Drukhari Codex Reviews

[Lord Asvaldir]

For anyone who's impatient like me BoLS has a video up reviewing all the unit entries in the codex: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g-9cjx1A2QI There's also a video detailing all the stratagems, relics and traits but I can seem to find it. If you don't want to watch the whole video for the pts changes, I took detailed notes 

 

Archon 70
Heamonculus 70
Succubus 50

Kabalites 6
-blaster 17
-splinter cannon 10
Wyches 8
Wracks-9pts
-Ossefactor 7
-Liquidator 11

Mandrakes 16
Incubi 16

Reavers 19
-heat lance 12
Hellions 14
Scourges 12
-haywire blaster 8

Talos 75
Cronos 65
Ravager 80
-disintigrator cannons 15

Raiders 65
-splinter wracks 10
Venom 55
-grisly trophies 2

Razorwing 105
Voidraven 155

 

Overall massive pts drops for a ton of units, it's amazing. Add onto that our stratagems, relics and traits are generally awesome..man it is a good time to be a dark eldar player. Absolutely cannot wait to start getting games in and to get my hands on the codex next week. 

[WarriorFish]

Hmm. I didn't expect this much but overall looks like a lot of good news for DE in this codex. There's the flip side in that now I need to paint even more models but that's only a problem once ;) Thanks for taking the time to write this up Asvaldir :tu:

[Lord Asvaldir]

My pleasure man, I've been dying to start list building so I at least needed to get the pts values down. Yeah it is a ton of good news for DE, the pts changes alone are huge. Trueborn are gone which is a shame, but given warriors are almost half the price of what trueborn are in the index (6pts vs 11pts), I don't find it too big of a problem since I can pack in tons of warriors now. I've actually found I need to buy more stuff just to round off my 2k list, pretty crazy. Definitely will be very busy painting for the next few weeks, there's nothing like a codex hype to get you working. 

[Interrogator-Chaplain Ezra]

The points drop on Reavers is just amazing. Overall, just wonderful what they've done on that front.

[Lord Asvaldir]

Yeah reavers are going be a lot of fun to use that. Incredibly fast, massive charge threat radius with red grief, better firepower due to the blasters change and a fun stratagem for flying over units and causing mortal wounds. Only issue is I own 6 and need more!

[Vel'Cona]

Overall, the blanket points drops are HUGE for DE and open lists up significantly.  All of our Troops got cheaper which means detachment requirements will be easier to meet, and every option on that spectrum saw notable buffs/re-works to give them viability, particularly in the sub-faction benefits.  This is true for HQ choices as well, which IMO have always been a weak point for DE so it's good to see their utility increased.

 

Aside from the "core" components, we've obviously seen a massive shift for Reavers from "ridiculously overpriced flimsy nonsense" to possible codex-winner, though for my money Mandrakes and Scourges are the serious cash money, here.  Mandrakes got cheaper and even harder to kill at range (and now in melee too) and still boast reasonable ranged potential with built-in MWs, while Scourges and their weapon options got cheaper in general.  In fact, the only weapon so far that didn't get a huge points break is the Blaster, which didn't need it anyway thanks to the massive bump to D6 damage.

 

Big questions still on the horizon:

-Court of the Archon models costs/buffs/nerfs

-Beastmaster/Beasts costs/buffs/nerfs

-General information about Unique characters (Urien Rakarth's rules, Drazhar's points cost, Lelith in general).  Also, WHERE IS VECT??? :P

[WarriorFish]

I thought Mandrakes were pretty good before, so I really need to work on that second box :P There's the advantage to being less loved by GW - by being later in the rounds they know what they're doing more ;) I've got quite a few Fast Attack units so I'm feeling like I was a few codices ahead of my time :lol:

 

Maybe goes to show that the points often make the unit, though the proof is in the table top results of course dropping in points is very welcome. Does make me think that something nice for the Court may be too much to hope for on top, but you never know.

[Lord Asvaldir]

Completely agree about the pts changes, it's just so awesome and unexpected how almost everything in the index went down in pts. I've found between the pts reductions and the disappearance of trueborn I have so many more pts in my lists, enough to add not just a couple more upgrades here and there but whole new units. Super sweet. 

 

Vel'Cona I can answer a bunch of your questions as they came up in the BoLS video. 

 

You now have to take an archon to unlock court models, no more spamming single court models to say take up elite slots. Pts wise I think I heard the ssylth went down but besides that I think all the same, which isn't surprising given they got a reduction in chapter approved. 

 

Just like the court, to unlock beasts you need to take a beastmaster, I'm not completely sure how that interacts with FA slots though. Personally that's a big change for my lists since I often use to run 5 3 base razorwing flocks, so I'm not sure how that's going to work now. Clawed fiend and khymera are the same stat wise, maybe same pts, but the razorwings changed to 4 attacks ap-1 that hit on +4. Probably makes them better at actually doing a little damage, but I can't imagine razorwings being useful to damage anything tougher than t3. Also I strongly suspect the beastmaster went down in pts, in the index he's around 50 which is about the same price as the succubus now, and he's not nearly worth that much. 

 

Special characters all went way down in pts like the entire list. Lileath is the real winner, she went down to 80pts and no longer has combat drugs, but instead has a rule which lets her choos/roll for one of the drug bonuses every turn. For her cost she's a beast. Drazhar changed to losing the extra hits on 6s thing, but instead fights twice whenever he charges/is charged/herically intervenes, and I want to say he went down to 90pts? Not bad, and he's really solid leading a big suad of incubi because there's a stratagem for incubi that lets them basically get the tesla rule in melee, 6s are 2 hits. Combine that with Drazhar's +1 to hit for incubi and that stratagem is a lot more potent. I don't remember Rakarth's pts cost, but his aura now buffs the toughness, strength and I think leadership of coven units which won't matter a whole lot for wracks but seems solid for talos. 

[WarriorFish]

Good stuff! I like the sound of Lilith, I'd like my Court models to be useful too (though I don't have an Archon model yet...). It's all very exciting, and after I was planning for the DE codex to be later in the year and "less good" too so 2018 was supposed to be the year of Chaos. Maybe I should unplan things more often :lol:

[Lord Asvaldir]

Yeah honestly chaos is going to likely be sitting on the sidelines for awhile for me, just too pumped to work on painting/playing DE. 

 

I imagine the court models will still be handy, I like throwing them in to take up a couple extra spots on a raider/venom so I'll keep using them. Plus I put a whole bunch of effort in covering up some slave ogryn bodyguards to stand in as ssylths so I wouldn't want to stop using those. 

[Vel'Cona]

@ Lord Asvaldir, thanks for the rundown!  I've never used Court OR Beastmasters due to the insane costs to build up their respective units, and my own reluctance to attempt conversions (or take the time to do so :P).  I do like the streamlining efforts, however, especially in terms of listbuilding (which has gotten insane lately).  As for special characters, I'm glad to hear they're more useful than before, especially Drazhar as he's one of my personal favourites (and the Incubi by extension).  Here's hoping GW considers updating these characters for 2018!

[Lord Asvaldir]

The GW beast models are stupidly expensive, I use third party models. With so many options in the new dex though, I don't think they are a unit you'll need to look into. 

 

I'd prefer GW giving us more special characters than updating the current ones. Vect of course is the one everyone wants, but now that poisoned tongue has its own rules I'd love to see a Lady Malys model. Of course it won't happen, and I'm very happy with our codex anyway but one can dream. 

[Halandaar]

I think the Lady Malys dream died when they reappropriated her entire image for Yvraine.

[Withershadow]

Court is very easy to do with the new Naga Witch Elves. You have tons of options for Lhameans and Sslys in that range.  The new eyeless Deepkin will probably make great Mandrakes if you don't want to deal with Finecast. 

 

I would probably sculpt some glowy dreads on them, but the art for them in the 5th edition book has them bald.

 

It's a damn shame about beasts... so you cannot include any without the beastmaster, but if you include a beastmaster you must take a unit that doesn't take up slots? So if you wanted to fill out the fast attack section with beasts, you have to pay a beastmaster and extra unit tax. It also means you can only take beasts in Wych Cult detachments?  That overall seems pretty god-awful.

 

With the nerf on the beast master's aura to just re-rolling 1s, I see very little point to paying 10 points for a Khymerae over 8 points for a wych.  +2"M, +1T, 5++ vs. obsession, wych weapons, combat drugs, and troop status. 

 

The Incubi stratagem seems fun. It works on hits, not wounds? If so, after Power from Pain ramps up, and with Drazhar nearby, they explode for double hits on 4+.  Seems sweet.

[Lord Asvaldir]

Unfortunately it's been confirmed that the incubi stratagem only works on unmodified rolls of 6, so can't stack bonuses like that. Decent stratagem I suppose, but not amazing. 

 

Yeah I'm really not sure what I will do with my beasts anymore. In the index I use to love running 5 x3 razorwing flocks and using them to tie up enemy units in an assault, but if I used red grief reavers they can now literally move twice as fast as flocks and still assault, plus they have a range of other benefits, namely not being a throw away unit and actually being able to do some damage. Truth be told though that's not really a bad thing, reavers are awesome models while my razorwing flocks are just some 3rd party models that work fine but don't look all that special. I'll wait till I have the codex though to reach an opinion on beasts. 

[Withershadow]

If beastmasters are at least mercenaries, I still see their place in a Menagerie Coven list as bubble-wrap for my wracks who are bubble wrapping the grotesques who are bubble wrapping the talos/cronos.

[Lord Asvaldir]

I actually have heard beastmasters don't have the cult keyword anymore, just you just might be in luck.

[Calyptra]

I've heard that too. Which is weird; Beastmasters are explicitly supposed to be members of the Wych Cults.

 

Maybe it'll be in the 2 week FAQ.

[Vel'Cona]

Maybe it'll be in the 2 week FAQ.

 

Isn't it nice to know that such a thing is the expectation now, rather than the fervent hope? :)

[Lord Asvaldir]

It sure is. 

 

Yeah beastmasters are supposed to be part of the wych cults, but it doesn't bother me a whole lot that they might not have the keyword. It's only one model, and it's not like the beasts themselves will have the keyword anyway. 

[Vel'Cona]

It sure is. 

 

Yeah beastmasters are supposed to be part of the wych cults, but it doesn't bother me a whole lot that they might not have the keyword. It's only one model, and it's not like the beasts themselves will have the keyword anyway. 

 

Besides, they took away Lelith's Combat Drugs, so at least there's some nod to the background :)

[Slips]

 

 

It sure is.

 

Yeah beastmasters are supposed to be part of the wych cults, but it doesn't bother me a whole lot that they might not have the keyword. It's only one model, and it's not like the beasts themselves will have the keyword anyway.

Besides, they took away Lelith's Combat Drugs, so at least there's some nod to the background :)

But apparently Lelith can choose on a turn by turn basis which effect of a combat drug youd like her to recieve. So its mainly her just being an extra badass instead of “eyy shes a junkie now too” so i can live with it. Getting +1S/A or T at will is going to be pretty sweet.

[Vel'Cona]

But apparently Lelith can choose on a turn by turn basis which effect of a combat drug youd like her to recieve. So its mainly her just being an extra badass instead of “eyy shes a junkie now too” so i can live with it. Getting +1S/A or T at will is going to be pretty sweet.

 

It makes sense, given her background.  She's so ridiculously good she doesn't need drugs to not just compete, but surpass other Succubi.  And there's a lot of hints that she's able to adapt her fighting style to both best opponents at any level and provide the greatest shows for her audiences.  Because she's a performer, at heart

[Slips]

First impressions on stuff we haven't seen in previews and stuff yet:

 

Looking through Stratagems:

 

Haywire grenade is ok-ish I guess for 1 CP to turn a normal plasma grenade into d3 MWs if you hit.

 

Lightning Fast Reflexes for 2CP for a unit to gain -1 to hit (melee and ranged) is cool; probably only worthwhile on lynchpin units like Blaster Scourges or Red Grief Charge-You-Across-The-Table Reavers. Some other case uses for it too which can come in handy.

 

Fire and Fade, for 1 CP, can give your Reavers/Scourges/Hellions hilarious reach to grab far-flung objectives since it allows a free 7" move after shooting with the proviso that you do not charge that turn (Move 14-18 depending on unit, advance, shoot, fire and fade, move 7").

 

Cruel Deception is a bit expensive but can be clutch in allowing you to Fallback and Shoot/charge in the same turn without needing the Fly Keyword.

 

1 CP for Hunt From The Shadows can be useful for units camping objectives or its an important objective. Pretty good on Scourges if you drop them in cover with Dark Lances (for example) or in cover near enemies with Blasters/Shredders/Haywire; their 4+ armour then becomes a 2+ making them that much harder to kill, which is nice.

 

Soul-Trap has HILARIOUS implications if you can proc it enough times in a battle.

 

Torment Grenade can make taking Phantasm Grenade Launchers somewhat worthwhile through rolling 3d6 and having to beat their LD means you'd have to stack other LD modifying shenanigans in the army to make it more of a guaranteed thing which might not be worth the effort. That said, if you then kill a few more models in the affected unit, their LD might just be low enough to make more models just vanish into the ether.

 

Agents of Vect, as has been discussed, is probably worth bringing a Black Heart detachment on its own.

 

Insidious Misdirection can be pretty hilarious if the units are alive late enough into the game and you had previously deployed them on/near objectives that you can just teleport them back to them. (Poisoned Tongue only)

 

Concealed Booby Traps can be hilarious as an end game finisher on a weakened Unit but otherwise, eh. (Cursed Blade only)

 

+++

 

Artefacts:

 

Djinn blade can be cool especially if you're going for some juicy Soul-Trap shenaniganry though the risk of killing off your own Archon is there...

 

The Animus Vitae has some potential but only if successfully used on T3 at the latest otherwise you're already getting all the benefits anyways. In a Black Heart Detachment this could give you a +3 to the PfP table on T1 if you successfully use it.

 

Tritych Whip, if taken as your only Artefact and you're playing a mono Wych Cult can be worthwhile since it essentially gives you 3 free attacks on that succubus.

 

Writ of the Living Muse: Turn your Archon into a Captain and Lieutenant equivalent all in one!

 

Armour Of Misery being Kabal of the Obsidian Rose only now is blegh. But it being a 3+ save instead of 4+ is nice but further restricted by being Archon Only. That said, the additional -1 to hits is nice and can stack with the Lightning Fast Reflexes strat can make him annoying to take down.

 

Obsidian Veil is a nice failure protection fall back for your archon if you roll 1s a lot. Flayed Skull only is blegh.

 

Phial Bouquet: Turn your Cult of Strife Succubus into a lesser Lelith! The fact that it can stack though is pretty neat since with Hyperstimm Backlash you could potentially end up with a, depending on how the math of this is calculated, S8 Archite Glaive Succubus (S3 + 1 Drugs + 1 doubled drug effect + 1 Relic = S6 +2 for Glaive; or S3 + 4 {[Drugs + Relic]x2} = S7 +2 for Glaive)

 

The Blood Glaive: A better Archite Glaive in every way; Might as well take it for your Red Grief Succubi if you're not using any other artefacts.

 

The Heammy Artefacts I found ehh apart from the Vexator Mask which can be pretty clutch vs armies with one mega combat unit and/or a lynchpin gunline unit.

 

+++

 

WL Traits (non Kabal/Cult/Coven):

 

Soul Thirst on a Djinn Blade Archon performing Soul-Trap Shenanigans has a decent amount of potential. (heal 1 wound every time you slay a character)

 

Ancient Evil has potential if your going for LD Stacking Shenanigans, I guess.

 

Stimm Addict, alongside the above mentioned Phial Bouquet shenaniganry, can lead to a VERY buff Succubus. (roll 2D6 on drugs table, repeat results are cumulative; otherwise, choose 2 different drugs)

 

No comment on Haemmy WL Traits since I ain't much of a covens guy :p

 

+

 

Deathly Perfectionist: your Archons Blast Pistols now do D6+1 Damage? neat. (All the Archons weapons Damage is increased by 1)

 

Blood Dancer: Eh; better on Lelith who has a boatload of attacks already.

 

Hyper-Swift Reflexes: your Succubus has a 3++, cool! (+1 invuln)

 

Treacherous Deceiver: depends on how good you are on rolling 6s, I guess. (1 MW on every natural 6 rolled for saves)

 

Diabolical Soothsayer is pretty awesome if you have a Heammy in the triple patrol detachment. Though if you use alliance of Agony, it might just end up being 2 Free WL Traits if you didnt roll high enough for 2-3 CPs which isn't all that bad.

 

Fear Incarnate; Barring LD Shenanigans, a 2D6 Average of 7 means that this is probably not going to do you all that much and with its 3" range, it has rather limited application.

 

Scarlet Epicurean: good against armies that have a lot of variable damage weapons. Not so much against "Death by a thousand cuts" Armies. (reduce damage taken by 1 to a min of 1)

[Halandaar]

I've heard that too. Which is weird; Beastmasters are explicitly supposed to be members of the Wych Cults.

 

Maybe it'll be in the 2 week FAQ.

 

I have the book in hand, Beast masters still do have the Wych Cult keyword.