Chaos Space Marines Units and Tactics: Tzeentch Daemon Princes!

Good Evening, as I continue the Chaos Units and Tactics spree I have been on, I want to present the Tzeentch Prince. I found this pic on the Web by some one named Daemon Green, but I forget where it came from. He actually has one of the most visually stunning Tzeentch armies I have ever seen, but anyway, on with the tactics!

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The Beast! The Tzeentch DP can be a beast. With a DP statline, a 4+ invul and the ability to take and use two powers a turn, this guy can wreck the enemy lines if used correctly, however, if abused, he can become a pointsink with no ability whatsoever to make his value back..Do I take Wings? YES, Always Yes!

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Would that be One Psychic Power or Two? This question really depends on what you are looking for in a Daemon Prince. I you are looking to go cheap, then you take a single power, if you are looking for more punch and have the points to spend, then the two-power prince is the way to go.

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Two Power Princes: Other than the durability offered by the 4+ Invul, the real reason to take a Tzeentch DP is to weild two psychic powers. You may not have access to the lash or the rot, but you have access to several very potent powers that when worked in tandem, can and will kill many an enemy! Several powers work well together, but nothing compliments any other power more than Warptime, so when I take a two power prince, I know that power will fill one slot automatically!

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That leads us to what other powers work well for the two powered prince. There are two real considerations here and a couple that can be glanced at here. The first two are Wind of Chaos and Bolt of Change, while the other two are the Gift and the Doombolt.

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First, I will mention the Bolt of Change as a considerable one with the stipulation that it shines in a Thousand Sons-themed army. In that army style, it is worthwhile to arm your troops with doombolt so your troops are focusing on what they do best, while your DP can then get re-rolling tank shots. In a non-T-Son themed army, we have better AT weapons in our list, thus nixing the need for the Bolt of Change.

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This leads us to the deadliest Combo available to a single Daemon Prince and that is Warptime and Wind of Chaos. This Prince will enable you to swiftly move up the field with the benefit of not always having to pull cover from your vehicles, though blocking LOS from some enemy units is still a good idea. Once he gets into range, he can lay down that template, re-roll the wounds and then assault with absolute certainty that most targets will not survive this assault.

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So what is the downfall of this prince? Well, over 200 points to field can be a pretty big damper for some, as many of our units are also expensive. I prefer this model in any game over 1750, where it can shine at cleaning up large or tough units, but in games smaller than that, I prefer something a little less expensive.

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What about Doombolt and Gift of Chaos? Doombolt can be a decent psychic power and it comes cheap, which if you can't afford WoC, but really want a Tzeentch DP, can be a poor man's exchange, but it seems like the volume of shots is a little low and the prince should be able to handle the same type of enemy with assault and Warp time. If Doombolt was AP 2, that would be a different story, but it isn't. Gift can be fun for making spawn, when it works and since you have a second slot for a psychic power, it may seem tempting. The problem is that Warptime will not help it and it will not always work, so outside of those days where you just REALLY want to turn Pedro into a Spawn, I would leave it at home.

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Single Power Tzeentch Princes: People sometimes take single power princes in the arguement that they their 4+ Invul makes them more survivable than the Nurgle Prince's T6. That arguement really depends on what you are trying to fight. I like Nurgle because I like Plague Marines, so I take Nurgle Dps, but their are times when a powerfist hits me that make me wish I was taking a Tzeentch Prince, so the ball is in your court on this one.

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What I will say is that there are two powers that make this prince worthwhile and you may have already guessed them; Warptime and Wind of Chaos. If you intend to hunt small groups of troops, then Wind of Chaos can be great for all the reasons it is great with the other princes. If you prefer to assault more, then Warp time is a great choice for being able to really do the job in combat.

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In both scenarios, that 4+ invul will protect you, but I feel the power depends on the role; For troop hunting, there is no better DP platform than the Tzeentch Prince for the Wind of Chaos, since he can assault and still do well against a lone powerfist in a whittled unit. The WT DP works very well for attacking those harder units and monstrous creatures as well as giving you more chances to pop big, nasty vehicles.

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Overall, the Tzeentch Prince is a true contender on the battlefield and while the two power prince may be a boon on the battlefield, make sure you can afford to pay for one or two of them. The single power prince is also one not to turn your nose up to and I would hazard you to playtest one and compare it to how your Nurgle DP fairs to determine your preference. In any case, some food for thought, feedback is appreciated as always!