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Trying to justify AdMech allied with Drukhari...


Frostglaive

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So I recently started working on a 40k campaign for myself and a few friends to play. A mix between Kill Team (pre-Commander, will be changing that soon though) and 8th ed. 40k. The original plan was to have myself run as the NPC/main enemy with my traitorous AdMech forces against a team of Imperials tasked out by an Inquisitor (my friends). The inquisitor's task force was to go to a forge world that fell to civil war between the Mechanicus puritans and the corrupted Dark Mechanicum. Their goal was to either purge the threat and save the planet, or purge the planet so no one can have it.

 

Kind of a typical 40k story. Antagonist falls to Chaos, wants to corrupt the planet into a daemon world, summon some big nasty daemons, destroy mankind, yada yada etc. blah blah blah....

 

I don't wanna do that anymore. I wanna use Drukhari instead.

 

I started collecting them not too long ago. Wanted to build another army. And I fell in love with them. Their models, their background and story, the sheer nefariousness to them. Personally, I think they are a better villain than Chaos... at least at this scale. I don't want to focus on some big nasty end game that's a major threat to the entirety of Mankind. Just this planet. And I think Drukhari fit perfectly for that smaller-scale threat.

 

But I still wanna use my AdMech as well. So now I gotta justify the two of them working together.

 

My original idea is the Archmagos of the planet is a Xenarite and allies himself with a Haemonculus Coven and a Kabal. Coven gets new test subjects for evil experiments, Kabal gets slaves and a staging ground for their raids, Admech gets shiny new xenos tech and coven-enhanced warriors for their own nefarious schemes and whatnot.

 

My problem is, this still feels very generic. But I really really really wanna use my Drukhari as a villain instead of Chaos. What do you guys think? Good enough reason to justify the two fighting together? Have ideas of your own? Or just throw this out now, go in the corner, cry a bit, and think about the horrible heresies that I've tried to commit here today?

They need not be allied, necessarily. What if something the Admech does catches the attention of the Drukhari who supplant them as the antagonist? Maybe they were using xenotech to try to create stable webway gates, one opens and hundreds of Drukhari are waiting, and pour out looking for fresh slaves? So parts of the planet are controlled by each, and both problems need to be overcome by the protagonists to reclaim the planet.

Unfortunately I don't have any specific suggestions, but I feel like one interesting thing to consider when it comes to Dark Eldar "alliances" is how you can work in ideas that play up their nature as the Fair Folk of the setting and their tendency towards making strange or too-good-to-be true bargains that ultimately serve to ruin their partners in cruel and unusual ways.

How about the Dark Eldar actually want the planet destroyed? The planet is the door to a stable web way route to an important dark Eldar location, maybe even a vital spot in Cormoragh (spelling might be off there). The Mechanicum who originally worked on this planet were conducting experiments to open the portal/use it in some way.

 

The Dark Eldar don’t have the strength for an all out planetary assault as the Forgeworld is very heavily defended so instead, they infiltrate some of the tech priesthood on the planet and use an elaborate scheme to set in motion a civil war, giving the rebels Xenos technology and even daemonic knowledge to help them/motivate them.

 

For the Dark Eldar it is win/win as the renegade faction will either attack and destroy the Webway experiment or (if they can prolong the war enough) they know the inquisition will be called in (maybe the Dark Eldar even alert the inquisition themselves somehow) and destroy the planet of it is tainted with chaos.

 

Your inquisiton teams goal is to get to the bottom of this plot somehow.

I wish dark eldar were straight "chaos eldar" because they would open up a lot of play for chaos.

 

I digress.

 

The admech guy comes to admire the haemonculous' works and wishes to study with him, and brings his guys with him/her to create a "cult of the true omnisaihia(sp)"

I wish dark eldar were straight "chaos eldar" because they would open up a lot of play for chaos.

 

I digress.

 

The admech guy comes to admire the haemonculous' works and wishes to study with him, and brings his guys with him/her to create a "cult of the true omnisaihia(sp)"

There are a few Eldar that worship Chaos

Yeah but not rules wise, they can't be allies in match play with chaos marines or daemons.

 

You also can't ally Blood Axes and Imperial Guard, but both of these should be more a Narrative Play thing anyway. Dark Eldar aren't Chaos Eldar, that's what the Crone World Eldar are for

My take would that the Heretek ad-mechs have been exploring the more efficient ant-grav vehicles that the Drukhari has. The boss Drukhari wants slaves for that, ofc not telling the Ad-mech that, the Ad-mech force is to mechanical for being good slaves, so he tricks the Ad-mechs boss that the opposing force is are meddling with their affairs. That would making it ok to  fight anything, humans/eldar/orks etc. Imperial forces has been corrupted according to the trickery of the Drukhari.

How he has tricked the Ad-mech? It can be with sweet words fueling the hubris that many Heretks have, a simple computer virus infecting the ad-mechs, or the Drukhari has shown other things they might have, it is not like Haemonculi are insane inventors that have strange and wonderous things an Ad-mech up and coming would like to put their hands/claws/tentacles on.

Just an idea.

Haven’t some Dark Eldar always been mercenaries? At least the old FFG RPGs had the option of using them as such.

Yeah, Chaos and Anti-Imperial forces use them a lot as surprise enemies

 

One time an Imperial Governor wanted revenge on Craftworld Alatoic and used the Dark Eldar to frame them!

Very easy: the drukhari offer a snippet of the truth of the mechanicum created section of the webway behind the golden throne, potentially a way to reopen the Aresian path connecting Mars and Terra.

 

This is a very secret project so even Imperial forces must be eliminated if they're close to discover the truth.

My feeling is that I have trouble imagining Dark Eldar allying with anyone. Even Chaos Warbands etc. most of the way the background is written - if your generic, force-for-good Eldar has trouble fighting alongside allies, then how are we expected to imagine their tainted counterparts doing so?

 

Some Admech being maneuvered into carrying out actions that might benefit them? Perhaps. 

Some Dark Eldar taking advantage of a conflict between Admech and someone else (perhaps to gather slaves etc?) Perhaps.

Admech actually fighting alongside them for a common objective? Nope. 

 

It's a fantasy universe yes, but it stretches the sense of disbelief. 

Think the chap above mentioning about them stealing toasters is probably the closest you can get. 

  • 2 weeks later...

The Admech are all about logic and calculations. If it was logically sound to have a temporary alliance and the calculations favored them, the risk vs reward was worth it, then they would easily team up until it came time to backstab them.

 

Maybe they found an STC underneath a fortress of secessionists and the DA have been preying on the planet. Rather than expend resources fighting both they can make a deal.

Personally, I could definitely see a corrupt, traitorous AdMech deigning to collaborate with Dark Eldar for alien technology--trade a few ((hundred) thousand) inferior fleshlings for, say, an STC? Seems like a good deal for traitorous AdMech to me.

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