Imperial Guard or Dark Eldar

[Forrix]

Currently i have a a decent size army of eldar that i am hoping to sell or trade in favor of one of the two above how ever i really haven't decided which one. So I am looking for recommendations hopefully from people have played one or both of these armies for awhile. My main problem with the eldar is im not all that attached to the models and everything in codex seems vaguely over priced for what you get and i am really seem to miss having some units with actual punch. My main army is space wolves and im not really interested in getting another army of power armor so these are the two that ive really come down too. I really enjoy the orders system for I.G but i am put off by how little variety there is in their codex i also love the maneuverability offered by eldar, dark eldar and even the I.G flyers. I like the look and love how the dark eldar codex is written and also that they have some good assault units (which both eldar and I.G seem to be lacking) but when i have tried to test play my friends D.E army i struggle to get past their incredible fragility. Any way after that ramble im just hoping to get some advice or personal opinions and experiences to help me look at this from a new angle. Thanks for your time and any help.

[Trepanation]

Dark Eldar do have the ability to hit hard, but yes, they are very fragile. At the last tournament I played in, I lost spectacularly to both Guard and (of all things) Tau. On the other hand, I tabled a Space Wolves player. Dark Eldar require more finesse to play than any other army I have ever fielded (and that's been quite a few over the years). Guard may lack the variety, but they are probably an easier army to field.

[MercyKiller]

I would go with Dark Eldar. The models are so much more enjoyable to build and paint.

[Calgar33]

My advice would be to pick the army that will give you a theme you will want to play, I personally have both armies. My Dark Eldar is all mounted and super fast and my Imperial Guard is primarily foot sloggers (probably around 80% of my points). Stick with a good theme and go with that.

[Yabanjin]

Bxcause you do have to stick pay a substantial amount of money, enjoy painting before even playing with them, the important question to me is always is this an army I'll enjoy painting/converting? The rest answers itself.

[Root]

You didn't mention budget. IG are much more expensive to start from scratch but are way easier to paint. Power level I say IG is better but DE are quite good. Playstyle is completely different but since you already used Elder I'd say go with the dark cousins. The models are sick and no one will call you a douche for playing them. People don't hate them like they hate IG, Space Wolves, and Grey Knights.

[Mystery.Shadow]

...Or save yourself a ton of money by not switching armies at all!

Rumor is Craftworld Eldar are due for a Codex in the near future. In the meantime, wet your appetite with the newest Forge World book. The Doom of Mymeara. Lots of Eldar goodness in there, including the new Eldar Corsairs!

[Forrix]

lets see if i can do this all at once

first off thanks very much for responding

Trepanation: my couple experiences playing with dark eldar were against guard or other shooty armies and it was just painful. I feel like i want to stay away from easy because i already have my space wolves for a more forgiving army.

Mercy: they deffinatley do seem to have the more intricate models im worried it might be a little much after painting so much power armor!

Calgar: Good advice and i appreciate it. I like the mobilityfrom the DE but the valks from I guard can do that too and are a lot more resilient and can actually tank bust something i haven't been able to do with D.E at all lol.

Yabanjin: Good advice hard to answer between these two though. I feel a little overwhelmed by how small and intricate the DE are i think id like to really paint up some of the I guard tanks but im not sure i am up to painting hundreds of guardsmen. I do agree though for what you pay you had better enjoy every part of it!

Mystery: Near future is debatable i would be quite surprised if they got a bump in even the next year and im not sure i want to sit on an army that ive already painted and stopped enjoying for that long you know what i mean?

[Lauby]

Well, if your switching from power armored crazyness to literally anything else, it's gonna be a bit of a paradigm shift for you in terms of how the armies play. IG is gonna be a bit more forgiving of play mistakes and you have, like, a bazillion option in the heavy support section.

[Denzark]

You can clank up to a building, stick the barrel of your mighty cannon through the door, fire a HESH round, then machine gun down the puling maggots who run out screaming with blood streaming from their ears.

Or you can fly around on a rip off from Jabba's Sail Barge, looking like a cross between My Chemical Romance and Ted Bundy.

Your call, I say Panzers are de rigeur.