Trueborn Builds

There's a few build's for the Trueborn that I've been looking at for dual purpose units.

(option 1) 3 Trueborn : 2 blasters, venom+sc : 131
(option 2) 3 Trueborn : 2 sc's, raider : 116
(option 3) 3 Trueborn : 2 dl's, venom+sc : 151

options 1 and 2 are very similar, both are mobile.
option 1 - two (24inch, moving) or (18inch, stationary) anti-tank, and twelve 36inch anti-troop.
option 2 - one 36inch anti-tank, and (eight, moving) or (12 stationary) 36inch anti-troop.
option 3 - (none, moving) or (two - stationary) anti-tank, and twelve 36inch anti-troop

Option 1 is standard, but I'm leaning toward option 2. I see more versatility in it.

I like the ranges and the loss in an anti-tank shot for longer range and cheaper seems to be a good idea. Also, if they lose their ride early; it could take a while for the blasterborn to reach out, but the cannonborn should be able to tickle something even if they lose their ride.

Is it a question of whether it is worth paying 15 points to change 1 vehicle darklance to two infantry blasters?

What are your thoughts on these setups?

Let me first go and say that for all the praise non-DE players give us for our amazing "kill a landraider" darklight weapons... We are shooting an overcosted missle launcher at most tanks. Yes, a darklance has a better chance than a lascannon at popping AV14, but we are shooting a S8 gun at AV 12 and under (which most tanks are) for the same price as Marines Lascannons... and they have a longer range.

That being said how we cope with this problem is we stack up on these guns because... we need to. I swear by the attage "you can never have enough darklight" and by saying that I mean it. My 2k list packs 10 dark lances, 17 blasters, and 4 heat lances on 12 platforms. So I would add as many darklight as you can possibly get without hurting your own playstyle.

That being said we have several options of how to field darklight. IMHO their are only 3 ways trueborn should be fielded, and 2 options are ok for a friendly game.

1st: The Blasterborn- 4 (or 3 if you need to save points) trueborn w/ blasters in a dual venom or raider: Like I said this is the staple of many dark eldar armies out there. Normally fielded in a venom to give the unit duality (trueborn for AT, venom for AI) but a raider can be used for even more AT potenial (and only costs 5 more points w/ flickerfields, or 5 points cheaper without!!!)

2nd: The Lanceborn- 3 trueborn w/ 2 dark lances in dual cannon venom or raider: This is pretty much the same job as the first, but sacrifices amount of shots for range. The problem with this is that while the venom gives some protection, you cant move to use the lances. Most people that run this normally just sit them down in cover somewhere, and have an empty venom or raider to vehicle block and help provide cover, but then they are weak to outflankers. Its not as widely used, but effective non the less.

3rd: Duke's Ride: 4 trueborn w/ 2 cannons, 2 shardcarbines in dual cannon venom: If you decide to use Duke (who is a decent choice alone) This is how you want to run him. Cheap and puts out a ton of shots which use dukes ability. Sure the venom doesnt get the upgraded poison, but your trading the effectiveness for how cheap it is. Also remember duke does have a blast pistol himself

Now for the friendly game options:

Duke's SUV ride: 9 Trueborn w/ 2 cannons, 7 shardcarbines in raider: This gives dukes ability a huge effective boost, the prohibative thing is its price cost, which I dont think will make itself back. It is going to be a big target though, and a raider isnt really that protective...

Assaulty Trueborn: 10 Trueborn w/ CCW Pistol, Dracon w/ Agoniser: Dont underestimate the strength of trueborn on the assault. They rock a ton of attacks, and can whipe most squads they hit easily. The problem being is they cant take a hit worth well... crap... better get them stuck in and get FNP quick.

Hate "Blasterborn" with passion.
I like 2 from original post. In fact, I include it into my test lists.
3 is kinda... silly when You can get Ravager for 2/3 of that price. Not the same thing but if You switch Raider with Venom, it's just dumb. GW: Lances should cost 15 points due to beeing heavy.

Unlike my esteemed colleague Local_Ork, I loves me some "Blasterborn". These guys and gals know how to get a job done. They can take out high AV vehicles reliably and if they need to, can toss out some ID on units that make use of wound shenanigans.

I have also found they work wonders as a distraction because your opponents will direct quite a bit of effort into bringing them down which allows you to get your units into some very beneficial positions. IMHO, offering your opponent a catch-22 screams Dark Eldar.

I run in my WWP-Army

-> Sliscus and his Splinterborn (7-8 TB with 2 SC + many Shard carbines) out of the portal
-> 2 units of 3 TB with 3 Blasters (one in a Venom w/ dual SC + Haem for WWP-delivery)

The Blasterborn are very likely to kill any vehicles in range - and the venom seldom gets shot at because of many more threatening targets around (Talos, Wyches and so on)

My splinterborn really profit from Sliscus 3+ poisened attacks and they deal a huge amount of fire (eh, splinters) on the move. On the downside: Just Sliscus Blastpistol is able to harm vehicles - but thats what my Blasterborn are for.