A wide range of enemies

The best part about my gaming club is that there's a huge variety of players to play against.  I'm actually quite lucky to have a club of gamers that offers up so many practice scenarios.  When I get all my Dark Eldar kits next week, I know I'll have all the motivation I need to get the models assembled.  As much as I hate assembling endless amounts of models, I know that at the end of the day, I'll have plenty of opponents to sink my teeth into.

Here's what kind of players I have in my area and what kind of lists they take:

• Mech Guard Steel Legion player
• Eldar player that can play Seer Council, Jetbike, Mechdar and Castle Eldar
• The same player also owns Thousand Sons and all kinds of Tyranids
• Another Eldar player that plays Mechdar or Castle
• Space Wolves player that takes a balanced list
• Space Wolf player that likes TWC and Grey Hunters
• The same player also plays Necrons.. but Necrons are bleh
• Blood Angels player that plays balanced but can take all kinds of other lists
• Ork player that can go hordes or Speed Freakz, the same player also has Ultras
• Dark Angels player that can go Deathwing, Daemonhunters or normal Marines
• A lot of Tyranid players that sports all kinds of lists and configurations
• Lastly, I have enough Marines, BA, SW and Death Guard to lend out for practice

The list above is just players at my local gaming club.  I also live very close to the LA Bunker so I'll be able to get games there as well when I'm not at work.  The plan is to play against all of these lists and then BR back here so you guys know how my Dark Eldar are doing.  No tailoring allowed, I don't believe in sissy play.

Only the best will survive

I'm probably going to get thrashed for saying this; but I think Dark Eldar are going to be a master-class army.  I've read through the entire codex multiple times now and I'm convinced that only the best generals are going to have any success with them.  Dark Eldar, by design are going to be the hardest army to play in 40K.

Everything they have is paper thin and in this edition, paper thin is just dangerous.  Some say that Eldar is a delicate army to play but that's really just bullshit.  Eldar is actually one of the most durable races in the game.  They have access to 3+ re-rollable cover saves, Energy Shields on their transports and Holofields on their tanks.  T3 means very little when everything is well protected and taken care of with re-rolls or staying power.  Dark Eldar does not have this luxury.  Not at all.  They are built based on speed and precision.  Since there's no staying power at all; you have to make things happen in perfect unison or fall apart.  There's no sitting around and waiting for your opponents to make a mistake.  If you make a mistake in any of your phases, you will die.

Movement and positioning is absolutely critical for being successful as Dark Eldar.  You need to outrange your opponent's weapons, claim cover saves whenever you can, and know which units to move and which to commit.  How you move your units will be the only way you will keep them alive and keep them successful.  Two thirds There's no such thing as T4, 3+ armor saves or AV14 transports.  There's only AV10 open-top and a bunch of T3 girls wearing battle-thongs.  I know this more than anybody; I play Space Wolves, Blood Angels and Death Guard.

There is going to be a huge influx of Dark Eldar players, that I'm sure.  I'm also sure that most of these players will crash and burn and sell their models within a year.  I say this with confidence because that's exactly what happened years ago when Dark Eldar got their new book and players wanted to give them a whirl.  After getting stomped, beaten and destroyed by other armies, they jumped ship and went back to their boring MEQ.  How fitting that the weak get filtered out and only the most cunning, evil and arrogant remain.  Natural selection at its finest.

BR: 1750 BA vs. CSM

Long table sides
6 objectives, terrain was medium

My list looked like the following:

1750
11 kp

HQ:
Mephiston = 250

TROOP:
10x ASM (PF/Infernus, 2x Meltaguns) = 250
10x ASM (PF/Infernus, 2x Meltaguns) = 250

ELITE:
2x Sanguinary Priest (JP, MB) = 160

FA:
Baal Predator (TLAC/HB) = 145
Baal Predator (TLAC/HB) = 145
Baal Predator (TLAC/HB) = 145

HEAVY:
Predator (AC/LC) = 135
Predator (AC/LC) = 135
Predator (AC/LC) = 135

His army:

Chaos Lord of Slaneesh in TDA w/ Daemon Weapon
Flying DP of Nurgle
5x4 squads of Noise Marines with Blaster Masters
10x Khorne Berserkers in a Rhino w/ Fist and PP
5x Chaos Raptors w/ Meltaguns and Plasma Pistol
Possessed Vindicator
Chaos LR with CSM Termies w/ Fists, cbM
2x Chaos Dreads w/ Autocannons, Heavy Flamer

The problem with this list is how ridiculously few troops I have on the field.  If I wasn't a lazy bastard, I would probably have more ASM, but since I'm reluctant to build any, I just decided to field 20 of them.  In short, this is probably the worst case scenario for me since it was max objectives and he had loads of troops everywhere (Noise Marines) in min squads.


I win the roll to go first and I take first turn.  My Baal Preds scout move into position and move 6" to unload untold barrels of shells into a squad of Noise Marines out of cover.  They disappear.  My AC/LC Preds move up, stun a Rhino, fail to do anything to his Land Raider and the turn passes.  Mephiston and the 2x squads of ASM hide behind my AV13 wall.

His turn is largely ineffective because I either save or he misses.  His Vindicator managed to inflict 4 wounds on my ASM because it scattered into them but I managed to save all but 1.  One of his Chaos Dreads goes fire frenzy and stuns the other one standing next to it.  He pops smoke with everything and awaits my next turn.

I shoot almost everything into the Land Raider hoping to pop it so I can access his Lord + Termies inside.  I had 5 pens, I roll 1s and 2s for all of them.  I also managed to pen his Vindicator and then roll a 2.  Probably the most ridiculous round of poor rolls I've seen in a long time.  His next turn is just as pitiful as the LR tries to get in charge/combi-melta range of my Baal and whiffs with everything.  Everything else that he shot also missed, glanced or failed to do anything.  His squad of Terminators and Lord is lying in front of my army.

Another round of shooting failure and my AC/LC Preds fail to do anything to his stuff.  They pen'd and stunned a Rhino, again.  Grats.  Concentrated firepower from my Baals utterly wreck another squad of Noise Marines in the building with something like 14 wounds and 4 rends inflicted.  They disappear.  My ASM fly out of cover and I shoot/charge with one of my ASM squads + Mephiston.  Mephiston casts Sanguine Sword and enthralls his Terminator Lord.  The entire squad is destroyed before they can do anything.

My opponent randomly decides to counter-battery my AC/LC Pred instead of shooting at ASM/Meph.  I'm fine with that.  His LR moves and gets immobilized in a terrible position, not allowing it to actually shoot at anything worth shooting.  His Nurgle DP flies behind one of my AC/LC Preds and warp fires it but fails to do anything.  His squad of Raptors comes in and epically fails to kill anything even with rear armor exposed.  One of the mistakes he makes here is that he runs his Rhino up 12" and disembarks his Zerkers.  I'm not sure what edition he's playing, but his Berzerkers didn't do anything but shoot the ASM squad.  The champ gets hot and dies to his own Plasma Pistol and they do a total of 1 wound; which I save with a re-roll of FNP.  His DP charges and kills the AC/LC Pred.

I split my Baals and 2 goes off shooting at other targets while one shoots at the Raptor squad.  The two Baals shoot at the Vindicator and pen it like 3 times.  I roll trip 2s on the chart.  Awesome.  The other Baal puts 5 Raptors down to 2 and my 2nd ASM squad shoots/charges the DP.  He has 2 wounds left and kills 3 Marines.  I actually lose combat but I roll and stay in.  Needless to say, Mephiston and the other ASM squad charges the Khrone Berzerkers and only 2 remain.  He doesn't kill any in return, loses combat by a lot, but somehow makes a insane amount of Fearless rolls.  Mephiston and the ASM squad is stuck in with one Zerker on his turn.  Good for me.

His next turn kills a couple more Marines with his DP but I swing back with the Fist and kill him.  My leftover Marines rally towards his Raptors which revenge-killed one of my Baals.  His Vindicator moves forward and blows up one of my AC/LC Preds, leaving me with one.  His empty Rhino moves forward 12" and sits on the flank my other 2 Baals.  The one Khorne Berserker gets ripped apart by Mephiston and I rally towards his LR for cover.

On my next turn, my intention was to get into combat with his other troops securing points.  The ASM squad that won combat over the DP kills off the Raptors with melta shots and gets into scoring position.  I fly over with Wings on Meph and my ASM and I only need a 2 for difficult terrain to get into combat with Mephiston after Fleet.  My ASM squad needs 3.  I roll double 1s for Mephiston and a 1 and a 2 for the ASM squad.  At this point, I was violently raging inside my soul.  Regardless, they just sit there and get heavy flamered and double charged by his 2x Dreads.  Combined shooting from some Noise Marines and Heavy Flamers kill 2 Marines after wound allocation and the charge from the Dreads was subpar - only killing 4.  I swing back with my fist and immobilize a Dread.

Next turn, my 2x Baals moved up and blows a squad of Noise Marines away with combined shooting.  I'm very impressed with my Baals this game.  Mephiston gets into combat with both Dreads with Unleash Rage and Sanguine Sword.  He destroys one utterly and rips the DCCW off the other one.  The squads MB from the Priest kills it with an explosion but fails to do anything else.  With only one tiny squad of Noise Marines left to hold a point (I have 2 to his 1 at this point), my opponent concedes.  He realizes that Mephiston is now free to solo his remaining Noise Marines while my 2x ASM squad hugs cover with FNP on secured points.

Blood Angels Victory!

1750 Dark Royalty

I think this list will do solid in terms of competitive play.  First, you'll notice that I swapped out the combat Archon for Baron Sathonyx and a bunch of Hellions.  In terms of mobility, jump troops with shooting weapons are very good at picking away at the enemy.  I can dictate which combats I want to be in (a theme with Dark Eldar), shoot whatever is outside of transports and assault the leftovers.  By hugging as much cover as I can, I get 3+ cover all around on my Hellions and await for the rest of my army to pick away at my opponents.  I then use my Hellions to swoop in for the kill, obtain a PT for FNP and then get back into cover.

I see Hellions like vultures.  They are fantastic at picking away at lesser targets and since they're troops, they can score as well.  To correctly use these guys, you must hug as much cover as you can and set as many objectives in your back/mid field as possible.  Your hellions will be able to defend these while the rest of your army contests and captures his.  Don't be afraid to leave cover every now and then to obtain an easy Pain Token for your dudes.


As for the rest of the army, it should all look pretty familiar with you guys now.  I decided to go with Haywire Grenades for the Wyches since it makes them more threatening to vehicles and I kept everything else the same.  The Duke riding with the Warriors rapid-fires 3+ to wound Splinter weapons while the Trueborn acts as dedicated anti-tank.  Depending on what my list needs in my metagame, I can also opt to switch out the Trueborn's Blasters with Carbines and Cannons for max poison.  Lastly, the Ravagers are there for dedicated anti-tank because MCs and transports are rampant in my area.

1748

HQ:
Duke Sliscus = 150
Baron Sathonyx = 105

TROOP:
9x Warriors (Raider NS/AS/SR, Blaster) = 181
10x Wyches (Raider NS/AS, Hekatrix/Agnoizer, Haywire) = 225
10x Wyches (Raider NS/AS, Hekatrix/Agnoizer, Haywire) = 225
12x Hellions (Champ, Agonizer) = 222

ELITE:
10x Trueborn (Raider NS/AS, 4x Blaster, Splinter Cannon) = 265

HEAVY:
Ravager (FF, NS) = 125
Ravager (FF, NS) = 125
Ravager (FF, NS) = 125

None will survive my cunning

Since list building is a hobby of mine, I can't help but notice all the different kinds of lists you can build from a well-written army book.  The Dark Eldar codex is a thing of beauty, really.  There's loads and loads of synergy between the units in the book and I find that to be extremely attractive.  I mean after all, variety is the spice of life!  If a codex supplies the player with a lot of options, he'll be more intrigued to try new things and buy more minis.  This is a good thing for the hobby.

So exactly what kind of units will Dark Eldar players take in their lists?  Let's take a look:

• Combat Archon with his Kabal in Raiders
• Min-maxed squads in Venoms, Trueborn with Blasters
• Pirate themed army with the Duke
• Wych-cult armies with Lelith and Wyches
• Hellion themed army led by the Baron
• First strike army based around Vect
• Haemonculi based army with Wracks and Cronos

Every single one of those list components have their own strengths and weaknesses.  Not only do they compliment each other very well, but they can be mixed and matched with the other elements in the list to form really powerful armies!


The combat Archon and his Kabal adds a large degree of poison weapons and specialized anti-MEQ CC.  Incubi just tear up marines like there's no tomorrow and with the right configuration, the Archon can be an absolute beast in combat.  When in need of dedicated fire support and transport busting capabilities, the Archon will probably hire some..

Min-maxed squads of Trueborn in Venoms.  They can cause havoc in almost any setting.  They can max out on Splinter Cannons and hang out in a Venom with 2x Splinter Cannons and you can pour out ridiculous amounts of poisoned shots from 36" away.  Likewise, you can configure your Trueborn to take Blasters and get them up in kill range ASAP.  In fact, an entire army can be built around the MSU principle that RB spam players use.  Take a lot of heavy shooting, put them in tiny transports and go to town on your enemies.  For everything else, there's the..

The Duke.  He is such a well-rounded hero by benefiting Warriors/Trueborn, Wyches/Hellions/Reavers (combat drugs!) and your transports (gives them DS), you can probably include him in 90% of the lists out there.  I would assume that to go with the pirate theme, you might want to invest in a Raider/Ravager heavy army so you can sail across the sea of stars in style.  Too manly for you?  You might want to look into..

Wych-cult armies.  This army focus consists on a lot of Wyches (maybe even Lelith) packed in a bunch of Raiders and shipped directly towards the enemy with Aethersails.  Now I don't know about you guys, but I see these girls as support CC rather than units that can provide results on their own.  Taking them too expensive will decrease the number of other things you can take in your army so I suggest taking them for specific roles.  A few Haywire grenades here and there with an Agonizer is all you need for an all-purpose Wych squad.  If you want more killy, feel free to load up on Razorflails or Hydra Gauntlets.  For a more defensive approach, Shardnets will do wonders.  For everything else, there's..

Hellions.  In fact, for 105 points, you should always take the Baron with them.  He's basically an auto-include in any army featuring Hellions and that's no exaggeration.  I mean seriously, he makes Hellions troops and supplies them with a Phantasm Grenade Launcher, comes with a Shadow Field, a stronger weapon and gives the squad Stealth on top of that!  Start the game with a Haemonculi in the unit and they get FNP with a 3+ cover save when hiding behind some cover.  The Hellion squad have Skilled Rider when with him and can put out a respectable amount of shooting and CC.  I can see the Baron being one of those filler HQs easily capable of putting the hurt on any scoring units outside their transports.  And that's why you have..

A first strike army based on Vect.  Not only is Vect a combat monster, but he can really give the DE army a jumpstart on popping enemy transports and leaving their contents exposed for Pain Tokens.  To maximize Vect's first turn, I would take max Ravagers/Voidravens and as many Dark Lances as possible.  Kill as many transports as possible and leave the rest of their army to the crows.  Or better yet..

Leave his army to a bunch of a poisoned T4 FNP Wracks with Furious Charge.  That's right, Wracks are probably the best troop choice in our army when it comes to holding points.  I can easily see a list with 1-3 Haemonculi and a bunch of Wracks sitting in cover on some objectives with a bunch of Liquidfiers ready to go.  Any infantry that comes close has to deal with multiple S4 AP D6 templates and the Cronos Parasite Engine standing next to him will love adding PTs to anything within 12".  I mean.. for 10 points, Wracks are the poor man's version of Plague Marines.  When thrown into cover, they become extremely frustrating to deal with.  To make things a little more frustrating for your opponent, you can even take a Haemonculi with WWP and set it on other objectives while the rest of your army runs around contesting your opponent's objectives.  Next turn, out comes scoring Wracks and a free objective points for you.

So I guess the biggest question going through my head right now is: Which one of these combinations will give me the most competitive results?  Frankly, I have no idea.  I mean, I have a pretty good idea but I'm not 100% sure if Haemonculi will be needed in every list.  Similarly, I'm not sure if the Duke is a better choice than the Baron and his scoring Hellions.  What I do know is that I'll be trying every single one of these combinations because my goal in this game is to murder, enslave and torture my enemies.  None will survive my cunning.

Dark Eldar's Power Rating

My favorite aspect of this hobby is analyzing army potential and building army lists.  Some like to paint, some like to model, but I like the game for its core mechanics more than anything.  I am first and foremost a gamer.. and a competitive gamer at that.  Every time a new book comes out, I go into my LGS 3-4 times a week and analyze the book to its core.  I read, I ponder and I write a ton of articles to catalog my thoughts and keep track of my predictions.  I've been doing this for the last 10 years.

It's been a long time since I was wrong about a codex or army book.  Every single army book that I've done research on has fallen on the scale of what I predicted months ago.  I predicted the latest CSM book would be stale with very limited builds, Eldar will be good even past their 4th Ed. dominance and that the new IG will simply roll face.  Of course when I talked it over to my friends at the LGS, it was a little more analytical than that (more in lines of what you see here), but the overall gist of it has been the same.

Enough of the history lesson and ego-stroking, let's get down to business.  How would I rank the Dark Eldar book?  Let's see.  This is my first internet blogged entry for a successful prediction (even though I have evidence I said Tyranids would suck), so let's make it accurate.  I think Dark Eldar will have a army power rating of 7/10.  It will be on par with what Blood Angels are right now.  Of course, certain power builds will have a increased power rating, but overall I think they'll fall on the fairly average scale.  The book is very well balanced internally with a lot of acceptable and fair options.  Nothing stands out as wtf-broken and nothing is a auto-include from what I can see.  What puts Dark Eldar down is the fact that none of their troops can reliably hold objectives unless you take Wracks.  If you take Wracks as troops, then you must take Haemonculi and thus you go into this slippery slope of fixed army lists.  The mass array of AV10 open-top vehicles in this current metagame is also quite tricky since there's a lot more spammable armor now with heavy weapons.  Despite how well the book is balanced internally, external factors will limit its power.


So how do I go about with these ridiculous power ratings?  I factor in two different aspects of gaming actually:  Internal balance and external balance.  Internal being how the book functions as a whole; how strong certain units are, how are they priced, how are the special rules and most importantly, what options are available to the player in both a casual and competitive setting.  Externally, I compare the balance of the book to the metagame and how it'll fare against other competitive builds.  I also compare how fluff builds can match up against fluff builds and if both players can carry on OK.  There's other minor tidbits here and there, but this should cover the basics.

How does Dark Eldar compare to the rest of the armies out there?

Imperial Guard - 9 /10
Space Wolves - 9/10
Eldar - 8/10
Blood Angels - 7/10
Dark Eldar - 7/10
Orks - 7/10
Tyranids - 6/10
Space Marines - 6/10
..etc

I rank Imperial Guard high because I think the entire codex is underpriced for what it can do.  I know fellas taking the same list they did in 4th except they saved like 600 points on most units going down in price.  That means a lot more tanks, a lot more shooting and lot more dead marines.  They can fight anything in the game really well and they preform well in something that 40K is all about; shooting.  Space Wolves are really good because the entire book is competitively (or questionably) priced and they have tons of unique and viable options.  There's an insane amount of cost effective units and they're definitely the strongest MEQ dex out there right now.  Eldar, even though they are overpriced as of now, still have some of the most flexible power builds in 40K.  Mechdar, Castle Eldar and Seer Councils are all very viable and competitive builds for Eldar that excel at multiple different match-ups.  I guess Eldrad wasn't kidding when he said that the Eldar race shapes the destiny of lesser races.  Blood Angels is a book that's also well-balanced.  Even though the Death Company has been made obsolete and worthless because of the the Rage USR, Blood Angels gained a lot of respectable and well-placed units.  BA are one of the only marine armies that can sport an unhealthy amount of tanks rivaling the number that IG can take, and all of their vehicles Fast.  As for Orks, there are some noticeable builds that can put out a lot of hurt:  Nob Bikerz are one, Speed Freakz are another and even mass horde Orks can be good in any given metagame.

So who's left in the not so good pile?  Books like Space Marines who are so well-balanced that they don't have anything to show for and Tyranids.  The standard vanilla codex doesn't have anything particularly awesome other than slightly cheaper Terminators with TH/SS and Vulkan He'stan to make them better.  Every thing else is simply OK.. which doesn't say much for the actual power of the book.  The Tyranid codex just suffers horrendously in the field of internal balance.  Half of the book doesn't make sense in terms of where the units are placed in the FOC and the upgrades options (or should I say lack of upgrade options) severely hampers their ability to make anything happen.  Not just that, but the recent string of FAQs are out to squash bugs in particular, I swear.  I can't help but have a extreme sense of book bias when comparing Robin Cruddace's work (he wrote IG and Tyranids).  It's almost as if he has never played Tyranids (he plays IG, I know this) and the sole piece of advice he got when writing the book was:  Nerf Carnifexes and sell more Trygons.

I would say that with these ratings, anything between powers 7-10 is considered good to overpowered.  I have never given a codex a 10, but I have given an army book a 10 in power rating.  That honor belongs to the 7th Edition Daemons of Chaos Army Book for Warhammer Fantasy.  To say that book was powerful was an understatement.  Just keep in mind that army book ratings have nothing to do with generalship.  I've seen garbage players run power lists straight into the ground and I've seen smart generals own it up with crappy armies.  These ratings are just there to rate the armies, not the players behind the armies.

My 1750 list vs. the metagame

So I'm pretty satisfied with this list I'm building.  The theme of the army will be a mix between the Archon's Kabal and the Duke's horny drugged-up wyches.  That in itself is motive to go this army.

1746

HQ:

Archon (SF, Husk Blade, Drugs, Soul Trap, Haywire) = 150

Duke Sliscus the Serpent = 150

TROOP:

9x Warriors (Raider NS/AS/SR, Blaster) = 181

9x Wyches (Raider NS/AS, Hekatrix/Agnoizer, Shardnet) = 205

10x Wyches (Raider NS/AS, Hekatrix/Agnoizer, Shardnet) = 215

10x Wyches (Raider NS/AS, Hekatrix/Agnoizer, Shardnet) = 215

ELITE:

10x Trueborn (Raider NS/AS, 4x Blaster) = 255

HEAVY:

Ravager (FF, NS) = 125

Ravager (FF, NS) = 125

Ravager (FF, NS) = 125

Like I said before, I find the Duke to be one of the best buys in the book.  To recap, the guy's 150 points and comes with a Shadow Field and Blast Pistol.  In addition to this, he gives the entire army Contraband that allows you to roll 2 dice for your combat drugs and pick one.  He also provides the entire army with the option to Deep Strike your Raiders, Venoms and Ravagers.  Sure, you might not want to do this, but the option being there is always a good thing.  Even though he's not as beastly in combat as the Archon, he can still wound things on 2+ and on 5 and 6s, he ignores armor saves.  Besides, he'll be riding shotgun in the Warrior squad with Splinter Racks.  This allows them to re-roll their poisoned shots and wound on 3s.  MCs beware.


I built my Archon to be a combat beast.  The Husk Blade and Drug Dispenser gives me pretty good options to what I want him with.  Best case scenario he gets a 5 on the chart, which allows him to re-roll wounds.  Otherwise, the +1S is something nice to have since with Soul Trap, killing an IC or MC will immediately bump me up to S8 instead of S6.  He'll be traveling with his 9-woman escort of Wyches and will want to get in combat ASAP.

The rest of the army is basically Wyches, Trueborn and Ravagers.  I tried to keep the Wyches as cheap as possible and gave them Shardnets.  I'm still unsure whether Hydra Gaunts, Razorflails or Shardnets are better, so I'll be experimenting with all of them.  I can even give 5 of them Haywire Grenades and just call it a day.  I mean they're just going to be there to charge the contents of the transports I pop and I don't really expect them to do much.  Unfortunately, they don't have any poisoned attacks but they do have the Duke's Contraband to help them pick +1S or re-roll to wound.  I think those two will be the greatest benefit to the Wyches.

As for anti-tank, the Trueborn with 4x Blasters and 3x Ravagers will be all that I need to take down the heaviest vehicles.  Each Ravager is packed with Flickerfields and Night Shields to make them slightly more resilient and still keep them cheaper than the Razorwing or the Voidraven.  I'm getting pretty lazy with conversions so I'll probably just run the Ravagers because the models are amazing there's actually models for them.  The Raider holding the Trueborn will happily scoot up into position (without Aethersails) on turn 1 and be in position to pour out 5x Dark Lances while advancing every 6".  Very cool.  At 2k points, I'll be adding another squad of these guys.

So how does this list fair against the current metagame?  I know a lot of you hate this word, but guess what, tough luck.  RTS gamers use it, TCG players use it and most competitive gamers know and respect this word. The metagame how you should build for an all-comers list because nothing effects your game more than the players you're playing with.  So lets see now.. according to my recent article on Bell of Lost Souls, here are some of the armies I have to be able to defeat in order for this list to be competitive.  Keep in mind that a truly competitive list should be able to tackle at least 90% of these lists with most outcomes being favorable.

I will denote each with favored, unfavored or neutral.  Favored is in Dark Eldar's favor.

• Leafblower IG lists and all its mech variants - unfavored
• Space Wolf Long Fang RB spam lists - unfavored 
• Space Wolf Thunderwolf Cavalry herohammer style lists - favored
• Vulkanator lists with TH/SS Termies and Melta/Flamer spam - favored
• Blood Angels 3/3 list variants with Mephiston/Baals/Vindies/Preds - neutral
• CSM Dual Lash Plague Marines w/ max Obliterators - favored
• Mech Eldar, flying Circus style lists - neutral
• Council Eldar with Seer Councils, Saim-Hann style lists - neutral
• Temple Eldar lists with Wraithguard, Avatar, 3x Wraithlords - favored
• Ork Battle Wagon spam, Speed Freakz or Nob Bikerz - favored
• Tau Crisis Suit spam with Hammerheads/Boadsides - neutral
• Tyranid 3-Trygon lists with mass Hive Guard/Zoans - favored

Let's talk briefly about the unfavored match-ups really quickly.  As you can see, anything that has an extensive amount of firepower that can go across the board is not a good match-up for a DE list with Raiders.  My best bet against such things is probably DS in at mid-board and shoot as much as I can.  Any IG list with Chimera spam and Hydras is going to cause serious problems for DE trying to get up the board so it heavily depends on deployment.  No Raider list should be comfortable fighting max Long Fangs and RBs with Lascannon/TL Plasma Gun because 15 rockets per turn is just sadface.  I'm going to need a lot of cover, a lot of board denial of some sort and I need to play heavily with Night Shields to avoid certain destruction.  Otherwise, I need a crap ton of good reserve rolls and I can tell you right now, that's not something you should depend on.

Even borderline neutral shooting lists like the Tau Crisis Suits and BA 3/3 can cause serious issues.  The only reason why they're neutral is because I can pop a good amount of suits per turn with Dark Lances and the same applies to counter-shooting their Broadsides.  BA's 3/3 formation with Baals and AC/LC Preds can pose a serious threat if they get the jump on me since they can move and shoot with their Fast vehicles.  Good thing I can do the same and with Aethersails, I can hold my stuff in reserve and arrive on Turn 2 to pop their vehicles if they advance.  Flying Mechdar and more mobile Eldar lists with Vypers will pose a problem for DE.  Eldar have a ton of S6 mobile shooting and S6 is the magic number that poses a threat on everything space-elf related.  S6 ignores the FNP granted by Pain Tokens and its just strong enough to do serious damage to AV10 open-top.  Seer Councils will also be a bitch to handle but I think with enough focused shooting and mass assaults, they're going to go down.  Neutral lists for me basically mean its up to deployment, generalship and how the dice rolls go.  It can go either way and that's perfectly fine with me.

Now, the favored match-ups should be a no brainer.  As you can see, anything that relies on big awesome units to win the day is going to get kicked in the face by Dark Eldar.  Poisoned shooting, a lot of Dark Lances and a lot of maneuverability is going to be the key to winning against these lists.  No matter how much you like your Wraithlords and Trygons, high toughness is not going to cut it anymore.  The same applies to elite Thunderwolf Cav and Hamminators.  Not because they're tough, but because they're really elite and thus sports a smaller number of targets for the army as a whole.  Wound saturation means everything and when I throw my entire army where I want, how I want and when I want like a precision-edged dagger, the "heavier" lists tend to fall apart.  I think these are the kind of lists that Dark Eldar will prey upon the most.  Every Dark Eldar Raider needs a Trygon head mounted on their prow.

Alright, let it roll.  What do you guys think?

Need more pain please

Took a nap earlier in the day and now I can't sleep.  That's OK, I have some thought provoking questions on the Haemonculi option in the DE book.  Well, for one, they cost something like 50 points per pop with the Ancient costing 80 instead.  They can be fielded in a 1-3 slot choice similarly like the BA Sanguinary Priests and they come with Pain Tokens to add to your army.  They can also carry Arcane Items that boost their effectiveness.

The thing about these guys is that they can be spread out everywhere in your army and provide your units with FNP.  That means the second these units kill something, they'll end up receiving Furious Charge.  I guess if you want these two right off the top, you can take a unit of Wracks that start with a Pain Token and take a Haemonculus in the unit for a cheap FNP/FC unit.  Personally, I'm a big Kabal/Wych fan so I'll probably stick to those even though FNP/FC Wracks are pretty deadly with their WS4, I4, 2 attacks each with Poisoned attacks.

So the question I have is:  Are Haemonculi worth it?  They're fragile as all hell, have below average combat stats (WS/BS4 for the Haemonculi and 5 for the Ancient) and act as ICs.  Sure, they have 2W and 3W a piece, but they die really easy when swung at for an easy KP.  Don't get me wrong, the FNP is great to have in any army, but is having him in a squad of Warriors or Wyches or something else really that needed?  On the first kill, regardless of whether you shot something to death or ripped its head off in melee, you get a Pain Token.  Would it be worth it just to have a Haemonculi in a unit for that extra FNP bonus at the start of the game?  A Warrior squad with 9 dudes can't take a Splinter Cannon or Dark Lance.  The same applies to a unit of Wyches since they miss out on their second special weapon.  The only reasonable unit I can see them accompanying (outside of Wracks of course) is a 9x squad of Trueborn with Blasters.  Give the Haemonculi a Liquidfier and call it a day.  In fact, how would you equip yours?  Another weapon layout can be Venom Blade (2+ to wound) and Animae Vitro (or something?) that turns each unsaved wound into a Pain Token.

Someone on another forum brought up the fact that you can take some Haemonculi with Incubi, an Archon and a unit of Wracks and play token games.  I guess if you like deploying on foot and miss out on an entire turn's worth of movement, this is cool, but the gist of it is this:  The Archon is in a unit of Wracks at the start of the game that has a Pain Token already attached.  He leaves the unit, taking the Pain Token with him and then join a unit of Incubi or something.  Since the Incubi already have FNP because of the Haemonculus, the Archon joining will give them FC.  On your second turn, you can drop the Haemonculus from the Incubi's unit and they can go ride a Raider into victory.  Will this work wonders?  I doubt it.  I'd much rather take a Raider with Aethersails and get these Incubi into charge position for turn 2.  Killing is my method of getting Pain Tokens, no matter how attractive (or unattractive) Haemonculi can be.

What do you guys think?  Haemonculi or gtfo or what?

Must-takes and configurations

I have a confession to make:  I am going Dark Eldar when they come out.  Not because I'm a band-wagoner thinking they're going to be amazing, but because I have "space elf" roots.  I used to be a Eldar player back in 4th Ed. and they were utterly ridiculous.  In a way, I feel cheated of my experience because they were so good.  That pissed me off, so I sold the army and picked up Space Wolves.  Now that Dark Eldar is here, I think it's time to feed my heart's dark side and mental perversions and just go for it.  I always wanted to play Dark Elves in Fantasy, and now I finally get that chance.. in space!  To be honest, I think Dark Eldar are going to be the perfect balance between deadliness and expertise.  Only the best generals will be able to win consistently and I personally see this as a skill test to myself.

So now the cat's out of the bag, I'm going to go through some must take units and weapon configurations.  Below is my updated unit bucket with units that I like.  Keep in mind that even though the units I like are normally based on cost effectiveness, I also like to preserve a certain theme.  For that reason, I'm missing Haemonculii and their furry friends in the list below.

• Vect = 240
• The Serpent = 150
• Lady Malys = 130
• Archon (Shadow Field, Husk Blade, Combat Drugs, Soul Trap) = 145
• Archon (Shadow Field, Agonizer, Combat Drugs, Phantasm GL) = 145
• 10x Warriors (Blaster, Splinter Cannon) = 115
• 10x Wyches (Hekatrix/Agonizer, 2x Hydra Gauntlets) = 150
• 9x Incubii (Klavex, Bloodstone, Onslaught) = 243
• 10x Trueborn (4x Blasters, 2x Splinter Cannons) = 200
• 9x Reaver Jetbikes (3x Blasters, 3x Cluster Caltrops, Grav-Talon) = 313
• 10x Scourge (4x Blasters or 4x Splinter Cannons) = 280 or 260
• Ravager (Night Shield, Flickerfield) = 125
• Voidraven Bomber (Night Shield, Flickerfield, Shatterfield Missile) = 175
• Raider (Night Shield, Aethersails) = 75
• Venom (2x Splinter Cannons) = 65

You guys see anything you like?  The HQ choices are what I consider to be the best in the book and the troop choices are also quite obvious.  Warriors are 10-strong without a champion because I think they're a complete waste of space.  Without grenades or a high enough WS, I think putting any special weapon in their hands is just a waste.  Leave the shooting up to the Warriors and close combat to the Wyches.  Don't bother with Bloodbrides because Wyches are better for the cost.  If you really need something to rip things up in melee, you might as well take Incubii because they're amazing for their cost.  Just remember to keep an Archon with PGL in that squad so they can take full advantage of grenades.  If you need heavy shooting, I would go with the Trueborn in a Raider.  Four Blasters and 2x Splinter Cannons comes at a cheap cost of 200.  If you noticed anything about the lists above, I prefer Splinter Cannons over Dark Lances simply because you can always apply pressure - even on the move.  You can even opt to go with Scourges since you can equip them with heavy weapons such as Haywire Launchers, Heat Lances or Blasters.  For anti-infantry fast choices, 9x Reaver Jetbikes can put out a good amount of wounds on anything outside transports when turbo-boosting 36".  The prices on them, however, is something that I need to see in practice before I decide completely.

Quick note:  Do the Grav-Talons add an additional D3 S4 hits on top of the Reavers' Bladevines?

As for transports, I see two kinds of full transports for Dark Eldar.  The first is the Venom; which can function as a poisoned shooting platform with its 2x Splinter Cannons.  This enforces the MSU style of play for Dark Eldar and that's just not something I can see myself playing.  Small units of T3 5+ might as well hang a huge sign that says FREE KILL POINTS right over their head.  For that reason alone, Venoms are out for me.  This leaves us with the humble Raider.  I can see two methods of playing with the Raider and they both come with Aethersails.  When you consider the uses of +2d6" extra movement in the movement phase, you can see why the +5 extra points is well worth it.  Even though the Raider or units on/disembarking from the Raider can't shoot the next round, they act as faster contenders and assault unit transports.  Other than Aethersails, Night Shields are a must-have for any Raider that wants to play with range-abusing shooting strategies.  Warriors and Trueborn love Raiders with Night Shields because it gives them room to play with their guns.  Either case, they should have Aethersails just in case you got some transports remaining and you need some objectives taken/contested.

What about you guys?  What units and configurations do you find yourselves using?  I'm really curious about everyone's loadout because I'm trying to find other ideal configurations out there.  Dark Eldar are very cunning.. and that's a trait that's quite desired.

Dark Eldar: First turn or lose?

So I ran into a pretty interesting conversation today with an experienced gamer on how Dark Eldar will play.  I can't say I was happy to hear what he had to say.  Hypothetically, Dark Eldar will be the strongest if they take first turn and get to apply pressure early on.  What if they don't?  If they don't or if someone manages to seize the initiative from you, then you've got yourself a serious problem.  Let's quickly examine some common lists we see on the table.

Take these 3 armies for example:

• IG Mech list with Chimeras.
• Space Wolf RB spam lists.
• Blood Angels 3/3 Baals and AC/LC Preds

All of these armies are capable of putting out an incredible amount of shooting in their first turn.  Mech IG can shoot out of their hulls and their basic Chimeras can put a serious amount of hurt on AV10 open-top vehicles.  Space Wolf lists can put out 15 S8 rockets per turn and a obscene number of Lascannon/Plasma shots.  Then there's Blood Angels:  Their vehicles are Fast so their AC/LC Preds can move 6" and shoot everything and their Baals can also blow their load at 6-12".  In terms of firepower, these armies are no joke since their purpose is to deliver game-changing results with their first round of shooting.


So how does this effect Dark Eldar?  Well on paper, it looks like DE will just fold over and die.  Everything on their side of the table is more durable than yours and all their firepower is arguably stronger vs. your armor.  In a way, I agree with them.  If your enemy is fielding a strong shooting list and they take first turn, the odds is heavily against you.  You must make positioning top priority and abuse Night Shields as much as you can.  Out-range the enemy guns while maintaining cover will minimize a good amount of damage.  If I take Vect however, I can play a little more ballsy and rely on my opponent's greed be his own downfall.  With 3x Ravagers and a healthy number of Raiders and Bikes, you can Seize that Initiative on a 4+ and roll him over.  Sadly, if he Seizes the Initiative on you and you've deployed in open space, there's going to be a problem if he has long range guns (and most anti-armor has pretty good range).  Maybe that's why Aethersails are 5 points lol.

The conversation goes a little further into mid-late game and this time, it's time to capture some objectives.  With most of your transports down or out of the game, how much chance will T3 5+ units have at securing objectives?  My philosophy was simple:  I kill all their chances to score and contest whatever else.  By killing his units, I get Pain Tokens that can give my troops FNP.  Sure, the 5+ armor save is going to suck, but at least I have a 4+ FNP to cover my ass.  Not the best and not the worst.

So what do you guys have to say about this?  I know damn well that Dark Eldar is going to be a glass cannon and I know a swift breeze will blow them over.  Do you think this bothers me?  Hell no.  But it sure will be a different game than 3rd and 4th Ed.

Tough Dark Eldar decisions

So let's look at a couple of debates floating around the interwebz for what's the most cost effective option for Dark Eldar in a all-comers list.  When I build my lists, I always build for all-comers because I think the strongest list is also the most flexible.  I don't believe in list tailoring but I do believe adapting to your metagame.  There's no point taking the same crappy list, getting your face-rolled, understanding why you lost and what you need to do, but too stubborn to change.  That is doing it wrong.

Anyways, let's start with heavy support choices!  For simplicity sakes, let's talk about a direct comparison between two of the best choices for anti-armor.  In one corner, we have the Ravager and in the other corner, we have the Voidraven Bomber.  Here are some stats:

Ravager:
- The model kit is coming out in the near future.
- Has 3x S8 AP2 Lance weapons that can move 12" and shoot all.
- Can swap all its Dark Lances for Disentagrators for free.. so 9x S5 AP2 shots from each.
- Costs 105 points stock so it's 40 points cheaper than the Bomber stock.
- AV11/11/10 open-top, making it slightly less armored than the Voidraven.

Voidraven Bomber:
- No model at all.
- 2x S9 AP2 Lance Weapons that can move 12" and shoot all.
- Has a S9 AP2 Lance 3" blast mine but you can only drop it when moving 12".
- Can take some pretty killer missiles but further increases the cost of the bomber.
- AV11/11/10 closed top, so slightly more armored than the Ravager.
- Supersonic, can go flat out at 36".


The biggest turn off for me right now is that the Voidraven doesn't have a model.  I'll probably end up proxying my Ravagers for them at one point just so I can feel them out.  Now I'm not a math pro so I'm not sure what the numbers are vs. armor values with 3x Dark Lances vs. 2x Void Lances.  I know that S9 Lances are more effective vs. armor.. but the chances of them hitting is also very important.  Keep in mind that both vehicles have BS4.  What do you guys think?  Let's get a discussion going on about these guys.

Another decision I have to make is Jetbikes vs. Scourges.

Reaver Jetbike:
- Can go 36" and gets a lovely 3+ cover save and still do damage.
- Auto-hits with D3 attacks at S4 or can buy up to S6 for 20ppm.
- Can carry Heat Lances, but that also increases the cost of the Bike.
- Is T3(4) with a 5+ armor save.  Anything worth a damn shooting these guys will bring 'em down.
- A squad of 10 is more expensive than Scourges.  They're also 35 bucks for 3..

Scourge:
- No plastic models for these guys.  Any conversion ideas?
- Jump Pack infantry with a 4+/6++ armor/invulnerable save at T3.
- Can take a huge array of special weapons such as Blasters, Heat Lances, Splinter Cannons..etc.
- Each have a 18" Assault 3 Poisoned carbine on top of this.
- Very competitively priced considering their weapon options.

I can see the argument for these two going either way.  I absolutely love the weapon options for the Scourge and I can see myself taking 4x with Splinter Cannons or Blasters any day of the week.  The Heat Lances are also exceptionally good considering you can pen a Land Raider on a roll of a 7 from 9".  That's pretty hardcore results.  But what about Jetbikes?  They auto-hit things from 36" away with a 3+ cover save.  That's one hell of distraction and harassing unit, although they are priced fairly to justify their power.

Lastly, we'll look at Incubii vs. Harlequins:

Incubii:
- WS5, 2 attacks each with S4 power weapons.
- They have a 3+ armor save.. which is unheard of in a DE army.
- They can take dedicated transports.
- They don't have Plasma Grenades, so you need a Archon with PGL.

Harlequins:
- WS5, 2 attacks each with Rending if you take kisses (matches Incubii in price).
- They ignore terrain completely and they can't take any transports.
- They have Shadowseer for Veil of Tears and Plasma Grenades.
- They have Hit and Run and Furious Charge special rules but only have 5+ invul saves.
- Can take two squad upgrades and Fusion Pistols.

This is a pretty good debate since both units are priced the same once Harlequins take kisses.  They are both excellent close combat specialists even though they are on the opposite ends of the spectrum.  The Harlequins have a ton of attacks and can cover a great amount of distance under Veil of Tears, but if they can't break what they hit then they're going to take heavy losses.  Incubii, even though they lack Plasma Grenades, can take a transport and reach their target a little easier while putting out consistent power weapon damage.  You can negate the weaknesses of the Incubii's Plasmsa Grenades with a Archon's PGL, but that's adding onto the price of the unit.  How do you guys feel about these guys?  I think they're both pretty good but are Wyches cheaper alternatives?

Well, here you guys go:  Three big unit decisions that hardcore Dark Eldar players are talking about everywhere.  What do you guys think?  Comments please!

Asdrubal Vect: Worth it or not?

First, let's look at Vect's combat stats.  He's WS8, BS8, I8 with 4W, 5 attacks base and comes stock with a Shadow Field.  Not only that, but he has Preferred Enemy vs. everyone, re-rolls to wound vs. Eldar and Dark Eldar and have a power weapon that always wounds on a 3+.  For shooting, he has a cube that shoots out a S10 AP3 Assault 1 Blast from 12" and each wound it does restores his wounds.  The thing about this weapon is that for wounding purposes, the S10 is matched against the target's leadership.  That means it's utterly worthless against vehicles.

What is the best thing about Vect?  He gives Dark Eldar the ability to Seize the Initiative on a 4+.  Just in case you roll low and your opponent thinks he's going first, Vect makes you take away your opponent's first round of shooting and passes it onto you.  Not only that, but he he can take a AV13/13/13 Raider that's open-topped so he can load 9x Trueborns in there and have 4x Blasters.  The Dais of Destruction also comes with 3x Dark Lances.. but it's a damn shame that it can't move 12" and fire everything like a Ravager.  Oh well, it's still a pretty solid firing platform once you go flat out on turn 1 and plant it close to your opponents.


So the big question is:  Is he worth it or not?  He's 240 points and his ship is another 200.  If you're taking him, you might as well take the ship because it's the most durable thing you have.  Otherwise, you can just take him for his special rules and the fact that he's a combat monster.  At 240 points, he's basically two HQs and you guys already know how hardcore I am with cost effectiveness.  Personally, I like taking a combat Archon and the Duke for army wide bonuses.  Realistically, you're just paying the extra points for the near-guarantee chance of going first every game.  For Dark Eldar players, this in itself pays for itself.

What do you guys think?  I know if I was to take him, I would take something like this:

1756

HQ:
Asdubal Vect = 240

TROOP:
9x Warriors (Raider NS/SR, Blaster) = 176
10x Warriors (Raider NS, Blaster, Splinter Cannon) = 185
10x Wyches (Raider AS, Hekatrix/Agnoizer, HG) = 205
10x Wyches (Raider AS, Hekatrix/Agnoizer, HG) = 205

ELITE:
10x Trueborn (Raider NS, 4x Blaster) = 250

HEAVY:
Voidraven Bomber (FF, NS) = 165
Voidraven Bomber (FF, NS) = 165
Voidraven Bomber (FF, NS) = 165

I can honestly give a damn about a 200 point Raider that can't move 12" and shoot all its guns.  For me, I'd rather have something that can deliver scary results on turn 1.  That's why I have a list that looks like this.  If the entire army moves 12" and shoots, it's going to shoot 5x S8 AP2 Dark Lances, 6x S9 AP2 Void Lances and if anything is close or in face-eating range, then the Blasters on the crew will go to work.

Vect is all about his Turn 1 - that's the only reason you're taking him.  I say you better make it count or don't bother taking him at all.

My 1850 Dark Eldar list

It's time to write out my Dark Eldar list.  I'm gearing it for 1850 points for now, but I'll most likely go back here and tweak it up to 2K in the future.  The thing about this list is that I'm not running Vect yet.  I probably will in the future because I think he can offer a lot of 1st turn potential.

1851

HQ:
Archon (SF, Husk Blade, Drugs, Soul Trap) = 145
Duke Sliscus the Serpent = 150

TROOP:
9x Warriors (Raider NS/SR, Blaster) = 176
9x Wyches (Raider AS, Hekatrix/Phantasm/Agnoizer, HG) = 205
10x Wyches (Raider AS, Hekatrix/Phantasm/Agnoizer, HG) = 215
10x Wyches (Raider AS, Hekatrix/Phantasm/Agnoizer, HG) = 215

ELITE:
10x Trueborn (Raider NS, 4x Blaster) = 250

HEAVY:
Voidraven Bomber (FF, NS) = 165
Voidraven Bomber (FF, NS) = 165
Voidraven Bomber (FF, NS) = 165

The Archon here is the Archon I would take if I wanted something really killy.  The Husk Blade is a power weapon that causes Instant Death and with the help of the Duke's Contraband, I might get the drugs I want.  I see Duke as an auto-include in most lists simply because he offers a ridiculous amount of benefits to the army.  Notice the amount of Combat Drugs I have floating around - that's because Contraband allows everyone to roll two dice when selecting drugs instead of 1, and you get to pick which one to take.  Wyches just got hell of a lot scarier and re-rolls to wound with a Husk Blade is no joke.


Wyches in the list come the Champ and Phantasm Grenade Launchers as standard since both together is only 20 points.  I'm still not sure about the weapon layout for them yet, but I'm going with a Hydra Gauntlet just for trial purposes.  Statistically, they're supposed to generate enough attacks for another Wych, so hopefully that will make up for the 9-man squads that I'm going to attach the Archon onto.

Warriors in this list have Night Shields and Splinter Racks simply because Duke allows one Warrior or Trueborn squad to wound on 3+ with their poison weapons.  Splinter Racks allow the entire squad to re-roll hits when shooting from their ships and combined with the Duke's rule, we're looking at a hell of a lot of forced wounds.

Trueborn in this list function as vehicle Hunter-Killers with 4x Blaster shots from an Open-Top assault vehicle.  The Night Shields can offer some protection but more than likely that squad will be targeted by everyone and their mother first.  Sure enough, that's no problem.  I just need to position my units in a way that can punch a hole in my opponent's army and focus on one side of the field first.  This is how Dark Eldar can exploit their Night Shields the best and force their units down their opponent's throat.

As you can see, this list proudly boats 3x Voidraven Bombers for a ridiculous amount of anti-armor abuse throughout the game.  My opponents will have to decide between shooting at these guys or my Raiders which is always a good thing.  The Voidravens will not only offer firing support for the advancing army, but will also ride close to the rest of my forces so it can Turbo-boost 36" and drop a Void Mine on whoever approaches or attempts to contend an objective.  The purpose of this army is to maim, kill and slaughter.  That is all.

More Dark Eldar stuff

Alright, so I went into my LGS and spent a ridiculously good amount of time with the Dark Eldar book.  I basically barked and bit anyone who got close to me so all this info I'm about to tell you is pretty good.  First, I'd like to correct a few things from my previous post.  Well, not really correct, but to confirm on a few things:  Razorflails are indeed that, Shatterfield Missiles are the missiles that I liked and Flickerfields are what the 5++ invulnerable upgrade on vehicles are called.

So I didn't get to look too indepth into the FA choices last time I had the book, but this time, I analyzed them to the bone.  Out of all the FA choices, I'm only sold on Scourge.  They are Jump Troops and have ridiculous options for weapons.  At 22ppm, for every 5 models, 2 of them can replace their Shard Carbines with special weapons.  That means in a squad of 10, they can have 5 special weapons ranging from Splinter Cannons (yes, Cannons), Haywire Blasters, Heatlances, Blasters and Dark Lances.  Imagine a full squad of 10 running around with 4x Haywire Blasters or Heatlances messing around with vehicles.  Now imagine 10 with 4x Splinter Cannons pouring out a ridiculous amount of poison shots per squad.  Start the game with an attached Haemonculus with a Hexfire Rifle just so the squad can get FNP (along their 4+ save) and then run off to do his own thing.  With enough targets to saturate the field, these guys might actually get some field time.


Hellions are also pretty good at 16ppm.  They have 2 shots each with poisoned shots and can cover really good range.  I see these guys as the anti-infantry jump infantry and their special ability to hook combat ICs out of units can really offset how certain close combats play out.  The one thing that I look at and can't see much play from is the 22ppm Reaper Jetbikes.  First, they're T4 with a 5+ armor save.  Sure, they can boost across the map with a 36" Turboboost and still inflict some damage, but I find them to be one of those really fragile units that's big play or big loss.  The damage that they can inflict on enemy vehicles' side armor is pretty decent with S6 hits, but you have to pay for those (+20 each) on top of the 22ppm on a T4 5+ model.  I like how they look, my god do they look fantastic, but I can't see these guys being any more than a nuisance.

I also examined the HQ choices again and I would like to add one more person to the list I find to be cost effective.  Lady Malys is actually quite fantastic for her points.  For 130, she makes her and whatever squad she's in immune to psychic abilities.  She has Archon stats (7s across the board except for S/T) and has 5 attacks with a modified Djin's Blade.  That can give her a possible 8 attacks on the charge!  If the blade rebels, no worries, it automatically misses her because she saw it coming.  On top of this, she also has a 4++ true invulnerable save, nothing like Shadow Field or anything like that.  Her one big ability that effects how the game is played is Precognist.  This allows her to reposition +D3 units after deployment, including putting them back in reserve.  All this for 130 points is a bargain I would say.

After looking at the Venom vs. Raider argument again, I took another long hard look at the two and came up with the following:  Venoms aren't too bad.  They're 55 points, so 5 less than a Raider but comes with some serious anti-infantry weaponry.  They also come with Flickerfields so that's a free 5++ invulnerable.  I would say these things are great anti-infantry paper-thin Razorbacks.  They can replace their TL Splinter Rifles with another Splinter Cannon for 10 points so they can have 2.  That's a total of 12 poisoned shots coming out from 36" while moving 6" because of Fast.  For 65 points, you have a wound generator that can remain at max range and apply pressure to any infantry that gets blown out of their transports.  Throw some cheap Wyches or Warriors in them and they act as pretty solid scoring transports that can put down a decent amount of hurt.  I think when put into that perspective, their usefulness just increased by a lot.

In terms of Warriors, I think the idea configuration for them will be a Blaster and a Dark Lance.  The Champion should probably take a Agnoizer for +20 or Power Weapon for +10 and call it a day.  As for Wyches, I think the best loadout for them will be 2x Hydra Gauntlets, Champ with Phantasm Launcher and Agonizer.  After thinking really hard about which one will generate more wounds; the Hydra Gauntlets or the Razorflails and I think the Hydra Gauntlets will probably offer more.  The good thing about Wyches or Bloodbrides or is that you can put them in a Raider with Aethersails and just run them towards the enemy ASAP.  Once they're locked in combat, their 4++ invulnerable will increase their chances to live by a lot and if you manage to give them FNP with some Pain Tokens then it's all good.

I also took a brief look at the Truebloods and Incubii again just to see what I thought about them were true.  For Truebloods, yes.  They are amazing even though you have to pay for Plasma Grenades (+1 point each) for them; increasing their point cost from 12 to 13.  I figured since you're willing to go that far, you'll probably be better off just upgrading to a Champ and taking Phantasm Launchers for both offensive and defensive grenades for the entire squad.  The special weapon choices for them is what really does it for me:  +5 points per Shredder, +15 for a Blaster, +10 for Splinter Cannon and +25 for Dark Lance is solid.  A full squad of these guys shooting from a Raider will put the most ridiculous kind of hurt on anything in the game.  The best part is that you can customize for all kinds of engagements; 4x Blasters and 2x Dark Lances for example, will be my ideal loadout if I wanted to destroy armor.

As for Incubii, I think they're trash.  They're 22ppm and they're the premiere anti-infantry close combat specialists in the entire army and they DO NOT have an option for Plasma Grenades.  What?!  Yes, its true and it upsets me to the fullest.  How do you make these guys so utterly badass in melee, give them I5 stats and not give them offensive grenades against MEQ camping in cover?  They do have something that's good though.. they can take a dedicated transport whereas Harlequins cannot.  In terms of field maneuverability though, Harlequins still have these guys beat hands down.  I'll probably be taking a full squad with both Shadowseer and Troupe Master just so I can maximize the amount of damage I can inflict on any stragglers left outside their transports.  For Incubii, aside from taking a Raider with Aethersails and delivering them, the only other method of delivering them is by a Webway Portal.  I'm still not convinced that's the best way to deliver them as I would rather shoot the hell out of my targets first and then run much cheaper Wyches at them after.

For CC options, I almost feel that DE have too many options.  I'm not sure what's wrong with me but I don't find Mandrakes any decent.  They cost 15ppm, give them a Pain Token and each of them can get 18" S4 AP4 Assault 2 Pinning shots.  That's not too bad because they have Stealth and Infiltrate so they can sneak into the enemy's back lines, but they're still 15ppm.  I find that you can get better results with cheaper and more effective Wyches with all their gory goodness.

Another unit that's part of this CC train is the Wrack.  They're really cheap at 10ppm and come with 2x poison blades and FNP since they start with one Pain Token.  If you've got some Haemonculii in your army, you can take a bunch of these guys and give them Furious Charge with your additional Pain Token.  Now you have FNP/FC units charging you with poisoned attacks.  Not bad if you're going with Haemonculii in your army and you don't like the fragile nature of Wyches.

So in summary, what do I think about Dark Eldar?  I think they're really cool, really fast and really nasty.  I also think they're going to be the hardest race to play in 40K.  They need expert precision to deliver results and any misplays will result in a loss.  The entire army has AV10/11 with nothing going above that except for Vect's flagship.  Everything has to work in perfect unison and execution of play must be perfect.  This is exactly what I'm looking for an Elven army in space.  Below, I will formulate another unit bucket but in greater detail and showcasing exactly what weapon configurations I would take in "my" DE army:

Archon
Shadow Field, Agonizer, Combat Drugs - My regular go-to guy, 115 points
Shadow Field, Husk Blade, Combat Drugs, Soul Trap - more MC/IC killer, 140.

Lelith Hesperax
WS9 vs. WS4 troops can give her 10 attacks at I9 S3 for 175 points
3++ in close combat and 4++ outside means she wants to be in combat and taking heads.

Duke Sliscus the Serpent
Imo, the best HQ buy in the book.  For 150 points, he makes Raiders, Venoms and Ravagers DS.
Comes with a Shadow Field and Blast Pistol, wounds on 2+ in CC and 5+ ignores armor saves.
Gives one squad better poison so their rifles wound on 3+ instead of 4+.
Gives the entire army better combat drugs, roll 2 dice and pick whichever you want when rolling drugs.

Lady Malys
For 130 points, she's basically an Archon with a better Djinn Blade and a 4++ invulnerable.
Can redeploy D3 of your units after deployment and is completely immune to psychic attacks.

Asdrubal Vect
Pay 240 points to seize initiative on a 4+.
Shadow Field and a power weapon that always wound on 3+.
Preferred enemy vs. all and re-rolls wounds vs. Eldar and Dark Eldar.
You can buy up a AV13/13/13 Raider with 3x Dark Lances for 200 points.

10x Warriors, Blaster, Dark Lance, Raider w/ Splinter Racks  = 200
Bare bones cheap with no Champ.  Blaster and Dark Lance for some anti-armor and Splinter Racks so everyone gets re-rolls to hit with their poisoned Splinter Rifles.  If you want pure poison, you can drop the Dark Lance and Blaster and just go with a Splinter Cannon.

10x Wyches, Hekatrix, Phantasm, Agonizer, 2x Hydra Gauntlets, Raider w/ Aethersails = 225
Get up in your face, jump out and start swinging.  Hopefully whatever you targeted with your Bombers and other units have already popped your intended target vehicle and the guys inside are ready to rock (or get rocked).

10x Trueborn, 4x Blasters, 2x Dark Lances, Raider w/ Flickerfields and Night Shields = 320
This is my boardside ship with the amount of hurt it can deliver to armor.  Your objective is to saturate the field with as many targets as possible and then bring this thing around at any armor that's in your way.  With this much firepower coming from the Raider, you're looking at guaranteed destruction of said target.  If you really want to be badass, you should take Vect's gunship and load 9 of these guys in there.

10x Scourge w/ 4x Splinter Cannons = 260
Let's see what you get for 260 points with Splinter Cannons.  Each one has Assault 3 Poisoned shots that shoots at 18".  Each Splinter Cannon shoots with Assault 4 Poisoned shots or Heavy 6 when standing still.  Total, per turn, you're looking at 34 poisoned shots per turn from 10 dudes at 18" or 16 at 36" (24 standing still).  Utterly ridiculous.

10x Harlequins, Kisses, Shadowseer, Troupe Master w/ Power Weapon = 256
Shadowseer and 8x Harlequins have kisses, Troupe Master has a Weapon Weapon, and I might take a Death Jester just because for no reason.  These guys do their job and they do it very well.

Voidraven Bomber w/ Flickerfields and Night Shields, 2x Shatterfield Missiles = 185
Take three of these every game.  There's no reason not to!  I mean if you look at it, each one shoots two S9 AP2 Lance while moving.  Each Shatterfield Missile is a S7 5" blast with re-rolls to wound and you can even drop a S9 AP2 Lance 5" blast on someone's head.  Stay in the back and shoot away!

Ravager w/ Flickerfields and Night Shields = 125
Mobile shooting platform with 3x Dark Lances.  Stay at max range and shoot away all game.  Those that target these will not be targeting your troops so it's all good.

What's good in Dark Eldar

I know.. I haven't posted in forever.  If you worked as much as me you'd understand, but thank god most people don't have to.  Anyways, I finally managed to drag my ass into my LGS and check out the Dark Eldar codex in person.  I have to say; I'm impressed.

First, I have some notes I want to share with you.  Like most of you already know, my brain only works one way:  I go through a codex and point out what I consider to be the best, top tier, the most cost effective yata yata and discard the rest.  Well, I didn't get too much time with the book since there was a good number of people in there, but I do have what I consider to be the "gist" of it.  In short, the entire army is fast -- much faster than Blood Angels.  That's perfectly fine, I mean for god's sakes they're elves.  I can't imagine my High Elves being slower than Empire, hell no.


First, a list of things I like to call a unit bucket.  Then I'll express why I feel these units belong in a competitive Dark Eldar list.

Archon
Duke Sliscus the Serpent
Lelith Hesperax
Asdrubal Vect
Warriors
Wyches
Kabalite Trueborn
Hekatrix Bloodbrides
Harlequins vs. Incubi
Ravagers
Voidraven Bombers
Raiders

OK, let's start with the HQs.  First of all, the Archon is pretty damn cheap at 60 points.  He comes with WS7 BS7 I7 4 attacks, 5 if you include his off-hand pistol and some pretty handy upgrades.  For 35 points, you can give him a Huskblade that causes ID on any wound.  For some points cheaper (20), you can just give him an Agonizer for a power weapon on a 4+.  I would probably do that plus a Shadow Field for an amazing 2+ invulnerable until you you lose it.  That comes out to something like 110 points for Agnoizer and Shadow Field for a really good combat monster that other ICs should be afraid of.

Another guy that I want to look at is this Duke person.  He's 150 points and comes with some good rules.  He can make all your Raiders and Venoms come in as DS, but since Venoms suck and Raiders are better, the choice for that unit is quite clear.  He also makes one of your units that have Splinterifles or use splinter type weapons inflict poison on a 3+ instead of the regular 4+.  I find that to be extremely awesome considering his tendency to run with Trueborn or just normal Warriors.  For 150 points, I think he's really cost effective for what he do.  In close combat, he always wounds on a 2+ and on a 5+, he ignores armor saves with his rolls to wound.  That's pretty awesome too.  Another thing that he can do is grant combat drugs on 2 dice and you pick which to apply to the unit.  I'm pretty sure this is what I read but its been a couple of hours and I was speed reading.  Not to mention this guy comes with Shadow Field for a 2++ invulnerable.

Lelith Hesperax is actually 175 points.  That puts her at the same points as Pedro Kantor and Vulkan He'stan.  At that point cost, it means that she's a pretty affordable option.  Now, she has a invulnerable save of 4++ normal and 3++ in close combat, so that means the best place to put her is in someone else's face.  She's WS9 and has 5 attacks base (+CC weapons).  Vs. someone thats WS5, she will get +4 more attacks for a total of 9 attacks at WS9 I9.  Most targets are going to feel the pain really quick although she's only S3, but she does get Strength Through Pain.  I would recommend putting her in a unit of Wyches and through them in a Raider.  Drive it up to the enemy after you've popped some vehicles and go to town on them.

Lastly, I want to talk about Vect.  The guy's 240 points, the same points as Ragnar but he offers a ton for your army.  The first thing you want to note is that he seizes the initiative on a 4+.  That means your entire army gets to shoot first again any unlucky bastard who deployed and that most of your shit already turbo-boosted in front of his face.  This ultra-omega alpha strike opening is what Dark Eldar players are going to crave.  Going first with this army is so game-changing that I think Vect will see a good amount of play.  As if that isn't enough, the guy is WS8 BS8 I8 with 5 attacks (6 with CC) and 4 wounds.  He comes with Shadow Field and a Power Weapon that always wounds on 3+.  He counts as a Archon and thus benefits from the Court of the Archon rules and has it pretty good vs. Eldar/Dark Eldar since he gets to re-roll wounds vs. them.  For +200 more points, he gets to take a AV13/13/13 Raider which is pretty cool, but then again, its going to cost 440 points for him and the Raider alone.  Personally, I would just take something cheap (like one of the Archons listed above).

I lied, really quickly, I want to touch upon the 1-3 Haemonculi per HQ slot.  Each comes with a free Pain Token which you can distribute across the units in your army so I can immediately see FNP Wyches running around on the field.  The Ancient Haemonculus also gets to take some crazy artifacts from a long list of artifacts that I didn't really get a chance to read.  I know that one of them is a flame template that does S4 AP D6 and one of them causes all enemies within 3d6" to make a Ld. test or get their WS reduced to 1.

So enough about HQs, what about units?  Let's start with troops first.  Dark Eldar Warriors are freakin' 9 points.  Did you see that right?  Yes, for 9 points, you get WS4 BS4 troops that rapid fires poison rounds.  When you have 5 guys, you can give them a Blaster which is a 18" S8 AP2 Lance Assault 1 weapon or a Shredder which is a 12" S6 AP- Blast template.  I mean seriously, a S8 AP2 Lance from 18" is going to threaten Land Raiders from massive range.  At 10 guys, you can give them a Dark Lance or one of those poison Splinter Cannons.  Splinter Cannons shooting out Assault 4 Poisoned or Heavy 6 shots is pretty tasty. If you think that's awesome, their elite version known as Trueborn are truly ridiculous.  For a mere 12ppm, aside from having an extra attack in melee, 4 of these guys can carry Blasters.  Yes, for a squad that's 5-10, 4 of them can carry S8 AP2 Lance weapons that can move and shoot at targets 18" away.  How ridiculous is that?  They're like a moving Devastator squad.  As if that isn't enough, in addition to the 4 Blasters (or Shredders) they can take, they can also take 2 more Dark Lances or Splinter Cannons.  Absolutely ridiculous for the price.  The best thing about Warriors and Trueborn is that they can both upgrade up to Agonizers on their champs, or even take Phantasm Grenade Launchers which makes the unit count as having offensive and defensive grenades.  For +20 points, I think these are great on Trueborn since you're already spending the points.  I'd hold off on upgrading Warriors to be super hardcore since they're supposed to be cheap and cost effective anyway.

Wyches are dirt cheap at 10 ppm.  They still have their lovely Plasma Grenades and Combat Drugs.. it's just that you can take so many of them for such a cheap price.  At 5 of these girls, you can take a Shardnet and Impaler, Hydra Gauntlets or Razorflails (I think that's the name).  Personally, I would take Razorflails any day of the week because it makes the Wych re-roll all hits and wounds.  That's much better than Hydra Gauntlets at +D6 attacks since I like to roll 1s all the time.  The elite version for these girls get +1 attack and can take special weapons for every 3.  They only go up to 10 so you can pack 3 special weapons in one pack.  The cost for them is 13ppm.. which is still affordable for Dark Eldar.

So I came to a special section in the book that compared two elite assault units:  The Harlequins and the Incubii.  Harlequins need no introduction since everyone and their mother knows what it's like to be on the sucking end of a Harlequin's Kiss.  Incubii are like a mix between Striking Scorpions and Banshees.  They have WS5, S3, I5 and 2 attacks a piece.  The great thing about them is that they have 3+ armor saves and have Exarch powers such as Onslaught and Murderous Assault.  Onslaught is the only one you should care about because for every wound roll of a 6, you get an extra attack.  This can tally up quite quick once you reach combat with S4 Power Weapons (+1S on their Klaives).  Since the entire army has Fleet, getting these guys into combat shouldn't be too hard considering how everything is open-topped and your ships go vroom vroom.

OK, so what exactly am I complaining about here?  They're both elite choices, they're both 22 ppm (Harlequin + Kiss), and they're both dedicated heavy assault units.  The plus about the Harlequins is that they virtually ignore terrain and can do a pretty good job footslogging across the field whereas the Incubii need a dedicated transport.  I mean it will certainly help that Harlequins have a dedicated transport as well, but with a Shadowseer doing Veil of Tears, I think they have it OK.  Either way, both units are extremely good at counter-charging the enemy and both units can tear up MEQ like nobodies' business.  I bet some super nerd will eventually figure out which unit does more wounds vs. MEQ and GEQ, but for the purposes of this demo, I can assure you that both are very different units but have the same functionality.

Lastly, I want to touch upon the armor I see from Dark Eldar.  There are 3 ships that stand out to me and for good reason.  First, the 60 point Raider and the fact that it can transport 10 troops across the map at a really fast rate and with plenty of firepower to boot.  Each one comes with a Dark Lance, and if it has Warriors inside, can shoot out more weaponry on the move.  It can be upgraded with Night Shields that decrease the range of all weapons shooting at it by 6" and it can be given Flickerfields which gives it a 5++ invulnerable save.  These are going to be the bread and butter of most lists as the limited carrying capacity of the Venom leaves it far behind my list of needs/wants.  Oh, and yes, another amazing thing about them is a 5 point upgrade called Aethersails or something like that.  It gives your ship the ability to move +2D6" when it flies with the downside that units can't fire from and out of it (disembarking) next round.  Well, who the F cares when your sole purpose is to unload angry Wyches in your face.

For Heavy slots, you have something like 4-5 options but I'm only going to talk about 2.  The Ravager is the Raider variant with AV11/11/10 and comes with 3x Dark Lances that it can shoot on a 12" move.  Now imagine it's 105 points (because it is) and put three of them in your list with Vect.  You go first.  You also have 9 Dark Lances shooting out in first turn from these guys alone.  Good times ahead, yes?  The answer is Yes and I can definitely see Ravagers as pretty good buys in the DE book.  So what is this other unit I'm looking at?  It's none other than the Voidraven Bomber.  First, it's priced at a ridiculous 145.  It has two Void Lances (not Dark) and it fires at S9 AP2 Lance.  It also comes with a Void Mine that it can drop anywhere within 6"after moving with the Bomber and it blows up for S9 AP2 Lance 3" blast.  To make things even sexier, it can be upgraded with Night Shields and Clonefields and can carry some seriously dangerous missiles.  The one missile that really stood out for me is the Shatter-something missile (I forgot the name, but it said Shatter something).  I read the fluff a little bit and it basically said the missile hits first, sucks all the heat out of the area before exploding it with fire.  That's why it's a S7 AP- Large Blast with re-rolls to wound.  Why is this extra sexy compared to say.. the Necrotoxin Large Blast 2+ Poison missile?  Because S7 is a strength value and it can damage vehicles, instant-gib Farseers and you're most likely going to be wounding on 2s anyway.  I would probably give these guys 2x Shattercombo missiles and call it a day.  They cost 10 each for every missile except for the Implosion missile.. which is 30 points and is a major waste of money.  You only get 4 missiles and I don't think anyone should be spending 30 points on one.. especially if it has a small blast template.  I guess it depends on your metagame, how dumb your opponents must be to group things together, and how much you like to noobstomp with fluff lists.

Oh, and before I forget, I would take the Bomber over the figher anyday.  Yes, they both cost the same, and yes the Figher comes with 4 missiles already installed, but you still have to upgrade to missiles to be worth a damn.  That and the fact that S9 Lances are so much better than S8 Lances.  The difference is you penning that Land Raider on a 4+ instead of a 5+.  When you stretch it out over the course of a game, this is very important and will save you a lot of headache.  Besides, if your Bomber is in danger and is going to die anyway, just suicide bomb it into something for a S9 AP2 3" blast of I-Love-You.

Right, so there you have it.  I looked at the other HQs and they either sucked ass or aren't good enough for my standards.  The Succubi is cool in theory, but the Archon can do pretty much what she can do plus be a lot more survivable because of Shadow Field.  Warriors are dirt cheap and should be given a Champ with Agonizer and that's it.  Take a Blaster and Dark Lance so you can shoot from your Raiders and be done with it.  Wyches are affordable and good and you can run them in squads up to 20.  The Elites are pretty good as I already outlined and the best of the heavies are already there.  Keep in mind that this is just my opinion and I didn't have too much exposure to the book.  I have a feeling those Reaver Jetbikes are going to be pretty scary because of the Heatlances and the Cronos might be good with infantry-buff-heavy lists.  There's too much theory on those units so I stuck to the ones I know will preform admirably.  Comments, questions, concerns, please post them here.  Keep in mind that I can only absorb so much in such limited time!