Editing Warhammer 40,000/7th Edition Tactics/Dark Eldar (section)

==Why Play Dark Eldar==
[[File:Codex Dark Eldar Cover 7e.jpg|300px|right|thumb|]]
Do you want to be a [[Tumblr|unique snowflake]]? Do you like drugs, excessive body modification, pillaging and raping? Do you like instilling fear into your opponent with lightning fast speed and devastating weaponry at the expense of armor? Then DE are for you. This is 40k on hardcore mode. If things don't go [[Just as planned]] you'll be going down like a ten dollar hooker/ rent-boy. This is not a forgiving army and not for the faint of heart; it is riddled with drawbacks and is damned tough to play. If things go your way, however, your opponents will be torn to shreds in record time without even knowing what just hit them.

Welcome to the world's most elite club.

Dark Eldar are one of the (if not '''the''') [[Sisters of Battle|least-played armies in games and table-top]] - and it's not hard to see why. They are even more unforgiving of mistakes in gameplay than the Eldar are, they have exceedingly fragile armor for the bulk of their forces, and focus almost entirely on a mix of blinding speed and raw, balls-out firepower. They pack dozens of ways to lower an enemy's morale and plenty of weaponry that sprays massive barrages of undiluted [[Exterminatus|rape]] in the general direction of their opponents.

Almost every unit can find at least ''some'' use in a competitive Dark Eldar army, in no small part because of their ability to load anti-tank weapons in anti-infantry transports - and vice versa, backing this with versatile fast-attack and heavy support choices that can attack damned near anything to some degree. This compartmentalized army design means that the new Dark Eldar lessens how severe losses used to be for this army, and generally makes it more consistent (previously it was an army that either steamrolled you or got kerb-stomped).

Creating a solid Dark Eldar army is a balancing act, and involves setting things up so that you have redundant units and failsafes. The general gist is that this ensures that if you lose a squad, you're still in the fight. Paired with the Dark Eldar's heavy firepower, this makes them a daunting thing to face.

One last thing of note is the sheer quality of their models - Dark Eldar models of both Infantry and Vehicle flavors are amongst the best that Games Workshop makes, period, and they have some truly stunning and impressive designs. When contrasted to the ramshackle look of the Orks' vehicles, the boxy look of the Imperium's vehicles, or the simple elegance of the Eldar or Tau's vehicles, the Dark Eldar vehicles have sleek, predatory looks and their models have this cruel look that all but oozes with malevolence. Their army also offers a wealth of customization options, and just as many conversion opportunities. In a great many ways, this is the army for those who want to boast both a tough army to use and one that looks just as good.. In addition to this the dark eldar boast some of the cheapest and yet best sets, with their troops costing $35 CAD and it being a beautiful multi part plastic kit. The Scourges are also worthy of note, costing only $30 CAD they are a great bargain (by gw's standards anyways). On the flipside though they have the absolute least forgeworld support, with only two kits on offer, one of which is a conversion for a plastic kit.

'''What's New With 7th Edition Dark Eldar'''

1) Wyches. I hope you have room on your shelf, because your Wyches are now likely to be residents of your favorite display case. their special weapons are changed to ap5 and giving you rerolls, the new Combat Drugs don't really make up for generic Eldar fighting stats with generic close combat weapons. 

2) Flickerfields are limited to being a standard Venom upgrade, no one else can have them anymore.  100% shitty as well, while the Night Shields do boost your jink.

3) Webway Portals are now No-Scatter Deepstrike for the IC, his unit, and their transport. One of the good new things in the new Codex. 

4) Reavers lost their turbo boost attacks, but got the equally good prize of improved Hammer of Wrath hits. With hit and run, and strength 4 rending HOW, with cluster caltrops now giving you D6 strength 6 rending HOW. Basically their role has changed but they still rock at their cheap cost.

5) Incubi got cheaper. They still don't have grenades, and no way to give them grenades either. Klaivexes lost their powers and now just get Rampage, plus 1 WS, I, A and Ld. Still, AP2 at Initiative 6 is awesome.

6) Hellglaives do not grant +1A, they are now +1 strength and AP5. The champion's stunclaw got changed to just a hellglaive that is one handed and has instant death in challenges. Very cheap though.

7) Splinter cannons are salvo weapons. Not much difference except range 18 when you move now, not a big issue in a gunboat configuration.

8) power from pain got a boost, with a few ways of buffing the pain making some units very scary late game.

9) The grenade launchers shoot actual grenades now. These just cause mini psychic scream at the end of the shooting phase, which Fearless models (so feel free to kill those pesky Daemons and remember that Zealot does not prevent this) and (most) Space Marines are immune to, which is pretty much everyone you'd want to shoot, but there are a few ways of reducing leadership to make these more effective.

10) We got no new units, just some new gear. Compared to the [[Grey Knights]], we've actually lost little.  Only 5 named HQs and the Harlequins, though only 2 or 3 of them were really used. If you know the old Codex, nothing in the new one will surprise you.

Fair warning, with the way newer 7th edition codices are going (especially the new release your Craftworld cousins got) and the shitty (albeit predictable) FAQ recently, Dark Eldar are one of the worst armies (alongside Orks) in the game as ignores/reduces cover becomes more common and the previous advantage of high speed and firepower becomes weak compared to everyone else. In fact, it has no advantage as your constant jinking and high speed means your precious models become shitty as hell at shooting (thankfully the final FAQ makes clear passengers in jinking transports do NOT need to snapfire. Rejoice and jink everything, all the time!). The Militarum Tempestus (Storm Trooper) Codex does everything you do but are better in every practical way. You can still win by everything going according to your plan but this doesn't let you tear your enemy to shreds as much as it does let you break even. On a side note however the Haemonculus Coven supplement is pretty good.