If you asked a Warhammer 40k fan at pretty much any time in the past few years which army got the fewest new models and books released, and there’s a good chance they’d say it was the Drukhari. Not today, though! Games Workshop has at long last previewed the incoming 10th edition Drukhari codex, alongside two new models: a reworked, multi option Archon kit, and a brand new Archon named character, Lady Malys.
Revealed via GW’s Warhammer Community site on Monday, Lady Malys is the Archon of the Kabal of the Poisoned Tongue, a major Drukhari subfaction known for being adept at subterfuge and poison weaponry. Among the many Warhammer 40k factions, the Dark Eldar are infamous for using both – which makes Malys and her followers fitting figureheads for the Dark Kin!
As usual, WarCom gives us no indication of release window or pricing for Lady Malys (or anything else, for that matter) but we do get some hints at her in-game rules. She fights with “a barbed longsword known as the Lady’s Blade and a fan of razor sharp knives” – so it’s fair to suspect her ranged attack might be a very nasty poison throwing knife affair, rather than the standard Splinter Pistol/Blast Pistol choices.
Her poison specialism will apparently “render her unit’s attacks even deadlier”, though it’s not clear whether this leader buff will apply to ranged or melee weapons, or both (or which stat will be affected, though given that it’s poison, an Anti-Infantry Warhammer 40k ability would seem appropriate).
WarCom also confirms she’ll have an ability to re-deploy units pre-game, as “opponents are always caught off guard when Kabalites they thought they had sussed out are suddenly spirited elsewhere before the battle even begins”.
Malys has been revealed alongside a refreshed kit for the Drukhari Kabalites’ generic HQ character, the Archon, with what appears to be a ton of customization: alternate body options, two head options and various customizable weapon arms, including a delightful agonizer.
Perhaps most impactful for existing Drukhari players, though, is the news that the army’s 10th edition codex is finally on the horizon. As our tracker of all the known Warhammer 40k codex release dates shows, the Drukhari have waited very patiently since 10th dropped in Summer 2023.
And, with Warhammer 40k 11th edition all but certain to launch in less than a year -if they didn’t get a ‘dex soon, they’d have no time to play with it before a new edition wiped the slate clean!
Monday’s WarCom reveal tells us two important things about this new Drukhari codex. First, it’ll have five 40k detachments to play with, though we get no hint yet of how they’ll be thematically or mechanically split between the army’s three distinct portions: Kabalites, Wych Cults, and Haemonculus Covens.
Second: it includes “a revamped Power from Pain Army Rule” which gives every unit in the army “unique pain abilities” on its datasheet, activated by spending pain points. That’s a big shift from the Index setup, which allowed you to spend points to give a unit one generic boost, depending on which turn phase you were in. It could unlock quite a bit more utility and tactical options from currently underplayed units.
Finally, Warcom also unveiled two new Drukhari box sets: the Realspace Raiders Battleforce, with a broad spread of kabalite troops plus some Wyches; and a new Drukhari Combat Patrol starter army, which (unusually) focuses entirely on the flesh-stitching Haemonculi and their creations.
A Haemonculus, two squads of Wracks, and two Engines (Talos Pain or Chronos Parasite, your choice) is a wild departure in aesthetic and play style from past Drukhari starter sets. The last Combat Patrol box contained a traditional, fast moving kabals force of an Archon, ten Kabalite Warriors, five Incubi, and two Raider transports.
How it’ll play depends on the new codex, of course, but at the very least it’s going to show new Dark Eldar players the really gross side of the army, right up front!
What do you think about Lady Malys and the new Archon? Do you have any predictions (or a wish list) for the incoming Drukhari codex? Come join us in the free Wargamer Discord community to share your headcanon, dreams, and desires – we promise nobody will turn your ankles into lampshades, like the Haemonculi would.
If you’d rather take a deeper lore dive, we’ve got complete guides to all 21 Warhammer 40k primarchs, and a fully researched guide to the ultimate Horus Heresy reading order!