Hi ive been playing orks for about a year now and ive decided to try a different type of army in 40k.So i considerd Dark eldar or chaosSM i decided on dark eldar however ive never played any other army apart from orks.Is there any dark eldar players that can offer some advice on there strong points and there weak points.
Also what are wyches like and any fun tricks?

I've decided to take DE as another army as well.
As I go along I'll try to help out best I can, but I'm pretty much looking for advice as well.
Remember the Codex has been re-done so lists that worked in the past might not be so good now.
Key question at this time is...have you gotten a copy of the Dark Eldar Codex?

I play DE - and have had quite a few games, but still haven't tried everything... I'm leaning towards the models I've got presently, which is about 2 boxsets of each new type.

Mandrakes, I tried once, and prolly never will again, they seem to be totally ineffective. More of a psycological effect on your opponent than anything else.

Wyches, I like,lonts! along with Incubi, and Kabalite Warriors. My favourite unit I'm play testing at present are my Hellions. They do very nicely against most infantry and can reach almost anyone anywhere. Take the IC Baron Sathonyx with them to really help them along and also give them an Anti Tank busting capability also... S6 in CC.

The thing for me to get right is the blalance between Anti Tank and elements that will kill infantry. Presently I kill all the opponents infantry fairly well, but all the armour is left at the end of the game, running around tank shocking me and contesting objectives. Hard for them to win, but also for me as I can't stop them. I think I need one or two blast pistols or blasters in my list, to allow my infantry killers to carry out a dual role, once the infantry are dead. Or take out some infantry killers and take a 3rd Ravager.

Ah man, I've just rememberd Talos and Cronos are not skimmers/vehicles anymore, if they ever were... they can come out of a webway portal.... interesting tactical option there They could take on the armour as well as the infantry. Might try them again after the dismal performance coming on from my board edge they did last time I used them.

More as I find it... but as for an army to tax you, and make you think, these guys are very challenging.... my best army yet!.

KInG wrote:More as I find it... but as for an army to tax you, and make you think, these guys are very challenging.... my best army yet!.

That's what appealed to me. They look like an interesting army to play.

So far I just ordered some basic units, what I have coming is;
1 Archon
1 box Kabalite Warriors
1 box Reavers
1 box Hellions
1 Raider

I thought these sets would give me a basic army to 'get my feet wet' with and would get me started building the models without having soo much to build tht it would become overwhelming.

I thought of calling it "The Kabal of the Thousand Cuts" and using a color scheme something like this ↓



Will see how it works out.

I'll need another troop unit and don't know if I want to add another unit of Kabalite Warriors or a unit of Wyches.
But I have enough spare minis around to try a few "counts as" battles to try some different load outs.

Looking forward to more insight from KInG and any others.

The Talos was never a vehicle. The "skimmer" rule had nothing to do with vehicle skimmers. It was just a name to reflect how they moved in game and were described in the fluff.

Key question at this time is...have you gotten a copy of the Dark Eldar Codex?[/quote] Yes i do got one this morning.
i really need help to design a 600 point force thats effective in club based tourinment.
so far ive got a box of Kablite warrior box and thats it however geting another troop choice on monday

HAS ANY ONE GOT ANY IDEAS FOR A 600 POINT FORCE?

If it helps i play against most armies but the top 5 players i play use
1)chaos kited with meltas and i think defilers
2)space wolves these consist of blood claws
3)Imperial gaurd little to any tanks
4)orks these i faced with my ork army and it often went either wat
he also uses lootas
5)tau often 2 tanks and some kroot +fire warriors
almost but 2 almost never take tanks (imps and tau)

You need anti tank and the 1st choice would have to be the Ravager.

3 dark lances can take down anything with the correct roll... usually a 3 followed by a 5 to pen landraiders... or anything else armour 12+

then you want anti infantry. If you feel you are going to come up across MEQ (3+ save dudes) then Incubi will eat them in droves. If you are going up against lots of low T dudes, like guardsmen, then Hellions, Wyches, Kabalite Warriors, Mandrakes, Reavers, Beatmasters, Wracks.... infact just about anything in the DE codex... min initiative is 4 mainly 5, but watch out for your units with no frags, like Incubi... your opponent will use the cover to negate your high I. I use Whych and Incubi in tandem. Wyches come with Plasma Grens as standard. I start the combat with them and once started the Incubi can join them at their normal I even in cover.

As I have also been playing most of my units in 5s so they can make use of the 'Venom Gunship' These units of just 5 are great. U get more of them so your opponent can't stop them all. If the transports do get killed then you're usually in assault range with 'fleet' anyways as they have either DS you in or got you across the board 1st turn.

Wracks are great too. Put them with a Hermonculus, give them and him Liquifier guns, and see SM die by the droves, infact most units of infantry as they usually roll at least one flamer AP3 or better. As the Hermonculus and the Wracks start with a Pain Token, they have FNP and FC at the start. I take about 7 of them and put them in the Raiders to give me a bit more AT with another dark lance.

I always have a webway portal in the list too now. If you can get it down in the right spot, it makes your Hellions even more deadly. I choose to DS them. But they come thru the webway. No scatter and straight into the heart of the fighting. Never failed yet.

More as I learn it. I'm looking at alternatives to the Ravagers as my anti tank presently. I am now thinking about using the webway to also bring on my Talos/Cronos into poitions where they can assault tanks. S7 + 2D6 I think is better than S8 lance. Also wanna try some Heat Lances on bikes. One of them on the rear of a tank is also a better chance of damage as it is also AP1.

@ TW: love that dark red scheme, but not keen on the pink tabards. lol

I was thinking for a start to pick up a wych box and a Archon box this would give me my base 2 troops and 1 HQ are there any wrack model for sale at games work shop i couldnt see any?
Also any advice on how to deal with blood claws always found them a problem

blood claws... Space Marines right? Incubi all have power weapons. Are Int 5 and the sgt (Klaivx) Int 6. Try running them into them and see how they do.

Failing that you could always try a ravager with 3x disintegrators. S5 AP2 3shots each. It's fun watching SM players trying to hung the terrain, something they aren't really that used to doing. If you do this though, you will need to come up with some other ways to kill Armour.

KInG wrote:I start the combat with them and once started the Incubi can join them at their normal I even in cover.

I presume you mean in the following combat phase?

KInG wrote:I always have a webway portal in the list too now. If you can get it down in the right spot, it makes your Hellions even more deadly. I choose to DS them. But they come thru the webway. No scatter and straight into the heart of the fighting. Never failed yet.

I've not read the DE codex yet but...what? How can you declare one method of deployment for your reserves and then change it? Or did you mean something else?

EDIT....just read it. So the portal over-rides the normal rules ad allows you to declare one method and then use the portal instead.

Bloody Eldar!

mattjgilbert wrote:EDIT....just read it. So the portal over-rides the normal rules ad allows you to declare one method and then use the portal instead.

Bloody Eldar!

I think the Dark Eldar would take that as a compliment! Right before they gave you a paper cut and rubbed some lemon juice in it!

The more I look at them the more I like the options they have. But as KInG pointed out, you can't just march to the sound of battle with them. You have to really get comfortable with the hit and kill tactics.

@KInG - I'm not too crazy about the color of the tabard either, I was thinking more along the lines of pale flesh with a light wash of thraka green mixed with a bit of devlan mud to look like tanned alien flesh.

Will have to do a test piece first to see if I like the combination.

Oh and thank you for the post, lots of good stuff in there, much to think about building my army.
As I said, I just picked up a few 'basic' units to start with.

Where do you buy wracks and the model in the archons court?

niteterror wrote:Where do you buy wracks and the model in the archons court?

For those of you across the pond, I'm thinking Gaming Figures.

I have to resort to different suppliers over here. I don't think GF could ship me stuff for $5.95 (£3.77) postage!

There are no wracks out ... yet. Hopefully they will come soon. I'm using my old DE models and the "counts as" designation on them. They are the old Grotesgues. As the new Grotesques are now T5 I see them more the size of Ogryns on 40mm bases now, so the old ones make good Wracks... sort of the Grotesques 'little brother'.

I checked their sie and they don't even have them on anymore. They must surely be releasing them soon. I've heard Feb time for 2nd wave and then a 3rd wave before June/July.