I played in a local non-comp tournament over the weekend using a small Dark Eldar force that I had built from my limited model collection (actually, what I had on the table was almost all the current Dark Eldar models I have - didn't want to take any classic 3E models).
My force, 848pts:
Archon + Drugs + Venom Blade
Wyches x5 + Hexatrix + PGL + Haywire
Raider + Flickerfields + Disintegrator
Warriors x10 + Splinter Cannon
Raider + Night Shields + Splinter Racks
Warriors x10 + Splinter Cannon
Raider + Night Shields + Splinter Racks
Scourges x5 + Heat Lance + Heat Lance
Ravager + Night Shields
Game 1 - Dark Angels Deathwing (6th Edition)
Modified Crusade with 5 Objectives and a secret mission (for me: Kill Heavy Support choices)
Effectivley lost this game in Turn 1 after being on the end of a precision Deathwing assault, when two squads of terminators dropped behind my flock of vehicles and took out both the Ravager and the Wyches transport.
Was able to finish off one squad with massed splinter shots from the warriors before they were destroyed and mopped up in subsequent turns.
Scourges were able to advance on the enemy heavy support (Mortis-pattern Dreadnought) but were unable to destroy it. Archon wounded Belial in single combat, but was defeated.
Combat Drugs: Hypex
What I learned: Castling against incoming deepstrikes was a bad idea when our skimmers thrive on speed and maneuverability. This allowed the enemy to corral my forces into a corner and trap disembarking infantry in a tight killzone.
Game 2 - Dark Angels Deathwing (4th Edition)
Modified Big Guns Never Tire with Spearhead deployment and 3 objectives (all with the Sabotaged rule)
Narrowly won this game in turn 6 as massed firepower finally brought down the last two TH+SS terminators on the central objective.
Skimmers did very well - immobilised and stunned the enemy Land Raider in turn 1, which was finished off by Wyches in turn 2. Lances and Disintegrators concentrated on picking off the two squads of terminators, starting with the heavy weapon squad before moving onto Belial and the TH+SS squad. This took some considerable time due to high invul saves.
Archon was slain by Belial in single combat without penetrating the terminator armour.
Combat Drugs: Hypex
What I learned: Wyches with Haywire are excellent at destroying enemy vehicles, but largely ineffective against terminators and marines due to low strength and no AP. the 4+ Dodge is very useful and saved the lives of most of the squad, but when the archon fell, they retreated to an objective.
Game 3 - Dark Eldar (Venom Spam + Lance Spam)
Modified Purge the Alien with Warlords getting several USRs and Slay the Warlord being worth 5VP
Lost in turn 1 after the opponent was able to go first and alpha strike my skimmers to oblivion - 3 ravagers and 4 venoms with blaster warriors destroyed 2 of my 3 raiders and wiped out my scourges.
Was unable to destroy any of the opponent's vehicles, and elected instead to attempt long range sniping of the enemy warlord (a haemonoculus cowering alone behind a hill in the corner) with the Ravager, but all the attacks missed. (three 1s)
Combat drugs: Painbringer
What I learned: Lots of splinter shots is good, but not against vehicles.
Game 4 - Imperial Guard Infantry Platoon
Modified The Scouring with 5 objectives, all conferring Twin Linked to models in base contact.
Very tight game. Lost when the game went to turn 6 and the enemy was able to take two objectives at the end by destroying my denial units.
Splinter weapons were very effective, however the stubborn troops of the enemy did not retreat and simply went to ground behind their Aegis lines.
In turn 1, all firepower was directed into enemy heavy weapons - 3 autocannon teams and a quad gun. The autocannons were destroyed, but the quad gun survived and was able to down the Wych raider on turn 1 and immobilise the ravager on turn 2.
Eventually simply lost to superior firepower.
Combat drugs: Hypex (sigh)
What I learned: Tactics seemed fairly good in this game, however the dice did not fall in my favour and my bold risky strategies did not come off.
Game 5 - Dark Angels + Ravenwing (6th Edition)
Purge the Alien with Vanguard Strike
Very tight game, but won in turn 6 thanks to some heroics from the Archon. Finally got a good result on Combat Drugs (+1S) and suddenly the Archon and Wyches became incredibly effective.
Raiders were damaged and taken out very fast in turn 1 and turn 2, so the warriors took cover in nearby multilevel ruins to attack incoming bikers and tactical squads. Scourges destroyed the enemy landspeeder and rhino before being shot down. The wych raider was immobilised and then Marine Scouts + Eziekiel arrived from the flank and took out half a warrior squad including a splinter cannon.
Scouts + Eziekiel were grenaded and assaulted by Wyches and the surviving warriors, and the whole squad and Eziekiel were slain after the second round of combat, with only two wyches falling to the Librarian's attacks. No challenges were issued so the Archon almost single-handedly butchered the scout squad (rerolling failed wounds thanks to the combat drugs) and Eziekiel was unable to save himself.
With the game moving on to turn 5, the archon and wyches took the pain tokens and moved to assault the ravenwing bikers - with feel no pain and furious charge they took out the bikers and took cover from the enemy devastator squad, and the surviving marines were unable to destroy any more units in the remaining time. The game ended 9-8 with a narrow Dark Eldar victory.
Combat drugs: Grave Lotus
What I learned: Not having first turn leaves transport skimmers incredibly vulnerable due to not having their jink saves. Suffered many "Immobilized" and "Explodes" results on vehicle penetration rolls, neutering my ability to advance and attack. Considering adding Flickerfields to all skimmers as a defense against this.
Ended the day with 2 narrow wins, 1 narrow loss and 2 heavy losses, and a tie for 3rd last place.
Incidentally, two other dark eldar armies ended in 2nd and 3rd place.
Subject: Tournament Report: ForceZ 
Tue Jan 29 2013, 01:41
