10th Edition - Chaos Daemons (First 40k List!)

[Casper]

Hey everyone, 

I'd love to get some C&C regarding this list for 10th edition. I really like the Slaanesh models (Keeper is bae) so I decided to focus on those for 10th - I know that Chaos Daemons can pick from any of the Chaos gods but I have a feeling we will see more detachments that focus on mono-list as some of the big models (Bloodthirsters, Keepers) focus on buffing their own daemons (which is great thematically!) Anyways, here's my list and I'll take all the help I can get!

1995/2000 Points 

"Big Units"
Be'lakor - 325 Points
Shalaxi Helbane - 400 Points
Keeper of Secrets (Soulstealer Enchanment) - 330 + 15 Points - 345 Points

"Elites"
Fiends x 3 - 150 Points
Fiends x 3 - 150 Points

"Battleline & Leaders"
10 Daemonettes with Syll'esske - 140 + 140 Points - 280 Points
10 Daemonettes with Infernal Enrapturess - 140 + 65 Points - 205 Points
10 Daemonettes - 140 Points

My general idea is that Be'lakor can keep me safe turn 1 from massive shooting armies. Both Shalaxi and the Keeper are murder machines and are quite hard to get rid of with 20/18 Wounds, 10 Toughness, 4+ Invul Save and 5+ FNP. Shalaxi is meant to murder characters, vehicles and anything with high toughness. The Keeper is better at dealing with smaller stuff with the ability to heal wounds after killing models via Soulstealer and they buff all other Slaanesh units by +1 AP in a 6 inch aura.

The fiends are actually my least exciting units but they're generally solid with 4 wounds, 5 Toughness and a -1 hit aura. Syll'esske is absolutely insane as they have a psychic, devestating wounds flamer and hit like a truck in combat (6 Attacks, Strength 3, AP -2, Damage 3) and they give the Daemonettes and themselves a 5+ Critical Wounds in melee which gives devastating wounds on 5s and 6s to the Daemonettes. The Infernal Enrapturess is a cheap leader that gives a bit more shooting to the army and returns D3 Daemonettes a turn. 

I figure I'll end up deep striking the Syll'esske squad and a unit of fiends pretty consistantly. The Infernal Enrapturess unit can advance early to get objectives and then regrow some models if they don't all get wiped. I wish I could add a Tormentbringer on Exalted Seeker Chariot or the Masque but no points for them!

Do I have too many of the big monsters or not enough units? I'd love some help as I've only played AoS before. AoS units tend to be more expensive pointwise so I'm used to the point costs being high. 

Thanks all!

PS: Do people just show up on Saturdays with armies? <3 
 

[Casper]

Made some changes after my first game. Here's the new list:

Slaanesh (2000 points)
Chaos Daemons
Strike Force (2000 points)
Daemonic Incursion



Be’lakor (325 points)
• Warlord

Keeper of Secrets (345 )
• Enhancement: Soulstealer

Shalaxi Helbane (400 points)

Syll’Esske (140 points)

Tormentbringer on Exalted Seeker Chariot (160 points)

Tranceweaver (60 points)


Daemonettes with Syll'esske (140 points)

Daemonettes with Tranceweaver (140 points)

Daemonettes (140 points)

Fiends (150 points)

The Exalted Chariot is actually really good giving sustained hits in a 6 inch Aura. Put the KoS with the Chariot and the group of Daemonettes with Syll'esske you have reroll 1s (full on objectives) sustained hits 1, devastating wounds on 5s & 6s, an additional AP -1. They can all come down via Bel'akor's Shadow of Chaos on t2 and make 6 inch charges.

Fiends seem mid but they're the only unit that is cost effective given 150 points remaining.

On a side note why are Slaanesh units so hard to build and paint!

[Jack Shrapnel]

I built one of those seeker chariots and it was SUPER frustrating... no idea why Slaanesh kits are like that!

I like the list - fast, killy and the combo with Belakor is really solid.

[Casper]

Third List - this one isn't mono Slaanesh but it looks like a fun Greater Daemon monster mash! Plus - it is significantly less to paint!

Monster Mash (1995 points)
Chaos Daemons
Strike Force (2000 points)
Daemonic Incursion

CHARACTER

Be’lakor (325 points)
• Warlord

Bloodthirster (320 points)
• Enhancement: A’rgath, The King of Blades

Kairos Fateweaver (285 points)

Keeper of Secrets (345 points)
• Enhancement: Soulstealer

Lord of Change (255 points)
• Enhancement: The Everstave

Shalaxi Helbane (400 points)

OTHER DATASHEETS

Flamers (65 points)
• 1x Pyrocaster
• 2x Flamer

It is definitely harder to contest points but significantly more durable and sort of a stat-check. Can you deal with the semi-high toughness/wounds of the Greater Daemons before you get run over. Significantly better shooting and anti-tank that Slaanesh doesn't have (besides Dev Wounds). I dunno... there's no detachments that benefit mono God lists yet. Keep the Keeper next to Shalaxi for the additional AP, Lord of Change next to Kairos for the additional strength and deep strike a Bloodthirster with Belakor sounds fun.

[Jack Shrapnel]

six greater daemons? Now you're speaking my language! nice!

[Casper]

Jun 25, 2023 9:27:38 GMT -5 Jack Shrapnel said:

six greater daemons? Now you're speaking my language! nice!

How could I not?!

[raceygaming]

Ya Be'lakor and his buddies are really good into what people think are top meta builds. Since you can't target his friends unless your in 18". Most armies get 1 shooting phase to deal any damage before 6 guys are in thier face.

So indirect, long range overwatch, towering all don't really matter at all

[Casper]

Jun 25, 2023 13:15:52 GMT -5 raceygaming said:

Ya Be'lakor and his buddies are really good into what people think are top meta builds. Since you can't target his friends unless your in 18". Most armies get 1 shooting phase to deal any damage before 6 guys are in thier face.

So indirect, long range overwatch, towering all don't really matter at all

Belakor seems like a staple in any Daemon list. He's not the best profile compared to the other greater daemons but his ability is absolutely bonkers.

[Casper]

So, I've played a few games now and for the life of me can't remember all my rules. I'm sure it'll come in time! Monster Mash was fun but I didn't have the staying power/field presence that I thought I would. I'd get chipped down pretty quickly and then be tabled by late T4/early T5. I'm going to put together another list that hopefully will add some more oomph to the board and help me with objectives.


Belakor has done his job of Turn 1 Protection but he's been a bit lackluster. Since you can't deep strike turn 1 - he's dead by turn 2 because people rightfully shoot him off the board. I've gone second every game so far so maybe he'll perform better when I go first to get some units deep striked off his Shadow Aura but with no good defensive profile even small shots add-up when the entire army goes into him (it would help if I remembered that he has Stealth though).


Here's the new list that will take some time to get the models & build but I think it has more staying power.


"Big Stuff" - 2000 Points


Belakor - Turn 1 Shooting Protection - 325 Points
Keeper of Secrets w/ Soulstealer - Very durable with 4+ Inv, 5+ FNP, -1 Hit (If I remember!), Decent damage profile against most infantry, - 345 Points
Lord of Change w/ Everstave - Backline Objective Holder, 15 shots @ Str 11/12 is decent anti-tank but not phenomonal, Good for points cost though - 255 Points

"Leaders with Units"
Syll'Esske & 10 Daemonettes - Semi-Chaff unit that dev wounds on 5 & 6s, reroll hits on objectives, easily shot off the board so will need to deepstrike, Syll'esske has decent melee profile and stands back up on a 2, OC 2+ - 140 + 140  = 280 Points
Skullmaster & 6 Bloodcrushers - Good Melee Fighty Unit, T7 & 4 Wounds each with OC 2, Very good damage with charge (Mortals + Lance), Will absolutely want to deep strike in, Probably the "best" addition to the list but fights for the same spot as a Bloodthirster potentially - 105 + 240 = 345 Points
Karanak & 10 Flesh Hounds - Semi-chaff unit that can advance & charge naturally, not spectacular damage/wound profile but good for price point, probably used as a side objective holder and/or screening unit, Karanak is priced well for what he adds (Lethal Hits & Advance/Charge) - 85 + 140 = 225 Points

"Additional Units"
2x3 Flamers - Acceptable damage, cheap ranged units that can naturally fallback and shoot, good at holding back objectives and/or overwatches. Could put them in one unit of 6 but I'm unsure what's better - 65 + 65 = 130 Points
5 Seekers - Scout unit that can allow me to get easier Shadow of Chaos on side objectives. Pretty lackluster profiles in all regards. Probably the easiest to replace but awkward points cost. - 95 Points

This list will absolutely struggle into heavy tank/toughness lists which is why I'd love to add a Bloodthirster or a Soul Grinder but those bring me back to my large monster mash lists that don't have enough units on the board for objectives. All-in-all army building is hard. 

Am I the only Chaos Daemon player? Seems to not be a faction that's being talked about! 

[Jack Shrapnel]

lol... I have a LOT of chaos daemons, so you're not alone (approximately 3-4 thousand points for each chaos god and I own 14 greater daemons including be'lakor - I have a PROBLEM lol) I've just been focusing on figuring out tyranids at the start of 10th lol

I like the Syll'esske daemonette combo when it hits combat for sure - getting there might be dicey at times but having Be'lakor guide them in might be really powerful. Flamers have always been really good. I think a couple small units dropping in to either smoke screens, or doing actions/scoring secondaries is pretty handy.

seekers - I'm not convinced. That's another unit of flamers plus an enhancement for your big bird instead?

Karanak and hounds combo seems decent for the points - it's cheap enough so if it dies who cares, and fast enough to get stuck in pretty quick with advance and charge.

I think the Keeper is really, really good. Slaanesh seems to have won the greater daemon battle this edition. I'm looking forward to getting them on the table myself. Shalaxi is amazing but SO expensive. I think the Keeper is solid though.

[Casper]

I absolutely love that you have 3-4k per Chaos god. That's goals. I'm trying to get one model/unit of each of their respective games for 40k and AoS. I have a Hedonites of Slaanesh army as well. Big bird is supposed to have the enhancement- I added the points but forgot to write it on the post. I'm also not convinced of the Seekers but trying to find 95 points is awkward. I could do the Changeling because he has lone operative to hold objectives. I'm not sure how strong lone operative is - but for 75 points could be worth it. Actually that seems good since I could put the A'rgath King of Blades on the Skullmaster for 75 + 20 points... Now to find a Changeling.

I really want to include Shalaxi or a Bloodthirster but they're just so expensive (Shalaxi especially) and they don't heal like the Keeper. Maybe they're worth running over the Keeper and the Seekers though.

[Jack Shrapnel]

Lone operative can be really great... so long as you've zoned appropriately so your opponent can't just pop up and smash him. Sitting on an objective can be awesome when you're un-targetable!