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I love the Dark Eldar models, and the fluff is great with them being some of the weirdest and sickest beings in the universe. I've been told they're essentially glass cannons, I was hoping for advice on where to start with them. They will mostly be a collection army, but I would like to purchase units to build a decent list, for the record I already own the start collecting box for them, and have the Death Masque Harlequins to ally.

First off, welcome to Dakka!

secondly, go with some Kabalite and/or Wyches and raiders and/or venoms (whichever you think look the coolest) They make up the bread and butter of a DE army

The start collecting is always an awesome place to start, however if you like the way that Wyches look then go for them, and if you like the way the Haemonculous covens look then definitely go for them, a box of wracks will give you a fun painting option and help you get introduced, and get the Codex Supplement too.

For DE you get lots of options because majority of units in their codex are equally balanced so it makes everything viable, so really just go for what you think really catches your fancy, because in the end thats what 40k is about... using the models you love and having a lot of fun rolling dice!

However if you need a bit more guidance, Reavers are extremely good, they are wonderfully fast, and hit really hard albeit expensive (real money expensive). Additionally, Kabalite Warriors put out awesome shooting and will kill lots of big monsters and little infantry with relative ease. Wyches are pretty good I think, they are very fun but can sometimes fail to kill what they charge due to their low strength (combat drugs can help this), Venoms are generally considered the better vehicle option, simple because they put out tons of shooting each turn. They can't hold as many dudes as a raider can but that is generally considered a good thing because for DE it is good to have lots of small units of guys instead of one big unit, simply because DE die really really quickly, so its better if your opponents big guns can only wipe a six man unit a turn instead of a 10 man unit.

If you want lots of tactics and a run down of each unit go here https://1d4chan.org/wiki/Warhammer_40,000/Tactics/Dark_Eldar(7E) It is described pretty well and also pretty funny.

But the most important thing to remember is that DE are a very hard army to play, so if you are having some trouble, don't worry, eventually you will leave your opponents terrified and impressed!

Happy wargaming!
~Mikey

Great units (I feel like I'm missing out if I can't take fit them into a list): Reavers, Grotesques, Venoms.
Good units (I'm not missing out if I take them): Scourges, Cronos, Talos, Warriors, Succubi, Court of the Archon, Raiders, Haemonculus, Trueborn, Razorwings, Ravagers.
Poor units (They aren't optimal, but if you know what you're doing or planned in advance, they can still work): Incubi, Voidravens, Archons.
Bad units (There's no reason to take them, if I have to I think I'm getting screwed): Wyches, Bloodbrides, Hellions, Mandrakes.

Tactical Guides for you to consider.

I highly recommend the Dark City website for all things Dark Eldar.

 Jimsolo wrote:
Great units (I feel like I'm missing out if I can't take fit them into a list): Reavers, Grotesques, Venoms.
Good units (I'm not missing out if I take them): Scourges, Cronos, Talos, Warriors, Succubi, Court of the Archon, Raiders, Haemonculus, Trueborn, Razorwings, Ravagers.
Poor units (They aren't optimal, but if you know what you're doing or planned in advance, they can still work): Incubi, Voidravens, Archons.
Bad units (There's no reason to take them, if I have to I think I'm getting screwed): Wyches, Bloodbrides, Hellions, Mandrakes.

Tactical Guides for you to consider.

I highly recommend the Dark City website for all things Dark Eldar.

I'd bump Scourges up to great, if only because they are just so reliable at taking out tanks. Otherwise, yeah, that's an accurate assessment of the DEldar.

 Jimsolo wrote:
Great units (I feel like I'm missing out if I can't take fit them into a list): Reavers, Grotesques, Venoms.
Good units (I'm not missing out if I take them): Scourges, Cronos, Talos, Warriors, Succubi, Court of the Archon, Raiders, Haemonculus, Trueborn, Razorwings, Ravagers.
Poor units (They aren't optimal, but if you know what you're doing or planned in advance, they can still work): Incubi, Voidravens, Archons.
Bad units (There's no reason to take them, if I have to I think I'm getting screwed): Wyches, Bloodbrides, Hellions, Mandrakes.

Tactical Guides for you to consider.

I highly recommend the Dark City website for all things Dark Eldar.

Im on The Dark City all the time and yes I would say go there for DE advice.

Just one thing, I feel Voidbomber is worst than bad, after a few games with it, when Basic troops with basic guns can shoot down you 200pts Flier, thats bad. Its one of the highest over costed unit in game.
Mandrakes arnt really that bad with Inflitrate, stealth and shrouded with a s4/ap4 2 shot soul blaze weapon for same cost as a basic trueborn, they lack upgrades and share a Elite slot with better Elites, but still they have won me a couple games before. (I play in highly competitive area)

Haemonuclus Covens is better than regular DE. With the new faq you'll be hard pressed to make any decent army with regular DE. They are probably the worst faction in the game currently since they don't have access to a proper decurion style update.

Troops are better before toys in this army for sure. Both DE and HC. I would take a 50 point snake guy for your leader and just minimize the lost points in HQ since ours are all terrible.

There were some rumors earlier this year about them getting an update at some point. The rumor mongers thought it was a new codex but it sounded more like potential formation bonuses.

In a casual environment you can't make mistakes. One and you lose and are dead.

 Gamgee wrote:
In a casual environment you can't make mistakes. One and you lose and are dead.

Aye, DE is perhaps the most unforgiving army there is.

Transports are all paper planes with jet engines, liable to explode and kill the passengers if you leave them out in the open. Very few units at all can take hits. But they can be very fast and nasty if the player can plan ahead a bit. Our older DE player totally tabled two opponents out of three last month (small tournament with 500pt armies), all with just basic stuff on the table. Four small squads in Raiders (3) and a Venom plus two three-man Reaver Jetbike units. Sure, that's squishy - but he played with his speed and range of guns to totally cripple enemies before coming closer for the kill. He had a really disturbing amount of dakka in that little force.

 Gamgee wrote:
Haemonuclus Covens is better than regular DE. With the new faq you'll be hard pressed to make any decent army with regular DE. They are probably the worst faction in the game currently since they don't have access to a proper decurion style update.

Troops are better before toys in this army for sure. Both DE and HC. I would take a 50 point snake guy for your leader and just minimize the lost points in HQ since ours are all terrible.

There were some rumors earlier this year about them getting an update at some point. The rumor mongers thought it was a new codex but it sounded more like potential formation bonuses.

In a casual environment you can't make mistakes. One and you lose and are dead.

The FAQ's crippled gunboats, but venom spam with Reavers and Lance Ravagers backing up a haemy formation is still solid. Not top tier, but still good.