8th Ed. New Daemons changes

So I havent seen anyone else post about it, so here is what my Daemon playing friend sent to my gaming group to break down the changes to Daemons. Edited to remove curses and points. I have some rules information that is paraphrased, and i dont think violates forum rules.

This is to let you guys know what we are up against, I do not include my opinions on counters or matchups, just a daemon players view of the changes.

here are the basics:

Daemonic Instability:

Still works the same with two exceptions. If a double 6 is rolled for the break test, the entire unit is removed from play. If a double 1 is rolled for the break test, not only do you not have to remove any models, but you regain any models/wounds lost in the associated round of combat.

Army Selection:

Models will only benefit from a general’s leadership or BSB’s reroll if they are dedicated to the same god. It seems to me they are really pushing for mono god.

Daemonic Gifts:

There are three levels of gifts you can buy your Daemon characters for three different point values. You can have up to two of each (based on the maximum allowed i.e. Hero level characters can have up to 50 points, Lord level can have up to 100). You then roll on a chart to see what type of gift you receive for each level, rerolling duplicates. You can swap one with a magic weapon either from the Daemon book or rule book based on the points level (similar to choosing spells). This will make it more tricky for people to customize their Daemon characters.

Magic:

The lores are the same as the WOC book, with changes to the lore attributes. I’ll give the Nurgle attribute as an example. For each unsaved wound caused by a lore of Nurgle spell, roll a D6. On a roll of 5+, you can add one Plague Bearer to a unit within 12 inches of the target. Alternately, you can add one Nurgling base on a 6+. The other lores do the same thing but with different troops.

Winds of Magic:

In each Daemon player turn, when you roll for the winds of magic, you consult a chart based on the winds roll. Depending on the chart, good or bad things happen to the Deamons (the lower rolls are bad, such as -1 to Daemon ward saves, while the higher rolls are good, such as +1 to Daemon ward saves). This could really throw a wrench in people’s plans.

Greater Daemons:

Points have dropped on all of these and stats have had some minor changes. The biggest stat changes came to the Great Unclean One. It now has the weapon skill and attacks of an old blood, is tougher than a stegadon, it no longer has as many wounds as it used to but still more wounds than a stegadon. He is also cheaper and can fit into a 1500 point army.

Heralds:

The Heralds now have options on the upgrades they provide to the units. Each Herald can provide one upgrade, and the upgrades cost different points depending on what they do. For example, the Herald of Nurgle now costs [ less] points base and you pay [ more ] points for him to give the unit regeneration. The end result is more flexible heralds that cost more points but give more options

Marks:

Daemons now have the equivalent of marks for each god. Khorne gives +1 Strength on the turn they charge, Nurgle gives -1 to hit in close combat, Tzeench rerolls ward saves of 1 and channeling attempts of one, Slannesh gives armour piercing.

More Marks:

You can now mark Furies as well as Soul Grinders. Daemon Princes MUST be marked.


Core:

Some tweaks to the point costs and stats of units. Bloodletters now have the same strength as saurus, and a worse scaley skin save than saurus. Plague Bearers have gone up by a point but are the same initiative as temple guard! Also, not all Nurgle Daemons have poison now Core Daemon units can take magic banners from the rule book.



Special:

A few points and stats tweaks to the special choices. Most interestingly the Fiends of Slannesh and Beasts of Nurgle have been moved to special from rare. The Fiends are now 3+ unit size. The Beasts’ stats have stayed the same except for an increase to initiative and have almost been halved in points! You will be seeing these guys in place of single Fiends, and can take up to 3 singles, since they are special. They also have a new rule called “Attention Getter” which mean each model in a unit can issue and accept challenges as if they were unit champions.



Rare:

Khorne cannon is real. Flaming magical cannon riding a chariot that can move and shoot for less points than a naked old blood. [ EXPLETIVE ]. The Plague Drones (fly riders) have same wounds as a kroxigor, and higher toughess,, and no regen. You can give them full command (hurray for fortitude), a weird shooting attack (not worth the points), poison attack (worth the points), or a sting (not worth the points). They can also take a magic banner. While they are a flying unit, they only hover (can’t march).

 

Thanks for the nice synopsis, Dan!

Couple additions that came to my mind. The worst thing about the new Daemonic Gifts system is, I think, that the whole army has a really few heroes or lords that can take magic armour. This especially affects their Heralds, who are very expensive (though cheaper than before) and about as squishy as their Core counterparts. Also, the only way they can get a lvl 4 magician is by having a Greater Demon on the table. If it's the only GD, then it's very likely that one is going to be also the General. So nice big cannonball target with not much protection...

It's not all that bad. Especially for tournament players, this can be a true blessing, as they are rolled at the beginning of the battle. So, essentially you can choose a magic weapon from the BRB that best fits the fight ahead. Lots high armour targets? Obsidian Blade, come forth! Squishy infantry all around? Sword of Bloodshed, I choose you! High Elves? Then I'll get the Sword of Swift Slaying! Also, some of their own magic items are pretty cool. Like a whip that has a shooting attack with a range of 12", 2D6 shots with the bearer's Strength. With Keeper of Secrets, this would be S6. Or the Wand of Whimsy, that, if I remember correctly, gives the caster +1 A and +1 S from each spell successfully cast.

I personally like the forcing to use the mono-god armies, for some reason it makes more sense to me. I was on the verge of starting to collect them until I saw the new models though. Uh-gly! Also, I feel that the new random rules induce a lot of extra dice rolling to the game and make it slower.