Sunday, December 22, 2013

Drama-Free Dark Eldar List Ideas for LVO

Howdy, folks! Just wanted to talk a little about what's going on in my 40k life, barring the fun drama our hobby has been experiencing of late :)

I've sadly grown bored with my Grey Knights/Tau list, and recently decided to bring my Dark Eldar to a tournament. I won all three games handily (no "hard counter" lists in attendance) and got me thinking about what I could do to make Dark Eldar playable in 6th edition. This of course coincides with my (soon-to-be) attendance at the LVO, land of Forgeworld and people who don't like 2++ Rerollable saves (but really, who does?)
Thing is, I love Dark Eldar just a little too much. I don't think their current codex is really that great, though they can help Eldar a bunch (anyone who has played against a good SeerStar knows the Baron makes that unit ridiculous).

I am on the other side of the spectrum - what can I do to make Dark Eldar (primary) at least passably good? I'm fine with taking Eldar as allies, but the question is - in what form should they appear?

As has always been the case, Dark Eldar suffer from a distinct lack of resilience, while struggling to get
Action shots from my 5th edition Dark Eldar!
enough anti-air and anti-horde shots (yes, I said it. Venoms suck vs. hordes). Lots of things to struggle with. They need an ally, and I'm not really of the opinion that desperate allies will actually do it for them. This leaves Eldar, which are a pretty good dex, all things considered.

Here's my first attempt at a list:

1750 Dark Eldar w/ Eldar Allies

Dark Eldar (Primary):

Baron Sathonyx
Haemonculus

3x Wracks w // Venom w/ 2x Splinter Cannons, Grisly Trophies
5x Warriors w/ Blaster // Venom w/ 2x Splinter Cannons, Grisly Trophies
16x Hellions

Ravager w/ 3x Dark Lances, Flickerfield
Ravager w/ 3x Dark Lances, Flickerfield
Ravager w/ 3x Dark Lances, Flickerfield

Huge army, really. Physically hurts to play it :)
Eldar (Allies):

Farseer w/ Jetbike, Singing Spear, Shard of Anaris

5x Dire Avengers // Wave Serpent w/ Scatter Laser, Holo-Field
5x Dire Avengers // Wave Serpent w/ Scatter Laser, Holo-Field

Wraithknight





Notes:
  • This comes to a little over 1750. I would need to drop something like the Shard of Anaris or a Hellion + Grisly Trophies, etc. to make it work.
  • Hellions do their pain token shenanigans so they essentially start the game with FNP and Furious Charge. JetSeer stays with them to give them Fearless (Shard of Anaris) and a way to kill big things in close combat if they need to. This unit has historically been really tough for my opponents to deal with. Maybe that will continue to be the case :-p
  • The list presented here gives me a lot of shots - only two Venoms, but I also get two Wave Serpents and the Hellions' shooting.
  • Wraithknight gives me extra tank-killing shots and another (tough) close combat threat. Good tarpit unit, and really adds to my resilience.
  • Ravagers + Wraithknight all have good AP2 weaponry, and will kill tanks reasonably well. Hellions also kill tanks in close combat, despite the nerf to Furious Charge.
  • Yes, at one point I even ran Incubi. 
  • JetSeer just makes units around it better - Guide + Prescience + a good chance at a decent power from either Runes of Fate or Divination (roll on Fate first for one roll). Prescience on the Hellions is awesome, and Guide on a random vehicle is pretty reasonable as well.
Really, the plan is generally to get my vehicles behind terrain and have the Baron and company go make life hell (or at least, annoying) for opponents.

Here's my other idea

Dark Eldar (Primary):

Baron Sathonyx
Haemonculus

3x Wracks w // Venom w/ 2x Splinter Cannons, Grisly Trophies
5x Warriors w/ Blaster // Venom w/ 2x Splinter Cannons, Grisly Trophies

Ravager w/ 3x Dark Lances, Flickerfield
Ravager w/ 3x Dark Lances, Flickerfield
Ravager w/ 3x Dark Lances, Flickerfield

Eldar (Allies):

Farseer w/ Jetbike, Singing Spear, Shard of Anaris

20x Guardians w/ 2x Bright Lances // Wave Serpent w/ Scatter Laser, Holo-Field
20x Guardians w/ 2x Bright Lances // Wave Serpent w/ Scatter Laser, Holo-Field

Wraithknight

Refuse flank like a bandit!
Notes:
  • Really, just replacing the Hellions with lots of Guardians. Guardians are less mobile than Hellions, and less combat-savvy, but lots of rending, board control, etc. 
  • However, less ability to deal with high-toughness spam. Also, this type of list would really benefit if I just broke down and played Eldar (two Farseers, more Wraithknights, etc.)
  • 4 more Lance shots - really not a bad thing, generally
  • I could find room for some Swooping Hawks if I wanted

Thoughts? If you had to run Dark Eldar, how would you go about it?

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