40k Tutorial • How to Kill DraigoStar
Want to know how to take down the most feared Deathstar in the game? Step right in…
NOTE Jargon is used throughout the instructions.
CORRECTIVE NOTES:
• Tigurius can only re roll reserves for units from his own detachment.
• Teleport homer only works for units consisting wholly of terminators.
• GK Stormraven no longer has Psychic Pilot – so only 11 warp charges maximum.
What IS Draigostar?
First things first, let’s start with a detailed breakdown of the deathstar. DraigoStar is composed of the following units:
– Grey Knights –
Lord Khaldor Draigo: Gate of Infinity (Santic)
Grey Knight Librarian: Level 3 Psyker • Liber Daemonica • Divination Lore
– Space Marines (Ultramarines) –
Chief Librarian Tigurius: Level 3 Psyker • Telepathy Lore
Devastator Centurions (DevCents): Grav Cannons • Grav Amps • Missile Launchers
Sergeant: Twin Linked Lascannon • Omniscope
How It Works
Tigurius
Tigurius is there for Invisibility, Shrouded and Psychic Shriek plus he allows you to re roll your reserves so it’s just like having a comms relay for free.
Grey Knights
The Grey Knight Librarian is there for Perfect Timing and Prescience plus the Liber Daemonica allows him to roll once on the Santic Lore hoping for Sanctuary so Draigo will have a 2++ invulnerable save. If you roll Forewarning on the Divination Lore then DraigoStar has access to a 3++ overall invulnerable save.
Grey Knights must be your primary force so you can field Draigo (Lord of War) – therefore you can take a second Grey Knight Librarian as a backup for the Divination and Telepathy lores should you fail to roll Invisibility for Tigurius or Perfect Timing for the first Grey Knight Librarian but like I said above don’t want to invest too many points into DraigoStar. The GK Librarian can also potentially be a backup for Gate of Infinity if you take the Liber Daemonica to roll on the Santic lore.
DraigoStar with Invisibility, Perfect Timing and Prescience can reliably drop one enemy unit per turn and potentially even two since the DevCent sergeant can split fire his lascannon. Versus transport heavy armies such as Serpent Spam once you’ve immobilized a transport move onto the next target. Shrouding is an excellent backup to Invisibility for this Deathstar. DraigoStar is the definition of overkill – it’s so good at what it does.
Missile launchers are well worth the points for the DevCents. They provide the following major advantages versus their stock hurricane bolters:
– Better range (assuming you don’t Gate any particular turn)
– S8 is an excellent deterrent versus Imperial Knights
– Dropping twin linked blast is potentially better versus infantry
Tricksy Options…
Severian Loth vs. Tigurius
If you use Forgeworld you can field the special character Librarian Severian Loth from the Red Scorpions Chapter. He has access to a 2++ invulnerable save should you need it plus can automatically choose his psychic lores which is a huge advantage as it eliminates the chance you might not roll Invisibility. Personally I’m not a big fan of Forgeworld chapter tactics since most everyone always chooses the Red Scorpions so they can take Loth… It’s a quirk of mine and lots of people are of the opinion if you’re going so far as to field DraigoStar then why wouldn’t you take Loth.
Support Units
The number of DevCents is typically three to five… Four being a good number since you’ll need to have enough points left over to field solid support units so you can score objectives. If you dedicate too many points to DraigoStar the army will suffer as a whole and you can’t count on it to win games all by its lonesome. These units will either make or break you… DraigoStar is the ultimate eraser but not every game is going to be Purge the Alien so it definitely needs the support to take objectives. Don’t max out on the DevCents and you really don’t need a second GK Librarian to be quite honest.
You’ll need a good number of objective secured units (four I think is optimal) to make sure you have at least two left by the end of the game. Keep them in reserve as long as possible to keep them alive – this is where the Stormraven can play a vital role. While fragile objective secured transports such as drop pods and rhinos help you put more of these units on the table when you need them. Remember that Tigerius lets re roll successful reserves so you can keep them off the table longer.
Your Space Marine troop choices (tactical and scout squads) should have teleport homers which become vital towards the end game when you teleport DraigoStar via Gate to lock down objectives. I also think a Stormraven is an excellent choice with a locator beacon which is very helpful to prevent scatters during the midgame plus it can transport a troop hopefully keeping them safe inside until you need it to grab an objective. If you run a full Strike squad both combat squads can paratroop from the Stormraven independent of the other which is very powerful for late game objective grabbing.
Sample Draigostar List
DraigoStar is currently hailed as one of the top Deathstars in competitive 40k. Here is an 1850 point list I designed we can use as a general reference:
– Grey Knights – (Primary CAD)
Lord Khaldor Draigo /Warlord /Level 2 Psyker
Grey Knight Librarian /Level 3 Psyker
Storm Bolter • Nemesis Daemonhammer • Liber Daemonica
9x Grey Knight
2x Psycannon
Justicar – Nemesis Daemonhammer /Level 1 Psyker
4x Grey Knight
Psycannon
Justicar – Nemesis Daemonhammer/ Level 1 Psyker
Stormraven
Twin Linked Assault Cannon – Twin Linked Multi-Melta – Hurricane Bolters /Level 1 Psyker
– Ultramarines – (Allied Detachment)
Tigurius /Level 3 Psyker
4x Scout
2x Shotgun – 2x Close Combat Weapon – Camo Cloaks
Sergeant – Combi-Melta – Teleport Homer – Camo Cloak
Landspeeder Storm – Heavy Flamer
4x Devastator Centurion (DevCent)
4x Grav Cannon – 4x Grav Amp – 4x Missile Launcher
Sergeant – Twin Linked Lascannon – Missile Launcher – Omniscope
There are 11 total warp charges. This might not be the best list for DraigoStar… It’s based upon my limited experience playing the army.
As you can see the support units are rather limited. I opted for two squads of Grey Knights since they are more resilient than scouts in general and generate warp charges plus I like the daemonhammers as a deterrent to monstrous creatures. You can break the 10 man Grey Knight squad into two combat squads for a total of 12 warp charges.
DraigoStar is composed of Draigo, Tigurius, and the Grey Knight Librarian all attached to the DevCents. Assuming it’s got Prescience and Perfect Timing up it can very reliably eliminate one enemy unit per turn. The 10 man Grey Knight squad can start in reserve embarked in the Stormraven and the scouts can outflank. Tigurius allows you to re roll reserves to help keep the bulk of your objective secured units units off the table as long as possible if need be. Also DraigoStar can Gate out of close combat. It can be very frustrating versus a lot of armies. So how do you beat it ?
Destroying the Deathstar
Da Greenskins
The Orks’ Greentide is an excellent counter and I’ve been told by more than one Ork player they had no problem versus this army.
Hello Culexis
If you’re really worried about it and play an Imperial army then take a Cullexus assassin – you can either infiltrate her close to the deathstar or embark the assassin in a Stormraven to shut down their psychic phase. Obviously not everyone can do these things though.
The Greatest Good
Tau can use their markerlights and interceptor to make it easier to hit the deathstar in the shooting phase and eliminate units coming in from reserve.
The Dreaded Serpent
Eldar Wave Serpent spam can focus fire on the deathstar hoping the dice go their way.
General Tips
There’s no doubt though most conventional armies are going to be hard pressed so you must play to the mission objectives, or maybe even just ignore the deathstar. If the primary objective is Purge the Alien well good luck with that but most often it’s not the case so don’t sweat it.
If you play an assault heavy army and can manage to assault the deathstar in one turn with several melee-centric units it should do some damage but that won’t be easy to pull off unless you can somehow bait the deathstar. I think BikeStar could possibly do it if commandeered by a top player… Shoot it with everything hoping for some 6s with your grav and melta weapon then charge them with everything that can reach it.
Sometimes heavily psychic laden armies will have a poor psychic phase – if the deathstar should fail to successfully cast Invisibility then be ready to hit them with everything you’ve got available ! It will happen from time to time too so you must be opportunistic in your overall approach to beating DraigoStar. Save all your dispel dice every turn to deny Invisibility… You might get lucky and this is the power you really want to shut down.
If you don’t like Deathstars you might want to ask yourself why did you read this far. I prefer to learn how to play tactically – you can do it too.
