Warhammer 40k Drukhari New Detachment is an unprecedented buff from Games Workshop, helping the Dark Eldar who had a rough time in the first few months of 10th Edition.
The Warhammer 40k January Balance Dataslate has been out for a day now with rules updates and points changes for almost every faction. However, one faction received a bit more love than the others: the Drukhari, who got a buff to their Army Rule as Pain Tokens now give an extra AP in melee, as well as a brand new Detachment!
While Games Workshop only adds new Detachments when a faction gets their Codex, they explained that they decided to make an exception with Drukhari, as the faction needed some extra help. But what is the Skysplinter Assault Detachment, and how do you play it?
Warhammer 40k Drukhari New Detachment – Skysplinter Assault
The new Drukhari Detachment called Skysplinter Assault focuses more on the Transports that the Drukhari use instead of the “alliance” (or rather, momentary truce to kill anyone else that’s not Dark Eldar) of the Realspace Raiders.
The Detachment Rule for Skysplinter Assault is called Rain of Cruelty, which gives Drukhari ranged weapons Ignores Cover and melee weapons Lance after they disembark from a Transport. This ability is very strong as Drukhari already played with multiple Venoms, Raiders and Ravagers, and also covers both a shooting focused or a scrappy Drukhari Force.
Warhammer 40k Drukhari New Detachment – Skysplinter Assault Stratagems
But how can Drukhari units charge and get the benefit from the Lance keyword if they don’t have any transports that lets them charge after disembarking from a Transport that moved? Fear not, as the Skysplinter Assault Stratagems cover all bases.
The most important Strat is the Pounce on the Prey one which let’s units charge after getting out of Transports that only made a Normal Move – all for 1 CP. While Drukhari can’t duplicate Stratagems, so only one unit can do this each turn, it’s still a very good Stratagem that enables the new Detachment.
Another great Strat is Vicious Blades, which acts as a Tank Shock after the Fight Phase. After your Transport fought, it can deal Mortal Wounds according to the models inside – with Wracks making it a 4+ instead of a 5+. With Tank Shock, this can deal with even tougher targets and mow down infantry.
Wraithlike Retreat is the replacement for Strike and Fade of Realspace Raiders (and the Aeldari cousins), which let’s units Fall Back after a fight – but only if they arrive near a Transport, unless they are Wyches. While this Stratagem could be clutch in multiple situations, it’s a bit hard to achieve unless you run Wyches, which are still not very good even with the changes.
Skyborne Annihilation is the one for Drukhari players that prefer shooting, as it gives units that Disembarked from a Transport Sustained Hits 1 – or 2, if it’s used on a Kabalite Warriors unit. Who wouldn’t want Dark Lances that can spike to 3 hits instead of 1?
There’s two Stratagems of Skysplinter Assault that can only be used in the opponents turn. The first one is Swooping Mockery, that let’s your Transports move 6” if an enemy unit moves within 9” of them. We’ve seen how strong Mists of Deimos is for Grey Knights, as well as Phantasm and (to a lesser extent) Squad Tactics are for Aeldari and Space Marines, and with the restriction of it only being usable on Transports, it might not break the game while still being very strong.
Night Shield is the last Stratagem of the new Detachment, which is the second strongest one next to Pounce on the Prey. This Strat gives a Vehicle a 4+ Invulnerable Save after being targeted, which counteracts the issue of Drukhari pirate ships being a bit flimsy. While they might not become tanks, they should be more survivable with this Stratagem.
Pounce on the Prey and Night Shield are extremely good Strats for the new Detachment, but all of them are usable (or even good), which is a relief as Drukhari has been struggling in the past months.
Warhammer 40k Drukhari New Detachment – Skysplinter Assault Enhancements
While the Enhancements of Skysplinter Assault are a bit more tame, there’s one outlier among them – Nightmare Shroud. This upgrade protects the leader’s unit from the Fire Overwatch Stratagem, meaning they can freely Disembark and move around the battlefield, not being afraid of getting shot down. This is an insane Enhancement as Overwatch is very strong in 10th Edition.
Phantasmal Smoke is also fairly good, as it makes the leader’s unit a bit more survivable. It grants Stealth and the Benefit of Cover while the unit is near a Transport, which can protect them from counterfire as well as making them more suitable for midboard control.
Sadistic Fulcrum empowers the Transport next to the unit you use a Pain Token on, which makes Ravagers especially deadly. They can hold up to 3 Dark Lances, and with reroll to Hits, they will surely strike their target. This combos well with Kabalite Warriors and Skyborne Annihilation, capable of chewing through most enemies.
Last but not least, the Spiteful Raider Enhancement is the best way to farm Pain Tokens in this Detachment, as it gives an extra one if you destroy something near an objective marker in Melee. While conditional, those bonus Tokens could come in handy when you need to shift a tougher target.
All in all, the new Drukhari Detachment is an incredible addition to Warhammer 40k, and should make the lives of Drukhari players much better. It’s also great to see that Games Workshop is willing to take bigger steps to buff (or nerf) a faction if it needs it – we can’t wait to see what’s in store for Warhammer 40k in the coming months!