Getting back into the hobby, planned 1750 pt list

Hi all,

First time poster here! I'm just getting back into 40k after more than 10 years away from the hobby. Before I left, I had always been interested in collecting a Dark Eldar/Drukhari army, so am planning to start one. I really love the idea of a fast and shooty kabal, riding around on venoms and raiders, with some heavy hitters thrown in there.

There are four 5-man warrior squads - 2 in Venoms and 2 sharing a raider. Hopefully this gives me some good flexibility with capturing objectives and having my units spread out. I'll have my Archon and 4 Sslyths in another venom. This unit will be a strong shooting or CC unit. Then I will have 9 Incubi + Drazhar in another raider. This is my hard hitting CC unit. All of this will be backed up by a line of 3 Ravagers with DC's, as well as a unit of Scourges that can deep strike to kill high value vehicles.

My battalion detachment has the Kabal of the Poisoned Tongue obsession, allowing for re-rolls on 1s to wound in melee and for poisoned weapons, which should give my warriors, Sslyths and incubi a bit of a boost, plus allows me to use Insidious Misdirection which just sounds fun.

The spearhead detachment (Ravagers) has Kabal of the Black Heart obsession, giving them Inured from Suffering on round 1. I'll have my Archon hang back, who has Writ of the Living Muse. That combined with the base Overlord ability gives the Ravagers re-rolls on 1 to hit and wound.

12CP feels decent, although I've never played with CP so not sure if that is enough, but it will at least let me use Agents of Vect and Insidious Misdirection and give me some points to spare.

I'm hoping this list will be reasonably competitive but also fun to play and somewhat fluffy. Do you see any weaknesses or areas of improvement? Let me know what you think!

++ Battalion Detachment 0CP (Aeldari - Drukhari) [63 PL, 1,193pts, 12CP] ++

+ Configuration +

Battle Size [12CP]: 3. Strike Force (101-200 Total PL / 1001-2000 Points)

Detachment CP

Obsession: Kabal of the Poisoned Tongue

+ HQ +

Archon [4 PL, 65pts]: Agoniser, Hatred Eternal, Splinter pistol, Warlord

Drazhar [6 PL, 105pts]

+ Troops +

Kabalite Warriors [3 PL, 60pts]
. 3x Kabalite Warrior: 3x Splinter Rifle
. Kabalite Warrior with special weapon: Blaster
. Sybarite: Splinter Rifle

Kabalite Warriors [3 PL, 60pts]
. 3x Kabalite Warrior: 3x Splinter Rifle
. Kabalite Warrior with special weapon: Blaster
. Sybarite: Splinter Rifle

Kabalite Warriors [3 PL, 60pts]
. 3x Kabalite Warrior: 3x Splinter Rifle
. Kabalite Warrior with special weapon: Blaster
. Sybarite: Splinter Rifle

Kabalite Warriors [3 PL, 60pts]
. 3x Kabalite Warrior: 3x Splinter Rifle
. Kabalite Warrior with special weapon: Blaster
. Sybarite: Splinter Rifle

+ Elites +

Incubi [8 PL, 144pts]
. 8x Incubi: 8x Klaive
. Klaivex: Demiklaives

Sslyth [1 PL, 21pts]

Sslyth [1 PL, 21pts]

Sslyth [1 PL, 21pts]

Sslyth [1 PL, 21pts]

+ Fast Attack +

Scourges [7 PL, 115pts]
. Scourge with Special / Heavy weapon: Haywire blaster
. Scourge with Special / Heavy weapon: Haywire blaster
. Scourge with Special / Heavy weapon: Haywire blaster
. Scourge with Special / Heavy weapon: Haywire blaster
. Solarite: Shardcarbine

+ Dedicated Transport +

Raider [5 PL, 105pts]: Disintegrator cannon, Splinter Racks

Raider [5 PL, 95pts]: Disintegrator cannon

Venom [4 PL, 90pts]: Splinter Cannon, Splinter Cannon

Venom [4 PL, 75pts]: Splinter Cannon, Twin splinter rifle

Venom [4 PL, 75pts]: Splinter Cannon, Twin splinter rifle

++ Spearhead Detachment -3CP (Aeldari - Drukhari) [28 PL, 545pts, -3CP] ++

+ Configuration +

Detachment CP [-3CP]

Obsession: Kabal of the Black Heart

+ HQ +

Archon [4 PL, 65pts]: Huskblade, Splinter pistol, Writ of the Living Muse

+ Heavy Support +

Ravager [8 PL, 160pts]: Disintegrator cannon, Disintegrator cannon, Disintegrator cannon

Ravager [8 PL, 160pts]: Disintegrator cannon, Disintegrator cannon, Disintegrator cannon

Ravager [8 PL, 160pts]: Disintegrator cannon, Disintegrator cannon, Disintegrator cannon

++ Total: [91 PL, 1,738pts, 9CP] ++

Created with BattleScribe

Some minor corrections:

-Sslyth/Incubi are not <Kabal> units, so they will not benefit from Poison Tongue. Any "Mercenary" unit that can jump between Kabal/Coven/Cult is like that (Scourges, Mandrakes, etc). You can still do the re-deploy strat if the transport they are riding in is Poison Tongue.

-You only get back the CP from your Warlord detatchment. The Spearhead will cost you an extra 3CP, so you will be starting with 9CP

-Your Archon wont benefit much from Eternal Hatred. Drazhar OTOH loves that Warlord Trait. I would recomend switching that over.

-Generally it is advisable to stay away from vehicle upgrades, like the second Splinter Cannon or Splinter Racks.

-Dont be afraid to spread out your Sslyth. It is a great unit for occupying space and screening out enemy Deep Strike/Outflank units. Also a really cheap unit to sit on a back-field objective and score points. Generally one of my MVPs due to their low cost and ability to "exist" on the field.

Otherwise the list looks good. Get in some practice and try to remember your Power From Pain abilities and the 4-5 strong Strats that you have access to.

Thanks for the corrections! Didn't realize that about the Sslyth/Incubi units so that actually might change how I organize things slightly. Do you think it would make sense to just put everything in the battalion with Kabal of the Black Heart obsession? That way I would start with 12 CP and everything gets Inured from Pain on round 1. I would lose the Poison Tongue benefits but not sure how powerful that would be anyway if it only applies to the Warriors, Archon and poisoned weapons on vehicles. That would free up some points as well as I wouldn't need the second Archon.

Why is it advisable to stay away from vehicle upgrades? Are they just generally not worth their expense?

If you are determined to only take Kabal units, then a Bat would be a good idea. Remember that we have the Raiding Force formation, comprised of 3 Patrols (which end up costing 0CP). The 3 patrols do not need to be different subfactions, they could all be Black Heart. Or 2 could be Black Heart and 1 could be Profits of Flesh Coven. Etc. By going with the Bat, you only need 2 HQs instead of 3, so a full Black Heart army would be better as a Bat.

Correct, the vehicle upgrades just dont do enough for the points. 15 points for a second Splinter Cannon is just nuts (2 extra shots for a 20% increase in points?!?!)

Good luck and happy raiding.