One of the first things you'll notice about the Dark Eldar, IMO, is that they find it relatively easy to build in a couple of useful mini deathstars (anti-troop ones) that are quite durable all things considered, but still fairly cheap, and that still allow the rest of the list to MSU its way to a lot of redundancy and anti-inf/tank firepower.
In a free moment, this "lolzy" list came out of the brainpan
3 x Haemonculus w/ 2 Liquefier Guns - 170
4 x Grotesque - Liquefier gun, +2 attached Haemonculi, Raider w/ Ram - 215
3 x Kabalite Trueborn w/ Plasma Grenades, 3 Blasters, Twin-Cannon Venom - 139
5 x Wracks w/ Liquefier Gun, Raider w/ Ram - 125
5 x Wracks w/ Liquefier Gun, Raider w/ Ram - 125
5 x Wracks w/ Liquefier Gun, Raider w/ Ram - 125
5 x Wracks w/ Liquefier Gun, Raider w/ Ram - 125
5 x Wracks w/ Liquefier Gun, Raider w/ Ram - 125
5 x Wracks w/ Liquefier Gun, Raider w/ Ram - 125
5 x Beastmasters w/ 5 x Kymerae, 6 x Razorwing Flocks, 1 x Clawed Fiend - 245
3 x Reaver Jetbikes w/ Heat Lance - 78
3 x Reaver Jetbikes w/ Heat Lance - 78
Ravager - 105
Ravager - 105
Ravager - 105
So what does this list have (and it's untested, rough draft, mind you)? Well, the Grotesque squad is ... ahem, grotesquely vulnerable to S10; other than that, good luck ... the 2 haemonculi give you a few allocation tricks up your sleeve, the unit starts in a Raider w/ FNP, Fearless, and FC, and has 3 S4 APd6 Template attacks
The Beastmaster unit starts w/ a Haemonculi in it (who rapidly leaves and joins a Raider squad, leaving his pain token behind), and has allocation tricks galore - basically giving it immunity to ID from non-s10 weapons, a 4+ invul (it'll have a 4+ cover as well, b/c you know, you're not a bad player, right?), FNP, and tons of wounds to spread against basic CC attacks and small arms ...
On the charge it throws a retarded # of attacks, sorry on the BEAST charge ... 30 at I6 ranging from S3-4 (or higher w/ PfP up enough), a bunch from the fiend, and 36 rending at I5 from the Razorwings.
The army has 3 blasters and 16 Dark Lances, tons of template weaponry with variable AP, plenty of durable troops (T4 FNP to start, thanks!) to score and fight with, and a lot of annoying target priority issues.
Like DE of yore, it struggles in KP missions, but more and more you run into armies with plenty of KP themselves these days anyway.
Interesting... Very interesting. I see a lot of people getting excited about the Wracks and Grotesques. This is the first list with them that I've seen that I find actually interesting.
ReplyDeleteI definitely think the Dark Eldar book lends itself to "spammy" builds by virtue of the fact that you now need Raiders for Dark Lances more than ever.
I'll be interested to see what else you come up with as you dig in more.
Thanks Matt.
ReplyDeleteFor those that haven't looked at the dex yet, Wracks are basically space marines w/ 2 poisoned CCW and a 6+ armor save, but who start the game w/ FNP (a single pain token); the liquefier gun is a S4 APd6 template weapon
Grotesques are statistically very similar to Ogryns, but with the poisoned CCW instead; they are also bulky like ogryns, hence only 4 in the squad
The Beastmaster unit includes a variety of things in it ... the Kymera are basically 4++ S4 little beasties with 3 attacks at I6, the Clawed Fiend is I think 4 attacks at I5 S5 w/ T5 W4 and a 6+ armor save, but gains an attack for each wound it suffers ... the razorwing flocks are T3 W5 swarms w/ 6+ armor saves, and 5 attacks base at I5
By starting a Haemonculi in the unit, which is an IC that starts w/ a pain token, you can separate him and in doing so forcibly split your tokens, and put the remainder where you wish, so basically just give away his token to the Beasts to start, giving them FNP off the bat. Helpful at the least, no?
With beast movement, allocation giving you de-facto FNP, 4++ and 44 wounds, this unit is much more frightening than a kitted Thunderwolf Lord, much more durable, and at 245 points cheaper than most of them come out at.
I like it. I'm not sold on the Grotesques per se but I can see their uses. The thing I have access to (since I haven't been back to GW in over a week) doesn't say they have poisoned attacks. Which in my opinion is good, 4+ re-rollable isn't as good at St6 on the charge. The wracks are solid and I like taking units of them.
ReplyDeleteYou've touched on my new pet love! Beast Masters! I'm trying to find ways of incorporating them into my lists that I like. Are the swarms WS5? Everything I've read says WS4 which isn't saying much as it's a pretty minor unit in the codex and people could just be assuming it's 4.
Overall, I like it. It's a good place to start with playtesting in my opinion. Let me know how it goes!
They are WS4 across the board in the Beast squad.
ReplyDeleteIt's debateable if beasts get the benefit of power through pain, personally I hope they do but not all opponents will accept it. Otherwise I like the look of the list...I'd probably swap the reavers for another elite choice though.
ReplyDeleteQuick note on the beastmasters... Maybe there ruling is elsewhere that I didn't read, but only the beast master himself has power through pain, none of the beasts do. Does that confer FNP to the beasts too or just the master?
ReplyDeleteYeah, after reading it, I don't think any of the beasts get the rule.
ReplyDeleteSpecial Rules (Entire Unit) Night Vision
Then it lists the following... to me that would read only the beast master can get PfP
Beast Master - PfP
Claws Fiend - Bestial Fury
Khymera - 4++
Razorwing - Whirlwind of Blades
Grr. I didn't want to take beasts because they're dumb, but this is making me reconsider...
ReplyDeleteWhether the beasts get the bonus of the pain token is iffy. I can see how some people read it as such, but I don't think it was meant to be played like that.
ReplyDeleteWhat I'd like to see if 2 warrior squads in this list. I think you lack ranged poison shooting. 2 squads in a raider with a blaster and splinter cannon would be nice I think.
Relax, GW is ready with their nerf bats, or nerf bazookas!
ReplyDeletePretty much what I was thinking Mike, thanks for working out some points for me, but no Venoms? Teh shocks
ReplyDeleteCorrect myself - 1 Venom
ReplyDeleteI'll probably mess with the points a bit and get rid of some Wracks for some other stuffs.
This is by far not a "best of," so go for whatevs IMO ....
ReplyDeleteI think the Venoms are kinda crap, myself; use lances to de-mech your opponent, then run him over with a pair of beast squads or really whatever you please ... but maybe I'm just crazypants. Weapons that can never harm vehicles in any way, shape or form but on the Venom kit cost 5 points more than a Raider kinda strike me as meh. I'd rather flex out more anti-infantry in other ways.
Think about it ... 65 points for 12 shots that are just AP-irrelevant bolters vs. marines, AP-irrelevant (due to cover proliferation) vs. guardsmen, AP-irrelevant ... vs. ... grots. I know poison is good, but lances and such will help you nail MC's and the like either way.
DE transports still don't compete IMO w/ Chimeras or even Rhino/Razorbacks, you pay a premium for their speed and the weaponry, and remain ultra fragile even when SMF.
IN short - take DE transports b/c you have to for the unit in question, or to give you flex across your FOC ... don't try to spam twin-SC Venoms just b/c you think they're "good," b/c IMO they really aren't.
ReplyDelete