Hey Guys! We were finally able to bring you guys another exciting battle report! This time we've got jwhite's Dark Eldar against Xinz's Necrons. The lists are both very strong, and it was a well fought match on both sides (despite some rather unfortunate dice rolls). For more information on my Dark Eldar list, you can read an in depth analysis here. Enjoy! And as always, remember to rate, subscribe, comment, and all that good stuff to keep us motivated!
Showing posts with label Dark Eldar. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Dark Eldar. Show all posts
Wednesday, February 26, 2014
Tuesday, February 25, 2014
Dark Eldar: My Current 1850
Hey Guys! Miraculously I've actually been able to get in a few games recently in between my busy schedule and I wanted to share with all of you some of the results of my testing so far. Again, I apologize for being MIA for a while, but I'm graduating college this year so I've had to figure out my fair share of real life things the past couple months.
With that being said, I have still been engrossed in the community and keeping up to date on all the latest tech and now that I've finally had a chance to breath, it's about time I share with all of you what I've been brewing!
So, before I get into it, here's the list I've been testing:
Dark Eldar Primary, Eldar Secondary 1850pts
Dark Eldar
HQ:
Duke Sliscus the Serpent
Troops:
10x Warriors w/ splinter cannon in a raider w/ splinter racks and disintegrator
9x warriors in a raider w/ splinter racks and disintegrator
Elites:
3x Trueborn w/ 2x splinter cannons in a venom with dual splinter cannons
3x Trueborn w/ 2x splinter cannons in a venom with dual splinter cannons
3x Trueborn w/ 2x splinter cannons in a venom with dual splinter cannons
Heavy Support
Ravager w/ 3x Dark Lances
Ravager w/ 3x Dark Lances
Ravager w/ 3x Dark Lances
Eldar Allies
HQ:
Farseer on a jetbike
Troops:
5x Dire Avengers in a Wave Serpent with scatter lasers
5x Dire Avengers in a Wave Serpent with scatter lasers
Heavy Support
3x War Walkers with 2x Scatter Lasers each
And there you have it. As much pure firepower as I could possibly pack into 1850pts while still staying true to my play style and having a good time in the process. There are still many decisions to be made about this list that require further play testing, but let me go over some tactics before I get into all that.
First of all, I love the Duke. His background is completely badass and he actually provides a lot to my army. While most people are all aboard the Vect or Baron train, my goal is to stay innovative while still being competitive. Vect and Baron are both incredibly powerful HQ choices, don't get me wrong. They are beatsticks in combat, incredibly resilient and provide useful buffs to the army (especially increasing your odds to go first, which Dark Eldar desperately need). Now helping to ensure first turn alpha strikes against the myriad of death stars before they are allowed to set up is a key component to Dark Eldar victory. However, Asdrubal Vect is much to expensive for my taste, and Baron doesn't really do anything else in my army, seeing don't really have any hard-hitting close combat unit for him to join. Paying 105pts just for an increased chance to go first hardly seems worth it unless he's going to be tanking wounds for a fortuned death star as well. Duke, however, provides plenty of utility for the way my army wants to play. Giving his squad 3+ poisoned coupled with his ability to allow my warrior units to deepstrike can put down an insane amount of hurt. Not to mention he often gives one of the units feel no pain with his combat drug rolls and he's good enough in combat where I can split him off from the squad if the situation calls for it. I really feel that the nature of my army allows the Duke to thrive, giving both increased damage output, a strong close combat character, and the invaluable opportunity to deepstrike. His synergy with my army makes up for the power difference he may have compared to other characters in the book, and thus I will defend this choice to the grave.
While I'm a little light on troops, the Dire avengers are very well protected in their wave serpents and the warriors are often reserved first turn or don't have a high enough priority for my opponent to shoot at them. Again, I feel that being able to deepstrike my warrior squads, especially the Duke's squad let's me pick apart my opponent's backfield or single out isolated units (particularly monstrous creatures) and put something in my opponent's face that they just have to deal with. the disintegrator cannons on the raiders allow me even more anti-infantry firepower and help me push through the last few wounds to wipe out entire units. Plus, deep striking these squads also allows me much more liberty when placing objectives, as the speed capabilities of my army ensure I won't have any problems reaching far-off objectives. Granted, I won't always deep strike these units, particularly against highly aggressive lists that want to get in my deployment zone as quickly as possible, such as white scars of flying circus lists. In that case, it's not worth risking limited fire power or deep strike mishaps on turn two if my reserves fail me, and armies like that should be in range of my shooting relatively quickly.
The next unique units in the list are the triple trueborn venoms. For very little points these mobile firing platforms unload an incredible amount of firepower (24 shots each standing still, 20 on the move) at an almost untouchable range. Having this much poisoned firepower is invaluable against many popular targets in the game, including but not limited to riptides, wraithknights, broadsides, flying monstrous creatures, and bikes. The fact that I can disembark the guys inside to fire at different targets or increase my odds to force grounding checks should not be underestimated either. My biggest issue with this unit, however, is that they desperately want night shields (which I am currently not running). Night shields drastically increase their survivability as they can safely engage broadsides, fire warriors, flying Demon princes, and many other common threats. I've strongly considered getting the 30 points by swapping out one scatter laser for a shurkien cannon on each of my war walkers. This would obviously require extensive play testing, as it decreases the range and fire power of my war walkers (although battle focus helps mitigate this) but also does give my psuedo-rending in the form of bladestorm to help push through extra wounds (the range loss is really the biggest concern). Another option would be to drop the war walkers entirely and replace them with a squad of 10 warp spiders, freeing up the points for the much-needed night shields. I'm open to any suggestions anyone may have on this matter, as these sorts of small tweaks are really difficult to make!
Finally, I've tooled around with replacing a dark lance ravager with a disintegrator ravager. I've found that often times in the current gaming environment that the dark lance doesn't have any great targets. However, against certain matchups I really need the extra anti-tank firepower (particularly against wave serpents or imperial guard) and I do already have a tremendous amount of anti-infantry firepower on the table. However, the disentegrator ravager is often a much better target for guide from my farseer, and is invaluable against riptides. With that being said, the dark lances are still great against riptides and other monstrous creatures, so for right now I'm keeping all the dark lances. Please, let me know what you think and if you've had success either way!
Well that's just about it for this list, I think I've exhausted just about every aspect of the army that I could, and I'm sure you're all sick of hearing me ramble on at this point. I would absolutely love some feedback on the army and suggestions/comments/questions keep me engaged, and it's just fun to talk about lists!
Once again, thanks for reading! I hope you've found this insightful and hopefully I've inspired some fellow archons out there to expirement and try out new things! Please remember to follow the blog, we have a battle report featuring this list coming out soon where you can see it in action. Until next time!
Tuesday, April 2, 2013
Decisions, Decisions: Voidraven vs. Razorwing
Hey again readers! I'm doing my best to produce regular content for your viewing pleasure, so remember that comments and follows keep me motivated to keep churning out knowledge! If you have suggestion, or would simply like some advice, feel free to email us at any time!
This time I'm bringing you a debate that has long raged in my own head, and I'm sure many of my fellow Archons have experienced a similar dilemma. With the onset of 6th edition, flyers have obviously become an integral part of the game. Dark Eldar, aside from fortifications or allies, really has only two options for reliable anti-air: the Voidraven Bomber or the Razorwing Jetfighter. My hope by the end of the article is that you will come away with a common understanding of the pros and cons between the two, and I also hope to offer my recommendation based on the weight of the benefits each brings to your army, should you chose to include one! Now I have usually always included either one or the other in my army lists just as a fail safe, because Dark Eldar can find themselves at a significant disadvantage when facing down enemy flyers. Granted other armies will generally dominate the air when compared to us, but having at least one flyer can help mitigate that damage. So we've determined that taking a flyer along for the ride is good. So, with that established, how do you choose between the two?
The Razorwing Jetfighter
First off, let's look at what the cheaper, lighter variant of the Dark Eldar aircraft has to offer. At base 145 points, you're already looking at paying more than most other competitive flyers, but hey, we've got to work with what we've got, right? The Razorwing comes stock with 4 monoscythe missles (S6 AP5 large blast) free of charge, which is great, because paying for missiles is a pain. You also get two dark lances (which you can reasonably replace with disintegrator cannons for more anti infantry punch), and for some reason a splinter rifle, which you'll almost always want to upgrade to the splinter cannon for 10 more points. The splinter weapon is nice inclusion, as it gives you more anti-infantry capabilities beyond the missles, since you can only shoot two of those per turn. The biggest weakness of the Jetfighter is the AV10 on all sides, meaning that even concentrated bolter fire can bring the thing to the ground. I almost always recommend taking a flickerfield for ten points, as that means you don't have to worry about dodging to stay alive and thus sacrificing all of your offensive output. As far as the power level of the flyer goes, I would put it about on par with the storm talon. It is too overly costed to be taken in quantities similar to night scythes, and it just can't deal as much damage as a heldrake or other similarly costed flyer. The Razorwing, in my opinon, strikes a nice balance between cost and effectivness, and is much more of what I expected from flyers in 6th edition: Not game changing, but fun to play. Instead we find ourselves competing with flyer spam that enables virtually no interaction with your opponent making for games that just aren't fun. But I digress.
The Voidraven Bomber
The bomber variant of the Dark Eldar flyer plays very similarly, but has a few key differences that set it apart from the jetfighter. While the Voidraven also begins at 145 points base, it doesn't include any missles. Paying ten points per one shot weapon adds up quickly too, so you will find that the Voidraven will almost always be more expensive than the Razorwing when all is said and done. As far as the missles go, I have found that two shatterfield missles is the ideal loadout. while you can take up to 4, you can only fire two per turn. I often find that my first turn is spent targeting enemy fliers if there are any, the second is spent shooting the missles, and the third is usually when I fly off the board and drop its bomb. While the extra two missles are nice if you have the points, I definitely like to trim the fat on expensive units, and that is the most efficient way to keep the bomber cheap. Furthermore, the Voidraven comes in at AV11 on the front and sides. This extra point of armor is exponentially more important as it takes you across the threshold of bolter damage. This means that the Voidraven will hopefully be around much longer to cause havoc and be a general nuisance. Again the flickerfield is pretty much an auto-include here, since you don't ever want to be forced to dive to save your craft. Diving basically translates to a turn of doing nothing, which you can't afford on a 175pt model. In addition to the increased armor, the Voidraven comes equipped with the best anti armor weapon in our book - the mighty S9 AP2 void lance. Being a lance weapon, you are guaranteeing penetrating hits on a 4+, and against lower armor enemy flyers such as a night scythe or dakka jet, the void lances can tear them apart. In my opinion this is the greatest advantage over the Razorwing, as it vastly increases the likelihood that the flyer will make its points back every turn. Finally, the Voidraven also comes stock with a void mine (ironically the only "bomb" on the bomber) which definitely isn't game changing, but is nice to have. the S9 AP2 small blast is great for when you have to fly off the table, allowing you to get in some extra damage before you leave.
The Verdict
Overall, I rank the Voidraven slightly above the Razorwing. While it is the more expensive option, it brings along significantly more anti-flyer potential in the void lances and AV11, and that's why you're really bringing it along for the ride, right? That's not to say the Razorwing doesn't have its place, however. If I knew I was playing against a list that did not include flyers, I would choose the Razorwing every time. It is cheaper and carriers a significantly larger anti-infantry payload, making it ideal to use when it is alone in the sky. However, since most of us do not have the luxury of knowing what our opponent is bringing to the table, the Voidraven ranks slightly higher because of it's increased reliability and resiliency against the enemy it is being brought to fight, namely other flyers. Furthermore, it still provides anti infantry support with its missles, making it the more versatile choice for a balanced meta where you find yourself playing a vast collection of different enemies.
Hopefully my thoughts have helped your internal dilemmas as well, but please comment with any thoughts or suggestions! And as always, make sure to follow so I can get myself motivated to produce more content for your viewing pleasure!
Saturday, March 30, 2013
Dark Eldar: My Current 1750
Hey guys!
So I've gotten the chance to get plenty of battles in with my Dark Eldar, and I've been able to refine and perfect my 1750 point list to maximize efficiency. While I still have many experimental lists to test, I believe my current 1750 list provides the core of what Dark Eldar does best. This is as competitive as my list can get without bringing the multitude of variables of allies into play, and I feel like I've struck the perfect balance between speed, firepower, and assault capability. As always, that's not to say this list is perfect, and I'm always open to suggestions, comments, and critique. So have at it! Feel free to let me know what's worked and not worked for yourself as well!
HQ
Archon - Shadowfield, Huskblade, Soul Trap - 135
Succubus - Agonizer, Haywire grenades - 90
Troops
10x Kabalite Warriors - blaster, splinter cannon, raider w/ dark lance, splinter racks, nightshield - 195
10x Kabalite Warriors - blaster, splinter cannon, raider w/ dark lance, splinter racks, nightshield - 195
9x Wyches - Haywire grenades, Hekatrix w/ agonizer, raider w/ dark lance, nightshield - 208
9x Wyches - Haywire grenades, Hekatrix w/ agonizer, raider w/ dark lance, nightshield - 208
Elites
3x Trueborn - Blasters, venom w/ 2x splinter cannons, nightshield - 156
3x Trueborn - Blasters, venom w/ 2x splinter cannons, nightshield - 156
Heavy Support
Ravager - 3x Dark Lance, nightshield - 115
Ravager - 3x Dark Lance, nightshield - 115
Voidraven Bomber - Flickerfield, 2x Shatterfield missles - 175
Total - 1748
Big shoutout to Hero for the inspiration/suggestions!
Give me your thoughts and don't forget to follow!
Saturday, February 2, 2013
Dark Eldar 6th Edition Tactica Part 5: Elites
Welcome fellow Archon's to the final installment of my comprehensive 6th edition Dark Eldar Tactica! It's been a lot of work but just as much fun writing these, and I've even learned a lot more about the book just by taking a closer look at all the units. Hopefully you are all finding these just as useful! Now, without further ado, here we go!
Kabalite Trueborn:
To preface, I would have to say that trueborn are not only the most used elite choice in my army, but they are often some of the most effective units in my entire army. At 13 points a model, you don't get much more than a standard warrior stat-wise (+1 attack and +1 Leadership) but where there true value comes in is their access to special weapons. The way I see it, there are two main ways to equip your trueborn, as it is best to specialize the squads for specific roles. One of the most effective is to take 4 (or 3, depending on your points) all with blasters in a transport (either a raider or venom) giving you four/five S8 AP2 lance shots at 18", for an effective range of 24" of vehicle/heavy infantry hunting power. I usually prefer taking them in a venom because of the lower target profile of the model, and because of the versatility of the two splinter cannons when targeting heavy infantry with the squad. The Dark Lance of a raider will keep the unit specialized for heavy target hunting, but either way the squad equipped this way will be able to do some serious damage. While taking multiple small squads of Blaster trueborn can doom you in kill point game types, the target saturation of such high damage capable units can certainly overwhelm your opponent. The second way to equip your trueborn is to turn them into premier light infantry killers with an onslaught of poison. All your trueborn can be kitted out with shardcarbines, which provide 3 poisoned shots per model at 18". I've had tremendous success with 4 shardcarbine trueborn and 2 with splinter cannons in a venom. The amount of firepower that this unit can unleash will literally astound you upon first use. In total, this unit has 32 shots at 18" which will likely make a significant dent in MEQ or other infantry, and can be the bane of high toughness units or monstrous creatures, which will likely be eating a face-full of a dirt after a few concentrated volleys. Overall, I usually prefer the heavy-hitting capability of the blaster trueborn squads, but be aware that they can really hurt you in missions involving killpoints, as they are often a primary target for your opponent (they can dish out some hurt, so they should be!). Either way, I almost always try to find room for trueborn in my lists, and I can guarantee you won't be disappointed once your blasters tear through an enemy heavy tank or your torrent of poison brings an enemy monstrous creature to its knees.
Hekatrix Bloodbrides
Alright, so if you've been following my tacitcas up until this point, you know that I am a huge fan of wyches. However, I cannot in good conscience put my seal approval on bloodbrides. Given my love of wyches, that may seem strange at first, but lets take a second and examine what you get. For 4 more points a model, you get +1 attack, +1 leadership, the ability to dump more points into more special close combat gear, and that's it. Oh wait, there's more, you also LOSE the ability to capture objectives. While these mean gladiators are slightly more effective in close combat, it definitely does not warrant and increased point cost to lose a scoring unit. Furthermore, the elite slot is already heavily contested in the Dark Eldar book, and if you're looking for a powerful close combat unit then check out Incubi, who play much differently than wyches and are quite a force to be reckoned with. All in all, I can't recommend bloodbrides, unless you plan on filling your troops up with wyches and just can't get enough of these lovely ladies.
Incubi:
While granted I don't have much experience with these elite close combat fighters, I am a big fan. I oftentimes simply don't have the points to shell out for a squad after all of my necessary units have been filled, but I always feel myself longing to include a unit as a bodyguard for my HQ of choice. My biggest hesitation with incubi, however, is their complete lack of anti-armor capabilities. I like versatility in my close combat units, because you may often find yourself stranded after losing a transport and need to be able to engage targets of opportunity. When it comes to non-TEQ infantry, however, Incubi have few equals. Sporting the best armor save in the book, Incubi are definitely appealing on account of their increased survivability, which couples nicely with the speed of a transport and their incredible offensive output in close combat. WS 5, S4, I5 power weapons with two attacks base will make very short work of any light infantry unit, and any models that aren't killed in the initial assault will be swept away when you inevitably force your opponent to flee. I usually recommend the Klaivex upgrade, as you get an additional attack and a boost in stats with access to some pretty awesome wargear (the bloodstone and Demiklaives are my favorite, but can put a steep cost on this single upgrade model). Don't fret if you don't have the points however, the unit can still be a significant threat without the help of the Klaivex. It is important to note, however, that Incubi have one glaring weakness: they lack grenades. It blows my mind how a unit that is completely dedicated to the assault phase can be written without assault grenades, but hey, nothing I can do about that! Furthermore, this weakness is easily mitigated by taking a Phantasam Grenade Launcher on an Archon to travel with the squad. While the Archon can take challenges and adds even more destructive potential to the unit, the pricetag begins to get fairly hefty with the PGL attached, which is the main factor that tends to turn me off to using a valuable elite slot for this unit. Overall, I know many who swear by Incubi, and I tend to agree on their offensive output and survivability (which is rare in our codex), but I am often caught weighing them against cheaper units that can do a similar job. If you have the points, they will be well spent on Incubi, but just make sure you aren't sacrificing anything essential.
Harlequins:
While I am absolutely in love with their models, Harlequins are another unit that are very expensive for how fragile they are. With that being said, there are ways in which you can make up for this weakness, and harlequins are indeed a versatile, effective close combat unit. The first upgrade that is absolutely necessary in my opinion is the Shadowseer. To the unit, he grants both stealth and shrouded, for a 4+ cover save always, and a 2+ when in cover. Couple this with their ability to ignore difficult terrain, and your best bet is to hop from cover to cover until you can lock into assault with the enemy. While they bring a ton of attacks on the charge, I would recommend taking at least a few of the harlequins kiss in order to ensure that you are taking out armored targets. This is especially important because they only have a 5+ invuln so you want to make sure to do as much damage as possible to keep them safe. Another pretty big weakness with Harlequins is that they can't take a dedicated transport, which means you're stuck hoofing it across the board since webway portals are no longer an option. As far as the troupe master goes, I tend to think he's too overpriced and sort of detracts from the job that harlequins want to do, which is assaulting and not shooting. With that being said, however, I think a couple fusion pistols can go a long way by adding versatility to the unit in the form of anti-vehicle capabilities. While I think Harlequins have their place, it's tough to justify the cost when they are generally slower than the rest of your army and are extremely vulnerable to template weapons. Use with caution!
Grotesques:
Initially, I wasn't a huge fan of these hulking meat monsters. With the death of the webway, it became difficult to take large units if you wanted them to get into combat. Also, 35 points a model is a lot to shell out for a unit with only a 6+ armor save and FNP. Sure they're T5 and 3 wounds a piece, but that can end quickly with concentrated fire. Once in combat, however, the fury of flesh is truly unleashed, and since they will generally have furious charge (they will go berserk without a character, such a haemonculus, in the unit) they can do significant damage to both vehicles and infantry. In case you couldn't tell, assault versatility is very important to me, and grotesques definitely fit the bill. However, there is always the chance that they can go berserk if the character is killed, or that they can die to massed fire without cover. However, as of late, I have discovered an interesting use for them. I love using a challenge Archon with a shadowfield, huskblade, and soul trap to hunt down enemy characters. However, he suffers from his unit and the ease in which they are wounded. However, an Archon with a body guard of 4 Grotesques and a Haemonculus with a liquifier in a raider give the unit majority T5 with FNP and furious charge, which is a tough nut to crack! The grotesques basically serve as a shield to get the Archon into combat, where he does some serious damage. I love the abberition upgrade for look out sir advantages, and taking another liquifier gun gives you two in the squad which can be devastating with the right rolls. The raider, while you only can fit four models with the characters, provides reliable speed to rush these guys forward and have them start crushing vehicles and infantry alike. I genuinely believe that Grotesques can provide a unique role for the army and you will be pleasantly surprised with the results.
Mandrakes:
I'm sorry, but mandrakes are absolutely, without a doubt, the worst unit in our codex, and make a strong case for worst unit in the game. They are so weak (even with stealth) that infiltrating them will often just get them annihilated, feeding your opponent an easy first blood. They're only S4, and WS 4, meaning they don't put out much damage even if they do manage to stumble into combat, especially with no power weapons. Don't get me wrong, their models are some of my favorite, but please save yourself the time and trouble by finding a use for these pathetic half-daemon weaklings.
Well folks, that's it for the elites, and the entire Dark Eldar 6th Edition Tactica is now complete. I plan on continuously updating with new FAQ's and erratas, and as always I would love your feedback and suggestions! Don't forget to follow!
Thursday, January 24, 2013
Flying Under the Radar: Dark Eldar in 6th Edition
Welcome readers!
Frequent visitors who have seen my Dark Eldar Tacticas understand that I have tremendous confidence in the army and I truly believe that they are a competitive force in today's 6th Edition environment. In fact, I have had enormous success against a wide array of opponents, but I seem to still get strange looks when I line my fleet up on the table. My love of the game means I often frequent forums, watch battle reports, and otherwise scour the internet to see how the game, and how my preferred army, are changing. Too often, however, I find that feelings about Dark Eldar in 6th edition are ambivalent, at best. At worst, the army is a useless waste of time, effort, and plastic. All too many times I have read stories of complete and utter defeat, rampant frustration, and an overall feeling of disadvantage when compared to other 6th edition powerhouses (looking at you, Necrons). While many of these feelings are warranted, I argue that Dark Eldar are one of the most underrated armies in Warhammer 40k.
Playstyle:
If there's one point of consensus about this army, it's that Dark Eldar epitomize what it means to be a glass cannon. Dark Eldar are not a forgiving army; their fragility does not lend itself to mistakes like a 3+ armor save might, and the army requires an incredible amount of finesse to play. In my humble opinion, many armies out there seem to play themselves. Dark Eldar, on the other hand, require players to make extremely effective use of cover, understand and utilize speed, and be able to take advantage of targets of opportunity. Now to be clear, I'm not claiming that all other armies in 40k don't require similar tactics, but I am arguing that Dark Eldar will punish you for mistakes to a much higher degree than many other armies, and this can be very frustrating, especially for players new to the army. If you can take advantage of these tactics to keep your units safe, Dark Eldar can put out incredible amounts of damage. Warriors in raiders can pump out shots and their speed means they will always be in position. Similarly, wyches can get into the face of your opponent quickly and efficiently, and can then serve as a jack of all trades, excelling at not only killing infantry but also taking out armor with haywire grenades. Listbuilding is also very important, as you can supplement weakness with the pain tokens provided by Haemonculi and take plenty of S8 AP2 lance weaponry to eliminate vehicles. While your transports may not be sturdy by any stretch of the imagination, using cover, speed, and night shields can add so much to their survivability, and thus their effectiveness. What many players dislike about Dark Eldar, as I have discovered, is that they are so unforgiving that many players don't give them more than one chance to discover the nuances and details necessary when playing with the army.
The 6th Edition Environment:
While 6th edition is no longer new, there is still much to be said about the advantages and disadvantages that Dark Eldar have gained. The first, and biggest rule that this army takes tremendous advantage of over any other army is Night Fighting. Although this rule is random, you can augment your chances with the Warlord trait table, and it provides such a huge boost to Dark Eldar on the first turn, it is almost unfair. With jink saves on all of our vehicles, getting that first turn is more important than ever now, as you want to be able to move vehicles to get a cover save, take advantage of night fighting, and grab that ever important first blood. Night fighting can basically give you a free turn, which great Dark Eldar players will take advantage of to do some damage and get into position.
Flyers are another huge factor in the 6th Edition environment, and some armies have a clear advantage over others in the air (once again, looking at you Necrons). Night Scythes and Dakka Jets can definitely ruin our AV10 parties, and I have seen the tears flow all over the internet among Dark Eldar players, claiming that there is just nothing that they can do. While I do concede that flyers pose a unique problem to our army, we have many tools to (literally) get around them. The first of these, is our speed and maneuverability While you likely cannot avoid all the damage from the skies, the biggest weakness of fliers is their lack of agility. Our vehicles, on the other hand, can maneuver into blind spots in order to avoid fire altogether. Many Dark Eldar players, however, often do not have the patience to make mistakes and learn from them in order to figure out the best way to take advantage of the weaknesses of enemy units. In fact, isn't that what Dark Eldar is all about, exploitation? In addition to speed, Dark Eldar also have access to (in my opinion) one of the best flyers in the game: the voidraven bomber. While not as cheap or accessible as the Night Scythe may be, it is a versatile, offensive powerhouse with access to many defensive upgrades as well. Two S9 AP2 void lances can do a real number on enemy flyers, and it has some incredible anti-infantry missile options as well. The final option is always to use an Aegis defense line, which can end up being quite effective with some creative list building. While air superiority is a big factor in the 6th Edition environment, we have plenty of answers and are not at as big of a disadvantage as many would believe.
Overwatch is another point of contention among players, and many argue that those pesky fleshbags that shoot you while charging have "completely ruined" all Dark Eldar assault units due to their low toughness and lack of significant saves. While I definitely agree that overwatch fire hurts the Dark Eldar assault, I also argue that Dark Eldar have many ways to mitigate that damage, and we have even reaped several benefits from the rule as well. First of all, changes to defensive grenades means that when charging, Phantasam Grenade launchers will often give us stealth, meaning that in combination with fleet, Dark Eldar can safely charge through cover and actually benefit from the increased save. Secondly, assaulting with Dark Eldar is all about opportunity. With the changes to Haywire Grenades, wyches have become premier vehicle hunters, and increased their assault versatility exponentially. Overwatch, on the other hand, provides a huge advantage to Kabalite Warriors. Many opponents like to assault our vehicles since they only need 3's to hit, but our Warriors can do a significant amount of overwatch damage from out of the open-topped vehicles in combination with splinter racks. This can be an absolute riot, as your opponent charges your gunboat, breaking down in tears as he loses 2 terminators in the process.
The biggest advantage Dark Eldar have in the 6th edition environment is their unexpectedness. Everyone and their mother gameplans for Necrons, Dark Angels, Grey Knights and the like. However, Dark Eldar can capitalize on the blindness of your opponents and exploit their lack of answers to many Dark Eldar staples. I can't tell you how many times I've faced opponents who never expected the speed and offensive capability of Dark Eldar, and lost because of their lack of knowledge and preparedness.
Finally, I want to make just one small note about a trend I've seen all across the web. Players have become slaves to the "latest and greatest" lists, and much of the creativity has been sapped from the game. I have read countless comments about how people refuse to use units because the almighty internet claims that they are bad. While some units are just god-awful (what's up mandrakes?), I encourage everyone to figure out what works and what doesn't for themselves. First of all, it is my philosophy that your tactics on the table make a much bigger impact on the outcome of a battle than the list you bring. That is not to say that the list doesn't matter, but I think that a great player can make many "bad" units work very effectively. I encourage all players to experiment, try things out, and don't be afraid to fall flat on your face. While you will often find units that are worthless, you may discover new ways to use some units that turn out to be fantastic. My current project involves a list with an Archon that travels with a Grotesque bodyguard. It could end up being terrible (the internet consensus is generally that Grotesques suck big time) but I have an interesting and creative theory that I personally feel will make them awesome. Another list I'm working out uses twenty footslogging warriors with an Aegis defense line (What!?). The great thing about the Dark Eldar book is that we have so many hidden gems and great units just waiting to be used in the perfect, unstoppable combination, including our craftworld allies. So go out and try it! And if you've always wanted to play a Dark Eldar army but have been turned off by the haters, I say go for it. I'm always here for advice if you need it, and once you learn the army, you won't be disappointed.
Thanks for reading, and don't forget to follow! Let me know your thoughts!
Thursday, January 3, 2013
Dark Eldar Kabal Project Sneak Peak
Good afternoon and Happy New Year everyone! One of my many resolutions is to completely finish painting my Dark Eldar army, and then hopefully put up some tutorials that I've received requests for. I still have a long way to go but so far I'm very happy with how the violet theme is coming through, and my experimentation with the swamp-like bases proved to be a success. I am, however, at a loss for the name of my new Kabal. Their back story is still a work in progress as well, but I know that they are all part of a very well-off royal family and are all highly skilled fighters that pull many strings behind the Dark City. I am definitely open for suggestions on their name, and any help in the right direction would be greatly appreciated! Once I get a hold of a good enough camera I'll get those tutorials going for you guys so you can get your armies table top ready as soon as possible! Xinz, Metal Rancor, and I are all hard at work getting our armies finished so that we can start doing some more battle reports, but this time you'll have something a little more interesting to look at than un painted models. I've also been looking for a good way to convert some trueborn, but I'm still open to any suggestions that you may find. Stay tuned in the coming weeks for more pictures of the army, painting tutorials, and battle reports. Until then, let me know what you think of the color scheme so far in the comments section, and please follow the blog! Every bit helps!
Saturday, December 29, 2012
Dark Eldar 6th Edition Tactica Part 4: Fast Attack
Hello once again readers! Today I bring you the
second-to-last installment of my comprehensive Dark Eldar tactica for 6th
edition. This time I’ll be discussing probably the most under-utilized slot in
the Dark Eldar force chart, fast attack choices. So if you have any experience
with Dark Eldar, you have probably realized that “fast attack” is a bit
redundant; nearly everything in the army fits that bill. However, the fast
attack choices that Dark Eldar offer are varied and interesting, so without further
ado, here we go!
Hellions-
So, where do these green-goblin-esque, surfboard-riding punk
rockers fit in? Well at first glance you may think that they are designed for
assaulting. With a 12” move they can get into combat quickly, and with a
wych-like statline coupled with the hellglaives giving +1 S and attack they can
definitely hit hard. However, avoid that trap. In the assault, hellions serve
much more effectively as a clean-up unit, flying around the battlefield and targeting
weakened squads for crucial kill points or getting pesky models off objectives.
Hit and run is very useful for this, but their biggest weakness is the lack of
the 4+ invulnerable save that the wyches get. This means that if they don’t
finish off a unit first, the return attacks can do some serious damage, seeing
as they only have a 5+ armor save. Therefore, it is best to target units that
have already been weakened significantly, which can still provide a valuable
asset to your army given the speed of these units. Where hellions really excel,
however, is in the shooting phase. These guys pack assault 2 poisoned guns that
fire at 18” which effectively gives them a 30” shooting range. A squad of ten
hellions can pour out some serious firepower and are still fairly effective in
the assault, making them a well-rounded, although pretty fragile, unit. What
really makes hellions worth their 16 points a model is when you make them troop
options by taking Baron. You can check out my full piece on how awesome Baron
is in my HQ article, so you
definitely don’t have to worry about wasting an HQ slot with him. He
exponentially improves the survivability of your hellions by conferring stealth
to the unit, and his combat power allows your hellions to be more reliable in
the assault phase. I definitely recommend taking Baron along for the ride if
you are planning on taking Hellions, because having such a mobile, versatile
unit that can score really helps the army. Another weakness of hellions is
their lack of assault grenades, but this is easily remedied by buying a
phantasam grenade launcher for the helliarch (although if you're taking Baron, he comes with one already). Although it adds another
expense on an already relatively expensive unit, I wouldn’t go without the
launcher. Plus, with the bonuses to defensive grenades, it adds a little more
to the survivability of the unit. My one drawback, however, is the points cost
per model, and with lack of reliable protection, hellions are just a bit to
fragile for their point cost. Don’t get me wrong, their offensive output is
great, and survivability is not usually a term associated with Dark Eldar, but
if I’m paying 16 points a model I want them to stick around and see a few
turns.
Reaver Jetbikes:
There's fast, and then there's reaver jetbike fast. 6th edition gave these speed freaks a massive boost in the form of skilled rider. Now they always have a 4+ cover save when moving, which improves to 3+ when on the move, so this points-heavy unit got a great improvement to their survivability. Furthermore, skilled rider confers to any independent character that joins the unit, which the only option I can think of is an allied farseer on a jetbike. However, taking a farseer with fortune can make these guys nearly indestructible. Strangely enough, however, the most damage you'll deal with reavers will likely be in neither the assault or shooting phase, but rather during the movement phase. In addition to their 3+ cover save when moving flat out, reavers deal D3 S4 hits per jetbike to any unit they pass over. This is fantastic, because you could potentially line up several enemy units and deal a significant blow while you get into position to punch armor in the next turn with your blasters or heat lances (I usually take the heat lance, because it's never too difficult to get into melta range). If you add cluster caltrops to every three bikes, which I always like to find the points for, you get D6 S6 hits for that bike instead, which makes for some awesome moments when you insta-kill a farseer or other T3 HQ choice. I tend to steer clear of the grav-talon due to the points cost, and while the pinning could be potentially devastating, it's situational at best and generally not worth it. As far as weapon options go, I prefer the heat lance like I mentioned before, but the blaster isn't a bad choice either. The haywire blaster doesn't do much in such limited numbers so it's not usually worth it in my opinion. Unfortunately, there is no way to make reavers scoring, and I still feel like they are a bit overpriced for what they do, but they are still extremely effective in punching through enemy armor with their heat lances, dealing blows to enemy units while getting into position. As previously mentioned, I definitely recommend using an allied farseer on a jetbike with fortune, as the combo can be absolutely brutal. On a final note about reavers, be wary of getting them in assault range. I recommend using their eldar jetbike extra movement during the assault rather than charging unless you have a good opportunity to clean up a weakened unit. Otherwise, their lack of armor save and only being S3 means they will most likely get mopped up, even when attacking first and on the charge. Reavers are definitely meant to do most of their damage in the movement and shooting phase. While reavers are pretty expensive, they are a great unit that can hit hard and often, and their mobility fits right in with the Dark Eldar style.
Scourges:
To preface, Scourges are some of my favorite looking models in the book. With that being said, I don't have much experience using them because they are a serious point sink and are often outclassed by other units. While they do have a 4+ armor save (which is rare among Dark Eldar), they still aren't all that tough among Imperium standards, and often won't last long enough to be super useful. However, they still have significant offensive capabilities. They start out with shardcarbines base, which means that coupled with their 12" movement they have an effective 30" range with their assault 3 poisoned weapons. This can be incredibly pesky for anyone fielding high toughness units or monstrous creatures. Furthermore, they can take virtually every special weapon available, but only 2 for every 5 models. I would personally avoid taking the dark lances; they are too expensive and you're usually going to want to stay mobile with your scourges while firing anyways. The splinter cannons are a solid choice, as more poisoned shots is never a bad thing. I personally like to add versatility to the unit by including anti-armor weapons such as the blaster or the heat lance. Either is a perfectly viable choice, but you might find more opportunities to get into melta range with the heat lance given the extra movement range of scourges. Haywire blasters got exponentially better in 6th edition, but I recommend only taking them in sets of 4 with 10 man squads, because most vehicles have 3 hull points and two haywire shots is just a waste of fire, and you would be better off shooting infantry with your shardcarbines. Scourges were clearly designed with shooting in mind, so it's best to use their mobility to stay out of assault range and in cover. Deepstriking them is not a bad idea either, and they can bring torrents of splinter fire on the turn they come in. While I am usually turned off by their point cost, their offensive capabilities are certainly appealing, and can definitely find it's way into a fast-moving, versatile army.
Beastmasters:
Beastmasters are another unit that got a big boost with 6th edition. The improvments to "beasts" means they are significantly faster, and are now increasingly likely to get into close combat, where they are, pardon the pun, absolute beasts. The different models excel at different roles; the Clawed fiend is great for tanking and soaking up wounds as well as doing damage to vehicles at S5, while the razorwing flocks bring tons of rending attacks that are great at dealing with armored infantry (just be careful to protect them from instant death!). On the other hand, the khymera's are well rounded, bringing plenty of a high initiative attacks and helping to absorb damage with a 4+ invulnerable save. Agonizers are great to take with the beast master, as they further increase the unit's offensive output in the assault phase. The obvious weakness of beastmasters is their complete lack of ranged weapons and vulnerability outside of combat. Their speed helps mitigate this weakness by getting them into the assault as quickly as possible, and proper model placement can help to soak up high strength wounds. One of the silliest parts about taking a clawed fiend, however, is that the majority toughness of the unit remains 3, meaning the T5 of the clawed fiend doesn't actually make much of a difference. One cool trick that I've discovered to increase the survivability of the beastmasters while adding to their offensive output is to take Baron with them, as he confers stealth to the entire unit. Since they ignore difficult terrain, they can run from cover to cover in order to survive until they can get into assault and do serious damage with plenty of high initiative attacks that will make short work of enemy infantry. They can still be successful when assaulting vehicles with rear-armor 10 as well, due to the S5 clawed fiend and the rending attacks of the razorwing flocks. Beastmasters are definitely a fun unit, and can be customized to fill gaps in your army at different point cost levels while still bringing a fierce melee unit to the battlefield.
Well that concludes the Fast Attack portion of the Dark Eldar Tactica, feel free to comment with your experiences or suggestions below, and stay tuned for the final installment - Elites!
Monday, December 17, 2012
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!
Monday, September 17, 2012
Dark Eldar 6th Edition Tactica Part 2: Troops
Wyches
In 5th edition, these girls were one of my favorite units in the book. When FNP was a 4+ they were a good deal survivable in the event that they were shot out of their transport (which a raider is pretty much mandatory in order to ensure they get to their target). In close combat, however, wyches were all but unmatched. 6th edition, however, brought several changes to this unit. The change to FNP, first of all, means it is not as mandatory to take a Haemonculus with your wyches to ensure their survivability, but it also means they have no reliable way to survive shooting. Overwatch also hurt the ladies because they belong in close combat, but now they're getting shot up before they charge, which can be devastating. However, once they do get in CC, they are still a force to be reckoned with. They're stat line is already pretty impressive, but what most people fail to take into account is combat drugs. You are guaranteed some sort of great bonus to your wyches that's included in the point cost (10pts a model). Also, their 4++ in CC means they are much safer in swirling melee than out in the open. The sheer volume of attacks and survivability in CC, along with sky-high initiative means wyches are monsters in CC, often doing most of their damage with a sweeping advance. One of the best parts of a wych-led combat is they often like to finish of units in opponent's turn. This means they can head straight into another charge on your turn, and be safe from enemy shooting. I'm not afraid to throw wyches into any enemy unit, because they don't care about power weapons, and they bring enough volume attacks to shred through any armor value fairly reliably.
Now for the upgrades. I absolutely love the Hexatrix upgrade. You basically get, for 10pts, a mini Succubus to lead your squad, with some great wargear options. I've found that an agonizer is very reliable (although has a much harder time with TEQ) but against any other target, will help significantly contribute to your wound total in order to force your opponent to get swept. As you may or may not know, I love having as many S8 AP2 lance shots in my army as possible (and you should too!) so I will always recommend taking a blast pistol on the Hekatrix. One piece I've recently been making points for is the Phantasam Grenade Launcher. It gives your squad both types of grendades, but with new 6th edition rules now allow defensive grenades to give stealth to a unit if they are being shot at within 8". This means that one saved wych pays for the upgrade, and if you charge from cover it could be very beneficial. Try it out at least, because they potential payoffs are great if you plan your charges accordingly.
The weapon upgrades on wyches are fun, but I usually opt for the hydra gauntlets, because the extra attacks are great for wyches. You could certainly make an argument for the other special weapons, so you really can't go wrong if you're paying the points (however I've been dumping the extra special weapon for the PGL). Finally, I ALWAYS take haywire grenades on my wyches. For 2pts/model, the grenades add tremendous versatility to the unit. I took these even in 5th edition when hull points weren't around, but now that they exist, wyches have become reliable tank hunters (and have in fact won me games because of it). One vehicle assault with haywire grenades and you will easily see the rewards, so give them a try!
All in all, wyches are a fantastic unit that took some hits from 6th edition. Taking a raider with these guys is pretty much mandatory if you want them to see combat (which you do), but when they do see combat, you will be quite satisfied. Even if they don't, their splinter pistols can still be quite handy in several situations, so definitely consider some wyches in your list.
Kabalite Warriors
The second core unit of any well-balanced Dark Eldar army, Kabalite warriors bring a great deal of fire power to the table, but at the cost of very limited survivability. Now if you're playing Dark Eldar, you know that they are the epitome of a finesse army, and Kabalite Warriors (as well as wyches) perfectly embody this philosophy. At 9pts a model, these guys are almost half as much as space marines but can arguably be twice as effective if played correctly. Splinter weapons are worth their weight in gold against high-toughness units, but suffer from potential payoff if shooting against t3 or lower (you basically pay for a poisoned weapon instead of S4 when a S4 weapon would be more beneficial in that situation). However, if you can keep these guys safe (such as in a Raider) you can ensure that they remain at their full damage dealing potential. In addition, raiders have a 10pt upgrade in splinter racks, which makes all your rifles twin-linked. This obviously provides huge advantages and maximizes the firepower of your splinter weapons, and I almost ALWAYS take them. Splinter racks turn your warriors from a cheap scoring unit to an extremely efficient killing machine, capable of downing TEQ with sheer weight of fire. The important distinction for splinter racks, however, is that you can only re-roll to hit rolls on splinter rifles and pistols, NOT splinter cannons or shardcarbines. Very important. In addition, splinter racks are great for anytime you are forced to snap fire. Since raiders are open topped vehicles, overwatch becomes awesome with splinter racks. You can now shoot twin-linked shots if anyone has the guts to assault your warrior-toting raider.
As far as upgrades go, you can never go wrong with more S8 AP2 weapons, so the blaster is a great choice. Being an assault weapon means you can stay in your raider and fire at full BS (as long as you only move 6"). This is always helpful for anit-armor duties, and if you know me at all, I like to max out these weapons. As far as heavy weapons, I usually love having more splinter shots in the form of a splinter cannon, but taking another dark lance isn't a bad choice. However, I often find that I rarely get the chance to fire it, being a heavy weapon (although this is mitigated somewhat by the option to snapfire).
Overall, warriors will always find their way into your list. The incredible amounts of shots they can pour out will ruin high-toughness targets, but definitely take some skill to keep alive.
Wracks
While normally Elite choices, I am choosing to cover this unit under the troop section because that's really the only reason they should be fielded. A Haemonculus is all you need to unlock them as troops, and as you will soon see, they clearly were designed as a scoring unit. I never quite know what to make of these guys. Some people swear by the (relative) resiliency of Wracks, but I'm still not sold. T4 is average by MEQ standards, and only a 6+ save with FNP (provided by their free pain token) means that Wracks don't exactly jump out at me as "Survivable". However, when compared with the other scoring options available in the codex, they are definitely the toughest of the bunch. If your looking for a little bit more staying power in your troops, then a case could be made for Wracks. However, I don't really see much advantage. In CC, their 4+ poisoned weapons and plenty of attacks are appealing, but I think wyches get the job done much more efficiently with a reliable save and a higher Initiative. And while it is pretty easy to get these guys a second pain token, wyches have pain tokens which further augments their offensive capability. As far as ranged combat, Wracks are extremely lacking. They can take some liquifier guns which have the (random) potential to be awesome, but it's not something that can be relied on, even if you do plan on running small squads for drive-by liquifying. Aside from that, a lack of any mid-range weaponry is pretty disappointing, and wyches just do CC better.
Wracks can still find their usefullness, however. Like I mentioned before, if you find yourself with a lack of staying power with your scoring units, or you just like the idea of having a horribly mutated band of mauraders rampaging through the battlefield, then look no further than Wracks. I would be weary of their reliability, however, especially if you're looking for a competitive option.
Well that does it for the somewhat limited options for your scoring units. Please feel free to leave some suggestions for the next installment, or your thoughts/opinions on Dark Eldar!
Friday, August 31, 2012
Dark Eldar 6th Ed. Tactica Part 1: HQ's
Hey There, and welcome to the first installment of my comprehensive Dark Eldar Tactica! Today we're covering HQ choices, including special characters.
Jwhite hear to bring you fellow Denizens a comprehensive, multiple part survival guide for your cults and kabals in 6th edition. Now I loved playing Dark Eldar in 5th edition; tactical prowess resulted in huge rewards for those who could properly manage the lightning fast but infinitely fragile glass cannon. With the onset of 6th, the army got several big buffs, but also took a couple of key hits. This tactica is designed to give you a unit by unit analysis of the different choices in the codex, along with tactical advice on how to use such units. This is by no means the final word on Dark Eldar, and is only my opinion. Hopefully my experience with the army in 6th can give you fellow players some insight into how to dominate the battlefield like a true Archon!
HQ
Archon - By far my favorite HQ unit in the book, the Archon's value is in his versatility. One of the mandatory upgrades for this relatively fragile fellow is the Shadowfield. A 2++ suddenly turns this HQ into an absolute tank, and you'll find yourself putting as many wounds on him as possible just to protect the rest of the unit. I don't think I've ever taken one of these guys without the trusty shadowfield, and it has slowly become one of my favorite wargear options in the game. Failing it once isn't usually a big deal, at T3 this guy is pretty easy to insta-kill, so you're basically always getting that precious 2++. As far as other upgrades go, lately I've been taking a blast pistol, because BS 7 loves shooting a S8 AP2 weapon, and being a character, he could potentially pick his shots too! If you have some spare points, haywire grenades or combat drugs are never bad to have, but the biggest dilemma is his close combat weapon. In 5th edition, a huskblade or agonizer were the clear cut choices, but with power weapons only being AP 3, I've found tons of value in the lowly 5pt venom blade. Six attacks on the charge at WS 7 and wounding on a 2+ makes this guy a lot more reliable against TEQ, and while less effective against MEQ than an agonizer, the versatility of the venom blade wins out. Most of the other upgrades are a pass, the Soul Trap could be cool, but when you're wounding on a 2+ already it's not necessary. Overall the statline of the Archon makes him a beast in CC, and the addition of the Shadowfield makes him almost a no-brainer if you have any CC aspect to your army.
Succubus - A pretty solid choice overall if you don't have the points for the Archon w/ shadowfield. Pretty similar wargear options, and the gladitorial stat line makes this girl no chump in combat. Take her with a squad of wyches if you want to tear apart some MEQ, but the lack of AP 2 CC weaponry limits her versatility. I still recommend a blast pistol, as BS6 is nothing to scoff at. Still, I prefer the Archon with a wych squad, but if you're hurting for points you can certainly do worse than a Succubus w/ blast pistol and agonizer.
Haemonculus/Haemonculus Ancient - These guys are the Mister Potato-Head's of your army. Not only to they gift their unit a free pain token (much more effective in 5th, but still a great choice), but with a wealth of specialty wargear, these guys can be kitted out for a multitude of situations. The template weapons, however, really shine. A liquifier is random, but the one time you get an AP 2 template will be worth it! The shattershard is even cooler, and with 6th edition wound allocation, you can maneuver around to snipe out IC'S and special weapons (in fact you could do this before, because each individual model under the template has to take a toughness test, which still applies in 6th edition). The shattershard can be a nasty surprise for your enemy, but its one-time use prevents it from being a must take. Most of the other wargear options usually aren't worth their points, but are definitely fun to mix and match if you want to catch your opponent off guard. In particular, I've tried taking the Casket of Flensing with a Haemonculus Ancient. The extra BS of the ancient makes the casket a potentially deadly option, but normally the Ancient isn't worth the points when the standard Haemonculus can accomplish the same job. Now let's look at the stats of these twisted docs. As far as the standard DE statline, with the standard Haemonculus you get +1 T, +1 Wound, +1 Attack, but a hit to Initiative, and no reliable save. These guys are pretty much a wash in close combat, unless you take some of their wargear options that make them at least semi-reliable in fisticuffs, but should not be depended on. Basically you take these guys for the free pain token, and in fact with the power of pain rule you can essentially split them off from a squad (or leave them in a transport) while the squad they were with runs away with the pain token (while the Haemonculus liquifies his enemies from the saftey of a raider). With FNP being less effective for Dark Eldar in 6th edition, these guys have been finding it harder and harder to make it into my list. Furthermore, the 30 point upgrade to the ancient usually isn't worth it unless you have the points to blow, as is the webway portal, since you can no longer assault out of reserves (not like there were many Dark Footdar armies out there anyway). Finally, these guys unlock wracks as troops. Wracks have never been my cup of tea (I will cover them in detail in the next installment), but if your taking them then you will definitely want to bring along some Haemonculi to increase their combat effectiveness. Haemonculi find their niche in wrack/grotesque lists, but they can still have a home with wych squads to increase their survivability, and then sit safely in a transport to drop some template beat down on other enemy units, creating quite the hassle for your opponent.
Lady Malys - With the general increase in psykers (at least from what I've seen) the biggest ability that sticks out is her power to be completely immune to psychic powers (as is her unit). That ability, along with her nifty redeploy trick, makes her pretty appealing, but very situational. Her lackluster close combat performance makes her even less versatile, so if you end up facing a non-psyker army you would have been much better off taking an Archon. For 130 points she's decently well costed for what she does, take her if you plan on seeing a lot of psykers but don't depend on her CC abilities. Not having EW and being only T3 has significant drawbacks as well, along with the lack of a shadowfield. I still prefer a kitted out Archon for less points, but the Lady buffs your army a bit more so certainly not a bad choice.
Asdrubal Vect - This dude is an Archon on CRACK. He's got all the goodies, including a shadowfield, a poisoned 3+ power weapon (unfortunately only AP3), and preferred enemy everything! On top of that, he can regen wounds with his shooting attack, and lets you seize on a 4+, which can lead to some tricky mind games with your opponent. Furthermore, He's got 4 wounds, 5 attacks base, I8, WS8, BS8 and is fearless. Wow. So why wouldn't you take this guy? Well, for starters, his point cost is through the roof. At 240 points, I don't recommend taking him in games less than 1850. Also, without Eternal Warrior, you will cry your eyes our when he gets insta-killed by strength 6 or higher. Sure the shadowfield mitigates this, but with enough fire he's destined to fail. Vect is an absolute beast, but lack of a reliable TEQ killer and Eternal Warrior means you should take him at your own risk, but know that he can do great things for the army. Side Note: while the Dias of Destruction is cool, it's almost never worth the points, sorry!
Drazhar, Master of Blades - WOW this guy is expensive. 230 points?? That's pretty crazy for a guy that doesn't do anything to buff your entire army. However, this guy is pretty much unmatched in CC. Being T4 and having the only Eternal Warrior in the codex, on top of his 2+ armor save (now more valuable in 6th edition) ensures that he will be surviving for a while. Plus, his Demi-Klaives have been errated to be AP2, which makes him the only sure-fire terminator killing CC unit in the codex. This guy can tear up entire units on his own, and is even deadlier with a squad of wyches or incubi. Despite all the upsides on this guy, I just can never justify dropping the points on him. I can take two fully kitted out archons for that price, who can be just as effective in CC. This guy has plenty of potential, and he's certainly worth a shot in 6th edition, but I personally believe that points are better spent.
Lelith Hesperax - The uber-succubus of the wych cults, Lelith brings yet another monster in CC. Her attacks flat out ignoring armor saves is pretty rare to find, however at S3 with no combat drugs she's not going to be wounding all that much anyways (even with around 10-11 attacks). Again, the lack of Eternal Warrior is scary, especially without the luxury of a shadowfield, making Lelith another high risk choice for your HQ slot. She is slightly overcosted for what she does, but if you like the idea of the queen gladiator leading a charge of scantily-clad warrior chicks then look no further. There are definitely worse choices in the codex, but I feel like she does not provide as much value as the more survivable archon, and wyches are already good enough to hold their own in CC.
Urien Rakarth - As the creepy Haemonculus character of the codex, you can bet this guy is strange. He gets to regen wounds every turn, can insta-kill with his special gauntlet, is T5, and passes out pain tokens like they're candy. He would be an absolute beast in challenges if it weren't for one issue, his lack of a decent save. Having to depend on a 5+ FNP is not reliable enough to make him a beatstick in challenges despite his wargear and statline. I think he definitely has potential if you can keep him safe, and if you're lucky enough to give 3 units free pain tokens it could be awesome. I love characters that buff your entire army, and he definitely does, but is it worth the cost? That's certainly up to you, but I would be cautious with this flesh sewing monstrosity.
Duke Sliscus the Serpent - By far my favorite character in the book. The army-wide buffs that he gives are invaluable, and this guy is a steal at 150pts. If you are taking units with drugs then he is your best friend, as well as if you take any warrior or trueborn squads. I like to load him up on a raider w/ splinter racks and a full warrior squad. This unit can absolutely dish out the pain, especially from rapid fire range, and is very fun to field. In addition, I think he can find a place with a shard carbine trueborn squad to fly around the battlefield and just spit venom at the enemy, ruining the days of high tougness and monstrous creatures. On top of these buffs, he has survivability in the form of a shadowfield, and is also awesome in CC, being able to ignore armor saves. This guy is the trifecta: Survivability, Army Buffs, and Combat Effectiveness. You could easily build an entire army to take advantage of what the Duke has to offer, and I think you'll be quite pleased with the results.
Kheradruakh, the Decapitator - No. Just no.
Baron Sathonyx - I'd have to say, the Baron probably comes in at second amongst the special charaters. For a measly 105 points you unlock hellions as troops, get a shadowfield, and have a pretty decent combat unit. The +1 to deployment roll can win you games as DE, when you love that first turn. Unfortunately, Hellions are too expensive for my liking, but having stealth with the Baron does make them a bit more survivable. And if you aren't taking hellions with him, he's hard to fit in elsewhere. I've heard people putting him with Beastpacks, which I think could be devastatingly awesome. That definitely requires some testing, but I recommend trying it! The Baron is a solid character choice, but sometimes has trouble fitting in my armies. Even still, you definitely get a lot of value for what you pay for.
Well that's it for HQ choices in the Dark Eldar Codex! Part 2 is coming soon and I'll take a look at the troop choices in the book (including those unlocked by characters). Hopefully you found this helpful, and please comment with any suggestions or your own opinions on the commanders of the dark city!
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