Dark Eldar NOOB!!! and I so need advice

Hey peeps. I've been wanting to make my own custom Kabal, which yeah guses everyone does. But I'm a dad of three, soon to be four so don't have tons of cash so don't want to waste money on models I don't need at this juncture.

So what I would like help with is planning out a 1850pts List I can build towards knowing its fluffy, but not going to just get me BENT OVER every game cos it just doesn't work. So far all i've got is a sky splinter boxset. Only things I'm trying to avoid are Venom Spam and tbh I rather like to use some mandrakes now their not totally crap as I just love those models. Other than that I just have no idea how to go about this army as I proper want some kabalite gun boats but also to use some wyches, but finding it hard to get a balance.

So any takers in giving this noob a crash course?

You like conven units or formations ? they are really nice and can be really.

If you like mandrakes, then definitely get some mandrakes. The models are very cool and I've heard stories of their success.

You can never go wrong with more warriors and raiders. Something like 2 more boxes of warriors and one more raider, and maybe a venom or 2. Finally, a razorwing is an excellent choice for any list as they are just about our only anti air option.

Here is where it gets interesting. Trueborn with blasters, a court of the archon with sslyths and medusaes, grotesques (possibly in the grotesquerie formation), Scourges, Ravagers, Dark Artisan formation, reavers with caltrops, heatlances or blasters, incubi, or even a corpsetheif claw formation.

Most lists I've seen (including my own) incorporate a variety of the above units to support their core of mounted warriors. Personally, I love the dark artisan as it is a very tough unit that comes in wherever I want towards the middle of the game. Just make sure your units can keep up with the group; in transports, on bikes, arrive via webway, etc. General advice would be to double up on most choices since we die very very easy.

Finally, you'll need to pick an hq. I'm partial to the lone Lhamean in a venom because its cheap, though probably not the best fluffy option. A blaster/wwp archon goes very nicely with trueborn, a wych archite mixes very well with a grots, and a killy archon+court is a fluffy and powerful option. Any coven formations will require an additional haemy, who ain't cheap but can be given some fun toys to compliment his unit.

Cheers very much dude, some seriously kool advice. And yeah I've got the Coven Suppliment and keep wondering about the Dark Artisan Formation to arrive near the mandrakes to make them tougher in CC. Looked at the Succubus but don't like the idea of using one unless i'm going to have a wych cult list, which I don't wana do first lol. Was thinking of having a Shadow field Archon and Incubi in Venom... Was mucking around with this. Mind giving me some pointers on it, see what you think?

HQ: Archon (+WWP/+Agoniser/+Shadow Field) - 160pts

ELITES: x4 Incubi (+Klaivex), Venom (+Splinter Cannon) - 155pts
ELITES: x8 Mandrakes (+Nightfiend) - 106pts

TROOPS: x10 Kabalite Warriors (+Splinter Cannon), Raider (+Splinter Racks/+Night Shields) - 180pts
TROOPS: x10 Kabalite Warriors (+Splinter Cannon), Raider (+Splinter Racks/+Night Shields) - 180pts
TROOPS: x10 Kabalite Warriors (+Splinter Cannon), Raider (+Splinter Racks/+Night Shields) - 180pts
TROOPS: x5 Kabalite Warriors, Venom (+Splinter Cannon) - 105pts
TROOPS: x5 Kabalite Warriors, Venom (+Splinter Cannon) - 105pts

FAST ATTACK: Razorwing Jetfighter (+Dark Lances/+4 Monoscythe) - 140pts
FAST ATTACK: Razorwing Jetfighter (+Diz Cannons/+Splinter Cannon/+4 Monoscythe) - 140pts
FAST ATTACK: x5 Scourge (+4 Haywire Blasters) - 120pts

HEAVY SUPPORT: Ravager (+3 Dark Lances/+Nightshield) - 140pts
HEAVY SUPPORT: Ravager (+3 Dark Lances/+Nightshield) - 140pts

Total 1851pts

My clubs easy going and usually don't mind something like 1pt over. Anyways what ya reakon? thought it was a simple starting point for a collection

Looks like a very solid list, only have a few comments.

I'm not a big fan of splinter cannons on my warrior gunboats this edition. They're alsways moving, so you're paying 15 points for 2 more shots at 12" and 1 less at 24". I prefer blasters on my venom warriors to give the unit more flexibility.

Your archon and incubi will have a big target on their heads most games. I really like the potential of them supporting the mandrakes down field, as long as they're able to live after deepstriking.