Part 2: Sinful. Sadistic. Sensational. Spikey. Slaanesh.
Happy New Year and welcome back you sinful sybarites! It has been a little while, but I have returned with some fantastically sensual, sickly, and sensational information on the Dark Prince of Pleasure: Slaanesh.
Last time we investigated Khorne, the angriest and most bloodthirsty of the Chaos Gods, however we are going to kick it back a bit for this one and delve deep into the lustrous lands of Slaanesh and its followers. This article will be a bit different from the previous look into the armies and how to start them, mainly due to Khorne and Slaanesh not really having much of a non-daemon based force in 40k so the starting out in 40K section is going to be pretty much identical to the last! Nevertheless, we will look at some of the sinful selections for 40K first and then move onto the gluttonous amount of choice in Age of Sigmar.
Who is Slaanesh and why are they so damn attractive?
Slaanesh, or otherwise widely known as the Dark Price, is the chaos god of all things sinfully overindulgent. Being the lord of pleasure, Slaanesh wants nothing more than its followers to be completely obsessed with over indulging themselves on all they love, be it consuming so many foods that the only thing that tastes new is human flesh, self-mutilation in the pursuit of the sensation of pain or sounds so loud they remove skin from bone, there is never enough for the Dark Prince and it’s fanatical followers.
Perfection is also something Slaanesh desires and this is reflected in its followers, singers will attempt to find the perfect song, warriors attempting to seek out the perfect techniques and even cooks hunting the perfect ingredients, this is where the influence of Slaanesh seeps into the mind and forces followers to strive for heights of perfection they can never truly reach without losing their minds to the whispers of Slaanesh.
Like it’s siblings’ followers Slaanesh kits its followers out with all manner of horribly sadistic stabby tools, weapons such as huge barbed crab-like pincers, blissbarb bows, sinfully sharp slickblades and lacerating whips are amongst the weapons of choice for the followers of Slaanesh.
I am feeling sinful, where can I begin overindulging?
Hungry for more, understandably, so as always let’s get you started! First things first we will cover Warhammer 40,000 as it is very similar to the previous article.
So in the previous dive into the Chaos gods we discussed the Start Collecting! Chaos Space Marines set, this is still one of the best starts for your Slaanesh 40,000 force. I won’t go into much detail here as we, as I already mentioned, discussed this set in detail previously!
Now, of course you are going to want to lavishly paint your new sadistic space sons, so they are the prettiest marines at the bi millennial Chaos ball. Once again for that reason I have dug up a couple examples of Slaaneshi followers for your gluttonous eyeballs to feast upon.
Slaanesh is partial to pink, purple and blacks, an interesting and bright set of colours! Gold is also a shining partner colour for trims and trinkets so make sure to pick out as many details as you can to make them really stand out! As always here is a list of Citadel paints to start off with:
- Abaddon Black
- Retributor Armour
- Leadbelcher
- Rakarth Flesh
- Pink Horror
- Carroburg Crimson
- Nuln Oil
- Steel Legion Drab
- Agrax Earthshade
- Sotek Green
There are also some interesting special units for the grim legions of the Slannesh marine, these being the Noise Marines. Now Games Workshop has not released a full unit kit for this awesome rocking dudes right now, but they have released a special one of model that looks amazing:
Feel free to pick one up here and add him to your Start Collecting force to rock the socks (and skin) off your opponent!
Deamons are still on the menu, right?
Of course! As mentioned previously; Daemons are interchangeable between both Age of Sigmar and Warhammer 40,000, so you get to paint and build two armies for the price of one!
A lucky hedonite you are, Slaanesh Daemons actually have their own seductive Start Collecting! Daemons of Slaanesh set! Though, only the Daemonettes from this set can be used within Warhammer 40,000, so maybe lean towards this set if you are planning on starting an Age of Sigmar force.
Inside this tantalizing box of goodies you can get your hands on the following fanatic followers of the Dark Prince:
- 1 x Exalted Seeker Chariot of Slaanesh
- 1 x Unit of 10 Daemonettes of Slaanesh (Useable in both games!)
- 1 x Unit of 5 Seekers of Slaanesh
Now due to this box leaning towards Age of Sigmar a bit more, we should take a look at the Mortal Realms and how we can bolster your army there, and do I have good news for you, heretic.
This weekend the Hedonites of Slaanesh just got a whole lot more sadistic with an entire new range of models to gorge yourself on! There is an absolute mountain of new units to torture your poor opponent with, let’s take a look at just a few of them!
The lowest class of Sybarites, the Blissbarb archers are still no joke. These Hedonites are quick on their feet and have impeccable aim, being able to sprint across battlefields laughing with glee whilst hitting every deadly shot they loose from their bows. Each set comes with 10 Blissbarb Archers, one of which can be upgraded to a High Tempter, and a Blissbrew Homonculus who will mix up even more potent toxins to coat your units arrowheads.
Slaangor Fiendbloods (Jalen’s Favourites):
The Slaangor are an elite and deadly unit of beastmen that are blessed with Slaanesh’s touch, granting them huge mutated pincers which they use to snip the heads off anyone who gets in their way. They may look delicate, but they hit hard and fast with their unnatural strength, even a small unit can effectively dispatch the toughest of foes. A kit comes with 3 Slaangor Fiendbloods and one can be assembled as a unit leader: A Slake-Horn. I personally love these guys and cannot wait to paint and field these!
Wanna go ‘pew pew’ whilst also going ‘zoom zoom?’ Blissbarb Seekers are the unit for you! The best of the Blissbarb Archers have hopped atop swift daemonic steeds and can jettison their way across any board in seconds, all whilst reining death down upon their foes with volley after volley of deadly blissbarb arrows. Blissbarb Seekers are among both the best cavalry and archers in the game, use them to run circles around your opponents and pepper them when they attempt to take objectives. The kit comes with 5 Blissbarb Seekers, one of which can be built as a High Tempter.
Command your new Slaaneshi force with one of the finest swordsmen in all the Mortal Realms, Sigvald the Magnificent considers himself the favourite of Slaanesh and no one really questions that. He is a golden blur on the battlefield, laughing as he cuts down champions, monsters and anything in between with just a flick of his wrist. Sigvald is a great hero for any Age of Sigmar Slaanesh force, either dueling other heroes/wizards or just smashing full speed into your opponent’s battleline, he will do the dirtiest work for you!
That is just the tip of the spikey iceberg when it comes to the new units for the Hedonites, if any of these interest you check out the preorder page and get yourself some new units to wreak havoc across the Mortal Realms this weekend! Also don’t forget to pick up their brand new Battletome to get access to all the new rules, lore and warscrolls and speaking of warscrolls the cards are also a handy tool to use whilst playing games!
Well I hope you have gorged yourself on this article and all it contains! Remember to head on down to Langden Game’s website and pick up all your Slannesh needs this weekend. Next time get ready to bring hand sanitizers, masks and some deodorant as we are going to be looking at the filthy garden of Nurgle!
Jalen Rose
Jalen Rose has been painting, playing and reading everything Warhammer over the last year.
He plays Age of Sigmar with Nurgle, Seraphon, Realm Lord and Slaanesh and 40K with Necrons and soon to be Tyranids /Genestealer Cults.
Jalen loves giant monster units and is incredibly excited to paint the Mega Gargant that he now owns! Thanks to the wonderful Matt!.
Follow Jalen on Twitter here: @ChungusisHungus
