Meat is murder - dark eldar analysis

I'll be playing dark eldar for the first time in an RTT tomorrow. It's 2000 points.

NOTE - Had to work on Saturday so no RTT for me. :'((



Here is my abbreviated list:

HQ
Vect
Succubus - agonizer, blast pistol, haywire grenades

Troops
9x Wyche incl. Hekatrix - haywire grenades & hydra gaunlets; agonizer & blast pistol
Raider - flickerfield, shock prow, aethersails & tormentor grenade launcher

10x Warrior incl. Syrabite - blaster & splinter cannon; venom blade & splinter pistol
Raider - flicker field

10x Warrior incl. Syrabite - blaster & splinter cannon; venom blade & splinter pistol
Raider - flickerfield

Elites
8x Trueborn incl. Drachon - 3x blaster, splinter cannon & 3x shard carbine; agonizer & blast pistol
Raider - flickerfield

8x Incubi incl. Klaivex - demiklaives
Raider - flickerfield, aethersails & shock prow

Fast Attack
6x Reaver jetbike incl. Arena Champion - 2x heat lance; agonizer & cluster caltrops

Heavy Support
Voidraven - flickerfield & shatterfield mine


Vect attachs to the Incubi and the Succubus attachs to the Wyches.

NOTE - This is my list to the best of my memory. My Army Builder list is in my car. So I might be off just a tad.


Army Analysis
* The Succubus is in my opinion the best deal in the codex for an HQ choice. Built as listed she costs around 105 points. She can go toe to toe with lots of enemy HQ and she's never let me down.
* I like to run Vect simply for the fear factor plus he is the very best the codex has to offer for melee. I love his grenades - S10 AP3 blast template with BS8, it rarely ever scatters and can punish many enemy units... it's just brutal! I have learned the hard way you must keep attached to another unit. Their is always the temptation to run him solo but T3 is just too much of a liability - don't do it!
* Always keep an eye out for a potential multi charge against inferior enemy units - you can sweep several units quickly in melee and generate multiple pain tokens in one turn. Keep your HQ attached to their retinues... They are better protected as such plus you don't have to split your pain tokens.
* I don't use Haemonculi. My army generates pain tokens over the course of a game. Just make sure to protect your Wyches before they engage the enemy in melee. I see Haemonculi basically as a waste of points when there are other much better HQ choices to choose from such as Archons and the sensational Succubus. While I realize this flies in the face of conventional wisdom it has worked very well for me so far. Pick out weakened enemy units for the easy pain tokens as the game progresses - this goes hand in hand with the philosophy to kill off one enemy unit first then proceed to the next target. One pain token at the beginning of the game will net you FNP for one unit - that's it. An Archon or Succubus can slice and dice through multiple enemy units generating more pain tokens over the course of a game so I think the points are best invested as such. You can't often win a game in the first two turns but if your strength grows over the stretch you'll be in a better position to win as the game winds down to the final two turns. Plan ahead and execute accordingly - that is my motto and I'm sticking to it til the bitter end!
* I used to run two Voidravens but I have found that only running one the opponent is much less interested in shooting at it. I've used these spare points to buff up the rest of my units and it's paid off quite well. The lone Voidraven starts in reserve then arrives kiting around my backfield plinking off shots at enemy armor. S9 lance is an ace.
* My army is designed to quickly move up close to the enemy line, blast away at enemy mech then engage them in close combat. Every unit has some form of assault and can join in melee if needed. I prefer to keep the Warriors and Trueborn in the midfield to shoot. I've got enough blasters and lances on the Raiders to shoot at mech.
* I can't say enough good things about the combination of shock prow and aethersails on Raiders. They can reliably take out AV13 and even AV14 with a bit of luck. It's not a problem to hit side armor either. I dump my two assault units into melee then either ram mech or tank shock enemy infantry units. The Raiders have broken TWC forcing them to flee off the table.
* The Reavers are another tool to demech the enemy. I use them and the Voidraven to pop big hairy mech like Leman Russes and landraiders. It's always good to have some redundancy built into your army when you can afford it.

Conclusion
I in no way, shape or form profess to be a top dark eldar player. What I have presented above is what works best for me. My army has many elements of the gunboat style of play plus I have some heavy hitters come time to assault. Tomorrow I'll put it all to the my first real test at the tourney level. Barring horrid dice I think I can do well so be expecting some batreps soon.

Peace out,
G