Reviewing the Daemons Codex, Part 7: True Heavy Support

Preface

Hi Guys, I apologise for the continually late posts, I've been unable to post sooner because of university commitments. Anyway, I'm finished with uni for the term, and so I had some spare time to talk Chaos Demons. In this section, I'm looking at the Soul Grinder and the less memorable Heavy Support sections. It's worth noting I am not reviewing Daemon Princes in this section. This is because I feel Daemon princes are a very complex set of units to discuss and so, I cannot do them justice while keeping the post thoughtful and succinct. So, I will be reviewing them in a separate article. 

Soul Grinders 

Strengths

Love your fluff, hate your model. 

AV13 shell with 4 HP and a 5++.
Decent shooting walker that's unlikely to have been erased by the end of the game.
Decent in combat, getting potentially 6 attacks OTC
Decent ranged shooter, although BS3 lets it down somewhat. 

Weaknesses
None to speak of. Maybe the model is a bit awful.  

Notes: Tzeentch
Tzeentch lets you re-roll failed invulns of 1. Not fantastic, but usable. Mostly keeps the Old boy cheap. 

Notes: Khorne 
Furious charge on a model that already strikes at S10. There's a reason it's free. 

Notes: Nurgle
Shrouded is potentially fantastic on this thing, also limits your opponents assault capabilities because they don't get charge bonuses against it. Slow and purposeful relegates it to a shooting role, ensuring it can get quite pricey. Gets interesting if you run them deep striking with nurgle plaguedrones, you can get them in combat turn 3.

Notes: Slaanesh
Probably your best bet, you can cover around 13" a turn, they'll hit turn 4 at the very latest, and with fleet they're bound to get into assault. They also provide a very solid firesoak for your army.

Price 8/10 Very Competitively priced. 185 points for a battlecannon that won't die? That's fantastic.

Survivability 8/10 Again, very solid. Soul grinders with a 3+ cover save won't be shifted. Worth noting that they're very rarely not going to come to blows given that they ignore stunned on a 2+. 

Damage Output 7/10 They strike hard in combat, but they get quagmired easily. You have to screen them carefully. 

Rules 7/10 Daemonic resilience is fantastic, and Daemon ensures soul grinders are unsurpassed in terms of competitive walkers (except by knights, but I like to pretend they don't exist)

God's boon bonus: Tzeentch 6/10 Not the worst bet, but they don't gain anything.

God's boon bonus: Khorne 1/10 The only boon here is that your model is cheaper than everyone elses.

God's boon bonus: Nurgle 7/10 Solid. It's hard to hide a Soul grinder, but if you get it right, it could carry the game for you.

God's boon bonus: Slaanesh 9/10 Makes a no-shooting soul grinder very quick, and that's pretty cool.

Overall Tzeentch 7.2/10 Reasonable, reasonably priced. The Soul Grinder carries its weight because it is what it is, not because of tzeentch.

Overall Khorne 6.2/10 The weakest of the lot, but still hits for knocks when it smacks into combat. 

Overall Nurgle 7.4/10 Solid, with a solid shooting platform in mind, or a survivable tanker. Depends on the availability of large terrain when you play. 

Overall Slaanesh 7.6/10 It can make up for it if it screws up the deepstrike, and it's a reasonable unit starting first turn on the board. You'll go far striking with one of these. 

Everything Else

Skull Cannon of Khorne

Strengths
S8 shooting
Makes charging more reliable
Can soak overwatch for other units

Weaknesses
Good luck having it on the table past turn one.
Notes:
The Skull Cannon is, in theory, a fantastic tool that lets your units have the frag grenades they're not allowed. Shame it'll never survive turn two.

Price 6/10 Price is justifiable for what it does, It's just too much for what you get in the end.
Survivability 4/10 It needs to not be Open topped, and it needs an extra hull point. Then you might be looking at something that can survive the first turn. 

Damage Output 6/10 Marginal, given AP5. Mostly you use it to get the assault off effectively.

Rules 3/10 It'll be using daemon of khorne far often than it should be.

God's boon bonus 1/10 They could've at least made the hammer of wrath S8. Then, at least it could kill some marines instantly.

Overall 4/10 It's not good. You'd get a better weapon out of a soul grinder of khorne, for only 10 extra points.

Burning Chariot of Tzeentch

Strengths
3 BS4 Lascannons OR a S5AP3 flamer!*

Weaknesses
* Oh wait, both of them are heavy. OH WELL.
AV10 chassis with 3 HP relying on a 5++.
100 points.
I guess at least it gets d6 S6 Hammer of wrath OH WAIT THEY GIVE YOUR OPPONENT FNP. 

Notes
No but seriously, they're awful.

Price 3/10 A 10/10/10 HP3 chariot with no reliable way to assault, or shoot? At least its sorta cheap. A sentinel does more, mind.

Survivability 8/10 It's so survivable because NOBODY would ever shoot at this thing, assuming first blood has been decided. 

Damage Output 2/10 A waste of time and space. The weapon could be reliable, but the minute range and heavy typing reduce its usability very drastically. A 100 point devastator squad if you succeed

Rules 1/10 In this case, the rules bone the tank. 

God's boon bonus 3/10 It doesn't really make much use of the tzeentch rules past the first blood decider.

Overall 3/10 The only thing that makes this piece of it even remotely good is the fact that it's so bad that it'll never be killed.

Seeker Cavalcade (Seeker Chariot)

Very cool take on the Seeker. Sourced from CMON (score 7.7)

Strengths
Fast status and minute price ensures that the seeker chariots can get there quickly enough, or be expendable failing to do so.
AV11 ensures that your opponent needs to put something stronger than a multi-laser into this unit, although this may make it less reliable as a damage soak given that a slaanesh list running seekers needs something to draw small arms fire off their units. I suuggest driving backwards to attract boltguns to the fleshy AV10 on the rear.
Can get up to 12 S6 rending attacks, and that's pretty cool (Plus the Exalted alluress' attacks)

Weaknesses
Weak chassis
Doesn't get the fantastic soulscent rule which would make three of these with a greater reward on eacch bloke an autotake. 

Notes
Good luck placing them on the field.

Price 8/10 Priced a little higher than a rhino, it's almost as survivable (about .33 hullpoints less survivable) and does way more in assault. 

Survivability 4/10 AV11 can actually be to its weakness, but it's reasonable given the price of the chassis

Damage Output 7/10 a 40 point unit that can reasonably do some wounds in combat.

Rules 7/10 Fast and Flesh-shredder are fantastic for this platform. 

God's boon bonus 7/10 Makes very solid use of  rending and fleet. 

Overall 6.6/10 Reasonable, if you hate soulgrinders.

Seeker Cavalcade (Exalted Seeker Chariot)

Strengths
Read: Seeker Chariot. Add 2 HP. and 2D6 attacks.
Makes an excellent firesoak because it actually hurts in close combat.

Weaknesses
Almost double the tank with no real survivability boon. (yes, two more hull points, but your opponent WILL blow it up.)

Notes
Again, a pain to place. Solid outside of this fault.

Price 7/10 Very competitive pricing.

Survivability 5/10 Better than the standard, but not overpoweringly so.

Damage Output 8/10 average 14 S6 rending attacks on the charge.

Rules 7/10 Read: Seeker Chariot

God's boon bonus 7/10  Read: Seeker Chariot.

Overall 7/10 Again, a solid unit. Not competition for the Soul grinder, though. Two seeker chariots and one of these could strike pretty hard while being relatively cheap at 185 points.