Warhammer 40K: Against the Drukhari – New Rising Stars
A series of new rising units are showing up to even the odds in the face of the 40K Drukhari tidalwave.
We are seeing more and more tournaments start to pop up as many places are slowly returning to normal activities. Drukhari continue to do well. I believe that they have a 70% win rate at this point, but there are other aspects of the tournament scene that I want to look at. One good thing about the new edition is that many players are still working on what they think will work in their meta. I believe I have spoken before about how different areas can have a drastically different type of meta than another area.
It is usually at larger tournaments, like the Las Vegas open, London GT, or Adepticon, where you see all these different meta collide as people from different parts of the country, or world, come together to play 40K. This week I will take a look at some of the units, or combination of units, that are seeing more play in the tournament scene. Now bear in mind that in my area there are a large number of chaos players so they figure heavy in the list.
Chaos Monster Mash
Lately, we have been seeing a resurgence of chaos greater daemons in some of the lists that are doing well. This is not something local either. I have seen a few lists across the country that feature these monsters. The new obscuring rule for dense terrain, the fast movement of some , the durability of others, and being able to place a unit in strategic reserve, help to keep these big guys alive. Some players even add in the daemon Primarchs for another level of monstrosities for the army.
Some cheap troops for objective secured and you can still hold the backfield as your monsters push forward to push the center, or flank, and cause general mayhem. There is a version of this type of list you see with Tyranids, however this relies heavily on having multiple Dimachaerons. Unfortunately this is really the only big bug that really is the backbone of the army. This makes the Tyranid army somewhat one-dimensional whereas the chaos player has many more viable options so you have a variety of list options with the same concept.
Chaos/Space Marine Walkers
This essentially covers all the dreadnoughts that both armies can bring. There is also one weapon type that both armies can use and that is the volkite weapons. The high volume of shots and the bonus that they can do additional damage in the form of mortal wounds, on a wound roll of a 6, make these weapons highly effective. The Contemptors also have a native -1 damage ability, which also applies to Deredeos and Leviathans, and they can seem pretty resilient. There have been plenty of times where I only had my Contemptors left and they were still killing units like they were nothing.
On the chaos side, you are starting to see the return of Decimators with butcher cannons. Once a big deal in the beginning of 8th edition, they were priced out when the guns were 65 points each. Now with the guns down to only 10 points each, don’t be surprised to see them in any chaos army you play against. The ability to deal 2d3 mortal wounds, per gun, really helps you deal with things like Dark Angel Deathwing Knights.
Imperial/Chaos Knights
In recent weeks we have seen a bit of a resurgence in the use of Knights, whether it is the loyal or traitor kind. No matter the side you choose, the big guy being used the most is the Questoris Magaera. The guns and abilities of this mech really help clear out units on objectives, especially since Knights have issues dealing with objective secured bodies. Even the Castellan is seeing some action. Although not the king of the battlefield it once was, this unit still has the guns to back up its points cost.
The drop in points for the smaller knights also helps. Being able to have a swarm of machines to accompany the big guys really helps you get to where you want and can still have an impact against units once they have been softened up by their larger brothers in arms. All this can also apply to the traitor forces as well. In addition, some of the stratagems and specials rules for the chaos knights might make them the choice to go with. This obviously assumes that you have a choice.
~That’s all for this week. I hope you enjoyed the article. Let me know what you think, and what units you are seeing making a splash on the battlefield, in the comments section below.
