Second Sphere

Wargames => Warhammer 40k => Topic started by: crisis_vyper on November 09, 2013, 07:10:02 AM

Title: Strengths and Weaknesses of this Dark Eldar/Eldar allliance 1750 pts with FW
Post by: crisis_vyper on November 09, 2013, 07:10:02 AM
Hello all, it has been a while since I have entered into 2S and I would like to get some feedback on this particular list. So far I have been very successful with it, but nonetheless I would not want to be too complacent about the list and would like to know what you all view as the main strengths and weaknesses of this list.

Dark Eldar Detachment
Duke Sliscus
10 Kabalite Warriors in a Raider with Splinter Racks and Nightshields
9 Kabalite Warriors in a Raider with Splinter Racks and Nightshields
5 Wyches with Haywire Grenades in Venom with second Splinter Cannon and Nightshields
5 Wyches with Haywire Grenades in Venom with second Splinter Cannon and Nightshields
5 Wyches with Haywire Grenades in Venom with second Splinter Cannon and Nightshields
Ravager with three Dark Lances and Nightshields
Ravager with three Dark Lances and Nightshields
Voidraven Bomber with 2 Void Lances, 2 Shatterfield Missiles, 1 Void Bomb and Flickerfield

Eldar Allied Detachment
Farseer with Mantle of the Laughing God on Jetbike
3 Guardian Jetbikers
1 squadron of 3 Hornets with 2 Pulse Lasers
Title: Re: Strengths and Weaknesses of this Dark Eldar/Eldar allliance 1750 pts with FW
Post by: Arguleon-veq on November 09, 2013, 02:54:08 PM
I think its solid all round. There is nothing you could change to make it that much better.

It will obviously have massive problems against the standard Eldar build as those Serpents will blow away huge chunks of your army every turn whilst you will really struggle to down them in return, at least you can deal with the Wraithknights easily enough.

Do you often make use of the deep striking that the Duke unlocks?
Title: Re: Strengths and Weaknesses of this Dark Eldar/Eldar allliance 1750 pts with FW
Post by: crisis_vyper on November 09, 2013, 08:47:36 PM
Quote from: Arguleon-veq on November 09, 2013, 02:54:08 PM
I think its solid all round. There is nothing you could change to make it that much better.

It will obviously have massive problems against the standard Eldar build as those Serpents will blow away huge chunks of your army every turn whilst you will really struggle to down them in return, at least you can deal with the Wraithknights easily enough.

Do you often make use of the deep striking that the Duke unlocks?

Faced off against Eldar a number of times and I had no problems to be honest. I often can kill 2-3 serpents from a distance within the first round especially with the inclusion of the Hornets these days into my list. The Serpents can only take so much glances before they fold. But I would agree that if the terrain is rather sparse, it is heavily reliant upon the first turn strike, which in this case the Baron and/or Vect would be a preferable choice. I can always reduce the number of Kabalite Warriors to bare 5-men squads and take a Raider as additional lance platforms if I truly need it.

As for the Duke's ability, I use them depending on the terrain layout and also whether it is better to reserve my forces or not. If it gives me a better shot at killing greater threats, I would use it. I have used it to create multiple layers of offense which can take my opponent's off-guard, especially the serpent players.
Title: Re: Strengths and Weaknesses of this Dark Eldar/Eldar allliance 1750 pts with FW
Post by: Arguleon-veq on November 10, 2013, 07:36:05 PM
From what I can see, you should only actually down a single Serpent in a turn if there are decent ruins on a table which most tables have. Thats assuming each of those Hornets get 2 Pulse Lasers each?. If they have any kind of fortification such as a Skyshield it gets much worse. I think the Duke does give you some options though, letting you deep strike around cover so that the Serpents will only be getting their basic 4+ cover for moving and holo fields.

I do think it should do great against Tau though.
Title: Re: Strengths and Weaknesses of this Dark Eldar/Eldar allliance 1750 pts with FW
Post by: Tom on November 10, 2013, 09:02:21 PM
I agree with Veq about the odds of your serpent-destroying capabilities early-game (before bomber turns up)

8 Dark Lances and 6 Pulse lasers at BS4 vs Wave serpents in the open with shields up and 4+ cover save for moving and holofields:
= 5.33 Dark Lance hits, 8 Pulse laser hits
= 2.66 Glance/Pen + 4 Glance/Pen
= 1.33 Glance/Pen + 2 Glance/Pen After cover save
= 3.33 Glancing hits roughly speaking because passing the 2+ for any penetrating hits is pretty certain.

But I don't think that's too bad really - Rej has sometimes struggled to destroy my Serpents at all over ~5 turns of shooting with his DE and I think this is a very solid list. In particular I think prescience from the Farseer on the Hornets will make an effective anti tank, flyer or TEQ shooting phase.
Title: Re: Strengths and Weaknesses of this Dark Eldar/Eldar allliance 1750 pts with FW
Post by: crisis_vyper on November 11, 2013, 03:12:59 PM
Quote from: Arguleon-veq on November 10, 2013, 07:36:05 PM
From what I can see, you should only actually down a single Serpent in a turn if there are decent ruins on a table which most tables have. Thats assuming each of those Hornets get 2 Pulse Lasers each?. If they have any kind of fortification such as a Skyshield it gets much worse. I think the Duke does give you some options though, letting you deep strike around cover so that the Serpents will only be getting their basic 4+ cover for moving and holo fields.

I do think it should do great against Tau though.

Veq, you are right that the terrain will increase the survivability of the Serpents, especially when there are ruins and LOS blocking terrain. Eldar speed in general is amazing for finding those weird shots that helps mitigate those terrain. However, the main thing I should be glad about is the presence of  prescience and guide as Tom said, as they truly help to make my Ravagers that much more reliable in their hits, which affects their glancing and penetrating results. I am confident in bringing down at least two based upon the attrition of pure glances due to the inclusion of the Farseer. But yeah, without the farseer, the odds are exactly as Tom calculated, if not worse.

And yeah, I am very fortunate to have an regular opponents that play with the current top armies (Tau, Eldar, Chaos) with strong and competitive builds to bulk up my experiences.