[ 1850 ] Dark Eldar Sky Serpents

[toxic_wisdom]

40K Army: Dark Eldar

Duke Sliscus The Serpent
Trueborn 4x with Shard Carbines
Venom with dual Cannons

Trueborn 4x with Blasters, Dracon with Venom Blade & Blast Pistol
Venom with dual Cannons

Trueborn 4x with Blasters, Dracon with Venom Blade & Blast Pistol
Venom with dual Cannons

Warriors 5x, one with Blaster - Venom dual Cannons
Warriors 5x, one with Blaster - Venom dual Cannons
Warriors 5x, one with Blaster - Venom dual Cannons
Warriors 5x, one with Blaster - Venom dual Cannons

Void Raven Bomber with 4x Shatterfield Missiles
Void Raven Bomber with 4x Shatterfield Missiles

Void Raven Bomber with 4x Implosion Missiles and Night Shield

[toxic_wisdom]

Bringing the list up to 2000 points by including a 5th Warrior unit as above,
and adding Flicker Fields to the other two VRBs.

[Ereshkigal]

You have fewer things on this list than my 1500pts list... Are you sure you want to have dracons and nothing to assault units in cover?

[Gaargod]

Typically if people take Sliscus for his 3+ poison ability on trueborn, they take a bigger squad in a raider. End of day, 12 shots even with poison on a 3+ is still kinda meh (barely better than a venom, and more pricey by far). 27 shots is dangerous.

Dracons are something of a waste of points. They're costing you 37pts each, for mediocre combat and a blast pistol shot. Those trueborn are 210pts each!

Implosion missiles are also really expensive and 4 of them are more than an entire ravager! And the thing is, they work best when you're firing at a unit of expensive stuff out in the open. And that really won't happen 4 times a game. You might, if you're lucky, get it once - it might even be worth taking 2 missiles to make sure that occasion spells their doom. But 4 is a total waste. Especially having 4 on a single raven, as it's very easy for that particular raven to take a stray missile and die horribly.

As Ereshkigal pointed out - you have no assault units. 4 trueborn with a dracon do not count, in any way.

[Sami]

I do not understand why Sliscus is in this list.

1) Not a single unit uses combat drugs
2) The Voidravens can deep strike anyway.
3) Deepstriking everything is a baaaaad idea.
4) His bodyguard unit is tiny.

Firstly, change his escort to 9x Trueborn with 2x Splinter Cannons and 7x Shardcarbines in a Raider to get the most out of his poison rule.

Secondly, drop the Dracons as they are worthless (why is your Dracon getting within 6" of a vehicle? Why is your blaster squad in close combat?)

Thirdly, just drop the Voidravens completely as they're overpriced. Pick Ravagers or Razorwings.

Fourthly, get some Wyches, Reavers and Hellions (99% sure they're on drugs) in there to actually make good of Duke's rules.

Fifthly, I suggest you have Duke change transport on turn 1 to that belonging to some lovely Wyches. Duke belongs in CC, and his 3+ will continue to work even after he has left the Trueborn squad.


Or just drop the Duke and field a traditional cookie cutter DE mech list. Currently this is an over-upgraded version of such a list that needs a lot of optimizing. I'm pretty sure I could write a 1500 list which equals it.

[toxic_wisdom]

If by cookie cutter DE mech you mean Venom Spam / Ravagers then I am all to familiar with it = I started the whole trend shortly after the codex was released. Since that time I have optimized the list by removing some elements and adding others. Duke Sliscus is in the list simply for the Deep Strike option for the Venoms - better to have and not need then need and not have. And his unit / transport is for anti-infantry support = Venom with 12 shots first, then squad with 12 shots second...maybe earning a pain token. One of the biggest strengths of the Dark Eldar is their ranged Poison weapons, so in a one-dimensional comparrison I have zero interest anymore paying more points for a unit stuck in close combat hitting on 4s wounding on 5s (Wyches) versus a mobile unit hitting on 3s wounding on 4s (Warriors). And as the for the VRBs in general I Have had way more success with them over Ravagers, not to mention the Implosion Missile is well woth the points for a sniping weapon, regardless if the intended target has one wound or multiple wounds - the models hit, like JotWW and Dangerous Terrain tests, take the hits.

[Sami]

Oh dear. No wonder you have such great success with implosion missiles - you're playing them completely wrong.

1) They cause instant death, which is a wounding mechanic. This is also backed up by the fact that the missiles allow you to take saves against these.
2) The FAQ explicitly states that you can allocate the wounds caused by implosion missiles.

So no, you can not snipe with them like you can with JotWW. If I'm not mistaken, the only thing in the codex that permits model sniping is the Shattershard as failing the characteristic test does not cause instant death, but simply removes the model from play.


I won't re-comment on the rest again, as far be it for me to question the originator of the Venom/Ravager list (this board needs laughing smileys, although will suffice for this one). The list is not optimized, whether your definition of optimized is focusing exclusively on a single method of combat or stripping away all unrequired models/items.

[toxic_wisdom]

Only recently added the IMs and didn't notice anything previously in the FAQ. Else, the third VRB was originally equipped the same as the other two, and another Venom Warrior unit was included in the list, after a few tweeks - like no Dracons.

[toxic_wisdom]

Good call on the FAQ - thanks for the heads up...now back to the optimized list with five Venom Warrior units, and Shatterfield Missiles all around !