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so basically i found out that i absolutely love dark eldar, the models, and the fluff. soo out with the daemons that im forever losing with, and in with DE of the very very old codex. anyway, im not really sure what to buy first, so i would like some recommendations if possible.
small note: i apoligize that this isnt a real "list" but im really not sure what to buy and/or proxy just yet so i want to be sure.
and also yes i know that the army is a glass hammer with terrible saves, low strength and toughness, and has an old codex. and that its not an army for noobs(like me) but im willing to epic fail if i can learn it.


Kabal of the Endless Twilight

H.Q.

Honestly i have no idea what leader to use. i really want to use an archon, but they seem so expensive comparing to a dracon or the haemonculus. also i have already decided against either the archite or dracite since i wont be using wyches for too much other than to slow down very annoying melee units that dont like my dark lances.

i considered the archon with punisher and tormentor helm with some incubi in a raider, but it seemed so expensive and not worth it since any S6 shot will make them all go bye bye.

Elites

I think i'll just buy wyches for this, since i dislike all the other choices, although the mandrakes sounded rather cool and maybe game deciding.

Troop choices

From what i've read, raider spam with dark lances is most effective, so i was going to go with 3 or 4 squads of 5 in raiders with a blaster and dark lance.


Fast attack

i heard hellions were terrible, so i guessed the reaver jetbike squads would work. i heard they were good in melee, but if im wrong feel free to tell. lol


Heavy support

ravagers. with disintigretors(also quick question should i put horror fex's and night shields on both these and raiders? they seem very effective for what they can do)

I like your attitude. We are all noobs until we try things.

Here is a link to a very thorough guide to DE: http://www.dakkadakka.com/wiki/en/Dark_Eldar_Tactica Hand a cookie to Thor665 if you see him, it's a very good guide.

thank you. and funny part was i read a bit of this. the other funny part is all of my friends are telling me "no no man there a terrible army, your gonna hate it it gets so boring and dull they have only 1 good list" and im like...do i care? cuz when i played daemons it was always "deepstrike mishab" because I honestly hate the deployment. i'd look at my friends setting up and think "damn that looks so much easier"

I'm always glad to see people trying out the less-popular armies in 40k, but I also think your timing could not have been more horrible. If you aren't aware, they are soon(ish) to release an all new line of dark eldar miniatures (basically redoing the entire dark eldar line, including new minis) and codex. I would think long and hard about possibly saving your money and waiting until the new release to avoid spending your money on soon-to-be oop models. Now if you are in love with the old models (check Bell of Lost Souls or google for a few pics of the new minis) then by all means buy now and pick and choose which of the new minis you like.

I started dark eldar collecting back when their codex was fairly new (3rd edition, quite a long time ago obviously). I loved how they looked, their style of play, and their fluff. Unfortunately, codex after codex was released and updated and released again without seeing anything for dark eldar and it really pissed me off to the point of selling everything and focusing on my other beloved army (nurgle csm). I just don't want to see another gamer go down that path and be disappointed. Especially so close to the DE redemption (hopefully). You may buy an army today that works for the current codex, and then have your army turned on its head and find your current models are not at all what is needed to succeed.


As to your actual question. I would recommend getting as many transports as you can to keep your army speedy and fluid. You're essentially skirmishing pirates and should act like it. The key thing with the current DE/codex is the temptation to buy units that are incredibly cool, but don't support a good strategy. You will early on need to decide if what you want is a very fluffy army or one that has a good chance of winning. I don't have a lot of experience against 5th edition with DE but those general rules still seem to apply.

I honestly had no idea they were making a new codex/mini's. that would be news to me( i do hope they keep the raider model the same it looks great..and spiky).

So I already knew they were big on transports(as is everything in 5th) but i was still not sure what i wanted for an H.Q. i mean the archon with punisher, tormentor helm, and shadowfield just sounds so bamf with incubi in a raider. the problem is that the rest of the raiders will be shooting dark lances, and once i say that 1 raider has my best melee in it, they'll think SHOOT THAT until its dead. and all things considered the raiders are like spikey pieces of cardboard put together with spit and prayers. and souls. lots of souls >.>.
i do have to agree with about the great looking models even if the rules for them suck. i mean the talos looks awesome, but its a terrible choice, same with scourge or hellions. cool sounding unit until it gets wiped the floor with.

lastly i love being fluffy, and daemons didnt really do that considering there supposed to be ALL POWERFUL and there supposed to shrug off a lascannon shot like it was spit. and then they get blown up by too many bolters. made no sense to me at all (lore wise). Now i want a glass hammer that is very fast, if weak.

In general I agree with Halsfield, but I'd like to add that the new Dark Eldar codex has been on the way "soon-ish" for at least five years. I am not a DE player myself, so I don't keep good track on how reliable todays rumors are. It might be that the DE codex is going to be this years september release. And it might be that you will have to wait until 2014 to see the new models. It is definitely a thing that it's worth considering.

I definitely reccomend checking out the pictures of the sculpts. They are very good looking!

They certainly have been saying the DE will have a new codex/minis for a long time, but what is different this time is actual models being shown and the man doing the models saying he is finished. I gave up waiting for them to come out a long time ago, but I also wouldn't want to start a brand new army right now when they seem to have the new line all done(or almost so).

Just like with any army, I don't think there is one best HQ (or any best unit for a slot). The archon certainly has his place in the DE army but sometimes you're better off taking a smaller HQ to get more points elsewhere (as many players tend to try to kill the enemies HQ first thing as you worry about). Even the toughest BAMF archon is going down if he gets focused on. Maybe that fits perfectly into your plans though and your enemy will be smoking ruins by the time the archon is dead.

I liked this list that someone recently posted(and includes an archon like you wanted):

http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/279115.page

i think my problem is i prefer having a mix of melee and shooting variants in my army. For instance the few melee i'd have in my list would probably be wyches, reaver jetbike squads, and the lord and his retinue. The rest would be ravagers and raiders with there dark lances long range murdering the enemy transport/tanks so that my melee units above can reach them. I guess putting the lord with those reaver jetbikes could also cause problems for the enemy, but i'd probably have 2 dracon's in 2 different squads, so that the other player would have to pick there poison. Do i have this correct or is my strategy all messed up?


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and also just a quick question but is it possible to have a dracon or archon have a punisher and still be on a jetbike? i was reading that tactica that mellon showed me and it said that you could equip 2 handers with the jetbike. just making sure

Insanityphr33k wrote:"no no man there a terrible army, your gonna hate it it gets so boring and dull they have only 1 good list"

I would note they are no more limited in list then most other armies. Yeah, raider spam (either gunline or assault or some combination - which means potentially it's 2-3 lists) is our best bet. But, really, it's not like Space Marines have that many more competitive builds - hell, most armies are doing some form of mech spam right now.

As far as buying up an army I would recommend the following basic thoughts;

Buying 1xBattleforce is a good deal as it gets you a Raider, some troops, and some jetbikes. If you really love jetbikes you may wish to get two of these, but that's about it.
You really do want about 6 (or more) Raiders and 3 Ravagers - the vehicle investment will be your big money expense.
You'll need some additional plastic warriors to help flesh out your force.
I'd suggest you buy the "Dracon" model since it is "officially" armed with a Punisher - you can play it as either a Dracon or Archon and no one will say anything about it.
You'll want to also see if you can find (or kitbash) some darklance and blaster armed Warriors - the plastics only officially come with splinter cannons, and you'll end up fielding a lot of blasters and darklances in Warrior squads.
About 12 Wyches (4 with blasters, 2 with Agonisers) will cover your Wych needs quite amply and with some options to go a bit more assaulty if you look to change your list.
I'd also suggest buying at least one pewter jetbike expansion pack as that will let you get two blasters (well, one blaster and one shredder you can modify) and a succubus for your bikes. The blasters are a must have and the succubus is a probably ought to have if you want to make assaulty bikes.

i heard hellions were terrible, so i guessed the reaver jetbike squads would work. i heard they were good in melee, but if im wrong feel free to tell. lol

They can be good in melee - usually they work best if paired with a lord on a RJB (and yes, you can use a two handed weapon as per the current DE FAQ from GW)

although the mandrakes sounded rather cool and maybe game deciding.

You are half correct. They do sound cool.


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Halsfield wrote:They certainly have been saying the DE will have a new codex/minis for a long time, but what is different this time is actual models being shown and the man doing the models saying he is finished.

Where in the universe did you see this? I'd love to see new DE models!

thank you very much for the help, and while i do hate converting (since im new to this and have no idea how to do it ) i guess it is necessary for my army to be tournament worthy. For friends i guess they wont mind too much for me to at least have the squads and indicate which spikey elf has what.

is there any models for a dracon or archon on the reaver jetbike? or would i have to convert that as well? i assume going to the painting/modeling section on dakka could show me the light but if theres any other website or item i could buy that'd be helpful

For lords (and Haemys) on bikes your only real option is to convert. The metal RJB box has some good bits you could probably use. I've also seen a really good Guardian jetbike conversion or two. I did mine with a regular jetbike and did a kitbash with Dire Avenger and Fantasy Wood Elf Glade Guardian bits that came out quite well too.

If you want you can also use some plastic bits to convert a non-jetbike punisher lord as well - remember, the DE line is woefully underrepresented and there is a lot of freedom for conversion because even the look of a lot of their equipment is open to interpretation.

thats true, i'll see what i can do. any tips about converting the models?


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also would they happen to have like a dracon male and dracon female? considering its GW i assume not and i'll probably have to find different heads since the dracon's are twin brother and sister.

Insanityphr33k wrote:thats true, i'll see what i can do. any tips about converting the models?

I am all thumbs when it comes to conversions. I stick to kitbashing and that's about it. I do personally recommend the Dire Avenger sprue since the power weapon (spear thing) makes for a great Punisher conversion, and the heads and more heavily armored arms are pretty great for conversions as well (the pointing one is great for adding some attitude to a DE). Other then that definitely try out the P&M forum here, those guys are better then me on all levels (except inherent sexiness) by light years.

also would they happen to have like a dracon male and dracon female? considering its GW i assume not and i'll probably have to find different heads since the dracon's are twin brother and sister.

They have a female dracon and a male archon and the two can be used interchangably. If you want to make twins (cool idea) I would advocate building your own lords from various plastic kits so that you can have more control over the look (just make sure to use a unique paint scheme or add some extra bling to the outfits to clarify they are DE Lords and you should be fine).

wow they have both? i thought they'd only go with male. then again there eldar(technically) and i guess they only do the all male thing with space marines/imp guard. i also wanted them to be painted purple on parts of the armor since the kabal is "of the endless twilight" and to me that says purple, black, and uh...more black. I also had a good look for the decapitator if i ever fielded him. From what he/she/it looks like in the 1 picture in the codex, it reminds me alot of voldo from soul caliber. sadly i dont know where i'd find that sort of mask