Detachment Focus: Reaper’s Wager (Updated October 8, 2025)

In this series of articles we take a deep dive into a specific detachment for a faction, covering the faction’s rules and upgrades and talking about how to build around that faction for competitive play. In this article, we’re covering the sinister Drukhari, and their brand new Reaper’s Wager Detachment. 

The Reaper’s Wager Detachment gives Drukhari players a way to add Harlequins to their armies, with rules that evoke an ongoing bet between the two Aeldari factions over who can cause the most mayhem and kill the most things. It’s a fun and powerful way to play the faction, initially introduced in the Grotmas Detachments but still in use following the release of the tenth edition Codex.

Changelog

• 2025-10-08 (Latest): Updated Detachment rule
• 2024-12-13: Initial Publication

Detachment Overview

Reaper’s Wager brings together Drukhari forces with Harlequin allies in a joint performance of a particularly murderous Saedath, and gives them a stacked toolkit for running disruption, dealing damage, and foiling the opponent’s schemes. On a first run through this is going to be skill intensive but potent, capable of unleashing some brutal blitzes on the opponent in the traditional ‘go-turn’ style that both these flavours of elf love so much. Go fast, hit things, die on your own terms. Sounds good doesn’t it? The usual caveats apply- you’re fragile, and the damage requires careful allocation of resources. Get it wrong, and the whole dance will be falling flat. Nail the timing, and you’ll leave the foe reeling.

Reaper’s Wager lists have emerged as one of the more powerful ways to run Drukhari, both because they allow for the inclusion of the best units from Harlequins and also because the Detachment’s baseline bonus – re-rolling hit rolls of 1 and sometimes getting to re-roll wound rolls of 1 – is just flat-out powerful in its own right. Add to that a solid suite of Stratagems and you have a Detachment that is likely to stay a competitive staple following the release of the Codex.

The Video Version

If you’d rather watch this review than read it, or if you’d like a quick primer before you dive in, we’ve got you covered here. Note that this doesn’t include the updated rule for the Detachment focus, which was originally added via a dataslate in 2025:

Detachment Rule: Callous Competition

Okay buckle up, this one is a little bit finicky. This Detachment represents a battle in which your Harlequins and Drukhari are going to war as one, but they’re competing for kills the entire time, and they’ve made some kind of wager before the battle to see who can get the most kills, in a kind of Legolas-vs-also-Legolas-but-Edgier competition.

• At the start of the battle, Drukhari units from your army are ‘winning the wager’ (intended to represent elements of the dance being performed).
• Whenever a Drukhari unit destroys an enemy unit, the Drukhari units are winning the wager. Whenever a Harlequins unit destroys an enemy unit this then changes, and the Harlequin units are now winning the wager instead. Get those custom made tokens ready! We recommend a single coin with a clown on one side and an evil clown on the other.
• IF you are NOT winning the wager you are losing.

Each time a Harlequins or Drukhari unit makes an attack, if their side is winning the wager, you re-roll Hit rolls of 1. If their side is losing the wager, you re-roll Hit rolls and Wound rolls of 1 instead.

In short – force multiplying boosts to the output for EITHER the Harlequins or Drukhari in your army at a moment in time, but not both, and it switches whenever a unit from one of these two groups destroys a unit. 

Additionally, your army can include HARLEQUINS units from Codex: Aeldari. How many depends on the battle size:

• Incursion: Up to 500 points
• Strike Force: Up to 1,000 points
• Onslaught: Up to 1,500 points

Sky Serpent: This is such an exciting and rewarding Detachment rule, which still requires some finesse but has plenty of punch and guile once you unlock its secrets and key to that is offsetting and triggering which of your component forces is ‘losing’ at a given time, to boost their hit and wound efficiency.

You will have to manage the tempo of the game, dictating the trades and punches while you choreograph which of your respective factions are winning and losing their wager to leverage bonuses in shooting and melee.

This provides very real buffs to every unit and can amplify a damage dealer such as a unit of Incubi or the Queen of Knives who effectively gains full rerolls versus infantry but can also offer a leg up to units such as the Beastmaster who would not normally have any opportunity to reroll to wound. Every unit benefits but it’s the fun conundrum of ensuring the right unit takes advantage of Callous Competition at the right time while also invoking the relevant stratagems.

Drukhari players often bemoan their lack of options and adding the 7 Harlequins units to the Dark Eldar roster with an interesting combined ruleset opens up so many opportunities for playstyles, let alone modelling opportunities. Drukhari and Harlequins have a rich history in lore, codex releases and on the tabletop so it’s great to see this relationship brought to life. 

TheChirurgeon: Of course, while you certainly can try and balance your list with lots of Harlequins units the reality is that getting flat re-roll 1s to hit across your army is good enough that you kind of don’t need to do this, and because the trigger is just destroying a unit, you can bring a small number of highly lethal Harlequins units and just plan around one specific timed kill to get the most out of a specific unit. This Detachment also more or less blunts your need to attach Archons to units as empowering their units for re-rolls to hit just doesn’t mean nearly as much.

Enhancements

Board control and tempo are key to making this Detachment sing, and the enhancements are all targeted at giving you a leg up on your positioning, and additional ways to apply pressure to the opponent.

• Archraider (15 pts) – Harlequins or Drukhari model only. If your bearer starts the game embarked in a DEDICATED TRANSPORT, then that Transport gains the Scouts 9” ability. Time to set Aethersail! This is an auto-take for blood thirsty Archons who want to get their raiding party into the thick of the action as quickly as possible. Archons with Incubi or a Court can set up for a true alpha strike which is also very good as a psychological threat when deploying it as a hammer to drive towards the enemy. A Troupe Master in a Starweaver could also make some early headway, but there are other enhancements that may help them get there, so this typically goes on an Archon.

• Webway Walker (15 pts) – A Harlequins or Drukhari model gains Deep Strike for their unit. You also get re-roll charges if the bearer’s unit is losing the wager until the end of the turn. I’m less bothered about the second bit, because the main application here as I see it is to give yourself a nice Rapid Ingress threat that doesn’t need a transport. A small incision squad of Incubi with an Archon goes a long way to keeping the opponent honest.

• Reaper’s Cowl (25 pts) – Harlequins model only. The bearer’s unit have the Stealth and Infiltrators abilities. This helps you get an early board presence by setting up a Troupe (probably with Troupe Master) somewhere midboard. Using it well will require a bit of practice, but this is going to let you dictate early game pressure. That said, this is limited by the fact that you aren’t super likely to actually take a Troupe Master and Solitaires already come with Lone Operative and enough movement to not care about Infiltrating.

• Conductor of Torment (20 pts) – A Drukhari-only enhancement, this allows you to manipulate the wager in your command phase. If Drukhari are losing the wager you can gain a pain token and now count as winning the wager. Equally, if Drukhari are winning, you can spend a pain token and the Harlequins are now winning the wager. Reaper’s Wager is a detachment which rewards controlling the tempo of the battle and this enhancement helps you to do just that. This enhancement is nice but at the same time it’s expensive and likely to lose out to Webway Walker and Archraider when it comes to dropping Enhancements on your Archons.

Stratagems

The Reaper’s Wager stratagems are very much targeted at delivering your units into melee, and helping them sing (or dance, hehe) when they get there. 

• Malicious Frenzy (Battle Tactic, 1 CP) – One DRUKHARI or HARLEQUINS unit gains either LETHAL HITS or SUSTAINED HITS 1 in your Shooting phase or the Fight phase. This stratagem rocks. Your Archons will give empowered units access to full re-rolls to hit for their units, meaning you’ll get the most mileage out of this when they’re attached to a dedicated melee unit. 

• Shorten the Odds (Strategic Ploy, 1 CP) – Used in your Movement phase, after you Advance. Pick a Drukhari or Harlequins unit and it’s still eligible to shoot and charge this turn. We started off with a banger and we’re following up with an oft-maligned lack of speed with the ability to advance, shoot and then charge; it’s not even restricted to Wych Cult units, either. Drukhari units need the ability to Advance and Charge and this Stratagem gives you the option.

• Fateful Role (Strategic Ploy, 1 CP) – This is a textbook 4+ fight on death in the Fight phase for a Drukhari or Harlequins unit, adding 1 to the result if that unit is losing the wager. 1 CP for a potential 3+ fight on death is huge in a combat trading army, and will help you boss combat match ups. The detachment’s built-in re-rolls help here as well but remember that you’re no longer able to drop a pain token for full re-rolls at the start of the phase, meaning you can’t pop an Archon or Incubi’s empowered ability when you’re fighting on Death. Either way this is great on cheap trading units that lack durability.

• Scintillating Tempo (Strategic Ploy, 1 CP) – Used in your Movement phase or the Charge phase to make a Drukhari or Harlequins unit unable to be targeted with Overwatch until the end of the turn. Another incredibly useful tool for getting the drop on opponents and making the most out of what are otherwise fragile units. Charge into flamer units with ease, laughing at your opponents for thinking they could threaten you.

• Murderer’s Circus (Battle Tactic, 1 CP) – Used in the Fight phase when one of your units is selected as a target for enemy attacks. Gives enemy units-1 to hit in combat against the selected unit. This is fantastic on Talos and Wracks, helping them reach even greater heights of durability in key exchanges. You may use it on your less durable trade pieces occasionally too, but I can see the fight on death being the go-to option there instead, especially if you’re triggering that on 3+.

• Dance Macabre (Strategic Ploy, 2 CP) – Used in your opponent’s Movement phase after an enemy ends a Normal, Advance, or Fall back move and ends it within 9″ of one of your INFANTRY units. That unit can make a normal move of D6” (or 6” if your unit is losing the wager). This is a good ability but 2 CP is a lot to spend on it, especially when other armies typically get the ability for 1 CP and it only applies to your Infantry. Reactive moves can be clutch but it’s going to be hard to find 2 CP in this army given how much you’ll be spending on Advancing and Charging and ignoring Overwatch. 

Playing This Detachment

Since its release, armies for this Detachment have largely solidified into best-of Drukhari lists supplemented by a very small number of Harlequins – sometimes a single character, but more recently we’ve begun to see lists running a Starweaver with a 5-model Troupe unit inside and a Solitaire, or a Voidweaver and a Solitaire. Alexandre Sacco’s list from LGT 2025, though built on the Index rules, offers an interesting look at running the Detachment, with a Troupe Master with the Archraider Enhancement in a Starweaver with a 5-model Troupe unit and a Solitaire as its Harlequins support. You don’t need to do a ton of management of who’s winning when; just use the Harlequins to kill a key unit when you need to make sure your next activation gets the bonuses it needs.

One of the big challenges you’re going to have with this detachment is CP management – the Stratagems here are too good to not be using often and that means that while the Archons’ ability to get re-rolls to hit has less value than normal, their ability to reduce CP costs once per battle round becomes incredibly important – though note that their unit has to be the target of the Stratagem. The most common play for Archons in this Detachment is running one with Webway Walker attached to a unit of Incubi to create a nasty deep strike and rapid ingress threat which can then advance and charge for free on the following turn, allowing them to drop in more comfortably out of line of sight while still threatening key targets. The Incubi also really love being on the losing end of the wager thanks to their Empowered ability giving them [DEVASTASTING WOUNDS] against Infantry targets in melee.

Sky Serpent: Reaper’s Wager is a detachment which rewards controlling the tempo of the battle and getting the most of both Drukhari and Harlequin units. It will be important to stage, plan and choreograph your fights in an order which rewards your Commorrites and ghosts of the Webway as they fight in tandem in a dance which Cegorach would be proud of.

The re-roll 1’s to hit and wound for the losing faction are fantastic and with Harlequins losing the wager at the start of the battle, utilising some fast hitting Troupe (with an infiltrating Troupe Master) can lay down some seriously heavy damage at the start of the game. But misdeploy or misuse that unit and you could face an uphill battle.

Beyond the obvious forward deploying Troupe unit, Skyweavers really feel like a unit that Drukhari players will be adding to their armies and are another unit which can look to pepper some early firepower at any exposed tanks with their rerolls when losing the wager. 

(Lowest of Men: The Solitaire and Death Jester deserve honourable mentions too, as lone ops that see their efficiency boosted nicely if they’re losing the wager. God speed to everybody relying on the Solitaire for a key trade, my prayers are with you…)

The stratagems really are the stars of the show here and breathe life into a lot of Drukhari damage dealers. Sustained Hits makes so many Drukhari units sing and following the Codex release that’ll be especially true on Hellions, who got a major glow-up and were already showing up as a 10-of unit in Reaper’s Wager lists.

Strengths:

• Delivery: Advance and charge, infiltrate on a good melee unit, a scout moving push vehicle, and a turn off overwatch stratagem. These are the things a combat army that wants to get places thrives on!
• Damage: Drukhari units thrive from accessing SUSTAINED and LETHALS, and the wager re-rolls help everything punch that little bit more efficiently. Several staple dark elf melee and shooting units are about to find a new ceiling.
• Flexibility: Adding Harlequins into your army will unlock the wager mini-game, but the detachment buffs are also appealing enough and powerful enough to work without them. The buffs themselves can work on a wide range of units and you have ways to juice shooting AND melee, so this is a proper all rounder detachment despite it’s cute theme.

Weaknesses:

• Fragility: Ultimately, there are no ways to really boost your survivability here. This is on brand – Drukharlequins should be glasscannons, but that definitely means misplays will be costly, and armies that can hit you on their terms will take a costly toll.
• Resource Management: Drukhari are already an exercise in resource management with pain tokens, and the wager is another game on top of that! Generals who fail to manage both adequately will find themselves drying up on output, and CP spend discipline will be crucial. 
• Space Dependance: Having a cool infiltrate and a scout move can be turned off in some games by a lost roll off and a big first drop from the opponent in no man’s land. The units you want to apply these to will be expensive and fragile, so you’re going to have games where there isn’t a logical channel to stash them in after space denial from the opponent. Be sure to have suitably devious a way to punish this planned!

A Sample List

With the Codex coming out soon there’s no doubt that these lists will change dramatically, in part because the loss of the Court of the Archon definitely hurts their melee output a bit. In the meantime, here’s Alexandre Sacco’s 2nd place list from LGT 2025, built using the Index and running mostly on units you’ll still have in the new book:

Alexandre's List - click to expand

Alexandre’s list will need to lose Urien and the Court of the Archon and many units became more expensive – but the core is still here, and that 10-model Hellions unit looks even better following their glow-up.

Final Thoughts

Reaper’s Wager was the strongest way to run Drukhari before the Codex release and while it has some strong competition after, it will likely continue to be a powerful option for the faction. There’s a ton of power in the Stratagems and Enhancements here and the baseline Detachment rule is just very good. Drukhari players may test other Detachments but we’ll be shocked if this one doesn’t stay in the competitive mix.

Lowest of Men: There is an awful lot to like here, and as a longstanding Drukharlequins (™) lover, it really does feel like Christmas came early. Drukhari players can get stuck in with a detachment that is very melee centric, but has plenty of application across the entire suite of models in their collections whether they bring the clowns along or not, and will really put out some damage when called upon. Enjoy it.

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