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Me and a friend of mine want to go in and split a DE army to have between us to add another army in the mix, but i hear rumors that they may be on the chopping block and be discontinued. Is that true ? is their any news on a new codex ? If so that stinks, they look like so much fun, let me know whats the word ? (and yes, i already know that bird is the word so spare me)

They are in limbo and according to a very vocal member here on the road to discontinuation. In reality the DE are in works. More or less. GW is doing something with them, don't know what but they are doing something with them.

Once GW's engineers figure out some way to create 10% more shelf space to accomodate DE boxes, they'll be released. I suspect that TARDIS technology might be involved so it'll take a while.

They are on the way as far as we (as a community, not the Royal we!) know.

Rumour has it they have been returned to the planning stage a few times because they just haven't worked. However, sources seem to be suggesting to expect them any time in the next 12-18 months, with the chance of them turning up sooner.

Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:Rumour has it they have been returned to the planning stage a few times because they just haven't worked.

Isn't the the reason they gave for never doing anything producive with the Squats? Not trying to bring up the squat debate again, but perhaps they've just run out of ideas with DE and their current style isn't inkeeping with the aproach GW have at the moment (the reason why Daemonettes put their boobs away).

That's the excuse they give for everything.
No battlewagon for a decade because of "problems with the sprue", this is the same stuff but with "problems with the concept".
Which is bollocks.

Howard A Treesong wrote:Isn't the the reason they gave for never doing anything producive with the Squats? Not trying to bring up the squat debate again, but perhaps they've just run out of ideas with DE and their current style isn't inkeeping with the aproach GW have at the moment (the reason why Daemonettes put their boobs away).

Wasn't there also a problem with there being no "champion" for the squats, leading to not having anyone who would actually write the book or work on the project at all?

stonefox wrote:Once GW's engineers figure out some way to create 10% more shelf space to accomodate DE boxes, they'll be released. I suspect that TARDIS technology might be involved so it'll take a while.

It's easier to use space distortion technology to create more shelf frontage than to reduce the amount of shelving allocated to Space Mariens.

Problem with DE is they have to resculpt the entire range.. not just repackage it.. and it has such a small player base it might not even be worth it

The concept of DE was as silly as Squats, IE no fluff and just a shallow idea of what they are

In this economy why would GW produce an army that 10 people play just on the possibility the gamer geeks with tons of money would buy them? When they could release armies that people ALREADY play knowing they'll sell (IE every army that isn't DE)

Platuan4th wrote:

Howard A Treesong wrote:Isn't the the reason they gave for never doing anything producive with the Squats? Not trying to bring up the squat debate again, but perhaps they've just run out of ideas with DE and their current style isn't inkeeping with the aproach GW have at the moment (the reason why Daemonettes put their boobs away).

Wasn't there also a problem with there being no "champion" for the squats, leading to not having anyone who would actually write the book or work on the project at all?

According to what I have read on the Internets (which must be true) the Squats were considered a bit too silly to be allowed to live. If they had had an internal champion, they might have lived.

The Orks too have become less silly than they used to be.

I never thought the DE were any sillier than CSM as the other spiky faction or Eldar as the other Elfs in Space faction. They are an army that has a distinctive fighting style, and would present an excellent project for GW to remake the entire range of miniatures and do a really tip-top job in plastic.

Despite all the above, DE is perhaps the least popular and smallest selling faction so it would be the easiest to drop. That would allow the studio to devote more resources to a new Spase Mariens chapter, which, let's be frank, the game desperately needs.

Dark Eldar also have a severe case of the studio lacking a feeling for them. Same happened to the Squats, the joke race back then, hence the sudden case of Nids becoming very hungry and eating them all like a really fat fatty at an overstuffed food court for anorexic people. Also contributing to the absence of the DE is the high and mighty Rick priestly, who has according to some sources rejected several redesigns already.

BrookM wrote:Dark Eldar also have a severe case of the studio lacking a feeling for them.

Well the new models are looking very nice indeed I just hope the new ruleset does them justice.

Then again the DE codex wasn't that bad it was the miniatures that let the side down.

Kilkrazy wrote:Despite all the above, DE is perhaps the least popular and smallest selling faction so it would be the easiest to drop. That would allow the studio to devote more resources to a new Spase Mariens chapter, which, let's be frank, the game desperately needs.

I think this is something of a catch-22 for GW, since they pulled the entire line from store shelves to make room for other releases. People are interested in the army every time I pull mine out to play because their play style is so different from most other races and they've never seen the army before(some kids didn't even know the army existed). I know lots of people who would buy the army if it was still on the shelves and they redesigned the warriors.

Having seen how the Fantasy Dark Elf corsairs turned out, I think with new models would make the 40k Dark Eldar very desirable! Heck! I almost thought of making a D.Eldar army from the corsairs!

The squats did have some good fluff. Up until the latter parts of 2nd edition they had their fair share though they were supported more heavily in EPIC.

In a game of space knights, space orcs, space elves, space undead, and space dinosaurs it seems kinda silly to have a problem with space dwarves or evil space elves. The only problem people take it all too seriously and forget to take a look at the setting.

Dark Eldar will get redone and they will be better than before. Squats, we can only dream about the day when GW starts to run dry on imagination and creativity and start revisiting old concepts... hmmm, doesn't seem that far fetched.

Platuan4th wrote:

Kilkrazy wrote:Despite all the above, DE is perhaps the least popular and smallest selling faction so it would be the easiest to drop. That would allow the studio to devote more resources to a new Spase Mariens chapter, which, let's be frank, the game desperately needs.

I think this is something of a catch-22 for GW, since they pulled the entire line from store shelves to make room for other releases. People are interested in the army every time I pull mine out to play because their play style is so different from most other races and they've never seen the army before(some kids didn't even know the army existed). I know lots of people who would buy the army if it was still on the shelves and they redesigned the warriors.

DE suffer from the opposite of SM. SM get alot of support so more and more people buy it. DE get less and less support so fewer people buy it. Percieved popularity shouldn't be the only basis for whether something gets support by GW because the simple fact is there is a direct and proportional effect on popularity based almost exclusively on the amount of support GW gives a given army or race. GW are taking the correct action by giving the DE support because as soon as their codex comes out there will probably be as many DE armies as there are for any other race. If this relationship were not true nothing new could ever be released and do well. The fact that GW can introduce relatively new races like the Necron or Tau and drive them into become accepted staples shows what they can do with anything really.

Oh they are coming, the question is when. I should think in the next 12 to 18 months. I would LOVE to have a DE army. I hope they rules hold up and the models, based on the trends we are seeing in plastics, should be AWESOME.

DE also suffer from being an ebay army.. Even if they had amazing models their only good unit are Dark Lances, it's a shame you have to take 5-10 DE warriors with them

It's like the old eldar book, 90% of the units are useless but the 3 that are good are REALLY good..

In mother Commorragh dark lances fire you

Da Boss wrote:That's the excuse they give for everything.
No battlewagon for a decade because of "problems with the sprue", this is the same stuff but with "problems with the concept".
Which is bollocks.

This was actually the reasoning behind the 8 year delay in re-releasing the wood elves, and at the end of the day, it was well worth the wait.

Brimstone wrote:

BrookM wrote:Dark Eldar also have a severe case of the studio lacking a feeling for them.

Well the new models are looking very nice indeed I just hope the new ruleset does them justice.

Then again the DE codex wasn't that bad it was the miniatures that let the side down.

Well, that should finally put paid to JohnHwangDD's insistence that the DE are heading for Squatsville...

He's wrong. Wrong wrong wrong wrong, sooooo wrong.

Sing along people.

DE are going down the road of Wood Elves; it's taking a while but they'll get there. They'll get their relaunch some time during the run of 5th edition, otherwise GW wouldn't have dedicated some pages to them along with new art in their rulebook.

GW has been waiting for a good artistic redesign to give them a good feel to base models off of. I think they have come close to it, hence the picture in the new rulebook being a total redesign of raiders and warriors.

Don't make me start a Dark Eldar army by making them cool and pretty! I don't want to start a new army, I just want to finish my existing ones!

Greets
Schepp himself

Kilkrazy wrote:

stonefox wrote:Once GW's engineers figure out some way to create 10% more shelf space to accomodate DE boxes, they'll be released. I suspect that TARDIS technology might be involved so it'll take a while.

It's easier to use space distortion technology to create more shelf frontage than to reduce the amount of shelving allocated to Space Mariens.

Yet people disregard this and complain that it's all because of those "SPAZ MARIENS HURRR". People can be so ignorant sometimes.

There is a big difference between Squats and Dark Eldar however....

You are right, Squats in Epic were kind of cool, what with Leviathins, Landtrains and Cyclops. But in 40k they were just Bikers in Space, which had limited appeal due to being a little bit lame. When GW tried to redesign them, it was to shift it over to the Epic feel. For whatever reasons, this never worked out, and the line was dropped.

Dark Eldar however, have a very definite theme. Piratical Raiders who use the souls of those they capture to prolong their life. They are how the Eldar, all Eldar one assumes, used to be shortly before the Fall. This is a very cool concept, and the reason Dark Elves in Fantasy work so well. As Brimstone says, the rules right now are actually quite tasty. Sure, they aren't easy to use, but once you know what you are doing, they can literally run rings around enemy armies, picking and choosing their fights.

However, as with all new races, the Codex is a little empty when it comes to choices, and the models weren't that great (with a few exceptions, which vary wildly between gamers!) The other trick of course, is to avoid them just becoming Spiky Eldar, in the way many (unfairly in my eyes) accuse Chaos Space Marines of just being Spiky Marines. Ergo, any new units introduced need to be distinctly Eldar, without seeming Craftworld Eldar with Spikes, if that makes sense.

Me, I'm quite looking forward to it. Depending on how the models turn out, between them and 5th Edition, I might just pick up 40k again!

There's nothing better than being told DE suck when you bring them to a tournament, then trouncing everyone at said tournament.

Well from all these replies it seems they are here to stay ! /cheer. One thing i have noticed about GW is that they are really good at marketing an army when they are ready to, by this i mean they can really make something look damn cool. I'm excited to start up a new army when ever they get around to getting a new codex and new models, and how ever limited the good units seem to be at the moment, they still bring a new flavor to the floor IMO (still having not yet played them) For now I'll take advantage of the fact that most people don't play them and get good deals off of ebay.

aka_mythos wrote:
DE suffer from the opposite of SM. SM get alot of support so more and more people buy it. DE get less and less support so fewer people buy it. Percieved popularity shouldn't be the only basis for whether something gets support by GW because the simple fact is there is a direct and proportional effect on popularity based almost exclusively on the amount of support GW gives a given army or race. GW are taking the correct action by giving the DE support because as soon as their codex comes out there will probably be as many DE armies as there are for any other race. If this relationship were not true nothing new could ever be released and do well. The fact that GW can introduce relatively new races like the Necron or Tau and drive them into become accepted staples shows what they can do with anything really.

Thank you! I'm glad to see somebody else who doesn't have a horrifyingly short memory. This happens all the time. Look at Tyranids, for example. In 2nd Edition, their rules sucked, the army lacked versatility (think of the massive Tyranid Ichor IV Campaign failure. They were undeniably inferior.) and the model range was even more horrible than the current DE line. Then 3rd edition came out. Tyranid models got a complete makeover to look awesome and respectable. They were given a powerful, versatile codex which allowed everything to be customized. BAM! A sudden and massive explosion of Tyranid players and fans. Why? cause GW took a leap of faith and said "It's our fault this army isn't popular. If we fix it right, it could become very popular." GW wants to be sure this happens with DE as well. (And I'm very confident it will) They won't re-release them until they're living up to their potential. Which they appear to be in the late stages of.
DE are in the works and will be released probably next year, maybe a bit later. Anybody who says otherwise is deliberately turning a blind eye to what GW has already confirmed. (Usually cause they're jealous and think it should be their favorite SM chapter in the works instead of DE.)

Feel free to speak up if you're one of the vast multitude who always wanted to play DE and are simply waiting for GW to give you a good reason to.

There's nothing better than being told DE suck when you bring them to a tournament, then trouncing everyone at said tournament.

HA! Amen to that. It actually happens every time. The guy across the table goes from looking disdainful and arrogant with his inevitable victory, to looking sickly and on the verge of tears when you table his army by turn 5. The DE play style is more unique and misunderstood than any other army. Unless you can read minds, a good DE player will always be 2 steps ahead of you.

some of the best dark eldar i've seen in recent years was one based off normal eldar models, using dark elf and dark eldar heads on guardian bodies, for basic warriors convering a bunch of models up as incubi and using dark elf witch as wyches. (no change to jet bikes or talos) and he head plans to convert raiders and ravagers out of falcons

Well, DE were my first army. They fit the way I like to play and they will always be my go to for fun. There's nothing like making your first move and ending up at your opponents throat before he's even had his first turn.

I'm sure I've got some time before a re-vamp of the DE hits the shelves. I'll not be buying many of the new models since I have 3k in points already. Then again, who knows.

I dont think people are saying DE suck.. just that they have horrible models, no fluff and a bad codex except for Dark lances and disintegrators

Those items are good, the army however is very uninspired