Warhammer 40K: This Week’s Meta Hotness – Drukhari Raiders

Let’s take a look at a unit that is running rings around the opposition, the fleet Drukhari Raider.

In the ever-shifting meta of 40K, armies rise and fall. We’ve spent a lot of time talking about armies that are hot or not, but a lot less time looking at units that are running the show. Today let’s start by taking a look at one of the hottest units currently running around the tabletop.

The Unit

This week’s hot unit are Raiders. They are the classic troop transport of all Drukhari factions. The unit is primarily used as a fast transport for Dark Eldar units. It however can carry some limited heavy weapons, allowing it to double as a fire support unit.

Why They Are Good

Raiders have long been a core part of the Drukhari army. In prior books however, they were often overshadowed by Venoms. Now thanks to some buffs, they’ve become a major staple of armies, with Dark Eldar armies almost always taking 5-6 of them. Raiders have a lot going for them. As a transport they are fast, and with an 11 man capacity can carry a full squad and an HQ. Though they have a lower toughness and armor save than most other transports, the bonus of an invulnerable save more than makes up for it. Overall they are fast and survivable and able to get units where they want to be.

Raiders are also a very deadly unit. The base weapon they come with, the Dark Lance, has seen a nice upgrade, making it a strong anti-tank/heavy infantry vehicle. On top of that, they can take upgrades to let them lower enemy morale and deal out mortal wounds. To make them even better, the open-topped rule allows units inside to fire out of them. Taking everything to just another level, the Raider, unlike pretty much every other transport in modern 40K, is not limited to carrying only units of its sub-faction. This means players can take all of their Raiders from the Kabal of the Black Heart, whose re-roll to hit makes their single-shot Dark Lance very reliable, and them load them up with Wych’s and Wracks (with liquefier guns that can fire out of them). Overall this is a fast, flexible, deadly, and cost-effective unit.

A Sample List

Saying a unit is hot is all well and good, but let’s take a look at how players are using it. Wracks have shown up in a number of lists that have really dominated at recent tournaments. One list that highlights them is the list that John Lennon ran to win the Dallas Open.

3 Patrols full of Dark Eldar Goodness (for now… Admech is a comin’)

Patrol – Cult of Strife

-HQ-
Succubus, Competitive Edge, Dark Lotus Toxin, Razorfails, Warlord – Show Stealer

-Troops-
Wyches X 5 – Hypex, Hekatarii Blade, Splinter Pistol
Wyches X 5 – Hypex, Hekatarii Blade, Splinter Pistol
Wyches X 8 – Grave Lotus, Lots of other stuff that is hard to write out – I am thinking his Blood Brides

Patrol – Dark Technomancers

-HQ-

Drazhar

-Troops-

Wracks X 5 – Liquifer X 2
Wracks X 5 – Liquifer X 2
Wracks X 5 – Liquifer X 2

-Elites-

Incubi X 5
Mandrakes X 5

Patrol – Kabal of the Black Heart

-HQ-

Archon – Helm of Spite, Tolerated Ambition
Archon – Blast Pistol, Overlord, Djin Blade, Splintered Genius

-NA-

Court of the Archon
Sslyth X 4
Ur-Ghul X 4
Court of the Archon
Sslyth X 4
Ur-Ghul X 4

-Troops-

Kabalite Trueborn – X 10 – Blaster X 2, Dark Lance
Kabalite Warriors X 5 – Blaster
Kabalite Warriors X 5 – Blaster

-Elites-

Inubi X 5

-Dedicated Transports-

Raider – Dark Lance, Phantasm Grenade Launcher
Raider – Dark Lance, Splinter Racks
Raider – Dark Lance
Raider – Dark Lance
Raider – Dark Lance
Raider – Dark Lance

Using the Unit

Looking at the list we can see that like most winning Dark Eldar lists, he’s got 6 Raiders. All of them are crammed into the Kabal of the Black Heart detachment, but are used to carry troops from multiple sub-factions.  The Raiders, and the Warriors firing out of them, are not only transports but also the bulk of the army’s heavy anti-tank firepower. The 6 hyper-accurate Dark Lances they carry, can fry an enemy vehicle or take down a heavy infantry unit.

Let us know what units you think are hot right now, down in the comments! 

Author: Abe Apfel

Abe is that rare thing, an Austin local born and raised here. Though he keeps on moving around, DC, Japan, ETC., he always seems to find his way back eventually. Abe has decades of experience with a wide range of tabletop and RPG games, from historicals, to Star Wars to D&D and 40K. He has been contributing to BOLS since almost the start, back when he worked at and then owned a local gaming store. He used to be big into the competitive Warhammer tournament scene but age has mellowed him and he now appreciates a good casual match. He currently covers 40K tactics and lore, as well as all things Star Wars, with occasional dabbling in other topics. Abe remains in mourning over the loss of WFB to this day.