[Dark Eldar] Thoughts on the Venom

[This pic is from a blog showing how to convert a venom,
please go to the bottom of this post for a link to it]

Hi,

I've been considering what has worked well in my first few Dark Eldar games, and discussing the various units with my mate whose also restarted playing Dark Eldar.

I was concerned about the lack of infantry firepower I had in my list. Most of my firepower came in the form of dark lances, which are great against tanks but overkill against infantry. In my test games my assault units were forced to assault almost untouched enemy units as I didn't have the firepower spare to soften them up first.

I was also didn't feel like the warriors were really pulling their weight, and were only in the list to fill out the troop choices and give me access to another raider dark lance. I thought that if I stripped the warrior squads down to 5 models I could probably fit in a very small unit of Trueborn with the warriors and Trueborn all in venoms. So let's take a look at the Venom.

Comparing the Venom to the Raider there are two main differences. The first is the transport capacity is only 5. As I mentioned previously I don't think incubi at only 5 models are effective, and other assault units need to bigger. Therefore we're left with Trueborn and Warriors that can use them best. The Trueborn can be mini sniper squads with 2 dark lances or can get up close with multiple blasters. The warrior squads in venom are less effective than Trueborn, but have the advantage of being cheap scoring units.

The second main difference is the armament. The Venom has a cannon and can get a second one for only 10 pts. Being defensive weapons both cannons can be fired after moving 12". This can add a lot to softening up enemy infantry squads before wyches charge them, plus it makes monstrous creatures cry.

So let's look at what changes I can make to my current army list to fit in the Venom. I liked the performance of everything in my list apart from the warrior squads so let's lose those:

10 Warriors with Dark Lance, Blaster, transported in Raiders with Aethersails is 190 pts each, so I have 380 pts to play with.

As I'd be worried dropping down to only 4 troop choices let's replace these with:

2 units of 5 Warriors with Blaster each transported in a Venom with a second cannon at 125 pts each, leaving me with 130 pts left to play with. Note that if you don't like warriors, you can have 5 wracks with a liquifier gun for the same cost.

3 Trueborn with 3 Blasters in a Venom with second cannon comes out at 146 pts putting me 16 pts over. In my list I was able to find the points by downgrading an Agoniser to a venom blade and using a spare point I was below the points limit.

So I've lost 4 dark lances, but gained 3 venoms to add anti-infantry and 3 Trueborn blasters to partially make up for the loss of dark lances. I also have more mobile warrior squads. I've lost some models (6 less), but have added an 11th vehicle.

My hope is that the list is more balanced between anti-tank and anti-infantry. My only gripe is that the heavy support has to be 3 ravagers to keep the number of dark lances up to a respectable level (14), meaning my lovely converted Talos doesn't make the list.

My revised list looks like this:

Succubus - 85
Agoniser

Haemonculus - 55
Venom Blade

6 Incubi - 132
in Raider with Dark Lance and Enhanced Aethersail - 65

3 Trueborm with Blasters - 81
in Venom with 2nd Splinter Cannon - 65

9 Wracks - 90
in Raider with Dark Lance and Enhanced Aethersail - 65

9 Wyches with Hekatrix with Venom Blade - 105
in Raider with Dark Lance and Enhanced Aethersail - 65

10 Wyches with Hekatrix with Agoniser - 130
in Raider with Dark Lance and Enhanced Aethersail - 65

10 Wyches with Hekatrix with Venom Blade- 115
in Raider with Dark Lance and Enhanced Aethersail - 65

5 Warriors with Blaster - 60
in Venom with 2nd Splinter Cannon - 65

5 Warriors with Blaster - 60
in Venom with 2nd Splinter Cannon - 65

Ravager with 3 Dark Lances - 105

Ravager with 3 Dark Lances - 105

Ravager with 3 Dark Lances - 105

Total: 1748 Pts, 70 Models (including 11 vehicles), 14 Dark Lances, 6 Splinter Cannons & 5 Blasters

Let's me know what your thoughts on the Venom and/or my revised list are ? What do you think is the right balance between Dark Lances to kill tanks and Splinter/Disintegrator Cannons to kill infantry.

Now I just have to think up the best way to convert the Venom. The picture at the top of this post is from another blog which showed how to convert one from a viper and a raider. Click here to see the blog post.

Rathstar