Underplayed & Overlooked: Codex Chaos Daemons
Welcome back to Underplayed and Overlooked. Today we review the horrific warpspawn in Codex: Chaos Daemons. Lets begin. Ku'gath
- Cost: 2
- Offense: 3
- Defense: 5
- Support: 3
Comparing its cost to a similarly equipped Great Unclean One (hereafter GUO) we find a 75 point discrepancy in the cost. You do get a few nice boosts with it but Im not quite sure it is a good value. In a Codex filled with pretty expensive choices points are at a premium and for this reason I have to score it below average.
Offensively it has a choice in Ranged Attacks unlike a regular GUO. Both have Breath of Chaos which is a Template based attack that causes Wounds on 4+ with no Armor or Cover Saves allowed and Glances vehicles on a 4+ as well. However Ku'gath also has Necrotic Missiles which are a 24" Range Poisoned AP2 Ordinance Large Blast Attack. This is a very strong Attack against most infantry based models. Lastly it has Aura of Decay which is a weaker version of Nurgles Rot as it only cause a S2 hit instead of a S3 one. While you can perform the attack in Close Combat you can expect it to do even less and it is effectively useless.
In Close Combat he has WS 6 with 5 Attacks hitting with Strength 6. Best of all these are Poisoned Close Combat attacks which will almost always get to Reroll to Wound thanks to his high strength. Sadly these are Initiative 2 but at least it strikes before Thunderhammers and Powerfists. In addition it has Assault and Defensive Grenades which can be helpful especially when rolling into Cover. Note he only has one additional attack that a standard GUO however.
Defensively he is the hardest thing to kill in the entire Codex. Toughness 6 with 6 Wounds, a 4+ Invulnerable Save, and Feel No Pain. He should be an incredible pain to get off the board even when assaulting squads of Thunderhammer laden Terminators. This is however only 1 more Wound than a regular GUO and you might find it better to take two plain GUOs rather than a very expensive one.
From a Support perspective he has a 50% of producing a single Nurgling sward if you want one. Its a strange power that will almost never be used in a Kill Points game and used frequently in Objective Missions. The ability to create rogue scoring units can be quite handy even given its situational condition.
Epidemius
- Cost: 3
- Offense: 2
- Defense: 3
- Support: 5*
Comparing its Cost to a regular Herald isn't quite a fair comparison because they have such different roles. Epidemus (hereafter Epi) is going to hide in the back field preferably safe with lots of cover and some bubblewrap disposable troops around (Nurglings?) whereas a regular Herald might actually be expected to go and fight. So his cost for what he brings is fair keeping that in mind.
Offensively for Ranged it has Aura of Decay (the greatly weakened Nurgle's Rot) which given its 6" Range and Strength 2 isn't likely to affect the game much. In Close Combat it has WS 4 with 3 Poisoned Attacks hitting at Strength 4. Initiative 3 is a bit of a downer but honestly it should be kept out of the battle as much as possible to insure the Tally of Pestilence ability stays online.
Defensively it is Toughness 5 with 3 Wounds and has Feel No Pain. It has a 5+ Invulnerable Save which is a bit of a downer but at least it doesn't get Instant-killed by Strength 8 and 9 Attacks. Just look out for S10 and keep him out of the line of fire as much as you can. He is more survivable than a regular Herald but not by much and really benefits from a strong Cover Save. It is an Infantry model so don't be afraid to Go To Ground to prolong its life. Also it is an Independent Character so joining units is a good idea as well.
Support is where it really shines and in my opinion it makes an all Nurgle Daemon army possible. The Tally of Pestilence ability means that when Daemons of Nurgle or any model with a Mark of Nurgle kills a model you keep track of it. After 5+ kills Plaugeswords become Poisoned 3+, 10+ makes all Close Combat Attacks by Follows of Nurgle Poisoned on 2+ (Noxious Touch), 15+ Feel No Pain goes off on a 3+ and 20+ makes all Attacks from Followers of Nurgle ignore Armor Saves. But Epi has to be on the table and alive for this ability to work so keeping it alive is imperative.
*For Nurgle Based Armies.
Come see us next time for a decidedly less Nurgle themed continuation of the YTT series of articles which will be replacing U&O. Thanks for staying with us!
Ku'gath conversion by isotope99 of the BoLS forums.