Dark Eldar army List
The following is my complete proposed army. If you have any comments or suggestions, please let me know- I'm a bit fed up with losing!
The "Core" army
The Core section of the army is the bare bones- 2 troops choices then one of each of the others, with few characters or pieces of wargear. I've added a few notes as to why I chose what I did too.
TROOPS 1: Warrior squad
12 DE warriors, 2 with Splinter Cannons, 2 with shredders, @ 136pts.
This unit will be used to hold the center of the battlefield, advancing slowly or remaining in cover. I chose weapons with a high rate of fire rather than high strength as I see this unit as one which will mainly be providing mid-range cover. At full strength and standing still it gets 24 shots plus two S6 Blasts, pretty impressive for the points.
TROOPS 2: Raider squad
6 DE warriors, 1 with Splinter Cannon, mounted on Raider with Dark Lance @ 113pts.
These troops are to sweep along a flank to give some covering fire to advancing fast units such as Reavers. The Dark Lance should make a mockery of opposing armour whilst the warriors on board should be able to cut down some lightly armoured troops. The Raider, as a skimmer, also offers some protection against assault, something which warriors are rather weak at.
HQ1: Archon and Retinue
Archon with Splinter Rifle, Agoniser, Plasma Grenades, Haywire grenades and Trophy Rack @ 93pts
5 Incubi, one with blaster, @ 131pts
Total Unit cost: 219pts.
The Archon is a formidable model in assault, so I equipped him with an Agoniser to maximise the wounds he causes. His low strength means that against vehicles he'll have a tough time, so Haywire grenades seemed a good choice. The plasma grenades are to ensure that he always gets the first hits, and his Trophy Rack is just an interesting addition which adds flavour to the model and captures the mood of the DE. The extra Ld is handy, but its main use is to worry my opponent! On his own, any DE character is vulnerable to enemy fire, so a bodyguard seems in order. With Incubi only available in retinues, I had to take them, not that I'm complaining. Their above average (for DE) Strength and ability to negate saves makes them awesome fighters, especially as they'll usually strike first, but again vehicles will be problematic, so I took a Blaster to help them out.
ELITES 1: Grotesques
6 Grotesques @ 90pts
There are now several Elite options for the dark Eldar, and I particularly liked the warp beasts. However, you need to take Wyches to take the Beasts and then you can only have one unit of up to 5, so I decided not to include them in the core army. One major DE weakness is their Toughness, so their enemies are able to concentrate heavy weapons on vehicles, confident that small arms will see of the warriors. Not so with Grotesques! The foe will be forced to either use some of his heavy fire on them, or watch as they dismember troops in assault with their reasonable strength. A bastion of Grotesques will provide relief for the DE warrior squads as they advance, so long as there's a character to goad them on so they keep up with the advance.
FAST ATTACK 1: Reaver Jetbikes
6 Reavers, two with Shredders @ 210pts
The reavers are highly effective assault troops. I plan for them to scream across the battlefield towards a relatively weak unit, softening them up with the Shredders before pitching into assault. Once they have disposed of them the Raider should have caught up, meaning they can go in for larger targets, confident of some protective fire. The combat drugs are particularly useful, being able to boost their stats to formidable levels.
HEAVY SUPPORT 1: Talos
Talos @ 100pts
I simply had to have a Talos- not only is the model great, but it has some smart rules and abilities too! Their high strength means they are probably best used for bashing vehicles, but they could also make a mess of lightly armoured troops. There's even a chance of removing pesky heavy weapons troops as it is the nearest model that it slain, not the model of the other players choice.
Additional units
With the core army sorted out, some extra units are needed to make up for its weaknesses. One of their biggest problems will be dealing with armour, so for this end I took a unit of Wyches. At first glance, a unit of Scourges with dark Lances would appear better, but the Wyches can take Haywire grenades, as well as pair of blasters. Mounting them on a raider means they can get to the vehicles quickly, and also gives some protection against enemy fire. The raider's Dark Lance is also useful.
8 Wyches with Haywire grenades, two with Blasters, mounted on a raider with dark Lance @ 177pts.
One weakness on Incubi is that they are slow. With such fine assault troops, mobility is the order of the day, so it's a Raider for them too!
Raider upgrade for HQ unit +55pts
Finally, the Haemonculi. These are really characterful and have some nifty abilities too, not least their scissor hands which make up for their low strength by wounding all and sundry on a 2+! I need one to lead the Grotesques, else the dumb beasts will stand around sheepishly, so I equipped him with a Stinger and Scissorhand- a bargain at 35pts! The second was to help out the main troops squad should any armour arrive (as it will, playing often against the IG) by giving him haywire grenades, as well as a destructor which can potentially deal with marines or even terminators, and the ever useful scissorhand, for just 49pts. Finally, I needed to be able to see off any pesky Psykers, as the DE have none of their own, so I took one to carry a crucible of malediction. Mounting him on a Hellion Skyboard increased his mobilty so that he can get close enough to them, plus, a Destructor will let him flush troops out of cover ready for the main advance. This proved to be the most costly Haemonculi at 75pts.