New Drukhari player - Lots of questions

So I was looking through the Armies40k app on my phone and happened across the Drukhari models. After seeing Warriors, Wyches, Scourges and Raiders I decided to check out the fluff. Well... I'm completely sold. I've been waiting to make any large purchases till I have the codex in my hands, but I couldn't help but go out and pick up a box of each of the units I mentioned above. But since we've had pretty massive previews I've had enough info to at least start down my path in Commoragh.

With that said, I really love the Splintermind podcast (SLYTH PARTY BUSS!!!) and from that I found this place. I've been reading a lot around here and I see you guys have a very knowledgeable community, so I was hoping I could squeeze a few answers out of you guys to see if my head's in the right place before I make an army wide purchase.

A bit of a preamble so you guys know where I'm coming from. I'm a modeler/painter more than a player. I do play a game here and there up at my local game store with a heavily converted Iron Warriors army, but most of my time is spent listening to podcasts while I sit at my workbench staring at my models (and being productive... sometimes). I'm not competitive when I do play, but I do like to give my opponent a challenge so they can feel good about the game as well. The units I want to buy and feild have been chosen because I love modeling and painting them, and really dig the lore behind the unit.

With that out of the way, I want to let you guys see what my plans are for feilding what I plan on purchasing, so I can get your input before I model something that will be useless on the tabletop. The only way I can see giving you guys the context you'll need is by giving you a brief summary of what I want to run at 2k points, as that's what I always play with.

First off, I really like the Kabals and Cults, but will not purchase or play Covens. I love all their respective fluff, but I don't feel drawn to the Coven models. I plan on running three patrol detachments to nab the +3CP bonus, and I want to run 1 Archon and 2 Succubi, so that leaves me running 1 Kabal Patrol and 2 Cult Patrols. Furthermore, I love the lore behind the Kabal of the Poisoned Tongue and the Cult of the Cursed Blade. They really speak to me lore wise, so that locks me in with...

Kabal of the Poisoned Tongue - Patrol Detachment
1 - Archon

2 x Cult of the Cursed Blade Detachments
1 - Succubus each

Starting with the Kabal Detachment, I really wanted to field Warriors in Raiders. They feel iconic to me. I also would like them to maximize their Poison weaponry because of the KotPT Obsession. Because of this, I look at this whole Detachment as flying Poison attacks meant to shred infantry. Here's what I have planned for my Warrior units...

3 x Warrior x10, Splinter Cannon, Phantasm Grenade Launcher
3 x Raider, Shock Prow, Dark Lance, Splinter Racks

I want these to be my mobile scoring units that help shred hordes with shear Poison output. I don't want to spend points on any upgrades that aren't Poison focused besides the Dark Lance and Shock Prow, because the Prow is only 1pt, and the Dark Lance is another thing I will be fielding as much as possible. I want to run 1-2 more of these units, so I may decide to go Archon x 2, Succubus x 1 instead to switch around the Detachments to accommodate another 3 units of Warriors.

As for the Cult Detachment, I want to really utilize their benefit of somewhat negating the moral phase with the CotCB obsession by running large units on foot. Here's what I have for them...

2 x 20 Wyches, Agoniser, Phantasm Grenade Launcher, Blast Pistol, Hydra Gauntlet x 2, Shardnet and Impaler

I want to use these as a screen for my Raiders to help minimize a first turn alpha strike, while also be able to control board space after. Their loadout is what I feel is the most optimal for killing infantry (assisting the Warriors), but I'm only going from second hand knowledge that looks at the unit in a vacuum, not weighted against my army. I'd run 3 Gauntlets if I wanted to go pure kill, but I felt the utility of the Shardnet was worth going with at least one. I have to assume that in some games these are going to take heavy casualties first turn, so the added bonus to No Escape will help keep them in combat with their target once they get there so they won't be shot off the board if the opponent falls back from them. Overall I'm happy with only running two units of 20 and their loadout, but I may be missing something.

So that's a lot of units dedicated to smashing up the opponents infantry. On to how I plan on dealing with armour. Besides the 3-6 Dark lances and 3-4 Blast Pistols, I want to run a unit that speaks to me more than anything else in the model range; Scourges. Not only do they absolutely do it for me model wise, but gameplay wise I love the idea of these things dropping down exactly where I need them completely unannounced and unleashing all their guns at a priority target. Here's what I'm leaning towards...

4 x 5 Scourges, Dark Lance x 4

or

2 x 5 Scourges, Dark Lance x4
1 x 10 Scourges

or

2 x 5 Scourges, Dark Lance x 4
2 x 5 Scourges, Splinter Cannon x 4

I believe option 1 fills out all my anti-armour needs, but I really like the idea of having Poison Scourges to help out against hordes. Option 2 seems the most efficient, but option 3 gives me an extra deep strike deployment to further see how my opponent deploys before I put any of my models on the table, they're easier to get into cover only being 5 strong, and the distance of the Splinter Cannon would be a boon if I absolutely needed to be at max range from what I'm firing at, while also having the option of being able to be inside of of Rapid Fire range, then use the Fire and Fade Stratagem to get them into cover or behind line of sight. Options, they're a thing.

As for HQs, what's to say really?

Archon, Agoniser, Blast Pistol, Phantasm Grenade Launcher
Succubus, Archite Blade, Blast Pistol

They'll be outside of a Transport hidden behind screens doing their thing. Can't speak on Wargear or Warlord Traits yet because I don't know my Codex options.

So... whew. That was alot of writing, but I want your opinion on as much of that as you care to talk about. Especially on the Scourges. I know that Ravagers may be a better choice, but I'm sold on Scourges and don't really want to field Ravagers. Scourges also play into my use of Chaos Terminators in my Iron Warriors list. While they aren't as tanky, I know how important it is to have deep strike units in the deployment phase, and units that are able to be sat down exactly when and where you need them.

Thank you guys for being here and thanks to Splintermind for setting up this little corner of Commoragh. Hope to hear from you guys soon!

with so many darklances on the scourges, you could possibly use the disintegrators on the raiders instead.

Welcome to the dark kin! Always glad to see another player turning to the darkness of Commorragh.

Regarding your army ideas, sounds like you're off to a solid start. You can definetly get by without using covens, they have improved in the new codex but you can build a solid wych/kabal army.

10 warriors in a raider is solid, but you'll probably want more special weapons. For anti-infantry go for 2 shredders, for anti-tank squad go blasters. Not sure splinter cannons are worth the pts yet, but we'll see.

Large wych units will go well with the cursed blade cult, problem is delivery method for units that can't fit in a raider. Footslogging is particularly bad for wyches given they have very few saves, and while you can webway portal them in the chances of them making a 9" charge even with the turn two onwards rerolls aren't great. I'd consider at least making one of those 20 man wych units a 10 man in a raider.

Scourges are an excellent unit, you definitely can't go wrong with running a lot of them. That being said now that blasters do d6 damage, the dark lance is one of the worst option on scourges, since they will be -1 to hit on the turn they drop in. For anti tank scourges, go with blasters or haywire blasters. For anti infantry I'd go stock carbines or 4 shredders, again not sure splinter cannons are worth their price but we'll see. The codex will drop in just two days so you can see for yourself very soon.

For the characters, huskblade will actually be a good choice in the index being only 6pts apparently and gaining a point in strength probably better than the agonizer now for archons.

I agree with what Lord Asvaldir has said.

The Blasters on your Kabs might be what knocks the final wounds off of that Titan you can't get rid of! There is a potential x6 Blasters you could have in those x3 10 man squads.

For Scourge I wouldn't go Splinter Cannons...stick with Carbines if you want lots of poison but for me Scourge are now all about Blasters and Haywire. Beware because Scourge will die fast and they will be targeted. It seriously wouldn't take much to take out all 4 squads in one turn.

I would consider taking some Reavers. They can take a punch, they are our fastest unit and have a cool strategem now.

Thank you guys for all the responses. Some very solid points that I've taken into consideration while thinking about how to build my minis. Here are some things I wanted to comment on...

Quote :

1) Shredder Warriors: I may not be using them in my first list, but after seeing their stat line I think they're very, very good weapons for what I want to be doing with the units. I will be building 8 Shredder Warriors to switch out and use after I play with my initial list.

2) Wych Delivery: I'm sold on the 20 strong blobs, but understand the concern behind delivery. I may be able to somewhat negate that with WWP, but like you said, 9" charges can be rough. I know WWP alone doesn't negate the concern of delivery, but I'm going to add in another blob of 20 to help make sure I have enough Wyches on the second turn to help make stuff happen.

3) D Cannons on Raiders: I'm going to magnetize the Raider's weapon option so I can try both!

4) Scourge Weaponry: Uggg... Sorry, I'm going to be a little bull headed on this one. The range of the Dark Lances and the Splinter Cannons seems really good to me. Especially since I'll be able to screen them better with the extra Wych squad.

With that out of the way, here's what I'm building toward for 1985pts.

Quote :

Cabal of the Cursed Blade - Patrol Detachment

Succubus: Archite Glaive, Blast Pistol, Precision Blows, The Triptych Whip, Warlord
Wyches x20: Agonizer, Blast Pistol, Phantasm Grenade Launcher, Hydra Gauntlet x3
Wyches x20: Agonizer, Blast Pistol, Phantasm Grenade Launcher, Hydra Gauntlet x3
Wyches x20: Agonizer, Blast Pistol, Phantasm Grenade Launcher, Hydra Gauntlet x3

Kabal of the Poisoned Tongue - Patrol Detachment

Archon: Agoniser, Blast Pistol, Phantasm Grenade Launcher
Kabalite Warriors x10: Phantasm Grenade Launcher, Splinter Cannon
Kabalite Warriors x10: Phantasm Grenade Launcher, Splinter Cannon
Scourges x5: Splinter Cannon x4
Scourges x5: Dark Lance x4
Raider: Dark Lance, Shock Prow, Phantasm Grenade Launcher, Chain Snares, Splinter Racks
Raider: Dark Lance, Shock Prow, Phantasm Grenade Launcher, Chain Snares, Splinter Racks

Kabal of the Poisoned Tongue - Patrol Detachment

Archon: Agoniser, Blast Pistol, Phantasm Grenade Launcher
Kabalite Warriors x10: Phantasm Grenade Launcher, Splinter Cannon
Kabalite Warriors x10: Phantasm Grenade Launcher, Splinter Cannon
Scourges x5: Splinter Cannon x4
Scourges x5: Dark Lance x4
Raider: Dark Lance, Shock Prow, Phantasm Grenade Launcher, Chain Snares, Splinter Racks
Raider: Dark Lance, Shock Prow, Phantasm Grenade Launcher, Chain Snares, Splinter Racks

One thing I didn't mention before is that this army, while being for myself, is also for a buddy that has never played 40k before. So one aspect of the list is to keep everything as simple as possible. Thus the duplicated loadout on almost all characters and sergeants, and the simple Poison loadout on the Kabalites. And to be honest, Splinter Racks seem like a real "feels goodsy," so the simple Poison Loadout on the Kabalites will help keep the army simple to wield, while also giving that little bit of satisfaction when a couple extra hits are scored.

As for myself, I really dig the KotPT Stratagem; Insidious Misdirection. I feel like between that, the WWP Wyches, the high M on the Raiders and the DS Scourges, my opponents will have a hard time reading what direction I'll be coming from.

All in all I'm excited to build it. They are some great models and I feel like the army as a whole should deal well with the many Nid and Horde armies I see at my local game store. I'm also excited to try out all of your suggestions once I get a couple games in.

Would love to hear your thoughts on what I've had to say. Thanks, guys!

List building advice:
http://lkhero.blogspot.com/2018/04/de-dark-eldar-list-building-advice.html

Thank you very much, Hero!