40k New Archon, Lady Malys & Codex: Drukhari

[Lord Marshal]

Girls on tour.

 

 

Nice throwback to the 2011 metal Archon there.

 

 

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The first place you’ll catch this killer kingpin is the Realspace Raiders Battleforce, a terrifying collection of murderous sadists. Along with the new Archon you’ll get 10 Wyches, 10 Kabalite Warriors, five Hellions, five Scourges, five Incubi, and a shockingly fast Venom transport – the perfect mix of troops to start a new Drukhari army.

 

 

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Lastly, a new Combat Patrol brings the hideous flesh constructs of the Haemonculi to the fore, spreading pain and despair with a Talos, a Cronos, 10 Wracks, and a pitiless Haemonculus to lead them. Known as the Coven of Agonies, they’re a close combat force to be reckoned with.

 

Edited yesterday at 02:02 PM by Lord Marshal

[StrangerOrders]

This will sound weird but my only complaint is that the way they painted Malys seems... idk, like she is too healthy looking...

 

Great sculpts though! GW seems to be making good progress on face sculpts (provided they are just Eldar for some reason). Archon seems to have at least 3 weapon types, 2 off hand options and three heads.

Edited yesterday at 02:10 PM by StrangerOrders

[SvenIronhand]

She looks like Shadowheart from BG3.

[CL_Mission]

The new models look fantastic and it's very pleasing to finally see the Malys model assembled. The bits available to the Archon look good and I'll definitely build them with the flaming pyramid, lovely throwback bit.

Didn't expect a launch box and it's actually pretty tempting though I'm certain I'll pick it up it could easily happen.

Still pretty surprised Urien Rakarth didn't get an update over thee new Archon. I'm very happy about the new model but if you had told me that the Drukhari codex was only coming with one or two models this edition I would have put money down on one of those models being Urien. I guess as it is he'll bring going along side courts, beast masters and grotesques. It's going to be a thin codex for sure but I'll remain hopeful those things will return next time round.

The new combat patrol would be tempting if I was just starting out by at the moment the only models I particularly after from it are the pain engines though I couldn't go wrong with a few wracks.

New Archon really is a massive improvement over the last. Glad to have one of the old characters back too, hopefully if we do get a bigger release in 11th more of them will re-appear 

[Casual Heresy]

Not gonna lie, Malys is looking like a stunning model. If the rest of the future Drukhari refresh is on the same level I'd be highly tempted to betray the Imperium.

[ZeroWolf]

Looking at the text, it seems like this may be it (at least with the codex)? Does this mean a release fairly soon (barring production issues that apparently marred the knights release)

[Karhedron]

I am trying to remember how it goes but I would not be surprised if this is out by the end of September or the first weekend of October at the latest. 

[Valkyrion]

That hair must be a right nightmare to sort out every time she goes to war. 

[StrangerOrders]

Just now, Valkyrion said:

That hair must be a right nightmare to sort out every time she goes to war. 

Its balanced by her stylists' lives literally hanging on how fast/well they do it I'm sure.

[BadgersinHills]

I love these. I'm really happy that they included the 6th edition helmet and hand option, I am definitely getting one to build like that even if I don't start an army (and it's a tempting prospect!).

[Dr. Clock]

Well, with any luck the lack of new units will mean that they make all the existing/remaining units actually good. 

 

I love Drukhari, but they've been horrifically constrained this edition by lack of internal balance. Some things are very good, but alot of the Index is filler or worse, and even the good things are only pretty narrowly good.

 

If they nuke Beastmasters from the Codex without replacing them, I'll not be pleased. Also... Grotesques? I suppose it's possible that the rumoured next Drukhari Kill Team will be at least announced in time to be included in the 40k 'Dex, but I'm not holding my breath. Losing any units from the roster will feel like a downgrade for sure. You can take Pre-Primaris units away from Marines at this point pretty safely at this point, but Drukhari haven't had anything actually added to their roster since the 5th reset, and we kinda need all that stuff!

 

I do hope Harlequins show up in the Codex as well... If a bunch of Drukh sheets can show up in Eldar, then surely Harlies at least should be camping in the Dark City? Again, I'm not expecting it, but it'd be a nice gesture from ol' James.

 

Cheers,

 

The Good Doctor.

[Kyari]

Its nice Malys wasn't cancelled. With her sprue leak way back having a 2023 date on it I was worried she'd just been shelved.

 

The new Archon kt looks great too, but its a shame if this is all drukhari is getting. Those kits are showing their age a bit compared to the newer aeldari and corsair releases.

[DarkMark]

Malys' face looks like it belongs in the new fantasy Cathey range, tbh. 

 

The Archon is decent though pay-walled. I don't like that. 

 

A very, very lite release. 

[Nova-V]

So no new units and looking at the webstore all the resin units have been excised.  Sad to see Beastmasters and Cultbl of the Archon go as they are fun units but they were never going to survive if there wasn't a range refresh.  Just got to hope they get some love in 11th!  At least the speculation is over and we know what is happening.

[Doobles57]

New models look great. The battleforce and combat patrol have no overlap as well so a good combo buy.

 

I've always been a fan of the Dark Eldar, but can't see myself planning to start an army of them right now. Tempted to pick up the current Archon model though as it's a nice sculpt and I wonder if it'll disappear once this new one is out there. Might be a nice palette cleanser inbetween other projects.

[DemonGSides]

18 minutes ago, DarkMark said:

Malys' face looks like it belongs in the new fantasy Cathey range, tbh. 

 

The Archon is decent though pay-walled. I don't like that. 

 

A very, very lite release. 

 

Not sure what the first sentence is supposed to mean, but all battle force characters have come out within a month or two. 

 

Only pay walled if you're lacking patience.

[Bouargh]

A long waited release which will be based on minimal service with only a pair of new models. I am much more interrested by the new Archon than by the Special Character though.  But it is a matter of taste I guess.

I understand that every other model will be repackaged and unchanged globally. It is yet odd gettting an Haemoncully based Combat Patrol...

 

What is even more disturbing is how the scourges have been built on the pic: 2 heavy weapons only... I do hope it is not a (bad) sign of the times presuming of a (too strict) limitation in the unit up-tooling...  

Same for the Kabalite that are shown with only one Heavy and One special weapon while you can build them with twice that amount under the current Index. For these I however hope/want to believe into a status quo, as the Kabalite Ynnari entry allows the full tilt...

[lhg033]

I've never really cared much for Dark Eldar but nice to see the new stuff.

Does this mean GW will actually have managed to get all codexs updated within the current 40k edition....?

[sarabando]

fantastic. I may even get that battle force too. 

[CL_Mission]

8 minutes ago, Bouargh said:

What is even more disturbing is how the scourges have been built on the pic: 2 heavy weapons only... I do hope it is not a (bad) sign of the times presuming of a (too strict) limitation in the unit up-tooling...  

Same for the Kabalite that are shown with only one Heavy and One special weapon while you can build them with twice that amount under the current Index. For these I however hope/want to believe into a status quo, as the Kabalite Ynnari entry allows the full tilt...

These are the exact same models with the exact same load outs that have been on the webstore as long as I can remember, the Kabalite squad is even in the 5th edition codex. These are just the studio models they and use for pictures.

[ThePenitentOne]

Okay- so Malys looks AMAZING (love the armour plated, bladed tail!).

 

The Archon is also awesome, and the post specifically mentions options! I hope they give us back Wych weapons, possibly even making them better than before, as the Shardnet and Impaler were always better than the others. That combat patrol... I want it so much! I only have five Wracks, so I really want more. I only have one Talos, and I really wanted two with a Cronos buddy... So again, perfect! The launch box would be cool, but I don't need the stuff in it (though I wouldn't mind it either- there's nothing there I CAN'T use, but the only thing I NEED is the new Archon).

 

So this is good...

 

But allow me to express nervousness: every datacard in the game has one ability on it, and characters have two. Psykers are already stupid this edition, because usually their psychic power replaces one or both of these abilities that everyone gets for free. And when I hear that power from pain abilities are going to be on datacards, I just know those abilities will replace normal abilities everyone gets for free. 

 

There are ways it can be done- so maybe existing abilities stay as-is BUT they can be beefed up using PfP. The fear there is that they dumb down the unempowered version of the ability in order to make it so that the empowered version doesn't have to go as far to differentiate itself... But even if so, having a weak ability that works without PfP is better than NO ability that works without PfP.

 

And of course, I have the axiety that they'll dumb down the best set of Crusade rules ever published... But they did okay with some of the other factions who had great Crusade content, so we might be okay here. My Drukhari Call to Arms challenge is on track- five Mandrakes, three members of the Court and the Haemonculus are done; tonight I put finishing touches on the Sslyth, and I might be able to bang out 2-3 Wracks on top of that- they're really close. And that gives me a complete Space Lane Raider boarding patrol.

 

And that means any new stuff already has a painted army to slide into. The Ascendant Lord Archon Sykil Draeven is watching with great curiousity and anticipation.

Edited yesterday at 03:53 PM by ThePenitentOne

[Emperor Ming]

Princess Kitanta went thru the wrong portal

 

[Redcomet]

Neat stuff. I am in

[Brother Anderson]

Both models are fantastic, I don't collect dark eldar but I might have to pick one or both of these up just to paint them.

[Teetengee]

29 minutes ago, ThePenitentOne said:

But allow me to express nervousness: every datacard in the game has one ability on it, and characters have two. Psykers are already stupid this edition, because usually their psychic power replaces one or both of these abilities that everyone gets for free. And when I hear that power from pain abilities are going to be on datacards, I just know those abilities will replace normal abilities everyone gets for free. 

 

There are ways it can be done- so maybe existing abilities stay as-is BUT they can be beefed up using PfP. The fear there is that they dumb down the unempowered version of the ability in order to make it so that the empowered version doesn't have to go as far to differentiate itself... But even if so, having a weak ability that works without PfP is better than NO ability that works without PfP.

"Best" case scenario, PFP is replaced by tailored individual benefits that make sense for each unit specifically when near death and suffering. (best being that it would be very characterful, but I can imagine that many things to track could be hell for tourney style players)