*WARNING LONG POST*

Here for criticism


NECRONS VS DARK ELDAR

HQ

Lord: The monster of most dark eldar lists they are easily capable but butchering everything in the kill zone with up to a S6 power weapon. With a 2+ inv save they can be awkward to deal with, however only being T3 and a 5+ normal armour save if you pepper whichever unit the lord is with some S6 firepower you can probably instant kill him on the first 1 rolled on the shadow field. Pure close combat effectiveness and an obscene it tends to prohibit dealing with them in combat unless you feel very lucky. They’ll also tend to travel in an ever-fragile raider in order to reach combat so if you can work out which one contains the lord down it fast.

Retinue: Containing either warriors or the incredible incubi allowing them to be quite flexible as well as survivable. Usually though its just incubi and for good reason. 2 attacks each at I5 with S4 power weapons and a 3+ save makes them the bane of just about anything, particularly when you include the lords attacks as well. The disadvantage to the unit is their reliance on transport as their armour prohibits fleet of foot making them quite slow for dark eldar. Be very wary of incubi led by a lord, they’re an expensive unit but a full unit of 9 with a lord can take on and kill entire units in 1 round of combat without too much of a problem.

Haemonculi: More of a fun unit than something to be too wary of, their weapons will wound on set rolls but are not power weapons, the destructor is worth keeping an eye on though, a flamer with a variable AP value (d6) it could potentially give you a headache by scorching a whole load of warriors.

ELITES

Wyches: One of the best combat units going but luckily they can’t deal with decent armour saves. They’ll reduce your WS, cancel out bonus attacks and boost their own armour in combat but only the squad leader is a real threat. They can hold up a unit for an age but considering you can teleport out and shoot them they wont last long and shouldn’t make too much of an impact. T3 and a 6+ save for shooting they rely on raider to reach combat intact. Again find the raider, shoot it down and pick them off at your leisure.

Warp Beasts: Just a quick note on warp beasts. They are a free unit (don’t use a force org slot) but can only be included if the army includes wyches. They’re a very fast unit with fleet and a 12” assault, have plenty of attacks but again, only the leader can get through the armour. Also with a max size of 6 (5 beasts and a leader) they shouldn’t be hard to drop in 1 turns shooting

Grotesques: These could be annoying for necrons to deal with as they cant be hurt by anything less than S6 shooting and your destroyers will have far more pressing things to deal with. A few failed Ld tests could land units shooting ineffectively at them. However in combat they can be cut up normally, T3 2W and no save also makes them easy prey for wraiths to instant kill.

Mandrakes: Not much you can do about them at first due to their unique deployment which is 3 “blips” that cant be stopped moving around as infantry until the third turn when one of the blips becomes the full unit and if in range promptly charges. If they’re not in combat then they still get a boosted cover save that makes them a bit harder to get rid of. Mostly they are for disruption, as long as you’ve got the ability to teleport out of combat you’ll be fine as again they are S3 and again don’t have power weapons.

TROOPS

Warriors: Basic squads are cheap and numerous, 8 points each for a mostly 4 statline with a rapid fire weapon, however T3 and 5+ armour mean you can mow them down with little effort. The basic squads tend to either be 10 strong with 2 dark lances or larger (about 16) with splinter cannons and special weapons. Luckily the monolith is immune to lances armour reduction so they’ll only glance on a 6 but they could still drop warriors quite easily. The larger units will be advancing trying to lay down as much firepower as possible and probably have an agoniser on the leader (power weapon that always wounds on 4+ and glances vehicles on a 6). They will cover ground quickly using fleet of foot to get close for the most shots the next turn. You’ll need to deal with them but other things will take precedence.

Raider Squads: Largely the same as warriors but can only take 1 heavy and one special and are 5-10 men. These units will always have an agoniser on the leader and will usually head for combat as cheap support to the units that’ll mess you up. I’ll also detail the raider as these squads have to be mounted. Mainstay to the dark eldar army and a pain in the ass to everyone else. They’re fast skimmers and as such move like lightning, most importantly they’re open-topped so the occupants will charge on the turn they jump off. Luckily open-topped gives them some major drawbacks, +1 to damage rolls on an armour 10 vehicle makes them very vulnerable. They also pack a heavy weapon which means they’ll still be useful after they dropped troops off. Unfortunately your opponent doesn’t have to tell you which raider holds which unit as long as its noted down somewhere so watch carefully on deployment to work out which one should be the lords and make sure that it gets dropped fast.

FAST ATTACK

Hellions: The one unit I’ve never really used, from what I can see it’s a fast-moving combat unit with a 6+ inv to keep them save from shooting but for some reason they then have a rapid fire weapon. Used more for show than effectiveness really though they do get a strength bonus its that problem with dealing with armour combined with a smaller unit size than warriors

Reavers: One of the most versatile units for dark eldar they are jetbikes with all the speed advantages that brings as well as getting a boosted strength, toughness and armour save. There are 2 main configurations for reaver units. The first is a unit of 3-5 with 2 blasters and an agoniser normally used for tank-hunting, luckily the effectiveness is greatly reduced by how tough the monolith is, however they can also run disruption and pick off isolated units of destroyers. The second config that you’ll be far more likely to see outside of tournaments is a combat unit, these number 8-10 with an agoniser and sometimes 2 shredders/blasters. These units boost turn 1 then let rip with rapid fire (stable firing platform allows them to charge afterward) to weaken a unit then swarm over it in assault.

HEAVY SUPPORT

Ravager: This baby got a serious boost in 4th Ed with the new vehicle rules for defensive weapons. Now one of these with 3 disintegrators can either sit still and let rip with 3 plasma cannon equivalents or move quickly and let loose with a hail of S4 AP3 shots. With dark lances its not as mobile and you’re not as likely to see now. Luckily its still open-topped and only AV11 so it shouldn’t be too hard to drop and should be sooner rather than later.

Scourges: Less useful now they can’t be screened due to the cost and how fragile they are but they can still pack a hell of a mobile punch with splinter cannons. With jump packs and assault and rapid fire weapons expect even a squad of 6 to put out 16 shots at 24” and 19 at 12”. However as with most things in the dark eldar list it wont rip through armour other than with weight of firepower. They can take 4 dark lances but as they tend to lose the mobility and without being screened can be dropped in seconds.

Talos: One of the most fun units in the list and also the hardest to kill and second biggest threat. Its got T7, 3W and 3+ armour, it can jump terrain and gets up to 7 attacks on the charge. Luckily it only moves at infantry pace and the attacks are D6, it has however got S6 power weapons. If there are multiple of them you may have your work cut out contending with dropping the raiders and then ensuring these drop before they reach you.






TRICKS

The dark eldar list, true to its fluff is fast, fragile and full of tricks. So many tricks and little special rules that many are all too easy to forget in the middle of a game. I’ll give you an overview of the most common items you are likely to see and effects to watch out for as well as special rules that its worth keeping track of.

Wargear:

Combat Drugs: wargear for lords usually and pretty much compulsory. Varied effects that make the dark eldar lord a terrifying prospect (re-rolls to hit, boosted strength, boosted attacks). The thing to remember with these is the use has to be declared at the start of combat as well as how many effects are being used, then roll one dice per effect. A double wounds the lord and a triple kills outright.

Shadow Field: another item you’ll see a lot of as it gives a 2+inv save. However if it’s ever failed then you cant use it again.

Webway Portal: Can’t be taken in conjunction with reaver jetbike or skyboard. Cant move at all for the turn you wish to activate it, including disembarking from a vehicle. Reserves cant come through till the start of the turn after its activated.

Poison Blades: cant use in conjunction with a second weapon for an additional attack.

Slave snares: can only be used when moving 12” or less.

Screaming Jets: vehicle counts as moving over 12”

Rules:

High I: everything in the dark eldar list has high I and wont have trouble running down normal warriors, watch out.

Open-topped: +1 to damage rolls and 2 penetrating/glancing hits from blast weapons and they can assault from disembarking after a potential 12” move.

Taking prisoners: your opponent can only capture prisoners when they run people down in combat or from slave snares. This is worth keeping note of as one item in particular only activates when its bearer captures a prisoner.

Wych combat drugs: rolled at the start of the game there’s a host of effects and which one is rolled is worth making a note of so your opponent doesn’t forget. Abilities: +1S, +1A, 12” assault, fearless, always strike first, +1WS. Available for wyches, hellions and reavers.

Wych weapons: cancel out additional ccw (not really relevant for necrons), reduced WS but only for them attacking you not vice versa.

Warp beasts: if the beastmaster dies the unit disappears.

Ravagers: high power disintegrators and dark lances, to fire more than 1 it cant move over 6” meaning no automatic reduction to glancing hits.






TYPICAL TACTICS:

RAIDER RUSH:
By far the most common involving a few fire support squads (10 men with 2 lances) and then a whole host of raider-mounted units (maybe 6-8 units worth) finally topped with reavers and ravagers.
In at least 1 raider you’ll get a lord with incubi, potentially there could be 2 HQ slots with incubi bodyguards so watch out just in case. There will probably be a wych squad or 2 and the rest of the raiders will be warriors and as such expendable.
Interestingly your opponent doesn’t HAVE to tell you what is in each transport though most people do. What I’d recommend is keeping careful track on what order they are deployed in to work out which ones are troops, HQ and elites.
Highest priority is dropping the lords raider, then it’s a tough choice on what you target as there’ll be wyches, ravagers and reavers all looking to clock up an obscene amount of damage in a short amount of time. I’d advise use anything you can to draw a bead on the lords raider then use the units best able to deal with things. Keep your destroyers behind other units as they can be overwhelmed quite quickly by fast moving units such as reavers. I’d use immortals to take the brunt of reavers, with high toughness and numbers they’ll hold admirably. The destroyers should be targeting the ravagers as they’ll have the range and power to drop then without having to move up too much. If you’re using wraiths then these can either be kept back as a counter or thrown in to wipe out any fire support units the dark eldar player brings along.

WEBWAY JUMP:
This list will be very different to play against as there will be very little until turn 3. Typically it gives webway portals to probably 2 squad leaders or haemonculi in raiders (as the portal cant be used with reavers or skyboards). These will deploy far forward, move 12”, disembark and fleet of foot into cover/out of LOS. Then on turn 2 the portals will open up. Then turn 3 is the tricky one, on turn 3 you’ll get the lords raider complete with incubi being deposited from 1 of the portals, moving 12” in the raider disembarking and tearing a squad to pieces with very little you can do, probably backed up with 2 or 3 talos’ a worryingly short distance from you.
The biggest advantage necrons have against this list is the manoeuvrability and firepower of the destroyers to get in and wipe out the units with the portals in the first turn. Alternatively wraiths or scarabs might be in range to engage them. Rest assured though if you don’t stop the portals from opening it will hurt, a lot. If they do open I’d advise backing away from them to give you a turns grace to weaken whatever comes through.

DARK LANCES:
Some people attempt to break the dark eldar list by (in my mind) breaking away from the fluff and the feel of the army. The armies like this start with 6 units of warriors with 2 lances each, include 3 ravagers or scourge squads with even more lances, elite choices of minimum size purely to take raiders with lances… you get the idea. This army could be quite nasty for necrons but ultimately, even against massed S8 weaponry necrons are more survivable than dark eldar, lay down massed fire from immortals as destroyers will be more vulnerable due to their low numbers, also take advantage of teleporting to get closer to rapid fire them into submission. The main thing to ascertain against this army is which squads have the most lances in them and work your way down removing the most lances possible each turn. Also remember to keep a resurrection orb in with your core of warriors, destroyers and immortals can stand up from S8, warriors can’t.