Monday, October 11, 2010

Dark Eldar: The Army #2 (Troops)

Well the first post covered pre-game modifiers. This post is going to cover the core of the book. Troops.

Now we start with 2 troops that come in that section. Wyches and Warriors. We'll start with Warriors:

Warriors:

This unit was the mainstay of the old book. Small 5 man units in Raiders w/a heavy and special. Things have changed a little bit. Warriors went up by a point and Raiders went up by five. Blaster also tripled in price but it did get a range increase so it might still be an option. Dark Lances jumped by 150%. What this means is this unit just isn't going to function in the same old way. You also need 10 models to take a heavy which pushes you farther from the old style of squad. So what does this mean? Well you can take a small 5 man unit w/a blaster in a raider with a Syrabite w/Blast Pistol but this just doesn't work in my opinion. Honestly I just don't see Warriors being an option anymore. They can put out a lot of Poison shots but for the points there are just better options unless your going foot horde (something I don't recommend).

Wyches:

This unit only used to be a troop choice in an all Wych cult list but they've been permanently moved to troops. This move came with a 2pt drop. Wych weapons aren't worth the point cost anymore since they are single model upgrades but they still exist. Haywire grenades also got cut in half points wise and are an excellent addition to the squad now. Combat drugs are more streamlined and the worst you can get is a 3d6 pick the highest run move which isn't even that bad. Their pistols have been upgraded to poison which is a nice bonus. The have lost their special weapon options though the Syrabite can take a blast pistol.This unit is an excellent tie up unit for elite, power weapon wielding units and blends perfectly with another option.....

Force Org Modified Troops:

Wracks:

This is probably going to be one of the most popular choices. Any Haemonculi taken as HQ's allow you to take Wracks as troops. They are T4 and start off with FnP. Making them the toughest troop unit Dark Eldar can take standard. They come with WS4 and have 2 poisoned hand weapons meaning 3 attacks on the charge. If they pick up another token then they're re-rolling to wound too which is just genius. Wracks can also take a sergeant upgrade w/an agoniser now and a flamer for every 5 models. They can also take Raiders as transports to round it all out. These guys are amazing against any unit that doesn't have a plethora of power weapon attacks. All in all something I highly recommend.

Hellions:

This unit can be taken as troops if you include the Baron SC. If you do include him I highly suggest a unit of 10-20. Reason being the Baron adds stealth and expert rider abilities to the squad he's attached to. The agoniser for this squad is also 5pts cheaper than in any other unit. You also get 20-40 poison shots at BS4 at any infantry unit within 30" (counting movement). The bonus st. and attacks are also great for a troop unit. Making them one of the killier units. Once you add in Power thru Pain (maybe even starting them with a Haemonculi) you've got a very, very scary unit if used correctly. Personally I'll be running one unit with the Baron but I'm not sold on more than one.

So that's my thoughts on the new troops for the Dark Eldar. To summarize Wyches and Wracks are where it's at with a decent side of Hellions. My warrior models will just be used for Trueborns at this point.