Friday, March 4, 2011

Dark Eldar alpha-strike army

Hello, all! Sorry for not posting lately, I've been on vacation for quite a while, but now I'm back, and another army list which people have talked about but not dared to make: The Dark Eldar Alpha-strike. So, let's look at what will go in it...

HQ
Well, there's only one elf for this job: Asdrubael Vect! In the Dais of Destruction, he comes in at a hefty 440 points, and that's before his retinue (stripped-down wyches). Still, however, there's one more piece of the puzzle left, and that's why I'll also add the Baron. Why the baron? Because he's incredible, that's why. 105 points, but mostly, re-roll to see who goes first, which is imperative for an Alpha-strike army. Coupled with Vect's ability to seize the initiative on a 4+, that means you have an 87.5% chance of getting the first turn, pretty good odds in my opinion. So, for HQ, we have a total of 545 points. Hefty, but necessary.

Troops
So for troops, what will we take? Well, the answer is of course, lotsa darklight weapons! One unit of 9 wyches with Hydra gauntlets will accompany Vect, as his mandatory retinue. Then 2 further units of Warriors with a dark lance, both in Raiders with darklances, gives you 4 more strength 8 lance shots. Why no blaster? Well, in a perfect world, you'll want to be going first, with your army all deployed, ready to kill, and seeing as in a standard mission no-man's land is 24", that 18" range suddenly doesn't look so scary. Finally, the mandatory unit of Hellions to go with the Baron. 1 unit of 15 (Ala GoatBoy) should be sufficient for our purposes, aka, killing things in Close Combat.

Fast Attack
2 units of 6 Reavers with 2 blasters apiece. Why? Well, for extra lance shots, of course, but also for their speed. Finally, 1 unit of 5 with one blaster.

Heavy Support
Finally, 3 Ravagers. Not much to say about these, but 9 more dark lance shots is invaluable. also, coupled with an affordable 315 for the lot, it's pretty nice.

So, the final list looks like:

Asdrubael Vect w/ Dais of Destruction, 9 Wyches w/ Hydra Gauntlets

The Baron

x2 10 warriors w/ Darklance, Raider

15 Hellions

2x 6 reavers w/ 2 blasters

5 reavers w/ blaster

3 Ravagers

total: 1,999 points.

I wouldn't take this list to a tournament, certainly, but with 21 Lance shots hitting the enemy turn 1, It's certainly not weak, either. Leave any comments or additional tactics, they will be appreciated!