Detachment Focus: Veiled Blade Elimination Force

Merry Grotmas! Games Workshop is releasing a new series of detachments – one per army, every day until Christmas. In this series we’re looking at these new detachments, covering what’s in them, how they play, and how they’ll fit into the broader meta and your games.

Imperial Agents are somewhat of a weird army having only been given full army rules this edition, earlier this year. They’ve long been used as allies of various forms for Imperium armies, but have largely lacked a cohesive army structure. The codex didn’t solve this problem, but did provide some very interesting ways to play their units as a single army. The Veiled Blade Elimination Force follows in this trend.

Detachment Overview

This detachment is the answer to every player that has asked “why aren’t Imperial Assassins like they are in the lore” by cranking their datasheets up to 11. Each assassin gets a bespoke upgrade that they must take, and their base datasheet abilities get upgraded.

Detachment Rule: Extremis Sanction

A story in two parts – first Officio Assassinorum units in your army can use the Overkill (Eversor), Soulless Horror (Culexus), and Shieldbreaker (Vindicare) abilities twice per battle (but not more than once in the same battle round). The second is that each Assassin has a bespoke upgrade that must be taken if they are fielded, replacing the more traditional enhancements in other detachments. These tend to increase the cost of the Assassin by about 40 points.

Definitely a very interesting detachment rule – cranking up the abilities on three of the assassins and all four getting special rules is quite fun. Is it good? Read on!

Enhancements

As mentioned before, these aren’t enhancements per se as they must be taken and you can take all four when fielding all four assassins. They are now called Extremis Abilities.

• Decoy Targets [40 pts] – Twice per battle in your movement phase the Callidus can reveal themselves hidden where another friendly infantry model was, destroying them (and not triggering any rules that would trigger from them being destroyed). Limited to once per battle round, but notably has no restriction on charging, this ability is hilarious. The Callidus in lore is known for hiding in plain sight and now you can do exactly that!
• Esoteric Explosives [40 pts] – When the Culexus uses the Grenade Stratagem, it triggers mortals on a 3+ instead of a 4+. Solid, simple, but also somewhat meh for 40 points. On average this means one extra mortal wound per use.
• Intraneutral Biotech [35 pts] – Once per battle round the Eversor can use the Heroic Intervention or Counter-offensive stratagem for 0CP, even if it has already been used by another unit this phase. Either of these stratagems for free is quite nice, but being able to double up on them makes it even more potent.
• Micromelta Rounds [45 pts] – The Vindicare’s Exitus Rifle gains ANTI-MONSTER 4+ and ANTI-VEHICLE 4+. Given their rifle already has devastating wounds, this is an impressively annoying ability to give to a Vindicare sitting in the backfield shooting all game. Being able to ignore Lone Operative also means no one is safe. Combine this with a second Shieldbreaker round per game and you have a Vindicare that’s almost worth the cost. Almost.

This is very much a different take on enhancements, and quite the fun one so kudos to Games Workshop for embracing a bit of chaos here. Decoy Targets and Micromelta Rounds are very solid, though the Vindicare still remains extremely swingy with his habit of rolling 1’s to hit or wound. The Intraneural Biotech powers up the Eversor to constantly bounce from combat to combat, and with the ability to power him up in melee twice per battle he becomes a force to be reckoned with.

Stratagems

These stratagems are quite nice – most of them have a base ability for all Imperial Agents units, with an added bonus for a specific Assassin that fits the theme of the stratagem, so you do have some power here for the rest of your army.

• Prime Target (Battle Tactic, 1 CP) – In your shooting phase or the fight phase, this gives an Agent of the Imperium unit re-rolls of 1 to wound against an enemy CHARACTER unit. If used on an OFFICIO ASSASSINORUM unit, and they are targeting the enemy WARLORD then they can re-roll the wound roll instead. Very solid stratagem, especially potent on either a Vindicare or a Culexus Assassin due to their devastating wounds on their ranged and melee weapons, respectively.
• Hyperstimms (Battle Tactic, 2 CP) – When targeted in the opponent’s shooting phase or the fight phase, this gives an Agents of the Imperium Character unit +1 toughness, and if used on an Eversor upgrades their Feel No Pain to a 4+. Quite solid in general as Imperial Agents units tend to be T3, but also held back by the 2CP cost.
• Will-sapping Salvo (Strategic Ploy, 1 CP) – In your shooting phase, give an Agents of the Imperium Infantry unit Sustained Hits 1, and if it is used on a Culexus you upgrade their ranged damage to flat 3 damage from d3. This makes a Culexus terrifying, especially into any 3-wound psyker unit as they then have 6 attacks at S5 AP-2 D3 with Anti-Psyker 2+ and Precision. Sorry Grey Knights and Thousand Sons, this one’s personal. 
• Orbital Oversight (Strategic Ploy, 1 CP) – Used in your opponent’s shooting phase just after they’ve selected targets, make an Agents of the Imperium Infantry unit untargetable outside of 18”, or if they have the Lone Operative ability they cannot be targeted outside of 6”. Very solid, especially given how squishy Imperial Agents units can be. The more potent one is definitely the upgraded version for the Assassins as now you have to get danger close to shoot them.
• Blind Grenades (Strategic Plot, 1 CP) – One Agents of the Imperium Grenades or Vindicare Assassin unit from your army that was just selected as the target of a charge. Your opponent must subtract 1 from charge rolls made by that unit, or subtract 2 instead if used on a Vindicare. Quite nice, especially since the Vindicare Assassin doesn’t particularly enjoy being in close quarters combat.
• Ensnaring Trap (Strategic Ploy, 1 CP) – One Agents of the Imperium Infantry unit can declare a charge at the end of your opponent’s charge phase into one or more enemy units that are within 6” of them. If used by a Callidus they can re-roll the charge roll and then gets +1 to wound in the subsequent fight phase. Old-school Heroic Intervention, at 1CP, and when coupled with Orbital Oversight it becomes very funny. A Callidus with +1 to wound is especially spicy.

Let’s get one thing straight: this detachment isn’t super competitive, but it is Imperial Agents at its finest. Great buffs to various Infantry units, and a special ability for each Assassin. The ones that stick out to us are Orbital Oversight for keeping precious scoring units alive or setting up for an Ensnaring Trap play with a Callidus Assassin. Will-sapping Salvo turns the Culexus into a really mean shooting unit while Prime Target removes some of the reliability issues each Assassin could have once they had their target in their sights/arms.

Playing This Detachment

If you’re playing this detachment, you’re here for assassins and other fun jank from Imperial Agents. Play will revolve around delivering each of the assassins into their respective targets while also keeping precious scoring units alive in the backfield. Most lists will probably have some amount of Imperial Knights allies, either Canis Rex or a trio of Armiger Helverins to provide the long-range shooting that Imperial Agents lack.

The other option is to go heavy on Subductors, Imperial Navy Breachers, only 1-2 Assassins, and the rest of what makes a “good” Imperial Agents list, but this isn’t nearly as fun. We’re here to do our best Expendables impression on the table with our 4 heroes of the army. So let’s get on with building such a list.

Strengths

• Officio Assassinorum units are more like they read in the books
• Some really fun combos for infantry units
• All the stratagems are great on regular Imperial Agents units, but even better on assassins

Weaknesses

• You’re playing Imperial Agents
• The mandatory upgrades are probably too expensive for what you get out of them
• The rest of your army now has no detachment rule (and already didn’t have an army rule)

A Sample List

Four assassins with their mandatory Extremis Abilities comes out to 580 points, which is a significant investment for 4 little infantry models, but these folks should punch well above their weight.

The list - click to expand

The more I look at this list the more amused I am at how it will play. This detachment gives you 4 superheroes that you need to keep safe until they level a small building, and the tools to do so. Canis Rex in this list keeps players honest, the Deathwatch Veterans units gives you some potential counter-charge, and all the little dumb Imperial Agents units give you scoring opportunities.

Final Thoughts

The Veiled Blade Elimination Force is the love letter to the concept of Imperial Assassins as legendary, larger-than-life operatives capable of single-handedly altering the course of the battle and we’re all for it. While it is far from the most competitive detachment, that’s clearly not the point here – it’s about capturing the narrative, leaning into it, and just plain having fun with some of the game’s most iconic units.

Having mandatory upgrades to level up each assassin with the Extremis Abilities further reinforces this idea of the Assassins being the star of the show. It’d be a shame if any list running this detachment didn’t take at least 3 of the assassins.

Ultimately, the Veiled Blade Elimination Force isn’t just a set of rules – it’s a chance to play out the fantasy of controlling a team of hyper-lethal agents in a sprawling battlefield. If you’re here for the lore, or the laughs, or the cinematic moments that these units can create, this detachment is well worth a look. Now where’d I put my Imperial Sanction…

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