Are possessed really a tax for a slaughtercult?

The general consensus of the intertubes seems to be pretty negative concerning the mandatory inclusion of a unit of Possessed Chaos Space Marines in a Slaughtercult formation of Blood Host detachment.  I do not share these sentiments and here is why.

Yes, they are expensive, yes, they cannot shoot, but I have a hard time seeing these factors as making them so unattractive.  With both Daemon of Khorne and mark of Khorne I think the buff these guys provide is worth it.  Yes, they pay for these marks but never before had Demon of Khorne been available.  Previously if the unit wanted furious charge they would have to purchase a 15 point icon of wrath.  Factoring it all together these guys get furious charge for 10 points cheaper that the Chaos Space Marines codex albeit with the lack of the icon assault result benefits.  They are fearless so don't need it anyways.  

What's more, the icon in the Korne Daemonkin codex is 5 points more expensive and Possessed don't even need the icon; they have all the benefits already built in.


Necessary to the success of this unit is transportation. Options are rhinos and land raiders.  I hate land raiders, especially chaos ones, why oh why can't I get the flamestorm cannon variant?  Lets not go there just yet.

A bare bones unit clocks in at 185 points with a basic rhino.  I am not sure of I want to add anymore models but 5 are sturdy enough.  Run them up the board, flat out, and ram them down some poor soul's throat.  Not much more than that,just point and click.

One tactic I favor is, on the turn before assaulting, disembarking the models without moving the rhino, and in the shooting phase moving the rhino flat out to block line of sight.  This lets our possessed weather the enemy shooting phase, gives opponents a road block to walk and assault around, and if the rhino dies another blood tithe point is earned.  In other cases where the models can actually shoot something be sure and shoot them first before moving the rhinos flat out.  Don't forget their mutation table, strength 6 on the charge, and counter attack.


Thankfully I had some possessed from a long time ago, never assembled and waiting for this moment.  The aesthetics of the models are actually quite pleasing.  Before adding these models to your collection consider a kit bash or the Gal Vorbak from Forgeworld.  Those models are super nice and can double as a very powerful unit in a Word Bearers heresy list.


These guys aren't that bad.  Try them out, run them up, give them feel no pain, and earn those blood tithe points!

First impressions of Codes: Khorne Daemonkin

Image courtesy of Games Workshop

I got my skulltaker edition the other day and played my first game against eldar with a slaughtercult and a charnel cohort. Here is what I learned.

The hounds are worth their weight. Scouting them up really messes with the enemy's target priority. I say take two squad of 8.  I think there is going to be a decent debate about where to take the hounds, either in the Gorepack or in a Charnal Cohort.

I deep struck two squad of blood letters and thanks to BftBG it was very liberating not having to worry about mishaps. I could be a little more daring with their positioning. If they died, who cares? two tithe points! If they got blasted next turn, who cares? two tithe points and they are keeping shots off my other guys. If they live furious charge and a tithe bonus will assure I wipe out whatever I assault.

I think Berzerkers are dang near useless. Why should I take them when I can run cheaper marines that have bolters and a CCW for two points per and combine them with the tithe bonus that gives them rage and furious charge? If they are getting charged then I failed in my positioning so I don't need counter attack. I have the ability to go to ground. I can use my bolters to double tap after I disembark from my rhinos. The tithe bonus, especially with the slaughtercult, makes them better than berzerkes, especially for the points.  Thier only saving grace is WS 5 and if you have the points take them, but I think more can be done with CSMs

I ran my lord as cheap as I could on a juggernaught with a sigil and goredrinker. I put him with a full squad of spawn so he wouldn't lose anything out on majority toughness. I think as long as you hug terrain it shouldn't be much of an issue. Goredrinker is nuts. I want to pair goredrinker with an axe of khorne so later in the game he a cheaper, faster abaddon. All it takes is 8 kills.

A squad of 8 bloodcrushers with a herald that gave hatred was a major beatstick. With all the target priority shenanigans these guys were able to move up the field and wreak havoc. I think they are a glass cannon, though. Enough shooting and they will fall pretty easy. That is why comboing them with other fast moving units like hounds works well.

If a rhino is being used don't mess with blowing smoke. You want them dead for that tithe point. Move them flat out for that extra 6 inches instead. A quick aside, if the enemy kills my rhino can my marines assault in my next turn? I remember there being a rules debate about this but I don't remember.

I used my cultists as objective campers but it brought up a really good issue of objective placement. I say place them in a potential mid field or entice a bias to one side and make sure the enemy gets it. Khorne Demonkin can move so fast that having units sitting in the back on objectives is a waste. Put those cultists up front early to get the blood tithe points for that army wide FNP or to summon some demons.

The tithe overall is great but not much past option 4. 5 and 6 are situational. I think if you can take advantage of some shooting with the skull cannon on some bunched up enemies then go for it. But summoning stuff that can't act for one or two turns is almost useless, not to mention sacrificing a character somewhere. 7 and 8 I think are really almost useless. Unless you can put a prince or thirster out on turn two, or one somehow, then they aren't going to have enough effect on the game to make it worth while. Besides, if you can get one out that early then the enemy is dying so fast you aren't going to need him or your models are dying so fast that putting even a thirster out there isn't going to make a difference. Coming in turn 3 and flying they might only effect two units.

+1 attack characteristic will help your guys survive or finish subsequent rounds of assaults really nice. Army wide FNP is super awesome. If you know you are going to mass assault something the rage/furious charge tithe will smash the enemy and save you from having to buy berzerkers.

I think the artifact armor on a flying demon prince would be cool but that is 250 points and would be too expensive by then.

Overall this codex is great and will take a lot of people off guard. As someone said elsewhere losing units really buffs your army