Archon (Warhammer 40,000)

"I love it when a plan comes together."

Archons are leaders of the various Kabals of the Dark Eldar. Masters of intrigue, plotting and bloody murder, they lead the attacks on realspace to raid for slaves and raw materials. Being an Archon comes with many perks (having thousands of minions to order around), but your immediate inferiors, the Dracons, are more than happy to arrange for you to ingest a very lethal poison or come up with a case of Sudden Decapitation Syndrome. Your rivals, the leaders of other Kabals, are more often than not at your throat as well, either literally to get rid of you or metaphorically to make you their vassal-- or they are made to fight you by powerful people like Asdrubael Vect. None of this is as bad as it sounds, your loyal(?) haemonculi will all-too-eagerly stitch you back together afterwards, but it'll frequently wreck your RSVPs for dinner & bloodsport.

Being the big bobby G. Archons have access to the most powerful weapons, equipment, and artifacts available to their Kabal, and as such are frequently seen using amazingly advanced technologies when they deem it necessary to appear on the field of battle. More often than not, an Archon usually fights dirty with cheap tactics and cheats. Most Archons typically arm themselves with a Splinter Pistol, though some may carry more powerful Darklight Weaponry such as a Blast Pistol or even a blaster. Some Archons, preferring close combat, may boost themselves with combat drugs more commonly used by Wyches. They also may carry many kinds of blades usually tipped with poison or just the common powerblades, although certain Archons with enough swagger could flick out a Djin Blade if need be. Whips such as the Agonisers and Electrocorrosive Whip are also popular. In terms of defense, Archons wear only light pressurized neuro-responsive body armor, allowing them to traverse vacuum when necessary while also providing resistance to small arms fire. However like all 'evil' factions in 40k who have the need to shout out how evil they are, Archons often decorate it with the corpse and skulls of their victims (as if the 'good' Imperials never do this). Sometimes they possess the lightweight Ghostplate Armour which also incorporates minor forcefield technology. All in all, Archons from 40k range from Awesome in the case of Vect to utter Fail in the case of Tahril.

8th/9th Edition Crunch

Archons are solid overall. While STR3 and T3 isn't doing them any favors, their other stats are quite good and they have access to a good range of Wargear options. For melee these include the Huskblade, Agoniser, Monomolecular Blade, or Venom Sword; meanwhile they can replace the Splinter Pistol with a Blast Pistol, and may also take a Phantasm Grenade Launcher in addition to any other equipment. They also now come with a Shadow Field as standard equipment (yay!). The Archon also has access to a small but pretty decent selection of Artefacts and Warlord traits. Just keep in mind that the Archon is primarily a melee beatstick; if you end up in a situation where it's not worth it, such as against Grots, you're doing it wrong.

For even more utility, put your Archon inside a fast attack vehicle such as a Venom so you can turn him into a proper DISTRACTION CARNIFEX.