Dark Elf Raiders Tactics
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| Dark Elf Raiders | ||
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| Setting: | Grimdark Future | |
| Games: | Grimdark Future, Grimdark Future: Firefight | |
| Species: | Elf | |
| Version: | v2.50 | |
Note: as v2.50 is in constant development the following might not be accurate.
Why Play Dark Elf Raiders
The dark elves are considerably more lightweight than their high kindred.
Pros:
- Almost your entire army is some shade of Fast
- Great tanks
- Plentiful Poison on the guns
Cons:
- Your army is costly
- Troops and Vehicles are even flimsier than contemporaries
- Very limited casting
Army Special Rules
- Dark Strike: Any attached unit gains +1 to AP when in melee.
- Dodge: This model increases their defense by +2 when in melee. This is just as well, since the models with this tend to have garbage defense otherwise.
- EMP: Rending +1. Rending now triggers on a natural 5+ to hit.
- Pain Fuelled: Grants any attached unit Regeneration.
- Pain Immunity: Any attached units add +1 to their Regeneration rolls.
- Shadow: An improved version of Ambush, letting models arrive within 1" of any enemies they intend to take down.
- Soul Conductor: When activated, this model can grant two models within 6" Regeneration until your next turn.
- Takedown: When in melee, this unit can roll a d6 against one model, dealing an AP(1) Deadly(3) hit on a 2+ to nail heroes.
- True Raider: The unit gains +1 to melee AND shooting.
- Very Fast: Fast +1. Some of your models add +4" to movement when advancing and +8" to dash/charge. Your entire army can cover obscene distances without even blinking. You absolutely will be needing it considering your army's pretty lightweight.
Psychic Spells
- Anxiety(4+): Enemy unit within 12" takes -2 to their next morale check.
- Psych Grave (4+): Two enemy units within 6" take 4 auto hits each, making it a bit more useful on chaff hordes.
- Drugs (5+): Friendly unit within 12" gains Regeneration when they next get hit. Absolutely worth using considering your army's flimsiness.
- Pain (5+): Enemy unit within 12" takes 4 AP[1] auto hits. Not much, but it can handle mobs.
- Adrenaline (6+): One friendly unit within 12" can immediately charge 6" and gets to add +1 to hit in melee. You're only going to use this for the dedicated melee units.
- Snake Bite (6+): An enemy unit within 12" takes a 3 AP[2] auto hits each. Good for taking on bosses or tough units
Unit Analysis
Heroes
- Dark Lord: The Dark Lord is pretty emblematic of the dark elf lifestyle: Fast and with high quality, but only a modest 4+ defense.
- Shooting: The basic barb pistol is decent enough, granting Poison at 12". You can swap it out for a Phantom-GL if you're planning on dealing with mobs or a Blast Pistol if you intend on fighting armored enemies in melee range.
- Melee: You can replace that CCW with one of three weapons that grant different rules. The Agony Whip deals with mobs Blast(3). Energy Sword can kill most things with AP(1) Rending but the Shell Sword is better against heroes with AP(2) Deadly(3).
- Buffs: The Dark Lord has quite a few upgrades to pick with, some of which are mutually exclusive. The two personal buffs are surprisingly cheap, with Succubus (Providing a rather powerful Dodge) and True Raider for an overall superior hero. What is mutually exclusive is the option for Dark Spouse (granting Dark Strike for melee support) or Agony Ruler (Giving Pain-Fuelled for Regeneration).
- Elite Raider: The Elite Raider is for the most part similar to the dark lord, but a bit weaker with a 4+ quality and 5+ defense. While able to take all the weapons and upgrades available to the Dark Lord, Dodge seems a bit more viable with the poor defense.
- Melee: Alongside all the weapons available to the Dark Lord, the Elite Raider has its own special weapons: The cheap Net+Spear (Providing Impact(1) for charging fun), the Energy Glaive (for rapid-fire AP(1) but nothig more), Dual Crystal Gauntlets (More shots with Rending) and Dual Sword-Flails (AP(1) Blast(3) attacks to rip past better-armored forces)
- Torture Master: A genuine freak, the torture master has Regeneration they can improve by buying Alchemist for Pain Immunity or the option for Psychic(1) by buying Soul Carrier. While Pain Immunity has innate benefits for certain units over others, Psychic isn't so constrained.
- Melee: By default, the torture master only has a set of Dual Hand Weapons. These weapons (yes, you're replacing the set rather than merely one of them) can be swapped off for the following at a cheap price: an Electro-Corroder (AP(1) and Poison), Agony Whip (Blast(3) for crowd control), Leech Claw (A2 with AP(1) Rending), Venom Sword (A2 Poison) , Syringe Claw (AP(2) Deadly(3) to nail heroes), and Scissor Claw (A2 AP(4) to handle armored foes)
- Shooting: If you intend to keep enemies at bay, then you might want to buy a gun. You might do so anyway because you sacrifice nothing for it. Your options are limited to the Barb Pistol available to other heroes, the Syringe Pistol (A pistol with Deadly(3) for a lucky shot to kill heroes), the Acid Gun (Rapid-fire Poison), and the Arcane Rifle (A long-range Sniper with AP(1) to pick off key weapons).
- Court Henchman: A dedicated beatstick that's less suited for support than they are just being a large battering ram with Fast and Takedown to kill whoever they charge. It also only has a set of claws with Rending, though you can replace it with either a Courtesan's Katana (replacing Rending with Poison), the Medusa's Gaze and Barb Dagger (Some melee swings with Poison and a rapid-fire AP(3) gun), and Barb Weapons and Barb Dagger (A longer-ranged gun with Poison alongside some Poison in melee).
Infantry
- Tortured Warriors: These guys are a bit slow compared to the overall army, but they have Regeneration to help tank blows more easily. They can take all the same weapons as the Torture Master, but they can also sacrifice a CCW for Bone Gun (for mid-range Rending) or the Acid Gun (a flamethrower with Poison).
- Warriors: Your dedicated shooters, as swift as they come to easily reach the effective range of their guns. Out of all your troops, your warriors have access to the most guns out of everyone, making these the effective gunline. Aside from the stock Barb Rifles, one model can buy a Scrapper (Flamethrower-alike), EMP Rifle (Mid-range gun with Rending), Blast Rifle (Mid-range AP(4) gun to handle heavy infantry), Scythe Launcher (Long-range AP(3) with Lock-On to counter cover), Barb Cannon (Long-range Poison), and Laser Lance (Long-range tank blaster).
- Witches: The witches are more focused on making many attacks in melee, as they get more melee weapons (though one of them is from the Elite Raider's exclusive list) and they have Dodge to protect themselves from counter-attacks after the charge. They can also buy True Raiders, making them essentially a pack of Elite Raiders.
- Hoverboard Riders: While not Very Fast, you can grab a bunch of guys with Scout and Strider who have Twin-Pods for decent shooting and AP(1) Glaives. This can make them more of a nuisance with the right moves, with an optional Phantom-GL letting them harass crowds. You can replace a Glaive for some alternate weapons, be it the Barb Pistol+Agony Whip (for Blast(3) crowd control), Barb Pistol+Energy Sword (For most single foes) or Barb Pistol+Grapple Claw (with AP(2) Deadly(3) to take down most heroes).
- Nightmares: These are your most elite infantry, making them preferable retinues for a melee-focused Dark Lord. Each one carries Energy Swords that hit on a 3+ and have 4+ defense. Put this on top of Fast and you have a unit that can quickly make mincemeat out of any peers and attract attention.
- Winged Warriors: Essentially warriors with wings for Ambush and Flying. While that is true, they get a 4+ defense and also get to carry around two special weapons from the same list as the base Warriors. The fact that your guys are so mobile and able to fire those guns is a pretty important gift since other armies have to use vehicles or costlier units to perform such.
- Shadow Warriors: Super sneaky elves, carrying Stealth and Strider. They lack the armor however, so they need that cover. Fortunately, Shadow lets them Ambush right next to any enemies they want to carve into with their Poison CCWs just as easily as they could Ambush into range for their AP(1) ranged attacks.
- Tortured Brutes: Bigger and beefier Tortured Warriors with Tough(3) and Dual Scissor Claws so they can take down anything with high defense. This means they have no shooting unless you buy Acid Guns to handle crowds, but this does make for a bit of a confusing option beyond one.
- Jetbike Riders: As with the high elves, your jetbikes are insanely quick with Very Fast and Strider while Tough(3) makes them a little more survivable. Their base loadout has quite a lot of shooting between the Barb Pistol and Twin Barb Carbine. One model can replace their carbine with either a Twin Blast Rifle or Twin Fusion Lance depending on what you intend to kill the most, while another can replace their CCW for either Razor Caltrops for Impact hits or a Barb Talon to take down any Tough units.
- Clawed Beast: The beefy wall of meat, toting Tough (6), Furious and a barrage of AP(1) attacks. The beast's the cheapest but also has the most vulnerable to Deadly as a lone model. You can buy Fearless to slightly offset morale, but it won't change the odds against a well-equipped squad.
- Crow Swarms: Not as tough (each swarm's only Tough(3), but you get three of them) with 5+ defense, but these crows fly and have Rending on their attacks. These are a bit more mobile and thus give you more incentive to use as a distraction. You might want Fearless if you want to keep them going.
- Blood Hounds: A pack of Fast beasts, the most numerous of the lot. Each of them has 3 attacks that hit at 3+ but suffer defensively. Like with the crows, you'll want Fearless on these as Blast can bode poorly for them.
Vehicles
- Light Skimmer: Modestly durable with Tough(6) you get a full Transport(11) and a Very Fast weapons platform for your lone Laser Lance. This isn't too much to think about, but you can replace the Laser Lance with a Destroyer Cannon for longer-range firepower. You can also buy an Energy Ram for Impact (Which might have uses for a kamikaze skimmer after unloading the passengers), a Phantom-GL for crowds, a Shield of Darkness for Stealth (very necessary for transports) and a Teleport Gate for Ambush (likely as useful for transporting as Stealth).
- Heavy Skimmer: This skimmer can't carry anyone, but it's Tough(9) and carries three Laser Lances, each capable of becoming a Destroyer Cannon - You don't need three of them, and even two might be pushing it. Whatever you plan on doing, you now have something that can very easily ruin vehicles and can work with the same upgrades as the Light Skimmer.
- Heavy Jetbike: Slightly cheaper than a Light Skimmer but it also has Transport (6). As with other hoverbikes, this thing's got Very Fast and Strider, making it excellent for a transport for a hero with a retinue. It comes by default with a Barb Cannon and Twin Barb Rifle, but you can replace that Twin Barbe Rifle for either a Scythe Launcher to handle heavy infantry or a second Barb Cannon.
- Leech Engine: This is pretty durable with Regeneration, and it carries a good gun with the Soul Siphon giving it a lot of shots. That said, it's role isn't simply to rip things up. True, its claws can do so, but it has upgrades that conflict with that somewhat. The Soul Conductor lets it support some nearby units to work as shields, though it won't stack with the Regeneration on Tortured Warriors or Torture Masters. The Soul Vortex on the other hand makes the leech more like short-range artillery with a Blast(6) attack.
- Engine of Suffering: The more direct combatant with a Twin EMP Rifle for plenty of Rending. This can be swapped out for either a Stinger Cannon for small blasts, a Barb Cannon for rapid-fire Poison or a Twin Laser Lance to strike down tanks. The AP(1) Heavy Claws can be also be swapped out for Shred Flails for AP(1) Rending, a Venom Injector AP(1) Poison, or a Twin Acid Gun to make it more into a gun platform.
Aircraft
- Raven Bomber: The main draw here is the EMP bombs, which are short-ranged but capable of devastating tanks. For dogfighting, you've only got a Twin Void Cannon that can devastate planes equally well that can be complemented with either Shatter missiles (Blast(6) from afar to break crowds) or Void Missiles (AP(4) Deadly(3) to handle more vehicles).
- Razor Fighter: The real dogfighter and it's loaded to bear. A Twin Barb Rifle (you can replace it for a barb cannon like with the Heavy Skimmer) lets you handle infantry, Twin Laser Lance devastates tanks (you can replace that with a Twin Destroyer Cannon if you plan on handle smaller things) and Toxin Missiles for Blast(6) Poison to handle crowds (replaceable with a ) make it so that you have a weapon for any enemy you come across. This does however make you a bigger target, so you should definitely go for the enemy's AA weapons and planes first if you find any.
List Building & Tactics
General Advice
Correct positioning, board control, and trading up on material is the key to success, use as many ambush units as possible to see how your opponent intends to win then react accordingly by ruining his plans using your high mobility and surprising firepower.
Tactics
Ambush, Deadly(6), and Very Fast are you new best friends any unit that can be upgraded with one or all of these is a unit that you need in your army.
The Dark Lord attached to a unit of ten Nightmares with the Dark Strike upgrade is the best option for melee in this army, you’re going to want to transport them in a skimmer (preferably one that has been upgraded with stealth and ambush) then use the gun on the skimmer and Dark Lord to soften up any unit you intend to change after disembarking, don’t disembark or even deploy this unit until the threat of being shot down has been minimized as much as realistically possible and you should be set.
Warriors with veteran infantry are best used in smaller squads with either the barb cannon for hoards or the heavy fusion carbine for tanks, you’re going to want to transport them in heavy jetbikes (once again upgraded with stealth and ambush and the barb cannon for good measure) and use the heavy jetbike’s guns to soften up your targets before disembarking the warriors to finish the job, chance are they’ll die pretty quickly after this so be sure to do as much damage as possible before then.
Winged Warriors are your best anti tank option as they can take two heavy fusion carbines and they have ambush, so what you want to do is bring them down where they can use their fusion carbides to bring down the biggest tank your opponent has and if possible somewhere where their poison shots can do some good by softening up any enemy infantry unfortunate enough to be in range.
Jetbikes are higher risk but can serve as a tank hunting units as well, with the right manoeuvring that is, it is best to have multiple units of jetbikes as their tank hunting potential makes them a prime target which can be used as an excellent distraction for your opponent who may not pay as much attention to his positioning while trying to deal with your bikes leaving him vulnerable to an ambush unit.
Tortured units are interesting, the best use of them is to have several fully upgraded Torture Masters bubble wrapped in units of Tortured Warriors casting spells and claiming objectives while Brutes and Engines clear more objectives, acid guns are an excellent choice for these units and should be employed as much as possible.
See Also
- Dark Elf Raiders
- Dark Elf Raiders Quickplay Armies
- Grimdark Future Tactics
- Grimdark Future List Building
- Grimdark Future Strategy
- Grimdark Future
| Dark Elf Raiders |
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