Aspiring Dark Eldar Assistance

I am a brand new Warhammer 40k player, looking for some help. My friend and I just recently started playing (a few weeks ago) and I'm having some troubles. I've only played against him, and I've yet to win a match. He plays Necrons and I can't seem to make a dent. I'll save myself the embarrassment of posting our exact army lists here, but I will post the units we have. We're currently using a very unconventional 800 point limit.

My units -
10 Warriors
10 Wytches
2 Raiders
3 Reavers
5 Incubi
1 Archon
1 Venom

Necrons -
Necron Lord
Lychguard
Immortals
Warriors
Destroyers
Scarabs

Again, we're very much rookies, so go easy on me. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. What my army composition should be/best way for the units I have to deal with the set of Necrons he has, etc. I've tried a good bit of things and nothing seems to work out. I knew Dark Eldar were fragile, but I didn't realize quite how fragile they can be.

Necrons, eep!

Well at least they're slow. Use Night Shields on your Raiders and Venom. Try to stay more than 24" away from them for the first 2 or 3 turns and shoot them up with the Venom and the Raiders (Disintegrators would be best, unless they get Arks, then you'll need Dark Lances). If your Warriors have a Splinter Cannon, use that too. Shoot the Destroyers first. If Scarabs get close, send in the wyches to stomp on them.

After a few turns of this you should have the advantage and they've probably split up a bit. Gang up on them, start taking and denying objectives, and protect your troops from getting shot at by giving their enemies something else to worry about.

Be patient and methodical and don't try taking on their units with yours one on one. : )

That's essentially what I've been going for. I did try a full CC army (proxy wytches) which went horribly. Partially due to my abysmal rolls with my incubi. Would it ever be worth it to move my raiders w/ warriors inside rapid fire range? Sure, I would get a ton of shots, but moving in that close would be almost certain death for my raiders.

From my experience with crons in 6th, these are the things we need to worry about in 6th.

1. Lightning guns- Our vehicles are extremely susceptible to its arcing shots which can glace or pin our vehicles. I had one lucky shot destroy a ravager and 2 raiders. Crons are a medium range army, use this to your advantage by staying back.

Lesson learned: spread out.

2. Wraiths- These things have 3+ invulnerables but can be instagibbed by our lances. They can move fast and through terrain. With rending and S6, they can easily rip our vehicles a new one. A single turn of lance shots should be able to whittle the unit down to a manageable number.

3. Necron lord on barge- It acts like a chariot and the lord can spend wounds to nullfy immobilization results. Wyches with haywire grenades are probably your best option here. I wouldnt waste a turn on shooting something that can probably nullify the damage anyway. Wyches with haywire grenades work great against their vehicles in general.

4. Reanimation prot- Pay attention to what units have this rule. For the most part the rank and file troops have it while the elites do not. If you wipe out the unit, they cant get back up.

5. Effectiveness of power weapons- Oddly you dont really see many 2+ units in the army. Agonizers and power weapons can be used at their full effectiveness here.

6. Slow as molasses- Nothing has beyond I2 in the army barring a few special characters. I havent had the chance to playtest them yet, but Incubi and grots work wonders even against larger units. You will be winning combat alot and your high I can help you wipe out entire units.

7. Barges in general- these things are downright scary, shoot them down/haywire them asap. A doomsday arc can lay down a vindicator shot and wipe out entire units with easy. Annhilation barges will put the hurt on our vehicles and infantry.

As for the rapid fire question, its worth getting into rapid fire range on your raider to fire at the elite units. Their higher T and lower model count than the rank and file makes them prime targets for splinter fire.

8. Take Nightshields on all your vehicles.

agreed, crons are a mid range army, and the opportunity to reduce their range further is too good to pass up.

Yeah, I've always used nightshields. I played him tonight and got my first win. Surprisingly, my reavers were the mvps. They ended the game by killing his squad of Lychguard and scoring their fourth blood token. I feel like I have a more comfortable grasp on my own army, which helps. Also I'm definitely learning what my best counters are to his units. I really appreciate all the input.

My next question is what I should pick up next. I'm heading to my local Games Workshop on Wednesday and I'm not sure what I should pick up. Another raider with Warriors? Another venom maybe? A unit I don't have? Thoughts?

Make yourself a gift and buy a Razorwing.

I swear. I think I met you at Columbia Palace GWS in maryland. I remember talking to you about what army you played and what points level. I was the guy who played dark eldar too and was painting a razorwing.

Back on topic though. I'd suggest going a more shooty route with dark eldar as one thing they are good at is maneuvering and denying good shots at your vehicles. I usually use only 2 assault units to dig out large numbers of cheap troops. Wyches with haywire grenades in a raider is a great option as they can mop up and kill most any tank in one combat. Try using a tactic called denied flank. Pretty much this reduces the amount of fire power they can target you with by focusing everything on one side or another. Usually I like going second or first with half my army in reserve so I can respond to my opponents deployment.

Also I'd suggest getting a ravager or two with disintegrator cannons as they are amazing anti infantry. Obviously eventually you will need more but with dark lances but one ravager with dis cannons would be a great cheap addition to your army.

In summary use your range and amazing firepower to take apart one section of his army at a time. Use your speed to your advantage. Don't be afraid to use a turn to turbo boost your entire army into a more favorable position. Cover saves are your friend. And use night fight to your advantage. With proper use dark eldar can be an amazing army in the hands of the right person. I bet after you get a few games in and some more pointers your friend will regret you playing dark eldar lol. I know my friend who got me into warhammer does. He has created monster.

Actually, against Necrons, you do want to get off a solid charge on them. (Something to consider using those Incubi for) They fail a leadership check, you both roll a D6, and then he politely removes the entire unit from the table.

Get Ravagers, they're a must have.

We made an agreement to both buy flyers in a week or two. I'm excited about that.

That was me! Funny coincidence. I picked up another squad of Warriors, a venom, and a couple models to make a Duke Sliscus. I'm really starting to get a good feel for my army. I do think I'm at a disadvantage because of the table we play on. It isn't nearly big enough to compensate for the mobility of the Dark Eldar. I don't mind too much though, because I figure the better I am in smaller spaces, the better I'll be on larger tables. It seems like the general consensus is ravagers. Should I grab two of those next time, or a ravager and a raider?

Yeah make sure you play on the standard table. 6x4 feet. Or else your mobility is so restrained. It's like penning a leopard in a cage. But yeah. Next time you should also get a ravager along with your razorwing or voidraven. I'm doing great with my razorwings because they are cheap points wise and give me everything I need including several blast templates.

If you want just send me a PM. Im out of town this week but if you want we can meet up at Columbia Palace the week after and we can play a practice game and I'll give you some pointers.