The primary Kabal would be comprised mainly of Dark Eldar raiders, led by a young brooding Dracon or a powerful and wisened Archon. In the next few paragraphs I will describe the basics of the structure, tactics, and weaknesses of the Warrior heavy Kabal.
When first opening a CODEX to the army list of Dark Eldar, it can seem a little short on options. With only the Dark Eldar Warrior available, it can seem that the list is short on options. This is an incorrect thought, and you should drop it before reading on. Your base army should include a large amount of firepower, with a medium number of models. Splinter Cannons are a cheap, high power weapon hitting on a 3+, a must have for your warrior squads.
To start, equip your Archon/Dracon with an Agoniser, Pistol, and shadow field minimally. For his retinue, include basic warriors, armed with splinter cannons, and a few incubi to create a devastating multi-purpose squad with a few chances to take hits (warriors) before losing high value models (Incubi).
Now you'll want to focus on your core. You'll need several squads of warriors, whether you mount them in raiders or not. Equiping your warriors with a max amount of special weapons will get the most of your points. If you run a mounted army, i suggest taking disentegrators on raiders, while giving your squads either lances, or splinter cannons, depending on who your fighting. For example, against Marines, tank heavy Imperial Guard, or any other armored army, take lances, and against horde armies, take splinter cannons. If unmounted, use splinter cannons in at least half, and if you decide to take lances, make squads of 10, as to not waste 20 warriors sitting around to use two weapons.
To augment your troops, choose between Ravagers and Scourges. (Ravagers for mounted armies, Scourges for unmounted.) Arm these units to the teeth, but ensure you do not cross arm. (IE-4 Scourges armed with 2 lances, 2 splinter cannons). These heavy support option not only make an impact, but perhaps will distract the enemy long enough to ensure survival (or at least a longer life span) of your Raiders while they deliver the real payload, or your blocks of Warriors crossing the field.
As elite choices, take Wyches if mounted, or mandrakes if unmounted. Broaden your horizons with extra points, and remember, a diverse army will leave you with more flexibility on the battlefield.
These armies will often out shoot many of their equally sized counterparts, and you may even find yourself on the winning side of the numbers game as well. Remember, with rapid fire weapons, this will be a run up and kill Army List, or a fly in, drop in cover, and kill list, but do not under estimate a warrior in close combat, especially if blocks of 20 make it across a field.
Please follow the links to the secondary pages as well, to learn how to best counter your enemies moves.
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Though some people think the Dark Eldar to be weak, relying on one form of Army List, I would completely disagree. Although limited in models, the Dark Eldar benefit from having the ability to create diverse lists, chosen from one of three basic "sub" Kabal types.
In a Wych cult it is important to remember that speed is key, and your army will not last very long in a firefight. Ensure that you have at least 6 Raiders to begin your army. This will allow for a good base of Drachite/Archite with retinue, 4 squads of Wyches, and a supporting squad of warriors. For an added punch, equip a squad or two with haywire grenades, so when your half naked ninjas land, the tanks won't even see it coming.
Arm your raiders with a mixture of lances and disentegrators to cover both grounds, and add a Ravager or two to cover anti-vehicular firepower. Scourges can be effective, but due to the mounted nature of your army, they will become a high priority target for the enemy.
To augment your army, include Jetbikes or Hellions, as they will be able to keep up, and provide support in both firepower and close combat.
I suggest keeping your units tightly packed (though not so tightly packed as to lose too many from a template) so as to overwhelm the enemy at the point of attack, tie up high value units under a hail of D6, and quickly win battles to clear terrain. For advanced ideas, try keeping a unit or two still mounted in case the enemy moves troops away from your current assualt, creating too much open space for a +6 saving throw to handle crossing.
If you have the resources (points) to spare, add more wyches, then more supporting elements. Reavers with blasters are nice, quick, deadly units against all types of troops, and are good at pursuing those enemy not willing to sit and wait for the wyches to assualt them next.
Speed and extremely good coordination is important, but if played well, and your units are well directed, you will certainly find victory more often than not with this scandalous variation of a Dark Eldar Kabal.
Although it derives it base components from the above Warrior Kabal structure, this army type will often include Hamonculi as the primary HQ, sometimes to save points, sometimes to increase numbers, and will augment in Talos and Grotesques to add a gruesome fear effect on the enemies. Equip your Hamonculi with Stinger and Scissorhands to create a basic Freddy-Kruger-esc HQ unit with a bit to prove.
Grotesques are a unique type of unit to DE. Similarly controlled like demons, they require a strong leader (Hamonculi) or a test to be passed before they will do anything. They are however, zombie-like, and respond as such. Their ability to take a pounding, when used effectively, can be a good way to help screen stronger units, and still make it across an open field. Do not put too much trust in them, however, as chances are you will be sorely upset when your Wyches get stalled behind a thick wall of immobile... rotting... tissue?
Perhaps the true advantage to these torturous Kabals would be their Talos. This heavy support choice is rish in fluff, and looks menacing (if not a bit like dinner at Red Lobster...) when crossing the battlefield. Their under utilized guns are effective against horde armies, and there are few things that can face a Talos in close combat and not begin to sweat. This powerful machine does, however, have one weakness, in that it moves slowly, uncomparable to the rest of the deadly quick Dark Eldar. Ensure that you have ways of getting to their big guns and tying them up quickly so as to provide time for your Talos to cross open ground, and use cover when possible to limit targeting.
The next, and last, unit common among these armies is Mandrakes. These devious, evil, twisted cousins of the Eldar's more... Noble Striking Scorpion have excellent advantages in movement, taking advantage of the scout rule, and being fairly tough opponents in close combat, they can be just what your army needs to gain an edge... or a table quarter. Using them can be dificult, and I suggest practicing their use on a small scale before employing them in your army list.
