8/14/2019 demon review

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Well after much debating I picked up the new Chaos Daemons Codex and starting eagerly

reading it to see how much better my Khorne-y army had gotten, and I wasnt overly impressed.

But thats getting ahead of myself so lets go over whats new, whats better, and whats not.

Daemon Special Rules

Well to start with the daemons have lost their old deployment rules, which is both a benefit and a

negativebecause while you can now choose what you want on the field and dont have to count

on reserve rolls to get in your army if you dont want to but you will now have to put up with

drop pod assault shenanigans. The have also lost all of the other daemon rules such as eternal

warrior and fearless in favor of chaos god specific rules and the demonic instability rule.

Daemonic InstabilityAll daemons with this rule auto pass morale, fear, and pinning tests.

Sounds like fearless you might be saying but it doesnt end there. If a unit with this rule loses an

assault they must take a leadership test with all the normal modifiers, if they pass with a double 1

all models that were lost in the previous turn stand back up with all wounds lost restored, if theypass without double 1 then nothing happens, if they fail they take a number of wounds equal to

the amount they failed by with no saves of any kind allowed allocated by the controlling player,

and if they fail with a double 6 the whole unit is destroyed.

Daemon of KhorneModels with this rule gain daemon, furious charge, and Hatred (Slaanesh)

and chariots with this rule resolve Hammer of Wrath hits @ Str 7

Daemon of TzeentchModels with this rule gain daemon, Hatred (Nurgle), a +3 to LD when

using psychic abilities, and may reroll saving throws of 1.

Daemon of NurgleModels with this rule gain daemon, Shrouded, Slow and Purposeful, andHatred (Tzeentch). In addition these models are treated as having defensive grenades.

Daemon of SlaaneshModels with this rule gain daemon, Fleet, Rending, and Hatred (Khorne).

They also add 3 to their run moves, Calvary add 6.

So as far as differences go, no longer do you have the higher invuln granted by Tzeentch and you

cant count on feel no pain to help save your Plague Bearers, and Nurgle forbid you lose a

combat by a lot because there is a good possibility you will evaporate with rules that are frankly

worse than 5th

edition fearless ever was. But I wasnt discouraged, knowing that the units

themselves would make up for the new special rules.

Troops Choices

I next turned my gaze to the improved troops and my first impression was quite good as I looked

through and saw that all of the troops choices were quite a bit cheaper than they were in last

codex, on average about 5-6 pts a model cheaper. But I quickly saw why this was when I took a

look at the other changes that had been made to each of the units.

8/14/2019 demon review

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Bloodletters of KhorneAt first I didnt think that too much had changed aside from the price

which is now 10 Pts a Model, still WS 5, now BS 5 though Im not sure why since they didnt

gain a shooting attack, and S4. But then I got a real shock when I found out that my big beefy

close combat unit had its T4 reduced to a puny T3 meaning their main target, MEQ, will be

wounding them on 3s and more than likely at the same Initiative since that stat didnt change

from its I4 of the previous codex. The next difference I saw wasnt a good one either, the cc

minded Bloodletters were again throttled back from two attacks to just a single attack in close

combat. This wont help them win any combats which they need with a Ld 7 for daemonic

instability. They did however gain a unit upgrade in the form of a Bloodreaper who can be

purchased at an additional cost. The Bloodreaper has access to Lesser and Greater Daemonic

Rewards which we will talk about later on, but the only other difference I can see is an additional

attack. As far as saves go the unit has a 6+ armor save on top off their 5+ invuln from being a

daemon which frankly seems like a left over from the Fantasy codex because you will always use

the better invuln.

Pink Horrors of TzeentchThis was another unit that seemed to have made a change for the

better in the new codex. With the price reduction to 9 pts a model they made the biggest jump in

cost of 8 pts each. They got a boost to WS 3, but otherwise their stats stayed the same. However,

again I was in for a shock when I took a look at the rest of the units listing. The Pink Horrors had

lost their individual shooting attacks and instead have gained the Brotherhood of Psykers special

rule and have access to the brand new Tzeentch-y Change Psychic discipline. On top of that they

generate more Warp Charges when you have more of them in a unit. They too can purchase a

unit upgrade in the form of an Iridescent Horror who like the Bloodreaper has access to

Daemonic Rewards and not much else and again doesnt raise the Ld from the units abysmal 7.