Dark Eldar: Making it work

Let's give this another go.

For a while now, I've thought about just putting my Dark Eldar army on hold until the new book.  Rumors have been circulating that we'll see a new book by the end of the year, but like anything GW-related, I tend not to hold my breath these days.  Even though I feel that the book is really showing its age, I've decided to get a list together and play a game of 7th in the upcoming days.

Before I get into the list details, I want to expand a little bit to why I feel the book is showing its age.

• First and foremost is the points associated with the units and how much bang for the buck you get for them.  When you compare likewise units from the newer books, you'll see that firepower increased or stayed the same, but the points have decreased from their previous incarnations.  When prices decrease and your firepower stays the same, this is a huge indication that you're playing with overpriced units.
• Second, is that the game has changed radically from 5th to 7th.  Many of the special rules that the Dark Eldar book associates with has been nerfed repeatedly either voluntarily or involuntarily.  What does this mean exactly?  Well, FNP is now 5+ from the 4+ it was before, explosions inside Open-Top vehicles is no longer S3 but is now S4, Night Fighting only giving Stealth, the inclusion of hull points, the vehicle damage chart changing to benefit all vehicles, Overwatch being a thing, Allies being included..etc.
• Third, is that while other armies get stronger and receive more toys, the power of Dark Eldar has declined from 5th to 7th.  It's been a constant stream of decline due to voluntary and involuntarily nerfs, but it becomes a double-whammy when Ignore Cover and Overwatch run rampant.  I believe Dark Eldar were designed to be a glass-cannon faction.  It moves fast, hits hard and cannot really take a punch unless you were clever in execution and cunning in placement.  Ignore Cover simply doesn't give a shit and Overwatch made our premiere assault unit (Wyches) look overpriced.  Not to mention that the new 7th Ed. Jink makes shooting relatively pointless on vehicles that are designed to shoot on the move.

While I understand there are a few good things to come out of these editions, I can't help but feel we got the short end of the stick here.  No matter, because I pride myself as a good player and I've beaten netlists throughout the editions with good plays.  As good ol' General Patton once said:  "Good tactics can save even the worst strategy."

At 2k points, here's what I plan on taking for my Dark Eldar/Eldar allies.

2000
19 kp

HQ:
Succubus (VB, Haywire) = 75
Farseer (JB, Spear, Mantle) = 160*

TROOPS:
5x Warriors (Raider FF/AS, Blaster) = 135
5x Warriors (Raider FF/AS, Blaster) = 135
10x Warriors (Raider FF/SR, Blaster, SC) = 195
10x Warriors (Raider FF/SR, Blaster, SC) = 195
5x Dire Avengers (Holo/SS/Scatter/SC) = 220*
5x Dire Avengers (Holo/SS/Scatter/SC) = 220*

FAST:
Crimson Hunter Exarch = 180*

HEAVY:
Ravager (FF) = 115
Ravager (FF) = 115
Ravager (FF) = 115
Night Spinner (Holo/SS) = 140*

With this list, I hope to accomplish two things:  Maximize on firepower, and maximize on Objective Secured troop choices.  I felt a good balance between the core army and Eldar allies was to maximize on poison shooting, Dark Lances, and bring enough high-powered shots as possible while still maintaining a good spread.  By that, I mean I have poison to cover MCs and high toughness, multiple all-purpose S6 shots from the WS, Ignore Cover shots from the WS, anti-air from the Crimson Hunter, Dark Lances from the Ravagers, and a Spinner to keep blobs honest.

For scoring, I have two durable ships in the form of the Wave Serpents, fast back-field lanceboats with the two Aethersail Raiders, and two fully geared Raider gunboats carrying full mans.  Also, I changed all of my Raiders and Ravagers from Night Shields to Flickerfields.  There's just too much Ignore Cover out there and sometimes, I will want to shoot over Jink on my Ravagers.  As always, I refuse to use the disgusting Haemonculi and I would rather see a Succubus run the show at a few points more.  It's purely for principle at this point.

Lastly, I think the Farseer will be rolling with Divination.. although the thought of Telepathy's Shrouding and Invisibility looks great.  What you guys think?  Looks pretty good to me.

My Dark Eldar in 7th

The gig is up.

It has been a very long time since I played 40K, mainly because of other hobbies and real life getting in the way.  Let's just say that I'm not a super huge fan of 7th:  They did a few things that were good for the game, but it mostly felt like a patch that to 6th Ed. that was released for full price.  I guess you can say that I'm not the biggest GW fan right now.  Even though I've been playing their games for 14 or so years, I dislike their business model, their prices and the direction that they're taking their company.

Despite all this, I still really like the army design and most of the lore behind it.  This got me thinking: Maybe I should break out my Dark Eldar for a little bit and maybe mix it up with some Eldar.  It's been a while since I've played and it will be my first game of 7th Ed., although I don't think much have changed.  The big ones for me are the changes to Jink, all vehicles got more durable (mine and my opponents), and the fact that most of my army scores now, including my dedicated transports.

When I look over my Dark Eldar army, it's pretty clear to me that the book is starting to show its age pretty harshly.  If you compare the Dark Eldar book to the Eldar book, you'll see that a lot of the units are overpriced in terms of cost and effectiveness.  With the changes to how Psychic powers are executed in 7th, having a psyker in my army is also very desirable, especially since the DE book was made in 5th when things were a lot different.  I think that overall, I need to re-purpose my army to fight the newer edition more than anything else.  It's quite clear that we need a new book (rumors say by the end of the year).

Whatever the case is, it looks like I'll be adding more Eldar to my Dark Eldar forces.