I have been upset with the Chaos Daemons codex since the book hit the shelves back in March. Yup I was one of those who spammed Flamers and Screamers and those units getting nerfed was well deserved, but they didn't need to be hit that hard. Though this was one of the many problems with Chaos Daemons.
Random is Random
I know it is in the nature of fluff of Chaos Daemons to be random, but I really cannot be dealing with it. I find it makes games a lot more long winded as you have to make note of the random gifts you roll for and also random psychic powers - that's two things randomly rolled for. I know you can remember the abilities easy enough, but when learning lists it makes it tough as you need to remember what model has what. I know you can just write them down on some paper etc, but I do not want bits of paper and other bits floating about while I am trying to play toy soldiers. It's just another thing you have to remember about and it isn't second nature like other 40k rules.
Lets get ready to suuuuuuuuuuuccccccccccccccccccck it
Because that's exactly what the troops do; suck donkey big. All of the troops blow goats. I think Bloodletters and Daemonettes are too weak and with 5+ inv saves certainly won't last long if they run across the field (at least Daemonettes can do this better) , which means the units can get bogged down in terrain or shot to ribbons as they charge forward. If you do deep strike you need a fair amount of numbers to absorb fire power, which means bigger foot print, which means more chance of deep strike mishap. When 'Letters or Daemonettes make combat they won't have the numbers to get the job done.
Plaguebearers and Pink Horrors are probably the worst of the bunch and that is saying something.
Plaguebearers only purpose is to hold objectives. For 90 points that's not too bad, but while sitting on an objective they contribute nothing. If you look at all other troops in the game they can at least do something. Plaguebearers just sit there and that is it. In close combat they are just like Space Marines with poison weapons.
Pink Horrors are probably the best troops Chaos Daemons have available I feel. They can hold objectives pretty well and thanks to re-rolling saves of 1 they can absorb some punishment while looking after something important. Sure they do not get as good cover saves as Plaguebearers, but if placed within a ruin they will get a 4+ cover and re-roll those 1's as mentioned. Something they do have which no other troops can offer is a shooting ability. The bonus of this ability is only a single model needs to get LOS, so hide the rest away and one can pop his ugly mush out. However, the Chaos Daemons codex has to ruin this, as Pink Horrors fire random shots which is determined on the amount of how many Horrors you have. Their shooting ability is also a psychic power which can lead to all problems such as perils and deny the witch - not cool if you have a big unit and gets denied. And the shooting attack has a silly rule which gives feel no pain if the enemy unit passes a toughness test - this stacks by the way. So if firing against anything Space Marines or better then you will be giving out feel no pain like candy. Though on the bright side if enemy unit fails toughness test then D3 models take a wound with no armour saves.
Lets whip some ass, oh no, wait...
Speaking of shooting there is the lash of despair which Slaanesh models can take in the form of a greater gift. At first is sounds great on flying Princes as it is S:User and the 12" range can be easily sorted with flying monsters who get to run 2D6" plus another 3" because Slaanesh models. Keeping in form of the Chaos Daemons codex you fire 2D6 shots, so you could get 12 or 2 shots - very unreliable. It is a shame as it is the best anti flyer ability Chaos Daemons have and if you could get iron arm power it would be very good, but again that is random.
Flip the table!
I wish I would flip the warp storm table and fuck the silly thing off. I know it has 50/50 good and bad stuff, but unless it is me I seem to always get the bad stuff :( . I can understand Nurgle spreading his filthy and Khorne throwing skulls etc, but why would Daemons want to get any weaker is beyond me. If you roll high then you are doing ok, but if you roll low you will suffer or one of the Chaos Gods rolls, though at least they need a 6+ to hit stuff.
Annoying FOC
I've found with the Chaos Daemons codex that all the good units are in the fast attack (seems to be a trend lately) and HQ sections. Flesh Hounds, Plague Drones and Seekers are all viable choices and in the HQ choices you have an assortment of big monsters and Heralds - at least with the Heralds you can take four per HQ slot, however if you want big monsters you're boned.
On and Up
So I've got that off my chest and narrowed down what I do not like with the Chaos Daemons codex. While there's nothing I can do about the warp storm table or randomness of the codex I can least get to grips with the FOC and luckily I can adapt to that. See, I like big monsters and I am not a huge fan of Tyranids and Chaos Daemons are right up my street. I also like fast units so the big fast monsters with some fast attack elements are suited for me. Take a Keeper of Secrets and I can shift the Slaanesh Princes to heavy support and I am pretty happy. For troops I'll just have to suck it up and take Pink Horrors or invest in allies, CSM are ideal and can bring a Brand/Mace Prince and a Heldrake.
I hope it is not just me who has beef with Chaos Daemons, though at least in my position I have a work around solution to one of my issues. Does the Chaos Daemons codex get on your nerves or do you think it is peachy?