So, you want to start Dark Eldar.

[Mecha]

Ok, so, Dark Eldar. They are pretty cool, no? I mean, each squad can either have two splinter cannons (asault 4), or two dark lances (heavy 1, str 8, ap2, reduces armor over 12 to 12). in addition, they can have two 12 inch dark lances, aka, Blasters. (pistol weapon). Thats just basic troop stuff, when you go into syrabite stuff, the weapon and wargear choices are nothing short of awe inspiring.

Given all of those awesome weapons, one would think that Dark Eldar would be an easy army to play, right?

Wrong. dead wrong.

Not only do they have 3 toughness, but they also have 5+ armor saves, which means, they dont get saves against bolters. Their main vehicle, the raider, only has 10 armor, so, if it gets shot, its dead, and your squad is dead. Squads can have 20 members, and if you arent mounting them in a raider, your going to do that. Remember: they have crap armor, so you will want cover, but with a squad that large, cover is hard to do. Their Codex is way old, so they arent on-par with the new books, (eldar, SM, etc) so you will loose more times than you will win agains them. And finally, the main weakness of Dark Eldar is the fact that they are near impossible to find. GW doesnt carry them in stores, nor do most gaming shops. There is always Ebay, but the modles are often expensive, and seeing as most lists contain 100ish warriors, or 6-9 vehicles, they are one of the most expensive armies you can play.


Dont let that discourage you, though. Playing Dark Eldar can be a fun and rewarding expirance. I mean, with what other armies can you nearly count on a third turn, or sometimes second turn total victorious slaughter? (not saying that that will happen every time, but a good DE player does that often)

More on the weapons, they have weapons that focus on eliminating a threat in more ways than shooting them to death. for example: Terrorfex. its a 12 inch launcher weapon, with a small blast template. the thing is, it doesnt damage anything. Every enemy modle under that template makes a moral check at negitive 1, i belive. Thats saved my ass more times than i can count.

Another hot piece of wargear is the Crucible of Malidiction. its a 24 inch one-time-use thing, that targets psykers and only psykers. Basically, if you are within 12 inches of an enemy psycher, open the crucible, and the psyker takes a leadership test at -1. if it fails, it is removed from the game, period. (alternitavly, if its more than 12 inches away, they take a test at +1, but still very handy)


In short, dark eldar have wargear/weapons to match ANY situation, it just takes some planning, and skill to pull it off.


now, if you feel that you are up to the challenge of being an Archon, (Dark Eldar leader), you should decide what kind of list you want to play.

There are two main DE lists, Normal DE and Wytch cult. I dont know muc about Wytche cult, but i do know that in that list, Wytches count as Troops, as oppose to Elites, but I do know the normal list and its vairants.

Normally, you would either Raider Rush (RR), which is 6 raiders, each with 10 warriors, upgraded weapons, and maybe a few jetbikes. this is really good, because raiders can boost 24 inches, and because they are open topped, you can assault out of them. (remember, you can put wytches in raiders, and wytches assault amazingly) NOTE: after you unload your warriors, position your raiders so that when they die (which they always do), they will act as a wall. raiders are nice and long, perfect for this.

The other variant is Webway portal (WWP). This is done with all of your squads starting in reserves, and you field very few units. (i usually do my Lord + Retinue, 3 haemonculai, and maybe some hellions as a decoy)

You then pay 50 pts for the webway portal wargear, (i put one on my lord, and one on the hellion syrabite)

when you feel the need to open it, you open it during the shooting phase. this is done by saying you will open your portal, placing a small blast template to act as the portal (has to be in base to base contact with the modle carrying it) that modle and his squad can do nothing else that turn, but your warriors in reserve can. they roll to come in (during shooting phase), you then place them, and they can still shoot. (i dont belive they can shoot the heavies, so no dark lance love). Normally, you would either open a portal in cover, or close enough to an emeny to destroy them outright in shooting.

(segway)

Now, to get started with DE, you will need to actually buy some modles, here are my reccomendations for the non-wytche cult army:
(assuming you have correct codex, the Dark Eldar one with the white 'Second Edition' circle on the cover)
Raider Rush:
start by buying 3 boxes of warriors (or as many as you can find on eBay)
then buy 4+ raiders. (they can get pretty pricey)
maybe get a ravager or two to use as decoys, or as nice gunboats.
personally, i would buy a few jebikes too, to keep the heat off your raiders till they are ready to die.

that should be a mid sized force, maybe 1600 if you gear it well.

webway: buy warriors. tons of them. at least 80-100 for a mid sized force.
buy a Lord (the female one is my favorite), and a full retinue of Incubi. (they are tough little guys, 3+ armor)
i also like to take a few haemonculai in this army, because 3 of them make up 1 hq slot, and they are all independant characters, meaning you can attach them to seperate squads.



(more to come)

[UltraMar]

WOW good job, um wow...

[themandalorian]

I'm still scared, maybe after i get my first army.

I've heard Dark eldar are very good if they're used correctly

[Dan296]

wow havnt seen this before, very cool!

[BrainDeleted]

I wish Mecha was still posting. He is great.