Court of the Archon

[Eberk]

Well... after playing a Raid on sunday with a small force of Dark Eldar I'm busy creating an army list for them (It's about time I start to flesh out that army and bring it to 1500 points).

But I'm completely stuck about what to do with the "Court of the Archon". I can't seem to be able to put together a good court for my archon. I'm not even sure if he needs one (although I do like the Lhamaean model).

So how do you (or would you) field a Court of the Archon (or wouldn't you field it ?)

All input is welcome... thanks

[Houghten]

Well, I like to have a maxed-out Court riding in a Tantalus with the associated Archon and an attached Haemonculus.

But, well, my general principle when it comes to list-building is "why not"? The above method is... not as effective as its points cost would have you believe.

[Kyban]

I like the idea of shrinking it to being half snakes for it to be a T5 unit, It should hit hard enough for the size to be less important anyway but I haven't tried it out yet.

[Eberk]

I like the idea of shrinking it to being half snakes for it to be a T5 unit
Nice.
Archon, 1 Lhamaean & 3 Sslyths mounted in a Venom. Sounds like a plan to me :)

[dvs1]

Nice.
Archon, 1 Lhamaean & 3 Sslyths mounted in a Venom. Sounds like a plan to me :)

Unfortunately, you have to take at least one of each member of the court. ( Sslyth, Ur-ghul,Lhamean, and medusae)

[Eberk]

Unfortunately, you have to take at least one of each member of the court. ( Sslyth, Ur-ghul,Lhamean, and medusae)
WHAT !!! Really ?

*checking my Codex*

Damn, I completely missed that. That's kinda lame, no ? Why would any Archon always have at least one of each type ?

According to me this makes the Court not a very good choice and I will try to find another bodyguard for my Archon (perhaps Kabalite trueborn)

[Houghten]

The worst part about the 1+each Court is that Phil Kelly himself has said he doesn't like it and would change it if he could.

He doesn't seem to have realised he can. Errata exist.

[Anggul]

Yeah, the Court is a bit of a disappointment. It should have been what it was in the 3rd ed codex, a mix of Trueborn and Incubi, then they could have added to that with the funky creatures. It's not a court, it's a zoo with a courtesan thrown in.

I imagine the best way to run one is indeed with maxed out Sslyth and go for majority T5. I hate that you have to take a Lahmean, because all she actually improves is the Archon's Splinter Pistol. If she improved the Sslyth Shardcarbines I would be all over that.

[eldargal]

Lhamaean poisoned attacks can be useful, I mean it's only, what, ten points for an extra wound and a few more 2+ poisoned attacks. I've had decent success with a Court, I certainly wouldn't say it is very competitive but who cares? It's fun.:)

[Kyban]

WHAT !!! Really ?

*checking my Codex*

Damn, I completely missed that. That's kinda lame, no ? Why would any Archon always have at least one of each type ?

According to me this makes the Court not a very good choice and I will try to find another bodyguard for my Archon (perhaps Kabalite trueborn)

Crap, I missed that too... :(

[Anggul]

The best bodyguards for an Archon are generally Incubi or Wyches, depending on whether you need nut-cracking elites or a generally fighty scoring unit nicely reinforced by the Archon. The Wyches typically benefit more from the Archon's hard-hitting ability whereas the Incubi only really benefit from a Phantasm Grenade Launcher. It is a very big benefit though, they really should have counted the tormentor fields as assault grenades.

[The Sovereign]

I've actually had surprising success with the Court, even just taking one of each with the archon in a venom.