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So I was thinking this:

Archon w/ Haywire grenades & WWP
--Venom w/ double cannons

5 Trueborn w/ 4 Blasters
--Venom w/ double cannon

Raider w/ Dark Lance & Night Shields

6 Reavers w/ 2 Blasters & 2 Cluster caltrops

------------Tactics:
Archon & Trueborn ride in Raider in DS reserve, Venoms do their pew-pew, Reavers are the generalist unit.

This could be duplicated and/or added to any Dark Eldar or Eldar list. An Autarch Skyrunner would greatly enhance both the Reserve tactic and the Reavers.

Reavers look good. I actually wonder if this is a rare case when a large Kabalite unit with attached Archon and WWP might be good. Forty one dice plus rerolls could be murder on many infantry units and would likely kill a Monstrous Creature just as dead. Blaster Archon looks nasty when rerolling 1's to Wound. Venom does reroll ones though... how about adding Sslyth to the mix? Twelve more shots with Poisoned BS 4 and your Archon gets 5 Toughness vs. Shooting and crashes. With the range of the Venom's guns I don't know that the WWP is really needed. A single tank-hunting Raider without upgrades seems like it could definitely do some work.

I'm actually really pleased with the new Formation, it's the first love that Kabalites get. in Formations and doesn't even suck.

aushlo wrote:
Reavers look good. I actually wonder if this is a rare case when a large Kabalite unit with attached Archon and WWP might be good. Forty one dice plus rerolls could be murder on many infantry units and would likely kill a Monstrous Creature just as dead. Blaster Archon looks nasty when rerolling 1's to Wound. Venom does reroll ones though... how about adding Sslyth to the mix? Twelve more shots with Poisoned BS 4 and your Archon gets 5 Toughness vs. Shooting and crashes. With the range of the Venom's guns I don't know that the WWP is really needed. A single tank-hunting Raider without upgrades seems like it could definitely do some work.

I'm actually really pleased with the new Formation, it's the first love that Kabalites get. in Formations and doesn't even suck.

I don't think you can work in sslyth. The Court of the Archon technically is a separate HQ unit no?

Archon gets Preferred Enemy and Preferred Enemy is conferred to units he joined by its rules, so I'd be inclined to get him a unit that will benefit. Grotesques or wraithblades comes to mind if wanting assault oriented goodness but the court and Slyth as mentioned is an interesting idea as well.

One could argue the court could even be taken as part of the formation, although the way the FAQ has rewritten Iron Hands Techmarine rule its probably a hard sell.

You can definitely add a Court of the Archon in. (Any detachment that includes an Archon can include a Court.) Which gets you another DT which, as part of the detachment, will also benefit from the PE.

Wow, that's awesome! I'll have to look into the court more closely then.

 Jimsolo wrote:
You can definitely add a Court of the Archon in. (Any detachment that includes an Archon can include a Court.) Which gets you another DT which, as part of the detachment, will also benefit from the PE.

Looks like I opened a can of worms probably best left to YMDC but...

"For each Archon included in a Detachment, the Detachment can include a Court of the Archon that does not take up a slot in the Force Organisation Chart"
Does not taking up a slot in a Force Org -- does that have any meaning in a formation? There are no slots or Force Org in a formation.

In addition you could (arguably) add Techmarines to any Iron Hands detachments as well (they have a similar rule) but GW has already shown in the FAQ and errata that they don't intend that to count to any ole formation.

Unfortunately the archon doesn't actually get Preferred Eneny.

TheSnowmanInHell wrote:
Unfortunately the archon doesn't actually get Preferred Eneny.

Why not? He is a unit in the Formations and "All units in the formation get PE"

Anywho, I didn't think about the Court. I know DTs can be part of the formation because they are listed as upgrades on the Datasheets of the units that the formation requires. However the "Retainers" rule that allows the court to be purchased is on the Court's Datasheet, not the Archon's.
I wouldn't have an issue with it, but it is something to be aware of.

The major issue I see with using this formation is that it is only 1 unit that the Archon chooses, and since DE weaponry is very VERY specialized, I can see some unit being out of luck for a turn.
"Archon chooses to get PE against that Tank, sorry Venoms".
Given that, do you think this might be a case in which Trueborn with double cannons might be a good idea? Make all units in the formation specialized to hit the same targets?

Preferred Enemy by its very nature is best used against living targets so that's what I'd focus on. Let the stuff outside the formation deal with vehicles (assuming your list is 1500-1850)

 winterman wrote:
Preferred Enemy by its very nature is best used against living targets so that's what I'd focus on. Let the stuff outside the formation deal with vehicles (assuming your list is 1500-1850)

That's what I'm thinking have everything in the formation with splinter weapons.

I'm sorry to say, just because the court doesn't take up a force org slot doesn't mean you can take it in this formation. The SC box has the selected units you may take and has no wiggle room for extra things, while yes the venoms are viable since they can be purchased as dedicated Transports.

I'd be inclined to say that the Court doesn't itself get PE as it's not itself an upgrade to another dataslate in the Formation, but would because of the Archon hanging out in the unit. Mostly I was thinking Carbines and Venom with PE seems like a ton of shots. How about this: in another Detachment, add a unit of nine Kabalites or a big Court along with a dedicated Raider. The other Kabiltes in the Coterie purchase their own Raider, not riding in the Formation one. Put the Archon in whichever unit you bought. You then get to spread an awful lot of PE over infantry and Raiders. Not to mention any IC's you add to squads. Kit the lone PE Raider with a Disintegrator to kill MEQ and add weight of shots to the mix, or make it a Distraction Tank Hunter. Put things on it or not, as you like. I do really like the idea of Raiders only missing on a roll of a 2 with the Lance. Rarely use the to wound reroll, but better at slaying tanks. You get a fair bit of flexibility here, depending on your choice of target you should annihilate one every turn. Blasterborn could be very dangerous here too, assuming you have ruled that they stay Kabalites for Formation purposes (I'm inclined to read it that way myself but not all agree).




Automatically Appended Next Post:
Now that I look closer though... yeah, you might make a case that you can add the Court. Probably unintended, but I see the ambiguity. I'll ask my playgroup how they want to do it. They may give it a thumbs up simply because it's the first non-Apocalypse Kabalite Formation since the Codex dropped.

If you keep it strictly to what's in the box, so not adding in loads of Venoms, I'd personally run it as 3 Reavers with a Heat Lance and Cluster Caltrop for tank hunting and a unit of Kabalite Trueborn, 4 with Blasters, 2 with Splinter Cannons and 3 with Splinter Rifles in the Raider (Dissie, Nightshields, Splinter Racks) and an Archon with WWP, Shadow Field and Blaster.

I roll 1's on To Hit and To Wound with Blasters so often that PE would actually make a big difference for me, whilst it would only help with the wounding on the splinter weapons but given the large number of shots they can put out it would still help .

 Galef wrote:

TheSnowmanInHell wrote:
Unfortunately the archon doesn't actually get Preferred Eneny.

Why not? He is a unit in the Formations and "All units in the formation get PE"

Despite the quote marks, though, that's not a quote from the rules.
The actual wording is terribad.

Formation rules wrote:At the start of each friendly turn, pick an enemy unit within line of sight of the Archon. All other units from the Purge Coterie have the Preferred Enemy special rule against the unit you picked until the start of your next turn.

. The problem is that it's not crystal clear what the word "other" is referring to. I read it as the units in the Purge Coterie other than the Archon, but that does lead to a can of worms re: the Archon joining a unit.

 Galef wrote:

Why not? He is a unit in the Formations and "All units in the formation get PE"

Unfortunately that isn't what it says though. Least not the leak I saw. "All OTHER units in the..."

TheSnowmanInHell wrote:

 Galef wrote:

Why not? He is a unit in the Formations and "All units in the formation get PE"

Unfortunately that isn't what it says though. Least not the leak I saw. "All OTHER units in the..."

Hmm...so it does. Interesting. Probably for the best since there are already so many ways to abuse this formation already.

I think I'm going to try Archon in Venom with a Court starting on the table, and WWP a Haemonculus and twenty Kabalites turn 2, maybe add Splinter Cannons. Need to avoid Thunderfires and Ordnance, clearly. Probably toss Grotesques and a Haemonculus in the Raider and kit for Rhino popping. The Reavers will grab an objective or two and then act as a hammer on anything that gets uppity with the other squads. Might play an Animus Vitae on the Haemonculus to get the most bang for the points.