Help me build my first army list :)

Hey there,

I am a returning player who hasn't fielded an army for the better part of a decade. Recently some friends and I decided we'd take up arms again and my first port of call was my beloved dark eldar.

So my friends and I have decided we'd aim for 500 (EDIT NOW 550) point lists to begin with as to not break the bank too much. I managed to grab the following on ebay:

-x6 reavers
-x20 kablite warriors
-x1 archon
-x1 ravager
-x2 venom

I'm not opposed to buying one or two more things if it will give me a more competitive list (we are super competitive) - my friends will be playing Skitari and space wolves so some focus can be put on countering them though I'd love a list which handles most situations alright.

About my style - I used to always play a very shooty style with one hard as nails close combat unit to round things off. I understand the dynamic of the game has changed a lot since  then and is more objective based than when I played (though I never really consider a game won if one of my enemies is still on the board )

Any tips would be great guys!

I

Welcome back to the hobby, and to the forum as well

You've got plenty to work with already, as far as a 500 pt list is concerned.

I'd start with 2 basic units of 5 Kabalites. They can each take a Venom with dual splinter cannons, and if you have spare points, a Blaster in each squad is decent too. The Ravager should come next for some solid ranged. Try magnetise each of the three weapon slots on your Ravager if you can
Your Reavers would best used with a single cluster caltrops upgrade per 3 members and no other upgrades. You can play them in one unit of 6 bikes, or one or two units of 3 bikes each.

If you're familiar with 7th edition, you'll know you also have access to a Warlord Trait for your army, but only a character or an independant character who you name as the Warlord can unlock this for you.

Here's a sample list with what you have so far:

10 - Court of the Archon w/ 1 Lhamean.
105 - 5 Kabalites in a Venom w/ 2 Splinter Cannons.
120 - 5 Kabalites w/1 Blaster in a Venom w/ 2 Splinter Cannons.
125 - Ravager w/ 3 Dark Lances
136 - 6 Reavers w/ 2 Cluster Caltrops and one upgraded to Arena Champion (Warlord)

The Lhamean is just here to fulfil minimum HQ tax. If you play kill points, keep her in reserves and when she arrives try hide her in cover.

Cool, thanks for the advice. The points of the game have just been upped to 550 (presumably because my friend has found something op he can do with 550 and not 500.)

So I guess assuming I'd consider dropping the blaster I could fit in 69 more points of stuff.

Is it worth me trying to squeeze in an an extra unit or should I spend it upgrading the stuff I've got - like giving both kabalite units blasters - maybe night shields for the ravager and maybe an agonizer for the arena champion if they'll let me go 1 point over?

Well, you could toss in another small unit of Kabalites on foot if you know there will be a lot of cover.

If you did drop the blaster for the 69 points, you can squeeze in 8 more Kabalites on foot and have exactly 5 pts spare for an upgrade somewhere.

Offhand, you can spend the 5pts on gruesome trophies for one vehicle that's likely to hang out near the ground Kabalites so they don't fail their leadership checks if some of them die.

If their 550pt lists have Ironstriders Chicken Walkers, dreadnoughts or razorbacks you desperately need to keep your Reavers and/or Ravager alive in the early game so you can deal with them. If you know they're bring at least 2 vehicles, it might be better just keep a Blaster in each Venom squad

Great - thanks for the advice - I think I'll go for the upgrades and have a blaster in each group just to keep the kabalites relevant vs armor. Then go for night sails and have a think about what I want to spend the last 24 points on. Probably an agonizer for the champion as that's my only close combat unit - I feel they'll survive longer if I can kill as much as possible in my initial assault.

Thanks for all your help - I'll play around with it a bit more and post the list in the army list section instead for critique.

Personally i would, stay clear of the upgrades and use the 69pts for a dual cannon venom for your Lhamean, otherwise the above list is solid. I realise that you'll need to buy another venom, but if you're serious about Dark Eldar then you will end up buying more and more venoms anyway.

You're always going to struggle againt armour, it's a Dark Eldar thing.

Also personally, in small points games, I would run the reavers as two units of three each with cluster caltrops, as Dark Eldar are more likely to win by playing the points game than killing stuff.

der-al wrote:

Personally i would, stay clear of the upgrades and use the 69pts for a dual cannon venom for your Lhamean, otherwise the above list is solid. I realise that you'll need to buy another venom, but if you're serious about Dark Eldar then you will end up buying more and more venoms anyway.

You're always going to struggle againt armour, it's a Dark Eldar thing.

Also personally, in small points games, I would run the reavers as two units of three each with cluster caltrops, as Dark Eldar are more likely to win by playing the points game than killing stuff.

Thanks for the advice - buying an extra venom is certainly in budget and yeah - I'll be expanding to 1000 points soon enough so I'm sure I'll want it for that. I hadn't really considered that the reavers work as anti tank in a pinch - which is why I was keen to have the blasters in.

I suppose RE: the reavers I can test it with both 2x3 and 1x6 and see what works in what situation.

Another question for basically anyone: Do I want to count the army as a CAD or real space raiders? My instinct was CAD because of the objective secured thing - but I haven't played a game of 7th yet so wasn't sure.

Reavers are surprisingly good as anti-tank albeit light to medium tanks, just try and go for the rear armour.

I would try and maximise the number of units you have in low point games, just to score objectives. Plus, in case you hadn’t realised, Dark Eldar die to a stiff fart, therefore the best way to make dark Eldar survivable / stay to the end is to have lots of units (MSU).

If you can fit all your units into a CAD then I would, the only reason to take real space raiders is for the extra fast attack slots. Even then, in larger points games, I would rather go dual CAD as if you’re taking four venoms with warriors the only real tax is an additional HQ.

IMO the benefits of objective secured far outweighs all the pluses from RSR.

der-al wrote:

Reavers are surprisingly good as anti-tank albeit light to medium tanks, just try and go for the rear armour.

I would try and maximise the number of units you have in low point games, just to score objectives. Plus, in case you hadn’t realised, Dark Eldar die to a stiff fart, therefore the best way to make dark Eldar survivable / stay to the end is to have lots of units (MSU).  

If you can fit all your units into a CAD then I would, the only reason to take real space raiders is for the extra fast attack slots. Even then, in larger points games, I would rather go dual CAD as if you’re taking four venoms with warriors the only real tax is an additional HQ.

IMO the benefits of objective secured far outweighs all the pluses from RSR.

Thanks a ton for the advice man - I'll put together a couple army lists and post them in the army list section for further comments/advice.

Kehmor wrote:

Hey there,

I am a returning player who hasn't fielded an army for the better part of a decade. Recently some friends and I decided we'd take up arms again and my first port of call was my beloved dark eldar.

As a total aside, you wouldn't happen to be Kehmor from Eve Online?

Grievous wrote:

Kehmor wrote:

Hey there,

I am a returning player who hasn't fielded an army for the better part of a decade. Recently some friends and I decided we'd take up arms again and my first port of call was my beloved dark eldar.

As a total aside, you wouldn't happen to be Kehmor from Eve Online?

Haha before or after I sold my account? And who do I have the pleasure of talking to?


Edit: also holy crap you have a good memory - haven't played that game for like 8 years. Hope I didn't piss you off too much

Kehmor wrote:

Grievous wrote:

Kehmor wrote:

Hey there,

I am a returning player who hasn't fielded an army for the better part of a decade. Recently some friends and I decided we'd take up arms again and my first port of call was my beloved dark eldar.

As a total aside, you wouldn't happen to be Kehmor from Eve Online?

Haha before or after I sold my account? And who do I have the pleasure of talking to?


Edit: also holy crap you have a good memory - haven't played that game for like 8 years. Hope I didn't piss you off too much

Haha no you didn't, mate.

<- GoGo Yubari

Grievous wrote:

Kehmor wrote:

Grievous wrote:

Kehmor wrote:

Hey there,

I am a returning player who hasn't fielded an army for the better part of a decade. Recently some friends and I decided we'd take up arms again and my first port of call was my beloved dark eldar.

As a total aside, you wouldn't happen to be Kehmor from Eve Online?

Haha before or after I sold my account? And who do I have the pleasure of talking to?


Edit: also holy crap you have a good memory - haven't played that game for like 8 years. Hope I didn't piss you off too much

Haha no you didn't, mate.  

<- GoGo Yubari

Holy crap man - what are the odds - you still play?