Played at a small tournament - well, ran a small tournament, and played to fill in the odd number spot - with my Slaanesh CSM/Daemons army, and I'm pretty satisfied with the results. I ended up going 2-1, with wins against Khorne CSM and Nurgle CSM, and a loss against my friend (and cohost) Dennis and his Eldar. This is not surprising; he can never beat my Tau with Eldar, and I've yet to beat his Eldar with my Chaos armies. After three games with the new force, I feel like I'm in the right direction for the most part. Here's what I took:
HQ: Chaos Lord w/Mark of Slaanesh, Sigil of Corruption, Power Sword, Chaos Bike, Gift of Mutation, Veterans of the Long War - 155
Troops: 9 Noise Marines w/8 Sonic Blasters, 1 Blastmaster; Noise Champion - 234
Troops: 9 Noise Marines w/8 Sonic Blasters, 1 Blastmaster; Noise Champion - 234
Troops: 19 Cultists w/17 Autoguns, 2 Flamers, Mark of Slaanesh; Cultist Champion - 137
Fast Attack: 4 Chaos Bikers w/Mark of Slaanesh, Icon of Excess, 2 Meltaguns,Veterans of the Long War; Biker Champion w/Combi-Melta, Meltabombs - 195
Heavy Support: 4 Chaos Havocs w/4 Autocannons, Mark of Slaanesh, Veterans of the Long War; Aspiring Champion - 130
Fortification: Aegis Defense Line w/Quad Gun - 100
HQ: Herald of Slaanesh w/Transfixing Gaze, Soporific Musk, Pavane of Slaanesh - 90
Troops: 16 Daemonettes of Slaanesh - 224
Here are my take-aways from the weekend.
- Bikes work as a Lord delivery system, but... Being on a bike ensures that the Lord will get somewhere quickly, and it keeps him alive due to the increased toughness. The rest of the bikes provide melta for cracking open vehicles and act as ablative wounds. They don't bring a whole lot else, though, besides someone carrying an Icon of Excess. They just don't have enough attacks to make a sizable dent in an enemy unit when assaulting. Still, the speed and toughness are really nice. I'm going to keep trying these guys for a bit longer and get used to them before I decide their fate. Putting the Lord on a Steed of Slaanesh is tempting to give the whole unit Outflank, but then I lose the extra toughness.
- Shooty Noise Marine units are great. Fearless. Power armor. Cranks out tons of shots. Ignore cover. High Initiative if they get assaulted. What's not to like? Also, the Blastmaster is fantastic now, because of two reasons: ignoring cover and being able to keep it stationary while the rest of the squad moves. It's totally worth the points now, especially when you consider how easy it is for vehicles to get cover now. If I can see you, I can kill you, and there's nothing you can do about it. Also awesome for killing other power armor units.
- Shooty Cultists are good. Okay, their guns aren't great, but with so many shots you can manage a lot of mischief. I actually managed to have them shoot a Bloodthirster to death (results not typical). They're risky to assault, especially with the flamers, and with the Mark of Slaanesh they've got a good chance to attack in kind once you close. In combination with a decent piece of cover, like an Aegis Defense Line, you can keep them nice and safe. Out in the open, though, they'll take wounds and likely run off the board, so use them wisely if you don't want to babysit them with a Lord.
- Havocs are great. Especially with autocannons. A lot of strong shots for a low cost. Sure, they won't scratch AV14, but that's what the bikers are for. Setting the champ at the defense line's Quad Gun almost doubles your firepower and gives you access to a Skyfire Interceptor weapon. I had faith that they would serve me well, and they delivered.
- Daemonettes worked! The Daemonettes did exactly what I'd chosen them for - a fast assault unit that I could drop into my opponent's back lines to cause havoc and assault scoring units camping in the rear. They're fragile, but with the sheer volume of attacks they can put out makes up for their deficiencies. I never did use Hit and Run, so the Herald's Musk might be on the chopping block, but Gaze and Pavane are staying. The only game where they didn't directly contribute was against the Eldar (ironic, that), but they still pulled Dennis's entire army's attention for that one turn, leaving the rest to act without being bothered for a turn. Even against a tarpit unit like Plague Zombies, they managed to just out-wound their opponents. They don't stand up to shooting, but I knew they wouldn't. If nothing else, though, they forced my opponent to make bad decisions: keep pressing forward and ignore the blender I just dropped in your lines, or turn around and deal with it and let me stall out your momentum. I wouldn't run them much smaller than I have them in this list; they need the bodies to get where you want them.
I will say it's odd to run an army devoid of vehicles, but at higher point levels (1750-2000), I might figure out a way to pad out that involves metal boxes of one form or another, or maybe pick up a Heldrake and fit it into the list. Also, possibly more Daemons; they're just fun to play around with.