Hey everyone, Reecius here with a Dark Eldar codex review! As always, check out the Tactics Corner for more great reviews. You can read part 2 of this article here.
Dark Eldar are here! One of my favorite factions in the 40K universe have gotten their 7th edition makeover and there is a lot to like in it, and a lot to not like at all. Let’s dive in and explore the dark underbelly of Eldar culture!
And, usual caveats apply. This is a first reading, some facts may be off, and opinions may (and probably will) change with play experience.
The Good
There’s a lot of good in this book. I think Dark Eldar are going to be able to pull out a number of very powerful builds.
Court of the Archon
This unit is bad ass, now! Wow, they got a huge boost and I think we will be seeing lots of them. The ability to take all of the same model in the unit is great. Medusae particularly, are really good. Each comes with a St4, Ap3 Flamer! Multiply that by 1-12 models in the unit and you have brutal offense or defense. All of the various miscreants in the unit have their strengths, though. Sslyth are solid, beefy units at T5, 2W and a 5+. With 3 Str5 attacks and a Shard Carbine, they are all around useful. The Lhamean too, all with poison 2+ ID on a 6 attacks can really pack a punch, particularly at their low price point. Ur-Ghul are solid, relatively cheap, quick, and with tons of attacks. They’re paper thin, but, not bad at all. The only downside to this unit is that you have to take an Archon to unlock them. The Archon is OK at best. We’ll get to that later, though.
The Succubus
She is much improved. Still not an all-star, but, a solid, affordable and relatively potent assault character. For 5pts less than a T-Fire Cannon, you get a model a 4++ in combat, WS and I8, and 5 Str4 AP2 or 6 Str3 AP3, attacks on the charge, plus PfP (Power from Pain), Combat Drugs, etc. Not bad. Not amazing, but, she does a good job of filling the HQ slot and all of the Combat Drug options are good for her apart from the I booster as at 8, she really doesn’t need to worry about going second! She is also a solid candidate for the Armor of Misery to give a bonus to defense form shooting and the Ld debuff will be applicable more frequently due to her assault nature. Plus, she’s another WWP delivery system!
Haemonculus
Excellent HQ for what you get. T4, FnP, slick wargear, and boost the PfP of their unit by 1. Not bad at all. They provide a good way to get a WWP as well. No FoF still, which means he doesn’t want to go with an assault unit, but honestly, most DE players won’t be bringing many assault units anyway due to their crippling lack of grenades. A Haemy with no upgrades is solid if you plan on sticking him in a DE unit as a cheap way to get a WWP or buff a unit’s PfP as he comes with Poison attacks, FnP, and is T4, making him the most resilient HQ out of the box. If anything, a Scissorhand is not a bad choice if you have spare points. Oh, and he doesn’t have grenades, either…lol.
Kabalite Warriors
They were already good, and got better. With a 1pt decrease per model, they are even more appealing than before. They have a host of weapon options, poison shooting, the standard Dark Eldar army wide buffs, and are in general terms, and excellent all around troops choice. You can run them as min/maxed units with a special or heavy weapon, or take larger units with multiples of the above. The “standard” load out of 5 with a Blaster in a Venom is still fantastic, especially that it is now cheaper, and PfP will help them to stick to objectives late game when they go Fearless (although it also stops them from going to ground which you often want to do at the end of the game, lol). You can even upgrade to a Sybarite if you want to grab a Haywire Grenade to give them a nice little AT option for not too many points. In general though, keep these guys as cheap as possible.
One other consideration for squad load-out is to take 10 in a Raider with Splinter Racks for twin linked goodness, but, it is a bit pricey. However, at close range, this can be pretty devastating and if the Raider Sports a Dark Lance, the unit performs a similar function to the Venom/Blaster combo described above, but with the AT at long range and the AI/AMC at short range.
Trueborn
Trueborn lost a little versatility due to having to come in at least 5 man units, but they still pack a punch for a very versatile points cost. With the ability to take 4 special and 2 heavy weapons in a unit, they can really pack in the firepower. Per usual, a Venom makes the most sense for them as they usually will be min/maxed. Yes they all have 2 attacks and I5, but at T3 with a 5+ and no grenades, don’t bother assaulting with them unless as a last resort.
Mandrakes
Much improved! These guys went from a total joke to really solid. They have fantastic models, too, so I bet we seem them on a lot of tables. They have a boatload of special rules that make them a great skirmishing unit. With Infiltrate, Stealth, Shrouded and Move Through Cover, they are able to get into a good position, stay mobile and put out really solid firepower with their Assault 2, 18″, Str4, Ap4, Soublaze shooting. Nice one! They are very reasonably priced, too. Things that ignore cover murder them though, so be careful. Often, you will either infiltrate these guys and pick away at units, playing to late game objectives, or, outflank them and do the same thing. The key is to be conservative with this unit, and play to their strengths. They can assault if you have to, but remember they have no grenades (gah, why?!?!?), and no armor, so, pretty much everything beats them down. But, at I5, base 2 attacks and strength 4, in the right circumstances they can beat up weak units holding objectives. Just don’t expect too much of them in that regard.
Grotesques
I liked them before, but now they have a really impressive power boost. They are essentially the same as before, but, with Rampage (nice!) and Flesh Gauntlets. That is pretty awesome. Flesh Gauntlets give you Poison 4+, and ID on a to wound roll of a 6. That is really, really good. With base 3 attacks, 1 for 2 melee weapons, and Rampage plus a potential charge bonus, these guys can get up to 8 attacks each, which is bananas! That many attacks means tons of wounds (often wounding on a 3+ with a reroll due to poison) and ID all over the place, these guys will be a major threat to MCs and other multi wound infantry units. Plus, they will just mulch infantry and rear armor 11 and lower vehicles in general with the volume of attacks. Once they get Furious Charge, that is also a nice little boost. I would always take the Aberration upgrade and give him a Scissorhand for the Rending to help deal with 2+armor and vehicles.
The downside is that they pretty much have to have a character escort. With ld3-4, a failed combat or morale check means death. The obvious buddy to go with them is a Haemonculus or Uriento boost their PfP or an Archon with a Shadowfield to tank str10 wounds for them. A Succubus could work, too, although of the 3, she is least appealing, IMO. Oh, and no Grenades…le sigh.
Beastmasters
No, they are not what they were. But, we all saw that coming. While they don’t provide a foundation for the death star of doom that they did before, they are still quite good. They are fast, hit hard, and can be resilient. The big change is that now you can take any mix of whatever you want. You still pretty much have to take a Beastmaster to give them a ld boost, but, if you run them with a fearless character, that won’t be needed. All of the models in the units are solid. The Khymera went down to a 5++, the Razorwing still hits hard with a ton of Rending attacks, and the Clawed Fiend got a lot more appealing with Rage and a reasonable price point for a T5, 3W model with 6 attacks on the charge at I5, that moves as a beast. However, once again, for the love of Khaine, no grenades. Still, this unit provides speed and hitting power and a lot of cool combos and creative units.
Raider
No more Flicker Fields, but, still very good. It is fast, has some good options, packs in good firepower, is cheap, and can transport a unit that shoots from within or assaults out of it. Now with the changes to battle bros, Eldar will really like this as it gives units like Wraithguard, Banshees, Striking Scorpions, Seer Council on foot, etc. a viable delivery vehicle.
Some of the upgrades are good. Shock Prows or Chain Snares are nice to tank shock units off of objectives, the Grissly Trophies allowing rerolls on Ld is also awesome. Night shields are OK, but so expensive for a vehicle this fragile. With Ignores Cover all over the place, I would pass on this one, personally. Aether Sails are a good consideration for last turn objective grabs, and cheap. Splinter Racks, as described above, bear consideration for certain builds, particularly considering Raiders can Deep Strike standard, now. If you find yourself going second against an army that will blow you off the table and doesn’t have tons of Interceptor (stupid Tau!, lol) you can just come in hot on a deep-strike. This makes Raiders really versatile, which is awesome. In general though, keep these as cheap as possible as every point invested into them is a point likely to be lost as they are so fragile.
Venom
Still a premiere infantry and MC murder-machine. Cheap, moves like a butterfly and stings like a bee. The Venom single-handedly upsets the meta. Just ask any Tyranid player what they do not want to see on the other side of the table to understand why. They operate essentially as before, but can now deep-strike. Again, keep them cheap and numerous (and wow can you take a lot of them now!), fight at maximum range and watch anything with a toughness value just melt. The only mandatory upgrade (IMO) is the second Venom Cannon. Beyond that, consider chain snares for the lols of tank-shocking enemy units off of objectives at end game for the win.
Reavers
These guys are very good, now! I think Reavers got a considerable boost. They are now a very solid, multirole unit. For a very reasonable price point, you get a blisteringly fast unit that can perform a wide variety of roles. They can pick away at infantry units, hurt MCs and Vehicles with their Heat Lances or Blasters (for every 3 models, 1 can take one of those options), take late game objectives and are good enough in combat to take on single MCs, and small units really well. With their rending HoW hits, and 1/3 Cluster Caltrops (D6, S6, Rending HoW) striking at I10, they can do some solid damage on the assault and don’t care so much about no Grenades. Particularly against vehicles, this will really help. On top of that, they have Skilled Rider and Hit and Run, which are obviously excellent. PfP and Combat Drugs are also a nice boost. Ignores Cover attacks brutalize these guys, though, so be careful of that.
If only you could give some of the DE HQ choices a bike…le sigh. Oh well, an Autarch or Farseer on a bike goes well with these gents to benefit from Skilled Rider and Hit and Run. The Banshee Mask is a good consideration for the Autarch too, to help with their lack of Grenades.
Part 2 coming soon!
glad to see some optimism 🙂 I hope we find more DE players out there! Still one of the most rare armies for me to see.. despite playing against frankie all the time haha
There’s a lot to like in DE, actually.
I’m stoked on de
I’m actually considering making a jet bike army, with 5 units of 6 reavers, each with 2 lances and caltrops. Back that up with a deep striking unit of grotesques and a couple of warrior squads in venoms, et voila. I really like how the detachment gives you room to take up to 6 fast attack.
I think that would be quite good, actually!
Yay, improved Venomspam. Do GW even play this game?
That’s an excellent question. Do you?
Hey Reece,
The Succubus has no way gotten better. Her stats are the same, but her weapon options are more expensive or non-existent. The 20 point Archite Glaive is decent at best, Agonizers got more expensive, and Venom Blades went bye bye. She is 10 points more expensive, and only some of the combat drugs benefit her, mainly the Strength and Toughness one.
I wouldn’t say the Haemonculus is improved, because you can no longer take the cheaper variant and loses a ton of powerful crazy artefacts from the old book. He is technically more expensive for what he does, the boost to PfP is good, but he can no longer pin-point FNP to a unit at will. Combine this with weaker liquidifers and its quite sad. I see them as a WWP-bitch more than anything.
Have you actually mathed out Kabalite Warriors? They’re 8 points less, but the Splinter Cannon got more expensive and is Salvo 4/6. Combine this with the price increase on Night Shields and you’re not making any points difference if you take them with a Raider with Night Shields with Splinter cannon. They cost the same as before. Trueborn are even a bigger farce because they cost more now thanks to min units of 5.
While I understand the excitment to spam seemingless cheaper Raiders and Venoms, they still cost a good amount of points. Sure, you might be able to take more of them, but at what point do they start losing effectiveness as your army becomes more and more of one flavor?
PfP’s Fearless is a blessing and a boon, mainly because they can no longer go to ground.
Overall, I think this codex is a great supplement to Eldar, as it will greatly increase their competitiveness thanks to WWP and Battle Bros. That’s not what I wanted in the army though, sadly.
-Larry
I don’t think I’ve ever seen splinter cannons on a kabalite warrior squad lol,
The less common Raider Spam utilized Warriors with an SC since the raider had the DL for AT.
Hey Larry,
Good points, but, I disagree on a few things. For the Warriors argument, I have never seen them run with a splinter cannon before. If you do though, yeah, you are right, they got more expensive but considering that the SC got worse I don’t see why you would?
And again, no reason to take Night Shields. Too expensive for a AV10 vehicle. You now get 5 Warriors with a Blaster in a Venom for only 120pts, that is amazing!
As for the Succubus, I think she did get better, honestly. All of the combat drugs are awesome for her except for Initiative. WS makes her WS9 which means most unit hit her on 5’s, which is awesome. The others are all obviously beneficial. She is the only character with an AP2 weapon and while I will not argue that she is really good in combat, she can get pretty scary with strength 6 attacks and lots of them. Agonisers being more expensive is moot in my mind as at AP3, I would never choose to take one. I never took them before.
I think the way to look at her is to see her in the context of the new book, not compared to what she was, strictly. Before, she was so much worse than the Archon you never saw her. Now, she is actually better in assault offensively than the Archon so contextually, she is much improved. YMMV though, of course.
Hey Reece,
The Warriors argument is strictly under the impression that you’re taking them in Venomspam correct? Sure, I completely agree that 5-warriors in a Venom and a Blaster is how everyone did it. It’s competitive, it puts out good fire, and most of all, its cheap. To me, this is further testament to the problem of the codex is that we’re once again required to take the same units for competitive gain. Mind you that some people argued that Raider Gunboats were the way to go (I myself am a big fan of them), it’s clear that in the competitive setting, you find the best thing that you can take and optimize on how many you can take.
For the Succubus, we’ll just agree to disagree. While I can understand that S4 naturally, Furious Charge, Rampage and all that good stuff combined with Combat Drugs can make her really good, this is invariably a side-effect of the a stars-align scenario. In what kind of lists would you take this kind of combat character? She’s obviously geared for combat and would love to join the fray, but who would she be partnered with? I feel that almost taking her would be a crime compared to something as elegant as a Blaster Archon in a cheapo Raider. That’s literally a WWP Lanceboat where-ever you want, for 75 points too!
I agree on the Night Shields, it’s seriously a tough sell to justify something that can give you a +1 to your cover save when there’s so many things out there that just flat out ignore it. It would be a boon in some armies and literally, a complete waste of points in another.
I look forward to your next few parts buddy!
-Larry
Fair play on some of your points. I agree, none of the HQs are actually desirable in combat, lol, just trying to make it work I guess.
I think you could still get Raider-spam done. Splinter Wracks are really cool and it could work for sure.
Yeah, part 2 inbound!
She did get better though.
It’s unfortunate that she’s not better enough to see her fielded.
Still, it’s hardly the only codex with redundant units that are never fielded.
I liked the Mandrakes. Easy, durable 2+ in cover, but they would just melt to one T-fire cannon shot or a Serpent shield 🙁
Yeah, and SMS. Those are unfortunately very numerous these days, too.
But, in general terms, Mandrakes are very solid for the points.
I can’t help but think GW missed a trick in not giving the Archon/Succubus an option to purchase a skyboard or jet bike. Hell even if you made it a relic so you could only take one it would be a help.
Just seems to me that’s the biggest thing that’s missing to make Hellions or Reavers truly good options. I guess we might see quite a few autarchs and farseers leading DE units around the table. That’s probably fitting given we’re going to see plenty Haemonculus leading fire dragons or wraith guard on precision deep strikes.
I agree 100%.
It is getting a really bad review all over the Interwebs,
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But, if playing with the Frontline/BaO standardized rules it is not that bad.
.
Or, nothing three Knights will not fix! lol… (we need more themed Knights!)
.
The best joke was; “It is almost like GW made it bad so a Supplement can make it better, cha-ching.” lol…
“The best joke was; “It is almost like GW made it bad so a Supplement can make it better, cha-ching.” lol”
This is so true. I’m sure all of you have realized this but no one seems to say a thing. Ever since Nids came out where the prime codex was crap (and $50) but if you buy the supplament books (for another $50) your army will actually be able to complete!
Sigh.
Just like tyranids 🙂
I actually wished Nids got a supplement as well. The dataslates are nice, but I would loved to have seen a different Warlord table and Artifacts.
I do agree with that. The second dataslate gave two formations which really bumped them up, but I was also hoping for a Leviathan or Kraken supplement. Genestealer cult would have been great also.
Everyone wanted Genestealer Cult….sigh.
Imagine instead of a Nid supplement, they release an AM supplement called Genestealer Cult, and they were BBs with Nids and CtA with everyone else.
I thought I read on the interwebz (and when I look at my codex I think I agree) that the court of the Archon doesn’t need an Archon but if you take an Archon the Court doesn’t count on the FOC? Unintentional perhaps? Or cheapest HQ ever?
Holy crap you are right! Looking in my dex it just says for each archon a court can be included that does not take up a slot. I bet this gets FAQ’d
It’s the same for servitors in the space wolves codex, it’s so when you play unbound you don’t have to pay a model tax, same reason why all the trucks, rhinos, venom etc became fast attacks choices
I love helions. Back in 5th and early 6th I was using 15 Helions with Baron as a psuedo deathstar. 12″ move, 18″ Poison 4+ 32 shots, with all the Baron’s buffs was so much fun to play with. Now I look at Hellions as the New Old Mandrakes, they took the spot from the Mandrakes as the Comical Relief unit.
I just can’t see the bigger picture here, why is GW removing so many ways of getting grenades, yet keep grenades as default on most Armies of the Imperium codexes. I understand not making assault grenades default for profiles, but at least give most units access to purchase grenades. Let the player decide if they want to spend 1 to 2pts per model to give assault grenades.
GW did fantastic with Reavers, hand’s down I think they are the best pure FA option in DE (in my opinion Scourge are trailing by miliseconds). With a normal CAD i would have to bring 2 units of 6-9 models and fill the third with a Jetfighter. in a DE Detachment I would most likely do 3 units of 6-9 Reavers, 2 Flyers, and 1 unit of 5 Succubus.
I agree, the lack of grenades is so lame. It makes a lot of units damn near useless.
It does make my genestealers feel better, so there’s that.
Fair enough, lol!
Are there enough paper-towels in the world for Frankie’s tears? 😛
I’m sort of in the mindset right now that Dark Eldar got Chaos Marine-ified, having a competitive codex, but with an extremely limited number of builds, with very little internal balance. Venoms are good, as are warriors, so if you want to run a normal CAD FOC that’s your troop hands down (sorry wyches).
What extra-sucks is that they lost one of the better ways their codex had to deal with armor in haywire. Although, scourges got a boost so maybe they can fill the void.
I’m most curious to see what emerges as the best HQ, if there is one. Losing Vect and the Baron removed the HQ’s 90%+ of armies used.
I’m beginning to feel like GW’s codices can be likened to Lucky Charms cereal: you buy the box of the grainy cerealy part, then have to separately buy the marshmallows for any of the good stuff.
Frankie really likes the book, actually. So do I. I think it will be very powerful. The only downside is that you pretty much have to go MSU which hurts you in KP missions.
I think the saving grace is the Detachment. 6 FA choices is legit.
I honestly think GW is only playing Maelstrom in 7th and are building lists accordingly. In a pure maelstrom setting the dark eldar are actually off the charts.
That’s a good point.
Very true. I feel like Dark Eldar just became extra “glassy” in terms of being a glass cannon.
I agree, I just don’t like how some of the units got poo-nannered. Honestly, a lot of DE lists went MSU before anyways with venoms, so that hasn’t changed too much 🙂
I guess what I was trying to say is I dislike the general lack of internal balance, kind of like with the CSM ‘dex. There’s a few powerful builds, so that’s what you’ll see almost all the time. I don’t wanna jump to conclusions just yet on DE, though.
And 9 fliers in a list? YIKES!
I posted this list last night:
https://www.frontlinegaming.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=1590
I like it. MSU DE will be very good.
I’m not sold on *all* the bits and pieces, but I can see it giving a lot of lists a real run for their money. Another bonus of venoms that you didn’t mention is that they are relatively small, and can be put out of LOS fairly easily. This is crucial for when they have to go second.
I think double CAD would benefit them as well greatly (or self-allying if allowed). A pure WWP list based on coven units sounds strong to me.
Yeah, WWP lists will be very, very good.
I’m curious as to why scourges are not on the good list?
I’m not sure the “good list” is finished yet. The Razorwing fighter is extremely good, but hasn’t been mentioned either.
Precisely, I had to split the article at a slightly illogical part (ran out of time). The good section is not done, yet.
Scourges, Razorwings, Talos/Cronos are all in that category as well as some other stuff, too.
The pain engines are going to be fun with the upcoming formations 🙂
Agreed!
Like the WWP, one assumes?
The one big surprise for me was that raiders didn’t get any real love. That’s really surprising. I was anticipating something like a built in bonus to charge distance or maybe disembarking after the vehicle moves 12″. Something like that. I’m astonished that they just left them basically as is.
I’m taking a guess here, but I think GWs intention with the Raider is the same as an Ork Trukk. Just get your assault payload from point A to point B. Dropping it by 5pts and making it to pay for the DL leads me to believe it’s not meant for shooting. I think GW wants you to buy a Raider with Sails and NS. This allows you to move 36″ on T1 and have a 3+ jink to survive the shots, then on your turn you move 6″ and assault. You can maybe throw in Prow and tank shock/ram after you drop the unit off, since I don’t see any rule saying you cant ram after disembarking passengers.
That being said, since it’s meant to be a taxi and nothing else, you have to pay extra for it to become a shooting platform. Like I said, this is my guess at GWs intentions.
Sure, that all makes sense in terms of what they are thinking, but what I don’t understand is how they can’t seem to get past these problems.
1. Getting close to the enemy in an open top vehicle is BAD news if they have a flamer. 7th edition made them death traps for the guys inside especially if they don’t have good armor… Not only that, just getting upclose with something that is AV10 is just asking to get blasted to bits by just basic weapons fire. 🙁
2. The units inside are just not good enough at melee to justify transporting them. All the DE units have some kind of flaw that keeps them from being great. Grotesques need a character. Incubi need grenades. Wyches just don’t do enough damage. Warriors don’t have grenades and don’t have assault weapons.
Anyway, there are some serious flaws with the dex, but it is certainly useable.
What about Scourges? A massive point reduction and the ability to take 4 weapons in a 5 man squad, they got way better then their previous counter-parts.
They are in part 2, this was just the first half of the review.
I am really on the fence about whether or not I want my scourges with haywire or blasters? Haywire is better at AT and has a longer range. BUT blasters have a wider range of rolls. Better a popping marines/termies, mc’s etc…Blaster have more functions that they can perform on the battle field
Here’s the thing you got to look at. Haywire will glance any AV on a 2+, Blasters will glance 12 and above on a 4+. The other thing is Blasters can hunt MCs and Termies, back in 5th I killed several Paladins with 4 man Blasterborn.
Go with haywire Dark Eldar don’t have a problem killing infantry
So yeah, I’m thinking Haemon w/ WWP and wraith guard with spirit seer in a tantalus, archon with helm, WWP, court (4-5 Medusa, 3-4 Sslyth) in a second tantulus, two reapers, two razorwings, and troops. That should do nicely.
Points left over will go into haywire scourges.
That list looks nasty!
I’m hating the loss of HQs just from the fluff side alone! Why new models of the Succubus, Haem and Archon – when new models could have been made for Vect, Baron, Lilith?
New wracks in plastic are nice and the Voidraven is damn cool… but it’s disappointing that something new was not added into the book… you know something big and cool like a giant Pain Engine!
Looks like FA spam could be crazy – no?
I agree losing the special characters sucks big time.
And yes, Venom Spam will be really good.
Thank goodness Fabius Bile, Huron, Kharn, and Lucius all have models… Because we seem them all over the place…
(and at least one ot them it actually would make sense to be a warlord….) *sigh* Chaos…
I say we ban the WWP though. that thing is too powerful and is too good. I say we only use it on units that hv DS already.
I am shocked to hear this form you of all people, Hotsauce.
I’m pulling a Reece and advocating banNing what I don’t like
There are lots of items in the game that allow for pinpoint accuracy on deap strikes and most are cheaper then the webway, for instance daemon banners,locator beacons etc. the character Farsight can bring in an absure amount of crisis suits but he’s not banned. Modifying( not banning) things like 2+ rerollables or the power invisability is not only healthy for the game to exist in a competitive format but also makes the game enjoyable for the person who has to play against those abilities. I don’t like white scars scout ability for the entire army to scout, should we ban it? ( disclaimer: I love white scars lol)
I don’t think WWP should be banned before the codex is a week old… but this is the first pinpoint accuracy deep striking which can be applied to the Eldar/Dark Eldar units, which are oftentimes devestating up close.
Drop Pods are still king of this tactic, but the WWP may be so good that every Eldar list will at least consider including DE allies.
Far and away the WWP stands out as being open to abuse/ included in some pretty awesome combos for lists which were already strong.
When was the last time I said we should ban something?
Im just giving you shit reece 😛 I love you.
A Tau Riptide-spam player complaining about deepstrike?
😉
Vehicles are even more of a expensive joke/deathtraps. Towards the end of the third edition codex was using them as gun platforms with relentless. Moving them upper-mid-field or enemy deployment was just quick loss of high cost points (not including cost of passengers). The Ravager lost ability to shoot 3 of 3 weapons at cruising speed in 4th edition codex. Also DE vehicles will most likely be shooting/hitting on 6s for rest of the game. If there are any left on the table that is.
Do not see Mandrakes loosing their invulnerable saves a good thing.
I think the key is volume. You need more vehicles than your opponent can destroy to make mech DE work.
Mandrakes were utter garbage before, so, if having a unit that is playable now means no more invul I can live with that. Stealth+Shrouding makes them terminators to most shooting, it’s just that dang ignores cover that will own them.
You don’t have to take an archon to unlock the court. you take an archon and they don’t take up an hq slot. that means your hq can be a court of the archon, though as none of them are characters, upgrade a warrior to a sybarite for your warlord trait XD
I was thinking of collecting a Dark Eldar ally for my Eldar which has a lot of infantry, What should I get? (I’d like some tough stuff)
The Corpsethief Claw is amazingly good, take a look at that (Formation of 5 Talos).