Plus Ca Change

I've tried to use my Tzeentch Daemons in several iterations of Warhammer 40k, to varying degrees of success.

In 9th and 10th editions, they were terrible, and were repeatedly dismantled by Pete's Space Wolves and outmatched in pretty much every department.

However, in Horus Heresy, the tables were turned and the Ruinstorm Deamons opened a six-pack of whupass on the Alpha Legion. Whilst in 2nd edition they turned out to be too much for Matt's Squats to handle.

Let's try 5th edition...

I think I mentioned before Christmas that our group has settled on 5th edition as our default setting as it fits our slightly older collections and doesn't have too much complexity to make people who don't play every week have to check the rules every 5 minutes.

For a bit of a change from the Blood Angels, I arranged a 1500 point game with Pete against his homebrew Marines, the Emperor's Mailed Fists, which he's had for as long as I've known him, but I've never played against.

Emperor's Mailed Fists

• HQ - Terminator Captain (Thunder Hammer)
• HQ - Terminator Epistolary Librarian (Force Axe)
• Elite - 10 Assault Terminators (5 Thunder Hammers & 5 Lightning Claws)
• Troop - Tactical Squad (Plasma Cannon & Plasma Gun)
• Troop - Tactical Squad (Heavy Bolter & Melta Gun)
• Troop - Tactical Squad (Heavy Bolter & Flamer) with Rhino
• Fast Attack - Land Speeder (Assault Cannon & Heavy Bolter)
• Heavy Support - Predator (Autocannon & Heavy Bolters)

Tzeentch Daemons

• HQ - Lord of Change
• HQ - Herald on Disc (We Are Legion, Master of Sorcery, Bolt of Tzeentch, Chaos Icon)
• Elite - 6 Flamers (Bolt of Tzeentch)
• Troops - 10 Pink Horrors (Bolt of Tzeentch, Chaos Icon, Instrument of Chaos)
• Troops - 10 Pink Horrors (Bolt of Tzeentch, Chaos Icon, Instrument of Chaos)
• Troops - 10 Pink Horrors
• Fast Attack - 6 Screamers
• Fast Attack - 6 Screamers
• Heavy Support - Daemon Prince of Tzeentch (Soul Devourer, Bolt of Tzeentch)

For those who have seen my army previously, it should be noted that due to model sizes being a bit different in 5th edition, I used my Daemon Prince as a Lord of Change, and my Changeling as a Daemon Prince. I also totally forgot to deploy one of my units of Horrors, because I'm an idiot.

Mission & Deployment

We rolled up the Annihilation mission (which just meant killing each other's units, and Spearhead deployment, which meant opposite table quarters.

I got the first turn, but as the Daemons all arrive via deep strike in 5th edition, only Pete set anything up. Given that he didn't know where I'd be arriving, he castles up around a ruin, with his Terminators in the middle and his vehicles ready to push out round the table.

Turn One

As was totally predictable, when rolling to see which units were in my first wave, I rolled up the wrong half of my force. 

I also forgot that I didn't have to arrive in my deployment zone, however this turned out to be a beneficial error as deep strike usually leaves units vulnerable and the building in the middle of the table offered me protection.

With no targets to fire at, most of the Marines pushed forwards, unsure which way round the building the Daemons would come.

Daemons 0 - Marines 0

Turn Two

The Horrors and Flamers pushed around my left flank, whilst the Lord of Change and Screamers headed right. My aim was to use my greater mobility to split the Marines forces.

When the second wave arrived, I added the Herald and more Horrors to the attack on the left, and the combined firepower left several Tactical Marines dead and the Land Speeder unable to shoot.

The return fire was desultory (thanks in part to Daemon saves) and only saw a few Horrors killed. The star of the show was the Marine with the Plasma Cannon in the building who, during the course of the game managed to fire five times, rolling 'gets hot' three times, scattering away from the target once and failing to wound the only time he hit.

Meanwhile, the larger unit of Screamers dropped I'm behind the Imperial lines, aiming to both draw fire away from the main assault, and try to get the drop on a vehicle or two.

They did take fire, but only two of them fell, meaning they were ready to strike in the following turn.

The Deamon Prince came in alone and unleashed a Bolt of Tzeentch which destroyed the Rhino. The squad inside disembarked and unleashed a hail of fire which reduced him to half wounds.

Without someone to charge, the Terminators began to trek to where the Lord of Change was lurking, seeming to take my bait to pull them out of position.

However, the Librarian headed back towards the main line to lend his psychic might to weakening the saving throws of the Daemons.

Daemons 1 - Marines 0

Turn Three

The Daemons advanced, and having pulled the Terminators out of position, the Lord of Change switch back to the other flank. 

In retrospect, this was a mistake as the Terminators weren't that far away from the rest and the Lord of Change could have kept his distance and potentially tied them up for the rest of the game.

As it was, he'd got too close to the Librarian, who charged into combat determined to bring his Force Axe to bear.

Meanwhile, the Daemon horde unleashed Warpfire into the Tactical Marines on the crates, ultimately wiping them out.

Although the Landspeeder avoided destruction, it did have it's Assault Cannon destroyed rendering it less of a threat.

When the Marine did get to return fire, the Herald and one of the units of Horrors were obliterated, due in large part to the disruption the Librarian was causing with Daemonic saves.

Having avoided damage from Daemonic shooting, the Predator was set upon by the pack Screamers charging into its rear.

In 5th edition the only thing Screamers are good at is killing vehicles, so they made short work of it and the consolidated towards the Librarian.

This was another mistake as it allowed the Terminators to charge them and get back into the fight.

The Terminator Captain broke off to chase down the Daemon Prince, who was busy hacking his way through a Tactical Squad.

Daemons 3 - Marines 3

Turn Four

With the Terminators ready to run amok, the Daemons set about targeting weakened units and trying to limit the impact of the Imperial veterans.

The Flamers brought down the Land Speeder whilst the remaining unit of Screamers tried to prevent the Terminators getting to the Lord of Change.

Again, I wasn't thinking straight as all this did was given them an easy victory point.

In the main event, the Lord of Change and Librarian traded blows. The Librarian was struck and passed a leadership test to avoid having its soul devoured.

In return, the Force Axe struck and it's eldritch energy blasted the greater Daemon back into the warp.

Meanwhile, the Terminator Captain finally caught up with the Daemon Prince and destroyed it, but not before it finished off the Tactical Marines.

Daemons 5 - Marines 6

Turn Five

With the momentum very much in the Marines favour, the remaining Daemons began to back off, trying to avoid the rampaging Terminators.

Out of spite, the Pink Horrors unleashed a gout of Warpfire which consumed the heroic Librarian, but left them dangerously close to the Terminators, who caught the Daemons and obliterated them.

With a single Flamer left on the table, clearly intent on hiding, we decided to not bother with another turn and call the game there.

Daemons 6 - Marines 7

That was much closer than I expected, but I think the terrain really helped as when we did get close, I found the Daemons largely outgunned and outfought.

However, it was in movement that I lost this game, as I allowed the slower moving Terminators to catch my units, when I didn't have to.

Had I realised how much of a threat the Librarian was, I would have targeted him sooner, but really I presented the Terminators with two lots of Screamers which won Pete the game.

I think using Daemons in 5th edition will be a challenge, certainly more than in Horus Heresy, but it's not to lost cause that 10th edition is.

In other news I've been buying bits and pieces on eBay, which I'll talk about in another post.

Acquired: -61

Painted: 42

Lead Mountain: 554