Super Friends -- Mephiston and Draigo

[L30n1d4s]

With the new and (greatly improved) Draigo in the GK Codex out now and the update to 7th edition which doesn't prohibit ICs from joining a single Character (like Mephiston), I see the possibility of taking the two greatest BAMFs of the entire Imperium and having them tag-team up on anything and everything!

If Draigo joins Mephiston, the entire unit uses the highest Toughness value, so they both tank wounds at T6. If there is a low AP hits coming, Mephiston can Look out Sir them off to Draigo, who uses his 3++ and EW to absorb them. If you are getting a high volume of Torrent of Fire shooting (like say from Tau Missileside Teams), then use Look Out Sir ot hand them off to Mephiston, who can afford to absorb more hits since he has 5W. Mephiston is PML(3) and Draigo has The Aegis, so that makes their combined unit very good at Deny the Witch rolls on witchfires/maledictions directed at them. Finally, the unit is Fearless, so it will never run (and it can score, like all units now).

Mephiston should generate his powers from Biomancy of course. Anything he rolls can be a great boon their unit:

1 - Iron Arm -- Makes Mephiston T9 (so the whole unit has a majority T9; take THAT, Wraithknights!!!! ), S9 (S10 with Hammerhand from Draigo), and his attacks become AP2 from Smash USR

2 - Warp Speed -- Mephiston gains +3A/I, turning him into even more of a blender than he already is

3 - Enfeeble -- Lowers the ID threshold for a Target unit and makes it even harder for that unit to wound the already T6 (or T9, with Iron Arm) Draigo/Mephiston team

4 - Haemmorage -- Alright power, combined with Draigo's Purge Soul, this two man unit can put out some decent shooting damage in the Psychic Phase... one of the least useful options Mephiston could roll

5 - Life Leach -- Great little power, not so much for its damage output (decent against armored troops), but because it can help Mephiston and/or Draigo regenerate lost wounds, makeing them even more difficult to kill..... talk about frustration for your opponent......... IT..........WILL......NOT.........DIE!!! Aaaarrggghhh!!!

6 - Endurance -- Ah, the ultimate power ; With this on, Mephiston gains EW (so now you have NINE T6 wounds with 2+ saves and EW) and both he and Draigo get FNP(4+), basically doubling their survivability against almost all attacks!

As you can see, you really can't go wrong with rolling on Biomancy three times with Mephiston (Oh, and he gets the Primaris, Smite, as an extra little bonus).

Now, what does good old Kaldor bring to the duo? As already mentioned, guaranteed Hammerhand, meaning that Draigo will be fighting at S9 AP2 and Mephiston will be hitting at S8 AP3 (both with force weapons for ID). Additionally, Draigo gives you anti-Daemon abilites (Banishment and PE: Daemons) in case they are fighting a Daemon Prince and the bonus of Psykout grenades when fighting Psykers.

Finally, Draigo has guaranteed Gates of Infinity... that means that this little 2 man unit can pop smoke any turn and reappear anywhere on the board (with DS scatter factored in, of course), giving them ridiculous mobility, though they can't charge that turn. Turn 1 they can "bounce" from your DZ to the enemy DZ in a single move and be completely in your opponent's face before he has the chance to react at all. Also, since they are just a two man unit, the chances of scattering and having a Mishap are small.... even if they do, 5/6 times they will either go into Ongoing Reserves (to come in next turn) or be placed by your opponent which, fortunately, you can use Gates of Infinity to overcome the next turn (and that is in the worst case scenario). In the best case scenario, you either don't scatter at all (lucky roll) or you use BA Scouts with Locator Beacons or Stormravens with Locator Beacons to ensure an accurate "bounce" through the warp.

If using Gates of Infinity is still too risky for your tastes (given that this unit costs about the same as two Land Raiders), then you can load them up in a friendly transport (Stormraven, Landraider, allied Chimera, etc), or have them footslog accross the board.

If you choose the latter, I highly recommend you invest in a cheap Fortification (like Wall of Martyrs Bunker) with an Escape Hatch... deploy Draigo?Mephsiton in the Bunker before the game begins, then turn 1 disembark them out of the Escape Hatch (which can be anywhere within 12" of its parent building)... this in essence gives you an 18" move turn 1, plus whatever D6" run Draigo and Mephiston can muster.... basically, you are in the enemy DZ and ready to charge him turn 2 without using a transport, Gates of Infinity, or any other crazy combination.

Aside from the very real close combat threat that these two monsters bring to the fight (11 S8/9 attacks on the charge with Hammerhand on, all at WS6/7 and I5/7), the psychological threat is probably the biggest advantage this combo has. Anyone who knows even a little about 40K understand how potent even one of these Heroes is and will likely use most or all of his combat power trying to bring them down. Fortunately, they can really take some damage.

Against BS4 Bolter fire, it would take 54 shots to even cause a single unsaved wound to them (108 Bolter shots if Endurance is cast on them)

Against BS4 Plasma fire (with Draigo tanking the hits), it would take 6-7 shots to cause a single unsaved wound (that goes up to 27 Plasma shots to cause an unsaved wound if Iron Arm is cast and the entire unit is using T9)

Against BS5 Railgun shooting (from Longstrike) it would take an average of 4 shots to generate a single unsaved wound

Against BS4 Centurion Grav Cannon/Amp shooting (with Draigo tanking) it would take 4-5 shots to cause a single unsaved wound (that goes up to about 9 shots for an unsaved wound if they have Endurance cast)

As you can see, these two can absorb tremendous punishment away from the rest of your army or, if your opponent ignores them, they can rip up his forces quite handily. Very expensive, definitely a Deathstar, but also very potent and potentially quite fun to play! ;)

[Jolemai]

Nice write up. I'd posted the cliff notes a few days ago but this is a much better evaluation. I like how you've added the "escape hatch trick" from the discussion the other day too.

 

To do this, would one need C:GK to be primary or allied detachment? I'm also wondering about the HQ and Troops tax to get access to Draigo; a Librarian and a Strike Squad perhaps?

[BloodTzar]

I think all it takes to hard counter is culexus assassin (even in cc he does stand a chance against Meph, not that much against draigo), now that is free to almost for everyone; basically that has became hard counter for almost very psy-army out there.

[knife&fork]

Combos like this or Meph + Corbulo gain a lot by their base stats and rules, so they aren't completely nullified by a culexus like a cent star. 

[Morollan]

Nice write up. I'd posted the cliff notes a few days ago but this is a much better evaluation. I like how you've added the "escape hatch trick" from the discussion the other day too.

 

To do this, would one need C:GK to be primary or allied detachment? I'm also wondering about the HQ and Troops tax to get access to Draigo; a Librarian and a Strike Squad perhaps?

 

GK would need to be Primary as Draigo is a Lord of War, which you can't take in an Allied Detachment. Either that or you could take the Nemesis Strike Force, which does allow a LoW.

 

With GK primary you need an HQ and 2 Troops. With the formation you need an HQ and 1 Troop.

[Jolemai]

Cheers. So this is doable until our Codex comes out and Mephiston gets the LoW treatment...

[Morollan]

Cheers. So this is doable until our Codex comes out and Mephiston gets the LoW treatment...

 

Even then, take the Nemesis Strike Force (LoW, 1 HQ, 1 Troop) and  BA CAD (LoW, 1 HQ, 2 Troops). Can probably still squeeze that lot into 1000 points.

[knife&fork]

With 7th you can pretty much run anything you like. Barring local restriction and having enough points.

[CaptainHelion]

You'd easily be able to run it as a GK CAD and a BA CAD. As k&f says, with 7th there's very little that you can't do.

[traxter]

WHy would they both get hammerhand? The FAQ says they only generate psychic powers from the 7ed 40k rulebook now. Would this not remove hammerhand from Draigo? Also why would mephiston receive hammerhand?

[Spaz431]

Santic daemonalogy that Draigo can take.

[Nova_chron]

Also he has it base I believe in the new codex

[traxter]

I still dont see where it says he has hammerhand and "Gauranteed" gates of inifinity. Both of those abilities need to be rolled for on the daemonology psychic tree per new faq? Seems he would only have gate or hammerhand if he rolled perfect before the start of game?? Please xplain if you could. I only have 5th edition GK codex, Is there a newer?

[Demus Ragnok]

I still dont see where it says he has hammerhand and "Gauranteed" gates of inifinity. Both of those abilities need to be rolled for on the daemonology psychic tree per new faq? Seems he would only have gate or hammerhand if he rolled perfect before the start of game?? Please xplain if you could. I only have 5th edition GK codex, Is there a newer?

Yes there is a new GK codex that is only a couple of months old. However I do not have a copy so Im not much help.