DE + Corsairs 2k

So I've recently been expanding my Corsair stuff beyond just "run Shimmershield characters with Grotesques for the 5++" now that the FAQ doesn't like battle brother ally transports, and would appreciate a bit of feedback from more experienced Corsair players on whether this looks decent.

DE RSR:
Lhamean: 10
5 Kabalites + (Venom + Splinter Cannon): 105
5 Kabalites + (Venom + Splinter Cannon): 105
3 Reavers + Caltrops: 63
3 Reavers + Caltrops: 63
3 Reavers + Caltrops: 63
3 Reavers + Caltrops: 63
3 Reavers + Caltrops: 63
3 Reavers + Caltrops: 63

Corsair Raiding Fleet:
Prince + Jetbike + Shadowfield + Void Saber + ML1: 155

-Hate Bringers Coterie
Baron + Jetbike + Shadowfield + Venom Blade + ML1: 95
3 Cloud Dancers + 3 Splinter Cannons: 75
Nightwing: 125
Nightwing: 125

-Night Hunters Coterie:
Baron + Jetbike + Shadowfield + Venom Blade + ML1: 95
3 Cloud Dancers + 3 Splinter Cannons: 75
Hornet + 2 Pulse Lasers: 80
Hornet + 2 Pulse Lasers: 80
Warp Hunter + Kinetic Shroud: 200

CWE Skyhunters Squadron
Lynx + Holofields + Spiritstones: 280

17 points left over to use on whatever, I figured I'd just put a Blaster in one of the Kabalite squads. Corsair Prince joins up with one of the Reaver bands, while the Barons join the Cloud Dancers in their coteries. Considered running the DE element as a CAD instead (putting the Reavers into squads of 6 instead) to get ObSec on the Kabalites as well as putting the Prince in a beefier squad too. All psykers would roll on Divination, hoping to get Precognition for rerollable Shadowfields - though Misfortune to turn all the Splinter Cannons into Shuriken Cannons times two. Worst case I just throw Prescience around everywhere. Prince would choose Reaper of the Outer Dark, and all Corsairs would grab Rage and charge when opportune.

When I'm playing against people that aren't cool with ranged D (which is relatively common at the club I go to), I could drop the Warp Hunter and Lynx, making up 480pts. With that I'd grab a Succubus with Incubus retinue in Venom (with Armor of Misery), change the Prince to Collector of Ancient Treasures for Mask of Secrets, and grab a pair of DE Reapers to cover anti-tank with their Haywire and add a tiny freakshow element with their pinning blasts.

I like it. It's a well thought out list with a concrete plan on how you'll use your psychic powers, and what role everyone fills.

The only 2 things I'd offer suggestion on would be to:

1. Use your alternate idea to make it a CAD and make the reavers units of 6. That will be helpful for both the Obsec and the fact that your warlord is going to be in one of those units, so you want more beef.

2. I don't think reaper of the outer dark helps you all that much. It's nice on the prince, but on everyone else it's pretty unimpressive, while actually having the potential to hamper you in certain circumstances. It might be worth looking again at the idea of just taking collector of ancient treasures either way, and considering things like the mask of secrets, shard of anaris, etc. The shard of anaris in particular will make your prince someone most things don't want to fight in a challenge: Rending + Instant death.

Good luck with whatever you decide, and let us know how it works out!

I think I might prefer Void Saber to the Shard of Anaris just because of reliable AP3 (and I figure the challenges would just be denied anyway), but taking Mask of Secrets anyway might be fun. After looking through the artifacts a little more, I really like the idea of the Spirit Stone of Anath'lan (get Prescience going for just one warp charge). Even Animus Vitae could potentially be decent, to get all those Reavers Furious Charge a little quicker. And with the Craftworld FAQ saying the Iyanden supplement is still legal to use, makes me think I can grab artifacts from there as well - Celestial Lance may be worth grabbing, though I'm not certain that spending 15 more points than the Void Saber to get S7 AP2 attacks on the charge (even with H&R DE Reavers) and a regular close combat weapon otherwise is necessarily worth it, in addition to losing Rage/Rampage.

Would you still consider running Mask of Secrets even if I didn't have any way to attack leadership? Fearless is nice but most armies don't get swept anyway, and again, loss of Rage/Rampage.

I don't think I'm familiar with what the Night Hunter coterie bonuses are? In my humble opinion, the two stand out coteries are Hate Bringer and Sky Burner. Most of the other options seem pretty niche, and these two seem like they add very reliable and very potent bonuses.

Sky Burners certainly seem like an auto include if you're picking flyers such as your Nightwings, as you get a simple re roll on their reserves roll.

I double the call to make the DE part a CAD as opposed to RSR. MSU Reavers can be really good, but in relation to the rest of the list, having bigger units is probably what you're after.

Otherwise, I find the list very appealing. I think it covers just about everything, and can put out some serious dakka. Keeping the Void Saber is the right choice, I think.

Asides from Coterie & Detachment choice, the only thing that strikes me is that the list is light on objective secured sources; being on only 4 relatively flimsy units if you upgrade to a CAD, and on only 2 units if you don't. I guess the Shadowfield Baron could tank saves for the Jetbikes for a time, but they generally want to be shooting and staying away from objectives. If you ended up against battle company with a plethora of Obsec Rhinos and MSU marines, you might find it pretty tough to score points.

Reaver Corsairs with Jetpacks/transports could add some extra Obsec bodies to the list. If you did decide to include any, again consider putting them in Sky Burners. You can re roll even passed reserve rolls (I think?) so you could try keep them in reserves until you get a maelstrom card to take a specific objective, then you can let them Deep strike onto the objective, with their low scatter to claim it; even if you scatter quite far, you can dick around with Reckless Abandon and Jump Pack assault moves to get literally anywhere you need to. They're also a good source for flamers, which are in short supply in almost all Eldar subfactions: 5 Reavers with Jetpacks and 2 Flamers are only 85 pts; just some food for thought.

Why Night Hunters? Only the Baron and the Cloud Dancers get the benefit from the specialization but also from my understanding of the wording on the Night Hunter rules you only get preferred enemy (everything) when you are actually fighting at night and with no way to ensure that you will have night fighting it just seems like a waste.

"All Infantry and Eldar Jetbike units in this Cotorie gain the Night Vision special rule and while Night Fighting Rules are in effect, they also gain the Preferred Enemy (Everything) special rule." -page 153

CurstAlchemist wrote:

"All Infantry and Eldar Jetbike units in this Cotorie gain the Night Vision special rule and while Night Fighting Rules are in effect, they also gain the Preferred Enemy (Everything) special rule." -page 153

Thank you good sir, I knew there was a reason I (rightfully) glossed over that one. As I mentioned earlier, most of the Coterie buffs are very niche choices, and Night Hunters is no exception. I would never take it when I could instead take Sky Burners, Hate Bringers, or even Titan Breakers/Hunters? for that matter, which seems superior to Night Hunters in almost every way.

MHaruspex wrote:

And with the Craftworld FAQ saying the Iyanden supplement is still legal to use, makes me think I can grab artifacts from there as well

Yeah, I thought of this but didn't mention it because I don't think the way it's worded would allow it, but I didn't have my book handy to check. If it specifies Craftworld Eldar, Dark Eldar, and Harlequins, it probably wouldn't allow you to take from the Iyanden supplement without some back and forth on whether Iyanden counts as craftworld eldar in this particular case(because for some things, they do, while for others, they're their own faction).

MHaruspex wrote:

Would you still consider running Mask of Secrets even if I didn't have any way to attack leadership? Fearless is nice but most armies don't get swept anyway, and again, loss of Rage/Rampage.

Yeah, even without getting swept, if you pay attention and remember to make your opponent do them(this is occasionally a problem for me - pinning in particular), there are plenty of leadership checks that occur throughout the game outside of close combat, and the mask of secrets is chief among the leadership penalty items, having both the longest range(12") and the greatest effect(-2Ld).

If you keep in mind that against marines the leadership effect ONLY really works out in pinning and morale challenges where their unit is near their deployment edge, you can use your warlord unit as a backfield skirmisher that's constantly dropping a shroud of -2 leadership in a 24" bubble. With such a large area of effect, you should keep in mind that even when you're in combat, the leadership bubble will likely be effecting nearby units that AREN'T in the combat, giving them morale penalties vs shooting from OTHER sources.