1850 // 2000 pts Mandrakes & Reavers

After a break of several years I am planning to get back to 40K with the new Drukhari Codex. Finally my favorite models (Mandrakes and Reavers) are viable, so I am planning to field them … A LOT

I’ll take 3 patrols, so I get 7 Command Points.

I want the Black Heart Kabal because of FnP for the vehicles, Labyrinthine Cunning for generating CPs and Agents of Vect to mess with my opponents’ plans. However, Black Heart bonus is not so great for Warriors, so I take my second detachment from the Obsidian Rose. And finally Red Grief for first turn charge (I think this is the best Cult for Reavers which form the main part of this detachment).

1850 points on the spot:

### Patrol Detachment (Aeldari - Drukhari) ### Kabal of the Black Heart
#### HQ ####
**Archon** Labyrinthine Cunning, Splinter pistol, Venom Blade, Warlord, Writ of the Living Muse (babysits Ravagers)

#### Troops ####
**5 x Kabalite Warriors**, Blaster

#### Elites ####
**10 x Mandrakes**
**10 x Mandrakes**

#### Fast Attack ####
**5 x Scourges**, 4x Haywire blaster

#### Heavy Support ####
**Ravager**, 3x Dark Lance
**Ravager**, 3x Disintegrator cannon

#### Dedicated Transport ####
**Raider**, Dark Lance, Splinter Racks (for Warriors)
**Raider**, Dark Lance, Shock Prow (for Wyches)
**Venom**, Splinter Cannon, Twin splinter rifle
**Venom**, Splinter Cannon, Twin splinter rifle

### Patrol Detachment (Aeldari - Drukhari) ### Kabal of the Obsidian Rose
#### HQ ####
**Archon** Blaster, Huskblade (shares Raider with Wyches)

#### Troops ####
**10 x Kabalite Warriors**, 2x Blaster, Splinter Cannon
**5 x Kabalite Warriors**, Blaster

### Patrol Detachment (Aeldari - Drukhari) ### Cult of the Red Grief
#### HQ ####
**Succubus**, Archite Glaive, Blast Pistol (shares Raider with Wyches, drug: +2 movement)

#### Troops ####
**8x Wyches**, Shardnet and impaler (drug: +1 strength)

#### Fast Attack ####
**9x Reavers**, 3x Heat lance, 3x Grav-Talon (drug: +1 attack, to be used with Hyperstimm Backlash)
**6x Reavers**, 2x Blaster, 2x Grav-Talon (drug: +1 toughness)

Heavy/Assault weapons:
5x Dark Lance
3x Disintegrator cannon
7x Blaster
3x Heat lance
4x Haywire blaster

For the Venoms I am not so sure about making them Black Heart; maybe Obsidian Rose would be better for the additional range bonus?

I want to take “Prizes from the Dark City”, but am undecided on the additional relic: Djin Blade for the Obsidian Archon? Or Blood Glaive for the Succubus?

Also, I could drop Splinter Racks, 2x Grav-Talon and Shock Prow to get a Blaster for the Black Heart Archon.

For 2000 points I’ll just add:
#### Flyer ####
**Razorwing Jetfighter**, 2x Disintegrator cannon (Black Heart)

And Blaster for the Black Heart Archon (need to drop 1 Grav-Talon to a Shock Prow as I need 2 more points)

What do you think?

Dear fellow Archons & Succubi!

I really need some advice on this, especially since I am not familiar with the current meta...

Do I have enough antitank? (in a pinch, 10 Mandraks deal 2.22 MW and 4.44 wounds @AP -1 vs.T7 or lower)

Do I invest too much in expensive units such as Mandraks and Reavers? (even though their cost is somewhat mitigated by the fact that they do not need transports). I noticed that unit costs went down considerably in general, so now a basic Marine is cheaper (but I think also worse) than a Mandrak...

Thanks in advance for your advice & feedback!

I think overall you've got something very functional. I think the T1 charge will definitely be a good choice for your Reavers, but do keep in mind your target. You've got a lot of points invested in them and you don't want to see them shot down immediately after they kill a 10 man unit of guardsmen (not a good trade). With the new FAQ, I would hold the Mandrakes and the Scourge in reserve until T2 (Wyches should also be joining the CC party in T2). That should be plenty of T1 and T2 pressure to prevent your opponent from shooting much at your Venoms and Ravagers.

Keep in mind that you've got 2 Venoms and 1 Raider that will now be used to grab objectives (assuming that you are aggressive with the mandrakes and scourge). That's not a lot, so you'll need to be mindful of when to pull back a unit in order to snag an important objective.

All in all, looks like a very playable list. I haven't used that many mandrakes yet, so I can't comment on them too much at that capacity. One thing I would change though....drop the 3 patrols and take a couple of Battalions. Your original list looks like it was before the FAQ, but since it dropped, the Raiding Party just isn't worth it now.

The basic idea is pretty solid, but there's a few optimizations you could make.

In general you want at least 1 Battalion, they give 5 CP now. With 2 extra detachments you could have 10 CP instead of 7.

Kabals: You're right the Venoms are better in Obsidian Rose than in Black Heart. But if vehicles are your concern, Venoms probably aren't top choice. You already have lots of good shooting from Mandrakes, as well.

Cult: 1 unit of Wyches doesn't do very much on its own. They're not bad but you could use the points better else where. Gettings Special Weapons on Reavers is also usually not advisable. Their main use is Turn 1 assaults. You want them in combat tying up high priority units ASAP. The odds of being able to shoot enough to regain those points are low. Keep them cheap. Just Grav Talons.

With a little manoeuvring, you could field something like this:

Sample 1850 List:

Disintegrator Ravagers are the new top dog. They're 10x as versatile as Dark Lances, cheaper and only average 1 wound less against T7/8. They are even superior against T9+, and they also make much better use of the Archons re-rolls because of the volume of shots. 9 Disintegrator Cannons is no joke.

Aside from that, you have 7 Blasters and 3 Dark Lances. If you give the Succubus the Blood Glaive and +1 Str then you can use Hyper-stimm Backlash for a bunch of Str 8 attacks, in addition to her Blast Pistol.

Finally you have a bunch of Mortal Wound batteries from Mandrakes, Scourges and Grav Talons. That should honestly cover your anti-tank concerns.

I'm sure Disintegrators will go back up to 20 points in Chapter Approved. Still will be worth it.

Thanks for the great feedback and input!

Regarding the Wyches: I was not really happy with them and only included them for the (now obsolete) Raiding Party.

I’d rather keep the Special Weapons on Reavers, because
- They can move, advance, shoot the assault weapons and then charge
- Even if the unit is reduced to 1 or 2 models, it can still make a contribution
- When zooming around taking objectives the unit can make a better contribution

Bringing in the Mandrakes in T2 is a good idea, and at least it also has the benefit that they can then re-roll their charge rolls, bringing up the probability of a successful charge close to 50%

Also thanks for the proposed list, I think I’ll give it some tweaks (mainly sacrificing 5 Warriors and downgrading a Raider for some upgrades) and try this (1850 pts, 10 CP):

Battalion Detachment - Kabal of the Obsidian Rose

HQ
Archon - Blaster, Huskblade - 93 pts
Archon - Blaster, Huskblade - 93 pts

Troops
10 x Kabalite Warriors - 2x Blaster, Splinter Cannon - 104 pts
5 x Kabalite Warriors - Blaster - 47 pts
5 x Kabalite Warriors - Blaster - 47 pts

Elites
10 x Mandrakes - 160 pts
10 x Mandrakes - 160 pts

Dedicated Transport
Venom - Splinter Cannon, Twin splinter rifle - 65 pts

Spearhead Detachment - Kabal of the Black Heart

HQ
Archon - Warlord, Labyrinthine Cunning, Splinter pistol, Venom Blade, Writ of the Living Muse - 72 pts

Heavy Support
Ravager - 3x Disintegrator cannon - 125 pts
Ravager - 3x Disintegrator cannon - 125 pts
Ravager - 3x Disintegrator cannon - 125 pts

Dedicated Transport
Raider - Dark Lance, Splinter Racks - 95 pts
Raider - Dark Lance - 85 pts

Outrider Detachment - Cult of the Red Grief

HQ
Succubus - Blood Glaive, Blast Pistol - 60 pts

Fast Attack
6x Reavers - 2x Heat lance, 2x Grav-Talon, Agoniser - 148 pts
6x Reavers - 2x Blaster, 2x Grav-Talon - 154 pts
5 x Scourges - 4x Haywire blaster - 92 pts

Nice. Looks good. Let us know how it fares during play testing. I expect people in your group are going to have nightmares about Mandrakes popping up where they’re most vulnerable

I hope so...

But it will take a while until I can play that army. Right now, about 60% is painted, and I need to buy more Mandrakes. The rest is under construction.
Right now, I am assembling the last Reavers. Stupid question: The same model can get both the special weapon and the Grav-Talon, and that model may also be the Arena Champion, right?

Would it not make more sense to split the Mandrakes into 4 units of 5?
- It gives you extra attacks in combat (2 additional Nightfiends)
- It allows you to spread out more, as required.
- It makes you almost immune to Morale.

My understanding is that with the codex you can now put the special weapon and grav-talon on the arena champion, previously with the index you could not.

DingWop wrote:

My understanding is that with the codex you can now put the special weapon and grav-talon on the arena champion, previously with the index you could not.  

In the Index it said "one Reaver may replace...", but now it says "one model may replace...", so it looks like you're correct.

Soulless Samurai wrote:

Would it not make more sense to split the Mandrakes into 4 units of 5?

I was also considering this. I think I'll give both a try ...

I like the changes to haywire blasters in this codex, they were bad in the index. At present I run scourges with x4 Blasters as I want to be able to use them for either hitting multi-wound infantry or vehicles, so I would be really interested to hear how your x4 Haywire blaster Scourges perform in your game.