Journey of a Boy

Journey of a Boy

Orks were my first army and have gone through a lot of changes since I've started with each new edition and the codex update.  It seems that with each iteration, the optimal way to use boyz has changed significantly

2011 5th edition

I used slugga/choppa boyz in battlewagons backed up by smaller squads of shoota boyz.  It was fairly effective and I had a lot of luck right away.  I struggled with high armor values (AV13+ with Necrons and multiple land raiders), highly mobile armies (mostly DE), and real melee units (Paladin star, but then again, who didn't struggle with this dull deathstar).  I had enough scoring units and 3 squads of lootas to at least go toe to toe with fully mechanized forces.

2012/2013 6th edition

Wholesale switch to shoota boyz.  Hull points diminished the durability of battlewagons, plus the changes to movement, assault, and charge range killed it for me.  Instead, I used large, cheap blocks of 30 shootas w/optional big shootas. They could assault reasonably well and helped with board control.  The real hammer unit was the nob bikers, now at T5.  I backed these up with lootas and artillery for solid dakka overall.   Orks were considered a low-tier codex, but I had a lot of success with this list.  The codex overall was pretty terrible, with only a few viable units.

2014 to the present 7th edition, new codex

A points increase and change to mob rule all but killed the shoota boy.  Now, it's all slugga/choppa boyz.  The superior choice is actually biker boyz, but those are cash expensive.  I can get a 30 man squad of boyz for about the same cost as 3 biker boyz, due to availability on ebay.  With the move of lootas to heavy, the dakka build lost it's teeth, now we have to come up with a whole new build.  More units are viable, but they are hard to make work cohesively.  I feel like there is a lot of potential to still explore.

The Green Tide formation is 10 squads of boyz joined as one.  I can see how it works, but seems like a chore to play.  It is a possibility I would like to explore at some point.

A Boyz journey to the present

Towards the middle of 2013, I won a few ebay auctions and acquired 60 boyz.  Now at this point, I already had 40+ slugga/choppa and around 80 shoota boyz.  However, as a proper ork player, you can never have enough.  So the squad was going to be split into 18 slugga/choppa and 42 shoota boyz.  The actual mix was 20 shoota and 42 slugga choppa from the assault on black reach set.  Unlike more recent box sets, these are not the actual kit, but rather snapfit with arms molded onto the body.  Therefore, I had to snip off additional arms and use cheap shootas acquired from ebay to turn them into proper shoota boyz.  They were primed, but never painted, because I didn't actually need that many.

Fast forward to 2014.  I'm started to use Orks again and realize that shoota boyz are not optimal.  I paint up the primed slugga choppa boyz so that I at least have 2 full squads of slugga choppa boyz to use.  However, I still had 42 shoota boyz sitting in a shoe box in my closet.

So what do I do with them?  I have tons of bitx sitting around, so a few weeks ago I decided to convert some of them back to slugga/choppa boyz.  So far, I've got 28 converted back, which should give me another full squad of 30, plus I now have 88 boyz, which I can use for a green tide formation.  Just so we're clear, there are AoBR boyz that were clipped and converted to shoota boyz, then had their arms ripped off and converted back to slugga/choppas.

This leaves me with 14 shoota boyz.  Let's keep going. I have the bitz to convert 8 of those to more tankbustas, a ramshackle group anyways.  I just need a few more bit to make them complete, but that will give me 2 squads of 8.

With the 60 boyz, I also received 5 big shootas.  Now that rokkits are the same price, they are the superior choice.  Plus the tankbustas can be used as regular rokkit boyz if needed in the green tide formation.

I've been heavily considering running Zhadsnark.  Unfortunately, he doesn't allow big guns.  The only positive is that I can go with 3 squads of  lootas. I currently have 30 painted another 7 primed.  What the hell, let's max out at 45.  I'll take the 5 big shootas and 3 of the remaining shoota boyz and make them 'proppa lootas' using bits leftover from space marines, tau, grey knights, etc.

So I'm down to 3 of the shoota boyz.

Summary
42 shootas, 5 big shootas
-->28 Slugga/Choppa boyz
-->8 tankbustas
-->8 lootas
-->3 spares

End result
88 Slugga choppa boyz
78 Shoota boyz
16 tankbustas/rokkits
45 lootas

Of course, silly me -- I won another ebay auction for 2 boxes of boyz new on sprue.  Whereas the loota box only has 4 lootas and a mostly useless mek model inversely the boy box has 11 models including the Nob.  While, I don't need the nob it really gives me 22 models.  So that leaves me with 25 models to figure out how to build.

I'm leaning toward building 20 of them as slugga/choppa boyz.  I could then take 4 full squads of slugga/choppa boyz (with nobs and a couple of rokkits) or a green tide.  I could also magnetize them so I can attach my death company back packs so that they can be impromptu stormboyz.  The won't match the current stormboyz, but so what.  This will give me some flexibility.

Other conversions

Almost all my nobs are sporting slugga and big choppa or power klaw.  No sense in that now that a shoota is a free upgrade.  I can mostly get away with just adding a shoota barrel, of which I have dozens sitting around, already primed.

I also need a Kommando Nob.  There aren't many good options for this.  My Kommandos are bare chested, but there is no comparable option without ordering expensive parts from Poland.  I'll make do with one that's partially built. and just repaint him.

Since I have plenty of nob bodies, I can build two tankbusta nobs.  For only 15 points, they become more survivable and resilient to morale.  Although in that squad, the nob inflicting D6 Str 4 hits is going to kill a couple of expensive models and not just 6 point boyz (damn you mob rule and army wide Ld7, can't the nobs be at least Ld8).

I also don't have 10 PK nobz for the Green Tide, but a simple arm swap will suffice.

I've already converted most of my Nob bikers to have a swappable army so they 'count as' regular biker boyz, though I'm not sure who would be that pedantic.

I'm also in the process of building 6 Traktor Kannons (1x5 or 2x3) and 5 Kustom Mega Kannons.  Lobbas are great, but do jack squat against flyers, 2+/3+ armor saves, and most vehicles.  Flyers are still really big around.  Flyrants are terrifying and this is the perfect counter unit to them.

Sorry for a lack of pictures 

Grey Knight Conversion Progress

Grey Knight Conversion Progress

Grey Knights

I've made great progress with my Grey Knight Strike Squad conversions since January.  I actually played my first match with them last week and they performed surprisingly well.  I'm happy with the NSF detachment pushing multiple units right in the enemy's face turn 1.  The comms combined with inquisitors for accurate deep strikes thanks to servo-skulls, things came in reliably and right where I wanted them.  I may look into pushing even more units into reserve such as interceptors and I'm even consider *gasp* a strike squad again.  We'll see.

To recount my plan, I have 20 strikes and 10 purgators.  They would be converted to 10 purifiers, 10 interceptors, and a reconfigured, but mostly unchanged, squad of strikes.  In addition, I needed a squad of terminators and an HQ of some sorts.

Infantry

Terminators, Librarian, Inquisitor

I'm very happy with the progress I've made.  The Librarian and 5 GK Terminators are complete.  The Strikes and Purifiers are done as well, leaving only the interceptors remaining.  I have all the parts ready to go, I just need to paint them, though the backpacks are currently separate to make it easier.  I'm still a few magnetized single handed swords short if I don't want to run any halberds, but usually I'm ok.  I even managed to finish the Dreadknight swords.  Let's take a look

Grey Knight Librarian with combi-melta and falchions

The Librarian was converted from leftover bits from the Dreadknight and some leftover Terminator legs.  I went with dual falchions over the halberds (+1 Strength) or staff (adamantium will) because I felt it would be more useful overall.  The combi-melta is magnetized.  I still need a way to add/remove meltabombs, though realistically, I'm always going to take them.  I'm happy with how the model turned out.  The base isn't my favorite but it distinguishes him from the rest of the Terminator squad.

Grey Knight Terminators

The Terminators are quite boss. All the weapons are magneitzed for halberds, swords, or even a hammer or two.  The psycannon is magnetized as well so I can switch to psilencer.  I kept up with my daemon base theme with a nurgle-ish cesspool base.  The swords and halberds all continue the lightning theme I've settled on.

Grey Knight Strike Squad

Here is the Strike Squad.  The two incinerators came from the Purgation squad, but otherwise, the squad is pretty much the same.  There was very minimal touch up work done.

Grey Knight Purifiers

The Purifiers were overhauled the most.  The psycannons were removed and replaced with magnetized arms for hammer or sword.  The heads were popped off, stripped, and repainted with white.  I actually painted them a couple of times.  Any sort of wash I put on the heads looked horrible.  It took me a while before I was happy with the pure white heads, but now I really like them.  I did get vanguard vet hammers to use, although only a few are painted so far.  The one handed hammer look is great for them, very dynamic.  The swords were my first attempt at NFS and I've been pretty unhappy with them, so they were painted over and re-done in lightning.

Grey Knight Interceptors

The interceptors still need to be painted.  I want to run through a few tests with how to do the backpacks before I commit.  Most of the squad needs to be fully painted.  I'm still tweaking my list to see where they fit in.  They are essentially the same cost as a purifier squad but trade mobility and deployment options for the extra attack and psychic power.  The shunt with 2 interceptor is incredibly powerful for taking out backfield scorers.

Combat squad out of a SR for 4 WC and 2 shots at Cleansing Flame

Dreads

The Dreadknights are now fully done (well, I could maybe go for a psilencer) with the completion of the swords at long last.  I originally wanted to use an airbrush for the swords because I was skeptical it could work on a large scale.  I proved myself wrong and they really look outstanding.  I don't have any interest in adding a 3rd Dreadknight.  I can only take 2 in a Nemesis Strike Force detachment anyways, and 3 seems too spammy to me.  Full post coming on them.

I still have 1 Dreadnought left to paint, but I may end up selling him.  I also have 2 rhinos plus accessories to use them as razorbacks of all sorts, including the forgeworld psycannon variant.  They aren't finished, but look close enough.  In fact, I've never finished a Rhino based vehicle, too many clean lines.

Next Steps

Grey Knight Terminators, good value

I may eventually consider getting more Terminators.  So far, they seem to be a really solid value.   I've already regretted not having the option to add extras to my list already.  In an elite army, I often end up with an odd number of points like 40 or 60 that isn't enough to add a full unit, but I could add 1 or 2 terminators.  Instead I've been bulking of inquisition squads non-optimally.

I've settled on running them with 1 hammer and 1 psycannon per 5 dudes.  I also take the melta-bombs so they can threaten vehicles without having to cast hammerhand.   Little metal boxes still seem to give me trouble.  This works out to 200 pts for a 5 man squad, 395 for 10.

Army on the move

Blood Angel Conversions

Converting Existing Blood Angels

I have way too many Blood Angel infantry and vehicles. I'm not sure what I can do about the Rhinos/Razorbacks (maybe convert one or two to a vindicator or a Damocles).  Here's what need to be addressed:
8 DC on foot - 1 sword. 4 have magnetized backpacks, but no actual jump packs.
10 Death Company with JP - These have bolters, 1 has a fist.  JP are magnetized.
5 DC  bodies, tons of bits
60 Assault Marines on foot - 6 squads of 5 with sgt and melta gunner
40 Assault Marines with jump packs - 4 squads of 10 with sgt and 2 meltaguns

Death Company

Here's my end game -- 2 squads of 10 with jump packs, 1 Fist, 2 swords, and 1 axe each.  I can build 2 more DC with spare bits once I get some legs.  I'll put jump packs on all the models.  I need to break off the bolters for 8 of the jp guys.  I can keep 2 bolters for the guys with power fists.  Then for the guys missing arms, I'll need 2 axe/halberds and 3 more power sword. I have plenty of DC power swords unused, as well as a couple of GK halberds and tons of falchions.

Most of these aren't painted at all, so I can just reprime them with new arms.  Some of the others need a lot of touch up.  A few were purchased painted and need to be fixed.

Jump Pack Assault Marines

For painting: 10 are done really well, 10 decent enough, 10 are table-top, 10 are only primed.  Almost all were built from the death company box to begin with.

The primed ones aren't fully assembled.  Let's turn them into vanguard vets for the Sanguine Wing formation.  I'll need to break off all the arms and find weapons to use.  I should have plenty except for lightning claws, so I'll need to order some.  Overall, this should be a fairly straightforward conversion.

The 20 I have fully painted I will keep.  That just leaves the 10 that are tabletop ready.  These were initially purchased off of ebay as death company, then reprimed red, then painted poorly.  I had some real difficulty with the army painter red when I first started using it.  I also didn't strip them, so they look fuzzy. A few are old metal models.

I'm not sure what I can do with the final squad (pictured above).  I think the best bet may be to strip them and start over.  I don't see myself running 30 jump packs ASM any time soon, so this will likely be a very low priority.  I could convert them to a 2nd VV squad for the Sanguine Wing but I don't have enough weapons to cover both squads, so I'll need to order more anyways.  I could also ebay them.

Assault Marines on foot

Only two of the squads are fully painted and look decent.  The other 4 squads range from poor condition to really poor condition.  Ten of them were ebay purchases that I've never re-painted.  Another 10 are super fuzzy, but at least have matching shoulder pads for the whole unit.  All of these units have sergeants with magnetized arms.

My end result needs to be 3 squads of 5 with 2 meltaguns each.  The sergeants arms are magnetized so I can run dual infernus pistols if I want, although I'll need to paint some up.  Arms will need to be broken off to put more meltaguns.

For the third squad I will take the best of what's available to build 1 last squad of 5.  Even more arms will need to be broken off.  This squad will need to be painted from scratch.

That leaves 3 sergeants with magnetized arms and 12 assault marines.  These are pretty much junk. 

Blood Angel New Codex

I have withheld discussing my Blood Angels with the new codex because I was hoping that there would be a supplement that would make assault marines troops again, but alas nothing came.  I chose Blood Angels because I didn't want to run tactical marines.

Here's what I have for my BA army:
30 assault marines on foot 6x5 squads
40 jump pack marines, 4x10 squads
5 Sternguard
8 DC on foot
10 DC with magnetized Jump packs and bolters
22 Tacticals marines
5 Sniper Scouts
10 Devastators (5 missile, 5 Plasma Cannon)
5 Sanguinary Priests (1 in terminator armor) & Brother Corbulo
11 Terminators
5 Assault Terminators
1 Attack Bike
1 Drop Pod
36 Magnetized arms
ICs (Mephiston, Librarian, Chaplin, Terminator Captain)
Vehicles (5 Razorbacks/Rhinos,1 Furioso, 1 Baal, 3 Land Speeders, 2 Stormravens, 2 Predators, Vindicators, Scorpius)

I don't plan on doing a  unit by unit breakdown, only on what I think is relative.

Most of the formations/detachments are pretty weak.  Here are the ones I'll discuss:

Archangels Sanguine Wing - 2 squads of Vanguard vets, 1 of sternguard, and a stormraven.  You get 400pts of equipment for free with power weapons for each as well as free combis.  I like this, although it is quite expensive and restrictive.  The Sternguard have to be in the SR, rather than logically in a pod.  The VV have to deep strike.  Although they will reliably come in turn 2 because of the re-roll.  That's a lot of points off the board.

Fleshtearers Strike Force - Meh, not particularly exciting.  You only have to take 1 troop, which helps, but the warlord traits and relics are pretty poor.  My models aren't painted Fleshtearers.  It's a minor quibble, but feels cheesy.

Baal Strike Force -  Probably my default choice.  I never plan to take troops en masse, so getting old style furious charge is great.  I wish there was a decent formation that gave you descent of angels without relying on Dante.


So what are my options for list building:

 Tactical Marines 
I have 10 painted with magnetized  special weapons and for heavy I have a missile launcher and a plasma cannon.  I have another 10 primed and waiting to be painted (for 2 years) with I another plasma cannon and a multimelta (for reasons unknown).  I should switch this to lascannon and heavy flamer, although I have neither.  The ideal setup is to have them in a pod, but I only have 1 pod.

Scouts
Always a middling choice.  They do a lot of different things, but nothing well.  I guess some combat scouts with 2 weapons and furious charge could do something for cheap.  I only have 5 sniper scouts, which come in at a reasonable 60 points, but they don't really do anything either.

Unfortunately, the cost discounts I get in other areas are just shifted over because I have to take scouts or tactical marines that I don't want and don't fit into my lists.  They really feel like dead weight.

Assault Marines
I can only take 3 squads now.  There are two main configurations:
#1) 5 ASM in a pod with 2 meltaguns and 2 inferno pistols for a reasonable 135 points.  Drop pod turn 1 and blast a wyvern, Vindicator, Leman Russ, Imperial Knight, etc.
#2) 10 ASM with jump packs with 2 meltaguns, veteran sergeant with meltabombs and lightning claw for 220.  It's a 10 point discount over what they were last edition, but aren't troops.  With a Priest for 75pts more (same as last edition, but you are limited in number, but pick up an extra wound) they gain +1WS and Furious charge.  In a Baal Strike force they gain +1 init as well (old style FC).  They can definitely do some damage.

There is no reason to have 6 squads of 5 ASM on foot nor 4 squads of 10 jump packs.  How about 15 on foot and 30 with packs?  I'll follow up with my plan on them.

Death Company 
They are pretty sweet now.  For some reason, I felt a while back that 9 DC coming out of a pod  with a chaplain was the balls.  Since they couldn't charge on the first turn anyways, I decided that they might as well take advantage of relentless and have bolters.  Re-rolling to hit and wound meant they were going to overkill most things anyways so I should limit over watch damage by double-tapping on the way in. Those days are long gone.  I also didn't put any special weapons in the squad besides 1 fist.  Now I have 10 DC with bolters that desperately need bolt pistol/chainswprd as well as some power weapons.  Of the 18 I have, 14 are magnetized.

I think 1-2 squads of 10 are good.  I could do 1 squad of 20, but I generally dislike deathstars.  With the discount on jump packs, I feel like that's the way to go.   At 23 points you get 3 attacks base, with rage, furious charge, FNP, and fearless.  They also score now.  They can't take any invuln option or characters.

I don't like Lemartes, he seems weak for his points.  I'd rather take Astorath, who lets DC re-roll to hit and wound.  His warlord trait (adamantium will) is weak and he doesn't get FNP, but has an extra wound and artificer armor.


Librarian
I don't think I've ever taken a Blood Angel force without my trusty Librarian.  They got 35 points cheaper and with the 10pt discount to jump packs, comes in at a reasonable 80 points over the 125 I was paying.

I like divination or biomancy still, but the Sanguinary discipline is somewhat limiting.  Quickening is the primary, which only affects characters, so DC won't benefit.  It gives fleet, but the whole unit has to have it to work, so it won't come into play very often.  One use I see for this is as an ally to my GK.  I can cast it on a Dreadknight (+D3 I and A plus fleet sounds tasty).  The other powers are decent, but not spectacular.  Blood Boil and Wings are duds, especially at WC2.

Sanguinary Priest
In 6th, I really wanted a super priest as an HQ.  Either Corbulo or a beefed up generic (akin to the Reclusiarch).  I got them in HQ, but lost them in elites. Oh well.  The bubble is gone, but +1WS is nice as is the extra wound.

I'm leaning more toward the Librarian with Biomancy to attach to DC than a Priest.  The Priest would be better with VV or SG.  If they become a keeper of the relics, then I'll consider them more.

Sanguinary Guard
I think you can make an army of these work.  Squads of 10 are a big target and there are so many things that can wipe them out (Vindicators, Wraithknight, Riptides, Centurions) it seems like they still don't have a place.  This isn't a problem with SG , but expensive units in general like Terminators.

Vanguard Vets
Death Company are only 1 point more expensive, but you get FNP, relentless, fearless, and rage.  The Sanguine Wing could make them work, but I'm still iffy.  I do want to try it out.  The ability to take storm shields for 10pts is nice once you get to assault and can maybe tank you a few wounds from plasmaguns.  Maybe melta-bombs multi-assaulting a vehicle and a unit could be cool.  They seem like a unit that is a bit redundant.

Sternguard
Cheaper base, but more slightly more expensive once you add a combi weapon.  They belong in a pod which is why the sanguine wing limits their useability.  I still like them for their versatility though.

Land Speeders
Their weapons aren't twin-linked so they change to jinking really hurt them.  I can't seem myself taking them anymore.  They just don't justify their cost anymore compared to their survivability.

Rhino
Why can't overcharged engines be an option instead of a requirement.  Fast for Rhinos just isn't worth 10 points to me.  Maybe if you could still get out after moving 12", then sure.  I never took Rhinos before and don't plan to take them now.  Assault squads can take them for free instead of jump packs, but why would you do that.

Razorbacks
Once again GW is fixing an issue from 2010.  Razorback spam hasn't been a thing since 2012 when 6th dropped.  The hullpoints alone, much less the limits to assault and distance during disembarkation really killed it.  ASM can't take them and inexplicably DC can't take Rhinos.

For 20 points over the Rhino you lose transport capacity, repair, and the fire points but gain a TL Heavy Bolter.  The swap should be free, even then I probably wouldn't take a RB.  The TLAC and LasPlas are still decent, but I don't think you're going to see any tournament winning lists using them as a base.

Drop Pods
They can be taken as a standalone so have value as a GK ally to me.  I need more though.  I only bought 1 on a lark, but it is beautifully painted.  I should go up to 3 or 5.  I like the idea of 3 dropping turn 1 and the other 2 dropping later on with my obligatory tactical squads.

Relic Whirlwind Scorpius
Ok, nothing  changed because this isn't in the BA codex, but it's still a very solid unit.  The regular whirlwind just doesn't cut it.  Long range barrage with Str8 AP3 and 1+D3 shots if you don't move and AV12 on the sides.  This is very solid for 125 points and I plan on using it frequently.  Unfortunately this is an overcrowded slot.

Relic Sicaran
I don't actually have one, but I'm strongly considering picking one up.  You get 6 TL Str7 ap4 rending shots that ignore jink.  You can also take lascannons.  Unfortunately, BA can't take more than one relic without taking a useless chaplain.

Stormraven
Better, since less skyfire is around.  Stormstrike missiles aren't as good as our old AP1.  I don't think I have even remembered that concussive is a thing.  A lot of formations require them.  I have 2 and there are no other skyfire options in the codex that are worth a damn, so I'll probably take them most of the time.  I don't know what to put inside them most of the time though.  Skies of Fury is a punishing rule compared to what Necrons get in invasion beams.  I should really look into a Fire Raptor.  Moving them to Fast Attack would have been nice.


Fire Raptor
I rarely ever use the transport capacity, so it makes sense to take a pure gunship.  I really wish I could take the autocannon option like in the experimental rules or in IA XIII.  The Quad heavy bolter isn't an ideal anti-air gun, so it is a bit of a mixed bag in terms of anti-air, vehicle, and infantry.  You can shoot at 4 different targets though, which is really strong.  It's also a relic and in heavy support, so it's got competition.


Vindicator
I save 15 points over what it was before when taking overcharged engines and a dozer blade.  I could do 1 vindicator and a storm raven  or 2 and 1.  A 36" threat range is pretty solid.
 
Baal Predator
Did they accidentally leave off scout.  I'm at a complete loss as to why this costs 30 points over a base predator to change from an autocannon to an assault cannon.  I don't see this ever being used.  What a complete waste.

Predator
I still don't think they have much of a place even with a 15 point discount.  Triple-las is decent for 150 with overcharged engines, which lets me move 6 and fire two,

Devastators
Got cheaper as well.  I don't see ever taking the Heavy Bolters.  Flak is just too expensive.  If they were Str8, I could consider them but not at Str 7.  Plasma Cannons and Lascannons are probably going to be what I consider at 135 and 150pts respectively.  I loved running them in a bunker with a prescience librarian to twin link them, which was crucial for Plasma Cannons.  Now you can't cast inside a vehicle or building, which sucks. I'm not sure how much I'll use them.

Dante
I don't have Dante but I'm considering adding him. He has a great statline, eternal warrior, AP at init 6 and most importantly comes with Descent of Angels, Hit & run, and a free tactical objective.


Let's try to make a few lists.

1850 Baal Strike Force

105 Librarian with Angel's Wing, Veritas Vitae, melta bombs

115 5 Tactical marines, heavy flamer in a pod

115 5 Tactical marines, heavy flamer in a pod
285 10 Death Company: 1 Fist, 1 sword, 1 axe, jump packs
285 10 Death Company: 1 Fist, 1 sword, 1 axe, jump packs
140 5 ASM with 2 meltaguns, Sgt with 2 inferno pistols and melta bombs in a drop pod
140 5 ASM with 2 meltaguns, Sgt with 2 inferno pistols and melta bombs in a drop pod
140 5 ASM with 2 meltaguns, Sgt with 2 inferno pistols and melta bombs in a drop pod
200 Stormraven
200 Stormraven
125 Relic Scorpius

Since I don't have 5 pods, here's my short term plan:

1748 Baal Strike Force
125 Librarian with Angel's Wing, Veritas Vitae, ML2
90 5 Tactical marines with lascannons
90 5 Tactical marines with lascannons
108 8 Scouts with 7 sniper rifles, HB w/hellfire
285 10 Death Company: 1 Fist, 1 sword, 1 axe, jump packs
285 10 Death Company: 1 Fist, 1 sword, 1 axe, jump packs
140 5 ASM with 2 meltaguns, Sgt with 2 inferno pistols and melta bombs in a drop pod
200 Stormraven
200 Stormraven
125 Relic Scorpius
100 Imperial Bunker w/comms & void shield

I only need to get 3 scouts and 2 DC, which is reasonable.

1850 All Jump pack list, Baal Strike force
110 Librarian with JP, melta bombs, ML2
75 Priest w/JP and melta bombs
90 5 Tactical marines with lascannons
90 5 Tactical marines with lascannons
285 10 Death Company: 1 Fist, 1 sword, 1 axe, jump packs
270 10 Death Company: 1 Fist, 1 axe, jump packs
265 10 Vanguard Vets w/3 meltabombs, 3 storm shields, 2 power swords
220 10 ASM with JP, 2 meltaguns, veteran w\meltabombs and LC
220 10 ASM with JP, 2 meltaguns, veteran w\meltabombs and LC
220 10 ASM with JP, 2 meltaguns, veteran w\meltabombs and LC

Gee those tactical marines sure stand out.  72 Marines with almost half having FNP is pretty durable.  No anti-air, but it should be fine.

GK list ideas

I have yet to bust out my GK with their new 7th edition codex, but I'm coming around on the Nemesis Strike Force detachment. I usually hate keeping stuff in reserve because of the potential to not come in until turn 4.  I'm sure it doesn't happen as often as I feel it does, but it has occurred enough to make me skittish.

To mitigate this, we can take a comms relay with an Aegis Defense Line, Imperial Bunker, or Imperial Bastion.  I tend to face so much barrage that I've stopped considering an ADL.  The other two are better options and block LoS.  I have a bunker but not a bastion, so that's what I'm going with, plus it's cheaper.  Might as well take a void shield for extra protection while I'm at it.

As far as I can tell in the rules, buildings are units and can man the comms relay.  Place the relay behind the building and it can't be destroyed.

Here's what I have for an elite list:

1500 Nemesis Strike Force detachment
125 Librarian, falchions, combi-melta, melta bombs
200 5 Terminators, 1 Psycannon, 1 hammer, melta bombs
275 10 Purifiers, 2 hammers, melta bombs
225 Dreadknight, teleporter, greatsword, incinerator, heavy psycannon
225 Dreadknight, teleporter, greatsword, incinerator, heavy psycannon
200 Stormraven

100 Bunker w/comms & void shield

150 Vindicare assassin

I place the bunker far away from my opponent and reserve everything else.  The Vindicate sits inside the bunker and mans the comms.  The 2 DKs and the terms can come in turn 1, then hopefully the Purifiers in the SR should come in turn 2.  You probably want to go second with this list unless the opponent has something that can destroy AV14 HP4 at range.  Pods are a problem too.

The Vindi tries to snipe HQs, banners, special weapons, etc.  His gun is only AP2, so you'll still need 6s to blow it up, otherwise you're just taking off a hull point.  Open-topped vehicles could be worthwhile to shoot at.  Maybe you could shake a wave serpent. Ok, the Vindicator is a bad idea, but I really want to run him.

To improve this list I could easily drop him.  In small points games like this, dual weapons on the Dreadknights are too generalist since they target different types of units.  The greatswords can be downgraded to hammers as well while losing very little efficiency.  That's another 65 pts.  We can do a lot with 215 points.

Option #1 - More GK units

Add a second storm raven for 200pts.  This is a durable unit that can pack a punch.  It will most likely be empty and won't arrive until turn 2. 

Beef the GK Terminators up to 10 models. A fine option if I had the models, but I don't.  They would be able to come in turn one and I can choose to combat squad.

A 3rd Dreadknight.  If I was taking this to a tournament this would probably be my best option.  They add so much pressure.  I don't have a 3rd and don't plan on purchasing a 3rd though.  On top of that the NSF only has 2 HS slots, so no go anyways.

10 Strikes with 2 incinerators and melta bombs. They can deep strike in as well.  This clocks in at 225, so I would need to trim a further 10 points off the above list, but all in all not the worst option.

8 interceptors with 1 incinerator and melta bombs. Pretty much the same as the above but swapping 2 guys for jump packs because of points.

All of these options suffer from the same problem in that there is nothing worthwhile to put in the bunker in the GK codex since everything is short ranged.

Option #2 Add a BA detachment

191pts - Priest, Drop pod, 8 sniper scout
The Priest could attach to the Purifiers and come down turn 1.  They would gain FNP, but not benefit from +1 WS.  You would have to drop a purifier to fit and lose the ability to combat squad.  He can take some cool upgrades like an Inferno pistol, combi-melta, lightning claw etc.  Or you could  make him your warlord and grab the Veritas Vitae for an extra strategic trait.  Although in this list they won't benefit too much.  Nothing is in the storm raven, but at least you have 8 sniper shots coming out of the bunker

Option #3 Legion of the Damned

160 pts for a melta, combi-melta. and multi-melta squad to come down turn 2.  Still no one in the bunker.  It ignores cover, which is awesome. 

Option #4 Load up on Inquisition

I have the models and it gives me a ton of flexibility.  Since they are often so cheap, I can load up as needed, mixing and matching from the below units.

100pts Coteaz
Adding another ML 2 Psyker is pretty sweet.  He can attach to the Purifiers and add some Divination.  I really miss his seizing protection.  Getting seized on is another action that seems to happen more than it should (or the impact is so big it merely makes it more memorable).  He can't take skulls though

64 Xenos Inquisitor  with Rad & Psychotroke grenades and 3 skulls
The skulls are awesome because they can protect your bunker from infiltrators and, even better, reduce scatter of your deep strikers within 12" to only D6.  I wouldn't count on the blast reduction helping very much though.  The psychotroke and rad grenades are part of the cheese of old GK.  I've never used them, but they can be very effective.  I expect them to be gone with the next Inquisition update.

119 Malleus Inquisitor in Terminator armor w/psycannon, hammer, ML1
My old standby.  This would attach to the terminator squad adding another Psycannon to double up the shots.  The ML1 isn't strictly necessary anymore, but don't leave home without the skulls

124 2 Joakero, 6 stormbolters, 1 psyker
All the henchmen units are going to have a psyker.  It's hard not to resist another ML for only 10 points.  The Jokaero bring a lascannon, multimelta, and heavy flamer to the fight, plus they can turn your stormbolters rending or add 6".  All henchmen are BS3 though, so it's not too effective.

139 inquisitor w/3 skulls, a jokaero, Psyker, and 3 plasma cannon servitors
You're really hoping for the 6" to range (42" plasma cannons) but otherwise you can still put out a reasonable amount of AP2. 

129 inquisitor w/3 skulls and Psyocculum, psyker, 3 plasma cannon servitors
We're exchanging the monkey for BS10 vs. Psykers.  The armies that tend to take psykers tend to take a lot so it can be effective, but vs. a lot of armies it's just a waste.

126 inquisitor w/3 skulls, conversion beamer, and psyocculum, 2 henchmen and a psyker
The minimum squad doesn't really need to be there since you can take an inquisitor on his own.  He sits in the bunker and fires away.  The idea is that you deep strike the rest of the army so that the Inq can continue to fire at range.  He will scatter onto your own unit on occasion then you'll be pissed.

Option #5

213 Big Mek, 8 Lootas, 2 Traktor Kannons w/runts
A little more out of the box here.  They are CtA allies, but they won't be near each other and fluff wise, whatever-I don't care.  The 8 lootas sit inside and fire 8-24 S7 shots out to 48".  The kannons sit on top with the big mek for morale and try to shoot any fliers.  You could try to squeeze a few more points out and get 4 or 5 lobbas that  can hide behind the bunker for barrage, but you're likely to scatter onto your own squad.


Conclusion
I think I'll stick with the inquisition and try it out.  I can make the purifiers more effective and put a potent shooting unit into the bunker.  The skulls are key to the deepstriking capabilities though.

Final list:
1500 Nemesis Strike Force detachment
125 Librarian, falchions, combi-melta, melta bombs
200 5 Terminators, 1 Psycannon, 1 hammer, melta bombs
275 10 Purifiers, 2 hammers, melta bombs
190 Dreadknight, teleporter, greatsword, incinerator
200 Dreadknight, teleporter, hammer, heavy psycannon
200 Stormraven

100 Bunker w/comms & void shield
64 Xenos Inquisitor  w/3 skulls, Rad & Psychotroke grenades
76 Xenos Inq w/2 skulls & conversion beamer
70 psyker, 3 Servitors w/plasma cannons

Warlord Traits for Slaanesh Daemon lists

Ed note: This was completed in September 2014 to accompany my article on Daemonic gifts, but sat as a draft mistakenly.  I'm finally publishing it.
Introductory text

Potential Warlords
Herald on foot -

Herald on steed - A herald on a steed is always going to take either the loci of beguilement or grace.  This makes them very fast and very dangerous.  They are my initial wave.  Making them the warlord can potentially increase the killability of the seekers they ride with.  Unfortunately, they will almost always die.  This makes them a liability

Keeper of Secret- A KoS is the Slaanesh GD.  There is, unfortunately, no named GD outside of gargantuan FW models.  They have an impressive statline with 6 wounds, T6, S6, WS9, and I10 but with only a 5++ they rely on greater gifts to increase their survivability.  If you can get invisibility on them, they can survive, but otherwise, are very fragile.

Be'Lakor - Be'Lakor comes with Herald of Doom, which causes all units to take Fear tests at -1.  So many armies ignore this that it is not a great trait. While Be'Lakor is very survivable, he is by far the biggest target on the board.  Against armies with extensive ignores cover he won't live very long.  I generally prefer not to make him my warlord for that reason.  I don't want to give my opponent any extra reason to target him.

Combining with Warlord Traits
 The rules for gifts say that they are determined at the same time as warlord traits.  So you get to choose which you roll for first.  This is especially important for greater rewards, which provide defensive buffs.

If you take a CAD, you can re-roll your warlord trait, which helps to avoid some of the more useless options

Command Traits

1. Friendlies w/in 12” use Warlord's Ld - Not very useful for heralds at Ld8, better for a KoS at Ld9.  This would only really help when taking daemonic instability tests, otherwise, Daemons don't take Ld tests often enough for this to be worth it.
2. Enemy units within 12” use lowest Ld - Could be useful since every unit has fear and you want your leaders mucking it up on the front lines.  I find that this really doesn't do much in practice though whenever I've gotten it with any army.
3. Friendlies w/in 12” have Move through cover - Move through cover is nice as it gives you the option to move through terrain that blocks you.  With a built in 5++, you don't need cover as much as LoS blocking.  It would be great on a steed herald with the loci of beguilement.  The KoS already has MtC.
4. Friendlies w/in 12” add 1” run and charge - Zoom.  Makes Slaanesh even faster.  This combos nicely with fleet.  I'm not complaining about this one.  Against nearly any opponent it is solid because it adds reliability to charge range.
5. Friendlies w/in 12” re-roll 1s to hit shooting - Heralds are BS6 already and rarely have shooting attacks. A keeper who takes the Lash of Despair could make use of this, but otherwise it's the least useful on this table.
6. Friendlies w/in 12” re-roll 1s to hit in assault - Potentially really good considering the high WS of Slaanesh.  The bubble effect is really nice as well.  Could lead to overkill during assault though, but you'll really hit their lines hard with this.  Ideal for a herald with the locus of grace, since beguilement already gives full re-rolls (but not a bubble).  Really nice against a high model count or assault based army.  Great for challenges as well.  Don't forget if you have an etherblade you'll reroll ones, then get a free reroll of a 2 (or 3).  This is the best roll on this table for a KoS.

Roll #4 is good in pretty much all lists and I'm happy enough if I roll it.  Roll #3 is good for a non-beguilement herald while #6 is better on a grace herald.  A keeper wants 6, 4, 1, 2 in that order, but I don't think I would ever roll on this for a Keeper.  This could be a good table to roll on for a herald if I'm undecided, but the risk is there for a dud roll depending on the warlord.  It has a higher floor and lower ceiling that the other tables.  Nothing that really stands out.

 Personal Traits

1. Warlord has counter-attack - At least counter attack extends to the whole squad.  Can help mitigate a failed charge, but you're still going to die from getting shot first.  Against another assault army, it's definitely solid.
2. Warlord has Furious Charge - Pretty sweet stuff for deamonettes and seekers, even the KoS will find utility against vehicles with it.  This is the best roll on the table in my opinion.  Doesn't help as much with vehicles (for infantry) as you would think since you still need a 6, but now it would be an auto-pen against rear armor 10.  It helps them tremendously against walkers, infantry, etc.  It doubles the wounds against T5.
3. Warlord has outflank - All daemons can deep strike already.  All heralds on steeds can outflank already.  I'm not sure I would want to outflank foot daemonettes.  Strictly worse in every way than Master of Ambush (strategic #3) as infiltrate confers outflank.
4. +1 VP for each char the warlord slays in a challenge - Slaanesh is very combat oriented so this is a great fit.  It doesn't have to be the enemy's warlord or even an IC, just any character will do.  This is a fantastic combo with a Loci of Beguilement since it lets you choose who will take the challenge and they can't refuse. 
5. Warlord has FNP - This is great for a KoS but not so much for a herald.  It's not terrible, but a 2 wound, T3 herald won't get nearly as much use out of it. At 5 wounds, with only a 5++, the KoS needs all the help staying alive it can get.
6. Warlord has Fearless and It Will Not Die - Fearless will help avoid DI tests and let you tie up an imperial Knight or other deadly units.  IWND is less useful for a 2 wound T3 model that will get instant deathed more than it will ever recover a wound.  Alternately, Keepers love IWND, but you may already get it from a gift.

For heralds you have some really great options here with #2 and #4 being great but #5 & #6 are good. enough.  Roll #1 is situational, but #3 is pretty useless.  I wouldn't re-roll 5 or 6 though to try for 2 or 4.

Keepers should roll their gifts first to see what you end up with. since some of those rolls are straight up better version of what is offered here (e.g. FNP 4+ instead of 5+).  Overall, this may be the best table for a GD and I've even been favoring it for Heralds.

Strategic Traits

Since you now know if you're going first or second before you roll, this table is even better than before and gives you some good options.  For the most part these aren't going to make a difference between using a herald or keeper.

1. All units have Move Through Cover and Stealth in ruins -If there are large center blocking ruins this is a cool.  Run up to the center hide for a 3+ cover save, then run through and try to charge the other side.
2. Can activate Night Fighting and have Night Vision - Night Vision isn't going to help a whole lot since there is almost no shooting with Slaanesh besides the occasional gift, warpfire, or harvester cannon.  Stealth on all your units for the first turn is great and helps you get in position for a turn 2 assault.  Tau ignore night fighting so this will do nothing for you.  I'll always ask for the night fighting roll and on a 4+ you'll already get most of the benefits.
3. Warlord and 3 non vehicles have Infiltrate - You can never charge first turn for a unit that infiltrates.  This is going to depend on the terrain.  Slaanesh doesn't have alpha strike capabilities with this trait seeing as they really have no guns.  Very worthwhile if you go first, for the simple fact that you can hold off deploying units until you see what your opponent is going to do.  Too bad it doesn't work for the Soul Grinder.
4. Add +1 to seize, can re-roll reserves (while alive) - Seizing is always nice.  I'll keep this if I'm going 2nd, but probably not if I'm going first, since I won't want to keep anything off the board to start.
5. Opponent has -1 to reserve rolls - Situationally useful against a reserve heavy opponent.  It is more useful when going second or against a flyer heavy army, Grey Knight Nemesis Strike Detachment, or several Tau builds.  It can alter opponent plans. 
6. Choose 3 units to take a pinning test their 1st turn - Pretty sweet deal against Tau with their low leadership or other Orks to maybe cause some early mob rule wounds.  Since pinned units cannot snap fire anymore, it gives you a chance to suppress some enemies.  Won't have any effect against Daemons, pure bike armies, mech forces, Knights, Necrons, or Tyranids in synapse.  That still leaves a lot of solid armies and options that you'll want it against.  It could be just enough to disrupt someone's plan, but probably not.

I love strategic for my orks when I get an extra trait due to da finkin' kap.  For Daemonettes, I'm pretty lukewarm on this, it would be my last choice to roll and many of the traits are too easy for my opponent to work around.

Daemon Traits 

1. Melee weapons have instant death - Slaanesh heralds are WS7, I7, with 4-6 attacks and the ability to get an Ap2 weapon at initiative.  Since they come with rending, any attack of a 6 is already AP2 and can wound anything, regardless of toughness (hello wraithknights).  This turns the herald into a massive target because they are so terrifying.  As an Ork player, having no invulns in cc, this is pants crappingly scary.  Works better with a steed since you get the bonus attack.  For a keeper at Str6 it will wound most enemies on a 2 anyways and tear through multi-wound models or ignore FNP that can't be denied (like force).  If I roll this I'll probably make a big show of it just to psych out my opponent.
2. Warlord and unit have Hatred - Useless on a loci of beguilement herald, which already gets full rerolls.  For a grace herald or grimoire toter, this is very nice.  Really nice for a keeper who can't take a locus or be joined by a unit.
3. All enemy units -1 to fear tests - This is what Be'Lakor comes with by default. Against many armies it will do nothing.  Space Marines have ATSKNF while Daemons have Daemonic Instability, and Tyranids in synapse are fearless so won't have to roll for fear tests to begin with.  Tau are almost all WS2 so will be hitting on 5s already so WS1 does nothing.  Necrons are mostly WS 2 as well, wraiths are fearless, and they are almost all Ld10 and unlikely to fail on a 9 anyways.  It will rock against Chaos Space Marines, Orks, and Dark Eldar are the ideal target to help limit return damage.
4. Units w/in 12" re-roll failed instability tests -Daemonic instability tests are brutal.  What I don't like is that wounds aren't necessarily a good measure for how successful a combat was. If I charge a squad of terminators with daemonettes and kill 3 of them and they kill 4 then that's a huge win for me.  I just killed 120pts of terminators and only lost 36pts in return, yet somehow I lost the combat.  Trying to calculate how much each unit is worth would be far too cumbersome, so I understand the mechanic, I still don't like it, but it's worse for Orks, so I can't complain too much. Re-rolling will help you pass or minimize casualties.  I wouldn't re-roll this.
5. Re-roll warp storm table -Rolls 2, 3, 4 really suck.  Rolls 10, 11, 12 are really good.  This will decrease your chances of the former and increase your chances of the latter.  To play safe, I wouldn't reroll a 5-8 either.  Khorne's wrath (#9) is only a small blast and I get to choose who it goes over.  I don't think I would reroll this in most cases since I do want to cause Str8 hits to my enemy and it's worth the risk.  This trait is insurance.  Don't count on it to help you out, just hope that it can help you avoid a disaster roll.
6. Daemons deep striking w/in 6" do not scatter - Essentially an icon.  It works regardless if they are the same alignment, but still it's just an icon.  It does work for summoned units so that's something, but for the most part it's not going to be very useful.

One of the better warlord tables from a codex. Roll #5 is the best roll for an all-comers list, since sometimes you really don't need additional killing power.


Conclusion
Personal is my go-to table lately especially against a space marine list or anyone you know isn't strictly running away from you.  When facing heavy shooting lists, strategic could be useful, but you need to consider the opponent, table, and mission carefully.  If you can't decide then the Daemon table is fine and the command table can be useful for the movement bonus options.