Dark Eldar
Hiya, well this is sorta diffrent form my Skaven page. Well it's sort of a nessisary evil, you see just about no one sown where I live plays Warhammer. The few people I used to play with picked up thier bags and moved away... so what was a Michael Bentley! to do? So I thought what the hell I'll buy the W40k boxed set and raise a Tyraid army. Well as you can see that didn't happen but hey you got to admit the Dark Eldar are cool. The format for this page will work much like my main Skaven page I'll list the troop types talk about them, then at the end talk about over all stradigys for the army. I've just gotten to the point where I can uses the army pretty effecively while fighting pitched battles. TO me a pitched battle is all the minatues all at once fight for a number of rounds and then do the normal victory piont thing. Don't worry I'll be more specific when I'm less lazy. Since most of this is rather new to me this page will be changeing a bunch so when I update it I'll let you know what troops got added and what troops got info about them changed.
Lets start with troops shall we?
Warrior Squad
Well let see, as you might have already of found out haveing a warrior squad charge directly acrost the table isn't a good thing. In fact it's a very very bad idea. For some reason the Dark Eldar didn't find the need to wear armor because they simply assumed that they would never get shot at... the fact that there in a war didn't seem to occur to them but what the hell. SO with that assumtion in mind we have to avoid them getting shot at. This my freinds means that lots of terrian is an asset and you should have buntches of it. You don't want them to spend a single shooting phase out in the open...cause they just disapear. One turn a unit of 20 strong Dark Eldar are charging acrost the table the next turn you have 2. Well enough of that lets get down to how to use the little buggers. A warrior squad can preform 2 functions cover fire and 2nd wave attack. We'll do cover fire first, basicly it's where you take a squad of ten DE (that will be Dark Eldar from now on) stick 'em in cover and give them as many heavy long range weapons as possible and use them to shoor at the enemy. NOw here's the the tough one do you take splinter cannon's or Dark Lances. This is a tough one but it's easly resolved when you look at a couple of factors. One look at the slpinter cannaon it's only really good againt armies with low armor. Now lets look at the dark lance, it's an anti tank weapon that when fired at any troop is pretty much vaporises them. What could be better it multi tasks you can blow up tanks, transpots and troops... whatever wanders in your way. NOw if you were useing splinter cannons you would pretty much only be able to watch your bullets bounce off the enemy troops. Okay the debate isn't that long and hard... just look at the potensial for damage against all the diffrent races and your set. Well now onto the footsloging DE! Well these guys are basicly either all going to disapear or act brilliantly, it all depends on how you play them. You see there are advantages to either way this works, we'll do the preforming brilliantly part first. Well in order to do this you gotta get acrost the battle frield with a minumum of casualties and into hand to hand combat where you do damage. Well a few things can be elinated right off the bat when takeing stuff for this squad. No heavy weapons for them! If there walking acrost the battle feild then they better be running every god damn chance you get. This is aided by stratigic placeing of terrain, and lucky dice rolls. Rember you are a proud arrogant race so have faith. Also don't take hermoculi save them for raider squads.
Raider Squads
Well concitering how I left off last section it only seemed logical that I start the new one off like this. Well raider sqauds are so bloody important that it's mind boggleing. First lets go over thier weeknesses and how to overcome them. Raiders have two weaknesses 1 there made of plasic, and 2 there really really scary looking. Okay now onto my first piont the plasic bit. Now lets set aside the fact that it's a plastic model and look at it's armor... yes that's right you came to the same conclution I did... plastic. When we take a trip into the eldars phyke we realize that they beleive that, we don't nned plastic we strick fast and hard. This is exactly what you must do, but note when you are doing this please exersize common sence, if your going to leave your raider out in the open for a shooting phase try to make shure that it's out of the way of heavy weapons squads, tanks, and other nasty things. I mean come on that's just obiouse (okay so this little fact was pionted out to me the hard way... stupid devestator squad). When your setting up your terrian keep in mind where you oponent places his stuff and where your placeing your stuff. Manuvering of raiders is very terrian orinted and more on this will come latter. Now on to the scary looking aspect. To tell you the truth I didn't think they looked all that scary at first... but after I guled on extra warriors, spikey bits, and chains with skulls on the ends... it comes to be a fucking scary looking death causeing war matine. When I first dropped it on the table my freind was like holy shit what the hell is that. NOw this would be all well and good if it caused people to take fear tests, but it dosn't. Instead it makes the player go well I think I'll kill that first. This is so not such a good philosophy for yout enemys to have. So what is there to do? Well there are two alterantives hit them fast and hard with scourges, hellions, and the jet bikes. This will be detailed in the relevent sections, and all brought together in overall army stradgy. The other one is to well run and duck run and duct untill your close enough to hit them hard. Now comes the question what do you do with the things after they have made there drop? Well thats a damn good question. Assuming that it isn't instantly imolated you can have them speed back twords your lines untill there in cover and in good fireing possitions... then use them to blast away at the enemy. This maby happens never, so instead I have them cruise around shoot as much as possible (this is why there equiped with desintgrators!) and when they get shot down that's one less really important thing they'll be shooting at.
Wyches! and There Little Dogs Too
I assume that we all know not to have our wyches hideing behind a bush snipeing away at the enemy. Hand to hand combat is where they belong and don't you forget it. Unfortunalty there's like a bajillion sublties you got to deal with first. First we'll be dealing with wych weapons. Wyche weapons are an exercise in self managemnt and orginzation skills. It's a pain in the ass to remeber all thouse little bits and which miinature has what. But that's a me thing so it's not really that important. The problem is makeing shure these little buggers do the maximum aboumt of damage as possible. Basicly you want to make shure that you get the modle with the hydra knives into comabat first, especialy right next to the Succubus. Hydra knives and a succubus can do a serious hurting apon just about anything in the way. THis is marvelous for takeing down and out squad leaders, among other things. Other perk is that they might foucus there attacks on the succubus leaving the hydra knives wyche free to strick last and suprise the uppity little fellow. The razor snare modle can hang back abit because he can just drag whatever mofo he wants to him. I like to keep him twords the middle so that he can drag a model from the fron into base to base contact with him... which is also in the middle if a squad of pissed of wyches. Not a place to be, EVER. Important tip make shure you get the modles bothering the hydra knives wyches away from her. YOu want her to be foucusing her attacks on the modle you want, nt the other way around. Besides anything in the middle will be beaten to a pulp so whom ever steps up will not be happy that he did. The last one can be put where ever... she's not so important. It's kinda hard for her to work together with the others with the special wych weapons, but it's good where ever it goes. Now I wouldn't spring for the Shreadder or the plasma granades cause it just isn't worth it. You will be running through most of your fireing phases anyways. Now on to the puppies!!! Aww aren't they cute!!! K anyways should a unit of puppies and a unit of wyches assualt the same enemy unit guess what! The enemy unit won't be as lively and sparkly as it once was. THe quetion is how do we do this in such a way so that it happens. Like everything else the pupies seem to be made of paper soaked in gasoline so you want to be careful that they don't get shot. How ever they move 12" a turn so it's not like it's a problem getting from one terrain peice to another. If your wych squade is inside a raider you can have it just run along side that. If not have them sweep around to one side and try to flank them that way they be hit from the wyches in the front and the puppies from the side. Okay let's say you think your wyches can do enought damage without the puppies, good for you! Well in that case look at the battle field. YOu will most likely have 2-3 units way out in fron cause ing chaos, the hellions, the scourges and the reaver jet bikes. The bikes won't really need support cause they are one of the toughest things in the dark eldar army... more on them later. That leaves us the hellions and the scourges or choise c. Well in order to make this desion look at the table carefully, (this would be fist turn twords the end of the movement phase, this should also be your longset and most critical movement phase DO NOT RUSH THROUGH IT!!!). First look at the scourges did you make a booboo and leave them in a dangerouse posstion? YOur scourges are so extreamly important as you will see some time in the feuture. If they aren't this is your one and only chance to get a fast unit over there and make shure they are okay. If there all right look at the hellions are they going to be okay? They won't be immolated the next fireing phase will they? If so make shure they got something else to shoot at. Now for choise c so you managed to wisely put your scourges hellions and jet bikes down so they will be super effective, so where is your front line weak. Look about is there anywhere that could be patched up so that death will become the enemy. Also look the way your going to advance the rest of your troops are any of the raiders going into high fire danger zones? If so let the puppies tag along so that at least one of them will make it through and do some damage. Well that about wraps up this section... now onto something else.
