Editing Warhammer 40,000/5th Edition Tactics/Dark Eldar (section)

===Heavy Support===
*'''Ravager''' - The old reliable Ravager can now move at cruising speed and fire all it's weapons - but with a 36" range, you don't need to move that deep in the field. If you're taking a Raider/Venom/Fast Attack heavy army, these are the preferable Heavy Support option, unless you're in a game with high enough points that a Voidraven becomes an option. Disintegrator cannons got nerfed hard because they killed the shit out of Space Marines, and we can't have that. Splinter cannons are better for infantry murder, anyway.
*'''Talos Pain Engine''' - The classic Dark Eldar Monstrous Creature. Upgraded from its previous edition with a nice slew of customizable options, the Engine can be kitted out for infantry-hunting, tank-slaying, or any variant thereof. However, it's slow...in a Dark Eldar army. It's *tough* as far as Dark Eldar units go, but unlike most of the other Heavy Supports, does not pack lances. If you do take these guys, bring enough Jetbikes or similarly-sized models to keep them able to claim cover, as they don't like being hit by anti-tank weapons. Since you are taking a hit anti-tankwise when bringing these models, and are not fast enough to really benefit from the Heat Lance, the Haywire Blaster is a fair prospect for this torture-device. Half of Dark Eldar shooting is keeping enemy vehicles from firing as you move into position anyway.
*'''Chronos Parasite Engine''' - A mini-Talos that distributes pain tokens to nearby units. Good, but all your other units may be out of range by the time this monstrous creature starts feeding on souls. Like its big brother, the Talos, one of the best ways to get it into place quickly is in a Haemonculi Army with a webway portal carrier.
*'''Razorwing Jetfighter''' - Two Dark Lances and an available Splinter Cannon make the jet a very strong option for both tank and infantry hunting, and the four free Large Blast missiles are excellent against infantry squads; the Necrotoxin missiles are recommended, as is the disintegrator upgrade, because this vehicle works best as an infantry killer. It has the built in ability to deepstrike, so keep it in reserve against mech-happy lists until your Ravagers and Blaster Trueborn crack the vehicles. The disembarking and explosion rules mean they are clustered nice and easy for a pair of missiles to nuke them. Deploy it quickly against footsloggers and horde armies - four necrotoxin missiles, a splinter cannon, and 6 disintegrator shots supporting swarms of trueborn and warrior venoms can cripple an Ork or Tyranid army in one turn and table them in two. For the cost, it's a rather flexible model.
*'''Voidraven Bomber''' - AV 11 on front and sides. Two strength 9 weapons. A Blast Strength 9 weapon. This thing's going to draw a lot of fire very fast, and for good reason. For added fun, toss on Implosion Missiles and watch Terminators weep. Note that there's no logical reason for you to take Monoscythe Missiles with it, because Necrotoxin Missiles cost the exact same and are so much better it's actually crazy.
* '''Reaper''' ([[http://www.forgeworld.co.uk/Downloads/Product/PDF/r/Reaper.pdf Forgeworld]]) - Forgeworld made a model for the Dark Eldar. ''And now the Horsemen are riding.'' At 135 points with a built in aethersail, this heavy support option is halfway between a Ravager and a Raider - no transport capacity, but a single heavy weapon that functions like a cross between a 3rd edition Disintegrator canon (2 firing strength options) and a haywire blaster. It also has a rule that functions somewhat similar to rending. It is an interesting variant, but probably not worth the price (both points and pounds) compaired to the more-likely-to-hit Ravager option.
* '''Tantalus''' - our second horseman of the Forgepocalypse, and apparently the last Dark Eldar model that FW will be putting out for the foreseeable future due to sculpting difficulties (Dark Eldar vehicles made from the standard Citadel plastic are fragile, so one made of Forgeworld resin must be about as sturdy as a rice cake), the Tantalus is a gigantic dual-hulled raider. With Av 12 12 10 and a flickerfield, it is a little bit more survivable, but only a little bit, probably not enough to make up for a 200+ point investment. It is able to put out a respectable 12 disintegrator shots, has aerial assault, and has the reaver-like ability to do D6 S7 AP2 hits to a single unit with a toughness value or a single S7 hit to a vehicle it goes flat out over. It also has a very awkward Transport capacity of 16, ruling out what could have been a strong 20 Warriors with 2 Splinter Cannons/Dark Lances unit. 15 Warriors and the Duke still sounds tempting, but 14-15 Wyches with Lelith/a Succubus/an Archon, and/or a Haemonculus may be preferable. Want to put all your eggs in one expensive, open-topped basket? Go ahead. Or fuck all reason and have fun with a Haemonculus and 7 Grotesques.
* '''Raven''' - An old as balls FW model. Used to be a dedicated flyer (and can still serve as one in apocalypse), but is now a fast, supersonic, aerial assaulting skimmer with deep strike, and it can reroll the scatter if it's within 12" of another skimmer (or flyer in apocalypse games. Mounts a twin-linked dark lance and  a heavy 10 splinter cannon. A cheap craft for 125, though fragile with only AV10 all around.