Brand new to dark eldar

Hello everyone iv finally decided play dark eldar but the problem is I have no clue on what to take, all I know is I wanna start with the new start collecting box and possibly mandrakes and lots of Talos, I just like them, so any advice I would be really grateful for

Dark_Incubi wrote:

Hello everyone iv finally decided play dark eldar but the problem is I have no clue on what to take, all I know is I wanna start with the new start collecting box and possibly mandrakes and lots of Talos, I just like them, so any advice I would be really grateful for

My advice to start would of course be the Archon and also the Kabalite Warriors (at least ten).  that's kind of obvious but...

Two Venoms would be my next suggestion.  They will provide you with transports to get around and a lot of flexible firepower.

Once that's in your possession, it gets a lot trickier.  There are just so many ways to go with Dark Eldar.  

In the role of tank killing, I probably would get some Haywire wielding Scourges.  Highly reliable in comparison to the alternatives even if they aren't as flashy.  A second choice which is "okay" but NOT reliable is the Ravager.

In the horde killing area of your list, Venoms and also the Grotesques provide excellent value.  Another choice that is really impressive against hordes is probably Beast Masters.  They can muster a ton of attacks to match those generally known to be put out by hordes and they typically go as fast or faster than most hordes can, allowing them to whittle horde strength quickly. A Court of the Archon can do similar magic and has a lot more versatility than the Beastmasters but they do require a transport (I recommend a Raider if you go this route).

Wraith Knights (and to a lesser extent Imperial Knights) are the meanest thing in the game, and you must be able to drop one.  Dark Eldar struggle here against Wraith knights and expend a LOT of extra energy on Imperial Knights to reliably kill them.  The thing you REALLY need is a unit that can shoot the Wraith Knight before you charge, with a ranged CONCUSSION effect.  Eldar allies can do it using Swooping Hawks and their Exarchs Sunrifle.  So I might suggest looking to that for an answer.  The Aspect Host Formation could be an option.  Once you hit the WraithKnight/Imperial Knight with Concussion, you can do work on it with Talos.  The Corpsethief Claw Formation is 5 Talos grouped together into a unit.  it is WS 5 and can very likely take out the Wraith Knight once its blinded.  Alternatively you could chance it with Grotesques and their Instant Death weapons, but that surely isnt as sure a bet and it won't work against Imperial Knights at all.  


Food for thought.

Unorthodoxy wrote:

In the role of tank killing, I probably would get some Haywire wielding Scourges.  Highly reliable in comparison to the alternatives even if they aren't as flashy.  A second choice which is "okay" but NOT reliable is the Ravager.

Unorthodoxy is generally a pretty good tactician to give tips, if a bit "next level" sometimes for newer players. His advice is sometimes contingent on a very deep understanding of how the game works that newer players simply don't possess.

That being said, while he is correct that haywire blaster scourges are more reliable against most vehicles than ravagers are(mostly only vehicles with AV12+), ravagers are by far the more versatile option. Haywire blasters are great against vehicles, but they're ONLY great against vehicles. Against other things they're S4 AP4, single shot while the ravager is firing S8 AP2 shots. The ravager is also a bit more resilient with front and side AV11. Scourges can be fairly surviveable if used with finesse, but they're also less forgiving of mistakes. If you make a bad move with your scourges, you may very easily suffer a squad wipe, while doing the same with a ravager gives you some modicum of protection with the AV11.

I think a good combination of scourges and ravagers is best, but if I had to choose one or the other, I'd probably take a ravager. Scourges are typically best against higher AV stuff that is also less common, while ravagers excel at taking out AV10/11 vehicles, high toughness stuff, and elite 2+ armoured infantry, so I think a good ratio is 1 unit of scourges for every 3 ravagers. (At 1850 I'd probably run 2 and 6, respectively)