Hey everyone! I'm back with a review of Codex: Khorne Daemonkin. This review will be different from the one about the harlequins, because all of the units in the Codex are already from either Codex: Chaos Space Marines or Codex: Chaos Daemons. Both of these books have been out for over 2 years, so its likely that you all know about them already anyways. That being said, there are a few new things, like 3 new Bloodthirster variants, so I will go over those. Mainly, this review will be about the Blood Tithe system, the formations, detachment and relics. Also unlike the Harlequins Codex, I have had a chance to use this book a couple of times, so I have a bit of practical experience with it.
The Bloodthirsters
All of these Bloodthirsters have the same base statline, which is the same as in the Chaos Daemons book, so that's easy. In addition, the Bloodthirster of Unfettered Fury is exactly the same as the base Bloodthirster.
Bloodthirster of Insensate Rage
This is the one that everyone is talking about. Instead of the Whip and Axe of Khorne, you have a Great Axe of Khorne, which is an unwieldy 2 handed axe. Sounds bad, until you see that it makes the Bloodthirster's attacks Strength D. Wow. You get this for 25 points more than a regular 'Thirster, so there's really no reason to use the other one.
Wrath of Khorne Bloodthirster
This is a Bloodthirster that exchanges the Lash of Khorne for a Bloodflail, which is just a Specialist Weapon, so when paired with the Axe of Khorne it grants another attack. Pretty sweet. In addition, it gets the Adamantium Will and Hatred (Characters) special rules. This is a weird rule, as it brings up a few questions. Under the Hatred special rule it says "A model striking a Hated foe in close combat re-rolls failed to hit rolls". Does this mean that if there is a character that is part of a unit in base contact with the 'Thirster then you get your Hatred against the whole unit, or does it only come up in a challenge? I would assume the first one, but it is a little ambiguous. Oh well. You get all this for 50 points more than a standard Bloodthirster. Not bad, but not amazing. Take the Bloodthirster of Insensate Rage instead.
Artefacts of Slaughter
These are the relics of Codex Khorne Daemonkin. As with all of these kind of things, you can only have one of each of these in an army.
Goredrinker
Revered by Khorne's warriors as much as it is feared by the Blood God's foes, this terrible weapon houses a powerful Daemon that hungers for the life essence of its victims. The more the murderous axe feeds, the greater its potency, and once glutted upon its bloody feast, Goredrinker's mere touch is death.
Goredrinker is a Power Axe that gives the bearer bonuses the more wounds he deals with it. At 1-2 wounds dealt you get +1 Strength. 3-4 you get Rampage, 5-7 you double your Strength (from the modified bonus from earlier), and at 8+ all your melee attacks gain the Instant Death rule. So basically, once you deal 8 wounds in combat, you'll be Strength 10, Instant Death, with Rampage, so if you become outnumbered, you likely won't be for long. It really will make whichever character using it into a complete beast, although its fairly expensive, at twice the points cost of a regular Power Axe. Another note is that it's only usable by a Chaos Lord or Daemon Prince, so no Heralds will be running around with it. Oh well.
The Blood-Forged Armour
Legend tells that Khorne forged this armour himself, heating it in the fires of his fury and quenching it with the blood of murdered kings. Ever slick with runnels of gore, its plates are as hard and unyielding as the mountainous hull of a starship, and are able to withstand the mightiest of blows.
The Blood-Forged armour is usable by a Lord or Daemon Prince only. Basically it's Power Armour that gives the wearer Feel no Pain and Eternal Warrior. For 50 points, it's a steal for a Daemon Prince, since you'll probably be buying Power Armour for it anyways, and with no psychic powers to toughen you up the Feel no Pain and Eternal Warrior are a great boost. It's not horrible on a Lord either, but I think that it's much better on a Prince.
The Brazen Rune
Khorne's hatred of witchery made manifest, the Brazen Rune is a burning brand that sears itself into the very skull of its bearer. Though agonizing, the rune wards off the psychic machinations of the foe, preserving its bearer from pernicious spellcraft. Furthermore, the bearer can expend the rune's power, sending its energies roaring forth like a hurricane to shatter sorcerous incantations and burn out the minds of enemy psykers.
The Brazen Rune can be taken by anyone, and grants the bearer Adamantium Will. Also, once per game at the start of your opponent's psychic phase, you can force all psyker's within 24" to take a Perils of the Warp on any double. At the end of the phase though, you lose Adamantium Will. It's ok, but for the same points, you can get a collar of Khorne whitch grants a +2 to Deny the Witch rolls. Of course, for 30 points, you could take both, and deny powers on a 3+. I think that it would be much more effective against Telepathy psykers trying to cast Invisibilty, or Summoners.as they'll be casting powers that require lots of dice.
The Blade of Endless Bloodshed
Even the slightest nick or cut from this weapon's blade causes grotesque sprays of gore to jet forth from the wound. In battle, the blade's wielder and his comrades are swiftly drenched in the gushing lifeblood of his horrified victims.
This is a Power Sword that basically just grants an extra Blood Tithe if the bearer causes one or more casualties. Again, I think this is best used on a Daemon Prince, as they'll make it AP 2. Honestly, it's probably more expensive then it should be for what it does.
The Skull-Helm of Khorne
This ancient helm was carved from the skull of an unknown entity in an age long since forgotten. It is emblazoned with the rune of Khorne, and imbues its wearer with a shadow of Khorne's own terrible aspect.
I really like this item. It can only be taken by Lords, and it gives the bearer Fear and any to hit rolls of a 6 in combat grant him additional attacks. These attacks do not grant further attacks. For 15 points this is awesome. I like the idea of it on a Juggerlord, for the extra attack.
Kor'lath, the Axe of Ruin
The essence of a mighty Bloodthirster rages within every axe of Khorne, the entities bound forcibly within the blades by leering daemonic smiths. Of all of these imprisoned demigods it is Kor'lath of the Unfettered Fury, caged within the Axe of Ruin, who rails most violently against his imprisonment. Should this berserk entity ever break free, he will vent his murderous anger upon those unfortunates caught nearby, before plunging back into the Warp to seek revenge on those who caged him.
Once again, this can only be taken by a Lord or Daemon Prince. This is a Specialist Weapon with AP 2, and any to wound rolls of 6 inflict instant death, In addition, if the bearer of the axe is reduced to zero wounds or is otherwise removed as a casualty, you deep strike in a Bloodthirster of Unfettered Fury within 6". This Bloodthirster takes d3 wounds at the end of each of your turns which ignore armour saves. For 60 points, its not bad, considering your opponent pretty much has the decision to make of killing him, and having a Bloodthirster join the party, or let him rip around chopping everything up. Not a great choice to have to make.
Blood Tithe
The Blood Tithe system is the Daemonkin's special thing. It pretty much is there to help us along since there are no psychic powers in this book, and everything is pretty much melee oriented. It's a nice little boost, but honestly, I think it could have been done better. Pretty much everything in the Codex has a special rule called Blood for the Blood God!. Any time a unit with at least one model with this rule is completely destroyed or destroys an enemy unit, you gain a Blood Tithe Point. Any time a character with this rule is slain or slays an enemy character, you also gain a point. So pretty much any time anything dies when you're using this book, you're getting blood tithe points. These can be used at the start of your turn to give your units various special rules or summon Khorne Daemons.
While this is not bad, it has one glaring issue. When you decide to use your points, all points that aren't spent are lost, and you can only "purchase" one thing off the table at a time. This means that as soon as you have 8 points, you need to spend them, as any more you get will just be wasted. I really think that instead, your points should remain in the pool until you use them, or at least allow people to get more than one thing with them. It would really make this rule go from a minor buff, to a fantastic rule that would maybe even make the codex competitive. Anyways, wishlisting aside, lets look at what you can get.
1 Point: Infernal Contempt - All friendly units with the Blood for the Blood God special rule gain Adamantium Will until the start of your next turn. Not bad for 1 point, but since Adamantium Will doesn't help you against blessings and stuff, you still can't stop any of the really nasty powers.
2 Points: Insatiable Bloodlust - All friendly units with the Blood for the Blood God special rule gain Furious Charge and Rage until the start of your next turn. This would be excellent if every unit in the army didn't have at least one of these rules already anyways. As it is, it's kinda stupid. It's really good if you're running a whole bunch of Bloodletters, as they'll get some more attacks on the charge, but that's about it. Meh.
3 Points: Unstoppable Ferocity - All friendly units with the Blood for the Blood God special rule gain Feel no Pain until the start of your next turn. Yes yes. This is what I like to see. Army wide Feel no pain is excellent, and for only 3 points, you'll be able to get it pretty early.
4 Points: Apocalyptic Fury - All friendly units with the Blood for the Blood God special rule add 1 to their Attacks characteristic until the start of your next turn. Again, this is pretty good, as more attacks is always a good thing to have.
5 Points: Daemontide - You can summon a unit of either 8 Bloodletters or 5 Flesh Hounds within 12" of a unit with Blood for the Blood God! So a free unit of Bloodletters or Flesh Hounds immediately Deep Strikes anywhere within 12" of one of your units, which is pretty cool. It's definitely more useful later on when all of your stuff is in the enemy's grill, and lots of their units are tied up, so that your new unit won't just get shot to bits.
6 Points: Harbingers of Blood and Brass - You can summon a unit of either 3 Bloodcrushers or a Skull Cannon within 12" of a unit with Blood for the Blood God! It's... ok... I guess. Bloodcrushers aren't really great, and neither is the Skull Cannon. I'd pass, unless you just want one of these for the lulz.
7 Points: Dark Apotheosis - One friendly character with the Blood for the Blood God! rule makes a Ld test, and if it's passed they get to become a Daemon Prince with Warp-Forged Armour (3+ save) and if the model being used for it has wings, it gets those too for free. Cool! Of course, if you fail, the character becomes a Spawn. I think this is really cool, and it's especially neat to use on a Cultist champion, because either way it's a step up from a Cultist.
8 Points: Fury Unbound - One friendly character with the Blood for the Blood God! rule makes a Ld test, and if it's passed they get to become a Bloodthirster of Unfettered Fury. It's exactly the same as the Dark Apotheosis, except you get a cooler thing if you pass the test.
Formations
Slaughtercult
Chanting the praises of their bloody god, the warriors of a Slaughtercult hurl themselves into battle to claim the skulls of their foes. These are the most fervent mortal worshippers of Khorne, serving no agenda but that of the Daemons they venerate, seeking nothing but glory in the eyes of their chosen god. Khorne looks with favor upon the bloodthirsty endeavors of these fanatics, armouring them in his contempt of sorcery and imbuing them with an echo of his endless rage. In battle these warbands fight as dictated by the Scriptures of Slaughter, echoing the organisation of the Blood God's Daemon cohorts. They care nothing for their own losses, the champions of Khorne spending the lives of their underlings willingly in furtherance of their aims. However, once they reach the enemy lines, it is the foe who's blood falls like rain.
This is the first formation in the Daemonkin codex, and it's one of my favorites. It consist of 1 HQ (excluding the Bloodthirster of Insensate Rage and the Wrath of Khorne Bloodthirster), 2-8 units of Chaos Space Marines, Berzerkers, or Bloodletters in any combination, 1-4 units of Possessed, 0-2 units of Cultists, and 0-2 units of Spawn. If you take the minimum requirements, this can be a pretty cheap force, but I think you're better off to take as much as you can from it, to maximize the benefits. You get 3 special rules for this formation. The first allows your warlord to re-roll his trait if this formation is your primary detachment, and you roll on the Daemonkin table. The second rule allows any Cultist unit that fails a morale test to be removed as casualties (thus granting you a Blood Tithe point). Lastly, any time you cash in your Blood Tithe points, you may choose another effect off the table of lesser value (but not of a value of more than 4) and apply the result to all units from this formation. This is a fantastic rule, and it really makes the Blood Tithe system awesome. Consider taking this alongside a CAD for some Cultist units to milk Blood Tithe points, and maybe a Land Raider or two to put your heavy hitters in.
Brazen Onslaught
Like a great mailed fist, the Brazen Onslaught smash into the foe. The sheer resilience of this warrior host allows them to shrug off even the most punishing enemy fire, snarling contemptuously as hails of shot ricochet from their ironclad forms. As they plough toward the enemy lines, their momentum builds, the ground shaking beneath the thunderous tread of so many mighty warriors. Daemon and mortal alike howl their devotion to Khorne, the Terminators exulting at the manifestation of their daemonic counterparts. Blood spills, armour and flesh tear asunder, and heads topple from spurting necks as Khorne's favoured vent their fury. Enemy numbers count for nothing against these heavily armed and armoured killing machines, for the greater the odds, the greater the glory earned in the eyes of their wrathful god.
This is a cool formation, but it's really not all that great. It consists of 1-4 units of Terminators, and 2-4 units of Bloodcrushers. Both of these are sub-par units, primarily because they're quite expensive, and not all that survivable. They only get one special rule as well, though its fairly decent. Any time a unit from this formation is outnumbered in a combat, they get to add 1 to their attacks characteristic until the end of the phase. It's ok, but nothing to write home about, and really only worth using if you already like Bloodcrushers and Termies, or if you just want to do something wacky.
Khorne's Bloodstorm
The skies seethe crimson at the onset of Khorne's Bloodstorm, like blood spilled in water. Plunging from amid the ruddy clouds, this swarm of airborne killers decends upon their victims with predatory shrieks. A furnace-hot wind billows at their backs, seeming to hurll the warriors of the Bloodstorm down upon their foes all the faster, while in their wake fall squalls of bloody rain that blind and terrify in equal measure. The warriors of the Bloodstorm strike with ferocious speed, lashing through the enemy ranks like the talons of some vast daemonic beast. The luckiest of the foes die quickly. The rest are borne aloft into the crimson skies, there to have their heads torn from their necks by screeching Daemonkin. Even as the sundered bodies rain back to the earth, Khorne's Bloodstorm surges onward in search of new victims.
Again, I wouldn't consider this formation all that good, because it's made up of kind of crappy units. This formation is 2-4 units of Raptors, and 1-4 units of Warptalons, with a 0-1 Helldrake option. As jump infantry are generally not the best, and Warp Talons are just way too expensive for a T4 3+/5++, I really can't recommend it. Their special rule is +1 Strength to any Hammer of Wrath or Vector Strikes they make, which is only really great for the Helldrake, because most of the time you end up using the Jump Packs in the movement phase, so you don't get a Hammer of Wrath at all. Again, a little disappointing.
Gorepack
The baying of daemonic hounds and the roar of mighty engines heralds the coming of the Gorepack. Drawn to the scent of their foes' fear, these merciless huntsmen will run their quarry to ground no matter how far they may flee. Should the enemy stand and fight, the Gorepack arrows straight toward their heart, packs of loping Flesh Hounds and speeding Chaos Bikers vying to be first into the fray. Nothing can stay the charge of these Daemonkin; the energies of the Warp swirl around them, allowing them to flicker through obstructions as though they were not there. Though they will claim the skulls of any who stand in their path, the favoured prey of the Gore pack are those who disgust Khorne through their use of cowardly witchcraft. For such prey, the Gorepack will stalk the very edges of reality and beyond.
This is a much better formation in my opinion, as both Bikers and Flesh Hounds are quite good, especially in an army that wants to get to combat quickly. The formation consist of 2-4 units of Chaos Bikers, and 1-4 units of Flesh Hounds. All the units gain Move Through Cover (useful for both of them, though for different reasons) and Prefered Enemy (Psykers). In addition, the Flesh Hounds all gain a Hammer of Wrath attack, and the Bikers' Hammer of Wrath gets the Shred special rule. Not too shabby.
Charnel Cohort
Unnatural annihilators from beyond the veil, Khorne's Daemon cohorts pour into realspace to murder and destroy. Should a Daemonkin Warband achieve their ultimate aim, their ranks will be bolstered by the summoned daemons of their chosen patron, until an entire daemonic cohort stands alongside them. Ruled over by bellowing arch-fiends, and wielding the hellish weapons of Khorne's own forges, such a host of unnatural entities can devastate armies and murder worlds. As rank upon rank of blood-splattered Daemons hack their way through their desperate foes, the sky darkens with a rain of flaming skulls. Blood runs in rivers, corpses pile up in heaps, and above it all booms the cruel booming laughter of Khorne.
This is an ok formation, and probably the way to go if you want to run a Daemon-centric army. The formation consists of a Daemon Prince, Herald, Blood Throne, or Skulltaker, 2-8 units of Bloodletters, 1-4 units of Flesh Hounds, 1-4 units of Bloodcrushers, and 0-4 Skull Cannons. Their rules are not bad either. Everything in the formation gets Counter-attack, if the Warlord is from this formation he can re-roll a Daemonkin Warlord Trait, if the HQ is in reserve, you can re-roll its reserve roll to see if it comes in, and anything Deep Striking within 6" of the HQ don't scatter, even if the HQ itself came on that turn, and finally, all units making Fear tests against a unit from this formation take a -2 ld penalty. Lots of rules, but the second one I think is the most important. If you managed to bring in the whole formation in the same turn, you could have a very sizable force in the enemy's face really early, and you're pretty much guaranteed for something to make it to combat.
The Bloodhost Detatchment
The Bloodhost Detachment is the Khorne Daemonkin's special detachment. Basically what it is is a mashup of the various formations for form an army. You start with a base of a Slaughtercult formation. From there you can take 1-8 formations (per Slaughtercult) in any combination from the Daemonkin Codex. You can also take a Lord of Slaughter per Slaughtercult (which gives you the option to take any of the Bloodthirsters, or a Lord of Skulls), or a War Engine (either 1 Hellbrute, Defiler, Soul Grinder, Forgefiend, Maulerfiend, or Lord of Skulls) which uses one of your 8 options from the Slaughtercult. Your rules, in addition to any of your formation rules, are pretty good. You gain a Blood Tithe point at the beginning of your turn, before you spend any points (which is excellent), and if the Detachment is your primary, your Warlord can re-roll his trait.
Now, I think that this the Bloodhost is pretty decent, but personally I'm not too into it. I really am not into the fact that they force you to take certain things, and pretty much all of the formations have at least 1 poor unit in it that you have to take, which means a lot of points are going into units that generally aren't going to be able to perform well. Also, the only way to get a Land Raider into your Daemonkin army using this detachment is to take a Brazen Onslaught and take them as dedicated transports for the Terminators. This means the only assault vehicle option for your assault army (which is already a very expensive investment) can only be taken if you take one specific formation, that forces you to take subpar and expensive units. The other thing that I dislike is that it makes it tough to get lots of badass HQ's into your army, due to the fact that the Slaughtercult only allows you to take a single HQ. From my brief experience, attaching a Lord or a Herald is the thing that makes a unit go from "pretty good" to "oh god, yes" in combat, so by limiting the number of them that you can easily take they're basically limiting how many super scary units you can have.
Aside from the power levels of the formations, or the Bloodhost itself, I also just really don't like being forced to use certain units. I very much value my freedom when it comes to list building, so I'm not all that keen to be bound by anything more than the force org chart.
Warlord Traits
Icon of War
This Warlord leads from the very front, his warriors borne along in his bloody wake.
This is one of the best traits in the book, especially if you're running lots of Daemons or things without access to the Icon of Wrath. It allows your Warlord and all units with the Blood for the Blood God! rule within 12" of him to re-roll failed charges.
Disciple of Khorne
This Warlord's howls of fury are infectious, whipping his men into a frenzy.
This trait is...ok I guess. It gives the Warlord the Zealot (Hatred and Fearless) rule. Not anything really great, as all your HQs are fearless already, but Hatred isn't terrible. Not one I would hope for.
Arch-slaughterer
This Warlord is a whirlwind of carnage, hacking and hewing with every stroke.
Again, nothing too great, but a nice little buff to your Warlord. The Warlord gains +1 Attack. Meh.
Favoured of Khorne
So brutal is this Warlord that the Blood God favours him above all others - for now.
This is one of the better ones. The Warlord generates an extra Blood Tithe point whenever he slays an enemy character in a challenge. Especially good against Chaos or Waaagh! Ghazgkull players that have to accept challenges.
Butcher King
This Warlord has a butcher's mastery of anatomy, knowing just where to strike.
This one is kinda like Disciple of Khorne. The Warlord gets Preferred Enemy. Definately better on a Bloodthirster or Daemon Prince, as they're going to be hitting on 3's (almost always) and wounding on 2's (again, almost always), so they really benefit from re-rolling 1's.
Destined for Glory
Khorne has long observed this Warlord's bloody deeds, and will reward him accordingly when the time is right.
This one is awesome on a cheap Lord. When resolving the Dark Apotheosis or Fury unbound result on the Blood Tithe table, the Warlord automatically passes the leadership test, if they're chosen as the vessel. Really good when your Lord is down to his last wound or out of position, as you can turn him into a Prince or 'Thirster and fly him back to the fight.
Overall Thoughts
Overall, I think that if one wants to play a Khorne army, this Codex is the book to use.While I think its power level is a little low overall, it isn't a terrible book, and it's certainly better than trying to ally CSM and Daemons. There are some major things though that really bother me about this Codex though.
1. No Kharn. Seriously, what? How could you not include the coolest Khornate character in the game in the Khorne codex? What a stupid mistake.
2. Still a lack of assault transport to get your generally fairly fragile units to the fight. The only thing we have is the Land Raider, but it's just so many points, that you often may be better off just taking more troopers to charge headlong into the guns. A Rhino with assault ramps or something would have been amazing for this army.
3. The Blood Tithe system is almost excellent. If you were allowed to keep excess points in your pool when you spent some points it would actually rival psychic powers. Either that or allow you to buy more than one thing with them at a time, similar to the Slaughtercult. So far, in my experience with this codex, you really start to get all your points in turns 2 and 3, and once your force gets into combat, you can easily rack up 8 points in a turn (between destroying units, having your units destroyed, and getting points whenever anyone wins a challenge, it gets crazy), which means if you had one or two points that you didn't use on the way up, (either because the first couple thing aren't that great, or because it's only turn 2) you're likely going to be wasting a lot of Blood Tithe points. This is a fairly big issue to me, but even with that, the system is usable, and certainly better than nothing.
So, does it have its problems? Yes. Would I still use it? Of course. Would I recommend it to others? Yes, if they were planning on playing a Khorne army anyways. It is overall a decent book, that with a little ingenuity, proper tactical maneuvering, and maybe some luck, will be able to win games against most any codex out there. Plus, it's super fun to horde up a ton of Khorne units and just rush in headlong.
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