2000 Point DE Army

Normally I'm a strict Kabal / Cult kind of player, but I'm looking to use more Coven units to beef up my army. I'm not really sure how this list would preform given that I've only ever used one Corpsethief Claw in my games. Unfortunately, it was completely massacred by mass grav fire. Is there any way to prevent this from happening given this list:

Dark Eldar 2000 Points

HQ
Court of the Archon
+Lhamean
+Raider w/ DL

TROOPS
5 Kabalite Warriors
+ Raider w/ DL

5 Kabalite Warriors
+ Raider w/ DL

FAST ATTACK
5 Scourges
+ 4 HWBs

5 Scourges
+ 4 HWBs

5 Scourges
+ 4 HWBs

HEAVY SUPPORT
Ravager
+ 3 DLs

FORMATION 1:
Corpsethief Claw
+ 5 Talos w/ Chain-Flails

FORMATION 2:
Corpsethief Claw
+ 5 Talos w/ Chain-Flails

Other than the aforementioned question, I would also like to know how you would run this list? I plan to march the Taloi up the board, one unit on each side. While that's happening, my Scourges and Dark Lances would try and pick apart any armored units my opponent has. Hopefully 10 Pain Engines is enough to have a serious impact on the game...

No Ctc is complete without Ichor Injectors. There's a very real chance a single Wraithknight could tie up one of the Ctcs for a round of combat. So that's where the Ichor Injectors can in - 2+ fleshbane AP2 attacks. Definitely worth considering.

Instand death is healpful against big stuff.

hydranixx wrote:

No Ctc is complete without Ichor Injectors. There's a very real chance a single Wraithknight could tie up one of the Ctcs for a round of combat. So that's where the Ichor Injectors can in - 2+ fleshbane AP2 attacks. Definitely worth considering.

100% Agree with this. And as Unorthodoxy mentioned, it also gives instant death on to-wound rolls of 6.

I might also swap your haywire blasters for heat lances. With 2 corpsthief claws and a ravager, you could easily plan to deep strike pretty much everything else in your army, and since the majority of your killyness won't be able to assault till turn 2 anyhow, it will coincide well with a deep striking can opener.

As for grav spam...well, this list would be weak to grav spam. It's the sad state of 40k. Grav instantly counters what are otherwise some of the most resilient models in the game. If it makes you feel better, Riptides have it even worse.

Have you considered a corpsethieft claw in combinaison with a dark artisan? Usually, ennemy will run away from the CtC, to avoid death and victory point. WWP a dark artisan could prevent your ennmy from fleing, plus, buffing your CtC.

In an age of maelstrom objectives, the area denial provided by your enemy running away might be exactly what the doctor ordered.

If you're playing both formations, which some players do in fact do, you probably want to deploy the Dark Artisan on the ground normally, and near to the CtC. The main bonus for playing both formations is that the FnP buff 'aura' that the Haemonculus gives nearby Pain Engines helps all 7 of them handle incoming fire, from the moment the game begins.

WWP Dark Artisans can work, but it means they themselves won't help saturate the enemy with targets, won't buff the CtC for at least one full turn of incoming fire*, and they won't be able to charge anything until turn 3 at the earliest*.

* Provided they arrive turn 2, which is not always the case. If they come in later, you lose ever more synergy and damage.

I think when you are playing both DA & CtC, you're really squandering the strongest of synergies between the two formations when you keep one in deep strike and the other out in the open by itself, and also pay 35pts for your trouble.

If I had to pick someone from this website as a proxy to argue my own perspective on things, it'd probably be you, Hydranixx. I normally agree with the vast majority of your analysis, which means you must be a pretty smart dude.

BetrayTheWorld wrote:

If I had to pick someone from this website as a proxy to argue my own perspective on things, it'd probably be you, Hydranixx. I normally agree with the vast majority of your analysis, which means you must be a pretty smart dude.

Well, thanks man. I've started learning in recent times that in table top gaming, it's healthy to question everything. Its ok to change one's mind on things. Nothing is sacred; there's no element to the game that is static.

This very Dark Artisan example was one of the first instances of this for me. When the covens supplement was released, I thought to myself: "Wow I can give the two of these huge hulking beasts non-scatter deep strike? That's amazing! I'm going to buy this upgrade every time I take a Dark Artisan."

I held onto this idea for a long time, and it wasn't until I was questioned what the purpose of a Talos  even is - to draw fire and area denial - and the purpose of the DA formation (and Cronos in particular) was - to provide buffs for nearby Pain Engines - that I realised I was actually hurting both functions of the unit by having it deep strike.

Was it me that pointed that out? I have so many conversations on here, it's difficult to recall every one with absolute clarity, but I know I've made an argument against webway portals on dark artisans a LOT. I started feeling like a broken record, repeating myself over and over...