Khorne Daemonkin: Unusual List Ideas

Berserk_di_khorne.jpg

On the surface, Khorne Daemonkin seem like a pretty straightforward army... Run up the board, beat some face in. Take as many units that want to get in combat and move 12" a turn and you're not far away from an effective army. But what if you want to mix it up a bit? Tried an armoured spearhead, or even more unusual, a shooty Khorne army? The other day, when I boxed up all my non-KDK playable units, I realized just how many models I had that I could use, but never thought to! So lets look at some crazy KDK armies.

Hellforged Hunting Pack

Greater Brass Scorpion of Khorne: 700

Heldrake: 170

Soulgrinder: Baleful Torrent: 155

Blood Slaughterer: Impaler: 135 Blood Slaughterer: Impaler: 135 Blood Slaughterer: Impaler: 135

Maulerfiend: lasher tendrils: 140 Maulerfiend: lasher tendrils: 140 Maulerfiend: lasher tendrils: 140

Total: 1850

It doesn't take much effort to realize just how crazy this kind of army is. Using only a formation found in Blood Oath, you end up with an army of nothing but vehicles. The formation gives Daemon of Khorne to all units (which they all have already) as well as Rage, making their charges a bit extra deadly. Additionally, if the Brass Scorpion makes a successful charge, every other model in the army may re-roll failed charges, and if any of the models die, every other model in the formation permanently gains +1A, so after losing 3 models, each other model in the army will have +3 attacks.

The Heldrake is nice to get to units that you don't want to commit a combat unit to engage, and while the Blood Slaughters may not be the ideal unit, their ability to drag enemies into base contact the turn they deep strike is pretty ugly. If you wanted to go more competitive, dropping a couple of them for more Maulerfiends or Soulgrinders isn't a bad idea. Unfortunately in this list, only the Heldrake, Grinder and Maulers are generating Blood Tithe, though supposedly FW is writing an FAQ for their units to be allowed to gain Blood for the Blood God, so keep your eyes out for that!

Brass Scorpion by Miniature 3d Canvas

Blood and Iron

Combined Arms Detachment:

Chaos Lord in Terminator Armour: Goredrinker, power sword, sigil of corruption: 170

8 Bloodletters: 80 8 Bloodletters: 80

Maulerfiend: lasher tendrils: 140 Maulerfiend: lasher tendrils: 140 Maulerfiend: lasher tendrils: 140

Chaos Knight Errant of Khorne: dirge caster: 425

Brazen Onslaught:

4 Chaos Terminators: 4x pair lightning claws: 163 Land Raider: extra armour: 240

3 Bloodcrushers: 135 3 Bloodcrushers: 135

Total: 1848

While this does look a bit more like a standard KDK army, it is going to play a bit different. Starting on the board with a fistfull of Maulerfiends, a Land Raider, and Knight Errant, forces your opponent to face down a wall of armour, which will hopefully be too much for your opponents guns to stop. Once the Terminators and Errant make it into combat range, you'll be racking up Blood Tithe in no time, which you can use to summon more units dedicated to claiming objectives across the board. The Blood Crushers can start either in reserve, or on the board, depending on cover and deep strike, but keep in mind that they'll potentially be targets to any weapons not powerful enough to harm the vehicles on the board.

chaos-land-raider-by-uruk's-customs

Bloody Rainmakers

The Purge Detachment (Renegades of Vraks):

Renegade Command Squad: Ordnance Tyrant with refractor field: 90

4 Field Artillery Battery: thudd guns, militia training: 130 4 Field Artillery Battery: thudd guns, militia training: 130

4 Strike Battery: wyverns: 220 3 Chaos Spawn: 55 3 Chaos Spawn: 55 3 Chaos Spawn: 55

Combined Arms Detachment (Khorne Daemonkin):

Herald of Khorne: 55 Herald of Khorne: 55

8 Bloodletters: 80 8 Bloodletters: 80

Maulerfiend: lasher tendrils: 140 Maulerfiend: lasher tendrils: 140 Maulerfiend: lasher tendrils: 140

Knight Errant of Khorne: dirge caster: 425

Total: 1850

While technically the Ordnance Tyrant must be the Warlord of the army, a majorty of the points are spent on Khorne Daemonkin units, so I still count it. The Heralds join the Field Artillery batteries, allowing them to generate Blood Tithe with ranged attacks. The general strategy is that the Maulers, Spawn and Errant rush forward to engage in combat, while you callously shell them after the enemy is forced to clump up in melee. The Maulers and Errant really don't care about any of the attacks you'll be landing in melee, and the Spawn are so cheap that it's no big deal to sacrifice them in the process. It's beardy as hell, but Khorne cares not!

blood-pact

 

I'm still sure there are a variety of other ways to play Khorne Daemonkin, though obviously there will always be a combat element. Using Heralds mixed into more effective shooting squads though is an interesting concept, as it allows you to generate Blood Tithe quicker early in the game. I frequently find myself with a deluge of Blood Tithe on turn 3, but wishing I had enough to get FNP up on turn 1 or two, so perhaps a more balanced approach to Khorne is worth investigating a bit more.

PS - I'm still looking for an effective Khorne horde list, if you've had any luck with one, I'd love to hear it! The Charnel Cohort and Bloodied Horde seem good starts, but having to have that much of your army in reserves seems a bit risky.