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(I first posted this in fantasy tactics, oops. At least I had a good save "don't drink and dakka, folks!" Anyways.)

So i've been borrowing my mates DE some more, and I ran a quick 600 point game vs an ork friend. Our lists were:

DE:

Succubus (as is)

5 kabalite warriors (as is)
5 kabalite warriors (as is)

3 kabalite trueborn (2splinter cannons)
3 kabalite trueborn (2splinter cannons)
3 kabalite trueborn (1splinter cannons)

3 reavers (grav talons)
3 reavers (grav talons)
3 reavers (grav talons)

orks:
war boss (power klaw and attack squig)

30 ork boyz
30 ork boyz

killa kan (big shoota)

3 deffkoptas


I got really luck with my reavers, using my grav talons to pin one of his ork boys, and my kabalite warriors quickly took out 25% of his other boyz, he failed his save, which set him further back.

Pretty much everything went as planned for me, except for my HQ.

My HQ didn't do anything wrong really... it just didn't do anything. For low to mid range games, what type of HQ would you take for dark elder that are running a high reaver/kabalite list? I set this list up specifically thinking he would horde his boyz, and that I could pin him, but my HQ did nothing. She fired off one shot and killed the last deffkopta after my warriors already nearly destroyed it.

What should I take for HQ?

The succbus really only shines in low point games due to her BAMF statline and gear out the gate. She can't be tooled up to the levels of killing an archon can reach, but with just a venom blade she costs less than a similarly kitted con(including her drugs). Outside of CC she is dead, but in combat with a venom blade she should do fine in any challenge at low points. If you are going to keep her around, get the venom blade to help stick wounds, particularly against those tougher targets.

For a cheap, but buffing HQ, consider a barebones hamey. Getting a pain token out the gate is fantastic, and T4 on your warlord is a blessing in DE. They also get some fantastic kit such as the venom blade, the liquifier(arguably the best infantry flamer in the game)and if your camping with some trueborn, a hexrifle is nice. Unlocking wracks is an additional boost.

At higher games, the archon is going to be your murder machine. The main boost of the con over the succbus is the shadowfield, but huskblades are also nice for AP2.

A note, you should not have been able to pin or break the ork boys until they were under 10 models. Orks have mob rule and are fearless at 11 or more. Also, your list was pretty set up to kill his, depending...

Sliscus is your man in Amsterdam. He'll bring better drugs for your Reavers, better poison for one squad of boys from the Kabal, more killing power than a succubus can swing, as well as a great buff for your skimmers (and I HIGHLY recommend your next investment be some Raiders, Venoms, or Ravagers) all for a reasonable point cost.

Haemonculi are great out of the gate for DE. They REALLY shine, however, with some Wracks or Grotesques. Still, a free Pain Token at the cost of your Fleet isn't anything to shake a stick at.

Urien Rakarth (the bigger, nastier version of the Haemonculus) is a lovely addition to any force over 1250 or so. His addition to a unit of Grotesques guarantees they will start with Fearless, mitigating their mind-boggling abysmal Leadership of 3! If you're running a Coven list, he can throw a couple extra pain tokens out there for good measure. And nobody does 'challenge tarpit' like a guy who can negate enemy hits, comes with FNP, and auto-heals wounds.

Baron Sathonyx is another choice pick. His addition to a Beastpack unit can really help them out, and he allows you to take troops that can Deep Strike without needing a transport. He's also extremely cheap, especially considering the huge number of goodies he comes with. Best of all, he's Strengh 6 on the charge, which makes him a helluva second string vehicle killer.

Still, my vote goes to Sliscus as the MVP of the Dark Eldar codex. I cannot recommend him enough.

(If you have any other questions regarding Dark Eldar, feel free to PM me! I may not know everything, but I'd be happy to try and help.)

Sliscus my favourite as well.

Not at 600 pts though. That's 1/4 of your list.

Cheap haemo is best.

The issue with the Succubus is not the Succubus, she is a fine model, the point is - you have nothing that she is helping. She is an assault character...what's your assault unit? Right, you don't have one, so what is she doing for you? ...right, nothing at all.

The 'cheap haem' and 'haem with hexrifle' calls are at least...vaguely on point. I'll accept that the hexrifle is at least long range enough and pairing with your vague pinning theme to be theoretically useful...albeit the hexrifle sucks.

I would say the best low point HQs are as follows;

Haem
Sathypants
Succubus
Archon

For what you are running neither Succubus nor Baron Satypants make much sense because neither of them help your build despite being otherwise 'good'

A Haem with a Liquifier is probably overall the best bang for your buck, and as you move mechanized he'll be useful in a number of builds in the future.

An Archon w. Blaster and v/blade is also a solid low point all purpose addition, that could, again, do you some good as you modify what your force is about and can help support Trueblasters with more blaster firepower if you move that way (as you doubtless shall as you expand your army)

Your splinter gunline build is also a bit of a dead end as far as listbuilding goes, it will do okay at 600, but by 800+ (or if the Ork player wises up and brings a few trukks) you'll start being really substandard quick.