Be'lakor And The Implications

posted on 40k Daemons


We had best knock this out now as the game is set to change daily for the next three weeks. The Tau formation released today is underwhelming, but the new detachments system might end up with one or two gems. Cypher is coming soon and one wonders if he will be a Chaos character, not that a dude with a bolt pistol and a plasma pistol is anything to write home about.

For now, we have Be'lakor, and he opens up a world of possibilities so long as you understand what he is and what he is not. First and foremost, he is not a model you send rushing forward to beat face. Sure, you'll hide him behind ruins for a 2+ cover save, but even when he makes combat, he's still T5 with a 4++, and that don't last. He's more of a cleanup hitter who tosses around buffs and debuffs early in the game, then rushes in once the door has been kicked down and there isn't as much shooting to remove him.

Be'lakor's number one benefit is giving you access to every single Telepathy power, guaranteed, and having the ability to cast both Invisibility and Hallucination in a single turn from time to time. Terrify, Invisibility and Hallucination are game winners, as is Dominate if you get lucky at the right time. I've lost a game to Dominate. Puppet Master is very useful against the right target, and even Mental Fortitude has its uses, like getting Fateweaver back in the fight if he goes to ground. The first question you want to ask yourself when you build an army around Be'lakor is what do I want to turn invisible in this army?

Finally, he is an excellent MC killer since he has EW and doesn't need to worry about getting punked out in one shot. Chaos Space Marines finally have their Wraithknight slayer. Incidentally, Chaos Space Marines is probably the only detachment you should ever use him in.

Almost any competitive Daemon army begins and ends with Fateweaver. It just does, and Fateweaver is best as the warlord, which he won't be if Be'lakor is also along. So, you pay the 50 point Cultist tax, which isn't really a tax and you bring him in an allied CSM detachment. Since I have always found CSM allied HQ choices wanting, and Be'lakor gives me exactly what I want, I don't see this as bad. Another upshot is, I can take a Slaanesh Prince as my second Daemon HQ, put the Grimoire on a Tzeentch Prince, and I've got a solid quartet to build around.

The implications for the Tzeentch circus are significant. Heretofore, the strategy for beating any flying circus was to kill the Grimoire bearer. If I rolled invisibility with one of my Princes, my Grimoire bearer never died, and I never lost. Now invisibility is assured, so the game becomes, kill Be'lakor, then the Grimoire bearer. So your job is to keep Be'lakor both alive, and within 24" and LOS of your Grimoire Prince. The best way to help keep him alive and in the fight is Endurance, which means every FMC in your army now rolls Biomancy, which is good because you have a shot and Iron Arm, Life Leech and Enfeeblement as well.

For reference, Fateweaver, a lash Prince with the Portalglyph, a Tzeentch Prince with the Grimoire and a greater reward, Be'lakor, two squads of Daemonettes (or whatever non-Bloodletter troop you prefer) and ten Cultists is 1575 points. This is the nucleus I'd use in a Fateweaver/Be'lakor army because I have two guys rolling Biomancy. It is pricey, indeed. A bastion is also desirable to ensure you have something to hide behind, so you can start at 1650 if you feel the same way. How you fill out the remaining points depends on what you think the army needs. A Heldrake is tempting, but I don't think it's what the army needs as there is already sufficient anti-flyer for most situations.

I think it needs more wounds, which means Screamers, Hounds and/or Nurgle Spawn. If you're going to 2,000, another Tzeentch Prince is a valid pick for more Biomancy.

If I'm going Chaos Space Marines primary, the allied Daemon detachment of Fateweaver, a Grimoire Tzeentch Prince and two squads of Daemonettes (which you want) is 835 points. With Be'lakor and two squads of Cultists (consider five CSM's in a Rhino rather than two Cultist squads), you have 1285 points spoken for at minimum.

You can probably live without Fateweaver and the Grimoire, but you're definitely going to want some sort of support for Be'lakor, even if you don't bring those things.

You would probably want a second HQ choice for more Biomancy, which means either a Sorcerer or a Prince. A Sorcerer on a bike with either Nurgle Spawn or Slaanesh Bikers with the icon is not a bad pick vs. another Prince as I find CSM Princes annoying with their forced God powers and lack of rewards. Be'lakor and the bike Sorcerer can support each other fairly well. You can ask Chewie how badass invisible Slaanesh Bikers are, and they aren't even a top notch choice.

An allied Prince with Biomancy or a GUO would be a good choice just for the mutual support. You can't always play flying circus or you'll get bored and run out of opponents.

Be'lakor's worst enemy is the Wave Serpent, which cares not for his shrouding, wounds him on 2's and need but wound him ten times with the Serpent Shield to get rid of him. Three Serpents should be more than sufficient to do the trick, so you'd better have a list that can kill Wave Serpents quickly, and you'll probably want a Bastion to hide behind on the first turn or he's first blood. Let's throw Skyrays in there as well with their skyfired markerlights.

Screamers can chase down skimmers rather well, and will kill them easily, so I see a place for them in any Be'lakor army. In fact, since so little else poses as great a threat to Be'lakor as Skyrays and Wave Serpents, I might sell out on Screamers.

Lessee here:

Fateweaver
Daemon Prince, Slaanesh, portalglyph, lash, ML3, wings, armor
10 Daemonettes
10 Daemonettes
7 Screamers
7 Screamers
Daemon Prince, Tzeentch, grimoire, greater, ML3, wings, armor
Be'lakor
10 Cultists
Bastion

2,000

I'm pretty happy with that, actually. I have a place to hide things while my Screamers cross the board either invisible or Grimoired and clear whatever can threaten the FMC's, then once they've done their work, we send in da heavy hitters.

This is not to say that Flying Circus is the only way to go. There are a lot of uses for Be'lakor to explore in the coming weeks, so long as you can keep him from getting shot off the board by the second turn.

Nice article. I don't agree with everything but I did acquire some insight.

I'd give my right testicle to play against this list in a 2k game. 3 scoring troops at that points level is just awful, portaglyph or no.

If you are not running Tzeralds, why would you want Screamers? There are much better options. Dogs are cheaper and better in melee. I'd love to revive Bloodcrushers or Plague Drones. And if you ally with Chaos Marines, you have access to one of the best AA units in the game. A HadesDrake. Use it ffs!

Who does this guy play this is horrible advice IMO. The hell drake is very important to how the list works, also you would use the book on mr I know all telepathy and then invisibility on the prince with the book. You have a tag team of annoying to kill awesome. Fate weaver should be flying off the board and hiding in this style list. That's what most your army does against tau or Eldar anyway if you want to win that it.