Playing Dark Eldar in 6th (Part 1): Hybridization

I've seen many people having trouble with Dark Eldar in 6th Edition, and for good reason. They are perhaps the most fragile army in the game. Orks have individual models that are more vulnerable, but their weight of numbers produces a durability all its own. So how do we go about utilizing this army to its fullest potential? Two things. First, we toss aside the full MSU lists we saw under 5th Edition. Second, we get a little Desperate! This is gonna be long, and spread into multiple posts, so bear with me!

Playing Dark Angels: The Apothecary

As I have been mentioning in my previous articles, one of the best ways to utilize the Dark Angels codex is to capitalize on its units that provide durability.  So far we have looked at how the Smoke Launcher keeps our vehicles on the field longer, and then ventured into the realm of dreadnoughts, where the venerable variety can shake off glancing hits like its no tomorrow.  Now we turn our focus to the apothecaries, the last piece of our durability puzzle.

Playing Dark Angels: The Dreadnought

Space marines on the battlefield are a lot like one-man armies. They have a tool for almost every job, and are pretty good at applying that tool to the appropriate situation. They're durable and hard to take down. Occasionally a foe will get lucky or prove to have just enough skill to take a marine down for good. If that marine was one of the most honored members of the chapter, he can be brought back from the brink of death and serve his chapter as a true machine of death, impervious to almost all forms of attack.

Of course, here I am referring to the dreadnought, the armoed walker that wrecks havoc on the opponent's mainline troop units. These little gems are quite amazing the Codex: Dark Angels, and you're about to learn why.

Playing Dark Angels: The Smoke Launcher

If one is to point to a single item in the Dark Angels codex that makes it truly viable, it is actually not the ability to field Terminators as troops. The humble smoke launcher which comes as standard equipment on all but the Land Speeder uses different rules from the rest of the Imperium, as the rule is printed in the Dark Angels Codex. Instead of providing a cover save, the DA smoke downgrades all hits to glancing hits.

This has the effect of drastically increasing survivability for the target vehicle for the turn smoke is in use. Consider, if you will, how hard it is to kill a land raider using only krak missiles. With the basic load-out 3 weapons, the vehicle requires a minimum of five glancing hits to destroy. Chances are, the opponent will not be rolling 5s and 6s for every single glance, and on average, the opponent will need about 12-15 glances to take down a land raider.