New to DE tips would be appreciated

Hi All,

I am quite new to DE enjoying the models and some of their play style I just can't seem to get to grips with keeping them alive.

Below is the list I played last night in a 1K match and by the end of turn 2 I pretty much only had Talos left on the field.

I find that with such a bad save they're obliterated so easily even in cover and anything with Ignores Cover has a field day.

My Reavers didn't even see the light of day, deployed and destroyed straight off the bat ignores cover took them out instantly.

Is my list wrong or any I doing anything wrong?

+++ New Roster (Warhammer 40,000 7th Edition) [991pts] +++

++ DE Realspace Raiders Detachment (Dark Eldar: Codex (2014)) ++

+ HQ +

Archon: Blaster, Clone field, Huskblade, Kabalite Armour, Plasma Grenades, The Animus Vitae
···· Venom: Flickerfield, Splinter Cannon, Twin Linked Splinter Rifles

+ Troops +

Kabalite Warriors: Kabalite Armour
···· 8x Kabalite Warrior: 8x Close Combat Weapon, 8x Splinter Rifle
···· Kabalite Warrior with heavy weapon (up to 1 for 10 models): Close Combat Weapon, Splinter cannon
···· Kabalite Warrior with special weapon: Blaster, Close Combat Weapon
···· Raider: Disintegrator cannon

Kabalite Warriors: Kabalite Armour
···· 8x Kabalite Warrior: 8x Close Combat Weapon, 8x Splinter Rifle
···· Kabalite Warrior with heavy weapon (up to 1 for 10 models): Close Combat Weapon, Splinter cannon
···· Kabalite Warrior with special weapon: Blaster, Close Combat Weapon
···· Raider: Disintegrator cannon

+ Fast Attack +

Reavers: Wychsuit
···· 3x Reaver: 3x Bladevanes, 3x Close combat weapon, 3x Splinter pistol
········ 3x Reaver jetbike: 3x Splinter Rifle

Reavers: Wychsuit
···· 3x Reaver: 3x Bladevanes, 3x Close combat weapon, 3x Splinter pistol
········ 3x Reaver jetbike: 3x Splinter Rifle

+ Heavy Support +

Ravager: Disintegrator cannon, Disintegrator cannon, Disintegrator cannon

Ravager: Dark Lance, Dark Lance, Dark Lance

Talos
···· Talos: Armoured Carapace, Close Combat Weapon, Ichor Injector, Twin-linked heat lance

copypasting my answer from your thread in "Dark Eldar Tactics":

Archon - Agonizer is better in most situations than huskblade, switch out the clonefield for a shadowfield (most single hits will kill him instantly anyways, so a 4++ is useless), drop the animus vitae, drop the blaster. OR give him WWP and blaster (and possibly shadowfield)

Kabs, pretty much what theBaconPope said (drop the splintercannon, get splinterracks on raider), plus i find it more efficient to have 10man Squads on splinterrack raider without any blasters; if i run blasters on kab (and i do often) it's 5man venom squads.

Reavers - not much experience there. due to limited amount of OLD reavers i have (that like to fall apart) i tend not to run them. Still, from looking at them, MSU reavers with caltrops seem to be the way to go if you want to field a lot of them. MSU barebones might work too, but more as a distraction than any threat.

Ravagers - i tend to leave them at home. but dissie ravagers > lance ravagers - you'll end up jinking half the time with lance ravagers (BIG threat to AV if left untouched) and therefore will not hit, so they'll end up being an expensive distraction. with dissie ravagers you at least have volume of shots.

Talos - very good in a gunboat list, since the enemy needs Anti-Armour against him, which he needs against your boats already. found the HaywireBlaster to be more effective, due to higher range. Talos might not make it close enough if the enemy decides he's the threat.


Other Units to run (in my experience):
Grotesques - good bodyguard unit, better in Haemonculus Covens Supplement
Incubi - Not as good as grotesques, but cheaper MSU cost and still pretty decent as bodyguards
Mandrakes - MSU and Outflank, situationally effective (useless against ignores cover weaponry)
Scourges - probably best ranged anti-armor DE can field. Beware, fragile as hell (both physically as well as ruleswise)
Trueborn - with blasters good Anti-Armor, expensive glass cannons.

End of copypaste.

Expansion on my post: for 1000 pts, let's try this:

HQ - 110 pts

Archon - Webway Portal, Blaster - 110 pts (attach to Trueborn)

Elite - 170 pts

5 Trueborn, 4 Blasters 115 pts
Raider 55 pts

Troops - 360 pts

5 Kabalite Warriors, Blaster 55 pts
Venom, Splintercannon 65 pts

5 Kabalite Warriors, Blaster 55 pts
Venom, Splintercannon 65 pts

5 Kabalite Warriors, Blaster 55 pts
Venom, Splintercannon 65 pts

Heavy Support - 350 pts

Ravager 110 pts

Ravager 110 pts

Talos, Twin-linked Haywire Blaster 130 pts

Total Pts so far: 990 pts

Strengths:
- Lots of Anti-Infantry
- Near immune to small arms while embarked
- Fast
- 6 Objective Secured units (remember, dedicated transports of troop choices count)

Weaknesses:
- Low model count
- Susceptible to template weaponry i.e. flamers
- effective Anti-Armour depending on 1 squad (Trueborn with attached Archon)
- fragile like all Dark Eldar (except Covens Armies)
- Cover-save dependent like all Dark Eldar (again, except Covens Armies)
- Only 1 Melee-capable unit


I hope this helps, and remember, my ideas will differ from other players' ideas, and the vast majority are worth listening to in order to form your own opinion.

/Edit: Clarification - This example list is run as a Combined Arms Detachment. Also, you might want to attach 1 Darklance to each of the Ravagers to spend the remaining points; it'll give you a smidgen more Anti-Armour.