DAEONFORGE: THE ROAD TO BLOG WARS 7 part 2

My plans for a daemons army are pretty extensive.  After playing 40K for around 20 years I've come to the conclusion that editions come and go, rules change and a unit that is amazing in one edition may be useless in the next.  Therefore I tend to build the army I wish would work, the army I really want, rather than one I feel will be effective for a year or so.  In the case of Daemons that means I want a 1500 point army for each of the 4 powers.  I've basically split each down into 3 500 point sections with:
SECTION 1: HQ and 1 Troops
SECTION 2: Elites and 1 Troops
SECTION 3: Heavy Support/Fast Attack/Troops in any combination.

Therefore I can take a SECTION 1 from any of the powers, a SECTON 2 from any power (or the same one if I'm feeling purist) and any SECTION 3 and my army is guaranteed 1500 and Force Org. legal.

So what do these sections look like?

KHORNE

SECTION 1
Bloodthirster 250
20 Bloodletters: 1 lesser reward and ALL the other upgrades 245
TOTAL: 495

SECTION 2
Herald of Khorne: lesser reward, locus of wrath 90
20 Bloodletters: 1 lesser reward and all upgrades barring the instrument 235
3 Bloodcrushers: 1 lesser reward and all upgrades barring the instrument 170
TOTAL: 495

SECTION 3
5 Flesh Hounds 80
2 Skull Cannons 250
Soul Grinder: Phlegm 165
TOTAL: 495

I feel this is the weakest of the 4 single power armies as Bloodletters are just too darn killable!  If the whole lot could deep strike they'd be viable but as it is I think the long slog across the table (plus overwatch to weather and possibly striking second in combat) will leave precious few models alive in this force post turn 4.

TZEENTCH

SECTION 1
Level 3 Lord of Change:  255
Level 2 Herald of Tzeentch: 70
18 Horrors: Instrument 172
TOTAL: 497

SECTION 2
The Changeling: 75
20 Horrors: ALL upgrades 215
4 Flamers: Pyrocaster 97
4 Flamers: Pyrocaster 97
TOTAL: 484

SECTION 3
Level 2 Herald of Tzeentch: 70
18 Horrors: 162
Burning Chariot: 100
3 Screamers 75
3 Screamers 75
TOTAL: 482

Bombarding opponents with warpflame should be fun (possibly while hiding all but one horror away from retaliation out of line of fire) and there are a fair few anti-tank weapons in section 3 to plug gaps.

NURGLE

SECTION 1
Great Unclean One: Level 2, Greater Reward 235
Herald of Nurgle: Greater Locus (Feel no pain) 70
20 Plaguebearers: Champion, Icon 195
TOTAL: 500

SECTION 2
Herald of Nurgle: Greater Locus (Feel no pain) 70
20 Plaguebearers: Champion, Icon, Instrument 205
4 Beasts of Nurgle 208
TOTAL: 493

SECTION 3
Herald of Nurgle: Greater Locus (Feel no pain) 70
6 Plague Drones:Champion, Icon, Rot Proboscis 302
8 Nurglings 120

Games against Nurgle Daemons have shown me just how hard hey are to kill with those huge cover saves.  Imagine Dragons probably said it best:
You need something that can live,
To claim an objective,
It's where my Daemons hide, it's where my Daemons hide.
There's no need to be brave,
With a 2+ cover save,
It's where my Daemons hide, it's where my Daemons hide.
I'll probably split one unit of 20 down into 2 10s to claim more objectives, using the plague drones to drop units off their icon into the opponent's table half to eventually claim his and make some sort of offensive push.

SLAANESH

SECTION 1
Keeper of Secrets: Exalted & Greater Reward 220
Herald of Slaanesh: Exalted Locus, Lesser Reward 85
18 Daemonettes: Champion, Lesser Reward, Instrument, Icon 197
TOTAL: 502

SECTION 2
Level 1 Herald of Slaanesh: Exalted Locus, Lesser Reward 110
20 Daemonettes: Champion, Lesser Reward, Rapturous Standard 215
5 Fiends of Slaanesh 175
TOTAL: 500

SECTION 3
Herald of Slaanesh: Lesser Locus, Lesser Reward, Steed 80
9 Seekers: Champion, Icon 123
Herald of Slaanesh: Lesser Locus, Lesser Reward, Steed 80
9 Seekers: Champion, Instrument, Lesser Reward 133
Seeker Cavalcade:  2 Chariots 80
TOTAL: 496

About as fast as you can get.  Plenty of cavalry as an Icon delivery system with some multi-purpose troops to deep strike off that icon.  The key will be using psychic powers and fiends to ensure that the daemonettes strike first even if they charge into cover.

Now obviously this is 6000 points of Daemons so next post I'm going to narrow down my choices as to what to take to the 1850 Blog Wars tournament.  I have a feeling bringing 6000 points may count as cheating!

DAEMONFORGE: THE ROAD TO BLOG WARS 7 part 1

So for those of you unfamiliar with "Blog Wars" it is a wargaming tournament for Warhammer 40K run by a great guy called Alex who runs an excellent blog called From the Fang which I heartily recommend checking out. I have attended three of them so far and this year I intend to take a Daemons army. The fact that I currently don't own a Daemons army is a minor setback but one I hope to rectify soon. Why Daemons? Well each year I try to theme my gaming and this year I'm going for the forces of Chaos. I've completed a Emperors Children army which I took to Blog Wars 6 in the autumn, have given up on a Thousand Sons army that just can't win anything and fancy a break from power armour.

I realise Daemons are not considered to have a competitive codex at the moment without one of two types of spamming:
5 Flying monsterous creatures
The Screamer Council net-list of boringness

I hope to do something a bit different as I think the Daemons have 2 significant positives:

Daemonic Rewards: Although random they actually allow you to change your wargear for each opponent in a tournament. See what you roll up on the relevant table and if it will do well against your foe take it. If not choose either an Etherblade or your Chaos God's Weapon whichever will aid you most. For example a Khorne Herald with a lesser reward could get:
1) An assault weapon (1/3 of the time) to deal with largely unarmoured foes on the way in.
2) An Etherblade for dealing with multiple heavily armoured foes (as it's master crafted increasing hits).
3) An Axe of Khorne for dealing instant death to monsterous creatures.

Speed: With a lot of Beasts, Flyers, Jump Infantry and cavalry; plus the ability to deep strike on absolutely everything you should be able to close with your opponent and start to engage on turn 2 with half your army and turn 3 with the rest reserve rolls (boosted by instruments) permitting. Not many assault armies can manage that.

So my next post will look at what I intend to take as an army list then I'll try to get some pictures up to prettify the blog as I dabble in some painting techniques I've not tried in ages (another reason for me wanting to try daemons). So I wonder what the web thinks? Can Daemons win in a tournament?