Daemon Prince Of Chaos Undivided
Chaos Space Marine Units and Tactics: Daemon Prince Undivided! Just to round off the Daemon Prince section of my Chaos Space Marine Units and Tactics articles, I bring you the Unmarked Daemon Prince! Be on the lookout for upcoming Lord and Sorceror articles! Mar 19, 2014 - Exhibition of miniatures painted by other artists from around the world. See more ideas about miniatures, miniature painting, warhammer.
- Daemon Prince Of Chaos Undivided
- Chaos Daemons Wahapedia
- Greater Daemons Of Chaos
- Daemon Prince Of Chaos Undivided
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Ch ch ch changes...
The Daemon Prince has undergone an extreme makeover like no other. The Daemon Prince was the go to HQ for every Chaos Space Marine list last edition, now all that has changed. The Daemon Prince isn't any better than before, but with all the changes can players make it work?
The Daemon Prince is now another option for generals, not just the only option.
To understand how to use Daemon Princes in 6th edition, let us start by looking at the differences between the 5th edition and 6th edition codex. Here is a side by side comparison.
(Click to Enlarge)
Daemon Prince Rules 2012
Daemon Prince Rules 2007
Compare & Contrast
- Cost increase from 110 points to 145 points
- Must take a Mark
- Stat increases and more wargear options
- Removal of Eternal Warrior
- Chaos Mark overhaul
--A Price Tag you can Believe in--
The Daemon Prince got a much need point increase, before it was undercosted now it feels just about right. The point increases comes with better stats and access to more options. Only problem, most options are must haves.
--Making Fluffy Sense--
In a decision that makes the most fluff sense, Daemon Princes must submit to a specific Chaos God. The idea that a follower of Chaos could become a Daemon Prince without the help of a single Chaos God never fitted with fluff, with even Abbadon not attaining such undivided stature. The only problem with choosing a Chaos God means calculating those points into the basic cost of a Deamon Prince.
--In Praise of the Chaos Gods--
Now Daemon Princes are truly mighty creatures of legend. With Weapon Skill nine and Initiative eight leading the charge. Daemon Princes also get access to Daemon Weapons and various equipment; too bad they cannot get a 4+ or better invulnerable save.
--Forcing the Issue--
The biggest hit to Daemon Princes is the removal of Eternal Warrior. Now your Daemon Prince is one lucky Halberd wound or Vindicator shot from dying. It is shame really, especially because Daemon Princes have no way of getting toughness six.
--Marks my Deamon up--
Daemon of Khorne -- 15 pts
A Daemon Prince of Khorne only gets Furious Charge. With a Strength of six the +1 strength bonus really doesn't do much unless faced against other Monstrous Creatures. A silver lining is Daemon Princes of Khorne get access to the Axe of Blind Fury, which is the best Daemon Weapon.
Daemon of Slaanesh -- 10 pts
The cheapest of the Chaos Marks doesn't do much, but when you combine Move Through Cover and Fleet you almost always guaranteed to get a charge off, but then again without Grenades you will swing last. Rending and the Run Bonus are cute if you weren't a Daemon Prince, but as it is you don't need Rending and the Run bonus is only useful for usually one turn. At ten points though this is the Mark everyone will take if they just want to use a Daemon Prince without tricks.
Daemon of Tzeentch -- 15 pts
A Daemon Prince of Tzeentch is the best Deamon Prince. A Tzeentch Daemon Prince get a survivability bonus because of the ability to re-roll 1s on saving throws. Daemon Princes draw a lot of fire and having the ability to re-roll something is money. It is sad though that Tzeentch Daemon Princes don't also get an invulnerable save bonus as well.
Daemon of Nurgle -- 15 pts
At first glance a Nurgle Daemon Prince seems like the best, but notice a few things, and you will think differently. Not getting Toughness 6 hurts a lot making all Daemon Princes susceptible to mass small arms fire. Sure the Nurgle Prince gets Shrouded, but that only protects a Prince for so long and most of the time the Invulnerable save will be better than the cover save. The worst is the Daemon Prince gets Slow and Purposeful. The Daemon Prince cannot use his high Initiative to run down units nor can he Run to gain extra movement.
The Daemon Prince is now another option for generals, not just the only option.
Putting it all Together...
Daemon Princes ain’t cheap, especially when you factor in all the hidden costs and must buys. A Daemon Prince will at least clock in at 235 points. At such a cost, only having Toughness five and 5+ invaluable save is too hard to swallow. Luckily, this expensive beast will almost always be Flying meaning they will harder to hit, but suffer extremely from being grounded. The biggest pain with Daemon Princes has to be their inability to unlock Cult Troops. You would think, a Chaos Lord leading Cult Troops would apply to Daemon Princes the same; this was an obvious case of design over logic. Making matters worse Daemon Princes cannot join Chaos Space Marine units which means no spreading the Fearless.
So what place is there for a Daemon Prince?
Daemon Princes are now the expensive second HQ choice. You take the Chaos Lord to get the units you want and the Daemon Prince for the hammer you need. It means on average you are going to invest upwards of 500 points in just HQs alone. What you get in return is usually a spell casting, flying, four wound monstrosity that strikes fear into most opponents.
Taking a Daemon Prince means no Chaos Terminators or Chaos Bikers, and pinning your hopes on four Wounds is enough to get into assault. Flightless Daemon Princes are not an option, they're too easy to get picked off by low AP weapons. The best way to protect your Daemon Prince is too keep flying and hoping for good Psychic powers. Namely, you are hoping for Iron Arm. The Iron Arm Biomancy power is amazing for Deamon Princes because they give them everything they need (Eternal Warrior & Toughness) to survive. Really, almost everything in Biomancy is the way to go. Iron Arm, Endurance, and Life Leech all increase a Daemon Prince's survivability.
What this all means is you cannot half ass a Deamon Prince. If you are going to use one better be ready to spend the points. Here is general breakdown of what you are really spending on a Daemon Prince.
Daemon Prince Base + 145 pts
Power Armor + 20 pts
Wings + 40 pts
Daemon Prince Of Chaos Undivided
Mark of Tzeentch + 15 pts
Mastery Level 3 +75 pts
Spell Familiar + 15 pts
= 310 pts!
What other single model costs this much? The closest answer is Hive Tyrant. You still can make Daemon Princes even more expensive by adding a Daemon Weapon.
I have just gone on and on about how expensive Daemon Princes are, and all you get is a (more than you imagined) fragile unit. The new Daemon Princes are too expensive. Without Grenades, a better invulnerable save, Eternal Warrior, a 2+ armor option; means Daemon Princes cannot be trusted Flying or not.
What I am getting at is Daemon Princes are just not a justifiable HQ choice anymore. They cost too much and you get too little! It is really a sad state, because at first glance they seemed so impressive, but if your best hopes are pinned on random Psychic powers you have problems.
Still, if you want to make the most out of your Daemon Prince models here are some limited options.
Memory Lane: Daemon Prince
--Ways to play Deamon Prince--
The following configurations are by no means meant strictly for competitive play, they represent a cross-section of the Chaos Space Marine codex allowing for flexibility and variety.
Death StarConfiguration: They're all Death Stars!
Balanced Configuration: 245 pts Deamon Prince with Daemon of Slaanesh, Wings, Power Armor, , Burning Brand of Salalathrax
Shooting Configuration: Unless you love Witchfire spells avoid thinking about shooting with a Daemon Prince
KhorneConfiguration: 255 pts Daemon Prince with Daemon of Khorne, Wings, Power Armor, Axe of Blind Fury
Slannesh Configuration: 260 pts Daemon Prince with Daemon of Slaanesh, Wings, Power Armor, The Black Mace
Nurgle Configuration: 285 pts Daemon Prince with Deamon of Nurgle, Wings, Power Armor, Mastery Level 2, Spell Familiar
Tzeentch Configuration: 310 pts Daemon Prince with Deamon of Tzeentch, Wings, Power Armor, Mastery Level 3, Spell Familiar
If you have any questions feel free to email me using the contact information below.
Final Thoughts...
Overall, Deamon Princes are a real disappointment. They were the best unit in the past edition, but the changes that were made for this edition was overkill. Now, all we can hope for is the new Deamon codex and see if any combos come to light so the Chaos Space Marine Deamon Prince has something to do.
Warning
It's Like Tactics is rated theory hammer because these are general observations and assumptions based on only few tested games.
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'With the thirty seven keys of Tzeentch, we open the way for our brothers. With the thousand whispers of Slaanesh, we call to them. With the twelve plagues of Nurgle, we fell their enemies. And with the mighty axe of Khorne, we cut open the world for them.'
- – Amphion and Zathus, Dawn of War: Dark Crusade
Chaos Daemons Wahapedia
'Evils draw men together.'
- – Aristotle
Chaos Undivided is the in-universe theory of Warhammer 40,000 and Warhammer Fantasy that worshiping (and seeking the favor of) all four Chaos Gods allows followers to draw on the strengths of all four Ruinous Powers without their weaknesses. Well, it is just a theory. In the older fluff of 40k and the current fluff of Warhammer Fantasy went even further with the idea, noting religious practices that pay homage to Chaos itself and practices that see the Big Four as a pantheon, or even as facets of Chaos, with the entirety of it being an extension of all things both in the Realm of Chaos and in the material plane. In the latter interpretation, even the Chaos Gods are pawns of fate in the grand scheme of things.
This theory was first postulated in 40k by Lorgar, Primarch of the Word Bearers Legion; even today, the Word Bearers are still the primary followers of Chaos Undivided. although the Black Legion is also a notable follower. Fantasy Chaos Undivided appears more as the secret truth to Chaos, and tends towards only representing the best among the best Chaos worshipers, with Everchosens uniting the varied mono-god groups unto a horde (that falls apart after their death usually).
Note that many followers of Chaos merely exploit the power of Chaos for their own good (or at least try to) and have no real religious affiliation with the gods. However, these groups are sometimes referred to as followers of 'Chaos Undivided,' although the more accurate term is 'unaligned.' This primarily applies to Traitor Legions like the Iron Warriors and Alpha Legion, as well as some renegades, like the Red Corsairs. The current Fantasy Everchosen Archaon, as well as Be'lakor, only see Chaos Undivided as the path to their goals; in the former case the destruction of all things, and in the latter to undivide Chaos and become it in its entirety (a desire also shared by Nagash).
Followers of a single god (such as the World Eaters, Thousand Sons, Emperor's Children, or Death Guard) as well as most Warriors of Chaos hold that followers of Chaos Undivided are weaklings that cannot choose a single god to venerate. It is true that followers of Chaos Undivided will never be held in the favor that single-god worshipers will; however, Legions of Chaos Undivided are also the only Legions that have not fractured into disunited warbands and are actually able to maintain the drilled discipline one would expect of the Space Marines. Likewise the only Chaos Warriors that have ever achieved much of note in the Warhammer World are those who join the various Everchosens in their journeys.
On the other hand, the greatest Champion of Chaos Undivided is Failbaddon and the most loyal servants are the Beastmen. Make of that what you will.
The most well-known to /tg/ follower of Chaos Undivided would be the fang-toothed woman who calls herself 'Cultist', with a close second being her long suffering guardian.
Chaos Undivided used to be thought of as a force of its own, not dependent on the Gods, but Aaron Dembski-Bowden has said that that isn't canon in 40k any more. This is fail as it would be a cool reason to be Undivided besides just trolling the single god lovers. It also would justify the existence of the Black Legion and Word Bearers.
Greater Daemons Of Chaos
Chaos Undivided had its own Mark for about one edition in both 40K and WFB, granting the ability to reroll Psychology (WFB) or Morale (40K) checks; a handy ability, but which got dropped in all subsequent editions.
Furthering the unfair gypping of Chaos Undivided is the newfound inability for Unaligned Chaos players to get anything nice. Both versions of Warhammer now demand a player Mark a Daemon Prince to one of the Four before it can be fielded, and even Black Crusade retconned that it's simply impossible for an Unaligned Heretic who reaches 100 Infamy to ascend to daemonhood unless he or she swears loyalty to Khorne, Slaanesh, Tzeentch or Nurgle in its Tome of Decay expansion. Any GM who understands that Lorgar (Type A, serve them as a Pantheon Undivided) and Perturabo (Type B, don't give a fuck about Gods Undivided) are Daemon Primachs disregards this rule. And they're just the most (in)famous examples, as there were many other Undivided Daemon princes in the fluff such as Barban Falk (Iron Warriors novel series), Kernax Voldarius (Alpha Legion Daemon Prince headhunted by the White Scars), Periclitor the Foresworn (Word Bearers Daemon Prince and Howling Griffons arch nemesis) and Kor Megron (Word Bearers Daemon Prince in the 6th Edition Codex that ascended after proclaiming glory for the dark gods. Note the plural). Note that several of these are (were?) still active even in recent Games Workshop Studio fluff.
Daemon Prince Of Chaos Undivided
Even more confusing is the existence of Be'lakor, who is now retconned into being being the first and onlyDaemon Prince of Chaos Undivided. While Fantasy had no big compunctions on this claim and instead actually gives an intriguing motivation as he's the guy who choses the Everchosen yet can never become one himself, the far future makes him a lot more confusing. If he really was the first and only daemon prince with the support of the big four, then what the hell does that mean for Lorgar and Perturabo above? Even worse, what'll that mean when Abaddon or Archaon finally shuffle off the mortal plane and become daemons?
See, when Be'lakor became a prince, it was under the notion that he was now the plaything of the big four. Problem with that is that he eventually grew serious parent issues, leading to the point where he's actively killing other servants of Chaos to get back his number 1 spot, and one must wonder why the Gods would let that repeat itself. Of course, the cases of Archie and Abby are kept in check by the fact that the big guy's merely guiding them along until he finds the chance to backstab them both to get his spot back. Or in Abaddon's case, he recognises that the Despoiler rejects daemonhood in favour of independence. However, that won't necessarily prevent them from ascending, especially when two literal demigods of war (and a few lesser guys) already slipped past him as Daemon Primarchs of Chaos Undivided (Perturabo received the offer because he wasn't going to pick but needed to be taken care of and Lorgar received it in exchange for selling the universe out).
And now with Master of Mankind, the daemon in Abbadon's sword has been revealed to be of Chaos Undivided as well. Drach'nyen, see, is the daemon born from the first time a human murdered another (not just killed, it's specified, but murdered). The act reverberates through the Warp on so many levels that every God's 'choir' sees something of themselves in Drach'nyen, so it wouldn't be attacked as a daemon of Nurgle would a daemon of Tzeentch, for example. So yeah, daemons of Chaos Undivided are alive and well at the cutting edge of the fluff. Invariably they are incredibly powerful. There are also some ancient Daemon Kings who were usurped by the four and bent the knee in exchange for survival and do their own things in the great game as well, though these guys are Undivided only through technicality.
Another example of a Greater Daemon of Chaos Undivided was Madail, who worked under the commands of all four Chaos Gods in an attempt to corrupt Sanguinius into replacing Horus as the Warmaster of Chaos.
So the issue all boils down to GW being unable to keep their own lore straight, yet so terrifyingly afraid of actually retconning anything. And still they retcon in the most idiotic way. Noteworthy example is Warhammer Fantasy, now called Age of SkubmarAge of Sigmar or the recent editions of 40k.
TL;DR Chaos Undivided has common sense combined with Warp-empowerment and so is full of win and sanity. You don't need the favor of one Chaos God when you can combine cunning with strength and endurance and perfection. Really, it seems Chaos Undivided forces are usually only against the Imperium because of a grudge which leads them to extremes such as spikes and mutilations and human sacrifices for power.
In an odd way, it might be possible that Chaos Undivided is favored most by the four gods and we just haven't realized it. Ignoring the obvious success enjoyed by Chaos Undivided far beyond that of any singular devotions, Chaos Undivided followers (whether through worship or not) don't fall apart, are largely not self-destructive (other than the regular old backstabbing of rivals), and so Chaos can feed off of their psyche smaller amounts of what they want than from their own followers but that amount indefinitely grows as the Undivided followers' numbers and individual power also grows.