Editing Warhammer 40,000/6th Edition Tactics/Chaos Daemons (section)

====Greater Daemons====
*'''Bloodthirster:''' This guy is your basic "big stabby HQ". He is an unholy rape train, with WS10, I9, 6A, and he comes with an '''Axe of Khorne''' (AP 2 and rolls To Wound of 6 cause ID), a '''Lash of Khorne''' (S6 AP2 shooting attack, albeit with only a 12" range), and '''Warp-Forged Armour''' (a 3+ save a la power armour). He comes standard as a Flying Monstrous Creature, which lets you swoop around the field assaulting whatever you want. Remember that you can Vector Strike (to troll people) and use Smash Attacks (to crush tanks to death). Although he can ''technically'' be seen as an anti-air choice, don't rely on him, since you can't assault flyers and the Lash of Khorne (your only shooting attack) is a.) short-ranged and b.) only S6 (which will have trouble penetrating most flyers). He gets the three levels of Gifts, most of which make him even better, but also make him cost a fair bit more and unlike the other Greater Daemons, he doesn't really ''need'' upgrades to make him a total badass. He is worth every point of his cost.  Just keep the force weapons as far away as possible! 
**'''Skarbrand, the Exiled One''' - Skarbrand is now a beast! Cheaper than a normal Bloodthirster, he balances the loss of wings and Fleet with +1I and +1A from the two close combat weapons (on top of a Bloodthirster's already ludicrous statline), and his aura gives him and all units within 12" Rage and Hatred (though that does include enemy units as well, <s>so this can backfire horribly</s> you should only worry about it benefiting Grey Knights, other than that, the buffs will benefit you more than your enemies unit, since you are a melee-oriented army after all!). Oh, I almost forgot: now [[rape| ALL HIS ATTACKS HAVE INSTANT DEATH AND FLESHBANE OR ARMOURBANE]]! I'm not kidding when I say that '''anything''' he gets a charge on is already dead. ''HE HAS NO BRAKES!'' He can defeat any CC character in the game on the charge, aside from Kaldor Draigo (whose Daemon-killing shenanigans will still mess him up). Even the Swarmlord will be annihilated. The problem is that like the Black Mace Daemon Prince he lacks defensive power and while some might say T6 is enough, most CC beasts have S8+ weapons that are AP3 or lower and let's be honest - a 5++ save isn't going to stop him from taking 2-3 wounds. Be sure to grab the Grimoire of True Names to fix this problem, and Deep Strike this beast so he can get to the thick of it!
**'''[[Angron]] (Forge World/Apocalypse)''' - Hell yes! At first glance Angron looks like a slightly buffed (+1 W,I,A) Bloodthirster at literally twice cost. His master-crafted instant-death sword is pretty nice to take out other monstrous creatures, and big 12" bubble of -1 Ld is good too, but the main reason you take him is his retinue of 2-12 Bloodthirsters. And everything they charge would die - even Aetaos, Scabeiathrax and An'ggrath (though, this would never happen, cause Angron and An'ggrath are good fellows). On Armageddon this squad wiped out ONE HUNDRED Grey Knights, and they totally could do it on the board.
**'''An'ggrath (Forge World/Apocalypse)''' - Costs thrice as much as a normal Bloodthirster pointswise at a whopping 888 points but is an unholy monster in close combat - anything within range of his axe is pretty much dead but is just too stupid to realize it. And when I say "anything", I really mean anything - not even a Imperator titan or Hierophant would survive close combat with this thing. His melee capability is pretty much unmatched; if it's in base contact with him, it's going to be dead within the turn. He costs A LOT and is a massive firemagnet, but as a flying gargantuan creature he is now insanely durable (as in T8 2+/3++ save with FnP that you can only hit on 6's durable), and can rip apart enemy fliers. On the plus side, he eats titans and superheavies like Abaddon eats people; hell he could eat Abaddon for breakfast. He gets +D6 attacks on the charge and has a lovely 2+ Deny the Witch. Thanks to the new Gargantuan Creature rules he can now be locked in close combat, so be wary of tarpits should anything survive your charge. On the brighter side you now no longer have to trade all of your attacks to Stomp attack, so once you have launched all of your strength 10 AP 2 Instant Death on 6's hits, throw down some Stomp attacks on anyone that managed to survive. He's still overpriced though - Zarakynel does it almost as well for 222 points less, regenerates wounds and Dat Ass.... On the other hand, because superheavy vehicle rules regarding D-strength hits are much better than gargantuan creature rules, he can get ganked with horrible ease by D-Strength weapons , keep him flying and away from anything that can smack him with an SD hit like your life depends on it (this is now only a secondary priority now strength D only ignores invun on a 6, although it will still ignore your armour and FNP no matter what).  Because going down to two turbo-laser shots is not fun.  If you see a Tau Manta or Tigersharks; prepare to cry because they're going to sodomize you and there's nothing you can do about it.

*'''Great Unclean One''' - Being a Greater Daemon of Nurgle, it's no surprise that this little guy can take tons of punishment, being one of the toughest units in the entire game with the ablity to reach T10(!) by having access to Biomancy. Despite his fat and bloated appearance, The Great Unclean One can also bring the pain in close combat by having five S6 attacks with no upgrades. However, the Great Unclean One is terribly slow, being only able to move 6" a turn due to Slow and Purposeful. As a result, Deep Strike is an absolute necessity for him to ever reach any sort of combat. Now here's where it gets tricky. Any 40k player worth a damn is going to ignore shooting this unit because of its sheer bulk and target your other more squishy units instead. You ''need'' to invest in plenty of upgrades for this guy, or he's going to be the world's fattest statue. A good loadout for The Great Unclean One involves two Greater Rewards (the Exalted Rewards table is pretty meh for this kind of unit).  As for psychic powers two points in Biomancy for ridiculous buffs, and one point in Plague to gain access to a shooting attack ''might'' seem like the obvious route, but what tends to be more practical is all three powers on Biomancy for maximum chance at Iron Arm; besides the Great Unclean One doesn't really need a shooting attack. Deep Strike him on an objective or behind your opponent's delicious gunline, and you just made the Great Unclean One something that ''cannot'' be ignored by your opponent. Then giggle manically as they struggle to put down a T7-T10 Monstrous Creature with 6 wounds, all while the rest of your forces come in to help clean up. However, you will always need to watch out for tarpit units, poison or sniper weapons (Nurgle weak to poison?! HERESY! But seriously they hurt.), and Mindshackle Scarabs. Fuck Mindshackle Scarabs.
**'''Ku'gath, The Plaguefather''' - A Great Unclean One that's a bit more expensive than a regular Great Unclean One. Don't be fooled by the shiny AP3 Large Blast. Only Psyker Level 1 and no rewards mean this guy is a great deal weaker than a pimped out GUO. But he gets stuff that regular GUO's can't even buy, for example he is even BETTER in melee than a regular Great Unclean One and he gets to throw AP3 Poisoned 4+ Large blasts with BS3 at the enemy every turn! Oh, and one last thing. He has no model, and apparently he travels around on a pontoon-like palanquin filled with laboratory instruments carried by an entire battalion of Nurglings. So before you go spending hundreds of dollars (and hours! Jesus!) on converting this model, just use a regular Great Unclean One model (or a Forge World Daemon of Nurgle) and say that he decided to walk today. Nobody will mind. (Also he can have nearby Nurglings gain a wound back every turn.)
**'''Scabeiathrax (Forge World/Apocalypse)''' - Will never, ever, ever, ever die. He is to Great Unclean Ones as An'ggrath is to Bloodthirsters. Though he costs 777 points, with 6 wounds, Feel no Pain (4+), Invulnerable saves (3++), Daemon of Nurgle (Shrouded), and toughness 9 (which means that heavy bolters and down can't hurt him and he has a pretty good chance of just laughing off lascannons on toughness alone) there is practically nothing in the game that will kill him. He has a bunch of Nurgling attacks, though not that many of his own - but any wounds he inflicts become 2 wounds to the model he strikes should they fail a toughness test. Additionally should anything that doesn't have Mark of Nurgle or is not a Daemon be within 6" of him they must take a toughness test or suffer a wound with no armor or cover saves allowed. This helps considerably should something try to keep him locked in close combat thanks to the new Gargantuan Creature rules. He's kind of like Typhus if Typhus were mutated by nuclear waste that had Papa Nurgle had spilled his latest concoction on. He's a big firemagnet, but given the amount of effort it takes to kill him; that won't do anything to him and in fact will be very good for the rest of your army. <strike> All the same, watch out for Strength D shooting weapons </strike> FAQ is out on destroyer weapons and they no longer ignore invulnerable saves, making them a minimal threat to Ol' Scabies.

*'''Keeper of Secrets''' - Similar to the Bloodthirster except fleet and tricksy instead of flying and beefy. He lost his big bag of tricks and now must rely on random Rewards like anyone else, but again they pumped his stats like crazy (WS9 I10 anyone?). Not to mention at 170 pts base he is a STEAL for a T6 monstrous creature, and with Fleet and an extra 3" Run move he's quite mobile for a footslogging MC. Pair him up with a Bloodthirster and go crazy. That said, he's not a CC killer in the same way that the 'thirster is. Despite an awesome statline, he's more geared towards mowing down the rank and file than taking on anything terribly strong - without the Flyer-related defences of a 'thirster or LoC, or the durability of a GUO, T6, 5 wounds and only a 5++ will not last long against most challenge-geared HQs or heavy shooting, but his high WS and Init will ensure most troops will be hitting him on 5s long after he's torn through them. Greater Rewards will mitigate your survivability issues somewhat, as 4 out of 6 will increase your defenses in some way. As a situational bonus, the Keeper of Secrets now has Preferred Enemy against Eldar and Dark Eldar. Given the prevalence of the former due to the new codex, this may come up more than you'd think.  
**'''Zarakynel (Forge World/Apocalypse)''' - Essentially the An'ggrath of Keeper of Secrets. While she is the weakest of the Uber Greater Daemons at 666 points, she is no slouch and will bring massive levels of oh so literal assrape to everything in her long reach. She has both Init and WS 10, gains D3 attacks on the charge, counts as armed with assault grenades when charging and re-rolls all failed to-hit and to-wound rolls - pretty much guaranteeing that she will go first and hit rather regularly with her AP1 instant death sword that replenishes her wounds on a 2+. For extra lulz, non-fearless units have to pass a leadership test before they can try and hit her back. The latest edition gives her a 36" S6 AP3 shooting attack with D6 shots and pinning. So essentially, like Lucius the eternal turned up to eleven. Plus [[DISTRACTION CARNIFEX|DISTRACTION BOOBS]]!

*'''Lord of Change''' - What Bloodthirsters are to stabbing LoCs are to magic. If you're going down the shooty path, be sure to bring Pink Horrors with Heralds, just so your opponent doesn't get Feel no Pain (Even if you do grant them FnP, in most cases the unit will only have a few models left by the time they get it, unless you're shooting at MCs or Nurgle bikers, in which case you were stupid for trying anyway). For a melee LoC, take the Psyker (Master Level 3) upgrade with full Divination, The Eternal Blade & a Staff of Change and you have a LoC that's hitting like a Bloodthirster! Do not sleep on these guys! They are the most versatile Greater Daemon in the book; buff, combat, or shooting, take your pick 'cause he does it all. 
**'''Fateweaver, Oracle of Tzeench''' - THE Psyker of 40k (Level 4) with a points decrease and two heads that are always better than one. Each head knowing all the Change powers (but they're not all that great anyway) as well as randomly generating a power from all the standard disciplines except for Telekinesis. No longer flees when things don't go [[just as planned]]. Overall a very deadly flying psyker. Use the Grimoire of True Names on him and watch him become harder to kill than before! Do not take him into CC, he doesn't belong there, doesn't like it there and will turn you into [[Chaos Spawn|something that shan't be named]] if you bring him there. Use his staff to reroll WHATEVER THE HECK YOU WANT!!! A fun little trick with it is manipulating the warpstorm table; say you roll a 6 and a 1? Using Kyros's warlord trait is risky cause one of your die are high already, instead, use his one die ability and reroll the 1, now at worst your result is a 7-12! So yea, be creative, you have an army wide chronometron so enjoy it!   
**'''Aetaos'Rau'Keres (Forge World/Apocalypse)''' - 999 points of pain. He's been changed up recently but still grows your army at the expense of your opponents' with Riftbringer or heals himself with Soul Eater. For the shooting phase, he comes with Wind of Chaos, a shooting attack which summons horrors with 48" of him AND his staff can drop an '''INFINITE RANGE''' poisoned haywire apocalyptic barrage that can hit up to 9 times. In addition to his high toughness, large number of wounds, 3++ invulnerable save, and flyer rules, this Daemon Lord is a Mastery Level 4 psyker and can rebound psychic powers back onto their caster with after a successful DtW and a 4+ on a D6. If you see this guy leading a tetragon of darkness you're getting screwed. The only winning move is to find the tournament organizer and punch them in the throat. Aetaos'Rau'Keres does have a set of drawbacks however: if he gets within 18" of a Greater Daemon, Daemon Prince or another Daemon lord, he'll direct all his shooting attacks upon the poor sod. Second, he has to pass a leadership test to call down his apocalyptic barrage and if he fails, your opponent gets to place the blasts.

*'''Daemon Prince''' - Your customizable killing machine, and with WS 9, S6, I8,and 5 attacks it's not to be sneezed at - and that's before the mandatory upgrade to a Daemon of a Chaos God (one of them had to promote the lucky mortal after all). Most of the time these guys won't be your HQ if you like your Greater Daemons, because when you buy a Greater Daemon of your choice God, a Daemon Prince of that God moves to a Heavy Support choice (Similar to the Tyranid Tervigon, except they're taken as Troops). Its strength is that it can be tailored to your liking. CC monster? Spellcaster? Vector-Striking flyer? He can do it all if you're willing to shell out the points - which brings us to the main flaw: it will become more and more costly as you upgrade it and in most cases you should consider investing your points to the more powerful Greater Daemons as they are damningly more cost effective (and sometimes cheaper as with the GUO and KoS) than the Daemon prince, which both says something and is pretty fucking sad. It's better to take this Build-a-Daemon as your Heavy support choice. Just do not, I repeat, '''DO NOT''' go overboard on the gifts and upgrades! Keep in mind that Wings and Armour are damn near mandatory. <br />They do however have a few roles for you to consider, such as the Slaanesh Lash Prince. Consisting of a DP with wings, Lash of Despair and a biomancy psyker, pray to Slaanesh that you roll Iron Arm and fly around all game throwing 2d6 S9 shots (which is absolutely insane!) at enemy flyers. It's unreliable as fuck but if you wanted reliability, you picked the wrong codex. Alternatively, you can build a monstrous creature hunter by taking a Nurgle Prince, give it the Balesword and three points into Biomancy. Buff yourself up with the fantastic Biomancy buffs to make yourself a very tough cookie to take down (watch out for Tau, however. They love their Skyfire and Ignore Cover). Get him into assault with a MC, prepare to drink your opponent's tears: stab 'em with your Balesword for an AP2 Instant Death attack. The big drawback with the Balesword is its lack of AP but because DPs are monstrous creatures they can bypass this drawback.
**'''Uraka the Warfiend (Forge World)''' - One of two named Daemon Princes from Forgeworld. His stat line remains unchanged except for Ld 9 and he costs 200 points now. His axe lost Instant Death proper but gained Fleshbane and Decapicating Blow (ID on a to-wound of a 6) to compensate. Uraka's added goodies include a nice shiny Collar of Khorne, Warp Forged Armor, and Unholy Frenzy. This is cool and all but he is still likely to get shot to death before he does anything productive. Still not enough of a badass to make us believe he beat a Bloodthirster before gaining daemonhood.
**'''Mamon, Daemon Prince of Nurgle (Forge World)''' - The other FW named Daemon Prince. His stats are similar to a Great Unclean One, putting him at WS7, S6, T7, 5 wounds, I4, 4 attacks and Ld 9. Throw in Feel no pain, Poisoned 2+ attacks, Daemon of Nurgle and a poisoned 2+ AP3 template weapon. Not bad at all!
**'''[[Be'lakor]] The Dark Master (Dataslate)'''- A returning character from Fantasy, Be'lakor gets Eternal Warrior that regular Daemon Princes lack and is a Level 3 Psyker with all Telepathy Discipline by default. He comes with the unique rules Shadow Form (4+ invulnerable save and Shrouded and automatically passes Dangerous Terrain tests) and Lord of Torment (gains a bonus D3 Warp Charge points by making enemy units fail morale checks). He also has wings and possesses a unique weapon called the Blade of Shadows (S+1, AP2, Fleshbane, Armorbane, and Master-Crafted). He also doesn't need to be devoted to a chaos god, as he serves all of them. At 350 points, he's a flat upgrade to the basic Daemon Prince and cost-effective to boot. His model is arguably the coolest GW has ever made, too.