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Evening Dakka.

So im selling off my Dark Angels, but im thinking of using some of the money to create a small Dark Eldar raiding force, around 750-1000pts. I love the fluff, and the models are some of the best GW make I think.

Id like to build a half decent army of some basic units for the core of the force, but one that will allow me to build on when/if I expand it, so im not left with obsolete units.

Ive bought the codex to get to grips with, and im painting an archon to the best of my (not very great) ability.


I was thinking along the lines of (no points as yet, just getting a feel):

-An Archon with 4 Trueborn (all with blasters) in a dual cannon venom

-A couple of Raiders with splinter racks, and 10 warriors in each, one splinter cannon in each squad

-3 reaver jetbikes, maybe a heat lance or a blaster on there.



That would be about the 750 mark. Is that a decent force to build on? How viable are blaster Trueborn?
Whats the best way to build on this?

My issue is that I like so many of the units in the army, Im not sure where to go nexts. Ill be getting a battleforce, 20 warriors, a venom and a raider to create the above, leaving me with 10 wyches, so logic would suggest 10 wyches in a Raider or 5 in two Venoms. And maybe some Hellions (ive heard they arent great but I like the models a lot) or more reavers (awesome unit).


Basically any general advice for a prospective DE player would be great. Im not looking to go to tournaments or anything, but a half decent army would be nice!

Well, I'd go for several Venoms with dual splinter cannons hosting 5 men Warrior squads. For anti-tank, I'd take Ravagers or flyers (Voidraven bombers).

Reavers aren't the best fit for sub 1500 lists - they are too pricey and can get focused. Instead try and free up points for a ravager - they are one of the best units in the codex.

 gossipmeng wrote:
Reavers aren't the best fit for sub 1500 lists - they are too pricey and can get focused. Instead try and free up points for a ravager - they are one of the best units in the codex.

reavers are awesome in sub 1500 lists. That cover save is annoying to remove at that level


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 HerbaciousT wrote:
Evening Dakka.


-An Archon with 4 Trueborn (all with blasters) in a dual cannon venom


That would be about the 750 mark. Is that a decent force to build on? How viable are blaster Trueborn?
Whats the best way to build on this?

Trueborn are viable, but you have to remember they are very very fragile. They are best at killing tanks or potentially coming in and smacking some elite infantry but they play a very dangerous game of trying to stay 18" away from the enemy.

An archon on the other hand wants to get in close with an enemy. They can be given a blaster to shoot(sacrifising 1 attack) but I dont think they play well with trueborn.

4 blasterborn are 108 points and averages 2.66 blaster hits
4 blasterborn and an archon with a blaster is 183(213 with a shadowfield) and averages 3.5 blaster hits.
is it worth double the cost for another blaster hit?
Trueborn are so squishy, dont think of putting an archon there as helping protect them from assault. Trueborn die to bolter fire, putting an archon there is exposing the archon to get shot down as well.

$40 for a squad of 3 Reavers: fragile and difficult.
$80 for a squad of 6 Reavers: I hear it works out *great*

$30 for a Venom: Incredible
$30 for Wyches or Kabbies: Great value

So, for $90, you can either get 6 jetbikes, or a decked out Venom full of dudes. I go Venom to start, as they're far more durable than Reavers (the other guys need *heavy* bolters to take down our transports).

My advice: Venoms. It's the best way to get a feel for Dark Eldar's speed and maneuverability on a craft that won't break the bank and costs next to nothing. Raiders are fun for racks+kabbies, but 200pts is a lot for Dark Eldar considering you can almost get 2 fully decked Venoms for 200pts (if you just shoot both of the double cannons, that's 24 shots at 36", Shot volume is key).

Also, try to pick up lances. Pack a punch.

 HerbaciousT wrote:


My issue is that I like so many of the units in the army, Im not sure where to go nexts. Ill be getting a battleforce, 20 warriors, a venom and a raider to create the above, leaving me with 10 wyches, so logic would suggest 10 wyches in a Raider or 5 in two Venoms. And maybe some Hellions (ive heard they arent great but I like the models a lot) or more reavers (awesome unit).

so you get the battleforce
you can run the wyches as 9 in a raider with an archon for combat or as 5 girl naked haywire squads in venoms/raiders
the warriors can be run as 5 man with blaster or 10 man with splinter cannon in venom or raider
reavers are awesome


Helions really do suck, if you like the models, you are in luck. Beast packs have guys on hellion skyboards. The baron rides a hellion skyboard. Both of those are very easy and fun to use units that are very competitive.

I'm in the same boat (Raider?) as you, and I'm really tempted to start a small DE force.

I think the Battleforce is a great place to start though. You get 10 Warriors, 10 Wyches a Raider and some Reavers, all of which can be used competitively. Stick the Warriors in the Raider, get two Venoms and have two five-woman Wych Squads with haywires in there and have an Archon around somewhere. That's a decent start.

Thanks for all the responses, its giving me a lot to consider.

How does this sound for purchases then?:

Edit: REVISED VERSION

Battleforce
3 Venoms
5 incubi
Ravager

I put the Warriors in the Raider and wyches into 5 man quads in the venoms, and I put the Archon with 4 Incubi in the last Venon, add a ravager and the reavers from the Battleforce.

Consider the fact that you can't run those Reavers in 3 bike units. I mean, of course you *can*. But you can also run Assault Squads on Angels.

Also, then you would have an extra Raider running around.

For what you're thinking, maybe just grab:

4 Venoms
1 Wyches
1 Kabalites

Unless you plan on picking up extra units in the near future, why get the Raider/Reavers? I mean, the Raider makes for a good Ravager proxy, and those things are funstrating to build, and the Reavers can be proxied, of course. So can the Archon/Succubus you plan to run in low points.

 HerbaciousT wrote:
Thanks for all the responses, its giving me a lot to consider.

How does this sound for purchases then?:

Edit: REVISED VERSION

Battleforce
3 Venoms
5 incubi
Ravager

I put the Warriors in the Raider and wyches into 5 man quads in the venoms, and I put the Archon with 4 Incubi in the last Venon, add a ravager and the reavers from the Battleforce.

This is basically by planned list. I'm going for:

Archon (fairly tooled up) + 4 Incubi in a Venom

10 Warriors in a Raider

2 Squads of 5 Wyches in a Venom

3 Reavers

Ravager

That comes to 1000 points, adding all the usual upgrades to the Vehicles and stuff. I've gone with Combat Drugs, Shadowfield and Huskblade on my Archon because it's such an awesome set-up and I always like to have a unit that can get stuck in.

 HerbaciousT wrote:

I put the Archon with 4 Incubi in the last Venon, add a ravager and the reavers from the Battleforce.

The incubi with the Archon is a good shout - as someone else said, the archon wants to get in close to fight so the Incubi will work well with him. I'm at a similar stage to you, though I have more ground troops that I've been slowly painting up (Some sslyth, scourges and a beastmaster with knymerae and a clawed fiend). I think I'll be taking the advice relating to Venoms and getting 2 of those as I desperately need transports for my wyches and incubi.

 HerbaciousT wrote:
Thanks for all the responses, its giving me a lot to consider.
How does this sound for purchases then?:
Edit: REVISED VERSION
Battleforce
3 Venoms
5 incubi
Ravager
I put the Warriors in the Raider and wyches into 5 man quads in the venoms, and I put the Archon with 4 Incubi in the last Venon, add a ravager and the reavers from the Battleforce.

you could do far worse.


Beware the incubi seduction. They kill things fast, VERY fast. Often leaving them out in the open to get shot. It pays to learn to multi assualt with your wyches, using the incubi to quickly focus down one squad while using your wyches to brunt the other squad. You then use your incubi in the next round to finish them off. If you are going to take incubi and an archon, make sure you give the archon a PGL. Grenades for incubi are awesome. Stealth when getting shot at close up is awesome. Defensive grenades might come up once in your life, but it will be awesome as well.



If you do like hellions, I still highly reccomend beasts and the baron, although they beast models can be expensive and uninspiring, you can always think of something else to use.

 HerbaciousT wrote:
Evening Dakka.
I was thinking along the lines of (no points as yet, just getting a feel):

-An Archon with 4 Trueborn (all with blasters) in a dual cannon venom

-A couple of Raiders with splinter racks, and 10 warriors in each, one splinter cannon in each squad

-3 reaver jetbikes, maybe a heat lance or a blaster on there.


Basically any general advice for a prospective DE player would be great. Im not looking to go to tournaments or anything, but a half decent army would be nice!

A couple things to consider:

Archons are okay. Haemonculae are more affordable overall and they do a lot for a smaller points force. The impact of Feel no Pain in smaller points limits is ENORMOUS.

I love Blasterborn, and I use two units of them. What I will tell you is to include one Splintercannon in the unit to go along with the Blasters. At lower points, you just don't need as many Blasters. torrents work marvellously at smaller points limits.

Reaver Jetbikes are pretty cool. Objectives must be contested and they aren't terrible at it at these points levels. Sadly, the Eldar do it better but beggars can't be choosers. So a super fast bike is definitely important for snatching objectives from enemy control even if they cant score.

There are a few DE builds that are good.

Venom spam is a meta-buster, and can really throw people for a loop. The sheer amount of shots they can deliver is intense. 3 trueborn with splinter cannons in a venom are throwing out 24 shots per turn.

Beast packs can also be really good, though we are seeing a lot more 'ignore cover' units now a days. This has made them less viable.

Allying with Eldar makes DE a lot more effective. A single farseer on a bike can cast prescience and guide in the same turn, making 2 of your units TL'ed. That's a very point-effective force multiplier. It also lets you bring 2 wave serpents, or some jetbikes for late game scoring. Its all full of win.

Sadly, I love the raider model, but its not that great. You can use the ravager models, they are still good.