This a review of the Start Collecting Daemons of Khorne box: if you want to please the Blood God you can never go wrong with some of his daemons in the closet. But better don’t keep them restless!
If you do not know anything about what a Start Collecting box is, here is a short introduction.
The Start Collecting boxes are a very convenient way to get started playing Warhammer or start a new army with a specific faction.
You will usually get at least 1 character, 1 sort of “basic unit” (many times a battleline unit) and 1 unit that is a bigger elite/monster type sort of deal.
Which models are included in the Start Collecting Daemons of Khorne Box?
The box advertises:
- 1 Herald of Khorne on Blood Throne (can alternatively be built as a Skull Cannon)
- 3 Bloodcrushers
- 10 Bloodletters
1 Herald of Khorne on Blood Throne/Skull Cannon
The Herald of Khorne on Blood Throne is probably not your first option as a daemon hero of Khorne but with his decent amount of attacks, all with rend, the ability to heal back and dish mortal wounds makes him an interesting choice.
And with 4 blood tithe points he could also be summoned during the game.
Add to this that this daemonic engine (like the Skull Cannon) is an actual sentient creature and you have a really thematic model.
Alternatively, he could be assembled as a Skull Cannon making him the only Artillery piece available to Khorne, a God normally more acquainted with melee combat than ranged one.
Despite so, this model can do some decent damage (D6) with a 30” single attack with rend -2. And if manages to kill in melee a model, can shoot again in any combat phase for a devastating counter-charge. It can be summoned for 5 points.
Not the best model available in the range, but certainly a fun and thematic one.
3 Bloodcrushers
The Bloodcrushers are one of Khorne’s cavalry options mounting the powerful Juggernauts able to do impact damage at the end of the charge.
The unit itself has some nice bonus, like the ability to add one model if rolling 1 on the battleshock phase, but its use on a tabletop will depend on which battalion is chosen.
They can be used as a battleline if Skullmaster is a general, so not a really common occurrence, but they can be summoned for 5 points.
10 Bloodletters
The Bloodletters are your basic battleline for Daemons of Khorne and you’ll need plenty of them if you are running a daemons army.
They can be buffed by other Khorne heroes, like a Wrathmonger increasing of 1 their attack, and become much more threatening even in small numbers.
They do get a +1 to hit if there’s at least 20 models, but a unit of 10 can equally work well to screen your other units or take an objective.
They can be summoned in multiples of 5 starting at 2 points up to 7 for 20 models.
Points cost of the Start Collecting Daemons of Khorne Box
Using the points from the FAQ of Blades of Khorne 2019 battletome:
- the Herald is a leader for 120 points. The Skull cannon is 130 points
- Bloodcrushers a conditional battleline for 140
- Bloodletters a battleline unit for 110 points (300 for 30)
So this box will give you a total of 370 or 380 points. This is on the low side of total points compared to other Start Collecting boxes.
Note: this article was made prior to the December 2019 points update, so some points could have changed there.
Value of the Daemons of Khorne box
Technically, the sum of all models if purchased directly from the GW store is 105£ for a discount of 47%, but a box of Bloodcrushers gives you 6 models instead of 3 so the real value of the box is only 85£ (35% discount).
Overall verdict on the Daemons of Khorne box
Khorne armies can be played more efficiently concentrating on one of the aspects of Khorne: mortals or daemons.
If you choose daemons, this is a good starting point, you may want maybe 2 boxes or even more depending on how much you like the Bloodcrushers that are really the most expensive part of the box. Add a Bloodthirster and you are already halfway through building a nice daemon army.
If instead, you prefer mortals, you still need deamons to summon and here you have 3 or 4 good options to choose from.
All in all, if you want to devote yourself to the Blood God and start taking skulls, you can’t get wrong with this start collecting and you may need more than one as you progress.
The weakest link is probably the hero, but there are ways around that (build the cannon, sell of the model, only use it for summoning and so on).