Post by The Black Jackal on May 11, 2011 15:38:12 GMT -5
Why does it seem that I'm the only person starting up threads in the Tactics section? I should hope that I'm not the only one here coming up with inventive ways to slaughter millions while cackling maniacally win at 40K with Dark Eldar.
Anyways, the point of this thread: running your models across the table like a raging drunk whose driving was inspired by repeated back-to-back viewings of Death Race 2000.
Unlike the lesser races, the Dark Eldar are uniquely capable of dealing significant amounts of damage in the Movement phase, as well as the Shooting and Assault phases. While most sides have tanks of one variety or another and can generally ram and tank shock with impunity, they can only do so one model at a time, and only as long as they have tanks with which to do so. Dark Eldar are not restricted by this, and for more reasons than Reavers and Raiders with chain snares.
Consider the shock prow. For a mere V points, one can grant a Raider or Ravager the ability to ram and tank shock. If that's not good enough, it also adds +D3 to your armor value when doing so. This basically means that a Death or Glory attack with anything less than a dedicated anti-tank weapon will struggle to penetrate Raider armor (the thought of which, by the way, is hilarious), and generally will ensure a kill.
If they give way, then you now have an opportunity to cause some more mayhem with your Reavers. Just sit back and watch the limbs fly.
Of course, the fun isn't restricted merely to making enemy troops run away; since all of our vehicles are fast skimmers, we get to move up to 24" in the Movement phase. Throw in some Aethersails, and you can get up to 36". Imagine, if you will, just how much damage a Raider ramming anything at 24" will do.
To illustrate my point, let's break out the mathhammer. Let's assume that the target is an AV 14 tank (Leman Russ, Land Raider, take your pick). At 24", the bare minimum strength for a ram attack is 8. Of course, it's going to get higher than that in fairly short order. The target is going to be hitting the Raider at S 10 (8+4+1=13, but 10 is the maximum), and the Raider will be striking the target at a minimum of S 9. Of course, this can be brought to 10 with little trouble (for example, if you rolled a 2 or 3 for the shock prow's AV boost, or if you broke out the Aethersails).
The difference here is that the Raider, even with these upgrades, is still significantly cheaper than its target, and the Raider also stands a decent chance of surviving (thanks to its 4+ flat-out cover save, or 5+ flickerfield save if you think it's too dishonest to claim a cover save from ramming someone). You could also time and place your ramming maneuver so as to hopefully reduce the sort of damage you'd be taking by hitting rear armor or rolling high on your shock prow and hit from closer up. Throw on some chain snares and you can even tear through a few infantry squads before ramming your target.
Another advantage of the shock prow: it doesn't count as a weapon! So, if your Raider loses its weapon from enemy shooting, it becomes a weapon, and a fairly effective one at that.
Hopefully, this post will inspire some of you to attempt your own crazy death taxi driving of your own (on the table, of course. I do not endorse actual crazy death taxi driving IRL).
Anyways, the point of this thread: running your models across the table like a raging drunk whose driving was inspired by repeated back-to-back viewings of Death Race 2000.
Unlike the lesser races, the Dark Eldar are uniquely capable of dealing significant amounts of damage in the Movement phase, as well as the Shooting and Assault phases. While most sides have tanks of one variety or another and can generally ram and tank shock with impunity, they can only do so one model at a time, and only as long as they have tanks with which to do so. Dark Eldar are not restricted by this, and for more reasons than Reavers and Raiders with chain snares.
Consider the shock prow. For a mere V points, one can grant a Raider or Ravager the ability to ram and tank shock. If that's not good enough, it also adds +D3 to your armor value when doing so. This basically means that a Death or Glory attack with anything less than a dedicated anti-tank weapon will struggle to penetrate Raider armor (the thought of which, by the way, is hilarious), and generally will ensure a kill.
If they give way, then you now have an opportunity to cause some more mayhem with your Reavers. Just sit back and watch the limbs fly.
Of course, the fun isn't restricted merely to making enemy troops run away; since all of our vehicles are fast skimmers, we get to move up to 24" in the Movement phase. Throw in some Aethersails, and you can get up to 36". Imagine, if you will, just how much damage a Raider ramming anything at 24" will do.
To illustrate my point, let's break out the mathhammer. Let's assume that the target is an AV 14 tank (Leman Russ, Land Raider, take your pick). At 24", the bare minimum strength for a ram attack is 8. Of course, it's going to get higher than that in fairly short order. The target is going to be hitting the Raider at S 10 (8+4+1=13, but 10 is the maximum), and the Raider will be striking the target at a minimum of S 9. Of course, this can be brought to 10 with little trouble (for example, if you rolled a 2 or 3 for the shock prow's AV boost, or if you broke out the Aethersails).
The difference here is that the Raider, even with these upgrades, is still significantly cheaper than its target, and the Raider also stands a decent chance of surviving (thanks to its 4+ flat-out cover save, or 5+ flickerfield save if you think it's too dishonest to claim a cover save from ramming someone). You could also time and place your ramming maneuver so as to hopefully reduce the sort of damage you'd be taking by hitting rear armor or rolling high on your shock prow and hit from closer up. Throw on some chain snares and you can even tear through a few infantry squads before ramming your target.
Another advantage of the shock prow: it doesn't count as a weapon! So, if your Raider loses its weapon from enemy shooting, it becomes a weapon, and a fairly effective one at that.
Hopefully, this post will inspire some of you to attempt your own crazy death taxi driving of your own (on the table, of course. I do not endorse actual crazy death taxi driving IRL).
