Help me build a decent 1k Slaves to Darkness list!

[stillness]

Hey folks,

I've played my first three games in the last week, and I've built up to 1000 points. I'm not a competitive player and my FLGS is pretty casual. But it seems my list is all over the place and I'm not sure what to do to make it better. I want it to be at least decent/synergistic. The "problem" is that I'm not interested in venturing outside of StD. If I wanted Khorne I'd do bloodbound, etc. I like my hateful pagan vikingmen just as they are, TYVM. (well, I have been thinking about Brayherd, as they sort of help flesh out that iconic Satanic look, but I dunno if they're good with StD).

Anyway, here's what I've been running:

-Lord on Daemonic Mount (General) [140]

-Sorcerer Lord [140]

-2x units of 10 Chaos Warriors (doesn't matter what they have, I can run them both as shields or double weapons, we don't care about WYSIWYG) [360]

-1x unit of Chaos Knights [200]

-Gorebeast Chariot [100]

-Godsworn Champions of Ruin battalion [60]

[1000]

I'm not super happy with the Gorebeast Chariot, though of course I'm new (and bad) at the game, so I'm probably not using it well.

 

And here's what I own in addition to that:

-10 Chaos Warriors

-20 Chaos Marauders

-Lord of Chaos

-Darkoath Chieftan

-Wulfrik the Wanderer

-Archaon (big boy)

-Chaos Spawn (2 models)

-Demon Prince

-Chaos Warshrine

 

What would be a decent 1k list with the above?

Alternatively, should I buy some "Monsters of Chaos" or "Demons of Chaos"? Should I expand into Brayherd?

 

[Dead_Ghost]

So slaves are something I've had a little gaming with.

You're right that slaves aren't the most competitive, and lack some wider synergies. Definitely not tier 1 [emoji16]

But there are some synergies you can achieve.

A Lord on foot has an ability to confer the abilities of his mark onto other units with the same mark. Give everyone mark of khorne for example and a unit can get that pump in the command phase.

Chosen are expensive, but their skill buffs all slaves in range to reroll wounds. Between he two of them it's powerful.

I really like the manticore for both the Lord and sorcerer options - the sorcerers spell is pimp. Plus the manticore can dish out pain.

Knight are, imo, too much for 1k but ymmv. Along with the chariot. Marauders are a must - they're good for holding objectives or being an anvil.

Here's my most recent 1250k list.

Godsworn champions
Lord of chaos
Sorc Lord on manticore
Sorc lord
Warriors (10)
Marauders (30)
Chosen (5)
Dragon ogres (3)

It's possibly a bit low on the model count but played against a goblin army and managed to take them to task.

And the 160 points of d.ogres can be moved about (though they always pull their weight if you did consider branching out).

No experience with the bray herds, but there was a thread recently might be with a look.


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[Killax]

Going mono Slaves to Darkness can be fun, though I'd be inclined to add in other Chaos Undivided models aswell.
Certainly don't feel bothered to reach for Everchosen and Tamurkhan’s Horde. 

I think that your really on your way in creating something cool. I'd personally pick up Sayl so this way you'll be capable to present an offensive unit fast. In my opinion if you go Slaves to Darkness with more mixed things using Sayl is the prime reason why FW designed him this way.

As for buy tips, get what you want. Do you want to keep it Warriors of Chaos or do you want more monsters?

[stillness]

Sayl! Wow! I have no clue about Forge World, so this did not even blip on my radar (it's not in the WS Compendium, so how would I even have known about it? D:).

Anyway, I'll definitely be picking him up. I don't know anything about Tamurkhan's Horde; I'll look at the WS, but any recommendations?

As for Warriors vs. Monsters: I like Warriors. I like that I got Marauders and Wulfrik, as those shenanigans seem fun. Peppering it with some Monsters seems cool, too, but I'd rather have the focus be the ground troops.

[Killax]

Yeah if you want to keep a focus on the Infantry I'd certainly pick up Sayl. Pushing 20 Chaos Warriors is very powerful but for me wouldn't break narrative as it does for top competative lists pushing Bloodletters or Bloodthirsters  

The link for the Tamurkhan's Horde is here: https://www.forgeworld.co.uk/resources/fw_site/fw_pdfs/aos_warscrolls/warhammer-aos-tamurkhans-horde.pdf I think Sayl for sure is the most cool Named Chaos Undivided model next to Archaon. 

If your going to focus on Infantry as mentioned I think the following models are really cool and a great consideration:
- Chaos Lord on Manticore (fantastic to make Chaos Warriors a death star)
- Gaunt Summoner (Tzeentch but I think mixing things is the way to go for Slaves to Darkness)
- Wulfrik is extremely cool if you want to have a nice Marauder plan that is tactically nice to use for Objectives
- Exalted Hero with Battle Standard is legit though perhaps not so much required with Sayl
- Warriors of Chaos with Greatblades are the punch you'd otherwise lack. I highly prefer these over all other options for them. In addition for the Sayl package I'd go for 20 Chaos Warriors armed with Greatblades.
- Marauders of Chaos on the other hand are ideal and cheap attrition choices. Great in units of 10 with shields for Objective purposes. In essence what you lack in Battalion choices now can be made up with Marauders of Chaos objective holders.
- A lot of players seem to dislike Chaos Knights, I personally don't really see why they do. I think they work out decently as fast support with Glaives. Same applies to the Chariots. 
- Hellcannon is certainly a support piece to continue to consider. Same applies to all Skaven Warmachines.

Personally though if you want to improve your tactical outcomes I do think that playing Slaves to Darkness means you are playing Chaos. With this I mean that you should never avoid the massive tactical options you have because this is what the Chaos Grand Alliance offers to you compaired to Disciples of Tzeentch or Blades of Khorne. The same also very much applies to Nurgle, who's competative design is there, but you do have to be willing to mix up Daemons of Nurgle, Clan Pestilence and Nurgle Rotbringers.

I personally see Everchosen/Slaves to Darkness as the Black Legion AoS variant as seen in 40K. If you can adjust your spectrum to that I think you'll have a ton of fun with this army. It also means that you want to be aware of some of the nice Tzeentch, Khorne, Nurgle and Slaanesh designs, being:
- Tzeentch Gaunt Summoners are a fantastic offensive Wizard
- Khorne Wrathmongers are a fantastic anti-Monster/Hero unit for second wave purposes (and also boost your own big blocks)
- Blightknights are a fantsatic anti-swarm unit for initial wave.
- Slaanesh offers some very good speed and counter tactics that can be really cool if you want to have some good saying in your opponents turn.
- Brayherds/Warherds offen a lot of the same swarm tactics as Slaves to Darkness but typically do a bit more damage on the end of the line, can be cool, is more of a preforance.

Cheers,
 

[someone2040]

So here's the problem (IMO). 

You're lacking rend, and therefore, you're lacking things that hit hard.

You might be tricked into thinking Chaos Knights are this unit, but unfortunately they just bounce most of the time (Even if you get Glaives on the charge).

Personally, I find that Chaos Chosen are the best unit for the job within Slaves to Darkness. They have rend -1, and a bucket load of attacks, even with a sprinkling of mortal wounds in there. They also provide the only Slaves to Darkness synergy. They are expensive though (money and pointswise!), and they're less survivable than your regular Chaos Warrior.

 

But overall, with the models you have, here's what I would consider:

If you want something more punchy than your Lord on Daemonic Mount, consider swapping him to a Daemon Prince. All the Daemon Prince's attacks hit hard and he can fly, which gives you some options for engaging.

The other thing I would consider changing is, drop 10 Warriors and the Gorebeast Chariot, and slot in 2 units of 10 Marauders and a Chaos War Shrine. Now you may ask, "Didn't you just say I things that hit hard", well, yes, yes I did. But your strengths of the list is probably being resilient, and a War Shrine will help that aspect out. The Marauders aren't as great as Chaos Warriors, but will give you some extra flexibility when you need to contest multiple objectives.

[AlphaKennyThing]

Hey!

I am a huge fan of Slaves to Darkness, and found the same as you - my initial lists were a bit meh. I did, however, go with a Khorne paint scheme, so in the end I chucked in a Bloodsecrator and all of a sudden the damage output went up quite a lot without ruining the aesthetic too much. Marauder horsemen have served me well, too, with their ability to drop out of combat and still throw javelins into people's faces.

As for the chariots, mine may as well be armed with a roll of newspaper and a .22 air rifle for all the fuqqin damage its done. No idea what's up with them, but they're a great 7 wound distraction.

[stillness]

Cool, good suggestions. I'm okay with mixing it up a bit (I already own Gaunt Summoners, but I was under the impression that without a baleful realmgate and demons to summon it's not great).

I'm planning to get Sayl, a unit of Chosen, and a Lord/Sorc on Manticore. That's good enough for now. The list building advice is appreciated, as well. I'll be happy to chuck my chariot in the bin for now and paint up a Warshrine.

[Killax]

6 hours ago, someone2040 said:

So here's the problem (IMO). 

You're lacking rend, and therefore, you're lacking things that hit hard.

I thought that too but considering Chaos Warriors can thake Great Weapons aswell with a fine 4+/3+/-1 I can't say Chosen are that much required... Provided enough arrive, which should work out with Sayl.

For 2K there is also the Chaos Lord on Manticore and I believe he can easily make a 20-30 block of Chaos Warriors work out as well as most "great" units.

Cheers,