I was initially tempted to include these as part of the Trueborn Review, however they are very different units unlike Wyches/Bloodbrides which are essentially the same really, which is why they got lumped together.

Warriors are a staple troops choice for the DE  and contend with wyches for space , though a mixture works well too , wracks are a  good troop but I feel they serve better in an all freaks list.

Warriors bring the shooty and should be considered a ranged option for DE list , if you feel you have that covered already then perhaps Wyches are what you should look at instead ?

They have the standard DE stat line, with respectable WS ,BS and I scores with fleet and PFP, they suck in CC most of the time , however FNP and FC allow them to fill in in a pinch. they kick IG and tau ass , though I feel they are best used in other ways…

The squad has ld 8 as standard , which is ok , but it’s worth considering the syberite just for the jump to ld 9 , it’s not like he does bugger all else for the squad really , (blast pistols are fail)

Being able to buy 20 models opens some interesting options for an objective camping unit , considering that DE break from the traditional model thresholds for  heavy and special weapons , camping an objective with 2 dark lances or 2 splinter cannons and the ability to throw down 30 odd splinter shots at close range should encourage people to dedicate a significant portion of their army to the clearance of said objective , larger squads also seem to get more value from power through pain.

Basic kit – shitty armour and a splinter rifle , worse than a bolter on guard etc about the same vs meq and for some reason terrifyingly destructive vs MC’s ….. coz they arn’t already stuffed in 5th … it does come in handy on the various T5 squads that are floating around , twolves and attack bikes don’t like making lots of saves either .

Options- Shredder = Fail

Blaster- Why this squad often makes the cut over wyches is that with a raider they can bring some more lance spam to the party, another blaster is always nice and sometimes they get lucky , oddly enough not an auto include either .

The basic cheap and cheerful setup is 10 warriors in a raider with splinter racks, it’s quite cost effective for what equates to 8-9 wounds on anything with a T stat …. a couple of units like this focused on one target can cause quite a mess, the only difficulty is getting into range to deliver the splinter spam, I would usually turbo boost up and then hope the 6″ move the following turn is enough to get within rapid fire range, great for shifting static squads camping cover or objectives, I like to use a squad of warriors to ‘soften up’ a target for Wyches to charge as they fair much better against a damaged squad.

My Usual setup is 9 guys in a raider with racks a blaster, splinter cannon and Duke Sliscus, the amount of shooting damage this squad can inflict is amazing, the blaster is not really required but I like the str 8 and ap2 sometimes, and coupled with the dukes pistol they are stil a threat to tanks in a tight spot.

Sometimes Ill split Sliscus off from the raider in the movement phase, shoot the everloving crap out of a unit then charge it with him, even if the unit is not wiped it is effectively removed from the game, normal units Sliscus will finish off in a round or two and be safe from shooting.

Another setup that is popular is 5 guys with a Syberite a blaster and a blast pistol, I just don’t like it , maybe it’s my style of  play but I find blast pistols essentially useless most of the time , certainly not worth the outlay, and small squads of t3 men in a fragile transport just won’t last long , DE benefit form numbers , well at least full squads of  guys, pain points go alot further with more models, I also see no reason to make an army that is already killpoint heavy  even worse. I do like venoms though and will be getting some as Truborn cars.

I prefer them to Wyches and find them more useful in a veriety of missions against a range of opponents, all my lists include at least one unit but 2 units or more seem to go further.

So in summary a fairly safe utility /shooty unit who wants to hit first and with support as they are extremely fragile, the addition of FnP makes them a good firefight unit that should scare anything with it’s potential to wound/ damage anything, pick your fights carefully and use your speed advantage to hit first, I tend to find they serve better staying in the transport as long as possible, once they have FnP an exploding vehicle is a mild annoyance, use them wisely and they will serve you well, make a dab choice and they will vanish like smoke in a breeze.

The Funky Art is by BeckJann on Deviant, I’ll be splashing some more of his wonderfully atmospheric work throughout the DE posts from now on