Infernal Master: Alpha Legion Style

A bit of a conversion from the weekend. This is the Thousand Sons' Infernal Master miniature from the plastic range being used as the basis, but with added Alpha Legion resin parts to convert the legion's loyalty.

The shoulder pad is a direct Mark 4 Alpha Legion resin piece from Forge World that I had lying around. The head meanwhile is one of the newer heads - Character Heads Upgrades Set 1. Obviously, I have also converted parts of the miniature in addition to this to remove some obvious Thousand Sons trappings such as the scarabs here and there, and to remove the warp flame backpack bits which really didn't communicate the Heresy vibe that I wanted them to. I've also covered the bit holding the cape on with green stuff to actively get rid of the final Thousand Sons' heraldry. I intend to use a decal to go over the top of this when it has been painted up eventually. 

The idea here is to portray a marine who has or soon will succumb to full chaos affiliation but otherwise heralds from the Alpha Legion. As the legion would later discover, no man can be master of chaos, and as the civil war within the Legion was fought, sides were chosen and lines were drawn between its twin masters despite their otherwise erstwhile unity. 

Warhammer World: Tzeentchian Cabinet

Deep in Warhammer World, I snapped this image of a set of Tzeentch daemons that caught my eye. I have a series of these kinds of snaps from some of the cabinets. Taking these images is tough due to the high reflectivity and the lights that are shining in multiple directions.

The thing that caught my eye about this set up is not particularly the miniature themselves - although they are interesting given the square base, of course, these days, but rather the paint scheme itself. The blue colour that has been used here is a much darker and sombre tone than I am used to seeing (or even painting myself -- I usually go for something a bit more in the ultramarine blue range for these miniatures). I think it has worked well as the flames on the flamers themselves are muted too. Although there are yellows and oranges in there, the reds are not as hot as I've seen some painted and I was taken as well by the little flames flickering at the bases. The black arms as well help the flames stand out more and that is something that I think I will be personally taking away from the colour scheme for critters like this.

The one on the left hand side stands out even further as his (her?) (its?) flames are in a totally different palette to the others. The head of the flamer is a Genestealer purple colour. This contrasts with the almost ghostly, ethereal green colour that is spewing out of the creature's mouth (orifices?) at the upper end, with a trail to white at the tips. I like this one as it appeals to the magical nature of these creatures. 

Meanwhile the scribes at the back are resplendent for their own authentic colour scheme that is in total keeping with expectations and the miniatures around them. Again, I might have opted for a tone lighter myself, but I really love what I saw in the cabinet here. 

My only genuine criticism is that the bases are not much. Maybe in this day and age one expects a little more on the bases, or a little more attention being paid to them. Its one of those things that has increased in the hobby over the years I guess. Apart from that, I really like this cabinet a lot. More daemons from it at a later date!

40k Thousand Sons Excitement

Okay -- just wow. I'm so very impressed with the direction that Games Workshop has been taking recently; ranging from their asking the community for their favourite questions to be FAQ'ed,the release of some very popular armies like gene stealer cults, and NOW: 40k Thousand Sons. Oh my. I think I need to earn more money to cope.

Although I really like the sculpts of all of these pre-releases, especially the Tzaangors, the real favourite for me are the terminators -- these occult elite of the Thousand Sons look awesome. Not only do they feature icons of the old legion and equipment to match, but they're also very clearly based on the Tartaros terminator mark armour from 30k. I can certainly see these miniatures being popular for 40k and 30k alike (with a bit of work for the latter arguably). Just fantastic overall!

Wargames Gallery: Lost and the Damned

A bit of a blast from the past today. I was flicking through my well-worn and well-loved copy of the old Realms of Chaos: The Lost and The Damned book today, searching for a bit of inspiration. In the full colour art section from 'Eavy Metal, I came across this scene. 

Its a large battle between the forces of Nurgle (with Bubonicus) and Tzeentch. Count the sheer number of greater daemons contained within the image -- its immense! Just the points value alone of this diorama is amazing to think of! What a daemonic battle it is!

And those colours as well! Bright and vivid, even for the more gribbly Nurgle forces -- check out those banners in particular! These days, its a lot more about realism and grim-dark influences. Its occasionally nice to see a genuinely different approach to painting like this -- even if it looks very dated. Plus the old Warhammer Fantasy scratch-build scenery is nice to witness as well.

Email in: Mono-Tzeentch Daemons please!

Precis.
One of my old gaming mates from Down Under recently messaged me. He wants to start a brand new army (1850 points). He's done Eldar and Dark Angels and wants something that is a bit more horde-y. Although Orks did cross his mind, he has decided to start a mono-Tzeentch chaos daemons army. He's also keen to play something that doesn't focus 100% on daemon summoning. Which is understandable.

So, he sent me this following army list for comments. He's also perfectly happy for me to post it here and gather any feedback from Warpstone Flux readers. There are some constraints here though. He *wants* to play a soul grinder. Just because. So don't question it. Beyond that, almost anything is up for criticism.

HQs:
Fateweaver
Lord of Change (ML 3, Greater Reward, Relic: the Everstave)
2 Heralds (ML 3, Disc of Tzeentch, Greater Reward)

Troops:
3 x 11 Pink Horrors (all with Icons)

Fast Attack:
2 x 3 Screamers

Heavy Support:
Daemon Prince (Tzeentch, ML 3, Warp-forged armour, daemonic flight, Greater Reward)
Soul Grinder (Tzeentch daemon, Phlegm)


Here's my initial reactions.
(1) Take instruments of chaos, even dropping icons to do so.
(2) Bigger screamer units, even at the expense of the daemon prince.
(3) Exalted locus of conjuration on at least the heralds would be terrific here.
(4) Not sure about the relic.

Further comments most welcome -- can you help an old friend of mine defeat his enemies whilst remaining plausibly fluffy and avoiding full-on mass summoning as a tactic?

Chaos Daemons Review: Burning Chariot of Tzeentch

The burning chariot of Tzeentch is a new option in this codex.  It is one that actually has some significant firepower as well.  Having access to both S9 AP2 shot and an AP3 flamer template is a great boon for a daemons army - even if it is close range only.

The problems for this unit are multifold however.  The warpflame rule means that any unit not dealt with by the attacks will gain feel no pain.  I'm really over the warpflame rule: I pretty much don't want to take any Tzeentch unit because of this to be honest.  I wonder if it was truly a design mistake in hindsight?  An over-nerf of flamers that only needed a tweak?  And even the hammer of wrath attack has warpflame as well!

But the chariot itself is a major issue too.  With AV10 all around, it really is not hardy at all.  A concentrated rapid fire of bolters from a full marine squad could cause one to explode.  And that's before factoring they've probably got melta guns in there as well.

In terms of upgrades, I really can't see me taking any.  The -1Ld penalty that a blue horror crew would impose is not worth it.  The lesser and greater rewards would (on the surface) seem like points that should be better spent elsewhere.  So if I were to take this unit (which I don't think I will!), it will certainly be a "naked" none-upgraded one.

Overall, a nice addition, but one that could have done without warpflame to be worth the points.  And even then, I feel that landspeeders do it slightly better.

Chaos Daemons Review: Screamers of Tzeentch

It had to happen: the screamers of Tzeentch foresaw the battering that they'd get by asking Kairos.  Instead of all their attacks being at AP2, they may now swap all available attacks for a singular AP2 attack in close combat.  But you know: that really isn't so bad.  Such an attack in a reasonably sized shoal of screamers will still cause headaches for terminators.

They are more readily shot down and generally dealt with by enemy armies as well now -- a S8 hit will kill them outright due instant death.  A bit more like what they were when daemons came our really (with armourbane).  Since I have been using them before they got good, this sits well with me.  But the real strength comes from the fly-overs that they can do.  Their slashing attack can cause certain armies quite a headache for little effort.  Combine with other flying units and the screamers will still, no doubt, have a strong place in daemon armies.

Fundamentally, they're still jetbikes as well.  Two wound jetbikes as well.  And they're a reasonable price.  Expect to see them execute late game swoops on to objectives to contest them (or claim them if playing that mission!).  I'd be tempted to field them in squads of about 5 or so -- enough to prevent them all dropping dead in one turn (unless they get really concentrated and sustained incoming firepower - in which case they've probably soaked enough wounds to allow other army elements to move in to place) and significant to cause headaches where required.

Chaos Daemons Review: Flamers of Tzeentch

We all knew that something had to be done about these guys!  I was expecting a bit of a reversion to the original 5th edition rules myself.  But instead, the actual attack from these guys (the flames themselves!) got altered.  So, the flames might kill some models - sure.  But if they don't, the enemy gets an improved (or 6+) feel no pain roll!  Yikes!  This makes the flamers such a gamble!  With only AP4 on Flamer's flames now, the Heldrake looks a much better option to be honest - go Chaos Space Marines if you want hard hitting flamer templates.

On the other hand, they are toughness 4 with two wounds each.  That's not bad for the price tag, but it's not brilliant either.  A pyrocaster upgrade costs 5 points and makes one model BS5.  That's pretty decent and could pull a duty on quad guns.  Indeed, having flamers on a quad gun might be somewhat viable: charging them would result in a few casualties and perhaps a 6+ FNP enemy ... but then again, they could probably hold on until reinforcements arrived.  For the rewards, I like the mutating warp blade -- it does create chaos spawn which is very exciting (well, to me at least!).

Here's a few thoughts about builds.

2 Flamers of Tzeentch, 1 Pyrocaster (74 points)
Place them behind a quad gun equipped structure (defence line, or perhaps a bastion) and use the pyrocaster to shoot things out of the air.  Feel free to leave the position and swoop on a nearby enemy.  Or let them charge you and hope you don't give them a big FNP bonus.

9 Flamers of Tzeentch including 1 Pyrocaster with a mutating warp blade (222 points)
Nine is Tzeentch's sacred number -- so its fluffy.  And the mutating warp blade is neat!  The rest of the unit are there to deliver the bearer in to combat and in general be a road bump.  Just hope that you don't give too many units FNP -- hopefully with so many flamer templates going off most opposition (wisely) targeted would perish.

Chaos Daemons Review: Pink Horrors of Tzeentch

The pink horrors have changed quite a bit since the last edition.  Their saves are weaker (5+, but re-roll 1's) and their shooting is no longer assault 3 -- rather, they are a brotherhood of sorcerers with access to the change discipline.  They are, however, quite cheap.  And that is perhaps their strongest appeal.  But that has to be weighed up against the fact plaguebearers cost the same (and are hardier), as do daemonettes (and are better in close combat).  Even if the primaris Tzeentch power is okay, this is truly not a strong shooting unit any longer.

The best use I can think for them is as a screen for a herald.  Indeed, a herald of Tzeentch is about the only reason that I'm going to field my horrors any longer.  The instrument is fine, and the icon is welcome.  The retaliation wounds from the blue horrors arising is okay (but a bit meh).  Take a lesser reward hoping that you get a shooting (2 in 6 chance) attack if you like.  But don't worry about them otherwise I think.

Here's a few builds:

18 Pink Horrors of Tzeentch, with an iridescent horror that has 1 lesser reward, instrument of chaos, icon of chaos upgraded to blasted standard,  (207 points)
Fluffy (because its a multiple of 9!) and fully upgraded.  They get 3 warp charges per turn and are otherwise completely expendable.  That's probably why you're not going to take them!

10 Pink Horrors of Tzeentch (90 points)
Seriously: they're a cheap screen.  Use them as such.

Chaos Daemons Review: Herald of Tzeentch

The herald of Tzeentch is highly configurable, much like all of the heralds.  But the thing that really appeals to me is the ability to configure them as a high level psyker for a low points level.  Importantly, the not only get access to Tzeentch's own Change discipline, but they also get access to Divination.  Much has already been made of how good divination can be, so I won't repeat that here.  But this is the prime reason that I can see to take and configure the herald for.

In terms of the available rewards, the staff of Tzeentch is a decent anti-character weapon, but why do we want horrors of Tzeentch in melee? The mutating warpblade is fun: I've always been fond of creating chaos spawn out of enemy characters.  But again, this version of the spawn maker needs to slay the characters in question.  Again: horror's aren't true close combat exponents.  But the appeal is there for me personally!  Out of the exalted rewards, the portalglyph seems appropriate.  Since the horrors and the herald are avoiding close combat for the main part, they seem like a reasonable choice to set up the portalglyph and watch the ensuing madness. The Grimoire of True Names has a certain appeal as well, but I'd soon that be taken by a tougher HQ choice to be honest.

Of the loci, the locus of transmogrification is clearly there to be used in conjunction with large numbers of horrors.  This could actually be a useful road-bump ultimately, but little more.  The greater locus of change will result in an improved S value more than half of the time - its just a pity that it doesn't stack with the lesser locus.  The exalted locus of conjuration gives +1S to psychic powers.  This is actually worth while to have (and not random!), if it weren't for the points cost.  You'd certainly want to run such a herald with horrors for maximum benefit, but I can see that a solo herald on a disc or chariot would also be cool.

Naturally, both the disc of Tzeentch and burning chariot option make the manoeuvrability of the herald much greater.  I still like the chariot option and it can be a good option.

Here's some sample builds.

Herald of Tzeentch, Level 3 psyker, burning chariot of Tzeentch, exalted locus of conjuration (170 points)
Drop the locus if the points cost is too high, but otherwise, this is quite a functional herald: able to zoom around the battle field taking pot shots at any and everything.

Herald of Tzeentch, Level 3 psyker (95 points)
Run with a batch of horrors.  A happy and cheap configuration that is worth it.

Herald of Tzeentch, Level 3 psyker, Portalglyph (125 points)
Set up the portal, and then go forth and out-psyk the opposition.

Herald of Tzeentch, lesser locus of transmogrification (55 points)
The road bump.  Implant within a huge horror squad and tie up a suitable enemy unit for a couple of turns until help arrives.

Chaos Daemons Review: The Blue Scribes

They're not psykers!  Yes -- they don't need to pass any psychic test.  AND they still manifest powers.  That said, the power manifested is a randomly determined one from a psychic discipline of the player's choice.  This is the only unit in the game that retains this kind of ability from the previous codex. But the drawback is huge: you never know what you're going to get for this power!

Their other principle power is interesting.  For every enemy psychic power that goes off, the scribes get a counter.  At the start of the turn roll a d6 for each counter.  On a 6, a friendly nearby unit gains a warp charge point.

Now the latter ability mechanic is actually awesome ... if only the roll weren't a 6.  A 3+ (or thereabouts) would have been much better.  And might have meant that the Blue Scribes were worth taking.  To be clear: I don't think they are.  They haven't even got a locus ability.  Even in Apocalypse, the Blue Scribes are not going to be seen.  Take a Herald of Tzeentch instead.  On a personal note, I actually sad about what has happened to the Blue Scribes.  The previous codex was better, it only needed tweaks (psychic tests, change of points value) to bring it in to line.  This incarnation of the Blue Scribes is just not worthwhile.  Sorry!

Chaos Daemons Review: The Changeling

Alas, gone are the days of the Glamour of Tzeentch and controlling the opposition's firing solution.  In its place, we have a new HQ (instead of unit upgrade) that is able to and and all of its prime stats (WS, S, T, I, A) to that of an enemy it is in base contact with.

In addition, he comes with a lesser locus of transmogrification which means (on average) more blue horror tokens for squads of horrors when they perish in close combat.  Its not fantastic, but clearly suggests that he should be placed inside a pink horror unit to make the most of him.  And clearly, a pink  horror unit (a large pink horror unit at that) is probably a good way to "deliver" him in to base to base contact with an enemy.

He (she, it?) is also a level 1 psyker, selecting powers from Tzeentch's own change discipline.  This isn't much, but can provide a powerful shooting attack when required.  The major drawback of The Changeling (in common with most entries in the daemons codex) is the relatively poor saving throw.  Even with the mark of Tzeentch and being able to morph in to the stats of another creature, the best we can hope for is going to be a stalemate.  I can almost guarantee that anyone he is put up against is going to have a better saving throw.  Hence the Changeling has become a road bump.  An interesting one, to be sure.  But little more.  Take him as part of a mob of pink horrors and cause a little havoc engaging enemy characters and their "command squads".  But make sure there's some backup coming.

Chaos Daemons Review: Lord of Change

Interestingly, Lords of Change have a higher toughness than Fateweaver (presumably because the latter got terribly aged in a daemonic way through having been shoved down the Well of Eternity?).  This means that unlike Fateweaver, they're not going to be killed in a single vindicator shot. Overall, their statline is pretty solid: sixes in most places and 5 wounds.

In the psychic department, they come as level 2 psykers as standard, with the option to build them up to level 3.  And given that they have access to Tzeentch's own change discipline AND divination, I can't see much reason that one wouldn't be considering doing exactly that.

Moreover, Lords of Change have wings.  This is good because like the bloodthirster it means that they can chase down valuable targets and perform skyfire when needed.  Of course, they're going to be a fire magnet along the way ... but that is also part and parcel of the deal and can be useful.  The only drawback is really their saving throw. I'd much sooner have an HQ selection with a good saving throw.  But at least the mark of Tzeentch helps somewhat with this.

In terms of rewards, I kind of like the mutating warp blade of Tzeentch.  By killing an enemy character, the daemons player gets a free chaos spawn.  I've always rather liked getting free chaos spawn though. Its very mutate-y and Tzeentch-y.  The greater rewards in general seem like quite a good option for the Lord of Change: many buffs are in there, and if you don't want one, take the warp blade instead.

Here's a couple of builds to tinker with:

Lord of Change with Mastery Level 3 (255 points)
The psychic terror wing wings.  Good hunting.

Lord of Change with Mastery Level 3 and 2 Greater Rewards (295 points)
An expensive way to get a buffed greater daemon in to your team.

Lord of Change with mutating Warpblade (250 points)
Go forth and make some chaos spawn!

Chaos Daemons Review: Kairos Fateweaver

To be clear: the days of fate-crusher and other build that relied on Fateweaver are GONE.  Forget them.  He isn't what he once was.  Bye bye.

Instead, he now allows us to re-roll one 1d6 every turn.  Of course, its unclear (because its not spelt out) if that is every player turn or every game turn.  I suspect the latter.

Hence he is still a factor to be reckoned with.  But he re-rolling shenanigan days are totally obliterated.

What he does give is a "Lord of Unreality" warlord trait.  This gives re-rolls on the Warp Storm chart.  Now that's an interesting result!  Consider this facet alone: you combine this warlord trait with his re-rolling 1d6 every turn in order to get some of the best results (+1 invulnerable save; creating a herald out of an enemy psyker; creating a new unit of lesser daemons) and I think we're on to a winner.  You should certainly think about doing this every turn you roll a 5 or 6 for ONE of the 2d6 on the Warp Storm Table (before or after the warlord trait re-roll).  You can't really go too wrong.  (except by rolling Nurgle's Glorious Rot result of course -- but you got chaos instruments in your army?  Right?).

On top of this, Fateweaver is a psychic monster.  He is level 4 mastery and has all the Tzeentch powers plus (one telepathy + one biomancy) or (one pyromancy + one divination) per turn.  (because only one head is dominant at a time).  And a 4+ invulnerable save.

But he has drawbacks.  With T=5, a vindicator shot can take him down.  And he's not an independent character.  Look out, because he's going to be taking a lot of incoming shots.  And he's a shooty kind of character.  So I'd be looking to play him in flying mode as much as possible.  I'm a little torn on whether he's actually worth it or not.  Of course a well placed bolt of change (skyfired) is nothing to be sneezed at.  So in the meta of infantry heavy with flyers, he's probably looking good for Tzeench armies.

Wargames Gallery: Iconic Clash

An iconic scene of Tzeentch vs Nurgle: the Thousand Sons take on a squad of plaguemarines to contest an objective nearby. Backed up by chaos terminators, the traitors attempt to overwhelm the daemon forces.

CSM Options: Icon of Flame

The Tzeentch marked boys have the option of getting the Icon of Flame: an interesting tactical icon that grants the soul blaze special rule to anyone armed with bolt-spitting weapons. 

Now, soul blaze in itself is an interesting idea.  If a unit takes an unsaved wound, there's a 50% chance it'll take a further d3 S4 hits at the end of each turn.  That's basically a mean of 2 extra bolter rounds.  Sure, they still have to wound.  So that means 1 wound (if against a space marine).  And said space marine stands a 1 in 3 chance of perishing from this.  This isn't great, but can be enough to finish off a pesky unit that has been whittled down to the last man (or two) on occasion.  Its probably better against beasts (e.g. chaos spawn), the odd low toughness character (or even monstrous creature), and hordes of tyranid gaunts (in which case, take an icon on every squad so that you can soul blaze every opposing unit!).  It could be worthwhile with havocs armed with bolters, but here's the but:

Given the average price of this icon is about 15 points, we must weigh it up against something like purchasing a heavy bolter (5 points cheaper!) or a plasma gun (same price).  Due to the high S and low AP, the plasma gun is going to win every single time. 

Hence, I might consider the odd Icon of Flame on a (fluffy) Tzeentch-themed army, particularly on havocs or terminators, but that's about it.  Otherwise, in a generalist list, I can't particularly see the worth in them.  Invest in a plasma gun instead.  Or a heavy bolter plus flamer.  Or meltagun plus flamer.  Or a missile launcher.  Any of these are probably going to earn their points back quicker than an icon of flame, sadly.

CSM in 6th Review: Thousand Sons

Should they be called "Rubric Marines" since the other three cult units don't get called by their old legion name?  I don't know, but it's up there with the top questions I have about the new codex.  Then again, I suppose the commanding sorcerer is not strictly a "Rubricae".  But I digress.

Thousand Sons in the new Chaos Space Marine codex are still shooty, and their AP3 bolters are going to hurt enemy marines.  They've lost the "sorcerer commands" style rule in favour of simply everything being slow and purposeful.  This isn't so bad, but I was fond of the old style rules simply for fluff reasons.  And they all get Veterans of the Long War for free in their price.

But, they are the priciest of all the four cult marines.  Most of this cost is tied up with having a level 1 psyker in the unit, coupled with the AP3 bolters.  As they're a Tzeentch psyker, they have to select their power from the Tzeentch powers.  Given that we're setting this unit up as a shooty unit for the main part, that means that doombolt and Tzeentch's firestorm are the optimal result.  Unless we're taking a rhino transport: the odd well placed boon of mutation can be superlative.  (NB: breath is a Warp Charge  =2 power, so we can't have it!).

In terms of the upgrades, the aspiring sorcerer can take both a gift of mutation and melta bombs (but nothing from the ranged or melee table!).  I'm a bit "meh" about the boon of mutation: I don't see these guys getting in to combat frequently, but if they do, the force weapon could prove very good when teamed up with a gift of mutation.  Melta bombs again suggest engagement with enemies, so probably not worth taking since we're going to concentrate on shooting.

An Icon of Flame provides the unit with the soul blaze ability.  If it were slightly cheaper, or their bolters weren't AP3, it might be worthwhile.  But it's just on the edge of not quite being worth it in my opinion.

Here's a couple of suggested set-ups:

5 Thousand Sons, Imperial Bastion fortification with quad-gun (275 points)
A good armour save (3+), a good invulnerable save (4+) and a cover save.  Use the sorcerer to mount the quad gun and shoot away.  Fire those other boltguns at anything in range (or use the sorcerers power -- you selected firestorm, right?). Go inside the building as well if you like!  Replace the Bastion with an Aegis defence line to taste.

10 Thousand Sons, Chaos Rhino with Destroyer Blades (315 points)
Ride up to the target marine squad, get out and rapid fire them to oblivion.  Should the rhino survive a little while, use to tank shock enemy units on an objective.  Did you roll Bolt of Tzeentch as the psychic power?  If so, use on enemy vehicles from the back of the rhino along the way for extra impact.

CSM in 6th Review: Ahriman

Exiled from the planet of the sorcerers, Ahriman now strides the galaxy seeking out lost lore to better master chaos. In past editions of the chaos space marine codex, Ahriman was always a strong psyker, but not the ultimate psyker.  With the new chaos space marine codex, this changes: Ahriman is now the psychic terror that he deserves to be, second only to Magnus the Red himself perhaps.

Ahriman is now a level 4 psyker and can cast up to 3 witchfire powers every turn.  That is quite a potent psyker by comparison to a number of other HQs in alternative codexes.  That said, there is now no automatic gain of powers like bolt of Tzeentch.  He has to roll like all other psykers.  But Tzeentch gets access to the good powers of the codex: firestorm, doombolt and breath of chaos.  In addition there's a chance of getting something good from the other disciplines (telepathy, pyromancy and biomancy).  Invisibility might be a good roll for Ahriman for instance. A good division of rolls might be 2 from Tzeentch and 2 from Telepathy (and select the primaris psychic shriek if you don't roll invisibility!).

On the whole, Ahriman is a psychic firebase.  And unlike a heavy support option, he can be highly mobile.  So, don't hold him back: stick him in to a rhino with some other marines (regular ones with some special weapons perhaps; or even rubric thousand sons marines in a pinch) and start to channel all that potent psychic potential to some good use.

The downside is his points cost: he could do with a longer range than the "typical" 24inch or less range that many powers have for his price tag.  In this regard, a regular sorcerer might be a better fire support officer when placed in a rhino with another squad.  That said, he won't have 3 witchfires going off every turn, but with a few maledictions and blessings, that may not matter.  

Like Huron, Ahriman's warlord trait is Master of Deception.  D3 infiltrators is nothing to be sneezed at with the right combo and will certainly help other units get in to close combat more effectively.

And lastly, although Ahriman won't be getting in to too many close combat fights, his force weapon (the Black Staff) is reasonably potent too.  Just pray that he doesn't become either a chaos spawn of daemon prince: he's more valuable as a fire support base in my opinion, so we only want him in melee as a last resort.  A daemonic pink herald of Tzeentch on a chariot or disk might be a better option all round really (at least until we learn of a new daemons codex).

Rise of the Screamers

Brent's article on BoLS got me thinking more about Screamers of Tzeentch and their rising role in daemons armies.  Since the new rules debuted in White Dwarf, I think its fair to say that all us daemons players have been gushing over the flamers and screamers once more.  Where they were once limited, I think both of these daemons are coming back with a vengeance.

For the Screamers of Tzeentch, the changes mean that they are much more survivable than they were before.  The extra wound means that we will no longer be losing some (most? / all!) of a squad due to exploding vehicles (yess... that's happened to me).  But perhaps the biggest change is the replacement of warp jaws with Lamprey's Bite.  Against vehicles, that means that they probably aren't as good as they used to be (pen = 8+2d6 in the old version, vs 5 + 2d6 in the new version).  That said, they do gain more attacks (1 in the old version, vs. 3 in the new version).  Hence, they can still readily tackle light tanks, but the probability of penetrating an AV=14 tank has gone from 83.33% to 16.66% per attack. At AV=10, the probability has changed from 97.22% to 72.22%.  Given the 3 attacks, light tanks are probably in even more danger from screamers than they used to be.  But gone are the days of Land Raider hunting methinks.  I'll leave that to the monstrous creatures now.

Lets have a look against infantry.  To kill a marine, the screamers now hit on 4+, and wound (with no save) on 3+.  That compares to 4+, 4+ followed by a save previously.  And this is where the price increase is at, I think.  Screamer of Tzeentch can really put a whole lot of pain on all armies.  Striking at I=4, they should devastate the typical tactical squad in exchange for minimal damage in return.  For 100 points, 4 screamers on the charge will typically inflict 5.33 unsavable wounds on a marine squad.  That really hurts and is up there with the damage potential of a 5th edition bloodletter.  But more significantly, they can also rob terminators of their 2+ armour save, forcing them to use their invulnerable save.  At 25 points each, I contend that Screamers are going to become a mainstay of daemons forces for the immediate future.  I'll save talking about flamers to another time.....

Allied Thoughts for Fateweaver

With the new edition on our doorsteps, I've been trying to think about how to maximize the advantages of being able to take allies for daemons (and chaos space marines -- but I'll leave that for another day ... although ork stompas did cross my mind). 

So, I started thinking about Fateweaver and his special ability: he can have his friends re-roll saving throws. What could be exploited with this?  

The first thought I had was to marry him up with something that had good shooting.  That connected me to the idea of having multiple units of obliterators.  Perhaps up on the roof of a piece of scenery that we bought as part of the new force organization chart?

Alternatively, perhaps some Tau allies (not best buddies, but as I read it, could still be affected by Fateweavers rules -- let me know if you disagree) on the same roof could also work well.  Railguns (etc.) could be very appealing there!

Ork allies might make for an entertaining alternative.  Not exactly known for their shooting, but in vast numbers, that could make for a fun army list!  The same might be said for Imperial Guard.

There's too many thoughts zooming around my head to think about with allies.  I think some testing is going to be needed before a final list is built for my 6th edition version of chaos armies.  But the prospect of allies are certainly making me think -- they're going to be a great innovation for 6th!