First few games, 2K

Last week I have had a 1K, then two 2K games, and am loving this new codex!

For several codices now my list has barely changed, as I run my army the way I like it rather than necessarily optimising it: I play friendly one-off games, neither competitive nor tournaments.

At 2K I want all three factions: stompy Coven in the middle of the table to start, shooty Kabal controlling the mid game, and Cult doing the mopping up.
I like MSU, and have gotten good at accepting lots of losses of models whilst keeping my eye on the points score.

Being able to mix subfactions has led to me making some unexpected Patrols:
My Raiders are in my Coven, giving them +1Str, taking their attacks to Str8, RTH6s doing extra hits, so wounding Marines on a 2+
My Reaver Jetbikes are in my Kabal as the Cult Fast Attack slots were full
My Beasts are in my Coven as they had no Fast Attack needs!
The lack of obsessions on those units are not missed.

So, here is my 2K list:
3 Patrols, 1,999pts, PL107, 14CP(none spent pre-game)

Poisoned Tongue
Archon, Blast Pistol, Triptych Whip (Warlord, Hatred Eternal)
10 Kabalites, 2 blasters
5 Incubi
5 Scourges, 4 blasters
3 Reavers, blaster (assumed 20pts each)
Venom single cannon

Cursed Blade
Master Succubus, Dancers Edge Glaive, Blast pistol
10 Blood Brides, Hekatrix power sword&blast pistol
10 Hellions
10 Hellions

Coven: Experimental Creations(+1Str), Splinterblades(extra hits)
Haemonculous
5 Wracks
3 Grotesquess
2 Talos Chains, Scalpel, Splinter cannons
Beastmaster
7 Razorwing flocks
5 Clawed fiends
3 Raiders, Dark lances

The Beasts are my spearhead: mid table, front line, prioritising a Turn 2 charge over keeping safe.
The birds are at the front, the Fiends trying to keep up, the Beastmaster trying to stay out of trouble. They rarely fail to tie up one or two significant threats, as they can wrap around Dreads, deny shooting to Eradicators, and when the Fiends hit they munch through most non-vehicles.

The coven will be doing a similar job, as the second wave: Again, mid table, front line.
The Talos lead, the Haemy just behind giving her Toughness bubble, and the Wracks wrapped around for LoS. They stomp heavily in turn 2, usually with an eye on objectives too.
If they survive to contact, they become a major headache!

Meanwhile the Archon with Grotesque retinue heads up one flank, the Succubus and her Brides the other, and the Kabalite Raider heading for its targets (this is usually one of my final deployments, as with DL, 2 blaster and 3+ poison, it's the most flexible offensive unit)

The 2 Hellion squads start defensively, safe at the back, scoring objectives turn 2 and deploying Scramblers. The Reavers sit between them.
Once the game starts to develop they pick a target, take Deadly Rivals, and then that Hellion squad dive and shred. Between Eviscerate, 20 poison shots, and Glaives rerolling hits, they are brutal against even tough melee units.

All in all it's a list that feels fluffy to me, with the atmosphere of a 3 sub-faction raid; the models in the "wrong" patrols feel justified (I may even have to build a new Beastmaster in coven aesthetics, and my Reavers are more like couriers for the Archon's orders rather than Cult fighters)

So far I have played two games with this list against a competent Deathwatch player with good lists, and have not found myself lacking any particular tools.

Comments welcome, errors I've made in particular!

I wanted to use quotes but I couldn't figure out multiquoting on my phone so bear with me.

You say you haven't spent pregame CP but you you do have two Relics, it also totally worth it to buy an extra WLT, at least for the Succubus.

The Archon cannot take the Triptych Whip, it's Succubus Only.


The rest pretty much comes down to preference, it's not a list I would run so I don't have much to say about it but I think it's cool that you managed to fit so many different units in it.

You may want to give the chapter tactics section of the DE codex another read thru. By mixing Kabal/Cult/Coven in the same patrol, the patrol will lose the benefit of Poison Tongue/etc. You can still use the WLTs/Relics/Strats, but you dont get the +1 poison, etc on ANY of those units, not just the added guys. The Custom Coven basically does nothing here due to the inclusion of the Fiends. Kinda a big deal actually.

Also, because your Warlord is a Kabal, and you did not go Realspace Raid (battalion), you dont have access to the Cult Relics (I assume that is a Cursed Blade Relic?). You can still do the WLT and Strats, but not the Relics.

Dark Eldar are a real "special snowflake" army with a butt-load of internal restrictions and synergies. It can be real complicated to figure out. If you are playing Garage-Hammer, and tell your buddies in advance, I am sure they would be fine with playing as-is. But be careful if you go play against a Random, they might get salty when you start winning

fisheyes wrote:

You may want to give the chapter tactics section of the DE codex another read thru. By mixing Kabal/Cult/Coven in the same patrol, the patrol will lose the benefit of Poison Tongue/etc. You can still use the WLTs/Relics/Strats, but you dont get the +1 poison, etc on ANY of those units, not just the added guys.

That's not correct. Only the (eg) Kabal units in a Kabal detachment get an obsession but having non-Kabal units does not make them lose that obsession. The non-Kabal units do not get their obession though.

@Count Adhemar, I cant find anything to contradict you, so you must be correct. My mistake, must be remembering something from a previous edition.

You still need to stand still to fire your rapid fire weapons at full range, right? (joking, that was 5th edition I believe)

It's worth remembering that 8e was an aberration in terms of restrictions to what you can put in your detachments. The 3e, 5e, 7e and 9e codexes don't have that.

Yziel wrote:

You say you haven't spent pregame CP but you you do have two Relics, it also totally worth it to buy an extra WLT, at least for the Succubus.

The Archon cannot take the Triptych Whip, it's Succubus Only.

Oops, thanks!
I think I'll happily drop the Archon down to a blade; she isn't there for serious damage, her Grotesques tend to manage OK for that. I don't throw them at tough things, more backfield holders.