Welcome back, Dear Reader, to the sacred battlegrounds of the second BLUNDERDOME. For those of you who missed yesterday’s announcement on this year’s Blunderdome, you can find the article with more info on the event here. The short version is, this second Blunderdome is going super casual: We’re building 8 lists with none of the nonsense or complications caused by things like “FAQs,” “Balance Dataslates,” or “Points updates.” Just books used exactly as printed, for the most fun, casual 40k experience possible.
For this event, we’ve had our murderer’s row of competitive sickos build lists for our casual funhavers to play with. Each two-person group constitutes a team for the purposes of winning this team, and each competitive player is on the hook for teaching their casual how to play the list. In this article – and the next two – we’re going to cover the eight lists in this BLUNDERDOME two at a time, along with notes on the lists and the documents handed off to their pilots. If you missed part 1 of our list series, where we talked about Votann and Iron Hands, you can find that here.Â
Today we’re talking about the Drukhari and T’au Empire lists.
Drukhari
Once the terror of the competitive metagame, Drukhari have been subject to more nerfs, adjustments, and general tweaks than pretty much any other 9th edition army. Yet despite the fact that they get to roll back the clock on all of these, there’s still a major question of how well they’ll fare in the new Blunderdome. After all, Drukhari were already getting pushed out of the competitive scene in late 2021 by flyer-heavy Admech and Ork lists, and this environment is sure to feature a return of those.
For this list we’ve sought help from James “Boon” Kelling, who played Drukhari through most of the year and finished in the top 20 of the ITC. He’s an experienced veteran with the faction and although his first love will always be craftworlds, here we’ve forced him to build a Drukhari list for our Blunderdome as penance for his crimes.
The List
++ Patrol Detachment (750 points) ++
Custom Coven: Dark Technomancers
HQ: Drazhar (145)
Troops: Wracks (65)
. Acothyst: Electrocorrosive Whip, Liquifier Gun
. Wrack w/ Special Weapon: Liquifier Gun, Wrack Blade
. 3x Wracks: 3x Wrack Blade
Troops: Wracks (65)
. Acothyst: Electrocorrosive Whip, Liquifier Gun
. Wrack w/ Special Weapon: Liquifier Gun, Wrack Blade
. 3x Wracks: 3x Wrack Blade
Troops: Wracks (65)
. Acothyst: Electrocorrosive Whip, Liquifier Gun
. Wrack w/ Special Weapon: Liquifier Gun, Wrack Blade
. 3x Wracks: 3x Wrack Blade
Elites: Incubi (90)
. 4x Incubi: 4x Klaive
. Klaivex: Klaive
DT: Raider (105) – Bladevanes, Dark Lance
DT: Raider (105) – Bladevanes, Dark Lance
DT: Raider (105) – Bladevanes, Dark Lance, Shock Prow
++ Patrol Detachment (980 points) ++
Custom Coven: Dark Technomancers
HQ: Archon (90): Ancient Evil, Huskblade, Overlord, Splinter Pistol, Stratagem: Tolerated Ambition
. Splintered Genius
Troops: Wracks (65)
. Acothyst: Electrocorrosive Whip, Liquifier Gun
. Wrack w/ Special Weapon: Liquifier Gun, Wrack Blade
. 3x Wracks: 3x Wrack Blade
Troops: Wracks (65)
. Acothyst: Electrocorrosive Whip, Liquifier Gun
. Wrack w/ Special Weapon: Liquifier Gun, Wrack Blade
. 3x Wracks: 3x Wrack Blade
Troops: Wracks (65)
. Acothyst: Electrocorrosive Whip, Liquifier Gun
. Wrack w/ Special Weapon: Liquifier Gun, Wrack Blade
. 3x Wracks: 3x Wrack Blade
Elites: Incubi (90)
. 4x Incubi: 4x Klaive
. Klaivex: Klaive
Elites: Incubi (90)
. 4x Incubi: 4x Klaive
. Klaivex: Klaive
HS: Cronos (255)
. Cronos: Spirit Syphon, Spirit Vortex, Spirit-Leech Tentacles
. Cronos: Spirit Syphon, Spirit Vortex, Spirit-Leech Tentacles
. Cronos: Spirit Syphon, Spirit Vortex, Spirit-Leech Tentacles
HS: Cronos (260)
. Cronos: Spirit Syphon, Spirit Vortex, Spirit-Leech Tentacles
. Cronos: Spirit Syphon, Spirit Vortex, Spirit-Leech Tentacles
. Cronos: Spirit Probe, Spirit Syphon, Spirit Vortex, Spirit-Leech Tentacles
++ Patrol Detachment (570 points) ++
Obsession: Cult of Strife – The Spectacle of Murder
HQ: Succubus (80) – Grave Lotus (Combat Drug), Competitive Edge, the Tryptych Whip, Agoniser & Archite Glaive, Agoniser, Archite Glaive
HQ: Succubus (80) – Grave Lotus (Combat Drug), Dark Lotus Toxin, Precision Blows, Show Stealer
Troops: Wyches (55) – 3 – Hypex (Combat Drug)
. Hekatrix: Hekatarii Blade, Plasma Grenades, Splinter pistol
. 4x Whych: 4x Hekatarii Blade, 4x Plasma Grenades, 4x Splinter Pistol
FA: Reavers (60) – 3 – Hypex (Combat Drug)
. Arena Champion: Bladevanes, Splinter Pistol, Splinter Rifle
. 2x Reaver: 2x Bladevanes, 2x Splinter Pistol, 2x Splinter Rifle
FA: Reavers (60) – 3 – Hypex (Combat Drug)
. Arena Champion: Bladevanes, Splinter Pistol, Splinter Rifle
. 2x Reaver: 2x Bladevanes, 2x Splinter Pistol, 2x Splinter Rifle
DT: Raider (110) – Bladevanes, Dark Lance, Grisly Trophies
DT: Raider (110) – Bladevanes, Dark Lance, Grisly Trophies
Boon’s Notes:
- It kinda hits most of the highlights, has a lot of utility options (don’t overlook the Shock Prow against T3 models). I once picked up 17 of 20 Ad Mech troopers in one go and finished the rest in combat with a single Raider. The key will be not overextended on T1 and setting up for T2 and T3
- The Cronos: I used to bring them out of reserve every game. If you can try to keep in mind the strat that takes a unit straight to T5 power from pain it’s very good. You’ll probably use it on the Cronos themselves, but the difference between a 6++ and 5++ on them is big. If on T2 you don’t think you can bring them both in effectively, that’s okay – they can’t both get the strat in the same turn (unless one can reliably charge/kill)
Swiftblade93 — 10/11/2022 - Cronos, Cont: The 12″ are (because you’re always Dark Techno’ing them) your choice on the 18″. I usually did but it was a consideration each time I shot. If you do overcharge the 18″ers just remember that’s its just one ‘1’ per gun. If you have 3 Cronos fire 18″ers and you get a 3, 5, and 2 – the 3 shots rolls 0 ones, the 5 shots roll 0 ones, and the 2 shots are BOTH ones it’s still just d3, not 2d3. They’re here for utility – move block, grab objectives, backfield sit, T1 lock up a vehicle or something. They’re 30 points and on T2 can advance and charge at incredibly long range.
- I like to split the Incubi in the Raiders so that if the Raider goes down you aren’t losing Incubi. So that’s usually
– 1×5 Wracks, 1×5 Incubi
– 1×5 Wracks, 1×5 Incubi
– 1×5 Wracks, 1×5 Incubi
– 1×5 Wracks, 1×5 Wyches
– 2×5 Wracks
Also, the Klaivex’ have Demiklaives obviously - Knee jerk reaction, I think this list will do pretty well into Votann
The Good:
– Votann
– Custodes
Who Goes First:
– Orks
– Tau
– Ad Mech
Lol:
– Tyranids
Bad:
– Harlequins
Outmaneuver:
– Iron Hands
With Harlequins everything is gonna have to be 6″ away for Liquifiers but if you can concentrate enough you will light em up since you just bypass their hit bullshit. Against T’au I haven’t seen the list, so I’m not sure specific loadouts, but I assume a whole bunch of Crisis Suits, at least one which can deepstrike T1 (near Stealth suits) and a whole bunch of S4 or S5 AP-1 ignore LoS shooting at like 18″ are the game plan. If you can get into him you win (remember the ignore OW strat or use a sacrificial raider/bikes). If he demechs you before you’re close enough with enough stuff you lose.
The Cronos and Liquifiers will chew through the Shield Drones and Crisis squads if you can get enough of them to bear. Once you’re out of the boat you’re going to die unless you kill enough so it’s kind of picking your fight and hitting center of mass then doing the same thing with a second and third wave. Be smart on objectives, etc. Tau is hard, tbh, though I think it’s the best possible for you. With all the sun sharks and a smaller crisis bomb? That makes sense. A little less indirect fire and drop zone clear. Yeah, Sunsharks still real deadly but importantly they need to come to you and the rest of the army has no AFPs. So you get to hide behind your ruin walls and dictate the engagement and you have far more trade pieces that are far faster.
The Casual Player: Dan “Swiftblade” Richardson
Dan’s no stranger to Drukhari – you may remember him from a large number of losses to my Death Guard last year – but he’s yet to win even an RTT with them. He’s on the more experienced end of things when it comes to play with the faction and is one of the better players in this event. Of course that’s offset by the fact that Drukhari may be one of the worse factions in this event.
T’au Empire
Relative newcomers to the block with a February 2022 Codex release, T’au nearly immediately caused problems after their release, leading to nerfs not only to their book specifically but all indirect fire weapons thanks to the raw power of Airbursting Fragmentation Projectors. T’au armies combine serious mobility with unparalleled firepower, and that’s further boosted by their unnerfed Mont’ka and CORE Broadsides. Adding to that are Sunshark bombers, which weren’t part of the first wave of T’au lists but made their way in later as players realized how much damage they could do.
For this list we’ve asked Jack Harpster from The Art of War to help build our list. Jack’s relatively new to the faction but has put in more than enough reps with T’au, including a win at NOVA this year. His plan is to just arm his casual player with a list that hits hard and quickly, and hope that it goes first or can weather the opponent’s first turn.
The List
++ Farsight Enclaves Patrol Detachment ++
HQ: Coldstar – HO Burst, DW-02 Advanced Burst, 2x Missile Pod, Precision of the Hunter, Onager Gauntlet – 165
HQ: Coldstar – HO Burst, Thermoneutronic Projector, 2x Plasma Rifle, Exemplar of the Kauyon– 165
Troops: 10 Kroot – 60
EL: 3 Stealth Suits – Homing Beacon – 80
FLYER: Sun Shark – 165
FLYER: Sun Shark – 165
++ Farsight Enclaves Patrol Detachment ++
HQ: Crisis Commander – 2x Cyclic Ion, 2x Plasma Rifle, 2x Marker Drone, Exemplar of the Montka, Puretide Engram Neurochip – 165
HQ: Coldstar – HO Burst, Burst Cannon, 2x Plasma Rifle – 150
Troops: 10 Kroot – 60
EL: 5 Crisis Bodyguards – 2x Airburst, Multi-tracker, 3x Shield Drone, Marker Drone – 296
EL: 5 Crisis Battlesuits – Cyclic/2x Plasma/Shield Gen, Iridium Battlesuit, 2x Shield Drone, Stimm Injector – 339
FA: 4 Kroot Hounds – 24
FLYER: Sun Shark – 165
Jack’s Notes
- Generally speaking, move fast, hit hard, and take advantage of obviously misprinted rules (multitrackers are double exploding 6s in the initial codex release).
- Shoot opponents until they die. Against Admech, kill the planes, stay out of line of sight from the troops, kill the troops immediately on the following turn. Bomb the troops, shoot the stratoraptors, then the rangers. Bodyguard can potentially just bone admech.
- Go first.
The Casual Player: TheNgumeister
A recent entrant to the Goonhammer Discord, Andrew (theNgumeister) has some T’au experience and was generally excited to both play in “his fastest tournament ever” and also combine an Ethereal with Farsight rules once again.
Next Time: Admech and Orks
That wraps up our look at the second pair of Blunderdome lists, but check back in tomorrow for another pair of war crimes, along with notes on how to play them. We’ll be doing this all week, then talking about the games next week. In the meantime, if you have any questions or feedback, drop us a note in the comments below or email us at contact@goonhammer.com.
