Scuba Steve’s KDK Forgefiend tactica!
There is nothing more awesome than a smoke belching, gun toting, brass covered, hulking war machine… Really… it’s the reason we play this game… the girls… (kidding!). It’s for the incredible visuals, unbelievable upsets, and… let’s face it… Reece’s sexy voice. There are few models that look as stunning and powerful in the Chaos line than the Forgefiend. Today, I am going to talk about how you can take your Forgefiend off the shelf, put him on the table-top, and make an honest go of it in a Khorne Daemonkid Army. As always, for more great articles, check out Tactics Corner!
In the Forges of Chaos… A Beast Awakens…
Alright, so today we are going to dive right in to a comprehensive review of the Khorne aemonkin Forgefiend. You don’t see this model too much, which I think is sad, it’s an absolutely stunning miniature with some pretty cool abilities. So, I have devised a simple strategy that you can try at home or at the next RTT to amp up your game with the Forgefiend! As I do with all of my articles, I think it is best to simply break everything down and go step-by-step through the few options it has and how it is to best incorporate it into your army.
Wargear:
- Two Hades Autocannons (Essentially a short range autocannon on crack)
- Daemonic Possession (Reduces it’s ballistic skill to 3, BUT… it ignores Crew Shaken/Stunned on a 2+ – reasonable trade off)
Special Rules:
- Blood for the Blood God (This is the bread and butter of KDK, incredibly good)
- Daemon of Khorne (You likely won’t use this very much, you don’t want to charge with a Forgefiend and you won’t be playing many Daemons of Slaanesh)
- Fleet (A little bit confusing why is has this, but the Maulerfiend gets it… so why not…0
- It Will Not Die (Oh yeah… that’s the good stuff right there, if your opponent doesn’t rip this thing down in a single turn, it’ll just keep coming back)
- Daemonforge (Once per game, it essentially gains Tank Hunter and Shred)
Options:
- Ectoplasma Cannons (Plasma Cannons… but with one higher strength… super awesome!)
Alright, not a whole lot to work with, but enough for us to get a good handle on a few different ways to play a Forgefiend. Let’s now take each of these options and divide them into two categories “Good” and “Just Okay”, this will help us understand what abilities to focus on when we want to play a Forgefiend.
- Two Hades Autocannons (Good): These bad boys are awesome, you can go all cowboy up someone’s nose with two P-shooters like these. A total of eight Str 8 AP 4 Shots and a 36″ range… definitely not bad! You can rip apart vehicles, shred up some units, you can even instant death a lot of characters with a gun like this. Problem… it’s only AP 4, Marines still give you the big ol’ middle finger as they roll their armor save. Probably best to go vehicle hunting with this particular set up, rarely many saves to make, str 8 will pop most transport vehicles, and then your infantry can rock the guys that spill out.
- Ectoplasma Cannons (Good): These things are straight up bad ass (and you can give him a third one, with is really cool). They are a strength 8 AP 2 blast template that has the Gets Hot Special Rule. The nice thing about it being a Template is that the diminished BS from the possession doesn’t particularly hinder it. Depending on what you shoot at, you’ll hit something… #ihadmyeyesclosedthewholetime. You’ll blow away any infantry squad in the game with 2-3 str 8, AP 2 templates. They do get hot… so there is a risk/reward thing going on here, but I have found a way to mitigate that, it’s at the end of the article, so read on!
- Daemonic Possesion (Good): The best thing about this whole deal is that you ignore crew shaken/stunned on a 2+; no Snap Firing for you!! This makes taking the Ectoplasma Cannons much less of a risk and more a reward.
- Daemon of Khorne/Fleet (Just Okay): So, these abilities will rarely come into play, because the Forgefiend is basically a big firing platform and it cannot move 12″ (like its Maulerfiend counterpart) it’s best to keep these abilities on the back-burner for now. However, it is worth mentioning that Fleet can be occasionally useful when you need to make a run move onto an objective, or charge a unit out of desperation, etc…
- It Will Not Die (Good): This is awesome, every turn you get to roll to see if it regains Hull Points, who wouldn’t want that?! If it get’s a few HP stripped from it, this is a quick and easy way to keep the motors running until the final turns of the game, when you need the most fire power.
- Daemonforge (Good): We have all been there… looking at an enemy model thinking to yourself… “Well damn… that thing needs to die this turn, or I lose this thing”… THAT is the time you use your Daemonforge special rule. Once per game, this model essentially gains Tank Hunter and Shred. There is a downside, the fiend has to roll a d6, on the result of a 1, it takes a Hull Point – not a bad trade off, at all. Additionally, if you’re being bothered by a Void Shield Generator, this re-roll for armor penetration works on the Projected Shields.
- Blood for the Blood God (Good): I don’t think there is much need to go into detail on this special ability. This model will be killing something per round (hopefully) and awarding you and your family many Blood Tithe Points!
Forge Me Some Narrative!
So, how should we run this thing in your list? You could definitely run him in a Blood Host Detachment; he can be selected as an auxiliary option (War Engine) for the Multi-Formation Detachment and would work nicely as some ranged firepower to back up your faster moving Daemons. The strategy I have devised, however, has the Forgefiend nestled in a Combined Arms Detachment, I have titled this particular strategy the WALL OF DEATH!
The key to this particular strategy lies in an Aegis Defense Line; one of the issues with a Forge Fiend is that it is a shooting unit that has been punished with a lower Ballistic Skill. So, we need to augment that… Ammo Dump time! An Ammo Dump allows models within 3″ of it to re-roll To Hit rolls of 1 in the Shooting phase. The Forgefiend now becomes much more dangerous, the ability to re-roll ones gives you a whole lot more reliability. However, the true power comes from building the Forgefiend with three Ectoplasma Cannons. With the Ammo Dump allowing you to re-roll ones, no longer are you a slave to those pesky Gets Hot! rolls (This should function in a similar manor to Commander Pask and an Executioner Leman Russ). Now, all you need to do is sit behind your Aegis (which will give you a 4+ cover save) and shoot your enemy full of holes, protected from their return fire with your cover save and augmenting your shooting attacks to be ultimately more effective.
Also, if you combo this with the +1 invulnerable save to Khorne Daemons relic, you can have some fun with a 4++!
Forge Me Something Cheaper!
This all sounds great… however… the base cost of this bad boy is 180pts!! What the hell is that?! 180 points is really, really steep… A Soul Griner (135 base) is a much better choice if you’re building your list economically. No matter how look at it… this thing is so many points that it can very easily become a liability. This is the reason I suggest running him behind the Aegis, not only can he be parked back there on an objective, but the 4+ cover can really help protect your high point investment. Additionally, there isn’t really much support for them outside the Auxillery choice in the Blood Host Detachment and taking them in a Combined Arms Detachment. What I would love to see is a Formation of them with some crazy rules! Special Rules like “Preferred Enemy” go a long way with units like this, so it doesn’t have to be huge bonuses.
Forge Me Something Awesome!
As I do with all of my articles, I leave you with a challenge. I challenge you to find a way to make the Forgefiend awesome! I’ve given you a way to get him on the table effectively, so now we will see what you come up with! Try the WALL OF DEATH strategy or experiment with your own! Post anything you discover in the comments below, I look forward to hearing what you come up with!
Scuba Steve, Signing Out and as always, Frontline Gaming sells Games Workshop product at up to 25% off retail, every day!
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The Good ole Forge fiend. I love this model (It was one of my first models i picked up for 6th ed csm) but sadly he has taken a back seat in my list. The idea of pumping 8 strength 8 shots out is excellent and a much needed support for your advancing army by providing some early blood tithes. The only thing about it is that it cost so much for a 3 hp bs 3 model with av 12. I just think it is hard to justify when the Heldrake does more in your cad and the Soul grinder does more in the Blood host but i will definitely try this out again
When the 6th Ed CSM Dex first dropped, I thought this guy was gonna be the good option over the MaulerFiend. Unfortunately for the ForgeFiend, it turned out to be the other way around.
I do like the Ammo Dump idea, and thanks to the fact that they’re single Models, it’s pretty easy to keep a couple of them in range of it. Gonna have to try that out some time.
It Will Not Die is frustratingly unreliable in my experience. I’ve almost never had it come through for me, except on Immobilized MaulerFiends.
Similarly, because you have to declare DaemonForge before rolling to hit, it always seems to be the time that it only lands one out of 8 shots.
It’s less fluffy for the Khorne version, but teaming up with Crimson Slaughter or Tzeentch Daemons can get you access to Prescience for one, which really helps that BS3.
Still kinda wish they could get a third Hades Autocannon on the head, too 😀
I like the Forgefiend. It does exactly what its supposed to in my lists: pop transports. He’s a can opener. Twin Hades cannons for me. Occasionally I’ll add the head plasma, but that can make his role a bit confused and he costs enough already.
The issue I have a lot with my Daemons and Daemonkin is mechanised units, especially entire armies thereof. I don’t want to waste my 300+ pt Daemon Prince taking out a transport, and then *another* turn taking out the contents. Forgefiend puts out enough shots to open up most transports and let me get at the squishy goodies inside.
The 180pts cost seems pretty steep, and it is (~150 would be better), but I consider that he’s often the only choice I have that performs his role. A soulgrinder is more versatile, but it doesn’t have enough shots to strip hull points.
Where he comes in to his own for me is when I ally Daemons to CSM. Be’lakor, Min cultists and Forgefiend. Prescience and Daemonforge first turn is usually enough to net me first blood and put me ahead on the squishy-passenger-killing game.
I love the model and the rules, it is just so expensive. Not sure what GW was thinking on this one. I would love to try it out. Generating blood points at Range could be good.
I just wish it had BS4, or was a hair cheaper and it would be a great unit.
The price for only being AV 12 is a serious detriment to this. I got some good use out of it with some investment combinations though. I took 3 forgefiends and protected them with a void shield. I also added a warp smith to stand near the pack and assist with hull point recovery. It’s actually pretty scary for units to come out of hiding as its facing 24 S8 shots and you can’t even hurt them back until you get through the void shields.
I also combo’d them with demons for prescience. What I found though is the cost to get enough warp charge to get prescience off consistently you might as well just buy another forgefiend 😛