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So I have a tournament coming up and I have been reading Dashofpepper and Thor's tactica.

Both have very good points but I wonder. It seems to me the big Dark Eldar debate is which is better, the Duke or the Baron.

However, Lady Malys is right inbetween in terms of points. Her abilties are quite powerful I think.

In short, the Baron gives +1 to going first and stealth.

The Duke gives beter drugs, better poison and deep striking skimmers.

I know there are more, but those seem to be the main advantages to each one.

Lady Malys allows for redeployment of D3 units, immune to psychic attacks, and has a pair of power weapons with extra attacks.

Mow I ask because I don't really have a good feel for anyone of them over the other. The major downside to the baron is he is jump infantry so it is a bit a nuisence to use him. The Duke really forces you to build around him, making a Duke list somewhat predictable.

Lady Malys however, as I see it, can kind of fit in anywhere. Sure she is only strength 3 and I do not think she gets a PGL, but she does have a 4+ invul right off the bat.

Does anyone have any good points about her as compared to the others. I am not saying one is right or wrong, but really want to know, in a comparison between the 3, how do you think she stands up?

Here is what I think to get us started.
1) I think she is a threat in CC. A potential 8 power weapon attacks on the charge at I7 is pretty darn good.
2) Immune to pyschic is also very nice, especially given the number of SW and BA pyskers running around with thier killy powers. And it would be just rude if facing a GK unit.
3) Redeployment is a huge bonus if you have to deploy first and your opponent sets up some deathstar you would rather not deal with or allow you to take advantage of a situation you see, such as moving wyches to unit set up way to close so that if you moved them, you could easily get off a turn 1 assault. I know you cannot count on getting 3 units to move, but you know you will get at least 1.

4)She comes with a 4+ invul. Not as good as the 2+ shadow field, but you will always have it.

I think, at this point she is worth taking, or at least I am very open to trying her out to see how it changes the dynamics of the game.

if anyone has any feedback or opinions I would love to hear them.

Thanks much!

Taken from this thread, which is a wider discussion of DE HQ choices...http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/363719.page

Lady Malys: Its not the ability to reposition D3 units that makes her solely useful. Its paying 130 points to get SEVEN attacks on the charge from an HQ. Given that she's S3, without the ability to boost it via combat drugs, she's useful in close combat, but not a nightmare. Having the ability to reposition (including placing in reserves) D3 units is worthwhile. Clustering a a couple ravagers in a corner to make an enemy deploy accordingly, then moving them 48" away (or somewhere to get side armour) is absolutely useful. A central deployment to go first, followed by redeploying trueborn or wyches in response to whatever your opponent has done trying to minimize your utility of those units is incredibly useful. It is perhaps the most useful addition to an alpha strike you can get. The Baron + Lady Malys is a powerful combination.

Dashofpepper has it pretty much covered. Lady Malys is pretty good in close combat and the D3 reposition is quite good if you have first turn. The immune to psychic attacks actually comes into play more often then you would think as well.

Baron + Lady Malys is really nice with the Baron's +1 to go first and Lady Malys d3 reposition however you can't have any haemys or wrack troops so you do give up something.

The Duke actually isn't all that great. The drugs are not exactly reliable and deepstriking skimmers is pretty useless.

Immunity to psykic powers for her and her squad can really pay off against some armies.

When comparing her to the duke or the baron also note that she is an actual Archon. She has 3 wounds, 4 attacks, WS7 BS7, and Init 7.


For me the duke just doesnt cut it with his sub archon statline. He is kitted to be in combat yet he is not that good in combat. Also he has a silly blast pistol. Thats another waste of points on him.

Questions:

1: What PV is the tourney?
2: What else is in the army?
3: Do you need Haemonculi (or do you have 2 open HQ slots)?

@Chimera_Calvin

I didn't throw out a list because this section did not seem the right place for it.

I am looking at a 2K tourney with a mix of MSU Warriors, wyches and trueblasters. All mounted in venoms or raiders with 3 DL ravagers.

I have some units I can play around with, but the point of this was to ask about the feasibility of Lady Malys in a competitive environment using an Alpha Strike list with warriors, 1st turn assault list or a hybrid of the two different. This leads into an entirely different topic on list building, but if I was to use one of Thor or DoP sample lists, all warriors or all wyches, how would she work?

@DashofPepper
I know each situation is different and trying to predict is near impossible, but would you cluster anticipating moving all 3, or moving one. The repositioning to me seems like a worthy ability, but it is not without risk if you need to move 3 and can only move 1. Suppose we are facing SW with (3)X Long Fangs evenly spread across the table. Would you move 1 and go for two units of LFs or leave them in place and move something else, say whyches in a raider to assault. I know there are a number of SW out there that use the standard LF logan wing and it is a pain to deal with. Do you just pull them into reserve. I get this is highly hypothetical so if it is to difficult to accurately discuss, thats certainly understandable.

Anyhoo, thanks much for the comments. I still trying to figure out my way with DE and am hopeful for me input from the old masters.