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Hi all. Big time Ork player here who also fields a small GK/Inq/MT force. I'm looking to start up a new xenos army since I've been working on my imperial army a while.

I like Dark Eldar Wyches but they seem so bad that even casual play is likely to be a fruitless waste of time, so I'm considering other armies. I like the aesthetics of Tau, Eldar and Necrons, but I hear a LOT about how OP and broken the codices are.

Are they too strong to be fielded in a fluffy way against lower tier armies? I am a casual player who avoids big tournaments and enjoys narrative forging scenarios or friendly pickups. I don't want to wreck face just taking normal detachments or formations. Any advice regarding the three armies I'm considering would be appreciated.

Actually another option would be to run Dark Eldar models with the new IA Corsairs rules.

Wyches and Venoms would work fantastic for that and Helions make great proxies for the jetpack troops.

Everything that wins is op. Dont get me wrong Eldar/Tau/Necrons are pretty damn powerful but its very easy to play them in a friendly environment - avoid the formations. The units themselves are for the most part nothing more than slightly above average at best, formations make them insane.

Except WK. F that thing.

Pick the army that you enjoy and the models that you like. While you may happen into a power build, it's pretty unlikely since most good armies rely on synergy and force multiplication (i.e. Unit A is best with unit B, so if you take one but not both you should be ok).

What I would do if I was you is take a look at a codex review or a netlist from those armies, which will normally incorporate only the best models. If you don't take too many of those, your list will be fine.

The following is subjective and non-inclusive, but just to give you an idea:

Top-tier models from Tau:

Stormsurge
Ghostkeel
Riptide

Top tier models from Necrons:

Wraiths
Orikan the Diviner (enables all of the deathstars)
The Decurion formation (not really the best IMO because it can be outscored but it makes Necrons really durable and can be not fun to play against with a casual list)

Top tier models from Eldar:

Wraith knight
Warp Spiders
Jetbikes
Farseer
Warp Hunter


I could make a general rule of thumb and say, "if you have les than X percent of your points invested in the above models, your list will be casual", but it really depends on your meta. If you take 90% of your list as those models, yeah it'll be pretty freaking good. Where you decide to meet in the middle is entirely up to you.

Rules change. Terrible becomes broken and around again. Collect the army you like the looks and fluff of. You should know this, you're an ork player!