Count Adhemar's (Yet Another) Dark Eldar Homebrew Codex

My version of darklight will usually be getting 2 shots per weapon and let's not forget that the Supremacy Armour is 600 points and one of the most resilient models in the game! I'm not sure how often we would see one of these on the table.

It's better to compare against the Stormsurge than the Ta'unar as we're far more likely to see those on the table top (and multiples of them at that).

Imateria wrote:

It's better to compare against the Stormsurge than the Ta'unar as we're far more likely to see those on the table top (and multiples of them at that).

Yeah, they "only" take 43 darklight shots to kill (assuming a shield generator for the 4++). Still pretty tough but 410 points so you still won't see that many of them in a normal game.

I'd still rather take on a Riptide wing.

Thinking about the above made me reconsider my stance on the Dark Lance. It was argued earlier in the thread that they should just be Assault 2, in line with the changes to Blasters. I resisted that idea at the time, favoring Rapid Fire, but seeing the frankly ridiculous amount of firepower that is required to bring down some of the nastier stuff out there, like Wraithknights, Stormsurges etc, I'm starting to think that 2 shots all the time, not just at half range, probably isn't too much, especially when we look at things like Grav Cannons. So, Assault 2 it is.

Been thinking about Vect. I couldn't come up with a decent way of implementing his Cunning Plans ability without it being either automatic (too powerful) or subject to a high chance of failure (too weak). So, as an alternative I've come up with the following:

Nothing is as it Seems: At the start of your turn pick one type of unit, for example, Space Marine Tactical Squad. All units of that type in your opponent's army lose the Objective Secured rule until the start of your next turn.

What do you reckon?

Not bad actually, can certainly be usefull in maelstrom games for nicking objectives off your opponent.

As for Cunning Plans, I think a simple Leadership + D6 roll off between Vect and the target unit where need to beat the opponents roll is the best answer, given the DE's wide variety of tools to lower our opponents Ld value it can become very powerful, but would still rely on careful positioning of other units to be a guarantee of removal.

Having looked through his rules again, the one thing that really does worry me is that he's a 300pt T3 character without Eternal Warrior.

It's also useful on the last turn as you may well be able to grab or contest objectives that your opponent thinks are secure.

D6+Ld is okay with Freakshow tactics, and I've added a couple of other ways to mess with your opponents Ld but it does come up with a serious problem when dealing with vehicles as they generally aren't subject to any Ld penalties as they don't have a Ld score. I'm then faced with either:
Counting as Ld 10 - without Ld penalties it's pot luck if Cunning Plans works
Working automatically on units without a Ld score - pretty powerful!
Not working at all on units without a Ld score - pretty weak
Assigning some arbitrary Ld value for units without a Ld score - again, with no Ld penalties it's pot luck if the score is high and pretty weak (or automatic) if the score is low

I deliberately avoided giving Vect Eternal Warrior. He's got a Shadowfield and the ability to reroll one dice per turn so he should be pretty tough to take out. Plus he should really be in a unit to Look out, Sir! anything that comes his way onto his lackeys.

Count Adhemar wrote:

Been thinking about Vect. I couldn't come up with a decent way of implementing his Cunning Plans ability without it being either automatic (too powerful) or subject to a high chance of failure (too weak). So, as an alternative I've come up with the following:

Nothing is as it Seems: At the start of your turn pick one type of unit, for example, Space Marine Tactical Squad. All units of that type in your opponent's army lose the Objective Secured rule until the start of your next turn.

What do you reckon?

I think if you do that you'll need to knock about 100pts off his cost.

Because he'll have gone from having an incredibly powerful ability to having one that's marginal at best.

- Your opponent needs to have units with ObjSec (many armies don't)
- These units need to be either on an objective or guaranteed to try and take one in your opponent's turn
- If multiple units are capable, they all need to be the same type (it's not much good if your opponent has a tactical squad, a scout squad, a devastator squad and a dreadnought all either on objectives or poised to take them).
- If the unit is on an objective, you need to be both in a position to contest that objective and also incapable of wiping that unit out. Or, if your unit is on an objective, it needs to be one that the enemy can't wipe out in his turn.
- If you're playing maelstrom then you'll likely have no idea which (if any) objectives are going to be relevant in your opponent's turn. And, even on your turn you still need all the above to be true.
- If you're playing EW, then Vect has to survive the entire game (despite being no tougher than a standard Archon) or else the ability is worthless.

Put it this way - it feels like an extra. Something that might occasionally be useful, but certainly not a reason to specifically take Vect.

Those are all good points. I was mainly thinking of SM Battle Companies who tend to spam the same units but I might have overestimated how effective it would be. I've got a couple of other ideas to increase Vect's tactical ability so I'll try to write those up properly and maybe roll them all into one (hopefully) super ability. Would love to keep Cunning Plans but I need a way to make it work how I imagine it.

With regards to units without a leadership value, they could be assigned Ld5 as it's middle of the road. Alternatively, maybe something like "models without a leadership value are treated as Ld0. However, if they are within 6" (or 12") of the enemy warlord, they may use the warlord's leadership value for the test".

Minor point, but Ld6-7 would be middle of the road, depending on whether you want them to pass or fail on average.

Characteristics are typically capped at 10, halfway between 0 and 10 is 5, hence middle of the road. It wasn't based on the average of 2d6.

Erebus wrote:

Characteristics are typically capped at 10, halfway between 0 and 10 is 5, hence middle of the road. It wasn't based on the average of 2d6.

Whilst technically true, it's incredibly rare for Ld to drop below 6. And Ld of 4 or less is virtually nonexistant.

Like on my Grotesques that cannot lead their own way out of a box of diapers.

At least they don't kill each other if you don't put a character in the squad now.

Bearing in mind we're talking a D6 roll plus Vect's Ld of 10, with Vect getting the draw, anything less than 6 would be pointless as Vect automatically wins.

What if vect had the ability to move an objective, or disable it for a turn instead?

Leninade wrote:

What if vect had the ability to move an objective, or disable it for a turn instead?

That seems pretty cool actually.

Or maybe some way of swapping cards with your opponent.

How about after all objective markers have been placed and deployment zones have been chosen, Vect may choose any one and replace it, subject to the normal rules for objective placement?

This would mean the Dark Eldar player is placing one more objective, and their opponent one less (except they don't know which one it will be until it is too late).

Perhaps too good for the 1 obj vs 1 obj games and Relic, additional limitations may need to apply

Those are all ideas I've been kicking around. Hopefully have something concrete a bit later.

Here are some ideas I've been toying with for Vect. Been thinking one, some or all of the following:

At the start of the game, after both armies have deployed but before any Infiltrate deployment or Scout redeployment, Vect may choose to move any one objective up to 12". The objectives final position may not be within 6" of a table edge or 12" of another objective, nor may it be inside a building or fortification. This ability may/may not be used in The Relic mission?

At the start of each of his turns, after generating Tactical Objectives, Vect may choose 2 Maelstrom objective markers. The locations of those objectives are immediately switched with each other. The objectives remain in their new location for the rest of the game (unless Vect chooses to move them again).

At the start of each of his turns Vect may choose up to D6+1 units. These may be friendly, enemy or a mixture of both. He can then either grant them the Objective Secured special rule (friendly units) or remove the Objective Secured special rule (enemy units). The effects last until the start of Vect's next turn.

When a Mysterious Objective is identified (by either players army), roll twice on the Mysterious Objectives table. Vect may choose which result to apply.

Ooooh that's awesome!

Are you going to give him all of that or just 1?

I'd say probably all. Apart from the first one they're all fairly situational. A lot of people don't use Mysterious Objectives and there are still quite a few who don't play Maelstrom so you might not get much use out of them. In the perfect storm though it would be a tremendously frustrating ability to play against.