Kabal of the Carnelian Drake - first incarnation, 1000pts

Hi folks,

So as mentioned in the title, this is the first list from my re-booted DE army, now flying under the banner of the Carnelian Drake! The list is intended to be an all-comers list for my local meta, in which flyers have yet to really take off (ha! ha! Im so funny... ). While my Archon musters his followers back in Commoragh, an up and coming Homunculus has gathered forces to claim fresh samples for his experiments in the formulation of new nerve-tissue exploding toxins, and has recruited members of the Kabal to lend aid.

The list is as follows, Im hoping for lots of C&C to help fine-tune the list:

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KABAL OF THE CARNELIAN DRAKE - 998pts

HQ
- Haemonculus (w/ Liquifier Gun, Venom Blade)

TROOPS
- 5 x Kabalite Warriors (w/ Blaster), Venom (w/ 2 x Splinter Cannon)
- 5 x Kabalite Warriors (w/ Blaster), Venom (w/ 2 x Splinter Cannon)
- 10 x Kabalite Warriors (w/ Splinter Cannon), Raider (w/ Dark Lance)
- 7 x Wracks (w/ Liquifier Gun), 1 Acothyst (w/ Venom Blade), Raider (w/ Dark Lance)

FAST ATTACK
- 8 x Reavers (w/ 3 x Heatlance), Arena Champion

HEAVY SUPPORT
- Ravager (w/ 3 x Dark Lances, Flickerfield)

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* Notes and thoughts *

A slight concern is my Ravager being on its own, I usually like to field 2. I'm hoping the 2 venoms, 2 raiders and Reavers zooming across the board provide enough target saturation to avoid this issue.

Every unit on the field can have a pop at tanks, to varying degrees of success, through either the troops or the transport - this should greatly reduce the chances of not being able to scratch any armour.

The Haemoculus will join up with the wracks to make a nice CC unit with 2 Liquifiers for Cover Save and AP fun

Pain token allocation can decided during deployment, based on either the Wracks need for Furious Charge, or another units need of Feel No Pain.

Could have an issue with flyers, but as mentioned the meta is light on flyers at the moment, and I can hopefully make the most of my speed to avoid too much issue from them during games.

The larger Warrior squad will add a hopefully be able to support the army as it advances ahead, and stand half a chance holding an objective in the middle of the field (provided that its in cover).

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Please let me know if I'm on the right track, or advise If there is an obviously gaping hole in my list - any input is more than welcome!

Thanks in advance! Much love x

Pretty solid list I am liking what I see, especially with the warrior/venom spam.

Some notes/questions I have with your list:

1. I have never upgraded a Wrack to a Acothyst before in my short history of playing Dark Eldar, and am wondering if you think it is worth the points?

2. Regarding your heavy support. While Ravagers are fun to field in order for us to have fast moving anti-tank weaponry zoom across the battlefield, but from what I have seen/experienced/heard from other Dark Eldar players: a Ravager is going to get a lot of fire focused on it, and with it on it's own it may not survive that long. Since you seem to be running a Haemonculus theme with Kabal elements I personally would recommend a Cronos Parasite Engine. Despite what I have heard from them, I have always had good luck with my Cronos and it's ability to transfer pain tokens has helped me out of some tough situations before. And also (Trying to remember this off the top of my head since I do not have my codex) the Cronos I believe is cheaper then the Ravager, which could open some points to upgrade some other parts of your army: for example giving your Haemonculus a Shattershard (quite a fun toy in my opinion).

But all in all I do like this list a lot, let me know how it works in your games!

Thanks for the feedback I'll try my best to explain my thoughts for each of your points:

Quote :

1. I have never upgraded a Wrack to a Acothyst before in my short history of playing Dark Eldar, and am wondering if you think it is worth the points?

The reason I have chosen to put an Acothyst in the unit, instead of spending the points on another Wrack are:
- The Acothyst adds some protection against challenges on the haemy, who isnt the toughest character in the world. That 1 point for killing the warlord can be decisive!
- Adds a second Venom Blade to the squad, and lord knows we love those 2+ wounds!

Quote :

2. Regarding your heavy support. While Ravagers are fun to field in order for us to have fast moving anti-tank weaponry zoom across the battlefield, but from what I have seen/experienced/heard from other Dark Eldar players: a Ravager is going to get a lot of fire focused on it, and with it on it's own it may not survive that long. Since you seem to be running a Haemonculus theme with Kabal elements I personally would recommend a Cronos Parasite Engine. Despite what I have heard from them, I have always had good luck with my Cronos and it's ability to transfer pain tokens has helped me out of some tough situations before. And also (Trying to remember this off the top of my head since I do not have my codex) the Cronos I believe is cheaper then the Ravager, which could open some points to upgrade some other parts of your army: for example giving your Haemonculus a Shattershard (quite a fun toy in my opinion).

As mentioned, I hope that the rest of the army flying up the field is a good enough distraction. Also, if my ravager does pull alot of fire, I can use that distraction to keep the rest of the army moving and getting ever closer - I'll still have the HL's on the Jetbikes for some kick-ass AT and then the rest of the dark light weapons if needed.

Although I am always tempted by the Chronos, there are a few issues with it. The main one for me is that my army is built around an alpha strike style of play, simply put: the Chronos is far too slow to keep up! You're looking at turn 3 before its far enough up the board to be effective. I'd only really consider a Chronos if it came through a WWP.

I do like shattershards though, its a shame I cant really justify weakening anywhere else in my army for it, in my opinion

Much love x

Oh I guess I completely skimmed over the HL Jetbikes first time I read through this list >.< My bad!