# Dark Eldar Tactica: Good, Bad, and Ugly



## DrinCalhar

This article if for competitive play only. The ideas expressed here are for the majority of competitive games. There are of course going to be some games that will involve armies that are unique, these armies will not fall under the majority of competitive Dark Eldar armies. I created this for people that want to get a lot better at playing their Dark Eldar. This will work well for someone to look at when they have some extra points that need to be used. 

This is just a quick overview of my opinions of everything the Dark Eldar have to offer. I tried to be as concise as possible this way if someone wants to print this off and needs to make a quick army sometime they have all the information right there. I know this tactica is not complete but I was hoping you guys could help me out and this way you guys could have a chance to add comments to try and sway me into changing how I ranked certain units and items. Some people may think that by not completing this article that I lack professionalism. 

I can understand that but I figured it would be nice to try something new. I like to think of myself as a pioneer, but if you want to think of me as an idiot then that is fine too. Whatever helps you sleep at night. Some people on this forum have amazing ideas but simply have trouble expressing them at length, this is your chance. Since these are meant to be short paragraphs describing why a unit or upgrade is good or bad, then it should not be hard to post a response with your ideas about said unit or upgrade. This should help to create more in depth discussion and thought, which will in turn lead to new ideas of using the Dark Eldar codex.

If you come up with something amazing or just better than what I have I will replace my words and insert yours. If I do insert your viewpoint, then I will be sure to put your words in a different color and place your name at the end of your statement. This way you will get a little recognition. I can also do this for my “Words of Wisdom” section. I wanted to create the tactica this way because I am not stupid enough to try and say that I know everything there is about the Dark Eldar codex. I have not used every upgrade or unit nor have I seen every unit or upgrade used. Therefore you may know something I do not, thus helping me and your fellow Dark Eldar players.

If you notice that poison weapons and abilities getting really good ratings, there is a very good reason for that. Dark Eldar are usually strength 3, since the majority of competitive armies have a lot of toughness 4 units then there has to be a way to put Dark Eldar on an even footing. To balance things we have poison. Poison is an amazing help to Dark Eldar and because it is amazing poison should be used more in competitive play.

I ranked everything into three categories. These categories are Good, Bad and Ugly. Though in this article Ugly is actually the best, next is Good, and finally there is Bad. The reason I created an extra category above good is for those extra units that have a lot of different roles they can fill. These units are not cheese they are just units that stand out and are exceptional in the Dark Eldar Codex, no matter how many points you are using. If you would like to add more categories to this article, for example a GOOD/BAD or a UGLY/GOOD by all means state your reasoning for why and I may just put it in. I know it is hard to simplify something to just three categories so if we need more we can make more.
Please, if I forgot anything let me know or just add it with your ranking in a post. It is very easy to miss something when you are looking at an entire codex so be gentle.

*HQ*
UGLY
Asdrubael Vect – If there can be a power house HQ unit in the Dark Eldar codex then Asdrubael Vect is it. This guy has the stats you always wanted your HQ to have. Asdrubael Vect has so many special rules and nice wargear, that he has something for almost any occasion. After seeing Asdrubael Vect point cost many people would dismiss him as a waste of points, however, this is not the case. Asdrubael Vect stats make him have the best odds for doing about anything. Starting out the game Asdrubael Vect makes you love every point you spent on him. With Master Tactician you might as well plan on going first no matter what. If you want to get into assault, Asdrubael Vect will probably be attacking first and have the easiest chance to hit. To wound all you need to do is thank whoever gave him that lovely sceptre. Asdrubael Vect has great base armor for any Dark Eldar unit but do not forget he is fortunate to have Shadow Field. This is what continues to make Asdrubael Vect amazing in assault. If you are a little slow at getting Asdrubael Vect into assault he still has this orb that just loves healing Asdrubael Vect of any of those pesky wounds he took walking closer to the enemy or the wounds Asdrubael Vect suffered after his first assault, if anyone was lucky enough to get past Shadow Field. Asdrubael Vect has all the wonderful basic Dark Eldar special rules such as Fleet, Night Vision, and Power from Pain. If for some reason all of this did not sway you into using Asdrubael Vect then let me add a cherry on top. Ancient of Nemesis gives Asdrubael Vect Preferred Enemy against *EVERYTHING!* (increase font to size 50) I just do not know what else I can say if you still do not think Asdrubael Vect is amazing.
I guess now I should mention the Dais of Destruction. Like Asdrubael Vect this is so many points you pretty much do not even want to add it to your army. This can best be described as a Raider/Ravager with armor, something the Dark Eldar really do not have. In fact, some god must have been helping them when they were adding the armor plating to this thing. This thing will survive a while. At least long enough to drop of Asdrubael Vect and his retinue. Once the Dais of Destruction does that people start to forget about it or at least give up on trying to destroy it. This just makes it too easy for you to start popping every last piece of armor in your opponents army. I would recommend if you really want to use Asdrubael Vect, that you do not get his Dais unless you are running 2500+ points.
Baron Sathonyx – This is a cheaper Asdrubael Vect if you are trying to go first. While Baron is not as strong as Asdrubael Vect with the wargear he does have his own advantages. Baron Sathonyx allows you to bring Hellions as Troops. This gives your army a little more versatility while you are creating it. Alone Baron is very weak even though he does have some nice stats and Shadow Field. The best way to run Baron is with a unit of Hellions to support your Baron. One thing that many players underestimate is how strong Baron can get. Like most Dark Eldar Baron is a glass cannon being able to bring up his strength very high on the charge, which you should do a lot since Baron and his unit of Hellions will be using Hit and Run. Grab a few units of Wyches and try and assault every unit your opponent has out in the open. Swoop in with your Baron and retinue and just bounce from one assault to the other. 
Archon – Archon is by far the most versatile HQ choice the Dark Eldar have. No matter what type of army you want to build, Archon can help make it better. As the second cheapest HQ choice, Archon can fill your HQ spot if you just need that spot filled. I would not recommend this. Archon, if upgraded correctly, can be one of the strongest HQs in the Dark Eldar codex. Give Archon an Agoniser and Shadow Field and you have just made Archon a beast in combat. Need to drop a Webway portal but still want a fairly good HQ in assault to support your units as they come out of the Webway then Archon is the HQ for you. Want your HQ to focus on killing hordes then do not forget to bring your Venom Blade to cause a lot of wounds on those weak units. Thinking of running a heavy drug army or even a light drug army do not forget to get drugs for your Archon to make him fit your army and be a little stronger. I must point out that if you are running Agoniser then drugs may not be for you. By running these two upgrades together you have made drugs less effective, since one more of the drugs abilities would be countered. While the use of Combat Drugs on Archon is still a highly debated topic, I can say that the pros out way the cons if you are running Archon with a Wych retinue. The most common build for Archon is with Agoniser, Ghostplate Armour and Shadow Field. This way Archon has a backup plan should Shadow Field fail him. When creating a new army if you desire a beast of an HQ and do not need some of the unique abilities some of the other HQs have then make sure you run an Archon.
Haemonculus – Before I get into all the Haemonculus has to offer your army as an HQ choice, I must point out that the Haemonculus is the cheapest HQ you can have. While its upgrades can soon make it expensive, it still can bring a lot to your army just by having him in your army without the upgrades. Let's take a look at what the Haemonculus can do. The most common reason why anyone takes the Haemonculus is because by just having him in your army, you are able to take Wracks as a Troop choice. If you need help understanding this, let me say it again. You can take an Elite as a Troop choice. This gives you three troop choices instead of just the normal two. Another reason why you want to use Haemonculus is because he has Altered Physique which starts you and any unit you are joined with one pain token. For all of you that do not know that is Feel No Pain and you should love it. For just this ability alone you will find many players add a Haemonculus to a unit of Incubi to make them very resilient. Another unit that the Haemonculus works really well in is a squad of Wracks. A squad of Wracks with a Liquifier Gun and a Haemonculus with a Liquifier Gun can be very deadly. I should probably take this time to mention why you should get the Liquifier Gun. This is a very nice flamer that has the chance of negating your opponents armor. This is really nice, if you get the roll, for cutting right through MEQ armor or even TEQ armor (evil laugh).
Now there are many routes you could take when you are deciding on upgrading your Haemonculus, mostly because there are so many to choose from. I will say you cannot go wrong by spending a few points on an Agoniser for your Haemonculus. Since the Haemonculus strength is so low you really need a way to take the Haemonculus' strength out of the picture. Another upgrade that can do this is the Venom Blade. Pretty much you have to know what role you want for your Haemonculus before you decide. If you are running a Webway army you will probably want to look at a Haemonculus since the can also take a Webway portal and the Haemonculus is so cheap. Just remember to look at everything the Haemonculus has to offer while you are creating your army.

GOOD
Lady Malys - Lady Malys is one of the average costing HQs at the Dark Eldar's disposal but she is very expensive for what she brings to the table. The two unique abilities Lady Malys has allow her and any unit to be immune to psychic powers (Crystal Heart) and let her redeploy at best a small amount of your army (Precognisant). While both of these abilities have their uses, they are not in many cases worth spending the points to get an average Independent Character is assault when compared to some of the other HQs you could choose. Lady Malys stats are similar to every other unique HQ choice but unlike many, she does not have any way to boast her strength or make her strength unnecessary. Now, someone may disagree and respond with The Lady's Blade or a nice invulnerable. The problem with the invulnerable save is it is the only real save Lady Malys has and it will become useless when your opponent can cause a lot of wounds. The Lady's Blade also falls flat when it is compared to an Agoniser. All around Lady Malys has some unique weapons and abilities at her disposal but they are just not as good point for point compared to some of the other HQs. 
Haemonculus Ancient - When looking at the Haemonculus Ancient you should also be thinking and comparing to the Haemonculus. While the Haemonculus Ancient does have a few better stats than the Haemonculus, in the long run these stats do not change much. Both have the same abilities and the same upgrades. All you really have to ask yourself is do you want to spend the extra points just for those higher stats. I have yet to see a Dark Eldar army incorporate the Haemonculus Ancient in a build. Most people have not found justification for _wasting_ those extra points. With this lack of enthusiasm for the Haemonculus Ancient you would think it would have a BAD rating but since the Haemonculus is so good and the Haemonculus Ancient is pretty much the same thing I could not place it in that category.
Urien Rakarth – To talk about Urien Rakarth we must keep both the Haemonculus Ancient and the Haemonculus in the back of our mind. This is just another HQ that allows you to take Wracks at a Troop choice. If you were just looking at this ability I would say skip an expensive HQ and just get a nice cheap Haemonculus but Urien Rakarth has much more to offer. Urien Rakarth strength and reason for running him comes from using a lot of Wracks and Grotesques. By having Urien Rakarth in your army you are able to make your Grotesques a little stronger for just a few more points and be able to dish out some pain tokens at the beginning of the game. Running Urien Rakarth you are forced into a much more melee heavy army since you will want to be using more Grotesques and Wracks. I am not completely sold on Urien Rakarth wargear but if you run him with a unit of four Grotesques in a Raider, which I suggest you do, then he should fair well and create a nice death star unit. This way your Grotesques will not go crazy on you and you will have plenty of pain tokens to get all the bonuses.

BAD
Succubus – While the Succubus is a very cheap HQ unit, she does not give you much for an HQ. She is pretty much just a really expensive Hekatrix on steroids. Both an Archon and a Haemonculus are about the same point cost and both give you much more bang for your buck. Both give you so many more upgrades which allow both to be that much more versatile. If you ever think about running a Succubus in your army just save your points and add a Hekatrix to your Wyches. Though I doubt the Succubus will ever make it into competitive play if for some reason you are using her just add her to some offensive Wyches or some Hekatrix Bloodbrides.

UNDETERMINED
Drazhar, Master of Blades -
Lelith Hesperax -
Duke Sliscus the Serpent -
Kheradruakh, the Decapitator -

*Elite*
UGLY
Incubi – Power from Pain and Power Weapon but no Poison
Wracks – Posion +4 melee, Can be troops

GOOD
Kabalite Trueborn – Only use if you are taking a lot of special weapons. Cheap 2x Dark Lance or Splinter Cannon combo. Also mass Shardcarbine combo.
Hekatrix Bloodbrides – Not good enough since you can take pretty much same thing and it can be a troop choice.

BAD
Grotesques – Bulky so not easy to transport but then why would you want to spend so many points on a lot of these. Have to have an IC (ie. Urien Rakarth) or risk Rampage, no Poison but high Strength. 
Mandrakes – No Posion, only 5++, no Weapon Skill boost. 
Harlequins – No Power from Pain, no drugs. Even with Veil they will be shot up with only there 5++. Mass firing will destroy these guys.

*Troops*
UGLY
Wyches – Power from Pain. Close Combat specialist with a 4++ 

GOOD
Kabalite Warriors – Poison shooting good massing fire.

*Fast Attack*
GOOD
Hellions – Can be troops.
Scourges – These can mass fire really easy. If you want you can make them a pretty cheap unit to go around and tank bust. Pretty much a fast unit for jumping around and doing what you need.
Beastmasters – Can't be in transport. Have fleet but there is a very low chance they will be able to assault on turn two.

UNDETERMINED
Reavers - 

*Heavy Support*
UGLY
Ravager – These will have either 3 Dark Lances or 3 Disintegrator Cannons. Perfect for either breaking armor or breaking death star units.

GOOD
Cronos Parasite Engine – Only get this if you are using a Webway portal and are running a Pain Token army.
Razorwing Jetfighter – Really only good is certain armies, however, it does start with four missiles unlike the Voidraven Bomber and the one amazing thing about it that is shared with the Voidraven Bomber is that it is not open-topped, unlike the rest of the Dark Eldar vehicles.

BAD
Talos Pain Engine – You can only have 3 max in your army, High tough but with all the anti-tank these will die fast. Close combat specialty Splinter cannon worthless since can be out ranged. Fearless.
Voidraven Bomber – You have to spend points to get the missiles. These will get outflanked or units will Deep Strike and Power from Pain this early. Really expensive and paper armor. Giant point sink. The only really good thing I can say about it is that it is not open-topped


*Ranged Weapons*
UGLY
Disintegrator Cannon – Anti-TEQ and Anti-MEQ.
Heat Lance – Amazing on fast moving units. This makes it easy to get within the 9 inches so that you have 2 dice to see if you penetrate. 
Necrotoxin Missile – This is an amazing poison weapon that has a huge area and it can pin. Mommy can I have one.
Splinter Cannon – Works well if you move or if you do not move. Cheap poison weapon.

GOOD
Blaster – Can put on anyone
Dark Lance – Bread and Butter of Dark Eldar. Good at breaking armor since these are Lance.
Implosion Missile – While I will admit this should be an UGLY ranged weapon, I just cannot give it such a rating because of the platform from which it must be fired.
Monoscythe Missile – High Strength makes it easier to wound. So even though they will probably get to rolls saves, you have probably done enough that they will not save them all, making it worth it.
Shardcarbine – A nice poison ranged weapon that is great in mass numbers. 
Shatterfield Missle – This has such a high strength that you will probably not have many dice to reroll.
Shredder – Cheap blast for taking out infantry but only good in large numbers since competitive players really spread out if they know this is coming.
Spirit Syphon – Best against GEQ and MEQ but the draw back is you need to be close. Use this if you are running a Pain Token army.
Spirit Vortex – This has a low strength attack. Use this if you are running a Pain Token army.
Splinter Pistol – Poison weapon that still lets you assault.
Splinter Rifle – Works really good if you have a 10 man squad of Kabalite Trueborn or Kabalite Warriors in a Raider, just add Splinter Racks and enjoy.

BAD
Baleblast – Can't even break MEQ armor.
Blast Pistol – Only on leaders
Bloodstone – Breaks MEQ armor but since it is low Strength it really doesn't matter
Eyeburst – Too unpredictable. 
Fusion Pistol – Small range. Only on Harlequins which are already bad.
Haywire Blaster – While the Haywire weapons do need a special mention since they have the ability to glance so easily. I still have trouble seeing the Haywire Blaster in competitive play. This weapon works better in high numbers, so the fact that you really cannot get a lot of them hurts the chances for this to work. In competitive armies your opponents should have counters on some of the vehicles, such as Extra Armor, to make this weapon less effective. 
Void Lance – Yes, this is the best ranged weapon Dark Eldar have for breaking armor but there is one thing, it only comes on the Voidraven Bomber which is just too expensive.
Void Mine – Another bad weapon which can only be on the Voidraven Bomber and you only have one of these. You need to get close to use it and since you have paper armor anyway this unit will probably get destroyed before you get to use it.

UNDETERMINED 
Shrieker Cannon - 
Shuriken Pistol -
Splinter Pods – 
Stinger Pod – 

*Melee Weapons*
UGLY
Agoniser – Power weapon that wounds have the time.
Demiklaives – Add versatility to your Incubi, however, too expensive to make useful.
Klaive – Adds strength and is a power weapon. Which in large numbers just destroys units. 
Venom Blade – Poison weapon on steroids

GOOD
Electrocorrosive Whip – Not a poison weapon and should only be taken on high initiative units.
Harlequin's Kiss – Not a poison weapon. Only good in mass numbers.
Haywire Grenades – Unlike the Haywire Blaster this weapon can be used in high numbers and is so cheap that it is very easy to get ten of these, which greatly increases its chance for success. Your opponents will know what you are trying to do with these grenades so you will find them moving there vehicles a little more than usual. Hopefully, you will have so many grenades that it will not matter as much. These will work best in squads of 10 or more since the odds will be in your favor. 
Hellglaive – Gives you that little something extra against most armies.
Hydra Gauntlets – Cheap for the amount of bonus attacks you will gain from this. 
Shardnet and Impaler – Really these are only good for bogging down a unit. But if used right you can pretty much stall a death star unit for two turns if not more.

BAD
Djin Blade – May hurt yourself because this is unpredictable. Not a poison weapon.
Huskblade – Really expensive but can instant kill enemies. Only good on higher strength models. These models should be trying to go for other HQ units. 
Mindphase Gauntlet – Only good against Independent Characters or Monsterous Creatures. You want higher Initiative than your opponents unit you would be assaulting and since these do not go on very high Initiative units, spending points on these is not worth it.
Razorflails – Rerolling maybe 1 or 2 attacks why do I need that. You know what would be better, if I just had more attacks. I wonder what I could use to give me more attacks.

UNDETERMINED 
Stunclaw -

*Other Equipment*
UGLY
Shadow Field – I wanted to expand this to explain why this is ugly but really I think the 2++ is enough.

GOOD
Clone Field – While the Clone Field can be very useful it does not compare to the Shadow Field. The Clone Field will always negate at least one attack and since you get to decide which attack, maybe that one power fist attack that made it through, that you negate you may disagree with only calling it GOOD. This upgrade could be amazing and it would be UGLY if you could take both the Shadow Field and Clone Field, sadly this is not the case. This is why I would always spend the extra points and just get Shadow Field on any one of your units that can take it.
Webway Portal – Only really useful in foot slogging armies with very few vehicles.

BAD
Soul-Trap – There are only two units this can be used on. Both of which have low strength, so you are going to need some amazing weapon (ie. Agoniser) which usually negates the reason for Soul-Trap .
Vexator Mask – Low probability of most enemies failing this test if they even need to take the test. If they do fail they can just attack other units which is why the only way you can run this is with a single unit alone.

*Arcane Wargear*
UGLY
Liquifier Gun – Cheap template that has good odds at cutting through armor. Run 2 in a unit and one of them should usually cut through the armor.

GOOD
Animus Vitae – It is easy to find a way to kill one enemy model in assault. This is good if you want to make a Power from Pain army.
Dark Gate – This still lets the enemy use their armor save but if they fail it spells instant death for them. Just make sure you put this as far away from you as you can.
Flesh Gauntlet – A nice way to kill a model outright. Just do not go after models with really nice armor. 

BAD
Archangel of Pain – Low probability of most enemies failing this test if they even need to take the test.
Casket of Flensing – This is too random and you only get one shot
Crucible of Malediction – Many armies run a psyker but usually psykers have good Leadership and you have to get close to them to use this.

UNDETERMINED 
Hexrifle -
Obsidian Orbs -
Orb of Dispair -
Shattershard -
Stinger Pistol -

*Vehicle Armoury*
UGLY
Flickerfield – If you are not going to be using the amazing save with your fast skimmers then you want this baby.

GOOD
Chain-snares – These are more fun then they are competitive but there are some slight uses for them. With their low point cost it is very easy to get these to use up the last of your points and have some anti-horde as well. 
Enhanced Aethersails – Only use these on your Raider with melee units embarked.
Night Shields – These can be useful if you are using missiles on your vehicle but otherwise these are countered too easily.
Splinter Racks – Only use this if you are running a unit with Splinter Rifles.

BAD
Shock Prow – Tank shocking can be used well but usually it just does not find a lot of good use in competitive play.

UNDETERMINED 
Envenomed Blades -
Grisly Trophies -
Torment Grenade Launchers -
Retrofire Jets -

*Extra Points – How To Make Them UGLY*
We all make these awesome armies yet we always find ourselves with points left over or with not enough points, which requires us to find better ways of using those points. If you find yourself with points left over and have no idea on what to spend them on then this will help make the choice easier. As with the rest of this article these are my opinion and are only for the majority of competitive armies.

Assault Anti-Armor Ranged Weapons 
Heat Lance > Blaster > Fusion Pistol > Blast Pistol
The Blast Pistol is the worst because it is just like the Blaster only it has a shorter range. The Blast Pistol can only go on the upgraded unit so it actually costs more to get the Blast Pistol. The Fusion Pistol is better than the Blast Pistol because it is a melta and because it costs less. The Heat Lance I feel is the best because it is a melta that, with Dark Eldar's high movement and speed, is very east to get those two pen dice which gives you a very good chance to pen on armor.

Missiles
Implosion Missile > Necrotoxin Missile > Shatterfield Missile > Monoscythe Missile
The lowest three missiles all cost the same so it is really about what each does that determined their ranking. The Implosion Missiles are the most expensive but with their amazing AP they become very useful for anti-TEQ. These have a characteristic test that against most models will be able to kill them so as long as you use it wisely you should be able to make these cost effective. Necrotoxin Missiles are next in my opinion because they cause wounds very easy and have a nice way of stopping whoever you shoot at. Shatterfield Missiles are next because like the other two weaker missiles they should be able to wound on a 2+ but they have that nice re-roll. It is because of that re-roll that Shatterfield are better than Monoscythe and only for that reason.

Razoring Jetfighter > Voidraven Bomber
The Razoring Jetfighter is better because unlike the Voidraven Bomber it already comes with quite a few missiles making it cheaper in the long run.

Flickerfield > Night Shields
Night Shields are not as good for Dark Eldar since there weapons have a smaller than average long range weapons and because Dark Eldar do better charging into the enemy and causing havoc wherever they go. Flickerfield always work no matter what the situation so they are more versatile and better for competitive play.

Shadow Field > Clone Field
While the Clone Field does have its uses, Shadow Field is just so much better because of the amazing save it gives you. Since you can only have one just spend the points and get the better of the two.

Hydra Gauntlets > Razorflails
Hydra Gauntlets have been proven better than Razorflails because re-rolling attacks does not matter if you have only a couple of attacks. It is better to just have a lot of attacks.

Words of Wisdom
When using a Ravager never use both Dark Lances and Disintegrator Cannons. Make sure you give your Ravager a focus. If you run a mix then when you go up against armor you will not have as many shots that could be helping you. Pretty much you are just wasting points at this point.

If you are using any Heavy Support Vehicle always remember to get Flickerfield because these units will probably not be moving enough to take advantage of the cover save so it is always nice to have some sort of save especially since they are so fragile. 

If you are running a Venom always spend those extra points and get the extra Splinter Cannon. You will thank me later.

When running an Archon make sure you spend the extra points and put Shadow Field on him.

If you are running 10 Kabalite Trueborn or Kabalite Warriors with Splinter Rifles in a Raider, make sure you get Splinter Racks.


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## Jezlad

Moved to tactics because it isn't complete. 

Once complete I'll move it into the completed tacticas section.


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## D-A-C

Can I just say that IMO this isn't a good tactica in it's current form.

To put it bluntly, your rushing and it shows.

I would be very interested in a good Dark Eldar tactica, especially centred around competitive choices, but you've rushed all your wargear, unit etc reviews.

You've got a good theme with the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, but spend a little more time on everything.

Write some detailed sentences as to why each thing is placed as it is.

It would probably be best to lay it out like this.

*
DARK ELDAR TACTICA*

*UNITS

HQ'S

THE GOOD

*Vect - blah blah blah

*THE BAD*

*THE UGLY**


WARGEAR

**THE GOOD

THE BAD

THE UGLY


*Something like that is much more readable and would should you took the time and effort that is needed to produce a good tactica.

I mean I reviewed Chaos Daemon Princes and spent 5000 words on that 1 unit!

So slow down, take your time, and give some proper detailed info


(I'll come back and delete this message when it's posted in the offiicial tactica section, so that it doesn't ruin the look of the tactica)


EDIT 

Also you don't need to do everything in one go. You can do a series of tacticas, on specific things such as Units, Wargear, Tactics, etc


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## Styro-J

Note: The Void Raven bomber can go 36" and still drop its mine. Still expensive? Yes. But hey, at least it isn't open-topped.


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## Sethis

You need to re-read the rules for Haywire Blasters if you dimiss them as "Bad". They cause a glancing hit on 2+ against ANY armour value, and are bloody excellent supressive weapons. A unit of 5 Scourge staying behind cover can really frustrate your opponent as they hop away from him every turn while stunning his best vehicle into a waste of points for the entire game.

Imagine someone took a Land Raider with TH/SS termies and neglected to put extra armour on it (hey, it might happen!). That's 450pts sitting doing nothing every turn until he gets sick of it and gets out and walks. Meanwhile the rest of your army is shredding his with nearly a 500pt advantage in firepower.

There are some other things I disagree with, but I agree with DAC that it could use a little formatting and go into more depth on more or less everything.

To give an example:



> Haemonculus - UGLY. Adds another troop choice for your army. Really cheap.


Doesn't mention anything about equipping them, which units to put them in, how to use them as the game goes on, or indeed any "tactics" at all (that is the point of a tactica, right?).

I know it's not finished yet and that you've asked for other people's contributions, but no-one is going to do the legwork for you, if they wanted to write about DE tactics, they would have done so already. I don't mean to shred your idea, I think it's great that someone is trying to write extensively abut DE, and props for you for doing it, but it just needs a bit more to it before it becomes excellent.


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## Creon

POTMS ensures even unarmored Land Raiders will move directly towards the Enemy, so the StunStar isn't so effective there.


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## DrinCalhar

I tried doing the article how DAC suggested and well see for yourself. I also expanded Vect to start things off. I will say it helps give a lot more information but this is going to turn into a book.


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## Ninja D

A lot of good information will be better than a condensed overview of units and wargear as far as a Tactica is concerned. If it becomes a book so be it. I'd rather see the DE Tactica section with multiple threads on various topics than one (relatively) short post that has some vague entries. Kudos on getting this started and I have a feeling people will contribute to this as it grows, even if it's constructive criticism or editing.


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## Karnax

I disagree with using agonisers on a haemonculus. Scissorhands and power weapon gives you an extra attack and poisoned 3+ for just 5 points more.


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## KhainiteAssassin

I would disagree in multiple places with some of your suggestions.

you obviously have a love for Wytches and Close Combat units. you have put some of our more useful items under "bad" and put useless items in the "ugly" section.

example: HEATLANCES, they are useless. they are 2 str lower then normal Meltas, and are lower range then Multi meltas, but cost more then Multi meltas in most cases, and the lance rule only puts the AVs over 12 at an acceptable range. To this point, they only get the same chance to pen AV 12 13 and 14, and the melta weapons from the SM do on on AV 14, which, though not bad, but not great either. ADD to that, the HEATLANCE can only be taken on 2 units both which are quite vulnerable to being shot back once they do shoot their target, and to get a decent amount of the heatlances into a single squad of those two, your looking at a huge point sink. other weapons that have a longer range are better because of this, using cover and LoS to our advantage. 

but you have Haywire blasters as bad? your nuts. they are not amazingly good, but they are cheap, can double glance on AV 10, and are not meant to "destroy" vehicles. EVERYONE seems so obsessed with destroying vehicles, you do not need to destroy them, but disable them to ineffectiveness. a CANT MOVE CANT SHOOT result is perfectly fine, weapon destroyed results on those vindicators, just fine. etc. I have taken them into a tournament and used them quite well. because I was not fixated on the idea that you need to wreck / destroy / get the KP for the tank when i shoot it.

Trueborn in VENOMS is probably one of our top competitive elite choices. 4 blasters in a fast moving skimmer that shoots 12 poison shots at a 36" range a turn, using the blasters on transports or assault centric vehicles that come into range (land speeders which move in close for a Melta attack, or dreads fall into this category)


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## Warlock in Training

I was going to say How the Hell are True Born and Kabalite Warriors in the plain Good section? More details as mention be nice.


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