Does Vect have Archons?

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**Dalymiddleboro**

I was reading lexicanum and it said "An archon is the highest ranking member of a Kabal" Isn't Vect the highest ranking member of the Kabal of the black heart?" Does the kabal of the black heart have Archons under vect? Thanks!

**Furyou Miko**

Vect is the Archon of the Black Heart, however it's not unreasonable to use the Archon rules to create a Lieutenant of the Black Heart to lead your army if you like their colour scheme and don't want Vect.

**Vulgar**

I can't see Vect doing the administrative work that has to come with controlling commoragh.

He's got upper, middle and low end management, I'm sure.

**Dalymiddleboro**

Well the reason I Asked is if Vect is the only Archon of the Kabal of the Black heart, how much sense fluff wise would it be to have an archon lead a real space raid with the Kabal of the black heart and not Vect?

**DarkTraveler777**

If you read Path of the Incubus you get to see Commoragh's politics at play. In the novel Vect summons a number of high ranking Kabal's Archons to his spire and lays down the law, so to speak. So, technically, Vect does have Archons, they are just from all the other Kabals that are under Vect's influence.

Furyou Miko's idea is a good one if you are looking for a reason to include an Archon in your Black Heart list.

**Dalymiddleboro**

DarkTraveler777 wrote:
If you read Path of the Incubus you get to see Commoragh's politics at play. In the novel Vect summons a number of high ranking Kabal's Archons to his spire and lays down the law, so to speak. So, technically, Vect does have Archons, they are just from all the other Kabals that are under Vect's influence.

Furyou Miko's idea is a good one if you are looking for a reason to include an Archon in your Black Heart list.

Would this stand to fluff and canon? That's important to me...

**DarkTraveler777**

Someone else who is more familiar with GW's canon polices should answer, but I think so. It is a Black Library novel written by Andy Chambers so it should be official.

**Dalymiddleboro**

DarkTraveler777 wrote:
Someone else who is more familiar with GW's canon polices should answer, but I think so. It is a Black Library novel written by Andy Chambers so it should be official.

But he uses archons from other kabals... is there only one archon in the black heart

**Orblivion**

Dalymiddleboro wrote:
DarkTraveler777 wrote:
Someone else who is more familiar with GW's canon polices should answer, but I think so. It is a Black Library novel written by Andy Chambers so it should be official.

But he uses archons from other kabals... is there only one archon in the black heart

He doesn't use them to run his own Kabal though. He is the ruler of all of Commoragh, all Archons and their respective Kabals answer to him.

**Jimsolo**

Orblivion wrote:
Dalymiddleboro wrote:
DarkTraveler777 wrote:
Someone else who is more familiar with GW's canon polices should answer, but I think so. It is a Black Library novel written by Andy Chambers so it should be official.

But he uses archons from other kabals... is there only one archon in the black heart

He doesn't use them to run his own Kabal though. He is the ruler of all of Commoragh, all Archons and their respective Kabals answer to him.

The Kabal of the Black Heart has only one Archon: Asdrubael Vect. However, it's the most powerful Kabal, and many others answer to him.

Many of Vect's lieutenants would have the power/influence/wealth of an Archon, so it's totally reasonable to use an Archon model/rules to represent them.

Vect ALSO has many other Kabals under his thumb, and can (and does) direct THOSE Archons to do his bidding. Especially if they weren't trustworthy, it's not inconceivable he would send them on a raid leading some of his men.

**DarkTraveler777**

Sorry, I misunderstood your last question, Dalymiddleboro, but Jimsolo did a great job answering it.

**Stormfather**

As other people have said, I've always gotten the feeling that an Archon was the absolute commander of the Kabal, and thus there'd only be one per Kabal. However, it's worth mentioning that the old Dark Eldar codex (from 3rd edition) had a 'bargain' version of the Archon, called a Hierarch. Hierarchs are the Archon's underbosses, and I imagine that a Kabal as large as the Black Heart would have tons of them. Running a Black Heart Hierarch using the Archon's profile strikes me as a fluff-appropriate way to play a Black Heart list, without taking Vect.

**Iron_Captain**

The Black Heart Kabal is so large it has multiple archons (Archon Tahril for example).
Vect, as the supreme overlord and ruler of Commorragh, stands above any archon, no matter what kabal they are from.
If Vect is the king, the other Black Heart archons are his viceroys.

**ace101**

Iron_Captain wrote:
The Black Heart Kabal is so large it has multiple archons (Archon Tahril for example).
Vect, as the supreme overlord and ruler of Commorragh, stands above any archon, no matter what kabal they are from.
If Vect is the king, the other Black Heart archons are his viceroys.

+1 to this, Tahril from DoW; Soulstorm is an Archon, and Vect himself makes an appereance.

**Furyou Miko**

ace101 wrote:
Iron_Captain wrote:
The Black Heart Kabal is so large it has multiple archons (Archon Tahril for example).
Vect, as the supreme overlord and ruler of Commorragh, stands above any archon, no matter what kabal they are from.
If Vect is the king, the other Black Heart archons are his viceroys.

+1 to this, Tahril from DoW; Soulstorm is an Archon, and Vect himself makes an appereance.

Soulstorm also had Spess Mahrens and a Living Saint twenty feet tall, I'm not really sure it's a reliable resource.

Stormfather wrote:As other people have said, I've always gotten the feeling that an Archon was the absolute commander of the Kabal, and thus there'd only be one per Kabal. However, it's worth mentioning that the old Dark Eldar codex (from 3rd edition) had a 'bargain' version of the Archon, called a Hierarch. Hierarchs are the Archon's underbosses, and I imagine that a Kabal as large as the Black Heart would have tons of them. Running a Black Heart Hierarch using the Archon's profile strikes me as a fluff-appropriate way to play a Black Heart list, without taking Vect.

You're thinking of Dracons, which have been retconned to lead Trueborn squads.

**Kroothawk**

In a sense, Vect has all Archons, as he is the ruler of Commoragh.

**Iracundus**

Yes, the Kabal of the Black Heart canonically has multiple Archons:

The Kabal of the Black Heart

The Kabal of the Black Heart is the first and greatest of its kind; a vast and sprawling organisation, able to support several rival Archons within its hierarchical structure. Each Archon controls a separate faction within the Black Heart, and each vies fiercely with his rivals for the patronage of Supreme Overlord Vect. None brave outright murder, however, for only a fool would blunt one of Vect's favourite tools. So complete is Vect's stranglehold upon Commorragh that none of these highly placed subordinate Archons dares challenge the Overlord's supremacy in anything other than their most private dreams and fantasies. Even then, they do so with caution, for it is said that Vect knows well the scent of treachery, and reads the minds of lesser mortals like an open book.

-p. 52, WD 372

Archon Valossian Sythrac

Valossian Sythrac of the Black Heart is a rare individual indeed - one of an ever-diminishing clique of Archons to have consistently retained Supreme Overlod Vect's favour. Vect long ago grew bored of Archons bearing news of the conquest of planets and star systems, for such mundane victories rarely last long in the grand scheme of things. Instead the Supreme Overlord rewards those with the wit to damage or topple entire galactic empires. Sythrac is such an individual - his ongoing quest to assassinate each of the Imperium's most vaunted heroes is a hot topic within Vect's courts. The practical applications of weakening the Imperium's command structure aside, Sythrac's tactic is to extinguish hope itself - to rob the upstart humans of those that they hold dear, and deprive them of the will to fight against the encroaching darkness. Every Dark Eldar finds a perverse delight in reminding the lesser races of their place; Valossian Sythrac makes it his life's work.

Archon Sythrac's prized possessions are his collection of soul-traps - vile devices that act much like the spirit stones of the Craftworld Eldar, though in a far more hideous and predatory way. The act of parting a soul from its mortal body is child's play to Sythrac. A single scratch from his ancient huskblade will turn his victim to dust in seconds. The disembodied soul, torn so quickly from its physical vessel, is then easy pray for the spirit-vortex of Sythrac's rapacious soul-trap. Once a soul is claimed by such a device, it is imprisoned within for all eternity, its captive energies harnessed to energise Valossian Sythrac's ancient body.

In battle, Sythrac is protected by a sophisticated shadow field that has proven effective against point-blank volleys from Imperial battle tanks. This reality-bending forcefield, combined with Sythrac's mastery of webway portal technology, allows the Archon to strike straight at the heart of the enemy army. Once the target is isolated, the Kabal emerges right into the midst of the foe. It is then that Sythrac stalks forward like a hunting cat, duels with his human prey, before turning them to dust with a flick of his sword, and binds their souls to his servitude forever.

-p.53, WD 372

**Col. Dash**

In the codex itself it says it has multiple Archons with Vect over them.