Dark Eldar 6th Edition Tactica Part 3: Heavy Support

Hey everyone! jwhite here and back from hiatus to bring you the long awaited 3rd installment of my Dark Eldar Tactica for 6th edition, focusing on everyone's favorite: Heavy Support.


Ravagers: Anyone who has been on the receiving end of a fleet of these bad boys knows that they can do some serious damage, and are almost always a high-priority target. Toting three S8 AP2 dark lances is no laughing matter, and their 36" range can do a serious number on both. vehicles and TEQ alike. Also, S8 means they can insta-kill a ton of units in the game, which can seriously come in handy. Plus, these bad boys are AV11 on the front and sides, which is almost unseen in the DE codex. Still not convinced? Their special rule allows them to move a full 12" and STILL fire all of their weapons, meaning ravagers are highly mobile destruction platforms that can keep your enemy on his toes. Games are won and lost in the movement phase in this edition, and having that added mobility on such a powerful craft is a serious advantage, and you can be certain that the enemy will never see your rear armor. Plus, in "Big Guns Never Tire" these guys are scoring, and being fast skimmers means that after moving flat out they have a 30" range to capture and contest objectives in this game mode, making them one of the better heavy support options in this game type. However, their relatively low armor value means they often wont last long, and while a 36" range is nice, it is often outclassed by many of the bigger guns in the Imperium. As a result, I like to take night shields to increase my chances of survival, and coupled with NIGHT vision and turn one NIGHT fighting, it comes out to a mere 115pts that can be a real NIGHTmare for your opponent. Bottom line: if you're not taking ravagers along for the ride, you're one crazy Archon.

Talos Pain Engine: Serums and drugs being pumped into a psuedo-biological haemonculus science project can't bode well for your opponent. To be honest, I haven't had much experience on the battlefield with these monstrosities (my heavy support is usually filled with ravagers) but Xinz recently got me the model for my birthday (dawwwwwwww). Base 100pts, they're pretty well costed, but anything in that position is competing with ravagers for those scarce heavy support slots. I personally feel like they are a little too slow for the way the army plays, and they are at their best when kitted out for close range. A twin-linked heat lance and twin-linked liquifier gun fulfills dual roles, both anti-tank and anti-infantry. These guys are strong in close combat, but with only a 3+ armor save and 3 wounds they can go down fast because of their relatively low initiative. Personally, I feel like the pain engine excels at a close-range anti-vehicle unit that can be very versatile when facing infantry as well. The liquifier gun has huge potential, but that randomness can't be relied on. They haywire blaster isn't worth it in my opinion, because even with hull points, one glancing hit at BS3 isn't really going to cut it, especially when you can have the heat lance that has a significant chance of blowing up enemy armor. Chain-flails are not worth the points dump, and ichor injectors are worthless now that you can just smash. These guys definitely need more play testing, and I think that fielding multiples in a slower, coven-style list could be potentially cool, but they will always compete with the awesomeness of ravagers.

Cronos Parasite Engine: Always wanted a lawn mower that spits own pain tokens for your dudes? Well then look no further than the Cronos Parasite Engine. These guys are clearly designed for an infantry support role, and as a result have no reliable anti-armor capabilities outside of bashing some rear armor with close combat smash attacks.As a support unit, however, the Cronos excels. Pain tokens are extremely valuable for the fragile infantry units in the DE book, especially the first that grants feel no pain. However, feel no pain got significantly weaker in 6th edition, which means that pain tokens did as well. Still, a 5+ is better than nothing, and can add significant survivability to certain units, which is very important. The two upgrades, the vortex and syphon, are pretty much mandatory, as the Cronos is not that powerful in CC, boasting only WS3 and S5. Therefore, in order to reliably ensure that your guys are getting buffed, the template weapons are great. Against MEQ, they can be devastating, especially if you can get in range to use the syphon. You'll soon see space marines turning into delicious plates of pain to feed to your bloodthirsty cult, but the Cronos has a significant drawback. Similar to the Talos, the Cronos is often too slow to be able to support the lightning fast style of most Dark Eldar armies. Since a friendly unit needs to be 12" away in order to claim its pain tokens, so you may often find that your army is too far away or spread out to take advantage of this, leaving the Cronos in the dust. On the other hand, you may find your army trying to hard to take advantage of it and completely ignoring its own speed advantage in order to allow the Cronos to keep space. Personally, I feel that this unit can fill a much better role in slower coven-style lists, and when you start stacking pain tokens on wracks and grotesques it can get pretty awesome. This another unit that has potential in certain styles, but for me is just outclassed by the pure destructive, non-situational force of the ravager.



Razorwing Jetfighter/Voidraven Bomber: The only two flyers in the Dark Eldar book, the reason I include them together is because your decision will often boil down to one or the other. They both start at the same points base, but the Razorwing comes with missiles included, while the Voidraven has to pay extra. While it will usually end up costing you more, the Voidraven comes with AV11 as opposed to AV10, S9 AP2 voidlances with an extra 12" range rather than S8 AP2 dark lances, a deadly S9 AP2 voidmine, and a few more missile options. Although it will most likely end up costing you more, I personally feel that the Voidraven is he better choice. That extra point of armor is a luxury with dark eldar, and S9 lances just tear up enemy armor, especially with the improvements to AP2. PLUS you get a versatile mine that is extremely powerful against infantry and vehicles alike, especially with templates now only needing to partially cover a vehicle to get the full strength hit.

As far as missile options go, all of the choices are viable. Monosythe missiles are great if you're trying to stay as cheap as possible, and implosion missiles can be devastating, but are often too expensive (I've considered taking just one for targets of opportunity), and I often find myself deciding between necrotoxin or shatterfield missiles. The shatterfield are only available on the Voidraven, so if you're planning on taking a Razorwing, I would highly recommend equipping all necrotoxin missiles, that pinning check can win you games sometimes, and wounding on a 2+ large blast is no laughing matter. Sure, you can only fire two per turn, but that may be all you need. If you are taking a Voidraven, I usually opt for the Shatterfield missiles over the necrotoxin. You miss out on AP5 and pinning, but 90% of the time S7 will wound on a 2+ anyways, and rerolling those wounds generates so many raw wounds that any unit will take a substantial hit, even if you're only launching two a turn. Couple that with the voidlances and TEQ could be in a world of hurt. The mobility of this flyer allows you to take advantage of 6th edition wound allocation and find weak points in enemy units to exploit.

The main disadvantage of having either of these flyers, however, is having to hold them in reserve. With night fighting rules, you definitely want as much of your army on the field turn 1 to take advantage of Dark Eldar night vision. These guys miss out on an awesome opportunity to bring the hurt through the darkness, but that's still a relatively small setback for these offensive powerhouses. In fact, they are some of the best dogfighters in the game, so if you happen to be facing someone with flyers and you have the second turn, then you could make them cry as their shiny winged toys plummet to the ground. If you're willing or able to sink the points, you won't be disappointed, and these units even give my beloved ravagers a run for their money.

Well that's it for the awesome heavy support choices that dark eldar can bring to the table. Stay tuned for the next installment, when I cover fast attack choices. Until then, happy hunting!