I'd like to put my thoughts down on the Dark Eldar fliers, and how they compete against each other and with others in their Force Org slots. With few exceptions, a unit isn't a list and how a unit works with the army is always a pretty large factor in how, and if, you want to bring something along. There's always the "for fun" factor, but that doesn't mean we can't still try to make it work. I find it hard to analyze something without considering quite a few different elements, most of which is how it functions, how it compares to other selections, if it's worth it's points for what it brings, and what am I hoping it'll achieve. There are other variables, of course, but as a general guideline every review or tactic can't really be considered until serious playtesting is complete.
First lets analyze Dark Eldar as a whole. Keeping in mind what they are generally good at, what they need to protect their weaknesses, and what they don't really need more help with. Dark Eldar are good at creating lightning fast strikes, turbo-boosting away from serious firepower death, and manipulating saves out of thin air (like Jink). They excel at killing higher toughness things better than anyone else, and point for point get more out of their army against larger point sinks that aren't harder for them to kill then any other model. For example, 4 Space marines being shot with Splinter Rifles are just as easy to kill as a Hive Tyrant (or grounded Flyrant). The same is true for taking down vehicles, as Dark Lances are just as effective against a drop pod as their are against a much more expensive Land Raider or Imperial Knight. So this leads to the general weaknesses of the army: Too many vehicles, too many hordes.
As a race with few flamers (expensive ones that are only Str 3 ones at that), the answer to anti-vehicle and anti-horde is locked in the same vehicle types: The Razorwing Jetfighter and the Voidraven Bomber.
Both easily come equipped with Dark/Void Lances, and both have default ways to deal with massive blobs, or at least hard to kill ones.
Razorwing Jetfighter
---------------------------
The difficulty in fielding the generally cheap Razorwing is that it's a Fast Attack. Scourges and Reavers supply amazing ground support and can form the backbone of your army. Scourges are the best option, sans allies, at dealing with vehicles, and Reavers can easily be the best unit to do whatever needs to be done with the correct set-up. The Razorwing is the only Fast Attack that really pumps out anti-infantry and anti-horde firepower while being pretty durable and not cause you to pull your hair out against other vehicles. I'd see no problem sticking two in every list if we had a detachment that allowed 8 Fast Attack slots, but barring a future flier formation (dear god, that'd be great!), we have to decide between combinations of these three units. Even if you bring along two HQ slots to grab a second Dark Eldar detachment for a majestic 12 Fast Attack choices, I'd imagine it'd be hard to justify the troop tax.
The set up I'm pretty sold on is x2 Dark Lances, Splinter Cannon, Night Shields, and Monoscythe Missiles. It's possible the price tag may have jumped up more than I'd like, and removing the splinter cannon could be a real option. So far I'm really liking Raiders with Splinter Racks, so I'm not too worried about 1 more full BS weapon to shoot at FMCs, but FMCs are a serious threat in some lists. A Flyrant will absolutely wreck your day, so a turn 2 Razorwing coming on will really threaten one. A flyrant will be much less scary when it needs to Jink to save itself (or die relatively easily otherwise). Being able to shoot down trouble Daemons would be nice, although most flying Daemons will probably be sitting on a 4+ re-rollable (Fateweaver) or casting Shrouding for a 2+ Jink. So even the Splinter Cannon isn't really saving you. Both of those armies do some serious horde spamming, either spitting them out with a Tervigon or Summoning them in - so you'll be mighty happy to have 4 Large Blasts to toss around the field.
Voidraven Bomber
-------------------------
This beast is the best and probably the most consistent threat you can add to your army. AV 10 is paper, but their isn't that much skyfire being tossed around. Proper terrain allows you to get a 3+ if there's a nice ruin that can block you a good deal, and that'll prevent any necessity from Jink. You're really only competing with Ravagers in this slot, because if you want to play Talos (which I feel are really solid), you're much, much better either bringing a Coven detachment or finding room for a formation with a Talos in it. Ravagers are a great threat for all turns of the game, and have the distinct advantage of liking your backfield. But even then, do you need three? Two Ravagers feels like a great idea, but do you upgrade to three? Or is it time to start looking at the Voidraven Bomber at this stage? Being Str 9 lance is a huge deal, even if you have 1 less shot, since smaller vehicles can be stripped a bit more quickly. The Void Mine, however, is a real gem, and properly played will cause ample damage at the correct time. The real decision is whether or not to buy upgrades of any sort for this thing.
The set up I'm happy with is x2 Void Lances and the Void Mine. I'd debate between Night Shields, since delivering the Void Mine is a pretty big priority, and since it's not a shooting attack and is used in your movement phase I'm 90% sure you can still get it delivered after Jinking. Adding Missiles will drastically increase the price, but likewise increase it's killing power. I'd never default to any Missile choices, but would heavily consider adding some depending on the rest of my army. Being able to have something deal with hordes is why the fliers are around, and even dropping the bomb is a bit unreliable, although it being considered Barrage is extremely lovely I'd still want some sort of large blast missiles to toss out to deal with trouble units, and I don't care if it's from the Razorwing or the Voidraven as long as they are there.
Razorwing Jetfighter vs. Voidraven Bomber
---------------------------------------------------------
Ideally I think bringing one of each in every list is good idea. Fliers aren't as big a deal as before, but certain fliers -need- to be dealt with. The fact that Dark Eldar fliers are amazing anti-infantry AND anti-tank, you're not really losing anything from bringing them along, but gaining a LOT. Both fight over other solid options in their respective slots, and that plays the largest factor in when to bring which and how many of each.
Against the Current Meta (Why anti-horde?)
----------------------------------------------------------
The current meta is filled with vehicles and troubles for the Dark Eldar. They are trouble that the Dark Eldar are capable of handling pretty well no matter what kind of list is created, but there are still a few really strong skew lists that will devour unprepared Dark Eldar. Tau and Tyranids feel like the strongest candidates for anti-Dark Eldar. Wave Serpents are strong, but our guns are plentiful and aren't going to reliably explode any vehicle in one shot, so glancing something to death is already our plan (so focus fire and swarm). Tau are going to ignore cover all over the place, but we're able to outdistance their markerlights for a serious alpha strike. Being able to deal with pathfinders, crisis suits, and fire warriors in mass numbers is huge. A Grey Knight Dreadknight is going to ruin your day, but Grey Knights don't fire at the sky so well, so dealing with them out of their reach is handy (this isn't an anti-horde perk for bringing a flier, but just generally a perk against a dangerous foe).
Summary
-----------
When building any list, it comes down to starting with the staples and adding to that. You want to cover certain grounds and be able to deal with certain things and either of these aerial beasts will cover the inherent weakness of Dark Eldar. Str 6 large blast templates can hurt the majority of things in the game, and Dark Lances and Void Lances means you aren't resigned to have a one role unit. The only weakness that is solely on the shoulders of these fliers is their inability to claim or contest objectives. How you want to build the rest of your army is going to determine how many of either of these you want to bring along to complement your choices and tactics.
No comments:
Post a Comment