Incarnus. Avatars of their Gods, irrevocably powerful
and sent to torment the inhabitants of any land that stands in their path.
This page studies the Incarnus and their respective Gods, providing a hopefully useful
narrative on their uses in battle and backgrounds.
Clad in the fresh blood of his kills, Dieter grinned, shining a dusky hue of red in the low sunlight. His axe gleamed horribly black and dripped slowly, ominously, the only other sound his breathing, heavy but not laboured. In his other hand hung five heads, held by their hair. Each head was frozen in a rictus blended from terror and agony. As a final touch to add a carnal horror to the image, the mouth of each head feebly opened and shut, as if trying to scream, even in death. Dieter's black and brass armour was adorned with trophies, a horn from a dragon on his shoulder pad, skins draped rotting from his thighs, a veritable trophy rack for a slaughterer.
Such is the martial prowess of Khorne and his Incarnus that none, not even
the mightiest of warriors may stand against them in single combat. Locked into an eternal
plethora of gore and blood, the Incarnus must try to quell their Lord's rage in the only
way they know, the drawing of more blood. Khorne himself sits atop a throne of brass at
the top of a pile of skulls, with his rage devouring the skulls as quickly as his
attendants and champions can bring him more from the mortal realm. It is this that the
followers and Incarnus of Khorne worship, for his creed of 'Honour Glory Blood'.
A Khornate Army must be prepared for a magical
onslaught, as their absence of any magic will usually place them in a poor position. For
any Daemon Armies consisting exclusively of Khorne, the Daemonic Reward 'Spellbreaker', as
this will protect your army from the majority of the mystical assault. The Bloodthirster
is an excellent general for your army, however, he is also 750 points, and so takes up a
large chunk of your allowance before even giving him any Daemonic rewards, so for smaller
battles, less than 2000 points, I would heartily suggest on or two Daemon Princes instead.
An excellent combination for a Daemon Prince of Khorne is to take the Whip and Axe of
Khorne and Daemonic Strength, as this very nearly makes them as capable as a
Bloodthirster, having 11 attacks, 10 of which inflict d3 wounds, and Strength 7. Couple
this with the Chaos Armour given to them because of the mark of Khorne, and they become
very nasty indeed. To follow your Daemonic Warlords, I suggest a solid core of
Bloodletters, as they are quite cheap by Daemonic standards and are also better fighters
than most humans, coupled with their Hellblades, they are excellent ant-character troops.
In support take some Flesh Hounds to tackle those annoying enemy Wizards and cheesy
characters. I personally would not use Bloodcrushers, as for the points cost(90 points) I
feel they are overpriced, as they could easily be defeated by an equal number of Chaos
Knights(10 points cheaper), however, the Juggernauts almost makes them worthwhile, and now
being monster steeds, they will fight on after their rider is dead, and being devastating
troops in their own right, it could well be a wise investment.
As a side note, you should always be aware that you can take Chaos Spawn, to add
flexibility to your army, as they are easily capable of tearing any foe to pieces(if a bit
fickle). They can never be broken and always hit automatically, so they can be used to
fill gaps in your line where you don't want flank charges, although their random
movement(2-12") can make them a bit unreliable. However, as the movement is made in
the compulsory movement, you can always alter the length of movement of your other
regiments to match them.
A Khorne army should never be without the War Banner of Khorne, the ability to fire off
3d6 S3 hits at opponents in close range is simply too good to be true. Although this
offers no save modifier, and is relatively weak, your foe is going to fail some of those
rolls eventually...
Pus dribbled from a weeping lesion on Gareth's thigh, forming a pool of putrescence in hole in his knee where a parasitic worm lived. He grinned with a skull's helpless joviality, with no lips he had no choice in the matter. He gripped a rusted and notched blade in one wasted hand, his arm hanging limp against his side, but the blood about him betrayed the strength of his arm. Scraps of yellowed leather clung to his body, mingled here and there with plates of metal and jingling chainmail. Flies clouded his head, buzzing in an endless drone and clustered to get close to his wounds and the bodies at his feet.
Nurgle is the pustulent lord of decay and disease, his bloated form towers
over humanity, with no hope of his ever going away. Of all the Chaos Gods, only Nurgle can
be said to be truly indestructible, for never will there be an end to disease. Nurgle's
Incarnus' are the bloated and fly-struck victims of his many plagues and pestilences.
Daemons of Nurgle are the bloated and fly-swollen beasts which are the Harbingers of plagues and poxes, it is as such that they are represented in battle. The Great Unclean One is the toughest of all the greater Daemons, although it is also the slowest. Nurgle magic is ideal for close range and combat support, so their speed makes a lot of their magic obsolete until it can get into combat. A Great Unclean One can easily become all but immortal with the new Daemonic Rewards, consider giving one Daemonic Robes, and Cloud of Flies, and suddenly you have a Daemon who can only be wounded by S6 attacks, and those are at -1 to hit.
Daemon Princes of Nurgle are the best Daemon Princes in the game, as the mark of Nurgle gives them the extra +1 toughness required to make them nigh on impossible to wound from basic rank and file, even those carrying double-handed weapons. If you combine this with either the Cloud of Flies, or two Battlemaster rewards, you will find that your Daemon Prince very nearly is the immortal it claims to be. Tactically, Daemon Princes should always be placed on the flank of a force, as their great speed(especially handy with Nurgle) allows them to traverse the table in short order and lay waste to pesky archers, war machines and other soldiers that seem to enjoy hanging back. Meanwhile, a Great Unclean One should anchor the army, by either sitting in the middle(Nurgle armies are typically slow anyway), or sitting on a flank stopping the enemy from running some fast troops up and trying to make your line crumble.
Plaguebearers are the best anti-character rank and file troops in the game. Although a bit low on toughness, the War Banner of Nurgle can easily remedy this, although I would attach it to a unit of Plagueriders, as their high points cost(105 points each) means that you would be mad to risk losing them any other way. Plaguebearers and Plagueriders are custom made to be able to take down any regiment thrown at them, and the Daemon Save makes them very hard to whittle down, especially when they are entirely capable of downing a Human or Elf Lord with a single swipe of their dreaded Plagueswords. Plaguebearers are best used in large regiments, as this will give each regiment a larger portion of the Nurgle spell deck, which, as most Nurgle aficionados will know, is built for a close range assault. The magic is ideal in the hands of a Daemon Prince or Plagueriders, as their speed means that they get to use most of it very quickly, however, other units will only be able to use some of the spells until the later stages of the game, so every spell a unit of Plaguebearers can get is a blessing.
Nurglings are excellent for their cost. Although they have a fairly modest set of stats, they do come with a good price tag and some handy rules. They have three wounds, and can't be lapped, so against most rnf they will easily hold their ground, and with three attacks likely dish some back. They should be used with caution, however, as they have a very low leadership value for a Daemon, and should be kept in range of the general whenever they enter combat. Nurglings can also be used as a 'sacrifice'. Placing a unit of 4 or 5 in front of a unit of Grail Knights they will hold up the Grail Knights sufficiently long enough to enable you to appropriate some other troops for a flank or rear charge, as well as the possibility of sitting back turning them all into Plaguebearers
He ran his tongue up and down the icon in his hand, savouring the metallic chill and tinny flavour. A thrill of orgasmic pleasure ran through his body and he pushed his hand into one of the many torsos thrown about his room as if by an angry giant. From the shattered chest cavity he pulled a heart, dripping slightly congealed cold blood. Licking his lips in feverish anticipation, Salman Leash hungrily devoured the organ, cool blood dribbling over his chin. Salman was tall, at least seven feet, and his wiry frame belied the innate strength and skill with which he danced about his foes, eventually impaling them when the experience began to bore him.
Slaanesh is the master of pleasure, experiences and anything sensual. His
is the realm of textures and colours, all forms of bizarre and sickening congresses, and
untold delights. Slaanesh is the least of the Chaos Gods, but among them he alone holds
the greatest sway, as it is he that binds them together for their great incursions and
wars upon civilisation. The Incarnus Slaaneshi are gifted with their seductive abilities
and sensual beauty which will hold a foe entranced even while he is callously eviscerated
by a massive claw. Slaanesh is beauty in every form when incarnate and as such is
irresistible, and none may deny him.
The Keeper of Secrets is a massive hulk of writhing and contorting flesh, with a beauty that belies its impressive capabilities to kill anything that stands in its path. An average Keeper of Secrets is a very competent Greater Daemon, having stats well above those of nearly any foe he is likely to encounter. However, a Keeper has a few weaknesses. The first and most notable of these is his movement, which while quick for a foot troop, is very slow for such a massive being. Compounding this is the fact that for the same price one may obtain a Lord of Change, which has one less wound, but three more initiative, and can fly. But for a true Slaaneshi cultist, there can be no alternatives to a Keeper of Secrets, being the most powerful emissary Slaanesh may summon to battle. A good selection of Daemonic Rewards to be given to a Keeper would be Aura of Slaanesh, and possibly Warp Staff or a Ward of Chaos(to fend off war machines). In general, I don't make my Greater Daemons masters of sorcery, as they are already tasty enough targets for everything your opponent chooses(or is able) to throw at it, and this goes equally for Keepers.
The Daemon Princes of Slaanesh are exceptional and in my personal opinion, the best Daemon Princes available to a Daemon Warband. With their flight, immunity to psychology and break tests, and Daemon Prince stat line, they are awesome warriors. When properly used, you should have no difficulty using your Daemon Prince to best effect, which would be to have them attack the largest elite units(knights, White Lions, Bull Centaurs, etc.), as their immense strength(best when added to by Daemon Strength), and improbable resistance to injury(Daemonic Robes will protect them from nearly any mortal's attacks), they are suddenly transformed into a whirling dervish capable of obscene amounts of carnage. f you expect to fight an enemy whose army includes a large number of elite troops(especially those with high strength and low leadership, e.g. Orc Boar Boyz), then the Warp Staff is an excellent option, as on a failed leadership test, only half of the enemy will be able to attack you. The best thing about this is that when you charge, the enemy is affected by Terror, then Stupidity, and are very likely to break when they find they unable to attack the Daemon. Slaaneshi Daemon Princes are best used fairly centrally in the army, as their speed and unbreakable will makes them ideal to spearhead an assault.
Daemonettes of Slaanesh are IMHO the best lesser daemons available to any Daemon Army. With WS6, 3 attacks, and magic, Daemonettes can easily tear apart any foe they are required to face. However, they are more fragile than most daemons, having only toughness of 3, and so are quickly whittled down by most bowfire. For this reason, it is a good idea to give every regiment(especially those on Steeds) a musician, so that when they charge they cannot be shot at. Daemonettes are best used in large regiments, so that they gain a good rank bonus, and they also must be able to make it across the battlefield. This also gives them a good selection of Slaanesh Spells, which are the best 'all-round' deck daemons have access to. Most of the spells have good range, and there are a variety of effects available, from freezing the foe, to destroying them from long range… as well as the aptly named Chaos Spawn, possibly the best anti-monster/character spell in the game(though it was better named when it was called 'Fleshy Curse'). Every army should make use of the one regiment of mounted Daemonettes they are allowed, as they are the fastest cavalry in the game, and when coupled with the awesome combative abilities of the Daemons, they become very nasty indeed. Mounted Daemonettes are best placed on a flank working as counter-flanking troops, or in the case of Dwarves, etc., making flanking attacks of their own, especially against war machines, archers and low-armoured cavalry(fast cavalry, etc.).
Fiends of Slaanesh are bizarre creatures resembling twisted bodies thrown together in a maelstrom of creation. Though relatively poor fighters, and they have lower leadership than expected of most daemons, they do lend flexibility to a daemon army, having three attacks and 6" movement. They also come with a veritable plethora of special rules, including the very excellent Scorpion Tail attack(failed armour saves automatically wound…) and Soporific Musk(-1 to hit), so that in spite of their fragility, when the get to attack they are easily capable of bringing down most enemies, even heavy infantry. Fiends are best deployed to intercept heavy infantry(who are much harder to wound with Daemonettes), and get in the way of characters mounted on monsters. If you can get a unit of Fiends to charge one Elven Lord on a Pegasus, then you get 12 attacks, of which if 4 hit, then an armour save is made(Pegasi have no armour) or a wound is suffered, and being fearsome beasts(unlike Pegasi) the enemy will usually be outnumbered, and hence be broken automatically, taking care of enemy generals and their mounts in this way is very handy. Remember that even Dragons have to make an armour save or be wounded, so if you think your Fiends can take the heat, then feel free to use them against the most terrible of beasts you can find(preferably with as many Fiends as you can muster).
Darek's fingertips sizzled with raw energy, the tiny blue and pink flames of his wrath and hate dancing still, though the bodies littered about him for hundreds of metres were long gone cold. His robes shimmered in the dusky sunset, perhaps from their materials, perhaps his sorcery, or perhaps the blood, Tzeentch knows, he had spilled enough today. Craters littered the earth around him, blasted corpses scattered and broken around them. The earth glowed a mystical red as the lowering sun glanced off the blood-soaked soil. With a glance, Darek banished the corpses, and the earth was clear save for the craters, though they would eventually become grown over and none could guess at the carnage once wrought here.
Tzeentch is the fickle and cunning Master of Deception and magic. It is his
will that binds magic to the Realm of Chaos, and his will again that controls the Winds of
Magic upon the world. Tzeentch is also called the Great Conspirator, the Lord of Deceipt
and the Great Sorcerer, as it is his domain to control plots and conspiracies so intricate
and diverse that none may comprehend of their final objective save Tzeentch himself. It is
Tzeentch who designs all of the alliances which result in the incursions and great wars,
and between Tzeentch and Slaanesh, a pact between gods may be broken or bound. Tzeentch
appears as a bizarre figure, with head and torso joined as one and great sweeping horns
springing from his shoulders, his form writhes with changing texture and colours, faces
emerging and screaming from his skin and echoing his speech with subtle but important
differences in meaning. The Incarnus of Tzeentch are just as warped and shifting as their
master, with writhing forms and blurs of colour. they dance across the battlefield,
impossible to look at for any length of time, but impossible to keep your eyes off until
they tear you limb from limb.
The Daemons of Tzeentch are varied perfectly, making a Tzeentchian contingent of daemons easily capable of surviving any eventuality. A Lord of Change is excellent example of this ability. Lords of Change are a bargain for the points, being capable of flight(unlike Great Unclean Ones and Keepers of Secrets), and being almost as capable a fighter as the awesome Keeper. They are, by virtue of their flight, very mobile, and hence very good as a General, being able to move quickly about the battlefield and deal with whatever it finds there. A good Daemonic Reward for a Lord of Change is the Flames of Tzeentch, as this gives you the ability to fire back inflicting d6 S5 hits, which is enough to kill most rank-and-file soldiers. This is tested against the ballistic skill of the Daemon, but with BS10, it's impossible for the Lord of Change to miss, except when firing after moving, at long range, at a single character who's behind hard cover(2+ to hit, even then). Another good idea for a Lord of Change is to give them either Massive Stature or Daemonic Strength, so they can properly duke it out in hand-to-hand combat(not that they can't already).
Daemon princes of Tzeentch gain the advantage of having the mark of Tzeentch, so that they may make one re-roll at +/- 1 once per game. While this doesn't sound like much, when this roll is one to save you from death by a spell or combat, I find that this suddenly comes in very handy, preventing your opponent from getting 5+ victory points. Daemon Princes are very similar to Lords of Change, having the same basic abilities(terror, fly, Daemon save, etc.), though slightly lower stats. This means that in an all Tzeentch Daemon Army, all your Warlords will have enough mobility to get to any major threats. A Daemon prince of Tzeentch is best when given Daemonic Robes(5 toughness is pretty low for a great ravening beast of destruction), and a Daemonblade(no saves makes the S6 very, very nasty). With this combined with their mobility, Daemon Princes of Tzeentch are very hard to kill, as they may be able to cheat death just when your opponent finds the one way to kill them off…
Pink and Blue Horrors are bizarre even by Daemonic standards. Their fighting ability is much better than most mortals, but lower than most daemons, and they get no Daemon save, however, they have an effective 3 wounds each, for 35 points, as well as their magic(though this only applies to Pink Horrors). The only letdown by Horrors is that the Blue version are no better fighters than humans, in spite of their high leadership(although they do have a higher initiative). However, when a regiment of Horrors is destroyed by archers, and suddenly doubles in size can be rather disconcerting for your opponents, so the psychological effect alone can be worth the 35 points. Combine this with their ability(as mages) to hold winds of magic cards, and the Drum of Change which allows them to hold back another card, they become single-handedly capable of increasing your hand of cards every turn.
Flamers are excellent daemons, virtually unstoppable, and ideal specialist troops. They have higher stats all round than any other lesser daemon, though they do cost for the abilities. With 5 strength and 4 toughness, 2 wounds and attacks, 5 ballistic skill and 10 leadership, any commander is willing to overlook their low weapon skill. They are also capable of ignoring obstacles, so their advance over the battlefield is generally unimpeded. Flamers are best utilised attacking enemy war machines and smaller monsters(Pegasi, Unicorns, etc.), as their low weapon skill is a non-issue, and their high strength and ability to inflict many wounds makes them ideal for such tasks. If a town serves to provide an anchor point for your foe, Flamers are the men for the job, being able to ignore most village terrain with their bounding movement.
In general, a Daemon army of Nurgle and Slaanesh should be led by a Daemon Prince, until the points for the army are high enough to take a Daemon Prince and a Keeper/Unclean One, as this will ensure that the mobility of the warlords is maintained. Also, if including several types of daemons in a large battle, then one in every two Warlords should be equipped with the Lord of Chaos Reward, to prevent Animosity.