Yes We Khan: White Scars vs Tzeentch Daemons

Today, I face a monster of my own making...

White Scars vs Tzeentch Daemons!

Earlier this year, in what seems a very long time ago, I, Stylus, encouraged Sultan (him off Sultan Plays) to start a White Scars army. Naturally, this was assembled and painted with the speed of Chogorian lightning, and so when Sultan came over for a day of Warhammer, that was the army I wanted to face.

In return, he got to pick the army that I used and opted for Chaos Daemons (he may have ulterior motives for this, watch his channel for future developments). 

I was new to the 9th Edition codex, having only used it once before against Rapid's Tyranids (that battle is lost to the Warp, I fear - the pictures I took didn't come out well - but rest assured the xenos feasted well on incorporeal flesh). So this was going to be a learning curve for us both.

The Imperfect Speakers - Tzeentch Daemons

With some new additions, I now have enough Tzeentch Daemons to fill out a battalion (and I don't even have to pay to split into Blue and Brimstone Horrors, which is nice).

The centrepiece of this army is the Lord of Change, and I've given him all the toys. He's no great shakes in melee or shooting, but he will kick out a lot of mortal wounds and should be very difficult to shift.

On the more offensive side, my Daemon Prince is tooled up for damage with an extra relic (and wings, and a sword - neither are shown on this model, but I like the pussycat more than I like WYSIWSG).

A Fluxmaster and Changecaster boost up my psychic output, with the usual contingent of Pink Horrors who can grab objectives and be difficult to kill.

I should get a decent amount of mid-ranged firepower from my Flamers, Exalted Flamer and Burning Chariots, while my Screamers can race around the battlefield and try to nom-nom the elite units.

In addition to stratagems, relics and traits, I will get to play with Warpstorm points (which are a bit like stratagems, but with extra admin!)

The good news is, with my new daemonic save, armour penetration will mean nothing to me. The bad news is that my daemonic save plummets when I'm in melee, so let's hope I'm not facing a close-combat army.

• Lord of Change (HQ) (Warlord)
  Rod of Sorcery, Staff of Tzeentch
  Bolt of Change, Boon of Change, Infernal Gateway
  Trait: Incorporeal Form
  Relic: The Impossible Robe
  Exalted: Master Mutator 
• Daemon Prince of Chaos (HQ)
  Wings, Hellforged sword. Maelific Talons
  Boon of Change, Treason of Tzeentch
  Relics of the Impossible Fortress: Warpfire Blade 
• Fluxmaster (HQ)
  Disc blades, Ritual dagger, Staff of Change
  Gaze of Fate, Infernal Flames 
• Changecaster (HQ - No Force Org)
  Ritual dagger
  Bolt of Change, Gaze of Fate 
• 10 x Pink Horrors (Troop)
  Instrument of Chaos, Daemonic Icon, Coruscating flames
• 10 x Pink Horrors (Troop)
  Instrument of Chaos, Daemonic Icon, Coruscating flames 
• 10 x Pink Horrors (Troop)
  Instrument of Chaos, Daemonic Icon, Coruscating flames 
• 10 x Blue Horrors (Troop)
  Coruscating flames 
• Exalted Flamer (Elite)
  Fire of Tzeentch 
• 6 x Flamers (Elite)
  Flickering Flames 
• 4 x Screamers (Fast)
  Lamprey bite 
• 4 x Screamers (Fast)
  Lamprey bite 
• 4 x Screamers (Fast)
  Lamprey bite 
• Burning Chariot (Heavy)
  Fire of Tzeentch, Screamer bites, Horror Infestation
• Burning Chariot (Heavy)
  Fire of Tzeentch, Screamer bites, Horror Infestation 

Points: 2000 | Level: 102 | Battle-forged + Battalion - Relics of Impossible Fortress: 11 CPs

The Chogorian Storm - White Scars

Speed is the name of the game here (and Sultan is paying a few CPs to make it happen!). A couple of HQs on bikes lead the army (including the incredible Khan conversion by StrangerComeKnockin), with Outriders, ATV Invaders and Storm Speeders in their wake.

To add some infantry chop, we have Kor’sarro Khan (and his +1 to wound aura) and a Phobos Librarian (good luck in that psychic phase) leading a Vanguard Veteran lightning claws squad, backed up by a couple of Terminator squads (lightning claws and thunder hammers respectively).

Rounding off the army are a couple of Incursor squads to hold objectives while they sharpen their knives.

With the White Scars traits of advance-and-charge (or fall-back-and-charge), not to mention boosts to charges and extra damage in the Assault Doctrine, this is an army that is getting into action fast.

• Khan on Bike (HQ) (Warlord)
  Traits: Chogorian Storm
  Relic of the Chapter: The Armour Indomitus
  Tempered by Wisdom: Master Rider
• Primaris Chaplain on Bike (HQ)
  Hero of the Chapter: The Imperium's Sword
  Litanies: Mantra of Strength
  Relics: Benediction of Fury
• Librarian in Phobos Armour (HQ)
  Psychic Powers: Ride the Winds, Spirits of Chogoris
• Kor’sarro Khan (HQ)
• 5 x Incursor Squad (Troop)
• 5 x Incursor Squad (Troop)
• 5 x Terminator Assault Squad (Elite)
• 5 x Terminator Assault Squad (Elite)
  2 x Lightning claws
• 5 x Vanguard Veteran Squad (Elite)
  2 x Lightning claws
• 3 x Outrider Squad (Fast)
• 3x Outrider Squad (Fast)
• 3 x Invader ATV Squad (Fast)
  Multi-melta
• Storm Speeder Hammerstrike (Fast)
• Storm Speeder Hammerstrike (Fast)

Points: 2000 | Battle-forged + Patrol - Outrider - Tempered by Wisdom - Relic of the Chapter - Hero of the Chapter : 8 CPs

Mission and Deployment

We're playing Tempest of War, with the Claim the Battlefield mission (basically the standard 5/10pts for holding 1/2 objectives, with a some bonus points for claiming objectives through an action)

We deploy Hammer and Anvil style (deploying along the short ends), with Sultan getting the pick and choosing the end that will allow his bikes to sweep across unimpeded.

From the north side (the top of the field, as shown), are arrayed the ATVs and Storm Speeders with the Bike Chaplain, Kor’sarro Khan, the Librarian and the Incursors on one flank, the Vanguard Veterans ducking behind cover in the middle.

Linking up with them on the south flank are the Bike Khan and both squads of Outriders. The second squad of Incursors camp on the home objective and both Terminator squads go to the teleportarium. 

I can also put any of my daemon units in the warp (with various ways of emerging), so I try and safeguard what I can. Two units of Pink Horrors, the Fluxmaster, the Flamers and a unit of Screamers are set aside. Everyone else has to face the music.

My Lord of Change goes front and centre (slightly reckless, but there's no screening him and no hiding him). The lone squad of Pink Horrors moves upfield on the south flank, ready to rush the objectives and screening my Changecaster and Daemon Prince.

Both Burning Chariots hug the backline to the south (I trust their speed when needed), the Blue Horrors camp on my home objective and the both Screamer units swim towards the centre, but also try to keep a low profile.

We roll for the first turn and the White Scars take it!

Turn 1

The secondary mission cards are both kind and narratively appropriate to the White Scars: Battlefield Supremacy, Extend Battle Lines and Tempting Target (I pick the furthest objective, it still doesn't tax them).

So by racing forward and grabbing everything, they can rack up a neat 15pts. The Shooting Phase is less to write home about: aside from sporadic fire on my Horrors, the massed firepower of the north flank is directed at the Lord of Change (multi-meltas, krak missiles, many bolt shells).

I had already begun the phase by playing the Warp Storm effect Descending Shadow, which makes my units -1 to hit. And with a warlord trait that reduces the wound roll by 1, not to mention a 3++ daemon save against ranged weapons, not to mention a relic that turns the first failed save to damage 0 (I told you I built him for survivability), my Lord of Change weathers the shots very effectively.

Only in the final volley does a couple of melta shots creep through, knocking off half of his 20 wounds - so I was lucky the rest of them missed.

In my first turn, I don't do so well with the secondaries, and can't claim any of them. And with the White Scars already in my grill, there seems little point in being evasive.

However, my first move is an oblique one - a squad of Screamers advances and teleports into the enemy's back line (this is their new ability, and seems a lot more useful than their attacks).

Everyone else piles forward. The Lord of Change jumps on the ATVs and splashes mortal wounds across the vehicles (then attacks and does nothing at all).

The Pink Horrors nudge just close enough to the objective in the ruins to take it from the Outriders, and the Burning Chariots attempt to whittle down the Outriders, but only take three wounds of each of the squads (and with bikers having four wounds each, that doesn't get me much).

The Daemon Prince goes for broke and charges the Bike Khan. All of his attacks fail against the Armour Indomitus, but he only takes a few wounds in return.

The second unit of Screamers charged the Vanguard Veterans (already softened up with a few Smites) but they got a bit overconfident and the Bike Chaplain was able to heroically intervene, interrupt combat, and kill the lot of them.

It doesn't look like the most promising of starts, and with the White Scars ability to fall back from combat and stay effective, I haven't really locked any of them down either.

Although as an unexpected bonus, the Vanguard Veterans that I hit with psychic powers fails morale and two of them jet off to the battle barge (all my daemon units have an aura to reduce morale, so losses can be telling, even among astartes).

White Scars 15 : 0 Tzeentch Daemons

Turn 2

The White Scars are still pressing forward, although the only secondary in reach is Storm Hostile Objective (if they kill all the Pink Horrors on the middle objective, the Outriders will reclaim it). But they nonetheless score a big chunk of primaries, and lay claim to one of them for extra points.

On the north flank, all the units pull back from the Lord of Change to blast him with melta shots. Sadly, this has no effect on his immaterial hide, and Kor’sarro Khan has to charge in and finish the job. Unfortunately, I'd boosted my warlord to T8 in the last psychic phase, so he was even harder to wound, and Moonfang does not cut through.

Terminators land in my own deployment zone, who then charge the Blue Horrors on the home objective and tear them up.

On the southern flank, the Pink Horrors (and their subsequent dividings) are hosed down with boltgun fire, followed by a charge with one squad of Outriders and another squad of newly-arrived Terminators. They are also wiped out, so the hostile objectives have been well and truly stormed!

Finally the Bike Khan goes back in for another round of combat against the Daemon Prince and, this time, drives him back into the warp.

(This is the second time in a row I've tooled-up this Daemon Prince and then thrown him away carelessly. I'm just not a cat person)

So while the Lord of Change has stymied the northern advance, the rest of the field belongs to the White Scars, with a strong push to the centre, south and rear, with my only defence a couple of Burning Chariots and a rather-nervous Changecaster.

I begin my turn on no objectives and my response is to drop the hammer: one unit of Pink Horrors materialises in my own deployment zone (only 3" from the Terminators, thanks to the nature of their Manifestation power), the last unit of Screamers appears in the White Scars' deployment zone.

Everything else jumps atop the power generator station overlooking the imperials' home objectives: Flamers, Exalted Flamer, Fluxmaster and the final unit of Pink Horrors. With the auras and psychic powers in that cluster, there's a lot of damage potential there.

Of the units already on the field, the Changecaster backs away from combat with the Terminators, the Burning Chariots move up to take some shots, and the Lord of Change stays right where he is, throwing out all kinds of mortal wounds and vaporising Kor’sarro Khan.

In shooting, I try a speculative shot from the Exalted Flamer at the Bike Chaplain and take him out! That scores me Assassination and suddenly makes Overwhelming Firepower a possibility (I hadn't held out much hope, even with all my - literal - firepower).

The Flamers open up on the Incursors on the home objective and wipe them out (as I'm discovering, they are so nasty). That leaves the newly-arrived Screamers with nothing to charge, but I'm not complaining, as it's denied Sultan an secondary. With two units down, and a lone Vanguard Veteran in front of my Burning Chariots, I play it safe and take him out, rather than anything more adventurous - and that's Overwhelming Firepower.

The Pink Horrors charge (or stumble) onto my home objective, and get duly pasted by the Terminators. But crucially, the unit survives, and is so able to split into lots of Blue Horrors who swarm the objective and claim it back (as long as one Pink Horror is in the unit, it has ObSec).

Finally, the unit of Screamers who teleported last turn dive into the Incursors guarding my Tempting Target objective - but the astartes armour holds firm and two of the White Scars live to hold the objective.

The Lord of Change actually manage to whittle down the last few wounds on one of the ATV Invaders, and then another one fails morale (the leadership-sapping aura of the daemons coming into play there), so at least there will be a few less guns ranged against him.

I'm really chasing the points, but that turn was an important counterpunch for me.

White Scars 32 : 10 Tzeentch Daemons

Turn 3

The White Scars start strong on four of the five objectives, and perform the claim action on another ro rack up some bonus points. The secondary cards reinforce this dominance: the Terminators on the back objective and one of the Storm Speeders claim Behind Enemy Lines, the Terminators pausing to Deploy Teleport Homer at the same time.

The vehicles surrounding the Lord of Change back off to fire at him again (unsuccessfully, again), but the Bike Chaplain boosts himself up and charges in to finish the job in melee.

Elsewhere, the two Outriders and the other squad of Terminators close in on the Burning Chariots. I opt to fire Overwatch with one of them, as there is a one wound left to plink away - and I scores a kill! To add insult to injury, I pay 2CP to interrupt combat with the same Chariot and it kills the other two bikers!

The other Burning Chariot is not nearly so fortunate, and is efficiently smushed by the Terminators. The other Terminators on my home objective hack away at my Pink Horrors, but not enough to keep them popping into new, smaller daemons.

In the duel against the greater daemon, the Chaplain whiffs his attacks quite badly and only inflicts a few wounds. The Lord of Change outperforms himself, and does a couple of wounds in return (his real fighting style is to stay alive long enough to make it to his next psychic phase, which is proving quite effective so far).

Even more critically, the reaming Screamers chomp down on the last two Incursors, which claims another objective and secures me a Tempting Target.

So I get to claim 5VPs, and start my turn by drawing three fresh secondaries. None of which are very achievable, as they involve getting those Terminators out of my deployment zone, or grinding down more units.

But in the Movement phase, I realise just how manoeuvrable this army is (and I'm facing White Scars). The surviving two Screamers on the tempting target objective teleport away and land on the White Scars home objective. The White Scars who were heading for that objective wheel around and zip back to the tempting target objective, to help out the Lord of Change.

The remaining Burning Chariot flies back to harass the Terminators on my home objective, the Flamers bounce over to the ruins, to take aim at the Outriders, followed by the Exalted Flamer, Fluxmaster and Horrors.

The Changecaster scuttles over towards the Terminators, and unleashes a super-Smite that kills two Terminators. The Lord of Change follows up the mortal wound barrage by killing the Bike Chaplain (and continuing to whittle away the surrounding vehicles).

In Shooting, the Outriders are bathed in flame and wiped out. Another Terminator is wounded by the Burning Chariot, and actually flees from morale.

The White Scars are now losing quite a few assets, but I only get 5VP for the primary objective and, aside from last turn's temping target, I don't get any secondaries. The are two turns left and quite the hill to climb.

White Scars 56 : 20 Tzeentch Daemons

Turn 4

The White Scars high command are clearly as annoyed by the continued survival of the Lord of Change as Sultan is. The secondary orders are to Bring it Down, plus Assassination, plus No Prisoners (and the 20-wound model would pretty much secure it).

With only five wounds left, both remaining Storm Speeders and the ATV wheel around and point their heavy guns at the Lord of Change ... when the smoke clears, he's still alive on three wounds.

The two remaining squads of Terminators pile into the Horrors to get that objective back (they started the turn on a single objective, so need to get back some primary points). The Horrors are gone, and the White Scars have charged the length of the battlefield, but at the cost of some very heavy losses.

I now hold more objectives, and can really turn on the pressure with what I have left. In the psychic phase, the Lord of Change blasts away the ATV. The Horrors and Exalted Flamer shoot ineffectually at the Librarian in the centre.

Over in my deployment phase, the Terminators are softened up with mortal wounds, and then bathed in warpfire from the Flamers, wiping them all out. 

The large unit of Screamers fly into the Storm Speeder that was falling back into the White Scars deployment zone, and tear it from the sky. The Lord of Change finds himself, for the first time, not tied up in combat, so makes a long charge against the Librarian (he achieves nothing, but my hopes weren't high).

The unexpected wiping out of both Terminator squads allows my Burning Chariot to start to Defend Stronghold (which it completes next turn). My smaller unit of Screamers have stayed put on the White Scars home objective, which gets me Capture Enemy Outpost, and with the amount of units killed, I'm not going to lose Grind Them Down either, so it's a turn of maximum victory points for me.

White Scars 61 : 45 Tzeentch Daemons

Turn 5

The White Scars are still claiming the central objective, but their army has been reduced to a damaged Storm Speeder and the Librarian. Sultan is still holding his secondaries, which means victory or defeat is riding on whether the Lord of Change survives.

Unfortunately, the Lord of Change can't be shot, because the Librarian needs to stay in combat to cast Smite (which frankly has a better chance of doing damage than a multi-melta). He actually succeeds in the cast - but only inflicts a mortal wound. The Lord of Change is still alive on two wounds.

In the spirit of Chogoris, the Storm Speeder charges into the combat, but none of these units are designed for melee, and no further damage is done to anyone.

On my final turn, I claim 10 VPs for the primaries, and even have enough board control to claim an objective for a bonus 2VP. And now, with the field in my uncontested control, I am able to scatter and claim all my secondaries Deploy Teleport Homer, Raise Banner and Behind Enemy Lines.

I only need to keep my Lord of Change alive to deny Sultan victory, but it's not that simple. If I fall back, Sultan will use the Butchered Quarry stratagem to try and cut me down (which, with a Force Sword, is not an unlikely prospect). My best hope is to stay in combat, so I can use my psychic powers to tilt the scales in my favour.

Fate is with me, and I slay the Librarian with psychic powers (making that a hat-trick of characters for this Lord of Change) and the Storm Speeder is brought down. The field belongs to the Daemons, and by the narrowest of margins, I have clawed back victory.

White Scars 66 : 72 Tzeentch Daemons

Result: Victory to the Tzeentch Daemons!

Locker Room

Wow, I can't remember making a comeback like that for a long while! I think it's pretty evident that the battle was hinged on the survivability of the Lord of Change, and maybe I overegged the pudding in making him survivable. I sympathised terribly with Sultan's frustration in pouring so many melta, bolter and missile shots into him, and still not kill him. The fact that 15 game-winning VPs were riding on it at the end of the game was just salt in the wound.

That said, daemons are notoriously swingy. The Lord of Change lost half his wounds in the first turn, then weathered all the damage for the next four. He's also a 300+ point unit with rubbish shooting and melee, so all he really brings to the table is being hard to kill and tremendous psychic output. Still, I've had my fun with him now, I'll try some traits that are less anti-social next time.

Anyway, the real filth in the daemon army are the Flamers. Good toughness and wounds, great mobility, fantastic output and autohitting, with the ability to appear from nowhere. If you see someone bringing three full-strength units to a game, I think you'll have their measure.

Elsewhere, I found the daemons really fun. The Screamers are not as deadly as I remembered, but incredibly mobile. And the new new Horror-splitting rule is much easier to manage, without being overpowered.

I didn't mention the new 'Warp Storm' ability of the daemon army because there wasn't much earth-shaking about it. It's nice to have as extra buffs and, as with all things 9th Edition, is fine if you don't mind the admin.

And a final word for the White Scars - I love this army. The thematic build is brilliant, not to mention the excellent painted and converted models. When they swept the battlefield in the first turn, it felt exactly as they would play. And they were so very close to wreaking havoc among my army (had we played Dawn of War formation, they might have had more room to manoeuvre) but the lure of bringing down the big quarry was too tempting.