Continueing the Denizens of Commorragh series of reviews, it is time to introduce the most feared Dark Eldar HQ unit in the codex (insert evil chuckle). Kheradruakh, The Decapitator. He is "He Who Hunts Heads", and was one of the characters I most looked forward to when I got my hands on the codex. To put it mildly, I had to re-read him several times to fully understand what had happened to possibly one of the best background characters in our codex.
First off, the new background for Kheradruakh is phenominal. I read it occasionally when I feel like crying. The background and the character we get to play with, just do not match. He is an ancient mandrake who may one day when he gets new stats and powers, take Commorragh away from Vect.
WS6 BS5 T3 W3 I6 A4 Ld9 Sv- (5+invul). He comes with the decapitator, a power weapon that causes instant death on a roll of a 6 to wound regardless of the enemies toughness. This is in fact a nice weapon. His special rules are fleet, Night Vision, Move through cover, Baleblast, Stealth, Invulnerable save. He also comes with the following
Shade Stalker. He must be held in reserve and appears where ever you want him to outside of 1" of an enemy model. He cannot assault, but can shoot.
Hunter of Heads. Nominate an independent character at the beginning of the game, the decapitator now has preferred enemy against that character.
Altered Physique. He starts the game with a pain token. This means he comes with feel no pain, and can use his baleblast from the start. 18" S4 AP4 Assault2 pinning.
This is probably the only HQ choice I will never use, nor should anyone else. It would of been simple to make him effective. Simply remove his "may not assault the round he appears". As he is, he cannot join units. He cannot survive assaulting into cover alone (no grenades), and should not ever appear within rapid fire range of any type of weapons. Of course an isolated 5 man marine squad might be vulnerable, and if caught out in the open, the decapitator will kill them.
With Kheradruakh, you are relying upon appearing (with an evil chuckle as the codex says), and surviving if lucky bolter fire. Ideally appear in cover since you have stealth so you get a good cover save. The problem though will be that when you assault the unit had better be pinned or you go last.
The bottom line, I've tried hard to find a use for this character. I've wanted and wanted to use him in a game. The problem is, my time is a little more valuable than to waste it using this character. This character was the most disappointing thing of the codex for me. Personally, I wouldn't mind seeing the Decapitator's lair modeled up, with him sitting on top of his pile of skulls. Beyond modeling ideas, leave this one at home.