Yesterday, we had a close look at how the new Exodite Dragon Masters kill team moves around on their powerful drakesteeds, and today it’s time we found out how they fight.
Dragon Master kill teams are formed from groups of three specialists who form a ritual triumvirate reflecting the Exodites’ preferred combat skills – swordplay, marksmanship, and psychic power. Each member is a high-ranked warrior of the elite Dragon Knights with centuries of experience, giving them a vast pool of useful skills that they can use when ambushing their prey.
This means that, unlike most kill teams, Dragon Masters get an extra layer of customisation for their three main operatives. When chosen for battle – so after you know which faction you’re battling – they each get to pick two abilities from a list of five, with the Clanblade, Leystalker, and Stonesinger each getting their own options.*
Clanblades are masterful close-quarters combatants who wield a pair of ceremonial weapons known as moonblades. It is their job to charge and annihilate cornered foes, and they have all the tools they need to do so.
DRAGON MASTER CLANBLADE
APL | MOVE | SAVE | WOUNDS |
4 | 12" | 3+ | 24 |
NAME | ATK | HIT | DMG | WR |
Solar Carbine | 4 | 3+ | 3/3 | Devastating 1 |
Drakesteed fangs & talons | 6 | 3+ | 3/5 | Brutal |
Moonblades | 5 | 3+ | 4/6 | Lethal 5+ |
Scaleshield: Whenever an operative is shooting this operative, and no attack dice are retained as critical successes, worsen the x of the Piercing weapon rule by 1 (if any). Note that Piercing 1 would therefore be ignored.
EXODITE DRAGON MASTER, AELDARI, MOUNTED, CLANBLADE
We looked at how Exodite operatives build up speed in yesterday’s article, and the Clanblade can translate that momentum into raw damage with the Speartip of the Clan upgrade. Barrelling into your prey at Speed 7+ means you get to swing with 5/6 damage, Lethal 5+ swords, and if you’re worried about taking damage in return, you can always parry an incoming attack first with Bladed Stance.
SPEARTIP OF THE CLAN
It is the Clanblade’s ritual role amongst their triad to lead the charge into their prey. The most storied exemplars hit their targets like a celestial lance, speed itself honed as much as any weapon in their arsenal.
Whenever this operative is fighting:
If it has SPEED 4+, the first time you strike with a normal success during that sequence, inflict 1 additional damage.
If it has SPEED 7+, add 1 to the Normal Dmg stat of melee weapons on its datacard.
BLADED STANCE
Clanblades sharpen their martial skills by hunting some of the most dangerous dragons. These are creatures of such speed and strength that only those with reactions swift enough to blunt and deflect their first strike ever survive the encounter.
Whenever this operative is fighting or retaliating with its moonblades, you can resolve one of your successes before the normal order. If you do, that success must be used to block.
In contrast, the Leystalker wants to stay as far away from the melee as possible,** relying on an accurate long rifle to deal pinpoint damage from across the killzone. They actually want to move around as little as possible, unlocking a more powerful Aimed profile for their gun when mostly stationary, while the Nexus Sentinel upgrade lets them take the Guard action and ambush moving enemies when at Speed 3-.
NEXUS SENTINEL
Where lines of power converge – whether the vivid leys of an Exodite world or the muted energies of natural flows – Leystalkers can access sensory perceptions of incredible breadth and acuity. Few enemies can approach such a site held by a Leystalker without detection.
Once per turning point, this operative can perform the Guard action during its activation regardless of the killzone if it has SPEED 3-, (see close quarters rules, Kill Team Core Book).
When this operative performs a point-blank shot as a result of the Guard action, don’t worsen the Hit stat of its weapons as a result of performing a point-blank shot.
The Stonesinger is a dedicated support operative who comes with the ability to heal their fellow Dragon Masters with the Song of Renewal, either giving one ally 2D3 Wounds back or the entire kill team D3. They can then be upgraded with even more psychic abilities, like the Earthen Wrath attack that punishes enemies hiding in cover, or the support ability Cleansing of the Pale Moon that removes many negative effects from your fellow Exodites.
EARTHEN WRATH
A Stonesinger’s eldritch gesture can command eruptions of rocky shards or liquefy once solid ground to engulf the foe.
This operative has the following ranged weapon:
NAME | ATK | HIT | DMG |
Earthen Wrath | 4 | 3+ | 4/3 |
WR |
Devastating 2, Saturate, Earthen Wrath* |
*Earthen Wrath: If the target is in cover, this weapon has the Lethal 5+ weapon rule.
CLEANSING OF THE PALE MOON
The Stonesinger weaves a psychic skirl of purification. Toxins are purged and anguish is soothed as the long-lost Maiden Moon is invoked.
CLEANSING OF THE PALE MOON (1AP)
PSYCHIC. Select one friendly EXODITE DRAGON MASTER operative visible to this operative. Remove one rules effect or stat change your opponent has applied to it (e.g. Poison token, -1APL, cannot be activated or perform actions, etc.) This cannot allow it to regain lost wounds, remove mission pack rules or ignore the effects of being injured.
This operative cannot perform this action while within control range of an enemy operative. Note that unlike this operative's other unique action upgrades, it can perform this action more than once per turning point.
We can’t forget about the drakolithes, though, who surge around the killzone harassing vulnerable operatives and drawing fire away from your Dragon Masters. They’re useful for scouting ahead and drawing enemy operatives into view of a deadly Exodite charge, and can use their rapid movement to threaten the space around midfield objectives early in the game.
DRAKOLITHE
APL | MOVE | SAVE | WOUNDS |
2 | 8" | 5+ | 7 |
NAME | ATK | HIT | DMG | WR |
Fangs & talons | 4 | 3+ | 3/4 | Rending |
Preternatural Evasion: Whenever this operative performs the Charge, Fall Back or Reposition action, if it ends that action more than 2" from its previous location, it has SPEED 4+; if it ends more than 5" from its previous location, it has SPEED 7+ instead. Whenever this operative ends its activation, if it didn't gain SPEED 4+ or SPEED 7+ during that activation, it has SPEED 3-. Note that it's the distance from the previous location, not the distance moved (in other words it cannot just circle back to its previous location and gain high SPEED)
Beast: This operative cannot perform any actions other than Charge, Dash, Fall Back, Fight, Guard, Pick Up Marker, Place Marker, Reposition and mission actions. This operative cannot perform the Pick Up Marker, Place Marker or mission actions unless there's a friendly LEYSTALKER operative that isn't incapacitated. It cannot use any weapons that aren’t on its datacard.
EXODITE DRAGON MASTER, AELDARI, DRAKOLITHE
Kill Team: Exodite goes up for pre-order this Saturday, so don’t miss this historic occasion and add the first Exodite models released in decades to your Kill Team collection.
* In standard play. In the campaign from the Kill Team: Exodite Dossier, they unlock these abilities as you play games.
** They are still riding a big scary dragon so they can hold their own in melee if anyone does get too close.
