"Hey there Kirby,
So as a fairly new 40k player, it's safe to say I'm hooked. I enjoy many aspects of the hobby, and one in particular is listbuilding. I just recently finished my Orks about 2000-2500 points strong (Still need to paint da buggaz, though). Despite this, I'm already on the hunt for a second army. One choice is a Crimson Fist themed Drop Pod Sternguard list with a bunch of IC Dreads and Kantor/MotF.
The other is this list I'm about to present to you for your critique in pure Dark Eldar-ish brutal fashion. The list focuses on blowing you up first, essentially. There is no MC I can't utterly destroy with this list, nor any Mech Army either. With 29 Lances (30 if you count the Duke's pistol), I'm hoping to do some damage and sweep up with a ton of potent poison firepower. The Duke serves 2 main purposes in this list really:
Giving the option to Deep Strike, which in my opinion does not seem like a horrible option considering we can debark and shoot 1 weapon from our vehicles and our passengers who just hopped on the ground, rifle ready. The DSing is not necessary though, as if you get first, or even second turn, many times you can benefit more from deploying normally and racing up to your opponent's flank. The option is nice though, for special circumstances.
The second is to turn a single unit of Trueborn into an infantry demolishing unit with an effective range of 24".
I'm hoping to build on this 1850 platform initially, and expand the army to 2500 by adding in 2x 9-strong Reaver Jetbikes with Agonizers and possibly a small unit of Scourges with some Haywire Blasters if I can fit them in. The RJB's would benefit greatly from the Duke's contraband and the Scourges would just be pivotal at disabling enemy armor.
Anyway, on to the list!
HQ - 150
Duke Sliscus - 150
Elites - 584
9x Kabalite Trueborn - 7x Shardcarbine, 2x S. Cannon; Raider - FlickerField, Aethersails - 238
4x Kabalite Trueborn - 4x Blaster; Venom - Dual S. Cannon - 173
4x Kabalite Trueborn - 4x Blaster; Venom - Dual S. Cannon - 173
Troops - 770
5x Kabalite Warriors - 1x Blaster; Raider - FlickerField - 130
5x Kabalite Warriors - 1x Blaster; Raider - FlickerField - 130
5x Kabalite Warriors - 1x Blaster; Raider - FlickerField - 130
5x Kabalite Warriors - 1x Blaster; Raider - FlickerField - 130
5x Kabalite Warriors - 1x Blaster; Venom - Dual S. Cannon - 125
5x Kabalite Warriors - 1x Blaster; Venom - Dual S. Cannon - 125
Heavy Support - 345
Ravager - 3x Dark Lance, FlickerField - 115
Ravager - 3x Dark Lance, FlickerField - 115
Ravager - 3x Dark Lance, FlickerField - 115
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1849
One more thing to add about the list: I had initially considered running the Duke in a 10-man strong unit of Warriors - but I feel that makes a vital Troop choice a high-priority target for opponents which I have to be careful with many times as losing your scoring units so easily by calling attention to them seems to be a detriment. That, and with the Trueborn squad you have the obvious benefit of taking Shardcarbines and Splinter Cannons which just unload a massive amount of shots. With a Pain Token or two, they can actually even serve to be effective in shoot/assault situations with assault weapons rather than rapid fire.
Anyway, thank you in advance for taking a look at my list and possibly offering critique/advice. I very much enjoy reading your blog and salute you and your authors for the fine work. o7
-S"
Overall the list looks solid but there are a couple of changes I'd like to see. With Venoms you'll find generating cover for your Raiders much easier, particularly your Ravagers which sit further backfield and for this reason you don't need flickerfields on every vehicle you've got. It's 80 points after all and dropping some of those can net you some more models (i.e. Kabalite Warriors). The large Trueborn squad is also a huge target and I wouldn't bother with the Cannons but rather stick with the Carbines. They do pump out more firepower and you can keep them if you wish, but those few points can be put to good use elsewhere. What I'd aim to do really here is trim this squad (maybe to 7 strong?). It still puts out a huge amount of firepower and is still a ripe target for your opponent but you save some points to shore up your list elsewhere (also drop the Aethersails).
From here I'd look to expand the Raider Warriors. You've only got the 4 Venoms + the Shardcarbine Trueborn as your anti-infantry and whilst you have 24 Warriors with Splinter Rifles, you may find yourself lacking in anti-infantry at times. Pumping up some of those Warrior squads to 10 strong can be a huge benefit then (and consider running more Venoms on the other Warriors). Shock Prows on the Raiders would also be a huge benefit allowing you to disrupt infantry formations.
Other than that solid. You'll wish you had AP1 a lot of the time when mass Lances just keep failing you but you've got a lot of anti-tank, vehicles and general anti-infantry. The Duke's ability to deep-strike is great when you're going 2nd as you deny your opponent two turns of shooting and can still come in and effectively shoot your opponent. Use that to your advantage. Reavers at higher points would be a very good consideration for AP1 and the combat drug bonus and if you could fit two squads into a 2000 point list, you would greatly benefit as well (though you'd most likely need to drop a Trueborn squad).
