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so i've been looking to start a dark elves army after playing 40k for quite a while now, but i'm not sure where to start. I've downloaded the compendium of gw's website and read through it, but still stuck on what to get first. Any ideas??

Malakith. All the Malakiths.

Cold Ones do well as cavalry is honestly the best way to go in AOS. Darkshards aren't as nearly as good as they used to be, needing at least 20 guys to hit the bloody target consistently.

So anything big, cavalry and Malakith are good choices.

You should really buy whatever strikes your fancy, there's really nothing 'bad' any more on the table in AoS. There are models that are 'better', but everything has their place on the field.

You could probably ignore a lot of the former 'core' models - most of them get bonuses for being fielded in bulk because in WHF you needed a base amount of core troops as a 25% ratio of your army total, so most people who played WHF have a crapton of core. If you're new, you can kind of ignore them in favor of more potent troops.

DE actually have crossbowmen as core, though, and they are rather good, I believe. If you want a pile of 20 crossbow guys, go for them - but they aren't necessary, and frankly probably not ideal.

Personally, I'd go for whatever you feel is aesthetically pleasing. I'm partial to Witche Elves and Sisters of Slaughter, the Bloodwrack Medusa with or without the Shrine, the Hydra, the Shades for shooting, Bolt Throwers (siege anything is solid), Doomfire Warlocks (evil wizard cavalry is always choice, and they look cool), an Assassin at least (thematic, and the model is great), and a few caster Heroes and combat Heroes (all of which have wonderful models).

Do you want an AoS army or 8th ed?

AoS wise I would run executioners with a cauldron (buffing them every turn) together with 2 small units of shards and as many cold one knights as possible

8th ed, you can pick from any one of many viable lists. There is CC witch elves, shooty dark riders, magic heavy doomfires with sorceress, monster heavy lists with lord on black dragon or manticore.

Well, I'd go for bolt throwers and executioners. A very solid combo for shooting and cc.