thinking about putting together a 1,000-1,500 point mono-Slaanesh force and I was hoping that you guys could advise me on the sorts of things that I should keep in mind.

 

My plan had been to start from two of the Start Collecting boxes and build up from there, but when the individual models are so inexpensive points-wise compared to a lot of what I'm used to it's difficult to know how to properly balance an army like this. Things like which Detachments to consider, which characters to take, and the ideal balance of infantry, chariots and cavalry are all a bit of a mystery to me. Any thoughts?

I have only played two games in 8th but so far Daemonette mobs and Hellflayers have not let me down.

 

My 2k plan is 6 Heralds, 6 Chariots, 18 Seekers, 60 Daemonettes and a Keeper of Secrets. I'm not a competitive type though, so add salt to taste.

So how do you field those Daemonettes? I'd been considering using two thirty-model units at 1,000 points so I'd be interested to know what you do with the same at 2,000, particularly with that many Heralds.

 

My surface thoughts for 1,500 points would be something like three blobs of 30 Daemonettes, each with their own Herald, a pair of Hellflayers, 10 Seekers with a mounted Herald, and a lone Herald on a chariot.

I had only 1 game so far fielding the following (if I remember correctly):

 

1 KoS

1 Herald in Charriot

1 Prince with wings

 

1x 30 Daemonettes

2x 12 Daemonettes

1x 18 Seeker

2x 6 Seeker

1 Seeker Charriot

1x 3 Fiends

1x Grinder

 

The Grinder was pretty much useless and the Keeper only survived because I was able to keep him out of LoS until he reached CC. I want to keep the KoS because I like him, but if you want to be more effective you can save these points.

 

All in all you can't go wrong with 2 or even more Start Collecting boxes. Depending on your assembling and painting speed this can keep you busy until there are more informations about the upcomming Codex.

So how do you field those Daemonettes? I'd been considering using two thirty-model units at 1,000 points so I'd be interested to know what you do with the same at 2,000, particularly with that many Heralds.

 

My surface thoughts for 1,500 points would be something like three blobs of 30 Daemonettes, each with their own Herald, a pair of Hellflayers, 10 Seekers with a mounted Herald, and a lone Herald on a chariot.

 

Currently I only possess 40 Daemonettes so I've been using two mobs of eighteen. When I buy the other two boxes, I'll go for 3 mobs; 1x24 and 2x18. Each mob has a Herald nearby and an Instrument.  

 

Re Heralds, 3 are on foot; 2 will be on Steeds and one on a Chariot. Smite is fun. So is +1S.

Am I putting too much value/emphasis on the bonus attack for having a unit of 20+ models?

 

I would have thought Daemonettes were best suited to larger units so they can have a buffer against losses to shooting and morale, with the outside possibility that they make it into combat with three attacks each if they don't draw much attention. A unit of less than 20 models sounds very small to me when it's not unreasonable for something as basic as a Tactical Squad to remove 9-10 in a single turn after morale at Rapid Fire range.

It's more likely that I'm undervaluing it, frankly. I currently have four Hellflayers and what I have found (in my all-encompassing two game experience) is that the Daemonettes get ignored in favour of targetting the Hellflayers, which are easier to hide. I still lost both games, mind.

 

The strength of my army is a secondary consideration to fluffiness and how many multiples of six I can fit in. 

Ah, fair enough. I hadn't even made that connection. Shows you how new to this whole Slaanesh thing I am.

 

I can totally understand people targeting other units over the Daemonettes, and given just how mobile they can be it's always possible that a unit of Daemonettes only takes a single round of shooting before Overwatch if it draws any fire at all. Having a bunch of smaller units might well be better than a small number of large ones in that case just because it makes it even harder for your opponent to focus your units down before they cross the battlefield. It's hardly as if Daemonettes need that extra attack to get work done anyway, particularly with a Herald in tow.

 

90 Daemonettes might well be a bit excessive ... however appropriate excess is for an army like this.

My little experience:

 

My 30 Steeds stood right in front of my opponents deployment zone turn 1. One unit of 6 was even able to charge turn 1. In addition the Prince, Fiends and Charriots are able to charge turn 2 without a problem. So your Daemonettes are kind of save advancing behind and getting there by turn 2 or 3.

 

A unit of 18 seems wasted for me. I take either 12 (because of 2x6) to get a few more units and therefor be more flexible when I need to stay back for objectives or go full 30 to get the bonus attack for as long as possible.

Instrument is an auto include for me, Icon only for the bigger units.

  • 2 months later...

Okay so, after the Codex, how do you think Slaanesh is looking? Maybe they didn't get as many buffs as the other gods, but I still think they have some nasty tricks available, and I would like to hear your opinion as I'm starting a slaaneshi daemon army for AoS and now I might as well use it for 40k. Keeper of Secrets doesn't look too optimal to me, though damage 3 weapons are nasty. Fiends look insane and they're actually the only Slaanesh daemons I used before, though they're very fragile but have a lot of utility and I love 1 model fast units. Seekers are fast and could be useful for turn 1 charges, though I'm not sure about them as they don't do much more. I think daemonettes can be very useful, maybe not in massed 30 strong blocks as bloodletters, but more MSU style with the Masque for more survivability and a herald to bring them to S4. And I don't know how Chariots are at all, I've never seen them used in 40k. As for strats, I think we got a couple of neat ones to counter assault armies, and our psychic powers are ace (-1 to hit and attacking twice!), though the warlord traits and artefacts look more mediocre. Overal I think Slaanesh should be used more as MSU, though maybe a buffed 30 daemonette unit (with auras, strats and powers, attacking twice for example with so many daemonettes could be brutal) could have a lot of impact for how cheap they are...

I haven't played daemons stand alone in 8th ed yet, and my experience with Slaanesh is limited, so I'm interested in hearing other people's opinion!

Do we have more detailed information yet? Overall I think it's looking better from what I've seen. Of course that should be the case given a codex brings new traits and stratagems etc, but I think it's a fairly rounded improvement in most cases.

 

Fiends always seemed useful, though made less so by the models :tongue.: Having to use the Index for a mounted Herald isn't great but otherwise I see some potential for rapid movement and getting into combat quickly. Which is just as well as without it you're going to get blasted off the board. It'll be interesting to see how people's early games go with the new codex and see where we go from there :smile.:

In generall I will wait for my feedback until I have the Codex in my hand, I think just from a few reviews it is hard to get the complete picture...

 

But regarding the Index Herolds: They do not have the Locus rule, which is pretty bad. If you want to advance and charge with your Seekers you need a character close by, and the only Slaanesh character that can keep up with their speed is a Daemon Prince with wings. Very limiting in my oppinion, but since the Prince isn't a bad choice at all I can live with that.

I thought the Characters will have the special rule "Locus of xyz", but I have not ssen a datasheet yet, might be the case it is a general rule that says "Characters of god xyz have the Locus of XYZ special rule"... hope you are right on this one !

Indeed, that's one of the things we need more details on. I'm hoping for the best but expecting the worst :P Does give me a bit of a conundrum with my Daemon Prince though, as I think dual malefic talons and the Intoxicating Elixir will be good but that would mean no Locus from him...

Locus are given to every unit in the detachment if you keep mono-god, and activated while 6" of a character, so indeed Index Heralds should get locuses, the only problem with those is that they won't be getting point changes, which they might have needed.

Won't be getting point changes immediately - likely still will get the point change (if there is one) in the Errata/FAQ that comes out 3-4 weeks after the Codex drops. Just like the Leman Russ changes got put onto the Genestealer's Russ with the Errata/FAQ drop.

 

Functionally, I don't see anything that the Seeker Heralds are going to be missing out on by not being in the Codex as of yet.

Won't be getting point changes immediately - likely still will get the point change (if there is one) in the Errata/FAQ that comes out 3-4 weeks after the Codex drops. Just like the Leman Russ changes got put onto the Genestealer's Russ with the Errata/FAQ drop.Functionally, I don't see anything that the Seeker Heralds are going to be missing out on by not being in the Codex as of yet.

No, that's different. The Datasheets that exist only in the Index but not in the Codex, like the mounted heralds, are extremely unlikely to get any attention via FAQ, Errata or CA whatsoever.

 

Won't be getting point changes immediately - likely still will get the point change (if there is one) in the Errata/FAQ that comes out 3-4 weeks after the Codex drops. Just like the Leman Russ changes got put onto the Genestealer's Russ with the Errata/FAQ drop.Functionally, I don't see anything that the Seeker Heralds are going to be missing out on by not being in the Codex as of yet.

No, that's different. The Datasheets that exist only in the Index but not in the Codex, like the mounted heralds, are extremely unlikely to get any attention via FAQ, Errata or CA whatsoever.

 

Source? It wouldn't be the first time that Index units were addressed in such after-publication notes. Especially if they make blanket statements on such changes - "All heralds reduced by 2 points" or some such.

 

I give it a 50/50 - though that's assuming there's anything to change points-wise as it is.

 

Won't be getting point changes immediately - likely still will get the point change (if there is one) in the Errata/FAQ that comes out 3-4 weeks after the Codex drops. Just like the Leman Russ changes got put onto the Genestealer's Russ with the Errata/FAQ drop.Functionally, I don't see anything that the Seeker Heralds are going to be missing out on by not being in the Codex as of yet.

 

 

No, that's different. The Datasheets that exist only in the Index but not in the Codex, like the mounted heralds, are extremely unlikely to get any attention via FAQ, Errata or CA whatsoever.

Source? It wouldn't be the first time that Index units were addressed in such after-publication notes. Especially if they make blanket statements on such changes - "All heralds reduced by 2 points" or some such.

 

I give it a 50/50 - though that's assuming there's anything to change points-wise as it is.

 

Yes, it would be the first time Index units get addressed AFTER that factions Codex got released. The Index units aren't in the Codex for a reason.

The Leman Russ thing was an exception since a different faction that didn't get their Codex yet uses that factions units.

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