First 1,000 points

Hi there. I've just returned to 40k after many years absence and I'm getting dangerously close to my first battle so I thought I'd post the list I've got going right now, see if anyone can spot any major flaws. What I've got is mostly drawn from the battleforce with a few other models thrown in from my days playing 3rd edition.


HQ - Archon with agoniser, splinter pistol, phantasm grenade launcher and shadow field - 135pts
HQ - Haemonculus with CCW, splinter pistol, animus vitae and vexator mask - 65pts

Elite - Incubi x3 and Klavex with demi-klaves - in Venom with splintercannon, chainsnares and nghtshield - 203pts

Troops - Kablite warriors x 10 - blaster, splinter cannon - in Raider with flickerfield and splinter racks - 195pts
Troops - Wyches x8 and Hekatrix - razorflails, haywire grenades, agoniser, phantasm grenade launcher - in Raider with grisley tropheys and flickerfield - 233pts

Fast attack - Reavers x4 and Arena Champion - blaster, cluster caltrops and power weapon - 165pts.

Total - 996pts.


My opponent will mostly be fielding a battleforce boxset, a couple of extra crisis suits, a hammerhead and maybe a commander model from ForgeWorld. We're not using special characters, so I don't think I need to worry about knowing which exact one.

The Archon will be with the Incubi while the haemy will be with the wyches, the two units of which will be heading straight for the nearest threats (crisis suits and the hammerhead) while hugging all the cover they can. I'm hoping the haemonculus will come in useful by generating pain tokens with the vitae so that by the time they've destroyed a unit (fingers crossed in the enemy's combat phase to avoid getting shot up) they've got at least 3. I'm not sure that this is an effective tactic, simply because I usually see liquifiers more in others' lists, but I thought it worth a pop.

My warriors will hopefully be providing some moveable fire support, attempting to deal with his devilfish and hammerhead before moving to anti infantry while my reavers will be running general interference, firstly trying to deal with his scout unit that I don't like the look of before harassing anything it can with flyovers and the blaster.

Since this will be our first battle under 5th edition I'm not sure how much I might have to worry about winning or losing, but if it can act as an effective test run of what I'll likely be using in the future then so much the better. I was wondering if there were some way of squeezing an extra unit of warriors out of it to help secure objectives but I can't think of how without making significant cuts elsewhere. I was also thinking of swapping the reavers for some scourges to add more fire support, especially in dealing with the hammerhead, but I like the range of the jetbikes helping to keep the enemy off balance.

Anyone's thoughts on the above list and battleplan are more than welcome ; I'm hoping to get a mix of fun gameplay and effective killing power out of the army for my first few games, try to make the inevitable learning curve as short as possible.

Just a thought to throw in here, The Archon/Huskblade/Soultrap combo is pretty sexy If you want to go HQ hunting. Plus, one unsaved wound is instant death with a huskblade, so once you wipe the HQ, your strength doubles, and gives you the chance to eat vehicles, If you have to. Also, Tau are evil, and must be destroyed.

I hadn't twigged onto this combination of kit; I like the sound of it, it'd be really good for ripping the throat out of the enemy. Cheers!

Something I've just thought of; I've seen a few lists where there's 9 wyches with 2 special weapons and a haemy. As I read the rules, it's 1 special weapon per 5 squad members; does the harmy therefore count as a squad member for the purposes of adding kit? Because that wasn't how I read the rules, so maybe I've missed something.

Honestly, I havent the slightest. I use battlescribe to make my lists, and it doesnt let me add weapons that way, so I would assume not, but Im not 100%

Chiefio, this may sound strange, but I was in the same boat you are in a couple of months ago- new to 5th Edition, with old models from 3rd Edition, learning the game by facing a Tau player! Many Tau configurations, piloted right, punish Dark Eldar, but your Tau nemesis is much less equipped than mine (by about 6,000 points of death), so you have more freedom to play around with things while learning the most important rules (in my opinion) in 5th: the terrain rules.

The most important terrain rule is the amount that should be on the table: 25% of the table should be covered by the rulebook guidelines. That is the starting point, and every missing piece of Line Of Sight blocking terrain makes the game less fair for the Dark Eldar. I suggest having you and your opponent each pick a certain number of terrain pieces to add, then let a neutral party set up the battlefield. Also, read up on all of the building and area terrain rules, because you'll be assaulting into it often. Furthermore, figure out the best ways to give your vehicles cover saves, or better yet, hidden completely, since Tau can spend markerlights to negate cover.

After that, your game plan is solid. Multiple assault units in fast transports with some anti-tank backup. Your targeting assignments look good. Priority for his list should be 1. Assault Crisis Suits 2. Blow up Devilfish 3. Assault Fire Warriors 4. Blow up hammerhead 5. Assault Stealth Suits.

If anything, I would try to fit another unit if Wyches in, and the Haemonculus to go with them. This is a good option for an all-comers list as well. Do not replace your Reavers with Scourges- the 36" move+6 assault move is golden- coming out from LoS blocking cover Turn 2 to assault in an 18" bubble is great. To answer your question, no, adding the Haemonculus does not make your unit size 10 for purposes of special weapons.

I'm going to suggest a list that "trims the fat" to add some more Wyches. Let me know what you think.

HQ - Archon with agoniser, splinter pistol, phantasm grenade launcher and shadow field - 135pts
HQ - Haemonculus with CCW, splinter pistol, animus vitae- 60pts
-Haemonculus with CCW, splinter pistol, liquifier- 60pts

Elite - Incubi x4 - in Venom with 2 splintercannons - 153pts

Troops - Kablite Warriors x 5 - blaster in Raider with Flickerfield - 130pts
Troops - Wyches x7 and Hekatrix - razorflails, haywire grenades, agoniser- in Raider with Flickerfield - 196pts
Troops - Wyches x6 and Hekatrix - razorflails, haywire grenades, agoniser- in Raider with Flickerfield - 184pts

Fast attack - Reavers x3- blaster- 81pts

Total - 999 pts.

This exchanges a lot of little upgrades and extra models in shooting units for an entire extra assault threat, and a Troops choice in the bargain. Plus, the Haemonculus will hopefully stay in the Raider to ride around and flame some Kroot or Stealth Suits. Nice cover save you got there, it would be a shame if something happened to it! Now if only those Incubi could get Feel No Pain...but that is putting a lot of points in one basket, which is not the way to play against Tau, or many other armies with excellent anti-skimmer guns, for that matter.

Good luck in your first game! For The Greater Evil!

That's a much more vicious and competitive looking list; I like the increased numbers of wyches especially. Thanks for the recommendation!

I'm probably going to stick to my first list (or something similar) for the first couple of battles, simply because I don't have the wych models and they're just so we can get the rules down. That said, when we start having proper battles I may well be changing it to something more similar to your recommendations. Thanks again!

It may be too late to mention this but, since you're returning to the game and say this is your first game under 5th edition, I should warn you that 5th edition has only a month or so left in it before 6th edition is expected. So if I were you I'd concentrate on learning how the DE army plays, but not worry too much about the finer points of 5th edition rules.

Oh yeah, we'd already cottoned on the that one, though cheers for the heads up. I'm just tired of having all these toy soldiers kicking around the house and not having had them fight yet. I've paid for them, I want blood! Or a mixture or PVA glue and paint. I don't mind.