Dark Eldar Horde Assault Armies
Dare to be Different Hello there again, and welcome to the second installment of Marching to the Beat of a Different Drummer. This time the subject is Dark Eldar Horde Assault armies. There are many different ways to skin a cat (You Haemonculi in back stop chuckling, it makes me nervous.) With the Dark Eldar army you can build a very effective Air Force, or a Shooty Army , or even a Horde Assault army.
Dark Eldar assault units on foot With Dark Eldar, the assault is about 2 things. Getting lots of basic attacks, which means lots of basic Warriors, and getting lots of power weapon or agonizer attacks, which means lots of Sybarites and Succubi. With the firepower available to these squads, shooting first to soften up the enemy is always worthwhile. Their weapons are generally more effective than their close combat attacks, so use that to hurt the enemy before you finish them off in hand to hand. In addition, you also want to gang up on the enemy, using several squads against a single enemy squad. One thing that you will notice about a Non-Raider Dark Eldar list is that it has some resilience. Because you used the points you'd normally use for Raiders on more models, that gives you more resistance to enemy shooting and assaults than you'd normally have. On the other hand, you have to actually buy those extra models. If you just use minimal squads, you'll find them evaporating like they normally do. This list should feature numbers that are on par with Orks and many Tyranids or Imperial Guard lists.
Walking vs Flying Most of the Dark Eldar army can use Fleet of Foot to increase their movement, at the expense of shooting. On average, this will add 3.5 inches per turn to their movement. Thus, a second turn charge is possible. (12 inches of movement, 7 inches of Fleeting, 6 inches of assault = 25 inches. On the other hand, that means no shooting. You'll have to decide whether getting the charge in one turn early is worth not shooting. For some enemies it makes more sense to quickly get to grips with them. With others, go ahead and shoot, then charge in on turn 3. Remember that you can use your faster moving units to charge in on specific targets to spare you some return fire, while the rest of your army shatters the open targets with concentrated fire, then moves in to mop up and help the faster moving units.
Options Now that we know what our general plan is, let's take a look at the Dark Eldar armylist to see what it can offer us.
HQ First off, the Dracon or Archon can be highly effective in this army, but don't take the Incubi. Incubi seem great, but they cannot Fleet of Foot, meaning they'll be slower than the rest of the army and they'll be a big target. A big, slow target gets killed quickly. Instead, let your Lord character be part of a unit for turn 1. On turn 2, separate from that squad, fleet of foot forward and use combat drugs to get a 12 inch charge into combat, tying up the enemy unit while your squad gets to fire at the squad next to them. The Lord could take a Warrior Retinue, but they cannot get the 12 inch charge, so that would also slow you down. Let the Lord stand alone. Haemonculi can also be effective, though more in the shooting just prior to a charge. Use those Destructors to hose down enemy units, thinning them out before you charge.
Elites Wyches are an obvious choice here. Highly effective in close combat, able to take a pair of Blasters for tank hunting or adding damage just before a charge, they are excellent additions. Remember that they are an addition, however, not the main attraction. They have even less armor to shooting than Warriors do and they cost 12-13 points each, instead of the 8 points your Warriors cost. Let the smaller number of Wyches take on the targets with power weapons or a small number of strong attacks, or let them bog down the nasty monsters with their invulnerable saves in close combat. The Warp Beast Pack is highly effective for this list as well. With lots of basic attacks, coupled with a high speed and inexpensive cost, this is a must-have unit. Grotesques can be helpful as well, though not as effective as Wyches. They cannot Fleet of foot, so they'll be slower, but they can be very effective, in that their Fearsome Opponent rule forces a beaten enemy to fall back without a Morale test being taken. Mandrakes don't seem incredible, but having the Mandrake blips (the models representing possible locations of Mandrakes) follow your forces, ready to appear wherever you need a bit of extra weight in a combat, can be highly effective.
Troops Ah, the heart of the army. The basic Warrior is only 8 points. For that 8 points you get a weapon with AP5, an assault at I5 and a wound, plus you can fleet of foot. In addition, this gives you access to Splinter Cannons, Dark Lances, Blasters and Agonizers, among other things. Use large squads to soak up any casualties on the way in, then help with outnumbering once you get into combat. A squad of 15 costs a base of 120pts. Add in a pair of Splinter Cannon and a pair of Blasters for 30pts, then upgrade one Warrior to a Sybarite and give that one an Agonizer, for an additional 26pts, leaving us at 176pts total. You can make the units a bit larger, up to 20, in fact, but I've found that larger units tend to get more bogged down in terrain and bottlenecks. 15 seems to be a good compromise between a small squad that will maneuver easily but get shredded and a large, resilient squad that gets stuck in terrain. Although our focus here is on assault, don't forget the sniper squads. With 2 Dark Lances in a squad of 10 Warriors, they can sit behind your front lines and take down vehicles. Once you no longer fear the enemy vehicles, then they can use their Fleet of Foot movement to lend weight to your assault, or simply claim objectives.
Fast Attack Reavers are an option here. With their high speed, they can perform quick strikes for you, letting you concentrate force more quickly. On the other hand, they are a bit pricey as well. Hellions are also an option. They can move quickly as well, plus they are slightly cheaper, though slightly more vulnerable as well. Either one can work well as a small squad with a special weapon (two for the Reavers) and a Succubus with Agonizer or Power weapon. These small squads can be positioned slightly behind the front line units to keep them safe, then either sped up to get in quickly against an opponent and block line of sight to the rest of your army, or held back to add power where needed in an assault. Their mobility allows you to move them where they are needed the most, whether it is to shore up an assault that is failing, or to reinforce a successful one and cause it to end more quickly. They may also be used to pounce on smaller units, like Devastator or Havoc squads.
Heavy Support Scourges are a bit of a surprise here. Their standard use as a fast moving squad with lots of heavy weapons is okay here, but they can also be used in the same manner as the Fast Attack slots listed above. Give the Sybarite an Agonizer and you've got a fast moving, support assault unit, either to quickly tie up the enemy, or to lend support in a regular attack. The Ravager can be effective in this list, but it will be a tasty target for the first few turns. One Ravager might be able to remain hidden, whereas more will certainly end up too crowded and get shot down. Finally, we come to the Talos. While slower than the rest of the army, the Talos is very Tough and very scary to opponents. Let it move slowly forward as you leap into assault. As you fight, it keeps getting closer, until it starts to munch enemy units.
Sample list
106 Dracon (Combat Drugs, Shadowfield, Agonizer and pistol)
93 5 Wyches w/Wych weapons, 2xBlaster, Succubus w/Agonizer
75 5 Warp Beasts plus Beastmaster (Agonizer, Pistol)
120 8 Mandrakes (Pistol and CCW)
176 15 Warriors 2x SC, 2x Blaster, Sybarite w/Agonizer
176 15 Warriors 2x SC, 2x Blaster, Sybarite w/Agonizer
176 15 Warriors 2x SC, 2x Blaster, Sybarite w/Agonizer
176 15 Warriors 2x SC, 2x Blaster, Sybarite w/Agonizer
100 10 Warriors 2x Dark Lance
100 10 Warriors 2x Dark Lance
100 3 Hellions (Blaster, Succubus w/Agonizer)
100 Talos
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1498 points
Deployment Always place your Warrior units in front to block line of sight. Your specialty units can hide in back, ready to pounce when needed. Try to use only part of the board, if possible. Either make a pincer attack, so you leave the center open and go up the sides with your force, or ignore one flank and go up the middle and one side, depending on terrain. This way you will hopefully be avoiding some enemy fire and concentrating your forces against your enemy.
Against an opposing Horde Assault army, use your shooting to full effect, moving back when necessary to cut down more of them. (Remember that your Splinter Cannons still fire to full effect as you move backward!) Then, when they are weakened by your fire, make sure you get the charge and take the fight to them. It may be useful to send the Talos forward to tie up some of their units, so you can whittle the others down at your leisure.
Against all other armies, use the deployment listed above, then move forward. The Sniper squads will remain still to fire at enemy vehicles and Monstrous Creatures, while everything else moves up in a block, Fleeting foot if possible. On the second turn, continue moving up, but start to line up your charges. This turn you'll have to decide whether to attempt to charge in using Fleet of foot and your assault move to get into close combat, or to simply move up and fire into the enemy squads. The answer depends on how much damage you think you can do with your shooting and how much damage you will take in return for being out in the open during the opponent's next turn.
If you choose to Fleet of Foot and charge into close combat, then you can either use your faster moving units to add weight to your assaults, or you can move them so that they can support an assault later, but keep them free for the moment. Remember that your Mandrakes can also provide extra numbers for your assaults, and you don't have to commit them until you are ready. (Or the end of Turn 3, whichever comes first.)
If you choose to stand and fire, you must be wary of the enemy firing or even assaulting you on the next turn. You can limit that damage or possibility, however, by using your fast moving units (combined move and assault of 18 inches or better) to engage some of the enemy front line, leaving you with fewer units that will be able to fire back, and you can pour your fire into those units. On the next turn, you may shoot again, then move into assault. At this point, your Talos should be about 1 turn behind you, so it will assist you soon.
Once you have engaged the front lines and outnumbered your opponents by ganging up on their squads, you must watch out for counter attack units. These are assault units that hang back behind the front lines, then charge in when the front lines are charged, giving them the charge bonus and putting the hurt on your assaulting squads. If you can shoot them ahead of time, do it. Most likely, however, they will be well hidden, so you must either send a fast moving unit after them, or accept their charge. Intercepting them with a fast moving unit can work, but remember that you are probably going up against a good assault unit, so you'll either need a couple of squads in there, or you can expect to lose the fast moving unit. If it's death slows down the enemy unit and hurts it a little, that can be worthwhile. If you can get Wyches into contact with a counter attack unit, do so. Counter attack units are likely to have a small number of powerful attacks, such as power weapons, which will be largely useless against the 4+ invulnerable save the Wyches get. If the counter attack units get the charge, use your fast movers to counter assault them (or hit them with the Talos!)
One final note. When the enemy falls back, remember that they cannot regroup if they are within 6 inches of one of your models. If they are close to the board edge, you don't need to chase them as long as you are within 6 inches of them. This is another excellent use for the Fast moving units. Let them engage some smaller targets behind the front lines, then, as enemy units in the front lines break and fall back, they will be within 6 inches of your Fast moving units, forcing them to stay broken and continue falling back. Now get out there and smash the enemy. For Slaves, For Souls, For the Kabal!
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