Welcome to the page capturing my thoughts regarding my newest endeavor, the Dark Eldar!  While I started playing the Dark Eldar in August 2009, this project officially takes off with the release of the new codex in November 2010.  I'll begin by noting that this is a project that likely will take some time to finish, culminating next summer (2011) when the Nova Open is set to happen.  If at all possible, I'd like to take the DE there to compete with.  The hitch will be if I'm unable to build and paint up all of the GW released models by then (i.e. Venoms, Razorwing Fighters, etc).  If that isn't possible, I'm more than happy to bring my Black Templars to represent.  With the holidays coming up, I'll have plenty of free time to put the brush to model for both armies and I should have both completely painted by then.

Initially, when I first began to explore different ideas for a second army in 4th Edition, I gravitated to the Witch Hunters.  I've always been interested in their fluff, the fine craftsmanship of the miniatures, and the fact it was the only female army available.  Because, lets face it, everyone loves a bad ass chick in power armor!  Unfortunately, after purchasing the codex and spending numerous hours toiling over different army lists (I wanted to run a purist Sisters of Battle army), I ultimately decided that they weren't the army for me.  Much to my displeasure, I also felt I wouldn't do the mini's justice when I got around to painting them.  This likely isn't true, as I'm a fairly decent painter, but definitely not at golden daemon skill level.  For some reason, I held some misguided notion of honor that these ladies required such a painter.  So that was a no go.

My next thought process went quite a bit further.  I actually bought miniatures for the next army of interest:  the Necrons.  To make a long story short, my dreams of running these tin cans came to a screeching halt when I saw Games Workshop's prices on the Immortal blister packs.  At the time (not sure what they are now), they were sitting pretty at $15 a pop.  Considering you pretty much needed a full squad of ten, that's $150 for one squad!  On my small hobby budget, I had to rethink my position of starting a Necron army.  Needless to say, I sold the models I had previously purchased to someone my friends and I were teaching 40k, for a ridiculously low price.  It was unfortunate, but he ended up giving up the game a short time later for unknown reasons.

I tossed around just sticking with what I knew, and that was Space Marines.  But because I already had a billion Black Templar models to paint (actually something like 5 million or so), painting another whole Space Marine army turned me off.  However, this didn't deter me from proxying models that I already had from way back.  Made a few lists for the Ultramarines and centered it around the 4th Company.  This is primarily because I love Graham McNeill's Ultramarine novels starring Captain Uriel Ventris.  Of course, one cannot have the 4th company without Cpt. Ventris himself!  Arming him with equipment generally consistent with those in the novels, I enjoyed a successful campaign using this proxied army.  But I began to realize my fears were coming to fruitation, I truly would bore of using two different Space Marine armies, however characterful they both were.  Something had to give.  This realization led me to my "ereka!" moment and I finally decided once and for all what this second army would be.  The Dark Eldar would be making their appearance in the Njesta system!

As you have probably realized by now, I can get quite indecisive about things that cost me vast amounts of money.  There is one good thing that came from my stints with all these armies:  I studied and learned pretty much all I could about them while deciding how to run that particular race.  This has helped me vastly on the battle field, as I currently know the in's and out's of each of these armies, as well as their strengths and weaknesses.  But all this indecisiveness is coming to an end.  Its up here on the internet for all to see, so I cannot back out now!  Plus, with the countless hours of research I've done to get the perfect Dark Eldar army, playing around with Army Builder to tweak lists, and now that I've begun buying/painting models...there is no turning back.  Fortunately, I began 40k by buying the 3rd Edition Starter box.  This gave me 20 Dark Eldar warriors to start out my army, even though I was not entirely sure that I'd be using them in that capacity and I found myself digging them out of boxes that I've not opened in years.  Unfortunately, I did a terrible job of cleaning and assembling these warriors way back then.  In my excitement, I just wanted them built to be able to fight it out with the Space Marines.  Bad move on my part, as there was quite a bit of disassembling required to get them to actually hold their weapons.  Not to mention, in whatever capacity I choose to use them in the future, they were built illegally (4 splinter cannons).  I took some time to reassemble these warriors to legal specifications, but was forced to make several simple conversions because I broke a few of their fragile arms.  The also received a black prime coat and are currently sitting on my desk eagerly awaiting their test color schemes!

I've stated it before, I'm drawn to close combat as a bug is to a light.  I also like flavorful armies based around long range weaponry.  Fortunately, with our new codex, there are a multitude of possible builds to uncover.  However, this codex isn't for the faint of heart and I've had some difficulties getting out of my Space Marine mindset.  The Dark Eldar will not survive prolonged fights and I needed to learn how to harness that in my lists.  Having had access to the preview Dark Eldar codex, I began searching for the right mix to satisfy my urges.  There is a great many cool units to be used in the book, but many of them require the army to be built around them.  Ultimately, I decided to go with a balanced assault-oriented army that uses both Incubi and Wyches.  Two of my favorite units!  So the Kabal of Eternal Darkness was born!

As I just mentioned, I decided to go with a list that takes advantage of assault-oriented presence that the Incubi and Wyches give me.  While the main hard hitting units in the army are CC-based, that doesn't mean I cannot hurt you with my long ranged shooting.  I imagine my choice of armies is a little bit of "OOooooOooo...new unit" syndrome, but fortunately, all of these choices fulfill duality and are good.  When you build a list that has everything working together, then it is all the better.  So now, I present you with my "Mercenary Wing" army for the Kabal of Eternal Darkness:

HQ
* Nehajn Vexisn (Haemonculus) w/ Splinter Pistol and Venom Blade.  [55]
* Zesiuta Yyrestan (Haemonculus) w/ Splinter Pistol and Close Combat Weapon.  [50]

Elites:
* The Broken Blades (Squad #1); 5 Incubi w/ Klavex. Mounted in a Raider w/ Dark Lance.  [170]
* The Broken Blades (Squad #2); 5 Incubi w/ Klavex. Mounted in a Raider w/ Dark Lance.  [170]

Troops:
* Cult of Dying Flames (Squad #1); 7 Wyches and 1 Hekatrix w/ 1 Agonizer, 1 Shardnet & Impaler, and Haywire Grenades.  Mounted in a Raider w/ Dark Lance.  [196]
* Cult of Dying Flames (Squad #2); 7 Wyches and 1 Hekatrix w/ 1 Agonizer, 1 Shardnet & Impaler, and Haywire Grenades.  Mounted in a Raider w/ Dark Lance.  [196]
* Cult of Dying Flames (Squad #3); 7 Wyches and 1 Hekatrix w/ 1 Agonizer, 1 Shardnet & Impaler, and Haywire Grenades.  Mounted in a Raider w/ Dark Lance.  [196]
* Nightfall Constructs; 5 Wracks w/ Dual Poison Weapons. Mounted in a Venom w/ 2 Splinter Cannons.  [115]
* Darkness Constructs; 5 Wracks w/ Dual Poison Weapons. Mounted in a Venom w/ 2 Splinter Cannons.  [115]

Fast Attack:
* Fangs of Perdition; 5 Scourges w/ 2 Dark Lances and 3 Shard Carbines.  [140]
* Unfleshed Talons; 5 Scourges w/ 2 Dark Lances and 3 Shard Carbines.  [140]
* Fallen Horrors; 5 Scourges w/ 2 Dark Lances and 3 Shard Carbines.  [140]

Heavy Support:
* Unrelenting Carnage (Ravager) w/ 3 Dark Lances.  [105]
* Visage of Extinction (Ravager) w/ 3 Dark Lances.  [105]
* Hope's Bane (Ravager) w/ 3 Dark Lances.  [105]

Total Points:  [1998]


There are several things to note about this army.  First, while the does have a good amount of AT firepower, it doesn't have a whole lot in the way of AI weaponry.  We are relying on the five close combat units to do most of the infantry slaying (more so the Incubi).  While that is going on, we have a couple of tough, durable units (Wracks) in which to claim objectives with.  They want to be in cover obviously and with their T4 and FNP, they should do well in this role, especially once the Haemonculus join up with them.  Another point to watch out for is that there is a relatively low body count (61) in this army.  Well, at least its low for Dark Eldar.  It shouldn't be too much of an issue, especially if you're able to get into combat quickly.  However, it is a concern because the Wyches do not start with FNP and have sub-optimal armor saves.

Lets take a look at the HQ units first.  We have two Haemonculus to fill out this section of the Force Organization Chart (FOC).  The Haemonculus are taken for two reasons.  First, to provide us with Wracks as Troops units.  The second, and arguably more important reason, is that they will be giving their pain token away to the Incubi squads.  This will increase the Incubi's survivability significantly and give them one less hurdle to leap when getting to the Furious Charge PtP result.  After they give away that token at the start of the game, they'll join up with the Wracks as soon as they can to reinforce their numbers.

In the Elites slot, we've got the Incubi.  Ultimately, they are what the list is built around and they provide the main close combat punch in the list.  With FNP, they will be much more resilient to small arms fire and close combat wounds (if there is any).  If your opponent has any infantry on foot and they deployed on the board, it is extremely likely that you are able to pull off a first turn charge with these guys.  Just five of them will, on average, kill 5 MEQ on the charge.  And even more if they've gained FC via a pain token.  That is a threat that is hard to ignore, giving you even more initiative in battle by dictating your enemy's battle procedures.

The Troops slot is more complex.  On one hand, we have our Wyches and on the other, we have the Wracks.  The Wyches provide a counter-assault element to the army.  They are not meant to be the highlight assault unit, but they can do it well enough, especially against GEQ enemies.  Their function is to tarpit dedicated-CC units and slowly wittle them down.  In this role, they can also charge forward and tie up shooting units so they aren't shooting at you.  Or they can guard the home objectives from someone trying to get a free kill or two.  Essentially, this is your bubblewrap for the army.  They die quickly to shooting, so they either need to stay in the raider or be in cover until they can get into combat.  You also have a method of dealing with vehicles via Haywire Grenades.  The Wracks role is to claim objectives and hunker down.  With T4 and FNP, they should have a good chance at surviving a long duration during the game, especially if you put them in cover.  Their Venom transports help out with some AI firepower, though you probably don't need it.  But its better to be safe, than sorry.

Because we are a little short on AT, I chose to go with Scourges with Dark Lances.  For 140 points, these are priced pretty well considering the mobility of the unit and their improved armor save.  I could have gone with Reavers, but I was concerned with their durability and a lack of concentrated FTF.  Without infantry to charge, my Incubi are useless.  Scourges have the ability to function both as AT fire support with those DLs, but because they are also armed with Shard Carbines, they can be delegated to AI duty with very little reduction in efficiency.  Put them in cover and you'll be sitting pretty while your opponent has to decide between killing your AT, or the rampaging CC-element in your list.  ;)

Last, but not least, the Heavy Support.  This is filled by Ravagers.  Their goal is to obviously eliminate enemy vehicles.  These provide a good chunk of the army's AT firepower, so keep them moving and firing to stay out of reach of melta weapons.  The AV 11 should protect you against small arms fire, but should your opponent get a hit on you, the open-topped status is going to work in their favor.

Essentially, like many Dark Eldar armies, you want to go first.  If you don't win the roll, deploying everything in reserve is an option, but you'll lose at least a turn of shooting from the Scourges.  This list isn't entirely based on the Alpha Strike, but it does have several extremely scary units coming its way so every target decision can potentially be the wrong one for your opponent.  The list can survive a while if things don't initially go your way, but like nearly all Dark Eldar lists, the longer you take to kill your opponent, the worse your chances of collecting a win are.