Dark Eldar vs Wolves

[Oldenhaller]

even bigger - remember the minimum will include 1" for the base

 

I worked out the footprint for the rhino one somewhere...it's silly. Gotta remember that it's cast at the start of the turn so can't be used if podded in.

 

~O

[Toasterfree]

i would never DP in a RP anyway. to valuable to do that with, especially in this case

[CoinReturn]

Wytch Cult was always one of my least favorite opponents. I would forgo the Missile launchers on the Long Fangs for some Heavy Bolters. They were always the MVP when i played against my friend's Wytch Cult. You just need to do your best to keep your distance and try to get some Difficult terrain in the way (Rune Priests for the win.). When a Wytch squad gets stuck a few inches from your line they drop like flys. The invulnerable save and Wytch weapon abilities they get when they make it into combat makes life difficult, just do your best to keep them out of combat.

[DV8]

You guys are getting really...really...REALLY technical with specific how-to's and unit combinations to take, without considering the overall battle-plan. Yes, providing combinations to use are all well and good, but what if they don't? What if they fail?

 

To the OP, the key to understanding and succeeding at 40k, and indeed most anything in life, is to understand your strengths and weaknesses, to understand your opponents strengths and weaknesses, and to play on those; your strengths to his weaknesses. When it comes specifically to 40k, it all boils down to a simple maxim:

 

Shoot the killy things, and kill the shooty things.

 

As you've already realized, Dark Eldar are fast. Insanely fast. Their transports blitz, they're open topped, and with fleet, this gives his units a very frightening potential charge distance. Combine that with the plethora of BS4 Disintegrators and Dark Lances he can bring to bear, it's no wonder that you'll have a very tough time if you try and fight him on equal grounds.

 

So what do you do to an opponent that has units that vastly outfight you, and also has units that vastly outshoot you?

 

Simple. Prevent him from overwhelming you early on, and take the fight to him. His units are scariest if you allow his transports to bring them close to you. They are not as scary if they are on the other side of the table. So your key priority is to disable or destroy his transports as quickly as possible. How you do this is up to you, whether you use long range, or blitz up with Rhinos, or even drop down with Drop Pods (or a combination thereof).

 

Ravagers (his shooty vehicles mounting swathes of AP3 death) are not as BIG an issue since Dark Lances need to get up close, and the Disintegrators are low strength (and with the amount of cover saves you should be getting, not as big a deal), so they need not be high on your list of stuff to kill.

 

Put stuff that can move and shoot (long range, or fast and close range) in reserves, and use that to your advantage. Terminators with Cyclones, Land Speeders of any variant, Bikers, and Dreadnoughts. Even Rhino-mounted squads can move up and disembark to Bolter vehicles/squads down. Give him as few targets as possible and prevent him from annihilating you wholesale before the game even begins.

 

A nice combination you can consider is running some cheap Land Speeders with Heavy Flamers up, and use them to flame the infantry as they stumble out of wrecked transports.

 

En masse Drop Pod assault is also a very VERY viable option, particularly if you use your first turn to drop in some heavy firepower (Logan + Long Fangs, Dreadnoughts, Wolf Guard with TDA + heavy weapons, and lots of Melta/Plasma-toting squads). Even drop in a Rune Priest or two with Tempest and shut him down very early on.

 

One last thing: never EVER fight Dark Eldar on equal, 1 to 1 terms. Overwhelm them on a flank, focus your fire or your combat if need be and destroy units at a time, while preventing as much return fire/combat as possible. Use your vehicles and Drop Pods to block LoS and movement. Force him to fight for every inch.

 

 

DV8

[dietrich]

I'd think about taking 2 LF packs with 5x rockets and a Whirlwind for your three heavies. Also, taking a couple multi-melta/heavy-flamer or even assault cannon-armed land speeders would help. And not be a lot of points. Dreads with twin autocannons (maybe even with a pair of them) could help, but do take up elite slots.