New Dark Eldar book thoughts, and the current trend of constant change

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.

**wildboar**

I'm a bit of a sporadic 40k-er. I will be active and eager for a couple of years then stop for 6 month+ to do other things - computer games, WHQ or WHRP

As of now it is probably 6 months since we've played 40k. I had a flick through my AM codex and started feeling like I could pick it up again.

I see from GW website my Dark Eldar have a new book.

I also see I've missed the chance to own the Coven book which is a bit of a shame. Would of liked to have had a butchers at it.

Anyone mind giving me the low down on the new DE book please? Any significant changes?

I will probably buy it at some point but I'm pretty confident my two gaming buddies aren't ready to get back into 40k atm so don't want to shell out £30 for a book that I
might not get to use for long. My brother plays CSM. I don't see him being up for it for a while to come yet....

**Alcibiades**

Well Power from Pain got thoroughly reworked. Units got tweaked but not hugely so, though most of the named characters were lost. The army still plays the same. I think it's a lot better than the old codex.

**Frozocrone**

It's viewed by some as Codex Supplement: Eldar but that's only because CWE have a really, really strong book.

It lines up well against the other 7th edition Codex's though.

Coven book has some really strong formations in it, I would recommend you buy it id you get an opportunity to do so.

**wildboar**

Alcibiades wrote:
Well Power from Pain got thoroughly reworked. Units got tweaked but not hugely so, though most of the named characters were lost. The army still plays the same. I think it's a lot better than the old codex.

Were they replaced with other new chars? If not that's a bit of a blow, used to like Duke and the Baron.

Yeah hopefully the Coven books will start springing up here and there at some point. I can try and find a bargain somewhere.

I've seen the new Voidraven model, one of the few models missing from the last release. Is it useful? The model looks great, how does it compare to other fliers of its ilk?

**Alcibiades**

wildboar wrote:
Alcibiades wrote:
Well Power from Pain got thoroughly reworked. Units got tweaked but not hugely so, though most of the named characters were lost. The army still plays the same. I think it's a lot better than the old codex.

Were they replaced with other new chars? If not that's a bit of a blow, used to like Duke and the Baron.

Yeah hopefully the Coven books will start springing up here and there at some point. I can try and find a bargain somewhere.

I've seen the new Voidraven model, one of the few models missing from the last release. Is it useful? The model looks great, how does it compare to other fliers of its ilk?

No opinion on the VR. Looks good on paper. fast deadly fragile

Nope, the only named characters are Lilith, Drazhar, and the homonculus guy.

**vipoid**

I found a review that should give you a good idea:

http://lkhero.blogspot.co.uk/2014/10/de-dark-eldar-codex-review.html

With regard to the Voidraven, I feel it's just too expensive for an AV10 flier. Also, kudos to whoever designed a bomber that can only carry a single bomb.

**melkorthetonedeaf**

Did I miss something here? The Coven book is on the webstore.

**vipoid**

The physical version had been out of stock for ages.

**ryuken87**

Generally DE play as before, but I think overall they are a bit better as due to points reductions (not on everything but most things) you can fit more into your list.

Bad points for me were that the HQ section was gutted and we don't have what I would consider a "good" HQ choice. We also still don't have any good anti-air or anything with Ignores Cover.

**vipoid**

ryuken87 wrote:
Bad points for me were that the HQ section was gutted and we don't have what I would consider a "good" HQ choice. We also still don't have any good anti-air or anything with Ignores Cover.

Yeah, all our HQs are pretty awful (especially considering their costs). Really disappointed with how much stuff got gutted completely.

Tbh, our anti-tank in general is pretty poor - with Darklight weapons failing to receive a much-needed buff, and the Ravager getting an unnecessary nerf.

**Wyldhunt**

I'm not a huge fan of the new power from pain, but it's hard to complain about it too much. You no longer have to worry about your paint tokens vanishing when your opponent kills a choice unit, but you're also kind of encouraged to hide for the first few turns while your pain batteries charge rather than alpha striking like before.

We did lose a lot of special characters, which is a huge shame. A lot of our wargear (not just in the hq section) became far more bland and/or less useful. That said, I actually really like the way our HQs are designed now. The archon is the guy you go to for a shooty option or for some of his special toys. He's also the only way to get a shadow field. The succubus is now *much* better than before thanks largely to her ability to take an archite glaive. She's our "I want to kill infantry" option. The haemonculus is a bit meh for me, but he's still clearly a support hq, and the coven options are actually really fantastic if you want to run a haemonculus themed army. The court of the archon is also much better.

I haven't done the math, but I think Lelith is actually better than before provided your target squad has someone she can challenge. I like drazhar more than before, but he's still probably still not a great choice. You can stick him in his own venom though, so that presents some interesting options. Urien seems solid, but I'm bitter about the new Power From Pain rules (which he manipulates).

Our mobility is kind of weird. We're still fast, but our ravagers/flyers aren't as good at maneuvering while bringing all their weapons to bare. As previously mentioned the void raven is awfully pricey for something that lucky bolters can kill, but I wouldn't say it's terrible either.

Some units got rebalanced well. Beast packs are less scary than before, but they also got a price reduction and don't require as many beast masters to work well. I'm fine with this. Scourges are amazing now with relatively cheap access to lots of good guns. Mandrakes are about where they probably should be. They're very squishy when they don't get their cover save, but they can be tremendously durable when they do. I like them as early game harassment and objective grabbers.

Incubi lost options, but their klaivex got rampage. People don't seem to like them, but I always have and still do. The changes to Power From Pain hurt them though. Reavers are polzarizing. Some people miss their vector strike type attack, but they got a pretty nasty hammer of wrath option.

**ALEXisAWESOME**

Dark Eldar used to one of the best Alpha Strike Armies in the game. We are no longer. We used to be able to be a shooty army in league with the big boys. We can't do that either. But then again, we used to be the B*tches of any Eldar player that wanted to include the Baron, with many players ignoring Dark Eldar all together in favor of our new (un)rebalanced kin.

Dark Eldar are no longer in Eldars shadow and we finally feel like a distinct army with distinct roles. We are still easily one of the fastest races in the game, with enough mobility zip around many foes. Our shooting is very similar, with the marked exception of Scourges are now easily one of the best anti-tank units in the game, rocking 4 Haywire Blasters on the cheap. More importantly our Combat is not only usable, but is one of our defining factors.

Grotesques stand out, having received rampage allowing for anything between 6 and 9 attacks on the charge at Posions 4+ insta kill on 6's. That is scary combined with our myraid of ways to get them into position! Talosi are now great units, tough while slow, but have FNP base. Incubi are very useful, a unit of 5 manage to cleave through MEQ in a very convenient 2 combats, allowing for another charge straigh after. Reavers are a premier assault unit, emphasizing sheer speed with deadly power we are known for.

Big differences? Dark Eldar are now a beta strike army, they rely on reserves to make sure the army comes in turn 2 when PFP starts to amp up. We are no longer a shooting army, now we are an assault army with shooting support. I prefer this codex a lot, as at least this one can be played competitively without being CURBstomped by Wave Serpent Spam.

Wyches still suck. Sorry about that.

**Alcibiades**

Yeah that's an important point. It's an army that relies on reserves.