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So I have a Dark Eldar force from 3rd edition and with the new codex I'd like to buy as little as possible but have a pretty competitive force. So far I've only played one game vs. IG (probably not the best option for a first game... ), and of course got destroyed. Here are a couple different lists that I hope can compete against all comers (well... maybe not IG):

Edited to fix a couple errors.

1 Haemonoculus 100
Hexrifle, Webway

1 Haemonoculus 60
Liquifier Gun

1 Haemonoculus 60
Liquifier Gun

4 Incubi 88

4 Kabalite Trueborn 93
3 Blasters
1 Raider
Dark Lance, Flickerfield, Nightshield 80

5 Kabalite Warriors 60
Blaster
1 Raider 70
Dark Lance, Flickerfield

5 Wracks 60
Liquifier Gun
1 Raider 70
Dark Lance, Flickerfield

5 Wracks 60
Liquifier Gun
1 Raider 70
Dark Lance, Flickerfield

10 Wyches 150
2 x Shardnet/Impaler, Hekatrix with Agoniser

4 BeastMaster 168
4 Razorwing Flock
5 Khymera

3 Reaver Jetbikes 78
Heat Lance

1 Ravager 115
3 Dark Lances, Flickerfield

1 Ravager 115
3 Dark Lances, Flickerfield

Total: 1497


2nd List, very similar, basically swapping the Beastmaster unit for another Wych squad:

1 Haemonoculus 100
Hexrifle, Webway Portal

1 Haemonoculus 65
Liquifier Gun, Venom Blade

1 Haemonoculus 60
Liquifier Gun

4 Incubi 88

4 Kabalite Trueborn 108
4 Blasters
1 Raider
Dark Lance, Night Shield, Flickerfield 80

5 Kabalite Warriors 60
Blaster
1 Raider 70
Dark Lance, Flickerfield

5 Wracks 60
Liquifier Gun
1 Raider 70
Dark Lance, Flickerfield

5 Wracks 60
Liquifier Gun
1 Raider 70
Dark Lance, Flickerfield

10 Wyches 150
2 x Shardnet/Impaler, Hekatrix with Agoniser

10 Wyches 150
2 x Shardnet/Impaler, Hekatrix with Agoniser

3 Reaver Jetbikes 78
Heat Lance

1 Ravager 115
3 Dark Lances, Flickerfield

1 Ravager 115
3 Dark Lances, Flickerfield

Total: 1499


The idea is that the 4 Raiders and 2 Ravagers start on the board and drop the WWP first turn. After that, everything pours out and hopefully survives long enough to take out my opponent.

Let me know what you think!

don't think your warrior squads are legal with the cannons. (think you need 10 to add 1)

not sure what upgrades you've given your trueborn either. if they were basic (as you show) then they'd be worth only 48 pts.

other than that i think it looks playable. i've got no experience with WWP's so you've got me guessing on how well your army will perform with such a lack in transports.

1) Fix Warrior squad and Trueborn squad as said above. Assuming Trueborn have 3 Blasters, would be the right point cost.

2) Add a 3rd Ravager. 3 should be staple in all but footDar lists.

3)Drop the Hexrifle, it may look awesome on paper, but it's incredibly useless.

4) Add a Clawed Fiend to the Beastmasters so you have something that isn't ID'd by S6 and higher weapons.

5) Incubi need a vehicle, I would recommend a Venom with 2 Splinter Cannons.

Oops, the Trueborn have blasters and I'll drop the Splinter Cannon from the warriors (it was an afterthought anyway). Edited the original post.

@Visha: You have me adding 3 things for approximately 300 points. Dropping the Hexrifle saves 15. What else do you think I should drop?

I might be able to drop the 3 Reavers and with the hexrifle and splinter cannon (and maybe one more thing) can take the Ravager. The Clawed Fiend I don't really see a point to. Any S6+ weapons will be allocated to the Khymera who get a 4+ Invul save and any small arms fire to the Razorwing who have 5 wounds. The Incubi I kind of like as a small unit coming through the WWP. It's cheap enough to be a throwaway unit but deadly enough that the enemy kind of has to deal with it. Putting them in a Venom means they'll have to start on the board and won't last past turn 1.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
So turns out the Beastmaster unit wasn't quite legal either, fixed that as well.

The portal is a delivery system for assaulting units to protect them. Due to the new rules of the portal, you can't hold anything in reserve if it passes it's roll to come in, meaing you have to have the portal down on Turn 1 or risk some of your reserves coming in from your own table edge which defeats the purpose of bringing the portal in the first place. The absolute most distance you can get on turn 1 is 26" + the portal width onto the board. You'll deploy 12", move your transport 12", disembark 2", and drop the portal. Assuming your opponenet isn't a dunce, they're going to move away from the portal. Beasts work well and jump troops work well from the portal b/c they're faster. Anything that can't make it into assault is toast. That's the reasoning behind my suggestions anyway. Because of this, I would forget the second list and I'm just going to focus on the first.

First, I would add another Ravager equipped the same. You need more that can open transports in turn 1. I would drop the reavers and 1 Haemy to cover the cost.

Your beastmaster squad only requires 3 beastmasters to field those beasts you have listed. I would drop 1 to save you 12 points. You may also consider dropping a couple of the razorwings to field more khymera to give the whole squad a 4++ save and still retain a couple for wound allocation shenanigans.

I would drop the wych squad and replace it with a second beastmaster squad for more mobility. You should have the points available to just duplicate it. If the wyches can't make it into cc then they're essentially dead since they only have a 6+ save when being shot. You may also consider a squad of hellions. They have good shooting capabilities and make decent assault troops.

I wouldn't bring the Incubi, as you'll be really heavy on the cc end of the spectrum anyway. Instead, I would bring a squad of scourges. I know you're thinking... scourges vs incubi? seriously? Here's why. 5x scourges, with 2 Haywire Blasters, or 2 Heat lances, for 130 or 134 points. I actually prefer blasters in this situation. You bring the scourges through with the beasties and you have a 24" range to make vehicles a lot less effective and give your opponent a good reason to get out of any transport they're still sitting in. Heat lances for the same thing, more likely to get them out your turn, and you have to be a lot closer to the target. I know I dropped the reavers for scourges basically, but the scourges are actually more survivable "when shooting" than the reavers and slightly cheaper since you only have to field 5 vs 6 to get access to 2 HL, or 2 HB.

I also agree about the hexrifle. It sounds good, but the ap value just isn't low enough to make it very useful unless you roll a 6 to wound and then it becomes wicked, but still allows cover and invulnerable saves before it kills anything.

Good luck. Portal armies are hard to win with b/c you can't always get the squads you want when you want them.

ThePhish wrote:The absolute most distance you can get on turn 1 is 26" + the portal width onto the board. You'll deploy 12", move your transport 12", disembark 2", and drop the portal.

You missed the ~3" pivot. Deploying the raider sideways and then pivoting it will gain that distance. Should also note the portal is 3". This will give the reserve units 32" of board coverage.

Well 3 Ravagers is pretty much a must for any competitive army, If you could find a way to ftit a 3rd ravager, your army will do a lot better, and give this one disintegrator cannons. They're great for those nasty plauge marines, and sanguniary preists.

Thanks for the comments guys. Looks like I'll be picking up a 3rd Ravager. I'm not super sold on switching the wyches for another unit of Beasts only because then I'd be really like on Troops, 3 5 man squads is a good way to lose objective games. I'll try it both ways to see what works best.