Featured Content: The 'Dark Eldar Heroes' List

The guest articles are coming in thick and fast, and the quality of all of them has been absoloutely fantastic! Keep up the good work guys! This article is certainly no exception and has been sent in by regular TDEK commenter IASGATG. Enjoy!



Hello. Welcome to my first Dark Eldar article. This is a fun list and an explaination behind each squad and their roles. I am still learning the Dark Eldar army, having played them for only about six months.

I’m of the opinion that some of the Dark Eldar heroes, particular Drazhar, are perhaps the most powerful, or at the very least, shocking to be fielded. I personally remember watching Drazhar step up to a Greater Chaos Daemon and killing it in a turn of combat; eight power weapon wounds is a lot of pain. This list includes Kruellagh, Drazhar and Urien, set at a 1500 points and aim to fight any opponent, taking into account the heavy mech lists that are fielded.

The structure of this article will have each squad listed and its role as well as how it synergies with other squads. It will end with the list in its entirety. For my own sanity, I have named each squad so I am able to see their role at a glance.

I present to you The Dark Eldar Heroes

Head Bitch

Kruellagh and her retinue; including Drazhar, three Incubi and one warrior. To clear the obvious, the solo warrior is there simply due to points costs. At eight points, an extra wound is always handy. I have in the past debated having Drazhar and four warrior, as warriors are dangerous, cheap and an effective meat shield.

She and her groupies are mounted on a raider. Ideally she’d start behind as much cover as possible if you fail the roll off, as your opponent is going to throw a ton of pain her way. Her role is to pick an object and get to it as fast as possible. A raider moving flat out can get her onto target in two turns. Once there, the squad will be able to kill anything sitting there. A squad of Tyranid Warriors will get cleaved asunder by Drazhar and his Incubi buddies. If it is a horde of orks, Kruellaghs bonus attacks will enable to her becoming a wrecking ball of desturction, building momentum which each turn.

Despite her power, she is expendable. She will cause a great deal of chaos for your opponent if you can get her to target. An offensive rapidly becomes a defensive and this is where the Slow Death comes into play.

Slow Death

Urien and his delightful buddies do not have a ride, this is intentional however. Most armies are unable to hurt Groteseques without them specifically devoting heavy hitting resources to it. Resources that seem far more important to be used against Ravagers and Kruellagh. After a turn or two of heavy combat, especially turn two, Urien is all but forgotten. Like zombies however, they march onwards.

It will take three or four turns for him to get to the desired target, either assiting Kruellagh, getting her out of hot water, or hitting another objective. With weapons that automatically wound, his destructor has a 50/50 chance of instantly killing Space Marines on a flame thrower template or leaving them with a blast template of pain.

This continues to force your opponent into a deffensive posture, even if Kruellagh does die, they do not have chance for a breath as Urien is smiling his wicked smile. A final note, I would consider him more important than Kruellagh. He will last long enough to keep an objective contested, as he wont be in combat until around turn four and with the toughness of Grots, it is unlikely that a troop squad will be able to kill 12 wounds worth of agony.

Bitch’s Backup

As I said, Kruellagh is expendable, however she is expensive and lethal and keeping her alive as long as possible... just makes sense. A detail of Wyches, riding along side Kruellagh on their own raider provides an extra variable for your victim to calculate. In the event that one raider gets shot down, the other can get to target and tie them up in combat, especially if that ever desirable 12” assault roll is met. If not, Kruellagh has her damnation grenades to pin the squad, adding survivability.

All tactics do not survive contact with the enemy however, and the Wyches may of course be dispatched to more pressing and local matters. As aggressive as you are playing, you will be getting his back. In personal experience, I have had 10 stern guard and 10 tactical marines arrive in drop pods on top of 20 warriors holding an objective. 10 Wyches (including a Dracite and Succubus) put the Marines in their place.

Sniper Team Alpha/Bravo

Two squads of Dark Lance snipers. Their have the same role, hence pairing them together. Sitting on or near home objectives. Remember, you do not NEED to be on the objective from the get go. You have at least 5 turns to get there. I have found having the two lances exposed, then snaking the other eight warriors around impassable terrain is always a hilarious annoyance.

Their role is simple, melt tanks, terminators and dreadnoughts. Anything that you need gunned down quickly and at range. Keeping them alive however is rather important. Most games are not kill points, they are objectives. As much as this is a fun build, winning is still the aim of the game. Troops = points.

Gunboat Squad Alpha/Bravo

Hit and run raiders to add chaos and support Kruellagh. With a splinter cannon, blaster and dark lance, all shapes and sizes will feel the pain. Whilst only able to move six inches to fire the full shabang, sometimes it’s worth sacrificing guns or speed for the next few turns.

Whilst they are not there to take objectives, they can make mad dashes on turn 4/5 to cap them if they are still alive. If they crash, they can also provide effective cover and terrain for the enemy to have to go around.

Suicide Queens

This is a personal pleasure of mine. Three reavers with two blasters and a succubus with haywire grenades. Pick your land raider, move 24” towards it, dodge the hail of fire with your 3+ invunerable (remember that, the Imperial Guard Hydra AA gun does not counter it). Next turn, either another 24” or arrive at target, melt holes in the side then finish with the grenade.

Odds are, they wont come out of the engagement alive. Nevertheless, your opponent has so many threats coming at once. Kruellagh and Wyches, two raiders spraying down fire, Ravagers and Snipers and now these god damn bikes too.. Oh.. and the blasted zombies?!

Ravager Lead/Support

Basic Ravagers with no upgrades. The list is missing AT power and this is what the Ravagers provide. 3 Dark Lances that can move 6” a turn at 105points is a bargin. With both firing at the same target, your looking at a predator down a turn.

In my experience, I find that players will target Kruellagh first, followed then by either the wyches or the ravagers. It’s depressing, but true, that odds are they wont get more than 2 turns of full fire. Use them like glass cannons and hope the dice gods are on your side.

The specifics of the list are as follows:

Head Bitch 353pts
Kruellagh 125pts
1 Warrior 8pts
3 Incubi 75pts
Drazhar 90pts
1 Raider 55pts

Slow Death 175pts
Urien Rakarth 100pts
5 Uber Grotesques 75pts

Bitch's Backup 226pts
7 Wyches (Wych Weapons) 91pts
1 Succubus (Agoniser; Splinter Pistol; Wych Weapons; Combat Drug Dispenser; Hell Mask; Haywire Grenades; Goblet of Spite) 80pts
1 Raider 55pts

Sniper Team Alpha 100pts
10 Warriors (Dark Lance x2) 100pts

Sniper Team Bravo 100pts
10 Warriors (Dark Lance x2) 100pts

Gunboat Squad Alpha 110pts
5 Warriors ( Blaster; Splinter Cannon) 55pts
1 Raider 55pts

Gunboat Squad Bravo 110pts
5 Warriors ( Blaster; Splinter Cannon) 55pts
1 Raider 55pts

Suicide Queens 115 pts
2 Reaver Jetbike Squad (Blaster x2) 0 pts
1 Succubus (Haywire Grenades)

Ravager Lead 105pts
1 Ravager 105pts

Ravager Support 105pts
1 Ravager 105pts

Article by IASGATG

 If you'd like to see your own Dark Eldar articles featured on TDEK please send your submissions to cuchulain84@gmail.com. It can be about anything from tactics, army lists, battle reports, painting/modelling guides etc or in fact anything you like (provided it relates to Dark Eldar of course!) If you have your own blog you can include the link, it can be a great way to attract new followers! Happy Raiding!