Codex Drukhari Preview: The Kabals

Caldera02 wrote:

Thirst for Power - Using webway on something and then getting re-roll charges seems good. Also +1 hit starting round 2 now.  That's legit.

But why a Kabal unit? Wouldn't you want that for a Wych or Coven unit?

And since nothing in my Kabal army would want to be in melee in the first place, +1 to hit in combat is practically an insult - regardless of whether I get it on turn 2 or turn 3.

Caldera02 wrote:

The Serpent's Kiss - re-rolling a failed third of wounds seems legit to me.

On one specific weapon type that isn't good to begin with. Colour me unimpressed.

Caldera02 wrote:

Splinter Racks - A lot of -1 to hit abilities are outside of rapid fire anyway.  So this will happen less often than you think.  

Maybe, but it's still an unimpressive rule.

Caldera02 wrote:

Slay from the Skies - This one is interesting.  Is it basically just Venoms that benefit from this and units inside them and raiders?  At least until they get knocked out of them that is.

Assuming that Splinter Cannons are still rapid-fire, yes that's correct.

It's also a bit weird that we have 2 Kabals dedicated to giving rerolls to poison weapons. I know they're not quite the same, but there still seems to be a fair amount of redundancy there.

I don't mind so long as the as-yet-unseen kabals make up for it. It'll be annoying if our shooting subfaction is only allowed rerolls for poison weapons and melee weapons.

Caldera02 wrote:

Masters of the Shadowed Sky - Agree, very situational.

It bugs me that this is outright worse than the IG Vostroyan stratagem (a straight +1 to hit against any unit).

Caldera02 wrote:

Armour of Misery - I fail my 2++ all the damn time....having a 3+ to use on small arms fire instead is very good for my archons hehe.

On the one hand, that's true. I'd forgotten that you aren't forced to use your 'best' save anymore.

On the other hand, I think the Shadowfield really needed to be reworked (e.g. have it come back on at the end of turn or turn into a 5++ when failed). This makes me think it's been left unchanged.

Mppqlmd wrote:

They did reveal a lot, and everything they revealed has some sort of use :

- Black heart : let's not forget Incubi and Mandrakes can be Kabal. You could run an Archon + mandrakes in a Vanguard to get the sweet CP refund, and turn 1 charges with those Mandrakes, for example.

Are you sure Incubi and Mandrakes can count as Kabal units? The previous article seemed to say the opposite.

Mppqlmd wrote:

They did reveal a lot, and everything they revealed has some sort of use :

- Black heart : let's not forget Incubi and Mandrakes can be Kabal. You could run an Archon + mandrakes in a Vanguard to get the sweet CP refund, and turn 1 charges with those Mandrakes, for example.

- Poison tongue : pretty great, works well with mandrakes/incubi AND kabalites. A bit less useful for gunboats than the flayed skulls, but the sniper artefact is super sweet.

- Flayed skull : the go-to for gunboats. Ignore cover, +3 mvt and reroll 1's for some weapons is A LOT.

- Obsidian rose : it's nice.

Add to that the blaster, the racks (that can combo pretty well with the Flayed skull stratagem if you're shooting at, say, a flyrant), and we can qualify this as great news.

How do Incubi and mandrakes get <kabal> tagged?

Mandrakes and incubi dont have posioned weapons?

Quote :

I think I'm reading Labyrinthine Cunning differently. I find ours to be AMAZING! Each time you or your opponent uses a command point (singlular) to use a strategem. I read this as if I spend 3pts for a strategem, I get 3D6 rolls to get more points. Has anyone else read it that way? It says spends a point vs stratagem. If this is correct, we now have the best version of this.

It's okay, ish. But PfP has taught me to never rely on a 6+. Your interpretation is correct, but consider that this is a faction specific trait. If you're not wanting to play, or pay for, a Black Heart detachment and warlord, you're SOL.

Guard have a general Warlord trait, Grand Strategist is it? That gives a CP back every time you spend a CP on a 5+. They also have an Artifact (something Aquila, I think) that gives a CP back whenever your enemy spends one on a 5+. Both of these can be given to a 30 point company commander. Ours is okay, but we have a lot of hoops to jump through.

Quote :

How do Incubi and mandrakes get <kabal> tagged?

Mandrakes and incubi dont have posioned weapons?

Serpent's Kiss works with Poison AND melee weapons.

But yeah, mercs don't benefit from obsessions, so there's to that.


SO, unless there is change to PfP, Black Heart is only a way to gain 6+++ for your vehicles (and get your aura debuff/moral immunity earlier, which isn't great).

TheBaconPope wrote:

Quote :

I think I'm reading Labyrinthine Cunning differently. I find ours to be AMAZING! Each time you or your opponent uses a command point (singlular) to use a strategem. I read this as if I spend 3pts for a strategem, I get 3D6 rolls to get more points. Has anyone else read it that way? It says spends a point vs stratagem. If this is correct, we now have the best version of this.

It's okay, ish. But PfP has taught me to never rely on a 6+. Your interpretation is correct, but consider that this is a faction specific trait. If you're not wanting to play, or pay for, a Black Heart detachment and warlord, you're SOL.

Guard have a general Warlord trait, Grand Strategist is it? That gives a CP back every time you spend a CP on a 5+. They also have an Artifact (something Aquila, I think) that gives a CP back whenever your enemy spends one on a 5+. Both of these can be given to a 30 point company commander. Ours is okay, but we have a lot of hoops to jump through.

Yeah, the IG abilities are superb. I take an IG Supreme Command detachment along with my Blood Angels Brigade. Anytime I use a stratagem for x CPs I get x+1 chances to roll 5+ and get a CP back plus I can get a CP on a 5+ every time my opponent uses a stratagem!

If power from pain is unchanged, being immune to battleshock/morale, from turn 3 seems quite handy to have, as black heart kabal.

I like the new blaster profile.
The Kabal profiles seem alright.
New rules for the Raider are okay.
It's gonna be nice having long range Dark Lances.
Being 3 factions and some factionless units still hurts though. Now more than ever.

I think to judge that we'll have to see every Warlord Trait. If they are very good, then the hassle to juggle with 3 factions will be compensated with the ability to combine them (something quite unique).


I just realized something. We'll have 12 FACTIONS TRAITS !

Looking pretty good so far

Mppqlmd wrote:

Quote :

How do Incubi and mandrakes get <kabal> tagged?

Mandrakes and incubi dont have posioned weapons?

Serpent's Kiss works with Poison AND melee weapons.

But yeah, mercs don't benefit from obsessions, so there's to that.


SO, unless there is change to PfP, Black Heart is only a way to gain 6+++ for your vehicles (and get your aura debuff/moral immunity earlier, which isn't great).

And the members of the archon's court that don't have PfP

Everyone seems bummed about mercenaries not getting a kabal bonus but just look at what we learned about Scourges.

They've dropped at least a point and we'll all be running them with Blasters now instead of Dark Lances. Making an already fantastic unit at least 25 points cheaper and no longer receive a -1 to hit on the turn they come in.

Dark-Lord-101 wrote:

And the members of the archon's court that don't have PfP

That's true, we often forget about the court. Those are Kabals, and are very much CC-oriented.

That does mean that I suddenly regret putting DLs on my Scourges though!

maybe silly question but do you have to have an archon in the detachment to receive a kabal bonus? For example if i have an air wing detachment can i choose a kabal bonus for my flyers?

PartZebra wrote:

That does mean that I suddenly regret putting DLs on my Scourges though!

Dont know yey! we havent seen them at all might be better rules hehe

Oh, i miss that Scourges are a points deduction!

PartZebra wrote:

That does mean that I suddenly regret putting DLs on my Scourges though!

I have one unit with Haywires and one with Blasters. Fingers crossed for decent Haywire rules!

Count Adhemar wrote:

PartZebra wrote:

That does mean that I suddenly regret putting DLs on my Scourges though!

I have one unit with Haywires and one with Blasters. Fingers crossed for decent Haywire rules!

I have 4 boxes, so i made 1 of each lol.

FrankyMcShanky wrote:

Everyone seems bummed about mercenaries not getting a kabal bonus but just look at what we learned about Scourges.  

They've dropped at least a point and we'll all be running them with Blasters now instead of Dark Lances.  Making an already fantastic unit at least 25 points cheaper and no longer receive a -1 to hit on the turn they come in.

Exactly what I was thinking.

Quote :

maybe silly question but do you have to have an archon in the detachment to receive a kabal bonus? For example if i have an air wing detachment can i choose a kabal bonus for my flyers?

Nope! As long as everything in the detachment has the <Kabal> keyword, you're good to go!

Mppqlmd wrote:

That's true, we often forget about the court. Those are Kabals, and are very much CC-oriented.

Only downside there being that if you want the Court in a Patrol, you can only take two of them. Two Sslyth may not have quite the punch we want in this instance. Of course, if you're NOT doing a Patrol detachment...

DevilDoll wrote:

maybe silly question but do you have to have an archon in the detachment to receive a kabal bonus? For example if i have an air wing detachment can i choose a kabal bonus for my flyers?

Of course, these abilities are tied to the keywords, not any specific units.

Mppqlmd wrote:

Dark-Lord-101 wrote:

And the members of the archon's court that don't have PfP

That's true, we often forget about the court. Those are Kabals, and are very much CC-oriented.

Except those units don't have PfP, so can never benefit from any boost to that special rule. No reroll charges, no +1 to WS. They will at least gain a 6+++, which is something at least. Unless this has been changed it's doubly annoying as the Court is the only real source of CC for Kabals.

PartZebra wrote:

Mppqlmd wrote:

That's true, we often forget about the court. Those are Kabals, and are very much CC-oriented.

Only downside there being that if you want the Court in a Patrol, you can only take two of them. Two Sslyth may not have quite the punch we want in this instance. Of course, if you're NOT doing a Patrol detachment...

If you have an Archon, you can take up to 4 court members without it having to fit into your force org.

Bad-baden-baden wrote:

PartZebra wrote:

Mppqlmd wrote:

That's true, we often forget about the court. Those are Kabals, and are very much CC-oriented.

Only downside there being that if you want the Court in a Patrol, you can only take two of them. Two Sslyth may not have quite the punch we want in this instance. Of course, if you're NOT doing a Patrol detachment...

If you have an Archon, you can take up to 4 court members without it having to fit into your force org.

Well... that might change.

Bad-baden-baden wrote:

PartZebra wrote:

Mppqlmd wrote:

That's true, we often forget about the court. Those are Kabals, and are very much CC-oriented.

Only downside there being that if you want the Court in a Patrol, you can only take two of them. Two Sslyth may not have quite the punch we want in this instance. Of course, if you're NOT doing a Patrol detachment...

If you have an Archon, you can take up to 4 court members without it having to fit into your force org.

Oh my gosh, I totally forgot about that!!! I've been running the court wrong all this dang time!