Bueno Sigo en la misión de traer más información de Dark Eldar para los Futuros jugadores que sé que ya hay varios interesado lo sé y se esto porque puedo ver su triste corazón al jugar con sus inferiores estrategias y Tácticas deplorablemente ineficientes.
Ya como mencionado antes Mi Army está lista para algún contrato para que prueben el verdadero poder si quieres testear.
La informacion me parece súper buena y más la explicación del porque a cada opción y no está lejos de lo que yo ya he experimentado.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
The Current Tactica:
Army-wide Special Rules
Power From Pain is the main rule that separates Dark Eldar from the lesser races. It means that as the battle continues, the units that remain become stronger, giving you a greater chance of victory in those final desperate turns.
Night Vision is a nice rule to have. It's not always helpful, but it can really help in those first turns of Dawn of War allowing you to get a few extra shots in over your opponent.
The Fleet special rule gives the Dark Eldar on foot their speed. Use it often. Use it well.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Unit Overview
This will just give a basic overview of the units in the Codex, their wargear options, what to and not to take and their general battlefield uses. More specialised tactics and other things that deserve a section of their own will be described in more detail later, though a few fairly detailed tactics may be included here if they're too unit specific and don't take up too much room. These include Webway Portal armies and tactics, Hellion armies and tactics (because this involves the whole army), where each of the Engines work best, why the Cronos is better in a non-Coven environment and more.
Certain wargear and special rules will not be mentioned if they don't need to be (if they've already been mentioned or are standard Wargear).
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
HQ
Baron Sathonyx
...My favourite of the named characters, but that's because I'm a Hellion nut. If you are too, then Baron Sathonyx is an absoute must-have. For such a cheap price, he adds so much to the army and even more so to the unit he's with. He's not a huge hard-hitter himsef, but he does some nice damage and can take a bit back too.
Strengths:
- Cheap
- Boosts Hellions an insane amount
- Pretty hard hitting
- Shadowfield
- Phantasm Grenade Launcher comes stock
- Makes getting first turn easier
Weaknesses:
- Shadowfield not as reliable as some would like to think
- Not exactly a beast in combat
Wargear
The Shadow Field gives the Baron some nice survivability when he takes hits back, not that that should happen too often with the escort he's with anyway, but in case it does, it's nice to have the protection of a 2++.
The Hellglaive, the standard weapon of all Hellions. +1 Strength, +1 Attack, not really anything too special, but still nice.
The Phantasm Grenade Launcher gives the Baron and his unit both offensive and defensive grenades. It's a must-have item on any Hellion unit and having it here really saves some points.
Baron Sathonyx's Custom Skyboard is what really lets him hit hard in that first round of combat. +2 Strength on the charge means he'll usually be wounding on 2's and causing Instant Death to anything T3.
Bones of the Seer is the second reason to take Baron Sathonyx. Dark Eldar thrive on hitting first, so getting a +1 bonus when rolling off to see who goes first can be incredibly helpful. What other army can roll a 7 on one dice? Combining this with Asdrubael Vects "Master Tactician" rule will almost guarantee first turn, although it is a bit expensive.
Twilight Shroud is just brilliant. Absolutely brilliant. It confers the Stealth USR, combining this with the Baron's "Master of the Skies" Special Rule means that you can freely jump into area terrain with little to no casualties and benifit from a nice 3+ cover save.
Special Rules
Master of the Skies; this gives Sathonyx and any unit of Hellions he's with re-rolls for failed dangerous terrain tests and, when performing a Hit and Run, they may re-roll both the initiative test and dice to determine how far they go. A brilliant rule overall and one thing that really helps his Hellions stay alive. My favourite "trick" with the current rules is to jump one or two more than half my unit of Hellions into some area terrain to get the whole unit a 3+ Cover save. When casualties are taken, take the guys outside of the terrain first.
The Lord Hellion makes Hellions troops. This is the reason to take Baron Sathonyx above all else.
Conclusion:
The Baron is the optimal choice for anyone wanting to run Hellions anywhere in their list. He's just so cheap and yet adds so much that it'd be stupid not to take him if you intend on including any Hellions in your army.
Archon
The lord of your Kabal and the general go-to choice for newbies. There are a few mistakes I see made quite often here though. I'll point these out as we run through his wargear options. He has a nasty stat-line with lots of attacks, a high WS and Initiative. The problem is that, like the rest of your army, he's T3 and comes stock with a 5+ armour save, so investing some points in his survivability is always a good thing.
Strengths:
- Combat beast (with upgrades)
- Brilliant assassin
- Insane WS, BS, Init and Attacks
- Very customisable
Weaknesses:
- Strength and Toughness 3
- 5+ armour stock
- Very expensive when properly kitted out
- So many options can lead to poor builds and occasionally useless Wargear (like taking Soul-Trap with Agoniser Archon)
Wargear:
The Venom Blade is the optimum choice for any budget Archon. A poisoned weapon that wounds on a 2+ for just 5 points is a decent offer, but it's not just for those lower points games. It's also involved in my personal favourite build, the Huskblade/Soul-trap Archon. The Venom Blade replacing the pistol allows you to take down those harder targets like Daemon Princes or anything T5+.
The Blast Pistol is one of the mistakes many players make. Lance weapons are unreliable for AT, so relying on one 6" shot to crack open anything is a bad idea. It's also too expensive for what it does, so just don't bother with this one.
The Blaster is a nice weapon, but not here. The Archon lives for combat, so that's how he should be built.
The dear old Power Weapon, beloved weapon by gamers everywhere. Well unfortunately that's not the case here. There's only one unit in the entire Dark Eldar army that should ever be given one (Hellions), because for just 5 points more (10 points elsewhere), you get the next weapon I'm going to cover.
...The Agoniser! The saviour to all Dark Eldar players everywhere. Dark Eldar need ways to negate their weaknesses, and in this case, it's negating their poor strength by always wounding on a 4+, on top of that, it ignores armour. Add this to WS7 and 6 attacks on the charge and you've got a nasty killer. This can also work well for budget Archons as long as you keep the other upgrades low. The only problem I have with an Agoniser Archon is that an Agoniser Succubus is generally better and in most cases cheaper too.
I wouldn't bother with the Electrocorrosive Whip, it is a power weapon and it halves your targets strength for the remainder of the round, but it's the same price as the Agoniser and you're still Strength 3.
Huskblade... Just hearing the word incites fear. This is the most expensive Close Combat option the Archon has, but it most certainly is worth it. A Power Weapon that causes instant death. What's not to love? Being strength 3, that's what. "But wait... Didn't you say something about this weapon before?" Yes. Yes I did. When taking this weapon, taking the Venom Blade can help a huge amount.
Haywire Grenades are decent enough, but for the boosted asking price on HQ's, I don't think they belong here. You can live without that single extra shot.
Ghostplate Armour is definitely a step up from the Archons 5+ Save, giving him a 4+, 6++ save, it's worth every point as long as you don't take a Shadow Field. A 5+ is as good as nothing against most shooting, so the 4+ is definitely nice to have, and it's reasonably cheap too.
Combat Drugs are brilliant and should be on every Archon. The only way he won't get some sort of benefit is if you take an Agoniser and get +1 strength or if you stick him in a unit without combat drugs (which you should not do) and get the ever-so-despised 1. I'd say it's a must have no matter what though as it can be seriously helpful.
The Soul-trap is the perfect piece of wargear for anyone who wants to take a Huskblade, but it's also one of the biggest mistakes many new players can make. What they do is give the Archon an Agoniser and the Soul-trap. Because the Agoniser always wounds on a 4+, the Soul-trap is worth nothing. Don't fall into this trap. Although if you're taking the Huskblade it can be absolutely brutal. Just remember to hunt down enemy IC's or MC's straight away so that you can activate the trap and get your Archon to that wonderful strength 6.
Djin Blade, a terrible item to take. Taking this is like taking an Archon without any gear and running him into a unit of TH/SS Terminators. Well, maybe it's not that bad, but if you take this and a Soul-trap, after you activate the Soul-trap, you have the only character that can inflict Instant Death on themselves. Just keep away from this.
Clone Field; now we've come to the hardest choice for most aspiring Archons; should I take the Clone Field or the Shadow Field? The answer is simple my fellow Archons; you should take the Clone Field. "But... the Shadow Field gives me a 2++ save...", well let me tell you this; that 2++ save is unreliable and does not work well with Bloodbrides, the Archons true escort. He should not be with Incubi. That 2++ is going to fail on or within 6 hits, and with a Toughness of 3, he'll be wounded and instakilled pretty easy. It's better to avoid getting hit at all as opposed to relying on a save of any kind.
The Phantasm Grenade Launcher is a nice choice if you do decide to stick the Archon with Incubi, and it will make them more effective, but I care more about my Archon because most of the time he's more expensive than those Incubi, so he deserves an escort that will make him better, not the other way around. Anyway, if you do decide to put him with Incubi (maybe you're running a pure Kabal?) than this is a must-have item.
The Shadow Field is another item that works well if you're running with Incubi and not Bloodbrides, so if you're doing that, take this, but I'd advise against doing that in the first place.
The Webway Portal is a very handy item to have, but not here unfortunately. It's better off on Haemonculi because it is a rather suicidal thing to place and you need more than one. I'll also give the WWP a section of it's own.
Optimum builds:
Here I'll address some of the more useful builds. These are by no means the only builds, feel free to take what items you feel are suitable, just make sure you don't give him items that don't work well together.
The Agoniser/Incubi Archon - Agoniser, Combat Drugs, Phantasm Grenade Launcher, Shadow Field - 145pts.
This Archon is the ideal build if you're taking him with Incubi. Personally I think always wounding on a 4+ is a bit wasted on the Archon, but a Huskblade/Soul-trap Archon doesn't do his job well enough with Incubi. Succubi also work better with Agonisers than Archons do.
Huskblade/Soul-trap Archon - Venom Blade, Huskblade, Ghostplate Armour, Combat Drugs, Soul-trap, Clone Field - 150pts.
Only 5 points more than the Agoniser Archon, far more effective but far more specialised. The Venom Blade allows him to hit tougher opponents until the Soul-trap kicks in. This guy should be with a unit of 7-9 Bloodbrides with as many Shardnet and Impalers as you can get (so 2-3). If you have the full 3 Shardnets, the Archon will be literally untouchable against anything with 4 attacks or less (like the Daemon Prince), meaning he can just sit there and cut them down with his Venom Blade for as long as it takes.
Conclusion:
The Archon can work very well, but must be built properly and with one specific goal in mind. You should also know what escort you're using and build him and the escort so they work well together. It's worth keeping in mind that the Archon may be more expensive than the unit with him, so it may be better to build the escort to work with him, not the other way around.
Succubus
The Succubus is pretty similar to the Archon at first glance, similar statline, equipment and rules, but there are a few significant differences. The first is her 4++ in close combat. This is extremely helpful in close combat and unlike the Shadow Field, it does not go away. The other main thing is the Succubus' Combat Drugs that come free. I've already discussed how great these are, so getting them free is brilliant. These additions (as well as +1 WS) justifies the 5 point increase from Succubus to Archon. But, it's worth keeping in mind that there is one huge thing the Archon can do that the Succubus can't, and that's that he can take a Huskblade.
Strengths:
- Similar statline to Archon
- Cheap but effective
- Less wargear options = less confusing
- 4++ save in combat
- Slightly higher WS than the Archon means that +1 WS on drugs is actually helpful, making enemies hit on a 5+
- Combat Drugs stock
Weaknesses:
- Strength and Toughness 3
- 6 armour save outside of combat
- Less wargear options = less battlefield capabilities/specialisations
- Can't take some of the Archon's stronger builds
Wargear:
The Venom Blade here is the same as the Archons, but if you were to run a HQ purely with a Venom Blade, I'd suggest you give it to this gal instead of the Archon because of the additional bonuses she comes stock with for so few points.
A pure Agoniser Succubus is superior to an Agoniser Archon for the same reasons as with the Venom Blade. I strongly urge you to go with the Succubus over the Archon if you're only taking a Venom Blade or Agoniser.
All of the Wych Weapons are pretty decent, but I think you'd benefit more from another Venom Blade or Agoniser.
Conclusion:
The Succubus is a decent HQ, especially if you want nice cheap but still nasty HQ. Just give her a Venom Blade or Agoniser and she's good to go.
Haemonculus
The Haemonculus is definitely an interesting choice and the one that took me the longest to figure out how to equip properly. He just has a tonne of options. He's also the slowest and weakest in combat of the three main HQ's, but he's the cheapest and makes Wracks troops. These guys are also the best option for Webway Portal armies and can be quite handy if you wish to keep a unit alive.
Strengths:
- Extremely cheap
- Makes Wracks troops
- Toughest standard HQ
- Starts the game with a Pain Token
- Highly customisable, lots of uses for him
- May take three per slot
Weaknesses:
- Slowest of our HQ's
- Weakest in combat
- Ancient upgrade is average at best
Wargear:
The Stinger Pistol should almost be free if you ask me. They may give you a 2+ poisoned shooting attack, but for the same price you can get a Venom Blade which will often cause 2-3x more wounds in a single round and will often be used more often as well.
Basic Tactics:
Seeing as how interesting the Haemonculus is, I thought I'd include a few ways to use him.
Webway Lists: If you're running a Webway Portal list, it's a necessity to have more than one Portal. A few Haemonculi are perfect for this, seeing as you're able to take three Haemonculi in a single slot. I'd suggest taking two minimum, but a third could also be helpful if points allow. Don't give them any upgrades because these guys will probably be killed in your first turn and it's probably best to have them in a Venom on there own. Deploy as far forwards as possible, in your first turn move two of them up 12", jump out as far forwards as you possibly can and deploy your WWP. It'd probably be better to have these Haemonculi on opposite sides of the board and at least 12" in from the edge. If you have a third Haemonculus, send his Venom up Flat-Out down the centre and hope he survives. Next turn, move 12" and repeat as you did with the previous Haemonculi. If he happens to be on foot and some how survived, move up 6" and place the WWP.
Survival Haemonculi: These Haemonculi are used to keep other units alive by being deployed with them at the beginning so that they start with a Pain Token. How you equip your Haemonculus really depends on which unit you place them in. If it's a close combat unit such as Bloodbrides, Incubi or even Harlequins, the obvious choice is a close combat weapon of some sort. The Agoniser and Scissorhand are my favourites because they're reasonably cheap but give the Haemonculus some nice hitting power. Upgrading him to an Haemonculus Ancient may also be nice if you've got points to spare, but it's far from a must-have upgrade. If he's going with a more shooty unit such as Warriors or Trueborn, a Hexrifle may work well, although these aren't particularly great weapons, but if you have points to spare, then why not? If he's starting with a unit like Hellions, Scourges, Reavers, etc. (basically anything that will just leave him behind after the first turn) it may be better to leave him bare as his chances of survival are slim. It's really up to you to work out how to equip the Haemonculus depending on the situation, but these are some reasonable guidelines.
"I like Wracks!": If you want to run Wracks, then there's no reason not to take an Haemonculus. What I'll cover here is assuming you're placing the Haemonculus with the unit of Wracks. Now, there's a few things we can here. One of the main things that I take into account is that placing the Haemonculus with the Wracks, they start with Furious Charge meaning that (on the charge) against MEq the Wracks and Haemonculus will be striking first and gaining rerolls to Wound with their poison weapons. Against other armies like Eldar, they'll at least be striking at the same time as long as you avoid things like Banshees and Harlequins. With this in mind, I like to kit my unit out for close combat. Taking 9 Wracks with a Liquifier Gun and an Acothyst with either an Agoniser or Scissorhand then giving the Haemonculus either a Scissorhand or Agoniser and Liquifier Gun works best, but there are other options such as the Flesh Gauntlet if you really think you'll be facing many multi-wound models and so on. If you just want to sit your Wracks on an objective, there are again a few ways to go about this. One is to go for the super cheap 3 man Wrack unit and just go to ground every turn hoping your enemy doesn't decide to fire at you. The other option is to take as many as you can (10 is best, obviously), give the Haemonculus with a Hexrifle and take an Acothyst with an Hexrifle and attempt to snipe MC's/multiple wound models/units or to weaken (barely) those scarier units.
Conclusion:
The Haemonculus is the epitomy of budget HQ's. They're the obvious option for Venom spam lists and will rarely run at over 100 points in other lists. They are very odd, but effective none-the-less. I find the best builds for Haemonculi are the cheaper ones with minimal wargear. Overloading them with gear won't help at all, choosing a few optimal pieces of wargear is always a good idea. I like running mine with a unit of 9 Wracks so they start with Furious Charge, but there's too many things to do with these guys for me to just recommend a single way to play them.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Elites
The Elites section is definitely where the Dark Eldar shine and where many will be defining the theme of their army.
Incubi
Incubi... The iconic Dark Eldar symbol of death. These guys really are nasty and work well if you need some close combat in a pure Kabal.
Strengths:
- Best armour of any unit in the Codex
- All Power Weapons
- Hitting at Strength 4 without Furious Charge
- High Weapon Skill
- Nice statline overall
Weaknesses:
- Not exactly cheap
- Limited uses
- No shooting attack without an expensive upgrade
- Klaivex upgrade not worth it, neither are any of his weapon options
Wargear:
The memorable Klaives are the standard wargear for all Incubi and the weapon that makes them so nasty. They ignore armour saves and increase their strength by one, meaning each Incubus is hitting with a nice 3, S4, WS5 atacks that ignore armour saves on the charge.
The Incubus Warsuit gives Incubi the best armour save in our book. Combining this with FnP makes them a very solid unit.
The Demi-klaives are really not as great as they first appear. The Klaivex in general is just not worth it, so adding to his already bloated points cost isn't a good idea. The main problem with these is that you're paying points for the flexibility between more attacks or higher strength. Going with more attacks is never a good option because he's only S3, while paying the asking price to get one extra strength (Klaives already give +1 strength, these give +2) is not worth it.
The Bloodstone is a terrible idea. It costs too much, is only S3 and if you do manage to kill enough of the enemy, he could just take you out of assault range.
Special Rules (sort of):
Murderous Assault can be alright as long as you can guarantee that your Incubi will be assault the enemies HQ, but for ths task I feel that the Archon, while more expensive, is better suited. I probably wouldn't bother with this, but if you have 10 points to spare, then gaining Preferred Enemy against an IC can't be a bad thing.
Onslaught is, in my opinion, a must-have if you ever take a Klaivex, even with a unit of 5. Almost none of the other options are worth their points, so if you can't afford Onslaught, don't take a Klaivex. Generating extra attacks on rolls to wound of 6's can turn the tide of some fights and has let my Incubi make it through impossible situations many times.
Conclusion:
As nasty as Incubi are, they tend to perform poorly against horde armies, Monstrous Creatures and anything with an Invulnerable Save can really mess with their reliability, so against armies like Imperial Guard, horde Orks, Tyranids or Terminator Armies they're not the best option. Against any kind of MEq however, they're a brilliant choice, perfect for cuttng through their units of Marines. They can work against these armies if you're running them in a pure Kabal list, but for this I think it would be best to run a large unit (at least 7) with an Archon. Multiple units would also be helpful if points allow. When they're run in this style of list, they'd be used to clean up what the masses of splinter weapons leave behind or to take on those few slightly more elite, heavier units. When running them against any Marines army, Tau, Eldar, Necrons, other Dark Eldar or Sisters of Battle, I find it's best to run the Incubi alone in units of 5-7. They're not the perfect escort for an Archon anymore either. That position is now filled by Bloodbrides.
Wracks
The Haemonculi servants. Wracks are a nasty unit, but really work best with an Haemonculus in there too. In fact, the Haemonculi are too cheap not to take when Wracks are involved.
Strengths:
- Poisoned attacks
- High toughness (for Dark Eldar)
- Start with a Pain Token
- If they start with a Haemonculus, they'll start with Furious Charge
- Minimum units of 3
- Cheap
Weaknesses:
- FnP is as good as their only save
- No shooting without Liquifier Guns
Wargear:
Liquifier Guns are a great upgrade. They're essentially flamers that have the chance of being any AP, instead of the AP5 that the Flamers of the other races are stuck at. It is better if you have two of them though, so if you're running a unit of 9 with a Haemonculus, it'd be a good idea to give the Haemonculus one as well.
The Scissorhand is less effective here in comparison to the Haemonculus. The reason for this is that you can only combine the scissorhand with an extra close combat weapon (or pistol) to gain +2 attacks, but the Acothyst would have the Scissorand and another special weapon (his poisoned one), meaning he would get one less attack than the Haemonculus for the same price. That's not to say it's bad, but if you have the points, an Agoniser is a better choice.
The Flesh Gauntlet is a decent choice, but still fits into a fairly small niche. If you can ensure that your Wracks and Haemonculus will be assaulting you enemy's IC/MC's or multi-wound units like Nobz, then this is a fine choice. Otherwise the Agoniser is better for all situations.
Conclusion:
Wracks are a brilliant choice and will generally fit pretty neatly into any army. There is a number of roles the Wracks are capable of filling. These include your home objective campers (generally 3 Wracks that hug cover every turn, but larger units, possibly even in a Venom or Raider can work), a fairly hard hitting CC unit (9 joined by an Haemonculus), cheap access to Venoms (3 Wracks so that you may get a Venom) or as multiple small assault units/objective takers (5 in a Venom, possibly with an Acothyst and Liquifier Gun).
Mandrakes
Mandrakes are an odd unit and generally fairly overlooked. They are, in my opinion, a bit of a hidden gem.
Strengths:
- Higher Strength than most Dark Eldar
- Infiltrate, Move Through Cover and Stealth
- Epic models
- Decent shooting attack (once gained)
Weaknesses:
- Only a 5++
- No Pain Token means no shooting
- There probably are better options for the job
- Mandrakes don't really have any special wargear. The only option they get is whether or not to take a Nightfiend. Personally I'd only take the Fiend if I had a full unit of 10 and no other upgrades to buy elsewhere.
Special Rules:
Baleblast is certainly a very potent shooting attack, especially against enemies such as Tau and Eldar where the basic save is 4+ and the models generally aren't any tougher than us. The only downside to Baleblast is that you need a Pain Token to use it. Now there's a few ways to get said Pain Token, as I'll explain below.
Pain Tokens for Mandrakes
Getting Pain Tokens for Mandrakes isn't actually any different to getting them for any other unit, but it is more important and you really want that Token ASAP. The first way to get it is for them to just get it themselves. Honestly this isn't really ideal, but it will save you points when compared to the other options. The best way to do this quickly is with an alpha strike. This does bring further complications though, as if the terrain isn't right it may not be able to work at all, or if you don't get first turn it could be potentially fatal. An alpha strike is a first turn assault. To do this, you'll want to deploy your Mandrakes using the Infiltrate USR out of LoS about 12" away from your target. First turn move straight towards them, run and then assault. You'll have to pick a fairly weak target that you can confidently take out. The next two ways are a bit more expensive, but essentially require similar tactics. They are different enough that I should outline them seperately however. The second way to get that Pain Token is to deploy your Mandrakes 6" out of your deployment zone, deploy an Haemonculus on the edge of it, move the Haemonculus up to the Mandrakes and then have the Mandrakes leave the Haemonculus with his Pain Token. This way they'll get a 6" head-start and will be able to shoot from the get-go. This is the second cheapest option, but is the least helpful for your army overall. The last option not only helps your Mandrakes, but your entire army as well. For this, you'll want a Cronos Parasite Engine. To do this, deploy almost as you would with the Haemonculus, but the Mandrakes may start 12" away from the Engine as opposed to the small 6" the Haemonculus allowed. Move them up together and dish out the first Pain Token to the Mandrakes. After this, unlike the Haemonculus, the Cronos may now go on dishing out Tokens to various other units, helping your army as a whole.
Conclusion:
Mandrakes can work very well, but they do require a bit of thinking ahead and smart use of cover. They may also require other units to make them work to their maximum potential. For this, I prefer the Cronos because you could just as easily justify taking it even without the Mandrakes and it helps the entire army instead of just the unit, but the Haemonculus may be better if you have limited points. The main thing to remember with them is that they're not purely an assault unit, they're more of a 'shoot first, clean up what's left with an assault' type unit. Don't forget this and you should be fine.
Harlequins
Harlequins are another highly overlooked unit. This problem possibly comes from their lack of transportation. But that doesn't mean they can't/won't work. They are, in my opinion, better than Incubi when kitted out.
Strengths:
- Extremely fast in combat, especially on the charge
- Dance of Death (Furious Charge and Hit and Run)
- Shadowseer makes them almost immune to shooting
- A tonne of attacks
- Capable of killing hordes just as well as MEq
- Ignore all terrain when moving
- Nice WS
Weaknesses:
- Only a 5++
- Not effected by Pain Tokens
- No transport options
- Shadowseer is expensive
- Not as effective without the charge
Wargear:
Flip belts are great. They come standard and let you ignore terrain.
Holo-suits also come stock and give the Harlequins their save. Not much more to say about them.
The Hallucinogen grenades that come with the Shadowseer are very nice, giving the entire unit assault grenades.
Harlequin's Kiss' are a must-have item on every Harlequin except the Troupe Master, who should have a power weapon. The Harlequin's Kiss is what allows the unit to effectively take on a unit of Marines and can even pose a threat to enemy vehicles in those last desperate turns.
Fusion Pistols are OK I guess. If you're confident enough that you can get to within 3" of a transport in the shooting phase, then go for it.
Characters:
The Death Jester is a bit of a waste in my opinion. Your Harlequins should be running every turn to reach the enemy as soon as possible. He can be alright to get a turn of shooting out of before you assault, but whether that's worth 10 points or not is up to you.
A Shadowseer is absolutely necessary unless you've got them coming out of a WWP.
Getting a Troupe Master can never hurt, though he's not as essential as the Shadowseer. If you can afford one then pick one up, but if there's other more important things in your list that he's preventing you from getting, then just drop him. Always give him a Power Weapon, not a Harlequin's Kiss.
Conclusion:
Harlequins are a hard hitting unit, but do suffer a bit from their speed compared to the rest of your mechanised army. If you have other slower moving units like either of the engines or some Beastmasters, then taking some Harlequins can only be a good thing. They also work very nicely in Webway lists.
Trueborn
Trueborn can be one of the nastiest shooting units Dark Eldar has. Whether used for AT or infantry hunting, they can put out more shots than any other unit in the Codex (for the cost at least...).
Strengths:
- Come with leadership 9
- Can take Shardcarbines
- 4 Blasters or Shredders per unit
- 2 Splinter Cannons or Dark Lances per unit
- Minimum unit size of 3
- Cheap
Weaknesses:
- Low save
- Options for Pistols, CC weapons and Plasma Grenades are misleading
- Dracon not worth it at all
Wargear:
Don't ever give them Splinter Pistols and Close Combat Weapons. If your Trueborn are in combat, they're already dead. They're a shooting unit.
Shardcarbines are excellent. If you're running units of over 3 for anti-infantry, then Shardcarbines should be on every model except the two with Splinter Cannons. It should be noted that Shardcarbines do not benefit from Splinter Racks.
Shredders can work pretty well, depending on what you want the unit to do. They can work well for anti-horde, as well as hurting those units of slightly heavier infantry. Putting down four strength 6 blasts per turn is nothing to laugh about. The only problem is that they tend to scatter, hitting less models than intended, so Shardcarbines can often be better.
The ability to take minimum units of three and up to four Blasters is what gives us one of the Trueborn's nastiest builds; Blasterborn. Take four Trueborn all with Blasters in a Venom and you've got one nasty unit. This is also the best place for Haywire Grenades to be put to use. More on the builds later.
Two Splinter Cannons per unit is very nice, allowing your Trueborn to put out more shots.
...Or, you could take two Dark Lances. Don't take Dark Lances with Blasters because you'll either be too far away to fire your Blasters, or you'll be moving and unable to fire your Dark Lances. If you want a cheap AT unit, taking three Trueborn with two Dark Lances and sitting them in cover works nicely.
Plasma Grenades aren't worth bothering with, you shouldn't be assaulting anything anyway.
Haywire Grenades can be alright if taken with Blasterborn. The Blasters are bound to at least get a crew stunned result, meaning that your Haywires will hit automatically, hopefully allowing you to effectively finish off your target.
Any and all upgrades for the Dracon are not worth it. He doesn't boost your leadership and all his upgrades only assist your close combat ability, which is pointless. It's not worth paying 20 points for a Blast Pistol either.
Effective Builds:
Like the Archon, these are by no means the only builds, just a few of the more effective ones that I know of. Feel free to use whatever you want, but remember it's best if the unit specialises in either AI or AT.
Blasterborn: As already mentioned, Blasterborn is a unit of 4 with 4 Blasters and possibly Haywire Grenades in a Venom. The two ways to use this unit is to move up, jump out and fire in a suicidal style, or to move up, then move 6" each turn so that the Trueborn can continue to fire. Whichever way you choose is up to you. Obviously if you have Haywire Grenades you'll have to use the suicide jump method.
Dark Lances: Again, as already mentioned, if you want a nice cheap way to field Dark Lances, field 3 Trueborn with 2 Dark Lances and camp them in some cover.
Sliscus' "Deathstar": This is the most expenisive anti-infantry build, a bit too expensive if you ask me. This unit consists of 9 Trueborn with 7 Shardcarbines and 2 Splinter Cannons joined by Duke Sliscus in a Raider. This unit will pump out between 29 and 33 poisoned (3+) shots per turn. It really shines against Monstrous Creatures, but doesn't do so well against much else. I wouldn't bother personally.
Long range infantry support: For this unit you want 3-4 Trueborn in a Venom. If you take 3, then only 2 Splinter Cannons are necessary. If you take 4, 2 Cannons and 2 Shardcarbines would work. Sticking Sliscus with this unit at the start of the game can really make them effective. Without Sliscus and with 3 Trueborn, you essentaially have a Venom putting out 24 shots per turn (although, its movement is reduced by 6") for a reasonably cheap price.
Conclusion:
Trueborn are the kings of putting out huge amounts if fire power, whether for wrecking tanks or infantry. Using them for one specialised role is the way to go.
Bloodbrides
Whether used as the perfect escort or the perfect tarpit, Bloodbrides are the perfect unit for the job.
Strengths:
- Huge amount of attacks
- 4++ in combat
- Wych Weapon per 3 Brides
- Combat Drugs
- Plasma grenades stock
- Cheap
Weaknesses:
- 6+ save out of combat
Wargear:
Razorflails are the most effective weapon for the Bloodbrides when you just want to kill stuff and do not have an Archon in the unit. Re-rolls to wound on drugs does ruin a little of what the Flails add, but overall they're a safer option than the Gauntlets.
Hydra Gauntlets are a bit more of a gamble than the Razorflails, they can fail miserably with poor rolls, but they can pay off if you get some nice rolls and they do look great. Take them if you want, but you've been warned.
The Shardnet and Impaler is the perfect weapon for Bloodbrides, whether they're being used as a tarpit or as an escort. Reducing the attacks of potential threats makes an Archon nearly untouchable with the protection of his Clone Field as well, and reducing the amount of saves your Brides have to take can mean your enemy's expensive TH/SS Terminators are as good as nothing.
Haywire Grenades are very nice, and are certainly a helpful upgrade to have. They're far from compulsory, but if you can fit them in it's always nice.
The Phantasm Grenade Launcher is not worth it here. They already have Assault Grenades, and their 4++ is more than enough compensation for not having defensive grenades.
The Venom Blade is very nice here, but the Agoniser is still better. If you're running low on points however, then a Venom Blade will work fine with your Syren.
As I just said, the Agoniser works brilliantly. Get one if you have the points.
Archon's escort:
9 Bloodbrides - 3 Shardnet and Impalers, Syren with Agoniser - 177pts.
This build will stop even the nastiest combat monsters from hitting your Archon at all. The 3 Shardnets will reduce even beasts like Daemon Princes to only one attack, then the Archon's Clone Field will stop that one attack if the Daemon Prince is so unwise as to target him. Otherwise, he has roughly a 50% chance of killing a single Bloodbride (with Warptime). It should be noted that 7 Bloodbrides with 2 Shardnet and Impalers also works if you're willing to take risks.
Conclusion:
There's very little wrong with Bloodbrides at all and they really are the perfect tarpit. Throw them straight into your enemies Deathstars or at their nasty IC's for your Archon to munch on.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Troops
Kabalite Warriors
As the name suggests, Kabalite Warriors are the core of a Kabal. Generally better for infantry killing as opposed to armour hunting, there's a lot of mistakes I see made with Warriors.
Strengths:
- The cheapest model in the entire Codex.
- Capable of taking down MC's
- Capable of bringing a reasonable amount of firepower to the board.
- Very nice models
- Capable of a few roles
Weaknesses:
- T3 and a 5+ save
- Even Tau Fire Warriors can beat them in combat
- Lots of useless upgrades - misleading for newer players
Wargear:
The Shredder can be alright, but in my opinion the Blaster is better. It's really more of a personal preference though. Take it if you want, but with only one don't expect to get great results from it.
3x more expensive than the Shredder, the Blaster is worth every point in my opinion. It should be noted, however, that this does not mean that your Warriors should be multi-tasking like Marines and trying to take vehicles on just as much as infantry. It means that they will be able to get that extra kill against Nobz, cut through the armour of Marines and in general force the worst save for one of the models generally ensuring that one extra kill. But it does give you the option to attempt to take vehicles if you deem it necessary (one game my Ravager failed to scratch a Defiler - after hammering its rear armour for 2 turns - which was only a turn away from assaulting my Warriors and causing me to lose my objective, so I fired at its front armour with my Blaster and some how managed to wreck it, winning me the game).
A Splinter Cannon is almost essential on every unit of 10 Warriors you bring. It adds range to the unit and even when moving in for the Rapid Fire will give you an extra 2 shots.
The Dark Lance on the other hand is something that should be avoided on units of 10. They do, however, have a place in units of 20 (though even there Cannons would generally be better). This is the first mistake I see many an aspiring Archon make.
As with the Trueborn, none of the upgrades for the Sybarite are worth it at all. Unlike the Trueborn, he is (debatably) useful in some situations for his leadership boost.
Warrior Builds:
Unlike Trueborn and the Archon, there's not a plethora of effective builds for Warriors. There's 3, and a slight variation to two of them.
MSU: 5 Warriors with a Blaster in a Venom. This is the most competitive build for Warriors. Not because of the Warriors themselves, but because it's a cheap way to get a Venom and a Blaster and it allows you to take plenty of objectives. If you're looking to run in a tournament, then 4 of these will serve you well. If you're running low on points, Blasters aren't entirely necessary, though you will suffer a bit from not having them. Don't ever bother with a Sybarite in this unit.
Gunboat: 10 Warriors with a Splinter Cannon and Blaster in a Raider. I consider Flickerfields compulsory with this build, as the longer this survives, the better, and there's almost never going to be cover available at such close range for a vehicle. Splinter Racks are also very nice, though not necessary. This is my personal favourite build, but the MSU build seems to remain more popular amongst tournament players.
Objective Campers: 20 Warriors with a Sybarite, either 2 Splinter Cannons or 2 Dark Lances and preferably a Blaster. This unit, like the Mandrakes, will require a Pain Token, otherwise they will die too fast to be worth it. This unit will draw a lot of fire. Far more than they're worth, and that's one of the beauties about them. They'll draw the fire away from your more important units and with cover and FnP they'll be hard to move. Splinter Cannons are preferred here so that the unit can back away if enemies get too close. Remember that Warriors still aren't good in combat and you don't want your huge expensive unit getting cleaned up by an outflanking unit or other unit that just made it too close because you didn't want to move.
Conclusion:
Warriors are definitely a decent unit. What other army's basic troops can take down a Daemon Prince with ease? The only problem is they lack the flexibilty of Marines, but then again, so does everything in the Codex. Pick one job for them and stick to it and you'll be fine.
Wyches
Like Bloodbrides, but cheaper and less killy. Definitely a solid unit.
Strengths:
- 4++ in combat
- Assault grenades stock
- Combat Drugs
- Very cheap
- Very capable tarpit
Weaknesses:
- Not a very capable escort
- 6+ outside of combat
For their wargear summary, refer to the Bloodbrides above.
Conclusion
Obviously Wyches aren't quite as nasty as Bloodbrides, but they do have the added benefit of being troops. Units of 7-8 do quite well, but I like units of 5 too, if you're short on points.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fast Attack
Hellions
Well here we are, at the most epic unit in the Codex. Hellions are, unfortunately, a unit I see a lot of mistakes made with, and it makes me want to cry. So please don't make the mistakes that I'm about to warn you of, or I'll have to have you strung up by your little toes from the highest point of my corpse-covered palace for the Hellion gangs up there to use you for target practice.
Strengths:
- They hit hard and fast
- Combat Drugs
- Work best in huge units
- Splinter Pods
- Combined with the Baron, you'll have an extremely nasty unit
- Who doesn't like hordes of drugged-up cackling maniacs riding skyboards?
Weaknesses:
- Without Baron Sathonyx, their effectiveness drops a significant amount
- They will be a high-priority target
- Small units don't work
Wargear:
Without the Skyboard, they'd just be Wyches. The Skyboard is a piece of equipment that seperates them the most from the rest of the army. Not only does it make them Jump Infantry and improve their Armour Save slightly, but it also has Splinter Pods on it. Firing 30-40 Posioned (4+) shots can really do some damage. That's more than Trueborn are capable of. On top of that, they're assault weapons, so you can charge right after you fired. This means that you should effectively be able to take down Marine units without even getting hit back. But if you don't, Hit and Run!
The Hellglaive is another nice piece of wargear, giving all your Hellions +1 attack and strength.
If you don't have Sathonyx in the unit, giving your Helliarch a Phantasm Grenade Launcher is essential.
When it comes for free, why wouldn't you take a Venom Blade? If you can't afford anything else, at least take this. Who cares if you're not Strength 4 when you're always wounding on a 2+.
I'm not a fan of the Stun Claw. It really isn't that great. The point of Hit and Run is to get away from a combat. If you really need that Character dead, just target him in the normal combat. You may also fail to kill him or he may have the same Initiative as you, and most characters have power weapons of some sort, meaning that even if you had a Token, you're losing a tonne of your Hellions. Just don't bother.
For once, I think the Power Weapon is actually better than the Agoniser here. This is because, other than drugs being able to boost it, it's not as important to get those few attacks that are ignoring armour in the first combat or two here as it is with Bloodbrides and Wyches. The rest of your Hellions are hitting at Strength 4 and are boosted by drugs, which should be plenty to clean up most opponents. But as the game goes on, your Hellions will get shot and will lose a few of their number. At this point it does become important to have those few extra attacks that are ignoring armour. But then again, at this point, you should have Furious Charge. So you charge into combat and your Helliarch is wounding on 4+'s, if not 3+'s thanks to drugs anyway. So what's the point in paying an extra 10 points to do the same job?
The Agoniser, as you should have already figured out, is inferior to the Power Weapon here.
Conclusion:
Hellions are all about hitting hard and leaving nothing to hit back. They're not good at drawn-out combats and as such, you should pick your targets carefully. Units of 15+ are best, as units of 10 or less won't do much and will, unfortunately, die quickly. Another reason to take larger units is to have more Hellions benefit from the Baron's bonuses, instead of only half of them. I feel should mention; when you write your lists, take something like 19 or 14 Hellions instead of 20 or 15, because one should be converted to the Baron and it would be a bit of a waste to buy a whole new box just to get that one model.
Scourges
Despite what their standard wargear may lead you to believe, Scourges work best as an AT unit first, then hunting infantry second.
Strengths:
- Ghostplate Armour on the entire unit
- One of two units with access to Haywire Blasters
- Jump Infantry
- Epic models
- Shardcarbines come stock
- Access to cheap Dark Lances
- Two special weapons per 5
Weaknesses:
- Stock wargear is misleading
- Splinter Cannon, or any anti-infantry wargear options, are overpriced
- Solarite not worth it
- Large units are a terrible idea
- Barely better than Warriors in combat
Wargear:
Shredders are not worth it. It should be free like the Venom Blade on Hellions.
Splinter Cannons are also not worth it here. You should constantly be moving, so you're essentially paying 10 points a piece for one extra shot each.
Haywire Blasters are probably the best AT option for Scourges. Using them to constantly stun your enemies big guns while your Ravagers, Blasterborn, Raiders or any other Lances/Blasters you hav target your enemies transports so that you can get to their infantry. Only when that's done should your Ravagers need to fire at the heavier vehicle your Scourges were holding off, and your Scourges can then go assist in the destruction of your opponents infantry. Otherwise, against transport-heavy armies, you could have the Scourges keep an enemy transport pinned so you have one less unit to worry about for the time being.
Heat Lances, while nice, don't belong here. The only way they'll work is if you deep-strike behind an expensive vehicle, which sounds a lot like what Chaos Terminators do, except that they'll have 3-4 S8 Melta's for cheaper. You know you're not doing it right when you're doing a worse job than Chaos for a higher price-tag.
Blasters are alright on Scourges. Though I prefer the Haywire Blasters, there's nothing wrong with regular Blasters. My only real argument is that if you want Blasters, why not take Trueborn?
Scourges have access to cheaper Dark Lances than any other unit. Than they also have the ability to up-and-go without a transport, something Space Marine players everywhere wish their Devastators could do. Although, the unit will still come out to 140 points minimum, which is more than a Ravager is. Trueborn also can get the same amount of Dark Lances down for a cheaper price, though they do die faster and can't fly away when someone gets too close.
The only reason to take a Solarite is if you want the leadership bump. Don't bother giving him any special weapons.
Conclusion:
I prefer to run units of 5 with 2 Haywire Blasters, but units with Blasters work well too. Just remember to keep numbers low and don't put on useless upgrades and you'll do fine.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dedicated Transports
Raider
Our first Dedicated Transport and one of the models that really defines the Dark Eldar style.
Strengths:
- Open Topped means that we can assault and shoot out of it much more effectively
- Fast Skimmer
- Comes with a Dark Lance stock
- Transport Capacity (10)
Weaknesses:
- Bare minimum armour
- Open Topped also means it explodes much easier
Wargear:
The Disintegrator Cannon looks pretty decent, but unfortunately we simply need our Lances far more.
The Shock Prow can allows us to Tank-Shock and Ram. If you take a Shock Prow, make sure you take either Torment Grenade Launchers for shocking infantry or Enhanced Aethersails to do maximum damage in a suicide Ram, or both if you have the points.
Torment Grenade Launchers, as I already mentioned, work well with a Shock Prow, otherwise, as long as you can place your Raiders carefully, it could help Incubi win an assault or something similar, although I'd take Aethersails or Grisly Trophies over this if no Prow was involved.
Retrofire Jets aren't really a wise investment. You don't want to be Deep-Striking something this large and expensive and end up losing both your Raider and unit. Take it at your own risk.
Chain Snares aren't really worth their points. I know they're only 5 points, but they're highly unlikely to kill anything. In my opinion, they should come stock on a Raider, just because they do seem really "Dark Eldary", but there's not much I can do about that.
Grisly Trophies are the most useful upgrade after Flickerfields. They can be the difference between your Brides sticking in a combat-gone-wrong.
Envenomed Blades are OK at best. I wouldn't really bother personally, because you shouldn't be getting assaulted too much and there are a lot of other more useful upgrades you could get with the points.
Splinter Racks are nice, but remember not to take them with Shardcarbine Trueborn. They give re-rolls to Splinter Rifles and Splinter Pistols only.
Night Shields really aren't that great. The only reason to take them is to prevent being Rapid Fired or Melta'd to death, but chances are if you're sticking these on your vehicles it'll be the big guns that get you. Flickerfields are much more helpful and taking both just makes your Raiders far too expensive.
Flickerfields are the best upgrade you can get for your Raiders, I personally take them on every vehicle I have. If you can, you should too. They also work well with the Shock Prows, giving you some form of protetion, which is always better than none.
Conclusion:
A pretty decent transport, just don't overload it. It should never cost more than 85 points (suicide Raider with Flickerfields).
Venom
The more competitive option for spamcore lists, these beauties can put out a nasty amount of firepower.
Strengths:
- Very small and thus easy to hide
- Flickerfields come stock
- 12 shots per Venom
- Easy to fit a tonne of them into a list
- Poison weapons count as defensive, so you can move 12" and still fire all 12 shots from the 2 Cannons you will have
Weaknesses:
- Small transport capacity
- Wyches driving a vehicle? Don't think so.
Wargear:
Replacing the Twin Linked Splinter Rifle with a Splinter Cannon is 100% necessary. If you don't do this your vehicle suddenly becomes much less nasty and loses most of what makes it feared by all the lesser races.
The only other upgrade possibly worth getting here is the Grisly Trophies, and that's only if you're running things like Incubi or Wracks in there.
Conclusion:
Venoms are always nice and will generally make their way into most lists. They're transports though, so usually they will depend on the unit you take instead of just throwing them into your list.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Heavy Support
Ravager
The Ravager is, point for point, the cheapest way to get Lances on the field. As much as many may praise the Voidraven Bomber as the end to our anti-tank problems, they're wrong. Three Dark Lances is superior to two Void Lances and they're cheaper. Even the math agrees.
Strengths:
- Cheapest source of Dark Lances (per Lance)
- Slightly higher armour than our transports
- 12" move and may still fire all weapons
Weaknesses:
- Open-topped and not a transport
- Still only AV11
- Lances are only 36" range as opposed to the 48" most armies get
Wargear:
Dark Lances are pretty much necessary on Ravagers thanks to their overall fail. The only way to really overcome that is to spam them, so getting Lances on all the vehicles you can is a good idea.
Disintegrator Cannons are nice, in fact, they're brilliant, but, as I said, you need every Lance you can get and there's no point in just adding to the huge amount of anti-infantry you should already have down.
Most of the cheaper upgrades on the Ravagers aren't particularly worth it. Although Grisly Trophies may be worth taking if you're hiding it behind a unit of Hellions turn one.
Flickerfields are a must-have on all of your Ravagers in my opinion. They've saved mine so many times I can't remember.
Night Shields, on the other hand, are terrible on Ravagers. As I already pointed out, Lances have only a 36" range, while other armies have a 48" range on their bigger guns, so if you can shoot them, they can shoot you, no matter what. There's no point in stopping Rapid Fire with a Ravager. Why are they that close?
Conclusion:
Ravagers should be in every list; and I mean every list.
Cronos
The Cronos, despite being an obvious Coven invention, works better in non-coven armies.
Strengths:
- Toughness 7, Strength 5
- Monstrous Creature
- Can give Pain Tokens to other friendly units
- Solid save
- Slow speed not too bad due to ranged weapons
- Template weapons mostly negates poor BS
Weaknesses:
- Still sort of slow
- Only 2 attacks
- Below-average BS and WS
Wargear:
The Spirit Probe is definitely nice to have, but always make sure you have the Spirit Vortex first.
Make sure you have the Spirit Vortex because it's really the only thing countering the Cronos' slow movement. If you can't take it, don't bother taking a Cronos.
Conclusion:
Cronos' are definitely a very nice option, but you do have to have something that works with them (like Hellions, Bloodbrides, units of 20 Warriors and so on) and they're better when not in a Coven list. They don't work in Coven lists because everything has Pain Tokens anyway, and anything with a Haemonculus will have two, so the Cronos' job is usually done from the start.
Mar Abr 24, 2012 1:56 pm
