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In my quest to see if such an out-dated codex such as Daemonhunters can still compete with some of the newer codices, I'm pitting them against some of the power builds of the newer codices. So far, they've faced tyranids (battle report here) and just recently, blood angels (battle report here). I admit that I haven't used them much lately, as I've been playing my space wolves, tyranids and blood angels since their codices came out (and also my daemons as they are also one of my "new" armies - newly acquired, that is). My daemonhunters have been semi-retired until just recently. Now with all these rumours about the new Grey Knights, I've had an itch to give them a go again.

I'm basically using a similar list to the one I used against the Blood Angels, only this time, I'm using a more shooty build with Inducted guard instead of a lot of Inquisitorial Stormtroopers (IST's). Some may disagree, but I feel that in order to remain competitive, Grey Knights need IST's or inducted guardsmen in their army to balance out their low model-count. These cheap bodies also provide something the knights are sorely lacking: specialized or ranged weaponry. The difference with guards and stormtroopers is in their style of play. Stormtroopers play with much more mobility as they are short-ranged in offense, whereas IG play more as a static gunline with their greater range. I used IST's against the Blood Angels. This time I will be taking my Daemonhunter-IG competitive build.

Onto my list:


2500 DAEMONHUNTERS (Mine)
Grey Knight Grandmaster - Icon, Incinerator, Psychic Hood
4x Grey Knight Terminator retinue - Incinerator
Brother-Captain Stern
4x Grey Knight Terminator retinue - Incinerator

Inquisitor - Emperor's Tarot, Incinerator, 2x Mystics, 3x Warriors w/Plasmas

5x Inquisitorial Stormtroopers - 2x Meltas
5x Inquisitorial Stormtroopers - 2x Meltas

Platoon Command Squad - 4x Flamers
Chimera
Infantry squad - Autocannon
Chimera (to be "borrowed" by the IST's)
Infantry squad - Autocannon
Special Weapon squad - 3x Flamers (will probably go in 1 of the land raiders)

Platoon Command Squad - 4x Flamers
Chimera
Infantry squad - Autocannon
Chimera (to be "borrowed" by the IST's)
Infantry squad - Autocannon

3x Sentinels - Autocannons

Grey Knight Land Raider - Extra Armor, Smoke Launchers (GKGM+retinue)
Grey Knight Land Raider - Extra Armor, Smoke Launchers (Stern+retinue)
Grey Knight Land Raider - Extra Armor, Smoke Launchers (most likely SWS)

TOTAL - 2500pts


Now here's the dilemma. I'm kinda torn between 3 builds for DE, but rather than decide which one to go against, I'm going to let the readers decide which army build I will be facing.


2500 DARK ELDAR #1 - MSU Shooty
Basically, this is almost the same exact same build my Tyranids faced against, but tweaked just slightly (battle report here) to give them slightly more punch in assault.

Asdrubael Vect

8x Incubi - Klaivex - Raider w/Flickerfield - 261
3x Kabalite Trueborn - 3x Blasters, Venom w/Flickerfield + 2x Splinter Cannons
3x Kabalite Trueborn - 3x Blasters, Venom w/Flickerfield + 2x Splinter Cannons

10x Kabalite Warriors - Splinter Cannon, Raider w/Flickerfield
10x Kabalite Warriors - Splinter Cannon, Raider w/Flickerfield
10x Kabalite Warriors - Splinter Cannon, Raider w/Flickerfield
10x Kabalite Warriors - Splinter Cannon, Raider w/Flickerfield
10x Kabalite Warriors - Splinter Cannon, Raider w/Flickerfield
10x Kabalite Warriors - Splinter Cannon, Raider w/Flickerfield

6x Reavers - 2x Heat Lances
6x Reavers - 2x Heat Lances

Ravager - Flickerfield, Nightshield
Ravager - Flickerfield, Nightshield
Ravager - Flickerfield, Nightshield

TOTAL - 2500pts


2500 DARK ELDAR #2 - WYCHE CULT ASSAULTY
This is a more aggressive, assaulty build. They are in-your-face on turn 2.

Asdrubael Vect
3x Haemonculi - 3x Liquifier Guns, 1x Animus Vitae

8x Incubi - Klaivex, Onslaught, Raider w/Flickerfield

8x Wyches - Haywire Grenades, Phantasm Grenade Launcher, Hekatrix w/Agoniser, Raider w/Flickerfield
8x Wyches - Haywire Grenades, Phantasm Grenade Launcher, Hekatrix w/Agoniser, Raider w/Flickerfield
8x Wyches - Haywire Grenades, Phantasm Grenade Launcher, Hekatrix w/Agoniser, Raider w/Flickerfield
8x Wyches - Haywire Grenades, Phantasm Grenade Launcher, Hekatrix w/Agoniser, Raider w/Flickerfield
8x Wyches - Haywire Grenades, Phantasm Grenade Launcher, Hekatrix w/Agoniser, Raider w/Flickerfield
10x Kabalite Warriors - 1x Dark Lance

3x Reavers - 1x Heat Lance
3x Reavers - 1x Heat Lance
3x Reavers - 1x Heat Lance

Ravager - Flickerfield, Nightshield
Ravager - Flickerfield, Nightshield
Ravager - Flickerfield, Nightshield

TOTAL - 2500pts


2500 DARK ELDAR #3 - BALANCED SHOOTY + ASSAULT
This list is more of a middle-ground between the 2 extreme lists #1 and #2. It's got both strong shooting and assault elements.

Asdrubael Vect
3x Haemonculi - 3x Liquifier Guns

8x Incubi - Raider w/Flickerfield
3x Kabalite Trueborn - 3x Blasters, Venom w/Flickerfield + 2x Splinter Cannons
3x Kabalite Trueborn - 3x Blasters, Venom w/Flickerfield + 2x Splinter Cannons

9x Wyches - Haywire Grenades, Hekatrix w/Agoniser, Raider w/Flickerfield
9x Wyches - Haywire Grenades, Hekatrix w/Agoniser, Raider w/Flickerfield
5x Wracks - Liquifier Gun, Raider w/Flickerfield
5x Wracks - Liquifier Gun, Venom w/Flickerfield + 2x Splinter Cannons
10x Kabalite Warriors - Splinter Cannon, Raider w/Flickerfield
10x Kabalite Warriors - Splinter Cannon, Raider w/Flickerfield

3x Reavers - 1x Heat Lance
3x Reavers - 1x Heat Lance

Ravager - Flickerfield, Nightshield
Ravager - Flickerfield, Nightshield
Ravager - Flickerfield, Nightshield

TOTAL - 2500pts


So which list would you like to see go up against my Daemonhunters? What do you think of the matchups? We'll most likely be playing this coming Thursday or Friday.

post the report lol.

Lol. Haven't played it yet. How you guys vote will determine which army I'm going to play against.

Can't say I'm a fan of any of them tbh, mostly because they all contain the Vect + big unit of Incubi. In an AV10 vehicle thats just asking for trouble, way too many points in one basket. On top of that they don't have a Phantasm which means they are stuffed if your opponent hides in cover (and he will knowing how nasty they are). Vect doesn't need much of a bodyguard, just some bodies around him is fine, so Wyches or Bloodbrides will do the job. If you want to run Incubi then I would at least run them separately from Vect, but they are still hamstrung by the lack of grenades in either case.

If I had to pick I would go with the second list, mostly as I am trying to get a similar style army to work at 2000pts atm. You don't really need the Phantasms on the Wyches, they have grenades already and should be getting the charge 99% of the time. If you can squeeze in a couple of units of Blaster Trueborn (trim the Incubi and have Vect ride with the Wyches, drop a Wych unit as you don't really need 6 scoring units) then you should be sweet.

Powerguy wrote:Can't say I'm a fan of any of them tbh, mostly because they all contain the Vect + big unit of Incubi. In an AV10 vehicle thats just asking for trouble, way too many points in one basket. On top of that they don't have a Phantasm which means they are stuffed if your opponent hides in cover (and he will knowing how nasty they are). Vect doesn't need much of a bodyguard, just some bodies around him is fine, so Wyches or Bloodbrides will do the job. If you want to run Incubi then I would at least run them separately from Vect, but they are still hamstrung by the lack of grenades in either case.

If I had to pick I would go with the second list, mostly as I am trying to get a similar style army to work at 2000pts atm. You don't really need the Phantasms on the Wyches, they have grenades already and should be getting the charge 99% of the time. If you can squeeze in a couple of units of Blaster Trueborn (trim the Incubi and have Vect ride with the Wyches, drop a Wych unit as you don't really need 6 scoring units) then you should be sweet.

Keep in mind that Vect doesn't have to go with the Incubi. He could go with the Wyches + Haemie so that you still have 2 hammer units, with the other unit being Incubi + Haemie. But with your other suggestions, you seem to prefer this list, correct?


2500 DARK ELDAR #2 - WYCHE CULT ASSAULTY (modified)
This is a more aggressive, assaulty build. They are in-your-face on turn 2.

Asdrubael Vect
3x Haemonculi - 3x Liquifier Guns

7x Incubi - Raider w/Flickerfield - 224
3x Kabalite Trueborn - 3x Blasters, Venom w/2x Splinter Cannons - 146
3x Kabalite Trueborn - 3x Blasters, Venom w/2x Splinter Cannons - 146

8x Wyches - Haywire Grenades, Hekatrix w/Agoniser, Raider w/Flickerfield - 196
8x Wyches - Haywire Grenades, Hekatrix w/Agoniser, Raider w/Flickerfield - 196
8x Wyches - Haywire Grenades, Hekatrix w/Agoniser, Raider w/Flickerfield - 196
8x Wyches - Haywire Grenades, Hekatrix w/Agoniser, Raider w/Flickerfield - 196
10x Kabalite Warriors - 1x Splinter Cannon, Raider w/Flickerfield - 170

3x Reavers - 1x Heat Lance
3x Reavers - 1x Heat Lance
3x Reavers - 1x Heat Lance

Ravager - Flickerfield, Nightshield
Ravager - Flickerfield, Nightshield
Ravager - Flickerfield, Nightshield

TOTAL - 2499pts


It is also a solid list. It gives up 1 scoring unit in exchange for more shooting and more vehicles. It also makes the Incubi less of a target, that is, if you don't put Vect in there (Vect should go with one of the Wyche squads). I like the changes.

If anyone else prefers this new List #2, I will change it so officially.

Ok, after some delays, we finally had our game. The list I ended up playing against was:


2500 DARK ELDAR #3 - BALANCED SHOOTY + ASSAULT



PRE-GAME ANALYSIS:

DAEMON HUNTERS:
Honestly, I'm not sure how to approach this game. We both have a lot of firepower. However, he has the mobility that I sorely lack. It's probably going to be a shootout initially. Whoever can weather the opponents fire best will probably emerge victorious. My priority is his transports. Take them out and make his units walk and I have a chance. I don't mind assaulting/flaming his wyches, but I don't really want to get into assault with Vect. His incubi I can probably handle, especially if I stay in cover (as they don't have any assault grenades).

I don't want capture and control. I think my brother learned from his mistake last time when he placed his objective directly across from mine in our Daemon Hunters vs Blood Angels game. This time he will probably put it far away. Seize Ground could be anyone's game, as is Annihilation. I don't like Dawn of War deployment as I have too many footslogging autocannon squads. It'll be hard for them to get good shooting positions. I don't mind Pitched Battle or Spearhead, though Spearhead may make it hard on me to reach his objective.

Overall, I think it boils down to whoever has the 1st dominating shooting turn.


DARK ELDAR:
He'll probably try to take out my land raiders first of all as they probably pose the greatest danger. From there, it should be to take out my mobility and try to get his assault units close. FNP is going to be a b*tch for me. Though my Nemesis Force Weapons don't care about FNP, it will provide them protection from probably my most dangerous weapons - flamers and incinerators.

I believe he will be strong in objectives-missions due to all his fast skimmers and his reavers. Annihilation is probably even, with both of us high in Kill Points. Deployment-wise, I don't think it really matters to him, though I believe that DoW would give him a big advantage over my more static army.

In this game, first turn won't be the dominating factor....it's going to be the first good shooting turn which will probably decide the outcome.

Mission: Capture and Control
Deployment: Pitched Battle
Initiative: Daemon Hunters, but then the sneaky Dark Eldar steal it!


DEPLOYMENT:
There is an impassable hill in the center of the map which blocks LOS. Then there are 6 area terrains with 3 in each deployment zone.

Note: All descriptions of positions are from the perspective of the tyranid player.

Daemon Hunters pick the side with the ruins (which is on the right side). Since it had 5 levels, we played it as 2" between levels. I deploy 3 infantry squads in the ruins, with the Inquisitor with his retinue on the top level. I then deploy my land raiders up front near the middle. 3 chimeras deploy behind the 2 right LR's, 1 chimera (with PCS) behind the ruins and the 3 sentinels behind the left LR. IST' deploy just outside the 2 left chimeras and will embark on turn 1. All the way on the left side, I deploy my last unit of infantry squad onto area terrain.

My objective is behind the ruins (where my PCS chimera is claiming).

For Dark Eldar deployment, he deploys mainly on the left side. In front (from left to right) are 2 trueborn venoms and 2 wyche raiders (with Haemonculi attached). Behind them are (from left to right) 2 warrior raiders, raider with wracks and Vect and then Incubi raider (with Haemonculi attached). Also, behind the warrior raiders are the 3 ravagers. Finally, he puts his venom wracks behind terrain (directly across from my left infantry squad) and behind that venom are the 2 squads of reavers.

His objective is behind the left terrain (where his venom wracks are claiming).


For the second time in a row, DE steals the initiative thanks to Vect.


------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Note: Although this is an objectives game, I'm going to keep a tally on the kill points just to see how it would have turned out had we played annihilation.


------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


DE1
Almost all of his units move forwards. 1 wyche raider, Incubi raider and Vect's raider hides behind the middle impassable terrain, getting ready to strike next turn. His other wyche raider gets immobilised on area terrain (it started on the terrain) so the wyches disembark, move and runs. The wrack venom on his objective doesn't move, but reavers turbo forwards. His trueborns disembark in order to fire at my land raider.

One of the trueborn units fire at my left land raider (with the Special weapon squad inside) and proceeds to wreck it. Ouch! SWS gets pinned in the process. One of the venoms has sight to my left Inquisitorial Stormtroopers (IST's) and fires at them, killing the 2 meltagunners. The rest of his army only has LOS to my left infantry squad and sentinels in cover. After the smoke clears, he kills 3 men and puts 1W on my autocannon from the infantry squad. He also explodes 1 sentinel, wrecks another sentinel and immobilises the 3rd sentinel. The explosion kills 1 from the SWS.

DE: 1, DH: 0


DH1
My IST's embark onto the chimeras and they move 6" to the left. The 2 LR's and PCS chimeras move forwards 12". The middle LR disgorges Stern's unit. The infantry on the ruins move up and forwards to get into better position for shooting (as they currently didn't have LOS).

Stern's unit fire at the right trueborn venom. The incinerator template also hits the 3 trueborns as well as the 2 warrior raiders behind the venom. The incinerator doesn't do anything to the venom. It does, however, wipe out the trueborns, knock off the dark lance on right raider and immobilise the left raider. Wow, what a good shot! My LR then explodes the other trueborn venom, and the explosion takes out 2 from the other trueborn unit as well as 1 of my Grey Knight Terminators from Stern's retinue. The lone trueborn then fails morale and runs away, unable to regroup. The other LR fires at his reavers with its twin-linked heavy bolters and, despite the 3+ turbo-boost cover, kills the 2 regular bikers.

Stern's unit then does a multi-assault, charging both the venom that they fired at and a nearby wyche squad (the squad from the immobilised raider). Due to "traffic congestion", he isn't able to pile in all of his wyches so only about half gets to fight. He fails to wound me, but also makes all his invuln's against my attacks for a tied combat. I fail to damage the venom.

DE: 1, DH: 3


DE2
The wyche and incubi raider moves flat-out towards my ruins. Vect disembarks and heads towards the melee with Stern's unit. His raider then moves to the right to try to shoot at my LR. The warrior raider moves towards my left infantry squad, and warriors inside disembark. Reavers move towards Stern's LR. Venom gets out of the way so Vect can charge, and the ravagers shift around.

His reaver's heat lance wrecks my second LR. Double-ouch!! Rapid-fire by the Kabalite warriors as well as his wrack's venom reduces my left infantry squad to just the sergeant. His 3 ravagers combine to stun both IST chimeras.

Vect charges into the wyche-Stern melee. In assault, I only kill 1 wyche and he wipes out Stern's retinue as well as put 1W on Stern (thanks to a re-roll, Stern doesn't die).

DE: 3, DH: 3


DH2
My right (and last) LR goes backwards after his incubi and wyche raiders, with my Grandmaster (GKGM) and his retinue disembarking. Both PCS chimeras also go after his wyche raider as well. The 2 IST chimeras pop smoke.

I had hoped to pop his 2 raiders and then rain plasma death onto his Incubi, followed by assault with my GKGM, but it takes all 3 autocannon squads, both chimeras, my LR and the Inquisitor's retinue to pop both raiders due to cover. One of the Inquisitor's plasma henchmen dies to plasma over-heat. I wreck the wyche raider (actually, I immobilized it, but he went flat-out) and explode the incubi's raider. The explosion only kills 1 wyche and 1 incubus as well as put 1W on the incubi's Haemonculus thanks to FNP. The GKGM's unit then incinerates the incubi, killing another 2 incubi as well as their Haemonculus.

My Grandmaster then assaults his incubi. He kills 3 GKT's and I 3 incubi for a tied combat. In the other assault, Vect kills Stern.

DE: 4, DH: 6



To be continued....

Could have pictures... but so far good, I like to see DH giving a new army a run for their money.

phantommaster wrote:Could have pictures... but so far good, I like to see DH giving a new army a run for their money.

Yeah, normally I would, but the DE army consisted mainly of proxies. If it's too many proxies, I don't take pictures.


On with the battle....


-----------------------------------------------------------------------------


DE3
His wyches, instead of joining the incubi in their battle against my Grandmaster, heads towards the infantry squads in the ruins instead. The wrack raider heads towards the wyches and Vect and the wracks disembark. Vect then joins the wyches and they embark onto the raider. Empty venom goes after my Special weapon squad (SWS) and the reavers after the sentinel and chimera. Ravagers shuffle around.

For his shooting, his venoms take out the lone surviving sergeant as well as 2 guys from the SWS. 1 reaver heat lance explodes the last sentinel. The ensuing explosing takes out another 2 guys from the SWS (1 guy left). The other reaver heat lance wrecks one of the IST chimeras. Lastly, he shakes my LR, and the wyches kill 5-6 from the lower infantry squad thanks to the Haemonculus' liquifier gun.

From there, his wyches assault and wipe out the lower infantry squad. My Grandmaster and his last terminator only manage to kill 1 incubi, who in turn does nothing (but he sticks around).


DE: 8, DH: 6


DH3
One of my PCS chimeras goes 6" after his wyches. The other chimera moves 12" and disembark its PCS unit to go after his 3-bike reaver squad. The lone flamer from the SWS go after his 1-man reaver unit. My LR heads 12" towards his objective.

In my shooting phase, the PCS wipes out his 3-man reaver unit. The lone flamer fails to kill his lone reaver. My IST chimera immobilises his venom. My LR shakes one of his ravagers, and 1 autocannon squad stuns another ravager. Finally, my other PCS squad flames his wyches in the ruins and does 6 wounds. However, they all make their FNP saves!

In assault, my GKGM finally finishes off his last incubus.

DE: 8, DH: 8


DE4
He turbos his last reaver towards my objective, bladevaning and killing my last SWS in the process. Vect's wyches move flat-out towards the ruins. The warrior raider goes to deal with my disembarked PCS, and ravagers move to block off my LR. Wyches in ruins move up and prepares to multi-assault 2 infantry squads.

Kabalite warriors rapid-fire and wipe out my PCS. The only ravager that could shoot shakes my LR.

His wyches then multi-charges 2 infantry squads. They kill a few and I only kill 2 wyches. Needless to say, wyches win and middle infantry squad breaks and falls back while top squad stays locked in cc.

DE: 10, DH: 8


DH4
Things don't look too rosy at this point. Luckily, my infantry squad regroups. The chimera that dropped off the PCS last turn immobilises itself on terrain. My LR moves 12" again towards his objective, tank shocking the wracks in my way. GKGM goes through the ruins towards my objective. PCS and IST chimeras head towards Vect's raider. I need to take it down!

In shooting, the PCS fails to issue First Rank Fire! Second Rank Fire! onto the infantry squad. They fire anyways at his lone reaver but can't get pass his 3+ cover! The 2 chimeras weapon destroy Vect's raider and immobilise it as well, thus wrecking it because of moving flat-out last turn. My PCS is barely within flamer range. They only hit hit 4 guys and cause 3 wounds. He puts one of those wounds on Vect and that shorts out Vect's Shadow Field. They all, however, make their FNP saves. The immobilised chimera then fires at Vect's unit and kill 2 wyches with multi-lasers. My IST's also fire at Vect's unit and only kill 1 wyche as both meltagunners whiff.

In assault, my infantry squad kills another wyche and then get swept after losing combat.

DE: 11, DH: 9



To be concluded.....

Cool report soo far. Awesome DH army

extrenm(54) wrote:Cool report soo far. Awesome DH army

Thanks.


Now, the denoument....


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DE5
The lone reaver moves to contest my objective, though he isn't able to turbo-boost. His warrior raider moves flat-out to block off my IST chimera from my objective. Vect's unit heads for my objective and infantry squad. Wyches go after my GKGM and infantry squad. His shaken ravager moves flat-out towards my ruins, while the other 2 ravagers block off my land raider.

In shooting, his ravagers wreck my last LR. Vect's unit fires at my last infantry squad and wipes them out once again with his Haemonculus' liquifier gun. Since the infantry squad is gone, his wyches decide to shoot at my GKGM and his last terminator. He proceeds to get an AP1 liquifier gun and peels off 2W from my Grandmaster.

The only assault he could do was against my GKGM, so his wyches charge in. They wipe out the unit before I can even strike back and then consolidate towards my objective.

DE: 15, DH: 9


DH5
Situation is now dire for my Daemonhunters. I've got no way to contest his objective as he blew away my last land raider heading towards his objective. I only have 2 scoring units left - my PCS in chimera and IST's in chimera - and am not claiming my objective...at least not yet. He has his lone reaver and 1 wyche squad contesting my objective, with Vect's wyches only about 6" away. All his wyches are fearless due to Pain Tokens. My IST chimera is blocked by his warrior raider.

In short, I can't win and can only go for the draw. And in order to even do that, I must:

1) Get a scoring unit onto my objective.

2) Prevent both his reaver and wyches (in cover with FNP) from contesting.

3) Have the game end after this turn.

Yippie. Sounds like fun.

My Inquisitor and retinue moves to get a shot at his contesting units. My PCS chimera plows 12" through the ruins towards my objective, barely just tank shocking the wyches away from my objective. The PCS unit then disembarks so that they are within claiming range of my objective. My IST cannot possibly ram his raider out of the way as it is only 2-3" from it, so I decide to just sit tight and try to blast apart his raider.

After firing my meltas, multi-laser and heavy bolter, his warrior raider is still there unharmed thanks to his flat-out cover. Plasma henchmen fire at his reaver and kill him. My PCS then flames his wyches, but thanks to FNP, I believe I only kill 2-3.

DE: 15, DH: 10


My turn is done. I've got my scoring unit there. We then measure to see if his wyches are still contesting, and they are just out by about half an inch.

We then roll to see if the game continues, and the roll is a '2'.



Please highlight below to see the result:

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DRAW!!!

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POST-GAME ANALYSIS:

DAEMONHUNTERS:
I barely escaped defeat (and a tabling) by the skin of my teeth!

In the end, I only have the following units alive: Inquisitor + retinue, 1 Platoon Command Squad, 1 Inquisitorial Stormtroopers and 3 chimeras (1 immobilised) remaining.

His first turn alpha strike really set up the tone of this game, destroying 1 of my land raiders and crippling my sentinel squad. I don't think I ever fully recovered from that. His assault units are really nasty in combat. They just ate up my terminators.

As Daemonhunters are not new, I will not be reviewing their units.

MVP:
Platoon Command Squad + transport - They made the clutch shot at the end to tie the game. 'Nuff said.


-----------------------------------------------------------------------------


DARK ELDAR
In the end, he still had the following units alive: Vect, 2 Haemonculi, all 6 troop choices, 2 venoms (1 immobilised), 3 raiders (2 immobilised) and all 3 ravagers.

He just had his way with me this game. It also helped that he was rolling well this game for his shooting, saves and FNP. I like Pain Tokens. It gives the DE army flexibility as well as more durability. Now they are no longer just a glass-boat army, as they can survive somewhat on foot if necessary. Those wyches with FNP were a b*tch to take out. They may now be arguably one of the best troop choices not only for DE, but in all of 40K as well.

Now onto the unit-analysis.

Asdrubael Vect - A - The more I see him in action, the more I like him. He is a very dangerous character and absolutely necessary in a DE alpha strike list. Though the only thing he really killed was Brother-Captain Stern, just his presence nearby affected how I played my game, not to mention that his stealing the initiative really affected the tone of the game.

Haemonculi - A - The Haemonculi are to the Dark Eldar what Sanguinary Priests are to Blood Angels. Definitely a must-have, especially in a assault army with more expensive but fragile units like wyches and even incubi. The fact that they also killed 2 units as well as put 2W on my Grandmaster's unit is a bonus.

Incubi - B- - This unit should be a lot scarier. They did kill 3 Grey Knight terminators, but I felt they under-performed this game. I can see how they could be scary though. Definitely has potential to be an 'A' unit in the right circumstances.

Kabalite Trueborns - A- - Very serviceable special weapons unit. Cheap and efficient. Did their job when they blew up my land raider. Too bad they're not scoring, otherwise they would be perfect.

Kabalite Warriors - B - Decent shooting unit. They didn't really need to do much this game.

Reavers - A+ - I just love this unit and its flexibility. Moreover, what's not to love about being able to move 36". Last game, my brother gave them caltrops and they didn't perform so admirably. This time around, he gave them guns and all they did was destroy a land raider, chimera and sentinel. I still think reavers with caltrops are the way to go, but in this game, the reavers with their heat lances performed awesome.

Raider - B - Dependable and fragile. Performed as expected.

Ravager - B+ - Destroyed a land raider and a couple of sentinels. They performed as expected, which was to give me vehicles a hard time.

Venom - B - Performed decent, though they didn't really get a chance to shine. You can chalk that up to not having a lot of targets available.

Wracks - C+ - Didn't do much this game, though to be fair, I wasn't expecting them to. Low cost and durability makes them ideal for certain roles...to hold objectives and act as a meat shields.

Wyches - A+ - Outstanding this game. Give them a Haemonculus, and they can surprise you in a game with their durability. They just went through my infantry like a hot knife through butter and survived throughout the game. IMO they are the best troop choice for Dark Eldar and perhaps among the top 5 best troops in all of 40K.

MVP:
Wyches - They went through Stern and his retinue, my Grandmaster and his retinue and 2 infantry squads and collected a whole bunch of Pain Tokens. Just superb in this game. Highly recommended to have at least 2 Wyche squads in every DE army.

Beautiful battle report, but in all honesty I don't care for the list you were playing. Yes Daemonhunters have a low model count, but at the rate that you were enlisting allies you might as well of just played IG with a GMGK and a couple termies brought as allies instead. Forming a static gunline with IG is best done playing IG, not bringing them as allies.

I don't have my BRB handy, but is the wording for FnP 'attacks that ignore armour saves in close combat negate FnP' or 'attacks that ignore armour negate FnP'? If it's the latter his FnP was negated by the incinerators ignoring his armour(doesn't have any) and invul.
In either case I prefer Psycannons myself as they reach out 36" and they do negate Dark Eldar's FnP because they are double their toughness(Str6). Yes an Incinerator will roast 10 models, but as you saw they can make FnP easily enough.

I think the end result however was strictly because your opponent was able to seize the initiative and force you to go 2nd. Opening up with 3 LRs makes a huge difference in your firepower.

MarshalKervhart wrote:Beautiful battle report, but in all honesty I don't care for the list you were playing. Yes Daemonhunters have a low model count, but at the rate that you were enlisting allies you might as well of just played IG with a GMGK and a couple termies brought as allies instead. Forming a static gunline with IG is best done playing IG, not bringing them as allies.

In a ways, I could have played an IG army with Grey Knight allies. The only difference is that I wouldn't have been able to take those Grey Knight land raiders. Anyways, I have 2 DH builds I use nowadays, one with IST troops and the other with inducted troops. If I was to play IG, honestly, I wouldn't even bother with Grey Knight allies. The only ally I would use is an Inquisitor with mystics and plasma warriors. Using Grey Knights in an IG army is kind of handicapping the army. A pure IG army has much better options.

MarshalKervhart wrote:I don't have my BRB handy, but is the wording for FnP 'attacks that ignore armour saves in close combat negate FnP' or 'attacks that ignore armour negate FnP'? If it's the latter his FnP was negated by the incinerators ignoring his armour(doesn't have any) and invul.
In either case I prefer Psycannons myself as they reach out 36" and they do negate Dark Eldar's FnP because they are double their toughness(Str6). Yes an Incinerator will roast 10 models, but as you saw they can make FnP easily enough.

FNP is ignored by AP 1/2 guns. Perhaps psycannons would have been better in this case, though it probably wouldn't be too hard for his units to get 4+ cover from it. Can't wait for the S7 rending psycannons that will probably be in the upcoming, new DH codex. Then I'll start spamming them.

MarshalKervhart wrote:I think the end result however was strictly because your opponent was able to seize the initiative and force you to go 2nd. Opening up with 3 LRs makes a huge difference in your firepower.

It's all because of that damn Vect. I'm starting to dislike him as an opponent just because he is so good. He will give DE 1st turn 75% of the time. Yeah, 6 TL-lascannons would've made his day if only I had the opportunity to use them.