"Hi there Kirby, my names Riley. (No fancy nicknames here)
I've been lurking your site since I started up 40k about 6 months ago and I thought if I was gonna ask anyone for army help, it was gonna be you. =p
So I recently came into a good chunk of money and with it I'm gonna buy myself an army. Dark Eldar to be exact. My request is that if you could find some time in your busy schedule to look over my army and help me figure out my shopping list. I would appreciate it so much, and offer you the blood of my enemies as payment.
Size will be 1750 (My friends are all poor college students and this is the largest they usually play at the moment), and I was really hoping to include some forgeworld void dragons as voidravens.
I need something I can buy, spend a lot of time painting/converting, and then not be worried about shelving half of it because they don't perform. I'm kind of in a situation where I can go out and buy all of it, but once I do I am stuck with what I bought for another few months. I also want to get into the competitive scene asap.
I really hope you can help me out, my friends are getting a little to cocky about my AV10 open topped paper airplanes. =P
So what do you think?
First things first with your paper thin-aeroplanes. Risk management :P. Going first is obviously a huge boon but otherwise using reserves/DoW deployment, terrain, upgrades, etc. can all help your vehicles survivability immensely and allow you to control the flow of the game.
My first instinct with the Void Dragons is to run them as Razorwings as well. They generally end up 40 points cheap and whilst they have less anti-tank, you're getting these guys for their missiles anyway. Anywho, let's see the list!
The list:
1750 Pts - All-Comer Dark Eldar Roster
Total Roster Cost: 1750
HQ: Archon (1#, 160 pts)
1 Archon, 160 pts = (base cost 60 + Huskblade 35 + Soul-trap 10 + Phantasm Grenade Launcher 25) + Shadow Field 30
HQ: Haemonculus (1#, 70 pts)
1 Haemonculus, 70 pts = (base cost 50 + Venom Blade 5) + Shattershard 15
Elite: Hekatrix Bloodbrides (7#, 188 pts)
5 Hekatrix Bloodbrides, 85 pts = 5 * 13 (base cost 13) + Shardnet & Impaler x2 20
1 Syren, 43 pts = (base cost 23 + Agoniser 20)
1 Raider, 60 pts
Elite: Incubi (5#, 153 pts)
4 Incubi, 88 pts = 4 * 22
1 Venom, 65 pts = (base cost 55 + -10) + Splinter Cannon x2 20
Elite: Kabalite Trueborn (5#, 173 pts)
4 Kabalite Trueborn, 108 pts = 4 * 12 (base cost 12) + Blaster x4 60
1 Venom, 65 pts = (base cost 55 + -10) + Splinter Cannon x2 20
Troops: Kabalite Warriors (6#, 120 pts)
5 Kabalite Warriors, 60 pts = 5 * 9 (base cost 9) + Blaster x1 15
1 Raider, 60 pts
Troops: Kabalite Warriors (6#, 120 pts)
5 Kabalite Warriors, 60 pts = 5 * 9 (base cost 9) + Blaster x1 15
1 Raider, 60 pts
Troops: Kabalite Warriors (6#, 120 pts)
5 Kabalite Warriors, 60 pts = 5 * 9 (base cost 9) + Blaster x1 15
1 Raider, 60 pts
Troops: Kabalite Warriors (6#, 120 pts)
5 Kabalite Warriors, 60 pts = 5 * 9 (base cost 9) + Blaster x1 15
1 Raider, 60 pts
Fast Attack: Reavers (6#, 156 pts)
6 Reavers, 156 pts = 6 * 22 (base cost 22) + Heat Lance x2 24
Heavy Support: Voidraven Bomber (1#, 185 pts)
1 Voidraven Bomber, 185 pts = (base cost 145) + Necrotoxin Missile x1 10 + Shatterfield Missile x3 30
Heavy Support: Voidraven Bomber (1#, 185 pts)
1 Voidraven Bomber, 185 pts = (base cost 145) + Necrotoxin Missile x1 10 + Shatterfield Missile x3 30"
As I said initially I'd trade the Bombers for Razorwings. You lose a bit of anti-tank but keep the same anti-infantry and you save 80 odd points (flickerfields on the Razorwings is also a good idea taking us to 60 points saved). Even though the Void Raven has 1 extra AV, nearly 200 points on an AV11 tank is pretty steep (people baulk at 200+ for a Stormraven!).
From there you'll need to make sure your anti-tank elsewhere is good as you don't have those Ravagers to rely upon so I'd be looking to double up your Reaver squads. These guys are excellent utility with JSJ + skilled rider and 9" melta weapons.
We then need to look at Elites. I'm not a fan of small Wych/Bloodbride squads as their primary role is torrenting and tarpitting. Small units don't really achieve either of these so I'd be leaning away from them unless you want to invest more points in them. The Incubi + Archon are obviously a good unit but if you don't have the Bloodbrides are the only unit out there capable of assault. The Trueborn are obviously fine.
And then to Troops. Good choices but nothing reliably solid (i.e. 5 T3/5+ guys lasts only so long).
So we need to fiddle with Elites and Troops and probably HQs. The Archon is nice for what he can do but is very expensive otherwise. I prefer to keep him cheaper and maybe act as a mobile PGL (particularly if you take Incubi). The question is do we have enough points to get assault aspects into our army? Our Reavers can act as harassment in backfield with combat drugs but they much prefer the Duke (hell the Duke would be a really good fit for this list actually). If you're happy with the Duke which diverts from your list in general I'd recommend him, grab a 2nd Trueborn in Venom and then fill out the Troops with Warriors in Raiders (both larger and smaller squads; should be able to get 2+2). This gives you something like:
Duke
2x4x Trueborn w/4x Blasters, Venom
2x10x Warriors w/Blaster, Raider
2x5x Warriors w/Blaster, Raider
2x6x Reavers w/2x Heat Lance
2x Razorwing w/Flickers
~1720 points so room for fiddling.
If you don't want the Duke though we'll keep the Haemon and drop the Archon + Incubi, replace the Bloodbrides with a Trueborn squad, replace some of the MSU Warrior squads with Wracks (cheaper and more durable), add a Reaver squad and up the numbers of the other Warrior squads leaving something like:
Haemon w/Venom, Shattershard
2x4x Trueborn w/4x Blasters, Venom
2x10x Warriors w/Blaster, Raider
2x3x Wracks w/Raider
2x6x Reavers w/2x Heat Lance
2x Razorwing w/Flickers
And this is only around 1600 points so you can re-add the Incubi squad or try and work in some Wyches as Troops. I personally prefer the first list as the Duke gives you a bit of flexibility coming in from Reserve and makes the Reavers more dangerous but with the points spare in the 2nd list you have some options available to you and if the Incubi are a must, they are easier to fit into that list but you won't be able to get the Incubi+Archon unfortunately.
