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Advice for
building a new Dark Eldar army II |
| "S L" wrote: I was wondering if you would mind giving me some advice. I have been collecting chaos before this but have not fielded an army yet. The army I have almost ready is a 40k nurgle/deathguard army, plus am working on a slaanesh/emperor's children army. but then i read the nightbringer novel and loved how they had the dark eldar in it, even if they were somewhat underwritten in the story. The main problem I see with them is the lack of heavy support. I love the idea of a fast army that can hit hard, and I like the scourges because of this. The ravager seems good but i do not see the point of a talos. Doesn't the random fire rule it has mean that it will hit your troops as easy as the enemy's? Well, any thing you can tell me about collecting, painting or fielding the dark eldar will be well received. |
| My response: The Dark Eldar army list is somewhat unusual compared to most other army lists. Regular troops have ready access to cheap, powerful weapons like dark lances, disintegrators, and blasters. These weapons can destroy the hardest targets and vaporize power armor in an instant. Consequently, their heavy support choices seem almost redundant or anachronistic at best. Scourges are best used as a pseudo-fast-attack choice when equipped with splinter cannons. Ravagers are the only true heavy support choice as I see it as they can offer a tremendous amount of firepower. The Talos is way too slow compared to the rest of the army. Its wildfire rule does not work like you think; it only shoots at enemy units, not friendly ones. That being said, the talos can serve many useful roles in a dark eldar army. It is undoubtedly the toughest unit in the army and the most durable. The Talos eats marines in HTH, pure and simple. The Talos also draws a good portion of enemy fire away from your fragile troops and skimmers. It is a great psychological weapon and rightly feared by most opponents. I have taken a Talos in every tournament army that I have played and they have always served me well. As for advice on army selection... The first decision that you should make is whether your dark eldar army will be mostly skimmer-based or ground-based. The skimmer-based army is undoubtedly the most mobile and most lethal in the right hands. The only down side is the cost for all the Raiders. A mostly ground-based army can also be very effective. However, it requires a different composition of forces to be successful. Let me know which type of army you would like to build and I can give you more specific advice. |
| "S
L" wrote: > > Thanks for the reply. Also thanks for clearing up the rule about the talos. I am use to chaos dreadnaughts, which can end up shoot your own troops, so I thought that it must have been the same thing. From what I have read the talos is best used with a web portal..... but I need to understand more about the whole army. I want to have mostly skimmer-based army, i know that it will cost more in points and money, (i have got a ton of the plastic DE troops off ebay and also just got a box of scourges and a battleforce box; 1 raider, 5 bikes and 20 troops), but like the idea if a true raider force in every sense of the word. hitting hard, fast, and deadly..... i also like the thought of it because it will be the most extreme in difference from the the armies i am collecting. So what sort of army list would you advise? |
| My response: Skimmer-based armies are the most straight-forward to construct. You begin with a core of Raider squads, 3 or 4 at a minimum. These squads should have the maximum of 10 models and all weapon possible weapon upgrades. The most popular combination is splinter cannon and blaster. Once your troops are fleshed out you can add a wyche squad as your Elites choice. Mount the squad in a raider, equip it with wyche weapons and plasma grenades, and add a succubus with agonizer and splinter pistol. If you intend to have your HQ ride with the Wyches then take a 9-man squad, otherwise take the full 10-man squad. As for HQ choices, this will be dictated by the size of your army. For smaller armies (<1000 points) I would recommend a Dracon with Agonizer/pistol. The Dracon can ride with the Wyches. For mid-range armies (1250 - 1500 points) I would consider giving the Dracon a 5-man Incubi retinue and mounting them in a Raider. Don't give the Incubi any weapons upgrades like blasters, because it diminishes their assault capabilities. Alternately you could opt for a fully-kitted Archon with combat drugs, shadowfield, and agonizer/pistol. The Archon could also ride with the wyches. For larger armies you can give the Archon an Incubi retinue. If you want to add a Heavy Support unit, then I would suggest a Ravager or two. Each ravager should be equipped with either all dark lances or all disintegrators as that maximizes their effectiveness for either an anti-tank or anti-troop role. One final suggestion would be on the choice of armaments for your Raiders/Ravagers. Generally it is a good idea to have a mix of dark lances and disintegrators so that you can deal with any threat that arises. Personally I prefer to take about 60% disintegrators and 40% dark lances as a general rule of thumb. Some DE players that I know like to take 80% disintegrators. Your choice should be predicated on what kind of armies you think you might face. If it is troop-heavy marine armies, then take loads of disintegrators. If it is a Imperial Guard armies with lots of tanks, then take lots of dark lances. |