Editing Warhammer 40,000/9th Edition Tactics/Chaos Daemons (section)

===<span style="color:#01bbe3;">Daemons of Tzeentch</span>===
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The Daemons of Tzeentch surround themselves in layer upon layer of mind-traps and illusions, each mirage shifting into the next. The result utterly confounds those nearby that would do the Daemons harm, and means their attacks are often ineffective.

Tzeentch is the shooting department in the codex while the other gods often footslog to the enemy to kill him in melee. They also specialize in the Psychic phase, with many casting attempts, Denies, and abilities to get them. That doesn't mean that the bird nutters don't have a few okay melee units or tricks and with a widespread 3+ save at range they can be hard to kill as well. The problem is that they are utterly exposed in melee, protected by only the weakest saves.
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====<span style="color:#01bbe3;">Warlord Traits</span>====

{{W40kKeyword|HERALD}} units can only choose from the first 3 warlord traits. 

#'''Born of Sorcery:''' +1 to all psychic tests your warlord takes in each psychic phase. This will stack with other modifiers, so it's great for making the psychic phase better and your Smite hit harder.
#'''Incorporeal Form:''' Enemies take -1 to wound this warlord. Good against everything, you want this on your Lord of Change. Bolters wound you on 6s, AV wounding you on 4s, and even the really big stuff can only ever would on 3s. Strictly better than T8. Your heralds are too squishy to make much use of this; if they're getting hit, they're probably dead anyways. The Blue Scribes take this.
#'''Fractal Mind:''' Can cast one per turn while also performing a psychic action. Skip unless the objective demands it.
#'''Warp Tethers:''' Your warlord gains Kairos' {{W40kKeyword|Warp Locus}} keyword and a 12" bubble that lets your units re-roll morale checks, a necessity considering how easily they can break. The Changeling takes this.
#'''Lorekeeper of Tzeentch:''' +6" to the any Pandaemoniac power manifested. Sadly won't work on Smite anymore and won't expand the range of any further ranges.
#'''Tyrant of the Warp:''' This warlord never suffers perils, and a nice 5+++ FNP vs MWs on top of that. Naturally, Kairos takes this with his insane amounts of casting.

====<span style="color:#01bbe3;">Stratagems</span>====

*'''Blasted Standard (1CP):''' Used during the psychic phase. Any time a psyker within 12" of a {{W40kKeyword|Tzeentch Icon}} unit rolls a 9+ to cast a power, the nearest enemy within 24" of the icon takes a surprise MW.
*'''Burning Warpfire (1/2 CP):''' Select a {{W40kKeyword|Flamers}} unit during the shooting phase. When using the Flamers' flickering flames or the pink fire, they always deal 9 hits on a unit of 11+ models. As your premier horde-clearers, you can expect no less.
**Costs 2 CP is used on a unit of 4+ models.
*'''Magical Boon (1 CP):''' One {{W40kKeyword|Tzeentch Psyker}} can cast an additional psychic power this turn. 
*'''Minions of Magic (1 CP):''' A {{W40kKeyword|Horrors Core}} unit improves the AP of their attacks to -3 on a natural 6 to hit. Gives a nice extra punch to your firing lines. 
*'''Relics of the Impossible Fortress (1 CP):''' Another generic 'extra relics' strat.
*'''Warp Jaws (1 CP):''' In the Fight phase, Screamers, Burning Chariots and Fateskimmers add +1 to wound when targeting {{W40kKeyword|Monsters}} or {{W40kKeyword|Vehicles}} with their mount bites. It's not like you can expect much else from one bite, but it's at least nice to see them try.
*'''Warp Portal (1/2 CP):''' Use in your Movement phase. Select one {{W40kKeyword|Tzeentch Character}} and remove them from the battlefield. Then, set it back up anywhere that is more than 9" from any enemy models. This counts as its movement. Costs 2 CP on any characters that aren't Heralds.
**With how squishy your heroes have become in melee, this has become an escape button more than a surprise assassination tool.

====<span style="color:#01bbe3;">Exalted Lord of Change</span>====
As with abilities like Chapter Command, you don't need to spend CP to make a super-daemon out of a generic Lord of Change, instead it costs points and PL.
*'''Architect of Deception:''' Enemies take -1 to hit this birdman at range. While very costly, there's nothing more reliable than having the enemy consistently miss out on hitting the broad side of a bird with a lascannon.
*'''Master Mutator:''' At the end of the psychic phase, any enemies already harmed by the birdman's powers take an additional MW on a 2+.
*'''Nexus of Fate:''' For each turn the birdman is on the board, you gain a CP on a 4+. The cheapest but also the one with the broadest influence if you consider all the strats available.

====<span style="color:#01bbe3;">Relics</span>====
*'''The Endless Grimoire:''' {{W40kKeyword|Tzeentch Psyker}} only. Adds an additional step between knowing more powers, as now the bearer must waste a turn to learn an additional power. On the plus side, this can let you learn multiple powers, but there's no need to use this more than once.
*'''Everstave:''' {{W40kKeyword|Tzeentch Psyker}} only. If this model rolls a 9 to cast Smite or any other witchfire power, the power can't be blocked.
*'''The Impossible Robe:''' {{W40kKeyword|Tzeentch}} models only. Once per phase, you can negate the damage of an attack that gets past your save. Beware any attempts to cheese that out with a line of lasguns before firing the lascannon, as you get to choose which wound to ignore. 
*'''Warpfire Blade:''' One melee weapon of your choosing becomes a relic, adding +1 to its damage and making any natural 6s to wound deal a mortal wound on top of everything else. None of your characters want to be in melee though, so why are you taking this?
*'''Ruination:''' Replaces a rod of sorcery, becoming a 12" Assault 3d3 weapon with S6 AP-2 D3. More rapid-fire mayhem than focused-fire destruction.
*'''Soul-Eater Stave:''' {{W40kKeyword|Tzeentch Psyker}} only. Whenever an enemy is killed by the bearer's psychic power, they can regain a wound on a 4+ to a max of 6. Nice to make your Lord of Change super tanky. The Impossible Robe is probably better than this, since healing wounds is worse than just not taking damage in the first place.

====<span style="color:#01bbe3;">HQ</span>====
*'''Lord of Change:''' Your big spell caster lord. A slightly cheaper, less powerful Kairos. Casts 3 just like Kairos, but only 2 denies. These casts get a +2 bonus that degrades with wounds. Has the Greater Daemon aura that lets {{W40kKeyword|Core Tzeentch}} units reroll 1s to hit. Super durable with the -1 to wound exalted trait, -1 to hit warlord trait, and the Impossible Robe to negate one shot (save it for meltas and railguns).
**While its staff gives a surprisingly decent melee statline at S6 AP-2 D3, you can also equip with either a second staff for some non-Psychic shooting or a sword that's a touch deadlier than the staff but has Malefic 3. However, you don't want to be charging this guy into melee against anything with teeth. T7 and a 5++ won't take you very far against something like Terminators or Chosen.
*'''Herald of Tzeentch:''' The Heralds very much embody the fragile wizard trope. Each a flimsy S3 T4 with a puny AP-1 dagger (which you can and probably should replace for a staff for much stronger shooting that can demolish marines) and a 6++/3++ save, but they know two powers and can cast twice and deny once. Like all heralds, they gain a 6" aura that lets {{W40kKeyword|Core Tzeentch}} units reroll 1s to wound, with a second bubble that lets Horrors auto-wound on a nat 6 to hit.
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Your basic budget footslogger Herald. 
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Disc Herald. Same as the normal one, but with {{W40kKeyword|Fly}}, 12" movement, and an additional (weak but Malefic) attack for 60 more points. Though the new auras aren't quite as powerful for accompanying Screamers, Flamers absolutely will be throwing out enough shots to make some crits cash in.
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Chariot Herald. A Herald again BUT now with almost two times the wounds AND +2T while still being a character? Check! And the chariot's 6 Malefic S6 AP-3 D2 Attacks? Check! And 14" movement? Check! Also {{W40kKeyword|Fly}}? Check! He can buy a retinue of Horrors for a +1 to casting checks. A very solid HQ, relatively durable and killy (if he manages to hit something), while being quite the bargain at 140 points.
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=====<span style="color:#01bbe3;">Named</span>=====
*'''The Changeling:''' Went from a nice fluffy idea with no real purpose to fuckawesome. Now he can copy the stats (not wounds!) of an infantry model within 1" near him, even the attacks, but most importantly he can copy one weapon profile too, but only from enemy {{W40kKeyword|Infantry}}, so no stealing from Dreadknights. It now can take on a lot of characters, beat them with their own weapons and can actually come out on top of them with its 4++ save. Also, it grants a 6+ FnP for Tzeentch daemons in 9". Oh and he is a psyker and can cast one spell as a cherry on top. No longer the auto-include the index made him, but still useful.
**With Formless Horror '''timing is critical'''. The ability activates ''"when the changeling fights"'' so be careful about getting preemptively struck while in your original vulnerable form before you get the opportunity to.. you know? fight. This means to look out for opponents who charge you with a good chance of taking you outright. The 1" limit is also something to be careful of as well because unless you can pile in and move across to that big bad dude on the other side of the melee, you might end up being surrounded by opponents who cannot grant you huge buffs. Leaving you just as vulnerable as when you started, then when he gets the opportunity to pile back, you could be in trouble. To avoid this he can sit behind a unit of something (like horrors) and perform a heroic intervention when they get charged. He will be safe from the charging unit as they can only attack their charge target and he can fall back on your turn so they cannot melee him back. 
*'''The Blue Scribes:''' S3 T4 W5 FUN anti-psyker, They gift enemy psyker -1 to cast and permanently remove (opponents) failed psychic powers within 12" (Ouch!). They also autocast a mostly-random Tzeentch power every turn, and if they successfully removed an opponent's power in the last psychic phase they also autocast Smite. As they are not actually psykers themselves, they cannot deny opponent powers- but at the same time, their own powers can't be denied or trigger Perils, as no psychic test is made for them. Just remember to have them cast first, so they don't randomly roll something you've already used. Actually, the FAQ says that's not an issue. This makes them a viable choice, but you need to play them precisely to always position yourself to be able to use all of the powers (preferred range - within 12-18" of the enemy and within 18" of a unit you would want to buff with flickering flames or boon of change (i.e. flamers or pink horrors, alternatively even obliterators, daemon engines or tzaangor enlightened).
*'''[[Kairos Fateweaver]]:''' He knows Smite and all Tzeentch powers, has a casting bonus equal to the current turn (+5 to cast in the last turn!) and can choose one opponent's strategem to cost an extra CP for the rest of the game. Expensive and decent in melee but more importantly he can cast 3 powers and knows EVERY TZEENTCH POWER. Like the rest of the "We were really powerful psykers once. No, REALLY!" characters, the chicken king can deny three times. 
** A few things to keep in mind when comparing Kairos to a regular LoC. Kairos will hit with higher strength in close combat, hitting at S8 compared to the LoC's S6/7 making him better in fights against VEQ's, but he can't take Relics, he can't take Exalted Traits, and the Warlord Trait he is forced into is fairly mediocre (can't perils, 5+++ vs mortal wounds). Since the codex limits you to one warlord trait, you'll probably want him if you're tooling up one generic Greater Daemon but still want a LoC.

====<span style="color:#01bbe3;">Troops</span>====
*'''Horrors of Tzeentch''' Greatly changed from their previous incarnations, when a Horror is killed it splits into smaller horrors and also stays part of the same unit. Though you no longer have to pay for this division, you do now have to roll a 4+ on each death for it to succeed - needless to say, the moment you get charged, you'll absolutely be praying that you make those splits because that 6++ save and T3 will see them torn to bits. The unit is now automatically locked to a default size of 10, but on average that means a Pink unit turns into 10 Blues and then 5 Brimstones, or 25 bodies total, which is nothing to simply pass up (starting at 10 Blues simply proceeds, on average, to 5 Brimstones). They have 2 18" ranged attacks but have sadly lost their traditional ability to become budget psykers.
**All horrors are M6 T3 W1 DSv 6++/X++.  They are armed with Coruscating Flames: 18" Assault 2 S+1 AP-1 D1.
**'''Pink Horrors:''' Have gotten even more expensive at 14ppm. Shoots at S4 and BS3+, and having at least 1 in the unit is necessary for performing actions and retaining Objective Secured. DSv 6++/3++. Considering you get ten pink horrors in the regular kit, 10 blue horrors (you need 20 in theory), and 10 brimstone horrors (also 20), you have to buy 2 kits in case you roll hot. At current retail price, that would cost approximately $114 and $228 for the brimstones/blue horrors, making the total about $342 + tax. Whilst very fluffy, it is impractical for anything outside of an apocalypse game as they will definitely not perform up to their point costs and losing a single pink horror in the morale phase would be devastating. 
**'''Blue Horrors''' Like a Pink Horror with -1 BS/WS/S/Ld/ranged DSv (-2 Ld relative to the Iridescent leader), but also does not really cost anything either, at 7ppm. Only given a 6++/4++ now, if you wanted a Tzeentch tarpit you have no better option. Not only do these units have no ability to perform actions, but they also lack ObSec so they're singularly dedicated to being tarpits.
**'''Brimstone Horrors''' No longer available as their own unit, instead only appearing on a successful split roll for a Blue Horror. Not only are they subject to all the handicaps the Blues get, they are also even weaker now at a pathetic S1 Ld4 DSv 6++/5++, so you can't even expect them to fight back, much less shoot.

====<span style="color:#01bbe3;">Elites</span>====
*'''Flamers''': For now, arguably the best unit in all of 40k; with a 12" movement and shooting D6+3 S5 AP-2 torrent of magical fire (the codex improving the Flamers into being beefed-up Heavy Flamers), but their melee prowess has become laughable as their save has degraded to a 6++ in melee while their shooting save was improved to a hefty 3++. The Q1 2023 Dataslate decided to nerf them further by making their attacks need to hit normally, reducing their damage output.
**'''Note:''' their weapon strength is S:user, which means a nearby Exalted Flamer will give them S6. A squad of 5 5D6+15 S6 shots, and you can take 3 squads. These are going to eat most infantry for breakfast. With a herald nearby for reroll 1s to wound and +1 to wound psychic power, these will delete everything your opponent has.
*'''Exalted Flamer''': A flamer with a brighter flame for slightly less than the cost of a unit of flamers. However, you don't take these guys for the 2d6 s5 ap-2 attacks, you take them for the 3 S9 Ap-4 D3 Damage mini lascannon shots at 18" range hitting on a 3+. Also, the single model is a character.  Take these guys behind those units of brimstones to prevent them from being shot.

====<span style="color:#01bbe3;">Fast Attack</span>====
*'''Screamers of Tzeentch:''' They're still fast Flyers and are monster/tank hunters. When flying over a unit, Roll a D6 for each passing Screamer and on a 6 the unit suffers a mortal wound. On top of each making 3 Lamprey bites that are S+2 (S6 or 7) AP-3 and do 2 Damage. They have little defense (T4, W2, InvSv 4++). They are pretty good once again. A unit of 6 (158 pts.) Could easily rip apart most infantry and hunt tanks with their Warp Jaws Stratagem.
**They are one of the few Tzeentch units that want to be in melee. This makes them natural targets for Boon of Change.
**The codex is giving them the ability to redeploy whenever they advance, allowing them to bounce anywhere across the board to harass anything you need.

====<span style="color:#01bbe3;">Heavy Support</span>====
*'''Burning Chariot''' Same as an Exalted Flamer but has double the wounds, a 14" move, worse Weapon Skill, is toughness 6 instead of 5, has a 4+/4+ instead of 6+/3+, and is driven by a pair of Screamers which get to make an additional six hits in combat (at S6 AP-3 D2), all for 110 points. The big trade-off is that it loses the Character Keyword which is one of the best things about the Exalted Flamer which could be hidden behind a wall of horrors and kill tanks. The extra resilience helps to combat the loss, but a couple of lucky lascannon shots will bring it down quickly. Note, it will take on average 10.3 lascannon shots with BS3+ and 13.7 w/BS4+ to bring it down. So it's not as good as the Exalted flamer with the loss of Character status, but it is a lot tougher than it first appears and makes a half-decent distraction carnifex rushing up the boarding shooting stuff.

====<span style="color:#01bbe3;">Lord of War</span>====
*'''Aetaos'Rau'Keres:''' Good luck trying to pronounce that name! Like Fateweaver, he has an innate +2 to his casting rolls (that gets reduced the more wounds he loses) and knows 3 Pandaemoniac powers and Smite and can deny 3 powers, too. Unlike Fateweaver, this guy gets WS/BS 2+, and T8 W27. Shooting-wise his Staff of Cataclysm is Assault 2d6 S9 AP-4 D3 and can be fired within 1" of enemy models and into melee. Also, if you slay the final model of a unit with 10 or more models (highly likely), you immediately get 3 Flamers of Tzeentch, provided you have the reinforcement points on hand. To further contrast his might with Fateweaver, his smite has 48 inches instead of 36, and if anyone dares to shoot him with a psychic power and succeed on it, roll a d6, and on a 5+ he ignores the power that was cast on him and the caster suffers a mortal wound. Just wait for your opponent to think that they would rather try their luck in melee with him instead of shooting, he's a monster there too. Be careful though, if an enemy Lord of Change or Daemon Prince comes within 12" of him, roll a die and on a 4+ he must attack that unit with his Staff, ignoring the rules for targeting models (so he can shoot them if they're a character and not the closest unit, or if he can't see them). Hilariously, he has the lord of change keyword so he will always hit himself on a 4+, and the staff is actually pretty dangerous against him. 
**'''Chapter Approved Alternate Take:''' This guy's 600 points in Chapter Approved. This guy's a bit expensive for what he brings to the table now. Pass.</div></div>