New player 2K Take All Comers list

Hi all,

I'm a new player and before I go out and start buying everything I need to start a DE army I wanted to run my list and basic tactics passed you veterans to see if I made any mistakes or glaring omissions.  I am trying to build a highly mobile army with a lot of ranged fire power, optional mass deep strike, and one Close Combat death star to hunt high threat targets that aren't good at close combat.

Combined Arms Detachment

HQ
- Duke Sliscus the Serpent

ELITES
- 7x Hekatrix Bloodbrides + Syren + Agoniser + Phantasm Grenade Launcher
           Raider with Disintergator + Flicker field + Night Shield + Torment Grenade Launcher
- 4x Kabalite Trueborn + 4x Blasters
           Raider with Dark Lance + Flicker field + Grisly Trophies
- 4x Kabalite Trueborn + 4x Blasters
           Raider with Dark Lance + Flicker field + Grisly Trophies


TROOPS
- 5x Kabilite Warriors
Venom with Splinter Cannon + Grisly Trophies
- 5x Kabilite Warriors
       Venom with Splinter Cannon + Grisly Trophies
- 5x Kabilite Warriors
Venom with Splinter Cannon + Grisly Trophies

HEAVY SUPPORT
- Ravager with 3x Dark Lances + Flicker Field
- Ravager with 3x Dark Lances + Flicker Field
- Ravager with 3x Dark Lances + Flicker Field


Allied Detatchment
HQ
- Jain Zar

TROOPS
- 5x Rangers  

FAST ATTACK
- Crimson Hunter with 2x Bright Lances and 1x Pulse Laser

HEAVY SUPPORT
- 2x War Walkers with Bright Lances



Reasoning:
- Duke provides combat drug re-roll, Low Orbit Raid, and is decent in CC.
- Jain Zar, to debuff CC targets with -5 I -5 WS, she also looks good on paper in CC.
- Blood Brides, I didn't have enough points left for Incubi, but I do like that the Syren can get the Phantasm Grenade Launcher so I get Defensive Grenades for my CC squad.
- I took the rangers because they are cheap and 1x Troop choice is mandatory.
- Crimson Hunter for Anti-Air.
- 2x War Walkers, they are cheap, move as Vehicles so they shouldn't be too slow and I kitted them out for some more Anti-Tank fire power.


My Plan is this:

- Load Duke and Jain on the Raider with the 7x Blood Brides (is this legal?) and use as an assassination squad for high threat targets that won't put up a fight in close combat. (IG command Squad, Lord of Change etc.)

- I want to get comfortable with the list before I start using Low Orbital Raid on too much of my army.

- I'd start out just deep striking the Raider with the Duke, Jain and the Blood Brides.

First, welcome to The Dark City!

Bloodbrides, as much as both you and I want them to be based on their fluff, are just not really that good. You could save yourself a fair amount of points by making them wyches with haywire grenades and no hekatrix/syren at all. The PGL is normally pretty good, but since you have Jain Zar in the unit, it sort of takes away half of the reason to have the defensive grenades in the first place(blind). They'd be far better as a CC unit with a smaller squad of Incubi or grotesques, and far more surviveable.

Also, deep striking your sole CC unit probably isn't a good idea. At best, they arrive turn 2, but can't charge on the turn they arrive from deep strike because of the rules. So that means turn 3 before they could possibly do anything, which is almost the half-way point of the game. Starting them on the table and moving flat out, combined with your enemy's movement, it's possible for them to be in combat by turn 2, which is where you want them. Deep strike works far better for shooty units, as stupid as that may seem.

Thank you for the helpful feedback Betray the World and the kind welcome.

I've taken your advice on board and swapped out the 7x Bloodbrides and 1x Syren for 7x Incubi.
And I will not deepstrike the assault squad, as you mentioned. Are Aether sails perhaps useful instead?
With my list no longer using bloodbrides I lose some of the synergy with Duke.
In your opinion is there another HQ of a similar cost who would work better with the list and what I'm trying to achieve?

I am becoming a huge fan of the succubus. For 65 points you've got a beast in CC. High WS, High Init, and 5 attacks base. Give her the agonizer and she's got a power weapon that wounds on 4+ and is AP3. Or you can give her a Venom Blade and wound on 2+ (no AP). Not to mention that she has combat drugs as well. Have her join the Incubi so they can make up for her poor armor save. There isn't much that will be able to stand up against this unit.

On a side note, make sure to read the FAQ for DE. Klaives are now +1S and AP2.

Also, Lilith has some great synergy with Jain Zar. The 'A League Apart' special rule to be specific. Lilith gets bonus attacks based on the difference between her WS and anybody in base contact. With those two together, she would usually have 13 attacks on the charge (14 if you're allowed to reduce the target's WS to 0). And her attacks ignore armor saves.

merse24 wrote:

Also, Lilith has some great synergy with Jain Zar.  The 'A League Apart' special rule to be specific.  Lilith gets bonus attacks based on the difference between her WS and anybody in base contact.  With those two together, she would usually have 13 attacks on the charge (14 if you're allowed to reduce the target's WS to 0). And her attacks ignore armor saves.

The above quote is quite true, and is the basis for a deathstar I made in a previous list. Jain Zar and Lelith Hesparax work pretty well together. The problem with this combo, without the additional psykers and units I had with them, is that 540ish points of models in a single AV10 raider paints a pretty attractive target. You can rest assured that this raider will be the first to die. That leaves them footslogging around the board 6" at a time, assuming they aren't torn to shreds by ranged fire after leaving their transport. And while Jain Zar has a 2+ armor save, the best invuln save vs. ranged in your unit is Lelith's 4+, which you probably don't want to be rolling against things that are peircing AP2. So basically, going with anything other than the Duke or an Archon w/ Shadowfield, you're giving up a good deal of surviveability in the unit, at least against ranged fire.

However, all that naysaying having been said, if you flat-out turn 1, get within charge distance before your enemy blows up your raider, then charge something...anything, really...it will be beautiful. Jain and Lelith have very good synergy.

Ok, sounds good, thanks for the suggestion Merse and Betray. I'll swap Duke for Lelith and be careful about losing the raider early before it can deliver them into combat.

Let us know how it goes. Good luck!