Recent 11th Company Interview Reflection (Part 1)

I recently was interviewed by Pat of 11th Company fame.  Pat also being a long time Daemon player made for a great conversation.  I really like listening to these guys, so you should check them out if you have a little commute or painting time to spare.  You can listen to Episode 156 here.  My interview is about an hour and a half in.

So, I listened to my interview and want to post some reflections about my early thoughts on the Chaos Daemon codex based upon my showing at the March Contest of Champions.  I went 0-3 in all close games, but never the less took a beating that day.  I'm used to 2-1 or 3-0 results so I had to man up and be a gracious looser.

At 1500 points a took an All-Tzeentch list to see if I could make a proper go at it with the new codex.  My list looked something like this (I don't have the actual points load out with me):

- Fateweaver
- 2 Heralds of Tzeentch w/ Locus of Conjuration (one ML2 and one ML1) and Exhaulted gifts

- 16 Pink Horrors with Blasted Standard
- 12 Pink Horrors (naked)

- 3 Flamers (pyrocaster upgrade on 1)
- 4 Flamers (naked)
- 4 Flamers (naked)

- 6 Screamers

- Tzeentch Soul Grinder w/ pleghm

- Aegis Defense Line w/ quad gun

Losers
Fateweaver - which is too bad because I just bought a Fine Cast model of this guy after using a LoC forever in this spot.  His re-roll on the warp storm table and single die re-roll is not worth 300 points.  He is less durable than previously and once he's locked in combat any real value he had diminished greatly.  Had I taken a DP or LoC I would have fared better.

Pink Horrors - I previously wrote about how the shooting on these guys isn't that bad.  It isn't - BUT deny the witch is THAT good, and losing overwatch is a big deal.  I used to take 20 horrors and my opponents would have to really debate the assault before committing.  Now, there is no reason not to assault this unit.  This cost me one of the games.

Tzeentch - I'm still waiting on a GW FAQ to correct what I believe was a mistake on the Buring Chariots (not being able to move and shoot).  Psychic shooting is rough, Eldar, Space Wolves and Tyranids are going to relegate my Tzeentch Daemons to casual play unless I ally in Slaanesh, Khorne or C:CSM.  I'm simmering this decision as I write.

Meh
Soul Grinder - Even AV 13 only requires a single penetration to toast near 200 points.  This is the problem with vehicles in general.  No complaints, but he got popped on turn 1 in my first game.

Winners
Deployment - Being able to deploy models lulls my opponents into a false sense of security.  I wasn't too sure about this, but when used properly this can be every bit as flexible as the old Daemonic Assault rules.

Tzeentch Heralds - Yes, prescience is that good, presuming you can hex your opponents DtW die. The Locus of Conjuration is great also, psychic shooting is just way too random...

First thoughts with the new Daemons

After spending last week reading both German copies and photos of the real thing, followed by actually getting my iPad copy Friday night and then playing the old codex on Saturday I got to give the codex a whirl today.  First thoughts:

• Damn, that's a lot of psykers.  I have to learn a new phase of the game.
• What, no...  You can't double me out I have Eternal wa....  Oh, crap, you're right.
• Oh yeah, I forgot to roll on the Warp Storm table, hang on a second.
• I need more and multiple colors of tokens to mark war charges, warp flames and soul blaze.
• There aren't enough psychic cards in the deck for me to use that much divination.
• I need cards for the Daemonic Rewards so that I can put them next to the models.
• Discs are jet bikes?  Let's see what I can do with screamers.
• Wow, 30 minutes of set-up and rolling dice and we're now just starting the game...

My first RTT with the Daemons in 6th edition (40K)

I've been playing the daemons regularly for a few months now; from the tail end of 5th edition through the codex update.  Today was my first RTT with the daemons.  Let me start by saying that the timing was poor for me, as I'm a huge San Francisco Giants Fan, and today was game 3 of the World Series, but I trudged on.  I went 1-1 and skipped the 3rd game in favor of the baseball game.

Playing for the draw

I joke with my wife, who does not play with plastic army men, that I always play for the draw with my Daemons.  The reality is that my goal playing 40K, even when I play in competitions, is to have fun and enjoy the game and my opponent first with the added bonus of a potential win.  In a previous post I mentioned that I chose to play Daemons due in part to their randomness and chaotic (pun intended) play style.  This play style can lead to either a major victory or a resounding defeat.  When things go just my way, it is possible to do some serious damage, but let's face it, 40K is a game of dice and when a single die roll can effect the outcome of a game, things don't tend to go my way all that often.

Case in point, my game last night against a local gamer and all around good competitor, let's call him Joel.  Joel normally plays vanilla marines and is very adept at using them to defeat his opponents.  When he asked for a game yesterday, I assumed I'd be facing his marines (not that it mattered, because I don't tailor my list).  To my surprise, he brought a (new to him) Tau army to the table.  He used the double force organization at 2000 points: