Detachment Focus: Scintillating Legion

Merry Grotmas! Games Workshop is releasing a new series of detachments – one per army, every day until Christmas. In this series we’re looking at these new detachments, covering what’s in them, how they play, and how they’ll fit into the broader meta and your games.

With the Grotmas Detachments we have four new Detachments for Chaos Daemons, one covering each of the four real Chaos gods. No, Vashtorr doesn’t count – shut up, Norman. Anyways, Tzeentch is always one of the trickier players to get right for Games Workshop; ostensibly the god of deceit and trickery should have lots of very tricky things up his sleeve but on the battlefield that tends to translate to “being the shooty option.” Well the good news is that this new Detachment, the Scintillating Legion, does in fact offer some interesting and tricky mechanics to play with.

We’d like to thank Games Workshop for providing us with a preview copy of these rules for Review purposes.

Detachment Overview

The Scintillating Legion Detachment trades on trickery, giving you a series of tokens which can be cashed in for re-rolls or improved effects on Stratagems. But these re-rolls come with strings attached: When they’re used your opponent gains similar tokens, and when they use those tokens, you’ll get them back. It’s an interesting and fluffy mechanic that allows for some fun back-and-forth and interesting decisions for each player with regard to how to use the tokens. It’s a Detachment that provides some strong ranged output boosts and movement tools, and keeps most of the uppy-downy capabilities of the Daemonic Incursion Detachment.

The Video version

If you’d rather open your third eye and watch this than read it, you can find the video version of our review here:

Detachment Rule: Fates in Flux

You start the battle with three Flux tokens. During the game you can spend a flux token to reroll one of an Advance, Hit, Wound, Damage, Save, or Hazardous roll for a Tzeentch Daemons unit in your army. When you do this, you lose a token and your opponent gains one.

Your opponents can spend their Flux tokens to re-roll one advance, hit, wound, or save roll and when they do, you get it back.

During your Command phase, if your opponent has one or more Flux tokens, you gain a Flux token.

This is a crazy rule, giving you some key extra re-rolls, but with a fairly high cost. It’s hard to evaluate this in a vacuum, particularly because a bunch of the other rules we’ll see for this detachment key off spending Flux tokens. That said, you generally don’t want to give your opponent the kind of agency Flux tokens provide, immediately putting this Detachment’s rules in a hole they need to dig out of. The upside is that you can get some good effects spending tokens, you get them back, and you’ll get more tokens so your opponent can’t just lock you out by not using them. Because of the effects you can generate, clever opponents will have to weigh whether it’s worth it to even take the re-rolls if it means giving you more powerful effects – and it’s worth noting that even the tokens themselves do not have symmetrical uses (your can re-roll more things). As always with small numbers of re-rolls, these have more value for smaller, elite units with higher power attacks, and those are both where you want to be using them on your end, and avoiding giving them to your opponent.

Mike P: This is one of the coolest and most unique detachment rules I’ve seen in 10th. Is it good? I genuinely have 0 idea right now. What I can say is it is both fun and funny, which is really all I can ask for in a Tzeentch Daemons army.

Enhancements

Tzeentch daemons get four enhancements to play with here, and while you have to compare them to the Everstave from the Daemonic Incursion Detachment, that’s not nearly as big an ask as it is for the other gods. Of these, Infernal Puppeteer is the closest to a must-take.

• Inescapable Eye (10 pts) – In your Command phase, if the bearer is on the battlefield and your opponent has a Flux token, you gain an extra Flux token. This is an easy way to get extra currency and prevent your opponent from starving you of Flux tokens.
• Infernal Puppeteer (10 pts) – Monster model only. Each time the bearer shoots, you can select another friendly Tzeentch daemon unit within 9”. If you do, then when you pick targets for ranged weapons equipped by the bearer, you can measure range and determine visibility from one model of your choice in the selected unit instead. This is a pretty great upgrade for 10 points, and while it won’t make your shooting better like the Everstave, it lets you fire off ranged attacks  from a comfortable hiding spot and around corners, without having to risk your Lords of Change. Most notably it doesn’t count as an Indirect Fire attack as you’re just using the Line of Sight of that other Tzeentch daemon model.
• Neverblade (20 pts) – Monster model only. Improve the Strength characteristic of the user’s melee weapons by 2, improve their Attacks and AP by 1, and each time they make a melee attack, they get +1 to hit. This is a lot of buffs for an Enhancement like this and it kind of has to be to get you to consider melee with a Lord of Change. This taking your staff to S8 AP-2, 3 damage and hitting on 2s is a big improvement, and does legitimately make your LoC a threat in a way they weren’t before. If you’re going this route, be sure to include the sword.
• Improbable Shield (Aura, 30 pts) – While a friendly Tzeentch Daemon is within 6” of the bearer they get a 4+ Feel No Pain against Psychic Attacks and Mortal Wounds. I mean this is fine if you’re going up against Grey Knights or Thousand Sons, and the aura part is a solid bonus. But it’s going to be hard to justify this given how it can just be dead so often.

Mike P: Turning your Lord of Change into a Fire Prism with Infernal Puppeteer is very spicy. As Rob points out, it doesn’t count as an Indirect Fire attack, so you’re blasting away at full power while staying completely safe.

The Improbable Shield is powerful, but a complete gamble on whether it will have any value at all from matchup to matchup. I really wish this was designed to be less swingy based on who you’re facing–something like a 6+++ Feel No Pain aura that becomes a 5+++ Feel No Pain versus Psychic Attacks/Mortal Wounds would be way less skewed. As is, it’s so powerful in certain matchups that I think you bite the bullet on paying the 30 points and just play effectively 30 points down a large percentage of the time.

The Neverblade is legitimately very spicy on a Daemon Prince with Wings, and gives Tzeentch Daemons a powerful counter-charge option. Your winged Daemon Prince can have 10 attacks at Strength 10/AP3/3 damage with Sustained Hits or Lethal Hits on its go-turn, giving it the chance to do real damage to medium vehicles or elite Infantry.

I do want to note that something like the Everstave from the index detachment to buff your ranged damage is missing from here, and I would have liked to have seen something to help power up a Lord of Change’s shooting. Our birds can still do real work, but might have real range and strength issues without it.

Stratagems

Five of the Stratagems available to this Detachment give you the option to spend a Flux token for an enhanced effect. As with the other God-specific Detachments, they only benefit Tzeentch Daemons.

• Impossible Eclipse (Strategic Ploy, 1 CP)  – Used in any phase on a Tzeentch Monster unit from your army on the table. Pick one of No Man’s Land or your Opponent’s Deployment Zone. Or spend a Flux token to pick both. The zone(s) you chose are within your army’s Shadow of Chaos until the end of the phase. This is pretty neat, though it’s limited significantly by the fact that Shadow of Chaos does a lot less for you when you aren’t running the Daemonic Incursion. The best use for this is triggering Daemonic Manifestation when you need to get back dead models, though your Lord of Change won’t need this.
• Pyrogenesis (Battle Tactic, 2 CP)  – Used in your Shooting phase or the Fight phase. Pick a Tzeentch Daemons unit and for the rest of the phase, they get +2 Strength on their weapons, or +3 Strength and improve their AP by 1 if you spend a Flux token. S7 AP-2 flickering flames is pretty nasty, but the combined cost of getting all this (2 CP plus a Flux token), is very high, making this very situational. The best use is still likely going to be on the Bolt of Change or on a bigger unit of Flamers.
• Flickering Reality (Strategic Ploy, 1 CP)  – Used in the Fight phase on a Tzeentch unit targeted by attacks. Roll one D6, and you can spend a Flux token to re-roll the result. Until the end of the phase, each time an attack targets your unit, on an unmodified hit roll (after re-rolls) of the result, the attack sequence fails, even if the original hit would have been a critical hit. This is very unpredictable but can be pretty bonkers on those rare times you turn off 6s to hit and with them, kill Lethal/Sustained hits. This is better on more elite units, as the worse they are at fighting the fewer meaningful results you can roll.
• Fateborne Nightmares (Strategic Ploy, 1 CP)  – Used in your Movement phase or your Charge phase on a Tzeentch Daemon unit. Until the end of the phase, that unit can move through Terrain. This is a weird one – it’s super helpful on big daemons without a lot of Movement, but Tzeentch Daemons aren’t really hurting for that and their core units are Infantry besides. Still, it’s a very good tool to have on tight tables or when you need to escape with a Lord of Change or move up a Soul Grinder.
• Ficklefire (Strategic Ploy, 1 CP)  – Used in your Shooting phase on a Tzeentch Daemons unit in Engagement Range of an enemy unit. Until the end of the phase, enemy units aren’t considered to be within Engagement Rage of your unit for the purposes of making attacks, and each time an enemy model is destroyed while within Engagement Range of your unit, roll a D6 and on a 5+ your unit takes 1 mortal wound after it finishes making attacks. This is really for digging Flamers out of combat, and in that sense you’ll be happy to have it, even if it means taking a few mortals.
• Delirium Unmade (Strategic Ploy, 1 CP)  – Used at the end of your opponent’s Fight phase to pick up a Tzeentch Daemons unit that isn’t within engagement range of an enemy and put them back into Reserves. If you spend a Flux token you can pick up to two units (including units in Engagement Range of the opponent). This is huge, and while it’s not quite as easy to get two units here as it is for the Daemonic Incursion Detachment, you’ll still use this on the regular to get one unit. Flamers in particular love this for picking up and then dropping back down in range to murder something.

Mike P: Delirium Unmade is a great stratagem, and one that I imagine you’ll use several times every game. Almost all “teleport” effects in the game don’t work if your unit is within Engagement Range of your opponent. The fact that Delirium Unmade lets you not only pick up a second unit, but pick up units that are in Engagement Range of your opponent as long as you spend a Flux token is really powerful. Don’t forget that if your opponent goes first, you will be able to deepstrike the unit or two you picked up during your turn on the bottom of round 1! This will both help you score points and/or apply pressure early, depending on what units you have picked up.

Flickering Reality is going to be such a powerful tool to screw up opponents comboing Sustained and Lethal Hits… at least, it’ll be a powerful tool if you roll a 6. This is the kind of stratagem that makes both players consider it heavily. If your opponent sets up a key combat, it just might whiff. If you’re relying on Flickering Reality to keep you safe in a key combat, it just might whiff.

Pyrogenesis costing 2CP and needing a Flux token to really power up one unit’s shooting is a tough ask, and I think the biggest miss in this detachment. Tzeentch Daemon shooting can be inconsistent and mediocre into certain profiles, and ideally they would have access to some efficient way to buff their shooting. The fact that Kairos will (likely) refund part of the cost of Pyrogenesis on a nearby unit definitely makes the 2CP cost more palatable, at least!

Playing This Detachment

Of the four Grotmas Daemons Detachments this is the one most likely to play like it did before, owing to having improved Lord of Change shooting and the ability to pull up two units per turn and put them into Reserves via Stratagem. Of the four Chaos gods, Tzeentch units lose the least from not having the ability to Deep Strike just outside of 6”, as they rarely want to be charging and are happy to be outside of 9” and lighting you up with Flamers of Tzeentch and their 12” range. On that note, Flamers absolutely love this Detachment – they have the volume and strength to really make use of Pyrogenesis and it’s worth looking at when and how to spend flux tokens to improve it.

On the subject of Flux tokens, they’re going to do the best work on your Greater Daemons and Soul Grinders, where being able to re-roll damage with Warp Gaze is very solid. Soul Grinders generally just like the buffs they can get here, from Pyrogenesis to moving through walls. They can give you some much-needed beef to support what are some very annoying, but not always as durable as you’d like units.

Strengths

• Keeps the ability to pull two units back into reserves each round
• Powerful buffs for shooting attacks
• Access to lots of re-rolls and the ability to super-charge Stratagems

Weaknesses

• Giving your opponent Re-rolls is a bad thing, actually
• Stratagems are expensive, often requiring both CP and Flux tokens to get the full effect
• Not much in the way of defensive buffs

A Sample List

TheChirurgeon: OK here’s my first pass at a list, and it’s probably a bit too top-heavy. The main notion here is that Flux tokens give you more value if you’re going heavy on fewer big shots than hordes, so I wanted to start with 2-3 Monsters and some Soul Grinders, then fill out the support with lots of Flamers to make use of Pyrogenesis.

The general idea is that the Horrors are doing their usual game of splitting and being a chore to remove near the middle of the table while the Soul Grinders can add backfield support. This list is leaning a bit into the updated Screamers, who with their current profile seem really good, and a mix of them and Flamers give you some fast, semi-durable units which can range around the table and act as puppeteer help for the Lords of Change. The Flamers are going to be the primary mid-range damage output here, and you want to drop Flux-powered Pyrogenesis on them whenever you can. This is hopefully where Kairos can help, getting you some extra CP early – though frustratingly he doesn’t just give you extra CP and instead helps you regain CP after spending it.  Still, it’s the only option you’re going to get for Tzeentch, and worth taking.

Final Thoughts

The Scintillating Legion Detachment gives us a very fluffy way to play Daemons of Tzeentch, passing re-rolls back and forth with opponents over the course of the game but always coming out a little ahead in the process. We’re not sure it’s necessarily going to be good, as giving your opponent re-rolls is bad and will be worse the better your opponent is, but it’s a super interesting mechanic to play with. If you’re a Tzeentch Daemons player who has always felt they didn’t have enough arcane trickery going on, well, today is your day.

Mike P: I’m walking away from reading the new Tzeentch Daemons Detachment thinking, “I can’t predict how good or bad it is, but I really want to play some games with it and find out.” That’s exactly what most people are looking for from a Grotmas Detachment. On that note, I’ll consider this detachment a success and hope everyone has a great time playing it!

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