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BuFFo wrote:

White Glint wrote:I see a lot of people remarking how DE are giving Tyranids a hard time. What are your own thoughts on this, battle reports posted above aside?

Um, DE versus Tyranids is a hard match up for Tyranids, but not impossible. I have recorded two video battle reports yesterday, both games are Dark Eldar versus Tyranids, and once I get them posted up, you may like the results...

All in all, the Dark Eldar have tons of poison weaponry, and the Tyranids are all bio units. Just isn't a good match up for the Tyranids!

Looking forward to it! So far I have really enjoyed your vid batreps

BuFFo wrote:Another video battle report is up!

2500 Web Way Foot versus Eldar - Game 17

Cool, watching now

But isnt your list illegal though? Splinter Cannons on 5 men squads is impossible.


Still, I wonder how would 10 grotesques match up!

Big fan of what you're doing Buffo.

As far as your last game, I think harlequins would be a much better delivery squad...in fact, if you're going on foot, I'd say it's the ONLY WWP delivery squad. However, I've concluded, like you have, that WWP's are somewhat useless and I'm trying out a DE foot list without one. With bikes, hellions and beastmasters, DE SHOULD be fast enough to not need one. They'll be in combat turn 2 anyway.

As far as tactics, it may be a result of your reserve rolls, but it seems you made "attack runs" with a unit at a time. His seer council in one turn basically killed over 550 odd points of reaver jetbikes. Ouch. Your Hellion squad (especially if it had stolen a pain token like I do with mine) seems like the perfect counter to a seer council. 40 shots followed by 60 CC attacks should win you the combat with a seer council. Maybe hiding for a turn (nice stealth ability from the baron) to open up that charge? What options did you see when your Hellions came onto the board?

I agree with your assessment on the bikes. Either guns or caltrops, not both. I'm also toying with the 9 strong reaver squad. Those massed flamers really, really did a number on the squads. Maybe if your jetbikes had ended their boost so about 4 of them formed a blockade of the council and the rest were moved away from those models at maximum coherency to really reduce the number of targets. Also, bubblewrapping 1 squad with the other might have made a difference and kept both from getting roasted and then assaulted to death.

Did the heat lances do anything on your taloi? I run mine with Haywire Launchers, but I don't have enough experience to make a decision quite yet.

Once again, thanks for your efforts. Look forward to your tactical insight.

Antyrael wrote:Big fan of what you're doing Buffo.

I do it for my homies.

As far as your last game, I think harlequins would be a much better delivery squad...in fact, if you're going on foot, I'd say it's the ONLY WWP delivery squad. However, I've concluded, like you have, that WWP's are somewhat useless and I'm trying out a DE foot list without one. With bikes, hellions and beastmasters, DE SHOULD be fast enough to not need one. They'll be in combat turn 2 anyway.

I am not a fan of Harlies. I like my Grotesques! Either way, the WWP is dead as a tactic for an entire army. It may have merit as a one off for a single unit, but other than that, you can't base your army around a WWP strategy.

As far as tactics, it may be a result of your reserve rolls, but it seems you made "attack runs" with a unit at a time. His seer council in one turn basically killed over 550 odd points of reaver jetbikes. Ouch.

It is hard to see, but I messed up when I did my attack runs. I could have stopped my Reavers in such a way that only one squad could have been assaulted. That was my error, and as any good Dark Eldar Archon knows, if you make one mistake, your entire strategy is going to hell quickly.

Your Hellion squad (especially if it had stolen a pain token like I do with mine) seems like the perfect counter to a seer council. 40 shots followed by 60 CC attacks should win you the combat with a seer council. Maybe hiding for a turn (nice stealth ability from the baron) to open up that charge? What options did you see when your Hellions came onto the board?

I didn't have many options. What I assaulted is what I could. I didn't get any Reavers to come on the board that same turn, so the Hellions were all alone. Big reason why WWP based armies will fail.

It didn't help that I misread the Hellions, and thought they were only Strength 4 on the charge, like how they used to be!!! I didn't know that they are Strength 4 at all times now...

God... I need to learn to read...

I agree with your assessment on the bikes. Either guns or caltrops, not both. I'm also toying with the 9 strong reaver squad. Those massed flamers really, really did a number on the squads. Maybe if your jetbikes had ended their boost so about 4 of them formed a blockade of the council and the rest were moved away from those models at maximum coherency to really reduce the number of targets. Also, bubblewrapping 1 squad with the other might have made a difference and kept both from getting roasted and then assaulted to death.

Yeah, I could have landed the reavers in a much better defensive position. I messed up big time on that one.

Did the heat lances do anything on your taloi? I run mine with Haywire Launchers, but I don't have enough experience to make a decision quite yet.

Heat Lances didn't do anything. Eldar took Wave Serpents, so Heat Lances were worthless. I am NOT a fan of Heat Lances. I like to keep my Talos cheap for CC only, if at all possible.

I really like this series of games Buffo! I have been following this since the beginning. Keep it up. Thanks for putting this together!

I've read the first of your reports, and i really like the maps, very clear and detailed, good work! I can understand you forgetting your pain tokens, it's one of those army-wide rules that you always forget. When i started out with dark elves in WHFB i was constantly forgetting the fact that all of my models had hatred.

I'll be sure to read a few more reports at some point!

New BAt Rep is up!

2500 Wych Cult versus Tyranids - Game 15

Ouch! Nice reports. Keep 'em coming.

Another great report, I thought you were going to really struggle with the nids, they brought a pretty good amount of shooting and it seemed like the Raveners and Genestealers would be brutal on your army.

My prediction is a Tyranid Victory next game when you pilot them, I think you probably know exactly how to dismantle your own Dark Eldar...

calypso2ts wrote:Another great report, I thought you were going to really struggle with the nids, they brought a pretty good amount of shooting and it seemed like the Raveners and Genestealers would be brutal on your army.

My prediction is a Tyranid Victory next game when you pilot them, I think you probably know exactly how to dismantle your own Dark Eldar...

You put too much stock into me

It'll be interesting to see if it's the general or the army.

Interesting as always

Very brutal, a lot of units on both sides got killed in 1-2 phrases of a turn

Loving the reviews, very nice to have someone with competently built lists doing actual decent test games. I have to say, the more that I read of Eldar, the more I feel they will be a difficult matchup for DE. I would be interested to see how they do against a build with Fire Prisms, since they are as big of a pain as Broadsides in all honesty.

Also, I'm curious as to whether or not you will try a largely Hellion army anytime? I personally am running a 1500 point army with 3/4 squads of 10 hellions, although I only get to play against BA, Tau, Nids, and SWs. Would like to see how you do against IG as well, as I see them being a hard matchup, if not almost unwinnable against a chimera-heavy list.

Overall, love your matches, keep em coming!

vishra wrote:Loving the reviews, very nice to have someone with competently built lists doing actual decent test games. I have to say, the more that I read of Eldar, the more I feel they will be a difficult matchup for DE. I would be interested to see how they do against a build with Fire Prisms, since they are as big of a pain as Broadsides in all honesty.

Also, I'm curious as to whether or not you will try a largely Hellion army anytime? I personally am running a 1500 point army with 3/4 squads of 10 hellions, although I only get to play against BA, Tau, Nids, and SWs. Would like to see how you do against IG as well, as I see them being a hard matchup, if not almost unwinnable against a chimera-heavy list.

Overall, love your matches, keep em coming!

I have two video battle reports in the works that are actually Hellion based armies

Your wish is my command!

Just watched the 2500 Eldar / WWP game, good stuff. A couple of quick questions/comments

1. You didn't mention the splinter cannons after the initial unit list which makes me think maybe you didn't actually take them? you need 10 to take a cannon.

2. How were you spreading wounds around with the grotesques? It seems to me that the most unique models you can end up with is 2 (1 liquifier and 1 abomination)

3. Crucible of Malediction vs Seer Council?

Anyway, great stuff! I am checking out the nids soon and can't wait to see those hellion lists in action.

Somnicide wrote:Just watched the 2500 Eldar / WWP game, good stuff. A couple of quick questions/comments

Thank you for watching! Let me see if I can help you with your inquiries

1. You didn't mention the splinter cannons after the initial unit list which makes me think maybe you didn't actually take them? you need 10 to take a cannon.

I didn't use any Splinter Cannons. Just a slip of the tongue.

2. How were you spreading wounds around with the grotesques? It seems to me that the most unique models you can end up with is 2 (1 liquifier and 1 abomination)

The unit has the following unique models;

1) Heamonculi
2) Aberration
3) Liquefier Gun
4) Stock Grotesques

3. Crucible of Malediction vs Seer Council?

A couple things about this;

1) That would be assuming I tailor my lists to beat my opponent. I do not do this, as this is a rather scummy thing to do. Now if BOTH players agree on this, than I don't mind, but I never tailor my lists to fight an opponent. My lists are made BEFORE I know who my opponent is, or at the very least, before I know what they are taking.

As such, I don't just give random Heamonculus the Crucible because of its limited use.

In this game that we are talking about, my opponent DID tailor his list against me without asking me, but as he is new to our store, I don't know if this is something he is used to, so I don't really care. I would rather fight a balanced list, but I play against whatever

2) It sucks. In the old book it used to have the range of the entire table, and even give negatives to the LD roll. Now, with it's random range and no innate negatives, it is just an inferior version of an item that was never taken anyway.

Anyway, great stuff! I am checking out the nids soon and can't wait to see those hellion lists in action.

Vroom Vroom!!

I don't think I "custom made" it towards DE. I would have been in a huge mess if you had brough a raider-heavy list as only a couple of units in the list could reliably take out a raider.

The list I used was pretty much based off a list I used back in an 'ard boyz tournament a couple of years ago. The HQ (except generic Farseer for Eldrad), FA, troops, elites were all the same. The heavy support in the tourney was 3 prisms - and as I said at the store, all my prisms are in a different box and I didn't want to lug it around in addition to my other three.

I'm a big fan of both the crack-tempest launcher dark reapers and Missile launcher war walker units. They have been very effective against everything from Chaos to Necrons to Orks and Tau. To think that I put them in there because I was facing DE is not true. I put them in because they were all in my green case


Also, I'm not of the opinion that taking an anti-psyker piece of wargear is tailoring your list. I do know that such a piece of wargear would hamper equally my Blood Angels and my Eldar.

New game is up!

1500 Dark Eldar versus Tyranids (Army Swap!) - Game 16

The eldar you played against has the worst 2500 eldar list ever fielded. Not only is it 110 points undercosted, but its just a bad list.

The 2500 DE list was interesting, but I cant believe I watched a Dark Eldar Player Split his forces. You came at him in waves like a video game, next time actually fight as an army not a wave.

Smitty0305 wrote:The eldar you played against has the worst 2500 eldar list ever fielded. Not only is it 110 points undercosted, but its just a bad list.

IMO Eldar just eat Dark Eldar for Breakfast.

Well, then a bad Eldar list beat a bad Dark Eldar list, so I guess we are even!

Go Eldar. Kick their arses!

Really? My list was "bad"?

Funny, I seem to have a pretty good record with it.

As for being 110 undercosted... you must be speaking of something else? Here's the list I used:

2500 Pts - Eldar Roster

HQ: Warlock Unit (8#, 560 pts)
. . 1 Farseer @ 175 pts ((pp.26, 28 & 60 Eldar); Independent Character; Unit Type: Jetbike Infantry; Psyker; Doom ; Fortune ; Turbo-boosters; Ghosthelm; Rune Armour; Runes of Warding; Spirit Stones; Eldar Jetbike; Shuriken Pistol; Witchblade; TL Shuriken Catapults x1)
. . 1 Warlock Unit @ 385 pts
. . . . 1 Warlock ((p.27-28 & p.60 Eldar); Unit Type: Jetbike Infantry; Psyker; Destructor ; Turbo-boosters; Rune Armour; Eldar Jetbike; Shuriken Pistol; Witchblade; TL Shuriken Catapults x1)
. . . . 1 Warlock ((p.27-28 & p.60 Eldar); Unit Type: Jetbike Infantry; Psyker; Destructor ; Turbo-boosters; Rune Armour; Eldar Jetbike; Shuriken Pistol; Witchblade; TL Shuriken Catapults x1)
. . . . 1 Warlock ((p.27-28 & p.60 Eldar); Unit Type: Jetbike Infantry; Psyker; Destructor ; Turbo-boosters; Rune Armour; Eldar Jetbike; Shuriken Pistol; Witchblade; TL Shuriken Catapults x1)
. . . . 1 Warlock ((p.27-28 & p.60 Eldar); Unit Type: Jetbike Infantry; Psyker; Destructor ; Turbo-boosters; Rune Armour; Eldar Jetbike; Shuriken Pistol; Witchblade; TL Shuriken Catapults x1)
. . . . 1 Warlock ((p.27-28 & p.60 Eldar); Unit Type: Jetbike Infantry; Psyker; Destructor ; Turbo-boosters; Rune Armour; Eldar Jetbike; Shuriken Pistol; Witchblade; TL Shuriken Catapults x1)
. . . . 1 Warlock ((p.27-28 & p.60 Eldar); Unit Type: Jetbike Infantry; Psyker; Embolden ; Turbo-boosters; Rune Armour; Eldar Jetbike; Shuriken Pistol; Witchblade; TL Shuriken Catapults x1)
. . . . 1 Warlock ((p.27-28 & p.60 Eldar); Unit Type: Jetbike Infantry; Psyker; Enhance ; Turbo-boosters; Rune Armour; Eldar Jetbike; Shuriken Pistol; Witchblade; TL Shuriken Catapults x1)

HQ: Eldrad Ulthran (1#, 210 pts)
. . 1 Eldrad Ulthran @ 210 pts ((pp.50-51 & 61 Eldar); Independent Character; Psyker; Doom ; Eldritch Storm ; Fortune ; Guide ; Mind War ; Divination; Ghosthelm; Rune Armour; Runes of Warding; Runes of Witnessing; Spirit Stones; Shuriken Pistol; Witchblade; Staff of Ulthamar)

Troops: Pathfinders (Rangers) (9#, 216 pts)
. . 9 Pathfinders (Rangers) @ 216 pts ((pp.38 & 64 Eldar); Fleet; Infiltrate; Move Through Cover; Stealth; Ignore Difficult Terrain; Pathfinder Stealth; Scouts; Pathfinders; Shuriken Pistol x9; Ranger Long Rifle)

Troops: Pathfinders (Rangers) (9#, 216 pts)
. . 9 Pathfinders (Rangers) @ 216 pts ((pp.38 & 64 Eldar); Fleet; Infiltrate; Move Through Cover; Stealth; Ignore Difficult Terrain; Pathfinder Stealth; Scouts; Pathfinders; Shuriken Pistol x9; Ranger Long Rifle)

Troops: Dire Avengers (11#, 292 pts)
. . 9 Dire Avengers @ 292 pts ((pp.30 & 64 Eldar); Fleet; Avenger S-Catapult)
. . . . 1 Dire Avenger Exarch (Fleet; Bladestorm ; 2 Avenger SC)
. . . . 1 Wave Serpent ((pp.45 & 63 Eldar); Unit Type: Vehicle (Skimmer, Tank, Fast); Energy Field; Spirit Stones; Shuriken Cannon; TL Missile Launchers)

Troops: Dire Avengers (11#, 297 pts)
. . 9 Dire Avengers @ 297 pts ((pp.30 & 64 Eldar); Fleet; Avenger S-Catapult)
. . . . 1 Dire Avenger Exarch (Fleet; Bladestorm ; 2 Avenger SC)
. . . . 1 Wave Serpent ((pp.45 & 63 Eldar); Unit Type: Vehicle (Skimmer, Tank, Fast); Energy Field; Spirit Stones; Shuriken Cannon; TL Starcannons)

Heavy Support: Dark Reapers (5#, 217 pts)
. . 4 Dark Reapers @ 217 pts ((pp.34 & 66 Eldar); Reaper Launcher)
. . . . 1 Dark Reaper Exarch ( Crack Shot ; Tempest Launcher)

Heavy Support: War Walker Squadron (3#, 210 pts)
. . 1 War Walker Squadron @ 210 pts ((pp.44 & 66 Eldar); Scouts)
. . . . 1 War Walker (Missile Launcher; Missile Launcher)
. . . . 1 War Walker (Missile Launcher; Missile Launcher)
. . . . 1 War Walker (Missile Launcher; Missile Launcher)

Fast Attack: Warp Spiders (10#, 262 pts)
. . 9 Warp Spiders @ 262 pts ((pp.36 & 65 Eldar); Unit Type: Jump Infantry; Warp Jump Generators; Death Spinner)
. . . . 1 Warp Spider Exarch (Unit Type: Jump Infantry; Withdraw ; Hit & Run; Warp Jump Generators; Powerblades; Death Spinner x2)

Validation Report:
Codex: Eldar Codex 2006; c-1. File Version: 1.09a For Bug Reports/www.ab40k.org; b-1. Roster Options: Special Characters; a-1. Scenario: Normal Mission
Roster satisfies all enforced validation rules

Total Roster Cost: 2480

Created with Army Builder® - Try it for free at http://www.wolflair.com

Great reports Buffo

Daemon Eater wrote:Great reports Buffo

Your avatar is highly disturbing!

Well I am a ferocious blood claw!

Defenestratus wrote:Really? My list was "bad"?

Funny, I seem to have a pretty good record with it.

You have to remember that if it's not recommended on the internet then it's bad.

I have to admit, it doesn't seem like the strongest of lists to me, but each to their own and if you know how to use it then that really makes the list completely viable. I wouldn't worry man.

Good stuff on the write ups and vids.

So you seem to be winning a lot, I haven't played for a long time, are you just the better player, or are de super good?

namegoeshere wrote:Good stuff on the write ups and vids.

So you seem to be winning a lot, I haven't played for a long time, are you just the better player, or are de super good?

6-2-2, at the moment, isn't really a lot. With the old DE book, between 2005 - now, I only lost 7 times, 2 of which were at 'Ard Boyz, and this is out of roughly 200 games. The old DE book was 'cheesier', but the new book is a different kind of powerful. A balanced powerful. The kind of powerful I have been dreaming about for years! Playing the new DE book is akin to when I played the old DE book roughly 3ish years after it came out.

Remember, with the old book, I had 12 years of experience using it. In a few years I think I'll be back in the same boat with the new DE codex. Yes, it takes years to learn Dark Eldar for many people.

I have been playing 40k since 1998, so the core concepts of the game are just part of who I am as a player. I can tell the difference between 19" and 20" without a measuring stick, if that can help you understand how well I know the game. The DE are pretty good in the right hands. It can be a weak army in the hands of a player who does not give the army a chance and spends time learning each unit intimately.

I am not the best, but I make a small attempt to learn something new every time I play the game. I refuse to just og through the motions to win. I play each game to educate myself.

My biggest concern is that the lists you're playing against don't look like serious competitive lists - the kind that traditionally make DE wince.

Mech IG. Spacewolf razorback spam. Blood angel razorback spam/predator spam. Mech IG. Also Mech IG. 7+ chimeras with bigger guns for support.

Also Dash you left off Mech IG, those bastards hurt my DE a lot!