My Dark Eldar Army Unit Tactica

After playing numerous pick-up games and in a handful of tournaments, I'm very happy with how my Dark Eldar army has evolved.  In all of my losses I can pin-point mistakes that swing the game in my opponents favor.  I take the full blame for these mistakes, and am fairly confident my current army has just about all the tools it needs to take on most tournament armies.  The hard part with both Eldar and Dark Eldar is that it's such an unforgiving army that one mistake, small or otherwise, can often cost you the game.  All you can do as a gamer is keep practicing, learn what to do in specific situations, and continue to evolve your tactics.  It doesn't help that I'm relatively new to the competitive scene, and the first time I see some of these units / unit combinations is during a tournament game. 

Having said that here's a breakdown of what I've learned about my army composition in the past two tournaments (Sprue Posse Grand Prix and LA Battle Bunker Mini-GT).

Wracks:
Great Against:
Non Assault units with minimal power weapons.  If you're able to get FNP, there's a good chance you can outlast your opponent in close combat. Liquifiers are really hit or miss.  Sometimes you only cause one wound, other times you can nearly wipe a squad.

Bad Against:
Assault based units that have a chance to ignore your FNP (Terminators, Genestealers, Vanguard Veterans, etc...).

Wyches:
Great Against:
Units with powerfists or TH/SS Terminators.  Sure they wound you on 2's, but you still get your invulnerable.  Wyches used to be a great tarpit unit (and still are if they're fearless), but I've found they usually don't do enough wounds to win combat and are prone to running away.  By sticking an IC with them like Vect or a Succubus, they are much better equipped to actually win combat.

Bad Against:
Units with toughness higher than 4, units with massed attacks (Orks, Wracks, etc...) and assault based units.  In the Mini-GT I sent my Wyches in to beat up some Grey Hunters, lost combat by one, and broke.  My new motto for assaults is that unless you're sure you can take them out, don't chance it.  Ditto goes for Wracks.

Warriors:
Great Against:
The small Warrior squads can be used either to take a pot shot at something with an AV, or inflict wounds on a regular unit.  I've found that when they're within rapid fire range, the amount of firepower they put out is a nice bonus.  I usually hold them in my backfield near my own objectives, while I send out my Wracks and Wyches to get my opponents.

Bad Against:
If their vehicle blows up, chances are 1-2 are going to be lost to the explosion.  It's almost best to drop them off in cover somewhere strategic and keep their transport 4-5" away in case they need to make a quick escape.  Don't let them get assaulted, it won't be pretty.  They also give up easy KP's which is why I much prefer to have them as defenders, as opposed to on the front lines.

Trueborn:
Great Against:
Armor.  The downside is it usually take 1-2 turns to get them into position, but my turn 2 volley is usually pretty potent.  Move these guys towards armor or things with a 2+ save and they'll become target priority #1 for your opponent.  The nice thing is that Ravagers are actually a more intimidating target, so the Trueborn can roam around untouched for a few rounds.  They're great in the midfield.

Bad Against:
See Warriors.  They're incredibly fragile if they get shot out of their vehicle. 

Ravagers:
Great Against:
AV targets at range.  Slap Night Shields on them and most things will have to work in order to target them.  I think it's wise for most Dark Eldar players to use 3 Ravagers and 1-2 Trueborn units as the basis for their army.

Bad Against:
Heavy weapons with a 48" range.

Venoms:
Great Against: 
Long Fangs, Lootas, Terminators, Monstrous Creatures... just about anything with a T value that poses a threat to your army.  Volume of fire is your friend.

Bad Against:
Mass S4+ shots.  Rapid firing Marines, Heavy Bolters, Assault Cannons, etc... Night Shields helps with this stuff (6" rapid fire range), but volume of fire is your enemy.

Raiders:
Great Against:
Getting your 10-man squads to where they need to be.  After Ravagers go around firing 3 shots, and your Venoms firing 12 shots, your Raiders will likely be ignored for a couple of turns.  You can take pot shots here and there, but moving 24" and getting your dudes where they need to be is just as good.

Bad Against:
See Venoms.

Vect:
Great Against:
Just about everything.  7 attacks on the charge with a 3+ re-roll to hit and a 3+ to wound.  4-5 dead Marines per charge.  I will occasionally take a Succubus instead of Vect, and while she doesn't offer the same CC punch (or force multiplier - see 4+ to seize), her strengths and weaknesses are comparable.

Bad Against:
Things with S6+ - I've found the Shadow Field will fail you at just the wrong time.  The other major downside to Vect is when his squad takes massive fire, and are forced to make a break check.  Getting his squad up to 3 pain tokens is a big plus.  I usually stick him with a Wrack squad as that T4 and pain token to start the game is big.  He can't fleet, but if he gets shot out of a transport he's more survivable.

Haemonculi:
Great Against:
I don't use the Haemonculi for much except getting a pain token into my Wych squad.  If I have the points I'll throw a Liquifier or Venom Blade on him, but it's not required. 

Bad Against:
The downside of having a Haemonculi in a Wych squad is losing the ability to fleet.  Often times I'll separate the two, transfer the pain token to the Wyches and leave the Haemonculi on board.  However, this leaves the Haemonculi and Raider vulnerable as two easy KP's.

Coming up next I'll go over Dark Eldar Tactica for various missions.