My Attempt at 1000 (with Eldar allies)

So I have some 1000 point games coming up and here's what I came up with. Lists I'll be playing against range from complete fluff to super competitive and while flyer counts are low, I do expect to see some (and probably a couple of Heldrakes). I'm worried about the low troop count, but I'm hoping that the smashiness of the beast pack with the reliability added by Prescience (and maybe invis) will help me get the throughput I need.

Dark Eldar

HQ
Baron Sathonyx

Troops
6x Wyches - Haywire, Raider w/ Nightshields
10x Warriors - Dark Lance

Fast Attack
3x Beastmaster
3x Khymera
4x Razorwing Flock

Heavy Support
Ravager
Ravager

Eldar

HQ
Eldrad

Troop
3x Guardian Jetbikes

The idea is to hold the jetbikes in reserve and plop Eldrad with the warrior unit in cover in the backfield on some objective. Since most armies will be small at these point values, I'm hoping to use the Beasts+Baron to tie up (and murder) any really threatening units while the wyches either grab a frontline objective, or crack a vehicle if necessary. I've found that Prescience helps a massive amount (especially on the beasts when/if they are in range) and while I prefer Invisibility, I've gotten excellent mileage out of Puppet Master, Terrify, and even sometimes Mental Fortitude and Hallucinations while rolling on Telepathy to hunt for Invis.

Thoughts? I'd previously (briefly) playtested with a more traditional just-DE list with venoms and the traditional MSU warrior+blaster units, but I just found that the buffed up beast pack was such a problem for people to deal with at this point level that I'm having a hard time passing it up.

Edit: I should add that we also have a few GK players around here and Eldrad (by virtue of the Runes of Warding) has massively improved my ability to deal with them, though I'm still open to criticism there.

3 troops is a bit on the light side I think. Not even having rides to go with. A small change to this list would be to change one Wych to Khymera. They are same points costs and you would benefit extra 4++ for the birds.

Are you going to aim Invicibility for Eldrad to boost the beastpack?

Vasara wrote:

3 troops is a bit on the light side I think. Not even having rides to go with. A small change to this list would be to change one Wych to Khymera. They are same points costs and you would benefit extra 4++ for the birds.

Are you going to aim Invicibility for Eldrad to boost the beastpack?

Well the wyches have a ride, but yes, the low troop count really scares me. I can usually get the jetbikes onto some objective at the end, but they are incredibly fragile (even more so than the wyches). I do try to get Invis with Eldrad to buff the beasts, though as a general rule I'll make up to three rolls on Telepathy and then take Prescience for my fourth choice (and roll on Divination more if I get lucky and get Invis early).

Izathel wrote:

Well the wyches have a ride, but yes, the low troop count really scares me.

My bad. Although the lonely Raider might get a lot of attention first turns.

Izathel wrote:

I can usually get the jetbikes onto some objective at the end, but they are incredibly fragile (even more so than the wyches). I do try to get Invis with Eldrad to buff the beasts, though as a general rule I'll make up to three rolls on Telepathy and then take Prescience for my fourth choice (and roll on Divination more if I get lucky and get Invis early).

How has the Vectless herd worked for you? Have you tried in bigger games?

I'd argue taking a 210 point character, or two HQs, or even allies at 1,000 points are all things that are difficult to make work in competitive games. Currently your list has 315 points in HQ which is a bit too much to be competitive but that might not be what you're going for. If I was taking allies at this point level I'd stick to a basic Farseer and save 100 points or so.

Vasara wrote:

How has the Vectless herd worked for you? Have you tried in bigger games?

I've found it serves pretty well. If I get Invis the pack is (at low point values) pretty unlikely to take enough casualties to force LD checks and the Baron does still have LD9. And since I'm always taking Prescience, the Preferred Enemy doesn't make a difference. Still at games sizes of 1750-1850+ I'd definitely take Vect.

Oh, and re: Raider, I usually completely conceal it on Turn 1 and just try to bounce from cover to cover. Having a rushing beast pack that can't be tied up with tarpits (due to Hit and Run) tends to help draw fire away from it once I do actually move it.

mug7703 wrote:

I'd argue taking a 210 point character, or two HQs, or even allies at 1,000 points are all things that are difficult to make work in competitive games. Currently your list has 315 points in HQ which is a bit too much to be competitive but that might not be what you're going for. If I was taking allies at this point level I'd stick to a basic Farseer and save 100 points or so.

That's really my concern as well. As for competitiveness, I'd like a list that is moderately competitive, but I consider 1000 points to be too small for real list balance, so I'm less concerned than I would normally be. And I've thought about dropping Eldrad for a Farseer, but fundamentally, Eldrad has served me well. Besides being ML3 and having 4 rolls for powers, he's the only one that can cast Prescience twice in a turn. When flyers do show up, I've found double casting on my Ravagers and moving them out of concealment to open up has done wonders compared to my other anti-flyer options and is often a level of AA that my opponent isn't really prepared to deal with (and it can be done every turn in the case of multiple flyers).

Personally i'd leave allies out at 1k games.

That's my 2 cents.