Dark Eldar starter

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**SwanCo**

Hey i was gettin kinda bored of the CSM tactics of basically thrwing your guys forward and not using much strategy. so i was thinking of starting Dark Eldar. i'm gonna get 1-2 battleforces for the de and was wondering on any advice on how to play such a difficult army.

thanks guys

**StarGate**

I would wait unti the new Dex comes out , there might be Units that no longer exist..

This is comming from a LOng time DE player...
JUst proxy for the time being to be on the safe side.

**SwanCo**

ok, i was planning on waiting a bit to get my chaos finished painting, but will do

**yani**

Dark Eldar are great. If you want to get them then get them as AFAIK there is no codex coming out for them for the foreseeable future. They suffer from horrible models and an ancient codex but they are still powerful even 2 Editions on proving their codex to be the best written

I jest but the major point I'm trying to make is that if you want to get them then do. They are perhaps the most fragile army out there but equally they are one of the most dangerous.

**Mellon**

DE are tricky to play, so I think you could appreciate them as a variation from CSM. In short: When I've been beaten by DE, they have used lots of dark lances, and lots of raiders. Then they zip around and shoot things dead. For me as a tyranid player I've been having huge problems catching up to them. And taking raiders down in CC is almost undoable.

If you fancy that, you can make very fragile and very painful melee units/characters as well. But most of all DE win by speed and by choosing when and where to fight.

Don't wait for a new codex. It is unlikely to happen soon. Just go with what there is right now, and look around here on dakka for some Articles on how to play them properly, because some units are really crappy for their points, and some are quite reasonable.

Good luck.

**Clthomps**

My advice is to only listen to Dark Eldar players. This forum has a lot of people that suggest things without having any clue what they are talking about.

That being said I would not suggest buying 2 Battle forces. Buy one at the most. The bikes that come with the BF only really used in games over 1500 points, and even at 1500+ you will only run 3 bikes.

I will also say that I wouldn't wait for the new codex, simply because I have been waiting 8+ years for the new codex and people were telling me back then not to buy until the codex comes out (any day now...)

As for tactics Read Thors Monster Tactics article its 3 pages of solid advice (well mostly solid, ignore the bit on warpbeast).

After that check out some of DashofPepper, Thor, Seven, or my posts and lists. As far as I know we are the only ones on Dakka that play DE with any regularity.

**SwanCo**

Sweet

thanks for the advice, i just ordered the codex and will prolly get the battleforce next paycheck when i got some extra cash on hand...i will check out some more sources and see for some info. one more ? real quick, i saw my brother (plays tau) go against some de and even for tau in cc they were completely slaughtered....would it be advisable to get some cc guys and stick em in transports?

**whitedragon**

Loading up on Dark Lances and raiders is never a bad thing.

**Ringarin**

I'm helping a friend learn how to play DE and what units to take. I have played SW against him 4 times. The homonculai are great for a meat shield, but die horrible deaths when I charge them. Warrior squads (without transports) aren't the best. They have a high rate of fire and high rate of hits but horrible wound rolls. He's trying to avoid Witches, but he might have to take them. He's working on getting transports put together. They should help him a lot. The poisoned blades are great against me because it gets around the difficulty of wounding. The punisher I think it is (+1str and power weapon) worked good for him because he had higher initiative. Dark Lances hurt me most of his other weapons. He's working on getting a Talos. I remember that those were nasty when I've faced them before. They are tricky to play, but if you want to play them then play them, just be prepared for lots of losses when learning.

**JudasKilled**

To play a competative tourney winning army you will need the following , period.

Raider x6
ravager x3
warriors x40
wytches x 16 ( 8 maybe if you wanna go incubi heavy)
You want to CC units i go wytches and a hq/incubi squad, above 1500 i like a 2nd squad of wytches but thats just prefernce.

If you can get all that your set

more warriors if you have less raiders

**SwanCo**

sounds like a solid list from what i've read so far as far as tactica goes from some guides i've seen. my dex will be in tomorrow. when it comes in i'll prolly proxy some games with my marines as the DE and see how they turn out. might as well learn to play the b4 i use the monies $.$

**alanedomain**

A bit off-topic, but if you don't like how the Dark Eldar models look, just get a Fantasy Dark Elves Battalion box, buy a bunch of Eldar guns off of eBay or any bits site, and go to town converting up a slew of Warriors and Incubi.

Also, Raiders can actually be scratchbuilt pretty easily, I hear, if you're good with a blade and have a reliable source of foam core and hardboard. Look around online for a template.

Finally, I've consistently heard that a properly-equipped Archon is, bar none, the most frightening close-combat model in the game. Don't ask me what the proper equipment is, though.

**Boss GreenNutz**

My Wych Cult does pretty good and can hold it's own against just about anyone. Haven't had the chance to face the new Nids yet though. At 2K it looks something like;

HQs
Lelith
6 Wych Retinue - Succubus (AG/SP), WWs, PGs
Raider - DL

Elites
Warrior squad X10 - 2 XDL
Warrior squad X 17 (I think) - Sybarite (WWP), 2X DL, 2X Blaster
Warrior squad X 17 - (" ") - Sybarite (WWP), 2 X SC, 2 X Blaster

Troops
2 X Wych Squad X10- Succubus (AG/SP), 2 X Blaster, WW, PG
Raider - DL
2 X Wych Squad X10 - Succubus (AG/SP), WW, PG
Raider - Disintegrator

FA
RJB X3 - 2 X Blaster (sometimes they are swapped out for Warp Beast Packs)

HS
Ravager - 3 X Disintegrator
Ravager - 3X DL
Both Ravagers go in if I drop the RJB and Warp Beast

**SwanCo**

Boss GreenNutz wrote:
Elites
Warrior squad X10 - 2 XDL
Warrior squad X 17 (I think) - Sybarite (WWP), 2X DL, 2X Blaster
Warrior squad X 17 - (" ") - Sybarite (WWP), 2 X SC, 2 X Blaster

arent warriors a troop choice?

**willydstyle**

If Lelith is in the army then it is a Wych Cult, and Raider squads become elites while Wyches become troops.

**StarGate**

Ive built 10 raiders From cardboard, alot of people were impressed and my amry for a while was called the paperairforce, but its a cheap way to make raiders.

**SwanCo**

willydstyle wrote:If Lelith is in the army then it is a Wych Cult, and Raider squads become elites while Wyches become troops.

Ah gotcha...i'll have to look into that though i dont plan on buildind a wych based close combat style army o.o

**SwanCo**

do Dark Lances come with the warrior box set? it says it comes with 16 warriors with splinter rifles...i want me some dark lances o.o

**Thor665**

Dark Lances only officially come as metal minis and there are no lances, shredders, or blasters in the Warrior boxed set - only rifles, pistols, and splinter cannons. A splinter cannon is not too difficult to model into a counts as dark lance though.

**SwanCo**

Ok. do you think it would be worth buying or would it be better to just trim things up?

**Thor665**

That would be a personal choice. You'll save money sticking to the plastics but will do more conversion work. It's your own personal preference which you'd rather work with.

**SwanCo**

are there any tutorials on the transfer? i'm not really sure what a dark lance looks like

**Mellon**

Here you go, Dark Lances:
http://www.games-workshop.com/gws/catalog/productDetail.jsp?catId=cat1300093&prodId=prod1130411

Slim down the splinter cannon, remove some ridges and spikes and you should be all set. You don't need to have them aiming from the shoulder, although it could be fun to build at least a few like that.

**SwanCo**

Thanks

when my guys come in i'll start the conversions on the first box. if i dont like converting then i'll buy some xD might as well try to save some cash on a seemingly simple conversion

**Clthomps**

The thing you really need to look out for is blasters. GW no longer makes a warrior with a blaster, and almost every raider squad needs one.

**SwanCo**

Hmm...how do blaters look? i have planty of guns from various armies around my house so maybe i could make a conversion from one of those? (i have Tau weapons -kroot rifle, pulse Rifles etc- CSM weapons -plasma guns, flamers, bolters, the works- and guard weapons too) Would any of the above stated be useful? i'm open to any suggestions really XD

Oh and by the way thanks for all the help guys