Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Dark Eldar List Thoughts



So I've been doing quite a lot of thinking on the kind of Dar Eldar List I'd like to run to begin my excursion into the realm of the dark kin.  I've come down to a basic concept of 2xWarriors, 2xWyches, Incubi, 3xRavagers, and it gets interesting from there.  Once some models come out for other options I'll be looking forward to incorporating them, but I have neither the time nor the patience to do the major converting needed for aircraft, wracks/grotesques, etc.  Therefore, here are two similar lists that I'm interested in running...



List #1

Duke Siliscus
Archon w/Husk Blade, Ghostplate, Combat Drugs, Soul Trap, PGL, Shadowfield

10x Wyches w/Shardnet
Hekatrix w/Agonizer
Raider w/NS, FF


10x Wyches w/Shardnet

Hekatrix w/Agonizer
Raider w/NS, FF
5x Warriors w/Blaster
Venom w/2xCannons, NS


5x Warriors w/Blaster
Venom w/2xCannons, NS
5x Incubi
Klaivex w/Demiklaives
Raider w/NS, FF

7x Kabalite Trueborn
7x Shardcarbines
Raider w/NS, FF, SR

3x Ravagers w/NS, FF

TOTAL: 1849


Now I'm not a big fan of min/max units, I'm a fan of units that do their job and do it well.  My thoughts are that the warriors and ravagers primarily hang back, sniping and possibly sticking around to control a home objective near the end of the game.  Wyches, Incubi+Archon, Trueborn+Siliscus are the in-your-face damage dealers.  The trueborn squad pumps out ~12 wounds per round of shooting, enough to make anyone blink.  The Incubi+Archon are a monster CC combination, particularly with the Archon's PGL.  Wyches go for the non-CC specialist units, as well as potentially serving as speed bumps/tar pits for troublesome units I'd like to ignore for a while while the other threats do their thing.  With 12 Dark Lances I can reliably (sorta) pop things that need to be opened at range while denying my opponents ability to bring all their long-range AT to bear at them between mobility, Nightshields, and Flickerfields.

Other thoughts I've had include:
Adding Vect instead of the generic Archon.  He's such a monster and the 4+ seize is pretty game-changing.
To find the 60 points I need, Hekatrii go from Agonizer>PW, downgrade the Klaivex, and lose one shard carbine.


Thoughts? Issues? Recommendations? Lovins??

3 comments:

  1. Couple of questions first:
    1)Ravagers are armed with three DLs?
    2) Only one shardnet per Wych squad?

    I don't think the Raiders need Night Shields, only Flickerfields. I know it really helps against bolters and meltaguns but do you really expect them to survive? They generally don't help against autocannons and suchlike, because in order to put them in the Night Shield zone you're too far away to do anything that turn. I just either make use of cover in turn 1 or play reserves.

    Other than that sounds like the kind of list I usually field, although personally I'm an all-Raider man rather than Venoms (more DLs).

    Vect is good if you're prepared to drop the PGL. I'd save the points by dropping the Night Shields on the Raiders (40) and the Demiklaive (20)

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  2. First off, thanks for commenting and thanks for the read! It's a bit daunting attempting to actually get anyone to click the link to your blog as it turns out!

    1.) Yes. Who needs dissy's?
    2.) Only because A) boxes only come with one :( and B) need the points.

    I agree with you to a point on the nightshields, however I think it opens up a bit of an opportunity to dance around your opponents flank. Yes, autocannons and the like have enough range to probably get you, but with NS only about half of his firepower can be brought to bear at any given time. Also helps at short range vs. meltas, plasmas, etc. which all now must be within 6" to hit/rapid fire you. I'll probably need some playtesting with it to make it work.

    I hate to lose the PGL, but Vect is such a beast and has grenades himself, so between his spirit bomb and the 4-5 wounds he's shelling out at I8, I'm thinking the Incubi might be ok on the return strike.

    I also like the raiders more in principle. I have another list without Siliscus that just has vect + incubi as the real heavy hitter and warrior squads are filled out to 10 in raiders. However, I like the diversity and the wound pumping ability of the trueborn, not to mention that if they pick up a pain token they + the Duke are nothing to scoff at in CC. Especially if they're throwing 12 wounds on you before they charge =)

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  3. Ah yes, the new Wyches. The old ones had two shardnets (back in the day of Wych weapons) but the metal box had two with shredders and blasters. Thank goodness I got some old High Elf maiden guard to use instead.

    Using night shields really depends on your playstyle. Under the old Codex I swore by them but it only really worked early game and was useless afterwards. But with the advent of the more well-rounded flickerfield I swapped out. Plus, paying 80 points for a cardboard box with a paper sail isn't really optimal value.

    I'd also really consider trying to stick a splinter cannon or two in the Trueborn squad, as it really helps with longer ranges (you can cheat 36" range weapons like that too) and MC sniping.

    One last point. Splinter racks don't work with shardcarbines, I checked. If you remove them (10) and two shardcarbines (10) from two Trueborn, you can have the two cannons.

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