DE: Archon bubbles and vehicle deployment

School's in session.  Listen or die!

Alright, I hope my crappy ass camera with Primsa edit made this a little viewable.  At least the table is the right size so things should be better in scale.

The point of this article is to show off a few tips here and there about deployment and about how to successfully wrap your powerful attack vehicles around your 6" Archon bubbles.  You would be surprised how easy it is to actually get your Archons into a good position so you can start utilizing these massive benefits.  While I completely get the frustration that certain players have that you can't use this aura while inside vehicles, or the fact that our Venoms are still stuck at a 5-man capacity, I'm here to tell you that everything is going to be OK.

It doesn't have to be this extreme.

First, I want to show off this deployment type.  It doesn't have to be exactly like this, and of course, this is a bare naked table with nothing on it, but I want to showcase the long and thin deployment.  Our vehicles are extremely thin and our threat range is extremely long.  Our most powerful weapons such as Dark Lances and Dissies both have 36" range and we have obscene movement on all of our vehicles.  With a 14" move on the Ravager, this gives us a combined threat range of 50" base without any Obsidian Rose or Flayed Skull buffs.

When you deploy, depending on where you set up and where your opponents set up, you will almost always have the ability to nullify a lot of their firepower if you deploy on the board's edge.  In Pitched Battles such as this one, deploying on the edge can give you some serious advantage when it comes to outranging their most powerful weapons.  Remember, the total vertical length of the table is 48", and distances will only increase once we start getting into diagnols.  Whenever I get to a table and look at the terrain, I go full rainman for what my opponent is fielding and where he puts them down so I can deny his every advantage.

Also, please note that the Archon was able to get out of the Raider and move 3"+8" for 11" total movement on the disembark.  Look how far he's able to make it up to the table when a Raider deployed behind the Ravagers in the middle/right of the table.  This is without him Advancing, so you can just imagine how well Dark Eldar can move on foot compared to others.  Learn this, remember this, and don't be afraid to Advance for some extra range just so you can get his bubble into play.  With enough experience, you will be able to move him first after doing a quick measure of your furthest vehicle, so you know that if you move that, everything close will be in range to move towards your Archon's buff.  Don't worry, this will come more natural the more you play.

Taste the salt.

Take a look at this picture here.  My friend is measuring distance for Hellblaster units behind his Land Raider.  The upset look on his face is when he realizes that I parked 37" away from his Plasma Incinerators.  Why does this upset him?  Because even with a 6" move and 30" range, no matter what he does, he will not be able to engage me with those guns.  This right here is what every experienced Dark Eldar player does since the old days of Night Shields (-6" to opponent's range), and why this is an exceptionally important skill for all new generals to learn.  The best form of denying damage is by giving them no chance to deal damage at all.  It sounds almost like a joke at first, but I'm absolutely serious when it comes to understanding your opponents' most lethal weapons, the ones capable of destroying your vehicles, and then countering them with attention to range detail (anti-threat).

Measure twice, move once, that's the rule.  The same could be said about my Razorwings on the opposite sides of the table.  Aside from his Land Raider, there was nothing in his entire army that had the range to reach them.  I absolutely cannot stress this enough:  I don't care if you have to measure every single gun (within reason) from the other guy's army, ask them the weapon ranges (you will learn in time) so you can deny damage while planning to counter-attack on your turn.  This is why movement, weapon range, and thus effective shooting threat range is so important.  It's so you know how you can inflict the maximum amount of damage while taking little to no damage in return (by outranging, by denying LoS, or by gaining cover).  That's pretty much a mini-game in itself for Dark Eldar generals.

Now you see me..

Another deployment trick I like to do is isolate pockets of fire and line of sight.  I purposely pulled some tissues up to block the sail, but I wanted to show you the difference between deploying wider vs. narrow.  It's extremely important for Dark Eldar players to examine the terrain on the table in relation to their greatest threats.  Directly in front of the tissue box (immediate left of the Raider) is a unit of Devastators at ground level behind cover.  In this first picture, the Devastators can draw onto the Prow and the Aft of the Raider, just catching the rear sail.  It's important for you to analyze at all times exactly why you're seeking shelter and from what weapon specifically.  If there were bolters on the other side of this tissue box I might not care as much.

Now you don't.

When you straighten the Raider out, he can no longer see you at all unless he moves, and even then, only a few guns will be able to draw Line of Sight.  This is also hugely important for Dark Eldar players:  Force your opponents to MOVE their heavy weapons.  Unless they have some amazing rule that allows them to stabilize their weapons, they will suffer an aiming penalty.  We can move and fire most of our heaviest weapons for free for a reason, and that is a HUGE boon to our army compared to many others.  Not even our Eldar cousins have this luxury, and this should not be forgotten nor underestimated.

Look at that range!

Ignore the Dark Lance from the Ravager for a second and just look at how long 6" actually is.  For your reference, the Raider above the Archon in the middle is within 6" and so is the Raider on the bottom.  The only thing that is not in range is the Raider on the lower left.  Keep in mind that Raiders and Ravagers have the Hovering rule; which lets you measure the distance to and from the model's hull for the purposes of the bubble.  You don't count the gun (although some people argue against this), you only count the gun when you shoot, but since all of our vehicles are a mile long, you can get quite a bit of range if you fly your vehicles in a certain way.  You can literally fly them backwards if you want because 8th Ed. is designed to be.. immersive and engaging?

If your opponent ever gives you shit about Ravager's gun placement, show him this:

Please turn to Pg. 57 of your Codex for maximum salt.

And yes, I even bookmarked that shit for you (pg.57).  It's from your book and it's fluffy.  In case you're wondering, a Raider is about ~7" long from Prow to Aft depending on if you're counting the rear sail or not.  This allows you to be in bubble range and extend your weapon range out pretty long distances while still getting the benefits from the Archon's re-rolls.  Realistically, you can pull off some pretty ridiculous bubbles such as this one.

Look at everything in the army that gets Living Muse!

I literally fat-stacked my entire army into the range of the bubble except for that one Raider on the bottom left of the screen.  Oh, and that stupid Ravager that's still pointing his gun at the Archon threatening to kill him.

Real game example.

Here is another example of what this looks like in an actual game.  The red circle is the Living Muse and the yellow circle is another Archon.  At this point, all my Dissies are in range of the 6" of the Living Muse and only those two Raiders at the top of the picture are out (but within range of the other Archon).  When you have this much speed and maneuverability, you can pretty much do anything.  For the Razorwings especially, once you make this convergence on the first turn to benefit from Living Muse, they will fly away from the rest of the game pretty much.  That's fine really because the first turn when you converge should be the turn where you inflict the most damage.  This is especially true with flyers because you'll probably never get a second chance.  Your first turn should be your greatest opportunity to inflict a massive Alpha Strike with a shooty list.

Counter-deploy against cheeky assaults.

The last picture I want to show you guys is some flyer hacks and defensive deployment shenanigans used against those pesky alpha assault armies.  Some important numbers in here depending on who you're fighting.  Assuming that we're playing Pitched again (every mission/deployment is different), we're going to turtle up into the corner like this.  The reason for this is to outrange as many of their guns as possible on the opposite side of the table.  Next, we're going to concave our fighters around our ships as much as possible.  You do it just enough so that the distance from your closest Raider is outside max possible charge distance (12.1"), and then you give yourself some more distance with the Razorwings.  This pushes their deployment of 9" out further from your vehicles, making the only targets they can realistically charge the fighters.

If they don't have Fly, like in the case of Genestealers, they're screwed.  Against Flyrants or Blood Angels, you push out your Fighters more so even with pile-in and consolidate (7.1" total), they can't reach your Raiders.  If they do commit, make sure you punish the hell out of them.  What your opponents often don't realize is that closing in on all those Blasters and Poison shots is actually beneficial for you.  Don't forget that in massive counter-attacks against over-extended foes, it's almost always worthwhile to disembark with your Warriors and unload on them with Archon buffs active.

DE: Powerful builds for your HQ

You know you're in some shit if someone points.

This one is going to be a short one since we're going to be primarily focused on the use of HQs.  One thing's for damn sure:  I feel that we have some fantastic melee HQ options for the price.

Here are some my favorites so far:

• Archon, Labyrinthine Cunning, Writ of the Living Muse = 72 base
• Archon, Hatred Eternal, Djin Blade = 76 base
• Archon, Famed Savagery, Djin Blade = 76 base
• Succubus, Blood Dancer, Adrenalight, Triptych Whip = 54 base
• Succubus, Hyper-swift Reflexes, Adrenalight, Blood Glaive = 54 base
• Succubus, Precision Blows, Adrenalight, Triptych Whip = 54 base
• Haeomculus, Diabolical Soothsayer, Vexator Mask = 75 base

Let's start with the Archons.  You've all probably seen me take the Archon with Cunning and Writ of the Living Muse in my lists.  That's because it's one of the most powerful Warlords in the game for the points IMO.  Cunning is absolutely fantastic at regenerating CPs whenever a CP is spent for both you and your opponents.  For DE, I find that some of our Strategems are a little costly, especially that Agents of Vect counterspell that costs 3 just by itself.  With Cunning, you can do some really crazy recycling that can help you sustain the longer gameplan:

For example:

• You don't want a 2-cost Strategem to go off so you throw out Agents of Vect.
• Before you even put AoV down, you roll 2 dice for his Strategem for Cunning.
• Next, you AoV and since you just spent 3 CP, you roll 3 more dice to see if you get any back from Cunning.
• Agents of Vect then takes effect, hopefuly blocking his Strategem.
• In this example right here, you're probably going to get back a CP from just playing the game regularly.

When you play Black Heart, you almost have to bring Writ of the Living Muse.  It's one of the best buff batteries in the entire game and enhances the damage potential of every single Black Heart unit within 6".  Everything within this distance gets re-roll 1s to Hit and Wound that that is a huge damage amplifier, especially on things like Dark Lances and Disintegrators when you absolutely need to hit with your more expensive damaging weapons.  Living Muse simply gives you consistent damage and that's exactly what you need to turn your very good shooting up a notch to exceptional.

As for melee Archons, I see two main options here:  Both of which have the Djin Blade of course which is just an upscaled Huskblade.  Hatred Eternal gives you more consistent results via re-roll all wounds in melee but the Famed Savagery Archon from Flayed Skull gives you great burst damage.  With Famed Savagery, you have 8 S5 AP-3 D3 attacks that hits on 2s with re-roll 1s.  Personally, if I was to pick one of the two, I would go for more consistent damage with the Hatred Eternal Warlord trait.  There are bonus points in the fact that Hatred Eternal is a generic WL trait and thus doesn't lock you to any particular Obssession.  As for arming the Archons further, always seek out the Blaster first since you have a fantastic BS2+ and Blasters are amazing with their S8 AP-4 D6 damage from 18" (24" for Obsidian Rose).

I whip my hair back and forth.

The Succubus went from one of the most overcosted units in the entire game to arguably the most cost-efficient melee blender in the game.  I'll start off by listing the Blood Dancer variant that comes with 9 attacks hitting on 2s, re-rolling 1s, and each Hit roll of a 6 turns into 3 Hits instead of 1.  On the regular, she can throw out something like 14 attacks with an Agonizer (Poison 4+ AP-2 1D) and that's just obscene.  Against single wound models, she is almost guaranteed to wipe out entire squads by herself.  She just reminds me of the Blenderlord that I ran for Vampire Counts back in the days of Fantasy.  To make things even more exciting, once you hit Turn 3+, you can activate these multiple hits on a 5+ instead of 6 because of the PFP chart.  The only downside here is that she's a Succubus and she just explodes if anyone swings back at her because she only has a 4++/6+++ with T3 and 5 wounds.  Regardless, LO_OK at her points cost!  For 54 points, she's an absolute steal.  I can't help but hear this garbage ass song whenever she enters combat.

Other variants of the Succubus are also really strong; such as the Blood Glaive Succubus with 5 attacks with Adrenalight dealing S6 AP-3 D3 damage attacks.  I've seen this particular variant built two ways really; with either the Red Grief specific WL trait of 3++ or with Stimm Addict with Grave Lotus and Adrenalight.  This gives her 5 attacks at S7 which is now a serious threat to virtually all targets including light vehicles.  Again, 54 points of awesome.

Another variant I want to introduce you to someone who might be our best duelist.  She has 9 attacks with the Whip just like the Blender because she's from Cult of Strife (for +1 attack), however instead of Blood Dancer, she has the Precision Blows WL trait.  When you're hitting with 8-9 attacks every turn, you're going to be looking for 6s that can just do straight mortal wounds in addition to the regular wounds inflicted with an Agonizer.  That's very good.  For all these Succubus, I highly recommend taking a Blast Pistol on the Blood Glaive Succy to take advantage of her superior BS2+.  Funny enough, the Precision Blows Succubus can still do mortal wounds to Vehicles and Titans.

Never trust someone with 5-6, 7? arms.

Lastly, we have the Haemonculus that you will probably see most frequently if you're planning to take Coven units and Alliance of Agony for 1 CP.  This is because Diabolical Soothsayer essentially pays for itself immediately and you can get 2 more CP if you roll well (D3 in total).  Sure, you also get that once a game re-roll for your Warlord, but no one really cares about that because you also gain access to the Vexator Mask.  This thing is actually pretty hilarious.  You can basically take this Haemonculus and just charge into something to tie it up because they cannot use Overwatch on you.  You can then charge your Wyches into them for free without any fear of OW fire.  To make things even more enjoyable, the mask also gives an enemy unit with 6" of the Haemonculus ASL essentially, making them strike last after all other units have gone int the Fight phase.  That's just funny considering the amount of melee boss HQs we have in the Codex.

What are some of your favorite HQs to bring?  I know I've been extra boring with the Black Heart Archon, but hey, it's been working so why not!

DE: Don't lose focus when building your army

Stop making bad army lists!

First, I'd like to welcome a lot of the newer players joining the Dark Eldar.  We got a fantastic new book and there's a lot of things to learn.  However, one of the things I want to warn you about is that Dark Eldar is NOT a beginner's army.  There is a lot of tricks and nuances to the army that when managed poorly, will cause you lose many games.  Take it from me, I started with DE back in 3rd Ed. 40K and I actually received most of the army from a friend that was quitting it.  He warned me that the army was tough as shit and that he was tired of losing.  Thankfully for me, I've always wanted to start playing them and I absolutely love a challenge.  Coming from a competitive RTS background, 40K was basically a Power Point presentation of StarCraft.

OK, fast forward almost two decades and here I am.  Still playing the Dark Kin but with much more experience.  The next couple of paragraphs will be me trying to explain how to be a more successful Dark Eldar player in 8th Ed.  This is something you just have to trust me when I tell you:  The army is very simliar to previous editions, but the edition itself is very different.  Things die a lot quicker now and the alpha damage potential from other armies out there can be just as mind-blowing as ours.  In some cases, it might even be more potent, so you just gotta listen up, check the ego, and brace yourself for something that might sound harsh, but it will win you a lot of games.

STOP losing focus when building your army

This starts at list creation and this is a byproduct of having really cool units and being spoiled by choice.  I'm not saying that Dark Eldar have unit choices up the ass, no, that's not what I mean.  I mean that one of the biggest mistakes that newer players make is building their army in multiple different directions that branch away from their army goals.  Before you build a list, you must have goals in mind.  The goals should not be something as broad as "go kill your enemy", it should be something more specific with the exact tooling that you will need to get the job done.  Maybe it's just my min-maxy ways as a competitive RTS player, or maybe it's my Program Manager genes being tossed into a game, but I'm telling you right now that whatever list you bring, it must have purpose.

What do I mean by this?  I mean if you intend your army to shoot the enemy dead, it must do that and do it very well.  If you want to assault the enemy dead, it must do that and do it very well.  When you start building your list to do a little bit of everything, that's when things go to shit.  The new 40K articles and Realspace Raid requirements for all these little fucking patrols all over the place doesn't make things any better.  I'm absolutely serious about this:  Go read some of my earlier articles where I'm constantly complaining about HQ tax.  HQs, in our army is not very cheap, especially when you look at the Archon and the Harmonculi who are ~70 points.  I wish I can link you guys to some army lists I've seen on the internet so far with naked Archons all over the place without transports.  What's the fucking point?  You're literally spending 70 points for the dude to sit there and look stupid or the rest of the battle.  Succubus are the only HQs I would recommend for a cheaper HQ unit that can do some work, but that's not the point here.  The point here is that your list must be focused to do something well, and do it exceptionally well.  This is why I think that my pure Kabal all shooting army is still my strongest variant of the Dark Eldar and that my Kabal/Cult Succubus whip-my-hair-back-and-forth list is just for fun.  I know that it is weaker because it doesn't do anything exceptionally well.  Remember again, if you pay for something, make sure it does something.

Let's break it down some more.  You can start by looking at the damage potential that the list provides from a firepower perspective and then you can examine it from a melee perspective.  Can your melee components outfight other armies melee components?  I don't think so.  It does a pretty decent job at it, but Wyches aren't exactly a unit I would write home to mom about.  What about shooting?  Well, because you subbed in Wyches, you are taking away from your shooting component so it's definitely not as strong as a pure shooty force.  This makes you extra succeptible vs. the likes of Tau, AdMech or other pure shooty armies with a higher Alpha than you.  This puts you at an immediate disadvantage and forces you into a shooting attrition war which you will almost certaintly lose.  Playing defensive is not Dark Eldar's speciality, and even if they have some units that can do that, they are considered the outlier for what the army IS truly good at, and that's shooting.

Don't get me wrong, it's not all doom and gloom yet.  I will talk about some awesome and cheap melee units that we can bring forth shortly.

Yup, this can be you!

STOP using CPs as list-building requirements

Stay the hell away from those multiple Patrol armies with overinflated HQs.  Do NOT fall into the trap of building up Patrols with a bunch of useless HQs because you want the CP.  That's almost as bad as building a Brigade just to realize that you bought a crap ton of units but don't have the points to equip or use them properly so they end up being fuckall useless once they hit the battlefield.  Remember:  For every unit you buy, make sure it counts for something.  I'm not saying to be allergic to melee or not branch out into Coven units to hold objectives.  I'm saying don't go overboard and be mindful that more you pull your army into different directions, the weaker it will be at doing any one thing.  If you do want to make your army multi-faceted, make sure that it does both of these things as well as it can.  Just don't try to go in all 3 directions that the DE book is painfully telling newer players to do with all this Patrol garbage.

Don't believe me?  Do this:  Try and CP whore and build a Brigade army list for DE, as competitive as you can.  Then show me the firepower that the list can put out with respect to range vs. what the total number of wounds look like with respect to toughness and saves.  I am willing to bet that that army cannot fight its way out of a piss-soaked paper bag.  When I try and ask people why the hell they need CPs as a requirement to build an design armies, they always give me the same piss-poor answer:  CPs win games (thinking multiple uses of Agents of Vect).  Yes, you're correct, well-timed and properly used CPs can win games, but I don't see Agents of Vect shooting or actively killing your opponent's units from the start of the game.  The only thing that can do that effectively are your units and you should not be handicapping yourself by locking into some rigid army structure just for CPs.  Agents of Vect is not going to save your ass from a Admech gunline, so you might as well drop all the shitty MSU Scourges and Reavers that are just going to explode and do nothing for you.  Not to mention you can get close to Bridgade level CPs with some good list tweaking.

Likewise, I'd like to see a triple Patrol list with Kabal, Wyches and Coven in there and it try to be competitive.  It will be decent at best, but never as good as a list with just Kabal/Cult simply because you're trying to do too many things at the same time.  Real talk though, let's take some of my own shit and dissect it on a Haemoculi table.

Check it out.  It starts with an idea, and then I'm going to braindump onto this page:

• I've been throwing out the idea of taking Flayed Skull recently just so I can play with a killy Archon AND a killy Succubus.
• I'm going to accept the risk that I will be losing some firepower in this list, but hopefully two killy HQs will allow me to make up that killing power.  I just need to make sure I can keep this HQs cheap and killy.
• Let's take an existing Skeleton list that I have and then turn it into something that has a strong melee component that has good synergy with the rest of the list.
• The entire army has to move fast and apply good pressure so it can overwhelm the enemy's fire priorities.  It's a go big or go home list.

OK, now let's break this down into actual game terms:

• Killy Archon for me is the Famed Savagery + Djin Blade that can get 8 attacks at S5 AP-3 D3 wounds that hit on 2s with re-rolls to hit.
• Killy Succubus for me is the Blood Dancer + Triptych Whip, Strife and Adrenalight that gives me 9 attacks at WS2+ re-rolling 1s and every hit of a 6 turns into 3 hits with an Agonizer.
• I'm going to trim down as much as I can from my firepower to make room for these badasses and give them a full retinue of Wyches to accompany them in Raiders.
• I need extra weapons and Warlord traits, so I'm going to need more CP to activate Alliance of Agony for the Blood Dancer and possibly more Prizes from the Dark City.
• Now, let's make the entire army move FAST.  Really fast, so we're going full YOLO over here.  Keep in mind that through playtesting, I can move these boats under the Black Heart Spearhead to get those additional FNPs.

1999 // 10 CP

Flayed Skull Battalion +3 CP

HQ:

Archon, Djin Blade, Blaster = 93

Trait: Famed Savagery

Archon, Huskblade, Blaster, PGL = 96

TROOP:

10x Warriors, 2x Blaster, SCannon = 104

10x Warriors, 2x Blaster, SCannon = 104

10x Warriors, 2x Blaster, SCannon = 104

PARTY BOATS:

Raider, Dark Lance = 85

Raider, Dark Lance = 85

Raider, Dark Lance = 85

Raider, Dark Lance = 85

Raider, Dark Lance = 85

+++

Strife Battalion +3 CP

HQ:

Succubus, Adrenalight, Whip = 54

Trait: Blood Dancer

Succubus, Painbringer, Agonizer = 54

TROOP:

8x Wyches, Grave Lotus, Agonzer, BP, Shardnet = 83

8x Wyches, Serpentin, Agonzer, BP, Shardnet = 83

5x Wyches, Hypex = 40

+++

Black Heart Spearhead +1 CP

HQ:

Archon, Living Muse, Agonizer, Blaster, PGL = 94

FLYER:

Razorwing, 2x Dark Lance = 145

Razorwing, 2x Dark Lance = 145

HEAVY:

Ravager, 3x Dinsintegrators = 125

Ravager, 3x Dinsintegrators = 125

Ravager, 3x Dinsintegrators = 125

>>>

Firepower:

9 Dark Lances at BS3+

9 Disintegrators at BS3+

6 Blasters at BS3+

3 Blasters at BS2+

2 Razorwing Missiles at BS3+

3 Splinter Cannons at BS3+

25 Splinter Rifles at BS3+

The TLDR is this:

• Don't branch out too much, you will lose focus and detract from your army goals.
• Trying to be too many things will make your army suck and do nothing well.
• Stop building shitty army lists focused on CPs.  Units win games, not CPs.
• If you must branch, do 2 things decently well instead of 1 thing really well.

I realized this was part-guide and part-rant, but it needed to be done.  Have a good night all.

DE: Extending threat with Obsidian Rose

Looks like meat is back on the menu boys!

One of the ways we're going to min-max my Black Heart Kabal list is to explore other Obsessions.  I've already got myself a rock solid list, the only thing I'm going to do now extending the threat range.  We just have to make sure we have enough units in a detachment to buy enough dedicated transports and the right mix of Obsessions.

What I'm going to do is turn the majority of my Blasters and Kabalite troops into Obsidian Rose.  This gives them 6" more range on all their weapons; which gives them 24" Blasters and 30"/15" Rapid-fire Splinter Rifles.  After, I'm going to stuff as many of them as I can into Black Heart Raiders so the 6+++ makes them harder to kill.  I can do this because all our transports have the Drukhari keyword and no Obsession specific ties.  This allows me to mix and match our Obsessions to get the most out of our units.

Quick note:
In case you're wondering, I think Flayed Skulls' extra 3" movement can be nice for more Wych-oriented lists using Raiders as the delivery mechanism.  Just keep in mind that not every Obsession works with others.  It just happens to be that Obsidian Rose and Black Heart's bonuses work simultaneously, without conflict and in perfect concert with one another.  It's a match made in hell.

Don't fret guys, this is very much with the fluff and it looks like it's intended.  We're supposed to be able to mix and match different Kabals, Cults and Covens to make a better army.  I think, if I'm to be completely honest, that people are just so used to Dark Eldar being a punching bags of the fucking game that all of a sudden, everything is question when we're suddenly powerful.  While I can see crap like the infinite CP loop and Agents of Vect not requiring Black Heart units as a problem, this is something I see as intended.  Just think of it as bribes and deals being struck before the battle.

Anyways, I didn't mean to rant.  This is what the updated list looks like:

1999 // 8 CP
Obsidian Rose Battalion +3 CP

HQ:
Archon, Agonizer, Blaster, PGL = 94
Archon, Agonizer, Blaster, PGL = 94

TROOP:
10x Warriors, 2x Blaster, Dark Lance = 114
10x Warriors, 2x Blaster, Dark Lance = 114
10x Warriors, 2x Blaster, Dark Lance = 114
10x Warriors, 2x Blaster, Dark Lance = 114

+++

Black Heart Spearhead +1 CP

HQ:
Archon, Agonizer, Blaster = 91
Warlord: Cunning, Living Muse

TROOP:
7x Warriors, Blaster = 59

PARTY BUS:
Raider, Dark Lance = 85
Raider, Dark Lance = 85
Raider, Dark Lance = 85
Raider, Dark Lance = 85
Raider, Dark Lance = 85

HEAVY:
Ravager, 3x Dinsintegrators = 125
Ravager, 3x Dinsintegrators = 125
Ravager, 3x Dinsintegrators = 125

+++

Black Heart Air Wing +1 CP

FLYER:
Razorwing, 2x Dinsintegrators = 135
Razorwing, 2x Dinsintegrators = 135
Razorwing, 2x Dinsintegrators = 135

Stalk thy enemy.  Slay thy enemy.

Increasing overall threat range is exactly what we want as a shooty army.  It gives greater distance between our fragile units and our enemies, and allows us to easily threaten even the most heavily armored units in much greater volume.  Extra range allows us to set the tempo of the game and control our opponents through the use of kiting and forcing desperate situations.  With Strategems such as Fire and Fade, you'll be able to pull off some amazing circumstances that your opponents will surely loathe you for.

Let's take a closer look at our Firepower with respect to Range:

15 Disintegrators at BS3+ at 36"+ range
9 Dark Lances at BS3+ with 4 of these shooting from 42" range
9 Blasters at BS3+ with 8 of these shooting from 24"+ range
3 Blasters at BS2+ with 2 of these shooting from 24"+ range
3 Razorwing Missiles at BS3+ at 48"+ range
41 Splinter Rifles at BS3+ with 28 of these shooting from 30" range, 15" Rapid-fire

The pluses at the end of the range represent all the unaccounted movement.  As you can see here, extending the range of our weapons is primarily to benefit the multiple Blasters I have in each unit.  If you think about it:  Moving a Raider within 24" of something pretty much turns the thing into a Ravager with Dark Lances.  You get the extra S8 AP-4 D6 damage shots at full ballistic skill and if you have Archons nearby to give re-rolls, all the better.  The one thing I want you guys to take away from all this is that extra range is always good for a shooty army.  You want to be able to control the battlefield with your movement and through sheer firepower.  The extra threat range gives us the ability to control virtually any engagement as long as it's favorable for us.  This is control at its absolute finest.

I hereby decree this list as the Kabal of the Black Rose using the units that I've selected.

DE: A different take on Wyches

I mean sure, why not?  Let's give these girls another try.

Maybe I have been going after this all wrong.  I've been thinking to myself for a while now:  How do I get Wyches into my army while still being effective.  Well, maybe with Succubi down to 54 points with an Agonizer, it's time to start bringing more HQs, in general, to make up for this loss?  What about Wyches?  Should I go big or go small with them?  If I go big with them, they certainly take advantage of their Obsession bonuses and Combat Drugs more, but they lose out on their ability to be easily transported by Raiders.  I feel that's a big loss because you need something that can reposition them when they need to around the battlefield without exposing them to enemy fire.

The more I think about it, the more I want to try MSU Wyches instead of running larger units of them.  My reasoning is this:

• What do they really gain after they pass their min units really?  There's definitely more bodies to soak up during Overwatch, but that's about it.  It's only when they get to 10 do they get to take additional Wych weapons.  However, if you take 10, you can't really fit more in the Raider now, can you?
• If you keep them in min units, not only do you fill out your Troop choices easier, but you can take more Agonizers and Blast Pistols in a squad.  For example, you can run 2x5 and get double the amount of Agonizers and Blast Pistols.  The only downside is that your drugs are going to be more dispersed.
• For smaller units, it's really the HQs that do the most heavy lifting.  I guess you should start asking yourself what are you really using Wyches for?  IMO, the more competitive lists can kill MEQ just fine by shooting them to death, so what are you doing with them?  At this stage, I think we're just styling.

I think that kinda settles it:  I don't think Wych units are all that competitive, but they're not terrible either.  Reavers are some of the best units in the codex I think, but the Wyches themselves are decent at best.  Regardless, I think you can take a setup that is cheap enough, especially from an HQ perspective, that you can afford to take a Battalion for them if you're planning to use them in the first place.

Quick note:  I think Strife and Red Grief are the best for this.  They both have really nice Warlord Traits.  Strife gives you Blood Dancer and the 9-attack Succubus build with the Whip, whereas the Blood Glaive is just a fantastic weapon to have.  In general, I see +1A is very useful all around, especially with Agonizers because Strength doesn't matter for it and neither do Blast Pistols.  As always, I think anything that can Advance and Charge and re-roll the results of both after T2+ is just amazing.  I am definitely more inclined to take these two cults over Cursed Blade.

This is what I mean:

1990 // 10 CP
Black Heart Battalion +3 CP

HQ:
Archon, Agonizer, Blaster = 91
Warlord Trait: Cunning

Archon, Agonizer, Blaster = 91

TROOP:
10x Warriors, 2x Blaster, Dark Lance = 114
Raider, Dark Lance = 85
199

10x Warriors, 2x Blaster, Dark Lance = 114
Raider, Dark Lance = 85
199

10x Warriors, 2x Blaster, Dark Lance = 114
Raider, Dark Lance = 85
199

PARTY BUS:
Raider, Dark Lance = 85
Raider, Dark Lance = 85

+++

Black Heart Spearhead +1 CP

HQ:
Archon, Agonizer, Blaster = 91

FLYER:
Razorwing, 2x Dark Lance = 145
Razorwing, 2x Dark Lance = 145

HEAVY:
Ravager, 3x Dinsintegrators = 125
Ravager, 3x Dinsintegrators = 125
Ravager, 3x Dinsintegrators = 125

+++

Strife Battalion +3 CP

HQ:
Succubus, Adrenalight, Whip = 54
Warlord Trait: Blood Dancer

Succubus, Painbringer, Agonizer = 54

TROOP:
5x Wyches, Agonizer, BP, Shardnet = 59
5x Wyches, Agonizer, BP, Shardnet = 59
5x Wyches, Agonizer, BP, Shardnet = 59

>>>

Firepower:
12 Dark Lances at BS3+
9 Disintegrators at BS3+
6 Blasters at BS3+
3 Blasters at BS2+
3 Blast Pistols at BS3+
2 Razorwing Missiles at BS3+
25 Splinter Rifles at BS3+

Face it:  There's nothing that this list can do that the pure Kabal list can't do from a pure damage perspective.  Killing things at range is satisfying for sure, but killing them in close combat with some of the most ridiculous melee heroes in the game so far might be very worthwhile as well.

So what does deployment actually look like?  Well, the 2x5 unit of Wyches goes into a single Raider while all the Archons and Succubus pile into another Raider with the rest of the Wyches.  Yes, 3 Archons and 2 Succubus go into a Raider:  The beginning of every dirty film.

From there, you just treat the 2x5 unit as a single Raider unit while remembering that you will probably get murdered if you try assaulting before you Raider gets a chance to get in there first.  You charge in with the Raider, tie up whatever was trying to shoot your ass, and then run your naked girls in for some good damage with Agonizers.  Don't forget to bring you super killy Succubus along for the ride too.  The Archons can come if they want, but most of the time they will be running around the rest of the Kabal spreading good stuff 6" bubbles while totting Blaster fire down on your opponents.  However, always remember that they're not shy to getting their feet wet, so if you need them to take on a big unit of MEQ for whatever reason, hook them up with some Huskblades and throw them into the fray.

I'm just going to leave this list right here and let it marinate for a while.  This is just a theory list and I think it can do pretty decent.  One thing's for damn sure:  10 CP sure makes me happy.

DE: Dark Eldar list building advice

Alright boys, school's in session again!

Warning: Long-ass post ahead.  Get ready to read, or not, up to you.

Alright everyone, this is the long-awaited guide for how to build Kabal and Cult lists with the new book.  This is my personal advice for building lists and I know the book is still super young, but please bear with me.  I have over a decade of competitive Dark Eldar play and have been doing this game for a long time.  I've played through the bi-polar 3rd edition book, enjoyed the awesomeness that was Phil Kelly's 5th, to the god damn terrible flavorless books of 6th and 7th.  Now I'm back after playing extensively with the 8th Ed. Index and now the time has finally come:  The 8th Ed. Codex is here.  What can I say?  I've been enjoying the hell out of the book so far.  Of course, there are some misses just like every other book, but there are also a few things that are absolutely great.  I want to tell you what those great things are.

Brainstorming is one thing, but having played 5 games already, I'm feeling damn good with what we have now compared to the garbage we had before.  For the most part, I can only speak from my experience so far using Kabals, pure Kabals, and minor using Cults.  The last game that I had was using some minor Wych support again (dual Raiders), but there's also some opportunity over the weekend to bring in my Eldar for some more rigorous games.  This Dark Eldar pain train has no brakes and I don't see myself stopping any time soon.  I'm back and excited for the first time in a long time.

Without further bullshit, let's get down to it.  This is how I think we should design a successful list.  Keep in mind again, I'm primarily a Kabal player but I dabble heavily in Cults.  Check my old school 5th Ed. articles if you don't believe me!

All in all, there are 6 key steps:

1. Define theme and list goals
2. Build a unit bucket to accomplish those goals
3. Build a skeleton list
4. Balance your list's firepower
5. Perform a firepower analysis
6. Min-max your list and adjust

Here is my recipe for success:

The FIRST thing you should do is come up with a theme and set yourself up with some list goals.  Do you enjoy shooting a lot and heavy firepower from range?  Do you like more melee and assault units?  Do you like a lot of resilience and having great attrition and durability?  Check out this earlier post of mine for ideas for how to pick a theme.  If you come to this blog a lot, it's probably because you like shooting shit to death and assaulting once in a while.

Also part of this exercise is to come up with list goals.  These goals are what you aim to accomplish with your army that is similar, but more specific than your theme.  If you chose speed and firepower for example, what units would you take to get this done?  What Obsessions are you going to focus on?  What are some of your must-have and must-includes?  Sometimes, these must-haves don't have to be completely competitive in nature.  People have pet units all the time, as in units that are not really competitive but they take them in every game because their girlfriend painted it for them, or maybe they like the fluff, or whatever else.  These are just some of your own personal must-takes.

I'll provide you with my example for list goals:

• Must be "pure" Kabal
• Must have Cunning and Agents of Vect
• Must have amazing Alpha and follow-up (1-2 punch)

Side note - Aesthetics are important:
Remember this above all else:  Build the army you enjoy aesthetically (this includes theme).  I can't stress this enough.  I've taught GW Academy for years and one of the first things I teach to anyone jumping into the hobby is to pick the army you enjoy visually and thematically.  You will be building these units, painting these units, listhammering with these units, and playing with these units for a long time.  You will bond much faster with the army if it's the same one you wanted from the get-go.  You invest a lot into this hobby and quite honestly, money is the last thing I think about.  It's the time and energy that really stands out, and that is what will drive your need to improve your game.

Still with me?  Good.

The SECOND thing I suggest you guys do is to build a competitive unit bucket.  No, seriously, get out a piece of paper and write down all the units that have the most impact on your game.  It doesn't matter what it is, but it should look something like this:

Archon, Blaster = 89
5x Warriors, Blaster = 47
5x Trueborn, 4x Blasters = 123
Venom = 65
10x Warriors, 2x Blaster, Dark Lance = 114
Raider, Dark Lance = 85
Razorwing, 2x Dinsintegrators  = 135
Ravager, 3x Dinsintegrators = 125
...etc

These units should have their costs laid out according to the bare minimum for what you will never leave home without.  Everything else is considered EXTRA points and therefore LUXURY.  You only add points when you have your skeleton list in place.  You don't build a house with all the bells and whistles first.  You must lay the foundation with what you know for sure works and go from there.  I will always, especially to new players, recommend they write their unit costs and abilities on pen and paper over something like BattleScribe.  BS is great and I'm not a dinosaur:  I only advocate the pen and paper route because it helps build familiarity and knowledge with your units so you're not reliant on your applications.  Think about it like driving to a new place to work:  Do it enough times and it will stick; the same could be said about unit stats and point costs.  Yes, I wrote all those above off the top of my head.

Side-note: Warriors, 5 or 10?
Always take 10 unless you need the cargo space in a Command Raider (space for your HQs), intend on taking Venoms, or you don't have enough points.  Obviously, if you take a Venom you're kinda forced into a 5-man getup, but otherwise always take 10 because it unlocks the heavy weapon choice.  The only time I would not recommend taking the heavy weapon is if you need a Battalion happen with 1 more Troop choice for example.  Since you can fit 2 5-man units into a single Raider, you can spend the points to pile into the same transport.

Die, filthy Mon-keigh.

The THIRD thing you should do is build a skeleton list.  What I mean by this is to put down the list that will make your list work at a bare minimum.  For starters, I will always recommend following a Battalion layout because our Troops are actually good, and we'll want to have Archons in our list for those sick 6" bubble re-rolls.

The one thing to keep in mind here is redundancy.  You want to make sure that you're not taking 1-ofs everywhere unless you're experimenting or going for a very specific goal with a very specific combo.  Only when you can't make something redundant due to points restrictions do you hold back.  This is why most competitive lists tend to look spammy, but this truly is the most effective way to build lists that are durable and threatening.  Single targets are easy to isolate in terms of targets and you want to increase your threat level by giving your opponent a larger array of dangerous targets.  The more you make them think of the game, the higher your chance of winning.  This is because the more things there are to think about, the higher the chances they will make a mistake and therefore, make a poor decision that will benefit you.

A sample skeleton Battalion:

HQ:
Archon, Blaster = 89
Archon, Blaster = 89

TROOP:
10x Warriors, 2x Blaster, Dark Lance = 114
Raider, Dark Lance = 85
199

10x Warriors, 2x Blaster, Dark Lance = 114
Raider, Dark Lance = 85
199

10x Warriors, 2x Blaster, Dark Lance = 114
Raider, Dark Lance = 85
199

There you have it.  This is all I'm going to take to reach Battalion requirements so you can unlock that sick +3 additional CP.  You want CP to be a factor in your game, but it should not be a requirement.  You should not enter list building with a mindset that you're going to shoot for 9 or 12 CP or something like that.  You run the risk of taking a lot of ineffective units that do not jive with your theme and/or doesn't provide your army with the kick that it needs to be effective.  How do we determine what's effective and what's not?  Well, for one, look at what other people take and write about (such as this blog) and above all, experiment yourself in your local meta.  I don't know what's best for your friends or enemies, but I can sure tell you what I personally find to be great.  If we want to put some data behind this, we'll have to do a firepower analysis, which I'll talk about in a bit.

Side note - Raider vs. Venom:
There's a lot of discussions about which one is the better choice.  Frankly, this depends a lot on your meta first and foremost, but it also depends on whether or not you need the cargo space.  With the new book, the Raider got a massive points drop so it's more comparable to the Venom (who also got a points drop).  If you do some quick addition, a 5x Warrior squad with a Blaster in a Venom is 112 points vs. 132 from a Raider with a Dark Lance carrying the same units.  The only big difference there is not durability, it's actually about the armament and purpose.  The Dark Lance is an anti-tank weapon whereas the Venom is better at killing infantry.  However, a Raider has the ability to take Splinter Racks and Disintegrators as well so I would say that it's generally more flexible.  Keep in mind that unlike the Raider, the Venom does not degrade in potency once it takes damage.

Slayin' ain't ez.  For Dark Eldar, it is.

Now that you have a skeleton list established, the FOURTH thing I would do is to balance your firepower.  What do I mean by this?  I mean you should always build for balanced lists.  Don't go too heavy in any one direction (anti-tank vs. anti-infantry), try and balance it out so you can fight a multitude of different foes.  I like to think of this balance as the PUG-ready list.  This meaning that you can show up at any local game store and throw down the gauntlet for who wants to take a beating at 2K points.  You should then feel confident that no matter what the other dude puts on the table, you should feel like you have a decent chance to win if you're playing right.  I'm not even going to talk about potential mismatches where you show up and want to play with like a 7/10 power level list and the other dude has 9 bubble-wrapped Ravagers or some other shit next to his Adepticon Tryhard trophy.  No, we want to build lists that are nice and balanced against similar-minded opponents.  That's where the true challenge of the game is at.

So what does this list expansion look like?  Something like this:

2000 // 8 CP
Black Heart Battalion +3 CP

HQ:
Archon, Agonizer, Blaster, PGL = 94
Archon, Agonizer, Blaster, PGL = 94

TROOP:
7x Warriors, Blaster = 59
Raider, Dark Lance = 85
144

10x Warriors, 2x Blaster, Dark Lance = 114
Raider, Dark Lance = 85
199

10x Warriors, 2x Blaster, Dark Lance = 114
Raider, Dark Lance = 85
199

10x Warriors, 2x Blaster, Dark Lance = 114
Raider, Dark Lance = 85
199

10x Warriors, 2x Blaster, Dark Lance = 114
Raider, Dark Lance = 85
199

+++

Black Heart Spearhead +1 CP

HQ:
Archon, Blaster, PGL = 92

HEAVY:
Ravager, 3x Dinsintegrators = 125
Ravager, 3x Dinsintegrators = 125
Ravager, 3x Dinsintegrators = 125

+++

Black Heart Air Wing +1 CP

FLYER:
Razorwing, 2x Dinsintegrators = 135
Razorwing, 2x Dinsintegrators = 135
Razorwing, 2x Dinsintegrators = 135

What I did here was:  Look at my skeleton list and build on what was missing.  I calculated the points there and added in competitive units from my unit bucket that covers my list's weaknesses.  I wanted to add more killing power through ranged attacks so I added Ravagers and Razorwings.  I'm on a Dissie kick right now because of their killing potential (and I recommend them too!), but I also caution that we should balance that around with some Dark Lances.  Lances are better against heavier targets, but you can always supplement that shooting with a high volume number of Dissies.  Again, this is a meta call:  If your meta is saturated with IG Tank spammers running dirt-cheap Brigades, show up with a list with 20+ Dark Lances and feel no pity.  You shouldn't anyway!

Add the core elements from the unit bucket first before adding on anything else!  All the PGLs, Agonizers, and even extra 2 Warriors that started from a unit of 5 in a Command Raider is LUXURY.  It is not part of what you consider a core part of army construction and should be purchased only when you have spare points.  A mistake that I see people do after so many years in the hobby is going upgrade heavy on a single unit.  DO NOT do this!  Buy everything barebones for it to be fully functional (as in, does it fulfill the role you bought it for), then add on the upgrades only after you've done this with everything else in your list.

Pro-tip: Always buy PGLs on your BS2+ Archons and Succubus first.  All you need is for them to hit and you're golden.  Why not hit with the best chance you have?

Side note: Dissies vs. Dark Lances:
I like data and mathhammer for determining which targets you will frequently encounter and which weapons you should take to deal with them.  Generally, the Dissies are much better now for the cost than they were before, but you will still need Dark Lances to punch through that T7/T8 and to deliver those killing blows with burst damage (6 on a D6 for example).  Check out the calculator that I linked to analyze what targets saturate your meta and prepare for it accordingly.

Take no prisoners.

The FIFTH thing I do at this point is to double-check my math and weigh in your firepower.  You do this by performing a firepower analysis of what you have on the alpha with respect to the range band.  You do this by listing out all your weapons (including ranges if you want), their Strength/AP/Damage if you don't know them by heart, and the BS that they're shot with.  You don't need to write absolutely everything, you only need to write what you think is the most relevant.  It should look something like this:

Firepower:
15 Disintegrators at BS3+
9 Dark Lances at BS3+
9 Blasters at BS3+
3 Blasters at BS2+
3 Razorwing Missiles at BS3+
41 Splinter Rifles at BS3+

For me, I've been playing this damn army enough to know all the stats of these by heart, but if you want to get more elaborate you should follow my formula above.  Write out all the stats, on paper (it will help you remember) with how many, from what range, at what BS, and what their stats are.  This will also help you during deployment so you know what you can realistically dish out from your total THREAT range, which for shooty armies, is your move + your weapon's range.  Don't forget that most of our shit is open-top and our guys inside should factor into that equation as well.

This exercise right here is also a damage/gear check.  Just like a raid boss in an MMORPG, you should have something that tells you if you're putting out enough damage for the points.  If you're at 2K points and not within half of what I'm throwing out here, you know that you're at a huge disadvantage if I'm going first (Alpha).  This can also tell you if you're CP whoring and your list is actually "ineffective" at putting down shots down range.  From all the games I've played in 8th, I can tell you that the damage and lethality of the game is a lot higher than it was in the previous editions.  Everything tends to die really quick and there's a much larger emphasis on getting those potential backbreaking blows in the first couple of turns.  This is why the firepower analysis with respect to range bands is important:  You need to know what you can do on your first turn from as far away as you can (because you're wearing T-shirts flying around in paper planes), and what you can do as a follow-up strike when you get near your opponents.

The example here is that by looking at the firepower analysis above, I know that:
I can open at 36" range (14"+36" for 50" threat from my vehicles, with my Razorwings being pretty much unlimited range) with 9 Dark Lances at BS3+ if no one moved, less if I moved due to -1 to Hit for guys inside moving vehicles, 15 Dissies, 3 Razorwing missiles.  I know that if I move all my Raiders up into max range, and my opponent also moves up, potentially next round I can bring 12 additional Blasters into play in addition to X amount of Splinter shots.

This right here is how you should think about playing out your game.  I'm not saying go full rainman on your opponent and trip out midgame, I'm saying that you should be aware of all your weapons ranges so you can better prepare for the next turn and maximize your damage potential.

Pro-tip:  If you're up against a list with higher "alpha damage" than you, it's best to deploy defensively and seek shelter and line of sight blockers.  Alpha damage is someone's killing potential in that first volley of the game.  You want to be highly aware as a Dark Eldar player if you're at a disadvantage here.  You literally afford to eat shit like the other races.  Likewise, you should also be aware when you have the firepower advantage.  This means you can afford to be more aggressive (for that 1-2 punch) if you're the one with the alpha advantage.

Cult of Strife is just.. beauty and pain incarnate.

The SIXTH AND FINAL thing I do now is:  Count up the CPs AFTER the army is complete and see what more I can squeeze out of them.  This is the min-maxing portion and where I spend 70% of my list construction time.  This is because a lot of this comes from experience building lists as a primary aspect of my hobby, but also because a lot of this comes from post-battle reports where I sit back and think really hard about what changes I want to make.

For example, I ran a very similar list during my first game with the new book and that's with a Venom.  However, after playtesting, I found the Venom to be kinda lonely and didn't really serve too much of a service except for the Blaster guy inside.  I thought this through and came to the conclusion that I would rather have another Archon to unlock a Spearhead Detachment to bring my total CP up to 8 from 7, at a cost of a few Poison shots for sure, but I gain a better BS2+ Blaster, another PGL, and another 6" bubble.  The costs were very similar: 112 vs. 92, so the 20 extra points for me was even more worthwhile because I gained a CP at a net "loss" of a few Poison shots.  This is also when I go back and tweak those "luxury" upgrades to different units or replace them with things I feel works better against my opponents.

Welp, I think that's it.  Just keep in mind that this is not meant to be a definitive guide to the Dark Eldar book in the new edition, but it was more like a brain-dump of how I go about building lists that so far, has been working great for me.  Of course, feel free to let me know what you guys think, and I welcome you all to learning the game with me in the next couple of weeks!

DE: Black Heart Kabal with Alaitoc allies

Eldar brings the pain.

With the new book coming over very soon and with my experience with it so far, I've decided to visit some old comrades of mine to see how they can benefit us to the fullest.  One thing's for damn sure:  Our cost savings have been huge and Black Heart Kabal has been absolutely fantastic for me.

To give you guys an idea how kick-ass Black Heart has been, last night I must have saved at least 15 or so wounds from rolling those 6+++ on my vehicles over the course of THREE turns.  I also started with 5 CPs since I was trying a hybrid Wych build and taking extra Relics and Warlord traits, but ended the game on T3 with 4 CPs AFTER casting a counterspell and multiple Cunning rolls on all the Strategems that were being thrown out.

I stand by firmly what I said before:  Kabal of the Black Heart is the best Kabal.  It's just too flexible and gives you a fantastic amount of protection for free.  The Wych Cult that I brought yesterday was also freaking insane.  I had a unit of Wyches with the Succubus in a Raider and the Succubus herself with the Whip and Blood Dancer threw out 14 freaking attacks (6s to hit turn into 3 hits!).  Check out the article from yesterday to get some better insight into my thought process there.  Sure, my friend had SS Termies eating all those Agonizer wounds (I think 9 or so) and saved like a boss, but if they were any single-wound model, she would have annihilated everyone.  That felt awesome.. especially since you can look at her cost and just shake your head how cost-effective that is (she's 54 points).

With that said, I've been having a blast with Dark Eldar so far.  They feel like they're in a good place so how do we turn it up a notch?  Well for one, we should look to our nearest kin who is CW Eldar.  Harlequins is right around the corner and there might be some good synergy there, but let's first look at what Psykers can bring to our army.

Here's the list:

1999 // 7 CP
Black Heart Battalion +3 CP

HQ:
Archon, Agonizer, Blaster, PGL = 94
Cunning, Living Muse

Archon, Agonizer, Blaster, PGL = 94

TROOP:
5x Warriors, Blaster = 47
10x Warriors, 2x Blaster, Dark Lance = 114
10x Warriors, 2x Blaster, Dark Lance = 114
10x Warriors, 2x Blaster, Dark Lance = 114

+++

Black Heart Spearhead +1 CP

HQ:
Archon, Blaster, PGL = 92

HEAVY:
Ravager, 3x Disintegrators = 125
Ravager, 3x Disintegrators = 125
Ravager, 3x Disintegrators = 125

PARTY BOATS:
Raider, Dark Lance = 85
Raider, Dark Lance = 85
Raider, Dark Lance = 85
Raider, Dark Lance = 85

+++

Alaitoc Patrol +0 CP

HQ:
Farseer Skyrunner = 135
Doom, Mind War

TROOP:
5x Rangers = 60

FLYER:
Hemlock Wraithfighter = 210
Jinx

Hemlock Wraithfighter = 210
Jinx

+++

Firepower:
9 Disintegrators at BS3+
6 Dark Lances at BS3+
7 Blasters at BS3+
3 Blaster at BS2+
26 Splinter Rifles at BS3+
4 Heavy D-Scythes at Auto

Yes, I was always an Alaitoc player.  Said no Eldar ever.

Here's what the Alaitoc Patrol offers:

• Hemlocks - These things are insane with the -2 to Hit from Alaitoc and their auto-hitting S12 AP-4 D2 damage weapons.  Not to mention they can Smite, have Jinx and have built-in Spirit Stones.  Let's also not forget that they debuff leadership within 12" of them and that works very nicely with our sped up PFP table thanks to Black Heart, PGLs and Mind War.
• Doomseer - This is damage consistency at its best.  The Skyrunner gives you movement to keep up with our army and Doom is arguably one of the best spells in the game.  It drastically increases the killing potential of all of your units on a single target and works perfectly with Disintegrators due to needing 5s in some cases vs. heavier armored targets.  This works very nicely in conjunction with Jinx because you're just increasing damage so much higher, turning Dissies into AP-4 in most cases vs. 2+ armor or removing that cover save bonus.
• Mind War - With leadership debuffs, you can actually get this off pretty reliably and kill key targets before they ever get a chance to hit your lines.  When you have the right kinds of debuffs, this becomes a much more reliable Smite that can seriously threaten even the most daunting of foes i.e. Magnus.
• Psychic Protection - Let's not forget that the Farseer can dispel twice a turn and so can the Hemlocks.  Enough said there I think.

Sure, I lose firepower overall, but I also gain Heavy D-Scythes that are utterly ridiculous in their own right.  I also gain the ability to turn up the damage big time on key targets when I want to and that cannot be underestimated.  What do you guys think?  Is this more powerful than pure Kabal?