Voidraven Bombers of the Kabal of the Black Heart in combat.
The Voidraven Bomber is a sleek, terrifying attack craft designed to provide heavy air support to Drukhari forces.
Capable of supersonic speeds and mounting some of the most powerful weapons in the Drukhari arsenal, the Voidraven Bomber's Void Lances or Dark Scythes can crack fortifications and heavily armoured targets with frightening ease. Yet they pale against the stealthy aircraft's primary weapon -- the Void Mine. Once this arcane payload is deployed, the darklight implosion that ensues erases all caught within its blast.
Role[]
Whilst the Drukhari consider the Voidraven Bomber to be the ultimate in heavy weapons deployment, it is still capable of outstripping even the agile fighter craft of the Imperium with ease. The Voidraven shares many similarities with the Razorwing Jetfighter. It features distinctive sickled wings and comparable aerodynamic design, but it carries a far larger and more deadly payload than its smaller cousin -- the dreaded Void Mine.
A Voidraven Bomber of the Kabal of the Black Heart
Much like the Razorwing Jetfighter, a Voidraven Bomber's pilot is a veteran of the high-speed death races that girdle the tall spires of High Commorragh. Speed is in their blood, and they think nothing of the breakneck aerial manoeuvres that would kill a lesser steersman. It is not the pilot of the Voidraven Bomber that defines its role, however. It is the gunner at its front that is the true maestro in the symphony of destruction that the Drukhari inflict upon their prey.
Profile of a Voidraven Bomber of the Kabal of the Black Heart; note the Void Mine hanging from the aircraft's ventral weapon nacelles.
At the fore of each Voidraven is a crystal pod housing a saddle much like that upon a Reaver's jetbike, surrounded by targeting holographs and crosshair runes that flicker and dance over the gunner's unwitting prey. From this lavishly appointed cocoon the Voidraven's gunner will unleash searing fusillades from the aircraft's Void Lances.
Unlike the Razorwing Jetfighter, whose pilots rejoice in the earsplitting crack-boom of its passage, the Voidraven Bomber mounts complex sonic dampers that completely obscure the sounds of its engines. Often the first an enemy emplacement will know of a Voidraven's presence is when twin beams of ruby-red light sear great scars into whatever defensive artillery they might have employed against it.
And yet, as lethal as it is, the Void Lance is not the most feared of the Voidraven Bomber's weapons. Once the gunner has ensured that he can work without interruption, he will deploy the aircraft's Void Mine from the Voidraven's ventral weapon nacelles. The Void Mine, delivered with pinpoint accuracy, detonates not one but two warheads, one split second before the other. The first has no direct effect, for it merely establishes a sphere of force, a bubble in reality that protects everything outside and condemns everything within.
The second contains a particle of purest "darklight," as the Drukhari refer to dark matter, released from its containment field by the primary detonation. The effects of introducing even a minuscule amount of darklight into realspace are catastrophic. If it were not for the force sphere established by the primary detonation the resultant implosion would engulf not only the enemy but also the Voidraven in the bargain. As it is, though, anything trapped inside the crackling sphere is eradicated. All that is left is a smoking, hemispherical crater scooped out of the ground and the contrails of the rapidly disappearing Voidraven high above.
Wargear[]
- 2 Void Lances (Wing-mounted)
- 2 Dark Scythes (Wing-mounted, as replacement for 2 Void Lances)
- 4 Voidraven Missiles of any of the following types:
- Implosion Missile - An Implosion Missile is a heavy and menacing-looking missile that emits a field of molecular dissonance. Those caught in its path implode, instantly collapsing in upon themselves and leaving nothing more than a scorched silhouette to mark their demise.
- Shatterfield Missile - A Shatterfield Missile possesses two, separate detonation chambers which explode one after the other. The first detonation of the missile sucks away all thermal energy in its area of effect, transforming the targeted foe into frozen statues covered in ice. The second detonation sends out a powerful force that shatters the now-brittle flesh and/or armour of the enemy into frozen shards.
- Night Shield
Sources[]
- Codex: Dark Eldar (5th Edition), pg. 47
- Codex: Drukhari (9th Edition), pg. 113
- Codex: Necrons (8th Edition), pg. 61 (Image)
- Games Workshop Website - Voidraven-Bomber