Did you miss me? I've worked like a million hours since my last post, but finally work is slowing down a bit, so I can squeeze in some 40k. When we last left, I was all in on the Dark Eldar, so we'll pick up there. Let's see what's been going on in the 40k-verse since then. Umm, wtf? Hybrid is the new mech? Combat squadding? Foot vanilla Devs? Blood Lance got the nerf-stick? Bols is my new bestie and Stelek is my foe? Master Pink, what a terrible situation you have dropped me into. How shall I ever navigate this brave new world? Let's find out together.
For those who don't know, my goals in 40k are, in order, to have fun and to win. In generally, I try to bring the hardest list possible, but I will occasionally irrationally love or hate a particular model or unit and go out of my way to include, or not include, said unit regardless of gameplay. How does this apply to the Dark Eldar?
Man that's a nice model. He must be mine. So, I need to save 100+ odd points for a probably overpriced, but also over-pretty HQ. What else must we irrationally include or exclude?
Not a fan. I don't hate them, so I can be talked into it, but I'd prefer to avoid it.
$6 each? Yikes. Not gonna happen. Using wracks will require some conversion, so I probably won't include 50 of them.
There are few other models/units I have strong opinions on, but we'll cover them in time. Let's focus on the basics and the base of the army. I think a hybrid approach really plays to the DE strengths, and since it's the new mech (or is it the new black? I get confused) we'll plan for that. I also think that when your mech is open-topped AV10 skimmers, you need saturation, so I plan to try and keep my vehicles cheap and numerous (screw you KP missions!). Finally, while I wholly support duality, in my experience I always wish I had more anti-tank, so when torn, I will skew towards anti-tank. Shall we begin?
Let's start with troops. DE have one of the best "hybrid" troop choices in the game, so let's bring 2
175 - 10 Kabalite Warriors - Dark Lance, Raider
So I get 20 bodies to camp my deployment zone, 4 Darklight shots from turn 1, 2 expendable tanks to use as mobile cover and 18/36 poison shots if enemy troops get too close. Overall, it seems like a steal. Now I turn to Elites. There are a lot of interesting options here, both ruleswise and models wise. However, the community seems to have come to a consensus that one option is superior and I think I agree. Trueborn just put out too much firepower for their cost to ignore. They also fit the Kabalite theme I'm sort of working on. How to bring them though? The multi-blaster/Venom combo is popular and I see the appeal. However, I'm just not in love with them. First off, they are kind of a sacrificial unit. Given the fragile nature of DE and my already tenuous status in KP missions, I'd like to avoid sacrificing units. Second, they seem like an easy target. Taking out the Trueborn Venoms really puts a hurting on my armies firepower and I imagine most opponents with target them first. I see another way to use them that really appeals to me.
163 - 4 Kabalite Trueborn - Dark Lance x2, Venom, Splinter Cannon
2 Darklight shots and 12 poison shots from turn 1 for 163 points? Amazing. The 4th guy makes cover easier to obtain. The foot squads above shield them. I add 3 more pieces of low-priority moving cover. Overall, it seems like an amazing squad. I'm bringing 3. Here's the base of the army
175 - 10 Kabalite Warriors - Dark Lance, Raider
175 - 10 Kabalite Warriors - Dark Lance, Raider
163 - 4 Kabalite Trueborn - Dark Lance x2, Venom, Splinter Cannon
163 - 4 Kabalite Trueborn - Dark Lance x2, Venom, Splinter Cannon
163 - 4 Kabalite Trueborn - Dark Lance x2, Venom, Splinter Cannon
839 points gives 10 Darklight shots, 36 long range poison shots, an additional 36 short ranged poison shots, plenty of camping for near objectives and 5 vehicles to provide saturation and cover. I think it's a solid start to my Kabalite force. Next time we'll talk Archons and CC.
