Horus Heresy Review: Ruinstorm Daemon Chosen

Background. 

Candidly, I see these beings as the rough equivalent of heralds. I have heard some people refer to them as daemon princes too -- it might not be a bad approximation either, but the tell-tale sign it really is a herald is the size of the base. At 32mm, there's little else it can be, so that case is closed in my mind. Their backgrounds in the book are in common with greater daemons -- they are the daemons that have caused the races of the galaxy much suffering .

Strengths. 
Their stat line reads like a praetor level character, or thereabouts at any rate. With an extra pip in both WS and S, and 3 wounds and attacks, the rest are fairly base line at 4's.

Their biggest feature is the special rule "Shepherd of Malign Intent". This allows them to select preferred enemy against a certain category of foe (infantry, monsters, or bikes in general terms).

Finally, do remember that these daemons are characters and therefore can join other squads to keep them relatively safe.

Weaknesses.
As with other daemons, late game this character will suffer greatly due to the Tides of Madness rule. Dropping to T=3 is going to be a severe bump in the road. Hence the recommendation here is to try to seek the relative safety of close combat early on (preferably operating within a squad that they join), and then focus on the objectives (whatever they might be) and keep out of the way as much as possible. That said, they're cheap enough for what the do and what they are fundamentally.

Builds.
Lots to consider here, as usual!

Resplendent Terror Builds:
Chosen, daemonic wings, rift barb, warp-scaled hide (100 points).
An expensive way to shoot S=7 armour bane attacks early in the game, but not a bad ploy for any build really.

Chosen, daemonic wings, miasma of rot, molten blood (90 points).
An alternative build to send in to a blob of enemies (preferably alongside friends) to reduce toughness and paint them with molten blood. Get an early charge in to take advantage!

Crimson Fury Build:
Chosen, brass collar, ephemeral terror, sundering fangs (80 points).
This is my pseudo-bloodletter herald of Khorne. No wings to be fluffy, but replace the ephemeral terror with wings if you like.

Creeping Scourge Build:
Chosen, miasma of rot, warp-scaled hide, lord of sorcery (100 points).
Feel free to replace the lord of sorcery with a ranged attack instead. No wings again here to simulate a herald of Nurgle, but feel free to replace one of the slots with them if desired.

Lurid Onslaught Build:
Chosen, stupefying musk, crushing claws, lord of sorcery (100 points).
A herald of Slaanesh build. I'm not sold on this one as it doesn't gel well. Indeed: overall I find that Slaanesh is tough to emulate in the ruinstorm daemons for some reason.

Maddening Swarms:

Chosen, 3x Lord of Sorcery (125 points).

Feel free to represent this with the Blue Scribes, a Changecaster, or similar. This is very authentic to Tzeentch. Wings, of course, come in handy again here, but three levels of sorcery is hard to give up for that in a Tzeentch build. 

Mirror of Hate:

Chosen, wings, 2x Lord of Sorcery (125 points).

You hate psykers, so you have to be one. Shrug. 

Horus Heresy Review: Ruinstorm Greater Daemon

Background. 

Greater daemons are exactly what we have come to expect, even here in the Ruinstorm. They are extensions of the masters that created them and gave them a spark of their own consciousness. The background given characterises them as well-honed and expert killers who have been bringing misery and suffering to the sentient races for a very long time.

Strengths.
As with all of the ruin storm daemons, the greater daemons are very customisable with the ability to take up to three emanations. Their stat line is impressive, with 5 wounds, and slightly sub-primarch levels in most others.

Their other rules are the standard fare for daemons in 30k: tides of madness, parting the veil, and daemon of the ruinstorm (naturally).

Weaknesses.
They come with a basic 4+ save and a close combat weapon. That's all. Other than that, they're not really "weak" per se. But they are worth the points when built nicely.

Builds.
One build for each dominion follows.

Resplendent Terror Build:
Daemonic Wings, Crushing Claws, Miasma of Rot (210 points).
A simple build meant to get in to combat fast and start killing things.

Crimson Fury Build:
Daemonic Wings, Brass Collar, Sundering Fangs (210 points).
I tried to build something like a Bloodthirtser. Enough said.

Creeping Scourge Build:
Miasma of Rot, Corrosive Vomit, Lord of Sorcery (205 points). 
Following a theme, I tried to build a Great Unclean One (with one level of psychic mastery just because). I like it and would play it.

Lurid Onslaught Build:
Stupefying musk, Crushing Claws, Quicksilver Speed (195 points). 
My attempt to build a Keeper of Secrets. I'm not wholly sold on it, but it feels like it adheres to the new plastic model.

Maddening Swarms:
Daemonic Wings, Lord of Sorcery x 2 (235 points).
A Lord of Change style build here. Obviously with wings and as many levels of psychic ability as we can get. Which sadly is not 3 unless I drop the wings. But I'm keeping the wings because of the model.

Mirror of Hate:
Daemonic Wings, Lord of Sorcery, Warp-scaled Hide (225 points). 
Although there is some older pictures (e.g., Realm of Chaos, and others) of Malal daemons, the field is wide open here, so I went with something that is similar to the Daemon Lord, earlier.

Horus Heresy Review: Cor'bax Utterblight Unbound, Daemon Lord of the Ruinstorm

Background. 

The final named chaos daemon lord is Cor'bax Utterblight. Fateweaver, and all the other named daemons in 40k don't get so much as a mention in this army, which is a pity, but I get the focus on the Ruinstorm and the daemons who played a much more prominent part in it. After all, there is a plethora of them. Utterblight is noted as a daemon prince in the background, and was summoned directly by the Word Bearers. However, there's precious little more than this, as one suspects that few survived the indulgences that this daemon unleashed.

Strengths.

As well as a very powerful stat line (Primarch levels, except for the BS), Utterblight is a Psyker (level 2). 

Thanks to his big mouth, he gains instant death on a to-hit roll of 5 or 6. This is nice, and would not be much to mention except for the lack of eternal warrior in 30k (which Utterblight also has). He also causes d3 hammer of wrath attacks on the charge, and will "explode" upon his death to take some pyrrhic revenge. 

The emanations of horror that he has is nothing too special, but does help once he gets in combat. 

Weaknesses.

The fixed warlord trait, Pestilent Cloud, is not much to write home about. There's a lot better Nurgle powers than this. 

The limitation of choosing the psychic powers from the biomancy discipline is a bit of a restriction. That said, in the hands of Utterblight, it helps him achieve his goals ultimately. 

As with other Nurgle daemons, he is fundamentally slow. He needs to make the best of any combat that he manages to get in and use his psychic powers to maximum effect,

Overall.

With a price tag like a Primarch, Utterblight at first sight seems very attractive. However, he has the same problem that most Nurgle daemons have: he is slow, and lacks significant ranged threat. In close combat: sure, he will be amazing. But overall, any White Scars player will simply run rings around him and diffuse his threat readily. Indeed, I would expect most space marine players to not feel too threatened by him unless they deliberately get in to close combat with him. Its a situation that an enemy can, in many cases, avoid. And therein is the fundamental limitation. He is a close combat specialist without being quick on his feet and lacks ranged threat. Angron does it better if I'm honest. Overall, I'm not really sold. Get a different HQ unless you're aiming for a truly fluffy Nurgle army. 

Horus Heresy Review: Samus Unbound, Daemon Lord of the Ruinstorm

Background. 

"Samus. That's the only name you'll hear. Samus. It means the end and the death. Samus. I am Samus. Samus is all around you. Samus is the man beside you. Samus will gnaw on your bones. Look out! Samus is here." [Horus Rising, Dan Abnett].

When Samus was introduced in the first book of the Horus Heresy, I thought the daemon came across as independent: a terror orientated one rather than simply a murderer. This explains why he slots in to the resplendent terror dominion in the game. Samus operates by possessing people and then turning on their allies. Simple, but effective. His fuller history -- to extensive to write about here -- is found in the Horus Heresy novels and is not limited to simply the action described in the first book of the series by Dan Abnett. 

Strengths. 

I really like the Born of Murder special rule that Samus has. It is highly characterful for this miniature and the background. In essence, if a character model is killed, Samus can use it as a nearby warp rift on the subsequent turn. 

The whispers of madness rule is what sets Samus apart though. He directly inhibits the reserves of the enemy, makes blessings harder to cast and causes enhanced fear as anything without stubborn or fearless halves their leadership score to charge Samus, or whilst in combat with him. This is crazy powerful. 

In addition to this, he has a very strong (Primarch like) stat line, combined with eternal warrior and a suite of emanations of horror to help in close combat. 

Weaknesses.

As may be expected, he can only be used in the resplendent terror dominion, and must be the warlord. His warlord trait is curiously Khornate: the path of blood which means he will almost always make his charge thanks to the mechanics. Although not strictly a weakness, it does mean playing Samus in a certain manner, and hence is restrictive, rather than weak.

Other than that, Samus costs like a Primarch. This is no surprise, but worth noting.

Overall.

Samus is a very powerful miniature to play on the battlefield, with or without the born of murder rule. It can really mess up enemy armies that are reliant on deep strike (descent of angels, or terminators) and is very strong in close combat. Aiding this is the speed of movement and charge distance modifier thanks to the warlord trait which will usually be something like 11 inches according to my calculations. A very worthwhile choice for anyone wanting to play independent daemons really. 

Horus Heresy Review: Ka'bandha, Daemon General of Signus

Background. 
The background of this servant of Khorne will ever be intertwined with the Blood Angels and their Primarch, Sanguinius, in particular. Although Ka'bandha has repeatedly slaughtered uncounted worlds, his only significant (and it has to be said: repeated) epic failures are against the Blood Angels.

Strengths.
Ka'bandha is an upscaled Daemon Lord. He possesses a superior stat line compared to the daemon lords that will make him not only more durable, but also deadlier, in addition to It Will Not Die and Sunder special rules.

Ka'bandha comes with three fixed emanations that you might expect of Khorne: Brass Collars, Horned Crown, and Molten Blood. Of these, you will note that in my suggested builds brass collars and horned crown repeatedly feature as they are both powerful choices. The only one I haven't really gone for with any amount of vigour is the molten blood option. Sure, a strength 8 hit when Ka'bandha takes a wound is actually really nice. Without any AP, saves will go off more often than not against legion enemies though (terminators especially). So for me, its a bit meh.

His warlord trait is also fixed and will help with combat resolution (not that you should need it), and provides eternal warrior (this is valuable and welcome). He has a bubble to project a bonus attack within 12 inches with is very nice and a decent force multiplier if played in a "tip of the lance" style attack formation. Of course, being locked in combat is beneficial for Ka'bandha as well, generating a 4+ invulnerable save. Hence the tactic here is one of overwhelming force in close combat. Demonstrating that molten blood is still not needed, if anything lasts in combat against Ka'bandha and company, then he unleashes a hell storm template at strength 6. More pressure from more potential unsaved wounds.

Weaknesses.
None really. That said, there are some funky and honestly flavourful rules that come in to play if he faces off against the Blood Angels and (or) Sanguinius. These include preferred enemy, hatred, and bonus victory points (or penalties) depending on any duel with the Primarch.

Overall. 
Strong. Very strong. Worth the points in my opinion, more or less (especially if compared to a primarch). And some characterful rules if fighting the Blood Angels.

Horus Heresy Review: Ruinstorm Daemon Lord

Background. 
The Daemon Lord is one of the prime incarnations of the Warp. Think of them as Superior Greater Daemons. Or praetors if you must. They are the ones in charge. They have the cunning and ruthlessness to get stuff done in the name of the power that they serve.

Strengths. 
Three emanations is very nice, although the points can increase rapidly. The ability to take brutes as part of the unit is similarly excellent, but we will re-visit brutes as a distinct entry in the army list later on rather than specify the variety possibly here. Here we will simply note the guardian daemon rule which means that these bodyguards will take the hits for the daemon lord in the shooting phase, come what may. Therefore they come recommended by me.

With Vanguard of Hell, the daemon lord can come in to play on turn 1 (should you choose), which is going to be a nice touch to the army overall.

Finally it is worth noting the option for being a flying monstrous creature. The army needs some of these brutes since they provide an effective way to combat an enemy air force.

Weaknesses.
You only get one of these (maximum) per army. Choose wisely. They must always be the warlord too, not that this is a weakness in any form, its just you might have wanted a different miniature to take this honour.

The biggest weakness is that one cannot select brutes if you choose that the daemon lord will be a flying monstrous creature.

Builds.
This is where things start to get interesting! For each daemon we look at in the list, I'm going to try to provide 6 (yes: SIX) builds. In other words: one for each of the major dominions.

Resplendent Terror Build:
Here we're looking to kill, remove from play, or make them flee. Accordingly, builds that hit hard, or cause rout tests are what we want.
Flying monstrous creature, Horned Crown, Ephemeral Terror, Miasma of Rot (255 points).
The idea here is to get quickly in to combat, using hammer of wrath and reduce opponents toughness to cause easier wounds. This is all about rapid assault at its core, and killing stuff quickly.

Crimson Fury Build:
Similar in some ways to resplendent terror, we just want to get things killed.
Flying monstrous creature, Brass Collar, Rift Barb, Crushing Claws (265 points).
Some ranged pressure here, followed by strong close combat, and survivability.

Creeping Scourge Build:
There's a need to focus on survivability here, but also a secondary need to clear out anything nearby.
Flying Monstrous Creature, Miasma of Rot, Warp-scaled Hide, Flaming Ichor (270 points).
Good survivability here, coupled with localised ranged pressure and close combat potential.

Lurid Onslaught Build:
We want pinning, fear, and obviously: stupefying musk here to cause failed morale tests (including pinning).
Flying Monstrous Creature, Stupefying musk, Lord of Sorcery, Bone Shard Harpoon (270 points).
Each of the upgrades offer a method to gain a victory point. Go for it.

Maddening Swarms:
This is simply the case that you must take sorcery.
Flying Monstrous Creature, Lord of Sorcery x 3 (305 points).
Try to dominate in the psychic phase. Job done. Alternatively, just go biomancy to kill lots.

Mirror of Hate:
Sometimes it won't matter what you do here to get the special victory condition. However, I think some psychic ability is necessary here. Otherwise, go for combat and sorcery.
Flying Monstrous Creature, Lord of Sorcery, Warp-scaled Hide, Rift Barb (280 points).
A bit of an all-rounder to some extent. Play as required.