Warhammer 40,000: Kill Team (HoR)/Tactics/Dark Eldar(8E)

Like all Eldar, the raiders of Commorragh are exceedingly fragile with a specific specialization. In their case, this specialization is a brutal swift assault that wipes enemies before they come to rally a counter-attack. The smaller scale of HoR will limit just how much fire you get, and the fact that your army's in a three-way split between three different factions of playstyles.

Your common keywords are Xenos, Aeldari, Drukhari, with the wildcards being <Kabal>, <Coven>, <Wych Cult>

Rules

• Power From Pain: Mostly unchanged, except for turn 4. Now your models with this rule auto-pass morale tests if you outnumber the enemy and auto-pass rout checks regardless.
• Combat Drugs: You roll for drugs for all models of a certain type, so all wyches take one drug, hellions take another, etc. Fortunately, your bosses are separate from the rest.
• Phantasm Grenade Launcher: They affect Rout checks. Neat.
• Obsessions: While you get your first one free, you can buy spare obsessions for the other parts of your army for +2 points per model of that faction. Costly, but they do offer convenience for your other units. You also get new ones as well:
  • Kabals
    • Kabal of the Dying Sun: The One Step Ahead TA actually interferes with your chances of going first, but that's okay. By going second for the turn 1, you actually rob 6" from all enemy gun ranges (To a minimum of 6"), which is evil while you take your ideal hiding spots or gun down some early prey without reprisal.
    • Kabal of the Last Hatred: Snobs to the end, you get to re-roll 1s to hit any other Eldar.
    • Kabal of the Broken Sigil: Your boys have a 6" aura that deals -1 Ld to enemies, which can be particularly nasty if you also find ways to tamper with IP.
    • Lords of the Iron Thorn: Allows you to take Hellions and Reavers into your Kabal forces, decent.
  • Cults
    • Cult of the Blade Denied: Wyches with the base blades reduce their Strength and Attacks by 1, but this also allows them to get an insane 3++ in combat - pretty great for walling.
    • Cult of the Seventh Woe: Models that roll a 6 to hit in combat or with a pistol at point-blank get to roll another attack.
    • Cult of the Wrath Unbound: Gain +1 to WS, but -1 to Ld. While having your Cult units hitting on a 2+ sounds very tempting, this also means that they're now super-vulnerable to breaking at the first sign of things going south.
    • Cult of the Pain Eternal: Your models can re-roll 1s to hit and wound all pious models (Meaning Black Templars, Adeptus Ministorum, Adeptus Custodes, Word Bearers, Adepta Sororitas, Genestealer Cults models). Because le edgy atheism lulz.
  • Covens
    • The Hex Coven: Your enemies must re-roll Invuln checks.
    • The Black Descent Coven: You have a 1/3 chance of making any charges count as just walking up and slapping them. While this is meaningless to forces like the Emperor's Children, this is a small deterrent for everyone else.

Armoury

• Gloom Field: Leader only. Grants a -1 for enemies to hit from beyond 6", spread in a 3" aura. This is quite great for an assault build with bodyguards.
• Trophy Rack: LEader Only. A fierce weapon in a choppy leader's hands, the thing only activates when you kill an enemy in combat and even then triggers on a 4+. In that event, you gain +1 Ld (Cool), and any enemy models within contact take -1 Ld.
• Goblet of Spite: Hekatrix/Syren only. In a strange inversion to the Blood Grails the Blood Angels are infamous for, this makes all <Wych Cult> within IP gain a triple whammy of +1S, +1A and re-rolling 1s to hit on a charge. All of this is very good, but it's also insanely expensive.
• Ancient Clone Field: Leader only. You can gain a couple ablative wounds during the fight phase, which is pretty valuable since eldar are universally fragile, and you can choose which wounds you want to blow it on (Like, say, that power fist or thunder hammer).
• The Master's Seal: Leader only. Boosts all auras by 3", which can especially be useful for any backline commanders.
• Bloodshard: Kabal of the Flayed Skull Leader only. Mounts you on a bike, which...is nice, especially since you'll still be able to give your warriors some benefits, but you'll be forsaking the ability to help them hit with how easily you outpace your men.
• Seeker of Torment: Acothyst only. This is a callback to the old Covens supplement, giving those <Coven> models within IP an extra step from PfP.
• Shade Stalker: Mandrake only. Expensive, but it gives you a single-use ability to re-deploy to wherever you wish.
• Frostrime: Mandrake only. This is incredible as it forces everything to happen after you, overruling any sort of strikes-first rules.
• Envenomed Barbs: <Wych Cult> Infantry only. Lets them re-roll a single botched hit or saving throw each combat phase, which gives this thing quite a bit of mileage.
• Inverted Drop-Down Dorsal Decapitation: Arena Champion only. This is your big gamble, forcing you to make a single with the bladevanes, but doing so deals a mortal wound.
• Custom Hellglaive: Hellion only. Basically a normal hellglaive, but with +1S on the charge.
• "I Call Heads!": Helliarch only. You can force your boss to roll half his lot of attacks, but each attack rolls double. Synergizes with the Trophy Rack by making it auto-proc.
• Kingpin: Helliarch only. Gives all your Hellions another random drug to use, and this has the chance to stack up if you roll the same drug.
• 0-1 Bloodstone: Incubus only. A shooting weapon from editions past, this gives one Incubus a basic 8" Assault d6 S3 AP-2 D1 attack. Enjoy your cooking.
• Chosen Foe: Klaivex only. He now re-rolls to hit against the leader, the best role for a pro assassin.
• Whirlwind ASsault: Incubus only. Lets your killy boys make another attack on a 6 to wound. Unusual way to get it, but you want these guys to kill more.
• Master of the Spires: Scourge only. Your flyboys can now re-roll 1s to hit other flying models. Guess what those pain in the ass battlesuits are? Now how about those pesky Suppressors? Yeah, that's why you want this.
• Obsidian Stone: Lets a single model deny a power as if they're a psyker, a necessity in an army that lacks any sort of psykery.
• Ghostplate Armor: <Kabal> models without fly only. Gives you the 4+/6++ save scourges enjoy.
• Sliscus' Legacy: The duke shall not be forgotten. This lets you add +1 to wound any non-vehicle model when using a splinter weapon. This has different costs depending on what you put this on (One for splinter pistols, one for splinter cannons, and one for anything else), so consider what you really need this poison for.
• Adept-Slave Forged Weapon: Gives you an overcharge mode on one gun, just in case you really like playing with Imperial Plasma.
• Soul Trap: Useful for melee models, this adds +1S when you kill someone in melee. If you're worried about punching through a particularly tough guy, this might give you the edge you need...after killing some lesser schmuck for being in the way.
• Punisher: Incubus only. The old weapons of the Incubi, these are S+2 AP-3 halberds that can instead deal an attack to every model within 1". Fierce as hell and only for 10 points.
• The Poisoned Blades: Leader only. You got a pair of CCWs with a bundle of rules on them. They're poisoned, grant two free attacks, and become AP-4 when you roll a 6+ to wound any non-vehicle model. They're best suited on a succubus, who'd benefit from some more free attacks to roll, all poisoned, and all with the chance to be devastating.
• The Edge of Agony: Not quite a power fist, but it's got crazy AP and the penalty to hit. It also has the ability to benefit its wielder upon a kill, though it's on a 4+ and if you roll a 1+, expect to say goodbye to those gains.
• Destructor: Acothyst only. The terrifying parts of this gun are it's RF3 and penalty to nerve tests. The S3 and AP-d3 aren't so bad, but it gives a decent means to mess with GEQ.

Philosophies

• Pain in all its Forms: +1 TP for having a model from each of the three factions. Easy enough to select.
• Soultaker: You only gain +2 TP for the first kill you make, scoring an extra one if your leader did the deed.

Tactical Actions

• Wave of Horror (1 TP): Your leader exposes ALL hiding models within 12", including your own.
• Maddening Hallucinotoxin (1 TP): One model becomes a target so irresistible that the closest enemy within 12" must charge them. Good thing you got plenty of ablative units.
• Draught of Despair (1 TP): You can only use this during one enemy's Nerve check. If they lose, you gain TP equal to how badly they lost. If they pass, you lose another TP for taking the risk. Ideally, use this on a model near your Incubi.
• Backup Bodies (2 TP): You have a chance of foil any hero-slaying tactics on a 4+. Sure, your leader stays dead, but they no longer gain any VP for it. That said, any Tactical Actions that require the kill are still in effect, so beware.
• Carrion Keepers (1 TP): If your models are within 3" of an objective, they can overwatch on a 5+ against one charge.

Unit Analysis

Your FOC is as follows:

• 1 Leader
• 1-25 Core
• 0-5 Special

Leaders

• Sybarite: Your utility leader, this guy can be kitted out to become a mini-Archon. His armory is a bit limited, but he's versatile like other Kabalites. Like the Archon, keep him from unnecessary combat, keep him protected, and keep only the most necessary things on him. As a bonus, he can also take Ghostplate Armor to help his chances of survival.
  • Dracon: 5 points net you a point in Leadership and another Attack.
• Hekatrix: The mini-Succubus, equipped with everything you'll need to start ripping shit up.
  • Syren: 5 points for an elite Wych.
• Klaivex: A bit pricey as a leader, but he has all he needs to kill. His influence lets you screw with enemy Nerve checks. Unlike last edition, now the difference between Klaive and Demiklaives is a matter of points and if you need that flurry of blows.
• Nightfiend: A slightly bigger Mandrake. Take him, use him to bait the opposition with his debuffs to hit and sneakiness. Just don't throw him in big combats, he's terribad there.
• Acothyst: The Wrack Leader. He can thankfully take everything as he could before, making him a bit flexible.
• Beastmaster: The issue with this guy is that he pretty much forces the entire team to revolve around him. Sure, he's a cult unit, but he does nothing to help them and instead focuses on his pets (and the Ur-Ghul), all of whom are now Core and re-roll 1s to hit while within IP of him.
• Arena Champion: The Leader to take biking power. He's got an insane degree of utility between his guns (Splinter Rifle not cutting it? Grab a Blaster for overwhelming power or the Heat Lance for melta!) and the options for combat, he'll be able to jump from either being lethal while closing in or being lethal as he turns tailpipe.
• Helliarch: This is a more elite Hellion with all his options from the big book and the ability to grant 10 more Hellions to the hardcap.
• Solarite: Refrain from the idea of making him melee-based; his hollow bones make him too weak to try that. Since deep-striking is now a meta-thing, you can very much enjoy surprise insertions while they blast away.

Core

• Kabalite Warrior: Your basic troop with options for bonus shooty.
  • Kabalite Trueborn: Did you miss me? Every one per five warriors can pay 3 points for +1 Leadership (slightly better for Nerve) and access to the armory.
• Wych: Wyches are good for one thing and only one thing: Building a harem Tying other things up in combat. Each one per three can grab a new Wych weapon, which tend to be only slightly better than nothing by offering more attacks at AP-1.
  • Bloodbride: Same as the Warriors, +3 points here gives +1 Ld and access to the armory.
• Wrack: The Coven troop. These guys can only grab Liquefiers and Ossefactors, so it's pretty clear what the plan should be. The difference revolves wither wanting automatic hits but random AP or a basic gun with sweet poison and the chance to hurt someone else with a kill.
• Reaver: Hard-hitting and fast, here are the elites. Their good stats and decent options make sure they can fit whatever role is desired of them, but make sure they don't go to any combat not on their terms.
• 0-10 Hellion: These guys are your dancy-darting fiends to kite around with. Much more dangerous than the reavers, but lose out in the durability department.
• Beastmaster Pack: Hardcapped at 0-2. These guys aren't quite as versatile as in the big book, but manage to remain major annoyances based on how they run, and Non-Learning makes sure that they have no reason to not charge. The master can take up to 4 beasts. Khymerae are the stable walls/cover, Clawed Fiends are for making punishing attacks, and Razorwings are there to make sure you get a maximum amount of attacks.

Special

• 0-1 Ur-Ghul: A giant wall of meat for your Sybarite or Beastmaster. Yes, as a member of the Archon's Court, he benefits from re-rolling 1s to hit while within a Sybarite's IP, which isn't as powerful, but it works alongside also being made Core.
• 0-1 Sslyth: Not much tougher, but you have a guaranteed ablative wall for your Sybarite. Similar to the other Court members, he can also re-roll 1s to hit within IP range of a Sybarite.
• 0-1 Lhamean: A bit of an interesting midway, the Lhaemean isn't just a member of the court (with the re-roll benefit they get), but she also has access to the armory, but only if your boss has the <Kabal> or <Wych Cult> keywords. That said, she benefits best from the Sybarite's boost so her attacks connect.
• 0-1 Medusae: Not very powerful, but the eyeburst remains a dangerous threat at mid-range against any GEQ or MEQ.
• Mandrake: Keep in cover and make sure they're accompanied by something to protect them from overwatch if they charge. Otherwise, make use of their kiting prowess and baleblasts.
• Incubus: Your elite melee unit. Though lacking in shooting, you do possess the means to go forth and render things to bits as quickly as possible.
• Scourge: You only got two slots for new weapons, meaning Blaster Spam is no-go, even in a Solarite list. Fortunately, your shardcarbines are still impressive enough a weapon if you have a need to buy so many scourges.
• Grotesque: They're big, they're bulky, they're killers. Dangerous as they are, they are vulnerable against heavy weapons. That said, melee sees them as being genuinely dangerous against GEQs and their Liquifier has a chance of punching through power armor.
• Beastmaster: No, your eyes do not deceive you, there's a Beastmaster here as well! While he too possesses an IP, it's only used for his pets. In addition, he lets you take a certain pet (Clawed Fiend, 2 Razorwings or 2 Khymerae) as core.
  • Clawed Fiend: Big and beefy with a scary lot of attacks, but his WS is lacking, even considering the Beastmaster's IP.
  • Khymera: Hyper-fast and relatively tough. Pretty much what you want to harass.
  • Razorwing Flock: Your premier distraction. Since they're faster than khymerae and wit as many wounds as a Clawed Fiend, their role is essentially to intercept and annoy. They are your sacrificial fodder.