Dark Eldar, is there a point playing without formations?

[Lost Vyper]

Hi there!

It´s been a while, since posting, but here´s a thing a ran in to today.

I had couple of games with my friend (plays BA) with my Dark Eldar and i decided to use an old list (there´s like dozens of my lists lying around our FLGC´s shelves), which carries only the Dark Artisan -formation. I normally play with Grotesquerie too and Scalpel Squadron sometimes...i got served twice, but the later was also a bit due to Maelstrom going his way and saves not in my :p...
It seems, that the punch is not enough with FOC -based list with only one formation. Grots did alright, but without the buffs from the formation, they are more vulnerable. If i played without ANY formations, Sternguard and such in pods, would eradicate all Talos/Cronos with nasty shots...

My point being :

It gets kinda boring, having to play with : Dark Artisan and Grotesquerie AT LEAST, if, you want to maximize your effectiveness. And if you want to bring bikes, they need a babysitter --> Farseer with Shard (not sure after saturday if this works anymore...:confused:) and some troops with him...

But lets keep this pure DE...IMHO, it seems, that i´m stuck with the basic build of two formations and bounce the necessary FOC around it, switching Scourges, Reavers, Razorwings and sometimes bringing Incubi, just for their 3+ ability to stay alive longer than Warriors fe. And Wyches are a NO-NO (there´s money well spent) due to flamers and Hellions are just, well, useless now-a-dayz...

Have you had decent experiences JUST with FOC? Or are you too stuck in the wonderland of "Yougotstohaveformations"?

- Lost Vyper

[Charon]

Depends... I have good success without formations in a very very very casual environment (that is, where I do not play any of the better codices becuase the peope are far away from beeing a challenge).
If I get to play friends who are on equal footing but do not play a power dex (IG without allies, DA, CSM,..) I also works without formations but it tends to get harder. For the rest you either need the Formations or just another army.
But hey... as we know we should not worry because according to the GW apopogists "every codex will get toned down to the DE power level and be stripped of special rules which are not in the BRB".

[Tomgar]

But hey... as we know we should not worry because according to the GW apopogists "every codex will get toned down to the DE power level and be stripped of special rules which are not in the BRB".

Ha! 100% agreed. Love how those same people are now saying "you'll get an update in a year or two that'll probably be more OP than Craftworld Eldar, zomg stop whining!"


As to the OP, I don't tend to run those formation much since my main opponent plays Grey Knights and Force kind of wipes the floor with them. That said, I don't have much more success without them! In the games where I've used the formations against other opponents, they've been ludicrously effective and it does make me kind of sad that my army sucks without them. Necrons screw me over usually, but I once ran those two formations against a Necron player and tabled him in 3 turns. Such balance.

[Djbz]

I find my Incubi tend to be way more flammable than my Wyches.
I don't think I've used a formation yet, I usually just use the Realspace Raider detachment and always hold my own(and win more than i lose).

[Tomgar]

The Grotesquerie is *really* good, especially if you get something like +1 toughness on the Freakish Experiments table. Even more so if you use Rakarth in it! Unless you come up against loads of instant death stuff (like me) it can get a lot of work done.

[Lost Vyper]

As to the OP, I don't tend to run those formation much since my main opponent plays Grey Knights and Force kind of wipes the floor with them.

This. Torrent flamers HURT too. ONLY option, is to get Grotesquerie in Raiders and Dark Artisan and maybe extra Talos to survive turn 1. I really don´t like to play against GK, cos my friend only has that one build = flamers and flamers and shunting and instagibbin etc., you know. Regular flamers hurt, but if you survive, you got a chance to CC...

[son_of_volmer]

In the face of so many super killy units I tend to go cheap and plentiful. My Dark Eldar army lists start with 2 maximum sized Warrior squad, loaded with blasters, taking a Venom each, each lead by a barebones Haemonculus with a webway portal. (I think FTN came up with this list when the codex first dropped.) It can lay down a ton of poison shots, some tank hilling and two object secured skimmers. The list consumes both HQ slots in a typical force org, but you can deep strike something incredibly annoying exactly where you want it. It’s gotta make the most of its first round of shooting because it could potentially absorbs a ton shot in the next phase, but it takes some pressure off your other units if it does.

Forty warriors costs a ton of cash so I’m using 3rd Edition Dark Eldar Warriors.

[son_of_volmer]

In the face of so many super killy units I tend to go cheap and plentiful. My Dark Eldar army lists start with 2 maximum sized Warrior squad, loaded with blasters, taking a Venom as dedicated transport, and each is lead by a barebones Haemonculus with a webway portal. (I think FTN came up with this list when the codex first dropped.) It can lay down a ton of poison shots, some tank killing and two object secured skimmers. The list consumes both HQ slots in a typical force org, but you can deep strike something incredibly annoying exactly where you want it. It’s gotta make the most of its first round of shooting because it could potentially absorbs a ton of shots in the next phase, but it takes some pressure off your other units if it does.

Forty warriors costs a ton of cash so I’m using 3rd Edition Dark Eldar Warriors.