The Dark Eldar Dilema

[Kefka]

Okay, so to start this off, Dark Eldar Codex seems to be a touchy subject. So please, no trolling or flaming here.

So it's been 11, going on 12, years for the Dark Eldar book. It's old, some of it's wargear is outdated or useless, a fair bit of the unit choices are next to useless (I'm looking at you Hellions), and the models look like two trucks carrying spandex and spikes crashed together. It's obvious the citizens of Commoragh could use an update.
Don't get me wrong, the army is still totally playable. But you have to limit yourself to a few army lists, most of which involve some form of troops zipping down the field on raiders and hitting combat ASAP. This makes for hit and miss games. If your opponent knows how Dark Eldar play, the best a DE player can hope for is first turn, or else it's an uphill battle. But unsuspecting or unprepared players can be in for a big surprise... which is not usually repeated...

So what I am trying to get too:
Yes. Dark Eldar could really use a new codex.

But yet there seems to be a divide. Why are there so many people who tell Dark Eldar players to suck it up? Why hasn't GW given DE players anything but a couple new pics or box art in 11 years? What is the hold-up?

I guess what I am asking is, why are Dark Eldar not getting a book? Why are there so many people who hate DE players mentioning they need a new one? should the army be removed or updated?

[Fantomex]

Well, I'd say the problem comes from all angles, for everyone.

They started off as a weird, niche army.
I mean, they aren't exactly original, take anything, make it obsessed with blood, black spiky clothes, and being oh-so evil, and you have a nemesis.
Except, there isn't really a proper nemesis for the Dark Eldar, they're just a bit of a pain in the arse for the other races.

So now we have a 12-year old codex, a lot of which has been rendered practically defunct.
User interest started to wane, mainly because of the skills often needed by someone to play them well, after all, they sure aren't Space Marines..;)

Couple that with the fact that the models, save literally one or two, are ugly as hell.
Thus, you get an army that is difficult to play, underrepresented in the model stakes, and generally just gets left by the wayside.

GW are obviously going to release a new Dark Eldar codex, but it isn't a priority.
For starters, they need to come up with some proper background to interest people again.
At the moment, they have 12-year old fluff that has had barely a raised eyebrow of interest.

Secondly, new models. Sure, there are already some masters made and whatnot, but there's gonna need to be a total overhaul of everything. That is a LOT of work.
Most new codexes for races take a long while to come out, and they get two, three new models or kits?
A whole resculpt of a race takes time.

Third, the rules! You've got to make the rules up-to-date, codex-relevant yet different, and thats a whole heap of adjustments. How do you keep their uniqueness on the battlefield, whilst making them accessible to newcomers and veteran players alike?

Dark Eldar aren't coming out yet simply because there is no financial certainty. GW would be sinking a hell of a lot of cash into what could be a white elephant, so unless they can be sure it's gonna sell well, then they won't do anything in a hurry..

Almost every other race just gets an addition or two, some minor changes, some new models and artwork, here you're trying to reinvent the whole concept. It'll be tough..

[Kefka]

However, Wood Elves were an army where everything did get re-done, all the models and the book, and this was right after Ogre Kingdoms were released, a whole new army where all the models were new.
Just saying it has been done before, under harsher circumstances, so it's not impossible.
The current fluff behind Dark Eldar is simple: Space Pirates. They can make it work for them, with a little adjustment:
Commoragh is their home planet, but perhaps it lacks natural resources in the area, which is why the Dark Eldar commence raids and plunder. They could also worship one of the Darker Eldar Gods, perhaps something similar to Slaanesh but for Eldar (I don't know Eldar fluff very well, do they have a God like this?). And their worshiping of this God is part of what created Slaanesh. The Eldar which worshiped this God still viewed it as different from Slaanesh (so they still fear/hate Chaos) but they refused to stop worshiping said God. Thus, they get shunned (or ex-communicated) from the rest of the Eldar society, and grow into the Dark Eldar we know today.

See, that's just off the top of my head. I am sure GW could come up with something better if they sat and thought about it for awhile.

[Sangre]

Not enough demand, apparently.

Which is stupid, because whenever a new codex is released, demand for that army skyrockets. But hey, I'm not a shareholder, am I?

[helvexis]

yeah not enough demand at the moment apparently but the main reason i know people dont play dark eldar is the models look horrible pr the codex age thing which doesnt bother me to much but would be nice to be able to use everything in the codex at some point.

so many people hate dark eladr players saying we should of got a new book is because its been being said for a very long time now people are sick of hearing it ... thats what i think at least

and commoragh is a city in the webway rather than a planet with not alot of resources but it really wouldnt be hard to update the fluff...

as to length of time for creating new models it does take a while and jes is doing it so it will look amazing but he could be a perfectionist and wont say something is finished till it llooks exactly like it does in his head... i dont know i havent met the guy he might not be but its possible.

and updating rules while probably easier than redoing the models there are just so many bits of wargear and special rules that need changing although ive seen some very well done fan codecies? on warseer and other places that ive used once or twice and arent at all broken ...

[sangrail777]

I'd like to see them get away from the whole raiding force thing. Every one else in 40k brings armies to the table top. DE bring a raiding force to a game that has the potential to get very large (apocalypse) and a raiding force just don't cut it. Campains often deal with taking ground and the DE always seem to get penalties in campains just cuz they are raiders and not a fully functioning army. I say open up the gates of Camoragh and let loose these fiends in a way to conquer and to hold the ground they take.

I'm not a DE player, only fight them. There are alot who still like to use'em. So i hope they do rework them.

[sketchesofpayne]

The impression I got was that they keep pushing back the release date of Dark Eldar because they're coming out with a whole new line of models that are taking a lot of time.

Mainly Dark Eldar players get no sympathy because at one point it was in question if they were going to even be in 5th edition.