Demon Units and Tactics
Imps
The imp horde is often a core of the demon force. 50 imps in a unit is an almost
irresistible target for many player's archers, and painting them with glowing red
eyes and with big toothy smiles also helps convey "shoot me" to the opponent. With
a 2 fixed armour save and fearlessness for 13 points each I don't mind if they all
die, so long as it takes a while. They are just imps, after all. Shoot at them all
day, if it keeps the enemy from shooting higher value targets. If they don't get
shot at, they can either inflict a harsh morale penalty in RaF, or get a nice Fire
Breath enchantment to become a bit more threatening. This is a unit made for Aura
of Chaos.
Demon Knights
The Demon Knights are HARD to kill. Armour 4 fixed means shrugging off a majority
of enemy hits, and their skill three magical strike gives them a pretty good punch.
Ice Demons
Ice Demons are a great offensive troop against most armies. With two skill 3 eldritch
attacks, they can ignore heavy armour and rack up the kills. However, with only
one wound each they are prime targets for enemy archers. They are exceptionally
powerful when they skirmish around an enemy unit that is already engaged by another
demon unit, and I like to use them to assist demon knight units that way.
Howlers
Howlers are practically cavalry, with two wounds each and a 12" move. They are excellent
shock troops to disrupt the enemy's battle line, or for flanking an enemy unit to
force a test or add a morale penalty. Though they have a very strong attack, it
is still just a single attack per model, so they typically do not do as much damage
as cavalry unless they skirmish.
Fire Demons
Fire Demons are very effective though expensive missile troops - they can be treated
much like javelin-wielders, but with higher skill and better range. They are also
powerful in combat, with two attacks each and armour 3 fixed. They are total arrow
magnets though because they only have one wound and are almost elite - be very careful
with them.
Demon Knight Cavalry
Demon Knight Cavalry are as heavy a non-elite unit as you will find, and naturally
are very expensive to field. They are very hard, with two wounds each and an armour
of 4 fixed. They have very strong attacks, so have little trouble breaking most
enemy units. I usually field them in groups of 10 with a Prince on a Nightmare to
lead them (using the same model but painted differently). Though they can be fielded
in larger groups, I often find a lot of their power is wasted that way either because
there are a lot of troops that aren't engaged in combat or a lot are dying in the
morale phase. Since even a 16 man unit with a prince leader is approaching 1000
points, it is a lot of eggs in one basket. I like the flexibility of having a good
number of units, and you don't get a lot of units when they cost 1000 points each.
Chain Demons
The Chain Demons are as unpleasant as they sound. Their hooked chains count as long
weapons, and with 4 per figure the number of attacks can be outrageous. A two deep
unit in RaF puts out 4 attacks per base frontage, which can simply shred most lightly
armoured enemies. Then they inflict a massive morale penalty for being base 4 in
the morale phase on top of the casualties they cause. I typically run them in units
of 6 or 10, often with a Cacodemon leading them. They are far from invincible though,
because their attacks are of average skill and their foot speed is still only 6",
so the enemy usually has a lot of time to try to line up the fight like he wants,
or just take the battle away from them. Most opponents greatly fear the melee power
of a unit of chain demons (and rightfully so), so they are prime targets for archery,
magic and especially multiwound artillery attacks.
Barons
Barons are an unusual troop type because they have a pretty good natural ranged
attack as well as being very nasty in melee. They are expensive (87 points each),
so a unit of them will often not look like much of a missile threat, but with skill
3 attacks an opponent will often be surprised by taking a morale test from missile
casualties. Throwing as they charge into combat also can help push the enemy morale
down towards snake-eyes. I like to run them in a unit of 8 or 10 without a leader
- their morale is very good so they don't really need it. The other thing I like
to do with them is run two or three as a bodyguard unit for a spell-casting Cacodemon.
This has turned out to be a very versatile and survivable tactic, as the cacodemon
gets a lot of freedom to move around the battlefield without worrying too much about
getting charged by an enemy flyer, ambushed by infiltrators, or generally shot at
- the bodyguard will die first in most cases.