Sacred Shennanigans: Tzeentch List Concepts

I've been idly playing with list concepts for Tzeentch daemon armies, working from the base idea of nine being the sacred number for the Changer of Ways. And I've come up with some pretty lethal ideas.

The core idea is to field nine units of nine. Such as:

9 flamers, 1 a pyromancer = 212
9 flamers, 1 a pyromancer = 212
9 flamers, 1 a pyromancer = 212

9 screamers = 225
9 screamers = 225
9 screamers = 225

9 horrors, 1 bolt = 163
9 horrors, 1 bolt = 163
9 horrors, 1 bolt, changeling = 168

led by:
Herald of Tz, disc (65)
Herald of Tz, disc (65)
Herald of Tz, disc (65)

There: 9 units of 9, heralded by 3 prophets of Tzeentch. 2000 points on the nose. In this version, the Heralds probably join the flamers.


Or a variation, mixing up the Heralds a bit for variety's sake, kitting them out for each to join, respectively, a unit of Flamers, a unit of Screamers, a unit of Horrors:

Herald (50)
Herald, disc (65)
Herald, disc, Boon of Mutation (95)

9 flamers = 207
9 flamers = 207
9 flamers = 207

9 screamers = 225
9 screamers = 225
9 screamers = 225

9 horrors, 1 bolt = 163
9 horrors, 1 bolt = 163
9 horrors, 1 bolt, changeling = 168

Again, 2000 on the nose.


These are not armies meant for casual, friendly games. Obviously there's a lot of repetition here. And the lists take advantage of some of the strongest units in the codex. I'm not technically min-maxing, but these armies are honed to very sharp edges. That many Flamers and Screamers on the board would rip shit up and, probably, create enough havoc to protect my fragile troops choices, if I played it skillfully.

I do like the sacred number concept. Against competitive armies, this might be a fun idea to play. Say, in a game where an opponent knew to bring some heavy iron of his own. That would let us have fun, and meanwhile give me an opportunity to play with the narrative possibilities of fielding a sacred phalanx of Change....

Thoughts?

Tzeentch be praised! Screamers look much more playable. I'll work up another three to add to the six I put together last year, enabling me to field the creatures in sacred formations of nine. My conversion idea for this unit (which moves as jump troops, and eats into armor) looked like this:
 
I'll tinker a bit with the idea. And try out a version using the street lights from the 40k imperial scenery kit. That project is just beginning:
 

Meanwhile, Flamers of Tzeentch in their new manifestation look as lethal as ever -- and the points cost has come down. Meaning rather than field them in suicidal units of three (which never struck me as being particularly interesting to play, tactically speaking), I'll put together larger squads. My existing Flamers look like this:
 
New candidates include this wretch:

...
And this yet more debased monstrosity:
 
... who'll definitely have a C'thullu vibe...

 ...and who will be painted with "eye"s all over his bloated brain/skull.



(One thing I like about this one is how his form subtly mirrors the GW Flamers' lines.) So I'm back at it. The work here is still very rough, still very much WIP, with a lot more embellishment and cleaning up to come. Thanks for looking. Any input would be most welcome.

Resurrection!

Time to bring this blog back to life.  The arrival of Sixth Edition, in tandem with new daemon releases and the imminent arrival of a new Chaos Space Marines codex, has revived my interest in Warhammer 40k.  I want to dive back in.

With both feet, this time. I want to get back to writing narratives, modeling, and painting. As well as playing, of course.

Played a great game last night at our local club, with Matt.
He brought Tyranids, including a nasty Flying Hive Tyrant (tricked up with Biomancy--Iron Arm), a Mawloc, several Zoanthropes, some Hive Guard, a Tervigon, a Warrior squad, and an assortment of little bugs (Termagaunts, Hormagaunts, Genestealers). I'm experimenting with new lists, including CSM allies. And decided to roll with Tzeentch: a Lord of Change, Bluescribes, a Soul Grinder, Screamers, Flamers, and Horrors. For allies, I enlisted an accompanying Word Bearers detachment: a Sorcerer, a Tactical Squad, and a small Obliterator Cult. We're both wrapping our heads around the new rule set, getting a feel for the new dynamics of play. Each of us had a flying monstrous creature. Because I never had an ideal chance to capitalize on the possibility of grounding the Flyrant, and because he never seemed as dangerous as other bugs already on the ground, I never tried to ground him. He did manage to ground my Lord of Change after a few rounds, and then came at him with the Warriors. Meanwhile, the CSM/Sorcerer squad anchored my back lines, absorbed a lot of Tyranid shooting (more or less successfully), then a charge from the Mawloc (much less successfully).
The Word Bearers may not have killed much, but they did at least lure the Tyranids into a general advance that let me slip daemons into his back lines, where I created a series of more favorable match-ups (Horrors shooting Genestealers; Screamers taking out the Tervigon; Horrors shooting up the Zoanthropes....) Before we ran out of time, we each killed about equal amounts of each other's army. And had a great time.
 
An auspicious way to spend a Thursday.... And (hopefully) to relaunch this blog!