Dark Eldar Shooty Armies
Some people do things differently. Some people have a different opinion of the best way to do something, while others try to do something different from the norm either because they want to be different, or because maybe they're a bit touched in the head. :) I've written up an article on Tactics for a Dark Eldar Air Force style of army. Basically, this is one of the most common ways people field Dark Eldar armies, however, it is not the only way out there. I'd like to discuss Shooty Dark Eldar armies today. Next week I'll discuss Dark Eldar Horde Assault Armies, so keep your eyes peeled. Oh man, never say that around a Haemonculus, ick.
Shooty Dark Eldar Generally, the idea of Shooty Dark Eldar, as with most shooty armies, is how to get the most heavy weapons for the least points. With the Dark Lance being the main Heavy weapon of the DE, that translates to points per Lance. Ravagers offer 3 DLs per 105 pts, making them cost 35pts/Lance. Scourge squads of 5, with 4 Lances, cost 180pts, or 45pts/Lance. The basic sniper squad (10 Warriors, 2 with Dark Lances) costs 100pts, 50/Lance. A Raider-borne sniper squad (5 Warriors with a Dark Lance in a Raider with a Dark Lance) comes to 105, giving 52.5/Lance. A Retinue can be given 2 Dark Lances for 70pts, so that's only 35pts/Lance, but then you have to buy a Lord to stay with them. Beyond this, we get into the realm of true inefficiency, that of buying a unit simply because it can take a Raider with a Dark Lance. (Grotesques, for example, though you could theoretically use them as a screen for your troops.)
Walking versus Flying The Dark Eldar have access to Raiders, which give them amazing mobility and are armed with Dark Lances or Disintegrators, both great shooty weapons. On the other hand, their armor is only marginally better than cardboard, so even Bolt Pistols can shoot them down, which limits their effectiveness. One solution is to have many Raiders. This ensures that some will survive to get the job done. If you only have one or two, they'll quickly be knocked out of the sky and you will have none. I have found that for shooting reliability, squads of Dark Eldar on foot are more survivable than Raiders. Although a perfectly good shooty army could be Raider-borne, I feel it would be hamstrung by how quickly the Raiders would be shot down. Therefore, I'll be focusing on foot-based firepower for this part of the article.
Options Now that we have our primary options, let's consider them. Ravagers certainly offer the cheapest Dark Lances out there, but they are hindered by the inherent fragility of the Raider platform, meaning they will quickly go down in flames. If an opponent has somehow never heard of Ravagers and doesn't understand their firepower, you can bet they will have learned by the second turn of the game. On the other hand, a single Ravager may be able to hide behind terrain at the back of the board. Such a Ravager could be used by just moving it out far enough to see a single target, then shooting that target. Limiting the line of sight that way limits what can shoot back as well, preserving it for another turn. Then again, if it does get shot down, it is only 105 points, which it will likely make back in a single turn of firing.
Scourges have the advantage of being able to be screened by troops, although this negates their flying abilities to a certain degree. On the other hand, firing 4 Dark Lances at single target is rarely a useful thing. It is far better to be able to fire 1-2 Dark Lances at a target, then have the others free to fire at a different one. This brings us to the sniper squads.
A sniper squad is common parlance for 2 Warriors with Dark Lances and 8 Warriors with Splinter rifles. Did I mention that I like Troops? These guys are great. They offer some staying power, so they can soak up some casualties before losing those Dark Lances, and they've even got a bit of anti-troop firepower in case you run into a ravening horde like Tyranids or Orks. These will be the bulk of our firepower, of course. Unless you have Grotesques or something else acting as a screen for your troops, you may want to bulk up a squad or two of these guys so they can take a few more hits than normal. It might also be useful to give the frontline squads special weapons, such as blasters. At only 10pts for 2 of them, it's not much extra to give them that extra punch just as the enemies close.
You'll need a leader for your army, and a Dracon provides a good counter-attack option. If you are going to have a Lord character anyway, you might as well bring along a retinue for the extra firepower. Alternately, a couple of Haemonculi with Destructors make very good counter-attack options, and would be more in character for a force fielding Grotesques to screen the Warriors.
The Elite choices for the Dark Eldar army offer a couple of interesting choices. Mandrakes are not particularly effective for most shooting armies, though they can certainly be used to grab table quarters and such. Grotesques make great shooting screens, since only heavy weapons are able to hurt them, it cuts down on the basic firepower getting through to your other units. Remember, however, that the models themselves and their bases block line of sight, so the only way to ENTIRELY block line of sight to your other squads is to line up your Grotesques in base to base contact, which makes for either a short line or a lot of points. (It can be done, it just takes work.) Wyches make a decent counter-attack unit if your lines get rushed. If you decide to try a flying shooty army (it's possible, but read my comments and consider yourself warned) then you definitely want a small squad of Wyches in a Raider. Give 2 of them Blasters and you've got a mini-Ravager: Fly up to 12" then fire the Dark Lance and both Blasters. The Blasters can be fired at the same target as the Dark Lance, or they can fire at a different target. It can be highly effective, particularly combined with other Raider-borne firepower and Ravagers. Warp Beasts are obviously not a shooty unit (Hey, that lone splinter pistol could come in handy!) but they could make a good, cheap counter-attack unit.
In Fast Attack, we have limited choices. We can use Reavers to run up quickly and knock out hard targets with 2 Blasters in a squad, or to threaten enemy heavy weapon squads with a first turn turbo-boost to get in their face. While the Reavers are unlikely to survive using such a tactic, it will focus the enemy on them, rather than the core of our shooting. Hellions only get one Blaster, but they offer an interesting possibility. They have the possibility of Deep Striking. That means that (in a mission that allowed Deep Strike) they could theoretically come in behind the enemy lines and use the blaster on the rear armor of a vehicle that was proving to be nasty, such as a Basilisk behind a hill. Assuming they survived the immediate turn, giving the Succubus Haywire grenades would be a useful addition as well.
In Heavy Support, I have already mentioned Ravagers and Scourges, but the Talos is a useful addition as well. Not only does the Talos offer excellent combat abilities at a good price, but the fact that it has Toughness rather than Armor Value means that it can move in front of your lines without disrupting your shooting. The Talos is highly effective, either against assaulting armies, or against shooting armies, since it can engage the assaulters effectively, and it makes a great distraction to send against the shooters.
Range The Dark Lance has a range of 36 inches. Certainly there are many Heavy Weapons fielded by other races that outrange this, but this is a bit deceiving. For example, A Lascannon has a 48 inch range, but if we have our Warriors on foot, it can kill, at most, a single Warrior. Not a very impressive return. This is the case for most Heavy weapons you will face. The real infantry killers that our army will fear are multishot weapons like the Heavy Bolter (36" range) and lots of basic weapons such as the Bolter, which are usually the same range as our Splinter rifles. The primary exception is Ordnance. Whether it is an Eldar Support Platform or an Imperial Guard Battle Cannon, they lay down big pie plates of damage from a good distance. On the other hand, with only a few exceptions, they must have line of sight to do this, and our 36 inch range should be enough to cover most of the battlefield without moving. If necessary, however, a sniper squad or two can simply use movement and Fleet of Foot to get a better position quickly, then take it out the next turn.
Sample List Shooty Dark Eldar 1500points
106 Dracon w/ Shadowfield, Combat Drugs, Agonizer and Pistol
70 Retinue with 2 Dark Lances and 3 Splinter Rifles
150 Warrior squad with 2 Dark Lances, 2 Blasters and 11 Splinter Rifles
150 Warrior squad with 2 Dark Lances, 2 Blasters and 11 Splinter Rifles
100 Warrior squad with 2 Dark Lances and 8 Splinter Rifles
100 Warrior squad with 2 Dark Lances and 8 Splinter Rifles
100 Warrior squad with 2 Dark Lances and 8 Splinter Rifles
100 Warrior squad with 2 Dark Lances and 8 Splinter Rifles
104 3 Hellions with 1 Blaster and 1 Succubus with Agonizer and Haywire Grenades
95 3 Reaver Jetbikes, 2 w/Blasters
120 4 Reaver Jetbikes, 2 w/Blasters
105 Ravager with 3 Dark Lances
100 Talos
100 Talos
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1500 pts.
Deployment Against a totally static, shooty army, I would place both the Talos models and the Reavers (and the Hellions unless they could deepstrike) on one side of the board, with the rest of the army laid out on the far side of the board. The assault side would move up, while my shooting side would attempt to isolate that enemy flank by fire. (Meaning, shoot the guys in the middle, so that once your assaulters get there, the poor enemies have no immediate backup. Once that was accomplished, my fire would go to the unengaged enemy flank, softening them up for the assaulters to finish off.
On the other hand, against any other army, I would use a Split Deployment. I would split the army roughly in two chunks. Each would get a large Warrior squad and a Talos in the front line, with two sniper squads tucked behind them. The Ravager would take the side with the best cover, and the Dracon and Retinue will go on the other side, just behind the front lines. The Jetbikes will go on the side closest to any possible nasty ordnance weapon they might be called on to destroy. If the Hellions could not Deep Strike, I would place them on the same side as the Ravager, just behind my front lines. The idea is to force the opponent to make a choice.
If the enemy army heads down one side, focus the firepower from both sides at it, targeting transports first. Once you've limited the mobility, then fire at nasty assault units (if they have no nasty assault units, just hit their firepower.) The side that they are advancing on will get hit and will die, however, they are the speed bump. It will take time for the enemy to finish off that side of your deployment, time that you can use to keep pounding exposed units, particularly fast ones. By the time they finish off that side, they should only have slow units left and they should need to cross about 24 inches to get to your other side, meaning that not only are they in a shooting gallery without their fast movers, but that there shouldn't be enough turns in the game for them to arrive and wipe out the rest of your army.
On the other hand, if the opponent splits their force and sends part after each one, then just choose one side as the sacrifice. They will fire on the part of the army bearing down on the opposite side of the board. Any units out of range can be used to blast enemy vehicles on their own side. The non-sacrifice side also gets to shoot at the enemy bearing down on them. The idea here is to use the combined firepower to wipe out one side or bring it down enough that the counter-attack units can finish it easily. Then, just as above, the sacrifice side will get hit by the enemy, who will take a while to go through them, if they make it through your counter-attack units, then they'll face a long walk over to your mostly intact side. Bang, you're dead.
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