Dark Eldar have some of the nicest models in this hobby of ours, their sleek dark look just screams "don't meet me in a dark alleyway", which is what everyone wants from their evil Xenos army right?
Why Collect Dark Eldar (Background and Army Style)
Dark Eldar are a third of a race that was doomed by the birth of She Who Thirsts (their own fault) and only survived the cataclysm by residing in the Webway, a "cordoned off" part of the warp. they continue their acts of excess and depravity still, all the while She Who Thirsts slowly drains away their souls. They put off this soul sucking only through experiencing extreme emotion and the pain of others. It revitalises them beyond just the temporary relief from She Who Thirsts, but makes them young again, living for thousands of years until the dark hole in their soul can no longer be filled.
They, therefore need a large supply of slaves to carry out these acts of terror and excess and so Kabals will raid into realspace, drinking in the thrill of battle and collecting meat for the slave pits and Wych arenas.
This army is a difficult one to master. It is unforgiving and delicate. One wrong move will cripple your force and render your army all but defeated. But should you play well, your opponent's army will be obliterated. There is a steep learning curve but once you master their tactics you will thoroughly enjoy their play style. This army is THE glass hammer army.
This also happens to be one of the least played armies in 40k and so brings a nice change of scene to most gaming communities, and as a bonus the models are all beautiful and rewarding to paint.
Army Special Rules
Night Vision - Useful but not critical. Most Dark Eldar units have this rule which ignores the Stealth bonus that occurs 50% of the time on turn 1.
Fleet - A nifty rule that again is on most of your units. This rule ensures your units get where they need to be should their transport get wrecked (you hope for a wreck anyway), and to make those crucial charges. Nothing dies quicker than Dark Eldar who have just failed a charge and are left out in the open.
Combat Drugs - All Dark Eldar cheat, and so using drugs to do so is just a way of life for the Wych Cults of the Dark City. These are available to The Succubus, Wyches, Bloodbrides, Reavers and Hellions. You roll on a table just after Warlord traits and get a bonus to a stat for the whole game:
1 - +1 Attack
2 - +1 Strength
3 - +1 Initiative
4 - +1 Toughness
5 - +1 Weapon Skill
6 - +1 Leadership
Some are useful, and some not so much. Just remember you have them during the game.
Power From Pain - This is the big army special rule that most units in the book have. It represents the Dark Eldar drinking in the raw emotions of battle and becoming stronger as the battle becomes more heated. The way it works is that your units gain bonuses depending on what game turn it is:
1 - None
2 - Feel No Pain (6+)
3 - Feel No Pain
4 - Feel No Pain and Furious Charge
5 - Feel No Pain, Furious Charge and Fearless
6+ - Feel No Pain, Furious Charge, Fearless and Rage
As you can see, by turn 5 your units are all now pretty strong. Both more durable and better in close combat. Fearless being the big rule here means that, by turn 5 at least, your units aren't running away anymore, and you can trust them to hold objectives till they die, which, despite FNP, is likely. There are ways to give your units bonuses to their position on this table which can help you get you combat units hitting harder, earlier.
Warlord Traits - A mediocre table at best. One clearly shines as a favourite, but you may be better rolling on the standard rulebook tables unless you really want to use these (or are taking the Realspace Raiders Detachment and so think that re roll will help).
1 - The Warlord, and all friendly units within 12" of the Warlord, have the Fear speacial rule. This isnt that useful as you would want the buffs in close combat against units which are likely to be fearless or have And They Shall Know No Fear. Tau and Guard will hate you even more should you get into close combat.
2 - The Dark Eldar Player can re roll the dice when they attempt to Seize the Iniciative, determie if the Night Fighting Rules are in effect, and when they make Reserve rolls. This is the clear winner. With Night Vision standard and almost all your units capable of deepstrike you really want this trait.
3 - The Warlord has the Rage special rule. OK on combat dedicated leaders but otherwise not so good.
4 - The Warlord has the Hatred special rule. This is better that Rage but still has limited use.
5 - The Warlord gains +1 Weapons Skill. usefull on the Succubus as it takes her into the Weapon Skill 9 threshold that makes her harder to hit, but otherwise again limited use.
6 - The Warlord and all friendly units within 12" have the Fearless special rule. This is quite useful to keep your units around until turn 5 and ranks 2nd on usefulness.
The Realspace Raiders Detcahment
The Detachment included in codex Dark Eldar requires you to take one HQ choice, two Troop choices and one Fast Attcak choice, with optional additional one HQ, four Troops, three Elites, five Fast Attack and three Heavy Support. Yes that was correct a total of six Fast Attack choices.
The restrictions for this Detachment is that all the units must have the Dark Eldar Faction.
Command benefits include the usual re roll on Dark Eldar Warlord traits and another called Hunt from the Shadows. This gives all Troops a 5+ cover save and any other unit a 6+ cover save during Game Turn 1 and any turn in which the Night Fighting rules are in effect (which is really only Game Turn 1 unless armies are bringing items to make it night fighting like Necrons can).
The bonus for this is that Turn 1 you can zip up the field and not worry too much about cover (though this still isnt amazing) and gives you a bit more durability while you wait for Power From Pain to kick in.
The is another point, which most people miss as it's not too obvious, that this Detachment gives you no optional Fortification choice or Lord of War choice (as you will see listed in the Combined-Arms Detachment in the 7th Edition Rulebook). That means no Titan and no Void Shields for you. your going to have to rely on speed, cover and sheer firepower to win the day (which Dark Eldar have in large quantities so no worries!)
Thus ends part one of my Dark Eldar Review/Tactica. Part two will look at HQ choices and Wargear.
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