Combat Patrol: Drukhari Review

Who are the Drukhari?

Drukhari are Dark elf pirates in space that watched Hellraiser a few too many times. Once part of the noble Aelderi race (elves in space), who went down the path of exploring hedonistic ways. They and delved deeper into different types of sensations and pleasure. Eventually these practices descended into torture and depravity, creating the Chaos God Slaanesh within the Warp. Many Aeldari repented and returned to their more enlightened and began a thousand-year war against Slaanesh.

But there were those who hid within the Warp, continued getting their freak on and were eventually corrupted by Slaanesh. Luckily for them they discovered that they could absorb the pain and torment of others to stop Slaanesh from claiming their souls. So since then, these Dark Eldar (or Drukhari to make them sound cooler) have left the Warp and regularly raid worlds for prisoner. Who they then torture to keep Slaanesh off their backs.

What’s in the box?

An Archon is in charge of this lot. Ten Kabalite Warriors make up the bulk of the crew along with five Incubi, who specialise in close quarter combat. A pair of ships (a Ravanger and a Raider) give the patrol the ability to fly around the battlefield at speed, taking prisoners as they please.

The two ships alone make this box worth it. They perfectly encapsulate what the Drukhari are about and are staples of any Drukhari army. There are better leaders available, but an Archon is more than capable of leading an attack. When it comes to ground troops you can’t go wrong with Kabalite Warriors for some mid-range attacks. The Incubi are great in close combat but may need a lift from the Raider to get into position.

Are they difficult to paint?

Contrast paints were made for the Drukhari as a quick couple of coats and you’ll have a battle-ready army. Getting into all of the details is tricky due to how slender each model is, but thanks to the dark colour schemes synonymous with the Drukhari, it’s easy to cover up mistakes for a redo. The pale faces will become the bane of your existence as any mistakes will take a couple of coats to cover and the eyes can be a real pain. If only Drukhari wore sunglasses.

When it comes to the ships doing highlights will require plenty of brush control as most of the armour plates not only have curved edges but are also completely curved themselves. Thankfully the ships have lots of pointed ends so a quick spot highlight on each of these will give great impact with minimal effort.