40K: Dark Eldar First Thoughts
Move over Goatboy, its Darkwynn here with my initial Dark Eldar thoughts. It is looking like we do in fact have a VERY different and unique codex barreling towards us.
Army Basics
After looking at the Dark Eldar codex I think it is safe to say that Raider spam armies are not going to work like they used to because of point cost – not with the Raider itself but with the units which will be using the Raiders. There are some great units in the new book which is a huge improvement from the previous 12 year old one. I am also glad they made Mandrakes and Hellions awesome. Wyches, I think got scaled back power wise a little bit with their special weapons choices and really you feel the subtle hand of Phil Kelly in the codex pushing the players towards having more bodies on the field. The Pain Token idea is a new concept for GW and it will make Dark Eldar tough as the army starts to ramp up after those first one or two turns of taking losses on the way in. They will only get stronger and having Wracks and other units in the list just for pain batteries is going to be rough for a lot of armies.
Metagame Impact?
That being said before the book came out I thought Dark Eldar were not going to shake up any of the meta game and IG and Spacewolves were still going to be on the top. Now that might be the case but working out some of the possible Dark Eldar lists I see them shaking up the metagame a little bit. Razorback spam will be dead via massed Hellion squads and mobile infantry. IG will have a hard time with killing DE en masse early with Stealth and FNP spread throughout the Dark Kin army. There are ways where Dark Eldar can start their whole army with FNP and have 80 guys on turn one 6 inches from the IG which will be really tough for any army out there to actually handle.
Sample List “They Came from the Skies”
That being said here is a list going through the book that I worked out with a couple of buddies.
1850 Points
Baron Sathonyx
Haemonculusx 2 venom blade, anitmas vitae
Hellions x 20 stunclaw with upgrade
Hellions x 20 stunclaw with upgrade
Cronos parasite engine spirit probe,spirit vortex
Cronos parasite engine spirit probe,spirit vortex
Wracks x10 10 man squad with two liquifier guns, sarg upgrade
Raider for the Wracks, aethersails
Wyches x9 + hetrix, Blaster
Raider For Wyches
Wyches x9 + hetrix, Blaster
Raider For Wyches
Wyches x9 + hetrix, Blaster
Raider For Wyches
List Tactics
Stunclaws are a neat concept as you can take IC’s with you when you hit and run. Next turn you’re still in close combat with your opponent‘s IC, which means they can’t shoot at you. Hit and Run again and you can Dark Lance the HQ and if he isn’t Eternal warrior you can instant kill him. If he is Eternal Warrior just shoot the massive amount of poison weapons you have and kill him by thousand cuts. Cronos Parasites I think are going to be very important for any army just to have the ability to pass out Pain Tokens. I want to try them out but I don’t know how they will work out as you need to start killing something with them turn 1 or 2 to start passing out Pain Tokens otherwise they lose their effectiveness and you might as well get something else in there.
Now, I have thoughts that this list might need more anti tank but want to hear other peoples thoughts! Have fun at it guys. Darkwynn out.
