Kabalite Warriors can generally survive longer now that they are effective on the move at 24". That is a sizeable range to maintain some cover while shooting. Remember that with cover (5+ or 4+), KWs are more efficient than most troops during the course of a full game due to their nice output of poisoned shots for relatively low cost.
Transports can be used effectively, but Raiders & especially Venoms are more of a liability now that they wreck more often and explode with S4 on the inside.
The Wracks are a good add. They got better now that ID is the only way to nullify FNP, since they have T4. Liquefiers got better too, now that you can overwatch for D3 more hits with them.
The Incubi ARE still plenty good, just only against MEQ, not terminators. That was their primary role before, due to the influx of TH/SS, so I won't join the masses in shunning them. What I will say, though, is that they probably need a Raider instead of a Venom. The loss of a HP is just too much for the meager improvement of two SCs over a disintegrator. The disintegrator will help with those TEQs & MEQs, as well.
Wyches... make me sad now. I had so many of them in 5th coming out of portals to wreck some face. Now they just have to pray none of the enemy units can hit them. They are even better in assaults against vehicles now, and if they trap most of the passengers in their wrecked transport, they will have been hugely cost-effective. Unfortunately, none of that matters if they can't make it to their target in the first place. My rambling aside, I am going to try throwing a small unit of Wyches into my list because 5 Wyches are good enough to destroy most vehicles, and they only cost 125 points in a Venom. It's the old addage of "If I can throw enough different threats at you, there's no way you can stop them all in time."
Beastmasters are a great choice, even more so now that they move 12" every turn and can climb up ruins. I'm liking the composition of Khymerae & Flocks for versatility, but I almost think you might be better off with just Khymerae because they help the squad last longer and still have lots of S4 attacks to overwhelm good armor (or to hit rear AV10). A squad of 10 Khymerae can now take just about any vehicle, short of a Land Raider or Monolith, which Flocks can't hurt either.
I am concerned by the distinct lack of Reavers. They are SOOO GOOOOOOD right now that it's almost mandatory to take not only a small tank hunting squad, but at least a couple squads of 6. Since you are filling up your FA slots with Beastmasters though, a single large squad of 9-10 Reavers would be acceptible. Why so many? They now turbo boost 12+36", and still get their 3+ cover thanks to skilled rider & jink. Or they can fire weapons while maintaining a 5+ jink and JSJ 2D6" back away without taking a dangerous terrain test. Or they can now follow up their shots with an assault with extra Hammer of Wrath attacks. They are still S3, so those 37-41 attacks will only result in about 6 wounds (more with a champion toting a venom blade). But considering you can fire into them first with Relentless, and Reavers also have combat drugs which usually go to waste, it all starts to add up. You're likely to end the assault with minimum lost Reavers still engaged with very few of the targeted enemy squad, so unless another enemy charges in to help, your jetbikes will clean up and be relatively unscathed for your next turn.
Everything else looks good, although Harlequins can be very hit or miss. In summary, the changes I'd make:
• Fewer Wyches - down to a single squad as cheap as possible, use those points on something that will stick around
• More Wracks - they are a great answer to the cheap high-strength guns that we often see pointed our direction
• More Reavers - because they are better than just about any other choice right now
• More Khymerae instead of Flocks - just as deadly, survive longer against S6/ID, slightly cheaper, & look more awesome
• Replace Venoms with Raiders - more versatile disintegrators, +1HP, better capacity
At 1999 points is feeling decidedly cramped these days. You're basically maximizing how difficult it is to construct a competitive lst against armies where their 6 Troops are usually the most effective part of the army (like most Space Marine flavors). At 2500-3000 points things start to get really exciting for DE, as they can take more of their army as the effective choices in the codex.
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Originally Posted by HellRaid
