1500 freakshow list. (Cast of players, Dark Artisan, Dark Eldar CAD)

So I really wanted to use the heroes path but I just cant see it working well 1500 and under. Not unless I went heavier into eldar or something.

I also really wanted to somehow fit a grotesquerie but it was also really tough to fit so many high point units and still be able to keep up models on the board style.

Anywho this is what I came up with. As always I love the input so feel free to blast me if I am wrong or miss something.

+++ New Roster (1496pts) +++

++ Harlequins - Codex (Formation Detachment) (300pts) ++

+ Formation (300pts) +

Cast of Players (300pts)
Death Jester (65pts) [Haywire grenades (5pts)]
Shadowseer (105pts) [Haywire grenades (5pts), Mastery Level 2 (25pts), Shuriken Pistol, The Mask of Secrets (15pts)]
Troupe (130pts)
Player (20pts) [Harlequin's Kiss (5pts), Shuriken Pistol]
Player (20pts) [Harlequin's Kiss (5pts), Shuriken Pistol]
Player (20pts) [Harlequin's Kiss (5pts), Shuriken Pistol]
Player (20pts) [Harlequin's Kiss (5pts), Shuriken Pistol]
Troupe Master (50pts) [Crescendo (5pts), Harlequin's Kiss (5pts), Haywire grenades (5pts)]

++ Dark Eldar: Supplement - Haemonculus Covens (Formation Detachment) (345pts) ++

+ Formation (345pts) +

Formation: Dark Artisan (345pts)
Cronos (125pts) [Spirit Probe (25pts)]
Haemonculus (90pts) [Close combat weapon, Scissorhand (10pts), Splinter Pistol, The Vexator Mask (10pts)]
Talos (130pts) [Ichor Injector (10pts), Twin-Linked Splinter Cannon]

++ Dark Eldar: Codex (2014) (Combined Arms Detachment) (851pts) ++

+ HQ (115pts) +

Succubus (115pts) [Archite glaive (20pts), Close Combat Weapon, Haywire Grenades (5pts), The Armour of Misery (15pts)]

+ Elites (205pts) +

Grotesques (205pts)
Aberration (45pts) [Close combat weapon]
Grotesque (35pts) [Close combat weapon]
Grotesque (35pts) [Close combat weapon]
Grotesque (35pts) [Close combat weapon]
Raider (55pts) [Disintegrator cannon]

+ Troops (210pts) +

Kabalite Warriors (105pts) [5x Kabalite Warrior (40pts)]
Venom (65pts) [Splinter Cannon (10pts)]

Kabalite Warriors (105pts) [5x Kabalite Warrior (40pts)]
Venom (65pts) [Splinter Cannon (10pts)]

+ Fast Attack (196pts) +

Raider (70pts) [Disintegrator cannon, Torment Grenade Launcher (15pts)]

Reavers (63pts) [Cluster caltrops (15pts), 3x Reaver (48pts)]

Reavers (63pts) [Cluster caltrops (15pts), 3x Reaver (48pts)]

+ Heavy Support (125pts) +

Ravager (125pts) [Dark Lance (5pts), Dark Lance (5pts), Dark Lance (5pts)]

Goal is to use the DA and the raider of grots (with succubus) to spread -leadership bubbles while marching the cast of players up the middle. Reavers and venoms with kabalites will play the objectives and the ravager will hold the back line.

The extra raider is taken to give me the option of deep striking the cast of players in a game that they risk being alpha'd on the first turn. With the launchers on it, it doubles as something that can support the -leadership bubbles or screen in front of them. The cast of players is the key with the shadowseer.

Aberration is taken to give the succubus a break should a character get into assault that would insta kill her. Keeps the leadership bubble up as long as possible.

Two things I wish I could have done with the list was include the heroes path instead and also include a heamy and second grot squad for a grotesquerie. taking the armor of misery is my bootleg way to give them a fear bubble. With a grotesquerie I would take the archangels on the succy as three -1 and two -2 bubbles should be enough. This would of course be in an 1850 or 2000 point list. Really liking the leadership synergy between all the space elves. I especially like the added haywire options.

You only got one torment Grenade Launcher and the shadow seer to profit from the reduced leadership. I'm not sure if that is such a wise idea but other than that, I think it's a good army. I just have no experience with harlequins whatsoever, sorry.

I'm not sure if fear itself is so effective at all...

As far as psykers its tough to fit more into a 1500 list. I have been working on a 2,000 point list that has an autarch and hemlock wraithfighter for the 2 additional shreiks. I could probably fit a tormentor for the other raider, but getting a chance to use it might prove tricky.

I have been wondering can I take armor of misery and archangels on the same succubus?

If I cannot ill probably switch to the archangels to have a second character that can abuse leadership. Sucks losing the bubble but like you said it kind of limits my arsenal by having so few triggers.

No, you can't take both, so I agree, the archangel is better.

Think about it this way, sully. Compared to torment grenade launchers, psychic shriek is the exact same thing, except it always hits on a 2+(from a farseer), isn't stopped by fearless or ATSKNF, and makes them take their leadership test on 3d6. That last part is important.

That means that more psychic shrieks in the army are more important than an additional -1 leadership 100% of the time, since you can never score less than 1 on that extra dice. It's also better than -2 leadership 83% of the time, better than -3Ld 67% of the time and so on. Basically what I'm saying is, if you can't fit SOMETHING into the list, it most certainly shouldn't be eldar farseers that get cut. They're actually the best units in the game at the so-called "freakshow" lists. I loathe that name, lol. I was doing these lists well before Jim's moniker caught on. Sort of frustrating to me that these lists are all named after something that is actually towards the bottom of the list on effectiveness in these types of lists.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

These are the best contributors to the leadership shenanigans list, from best to worst:

Farseers w/psychic shriek(single target Ld test on 3d6) & terrify(-1 Ld and take morale test).
Shadowseer w/Mask of Secrets(-2 in 12")
Warlocks w/Horrify(-3 leadership to single unit)
Non Covens HQ with an Archangel of Pain (-2 Ld and 18" dome of auto-hitting NOVA-style Ld tests, one use)
All covens formations (-1 Ld in 12")
Vehicle Mounted Torment Grenade Launchers(24" small blast but stopped by fearless and ATSKNF)
Troop mounted Phantasm Grenade Launchers(18" small blast but stopped by fearless and ATSKNF)
Non Coven HQ w/Armour of Misery (-2Ld, but only within 6")


Some people may question why I put the archangel higher than all the other DE options. It's simple. It has the -2 built in, and is all burst damage with it's one use. So sure, it can only be used once, but with a WWP, it can be used with precision to fit the maximum number of units in it's AoE. So basically, it's not that difficult for the archangel to autohit 4-5 targets in turn 2, whereas a torment grenade launcher might not hit that many targets the whole game. It may be killed or whatever. The archangel is 1 shot, but you don't have to survive the whole game to get max use out of it. It's super-bursty, which gives DE the early game advantage they need to make it to late game.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

If I were making a "freakshow" list at 1500 points, this is how I'd do it, assuming I wasn't limited on # of detachments:

Cast of Players (300pts)
Death Jester 60
Shadowseer  w/ ML2, Mask of Secrets 100
Troupe (130pts)
4 Players w/Kisses 80
((Warlord))Troupe Master w/Crescendo, Harlequin's Kiss, Haywire grenades 50

Allied Dark Eldar Detachment (205pts)
Archon w/ Archangel of Pain & Phantasm Grenade Launcher 100
5 Kabalite Warriors in a Dual Cannon Venom 105

Grotesquerie (425pts)
Haemonculus w/WWP 105
3 Grots in a raider 160
3 Grots in a raider 160

Eldar CAD (567pts)
1 Farseer w/ Singing Spear 105
1 Farseer Skyrunner w/ Singing Spear 120
2 units of 3 Windrider Jetbikes w/scatter lasers 162
2 Units of 3 vaul's wrath batteries w/vibro cannons 180

TOTAL: 1497

I'd roll on phantasmancy on your shadowseer, and telepathy on both farseers.

Then you put the cast of characters, the foot farseer, the archon, and the haemonculus all in a unit together that you deep strike with WWP. Everything else starts on the table to try to crack as many transports as possible before your -Ld deathstar arrives. Your deathstar arrives by deep strike without scatter with a 12" -3 Ld bubble around it. First, you get to cast all your psychic powers, possibly giving a single unit another -1 Ld +morale check, then firing off 2 psychic shrieks at -3/-4 leadership. Then hopefully the phantasmancy version of psychic shriek as well. After that, in the shooting phase, you pop your archangel to hit every unit inside an 18" circle (9inches every direction) with a -5/-6 leadership test. You also have a bit of pistols and other shooting in the unit, with a S9 fleshbane singing spear from the farseer to crack a vehicle or instant death a bothersome character.

If I was limited on # of Detachments, I'd probably drop the grotesquerie and use the points to make the Allied DE detachment a CAD with some ravagers, razorwings, and/or more obsec troops.

Good luck!

I see what you mean.  Is there any way we could work this to have a more DE focus.  

I have:

2 heamy 1 succy 1 archon

25 kabalites 20 splinter 3 blasters 2 cannons

2 venoms

3 raiders

1 ravager

6 grots

1 talos

1 cronos

6 ravagers

heroes path 1 DJ 1 sol 1 shadow (plan on picking up a troupe though really like harlequins and all space elves)

I like the idea of allied eldar and dont mind picking some up,  at least for now with the league I am playing I have to stick with DE as main(but can use CWE as allies) but after the league I will look to branch more into eldar.  Really all the space elves look like a lot of fun to play with all kinds of different combinations.  Eventually I would like to use the heroes path DE and CWE.  

Freakshow just sounds catchy is all.  Got something better?  Im down to call it something else lol.

Really appreciate the help you give people here.  Always see you go out of the way to explain stuff.

Thanks man.

I am top 10 in my league (out of 32+) thanks to alot of the advice off this site.  Really appreciate everyone.

Edit:  what about a seer council?  It would give me access to a ton of psykers, or a windrider host?

So I played around in with a couple things, using just allied eldar, cast of players and DE CAD I came up with this.

This now has a farseer, shadow seer, archangel of pain (on succy),  hemlock wraithfighter, and grotesquerie.  Obsec held down by windriders and venoms and a group of reavers to harass/ go for risky objectives.

+++ New Roster (1499pts) +++

++ Dark Eldar: Codex (2014) (Combined Arms Detachment) (428pts) ++

+ HQ (155pts) +

Succubus (155pts) [Archite glaive (20pts), Close Combat Weapon, The Archangel of Pain (25pts), Webway portal (35pts)]

+ Troops (210pts) +

Kabalite Warriors (105pts) [5x Kabalite Warrior (40pts)]
Venom (65pts) [Splinter Cannon (10pts)]

Kabalite Warriors (105pts) [5x Kabalite Warrior (40pts)]
Venom (65pts) [Splinter Cannon (10pts)]

+ Fast Attack (63pts) +

Reavers (63pts) [Cluster caltrops (15pts), 3x Reaver (48pts)]

++ Dark Eldar: Supplement - Haemonculus Covens (Formation Detachment) (410pts) ++

+ Formation (410pts) +

Formation: Grotesquerie (410pts)
Grotesques (170pts)
Aberration (45pts) [Close combat weapon]
Grotesque (35pts) [Close combat weapon]
Grotesque (35pts) [Close combat weapon]
Raider (55pts) [Disintegrator]
Grotesques (170pts)
Aberration (45pts) [Close combat weapon]
Grotesque (35pts) [Close combat weapon]
Grotesque (35pts) [Close combat weapon]
Raider (55pts) [Disintegrator]
Haemonculus (70pts) [2x Close combat weapon, Splinter Pistol]

++ Harlequins - Codex (Formation Detachment) (290pts) ++

+ Formation (290pts) +

Cast of Players (290pts) [Death Jester (60pts)]
Shadowseer (105pts) [Haywire grenades (5pts), Mastery Level 2 (25pts), Shuriken Pistol, The Mask of Secrets (15pts)]
Troupe (125pts)
Player (20pts) [Harlequin's Kiss (5pts), Shuriken Pistol]
Player (20pts) [Harlequin's Kiss (5pts), Shuriken Pistol]
Player (20pts) [Harlequin's Kiss (5pts), Shuriken Pistol]
Player (20pts) [Harlequin's Kiss (5pts), Shuriken Pistol]
Troupe Master (45pts) [Harlequin's Kiss (5pts), Haywire grenades (5pts), Shuriken Pistol]

++ Eldar Craftworlds: Codex (2015) (Allied Detachment) (371pts) ++

+ HQ (105pts) +

Farseer (105pts) [Singing Spear (5pts)]

+ Troops (81pts) +

Windriders (81pts)
3x Windrider w/ Scatter Laser (81pts) [3x Scatter Laser (30pts)]

+ Fast Attack (185pts) +

Hemlock Wraithfighter (185pts)



Once I am able to get more CWE I would like to take the list further in your direction.  What do you think about this list?  Is it a decent middle ground while I work towards more eldar?  Once this league is over I will no longer be restricted by 1500 and would prefer to play more 2000 games.

Would a farseer 3 windriders and a hemlock be a good start?

Upset I cant fit my Dark Artisan but I guess I will design a more DE focused list for them.  maybe a null deployment list with an autarch or something. Good to have options.  Im hooked on space elves though.  I dont see any reason to ever leave the family.


I am actually really excited with this list. The hemlock looks ridiculous. Having two shrieks and the phantasmancy shenanigans looks like loads of fun.

Yeah, it's a good middle ground. With the hemlock, you still have 2 sources of psychic shriek, plus some D in your list. The only concern I'd have with it is that it's a touch light on anti-tank(which my list was too), and it doesn't have a very resilient table presence on turn 1 if you're planning to deep strike your leadership bomb.

The grots are fairly tough in the raiders, but not as tough as T7 artillery guns in cover. I still think this list will do well for you most of the time, but you run the risk of being tabled before your reserves arrive against opponents with a lot of long range firepower. Later on, I think it'd be worth it to add the vaul's batteries to your collection. Also, if you do, don't glue the weapons on! The weapons are easily interchangeable without magnets, and stay in place really well. It allows you to switch between shadow weavers, D-cannons, and vibro cannons to see what you like. But either way, try your list out and see how you like it. Sounds fun!

Thank you for the thanks. It's nice to know some people actually read all the long-winded posts I write! lol

Congratulations on doing well in your league, and good luck in the future! Let us know how it goes!