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I currently run a small Imperial Guard army of about 1200 points that is played in games against a couple close friends. I'm waiting for the Inquisition Codex to drop on Saturday to finish my 1850 IG list.

In the mean time Dark Eldar have really captured my attention. I really love the idea of a lightning fast army can redeploy for precision strikes at weak points in the opponents army. No one likes losing but I'm not interested a cheesey/spammy army to beat my opponents. I do think it would be fun to play at tournaments so I usually aim to make a moderately competitive, take all comers list.

HQ:
Archon
- Huskblade, Shadow field, Soul-trap

Haemonculus
- Liquifier gun

Elites:
Kabalite Trueborn x4
- Blasters x4
- Venom w/ Splinter Cannon and Night Shields

Kabalite Trueborn x4
- Blasters x4
- Venom w/ Splinter Cannon and Night Shields

Grotesque x4 (Archon bodyguard w/ the Haemonculus)
- Liquifier
- Raider w/ Night Shields

Troops:
Kabalite Warriors x10
- Splinter Cannon
- Raider w/ Night Shields

Kabalite Warriors x10
- Splinter Cannon
- Raider w/ Night Shields

Kabalite Warriors x10
- Splinter Cannon
- Raider w/ Night Shields

Wyches x5
- Haywire x5
- Hekatrix w/ Blast Pistol, Agoniser
- Venom w/ Splinter Cannon and Night Shields

Fast Attack:
Reavers x6
- Blaster x2

Heavy Support:
Ravager
- Night Shields
Ravager
- Night Shields

Total points: 1833

Some of the questions and concerns that I have:
1. The Archon with the assistance of the Haemy and Grots would be used as an IC/MC hunter. How does the Archon fair in Challenges against IC/MC models with equivalent or more points? My research says he fairs well but my concern is his S3. First round of attacks after the charge he will be S4 which greatly helps the Huskblade. After this point do I need a Venom Blade to reliably make kills in Challenges? What do you think about the Haemy/Grots bodyguard? Is it too much of a point sink for one model?

2. The Haywire Wyches on the Venom, similarly to the Challenge Archon, is something that I think is just awesome. I may drop the Hekatrix as costs almost as much as the rest of the squad. Should I expect to kill more then one vehicle in a game with these ladies? I really wanted another troop choice but I feel like maybe another Warrior squad is the answer as the Wyches might not last to turn 4 to claim objectives.

3. Do Warriors need a AT weapon? I typically don't like to mix roles in a unit and the may purpose of the Warrior squads would be to shoot infantry or disembark near key pieces of terrain or objectives.

4. Should I take the fifth Trueborn? At four if I lose one model the whole unit could flee. My thoughts on taking four is that even at five the potential of losing two models in a Venom explosion is still pretty high.

5. Enemy fliers... I'm not interested in sitting behind a Aegis manning Quadgun and the DE fliers seem extremely lackluster AA for the point cost. This is coming from the perspective of the Vendetta twin-linked lascannons. Maybe I need to take a closer look at them. I imagine we can use our mobility to dance around zooming fliers and ignore them. If they hover they get slammed by six Dark Lances or assaulted by Wyches. I can see my Warriors disembarking their Flying Claymore (aka Raider) to sit on an objective only to get roasted by a Baleflamer.

Other comments:
Dark Eldar model line is beautiful. One of the reasons it caught my attention. Painting Guardsmen after Guardsmen does get tiresome.

I freaking love Reavers and Ravagers. I would take another squad of six Reavers and a third Ravager if I could.

The roles that the Archon and Wyches fulfill are really neat fluffy stuff that I would like to include in the army even it is not the most optimal. Soul capturing, combat badass and vehicle assault team of gladiators is just awesome.

Thanks for taking a look at my list. I don't expect all of these questions to be answered until I field the army and starting playing with it. Any input or advice is appreciated though.

The list looks very solid. Your archon is a bit naked, and S3 is a pain for the huskblade. However, if you dump enough attacks you only need to hit once and instakill the model. Anything with a 4++ or better is a threat, but if your not against anything with eternal warrior I would usually try. A venom blade is nice to have just in case, or if you need to fight a wraithlord or something. However, it is by no means required. Do consider haywire grenades, cause grotesques are decent at multicharging tanks, and there your archon could help.

Since your hamey is going to be in the grot unit, he is capable of being a challenge chump. Take a venom blade here to force some extra wounds. Remember, if your strength is greater or equal to the toughness you can re roll to wound, which is very handy even if you wound on 2+.

Grab an acothyst for your grots. Another character/challenge chump is good, it also comes with more wounds and attacks for pennies. A venom blade is nice, but a scissorhand is best(same with the hamey).

Keep your kabbies on infantary killing duty. Try to get splinter racks to increase their dakka output(consider dropping the cannon for them).

5 team wytch squads are good, but the trix is overcosted. Drop the blast pistol as it may only come up 1-2 times a game if even that. An agonizer is expensive, but it adds a second role to the wytches-MC hunting. With a 4++ in assault, wytches make a decent tarpit for things like wraithknights, dreadknights etc. If you really want to go this route, take a shardnet and just stall. You can also just take a venom blade for budget wounding, or no hekatrix at all.

Fast and heavy are fine. Also keep your trueborn at 4 bodies

That Archon build definitely needs a Venom Blade. Since his squad is there for IC/MC hunting, only being strength 3 or 4 on the charge hurts. If I have the points I usually try to add an Agonizer to the Heamy for the extra AP3 wounds.

The Hekatrix isn't needed at all. The unit as a whole isn't very survivable and I find any upgrades past heywire grenades to not be worth the points. More often than not their Venom will get exploded early and unit will hopefully be near an objective to sit and camp on it, provided they don't all die in an explosion. However, there are those games where a couple can survive the explosion and really cause some damage to things like Vendicators.

I've also found that Reavers are best at squads of 9 with 3 blasters. At points over 1k-1250 squads of six just never do enough damage with bladevanes and there aren't enough to survive focused fire.

Another thing to think about is that with a Heamy you can bring Wracks as troops. A five man squad with a liquifier gun in a Venom comes out at the same points as a squad of Wyches with Heywire Grenades and Venom. Another liquifier gun and cheap survivable scoring unit are always a good thing.

Thanks for the responses Sterling and Skyfish.

Sounds like taking Venom Blade can come in handy especially at only five points.

Dropping the Hekatrix for sure and possibly the whole squad. Its unfortunate that Wyches aren't very combat effective. I assume they fared better in 5th Edition?

Drop Splinter Cannon for the Splinter Racks. I can see how it is better while embarked on the Raider. However, my thought process is that I'll be disembarking my Warriors ASAP forcing my opponent to choose multiple targets instead of getting a two-for-one by exploding the Raider.

I actually hadn't thought about throwing some Liquifier Wracks on a Venom. High toughness flamer squad to knock my opponents troops off objectives and then go to ground. I really like that idea.

Reavers are moderately priced but should be able to squeeze a few more in.

Thanks again guys!

Splinter racks are fantastic, because you can increase your transport move beyond 6" to get within rapid fire distance very quickly, and still get ~20 snapfires. They need 6's to hit, but that's where the splinter rack re-rolls pay off.

I've found warriors do better sitting in the raider than outside, because the raider can get jink saves, cover plus well-positioned angle, nightshields etc... and once they are out of the vehicle, they lose their mobility, which is one of the DE's strongest assets. Make them waste a few shots getting you out of cover of your vehicle.