Warhammer 40,000/7th Edition Tactics/Khorne Daemonkin

Why Play Khorne Daemonkin?

A quick Disclaimer: Daemonkin as an army only exist in 7th edition. Cheers Games Workshop.

Because you're an old neckbeard who can remember the days of a unified codex for all the forces of Chaos, when daemons walked alongside marines. Or you could be thinking that the Warriors of Chaos had a neato deal on it thanks to The End Times merging them with Daemons, Beastmen, and later Skaven.

Or perhaps you're a fluffy neckbeard who finds the idea of Chaos Gods working together despicable and hates the fact that gods need to be combined to have a slight chance of winning.

Also, you find psychic powers to be weak shit, and will not miss it at all. Instead, you want honorable melee combat between powerful warriors. Furthermore you like an army that compares to the speed of White Scars and Ravenwing then put them to shame in melee combat! Plus you get to use the most overused phrase in 40k:

BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD! SKULLS FOR THE SKULL THRONE! MILK FOR THE KHORNE FLAKES! BUTTER FOR THE POPKHORNE! SALSA FOR THE KHORNECHIPS!! CABBAGE FOR THE KHORNEBEEF!!

No? Ok, I'll stop now...

Who this ISN'T for, sadly, is anyone looking for an actually fixed Chaos Space Marines or Daemons codex. A lot of the same issues with those books still exist, and it opens up its own bevy of issues. The most glaring issue is that obviously everything has Mark of Khorne or Daemon of Khorne...but has to pay for it? If we are a Khorne only army....why couldn't MoK either be free or discounted? It's a stupidly high tax on all our units.

HOWEVER, while not top tier, it is surprisingly strong for a chaos space marine melee based army. Being able to take Heldrakes and Soulgrinders in the same detachment has its uses, and the Gorepack is a decent formation. Daemonkin were pretty much a rush-job army in 7th that existed to hock "NEW AND IMPROVED" Bloodthirsters that were also being released for WHFB End Times, and it shows, especially in the FAQ. Caveat emptor.

Pros and Cons of the army

Daemons Changes

First off, some good news: YOU'RE NOW FREE OF THOSE BATSHIT INSANE TABLES!

That means that you're no longer rolling each table and risking your units getting clobbered because the dice gods decided to be pricks or having to spend in the hopes of rolling up something reliable. The issue with this is that now those units that relied on those random gifts (Bloodthirsters, Heralds, Bloodreapers) now have to suffer losing those gifts. So units like the Herald only get generic access to a limited selection of Relics and Gifts while the Bloodthirsters get absolutely no customisation options whatsoever.

The other good news is that you're now free of Daemonic Instability and Daemonic Alignment (they still have daemon of khone, but they lost the note restricting daemons of khorne to only be able to join units entirely consisting of daemons of khorne.). Instead, all Daemons get Fearless and can mix their ICs and units with your CSM/DK ICs and units.

• Blood Tithe: Although the annoying Mark of Khorne tax on every unit (non Daemon ofc) and the Possessed tax (when using a slaughtercult formation) for the minimum requirement, the Blood Tithe table really does add so much to your army! Giving your entire army Feel No Pain can help swing a combat in your favour and giving everyone +1 attack can mean the difference of missing an extra BT point or gain extra per turn and seriously weakening your enemy! Use this table to your full advantage!
• We soar on wings of fire!: With two formations giving us either 2 units of Raptors, 1 unit of Warp Talons or 2 units of Bikes and a unit of Fleshounds, we really do have an overabundance of fast units, not even including a Jump Daemon Prince of pure shrekage! Fleshhounds are your saving grace for this army since they have scout so use your scouting move to threaten psykers or get closer to the cover as the 5++ and T4 don't mean much against regular bolter-fire! Remember, no first (game) turn assaults for units using Scout (or Infiltrate) Bring as many Fleshhound units as you want since one formation holds 4 units of these little devils!
• I thought our lucky number was 8?: Even though the sacred number of Khorne is 8, there is a bucketload of Strength 5 attacks coming from this army since Icon of Wrath is usually around 15 to 20pts per squad which is just awesome if you think about it. 20pts to gain +1 to combat res, Furious Charge and Re-Roll charge range?! So much win.

And then the cons:

• Mark of Khorne on every unit: Yes this sounds really freakin' obvious in Codex Khorne Daemonkin but if you're going to make us solely dedicated to Khorne and with all those loyalist players get all those amazing buffs for free then why do we HAVE to pay the MoK tax on every unit. Remember why Black Legion Supplement is never played due to the tax of VotlW? Yeah, this army suffers that too! Even if the Mark of Khorne wasn't free, then at least make it discounted. Not sure where this comes from, MoK is built into every mortal unit in the Codex for the same price. Normal Spikey Marines have MoK and cost 15pts...
• Missing Units/Upgrades: Many characters aren't in this list like Kharn and Skarbrand mainly due to them not really working with an army...but in an army wholly dedicated to the carnage of Khorne are these crucial characters not in this book? (It can't be for fluff reasons, Khârn non-optionally leads the Brotherhood of Blood combined Khorne CSM/Khorne Daemons Apocalypse Datasheet from White Dwarf September 2010 (US 368).)(It is for fluff reasons; Kharn is World Eaters. This is a Warband book, not a Legion book. The World Eaters are their own entity. (Kharn serves the blood God above all else and has displayed that in the fluff on more than one occasion. There is no good reason why he isnt in this book. He may lead the World Eaters, but he leads them in any way that serves the blood god's needs.) Skarbrand missing is anyone's guess.) Another glaring missing upgrade has to be Dirge Casters (Although the the upgrade is Slanneshi in origin, so Khorne may have some issues with that. On the flip-side, though, they could have given us a similar upgrade that did the same thing while being called something else. After all, "Ichor Blood" is a Nurgle based gift). Zero reason why they are not within the book and if anything they was a crucial part of our assault based armies.
  • Heralds and Daemon Princes in particular get the shaft. They can no longer take non-artefact weaponry, including, bizarrely, the Axe of Khorne. The Blade of Blood and Etherblade are straight up missing as well.
• No Attempt to theme: Know all those units that have some sort of chart? Helbrutes, Possessed and Chaos Spawn just have the bog-standard charts from the CSM book. Really Games Workshop...if you want us Khorne players to be good, then at least change these charts to centre around melee since we took these units to be melee combatants. Saying that the Helbrute, Possessed and Spawn charts are still very good but not very "Khorney".
• Lacking Psychic Defense - Despite several upgrades which grant bonuses to deny the witch, Codex: Khorne Daemonkin has no means to gain additional dispel dice. This means that without psyker allies, you are stuck at 1d6 dispel dice, greatly limiting the tactical value of khorne collars or adamantium will. There are also no upgrades that grant any additional ability to deny blessings or summons by the opponent.

Special Rules

• Mark of Khorne - Rage and Counter-Attack. Which is an insult after having +1A.
• Daemon of Khorne - Daemon, Hatred (Slaanesh), Furious Charge. Chariots also get HoW attacks at S7. As a fun bonus, you're also now free from Daemonic Instability and Warp Storm and get Fearless instead. WOOT!
• Blood for the Blood God! - Every unit that you or your enemy kills on the field (which can make your opponent a bit gun shy about finishing your units off) or when your character is killed or when an enemy character dies in a challenge gets converted into Blood Tithe points. You can only stock 8 points at a time, but you can use them for cool stuff (Issue is that whatever you pick, you spend all your points on it, even if you have more points than needed):
  • Infernal Contempt - 1 point. Grants all units with BftBG Adamantium Will for a turn. Can do well when stacked with the Collar but only really useful against psychic spam armies.
  • Insatiable Bloodlust - 2 points. Grants all units with BftBG Rage and Furious Charge for a turn, which can be very handy for assaults, despite having at least one of these default on all your models. Might wanna save it for the next one, because that one is great.
  • Unstoppable Ferocity - 3 points. All units with BftBG get FNP for a turn. This is sweetness.
  • Apocalyptic Fury - 4 points. All units with BftBG gain +1 Attack for a turn. Great for when everything is annoyingly locked in ongoing assaults, but save your points for later if you can. All the options after this one summon daemons to the field, although if for some reason you don't have the models to represent those units, then the blood tithe points are wasted.
  • Daemontide - 5 points. 8 Bloodletters/5 Flesh Hounds are summoned within 12" of a model with BftBG. Fun note about this is that just like the Malefic summoning, you can get an Instrument, Banner, or Character upgrade for free if you have the model for it. This makes Bloodletters more reliable in deep-striking.
  • Harbingers of Blood and Skulls - 6 Points. 3 Bloodcrushers/A Skull Cannon is summoned within 12" of a model with BftBG. This is pretty handy in bolstering some surprise losses.
  • Dark Apotheosis - 7 Points. Find a character without the Daemon of Khorne USR. He must test Leadership. If he fails, he's now a...thing. If he passes, congrats, he's now a Daemon Prince with Warp-Forged Armor and maybe wings, though he is "summoned" within 6" of his old position meaning potential scatter issues. Also, he keeps any Artefacts of Slaughter he had provided they are compatible and his WT. Either way he counts as being removed as a casualty (see below why this is important) Therefore it still confers a killpoint if it was an independent character, but thankfully, either result doesn't count as Slaying the Warlord if your Warlord was picked.
    • The new May 2016 FAQ says that conjured or summoned FMCs must be declared as either in Swooping or Gliding mode when they arrive on the board. They still arrive via deep strike, so cannot charge that turn either way. But now the choice of wings or no wings is down to what you build the model as.
  • Fury Unbound - 8 points. Find a character without the Daemon of Khorne USR. He must test Leadership. If he fails, he's gone (And now your enemy is awarded for Slay the Warlord if you used your Warlord). If he passes, you now have a new Unfettered Fury Bloodthirster with the same WT, and if that guy was your warlord, the thirster's now your Warlord. Like Dark Apotheisis, your original model is still "removed as a casualty" and the new Bloodthirster is summoned to the table via deep strike so doesn't get into killing straight away.
• Skulls for the Skull Throne! - Essentially Champions of Chaos, you must issue/accept challenges. Only now you're not under constant risk of being morphed into...well, those gribblies.

Warlord Traits

Usually armies always get Warlord Traits that are always mediocre with a couple that stand out above all the rest; Khorne Daemonkin does not suffer this and ALL of these traits are good for your Daemon Prince, Oh I mean Warlord.

1. Icon of War - warlord and any unit with 12" with BftBG may reroll charge distances. 12" range which affects units is huge but could be highly wasted if you have Icons of Wrath.
2. Disciple of Khorne - gain Zealot. Which essentially means only Hatred, since all your HQs were fearless anyway. Good but Butcher King is better.
   • Hatred is applied only to a single model, while Zealot confers Hatred for the model's entire unit. So zealot is better than fearless and hatred if your warlord is attached to a unit.
3. Arch Slaughterer - add +1 to attacks stat. A good one, since you can just rack up the extra attacks.
4. Favoured of Khorne - generate an additional Blood Tithe point whenever the warlord slays a character in a challenge. If you slay an Independent Character in a challenge, you'll get THREE Blood Tithe points! Jesus. Stack with the Blade of Endless Bloodshed for FOUR BLOOD TITHE POINTS! Skulltaker starts with this.
5. Butcher King - gain preferred enemy (everything). Oh baby it's a triple! This trait is amazing. If you get this, just watch people cry as your Daemon Prince/Bloodthirster/Jacked-Up-Lord NEVER misses or fails to wound.
6. Destined for Glory - when testing LD for Dark Apotheosis or Fury Unbound, they always pass the test. Useless on anything other than the Chaos Lord since models that already have the "Daemon" rule cannot be replaced, but that's what you have a Re-Roll for your Warlord Trait right?

Wargear

Melee Weapons

• Chainaxe - It's a chainsword...'cept it's AP4. Ideal for cleaving apart mobs, but nothing more than that. Sure would be nice if it did something worth the points it costs... Like say reducing all armor saves to a 4+ maybe. Can be impressive in kill team, just due to low cost and weak armor saves being more common.
• Axe of Khorne - AP2 Specialist Weapon that causes ID on a 6 to-wound. Essentially Power Fists + 1. Now available to any Chaos Space Marine unit champion with access to the Melee Weapons list. Bizarrely not available to Heralds.
• Lightning Claw - AP3 and Shred Specialist Weapons. While a sane man could just take one and go to town aware that he'll lose out on the exrta attack from having two weapons, a REAL man would take double claws and go to town on shit. Or better yet, take an Axe of Khorne so you gain that AP2 and chance for ID.
• Power Weapons - You enjoy access to all varieties of power weapons. You'll usually be best served by the Maul's concussive and +2 S, since the sword's just forgettable, the lance is only best served when mounted, and you have the Axe of Khorne which can one-up power axes.
• Chainfist - It's a Powerfist with a Chainsword taped on to it. It's only for Termies, but that just means heavily armored killings.
• Hellblade - The Bloodletter's default weapon. It's a power sword.

Ranged Weapons

• Combi-Bolter - It's a TL bolter. Next.
• Combi-weapons - Has the Melta, Plasma, and Flamer variety. They're your go-to weapon for cheap utility for a turn. Flamers kill mobs, Plasma kills 2+ armor, Melta kills tanks.
• Autocannon - The lone gun you can take which loyalists can't. It looks frightening but tends to be underwhelming when compared to Lascannons or Plasma Guns.

Special-Issue Wargear

• Jump Packs - Add one so now your lord can join some Raptors. That's really all you can do with these.
  • Adds the deep strike rule to your lord too, so useful if you want have them join daemon units, all of which can deep strike into combat.
• Sigil of Corruption - Congrats, you now own a 4++ Save.
• Chaos Bike - Unlike the loyalists, you can't make Bikers troops. You can still join bikes and mow things down.

Loci of Khorne

• Lesser Locus of Abjuration: Adamantium Will. Honestly, most powers are blessings, so the DtW bonus is questionable at best. Unless you're going up against Grey Knights, then sure. Just stick with the other 2.
• Greater Locus of Fury: RAGE!!! Honestly the best Locus when pairing the herald with bloodletters.
• Exhalted Locus of Wrath: Hatred (Everything). 5 points more than the Locus of Fury, and your Herald is now like a Dark Apostle. Honestly, not so useful with bloodletters since re-rolls to hit is nice, but with bloodletters quantity beats quality. Could benefit units like flesh hounds. Also, sticking him in a land raider with a group of berzerkers isn't an awful way to give them hatred or a cheap method of sticking out a tough challenge for a turn so someone with an axe of Khorne can do some damage.

Gifts of Khorne

• Ichor Blood - Every time a model with this takes an unsaved wound in combat, the hitter suffers an S3 AP4 hit.
• Aura of Dark Glory - 5++ Save. Trash, for 10 points more you can get a 4++ from the Sigil of Corruption.
• Collar of Khorne - +2 to Deny the Witch. Stack with Adamantium Will and you're now effectively shutting down all the witches!
• Combat Familiar - 2 bonus S4 AP- attacks. Decent take.
• Juggernaut of Khorne - Available to Heralds and non-Termie Lords. If you take it, you're best suited joining some Flesh Hounds. Bloodcrushers are just wasted points.

Vehicle Equipment

• Daemonic Possession - Your tank's now BS3, it can ignore Crew Shaken/Stunned on a 2+, and anyone who enters must now roll a d6 and get a model eaten on a 1, recovering an HP. Really, not that worth it.
• Havoc Launchers - An S5 AP5 TL blast. This is okay for some bonus fire support.

Artefacts of Slaughter

Naturally, only one of each artefact may be taken per army. The rest is in the fine print: which follows the "may take one" pattern found across several codices. You can take one of the non-weapon artefacts or you "may instead replace" one weapon with one of the weapon artefacts. So no having one super lord loaded up with multiple relics.

It is notable that the Artefacts of Slaughter are very restrictive in which HQs can select them, with the Brazen Rune and Blade of Endless Bloodshed being the only unrestricted options (and the only two options for a Blood Throne or Herald). A Daemons Prince of Khorne can take any except the Skull Helm. A Chaos Lord has full access.

You can attempt to circumvent the Daemon Prince of Khorne's Restriction on skull helm by having it start on a Chaos Lord, and then have him become Daemon Prince via the 7 Blood Tithe point power, which specially carries over the Artefacts of Slaughter AND ignores the normal restrctions on these.

• Goredrinker - a power axe that gains additional special rules the more wounds it causes over the course of the game. In fact the rules never actually refer to the axe. They always mention the bearer and melee attacks. Miss your AoBF Juggernaut Lord? Build yourself an axe of undiluted RAEP.
  • 1-2 - gain +1 strength
  • 3-4 - gain the Rampage special rule
  • 5-7 - double the owner's strength score, cumulative with the earlier bonus for strength 10 on a chaos lord (4 x 2 then add +1 twice for the axe and the bonus )
  • 8+ - all the owner's attacks cause Instant Death
  • I would recommend pairing it with a power sword. Why? Because, as stated above, the Blood Feast special rule never refers to the axe. That implies the benefits from killing enemies are carried over to other bearer's melee weapons. After 2-3 rounds of combat you will have a strength 9 (10 in charge), AP 3 monstrosity with Instant Death and 6+D3 attacks in charge AT INITIATIVE for only 120 points (not counting other upgrades). And per RAW you don't even have to actually use the Goredrinker. (WARNING: Rules-As-Obviously-Not-Intended, but hey, go nuts. Khorne will take it out of your cheesey, yet somehow totally flavourless ass.)
  • Note that, as of the draft FAQ in May 2016, weapon effects (such as the D-Thirster's Colossal and Goredrinker's Blood Feast) apply even when not using the weapon. So grab your power sword with it and go nuts.
  • Another good idea you could do with this artefact is you could give it to a Daemon Prince and make him the bane of anything. A Flying Monstrous Creature with Strength 10 instant death and Rampage when fully charged will guarantee that he will murder ANYTHING that he comes in contact with. And the best part: he is at full initiative so go nuts with him!

• The Blade of Endless Bloodshed - a normal power sword with one extra rule: any assault phase where the bearer causes any casualties (not "per" casualty) adds +1 blood tithe point. It is also the only relic weapon available to Heralds unfortunately. Sadly a bit overpriced for what it offers compared to other options.

• Skull Helm of Khorne - the bearer causes Fear, and any to-hit roll of 6 generates an additional attack, but those cannot generate any more (so no endless attacks). Largely not worth the points; Fear is mediocre and you are limited to a single relic.
  • As noted above, if a chaos lord with the skull helm is transformed into a daemon prince, the prince will retain it, and this is only way to get this artefact on the daemon prince.
• Blood Forged Armour - Regular 3+ power armour but grants Eternal Warrior and FnP. Expect to see this in every army list. Superb on your Daemon Princes.

• The Brazen Rune - your psyker defense, normally it only grants AW, but once per game you may cause it to create a 24" bubble where any psyker attempting to manifest powers will peril on ANY double, but then the AW rule is lost.
  • A good buy because even if your opponent has only one psyker he will risk a horrible death on a turn of your choosing. Losing AW is no big deal if their psyker is dead in later phases. Otherwise you've neutered that psyker for a turn because your opponent was too chicken to try anything.

• Kor'lath, the Axe of Ruin - a "normal" axe of Khorne (ie. AP2 specialist weapon that causes ID on 6s to-wound) but if the bearer dies for ANY reason, even if otherwise "removed as a casualty" a Bloodthirster of Unfettered Fury arrives within 6" of where he died. The catch is that the Bloodthirster loses D3 wounds every turn (which may be saved with invulnerable saves however) as it is only meant to be temporary, but even then it might survive the remainder of the game quite comfortably. Not bad for 30 points over a regular axe of Khorne.
  • Can be a fantastic distraction carnifex if your opponent knows what's coming and he faces a conundrum of leaving the bearer alive to kill more things rather than deal with a Bloodthirster later.
  • Note that your 'thirster can choose to arrive either swooping or gliding as of the May 2016 FAQ.
  • Put on a normal Chaos Lord and you can use "Fury Unbound" to give you two Bloodthirsters in the same turn. The FAQ clarified this so you can no longer ascend in stages to get an "extra" Greater Daemon for transforming from Lord to Prince. A Daemon Prince keeps the Axe if he was promoted from Lord, but cannot use the Fury Unbound rule since he's a daemon, but still provides the Bloodthirster if he dies.

Unit Analysis

HQ

• Chaos Lord: You know him, you love him, same utility boss as always, even for the same price (Yes, he's priced like he paid for it in the main 'dex). Unlike the "core" Lord, he has access to the previously daemon-only Axe of Khorne, for AP2 while striking at initiative order.

• Daemon Prince: He's big, he's killy, and he's here to demolish anything that pisses him off, which he'll have to since he's now forced to do challenges (You're playing Khorne, remember?). Sad thing is that he's rather limited in what he can take (Mainly either relics or Gifts), but at least he can also buy wings too. Regardless of how much more expensive it is, Blood Forged Armor gives Eternal Warrior and FNP along with a 3+ compared to only a 3+ makes it a straight upgrade to Power Armor.

• Herald of Khorne: Your other budget HQ. You're now free from the madness of Kelly's tables, and can pick whatever you want out of the Loci, Gifts, and relics, meaning there is no way to get a Herald with AP2 since both relic axes are restricted. A support HQ choice opposed to the sheer kill potential of your other HQs, you're now able to join whatever forces you want meaning your Locus can apply to "mortal" squads, Locus of Wrath while attached to Berserkers for maximum benefit.
  • Blood Throne: Your Chariot got some new boosts now: One is that now every Daemonkin unit can benefit from whatever Loci you have (Reminder, Abjuration gives Adamantium Will, Fury gives Rage, Wrath gives Hatred), which is sweet. The other is that you get two S4 AP3 (S5 if you charged) hits at WS5 I4 to represent your crew alongside your Herald's attacks. It's still a very sturdy ride.

• Bloodthirster: Thanks to End Times: Archaon, you've now got two new variations to the big monster, and a new multi-model kit. You're also free of Kelly's tables, but the price to this is the loss of any ability to customize. Also, auto-challenges.
  • Unfettered Fury: The 'thirster you've been using all along. As a refresher, you've got your Axe of Khorne and your Lash (A 12" Assault 1 S6 AP2 shot). If you want to play the army to its fullest potential you'll need one of these in your collection, just don't pay the points for it when building your army because you can just summon them for free using BftBG or with Axe of Ruin.
  • Insensate Rage: 25 Points gets you the Rage USR and the world's biggest axe. No, seriously, it's got THE D and AP2, but it forces you to pile in and fight at Initiative 1 because it's so fucking heavy. It's...well, it's less absurd a price tag than Fantasy had. The absence of ranged weapons is compensated by the ability of flying monstrous creatures to jink every turns. As jink don't forbid you to charge on next turn it's not a problem for a Bloodthirster of Insensate Rage. To summarize, it give you 3 constant saves: 3+ armor, 4+ cover, 5+ invulnerable.
  • Wrath of Khorne: 50 more points. Now you've got Hatred (Characters) and Adamantium Will. Also, you get the Bloodflail, a utility weapon that can either be a souped-up Lash (S7 AP2 Assault d3) or an AP2 Specialist Weapon, and a Heavy Flamer with Soulblaze alongside your basic Axe (Free attack! Yay!). You are now fabulously capable of laying on the pain in a challenge you charge towards.

• Skulltaker: Bafflingly, Skulltaker is the lone character of the Daemonkin army. No Kharn, no Skarbrand (A loss on GW's part since they were already making the new Bloodthirster models (likely they didn't want to change the characters right away and their rules aren't primed for 7th)), and no Karanak. Also, he loses out on riding the Juggernaut/Blood Throne. Aside from that, he's the same ol' Character-slayer (Notes include WS/BS9, I9, 3+ Armor with EW, Power Sword with Soulblaze and ID when you roll 6 to-wound), now with the option of joining models as tough as he is, if not tougher.

Troops

• Cultists - 7 goons, 1 champion (Yeah, this is a pattern. All basic infantry are organized in squads of 8). They still can only take Flamers or Heavy Stubbers per 5 (or just get Autoguns) while the champ can only get a shotty. Simple tip: Sacrifice them. Sure your characters are shit, so let them die Note: Theres a champion and a unit, so 1 units of cultists generates 2 Blood tithe! Use their death to fill the Blood Tithe (Doubly so if they get overrun). If you spam MSU, you can go pretty far. Note that since the Daemon prince and Bloodthirster Blood Tithe options require you to sacrifice a character, these can bring both bodies to fill the Tithe and a free body to get "possessed". Just make sure you have someone boosting their leadership to not-sucking levels. On a plus side Cultists can be "sacrificed" if they failed their morale check, aka: means that if your surviving unit of 3 cultists are running away and are far too low to do anything you can sacrifice them by removing them from play and getting your Blood Tithe point! Just be sure not to scrap them too early and give your opponent First Blood, so at least kill something first before you start using them to horde Blood Tithes.
  • When using cultists remember to if possible play aggressively with them, unless you are just using them for objective camping you want to have them out in the line of fire as quickly as possible. Of course if you can get some shots or charges off take it, but remember these guys are meat-shields put them in front of more important units as you move up the board and let them absorb the enemy shooting so your real fighters are unhurt for combat next turn. And with their deaths you can use the blood tithe to buff the rest of your army for next turns combat.
  • Best Blood Tithes: Doesn't really matter as they are really for generating points, not using them. If you must best go with the second and fourth ones with them. FNP isn't great on them as you want them to be doing damage before death, not staying alive.

• Chaos Space Marines: Your middling troops choice. You're no longer risking champions turning into gribblies with each fight, but you've also lost out on the gift of mutation as well as Veterans of the Long War. Other than that, you've still got the same issues of price, now worsened by MoK being stock as well as the large base size. Very overshadowed in this book, plus the removal of Icon of Vengeance kinda made them kinda redundant, plus you spent £30 to use the unit below this, right?
  • If you insist on using them it is best to focus more heavily on their ranged abilities (berzerkers are better fighting marines anyway and bloodletters are cheaper). So best to leave them equipped with their bolters and maybe throw in a melta and special weapon for kicks, then throw them in a rhino and start shooting around the board. Its probably the best option you got for chaos space marines. Also do not forget you are NOT fearless and can run off the board or be overrun, so tread carefully.
    • Best Blood Tithes: Feel no pain all the way. They really aren't the ones you want in combat anyway, just some extra boost against enemy return shooting. Close second would be granting furious charge, the extra strength can help.

• Khorne Berzerkers: Your iconic elite murder machines...still struggle under an exorbitant price tag. They still need to pay 3 points for their chainaxes, and still suffer from only getting attacks when charging/getting charged. And you also lack VotLW. For such an iconic unit, you'd think they'd give these bastards at least something of a break. Remember, a CSM statline and power armour means Berzerkers are far more suited to handle horde armies and prolonged combats than Bloodletters are, who can easily be overwhelmed by Tyranids and Orcs they fail to wipe out on the charge due to Bloodletters' low number of attacks, toughness, and saves. In addition they are also far less vulnerable to overwatch fire and Instant Death, so have more opportunities to abuse feel no pain and make their charge distance. Also having ranged abilities gives them more versatility (especially in regards to the plasma pistol upgrades) than Bloodletters, thus meaning not being in combat is not a complete loss for them.
  • Berzerkers overall are probably the most reliable of the the the four troop choices. Hordes will get mowed down, MEQS and TEQS can be taken down through sheer weight of attacks and shooting (you do also have the two plasma pistol per squad and power fist options if you want more guarantees) and there high weapon skill means they can handle themselves against high strength combatants. They are better fighters than chaos space marines and cultists, including being more reliable than bloodletters. Though for all this you are paying a higher price, if you are focusing on other areas of your army and low on points you would probably be wise to consider cultist or bloodletters for troop based fighters. Or perhaps chaos space marines if you want to focus on shooting (why you would in this army, I leave to you).
    • Best Blood Tithes: The second tithe is useless to them so best focus on the third and fourth. This will grant them feel no pain and +1 attack (combined effects assumed with slaughter cult) which combined with their other abilities will mean they will have literally one of the scariest charges in the game with a large squad.

• Bloodletters: Your other budget troops choice, Bloodletters only benefit over Cultists in two ways: Fearless and AP3 weapons. Aside from that, they're still weak against firepower, and aren't too hot in prolonged combat, and with the loss of the random tables (and thus the weapons), getting the Bloodreaper isn't even such a hot choice except for the sole reason of having him die for your Blood Tithe, but at least now they won't have to roll to see if they automatically die and that means that they can act more like bodyshields. Buying an Instrument of Chaos allows them and another Daemons of Khorne unit to auto-arrive from reserves. Buying a Banner allows Daemons of Khorne units Deep-Striking within 6" to not scatter (And other Daemons just scatter d6, which is cool too). Just remember that both upgrades ONLY work on units comprised entirely of models with the Daemon of Khorne rule (aka: Warp Talons!)
  • Bloodletters due to the inclusion of fearless also creates the option of cheap distraction units for your army. Now that you can actually summon with mono-khorne you can bring down units of bloodletters and rush them into high-priority units such as terminator squads and tie them up without worrying about them running. Generally TEQ's probably won't have the attacks to kill them all in one round so that means you can distract them from interfering in other areas for a turn or two. If your bloodletters manage to kill one or two on the charge in well thats just the bonus as your free units take down high point models and when they die they add to the blood tithe and recycle themselves back into summoning more free units who can throw themselves into the line of fire and chip away at your opponent while your other squads deal with other areas (objectives, killing the warlord, etc...). A note that's worth sharing, for newer players, overwatch (specifically rapid fire bolters) can really really hurt.
  • They come in units of 8 now while retaining their original Chaos Daemons price, making MSUs slightly cheaper while being overall more effective (you got fearless instead of instability). If you need to fill the mandatory troop tax (anywhere) these guys will bring more bang for your buck than cultists.
    • Best Blood Tithe: The best for blood letters when getting into combat would probably be the second and fourth options (assuming in the slaughter cult) so they can literally put out more attacks on the charge than daemonettes (seriously). FNP is really not as much a big deal as they probably won't survive that long after combat anyway, best focusing on improving their combat to wrack up the points. Another good tithe for them would be the fifth as summoning more bloodletters in will remove the sting of losing a squad of them, making them more expendable than non-summonable units (chaos space marines, soul-grinders, etc...).

Dedicated Transport

Special note that the language that prevented Khorne daemons from using CSM transports is gone in this codex, so you can put bloodletters in your rhinos and land raiders, if you want. This represents the fastest option to employ a banner of blood so your deep striking daemons won't scatter, 12" move and 6" flat out. Bloodcrushers are the second fastest, with a 1d6" run instead of the flat out.

• Chaos Rhino: Ol' reliable is still here to cart your minions here, and as a Fast Attack Choice, you can even buy an empty one and stuff it full of allied heretics if you feel like throwing out that FA slot. Issue here is that you've lost Dirge Casters (BOO! [Using Slaanesh tech in a Khorne army is the real boo]), Warpflame Gargoyles (Meh [It was too tzeentchy anyway]), and Destroyer Blades (Well enough. We need them cheap anyways).

• Chaos Land Raider: It's a Land Raider, you get everything that normally comes with it (without PotMS since you aren't loyalists). You get a solid way of delivering your squishy troops from one side of the table to an assault. Dedicated Transport for Terminators, but Heavy Support otherwise. Aside from that, all you can really do with it is be a fire magnet, and why would you waste that many points on a Blood Tithe? The loss of Dirge Casters means that your guys are doubly screwed if they don't make the assault because they're now sitting ducks. Alternative view, 3 Soul Grinders in HS slots and 2 lots of Termies with a Land Raider each will cause any opponent to rethink their tactics. Thats 20 AV 13/14 hull points and they can't kill all of that in 5 turns.

Elite

• Possessed: These guys aren't quite as fab as the Crimson Slaughter update made them, but they've got some fun changes still. First off, they get BOTH Mark and Daemon of Khorne rules, which might explain the price bump (Used to be 29 points per unit with MoK, now they're a flat 30). This makes them VERY frightening to face in combat. Their mutations are also the same as they were in the codex, which is doubly nice when added to their bonuses. BUT pay Close attention to the wording from the Vessels of Chaos special rule on the Khorne Daemonkin Possesed:
  • "Vessels of Chaos: At the beginning of each Fight sub-phase, roll a D3 on the table below for each friendly Possessed unit that is locked in combat. The mutation affects every Possessed model in the unit and lasts for the rest of the game turn."
  • This means if you get the first player turn you can have multiple effects simultaneously! As the first effect you generate in the fight sub phase of your assault phase, this effect lasts until the end of the game turn meaning in your opponents fight sub phase you will generate a second effect and have two for that last phase !!! Also, it works if you're charged but you don't want that...
  • Some people have complained that the Slaughtercult's possessed tax is a pain and that the unit is generally over-priced, consider this a litmus test for people who are good at interpreting special rules. Two attacks base, Rage and Furious Charge base, Counter attack base, S5 base, and stacking mutations to possibly grant 2 additional attacks on second player turn if they were in combat beforehand? Given they can't benefit from stage 2 blood tithe, but all the more reason to give them +1A and FNP to turn these guys into the ultimate hammer unit. (Take note that Icon of Wrath is a 20 point investment in only +1 to combat res (You have fleet already) for a unit that when functioning optimally simply obliterates the opposing marine squad/vehicle with 11 armor before getting touched.) Not bad for 30 a model all-in.

• Chaos Terminators: They're still damnably expensive, but still benefit from their nebulous power weapon loadout. Since they're stuck with MoK, the best role for them is the anvil unit, deep-striking on the field and grabbing whatever they can to thin the herd and suck up an untimely assault. If you don't care about them surviving, you can throw in combi-weapons if you can spare the points just to make the Blood Tithe worth it. Chaos Terminators are a good unit for getting Blood Tithe points since they are solid at ranged combat due to their combi-weapons and are pretty nasty in close combat by the own and then Blood Tithe just further boosts their offensive powers. FnP Terminators? Furious Charge + Rage Terminators? 3 attack BASE Terminators? The world is your oyster.

• Bloodcrushers: They're still really shit here. Fearless doesn't help the fact that they only come with a 5++ daemon save and T4. So they die easily despite being Daemons. That being said; these guys are best when used within the formation since they gain +1 attack if they are outnumbered (which is most of the time) plus they can get another +1 attack from either Rage and/or the +1 Attack Blood Tithes which would give each Bloodcrusher 5 Strength 6 (daemons of khorne have furious change and these are base 5) AP3 attacks at WS5 on the charge, plus a Strength 5 HoW hit. Imagine that each Bloodcrusher is a Chapter Master with a jump pack and relic blade and you're actually not far off. Just be wary of ANYTHING Strength 8 or above since it will instant death them. If only Feel No Pain Blood Tithe worked against instant death!
  • The rules that prevented ICs from joining your daemon units are not found in this codex. Your CSM ICs (no mark/daemonic alignment restrictions in this codex), as well as the Chaos Lord from the Daemonkin Codex, can join this unit. So a Biker or Juggernaut IC could run at the fore in order to mitgate S8 shooting attacks. I still find this unit lacking.

Fast Attack

• Chaos Spawn: They're still here, they still get random mutations each turn. Shove them ahead of the pack and they'll be the screens your team needs for a short while. And if they die, free Tithe! Excellent meatshields for your Juggerlord.

• Flesh Hounds: Arguably the most useful unit in the entire book. Their speed is a huge factor which allows them to quickly get into melee. They're just good skirmishing units, capable of covering ground quickly, messing with psykers, and ruining anything below MEQ. Again, you use them as mainstay combat units, (they don't need to only fill niche roles) they are insanely killy due their WS5 and Strength 5 attacks on the charge plus having a 5++ save and 2 wounds each makes them more survivable.
  • They also make good body guards for your Juggerlords and can confer scout upon characters. Run them in the GOREPACK formation to make them even stronger.
  • Heads up - Since so many players use them now, Chaos Warhounds are something of an unofficial proxy model for Flesh Hounds of Khorne. Which is a good thing, since the actual hounds themselves are failcast, and expensive as fuck to boot. A box of Chaos Warhounds costs a little more than half what a box of FH does, and the models are plastic, more dynamic and actually look like hounds. You're going to have to get them 50mm bases, though.

• Raptors: These guys are reasonably priced, efficient at what they do, and versatile in fighting up close. The issue here is that, like all Chaos Marines, they lack VotLW, and thus are very vulnerable if they lose combat. Shoot to close the distance, then charge to make the most of your team. Since Khorne Daemonkin allows you to get Feel No Pain without paying an arm and a leg to get it, Raptors are much stronger than they are in Codex:CSM, furthermore yet again the +1 attack Blood Tithe will help these guys deal with the lack of VotlW.
  • Though not quite as good as bikes, these dudes are solid as tank-hunters as they can take two meltaguns in a 5 man squad. Not that expensive and quite mobile.

• Warp Talons: Now these guys got something of a new lease by merging with Daemons. See, like Possessed, they also benefit from both the Mark and Daemon of Khorne rules, and thus can now benefit from any Banners and Instruments that you put on the field. The issue with this is that they suffer from the whole "Can't assault after DS" bullshit, and thus will more likely end up just adding to your Blood Tithe. Hounds can do this for cheaper, but these guys have durability and a bonus punch. They are also quite a good drop pod defence: they are fast enough to get into melee easily, can mince anything coming out of a drop pod, and if the drop pod units target them they will take quite a bit of fire away from your big killy squishier units.
  • Jump Packs give them deep strike, so as daemons of Khorne, they won't scatter if they land within 6" of a Banner of Blood.
  • Unit lacks Frag and Krak Grenades, so is very reliant on Skull Kannons to be able to assault through cover in initaitive order.

• Chaos Bikers: These guys represent a fine balance between ranged firepower and melee power. On one hand, you can give two bikers both a special weapon and their TL bolter and still have their bolt pistols to bail them out of combat. On the other hand, you can keep your CCW and pistol and gain that extra attack on top of Rage and provide plenty of punch where you need it. Bring a pack just in case you decide to make your Lord a biker. Chaos Bikers are your bread and butter simply because the Gorepack is a good formation to start with due to the massive buffs it brings. Chaos Bikers give you some solid ranged firepower and large melee prowess backed up with Str4 HoW with Shred and the large amounts of attacks they bring for a low low price!

• Heldrake: Everyone's favorite murderous turkey, here to bring that Gorgonzola to the field. Sure, it's a shadow of its supreme cheesemeister days, but it can still bring a good fight with its S7 Vector Striking and the option between the Hades Autocannon and Baleflamer. Oh, and it's also a Daemon of Khorne, which would be completely forgettable EXCEPT that this means that it can benefit from Icons, Loci, and Instruments your daemons bring along.

Heavy Support

PRO-TIP Any of your vehicle with the "Blood for the Blood God" rule benefits from blood tithe bonuses. Enjoy your Rage/Furious Charge or +1A or AW on your Helbrute/Maulerfiend/Forgefiend/Soulgrinder.

• Defiler: Honestly, you have other vehicles to cover what this does. Soul Grinders are just as versatile, if not moreso in combat and at range for a lower price, the Dinobots are specialists bar none, and the Skull Cannon can actually synergize with units without grenades.
  • Longest Range unit in the codex. Even has 12" on the Lord of Skull's longest range. Probably not what you are looking for in a melee army, but that's what this model brings to the table. More impressive in Apocalypse and other games with will larger than normal table size.

• Helbrute: The first glaring error: No Khorne dedication, which would have been phenomenal if paired with the Power Scourge. It's still very iffy as a ranged support unit, and if you're buying this for that role, you've wasted your time. Consider buying a formation instead to bring in some brutes. A cheap and overall decent purchase for 110pts is a Helbrute with two Fists with Combi-Bolters. Only firing off 2 Bolter shots per turn but if you cause the Helbrute to fire its weapons twice then it will fire four bolters. This build really comes to shine when within 12" of an enemy unit since; 1) It's getting close to melee range 2) its shots double. If you get Fire Frenzy within 12" of an enemy unit then I hope they enjoy 8 Twin Linked bolter shots!
  • An errata was released recently bumping Helbrutes up to 4 attacks base to match their Loyalist cousins. Go rip and tear in the name of the Blood God!

• Forgefiend: These are the Dinobots you want to lay down fire support. They still get their Hades Autocannons or their Ectoplasma cannons, and that's still boss. The issue is that it got a 5 point tax on it for getting Daemon of Khorne, a rule that's pretty much wasted on this. Saying all that, in an army entirely melee, these little devils will cause untold devestation upon your enemy for a pretty decent price and on a surprisingly tough body (the 5++ and IWND really does help counter it's only 12/12/10).

• Maulerfiend: The Daemon of Khorne rule sadly doesn't really do anything for the maulerfiend, as it already strikes at strength 10 with its power fists. So if you already were not sure about taking them before, the price hike gives you less incentive the use them here too. Lasher Tendrils are more for managing MCs and Walkers by limiting their attack output, but you have better (and cheaper) alternatives for that goal.

• Soul Grinder: The guns are what you want it for. If you're unable to fit in a Drake (And what the hell were you doing to get that far?), this guy's able to take plenty of guns. Sure, it's got Daemon of Khorne, but that's pretty useless when you have a Power Fist stock and have to buy a weapon just to let Furious Charge be useful for something (Aside from a bonus attack and Master-Crafted). Though the additional weapon on a 13 front armor walker that already ignores shaken/stunned on a 2+ turns it into a very reliable cyber demon analogue. Rip and tear indeed.

• Skull Cannon: This is your prime tool for ignoring cover, both for you and for your team. Anyone who charges a unit hit from the cannon can now charge through terrain at initiative. Oh, and on top of that, you're a chariot and can make some vicious hits on the charge with your two Bloodletters and D6 S7 HoW hits. That slick gorefeast rule also means that, when assaulting, your vicious HoW might replenish some hull points.

• Blood Slaughterers (FW): Khornates really need to get more creative with their naming. Anyway, the Blood Slaughterer is a Daemon Engine equivalent of a Dreadnought, and can lay down some serious hurt. They come stock with two Dreadnought close combat weapons, giving them 4 S10 AP2 attacks at WS5 and I4, and get +d3 attacks on the turn they charge, plus Rampage. This could mean with lucky rolling 10 attacks on the charge! It can deep strike and has a fairly small base, making it relatively to place in enemy lines, and can benefit from Banners. The downside is you must move toward the nearest enemy unit in LOS, and charge it. Once you inevitably tear through whatever you charge, you must consolidate toward the nearest enemy unit.

Lord of War

• Lord of Skulls: The monster returns. 888 Points of tanky dick-gun horror. It can Thunderblitz instead of stomp, it gains attacks for each HP it loses (And keeps gaining attacks until it gets 10 attacks) and it has both an S8 AP3 Hellstorm gun and a Heavy 12 S8 AP3 gatling gun with Pinning alongside it's unholy D AP1 cleaver. The Hellstorm can either become S9 Gets Hot and ID or become an S7 AP2 Large Blast, while the Gatling can become an S9 AP3 Apoc Blast which forces re-rolls on Armor saves. It WILL destroy whatever it's up against, no contest. Beware though, it's nearly 900 points (over it with upgrades) and only has 9 Hull points.

• Samus, Daemon Prince of the Ruinstorm (Forge World): The first model you can explicitly take from FW. Alongside the basic Daemonkin stuff (Daemon or Khorne, Fearless, Deep Strike), he also gets IWND, S/T 7, 6 Wounds, Hatred (Infantry), Adamantium Will, Fleet and must come in from Deepstrike Reserves. He's only armed with an AP2 CCW with Murderous Strike (ID on a 6 to wound) and Armourbane, but his fun isn't in combat. See, once a character (yours or theirs) dies (before Samus is in play) you place a marker anywhere within 3" of the spot they died. Samus can elect to land on one of those markers without scattering (still has to be 1" away from enemies and needs to be enough room for the model). This means that, potentially, he can double-team if you decide to use Kor'lath or use the Blood Tithe to summon a Thirster/Prince. In addition, Samus triggers other sorts of fuckery just by being in your army: Your enemy takes -1 from all reserves even if he isn't in play (and any Ongoing Reserves fail to come back on a roll of 1), any blessings used by either side cost an additional Warp Charge (Which means that they'll have to think even harder about casting Hammerhand or Prescience or something lest you deny them and waste those points) and he forces anyone charging him (and testing Fear) or in combat with him to halve their Leadership unless they're Stubborn or Fearless.

• Kytan Daemon Engine of Khorne (Forge World): The Khornate answer to Imperial Knights. At 525 points, it comes with Daemon, Daemonforge, Fleet, Crusader, IWND, Rage, Unstoppable Slaughter (If its Kytan Gatling Gun, 48" S8 AP3 Heavy 8 and Pinning, destroys something in the Shooting Phase, it may charge something else), and all the Super-Heavy Walker rules. It also has a Great Cleaver of Khorne like the LoS for the unholy D. It explicitly says it has BftBG if it is included in a Khorne Daemonkin detachment, which is a nice touch! See rules here

• Chaos Knight Paladin/Errant (Forge World): The more explicit Imperial knight cross-overs have to take the Daemon Knight of Khorne upgrade, but it's still quite a force to be reckoned with (and arguably the best dedication they could have taken anyway). The Paladin clocks in at 375 and carries a Foe-Reaper chainsword, rapid-fire battle cannon, two heavy stubbers, and an ion shield. Errant sacrifices a heavy stubber and exchanges the rapid-fire battle cannon for a thermal cannon in its stead. They can take dirge casters for 5 points which is nice, but the real reason you want this unit is +D3 attacks on the charge, rerolling stomps, and a strength D close combat weapon that adds +1 to the chart against monstrous and gigantic creatures. Also, explicitly granted BftBG in Daemonkin detachments.

A quick word on Forgeworld units

According to an e-mail based FAQ from Forge World; the only units allowed to be taken within a Khorne Daemonkin army is ANY unit that either has the option the Mark of Khorne, Daemon of Khorne or Dedication of Khorne and MUST purchase these upgrades. By the sound of things Forge World are currently in the progress of supplying Khorne Daemonkin with Forge World units (i.e: adding them into current formations, give them all the BFTBG special rule etc).

The following units that are allowed:

• Ferrum Infernus Chaos Dreadnought with Dedication of Khorne (Elite)
• Chaos Contemptor Dreadnought with Dedication of Khorne (Elite)
• Greater Brass Scorpion of Khorne (Lord of War)
• Blood Slaughterer of Khorne (Heavy Support)
• Chaos Decimator Siege Engine with Dedication of Khorne (Elite)
• Chaos Reaver Titan with Daemon Titan of Khorne (Lord of War)
• Chaos Warhound Titan with Daemon Titan of Khorne (Lord of War)
• An'ggrath the Unbound (Lord of War)
• Khorne World Eaters Terminator Lord Zhufor (HQ)
• Uraka 'The Warfiend' (HQ)
• Spined Chaos Beast with Daemon of Khorne (Elite)
• Kytan Daemon Engine of Khorne (Lord of War)
• Chaos Knight Paladin/Errant with Daemon Knight of Khorne (Lord of War)

Formations

Blood Host Detachment

Thought the Decurion was the only Formation-based detachment? Well now you're wrong! Now you have a Khorne army full of formations, and it gives you both a Codex WT re-roll and a free Blood Tithe!

• Slaughtercult: The core detachment to the Blood Host. Lead with a Lord/Herald/Skulltaker/DP/Unfettered Fury Thirster, bring 2-8 squads of CSM, Berzerkers, or Bloodletters, 1-4 Possessed squads, and 0-2 units of both Spawn and Cultists. The Leader gets a WT re-roll and the option to murder an entire Cultist squad if they fail morale and just take that tithe quicker. In addition, when spending Blood Tithe and have more than spare points, you can opt to choose any powers below your first choice (Up to 4) and get both results for the turn. However, the rules state that the second 'free' result only applies to the Slaughtercult Formation itself, not your entire army/detachment. But that's still awesome. Giving this formation and extra buff for free is better than you think since on turn one you can give your army FNP and then grant your squad the whole Slaughtercult some Adamantium Will while it rushes down that measly sorcerer. Stack up enough points and you can similarly summon up Daemons and give your team some bonus FNP in the middle of a fight.

• Lord of Slaughter: Another Bloodthirster of any sort per Slaughtercult. Or a Lord of Skulls. Or a shiny new Kytan Daemon Engine if you'll pay the FW tax.

Like the Decurion, you get 1-8 of the following choices:

• Brazen Onslaught: 1-4 Termie packs and 2-4 Bloodcrusher packs. If any units here are in a combat where they're outnumbered, they gain +1 Attack. OH.MY. This formation is utter rape. Imagine all your Bloodcrushers having +1 attack since they usually will be outnumbered. The dream is to have your 5 man Terminator unit get into a combat with 3+ armored units (Death Company!) when you've loaded your Terminators with dual Lightning Claws so you're 3 attacks base, then +2 for Rage and then gain +1 attack from the Formation and another +1 attack from Blood Tithe! Not only will you be Str5 due to Furious Charge but you'll also be pumping out 7 attacks per model! However you won't do this because you aren't brain dead....I hope.

• Khorne's Bloodstorm: 2-4 Raptor packs, 1-4 Warp Talon packs, and an optional Heldrake. Everyone here gets +1 Strength for HoW/Vector Strikes. NASTY. This is nastier than it actually is because with Banners you can allow your Warp Talons to deepstrike without scattering which means you can focus where your Blind tests are being taken which is something Warp Talons should have had from the get go! Note that Heldrake Vector Strikes will now ID T4 models as well.

• Gorepack: 2-4 Biker squads, 1-4 Flesh Hound packs. Everyone gets Move Through Cover and Preferred Enemy (Psykers). Flesh Hounds gain HoW and Bikers gain Shred on their HoW. Flesh Hounds are you saving grace so bring as many units as possible since Move Through Cover and Flesh Hounds having Scout is pretty freakin' tasty! This entire formation is a MUST. It's absolutely insane! This formation should just be called "your screening formation" since the Fleshhounds allow you to utilise their scout moves and provide mobile cover for your Rhinos loaded with Berzekers to roll up the board. Plus it does also help that Flesh hounds are good by themselves yet now having Hammer of Wrath, Move Through Cover and Preferred Enemy (Psykers).

• Charnel Cohort: A DP/Herald/Skulltaker/Blood Throne leads 2-8 teams of Bloodletters, 1-4 packs of Bloodcrushers and Flesh Hounds, and up to 4 Skull Cannons. Everyone gains Counter-Attack, the HQ can re-roll WT if picked, and all enemies take -2 Ld when testing Fear. In addition, if the HQ is in reserves, they can re-roll reserves and anyone else Deep-Striking within 6" of the HQ doesn't scatter. This formation is a little taxing for what it is and is very hard to bring if you're using the whole detachment. A very good formation but probably too much minimum requirement to see too much use. Should be noted that all units from this formation do not scatter REGARDLESS of whether HQ actually arrived from deepstrike. This means you can use a flying daemon prince to zoom straight into a great position and have all your units land exactly where you want them.

• War Machine: A Defiler/Soul Grinder/Helbrute/Forgefiend/Maulerfiend/Lord of Skulls. Pretty much your Heavy Support slot...but better since you can have 8 Soul Grinders. Soul Grinders are nice but this army really does lack the ability to have long range, high strength Anti-Vehicle. This is where Hellbrutes come in. Not only do they have the chance of shooting their AV weaponry twice, gain Rage and all that gubbins but you can now give them +1 attack from Blood Tithe. If these guys charge with Rage and +1 attack, even with 1 Power Fist they will reap some very nice damage. Or for 7104 points and £760 take 8 lords of skulls.

Blood Oath (Warhammer World Exclusive)

On the May 2015 reopening of Warhammer World, there was a fuckhuge diorama about Ultras and Knights and other fighting Daemonkin, Daemon Engines and Titans. This book gives you a couple formations that let you tie in your Chaos and Daemonkin armies without jumping into massive arguments about legality.

• Fist of Khorne - 20 Berzerkers ganged into a Kharibdys Assault Claw. As a refresher, a Kharibdys can deep-strike and make a blast, and then start hovering along like a flyer and burn whatever's underneath it. What makes this squad special is the fact that this pod can also strike a building or vehicle, inflicting an SD AP1 hit for the cost of an immobilized assault claw. The Kharybdis arrives in hover mode when it deep strikes, meaning it's treated as a fast skimmer, so it's simply immobilized. No damage to the occupants. This formation just screams "anti-infantry", as the Storm Launchers on the Kharibdys confer pinning and you have five of the damn things. Your bloodthirsty madmen also get to charge after they disembark, which is AWESOME. So drop down from the sky in a ball of fiery death and pull a Sly Marbo on your enemies. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!
  • It would be pretty silly to use the blast after deep striking, because then the berzerkers couldn't disembark.

• The Bloodied Horde - 8 Bloodletters, 2 Crushers and 2 Cannons, all arriving from reserves at the same time. They all get Rage and if a unit of Bloodletters or Bloodcrushers dies, they go back into reserves on a 4+. This can be repeated ad infinitum and can pretty much be your army.

• Goreguard - An'ggrath gets to join 8 Thirsters of any sort and they gain Rampage and FNP. If they get within 18" Of An'ggrath they get Adamantium Will, Counter-Attack, and A FREE ATTACK. And to make it even meaner on mobs, if an enemy fails a Fear test they inflict, they take a wound for each point they failed the test by.

• Hellforged Hunting Pack - A Brass Scropion is teamed up with 8 of the following in any way: Defiler, Soul Grinder, Helbrute, Forgefiend, Maulerfiend, Blood Slaughterer, and Decimator. Everyone here gets Daemon of Khorne, but not BftBG per the new FAQ, everything in the Pack gets BftBG for the purposes of Blood Tithe points. If the Scorpion makes his charge, everyone else can re-roll to charge and if any member dies, you get a bonus attack for the others.

Daemonic Incusion

The new Wulfen book brought a pair of formations that, while technically not available to Khorne Daemonkin, you probably already have the models for so they're worth a mention as potential allies.

• Murderhost: 1 Herald of Khorne (Can be swapped for Skulltaker), and 8 units of either Bloodletters, Bloodcrushers, or Fleshhounds in any combo. All units gain +1 attack when 6" from each other, and all units within 12" benefit from Herald's Loci. 8 units of fleshounds with juggernauted herald both with rage/hatred and +1 attack is a pretty brutal visage. Fluffy, but expensive, and it means a big hit to your Blood Tithe bonuses.

• Gorethunder Battery: 1 Khorne herald on Blood Throne and 3 Skull Cannons. Can elect to sacrifice firing all 3 to fire one Apocalyptic Blast, Ignores Cover, AP3 shot. A Daemon version of that bullshit Vindicator formation, which is very nice. Also expensive but it brings something that you can't have otherwise and allows you to take Skull Cannons without having to pay the Bloodcrusher tax for a Charnel Cohort.

CAD

Yes, the ObSec is still useful!

• CAD: Just wanted to add that a standard CAD also works really well too. Banners and BT points to bring in Bloodletters with ObSec without scatter works well if you have the right terrain.

I ran a 1000 point list of 3 Soul Grinders with Phlegm, 3 Rhinos and 3 lots of Bloodletters and add your HQ to your taste placed 3rd in our competitive local tournament. There are many good KDK builds, not just Codex Gorepack builds.

Allies

Battle Brothers

• Chaos Space Marines: If you're asking to ally with Chaos Marines, it's for one reason only: Walls and fire support. You may have Cultists too, but you're paying for the mark as well as the models. You also lack access to anything dedicated to the other gods (Like Typhus' zombie horde, psykers in general, Noise Marines and their Dreadnoughts). If you're doing it just so you can get Kharn back, just remember that despite being the mightiest mortal champion of the blood god, he doesn't have BftBG (unless he joins a Daemonkin unit, in which case the unit gets BftBG for his kills). Nor is free of the random tables. The same is said if you decide to take the Kharn's butcherhorde (take Kharn + Berzerkers as allies, put kharn in with a unit with BftBG, and an IC with BftBG with the berzerkers). You can, and probably should, consider the Helbrute formations as well, since they make the brutes gain a particular purpose and only lose BftBG in exchange.

• Chaos Daemons: Where CSM allies are meant to take more heavy units, Daemon allies are more for taking flighty things speed. Daemonettes come in mind, as do Screamers and Plague Drones. You could also bring back Skarbrand and Karanak and are probably well-off to do so, if only while you keep an eye on how the Winds of Chaos and Daemonic Instability affects them. Also helpful is the Grimoire of True Names, which you can cast to make your murder train even more murderier (Which especially helps if you want to break out the Insensate Rage and need serious protection) (Take skarbrand as an unbound warlord or a herald on a blood throne and you get a bonus of either an INSANELY killy warlord or a unit that can still buff your daemon of khorne units (use this on possessed for shits and giggles, even if it is pointless)

• Renagade Knight Household: A Renegade Knight can provide the dakka and heavy armor that Daemonkin desperately lacks. The Battle Cannon and Thermal Cannon can mulch through vehicles and armor you want gone. Also, two Avenger Gatling Cannons? Twenty four S6 AP3 Rending shots?! Sweet mother of fuck, if you want to go absolute overkill on infantry then this combined with Daemonkin is the way to go.

• Renegades & Heretics (Forge World): If you go this direction, you might as well just go full monty on your choppy Daemonkin. Leave your squishy renegades to either be dirt-cheap objective holders or bring in some better firepower because you actually have that now. But the big thing to focus on are DOSE TANKS. This is what you want: Tanks upon tanks upon tanks which can do everything you can, and more! Need Anti-Air? Grab some Hydras and call it a day! Need to shell stuff that's on the other side of the board and lack a Skull Cannon to help with charging? Then you have Basilisks and Bombards to give you what you need!

• Pro tip: you know those assault vehicles people bitch about? This codex has fast, open topped, non dedicated transports, with av12 front, and hold 12 models....this beastly unit is called a salamander and all you fools need to start using them.

Allies of Convenience

• Necrons The Deathbringer Flight formation can make up for the lack of anti-tank firepower and has an interesting synergy with the daemonic Fear

(though to be honest, fear doesn't give much; but still.. ) Also, it's an alternative to the Soul Grinder in terms of AA.

• Orks

Desperate Allies

• Dark Eldar
• Tau Empire

Come the Apocalypse

• Armies of the Imperium: Yeah, no. Move along. Everything they specialize in either gets right in your way (Loyalist Marines and Sisters are close-range firepower) or is something Khorne followers willingly gave up (Ghey Knights for psychic powers). If you want tanks, just find some Renegades so One Eye open doesn't become a factor.
• Eldar and Harlequins
• Tyranids: Tyranids expertise is close combat and short range shooting, your whole thing is ripping and tearing. There is no way that One eye open, or synapse, or both is not going to cause problems. Further given the size of a Tyranid swarm unit the odds are good they may be getting in the way of your charging units.

Tactics

Tried and tested! This army is fuckin' mean and it wants your opponent to know it. All you have to worry about with this army is not having your units completely gunned down to smithe"marines" (ehehe) however once you're in combat and start racking up those Blood Tithe points you can bolster your army with the Daemon Legions of Khorne! Your saving grace all all your units from being "bad" or over priced is Blood Tithe...getting Adamantium Will, Feel No Pain, Rage, Furious Charge or +1 attack for completely free is a total bargain! Remember those pesky Possessed requirements for your army? Yeah, not so pesky when a unit of 10 Possessed chucks out over 40 Strength 6 attacks!

A solid start anywhere is by bringing a Daemon Prince and giving him the Blood Forged Armour. Giving your nasty behemoth of utter shrekage Feel No Pain and Eternal Warrior on top of a 3+ armour save is a bargain since 'Power Armour' is 20pts for a DP and this wargear only costs 30pts more. Giving your DP Goredrinker is also very nice since it makes your Daemon Prince Str7 base and Str8 on the charge meaning you're instagibbing any of those pesky Space Marine cheeseball characters before they even strike you! Any other upgrades are up to you.

The main thing to this army is speed and oh boy to you have an over abundance of it since if you bring the Gorepack formation this will give you Move Through Cover Bikes and Fleshhounds which is sososososososo useful in an army of melee rape. Use these units to tie up any large ranged based unit (and since you are Khorne and they are a ranged unit, you're most likely going to win!)

Possessed are now a minimum requirement for your army. This is very annoying since they are 30pts a model in our book BUT they do have Daemon of Khorne and Mark of Khorne so enjoy your Strength 6 attacks on the charge. If these guys are still around and are about to get within melee range, go for the Feel No Pain buff if you can, it makes them well worth their points and will utterly shrek most units (No really, Wraithknights and Riptides DO NOT want to see these units)

Always try to get as many Soul Grinders within your army since if you can just pile on the pie plates you can easily rack up Blood Tithe points.

Spend your Blood Tithe points wisely (Mainly use the Feel No Pain buff until you're stuck in melee). Once the heads start flying you're going to give your opponent a world of pain by summoning more and more Bloodletters!

Are you ready? I mean, are you ready to field an army of absolute close combat rape that assaults turn two minimum with the WHOLE ARMY? You're playing khorne daemonkin for the assault phase, not pie plate spam. You wanna do that? Go back to your Mary Sues. If you wanna show eldar the meaning of speed, and make everyone fear your close combat phase, here's how to do it:

First off, you need a CAD. Take some fucking Bloodthirsters. It's awful to pay for one. He dies too quick. But when you take two Bloodthirsters of Insensate Rage, you'll feel the blood pressure of your opponent rise. Then, take some Bloodletters. Two squads. Deep strike those slow chumps. Next, take two Maulerfiends. No upgrades. You want speed, and they have it. Now it's time for your bread and butter units. Take two squads of ten flesh hounds. Then stack your two 3 man squads of bikers, and you've got yourself our favorite formation. But it doesn't end there. You need more speed. Khorne needs more blood and milk for his khorne flakes. You know which cavalry unit everyone hates on? This is the list for them. Take two squads of 3 bloodcrushers. If you feel like, upgrade a leader for 5 points. Then, tack on a squad of 3 terminators. Give them combi weapons, son. Put them in deep strike. That's doing it smart. Now you have that formation to give them RAMPAGE! If you have the points, take another if you really need them, but another squad of flesh hounds is way better in terms of movement. Now here's the point of this list for those who are skeptical: shit dies, and your feeble opponent gets to enjoy choice overload. Your hounds scout first turn 12 inches, then move twelve inches. The rest of your army that isn't in deepstrike move twelve inches, plus running. If you don't assault turn one, you WILL on turn two, and your opponent needs to pick his poison. Take out the two bloodthirsters, likely taking most of the shooting on his part to kill them, or kill the gribblies and get mauled by everything else. Flesh hounds soak up wounds, so put them in cover when you can, but always be approaching the assault. Do the same with your bloodcrushers. Yes, they die like flies when targeted, but in most cases the heavier weapons are likely to go into the maulerfiends and bloodthirsters. Use the Insensate Rage to carve tanks with their massive throbbing D. Have your infantry and beast units clash with theirs, and make sure you hit them where it hurts. Also remember to pay attention to tithe, and use it accordingly. Watch with maniacle bliss as your opponent has his mind blown that your whole army is on his side of the field turn one, and drink his tears as he struggles to figure out what to kill first. Feel free to further mindfuck your opponent with phrases like, "In your face, son!" As your whole army will in kind. 1850. Good hunting/raping.

Note: this isn't the end-all list for this army, but tried and tested, it's the fastest, and great for ripping and tearing in the name of Khorne.

Tactical Objectives

11 - Khorne Cares Not

1 VP if any unit dies in your turn. d3 VP if 3-5 units die, d3+3 if more than 5 die.

12 - Altar of Gore

1 VP for killing an enemy unit that's owning an objective. If you take it for yourself (Which you probably will), you get d3.

13 - Blood and Skulls for Khorne

1 VP if you kill a character in a challenge, which ups to d3 if they're an IC.

14 - Unfettered Butchery

1 VP for killing an enemy unit in your assault phase. Rest assured that you WILL get this if you find it.

15 - MURDER-Call

1 VP if you summoned a Daemon of Khorne using Deep Strike or BftBG. Simple enough.

16 - The Blood God's Scorn

1 VP if you kill an opposing unit that's either falling back or has the Psyker/Brotherhood of Psykers/Psychic Pilot USRs. Since Psykers are more common nowadays thanks to the Psychic phase, this can be nice.

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Warhammer 40,000 Tactics Articles (10th Edition)

General Tactics	General Weapons Terrain
Imperium	Space Marines (Black Templars, Blood Angels, Dark Angels, Deathwatch, Space Wolves) Grey Knights
	Adeptus Mechanicus Adeptus Titanicus Imperial Knights Imperial Guard Sisters of Battle
	Adeptus Custodes & Sisters of Silence Imperial Agents (Inquisition, Rogue Traders, etc.)
Chaos	Chaos Space Marines (Death Guard Thousand Sons World Eaters)
	Chaos Daemons Chaos Knights Chaos Titans
Eldar	Eldar (Craftworlds, Corsairs, Harlequins, Ynnari) Dark Eldar
Necrons	Necrons
Orks	Orks
Tau	Tau
Tyranids	Tyranids Genestealer Cults
Votann	Leagues of Votann

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Warhammer 40,000 Tactics Articles (9th Edition)

General Tactics	General Movement Psychic Fortifications Tactical Terrain Weapons Apocalypse
Imperium	Space Marines (Blood Angels Dark Angels Deathwatch Space Wolves) Grey Knights
	Adeptus Mechanicus Adeptus Titanicus Imperial Knights Imperial Guard Sisters of Battle
	Adeptus Custodes & Sisters of Silence Inquisition Officio Assassinorum Rogue Traders
Chaos	Chaos Space Marines (Death Guard Thousand Sons World Eaters)
	Chaos Daemons Chaos Knights Renegades and Heretics
Eldar	Craftworld Eldar Dark Eldar Harlequins Ynnari
Necrons	Necrons
Orks	Orks
Tau	Tau
Tyranids	Tyranids Genestealer Cults
Votann	Leagues of Votann

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Warhammer 40,000 Tactics Articles (8th Edition)

General Tactics	General Movement Psychic Fortifications Apocalypse
Imperium	Space Marines Blood Angels Dark Angels Deathwatch Grey Knights Space Wolves
	Talons of the Emperor (Custodes and Sisters of Silence) Adeptus Mechanicus
	Adeptus Ministorum (Sisters of Battle and minor factions) Adeptus Titanicus
	Imperial Knights Imperial Guard Inquisition Officio Assassinorum
Chaos	Chaos Space Marines (Death Guard Thousand Sons)
	Chaos Daemons Chaos Knights Renegades and Heretics
Eldar	Eldar Dark Eldar Harlequins
Necrons	Necrons
Orks	Orks
Tau	Tau
Tyranids	Tyranids Genestealer Cults

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Warhammer 40,000 Tactics Articles (7th Edition)

General Tactics	General Movement Psychic Fortifications
Imperium	Space Marines (Siege Assault Vanguard) Blood Angels Dark Angels Deathwatch Grey Knights Space Wolves
	Adeptus Custodes Cult Mechanicus Skitarii Adeptus Sororitas
	Imperial Knights Inquisition Officio Assassinorum
	Imperial Guard (Armoured Battlegroup Death Korps of Krieg Assault Brigade Death Korps of Krieg Siege Regiment Elysian Drop Troops D-99)
Chaos	Chaos Space Marines Khorne Daemonkin Chaos Daemons Renegades and Heretics
Eldar	Eldar Dark Eldar Harlequins Corsairs
Necrons	Necrons
Orks	Orks Ork Dred Mob
Tau	Tau
Tyranids	Tyranids Genestealer Cults

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Warhammer 40,000 Tactics Articles (6th Edition)

General Tactics	General Movement Psychic Fortifications
Imperium	Space Marines Blood Angels Dark Angels Grey Knights Space Wolves
	Adeptus Sororitas Inquisition
	Imperial Guard (Armoured Battlegroup Death Korps of Krieg Assault Brigade Death Korps of Krieg Siege Regiment Elysian Drop Troops) Militarum Tempestus
Chaos	Chaos Space Marines Chaos Daemons Renegades and Heretics
Eldar	Eldar Dark Eldar Corsairs
Necrons	Necrons
Orks	Orks Ork Dred Mob
Tau	Tau
Tyranids	Tyranids

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Warhammer 40,000 Tactics Articles (All)

General Tactics	General (8th) Movement (8th 7th) Psychic (8th 7th 2nd) Fortifications (8th 7th) Tactical Terrain Apocalypse (8th)
Imperium (8th)	Space Marines (8th 7th 6th 5th 4th 3rd) Blood Angels (8th 7th) Dark Angels (8th 7th) Deathwatch (8th 7th) Grey Knights (8th 7th 6th 5th 3rd, AKA Daemonhunters) Space Wolves (8th 7th 6th 5th)
	Talons of the Emperor (Custodes and Sisters of Silence) (8th 7th) Adeptus Mechanicus (8th 7th) Adeptus Ministorum (Sisters of Battle and minor factions) (8th 7th 6th 3rd, AKA Witch Hunters) Adeptus Titanicus (8th)
	Imperial Knights (8th 7th) Imperial Guard (8th 7th 6th 5th 3rd) Inquisition (8th 7th 6th) Officio Assassinorum (8th 7th)
Chaos	Chaos Space Marines (8th 7th 6th 5th) Death Guard (8th) Khorne Daemonkin - 7th Edition Thousand Sons (8th) Chaos Daemons (8th 7th) Chaos Knights (8th) Renegades and Heretics (8th 7th 6th)
Eldar	Eldar (8th 7th 6th 5th) Dark Eldar (8th 7th 6th 5th 3rd Revised) Harlequins (8th 7th)
Necrons	Necrons (8th 7th 6th 5th 4th)
Orks	Orks (8th 7th 6th 5th 3rd) Ork Dred Mob - 7th edition (6th 5th) Ork Kult of Speed - 3rd edition Feral Orks - 3rd edition
Tau	Tau (8th 7th 6th 5th)
Tyranids	Tyranids (8th 7th 6th 5th) Genestealer Cults (8th 7th)

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