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

==Allies==
To the Dark Eldar all life is equal - that is, equally ''worthless''. These are all meant to be temporarily allied with, and then stabbed in the back when it's worthwhile. Except for Harlequins. Nobody fucks with Harlequins.

===Battle Brothers===

*'''Eldar:''' Without a doubt, Eldar is the best choice, not just because Eldar is the new hotness right now. In particular, you benefit from being Battle Brothers (for some reason...), so the Craftworlders won't just spend the entire game looking at you funny. Farseers aren't necessarily as powerful anymore, but they're still an excellent support unit that can now use Guide on your Dark Eldar. Wave Serpents are solid though not as great as they used to be, but twin-linked scatter lasers plus a shuriken cannon is still a reasonable transport wrecker. This is incredibly powerful when Craftworlders are the primary detachment, but doubly useful here, as they don't take up one of the precious allied FoC slots and they make up for the Dark Eldar's striking deficiency in killing enemy transports (come on, blasters and dark lances have never been a good deal). But what to put in them? Wraithguard, for one troll-tastic option. Sure, you probably don't want to waste your allied HQ slot on a Spiritseer, but even a single unit of Wraithguard in Wave Serpents can make a huge difference. You can also take the ever-useful Windrider Jetbikes as Troops (which works well thematically with Reaver Jetbikes), although this also cuts down on the number of Wave Serpents you can take (and trust us, you want to take as many Wave Serpents as possible). Still, this is a viable tactic that should be considered. Falcons, Fire Prisms and Night Spinners now come in squadrons - that's an efficient use of an HS slot to get long-range fire support with more staying power than a Ravager. Depending on your target, the Falcon's pulse laser/brightlance/shuriken cannon combination might even do better than three dark lances. Falcons get to do double-duty, too, schlepping around Fire Dragons, Dark Reapers or maybe even Blasterborn. There is no longer anything that prevents the Autarch's Reserves shenanigans from benefitting your army, so consider taking him to accompany your Reavers and help the Flyers/Deep Strike stuff come when you want them. Wraithknights and the Avatar are Lords of War now, so <s>they're pretty much out of the running</s> just take another troop choice and your good to go. Howling Banshees no longer suck, since they ignore charging through terrain and the new Banshee Mask is made of win, but Incubi are deadlier and a little more durable, so it's kind of a toss-up. Crimson Hunters aren't bad at all, but they're not clearly superior to the Razorwing for anything other than air-to-air. Also, while taking Divination is usually a good choice, for Dark Eldar allies, it might be a good idea to grab Runes of Fate for your Farseer; The boosted range on things like Guide and Doom is important for hyper-mobile armies like Dark Eldar.

RISKY GORGONZOLA - Farseer on Jetbike with Windrider Jetbikes for ablative wounds, can be a terrible addition to most Dark Eldar forces. Rolling all your dice on Telepathy to gain Shrouding is amazing. All units within 6" gain Shrouded (never saw that coming). That means turn one your Warrior stuffed Raiders, are looking at a 2+ cover save on the first turn, and any turns involving Night Fighting, that can't be canceled by Flash Lights, Tau trickery or other Night Fighters (3+ cover save for everything else). It breaks down like this, Hunt from the Shadows (5+ cover save for Troops/6+ for non-Troops), Nightshield (Stealth), Shrouding (Shrouded). Risky tactic will involve you hugging your force around the Farseer. If it pays, drink your opponents tears, if not, well.....


*'''Eldar Corsairs:''' The "other" Eldar force, introduced in [[Imperial Armour]] 11, the Eldar Corsairs lack the excellent psykers, Wave Serpents, and Wraith units of the Craftworlds, but they more than make up for that with their jet packs and Deep Strike dickery, combined with impressive amounts of firepower. Also, the Corsair Prince's ability to cause Night Fighting once per game works well with the Dark Eldar's innate Night Vision. Additionally, Corsairs can take up to five Fast tanks, all with actual armor, rather than the wet cardboard the Dark Eldar are known for.
'''Supporting Arguments:'''
Corsars are great and they fit the Dark Eldar playstyle very well, but other than access to Eldar vehicles (for which you should just bring Eldar) they don't offer you much that other armies can't do better.  If you want assault, bring Harleuins.  If you want tankiness, then as earler, bring Eldar.  If you want to have '''''Night Fighting EVERY TURN''''' then bring Imperial Armour 11, a Corsair Prince and some Jetpack Troops in an allied Detachment.  Oh, and a cup.  You want a cup for your oponents tears.

*'''[[Harlequins]]: '''Now with their own codex, the harlequins can return as the "good" guys. They bring a fair amount to the table, with some nice tricks. Although they are comparable to your units, they are a little more durable and just as deadly - plus which, standard Troupes do the job your Wyches ''should'' be doing. They are also perfect as supports for your more squishy things, such as the new Shadowseer and her bag o' tricks, giving some real protection to your more vulnerable units and possibly giving -4LD when in 6" when used with the Armour of Misery and Mask of Secrets. Engage [[troll|Troll face]] if you wound with a death jester, as non-Fearless units now take a morale check at -6(!)LD, then send them towards a unit for butchering. Yep, even sticks to Marines! Rinse. Repeat. Laugh like a maniac. Harlequins also work excellently with Haemonculi Covens, because the two armies complement each other and each covers the other's weaknesses. Opponent packed lots of bolters and flamers? Send Grotesques his way and leave your Troupes free to hit other targets. Take a Cast of Players Formation, give them a Haemonculus with Webway Portal for Death Jester damage at -5 and Psychic Shriek at -3.

For Titan Hunting, nothing in the game beats Wraith guard  + Archon with Blaster and WWP.

===Desperate Allies===
One bit note going into this section: Dark Eldar may seem to be problematic allies due to the limited selection of Battle Brothers, but they very,very good at overcoming the distance restrictions. They can outpace anyone, or come in to play deepstriking, so don't pay that Desperate Allies shit no mind, OK? The Dark Eldar are great FRIENDS.
*'''Adepta Sororitas:''' Sisters aren't the fastest force in the galaxy, but they do pack some nasty horde shredding with their flamers, and Dominions can crunch any vehicle in the game with their cover-ignoring meltas. There are some options here, especially since Sisters do have a lot more staying power than your guys, but it's not the most efficient pairing. RIP fluff... than again think of those orgies.
*'''Black Templars:''' They're the same as Vanilla, although they aren't as effective since BT mostly prefer to RIP AND TEAR. Go with a different chapter tactic, as we don't need close combat units.
*'''Chaos Space Marines:''' The spikey ones offers anti-tank and cheap tarpits. Take Typhus with Plague Zombies or have some Chaos spawns (Perferable with the Mark of Nurgle- AH SHIT!!! GAAAAA- ([[chaos spawn|BRRRLGRABRAGHABRRRRR]]))) act as a routine for the Sorcerer. Bikers can have two Meltaguns no matter what the size is, although it's better to take more since Jinking will make them snap fire on their next turn. Give them either the Mark of Nurgle or (I dare say it) Slaanesh with an Icon of Excess so they'll survive longer. Terminators with Combi-Meltas and a Chainfist can deep strike and eat a couple of tanks before they inevitably die. Or if you're looking for something to destroy light-medium tanks and a bit of anti-air, the Forgefiend doesn't disappoint. 
*'''Chaos Daemons:''' They offer you anti-air, albeit not necessarily as efficiently as Tau. Firstly, there's the Soul Grinder, especially with the Mark of Nurgle; he's pretty amazing in Chaos Daemons and he's just as good here. Just park him in cover and blow up anything that moves, while laughing that the enemy can't get past his 2+ cover save, and, of course, you can hide a Herald of Tzeentch behind it and hit it with Presience every turn. The other (hilarious) option is Bloodletters. You see, they get BS 5. And Heralds get BS 7. So, just park them behind a convenient Aegis Defense Line with Quad Gun, and watch as you get a unit that can shoot down enemy aircraft, weather tons of enemy shooting, and, of course, slaughter in close combat anything that gets too close. Finally, you could always take a Bloodthirster and swat enemy fliers out of the sky. It's not really that effective (especially at 250+ points), but it's certainly funny, and that's every Archon's second-highest goal (after inflicting pain, of course).
**As for fluff, there's a few options that actually make a modicum of sense. First off, Khorne hates Slaanesh almost as much as the Dark Eldar do, so perhaps a rogue Archon stuck a deal with a Bloodthirster so they both get to slaughter the minions of the Dark Prince. You could also say the Archon is the best Beastmaster EVAR and say he captured some Daemons for his amusement; it happened in the fluff thought it bit the DE in the ass, but, hey, [[Kaldor Draigo|there are worse things in the actual fluff]]. And, finally, there have been some slight mentions to Dark Eldar that actively courted the attention of She Who Thirsts, believing that, if they served him/her/it well enough, he/she/it/ might grant them Daemonhood instead of eating their souls. This is probably a bad idea, but then, whatever works... (Definition of worship is performing a ritual to earn the attention of a god/deity. So performing torture(ritual)is worshipping Slaanesh. Every Dark eldar is said to hate he/she/it. They hate themselves too...)
*'''Imperial Guard:''' Tanks are good addition when you need something that can take a hit and survive: not something that is easily or cost-effectively found in DE codices. Plant Leman Russ Executioner or few Hydras to home objectives to snipe and/or keep airspace clear. Beware artillery and large-blasting Leman Russes since it is extremely easy to mistakenly scatter over and accidentally blow up your own Raiders/etc. All in all, IG is good ally to provide staying power and cheap, warm bodies to fill your home objectives. Just don't expect to see the earthshattering blast barrages from AM. Also also Infantry blobs and weapon teams combined with Company Command squad mean that you can order "Ignores Cover" to your blob, giving your army some well-needed ignores cover weapons to counter those pesky Venomthropes and Malanthropes.
*'''Inquisition:''' Coming soon.
*'''Orks:''' A Kult of Speed list is pretty nice. Go with either a Warboss with Biker Nobs - expensive but synergistic - or a Warboss/Big Mek with Kustom Force Field with one or two mobz of 30 Boyz (possibly 'Ardboyz for added staying power, but then the price tag skyrockets). Dark Eldar can really use a tough, huge horde like that, and the Dark Eldar can press so deep into the field so early that a Mob won't be a high priority target until it comes crashing in, as well as ameliorating the effects of One Eye Open.  Orks also offer large hordes of T4 models and thick armour from Meganobz, drawing some fire from your more fragile troops, and some good anti-light vehicle fire (hello Deffguns and Flash Gitz).  From a fluff perspective, maybe the Dark Eldar promised the Orks lots of dakka if they help them kill some guys (DE are about taking captives), or the Orks were attacking already and the Dark Eldar joined in and took their side, use your imagination.
*'''Space Marines:''' A Biker Captain and a Bike Squad would work well, for much the same reason as a Kult of Speed list.
*'''Space Wolves:''' Coming soon.
*'''Tau Empire:''' Dark Eldar are very much a shooting army (at least in 6th edition), although in a very different way than Tau. As such, Tau have little we actually need; they don't have any infantry units with actual staying power, nor are their tanks so radically better than ours that we might be tempted to take one (and remember, you would only be able to take one). The one thing they ''do'' have is easy access to Skyfire, which Dark Eldar absolutely lack. Also, Riptides. And Riptides are so absolutely amazing that you might be tempted to ally with Tau just for one of them. In any case, the best option is probably a Commander with a Crisis Squad, kitted out to fill any holes in your shooting firepower (and if you ally with Farsight Enclaves, that Crisis Squad can be Troops!), with a Riptide as a [[DISTRACTION CARNIFEX]] of sorts (after all, who'll shoot at your Raiders and Venoms when there's a Riptide over there?). Don't forget that a Riptide with the Heavy Burst Cannon and a Velocity Tracker is a pretty scary AA unit (12 Skyfiring Rending S6 shots? OW.) in addition to a fire magnet. You could also try a gunline detachment with a Cadre Fireblade and a squad of Fire Warriors (and maybe some missile-packing Broadsides), although they probably won't last much longer than regular Kabalite Warriors.  Perhaps you could have a few Dark Eldar combat units to make people think twice about attacking the Tau in combat (Fire Warriors are a less promising target for CC if there's an allied Beastmaster pack or Incubi unit next to them).  In any case, you don't have to worry much about One Eye Open, since your Dark Eldar are more than able to range far ahead and away from your Tau allies.
**Also, don't Kroot just ''feel'' like a Dark Eldar unit? Wouldn't it be great if there was a Master Shaper HQ and you could just take an all-Kroot allied detachment? Oh well...