Tactica: Drukhari

I think, its a nice idea to do a thread, collecting articles about our beloved and cursed Dark Eldar.
And since Goonhammer updated their 'Start Competing' to 9th, I just begin:

https://www.goonhammer.com/start-competing-drukhari/

Also very interesting:

https://www.goonhammer.com/keys-to-the-spire-part-1-talking-drukhari-with-archon-skari/

Thats a 3 part article, but very also very useful.

Those are all Goonhammer articles, but all others are also very welcome.

Edit 3:

https://1d4chan.org/wiki/Warhammer_40,000/Tactics/Dark_Eldar_(9E)

Thx to  @Soulless Samurai  here is the complete 1D4chan Drukhari article.

Edit 1:

https://www.frontlinegaming.org/2021/03/31/the-backbone-of-drukhari-strats-and-relics/

Here is nice list of Relics and Stratagems, including BoR.

Edit 2:

https://www.goonhammer.com/competitive-innovations-list-archetypes/

I found a list with 'Archetype' lists. Sure, not only Drukhari, but useful nonetheless.

Edit 4:

https://www.warhammer-community.com/2021/06/29/metawatch-warhammer-40000-building-beautiful-balanced-battlefields-for-grand-tournament-play/

Knowing your army is good. Knowing your enemy is even better. But thats not all there is to know.
Luckily GW wrote about the US Open terrain layout. I just added that link, too.
After all, one cant have too much information.

Not a bad tread topic, should be really helpful for all the newer players flocking to the Dark City

I hope, there will be more links soon. 1d4chan is down, but there should be much more outside.

WAYYY back in the day, there was a great article on positioning/trapping by Goonhammer (could have been Frontline, I honestly forget). I think this was back in 8th.

Did a great job explaining firing lanes, positioning CC units to take back Objectives on the following turn, etc.

Did a quick search, cant find it. Even though its about an old edition, most of the diagrams/theory is still very relivent today. Most of the things I focus on when teaching newer players is the planning/positioning.

If anyone happens across it, please let us know!

Added another useful link. Especially when reading Goonhammer articles.

Cool, ty for doing this!

Better than using Google everytime, I want to know something.

Anyone remember 3++ is the new black? It used to have a lot of tactics articles back in 5th edition, ranging from positioning to army-building to codex guides.

Sadly, it's been dead for at least a year or two now, though I think some of the contributors might post on Frontline Gaming instead.

Zenotaph wrote:

I hope, there will be more links soon. 1d4chan is down, but there should be much more outside.

1d4chan isn't actually down. Just for some reason it doesn't come up on google anymore. I don't know if google blacklisted it for some reason but, unless you enter the precise web address, all you get is a pile of the threads about it being down.

Anyway, here's their DE tactica:

https://1d4chan.org/wiki/Warhammer_40,000/Tactics/Dark_Eldar_(9E)

Indeed I do recall "3++ is the new black".

It was one of the main sites to visit back in the day, along with Natfka412, Spikey Bits, Bell of Lost Souls, etc.

Havent been to that part of the web in some time. The adds became so brutal you literally could only see about 1/4 of the screen XD

I personally love the age of Goonhammer we currently inhabit. IMO its the best site to date.

This thread is very helpful, thank you very much.
That being said, the only tactic I respect is wrack spam. For obvious reasons.

Wracks do still feature in top lists, and they definitely got legs.

Im going to a tourney later this month and brining 3x10 in Prophets of Flesh. IMO they may not be as good as Court of the Archon into the various Meta builds (Court costs less per wound, which matters against MW spam and AdMech "bucket of dice"), but still better at absorbing some kinds of firepower.

I actually think coven is better than many ppl think they are. Their durability, not being slow, cheap troops, solid pain engines etc are pretty decent

colinsherlow wrote:

I actually think coven is better than many ppl think they are. Their durability, not being slow, cheap troops,  solid pain engines etc are pretty decent

I'm definitely coming around to their 9th incarnation. Cronos are entirely respectable, Wracks are great considering their price, and Talos with Heat Lances, Ichor Injectors and Gauntlets are wrecking balls.

Grotesques are mostly fine as well, but the Haemonculus really lets the side down. I'm almost entirely convinced at this point that he needs a substantial points drop.

Ya, no question that the Haemi needs something to make him good. Either a point adjustment or giving him back some weapon options (that close combat profile is just needlessly complicated for basically no benefit).

The Haemonculus is in an odd place in 9th. On the one hand, it's nice that he can heal Coven units now. On the other, I'm not sure it was worth the loss of his entire melee arsenal (including what was by far his best weapon), a point of toughness, an attack, the option to take a Hexrifle or Liquifier Gun etc.

It seems more like the 'lesser' Haemonculus you got in 5th . . . except with a higher cost than even the Haemonculus Ancient and without access to their all important wargear selection.

It also doesn't seem to go with its Master upgrade. Coming back to life once per game would be awesome on a Succubus or Archon but on a Haemonculus it just makes me scratch my head. It's flavourful, I guess, but there's just so little you can really do with it (since the Haemonculus isn't equipped for melee . . . or really anything anymore).

Just out of interest, does anyone use Urien? I wasn't fond of him before but it now seems like you're not really losing much on the combat or equipment front. Though I know PoF aren't popular anymore.

I’ve found you really have to build your list with a specific purpose in mind for the Haemonculous if you’re going to take one. In my games they fill one of three roles:

1. Healing Talos/Cronos/Grotesques
2.  Turning off an aura or obsec 
3. Resurrecting Wracks (you really have to commit to a Wrack heavy build to get value out of this).

A Haemonculous has to have a specific purpose to either keep a vital unit alive or deny your opponent points or helping you neutralize a crucial unit or character in your opponent’s army.  He’s not a damage dealer.  We have plenty of characters who can kill things.  Unless you’re building around 6-9 Talos, 10-18 Grotesques, or at least 30 (bare minimum) Wracks, you don’t need a Haemonculous in your army.

@Soulless Samurai

i did not use Urien a lot, but i do love him!
He's the same price than a Master Haemonculus and already have the Reanimate included, so it's the same thing but with an aura +1S (which can be useful with Grotesque and even Talos.....Chronos to have a slight chance a killing something and heal).
PoF is already pretty impressive, so you ends up with sturdier Wracks and stronger Grotesque/Talos

I'm not even talking about the 4++, halve damage, Haemovore etc...

So all in all, Urien is a real bargain in comparison to Haemonculus when you take all of that into account, only drawback is that you're stuck with PoF.......which is not that bad of a drawback

But i agree about the fact that Haemy should really have a drop in point, cause they have a role to fulfill (poisoner's ampule, reanimate Wracks, choosing any Coven obsession/WT/relic)

I think its pretty cool that he comes back on a 2+ at the end of the phase. If we could give him an actual CCW, he would totally be worth his 100 points.

Change out the scissor hand and the Haemonculus tools for an Electrocorrosive whip, and suddenly I would be throwing him into most lists, and even start considering a RSR.

But his current profile is just so needlessly complicated.
1 attack with the Ichor Injector (MW)
2 attacks with Scissor hands (poison 4+, AP2)
3 attacks with Haemonculus tools (poison 2+ AP0)

Like we cant even put all of our attacks onto one of the weapons (other than the scissor hands, which is probably the worst weapon of the bunch), we are forced to attack with this schizophrenic mash of various weapons designed to attack different targets XD

He has decent Relics (Coven dependent), and a few cool WLTs (also mostly Coven dependent).

Anyway, just wanted to rant a little about my fav DE Character

I am back again. Sorry, I was, well, uh, hmmm, out of Internet for a week. Somehow it was nice, but...

The Haemonculus is nowadays a niche character but I still like Dark Creed. Loosing actions and ObSec could really hurt.
But there are too much armies that ignore morale and atrittion modifiers. Well, cant be helped.

Btw, when anybody has a nice link for tactics, tricks, or something like it, please post em here! Thx in advance.

welcome back @zenotaph
You did not miss a lot here in your absence
Did you enjoy life in the sunshine as we did back in the 90's?

There wasnt much sunshine. At least not for me. It was like: You start with zero. And zero means nothing.
Ever tried living with 0,50€ for 2-3 days? Not fun. I was happy, when I had some Noodles to cook.

Well!!! What doesnt break you, makes you nicer. I think, my daily-to-do-list was kinda helping me.
I just helped an old lady and she gave me money. I didnt even want it. She insisted.
Beats beein a Jackass, I think. Still feeling strange. Whan I help someone, I dont want payback.
When I offer my help, I just want an honest 'thank you' and maybe, just maybe a smile.

@zenotaph ha! you're such a good Drukhari
Always thinking about helping his neighbors!
I raise my hat to you! our world miss people like you who wants to actually help people without requesting anything.

So i truly hope that your times of ''skinny cow'' (don't know if we can say that in english.....in french it's ''période de vache maigre'') are behind you and that it was only a rough time to get over.

Actually, it started at a certain New Years Eve. Boy, were we drunk. We said, we are just small people in a very big world.
So, we just have to do only small things and leave the big stuff to others. After some more beer and, well, other stuff, we made a list:

-whistle or sing a song
-open a door for someone
-do someone a favor
-offer help
-smile at a stranger

And while the last point could be dangerous, I tried to do that on a daily basis. It kinda is the way I am anyways, so...

Just added another useful link. This time about terrain layout.

Welcome back @zenotaph we missed you.

Not a lot you missed. AdMech/Dark Eldar still fighting over the crown of "Most OP".

TY for posting the link about terrain. If you see anything else regarding terrain, please post (have a Player Placed Terrain event coming up, and I am woefully underprepared for it).