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Hi all, I have an upcoming 750pt league, and was seeking opinions/criticisms/optimizatons/advice for a list that I have put together. As far as restrictions, no flyers, no invuns better than a 3+, no lords of war and no model with more than 3 wounds are allowed.

HQ:

Court of the archon - Lhamaean (10)

TROOPS:

- 10 warriors (165)
-raider
-splitter racks
-night shields

- 10 warriors (165)
-raider
-splitter racks
-night shields

- 10 warriors (165)
-raider
-splitter racks
-night shields

FAST ATTACK:

-6 reavers (126)
-2 caltrops

-6 reavers (116)
-2 blaster

Total = 747

A few notes, first of all, am I correct in assuming that a court of the archon can be taken as the mandatory HQ choice?

Should I be running blasters or caltrops on the bikes, I would normally be inclined to run caltrops, however, in this list, would blasters be better? As I lack any AT firepower without any blasterborn or DL ravagers.

Third. Should I just run a similar list with 3 units of blasterborn instead??

Hey-o. First off I like the list, it has no fat and takes the highlights of the Dark Eldar Codex. My first concern would be in regards to armor in your meta - you're woefully ill prepared to fight, for example, a land raider if your opponent is allowed to take one.

In all instances I would love seeing only Caltrops on Reavers as it plays to their strengths more than anything else, so the Blasters upset me but on the same note you require anti armor and are arguably still lacking.

I understand the strategy here is to Jink your way to safety and Splinter Rack for victory, but perhaps dropping a Reaver squad for a Ravager or Lances on all Raiders might be worth while.

To answer your Court question - yes, what you've done is legal. There are a few whom will argue that it is not, but this is a vestigial argument from the previous Codex. I will point out that the Llahmean is not a Character, so upgrading a single Sybarite would be in your interests.

Reavers with caltrops will glance landraiders on 6s followed by 3+ won't they? 13 hits attacks on average, 2 6s followed by probably a glance or pen. It'll be a long game at that rate though.

List looks good.

I'd always take caltrops on the bikes, 1 S8 shot vs D6 S6 rending auto hits, also you'll be jinking a lot so half the time that S8 shot will be hitting on 6s

I think dropping the blasters for caltrops on the second squad of reavers is a good call.

My meta as far as armour is concerned at 750 is mostly transports, usually around AV 11, eg. Razorbacks, rhino's ect.

As far as I know my first round opponent will be playing chaos, and has a forge fiend and dreadnought he plans on running. (This is the most armour I'll be likely to face)

Another idea I was thinking of going with looks something like this:

3 blasterborn venoms (all cannons)
2 warrior squads venoms (one without a cannon)

Do you think this would be more effective??

TBH there's not a lot that's more fun than HOW on the rear armour of your enemies tanks with your ultramobile reavers, i'd stick with them

I'd have to cut one warrior squad to 9 to fit the extra ten points.

If I cut down a few of the Warriors number, I could go two splinter boats and one blasterborn squad, but I think at that point, the boats are better.

No, I'd rather see your first list with Caltrops. If AV13/14 is off the table, then your list is solid and you should roll with it.

Yea, I think you're right. I would have to make one squad a lot of 9 to afford it though.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Yea, I think you're right. I would have to make one squad a lot of 9 to afford it though.

I like the feel of your list although I think its pretty tame in the overall scheme of things. Which isn't a bad thing because it is solid and has style.. just saying DE can be pretty vicious at low levels.

The lack of respectable anti tank might be a problem though. If you know your meta that well then go with your gut. In a list that isn't MSU based though I would want a little better AT personally. And probably still more MSU, its our nature.

Also the only invuln better than 3++ is ours so thats complete BS man. Ban storm shields too or don't ban anything right? Someone had a bad encounter with a shadowfield + huskblade archon once I bet. "theres no way to kill it.." mwahaha. Not that it matters at 750 anyway.

Anyway ya your correct on the court.

Caltrops all the time although at low points levels like this I will add heat lances to reavers in addition simply because its cheaper than another full unit of say scourges. Paranoia insurance mostly.

You could always trim down to 2 warrior units to fit some anti tank and some msu elements. And at least one disi ravager.

Edit- did some quick mock up since I usually don't play this low (1k is our basement) and I take that back a bit. I like what you got minus the lack of anti tank. Blasters in the warriors might suffice..

I was thinking of shuffling things around to get a blasterborn unit in here somehow. Maybe cut one of the gunboats. I could also make the reavers a unit of 9 with three caltrops to allow for the extra points there.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Also, would running the reavers as four squads of three be better??

At 750 I say absolutely.
The main downside is fewer ablatives to protect the caltrop. That and Ld 8 which can see them run off the board turn 1 after a single casualty due to higher fall back distance.

In combat they won't grind like 6 but If you need more bodies just commit more units to the same assault. I like this idea personally.
In fact you could cut down to 3 units of 3, give each one a caltrop and a gun and have pts left over for something else. Downside is 1 shot each unit. Upside is you spread your AT out a bit so they can't take it out as easy.

I don't rate trueborn this edition but that doesn't mean they can't work here. Biggest issue is how much cheaper and better a lance ravager is by comparison. Or scourges, either of which sound better to me. Why not start by putting a DL on each raider?

How about something like this:

HQ:

Court of the archon - Lhamaean (10)

TROOPS:

- 10 warriors (165)
-raider
-splitter racks
-night shields

- 10 warriors (165)
-raider
-splitter racks
-night shields

- 10 warriors (165)
-raider
-splitter racks
-night shields

FAST ATTACK:

-3 reavers (63)
-1 caltrops

-3 reavers (63)
-1 caltrops

-3 reavers (63)
-1 caltrops

Total = 694

this leaves me with 56 points to play with. the first thing that comes to mind are a squad of mandrakes, because I don't really see any room to make space for anything else.

Another list I've been toying with the idea of looks something like this:

HQ:

Court of the archon - Lhamaean (10)

TROOPS:

-5 warriors (120)
-blaster
-venom - cannon

-5 warriors (120)
-blaster
-venom - cannon

FAST ATTACK:

-3 reavers (63)
-1 caltrops

-3 reavers (63)
-1 caltrops

-3 reavers (63)
-1 caltrops

ELITES:

-5 trueborn (180)
-4 blasters
-venom - cannon

HEAVY SUPPORT:

-ravager (125)
-night shields

Total = 744

This list puts more armor on the table, can deal with armor more effectively, however is slightly less durable. (4+ jinks vs 3+ on the bulk of the army) it can also deal with meq more efficiently. but has more trouble against blobs. (although, splinter cannons aren't too shabby)

Thoughts??

I'd go Scourge over Ravagers and Trueborn, Haywire is way more effective than Blasters against AV.

Something like:

Lhamaeans w/ Venom 2x Splinter Cannons 75
5x Warriors w/ Venom 2x Splinter Cannons, Blaster 120
5x Warriors w/ Venom 2x Splinter Cannons, Blaster 120
3x Reavers w/ Cluster Caltrops = 63
3x Reavers w/ Cluster Caltrops = 63
3x Reavers w/ Cluster Caltrops = 63
3x Reavers w/ Cluster Caltrops = 63
3x Reavers w/ Cluster Caltrops = 63
5x Scourge w/ 4x Haywire Blaster = 120

Lots of units, lot's of targets and lots of firepower. The only real issue you could face is lots of vehicles, but play the Scourge conservatively and that shouldn't be an issue. Reavers can also deal with light armour with Caltrops.

If you feel like you need more AT though, you can replace one unit of Reavers and the HQ Venom with another unit of Scourge. Maybe Heat Lance for some AP1.

I don't have to worry too much about armor in this tourney, a lot of foot slogging armies will be around. aside from one mechanized IG player.

I think I'll go with a lot of MSU's of reavers, caltrops.

do you think venom's or splinter rack raiders would be better??

It's meta/points dependant. I face a lot of Ignore Cover (usual opponent is Tau) so Raiders mean nothing whereas I can negate 1/3 of shots fired at a Venom.

Raider Boats are more expensive but also more killy with splinter racks. I wouldn't run them at this points level as you can fit more units in. At larger points, yeah, they're pretty effective.

I don't there's any tau that I'll have to face, at least I haven't seen any floating around. I think I will go with a list that has at least one unit of blaster-born, purely because the guys I know are playing have a tendency to put a lot of points into T4 characters. Thanks for the advice.

Out of the two latest lists I kinda like a mix honestly. I agree raiders are more durable, 9 to 4 against non cover ignoring in fact. They also put out about twice the damage of venom warriors considering all weapons ride and contents. So I personally like your choice to roll with raider warriors not to mention they're cool. I'd stop there though and any additional skimmers take from FA or HS.

Speaking of which why take trueborn over a ravager or scourges? The former does dark light and anti infantry better, the latter does anti tank better. For example a disi ravager or scourges + FA venom sets you back 175-185.. same as TB give or take 5 pts.

That said if you just really want to run TB because they're cool or maybe for jink and fire or for whatever reason then at least put them inside a raider. They are just better for shooty contents, bar ignore cover.

Also either way at least get a champ upgrade in there somewhere otherwise you'll miss out on a WL trait.

In all honesty, I think the warlord traits would be a little wasted on one of these characters, I don't really think it's worth it to be honest.

The reason I'm going for true born is for HQ hunting purposes. Being ID versus special snowflakes is hilarious, and in the past a lot of my local players tend to run T4 special snowflakes.

I think my list is going to look something like this:

HQ:

Court (10)

TROOPS:

- 5 warriors (120)
-blaster
-venom - cannon

- 5 warriors (120)
-blaster
-venom - cannon

FAST ATTACK:

- 3 reavers (63)
-caltrops

- 3 reavers (63)
-caltrops

- 3 reavers (63)
-caltrops

ELITES:

- 5 trueborn (180)
-4 blasters
-venom - cannon

HEAVY SUPPORT:

-ravager (125)
Night shields

Total 744 (I think)