So I've been toying with the idea of a Daemons of Chaos army for a while, and it will be a while before I'll get around to it, but that shan't stop me (just as with so many other of my post about rules/concept for an army). What I'm curious about, is what you think of Be'lakor, as I plan to use him as my general whenever I get around to making the army. Now I'll use him regardless of how good he is, but I would like to get some perspectives. Now I know that he does not actually have rules in either the Warriors of Chaos or the Daemons of Chaos army books, but he did get rules at some point. Personally I think he is interesting at least. but perhaps risky, as he is very vulnerable to war machines, even with his 4+ ward, but then again, that's the reality of any monster in 8th. So what do you think of him?
Where is this from? Personally I tend to be a bit “8th of nothing” kind of a guy, but it seems like it would need some play testing to see if it’s op or not. It doesn’t look op for 500 points in my opinion.
It's from one of the digital 'Battlescrolls' GW released during the End Times, I believe, so it's official. They tied it in with rules for him in 40K at some point in a special Be'lakor PDF, after they realised they had completely forgotten about him for most of 8th Edition Fantasy. Most GW rules need additional playtesting, or else 8th would have been more balanced before they killed it, because as a company they focus more on making money than good, highly-balanced rulesets.
I think he is interesting. He'll never be as competitive as a regular WoC daemon prince, but I think he can be made to work. Compared to a regular DP, you're giving up a lot of close combat potential in exchange for increased potency in the magic phase. Loremaster (Lore of Shadow) is nice, although a regular DP with a Chaos familiar can get 5 of the 7 spells, so the disparity is not that great. Being able to generate D3 power dice when one or more enemies panic/break the previous turn can be very powerful (especially with so many spells at your disposal). Furthermore the ability to exceed the 12 power dice maximum is pretty sweet and could result in a VERY potent magic phase if you get lucky and the dice gods favour you. The -1 penalty to leadership works very well with a Hellcannon or two. It might also make his Terror a bit more useful. He is fairly comparable to a regular DP in this regard. His 4+ ward is better against warmachines than the regular DP's 1+ armour and 5+ ward (since they'll ignore his armour save anyways) but this is offset by the fact that the regular DP can be given a Charmed Shield and a Dragonbane Gem. Of course the regular DP's close combat defense means that he can comfortably sit in close combat and be protected from the predations of the enemy warmachines. Without an armour save (and no ability to heal himself), Be'lakor has to be a lot more choosy when deciding to jump into close combat or not. This gives the regular DP a huge advantage in my opinion.
So essentially, where the regular DP is more combat focused, and can take combats on his own, while also taking the role of a standard LV4, Be'lakor is more a magic focused DP, with potential in melee, but he is best served as a support monster, rather than taking on units on his own. What does a Regular DP, with that loadout, cost for comparison?
My fully loaded DP build costs 565pts, but that includes things that I didn't mention above (Allure of Slaanesh, Flaming Breath, Sword of Striking). Take those items away and you're sitting at 505pts. At that points level you still have 1+ 5++ saves, level 4 with 5 spells and +1 to channel, the ability to heal in CC, Armour Piercing attacks (via DoS, although most people prefer the DoN), a Charmed Shield to shrug off the first cannonball on a roll of 2 or better and a 2+ ward save against Flaming Attacks. If you're going for a competitive build, the regular DP is the far better choice in my opinion. That 1+ armour save is an absolute game changer. Plus you can tweak and customize your build to meet the needs of your army/strategy. That said, in a more friendly environment, I think Be'lakor might be a fun and interesting choice.