Mandrake
Mandrakes are creepy cousins of Dark Eldar, who look like coal-black elf Murderhobos covered in rags and armed with all kinds of creepy sickle blades ranging from the Saw-Edged Blade to the Glimmersteel Blade and the derpy-sounding Trophy Bones. They live in a sub-realm where light does not exist (like at all, darkness extinguishes light there) and have shadow-based superpowers. Most Dark Eldar think they're just useless scumbags, too primitive to be worth paying attention to, though some Archons hire Mandrakes as assassins, as they're quite good at it. Their superpowers allow them to teleport from shadow to shadow, which is super-useful for sneaking through a cabal spire or haemonculi den, where every square meter is filled with traps, guards, monsters, fucked-up space-time anomalies or everything above. Because of these superpowers, its probable that the Mandrakes have some connection to the now-deceased god Qah, who also had links to the Umbra and Hrud, and is most likely a former Eldar god.
Overview and History[edit]
Once upon a time they tried to conquer Commorragh with a little help from Nurgle, but Vect fucked them so hard only a handful of their population survived, and since then they stayed low... At least until the story advanced with 8th edition. They were instrumental in slamming the door shut hard into Slaanesh's face when he/she/it tried to invite itself into Commoragh while Asdrubael Vect and Lady Malys were too busy with their powerplays after the whole Ynnari thing. They even killed Vect. However he ended up being brought back to life at his own funeral, and it's unknown whether Vect hired the Mandrakes to "kill" him or someone else got the drop on Vect and Vect's funerary resurrection was Not As Planned for them.
In older editions they were basically Dark Eldar dressed in BDSM leather and covered with knives; this style is seen in Dawn of War Soulstorm. In the current edition, seen at the top of the page, they look like shonen villains fitted with pants worn by Japanese Kendo practitioners.
They apparently eat daemons now too.
The most infamous Mandrake to exist is named Kheradruakh, a powerful four-armed nightmare who went toe to toe with the Primarch Vulkan during the Heresy, and pushed the Lord of the Salamanders hard.
On tabletop[edit]
Unfortunately, despite their superpowers in fluff and badass models, on the tabletop Mandrakes were notorious as one of the WORST infiltrators of the game, and stood alongside the Pyrovore as one of the worst units in the game, period. In an army so reliant on hit and run tactics, Mandrakes literally had one job, and it was the one job they couldn't do, but the models looked awesome and it became something of a running joke with Dark Eldar players as to what their Mandrake models counted as.
7th Edition did much to alleviate their uselessness by giving them much needed staying power and a ranged attack, making them actually pretty points-effective backline objective campers, and no longer made it necessary to play them as Harlequins in order to merely get them onto the table.
Then 8th Edition happened and they became badasses in their own right, so there goes that meme for good. Maybe saving Commorragh and kicking all the invading daemons out gave them a confidence boost?
Types of Mandrakes[edit]
During the earlier days of 10th edition, Mandrakes made their return in Kill Team: Nightmare alongside the Night Lords, bringing with them some cool new models and variants.
Nightfiend[edit]
The leader of a Mandrake squad and the scariest black guy you will ever meet on this side of the galaxy.
How Mandrakes choose a leader is unknown, like their very nature themselves. Whatever is the case, being a leader of the squad of magical murderhobos means you are one scary motherfucker indeed.
Their presence is apparently enough to make anyone shit themselves white. Also, the oubliex fetishes they wear around their neck are apparently, really fucky, as in, "Souls trapped in a jar, Mortal Kombat-style"-levels of fucky, which is enough to somehow, deflect oncoming attack.
Nightfiends are best identified by their aforementioned skull necklace and the fact that they are the only ones wielding a Huskblade.
On the tabletop, as expected, they are the designated leader. While not much stronger than the basic warrior, his huskblade does get Stun to rob enemies of even more APL and thus make your shooting much more dangerous. In addition, killing an enemy with the huskblade activates a single-use 5+ FNP save that can be used to negate a hit before needing another kill to recharge. Aside from that, he also has the ability to deny enemies within 6" the ability to activate if they roll above their APL, making him a good way to shut down enemy plans.
Nightfiends are categorised as Combat, Marksman and Scout.
Mandrake Warrior[edit]
Your most basic of murderhobos.
Mandrake Warriors are the most common type of Mandrakes, but that doesn't make them any less dangerous than their more elite brethren. They are natural stalkers, hiding in the shadows and awaiting further orders from their superiors before striking. Based on their snippet from the Kill Team lore, they prefer ranged attacks first; throwing their baleblasts at their target, and if that doesn't work, they would switch to CQC.
In terms of equipment, what has been said above is the same here; they wield three close-commbat weapons that all have the same stats: Saw-Edged Blades, Glimmersteel Blades and Trophy Bones.
On the tabletop, Warriors are not exactly the toughest unit at just 8 wounds, but that's why you have all those tricks around. Their baleblast is about as strong as a bolter with Soulstrike to haunt anyone with low APL while his sword is pretty strong at 4/5 with Lethal 5+ and +1 critical damage if he hides within shadows.
Mandrake Warriors are categorised as Combat, Marksman and Scout.
Abyssal[edit]
Abyssals are the walking nightmare batteries of the team.
What do we mean by this? Abyssals are living conduits of the malign energy that resides in the tenebrous dimension of Aelindrach, so think of them as a walking coal furnace, except, rather than being perpetually on fire, he is perpetually on green fire. Apparently, being a NEET and never stepping out of Aelindrach has its perks.
Since they have effectively, mastered the art of the Balefire by being a shut-in, they are capable of manipulating balefire that is beyond those of normal Mandrakes. So in a nutshell, they NEETed so hard, that they went super saiyan due to Aelindrach empowering them and shit.
Outside of their cool party tricks, they carry the typical Glimmersteel Blades as normal.
On the tabletop, they are mandrake obsessed with balefire to the point that he can spend an action to coat friends and foes with the stuff. Allies get protection as enemies suffer -1 to any damage they deal to allies coated with balefire, but enemies get screwed as friendlies firing at them not only ignore cover but also get +1 to any damage they deal. Aside from that, the Abyssal's ranged attack has the choice between either Blast to cover mobs or Lethal 5+ to guarantee extra pain on whoever it hits.
Abyssals are categorised as Marksman.
Chooser of the Flesh[edit]
The guy known for his ECKS BAWKS HUEG SWORD.
Choosers of the Flesh are limb fetish extraordinaires, whose main fap material is hacking off limbs to partake in some oonga-boonga rituals. Why they are not called Choosers of the Limbs instead is unknown because they clearly only want one part of a body and nothing else.
As aforementioned, they are special since they are the only ones wielding the gigantic Baleblade. Due to having such a big sword, they are the dedicated melee monsters of the team.
On the tabletop, he is the guy with the biggest sword of the lot, meaning he's best suited for chopping up dudes. That sword is definitely menacing with its high damage, Brutal and Reap 2 so he can bully mobs, but he also deals d6 MWs to anyone who falls back from fighting him so he's always killing. Anyone that dies because of that or his sword becomes a token (or two if the enemy had APL 3+) that your team can then use for either extra APL or to heal d6 wounds. Because of this, you kinda want to keep him from any fights he can't win.
Choosers of the Flesh are categorised as Combat.
Dirgemaw[edit]
The screamo of the team.
No, this is not hyperbole. They really like shouting. Proving that if the Mandrakes formed a band, it would be death metal and the Dirgemaw would be the main lead singer. They also like mentally fucking their targets, as they would haunt their foes with pareidolic projections in shadows and reflections, before using their wailing scream to make sure that their target shit out their intestines.
In terms of appearances, unfortunately, they look similar to the Warrior and carry a normal Glimmersteel Blade.
Also, a fun fact, they are kind of like the vox-casters of the Mandrakes. More details can be read below.
On the tabletop, he comes with an extra short-ranged attack that compensates for its reach and poor damage with BS 2+, Indirect, MW2 and Stun. He's the closest you'll get to a comms officer, as he can make an enemy he sees within shadows count as if they're injured and become unable to get any bonus to APL. Rather than a strategic ploy, you can also make this guy activate right before a selected enemy, allowing you to strike them down before they can act.
Dirgemaws are categorised as Combat, Marksman and Scout.
Shadeweaver[edit]
The guy best identified for his cool cloak-like shadow.
Shadeweavers manipulate the stuff of darkness. They are able to leech away natural and artificial light alike, plunging areas into a cloying gloom that even hardened sensors cannot pierce for some reason. Twisting the penumbral threads of their weave, they deepen the darkness further until it bores tunnels through reality itself.
On the tabletop, he is obviously, the most distinct of the lot, this guy doesn't have a wing on his model. His special gimmick is the ability to deploy shadow portals as a special Shadow Passage action that costs 2 AP, providing not only cover but also a secure teleportation route for your team. He also has what is effectively an infinite-use smoke grenade as he can deploy it on anywhere he can see (including vantage points) and it'll count as obscuring if all cover lines go through it.
Shadeweavers are categorised as Marksman and Scout.
| Forces of the Dark Eldar | |
|---|---|
| Command | Archons • Haemonculi • Kabalite Trueborn • Lhamaeans • Medusae • Sslyth • Succubi |
| Troops | Beastmasters • Commorragh Slaves • Grotesques • Hellions • Incubi • Kabalite Warriors • Mandrakes • Scourges • Wracks • Wyches |
| Beasts | Clawed Fiend • Khymerae • Razorwing Flock • Ur-Ghul |
| Pain Engines | Cronos Parasite Engines • Talos Pain Engines |
| AFVs | Raider • Ravager • Reaper • Reaver Jetbike • Skyboard • Venom |
| Special Vehicles | Dais of Destruction |
| Flyers | Raven Fighter • Razorwing Jetfighter • Voidraven Bomber |
| Spacecraft | Impaler Assault Module • Raptor Fighter • Slavebringer Assault Boat |
| Superheavy Vehicles | Tantalus |
| Auxiliaries | Harlequins |
