40K: Rise of the Wych Cults
Mr. Black here, and let’s talk about my new favorite ladies of the 40K universe. -Editor’s note: Mr. Black does seem to have a thing for the miniature ladies…
Note to Editor: You have made a powerful enemy this day. – Mr. Black
So just when I think I’m getting ahead they just pull me right back in… Some months back you may remember I made an article dealing with cutting down on your armies, only having what you needed. I was proud of myself soon afterward, having reduced myself down to, albeit large, 40K armies in Tyranids and Blood Angels… And yet here I am today, about to explain to you why I am enthralled by the Wych Cults of the Dark Eldar.
There is some backing though, it’s not just random, oh no, GW is too crafty for that. They know full well my Fantasy army of choice is my Cult of Khaine, which boasts some seventy-two Witch Elf models, and they knew that when they made Dark Eldar. They knew that when I saw the new models, the rules (which remind me of the older Slaanesh army that GW took away from me some years back), that I would have no choice but to move my ladies from the Fantasy realm to the Grimdark of the 41st millennium. So thanks GW, thanks for emptying my wallet yet again. I suppose I didn’t need food all that much next month anyway… Least I won’t have to worry about extra holiday pounds put on at Thanksgiving…
That being said, let’s jump right in…
The Basics
Ok, so what exactly is a Dark Eldar Wych? Well for starters it’s one of your only two basic Troop Choices for Dark Eldar, barring any Special Characters that screw with the Force Org. chart (of which there are a couple). Your choices are Kabalite Warriors, which will handle the ranged aspect of your Troops, and the humble Wych Cult, whom are the melee-centric Troop unit of the codex. Basic stat-line is just a bit less strong and tough than your standard Marine and a good deal faster. They carry some basic wargear in the way of Assault Grenades and Pistol+CCW, other than that they have the standard Fleet, Power From Pain, Night Fight, Combat Drugs, and a nifty 4+ invulnerable save in melee.
So basically lots and lots to play with before even considering the basic wargear options.
Speaking of which, there are a few options per unit, but I find myself being drawn specifically to the Hydra Gauntlets, which give +d6 extra attacks each round of combat, and being that you can give one in five Wyches such a weapon we’ll be pressing out a lot of attacks once we hit melee! My main concern though was, of course, the lack of Power Weapons, which, while slightly handled by the Hekatrix (aka Sergeant) having an Agonizer (Poisoned Power Weapon) I still find myself missing the old faithful Power Fist, but we’ll take what we can get.
There are some of the basics, but what does it all mean?
Equipping the Ladies
Well, for me personally I envision my Wych units ending up something like this:
Wyches x10- Hydra Gauntlets x2, Hekatrix Upgrade, Agonizer, Raider– 210 pts.
This simple set-up gives you the protection to get across the field, a Dark Lance to get rid of those pesky armored shells, and a decent amount of Wyches to get the job done for just over 200 pts. Yes, you can upgrade the Hekatrix even more to have basically a Lance Pistol Defensive Grenades, but she’s expensive enough as it is. I did consider, however, giving the entire unit Haywire Grenades to boost their effectiveness against vehicles and may yet do so, I’ll have to see how points play out.
But wait! There’s more!
Seems that Codex: Dark Eldar also gives us an Elite version of our basic Wych troopers as well! The big difference?
A few points more for an extra attack.
Ok, so not the biggest upgrade ever, but at least you have the option should you manage to fill your entire Troop Force Org. slot with basic Wyches and Kabalite Warriors (which you’ll probably end up using due to being able to have some three Dark Lances per unit).
In addition to invading the Elite Slot we also have a decent HQ selection in the Succubus… … Well, ok, I’ll be very honest here, of the HQs in the book, I find her the weakest. Given she has to compete with the Archon and Homunculi choices, well, she falls kinda flat. I will run her in my Wych Cult list, don’t get me wrong, and she is fairly cheap for what she is, but as I said, compared to the fantastic options the other two non-character choices have she is my least favorite of the three. Sad, but true.
Fielding the Wyches
Ok, so we’ve gone over our Wych variants, what have we gathered? Well, they are fast, either in a Raider or pouring out of a Webway Portal and making use of their Fleet rule they will be able to get to the enemy very quickly. But what happens once there? Well, the Wyches don’t have the best WS in the word, only average… and compared to most other armies their S is low, meaning wounding on fives… Given that, we’re forced to rely on our sheer number of attacks to down an enemy, which is… Well hell, about the same as the standard Space Marine Assault Squad…
So what gives? They don’t seem that great… Sure they’re cheap, but they’re not great…
Shame on you! You’re not looking at the big picture. We’re not playing some brute strength SMASH ‘EM IN DA’ FACE army, no! We’re playing Dark Eldar, we’re sneaky, we’re trixy, and above all else we do not fight fair! Wyches are fragile at the games start and they’re going to need to make use of Power From Pain to get threatening, but in order to do that they have to kill units… Quite the conundrum isn’t it? Enter the…
Cronos Parasite Engine.
I fell in love with this guy the first time I read him. Name sound foreign to you? Basically it’s a Dark Eldar Monstrous Creature, high T, low number of attacks and not that combat savvy. So what’s the big deal? Well he has a few wargear options. Basically the choice of a small Doom Siren style flamer template that says “screw you” to power armor or a large blast that is slightly weaker but still just as “screw you” to power armor. The kicker? He kills a model with those attacks a unit within 12′ inches gets a Pain Token. Meaning you run two of these guys (combined they’re near 200 pts. total) and, if all things go as planned, each turn you’ll be supplying a Wych Cult enough Pain Tokens to grant them both Feel no Pain and Furious Charge, turning the relatively fragile and weak unit into something worth fearing!
Of course the above is only one such example of the tricks and tactics that Dark Eldar bring to the table. More than anything else it seems to me that in order to run this book efficiently you’re going to need a fair share of planning, patience, and sheer ruthlessness when it comes to when-and-where you strike…
EDIT: Wow people have been pouring out thoughts on Dark Eldar this week! Was going to keep my list/build to a separate article but I can’t fall behind the rest of the curve so here is an included bonus! -Mr. Black
Succubus (Agonizer, Blast Pistol)
Wych Cult x9 (Hydra Gauntlet, Hekatrix, Agonizer, Blast Pistol, Raider w/ Flickerfield)
Wych Cult x10 (Hydra Gauntlet x2, Hekatrix, Agonizer, Blast Pistol, Raider w/ Flickerfield)
Wych Cult x10 (Hydra Gauntlet x2, Hekatrix, Agonizer, Blast Pistol, Raider w/ Flickerfield)
Wych Cult x10 (Hydra Gauntlet x2, Hekatrix, Agonizer, Blast Pistol, Raider w/ Flickerfield)
Reaver Jetbikes x6 (Blast Pistol x2, Arena Champion, Agonizer)
Hellion x20 (Helliarch, Stunclaw)
Beastmaster Pack (5x Beastmaster, 1x Agonizer, 2x Clawed Fiend, 4x Razorwing Flock, 4xKhymerea)
Chronos Parasite Engine (Spirit Vortex)
Chronos Parasite Engine (Spirit Vortex)
1996/2000
Basically it’s everything that goes into the Arena Fights, aka the realms of the Wych Cults! As you can see everything in the army gains the benefit of Combat Drugs (sans the Parasite Engines and Beasts) and is geared towards total, rapid, assault. I feel a bit low for not including at least one unit of the Bloodbrides, but I can’t give up the Scoring factor for an additional attack (and a higher cost).
I will say this initially: I am a huge fan of the Beastmasters. A big mixed unit with 12′ inch charge and the ability to kill anything that may be a problem? Love them, and if they don’t release a model kit I will have fun finding alternatives (already looking at Fields of Slaanesh).
The basic plan is simple: The Wyches move up as the Hellions and Beastmaster Pack hold the flanks, the Reavers jetting where needed. First turn move up and hopefully have the Parasite Engines deal out some Pain Tokens to choice units and by turn two have your full assault launched. As with most Dark Eldar builds defense is thrown right out the window- we’re either going to kill them all or kill them all and die trying- exactly how I love to play!
~The Dark Eldar book is turning out to have some fantastic choices, and the best part is I can’t find anything that I can label “unusable”. What are some of your favorite models/units in the Dark Eldar range?
