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Played my first game with Dark Eldar vs Tau. It was a gruelling battle and I ultimately lost the game after leading for 3 full turns. I forgot some rules and fumbled through some of the tips received as far as game play. Any how I want to try out running a wych-eccentric list. I want some list advice but more importantly play tactics and advice anywhere from set up to wrap up.

Caveats for the list in order of importance:
#1 - Wyches. I want to use all of the wyches I own all 40 of them in the list and I'd like to keep them equipped as they already are, since I don't really feel like breaking arms off since I lack bits to replace things with.

#2 - Succubus, I really like the idea of the succubus and want to keep both. I went as far as to convert the second one because I think it's "KEWL" and very fitting for a Wych Cult.

#3 - Incubi, my favorite dark eldar models and while not as important as the first 2 items I do want to keep them involved here if possible to make a working list around the whole thing that includes all my incubi.


Here is the current list I built up for wyches:

2000 Pts - Codex: Dark Eldar Roster - 2000 - CAD - Wyches

: Combined Arms Detachment (71#, 2000 pts)
1 Succubus, 115 pts (Splinter Pistol; Archite Glaive; Haywire Grenades; The Armour of Misery)

1 Succubus, 120 pts (Splinter Pistol; Archite Glaive; Haywire Grenades; The Animus Vitae)

5 Incubi, 175 pts
1 Raider (Dark Lance x1; Night Shields)

5 Incubi, 175 pts
1 Raider (Dark Lance x1; Night Shields)

10 Wyches, 190 pts (Splinter Pistol & CCW x7; Hydra Gauntlets (x2) x3)
1 Raider (Dark Lance x1; Night Shields)

10 Wyches, 190 pts (Splinter Pistol & CCW x7; Shardnet & Impaler x3)
1 Raider (Dark Lance x1; Night Shields)

10 Wyches, 190 pts (Splinter Pistol & CCW x7; Shardnet & Impaler x3)
1 Raider (Dark Lance x1; Night Shields)

10 Wyches, 190 pts (Splinter Pistol & CCW x7; Shardnet & Impaler x3)
1 Raider (Dark Lance x1; Night Shields)

5 Scourges, 120 pts (Shardcarbine x1; Haywire Blaster x4)

5 Scourges, 120 pts (Shardcarbine x1; Haywire Blaster x4)

1 Talos, 135 pts (Chain-flails; TL Haywire Blaster)

1 Ravager, 140 pts (Dark Lance x3; Night Shields)

1 Ravager, 140 pts (Dark Lance x3; Night Shields)

Total Roster Cost: 2000


I'll be facing off against Tau and Imperial Guard most likely. Thoughts?

Vs footslogging guard, they may do well IF and I stress IF you can get close, but if they are boxed up (transports) then you will have a hell of a time. Two Ravagers and 10 scourges will bite it real quick vs guard.

Pretty much the same thing vs tau. If they have a lot of footslogging fire warriors you will do well, but who has that? vs monstrous creatures or armor value, you're boned.

I just doubt this army would hold up vs either of them. sorry man.

suggestions?

Suggestions?

I'm sorry but Wyches got nerfed hard in this codex. Losing haywire grenades, and they die to basically anything. If those guardsmen cut a fart you're going to lose models.

I know you're strongly against it, but I would drop the wyches... and Incubi... Maybe one unit of incubi as a bodyguard for your HQ.

I personally like blasterborn, it gives you some good anti-tank with 3 blasters in the squad, and if you have two cannons on your venom you can do some damage to infantry too. Although I know there is a lot of questioning as to their cost effectiveness.

Kabalite warriors are, plain and simple, the more effective troops choice in this codex. Take them either in 10 man units in a raider with splinter racks, or 5 man units in venoms with a blaster, but either way you get a lot of poison firepower. That's a really, really bad day for any monstrous creature.

If you're going up against IG, I'd look at a razorwing jetfighter or two. Four monoscythe missiles, wounding on 2s, is going to do some serious damage to any blob squads. Or fire warriors for that matter. Or really any infantry who gets caught by the blasts. And if you throw the dark lances on them, they become decent anti-flier and anti-tank as well once those missiles are spent.

Talos can be good, but I'd personally bring them in units of 2-3. They'll squish something before they die, or at least draw fire away from the rest of your army.

Scourges are great if you're going against lots of armor, but if you hit any lists that have very few AV models, they're going to feel left out of the party. Maybe throw some heat lances in there just for a little punch on the side? But that really depends on your meta. Where I play, my haywire scourges always have lots of targets and die before they run out of things to shoot and haywire to death.

Although I love the wych models, their fluff, and the idea of an assaulty DE army, I'm afraid its just not in this codex. Especially against shooty armies like those you're facing. I'd try an alpha-strike list focused on crippling IG tanks and Tau battlesuits, because when those things fire back, no matter what you have on your side of the table, its not going to be there the next turn.

Anyone who tells you that Wyches are bad is unfortunately correct. But you have options:

Reavers are, in the fluff, Wyches on bikes. They're one of the better units in the codex.

You can play your Wych models as Archon Courts, those models with the poison or whatever.

Play just one squad of Wyches in a venom and let them tar pit something on an Objective. If your opponent's unit does not have Objective Secured, they might score you a Maelstrom point or two.

Ah :( no one wants to stick to the caveats i see lol

The point isnt how bad they are or what not, it's how to best build a list around them. Never said the list has to win a tournament, just want to get the most mileage out of the units i wish to use. Can't be that hard to come up with valid suggestions as experienced as you guys are.

Lets get some positive thinking up in here!

Got to play this list yesterday. My second game ever with Dark Eldar, after being defeated in a long drawn out fight on my first game vs Tau. Here are the Tau once again up to no good.

Mission: Contact Lost
Deployment: Hammer and Anvil
Night Fighting: Turn 1
First Turn: Dark Eldar

I don't recall the TOs i generated through the game i'll make a note of them next time I do a report like this. But my starting TO was an easy one to achieve by taking Objective #1, which I could do immediately. The Tau set up very very confidently after nearly tabling the Dark Eldar on their first encounter. Tau infiltrated with several stealth suits in ruins, pathfinders in ruins and crisis teams lurking about outside of line of sight behind ruin walls. Kroot were in the forest and a lone piranha was near them eager to rush up and fusion blast my vehicles to hell and back. Commander Fargsight with a team of crisis suits were held in reserve.









TURN 1

I am disappointed that the Tau only had 1 vehicle and it was a piranha, making me feel like my scourges were going to be completely useless. So I moved the scourges to get within range of it, and shoot it down for first blood. Which I succesfully accomplished. The ravagers without any good targets to shoot at just prowl about and take some pot shots but accomplish very little. All the raiders move and then flat out to the right side. I figure that is his strongest side and if i can overwhelm him on turn 2 that the game will be mine. So all 6 raiders went full speed to the right side. I lost 2 raiders and one of my incubi+succubus units was also wiped out by massed burstcannon fire.

TURN 2

It sucked seeing my incubi go away like that, but the retaliation would be swift, vengeance would be delivered cold and drawn out to savor every moment. I disembarked all the wyches, and moved the raiders combat speed into position to shoot at the crisis teams that had been trying to sneak on by. I positioned the remaining scourges to declare charges first and take the overwatch head on so that the wyches can get in without a scratch. The Raiders with Dark Lances + Ravagers destroy a full unit of crisis suits with respective drones. The wyches take out a unit of pathfinders and a unit of stealth suits.

The Victory Point score total is 4-1 in the favor of the Dark Eldar. The tau having not expected such deadly retribution and unable to summon their reserves, are left to flee and try to fight back forgoing the mission entirely in a plan for survival.










TURN 3

The wyches are getting stronger as power from pain begins to take effect and they continue to assault and kill more of the Tau until all that remains are the kroot and 1 lone stealth suit. The tau on the other hand are still without back up as Farsight sat at this desk reviewing the army composition and shaking his head that there were not enough crisis teams on the field. The Dark Eldar take a giant 9-1 lead.

TURN 4

I offer my opponent the chance to concede. As it looks like I will potentially table him if things carry on. He declines and wants to see if it can happen. I foolishly fall for this Tau trickery and half ass my strategy expecting to table him easily. The Kroot proved to be further out that I originally calculated and I essentially wiff the entire next turn. Farsight finally arrives but makes a rather silent entry killing only a small band of wyches and huddling up behind a ruined wall protecting objective 6. My succubus warlord and her incubi retinue saw this and saw great opportunity.

TURN 5

With farsight beliving himself to be relatively safe and the wyches rushing down the kroot with Feel No Pain, Fearless and Furious Charge aswell as Combat Drugs granting + Strength it was a matter of time. The succubus and incubi assaulted farsight and his friends, the weaponless commader accepted the challenge because Farsight wasn't fish enough. with a 2+ save and invulnerable the Fish Commander thought he had it made. The succubus flipped her archaite glaive to two handed mode and went to work, murdering the commander with ease and killing a few of his friends aswell. But the incubi put 9 AP2 wounds on the unit to seal the deal. Game Over.











WINNER: Dark Eldar
Final Score: 13-1
MVP: Incubi
Worthy Mention: Raiders, Dark Lances
Least Useful: Talos (did nothing all game...got close and failed every charge, never getting closer than 7" from the enemy)


Thoughts of the wyches: They were decent, they did nothing amazing, but they did do everything i sent them out to do. They died quite easily when shot at though specially before getting feel no pain (5+). The talos was far more useless in my experience in this game, my first time using him aswell and he basically did nothing. So slow...so so slow, he couldn't catch up to anything and his gun was a threat to practically nothing. Any tips or advice for how to properly use a Talos would be appreciated.

I've only seen guys ever run Talos in the Corpsethief claw formation when you have 5 in one unit. With that big of a footprint, you are closer to certain things and can make charges easier. You have stumbled onto the talos' biggest weakness as a non-jump or jetpack MC. It is SOOOOO slow. If it hits? Hammer time. Misses it's charge? Pray it doesn't die and you get another bite at the proverbial cherry.

I think you have the idea for wyches. (loads of salt needed. I'm a craftworlds player, but have a buddy who's big into wych-cult DE) It's like running most infantry armies that are combat focused, you need BOAT LOADS of them. You have 4 boat loads which is good. If you just expect to lose a boat or two before you get there you'll probably do well. Unfortunately against tau they can take away your greatest survival tool - cover. Though when he brings riptides, you smile with poison shooting. That might be where I'd suggest expanding. 2 venoms loaded with 5 kabalites toting a blaster could even the odds and help take so much pressure off your wyches to kill all the stuff.

I love the incubii too boss, I say keep em, each with their own succubus. I think Teo has it nailed with his razorwing tip, those things will help soften up your charge targets. Then your wyches will just be moping up instead of having to kill whole units. Missiles on normal troops (pathfinders, fire warriors, crisis suits) and then fire the lances into big stuff (riptides, ghostkeels, crisis suits, vehicles).

Again, bring the salt shaker and apply diligently. I am a craftworld player who just dipped my toe into corsairs. However I do eventually want to have all 4 flavors of our beloved space elves. I have the chumps and pirates (craftworld & corsairs) and I just need some clowns and psychos (harlies & DE).

Good report and just keep playing! Maybe try to play against some marine and necron players and you'll really see what your wyches can do.

Cheers!

Firstly- I like your battle report post.

Secondly- Well, keeping the Succubi, Incubi, and Wyches as caveats....

I would just keep them as you have them.

I would however drop the ravagers and the talos.

Ravagers cannot move 12" and fire all the weapons at full BS. They are AV11/11/10 and relatively costly (they saw a price increase this codex of greater than 10%..)

I love Talos, but 1 talos in an army of fast things is not doing much. ever.

If you are facing Tau and IG mostly I would use the points from dropping the ravagers/talos to buy give some of your raiders the horrorfex, or whatever the LD soulfright blast weapon is called.

I would also pick up some reavers with blasters. considering you are vsing guard and tau mostly I would not buy cluster caltrops to save on points. Rapid fire splinter rifles + normal reaver hammer of wrath will be good enough against tau and IG infantry.

I would mostly consider switching to a RSR detachment for the first turn and nightfight bonuses, considering how many of your units come from troops the first turn cover bonus for your army would be substantial.