Good list to counter Dark Eldar (750-1500 pts)?

[Ovidius Incertus]

Looking for a good setup to make my nascent Flesh Tearers successful against Dark Eldar (my major opponent, at the moment).

 

DE list will be pretty CC oriented with Wyches and Warriors, probably riding in transports.  HQs I'll face are probably haemonculi, Lelith Hesparex and maybe a Lady Malys.  Not much heavy support (a Pain Engine or two).  Not much in the way of elites, save some Incubi, maybe.  Maybe some Reavers and/or a handful of Scourges.  Flyers unknown.

 

So typical DE stuff: weedy, but killy in CC.

 

DE will probably have no allies, so it should be a psyker's field day with almost no counter.

 

Recommendations for approximately 750-800 point games and then for something larger, say 1250-1500?

 

Thanks.

[Shaezus]

Not sure what models you have but don't be scared by their higher init and attacks, they're weedy like you say and die easily so you've got plenty of scope for choices..fraggy dreads love DE but watch out for those haywire 'nades; death company and blender dread, baal pred and vindicators with your assault troops going jumpy so you can engage cc on your terms and get that hammer of wrath which will negate their higher init and make the most of their lower T.

 

Take a libby and for giggles try to get enfeeble for some instant death T2 shennanigans, or the powers of your choice.

 

As points go up I would invest in land raiders, more dakka or boom mech and an aegis line with quad auto, which is all you should need against their AV 11 flyers.

 

Good luck whatever you take - these are a foe not to be underestimated but not to be feared either. Watch out for units building up on pain tokens.

[Teetengee]

They often have alternate ways of dealing with psykers though. Lady malys and her unit are completely immune, and the have the crucible. (also shadowseers are ML1 but I wouldn't worry too much about those.) Just remember that incubi will often have some high initiative ap2 cc weapons, so see if you can hit them with some AP3 shooting, as they should die easily enough to that.

[Black_Sky]

Incubi should be ap3, yes? The only ap2 cc weapon i can remember from the DE book is the huskblade.

 

Malys is too expensive for low point games, so you should not be worried in those cases. DE transports are slightly sturdier this edition than the previous one, simply because their transports blow up a little less, and crash a little more leaving their squishy content reatively unscathed. Flamers loves open topped vehicles, and if you can land a fragioso next to a fully loaded raider, expect between two and nine dead evil space elves besides what damage they might suffer from losing their vehicle. Kronos and talos aren't considered top choices at the moment, so you shouldn't worry about these.

It is very easy for dark eldar to dominate the maelstrom of war objective hunting game. With decent troops and very fast transports, they can easily score objectices you otherwise thought safe. Shoot the wheels out under them, and force them to rely on cover and walking to their destinations.

[Teetengee]

Demiklaives (the champion weapon) have an ap2 setting. Also Lady Malys is the second cheapest special character in that book. I would not be surprised to see her at those point levels (especially towards the 1500 pt range).

[Jolemai]

Pop the transports, then shoot them. However, don't go for a gunline as you will need a counterpunch for when the inevitable happens. Just remember that everyone, even Mephiston (against certain opposition) will be going second in combat.

 

The question is, what do you have at your disposal and are you open to purchasing suggestions? We could go for the stock answers (Fragioso & Drop Pod, Mephiston, Stormraven, etc) but that depends on how flexible you are :)

[Ovidius Incertus]

Still building at the moment. In my possession (aside from many unbuilt marines, jumpers or otherwise): LR Crusader/Redeemer, a Storm Raven, a snippy DC dread, Rhinos, a Deimos Predator Executioner, a vanilla Predator, a pod, a box of VG vets, and 5 built Death Company (no packs). Also have FW apothecaries that I will use as priests. Since most of my marines are unbuilt, I've got wide flexibility there.

I have a Loth that I will do up as a Mephiston, a Lemartes, a jump chaplain (I suppose I can use him as a reclusiarch)...and an unbuilt Contemptor with a full complement of weapons. I am in the process of building a sternguard squad from the Loth honor guard and am going to cannibalize the venerable dread kit I have and convert it to a fragioso with leftover parts.

The army is still in its beginning stages, so I will definitely be buying more: another LR, more pods, a Baal Pred or 2, a Librarian dread and have plans for a Fire Raptor and a Scorpius this summer. HQ is definitely wide open at the moment and I'm stuck at the moment as to how to kitbash myself a Corbulo counts-as, since I am not fond of the actual Corbulo model, and it wouldn't fit into the aesthetic of my army.

[Chaplain Admetus]

It's a tricky proposition. I play BA and DE as my two main armies, and find it difficult to play BA well below 1000 points, whereas Dark Eldar do really well at low points as they're comparatively cheap for the amount of dakka they can put out. Try and make the Dark Eldar stick to their unofficial motto, namely "Everyone walks home" - transports are like paper, take them down (boltguns can glance them do death) and the army generally struggles. Baal predators are a great bet for the amount of firepower they can lay down, assault cannons getting bonus points for being S6 so getting around FnP.

 

I'd suggest going shooty rather than assaulty. Dark Eldar are one of the few armies in the game that are faster than Blood Angels - there's no real way to force him to engage on your terms. Take long-range guns if you can, as the nastiest things Dark Eldar can use are Venoms - 65 points for a transport that can move 12" a turn, and still fire 12 36", poisoned shots, and come with a 5+ invulnerable save. DE range maxes out at 36", so make sure you've got stuff with a longer range than that otherwise he's liable to outrange you and shoot you to death.

 

@Black_Sky, Klaives and Demiklaives are ALL AP2 weaponry - Incubi are some of the best things in the game for carving through terminators.

[Brother Dallo]

Incubi have no grenades without an attached independent character, so hiding in difficult terrain can be a valid tactic. I charged a 5 man incubi squad into a grey hunter squad in terrain, and the grey hunters walked away with 3 survivors. I'd say bringing armour above av12 is a bit if a waste, as the traditional anti tank gear is either lance, or haywire.

 

Wyches shouldn't frighten infantry much. You'll kill one or two in overwatch, and they are pretty puny without pain tokens and good combat drug rolls. They do have 4++ in combat, so will be a bit of a tarpit in large numbers. They are traditionally run in 5 (wo)man squads with haywire in a venom. Try to avoid letting them near your tanks.

 

Hope this helps

 

Dallo

[Theredknight]

Ok so..

I played against them with a combat army and got pretty spanked, my raven evened it up a little at the end but it was close.

 

With those barges and bikers they are on you t1/2, rhinos and razors are useless on account of dark lances and getting popped.

 

My second game I decided to bring the guns, I used a bastion, with a dev squad full of heavy bolters in the top. Also a librarian casting prescience on them.

Their vehicles are av10, so bolters and quads can wreck them, they cause havoc with infantry and bikes too.

As a counter I weighted an assault squad (all the flamers) to attack if they got to close, and a ten man stern guard squad, now I'd prefer 2 squads of these!(flamers)

You burn the heck out of them and then shoot the talos with poisoned rounds to kill it.

 

That was the most effective way I found.

Insert raven with assault guys or dc with points value!!

[Demoulius]

I would highly advise AGAINST land raiders against dark eldar. Dark lances and grenades are pretty easy to come by in their army and they turn your expensive AV14 tank into a wreck very fast!