New to Dark Eldar - how does this look for a 1000 points list?

Hi guys,

I'm building a small Dark Eldar force because the models look really cool and they have a different playstyle to the army I'm used to (Sisters).  I've got a few Kabalites and Wyches already, and I'm looking to expand up to 1000 points for starters.  I usually play fairly small games with my friends, up to 1500 points.  We're not a hyper-competitive WAAC group.  Quite a lot of the time we play 2 vs 2 or 3 vs 3 Maelstrom of War missions, and play with quite a bit of scenery.

I've had a look through the codex and put this list together.  I'd like to hear your comments on whether this seems a reasonable force to start with.  If it helps, most likely opponents will be Chaos Marines (Slaanesh, Nurgle and Tzeentch flavours), Nids, Guard, and Space Wolves.

--- HQ ---

Archon
Power Sword Haywire Grenades Clone Field
Total = 100

--- Troops ---

10 Kabalite Warriors
Raider Transport
Dark Lance Night Shields Splinter Racks
Total = 170/270

10 Kabalite Warriors
Raider Transport
Dark Lance , Night Shields , Splinter Racks
Total = 170/440

5 Kabalite Warriors
Venom Transport
Total = 95/535

--- Elites ---

5 Kabalite Trueborn
4x Blaster
Venom Transport
Total = 170/705

4 Incubi
Klaivex
Venom Transport
Total = 145/850

--- Fast Attack ---

3 Reavers
Heat Lance Cluster Caltrops
Total = 73/923

3 Reavers
Heat Lance Cluster Caltrops
Total = 73/996


I'd put the Archon with the Incubi, their job would be grabbing objectives.

The Kabalites in Raiders would zoom around together putting out a hail of splinterfire and hopefully being a distraction while the other units do their jobs.

The Kabalites in the Venom are there to zip about grabbing objectives.

The Trueborn with Blasters and the Reaver jetbikes are my tank hunting units.  If the jetbikes survive long enough/aren't needed for tank hunting they can harass units too.

sound like a nice list but you will not use the incubi to sit in objetives they are strong in close combat you may not put them in any combat in early game but turn 3 or 4 you can put them in combat with no problem.
and 1 proble with the list you only have 1 good option to that av things, by the fact the reavers and raiders will need to jink to stay alive. but the true born are perfect. but nice list for a starter de player.

The few thoughts I really have in a friendly play environment are the following;

Consider what you built your Archon to be.
Now, go and build a Succubus with a Glaive and compare and contrast them and ask yourself why you are choosing an Archon over a Succubus.
As far as an assault HQ goes - the Archon is pretty sub par to other options in the dex. He gets his strength off being shooty or tanky - and you built neither. So, just consider that.

I'll also just toss out that I consider shooting on an RJB unit to be a waste, as I always jink with them whenever anything so much as looks at me. You may wish to run them as is anyway, just to see. But if after a few games you're always jinking...y'know, sack the lances.

Finally - I would always take the s.cannon upgrade on the Venom. It makes it *way* better.

Also, juts on a mod related thing - I edited out the individual point costs per our rules, yadda-yadda. Make sure to read the posting rules, they are there for a reason. We don't want GW to sue us

I agree with Thor about going with a Succubus. Her weakness is no save outside of combat and the incubi give her a squad that can tank wounds.

Thanks for the comments. I'll take a look at the Succubus instead of the Archon. I wasn't sure which HQ would fit best, which is probably why I've ended up with an unfocused one. I'll see how the bikes/venoms do when I get a chance to play the list, and may incorporate those suggestions. Sorry about the points costs - I copied the list from my PC and forgot to remove them

I'll echo the above comments - it's particularly relevant to DE players that you have a specific job in mind when kitting out units and characters as with all the toys they can become overtly expensive very quickly (just look at shadowfield and webway portal on an Archon and those two items, which are very common in lists, more than double his cost).

If you're looking to lose points somewhere to fit in wargear, i'd drop heat lances on the bikes first (as Thor said) and then night shields on the raiders - they're useful but not essential.

The_Burning_Eye wrote:

If you're looking to lose points somewhere to fit in wargear, i'd drop heat lances on the bikes first (as Thor said) and then night shields on the raiders - they're useful but not essential.

Really? I'd rather give up the sybarite upgrade for some points and hope for the best. I really like the heat lance! sorry...

Edit: Sorry, I'd forgot to say, it's hypothetical

Didn't realise there were sybarites in there? The points don't indicate that.

Problem with heat lance on Reavers as Thor said is that they are usually jinking so are wasted. I'll agree the weapon is good, but Reavers aren't the best delivery mechanism

The_Burning_Eye wrote:

Didn't realise there were sybarites in there? The points don't indicate that.

There weren't. It was hypothetical. I, like so often, tried to translate a german sentence into english.
We don't have the same vocabulary, sometimes not even the same grammar. Some times I stumble over that.

Zenotaph wrote:

I'd rather give up the sybarite upgrade for some points

I should have written 'a sybarite upgrade', shouldn't I?

The_Burning_Eye wrote:

Problem with heat lance on Reavers as Thor said is that they are usually jinking so are wasted. I'll agree the weapon is good, but Reavers aren't the best delivery mechanism

You are right. But there are only two delivery mechanisms for heat lances. And only one for haywire blasters, so what to do? Ah, there are two. The Talos can take the HWB. Twin-linked.

I'm very much in agreement to not take guns on the reavers, if you want then to live you will be jinking constantly! Use the saved points to add some cannons onto the venoms. You really really want to do that. You should basically imagine that the "vanilla Venom" has two cannons anyway!

HQ wise, a succubus will work better with the incubi so maybe try that or if you do want to keep the archon, try a shadowfield/agoniser combo and squeeze the points out of the night Shields perhaps. At 1000 points there shouldn't be crazy amounts of anti tank especially if you all like playing for fun so it might be alright without!