Balanced beginner list!!

Hi everyone!
So i'm starting off DE and i wanna get an army pieced together so i can play against my friends. I'm aiming for a list thats aiming more for a shooty side, but won't get overwhelmed in assault. I'm playing mostly against smurf space marines, but i want it to be flexible so i don't get overwhelmed if i play against another army. I'm building this out of very limited experience so I'm open to ALL suggestions.

Duke Sliscus
Kabalites x9

Raider
Dark Lance
Splinter Racks
Night Shields

Wyches 9x
Razorflails 2x
Hekatrix
Venom Blade

Raider
Dark Lance
Night Shields

Trueborn 4x
Blaster 4x

Venom
2nd Splinter cannon
Night Shields

Reavers 6x
Heatlance 2x
Cluster Caltrops 2x

Ravager
Dark Lance 3x
Night Shields


Thats my list for now. The following is a description on what i'd like the roles of each unit to be. Again, i'm basing off of very limited experience!

Duke Sliscus is supposed to be with the 9 kabalites, in the raider, acting as a gunboat. I originally had a splinter cannon in there, but then i swapped one model for duke, and can't have it anymore. The unit will fly around enemy troops, shoot the crap out of them with the splinter racks, and Duke's 3+ roll. And then the night shields make it so that the enemy hopefully is out of range. I wish that i could have the SC for more shots!

The aim of the Wyches is to get to the enemy as quick as possible, get out and rush them, hopefully destroying most of the unit, while the raider parks itself sideways right in front of an enemy, and is mobile terrain and cover for my wyches. If they shoot at me, they'll probably blow it up, and damage themselves in the process, if i don't i can shoot at them next turn. I wanted the wyches to wipe out hte enemy unit quickly, but i couldn't decide hydra gauntlets or flails. I figured that since i'm playing against smurfs, they average 1 attack each so theres no need for the shardnet/ impaler. Normally for me, my rolls fail alot, even if i get extra attacks, so the razorflail can help me ALOT.

The blasterborn will act as a gunboat too. The 2x SC's in the venom can also take down infantry if i need it. Again, the night shields reduce the enemy's range, so they can't shoot me.

Reavers will be focused mainly on bladevaning, I'll move 12" turboboost up to 36" and jump right back into cover with the extra 6" eldar jetbike move. I'll also do move- shoot-move with the eldar jet bike movement.

Last but not least, the ravager will fly around enemy tanks and just repeatedly shoot them. Also, a great sub if my blasterborns die. The nightshields prevent enemy troops from shooting, but won't do much against vehicles. I need to improve on that.

(I was actually wondering if i should change one squad and put a trueborn squad with splinter cannons and shard carbines, taking duke with them. If it's a small squad, ill put them on a venom with 2x SC's. The duke gives so much! )



Ok so now i've got my long list down, i can finally go take a break! I was actually aiming for it to be 1000 pts or under, so if there's anything i don't need, tell me! Also, if there's anything i missed out or need, do tell me too! I appreciate any help at all. I know this list is newbish because i'm new to DE. If there's any tactics i can use with one of the units, tell me please! Thanks so much guys

I would personally drop the trueborn for another troop choice. Troops are what wins you the game, and the more you have, the better.

Dont put both caltrops and heat lances on your reavers. This duality you give them comes at a huge price, and when you use one, the other isnt being used, making it a waste of points. Most people choose the AT weapons over the AI bladevanes, and only use bladevanes as something to do while they set up for another shot at a tank.

Other than that, I would say try the list out. Its definately not optimized at all, but being a beginner, I say try it out and see what you like about it, and work your way from there.

What do you think of the Duke's gunboat? Any way i can improve on that? Since the duke only gives the poison bonus to one unit, i want it to have as much splinter firepower as possible. Also, how else would you customize the list? I appreciate your thoughts on it, and taking from your opinion, id like to make it more optimized.

Would actually squads of 5 in a venom with dual SC's work better?

I think you need more scoring units as well.


I you want to maximize the poison shots at 3+, you could take

3x Trueburn w/ 2 Splintercannons, Venom + Extra Splinter Cannon. that is 24 poisoned shots at 36 " range.

That should net you more than a unit of 9 Kabalites even when rapid fireing.

Taking shardcarbines on this unit is a no go for me at least, because of the shorter range than the Splinter Cannons.

I haven't play tested it myself, but am planning on doing so in the future.

If you wanna go all out of course, then i guess you could take a 9 man Trueborn Unit with 2 S.Cannon and 7 Shardcarbines wich equals to 33 poisoned shots. But personally i wouldn't go with that because of the high price tag on that unit.

the dukes upgrade only works on the weapons of the kabalites, not on the weapons on their vehicle. I'd say stick with the unit you have. Anything else gets very expensive very fast or would require you to alter your playstyle dramatically. From a mathhammer point of view the duke is best with 20 kabalite warriors with 2 splinter cannons in cover... but that unit is static and doesn't suit your list at all. Stick with the gunboat in your case or switch to a regular HQ instead of the duke if you want to alter something.

Ah, of course, there is that. But i'd say it's debatable when it comes to range.

12 shots at 36 " that wounds at 3+, In addition to 12 shots that wounds at 4+ at 36"

For the the gunboat there is 9 Shots at 24" that wounds at +3, Re-Roll To Hit.
and 18 Shots at 12" range that wounds on 3+, Re-Roll To Hit.

On average you will get more shots in the early part of the game while not running too much of a risk of an exploding transport wich can leave you with only an expensive HQ and 3 warriors making the armor save.

Just a thought that occurred to me the other day.

So what'd be a good 3rd troop unit? and i changed the list.

Duke Sliscus
Kabalite trueborn 4x
2x SC
2x Shardcarbine

Venom
2nd SC
Night Shields

Wyches 9x
Razorflails 2x
Haywire Grenades
Lelith Hesperax

Raider
Dark Lance

Kabalites 5x

Venom
2nd SC
Night Shields

Kabalites 5x

Venom
2nd SC
Night Shields

Reavers 6x
Cluster Caltrops 2x

Ravager
Dark Lance 3x
Night Shields

EDIT:You know what guys, can someone just copy paste the list, and edit it to your standard. Or can someone make a list kind of based on what i have. That'd be even more helpful! Thanks!