Duku Sliscus in 8th edition

I was thinking about tweaks and fun additions to our codex and really thought that we are missing a special character for Kabals. As such, the Duke has always struck me as an intruiging character that expands the fluff of the Dark Eldar to be more than just "drug-depraved punks with lots of edgy high-tech".

He is a renegade and as such really wouldn't join any of the 4 Kabals, which is why I also established his Sky Serpent's as a mini-faction.

Thematically his Corsairs are very close to Flayed Skull, while his personality and traits are better reflected by the Poisoned Tongue. As such, I thought it would be fun to see him as an exotic mix of both. After all, Corsairs were always about picking the best assets from various eldar factions.


Duke Sliscus - The Serpent (95 pts)
M WS BS S T W A Ld Sv
8" 2+ 2+ 3 3 5 5 10 4+

Weapons: Blast Pistol, The Serpent's Bite (poison 2+ weapon. All hits of 5+ are considered mortal wounds.
Special Rules: Combat Drugs, Shadow Field
 - Contraband: At the beginning of the game, select one <SKY-SERPENTS> unit. This unit gains +1 to wound on their poison weapons until the end of the game.
 - Warlord Trait: Towering Arrogance

 - The Serpent: If your army is battle-forged, all <SKY-SERPENTS> units in a Drukhari detachment gain the "Low Orbit Raid" Obsession.
 - Low Orbit Raid (Obsession): All units with <FLY> gain +3" movement. All poison weapons re-roll 1s to wound. All melee weapons re-roll 1s to hit.
 - Corsair Tactics: If Duke Sliscus is your Warlord you can access the Artefacts of Cruelties and Stratagems of the Kabal of the Poisoned Tongue as well as those of the Kabal of the Flayed Skull.

Admittedly, the Sky Serpents could be fleshed out much more as their own faction that stands strong besides the 4 main ones in our codex. But since I only wanted another Special Character, I thought this would make him a more exotic and unique choice within our codex.

Any thoughts?

I think it would be very cool to open up different Kabal Obsessions via Named Characters like this... that said, what do you think the Sky Serpents Obsession would look like if it wasn't straddling the Poisoned Tongue & Flayed Skull abilities?

Alternatively...what about giving Sliscus the keywords for both Poisoned Tongue and Flayed Skull and some verbiage that he enjoys the benefits of both Obsessions, Stratagems, Relics, etc. without making a Poisoned Tongue or Flayed Skull Detachment illegal (like a Mercenary with perks).

Additionally, the biggest perk of bringing Sliscus is nominating a <Kabal> unit before the start of the first turn and passing on the same benefits, so his Sky Serpents retinue, like him, re-rolls 1s to hit with Rapid Fire, re-rolls 1s to wound with Poisoned and in melee, and get to enjoy the same crossover perks.

It's a good upgrade that isn't busted and falls into line with all of the existing abilities in the Codex.

I think it would be much better to come up with new artifacts and stratagems, rather than relying on other Kabals.
And the Obsession (Low Orbit Raid) is too much. Its practically three Obsessions rolled into one.

Just make it worse and simpler: fly +3 movement, all poison and melee attacks reroll hits of 1.

Corsair Obsession:  Utterly Self-serving
Turned loose in realspace, Drukhari with access to their own space vessels are far less likely to fear the wrath of a scorned leader, and join more out of opportunity than loyalty.  Their rampant greed fuels their limbs as they race to be the first to draw blood and claim the spoils,  while others have tuned their engines for maximum mobility for just the same reasons.
<Kabal> and <Wych Cult> Models with this Obsession subtract 1 from their Ld" characteristic but add 2" to their Movement characteristic (this does not stack with the +2" movement drug).

I like to think this harkens back to the pre-8th edition version of "Reckless Abandon" or whatever the Corsair special rule was called that let them Move Shoot Move-closer-to-enemy.

(Stratagem) Reckless Abandon 1 CP:  During the Shooting phase, after firing with a friendly unit with the <Sky Serpents> faction keyword, you can pick an enemy unit.  Move the friendly <Sky Serpents> unit D6" directly towards the enemy unit.  If the friendly unit has the Fly keyword you may move the unit 2D6" instead.  In either case, move the unit as far as the distance rolled.  The chosen friendly unit must not be locked in combat in order to use this stratagem.

<Sky Serpents> Relic: The Sky Serpent's Scales. (Infantry model only) A model equipped with this weapon gains the Fly keyword and can Pile-in, Consolidate, and Heroically Intervene 6".

<Sky Serpents> Warlord Trait:  Vicious Marauder.  The first time this model charges, it adds an additional D6" to its charge distance.


<Duke Sliscus> Relic:  The Serpent's Bite

Range     S    AP     Type

Melee * -1 Melee. Poisoned. Add +2 to the wound rolls of this weapon except against Vehicle and Titanic units. Any roll of a 6+ to wound wounds automatically and is resolved at Damage 3 and AP -3.

<Duke Sliscus> Warlord Trait: Unpredictable Madness. Enemy models subtract 1 from their hit rolls in the Fight phase when they target Duke Sliscus.

Double post

Overall I like it - would only propose a few tweaks

Contraband; make this at the start of every turn, giving more tactical flexibility. Maybe within a 6" range.

Also, allow friendly wyches to roll 2 die and choose one when rolling for random drugs.

Low Orbit Raid obsession is too powerful and steps on to many toes - no reason to take the other obsessions if this one is an option...

How about: Any <Kabal> or <Wych> units with this obsession may disembark after their transport has moved. Note, this does not allow them to move after their transport has done so. They can, however, embark and disembark in the same turn.

Too powerful?

The only unit able to disembark after moving in a transport has to take a warlord trait to do so. Way too powerful.

DELETE

Clothar wrote:

The only unit able to disembark after moving in a transport has to take a warlord trait to do so. Way too powerful.

Indeed- but the difference is the warlord may still move - in this case it is only allowing them to charge

I think that toning it down a little further by making it so that they only charge D6" rather than 2D6" is called for.  This is still very fast since turn 2+ they can reroll the D6.  Here is the movement comparison:

On foot basic wyches:  8+2D6" avg. 15"
On vehicle with Sky Serpents trait:  16 w/fly +D6" +3" disembark avg. 22.5"
Red Grief: 8+3D6" avg. 18.5"


Still significantly faster than footslogging it, I would argue it's still more than enough to merit it as a worthwhile trait.  I would argue its better than Red Grief for everything except Jetbikes and Hellions and does essentially the same thing, so I'll try and come up with something else that offers a more unique tactical edge and isn't too overpowered.