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Hi,

I recently had the itch to start playing 40k again after a long absence. I used to play Eldar and started watching some youtube videos. Is it true that you can now mix Dark Eldar and Eldar into one army list? I still have an active version of Army builder but didn't find anything super useful for using the two together. I also picked up the 8th edition eldar codex and didn't find anything in there either. Can anyone point me in the best area to get information on this.

Thank you.

K

It's all to do with Faction <KEYWORDS>.

Craftworlders (formerly just 'Eldar') and Drukhari (formerly 'Dark Eldar') both have the <AELDARI> Faction Keyword, so yes they can fight in one big, Battle-Forged, army. It tends to get called a 'soup'.

So long as you keep your Craftworlders and Drukhari in separate Detachments, you're golden.

EDIT - To answer the question you actually asked, you need the Rulebook. There's a free core rule book out there that you can DL from GW, IIRC.

https://whc-cdn.games-workshop.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Warhammer-40k-Battle-Primer-English-3.pdf

Yeah, there it is. p12. It doesn't go into great detail, seems like you'll need the actual full rules.

Excommunicatus thank you very much. This explains a lot and I will purchase a rule book to iron out the rest of the details.

To add to that you can also add in harlequins and ynarri factions to your eldar and dark eldar lists, you end up with quite a variety of units for eldar soup(mixed faction) lists.

You can. If you played 5 years ago, by my math your last edition was 5th edition.

Army structure has been changed somewhat since 5th edition, where you had a single detachment that went like

1HQ
2 troops

Optional 4 troops
optional 2 HQ
Optional 3 fast, elite, heavy

In 8th edition, there is a system called "Detachments" which look very similar to what you're used to, but provide you with a new resource that did not exist in 5th edition. This resource is called "Command Points" and it is spent to perform special actions called "Stratagems." Generally, the more Command Points you have, the better, and detachments that require you to take more mandatory slots give you more command points.

Example: A Patrol detachment requires 1 HQ and 1 troops minimum. It gives no command points. A Vanguard detachment requires 1 HQ and 3 Elites, it gives 1 command point. A Battalion detachment requires 2 HQ and 3 Troops, it gives 5 command points.

When you take allies, they must be in their own detachments. You can take up to 3 detachments. So you could have a Battalion worth of Craftworld Eldar, and an Outrider detachment that is mostly Fast Attack units of Dark Eldar. With the 3 command points all armies get, you would get 3+5+1=9 total command points.

A player who is only running Craftworld Eldar might have the units to run a single Brigade detachment with all his stuff. He would then get 3+12 command points for 15. So in general, taking allies splits up your army and can reduce the number of command points you get.

That is, in theory, the trade-off for mixing your army. In practice, the competitive tournament game in 8th has had a persistent problem with someone taking a very elite army like Custodes with very expensive troops, and tacking on very cheap Battalion detachments of say Imperial Guard to get lots of command points.

My one piece of advice is, if you want to play DE and CE, even if it looks tempting, steer clear of the recent box set with them in. It's turgid.

Not just the worst saving of a box set of its kind, but you won't find anyone who wants all the pieces in that box. Incubi are fringe, the new Drazhar wannabe model is abysmal, Hellions are terrible on the tabletop casual and competitive alike. It has a Falcon rather than a Wave Serpent and the same ancient Vyper model you remember from time immemorial, but get this, it got WORSE, even Imperial Guard sentinels of its ilk have gotten useful at some point where it is just in free fall.

A good box you can buy is the upcoming Dark Eldar battleforce, which is really nice, and the first boxed set for Drukhari only that has no Wyches (which have always been the sticking point of Dark Eldar products - they always try to trick you into buying Wyches)

The Apocalypse detachment for Eldar is nice if you like Iyanden. It won't be a competitive power house but nothing is quite like a wraith horde army.

Sorry for wall of text.