Possible new Dark Eldar player!

Hello everyone!

I've recently been getting into Warhammer 40k after trying it years ago and falling flat. (I was much to young to have the patience to paint models.) Recently, I've been getting back into it and trying to find my 40k identity. I bought a pack of Grey Knights to start because Space Marines are the go-to army most people recommend to starters and they seemed a little more interesting, but I discovered the Dark Eldar models and... Wow.

I don't expect to win right away. I don't mind struggling to learn an army and find the tactical side of the game far more interesting than firing lines or the move-shoot-assault I've seen from a lot of armies. On top of that, I want to be a painter first and I think Dark Eldar have the best models GW makes. That said, I have no idea what I'm doing.

If someone could take the time to explain the ins-and-outs of Dark Eldar to me, it would be EXTREMELY appreciated.

That's kind of a stiff order.

I'd say the broad strokes are;
Learn to love our vehicles (except for the Voidraven).
Learn the Coven formations if you want an assaulty army.
You can never have too much darklight.

Fair enough. I've already learned to love the vehicles. I'll look around the boards and pick up as much as I can.

If you're looking to learn, the thing I would say is when figuring out how to use a unit, concentrate on that unit, try it against all sorts of targets in all sorts of combinations and find out what works for you. Then pick another unit. There's nothing wrong with building your collection based on what you want to paint and what you like, though there are some nice looking models that don't perform that well (cough, wyches, cough).

But above all - don't give up on a unit simply because it has a bad game, you may have rolled below average for it, or picked the wrong target, or particularly with the Dark Eldar units, you may have tried to achieve something at the wrong time in the game. Playing the units will teach you more than reading it in a tactica, though that will certainly point you in the right direction.

O

I very much plan on being a painter, modeler first. The thing that attracted to Dark Eldar is the whole space pirates with jetbikes theme so I think I'll be trying out the Raiders, Venoms and Reavers first. I'll worry about the Haemonculus and his ilk later on. Thanks for reconfirming my thoughts. I'm pretty confident now that if I just jump into it and try to have fun, my army will take shape.