On to the real Fast Attack then!
Flesh Hounds of Khorne
S4 (5 on the charge), Beasts, T4 and 2W and they have Scout. 16 points per model. These seem to be ideal for placing on the board really. They're dangerous enough to actually threaten the enemy, and they're cheap enough that you can take quite a few of them and with to wounds and T4 they'll survive some incoming fire as well while they move up the board. Very straight forward unit. Take units of 10-15 and protect the flanks, support charges, eat Overwatch. Seems very solid to me, and always useful!
Screamers of Tzeentch
Everyones favourite unit to hate… now for a completely different reason! So, they changed Lamprey's Bite to replace ALL of it's normal attacks for ONE S5 AP2 Armourbane one per model. Meaning you'll be pretty good against AV12 or less. Above 12 it starts to get a bit iffy. Now, having AV12 or higher in Rear Armour isn't very common though… but anyway.
They also are jetbikes with a Slashing attack for turbo-boosting over enemies. So, being really fast, and being able to do some damage while moving… but lacking much punch in assault I see them as a unit with which to quickly locate weak enemies and finnish them off. Or if you're playing stuff like Artillery or Devastators they could slash their way across his army, and then charge. WS3, is a tough one though - because do you chose AP2 and get 4,5 S5 hits for a full unit of 9, or do you chose 18 hits at AP- with S4 for the same unit? Neither choice is that great really… but if you chose your targets wisely at least you'll be able to stop a shooty unit to shoot for a couple of turns. Oh, and for the record - I'd probably go with normal attacks on the charge turn, and then switch to AP2 ones for further turns.
So a tricky unit to use, as they'll get really crippled with a bad match up.
Plague Drones of Nurgle
So, now Nurgle have their own version of Bloodcrushers. The big difference being that Bloodcrushers hit a lot harder, while Plague Drones are T5 and Shrouded as well as slightly faster (Bloodcrushers run 1D6", Plague Drones jump 2D6 in the Assault phase). Shrouded is a bit iffy on this unit, because they're both Cavalry and Jet Packs… and both of those think that area terrain is scary…
In either case, they're the fastest, toughest Icon bearer that you'll find in this book. You'll be pretty sure to have your Icon where you need it if you put it on these guys. Imagine this unit running (or well, jumping) up the board… and then in turn 2 a Great Unclean One and some fully buffed units of Plaguebearers with Heralds materialise right in front of the enemy lines with no scatter…
So anyway, their upgrades are mostly focused on making them hit a bit harder since they obviously all ready have survivability. You can give them a 12" poisoned range attack, as well as chose between Poison (3+) or one Instant Death per model in combat. So you need to chose your prime target here obviously, as you can't take both. It feels like Poison (3+) and the shooting attack is usable in more situations and go better together… but that's also an additional +10 points per model. Which is a lot. But if you have the points… otherwise I'd stick with one of the three options only.
So, if you don't buff the whole unit you can take Rewards for the Champion instead… and the unit obviously all ready have good defence - so might as well go for some offence here. I think one roll on Lesser Rewards is my option of choice here. Poisoned AP2 attacks sounds very tempting…
Chaos Furies
Well… here's the oddball unit of this codex for sure. Their statline looks pretty fine… until you reach their Ld of 2. Yes, you read that right. 2. This combined with Daemonic Instability means that you never, ever want to fight a unit that will hit you back. Because even if you lose combat by only 1 you'll have to make a Ld test, which on average will be a roll of 7… which means you'll lose an additional 5 models. Ouch. If they were super-cheap that might not be so bad… but they're 6 points each. Which is simply too much to just give away like that. Or maybe, if you could take a HUGE unit it'd be okay… but you're capped at 20. Would you really like a unit that when it loses combat will on average lose a quarter of it's numbers? No, didn't think so…
You can however upgrade them to follow a specific God, but that makes them more expensive (7-8 points per model). I can't think of a single reason to make them Daemons of Tzeentch or Nurgle. Khorne however gives them Furious Charge and thus S5. Now they could go Transport-hunting and have decent chances against back armour 10. Slaanesh grants Rending - and as such a similar role there as well - and maybe, just maybe you could throw them at a unit of Terminators and hope to thin them out a bit before your real unit is ready to deal with them.
So… there could be use for them. If there were no other choices in the Fast Attack slot… but now we have several great choices so it's a bit hard to motivate why to take them…
Seekers of Slaanesh
For three points more than a Daemonette you get a Daemonette that moves twice as fast with one more attack. So basically you can do everything you can do with Daemonettes (except grab objectives) with this unit, just you'll be mobile. More mobile is a good quality for a unit carrying a Icon… This Icon could also be the Rapturous standard, if you should want to support another unit in assault once per game. Not a bad idea I reckon, as you can't score with them anyway (unless it's The Scouring).
The other thing they can do that Daemonettes can't is Outflank with Acute Senses. That is very much situational however. But if you join a Herald with them, or roll a Reward for the Champion like the Hellfire Gaze or Corrosive Breath you might want to get that side-armour shot I suppose.
Hellflayer of Slaanesh
No options for this one. I don't see the point of it either, because it's the same thing as a normal Seeker Chariot except it's 20 points more expensive, can't be a squadron but have a special rule granting the Alluress some extra attacks if the Hammer of Wrath kills something. If you go with Slaanesh Chariots, I'd rather have a Cavalcade so skip this one...
Flesh Hounds of Khorne
S4 (5 on the charge), Beasts, T4 and 2W and they have Scout. 16 points per model. These seem to be ideal for placing on the board really. They're dangerous enough to actually threaten the enemy, and they're cheap enough that you can take quite a few of them and with to wounds and T4 they'll survive some incoming fire as well while they move up the board. Very straight forward unit. Take units of 10-15 and protect the flanks, support charges, eat Overwatch. Seems very solid to me, and always useful!
Screamers of Tzeentch
Everyones favourite unit to hate… now for a completely different reason! So, they changed Lamprey's Bite to replace ALL of it's normal attacks for ONE S5 AP2 Armourbane one per model. Meaning you'll be pretty good against AV12 or less. Above 12 it starts to get a bit iffy. Now, having AV12 or higher in Rear Armour isn't very common though… but anyway.
They also are jetbikes with a Slashing attack for turbo-boosting over enemies. So, being really fast, and being able to do some damage while moving… but lacking much punch in assault I see them as a unit with which to quickly locate weak enemies and finnish them off. Or if you're playing stuff like Artillery or Devastators they could slash their way across his army, and then charge. WS3, is a tough one though - because do you chose AP2 and get 4,5 S5 hits for a full unit of 9, or do you chose 18 hits at AP- with S4 for the same unit? Neither choice is that great really… but if you chose your targets wisely at least you'll be able to stop a shooty unit to shoot for a couple of turns. Oh, and for the record - I'd probably go with normal attacks on the charge turn, and then switch to AP2 ones for further turns.
So a tricky unit to use, as they'll get really crippled with a bad match up.
Plague Drones of Nurgle
So, now Nurgle have their own version of Bloodcrushers. The big difference being that Bloodcrushers hit a lot harder, while Plague Drones are T5 and Shrouded as well as slightly faster (Bloodcrushers run 1D6", Plague Drones jump 2D6 in the Assault phase). Shrouded is a bit iffy on this unit, because they're both Cavalry and Jet Packs… and both of those think that area terrain is scary…
In either case, they're the fastest, toughest Icon bearer that you'll find in this book. You'll be pretty sure to have your Icon where you need it if you put it on these guys. Imagine this unit running (or well, jumping) up the board… and then in turn 2 a Great Unclean One and some fully buffed units of Plaguebearers with Heralds materialise right in front of the enemy lines with no scatter…
So anyway, their upgrades are mostly focused on making them hit a bit harder since they obviously all ready have survivability. You can give them a 12" poisoned range attack, as well as chose between Poison (3+) or one Instant Death per model in combat. So you need to chose your prime target here obviously, as you can't take both. It feels like Poison (3+) and the shooting attack is usable in more situations and go better together… but that's also an additional +10 points per model. Which is a lot. But if you have the points… otherwise I'd stick with one of the three options only.
So, if you don't buff the whole unit you can take Rewards for the Champion instead… and the unit obviously all ready have good defence - so might as well go for some offence here. I think one roll on Lesser Rewards is my option of choice here. Poisoned AP2 attacks sounds very tempting…
Chaos Furies
Well… here's the oddball unit of this codex for sure. Their statline looks pretty fine… until you reach their Ld of 2. Yes, you read that right. 2. This combined with Daemonic Instability means that you never, ever want to fight a unit that will hit you back. Because even if you lose combat by only 1 you'll have to make a Ld test, which on average will be a roll of 7… which means you'll lose an additional 5 models. Ouch. If they were super-cheap that might not be so bad… but they're 6 points each. Which is simply too much to just give away like that. Or maybe, if you could take a HUGE unit it'd be okay… but you're capped at 20. Would you really like a unit that when it loses combat will on average lose a quarter of it's numbers? No, didn't think so…
You can however upgrade them to follow a specific God, but that makes them more expensive (7-8 points per model). I can't think of a single reason to make them Daemons of Tzeentch or Nurgle. Khorne however gives them Furious Charge and thus S5. Now they could go Transport-hunting and have decent chances against back armour 10. Slaanesh grants Rending - and as such a similar role there as well - and maybe, just maybe you could throw them at a unit of Terminators and hope to thin them out a bit before your real unit is ready to deal with them.
So… there could be use for them. If there were no other choices in the Fast Attack slot… but now we have several great choices so it's a bit hard to motivate why to take them…
Seekers of Slaanesh
For three points more than a Daemonette you get a Daemonette that moves twice as fast with one more attack. So basically you can do everything you can do with Daemonettes (except grab objectives) with this unit, just you'll be mobile. More mobile is a good quality for a unit carrying a Icon… This Icon could also be the Rapturous standard, if you should want to support another unit in assault once per game. Not a bad idea I reckon, as you can't score with them anyway (unless it's The Scouring).
The other thing they can do that Daemonettes can't is Outflank with Acute Senses. That is very much situational however. But if you join a Herald with them, or roll a Reward for the Champion like the Hellfire Gaze or Corrosive Breath you might want to get that side-armour shot I suppose.
Hellflayer of Slaanesh
No options for this one. I don't see the point of it either, because it's the same thing as a normal Seeker Chariot except it's 20 points more expensive, can't be a squadron but have a special rule granting the Alluress some extra attacks if the Hammer of Wrath kills something. If you go with Slaanesh Chariots, I'd rather have a Cavalcade so skip this one...
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