Starting 40k with Dark Eldar

Hey guys.

I'm new to 40k, and I've decided to start with the Dark Eldar due to the fact they have some awesome models and their evil fluff suits my tastes!

I currently own the rulebook and the Dark Eldar Codex, and I'm going to sit down later on and have a go at writing a list.

I'm aiming for 500-600 points, as I'm told that this is an ideal points limit to learn at?

I'm basically posting to say hello, and ask for any tips that a beginner 40k/Dark Eldar player may miss out on!

I'll post up a list in the army list section once it's done, but in the meantime, any advice for writing that first list is greatly appreciated!

Thanks in advance,
Drazen

Tips for Strating 40k:
* Get someone to teach you (this helps alot compare to reading solo)
* Play small point games with very little Special rules until you get the basics down
* Dont worry about learning all the rules at 1st, Get down Move, Shoot, Assault 1st

We are a Glass cannon army, MANY shots and vehicles but at a price, we die fast, in melee we attack 1st 90% the time with many attacks (if built for it) but we dont hit with High Strength nor can we survive a hit back (Unless your one of our few specially tough units)

Tips for DE:
* Placement is key, we need to get Cover when and how ever possible
* Learn what will to kill you and you kill that 1st
* We are Midrange shooting, So dont get to close

Ideas how a Good (Not OP strong but a good foundation) Army can play:

Gun Boats - Vehicles full of dudes all with Guns, heavy and Special with many shots from the men inside. Normally 6 of these with 10 Warriors in a Raider, Sometimes with a Splinter Rack (Give you rerolls on misses of 1's in shooting) You will get 12-20 shots. With Elite Men with high power guns and Heavy vehicles you can put alot of Heavy shots but you will only have 10 or so units on the table.

MSU Vehicle spam - (Multiple Small units) MANY vehicles with low number of Warriors, 5 warriors in Vehicles, normally 9 of these with Empty Raiders/other vehicles, and/or Bikes/Speical units like beast/Scourges. The Idea is to have SO many units on the table that the other player wont be able to kill them all and will Waste shots on Over-killing 1 unit.

Haemonculus - Its another book that goes with DE, it is full of more survival, melee style units, if you want a melee army this is the one for you.

Welcome to the party!

Grotesques, Venoms, and Reavers are all mighty fine units you'll virtually never regret.

Wyches, Mandrakes, and Hellions are all never-take options.

If you haven't yet, I highly recommend taking a look at the Haemonculus Covens supplement.

I would recommend a good unit guide, but I haven't seen a good one written for seventh edition yet.

Jimsolo wrote:

Welcome to the party!

Grotesques, Venoms, and Reavers are all mighty fine units you'll virtually never regret.

Wyches, Mandrakes, and Hellions are all never-take options.

If you haven't yet, I highly recommend taking a look at the Haemonculus Covens supplement.

I would recommend a good unit guide, but I haven't seen a good one written for seventh edition yet.

This is good info fore new DE players.

We aren't evil. We got our reasons.

First of all welcome to Commorragh, the city of opportunity for those willing to pile bodies high enough to grasp it

I would recommend building toward 1000pts, as this is a good level to practice and getting a good feel for the game without having too much to deal with (also you'll have less to transport, which you'll soon learn is a royal pain for us). First thing you'll want is a solid core, which means an HQ and some troops. Our HQs aren't powerhouses unlike other armies' and so function either as supports (Archon/Haemonculous) or are so fragile that they desperately need support themselves (Succubus). Which one you go for is up to you, they all have their merits IMO.

After this get some warriors. They're solid troops for cheap and can put out a lot of firepower. Then pick your flavour of paper plane (Raider/Venom) and build your squads accordingly. Personally I recommend a mix of both but there are people who can and will make arguments for one over the other.

With this core you can then add specialist units. Scourges, Reavers and Ravagers have a home in pretty much any list, with Taloi, Grotesques and Razorwing Jet Fighters becoming frequent mainstays as well. The Haemonculous Covens supplement offers some interesting, if occasionally expensive, formations as well if that's your bag, some of which border on ubiquitous (Dark Artisan/Grotesquerie).

There are other units that can be worth a look, like Incubi or Trueborn, which some people swear by but can be tricky to use effectively due to their fragility and tendency to get shot to pieces quickly by any decent opponent.