SpiritFox22

Have the spreus been sighted?? I was just thinking it was disappointing there where no special weapons. Yeah they're in the Octarius thread page 18

Title says it all. What do you hope will happen to the Dark Kin when we get our codex? Personally I'd prefer an expanded Mandrake line and the return of Kheradruakh the Mandrake King. That and a slight reduction in our Chronos/Talos points costs.

As nasty as the gatling cannon would be I doubt we're gonna get something with that many shots. For variant weapons were probably looking at something closer to an elite infantry killing option like an autocannon with heavy 4/6 str 7 ap-2/1 (might go lower shots but higher ap). Plus an anti hoard which probably follows the gatling cannon but more likely at heavy 12 if we're lucky. If that happens I'll be picking up a couple to help with my dragoons deleting mass hoards, if not I might snag 1 just to paint.

Understandably, main selling point for the TA is Str 7 AP -2 D1d3 and the ability to snipe characters at stupid long distances (60") with a semi reliable shooting thanks to Stratagems. Rangers lend themselves to being a niche unit since they're fishing for 6's to get what should be a natural ap-1 on their guns. (But that would've taken away Primarus's point if you could've slapped a much cheaper unit to that same job.) So Rangers tend to be rather unused due to inconsistently being able to do much in terms of damage so the TA gives them a niche of back field campers with a strong gun to snipe characters where getting a 6 is a bonus not what you need to do anything. So the TA gives you're opponent a "scary sniper" that needs to be eliminated or their pretty little characters or gonna get popped from the other end of the map and the usual options for taking care of it (other infantry) cant get into range for a turn or two so they tend to direct their heavier weapons to eliminate a rather cheap unit and if they don't you've got free reign to eliminate their characters either way it's win/win since the rest of your army either doesn't get hit as hard thanks to them pulling a good distraction or the Rangers get another round of putting the hurt on some characters.

TA's have served me pretty well. Generally they're not amazing but they definitely do their job in most cases. I typically run 2x per 5 man rangers in 2-3 groups and park them in cover with omnispexs. So far they have wither made their points back or pulled fire away from my other units when they snipe mid level characters off the map. I mean they're the best snipers in the game and fishing for 6's is a bonus for them instead of the only thing you need. Strong enough to punch armor in a pinch and decent ap.

With the DE both wyches and Kab warriors are decent troop choices for how you want to play. Kab are your firepower and work well against anything but armor due to the splinter rule. Wyches are fast melee that can potentially tie up a unit with their no escape rule and drown them in cheap attacks.

Well Dark Eldar are definitely a good choice for a fast moving/hitting army. If speed is what's important I suggest snagging wyches since they have a base 8-10" move depending on if you give them combat drugs. Reavers got a mid sized NERF as the old clustered caltrops no longer adds a chunk of HoW. Plus the heat lance isn't very threatening to armor anymore due to str 6. Hellions are now decent anti hoard thanks to their pods. As for Scourges (the flying guys) they're one of your only deep strikers besides Mandrakes. Scourges should be either barebones with splinter carbines or maxed with dark lances. Just don't expect the lance variant to survive after their initial volley. Our transports got the expected price hike but are still about the same, though twin splinter rifles are better IMO than a second cannon on a venom. Just remember one thing. DE are glass cannons who can fail like a house of cards in an earthquake against a smart opponent.

From the index units I've personally had a decent run with most of the units. Our HQ's are weak in most scenarios comparably to the SM equivalent. Not much use/need for named ones when the unnamed have similar auras. Wyches and Kabalites are good at what they do for their points, just decide whether you want minutes or max squads before you start building. Mandrakes and Scourges are our two deepstrikers that work exceedingly well together. They're both fire magnets due to damage output. Honestly the only unit I don't think is worth much has to be Wracks. But that's more personal preference than anything.

Any chance someone can post the pictures on this page? Asking as I cant access the sites from my work computer.

Honestly I've been having it a bit rough in my area. Though my meta tends to either be maxed hoards or Razorback spam. But that's more due to my old ultra aggressive play style where I expected to win or lose round one, which still happens but more from me not leveraging my advantages. So far I've noticed a few things when I don't jump headfirst into the entire enemies gun-line. The Good 1) Mandrakes are king for :cussing with opponents characters turns 2-3 thanks to their deepstrike and guns usually averaging 1-2 mortal wounds on a 5 man squad. 2) Venom spam isn't as powerful as it used to be due to Splinter cannons being Rapid 3, but are still a good option. 3) Diss Cannons are flat out superior to Dark lances on Ravagers from my experience. The Meh 1) Kabalite Warriors are decent, don't really expect them to do much since the old "Dies to a stiff breeze unless in cover" clause is still in effect. 2) Wyches aren't instantly ignored anymore since if you give a unit the +2" movement they're a fast trap unit and can soak some fire now. The Junk 1) All the HQ's aren't really worth much minus the Court 2) Wracks, they're borderline useless from what I've played, the only fun weapon they get they can only take 1 of and the damage output of it ensures it can never make it's points back before it gets wiped off the map.

Honestly if Russ ends up coming back soon I honestly doubt we're going to get anything besides Wolfy McWolferson Wulfen Russ who's entire existence is being a beatstick. Though that's just more my issue's with the 40k line of the wolves, when I read the fluff they were Vikings with respect to the deadliest thing on their planet the Wolves, but apparently "respect" turned into obsession when the sculptors got a hold of them. Though if I could wish list how Russ came back I'd love it if he came back battered and scarred from 10k years in the warp. Instead of being turned "murder-hobo" Wulfen, I'd honestly like to see Russ return maybe missing an arm, turning from Fenrir to Tyr, and being more level headed using what little of the 13th company to their fullest.

Honestly I'm in the same boat as Crimson with the Dark Eldar. Just not in the sense of Anti-Tank. In my area I seem to have good luck running multiple squads of Wyches with literally nothing tacked on and multiple Ravagers + Diss cannons x3 as a core. With everything wounding everything now I don't need the wholesale punch of lances to knock pegs off of my enemies tanks and IMO more shots lower str > less with higher str. Now personally I have a bit of an obsession with Mandrakes in this edition, more due to them being my new character killers thanks to the mortal wounds. Plus they generally req a bit more firepower that what should be needed to take them off the map.

Personally with my Mandrakes I've been in the habit of putting down two units of 5 over a 10 man blob. They put out a decent amount of shots and with two groups they absorb more firepower. My strategy is for them to hit the Characters and maybe put a wound or two on their heavy support. With Scourges I run them as Suicide squads with either max blasters or dark lances dedicated to nuking one thing before getting wiped out the next turn from return fire. Scourges to me are a very expensive suicide unit, running them barebones make them anti infantry/hoard which they do decently but so does a 10 man Kabalite squad in a Raider, but with AT firepower they become a "must kill" unit just so the enemy can keep their tanks alive. To me both are suicide squads that do well in that role, Mandrakes seem to survive better due to their rules, while Scourges are a bigger threat in their shorter lives. Dropping both makes things fun and definitely screw with opponents plans if used correctly.

Sounds like your friend is using them as a Distraction Carnifex like how they should be. They're just a perfect balance of "I cant leave them alone but I cant focus too much without suffering for it"

I've played only a few games with my Mandrakes and honestly I find them good jacks of all trades because of their baleblast. Definitely my preferred unit for sniping characters out of armies (Nurgle/Nids/IG). They do their job well and so far take far more in their points to take out.