A new players tactical thread (please help)

So I this is my bare bones army. I want to do as pure Kabal as I could.

But I've got 6 Reavers so I've got to use them.

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

LOL. (Depending on the new book I may be forced to drop them or put them into another detachment but we will see about that when the time comes)

Anyway, this is what I've got. Unless we get something incredibly sick that comes with the new book release I'm done buying things for the foreseeable future. I may get a ravager or 2 sooner or later but I've got to rebuild my war chest for that.

I am very new to the edition and the army. So I humbly ask my fellow Archons for their advice.


A few ideas I have been thinking about that I need advice on:

Both Archons (kitted out to shoot-damage morale-get stuck in, what combos would you suggest for this?) in the Venom getting escorted by the 6 Reavers into my opponents flank. If this sounds reasonable to you, what drugs would you suggest and when would you suggest them?

The 2, 5 man Scourge units with 4 Splinter Cannons each can show up and pour fire (what is it like 48 shots not counting the Shardcarbines on the Solarites? Obviously they will be deep striking in rapid fire range) into anything I need dead, or show up to support my Archons and Reaver.

My 3 Raiders (kitted out with Dark Lances) with my Warriors embarked (3x10 with x1 Blaster per unit) hunting harder targets like MEQ and tanks, or harassing enemy positions, or embarking and sitting on objectives while the raiders go in to suicide/tarpit/distract.

My inventory/army list is below, I haven't modeled or painted anything yet. I am taking the wait and see approach for when the codex is out, but I highly doubt anything will be or work drastically different except for what buffs we get for keywords, new units/characters, points cost etc.

With the new book out soon-ish I know not to expect anything solid or concrete. I'm really looking for tactical advice and just want to get a dialogue started with people who know infinitely more than I do about this army.

I just wanted to give you a bare bones list to use in order to give me suggestions on better ways to steal some of the weaker races of the galaxy for my own heinous and deplorable "activities".

Battalion Detachment +3CP

+ HQ +

Archon: Huskblade, Splinter pistol
Archon: Huskblade, Splinter pistol

+ Troops +
Kabalite Warriors x9
Sybarite: Splinter Rifle x1
Kabalite Warriors x9
Sybarite: Splinter Rifle x1
Kabalite Warriors x9
Sybarite: Splinter Rifle x1

+ Fast Attack +
Reavers: Arena Champion, 5x Reaver

Scourges
4x Scourge
1x Solarite: Shardcarbine

Scourges
4x Scourge
1x Solarite: Shardcarbine

+ Dedicated Transport +
Raider: Dark Lance
Raider: Dark Lance
Raider: Dark Lance
Venom: Splinter Cannon, Twin splinter rifle

Archons - you shouldn;t take huskblade. Venomblade is usually better against most targets and much cheaper. Our HQs are a tax, not very good, you souldn;t pay for them more than you have to

Reavers are not the greatest unit atm, overpriced in my mind, but if ever you should give them +1T cause it gives them that sweet T5

You have very little antitank weaponry. If you want to keep bikes I would drop 2 scourge units and those huskblades. That should be more or less enough to fit in a Jetfighter

In my opinion (take it with a grain of salt, since I am also not very experienced) you shouldn't use splinter cannons on Scourges. As awesome as it sounds (and looks), 2 scourges with carbines are about the same point cost as 1 scourge with a splinter cannon, and they have the same amount of shots. But 2 scourges do have twice the wounds of one.

Second, I do agree with the post above me, that you don't seem to have a lot of anti tank. Maybe consider using one or both of the scourge units for AT. Scourges are one of the few units that have access to a lot of very fancy weapon bits.
And if Haywire becomes better again in the new codex, scourges are pretty much the only way of getting it. (A Talos can use Haywire, but that's coven, and you wanted pure kabal). Right now, Haywire is reliable because of the mortal wounds, but you'd need a lot of it before it becomes useful due to the amount of wounds on most vehicles. And they are simply too expensive to use in large numbers.

My rule of thumb for Dark Eldar : do I have 1 heavy weapon (Dark lance or disintegrator cannon) per 100pts of army ?

If not, then i don't have enough.

Also I'm pretty sure kicu meant "agonizer" instead of "venom blade" as archon can't take the venom blade anymore but as a small list it looks ok but as Mppqlmd said 1 dark lance per 100 points or abouts is usually a good idea.

Splintercannon on Scourges is not that good. It costs 15 points. A new scourge costs almost the same.
I suggest dark lances. Point costs are high, but face of your opponent, when he see them, well, priceless.

A lesson I learned early on was that, if you find yourself fielding Scourges with Splinter Fire you should probably just use Mandrakes instead.

Same range, similarly expensive, similarly durable. However, Mandrakes can also flee into close combat where they don't get shot off the next turn. And if you happen to charge something shooty, they will do some nice damage on top. 3 S4 attacks on a 2+ isn't shabby if you wait for turn 3.

Mppqlmd wrote:

My rule of thumb for Dark Eldar : do I have 1 heavy weapon (Dark lance or disintegrator cannon) per 100pts of army ?

If not, then i don't have enough.

For an all comers list would you suggest a 50/50 DL/Dissy?

I made a 1k list just screwing around on BS where I fit in 10 DL.

For the next 2 weeks of no codex, I would suggest more dl than dissies, unless your meta is primaris dominated.

Right now dissies cost 10 points more than a dl, otherwise I would say they were equal, still take a couple though, they are great for destroying those units you need to kill quickly, like termies or bikes.

Yes, more DL than Dissies is what I go for. 30% dissie, 70% dl.

Mppqlmd wrote:

Yes, more DL than Dissies is what I go for. 30% dissie, 70% dl.

Sounds solid. I second that.

We will see how this shifts once the book drops. Am I the only one nerding out and considering both the book and digital editions?

I just got 200 2x1mm magnets for $2  and 100 1x1mm magnets for $6.99ish from umagnets .com

I took a bath on the expedited shipping, Im too embarassed to admit what I spent on it.

I am going to magnetize 20 of my 50 warriors for the special/heavy weapons.

I am also going to magnetize all 20 of my scourges and all 4 raiders, 3 archons, 9 reavers and 1 venom.

I am soooo excited.

The Dissie is probably gonna drop in favour of some other AI tool (shredder maybe, or wyches, or something), but i doubt the DL is gonna be replaced as THE anti-tank tool.

Mppqlmd wrote:

The Dissie is probably gonna drop in favour of some other AI tool (shredder maybe, or wyches, or something), but i doubt the DL is gonna be replaced as THE anti-tank tool.

Well whatever happens I'll be prepared. I got a great deal on magnets last night. Take a look at my project log in low comorragh and you'll see. 20x warriors 3x sybarites 10x scourges 4 raiders 9 reavers and 3 archons will all be magnetized allowing me complete customization. It's gonna be nice.

I do not envy the task you have set for yourself.

clively wrote:

I do not envy the task you have set for yourself.

Yeah it's tedious work but it's a labor of love.