Editing Warhammer 40,000/7th Edition Tactics/Chaos Daemons (section)

====Heralds====
The following HQ selections are Heralds and differ from the Greater Daemons and Princes because up to four Heralds may be taken in a single HQ slot in a detachment, meaning you could have lots of them if you wanted to. The following count as Heralds: Skulltaker, Karanak, Epidemius, and the Changeling, as well as the <strike>four</strike> five generic Heralds (the FAQ added an Exalted Flamer); the Masque and the Blue Scribes don't, however. 

=====Heralds of Khorne=====
*'''Herald of Khorne''' - With WS7, BS7, and initiative 6, the Herald of Khorne is a 55 point character/TEQ killer. Just watch out for the strike back, because you're only 6+ 5++... As for what to equip him with, either one of the Etherblades, Blade of Blood or Axe of Khorne, really depends on what you want to throw him in. If you plan on butchering hordes with your unit of choice, an Etherblade is a better choice (hordes with higher toughness values should be dealt with via Greater Etherblade); units with higher initiative or model count are better served with the Blade of Blood. The Axe is meant for challenges and chopping the heads off of Monstrous Creatures, so take that instead if wish to spill blood in a badass way. Additionally, you could take two of these weapons and get the benefits of both.
**'''Blood Throne of Khorne''' - Your personal Khornate Pimpmobile. It's the slowest but toughest of the chariots (Armor 12 with 3 HP, with a 50% chance to regain one every-time it wounds something), and its Hammer of Wrath attacks are at Strength 7. It offers your Herald good protection and mobility, but more than anything else it broadcasts his Locus to all Daemons of Khorne within 6". Just imagine this massive blob of power weapons with either 3 attacks each on the charge or Hatred for everything... Uniquely this can give loci to demons that could not normally befit from them like the few demon vehicles or monstrous creatures.
**'''Skulltaker''' - The new book changes how he rolls. WS9 I9 A4, 3+ Armor, Eternal Warrior, Adamantium Will for the whole unit and a Power Sword with Soul Blaze that has Instant Death on 6s to-wound. All this at the bargain price of 100 points. Like other Khorne heralds and Bloodletters, he can turn MEQs and under into bloody stains on the pavement. Yeah, he must always issue and accept challenges, but if he's not actively hunting the opponent's most dangerous character you're doing it wrong. Unfortunately he lost his 4+ Rending (having no Rending at all now) and he has only 2 wounds, so The Taker of Skulls will himself get decapitated by enemy models with 2+ armor. A standard Khorne herald with an Axe of Khorne can probably do his job just as well if not better. ''However,'' his saving grace is that he can take a Juggernaut for 45 points; making him far more mobile, giving him another attack, and adding another wound (bumping him up to 3) for him to make use of his 3+ armor and Eternal Warrior.
**'''Karanak''' - This big ol' doggy is made for hunting down special snowflakes. You can nominate one at the start of the game: Karanak will get to re-roll ALL To-Hit and To-Wound rolls against him/her/it, and at that point it's only a matter of getting him in melee. Don't think that daemon-Cujo here is a one-trick pony though. He's got a better statline than a vanilla Herald, Hates everyone and everything, gives his whole unit Rage and as a frosting all psykers within 12" suffer Perils of the Warp on a double (problem, Grey Knights?). All this for a only 120 points. Also this guy has Scout like other Fleshhounds, so it is fun to run him with crushers and have them scout that much closer to brain bashing distance. If your deathstar character hunting unit is not Juggernaut Skulltaker with 6 Bloodcrushers, then it's Karanak with 10 other Fleshhounds.

=====Heralds of Nurgle=====
*'''Herald of Nurgle''' - These guys actually got a buff this time around. They have got high WS, BS, S and T but MAINLY provide your Plague units with FNP. These guys can be Psykers and can take from Plague and Biomancy. Keep them lv 1 and take Plague for either some very nasty witchfires or an amazing blessing that turns your Plaguebearers into scary CC killers. They also hit at Initiative 4 with AP 2 (if you give them the Etherblade) which is awesome as you can actually kill something relatively tough without being killed first! Can't recommend these guys enough! You can actually give them the stats of a daemon prince for way cheaper, minus the weapon skill and initiative. A Herald on a Palanquin with a greater Etherblade costs 105 points and has 4 wounds at T5 and 5 S6 attacks in cc at AP2. They lack the ID ability nurgle DP's get but if you want one of the cheapest most durable beatsticks in the game consider a Herald.
**'''Epidemius''' - As of the new codex, Epidemius got nerfed hard. He's only just usable in a Nurgle based army. He could possibly pump up your units to absurd levels, so long as they are Daemons of Nurgle within 6". Now as he only has a 6" bubble that he gives buffs to (+1T, +1S, +1FNP, etc) and he only buffs Daemons of Nurgle, not Mark of Nurgle, he will be rarely used. The Buffs got better but the area of effect makes him far less useful than before, especially as he doesn't even give FNP to his unit to start with like a cheaper Herald could. Can actually be very effective if you build a list around him. There are many FW units that can count as Daemons of nurgle and have exceptional ranged weapons allowing you to build up pretty high tally stacks from turn 1.

=====Heralds of Slaanesh=====
*'''Herald of Slaanesh''' - A decently balanced, faster unit. Give her an Etherblade, Greater Loci of Swiftness and a Steed of Slaanesh or Exalted Chariot. Stick her in a squad of Seekers so that you have yourself an angry mob of initiative 10 Daemons being lead by an even bigger Daemon with AP2, or a squad of angry fast Rending machines on Speed.
**'''The Masque''' - The Masque is only 75 points. She can re-roll her 5++ and has three debuff dances to choose from: -5 to WS and can only move/run/fall back/charge d3", -5 to BS and no overwatch, and an S1 AP2 Ignores Cover hit per model in the unit. A dance can target one unengaged, non-vehicle enemy unit within 12" within the Masque’s line of sight.  Dancing occurs at the start of the shooting phase, so she is still free to run after the dancing begins; she can jump out and move, nerf something, then run into cover. Debuffing BS -5 and preventing overwatch sounds particularly delicious. She can't join units so be extra careful with her, but her nerfs are the last word in countering death stars so consider her carefully if you opponents use them often.
***A very important note, though she's in the herald part of the book, she's not actually listed as a herald, so she takes up a full HQ slot by herself, not the 1/4 a normal herald takes up, a MAJOR detriment.

=====Heralds of Tzeentch=====
*'''Herald of Tzeentch''' - A lot of dakka in a small package. Upgrade to Mastery 2/3 and if you roll on Change, hope for Infernal Gateway or take the primaris and roll all others on divination; a lot of dakka with great div buffs zipping around on a disk is very effective. Alternatively, go ALL Malefic and you got yourself a cutrate Daemon generator. A solid choice. The chariot he can take has weaker armor than a rhino (10 on all sides) meaning that bolters can glance it to death with sixes, but hang on - your Herald counts as stationary while inside it AND he can move 12" ahead, cast spells and then flat-out in the shooting phase. This guy is the linchpin of the "screamer-star" unit. put him on a disk with the grimoire of true names and have him zip around the battlefield with your screamers. This guy is amazing if you roll an 11 on your warpstorm, since the new Herald has to be BASIC and Tzeentch Heralds happen to be Psykers as basic, so you gain a nice Divination bonus for free, whereas the other Heralds are only really usable with upgrades.
**'''Exalted Flamer''' - The new 7E Errata now allows a single unit of Exalted Flamers to be taken outside of their chariot for half the points cost.  Though it gained independent character, it is now jump infantry thanks to the FAQ! Join a unit of flamers and jump around with S5 Ap3 Torrents(just remmeber they're heavy!)!  Counts toward your Herald allowance.
**'''The Changeling''' - Now works similarly to the fantasy Changeling, with the caveat that you only alter your own profile. You can replace any or all of your WS, Strength, Initiative, toughness, and/or attacks with that of a single model in base contact. Might be useful to tie up a generic close combat character, but will quickly get outclassed by anything with special snowflake gear. Statistics will never be in the Changeling's favour. The best you can hope for is 50%, given the target has no wargear at all. One fun trick is against characters that have an 'X' or '*' for their characteristic. 
**'''The Blue Scribes''' - Cheap multi-purpose character who should be kept out of melee at all costs. They lost "Watch This!" and now have a Hellforged Artefact "Scrolls of Sorcery" for which each turn you choose a discipline, roll d6 (no primaris swap) and auto-manifest the power with no tests needed and no charges expended (as they aren't actually psykers) and a spell siphon ability that recycles used charge points by enemy psykers on a 6. Makes decent support with horrors around as you can cycle those warp charges onto them and then use their flicker fires to dump that extra spell charge into even more mind bullets. Or you can be that Tzeentch guy, and keep rolling on demonology to summon a greater demon of anything you want right in the middle of them, and laugh as they focus on an 81 points greater demon as the rest of your army wails on them.
***A very important note, though they're in the herald part of the book, they're not actually listed as a herald, so they take up a full HQ slot by themselves, not the 1/4 a normal herald takes up, a MAJOR detriment.
***Note that the Scribes are '''NOT''' an Independent Character, so they cannot hide in a unit and are fragile if your opponent can target them. If you do take them, you need to abuse their Jetbike profile to the max. Move 12, Manifest a power, Turbo back to safety. Rinse and repeat, and beware of Deep Strike/Outflank. That said, his cheapness is one of his major advantages.
***The Blue Scribes are the only one of two options, the other being the Demon Prince, to get Telekinesis, and are the only way to get Pyromancy and, most interestingly, Sanctic Daemonology, since they are Rulebook disciplines. While at first glance self-defeating, Sanctic could be interesting since only one of its powers directly harms demons outside of the Primaris, though the self-buffs are questionable on a squishy unit like the Blue Scribes.