In my personal opinion these guys are absolutely bad ass. A unit of 3 (one upgraded to Klaivex) will kill 4 MEQ's on the charge and that number will increase in later turns when they get Furious Charge. They have a 3+ save, Fleet, and a high enough I and WS to be going first, hitting often and doing the damage it needs to do to survive and win that combat.
I normally don't talk about special characters but for Drazhar I will make an exception. This guy has an imposing(for Eldar) S and T of 4, a 2+ save, is fearless, has eternal warrior, fleet, rampage, and gains an additional attack for each roll to wound of a 6. He can only join a unit of Incubi, but he boosts their WS by 1 making them elite unit and medium HQ killers. He does not have an invul save, but at I 7 and potentially 9 attacks, him and his Incubi don't have too much to fear in the assault phase considering Him and 5 friends will kill 9 MEQs or 5 TEQs WITHOUT furious charge.
He is 190 points, but he is quite possibly the beastiest 190 point character in the game.
Mandrakes have gotten significantly better since their previous iteration. I actually did a Misfit episode on them a couple years ago on the 40Kegger Blog so you can go there and check it out, although it's a bit outdated.
These guys com with a host of special rules that scream stealthy killers and when it comes to low T and armour targets, they are. They come with a shooting attack that's S4 AP4 assault 2, and since they can Infiltrate, they will most likely be able to use it turn 1. This attack is great for putting a couple quick wounds on some backfield "deck chair" units. It also causes Soul Blaze which could do a couple more wounds.
Adding to the sneaky feel, they come with Shrouded AND Stealth, meaning they will have a 2+ cover save in just about any cover they are in. This makes them pretty durable and forces your opponent to put something specific into them to get rid of them, and because the unit only cost 36 points it will feel like a huge waste having that fire power dumped into them and not your other actually deadly units.
If your opponent decides to ignore them, figuring he can put up with the minimal fire power they put out, Mandrakes put out a little hurt in the assault phase. Choosing the right target is key, but with 2 attacks each, S4, and Fear, they can go to town on an artillery piece or a heavy weapon team.
Wracks are a pretty decent choice, the liquefier gun and ossefactor being pretty good weapons. They also start with FNP and have T4. They are slightly more points than a Warrior, but their weapon upgrades are vastly different giving them a place in a list.
Grotesques are in a similar boat as Wracks, with the addition of being incredibly durable considering the rest of the Dark Eldar unit list. They do suffer from having a very low Ld and relative high cost, but T5, FNP, and 3 wounds will keep them hanging around and their high number of attacks and Rampage will help them mow through light infantry.
The beast pack was once the best deathstar unit in the game. It typically required a variety of beasts to accomplish different tasks, and a couple Eldar Farseers for Invisibility. Now no one uses it because Windrider Jetbikes are better and the assault phase is becoming more and more a dead phase, unless you can stomp. However there is still a use for a couple smaller units of these guys floating around ready to pounce and with a decent mix you can keep the unit at T5, and with good placement you can keep them that way. Most of the models have a decent number of attacks and either a decent S or a way to ignore saves be it access to fancy wargear or Rending. One particular nice thing about this unit is there are no characters, so your Beastmaster with power weapon, or Agonizer if you feel ballsy as fuck, can't get challenged out and negated.
Next up are the Raiders and Venoms. I've already mentioned that they get used often, mainly as a gun platform, but being fast open-topped skimmers also makes them excellent assault vehicles able to position units quickly. They are open-topped, which makes them rather dangerous to ride around in. This is a big reason why no one takes critical assault units, when the transport blows up the unit inside takes maximum damage due to low T and saves.
Reavers are really good and I have seen quite a few lists that take as many as possible, load them up with Cluster caltrops and a well positioned Grav-talon and then smash them into invisible units. 8 HoW at S4 with Rending and up to 4D6 S6 HoW with Rending. Then Combat Drug infused attacks at I6 and they can Hit and Run after that. With the Realspace Raiders Detachment you can have 6 units of fast attack choices. Its a pity you can't get a bike for any characters.
Hellions had a place a couple revisions ago when "the Baron" was a thing. I'm not sure what he did, but he was good. Hellions have a lot of rules and with all of them you think they would be great, but they are still only T3 with a 5+ save. They do get Combat Drugs, so potentially, at around turn 3 you could have a S6 unit of charging Hellions on your hands. I mainly see these guys as a distraction unit. Charge in, get a couple hits in then hit and run out into the enemies backfield. Now your opponent has to decide whether to spend firepower to kill them or ignore them as they aren't really much of a threat, but they can be a pain once Furious Charge is activated and their guns, Assault 2 18" poison 4+.
The Razorwing jet fighter is quite good. It can get a lot of shots and put out a world of hurt on infantry units. Ironically, it's far better at that than actually fighting jets although it can be upgraded to get 2 Dark Lances.
Scourges are a bloody mystery to me. They have the best save in the army, despite being fleet footed jump infantry, and they can take heavy weapons, although I think your best bet is to take assault weapons. These guys can be used to shore up any kind of firepower that your army is lacking. Missing some anti-tank? Blasters, Heat Lances, Haywire blasters, and Dark Lances. A little anti-infantry? They come stock with Shardcarbines and can get Shredders and Splinter Cannons. They are rather expensive at 16 points a pop, but with their versatility almost any army can find a spot for them.
That's it for these 2 categories. Next post will cover Heavy support and wargear. Probably more wargear than Heavy support.
Until next time, keep them dice rollin.
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