Dark Eldar fast attack thoughts



 







Dark Eldar fast attack choices are where we are today. They have made some descent progress in this force organization slot. Let us look at them.



The original Hellions. WOW what was Marvel thinking back then?



Hellions are up first and are no longer a 0-1 choice. Hell with a HQ choice they become troops making them potentially 0-9. That is madness, but someone will try it eventually.  Well what is left to say about Hellions? Well, nothing really. The internet has spoken and G.W.  has with descent models, barring bad hair on a few.

So yes new Hellions are descent. They have the stun claw item, which might be fun, but against the wrong Independent character will get them eaten alive in combat.

They have access to the standard unit upgrade and the weapons that come with them, venom blade, power weapon, agonizer, etc.  Seriously the interweb looks to love these guys and reviews can be found a lot of places about them. They are better than they were, but really that didn’t take too much to do.



So much cooler than the alternate 40K reavers

Next are the Reavers. This is another interweb super reviewed unit. They can move super turbo fast as we have all know for 6 months. This was the really 1st “leak” that everyone latched onto. I thumbed my nose at it. If the ability to turbo boost farther is your top seller then what is wrong here? I see they are now 5+ armor.  5+ armor is awful on a one wound 20+ point model.  They also are base strength 3 now. I liked bikes before. I ran a squad of seven and they were fun and a threat. They were also 4+ armor and strength 4. I hate to say it, but they were a survivable unit for the Dark Eldar. Their 3(4) toughness and 4+ armor made them a "tough" unit previously. They could also deliver a independent character on a bike, which is now not an option. Thank the gods I never finished my Archon on bike. I weep for all of you other players that now have them to use as……..????

Now they can go fast and cut up units they pass over/through, at strength 4 unless upgraded.  Another neat-o ability, but it is randomized hits and strength 4 with - AP. Sure you can dump points to make one guy, strength 4 with pinning or 6, but then you are looking at a 30-40+ point model that will eat it from a passing Rhino storm bolter. No thank you!

Yes they can deliver heat lances/blasters, but that is a double edge sword. Sure they can pop a transport or tank with it. Then what? They aren’t super good in assault, unless further upgraded for it, and die the following turn if left out in the open to the transports incoming potentially unloaded troops. That is if they even pop the transport with heat lances or blasters. Nothing is certain folks, we all know high strength, melta or AP 1 weapons that fail to penetrate or blow up a vehicle. These rolls have happened to us all.

Yes, I know their other rules and upgrades can make them better (or look better), but they are still too pricey for me to run in a descent squad.

So the old version of bikes was far superior to these. I’ll say it and stick to it. Take away the blade vein and turbo boost farther gimmick and nobody is excited for this unit. Yes, the new models for Reavers rock! They really do, but the stats and cost make them just a bad choice.  I will never be sold on using them.

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A random Google image for the word scourge, looks more neat-o than a barbed whip.

Now Scourges intrigue me. They have moved these from the previous old heavy slot to fast. This is another smart G.W. move.  Getting them into fast attack will hopefully get these guys on the tables.

They run 20+ points and are jump packers, but this doesn’t phase me. Why? Well they come with a 4+ save, can grab cover easier, and can deep strike. All of these make for a little more survivability. Now if only there were current models for them.

They come with a shard carbine, which is a nice anti personnel gun, and 2 in every 5 can be upgraded to have dark lances, splinter cannons, haywire blasters, heat lance, shredders and a partridge in a pear tree. You get it, these guys can bring some descent firepower to the table. Their squad size is 3-10. This makes for a 3 man heat lance wielding  70+ point squad. Why? Cheap-o suicide squad. Ask Chaos players about this and you’ll get a talk about 3 man Terminators with 2-3 combi-meltas of around 100 points. 

A small squad of 3 is cheap, can drop in and hopefully melt that tank or transport so your Kabal can unless lots of poison at range. That is unless the 2 in 5 doesn’t mean one guy in a 3 or 4 man squad can’t carry one special gun. Mayhaps G.W. will fix this in a errata. Why would the min size be 3 and not allow a special gun? So until then, this is subject to rules interp., RAW, RAI and all the name calling and arguments reserved for that discussion. I'm looking at you internet forums.

Even still if G.W. doesn’t allow 1-3 or 4 to carry one special weapon, so be it. Five of these guys and one or two specials doesn’t make them a cost prohibitive unit. They can be built to drop in a threaten any target type: anti troop add splinter cannons or “gulp” shredders, armor problems, haywire guns (glance on 2-5, pen on 6 just try shooting next turn Mr. Tank), blaster, heat lances and dark lances? Well dark lances are cool, but there is a better platform for these.

There are also the obligatory Dark Eldar rules for them I won’t expound on and the unit upgrade guy which eats points and doesn’t look to help much.

Why more of the web isn’t seeing this gem of a unit is beyond me.  Scourges look to be super useful and hopefully more people will see it soon.

Last is the Beastmasters another unit I think is a diamond in the rough. It can be a cheap-o counter assaulter or a expensive front liner, your choice.



Beastman finally realizing the world can see his blue and furry underpants.



First is the squad, it is 1-5 Hellion-ish masters. One of which can be given the standard unit upgrade weapons. No real big thing here, but then you get to the beasts, which each master must take one choice.

Razorwings are where I’ll start since they are my least favorite. They are a 0-2 choice and are the mid range in cost of the three choices. They shine in the weapon skill, initiative and attack (5's) department. They also multiple wounds, have rending (which is meh) and are only strength 3 and armor 5+ or maybe 6+ either way not stellar. So they are a descent choice and can get a lot of attacks on the charge and some might actually rend. Not bad, but not my favorite.

Next is the Khymerae. These are pretty much the old version warp beasts. I liked and used the old warp beasts and these guys would probably show up again in my list. They are strength 4, initiative 6, 3 attacks, 1 wound and a 6+ save.  They are the cheapest of the three choices and you can have 0-5 per master. Why take them? Well they come with a 4+ invulnerable save. This isn’t the wych only combat 4+, it is all the time 4+. This makes them a little safe from incoming fire and combat. I have some faith in 4++.  Five of these and a master is fairly cheap for a  multiple attack unit at descent strength.  I like these and it might be fun to model, since there are no models now. Hmmmmmmm a running theme.

Last is the big guy, the Claw Fiend. He is a 0-1 choice and the most expensive of the three.  He rolls across the board with strength 5, toughness 5 wounds 4 and attacks of 4. So far not bad at all. Sure his armor is shite, but so are all these beasts. His toughness 5 and 4 wounds can mitigate the armor. Last is the special rule it has. For every wound lost, this guy gets an extra attack. So, on his last wound he’ll be throwing out 7 base attacks at strength 5. Yes please!  Plus the added bonus of making the beast master he is with toughness 5, thank you no majority take the highest rule.  Yes, he is comes at hefty cost and you only get one per master, but a full squad of five and five masters runs about the same as a land raider. This looks pricey and is, but the damage they can cause is pretty cool ( 20 strength 5 attacks, 20 toughness 5 wounds base) . Pull a squad out of a webway to get them there faster or run them across the board to get a few wounds on them thus making them better when they get to combat.  Pricey, but a lot of damage potential.

The downside to  all these is the poor leadership (making a lost combat bad bad bad), high armor (that is mostly army wide so you knew that going in), and no grenades (making cover assaults bad bad bad). So it is another Dark Eldar unit that probably won’t see much use since it isn’t Trueborn, Wracks or whatever the interweb says to take. I think the Beastmaster unit has a  great combat potential and can easily make it into lists. That is, if people want to use them and use them correctly. They aren’t game winners, but the right combination of these guys could help win you some games. plus you'll have to make, mod or proxy the beasts since G.W. doesn't and probably won't make models for them.

So there are my opinions of fast attack choices. I say look to the Scourges and Beastmasters to be the dark horses of this slot. The Hellions are usable for their abilities and option to become troops. Reavers just need to stay in the arena outside of a theme list or love of the models.