Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

I am new to Warhammer 40k and have chosen Dark Eldar as my weapon of choice. Below is a 2000 point army i have come up with.

- Archon with Punisher, Tormentor Helm, Shadow Field, Animus Vitae, Combat Drugs, Plasma and Haywire Grenades
Retinue - 6 x Incubi with Plasma Grenades
Raider with Night Shield

409 points

- 5 man Raider Squad, 1 x Splinter Cannon, 1 x Blaster, Night Shields on the Raider

125 points

- 5 man Raider Squad, 1 x Splinter Cannon, 1 x Blaster, Night Shields on the Raider

125 points

- 5 man Raider Squad, 1 x Splinter Cannon, 1 x Blaster, Night Shields on the Raider

125 points

- 5 man Raider Squad, 1 x Splinter Cannon, 1 x Blaster, Night Shields on the Raider

125 points

- 6 man Wyche Squad, Succubus with Agoniser, all with Plasma and Haywire Grenades and Wyche Weapons, 1 x Blaster
Raider with Night Shield

206 points

- 6 man Wyche Squad, Succubus with Agoniser, all with Plasma and Haywire Grenades and Wyche Weapons, 1 x Blaster
Raider with Night Shield

206 points

- Ravager with Night Shield and 3 x Dark Lances

125 points

- Ravager with Night Shield and 3 x Dark Lances
125 points

- Ravager with Night Shield and 3 x Disintigrators
140 points

- 3 man Reaver Jetbike Squad, Succubus with Agoniser, Plasma and Haywire Grenades. 2 x Blasters
143 points

- 3 man Reaver Jetbike Squad, Succubus with Agoniser, Plasma and Haywire Grenades. 2 x Blasters
143 points


Total - 1,997 Points


The aim is for the archon and wyche squads to hoof it in the first turn 24" towards the enemy line with the raider squads pushing forward 12" and softening up their target zone.
The Dark Lance Ravagers and Jetbike squads will perform as my anti-armour, with the jetbikes using a hit and run tactic
the Ravager with the disintigrators shooting at any light armour or elite squads stupid enough to step out of cover.


Please don't just post that it sucks -Im new to the game. advise from DE players would be great

This list sucks. Just kidding. For a first list, you've actually hit the nail just about right on the head!

Darcona wrote: - Archon with Punisher, Tormentor Helm, Shadow Field, Animus Vitae, Combat Drugs, Plasma and Haywire Grenades
Retinue - 6 x Incubi with Plasma Grenades
Raider with Night Shield

Your loadout on the archon is great. The only thing I would drop is the haywire grenades. The rest of the squad can't take them, and the archon can't detach, so it'll end up largely useless.

On the Raider, it seems that you've put Night Shields on just about everything. Before you do this, think about the role of each Raider. If you're planning on standing back and shooting, then take the shield. If you're planning on being up close and personal (especially with your CC squads), then it won't really help you.

Darcona wrote: - 5 man Raider Squad, 1 x Splinter Cannon, 1 x Blaster, Night Shields on the Raider

It seems like you're going with gunboat DE. I prefer lances myself, but splinter cannons can put out tons of anti-horde firepower. Make sure you keep the boats moving 6" a turn to make things more difficult for enemy assaults.

Darcona wrote: - 6 man Wyche Squad, Succubus with Agoniser, all with Plasma and Haywire Grenades and Wyche Weapons, 1 x Blaster
Raider with Night Shield

I'd recommend throwing in a second blaster. Losing one Str 3 attack to pick up a Str 8 AP 2 shot is well worth it. And you might want to experiment with the haywire grenades. The problem with them is that it leaves your wyches standing out in the open, where they'll quickly get fried. Unless you're playing a wych cult, you should have more than enough lances to take care of armor. And as I pointed out earlier, you could easily drop the Night Shield on the wych raiders.

Darcona wrote:- Ravager with Night Shield and 3 x Dark Lances

- Ravager with Night Shield and 3 x Dark Lances

- Ravager with Night Shield and 3 x Disintigrators

Ravagers with Disintegrators are awesome. I'd probably take two of those, and one with lances. Since your Raider squads have Splinter Cannons, you'll need the extra lances. But disintegrators are too good to pass up. And they can take down light armor pretty well themselves.

Darcona wrote:- 3 man Reaver Jetbike Squad, Succubus with Agoniser, Plasma and Haywire Grenades. 2 x Blasters

You'll quickly find that jetbikes are not very good in assault. If you want to tool the squad towards CC, I'd recommend either adding a Dracon on a bike or beefing out the squad. The problem with this is that it ends up being expensive points wise. Also, if you want to add a succubus, I prefer a punisher/t. helm. On a bike, this gives you Str 5 and +1 attack. The double blasters are key.

Welcome to DE. They're a lot of fun to play, and seeing the look on people's face when you boost a pile of Raiders and jetbikes at them turn 1 is priceless. Just be aware that it'll take a little while to get used to how fast and fragile they are. Oh, and definitely take a look at Thor's DE tactica: http://www.dakkadakka.com/wiki/en/Dark_Eldar_Tactica

Fantastic! That was just what I was after.I'm looking into going to a tournament next month and have slimmed it down from 2000 to 1500 points using some of the points you made:

- Archon with Punisher, Tormentor Helm, Shadow Field, Animus Vitae, Combat Drugs, Plasma Grenades.
Retinue - 6 x Incubi with Plasma Grenades
Raider

390 points

- 5 man Raider Squad, 1 x Splinter Cannon, 1 x Blaster, Disintigrator and Night Shields on the Raider

130 points

- 5 man Raider Squad, 1 x Splinter Cannon, 1 x Blaster, Disintigrator and Night Shields on the Raider

130 points

- 5 man Raider Squad, 1 x Splinter Cannon, 1 x Blaster, Night Shields on the Raider

125 points

- 6 man Wyche Squad, Succubus with Agoniser, all with Plasma Grenades and Wyche Weapons, 1 x Blaster
Raider

167 points

- 6 man Wyche Squad, Succubus with Agoniser, all with Plasma Grenades and Wyche Weapons, 1 x Blaster
Raider

167 points

- Ravager with Night Shield and 3 x Dark Lances

125 points

- Ravager with Night Shield and 3 x Dark Lances

125 points

- Ravager with Night Shield and 3 x Disintigrators
140 points



Total - 1,499 Points


I'm planning the same kind of tactics, Archon and wyches hoofing it with the gunboats and ravagers hitting armour and elite units.

I am toying with the idea of dumping the incubi and raider and giving the Archon a jetbike and using the points for 2 x 10 man warrior squads with 2 x Dark Lances each just in case Imperial Guard, but am concerned that it will break my first/ second turn Assault rush

so, what do you think?

I hate dark eldar...they are just way too powerful to face against

1500 point list looks pretty solid. If you drop the night shields and disintegrators on the Raider squads, and drop an incubus and the animus on the HQ squad, you could just about fit in a 10 man Warrior squad with 2 lances. And your CC punch would be pretty well intact. If you're tight on points, you could easily drop the Archon to a Dracon for a 1500 point game.

As for general strategy, be very cautious if you don't get first turn. DE rely on their mobility, so getting a bunch of transports blown away first turn can be devastating. Either hide the transports behind terrain, or use your warrior boats to shield the expensive stuff. Good luck in the tournament! Let us know how it goes.

Heh. I'm sure many would argue otherwise Wings. A 3rd Edition Codex isn't necessarily the most terrifying thing out there.

I don't play Dark Eldar at all, by the way... but your only antitank is really on the two Lance Ravagers. I feel like your speed and firepower will wreck infantry armies, but if your facing mech and your opponent smashes your Lance Ravagers you'll start having some difficulties. Maybe make one of your Raider squads have a lance or two?

Both lists are solid, nice work! I thought you said you were new to dark eldar =p

I would personally drop the animus vitae for a hell mask or something but I'm pretty new to dark eldar too so I wouldn't listen to me

Pvt. Jet wrote:I don't play Dark Eldar at all, by the way... but your only antitank is really on the two Lance Ravagers. I feel like your speed and firepower will wreck infantry armies, but if you're facing mech and your opponent smashes your Lance Ravagers you'll start having some difficulties. Maybe make one of your Raider squads have a lance or two?

Raiders all have lances on them, the wyches all have haywire grenades, and there are blasters aplenty. At 1500 points, this is quite a bit of anti-tank firepower. It might not all be long range, but there's a lot of it.

Edit: Whoops, the haywire grenades are in the 2000 list. Even without them in the 1500, I think you'll be fine. Make sure you test it out a bit to see if you need more lances, their tank killing ability can be a bit underwhelming at times.

Thats right Dr Chris, got the rulebook, codex and battleforce 2 weeks ago and played my first game last week - 500 points vs Space Marines. Went rather well, thanks to my Archon and his Retinue taking on the entire army by themselves (warriors got hammered earily on my a thunderfire cannon? ).

Thanks for another great reply fire, my local store in Carlisle have a gaming night every Thursday night, so am planning on taking my guys down to see how they play - will keep you posted.

Darcona wrote: - Archon with Punisher, Tormentor Helm, Shadow Field, Animus Vitae, Combat Drugs, Plasma Grenades.
Retinue - 6 x Incubi with Plasma Grenades
Raider

For 1500 points you're making a really expensive unit here. 5 incubi and a dracon will be just as likely to wipe out pretty much anything you charge and will give you a solid bit of point savings. I'm a bit neutral about an animus with a Lord attached to Incubi - the Incubi are slow enough that it's hard to get into multiple combats like you can when running solo so that there are less fights you get the benefits of the animus from, and also with the additional combat prowess of the Incubi it's not like you really need that much extra oomph for the Lord in any case.

- 5 man Raider Squad, 1 x Splinter Cannon, 1 x Blaster, Disintigrator and Night Shields on the Raider

Looking at your army as a whole I really think you're dropping the ball on your Troop slots. The quality of the DE Troop slots is possibly one of the best in the game and Troops are one of the most important tools to an army due to objective rules - use them! I'll follow with a short list of shortfalls that I see here.

1. Dissies on Raiders isn't wise in my opinion. Dissies work best when fired multiple times at squads, so multiple Dissies on a single unit are good. Lances work fine when fired singly, since a single lance can end a vehicle. There is almost no reason to ever want a Dissie on a Raider because of this.

2. Three Troop slots is unwise at 1500 when your Troop slots are as weak and crunchy as DE are, I strongly recommend taking at least 5 and preferably 6.

3. I find it odd that with the N.Shields it looks like you're planning to try to hide your Gunboats in the back field. This is a poor use for Raider Gunboats. If you want to field less Troops and hide them in the backfield then make them mini-sniper squads with Dark Lances so they are functional hanging back. Gunboats are most potent and useful in the mid/short field and want to be operating within 12" of one of the outer edges of your opponent's forces.

- 6 man Wyche Squad, Succubus with Agoniser, all with Plasma Grenades and Wyche Weapons, 1 x Blaster
Raider

I always recommend the 2nd Blaster as you give up really nothing and gain a very potent shooting assault weapon for a very cheap point investment. Other then that I like this loadout.

- Ravager with Night Shield and 3 x Dark Lances

Overall I like the Ravagers - you really can't go wrong with them (unless you take a 2 Lance, 1 Dissie loadout). If you listen to my advice above you'll be weakening your anti-troop capabilities and in which case I would recommend at least making a second one of these Ravagers into a 3 Dissie Ravager.

I'm planning the same kind of tactics, Archon and wyches hoofing it with the gunboats and ravagers hitting armour and elite units.

Gunboats don't kill elite units and they only do okay versus armor. Gunboats kill troops. Wyches kill elite units, Incubi kill pretty much whatever you point them at but are also our best anti-horde assault option.

If you're bumrushing in the assault boats right off do not overlook the use that Nightshields will have in warding off melta and rapid fire weapons. Personally I think if this is your tactic that the N.Shields will be better on the Incubi and Wych boats then on the Gunboats.

I am toying with the idea of dumping the incubi and raider and giving the Archon a jetbike and using the points for 2 x 10 man warrior squads with 2 x Dark Lances each just in case Imperial Guard, but am concerned that it will break my first/ second turn Assault rush

If the Archon is on a jetbike you really ought to also buy at least a minimal RJB squad (3 bikes, 2 blasters) to run escort with your Lord for the first turn or so. This will, combined with turbo-boost, give your Lord a pretty solid pile of protection from shooting attacks. Then the escort goes off to shoot vehicles and the Lord assaults whatever you need. I have a couple of bat reps up in this site where I use a jetbike lord, you might want to check them out for some ideas. The jetbike lord has a lot of strengths but can suffer if the opponent is a very mech heavy list.

Hope that helps.