Please help, new starter at 40k for 500 point list =)

Hi All,

I hope this is the best forum to go to, myself and my wife along with two other friends have decided to plunge into the world of warhammer 40k. We have a strong experience in warhammer fantasy but I really need some feedback on my lists!

We are starting with 500 points and plan to gradually build up to 1000 points, I will be buying all the models new. I am playing Dark Eldar, my partner is play Grey Knights, my other two friends are playing Tau and Chaos Space Marines. So I would like my list to fare well against those armies where possible.

So far I had something like this in mind;

Archon
(Items???)

x10 Warriors w/ Blaster + Dark Lance
x10 Warriors w/ Blaster + Dark Lance

x1 Raider w/ D cannon
x1 Raider w/ D cannon

(Something else here?)


But I am literally open for anything, please post below me!

If you guys are all starting out new, your list is fine except for one point I'll note in a second. It's hard to go wrong against new players.
As far as things to own, again, your list is fine.

Your one list error at the moment is ou have 2 vehicles, each with a transport capacity of 10, giving you 20 places to have people on vehicles.
Your list has 21 people in it.
Currently your Archon is walking - this is not a good plan for Archons...it is not a good plan for any Dark Eldar, really.


With the idea that you may wish to expand on this list I do have 2 thoughts;

1. It is rare to put dark lances on Warrior squads, the Blaster is the weapon of choice for them.
2. It is rare-ish to go disintegrators on a Raider, the Dark Lance is the weapon of choice for them.

So, when building your models, maybe keep those thoughts in mind. You may wish to magnetize the Raiders, or to even model them with the lances. The Warriors you can always build and prep the lance, but I would do so with an awareness that you may not use them that often.

Just for the fun of it just use a massively kitted out Dark Artisan formation and laugh when your opponents cannot kill them. :p

Venom. When you want buy something buy venom. You never go wrong. Even in the list i will Exchange one raider for the maximum number of venom you can afford in the list

I'll just give a +1 to what Thor has said - 10 warriors with blasters will give you all the anti infantry firepower you should need at this level, and dark lances on the raiders are definitely the way to go in the long term. Short term, dissies may be useful against the armies you'll be facing at this point level but once you start seeing vehicles you'll want lances.

I always struggle writing lists for Dark Eldar though at this sort of points level - we're an elite army, but fragile, which doesn't sit well below 1000 points - if you don't have many models you want them to be resilient. On the bright side, the firepower we can bring at those sort of points levels is better than most.

If I were in your shoes, I might drop the blasters from the warrior squads and give the raider splinter racks, put the archon in his own venom (with dual splinter cannons) and give him a blaster and clone field (you might just need to check points, I'm not sure of the cost of some of the items off the top of my head). He can them buzz round using his BS7 blaster on any armour you find without compromising any other shooting you have (I understand why it's done, but putting a blaster in a warrior squad to have all ten guys fire only one shot at a vehicle doesn't sit that well with me).

This is usually the base of my small points army.

++ Dark Eldar: (Combined Arms Detachment) (499pts) ++

+ HQ +

Archon (150pts) [Agoniser, Blaster, Shadow field, Soul-trap]

+ Troops +

Kabalite Warriors (40 pts) [5x Kabalite Warrior]
Venom(65 pts) [Double Splinter Cannon]

Kabalite Warriors (40 pts) [5x Kabalite Warrior]
Venom(65 pts) [Double Splinter Cannon]


Kabalite Warriors (64 pts) [8x Kabalite Warrior]
Raider (75 pts) [Disintegrator cannon, Enhanced Aethersails, Splinter Racks]


If you want more dakkadakka, you can drop your archon for a small fish, a Lhaemean and in this manner you can achieve


(Combined Arms Detachment) (494pts) ++

+ HQ (10 pts) +

Court of the Archon [Lhameans]


+ Troops (484pts) +

Kabalite Warriors [4x Kabalite Warrior]
Kabalite Warrior with special weapon [Blaster]
Venom [Double Splinter Cannon]

Kabalite Warriors [4x Kabalite Warrior]
Kabalite Warrior with special weapon [Blaster]
Venom [Double Splinter Cannon]

Kabalite Warriors [5x Kabalite Warrior]
Venom [Double Splinter Cannon]


Kabalite Warriors [8x Kabalite Warrior]
Raider [Disintegrator cannon, Enhanced Aethersails, Splinter Racks]


hope can help

Hi guys,

I have amended the list into this below;


Archon w/ Blaster
x1 Venom w/ Splinter Cannon

x5 Kabalite Trueborn w/ x3 Blasters, x1 Shredder
x1 Venom w/ Splinter Cannon

x10 Kabalite Warriors w/ x1 Blaster, x1 Dark Lance
x1 Raider w/ Dark Lance, Nightshield



Please bear in mind this will be against Tau/Grey Knights/Chaos Space Marines. If you think I could improve this any further please let me know.

I think you should run your list and try it out. You might find though that you need two troop choices.

A thought on blaster and dark lance: Blaster is assault and that is very handy since it gives you mobility when zooming around. Dark lance on infantry is Heavy and it makes your unit very stuck in one spot. That way you will often be out of range with the blaster or snap-shooting with the dark lance. So you should probably have a blaster in one squad and, if you feel like having dark lance on a warrior, that should go in another squad. I sometimes put five warriors and a dark lance in the backfield in a venom thats stays in one place as a bait for my opponent. That way it draws my enemy closer for my circumventing them and bringing the pain... with my other squads of blaster-warriors. They are two different weapons and thus should be used in different manners. but you will find out while trying the squads and weapons on the battlefield.

The shredder is not that good, but then again your experience might be different from others.

I'd try something like this out:

HQ - Archon, Blaster, Haywire Grenade

Troop - Kabalite Warriors x9, Blaster /w Raider (Dark Lance, Night Shields, Splinter Racks)
Troop - Kabalite Warriors x5, Blaster /w Venom (Dual Splinter Cannons)
Troop - Kabalite Warriors x5, Blaster /w Venom (Dual Splinter Cannons)

------

It's giving you 5 anti-armor shots and a ton of anti-infantry shots. Keep your Archon "close" to heavier vehicle threats incase you start losing your anti-vehicle weapons, but at 500 points I wouldn't expect much to be running around. Against Tau/Grey Knights/and CSM in particular, this will really start causing some serious damage. All three of those Factions aren't known for spamming too many vehicles (at least serious competitive ones), and definitely not at 500 points. All of those armies have some seriously scary Monstrous Creatures, though, and dealing with MCs is one strength of the Dark Eldar. You can increase to 1,000 by adding serious anti-vehicle with stuff like:

- Ravager, x3 Dark Lance
- Razorwing Jetfighter (Dark Lances, Splinter Cannon [particularly if your meta is heavy in Tyranids, but magnetizing options is your best friend])
- Scourges with Haywire Blasters or Heat Lances (you can buff up the Archon with a Webway Portal and stick him with these guys for one of the better places to toss an Archon, I feel)
- Trueborn /w Blasters in Venoms