Denizens of Commorragh (Drazhar - Master of Blades)

The Denizens of Commorragh series is a close look at what is about to hit the shelves, The Dark Eldar. I will at some point create a set of links so that they are easier to navigate, but for now, just look under this months archive halfway down on the right column of the blog. We have already visited Scourges, Kabalite Trueborn, Mandrakes, Incubi, and Hekatrix Bloodbrides (with Wyches). Next up is one of the special characters of the Dark Eldar, Drazhar - Master of Blades.

Drazhar has been one of my favorite characters in 40k for a very very long time. I really cant wait to see how they update this model into the current model line.

One of the things I like most about Drazhar now is that they expanded upon his enigmatic background. It's something you will have to read. That aside, lets look at his evolution into 5th edition.

His stat line is incredible. WS7 S4 T4 W3 I7 A4 Ld10 Sv2+. Wow. He is relatively expensive, but so is everything else Dark Eldar. Built into this cost is onslaught and murderous assault as well as Demi-Klaives. That's 45 points of upgrades for a normal Klaivex (incubi leader). Given that he will or should gather pain tokens quickly, is he expensive? Not really in my opinion. (I wont post the points because this is not a codex, but a review).

Drazhar is a close combat wizard. He slices he dices, and for a low monthly installment he can be yours. (sorry for the dry infomercial humor, couldn't help it).

The Master of Blades is fleet, has power through pain, eternal warrior, is fearless (and gives to an incubi unit he joins), and is an independent character. What he does not do, is give army wide bonus's for list synergy. I dont buy it that he doesn't fit into the synergy of Dark Eldar. Dark Eldar have the nastiest close combat leaders and characters, and he fits right into it. Backed up by the frightening firepower of Dark Eldar, Incubi are able to cut through enemy squads and spread terror into your opponent. Drazhar pushes that terror beyond the average players tolerance. Lets look at it.

He has eternal warrior, and makes an Incubi unit that he joins fearless. He is S4 and T4. Getting a pain token will not be hard here, and any real str6 or higher shots that hit your unit will be absorbed by Drazhar with his 2+ and soon to be FNP 4+. He will be a serious driver in lists that utilize incubi. His Demi-Klaives can either be used to give him 2 additional attacks at S4, or +2S. A second token giving furious charge allowing Drazhar to strike at S7  with 5 power weapon attacks on the charge or S5 with 7 attacks on init8. Imagine him bouncing between two forward striking Incubi squads, driving hard into enemy lines, with darklight weaponry shooting overhead. That is synergy.

Murderous assault allows you to nominate an independent character at the start of each round. This gives you preferred enemy when attacking that model.

Riposte. If he makes an armor save on a 6+, he gets an immediate attack at base str back at the unit that struck him in close combat.

Darting Strike. This allows Drazhar to move around in the assault phase while in combat. He can move around in the same combat where there is room to place him, as long as he maintains coherency with any unit he has joined. Meaning he goes after those Independent Characters with a vengeance.

Overall, just throwing Drazhar into a list will probably be failure. What he is, is not just a point and click character. I feel that a well designed list with him built into it, will utilize Drazhar and his incubi to terrorize your opponents and slice them up into little bits. I like him alot. I dont yet know where he will fit into my lists, but I have a feeling I will be playing with him in several lists. Incubi and Drazhar will not work for everyone, but I think you will see him in some very nasty lists.

Anyone else have comments?