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I realize this is almost the exact opposite of what a dark eldar army should be, as speed is one of the best assets to any eldar army, craftworld or fallen. I was curious though, if anyone's run a list without any raiders in it. I was thinking something along the lines of an Archon with a decent sized retinue of Incubi and like 2 warriors with splinter cannons, a pair of Haemonculi, no elites (as I dont own any, lol) like 5 squads of 10 Warriors (3 w/ 2 Splinter Cannons and 2 w/ 2 Dark Lances) maybe some Hellions or Reavers, 2 Talos and 5 Scourges w/4 Splinter Cannons.

Does this sound doable? I havent played it yet, but was thinking about it, and would love to hear any feedback that isnt YOUR IDEA IS STUPID or something equally as counter-productive.

thanks all!
T-

I would advise against it lol!

Yeah I would advise against for two reason.

A. Low leadership
B. Warriors cannot shoot and charge nor do they get an extra close combat weapon.

Though 100 point Sniper squad is fine just do not make it the basis fof your army.

Hmm. This disturbs me.

Well, just like any other footslogger army, you're going to want to have a hell of a lot of boots on the ground.

Considering the fragility of the Dark Eldar warrior, you'll need that and then some. Only real strategy I can think of is a choke-mob, if you will. That's where you smother your enemy with thousands upon thousands of naked, max-member squads and drown him in an ocean of wimpy bayonet-thrusts and close-range fire.

I have a list in mind and will post it soon. It's going to be be 1500pts, at least hold the laughing and berating til you consider what the possibilites are! lol

STAY TUNED!

T-


Automatically Appended Next Post:
OK! Everyone stop holding their breath! It's time for the list!


Archon: Agoniser, Spinter Pistol, Combat Drugs, Shadow Field. 131pts.

Retinue: x6 Incubi, w/ x2 Blasters, x2 Warriors w/ x2 Spinter Cannons, Drazhar. 288pts.

Haemonculus: Destructor, Scissorhand. 45pts. (attached to warrior squad w/ splinter cannons)
Haemonculus: Stinger, Scissorhand. 35pts. (attached to warrior squad w/ splinter cannons)

Warriors: x10 w/ Sybarite w/ Agoniser, x2 Splinter Cannons. 126pts.
Warriors: x10 w/ Sybarite w/ Agoniser, x2 Splinter Cannons. 126pts.
Warriors: x10 w/ Sybarite w/ Agoniser, x2 Splinter Cannons. 126pts.
Warriors: x10 w/ Sybarite w/ Agoniser, x2 Dark Lances. 126pts.
Warriors: x10 w/ Sybarite w/ Agoniser, x2 Dark Lances. 126pts.

Scourges: x5 w/ x4 Splinter Cannons, Sybarite.
Talos: 100pts.
Talos: 100pts.

1495pts total.

I had x4 Hellions and an Agoniser on the Scourge Sybarite, but points ran over so.....

Ok, so why is this worthwhile? Well there's a ton of firepower, both anti-tank and especially anti-troop with all those cannons. I realize my mobility is lacking, but I figure I can run squads into place while other squads lay down cover fire. The idea would be to mow down as much as possible and hunt down combat threats with the HQ and 2 Talos'. I dont think the army is all that bad, and the more I look over the list the more I see potential to actually pull off a win, lol.

Be gentle, consider what's listed before shooting it down, I know Dark Eldar are supposed to be fast and mobile, but why not try something different, right?

Thanks!
T-

6 sniper squads,

webway portal, lots and lots of wyches with archons in reserve.

That is the only way I could see it working myself.

Have you tried your list out? That is a cool idea, and I would be really curious to see how it performs.

I will be trying the list out, probably against Orks. I have a feeling the amount of splinter cannons, plus the talos' stings will be putting some hurt on the low armor enemies, even with the high model count, in the opposing army, I will come close to their number of models, and I think I can cause some heavy casualties in the mobs. Dark lances against the trukks, deff koptas and most importantly, Nob Biker + Warboss Biker combo. Then send in the Talos' and Archon + Retinue to carve up weakened units.

I appreciate your interest, and your lack of unkind words, lol. Ill post some results after the game on Monday (6/8/09).

I dont actually have any Wyches, or other Elite Dark Eldar units, and I dont intend to get any before the new models/codex come out. My 3 Raiders look like they got hit by a car, and are pretty irrepairable, which is what spawned this whole whacky scheme. My Collection is limted to what's listed above, 5 Warp Beasts+Beast Master(which I cant use due to lack of Wyches) Some unsalvagably painted Reavers, and 4 Unpainted Hellions. Ive always liked Incubi, and Drazhar and wanted to see what kind of misery they can deal out. Anyone ever use them with luck before?

On the other hand, I wonder how the list would fair against MEQ armies. I have about six AP 2 Weapons, lots of Agonisers, plus the ol' "sheer weight of fire trick" to make them take saves left and right...

Any comments?

T-

Dark Eldar are savage, I have always felt they are one of the better armies out there, but you never see them due to gak models.

Wyches aren't as good because they can't bounce from combat to combat anymore and a 6+ save on a toughness 3 model isn't going to keep you in the fight.

I wanted to build a DE army for ages, and almost bought Darrian13's a while back (where the hell is Darrian these days, anyway?) but didn't because I was leaving the country.

Anyway, the 100 point, 2 dark lance, BS 4 squad is just so efficient. With the preponderance of mech armies out there now, you will have a great time with them.

Drazar, I have not played in 5th ed, so my input is definitely iffy, incubi though are tits. They are a fantastic unit and with their high armor save are definitely competing with wyches.

I think you will do fine against MEQ armies. I play a horde Eldar army and I have not lost yet, although in all fairness i have only played 6 games with them.

All of my opponents have been MEQ's and I have found all of the things you have said to be true. Massive small ares fire to tak out infantry, and a gaggle of anti tank weapons, mostly lances, to blast tanks, and a tough counter assault core of the avatar and harlies. I think it will play out fairly similar to what you have going on here.

Let them come to you as you will most likely out shoot most MEQ armies. Counter assault with the talos and inubi and then go for objectives.

What I have though that is incredibly useful in my list is a 20 man guardian squad that just stands in front and provides a cover save to the infantry behind them. They also take the charge from big nasty units and then my assault units counter charge. With 20 of them I can string them out to cover my entire deployment area and shield all of my units.

You may want to get a unit like that, maybe a big unit of warriors. it may not work as well for you though as mine are fearless due to the avatar and have a rerollable 5+ save thanks to a warlock farseer combo.

You will have fits though with ordnance. IG will be your worst nightmare.

At any rate, this turned into a rambling diatribe, sorry about that. Hopefully you glean some useful info out of it. Good luck with the list, let us know how it goes.

You may want to try the webway portal though, it allows you to keep your counter assault units off the board until you need them, saving them from getting shot up first. That is why I use Harlies, no one can target them until they are really close.

If you want to make a foot slogging Dark Eldar list, do this:

1. Put an archon on a reaver bike, and pimp him out - don't forget to give him a webway.

Turn 1, your archon bolts 24" up the table and hides behind a 4+ armor, 3+ cover save (and a 2+ invul save if you're bored). Have a squad of mandrakes wandering up the board; 3 models in three different spots. Drop the webway portal on Turn 2, web in 20 man units of Wyches, while you have 20 man units of Warriors doing...something. =p

Either stick 10 man units into raiders and deep strike them, or pull them out from the webway, or something; if you want a foot slogging army, you're going to need shock and awe; you certainly don't want to march up the field with 6+ armor saves, so you have to zap them in as reserves.

Back in the day, this was the alternative list to the Raider Rush. It was effective. But, that was at the height of the Sweeping Advance, and before objectives and only getting to place 2 troops on the board. So, I don't know if this is still viable.

You should invest in Terrorfex grenades. They work really well in 5th Ed.

Thanks everyone again, for your imput, it's very encouraging! Im looking forward to the game, in a few days, to see what kind of pain I can bring down on my buddy's Orks. Just to reiterate, I dont actually have any Wyches, I would totally use them if I did, trust me.

Im interested in hearing more about Webway Portal tactics, relating to a list like this, if anyone has anything to offer!

Thanks!
T-

So, Im sure there were so many of you waiting to hear about how this army list did, and not only is this said update, but it's even better! My buddy ended up canceling last monday, so I got stuck without playtesting this before a tournament. I ended up fighting:

Tyranids: 1 brood lord, 8 or 10 retinue stealers, 3 warriors w/ scything talons and deathspitters, 2 large units (15-20) of gaunts, 1 large unit (also 15-20) of hormagaunts, 2 carnifex (tooled up with biomorphs, barbed stranglers and crushing claws) and 2 zoanthropes. Another notable occurance was putting 3 dark lance wounds on a carnifex and mowing down 1 squad of gaunts on turn 1.

At the end of the first game there were 8 of my Warriors, Drazhar and a Haemonculus alive and he had 1 gaunt! I was pretty amazed to be honest, lol. My Archon and Drazhar accounted for so much hurtin' it was just awesome!

Orks: Game two saw me fighting a sizable ork horde, 500+ point Warboss Biker + Super Biker Nob retinue, with painboy and all the trimmings, 20 boys, 30 boyz, 12 boyz in trukk, 5 koptas, and 14 burnaboyz. This game saw a little of same, sorta waited til he got close and then pounced! At the end of the game I was left with Drazhar and a Haemonculus and he had about 12-15 (out of his 30 man squad) left. It was a shame because I couldnt get more than 8 Kill Points because of the number of units he had, and I had more than that to get. So because of that, I lost, but only because of that! A hugely notable occurance was my Archon getting her Combat Drugs (which came to be the death of her, lol) rolls off and charging the Warboss and Nob bodyguard, she ended up tying up and killing the entire unit single-handedly. 131pt Archon beat a 500 odd point Ork Nightmare HQ. YAY SHADOWFIELD!

Imperial Guard: As far as what this guy had in his army, it was 1 basilisk, 1 demolisher and about 140 or so infantry and heavy weapon squads. After hearing about the Orks running this army over, and then the Guard player wiping out the 'Nids, I was a little hesitant about how this was going to go. He had me out numbered about 140 or so to my 69 models, so Im sure you can understand my, lets call it sense of caution, lol. Truth be told, I figured he would shoot the crap out of me as I tried to close the gap, and being I have no transports I figured I was toast. Somehow, it was not to be though! I ended up killing all but about 15 to 20 of his models, which totally blew me away, he scored 3 Kill Points vs. the 11 or so that I got. I was seriously impressed by how this army just about outshot a new codex Imperial Guard army. Notable occurance was watching one of my Talos' play pattycake with his HQ Officer, suffice to say it didnt go well. Also, it was pretty funny watching Drazhar catch 3 Krak Missles with his face, while the Archon got a little crazy and overdosed again, lol.

The Scourges really didnt carry their weight in any of the games, can anyone make a suggestions as what might be a good replacement unit for around 166pts.? I have a 3rd Talos, but thought that might be overkill.....lol..

What Ive learned from these games is that Dark Eldar, along with a lot of armies, can be played beyond their normal doctrine (in this case not as a fast and mobile army). I also feel much much more confident in my capabilities as a general, and feel that it really comes down to what you do with the units more than how many of the "best" units you pack in a list. If you're really that good, you'll be able to pull it off!

Thanks for reading! I hope this has been something maybe insightful, and might give others ideas similar! I plan on (at some point when my wife and daughter will let me, lol) finishing the painted I started on these guys. I was going for a Kabal who particularly hates the Iyanden Craftworld and mocks them with armor similar, though the yellows and blues are dull and worn.

Thanks again all!
T-

Wow, awesome post! Really fantastic to see you break the mold and have a go at a different style of play! Also great to see you incorporate a lot of suggestions into your list. And to top it all off a fantastic battle report, sounds like you did pretty freaking well! Kudos to you Trogdor!

Thanks very much for the reply! I did indeed do well, took 2nd place.

The biggest problems Im facing for army expansion is first and foremost.....I dont feel like ordering way out of date models, lol.
Second, I dont have that many non-warrior units to grow the army. Im especially annoyed at that "may take warp beasts if you take a unit of wyches" Which, I only have 5 wyches, that probably arent worth taking to get the warp beasts in there. The reavers I have are either so shoddily painted that I cant save them, or missing riders. I do have 4 Hellions, they dont count as far as taking warp beasts do they?? lol
Question: is there any real reason to take Scourges with Dark Lances? I mean, they gave them that option for a reason right?? Maybe Im just missing it......lol.
I caught something mentioning that they're Relentless now, and can move and fire the Dark Lances, is this true?

Can anyone provide a link to some updates for this army?

All you Archons/Dracons/Archites/Drachites please feel free to leave feedback, or ideas/suggestions. Id love to keep working on this army but am a little stumped.

Thanks!

T-