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So Dakka, since I am loving painting Harlequins and want to use them in games rather than have a small unit for the cabinet and since I have always loved the DE miniatures, well, why not make an army.

I am (was) used to playing high toughness armies, guys who can slug it out. I know DE will be a vastly different ball game for me but they look too good not to have. I keep hearing wyches are not very good now?

So just going for the small Harlequin detachment to have a nice colourful unit to stand out, kitted out to be rather elite killers. I was wanting/thinking my dark eldar force to be the fast close combat havoc causing raiders whilst the eldar allies are the wraith; big tough machines to had some powerful firepower.

Obviously the codex is my first choice but wanted to ask especially with the new codex, are the bundles worth getting? I did want a wych army and so the shardstorm and swiftshard looks like a very good bargain. Are these the right places to start for a fast assaulty army? Are Kalabite warriors a must?

Transports. DE live or die on the Raiders, Wave Serpents are hilariously powerful, open-topped transports help Harlequins get to fights.

Wyches keep getting neutered, I wouldn't get too attached to them if I were you. They can shred light shooty units but that's about it, pit them against anything combat-oriented or armoured and they're pretty helpless. Kabalite Warriors are the DE book's best Troops choice, they may not be assault-oriented, but they're reliable and effective.

Shardstorm and then the Warrior and Raider combo will be plenty for you to get started on, and then Harlequins added in to that. Gives a spare Venom for whatever needs it and enough of both troop types for you to figure what you prefer, gunboats or Wyches. A few games like that and you'll have a handle on where you really want to take Dark Eldar. The Reavers are amazing and you'll get a lot of use out of them.

The issue with Wyches is they don't get real armor outside of combat. So best case, they get shot by Overwatch and some die, worst case their transport doesn't survive to deploy them and they all die. Then in combat they're still strength 3, still toughness 3 and only get a 4++ save. They're less potent in Assault than a standard Space Marine and they're supposed to be fancy pants gladiator women.

You'll do better using the Troupe for combat and the Kabalites for troop shooting. But Kabalites are REALLY good at killing MCs or FMCs. They Vehicles are actually better at killing troops. And the Reavers of course can kill everything with a Farseer granting some buffs with them.

Thanks guys, I'll start with some kalabites and a raider this week and see how I feel about them first and then move on to the shardstorm.

Can the wyches provide any specialist tactics or are they really just flimsy wet paper bags?

May it be wiser to have an equal mix of warriors and wyches? Just wondering if it would be worth getting the shard storm as I do like the feeling of a fast shooty army.

On a note about the shard storm with the venom, is it good to have some incubi in there as I recently watched a bat rep with them and they seemed a very good cc unit. I also read venoms are excellent for dishing out shots.

Wyches can work if placed against lighter armies like the Tau, Imperial Guard or other Eldar, because they are lower strength against lower toughness' but against things like Space Marines and Chaos, they're going to get crumped.

I guess I should hope that I dont fight a lot of the Emperors finest or any filthy heretics.

 unmercifulconker wrote:
Can the wyches provide any specialist tactics or are they really just flimsy wet paper bags?

Not anymore. They used to have useful Wych Weapons and Haywire grenades, those both got taken away in the most recent Codex.

Why are people so happy about Wyches? Even if they make combat untouched, they are a sub-par combat unit. 3 Ws 4 S3 attacks each is unimpressive, and a 4++/5++ is very similar to a 3+ save. I guess they could be a tarpit, but you don't want to dedicate a Shadowseer and 2 Warp Charges a turn on a tarpit.

In my opinion you have much better options, see Incubi. They benefit massively from a Shadowseer as it gives them Fearless and Hit'n'run. Hit'n'run is massive, because from turn 3 Incubi have furious charge, making each Incubi throw out 3 Ws 5 Str 5 attacks at AP 2 I 5 on the charge, and the Kliavex even has Rampage! That is friggin' crazy! Add that to the fact they have a semi-decent save (3+ Sv/5+++ FNP) and can reasonably go in a vehicle without being scared to death of it exploding. Incubi rock and i can't wait to use a Shadowseer with them.

Also Grotesques, consider Grotesques. Grotesques are amazing. That will be all.

 ALEXisAWESOME wrote:
Why are people so happy about Wyches? Even if they make combat untouched, they are a sub-par combat unit. 3 Ws 4 S3 attacks each is unimpressive, and a 4++/5++ is very similar to a 3+ save. I guess they could be a tarpit, but you don't want to dedicate a Shadowseer and 2 Warp Charges a turn on a tarpit.

In my opinion you have much better options, see Incubi. They benefit massively from a Shadowseer as it gives them Fearless and Hit'n'run. Hit'n'run is massive, because from turn 3 Incubi have furious charge, making each Incubi throw out 3 Ws 5 Str 5 attacks at AP 2 I 5 on the charge, and the Kliavex even has Rampage! That is friggin' crazy! Add that to the fact they have a semi-decent save (3+ Sv/5+++ FNP) and can reasonably go in a vehicle without being scared to death of it exploding. Incubi rock and i can't wait to use a Shadowseer with them.

Also Grotesques, consider Grotesques. Grotesques are amazing. That will be all.

Probably because they love the models and the fluff and really really want them to be good. Too bad they suck.