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My reasons for adoring the Dark Eldar are many, but I'll break them down. They are the sexiest army going, built for sleek aesthetics and sinister purposes, they majestically convey something lacking in the 40k universe.

Where as the Space Marines Orks, and Guard look like "Mongo's First Duplo Set" the Dark Eldar are the Porsche, Lamborgini, and Ferrari of the 40k universe. Orksies never lose because dey come back fer anuva go, but Commorragh Born don't care about losing... we leave the sexiest corpses on the field. That's if we don't use unholy pain-vampirism to ressurect back in the haemonculi workshops.

They're rock and roll, injecting heroin into their testicles and snorting blow off of the buttocks of a rabid genestealer just because their Sybarite wagered it couldn't be done. They live for fineese and selfishness, and they're the one army I don't mind being That Guy for. Because it's in character. We lie, cheat, and steal like wrestling heels, hitting our allies in the back with a chair just because... well, its the right thing to do.

If you've ever seen the Gareth Innis series Crossed, it's everything the Dark Eldar are: no crime too heinous, to the point hyperbolic pain and desecration become art.

Of course some things cheese me off, like Vect. I wouldn't mind but he's got more plot armour than Batman. "Ah, you shot and killed me, threw my soul into a black hole, where it was gnawed upon by Void Ferrets. Just as planned, Archon McSetupforthefall. The Void Ferrets were in my employ, and your downfall is now guaranteed." He's almost as mary sue as Abnett protagonist.

So.... no moral compass.... look sexy as hell (in art and in miniature format).

Why did I shelve them? Awful codex that took more away than it gave, and the models are abyssmal to transport. Neve had an away game without breakages :-/ But hope that helps

Excellent points on why DE are generally appealing to people:
1) Sleek/realistic aesthetic
2) A beautiful/diverse model range

When it comes to justifying their atrocities and life style, I think one has to look at it from another angle also. Yes they enjoy being super villains, yes they reach peaks of pleasure and ecstasy grater than those humans ever could, but they are also the living embodiment of their predicament:
1) They are born into a world where their souls will be consumed by demonic powers upon their death
2) They are few in number, far in between, and pursued by the IoM at every turn as "vile xenos".
3) They are outnumbered a billion to one by parasitic humans and other races in the galaxy, whose own governments care little about them and treat them like numbers on a ledger, sometimes sacrificing entire worlds in the name of the Imperium.
4) The hedonism of the past was how DE survived the fall, how they've managed to establish their society, how they have been able to protect their souls and essentially become immortal.

Once you put that into perspective, it becomes quite easy to justify the actions of the DE. They are ancient, they are surrounded on all sides by countless billions of humans. To them human life is no more precious than the lives of ants are to us. They are stuck in the endless cycle of extreme life and violence because it's the only thing that gives them a fighting chance of rising above the myriad of human and alien enemies, and it saves them from the gaping maws of Slaanesh. They feel like they have conquered death, Chaos and the fall of the old eldar empire by being this hedonistic/sadistic race, and to them this is a position of strength. I see them as very Spartan in this sense; violence and pleasure make them stronger, not weaker.

DE were also written and designed to be a society of warlocks and witches; I highly recommend watching these clips where Jes Goodwin and Phil Kelly go in dept into the history and design aesthtic of the range and explain the lore/design choices and their origin.

My personal love of the Dark Eldar comes from their "limited vision" as it were.

Take out the "good/order factions" on the store page and i feel you're left with Chaos (in all forms), Orks, Tyranids, Gene cults and Dark Eldar.

The motivations of the others are so grand in comparison to Dark Eldar. It's a case of: Destroy the galaxy and all races, descend galaxy into eternal war and fightyness, literal consume galaxy, and be the beacon driving the consumption of the galaxy.

Compared to that Dark Eldar boils down to, we're going to keep doing what we love. It might be the only way to starve off damnation, but hell, well liked it already, so whats the point in finding an alternative.

Even within the Dark Eldar you can fly your dudes as simple pirates/raiders/slavers/gladiators, all the way upto, pain and despair to an entire sector type guys.

 Lord Xcapobl wrote:
There once was a time where, if people asked me which armies I collect and play, the easiest answer was "no Orks and no Dark Eldar".

Then both miniature lines got a revamp eventually.

Now the simple answer is "all..."

(Collecting and playing since Rogue Trader, first edition.)

yuppity yup yup yup. I've only played 12 years. My collection claims entirely the opposite.

I love them (de) mainly because of the reasons already highlighted in this thread but also for that kind of lost feel, like, take the mandrakes for instance. They're so ancient in a lovecraftian kind of way, but a kind of ancient that no other race could hope to replicate, not even craft world eldar. Not ancient and amazing because of that like Necrons, but ancient and mystical. I suppose other races could claim to be mystical, but they all have their workings open to the player, where as with de there are so many grey spots, and that's why I enjoy them from a fluff perspective. Sometimes it's fun to just speculate about what could be hidden amongst their incredibly crowded history instead of ignore it or draw some kind of conclusion.

I enjoy the models, their rather honest knowledge about their fates. And the fact that they remind me a lot of the Drow from the forgotten realms series/books also helps.