Some Ridiculously Expensive Dark Eldar Death Star Options

Hey all I’m Kevinmcd28 from baals-2-the-waals.blogspot.com and The Ocean State Dice Devil’s. Jawaballs has asked me to guest write on his blog from time to time. So to continue my recent explosion of articles on Dark Eldar, since I am creating an army of them myself, here is an article on possible hard hitting death star units to center your army around, so please enjoy….


When running through Codex: Dark Eldar you seem to notice a lack of something other armies generally have, and that his a hard hitting central unit, or death star unit to most of us.
Dark Eldar really don’t have much grind it out power since it isn’t their thing really. So what do you have the options of? I’ll start with probably one of the most expensive options in the books

Asdrubael Vect’s “Absurd” Squad
Vect- 240
-Dais of Destruction -200
x9 Incubi, Klaivex, demi-klaives, bloodstone, onslaught – 263
total- 703 points

I call it absurd because of the cost. Now Vet himself is one of the most expensive units in the book. Now the Dais of Destruction, if you do not know, is a Raider with AV13 all around and has 3 Dark Lances. For 200 points you basically get a Ravager with transport capacity and an excellent AV13, so it can be seen as worth it instead of buying a regular Raider or even more a Ravager. Now when it comes to kitting out Incubi it can be hard not to give full upgrades yet I do leave the” Murderous Assault” out because it seems the least useful of the bunch since most of the time you’ll wreck any unit you assault with these guys.

Now is this unit worth it? In any game smaller than an apocalypse game not really. The 3+ save you get with the Incubi makes them just as easy to kill as a Space Marine, except with T3. You also have to remember that these guys are not terminators, they are a lot easier to kill. This unit will have to get upgraded early with pain tokens to become very effective. It just costs a lot of points to shell this unit out, but it will be a lot of fun to play.

The Baron’s Pack
Baron Sathonyx- 105
Hellions x20, Helliarch, phantasm Grenade Launcher, stunclaw
Total- 460

Now before I get the whole, “Hellions are not that good” argument I must say that the Baron makes them good. I personally have a similar unit as my centerpiece unit in my army. With these Hellions you get 60 S4 attacks on the charge, not even counting the Baron’s attacks. With the Hellions alone the mathammer comes out against a standard 10 man marine squad with 30 hits and 15 wounds. So basically you will kill 5 marines alone with just the Hellions, the Baron will probably kill another 2 himself. You might lose a Hellion in swing backs until you hit and run and jump away out of combat if it is your turn next. Also you can drag away enemy weak characters with the stunclaw such as Librarians and Priests. It would be foolish to drag away Lysander and other strong characters although.

Another reason this unit is competitive is that the Baron lets you re roll failed dangerous terrain tests as well as conferring a 3+ cover save from stealth. This gives you the tactic of jumping around between area terrain and picking off enemy units until you get upgraded. When you get furious charge then you can charge stronger enemy units with S5 on that charge. This unit may not be very frontal and in your face but I can guarantee it will be annoying enough to distract your opponent which is the main purpose of your Death Star. Combat drugs are also available giving you that random power up as well.

Lelith’s “Bridal Party”
Lelith Hesperax-175
Hekatrix Bloodbrides x20, Sharnet/impaler x2, razorflails, haywire grenades, Syren, blast pistol, agonizer – 225
Total- 400 points

Now this could also be used with normal Wyches instead of the Elite Bloodbride version for more models at a cheaper cost. Also you could use your own flavorful mix of Razorflails, SN/I, and gauntlets to fit your taste I just like adding in a RF so I can get some easy wounds. Lelith herself is a death star on its own. This unit does need a Webway portal to get in effectively so I would pair Lelith with a coven of Haemonculi to get the portal. Another example of a fairly fragile unit but this one will be filled with more assault prowess. The 4+ invulnerable save in combat is what is going to save you here, you need to get into assault with this unit as soon as it appears and just ram your way through weaker units to get the Pain tokens necessary to rip apart the stronger enemy units. At 400 points a version of this combo will be very popular in many DE lists you see in tournaments and pick up games alike.

Urien’s Grotesque Pack
Urien Rakarth- 190
Grotesques x10, x10 Urien’s +1 strength ability, liquefier gun, Aberration, mindphase gauntlet- 430
Total- 620 points

Another Ridiculously expensive option but probably the only true heavy hitting unit in the book in terms of strength and toughness. With Urien in the unit he confers 2 pain tokens with his abilities and you get one automatically so you pretty much automatically at the start of the game have all 3 pain tokens. So yes your S6 (because of Uriens other ability) T5 mean machines get FNP and furious charge and are fearless. So really S7 on the charge with 40 attacks….goodbye sweetheart!

Now with Urien attached they do not get berserk rampage which does give you mixed feelings. Also with a mindphase gauntlet for every hit you put on a Indie character they have to take a leadership AND toughness test, if any is failed they suffer instant death…..muahahaha!
Now also the FNP with high toughness does make up for the 6+ save. They also have 3 wounds a piece making them resilient. 30 T5 FNP wounds makes a good bodyguard for Urien until you detach him. you will need to webway these guys for the best effect since this unit will never fit into a transport at this size. This unit will also be popular in my opinion.

Well that covers four of the many death stars you might see come at you when facing Dark Eldar if you play with either a lot of points or some foolish friends, though some are feasible. There are also many others without a Special character in the book, these are just some examples of some expensive pain you can deal out. Also without a lot of the upgrades I can’t help but put out on every above unit…..So more on this later….

-Kevinmcd28 (Balls-2-the-Waals)