Starting A Daemon Army

[Sekacnap]

Hey guys I'm fairly new to warhammer and have started putting together a daemon army. I know they're not the easiest army to start with but I love their fluff, and find their mechanics very interesting (initial deployment has never been my strong point so deep striking everything works well for me). Right now what i currently own is:

1 x Bloodthirster
20 x Bloodletters
10 x Pink Horrors

Flamers of Tzeentch are probably going to be my next purchase. So considering what I have, I'm looking for some ideas on how to build the rest of my army and what kind of units work well together. I got the horrors (mostly because BG was sold out of flamers, sadface) and because I needed some dakka and they seemed to get the job done. Along with the flamers I plan on picking up plaguebearers and a soul grinder at some point, but I'm unsure as to what units actually work well together. I can read the book and each unit's stats till my eyes fall out but I'm not versed well enough in the game to figure out strategies by looking at stats alone. I've done a fair share of proxy play with some plaguebearers before and they seem fairly staple for contesting points but they've never seemed to do much of anything for me so I'm not sure if I'm just using them wrong or what.

All this being said, any hints, tips and suggestions on how to build/play daemons would be very helpful.

[Bruce Willis]

If you come down to Battlegrounds on Thursday nights you will most likely find Ben who plays daemons as well. You should try watching some games that he plays for pointers on how to use your army, and of course PLAY to learn what works best for you. I also think another guy plays daemons too, though I don't know his name. I am a relatively new player in the 40k department too, and you  can find me most Thursday nights at Battlegrounds as well.

[Bill]

I might be the other guy, not sure though. You are going to love daemons they are a blast to play. The first thing you will learn is prepare to be underwhelmed with their shooing. I run a khorne heavy list. This would be much easier in person. I don't come down Thursday much as Plainville is about 40min away but I do come in on Saturdays often. I also play In almost every 40k tourney. Hope to meet you soon.

[Rhys]

how competitive are daemonettes in 40k? are they garbage?

[Bill]

Nothing in the book is garbage except for beasts of nurgle and furies. It all depends on what type of list the person is fielding.

[Sekacnap]

Yeah I plan on coming down this thursday to check things out. And I know what you mean about their shooting, I've had good experiences while proxying flamers but haven't tried out the pink horrors yet. I figured I'd need SOME sort of ballistics and my research showed them to be the go-to ranged unit for daemons. As you can see I'm going for mostly khorne as well and from the little I've played, everything usually ends up getting shot to pieces before they can do much. So I figured some range support might be nice to have.

[Dissimulation]

The only thing that I notice is that you may need some mobility. but I don't play daemons.. so yeah.

[Benjamin]

Very good start to an army.

Elites units are where Daemons are freakin' awesome (except Beast of Nurgle).
Fiends bring lots of speed and rending attacks. Bloodcrushers are very durable and scary in their own right. Flamers can be good; while much better as anti-infantry, glances can help if you are lucky enough to stun or immobilize a vehicle.

HQ
So many choices! This almost requires its own discussion. Make sure you investigate Heralds, as they're fantastic for their points cost. If you roll dice poorly (like me), Fateweaver may be worth the cost. I love Bloodthirsters.

Troops
No real bad option. Bring an Icon in each wave. Nurglings and Plaguebearers are great at holding objectives. Bloodletters kill like no one's business. Pink Horrors bring the only shooting option. Daemonettes are my least favorite choice because of T3, but they're fast and bring lots of attacks, if they live.

Heavy Support
Daemon Princes can be great, but up being overpriced. For what the Soul Grinder does with the Phlegm upgrade, I think it's a solid value.

Fast Attack
Hmm. You still have points left? Kind of the last slot to get consideration. Screamers of Tzeentch. Cheap and they have many uses.

I'll be rolling the Daemons out for a 1500 point game Thursday afternoon, and I'll likely find in the evening a 2000 game to practice for the upcoming tournament.

[Sekacnap]

Sweet, thanks for the advice it was quite helpful! Just finished putting together all my pink horrors today so all I have left is to finish assembling my bloodthirster that has been left half finished for little over a year now (tried to get into 40k earlier but didn't have a place or people to play with so I put it off).

I was also wondering, does the store have a pc with army builder or some similar application for making quick lists while you're there? I want to put together a list and using something like army builder would make things so much easier but I don't feel like paying $40 for it when I could buy a whole box of models for the same price. So are there any free alternatives?

[Loranus]

Ahh the same Conundrum I am in. Yes 40$ may seem like a lot but really no free alternative except maybe finding an excel spreadsheet of some sort online. I tend to use the demo version of Army Builder and either Pen and Paper the rest or use an excel spreadsheet at the moment. Very convenient to use though.

[Ed]

to bad gw is cheap as fuck and you guys dont get ibodger

[Dissimulation]

http://www.alice40k.tripod.com/calculators.html

[Benjamin]

http://www.alice40k.tripod.com/calculators.html

I punched in a Bloodthirster with Blessing of the Blood God and Unholy Might as a test, and the sheet gave me the wrong point values. Pen and paper wins again. The store does have a calculator one can borrow as well.

[Grimwulfe]

Man up and buy army builder its the best thing out there.

[Rurouni Benshin]

Man up and buy army builder its the best thing out there.

+1.  It's honestly the best way to build lists and to learn the armies of your respective lists as well.  I think it's $10 to sign up, and then you're good for a year.  Renewal fee is/should be the same.  You get all the updates regularly, and it can be used for more than just 40K games (Fantasy, FoW, and LOTR to name a few).

Also worth noting is that for every license you subscribe for, you can install it on two computers.  FYI.