New to Warhammer 500 point buy

Hey guys!

My first post. Me and some friends are going to buy 500 points worth of army and start playing this week, and I'm going DE! There's alot of units I want to try but for 500 points this is what was coming to mind:

Uriel attached to
x3 grotesques (1 aberation) all 3 with +1 str upgrade in a raider

x5 wracks with LQ
x5 wracks with LQ
for exactly 500 points

or maybe

Drazhar on
7 incubi (1 klaivex with bloodstone)

x5 warrior
x5 warrior
for 504 (is that amount ok for a 500 point game since its rounded?)

my buddies are using

GK Draigo + some paladin and purifiers

Orc warboss with lots of shootaz (and lootaz?)

Tyranid with lots and lots of genestealers

We are all footslogging and just smashing each other. Money is kinda a factor so we all agreed that in a few months we will upgrade our game to 750 points. I'd kinda like a decent army to build off of

if you're just footslogging, then def go for the first list. footslogging warriors are pretty much toast as most race's basic weapons are killing on 3's (standard S4 AP5 gun)

if you can get hold of some transports, then by all means, grab the 2nd list

Hi Bozo welcome to the forum.

I'm pretty new to this myself but I would say those are quite specialised lists for a start up!

Normally I'd say start with the Battleforce + HQ as you can make 500 pts from that and you will always have a use for those things.

Of the two lists the 2nd offers more utility (504 is OK if agreed with your oppponent - I might sulk about it unless agreed in advance, but that's just me! )

You might want to hold off on the grots until you get a feel for how you want your army to fight.

Good luck.

Bozo69PD wrote:

We are all footslogging and just smashing each other.

Welcome to the Dark City Bozo69PD!

Unlike the armies your friends are playing Dark Eldar live and die by their transports. Without them you will really struggle.

May Advice is usually to buy two battleforces.
http://www.thedarkcity.net/t5338-600pt-first-list
That was how I started

It's within your Uriel Budget, and gives you WAY more stuff.

Two Raiders, one with wyches and an Archon, the other Kabalites and a splinter cannon.
Enough models left over for a True Born squad with a couple of lances and blasters.

Maybe a battleforce and two Venoms?

Quote :

Unlike the armies your friends are playing Dark Eldar live and die by their transports. Without them you will really struggle.

This times like a million

My eventual plan if for five battle forces.
Raiders can be Converted to Ravagers, to Three Ravagers, Two Raiders, Loads of Troops and Basic Elites and lot of bikes.

Thanks for the advice guys, much appreciated. After all the painting and stuff I probably won't be ready for another week too. Time for me to strategize.

One more thing popped up talking to my friends, they like the idea of playing with a desert mostly so far, I'm wondering if eventually it might be a good idea to deploy a imperial bastion to hide behind eventually (I also thought that model looked really cool, especially if it was splattered in marine blood!)

or would a few raiders/ravagers be ok moving around a desert with like 0 cover without being shot to bits?

Unlike the armies your friends are playing, Dark Eldar really depend on cover. Without it you will really struggle. The game is balanced around there being cover on the board.

yeah, I think thats why they are letting me use raiders when they have no vehicles, because its practically a 0 cover board...

I'm also reading that I can deploy maybe infiltrated mandrakes inside (or next can't tell if I'm reading this right) a bastion to man all those guns right away pretty close my enemies deployment with a BS of 4... MAN THOSE MANDRAKE MODELS ARE AWESOME

and use it as cover for my onrushing units?

Bozo69PD wrote:

yeah, I think thats why they are letting me use raiders when they have no vehicles, because its practically a 0 cover board...

I'm also reading that I can deploy maybe infiltrated mandrakes inside (or next can't tell if I'm reading this right) a bastion to man all those guns right away pretty close my enemies deployment with a BS of 4... MAN THOSE MANDRAKE MODELS ARE AWESOME

and use it as cover for my onrushing units?

You should tell them that you think they should completely drop the restriction on vehicles, and let everyone field what they want within the 500 points.

Then you field this:
1 Haemonculus Ancient w/ soul-trap, shattershard, power weapon
3x 3man wrack squads
3 venoms w/splinter cannons
1 Ravager
TOTAL: 500 Pts.

Also, do you own the bridge, or are you just renting?

we play at a games workshop a block away, and the manager lets us use his fortifications/terrain (but like I said my friends don't want to deal with terrain yet)

and as for vehicles they ok'd the raiders... they call them pinatas