After Dead Stars the acolytes have ended up on an Eldar pirate ship overrun by Dark Eldar, and they (the Acolytes) have decided to try and purge the filthy xenos. The only information I have the Dark Eldar is from PtU, so I was wondering:

1 - How do they move ships through the Immaterium? Basically, do they have anything analogous to an Imperial navigator?

2 - Is there anything uniquely Dark Eldar and wholly unpleasant you might recommend for the acolytes to face?

1 - Instead of travelling through the warp like Imperium vessels do, they use the webway . This means that they can walk between systems.

2 - Imagine the most depraved forms of torture you can. Your acolytes should find the Dark Eldar doing it to large numbers of people.

Regarding the webway thing - it seemed to me that the Dark Edlar (and Eldar for that matter) didn't have much need of ships... and yet, they do seem to have them. Do their ships use the webway as well?

Some webway tunnels are indeed large enough for ships to pass through and open into empty space. This allows the dark eldar (and regular eldar too) to get to planets that have no webway gates, to be able to attack enemy ships, and possibly outmaneuver foes who might have located a planetary webway gate.

As for unpleasant dark eldar things to incorporate, I recommend taking a look at the official games workshop dark eldar codex. Unfortunatly, the FFG forums prohibit me to encourage the illegal use of products protected by copyright, so I absolutely will not recommend that you download a pdf of said codex using bittorent.

Banjo Tango said:

A few snippets from Lexicanum:

A Mandrake is a type of Dark Eldar whose physique has adapted to make him/her camouflaged almost anywhere. Advanced infiltrators, Dark Eldar Mandrakes strike from the shadows, surprising and rending their enemies apart. They have shadow-skin, which is possibly from warp exposure, that makes them incredibly hard to see when combined with their stealth. Mandrakes are often cannibalistic and wild, living separate from other Dark Eldar.

A Grotesque is a being of nightmarish appearance, its mangled and twisted form the result either of a Dark Eldar citizen's masochistic tendancies taken to extreme levels, or the unwanted attentions of a Haemonculus as one of their test subjects. These hideous creatures, originally a resident of Commorragh in one form or another, have become so inured to pain that they usually wind up being put to use by Kabals as soldiers.

A Warp Beast is a creature harnessed by Wych cults and are living embodiments of the fear and terror that slaves experience. They are extremely predatorial in nature and will attack whatever they see.

However, do note that any single one of these beings is probably tough enough to be a real challenge for a whole group of Acolytes.

Dark Eldar are one of the least detailed critters in 40k, given they're pretty rare I guess its sort of par for the course as a tertiary footnote with a rubbish army list. That said, plenty of various little castes, families, weird behaviour, weapons and so forth that virtually have nothing on them. Because what you'll get with the codex (revised 2003 I think) in a nutshell-

"Skinny dudes and skanky girls full of drugs turn up out of wtfnowhere, shoot everything up with splinter rifles, grab some people for fun who will never seen again, where they are then taken off somewhere dark, terrible called commorahsomething, with lots of spikes and tortured to death 'for souls' and a wild weekend was had by all."

There's a bit of fluff about history of the rise of Slaanesh and why they do the raiding so desperately to capture and torture people, but there isn't much in there about the hows... just that its terrible. (lol)

MKX said:

Then it's up to the gm to be creative with the how, they don't seem like they would have a standard torture method. Just remember that they are torturing the subjects for the pain it causes them, not to get any information from the subject.

For example in my DH group our gm decided to have us go up against some Dark Eldar. Things went badly and one PC got captured and taken to a small fortress they had nearby. First thing they did to him was modify his bionic eyes so that he could still see through them when they were removed from his head along with increasing how well he could see with them. Then they mounted the eyes where he could see everything they were doing to him. Then some cutting and peeling off of skin to leave him with a chessboard pattern on his chest.

Then the rest of us showed up and rescued him.

The upgraded bionic eyes did come in handy in later missions.

Do have a fair bit of work to do with D-Eldar in my game as they will be appearing as something of an antagonist vs PC's in a future adventure. If I come up with some particually "fun" and suitably gruesome mechanics of extracting souls via torture and absorbing it to revitalise the Eldar doing it I'll post them... somewhere. It'll probably be a varient 'Psychic cannibalism' effect

Golmorgoth said:

Seems like you did make the recommendation though....hmmmm

There are some "nice" info on the Dark Eldar in the first Ultramarine novel Nightbringer; not only on their "pleasures" but what it does to those who survive their clutches as well.

DW

Polaria said:

Minor Shades on Twilight approaching...

Well, I do not think that a single one of the aformentioned is tough enough for a whole group of acolytes. Maybe in certain circumstances like an ambush situation, but normally any acolyte group above rank 2 worth their salt would kill most human sized single opponents that are not highly "unnatural" (i.e. daemons, genestealers etc.) in a few rounds. Most acolyte grous are rather good at focussing fire in my opinion. My acolyte group for example does not have any plasma, melta, power or any heavy weapons for that matter, but would laugh about any single of aforemetined creatures.

Mandrakes are hard to spot and certainly vile in close combat, but if pinned in close combat for more than a round, they are dead meat as they tend to wear almost no armour and won't be able to dodge any attack more than once a round.

Grotesques (like Lithorg & Marbrosa from SoT) are hard to take down, but they are slow either and will struggle to overcome strong body-armour. The only Dark Eldar my group of acolytes were able to take down so far were the mentioned two Grotesques, even though it took a while (most of the acolytes were supressed quite well throughout most of the encounter though).

Warp Beasts are quite annoying indeed with their daemonic toughness and their ability to ignore mundane armour, but are far from more than a nuisance for a well trained and equipped acolyte group.

I still recommend the mentioned critters, though not alone but backed up by at least half a dozen 'normal' Dark Eldar warriors...

Luthor Harkon said:

Laugh they may at first... until they learn fear. Dark Eldar, of any kind, should never directly confront well-armed foes. They're not looking for a fight, they're looking to inflict pain and fear and to drag helpless people away screaming into a place of endless suffering. Darkness (the Dark Eldar have a few tricks good for summoning the dark, and Eldar senses are keener than those of men, so they are less affected by the gloom), ambush, feints and hit-and-run attacks, poisons, hallucinogens... the list goes on. Every dirty trick in the book should be employed.

Luthor Harkon said:

Unless you give them Step Aside. Assassin's Strike is quite characterful for them too.

Mandrakes aren't just stealthy... they're supernaturally stealthy. Their appearance in Dark Disciple, the second Word Bearers novel, demonstrates that they're capable of hiding from an enemy that they're actively fighting in close combat, vanishing from sight mere moments after an attack, eluding retaliation and striking again from another angle moments later. A pack of mandrakes with abilities like that would be a terror to face...

Luthor Harkon said:

I recommend the use of special and heavy weapons as well - basic rifles and pistols are sufficient for incapacitating helpless civilians, but against a prepared foe, bigger guns are requred.

Laugh they may at first... until they learn fear. Dark Eldar, of any kind, should never directly confront well-armed foes. They're not looking for a fight, they're looking to inflict pain and fear and to drag helpless people away screaming into a place of endless suffering. Darkness (the Dark Eldar have a few tricks good for summoning the dark, and Eldar senses are keener than those of men, so they are less affected by the gloom), ambush, feints and hit-and-run attacks, poisons, hallucinogens... the list goes on. Every dirty trick in the book should be employed

This. Fight the Dark Eldar according to their strengths: speed, ambush, hit-and-run. Don´t play them like regular human thugs. Also remember that all Eldar ( and Dark Eldar by extension ) have Unnatural Agility. Fighting against tactically clever opponents that all have double your reflex speed can be a sobering experience.

I recommend the use of special and heavy weapons as well - basic rifles and pistols are sufficient for incapacitating helpless civilians, but against a prepared foe, bigger guns are requred.

Area effect weapons ( grenades etc. ) would be my recommendation. Basically anything that can make their good dodge and evasion tests more difficult.

PS. I really hate this forums format. It really does not do what I want it to do.

N0-1_H3r3 said:

Purge the Unclean and Illumination SPOILER.

You know, the groups Assassin tends to laugh at almost everything smaller than a Dreadnought until the bullets start flying in his direction after he already made that rounds Dodge. Even though he became a little more decent recently...

Anyway, I absolutely agree with you that a pack of Mandrakes would be a terror to face. Still, a lone Mandrake won't be (only if backed up by mentioned 'normal' Dark Eldar keeping anyone pinned and on their toes, or in certain ambush situations maybe). My acolyte group almost regularly wears IR goggles and/or photo-visors, so any mundane darkness won't help; and as I said, focussing fire and pinning a single opponent is normally quite easily achieved by them (e.g. Theodosia, the Skae-Thing etc.).

In Shades on Twilight I wanted to include a Mandrake in the Dark Eldar assault at the end (just to keep the Assassin from sniping >20 damage at Akivras). In the end the Assassin was pinned well enough by supressing fire and the rest of the acolytes were under very heavy pressure (with the Tech-Priest and Arbitrator burning a fate point each), so that I left the Mandrake at home.

The Mandrake I 'created' had WS 52, Two-Weapon Wielder, Furious Assault and Dodge (like all Dark Eldar in my game), and was equipped with a Splinter Pistol (all Splinter Weapons have +1 Dam and, when firing on full-auto, the Weapon Special Quality: Storm in my game) and a Mono Punch-Dagger or Mono Combat Knife as well as the innate ability to use the Chameleon psychic power (without testing).

Aajav-Khan said:

Absolutely. If one thing saved the aforementioned encounter for my group, it was the amply use of Frag Grenades...

Okay thes are some stats I use for the Dark Eldar, they are based on those in PtU but expanded using the Eldar in Creature Anathema.

Dark Eldar Raider

WS 40
BS 45
S 30
T 30
Ag 45 (8)
Int 35
Per 35
WP 35
Fel25

Movement: 4/8/12/24 Wounds: 10 Initiative: 1d10+8

Skills:
Acrobatics, Awareness, Catfall, Common Lore (War), Concealment, Dodge, Drive (Skimmer/Hover), Interrogation, Intimidate, Literacy, Forbidden Lore (Xenos), Search, Silent Move, Speak Language (Dark Eldar), Tracking

Talents:
Basic Weapon Training (Dark Eldar), Hard Target, Leap up, Melee Weapon Training (Primitive), Nerves of Steel, Pistol Training (Dark Eldar), Resistance (Fear), Sprint

Armour:
Dark Eldar Mesh (4 AP All)

Weapons :
Splinter Rifle (BS 45%, Range 80, S/3/10, 1d10+2 R, Pen 3, Clip 200, Rld 2 Full, Hail of Splinters, Combat Blades)
- 2 Reloads, (WS 40%, 1d10+2R, Pen 2)
Or
Vile Webber (BS 45%, Range 60, 1d5+1 R, Pen 2, Clip 3, Rld 3 Full, Blast (3), Snare, Combat Blades)
- 2 Reloads, (WS 40%, 1d10+3R, Pen 2)
Gear:
1 Terrorfex Grenade

Traits/Mutations:
Unnatural Agility (x2)

Background:
Raiders are the most commonly encountered among the various worlds of the Imperium, they often use the Web Way to get close to pockets of human society and then attack them kidnapping as many victim as possible.
They move in quick and often try to leave before they meet any serious resistance.
A raiding party usually consist out of 10 to 20 Raiders accompanied by a Sybarite, sometimes a Familiar assists the Sybarite for maximum effectiveness.

Dark Eldar Warriors

WS 45
BS 50
S 30
T 30
Ag 45 (8)
Int 35
Per 35
WP 45
Fel25

Movement: 4/8/12/24 Wounds: 12 Initiative: 1d10+8

Skills:
Acrobatics +10, Awareness +10, Common Lore (War) +10, Concealment, Dodge +10, Drive (Skimmer/Hover), Interrogation, Intimidate +10, Forbidden Lore (Xenos), Literacy, Search, Silent Move, Speak Language (Dark Eldar), Tracking

Talents:
Ambidextrous, Basic Weapon Training (Dark Eldar), Catfall, Hard Target , Heavy Weapon Training (Dark Eldar), Heightened Senses (Sight), Hip Shooting, Melee Weapon Training (Primitive), Leap Up, Mighty Shot, Nerves of Steel, Pistol Training (Dark Eldar), Rapid Reload, Resistance (Fear), Sprint, Swift Attack

Armour:
Dark Eldar Warrior Mesh (5 AP All)
- Re-breather, Micro-bead, Photo Visor

Weapons:
Splinter Pistol (BS 50%, Range 30, S/3/5, 1d10+3 R, Pen 3, Clip 120, Rld 2 Full, Hail of Splinters, Combat Blades)
- 1 Reload, (WS 45%, 1d5+3R, Pen 2)
Mono Blade (WS 45%, 1d5+4 R, Pen 3)
and
Splinter Rifle (BS 50%, Range 80, S/3/10, 1d10+4 R, Pen 3, Clip 200, Rld 2 Full, Hail of Splinters, Combat Blades)
- 2 Reloads, (WS 45%, 1d10+3R, Pen 2)
or
Splinter Cannon (BS 50%, Range 120, -/-/10, 2d10+4 R, Pen 5, Clip 120, 3 Full, Hail of Splinters, Combat Blades, Special)
- 1 Reload, (WS 45%, 2d10+3R, Pen 2)
or
Dark Lance (BS 50%, Range 120, S/-/-, 4d10+6 E, Pen n/a, Clip 5, Warp, Tearing)
- 2 Reloads
or
Mono Sword (WS 45%, 1d10+4 R, Pen 3, Balanced)
Gear:
1 Terrorfex Grenade

Traits/Mutations:
Unnatural Agility (x2)

Dark Eldar Beast Master:
Int +10, Forbidden Lore (Daemonology) +10, Tracking +10, Wrangling +10, Ambidextrous
Splinter Pistol(BS 50%, Range 30, S/3/5, 1d10+3 R, Pen 3, Clip 120, Rld 2 Full, Hail of Splinters, Combat Blades) & Agonizer Whip (WS 45%, 1d10+6 R, Pen 2, Flexible, Shocking), Warp Whistle

Background:
These are less common in the Imperium, they are true Assault Troops, not often used in raids but in war, they guard Dark Eldar facilities and attack and annihilate Imperial forces.
A typical force consists out of 20 warriors led by a single Sybarite riding in two Raider hover vehicles, sometimes a Ravagers is added to give the unit more striking capabilities.

The Beast Masters are a rare breed, they capture and train the large Warp Beast stalking the Web Way, they show those beast little kindness until they release them on the battlefield where they can do what they were meant to do, hunt.

Dark Eldar Hellion

WS 45
BS 50
S 30
T 30
Ag 50 (10)
Int 35
Per 35
WP 45
Fel25

Movement: 5/10/15/30 Wounds: 12 Initiative: 1d10+10

Skills:
Acrobatics +10, Awareness +10, Common Lore (War) +10, Concealment, Dodge +10, Drive (Skimmer/Hover), Interrogation, Intimidate +10, Forbidden Lore (Xenos), Literacy, Pilot (Personal)+10, Search, Silent Move, Speak Language (Dark Eldar), Tracking

Talents:
Assassins Strike, Basic Weapon Training (Dark Eldar), Catfall, Furious Assault, Hard Target, Heightened Senses (Sight),Hip Shooting, Melee Weapon Training (Primitive), Leap Up, Mighty Shot, Nerves of Steel, Pistol Training (Dark Eldar), Rapid Reload, Resistance (Fear), Sprint, Swift Attack

Armour:
Dark Eldar Mesh (4 AP All)
- Re-breather, Micro-bead, Photo Visor

Weapons:
Hell Glaive Melee (WS 45%, 1d10+5 R, Pen 4, Balanced)
Hell Glaive Ranged (BS 50%, Range 80, S/3/10, 1d10+4 R, Pen 3, Clip 200, Rld 2 Full, Hail of Splinters)
- 2 Reloads, (WS 45%, 1d10+3R, Pen 2)
or
Vile Webber (BS 50%, Range 60, 1d5+1 R, Pen 2, Clip 3, Rld 3 Full, Blast (3), Snare, Combat Blades)
- 2 Reloads, (WS 40%, 1d10+3R, Pen 2)

Splinter Pistol (BS 50%, Range 30, S/3/5, 1d10+3 R, Pen 3, Clip 120, Rld 2 Full, Hail of Splinters, Combat Blades)
- 1 Reload, (WS 45%, 1d5+3R, Pen 2)

Gear:
2 Terrorfex Grenades or 2 Plasma Grenades, Hellion Sky Board (Flyer 12)

Traits/Mutations:
Unnatural Agility (x2)

Background:
These warriors leap from the skies screaming as they descend to wreak havoc, these crazed Dark Eldar soar across the field hunting and harassing the enemy.

Dark Eldar Sybarite

WS 50
BS 55
S 30
T 40
Ag 55 (10)
Int 40
Per 40
WP 50
Fel 35

Movement: 5/10/15/30 Wounds: 16 Initiative: 1d10+10

Skills :
Acrobatics +10, Awareness +10, Chem Use, Command +10, Common Lore (War) +10, Concealment +10, Deceive +10, Dodge +20, Drive (Skimmer/Hover), Interrogation +10, Intimidate +20, Forbidden Lore (Web Way, Xenos), Medicae, Scrutiny, Silent Move, Speak Language (Dark Eldar), Search +10, Tracking +10

Talents:
Air of Authority, Ambidextrous, Basic Weapon Training (Dark Eldar), Blade Master, Catfall, Disarm, Hard Target , Heavy Weapon Training (Dark Eldar), Heightened Senses (Sight),Hip Shooting, Iron Discipline, Leap Up, Melee Weapon Training (Poisoned blade, Primitive), Mighty Shot, Nerves of Steel, Pistol Training (Dark Eldar), Quick Draw, Rapid Reload, Resistance (Fear), Sprint, Step Aside, Swift Attack, True Grit, Two weapon Wield (Melee, Ballistic)

Armour:
Dark Eldar Warrior Mesh (5 AP All) , Hell Mask (Fear 2)
- Re-breather, Micro-bead, Photo Visor

Weapons:
Splinter Rifle (BS 55%, Range 80, S/3/10, 1d10+5 R, Pen 3, Clip 200, Rld 2 Full, Hail of Splinters, Combat Blades)
- 2 Reloads of Soul Seeker Ammunition (Ignore Cover), (WS 50%, 1d10+3R, Pen 2)
Splinter Pistol (BS 55%, Range 30, S/3/5, 1d10+3 R, Pen 3, Clip 120, Rld 2 Full, Hail of Splinters, Combat Blades)
- 1 Reload, (WS 50%, 1d5+3R, Pen 2)
Poisoned Blade (WS 50%, 1d10+4 R, Pen 3, Balanced, Toxic)
Gear:
Combat Drug Injector Rig (Inject Stimm or Psycho as a Free Action, 3 Dosses Each), Excruciator, Terrorfex Grenade (x3), Dark Eldar Medicae Kit

Traits/Mutations:
Unnatural Agility (x2)

Background:
Ruthless war leaders, skilled torturers and dangerous combatants, they are the on the ground leaders of the Dark Eldar, these veterans are nigh unstoppable.

Dark Eldar Haemonculus

WS 60
BS 50
S 40
T 45
Ag 55 (10)
Int 45
Per 45
WP 55
Fel 45

Movement: 5/10/15/30 Wounds: 20 Initiative: 1d10+10

Skills:
Acrobatics, Awareness, Chem Use +10, Command +10, Common Lore (Imperium, War), Concealment, Craft (Nightmare Devices) +10, Deceive +10, Dodge +10, Interrogation +20, Intimidate +20, Literacy, Forbidden Lore (Xenos), Medicae +10, Scrutiny +10, Silent Move, Speak Language (Dark Eldar, Low Gothic, Eldar), Tech Use +10

Talents:
Air of Authority, Ambidextrous, Basic Weapon Training (Dark Eldar), Blade Master, Catfall, Cleanse & Purify, Crippling Strike, Fearless, Hard Target , Iron Discipline, Melee Weapon Training (Poisoned Blade, Primitive),Iron Discipline, Iron jaw, Nerves of Steel, Pistol Training (Dark Eldar), Swift Attack, Talented (Interrogation), Two weapon Wield (Melee, Ballistic)

Armour:
Dark Eldar Mesh (4 AP All) , Hell Mask (Fear 2)

Weapons:
Destructor (Range 10, S/-/-, 1d10+4 E, Pen 1d10, Clip 5, Rld 3 Full, Flame, Toxic)
Splinter Pistol (BS 45%, Range 30, S/3/5, 1d10+1 R, Pen 3, Clip 120, Rld 2 Full, Hail of Splinters, Combat Blades))
- 1 Reload, (WS 40%, 1d5+3R, Pen 2)
Poisoned Blade (WS 60%, 1d10+5 R, Pen 3, Balanced, Toxic) or
Agonizer Whip (WS 60%, 1d10+7 R, Pen 2, Flexible, Shocking)

Gear:
Dark Eldar Excruciation Kit, Photo Visor, Dark Eldar Medicae Kit, Human Skin Robes

Traits/Mutations:
Unnatural Agility (x2)

Background:
The Haemonculus are the Dark Eldar masters of torture, if an enemy knows a piece of valuable information they will drag it out of them during gruelling hours worth of torture.

Warp Beast

WS 40
BS 10
S 40
T 45 (8)
Ag 45
Int 15
Per 35
WP 35
Fel 10

Movement: 8/16/24/48 Wounds: 14 Initiative: 1d10+4

Skills:
Awareness +10, Concealment +20, Silent Move +20, Tracking +10

Talents:
Berserk Charge, Heightened Senses (Smell)

Armour:
-

Weapons:
Claws & Fangs (WS 40%, 1d10+4 R, Warp)

Traits:
Dark Sight, Daemonic, Fear 2 (Frightening), Daemonic Presence (All within a 30m radius will hear the sounds of faint whispering and crying; shadows will grow and deepen and the smell of ozone palpable. Everyone within this area will suffer -10 to Willpower Tests), Natural Weapons, Warp Weapons, Quadruped, From Beyond, Warp Instability

Greater Warp Beast:
WS +5, S +10, +2 Wounds

Background:
These creatures are natural inhabitants of the Web Way, they stalk and hunt anything that roams there.
They are trained by Dark Eldar Beast Masters to be unleashed upon their enemies or to be used hunting dogs.

Talos

WS 65
BS 35
S 65 (12)
T 70
Ag 35
Int 15
Per 35
WP 40
Fel -

Movement: 8/16/24/48 Wounds: 30 Initiative: 1d10+3

Skills:
Awareness +10, Dodge, Silent Move +10

Talents:
Furious Assault, Heavy Weapon Training (Talos Stinger), Melee Weapon Training (Talos Claws), Swift Attack

Armour:
7 AP All Locations (Body)

Weapons:
Talos Claws (WS 65%,2d10+12 R , Pen 5, Tearing)
Talos Stinger (BS 35%,Range 30 , -/3/10, 1d10+4 E, Pen 4, Toxic, Twin Linked)
Traits:
Machine 5, Armour Plating, Fear 2, Auto Stabilized, Multiple Arms, Strange Physiology, Whirlwind of Death*, Enormous, Capture**, Fearless, Hoverer 8, Unnatural Strength (x2)

Whirlwind of Death* :
As a full round action the Talos may use all its possible attacks (3 Melee at -10WS and it Stinger on any mode of fire) if able.
Capture**:
During the round after a successful grapple the Talos move its victim into a holding bay, this holding bay can hold up to 6 man sized victim.
To escape one has to inflict 15 on it hull which has 7 AP, these wounds do not count towards the creatures total Wounds

Background:
These fast machine are created by the Haemonculi to gather slaves from and on the battlefield, destroying everything what would try to stop them.
These scorpion like creatures try capture those weak enough to let themselves be captured by the horrid machine, weak being somewhat of a misnomer.

Ranged Dark Eldar Weapons:

Splinter Pistol (Exotic) 30m, S/3/5, 1d10+1 R Pen 3, Clip 120, Rld 2 Full, Hail of Splinters, Combat Blades, Weight 1 kg, Very Rare

Splinter Rifle (Exotic) 80m, S/3/10, 1d10+2 R, Pen 3, Clip 200, Rld 2 Full, Hail of Splinters, Combat Blades, Weight 2,5 kg, Very Rare

Destructor (Exotic) 10m, S/-/-, 1d10+4 E, Pen 1d10, Clip 1, Rld 3 Full, Flame, Toxic*, Weight 3 kg, Extremely Rare

Terrorfex Grenade (Thrown) SBx3m, S/-/-, Special, Pen n/a, Blast (3) Weight 0,5 kg Very Rare

Dark Lance (Exotic) 120m, S/-/-, 4d10+4 E, Pen n/a, Clip 5, Rld 2 Full, Warp Weapon, Tearing*, Weight 12 kg, Extremely Rare

Splinter Cannon (Exotic) 120m, -/-/10, 2d10+2 R, Pen 4, Clip 120, Rld 3 Full, Hail of Splinters, Combat Blades, Special, Weight 17,5 kg Extremely Rare

Vile Webbe r (Exotic) 60m, S/-/-, 1d5+1 R, Pen 2, clip 3, Rld 3 Full, Blast (3), Snare*, Combat Blades 6,5 kg Near Unique

Hell Glaiv e (Exotic) 80m, S/3/10, 1d10+2 R, Pen 3, Clip 200, Rld 2 Full, Hail of Splinters, Combat Blades, Weight 5,5 kg Near Unique

Special Abilities:

Toxic*:
Instead of dealing an additional 1d10 extra damage this virulent toxin deals an additional 2d10 extra damage if the Toughness Test is failed.

Hail of Splinters:
When fired on Full Automatic the Splinter weapon gains the Tearing Special Ability due to the sheer number of splinters fired.

Combat Blades:
This special ability allows the weapon to be used in close combat, pistol sized weapons count as a mono knife (1d5R, Pen2) while rifle sized weapons (Splinter Rifle, Vile Webber), count as a mono spear (1d10R, Pen 2) and on a Splinter Cannon they count as a mono great weapon (2d10R, Pen 2, Unwieldy).

Dark Eldar Melee Weapons:

Poisoned Blad e (Exotic) 1d10+1 R, Pen 3, Toxic, Balanced, Weight 2,5 kg, Near Unique
Agonizer Whip (Primitive), Range 3m, 1d10+3 R, Pen 2, Flexible, Shocking, Weight 4 kg, Rare
Hell Glaive (Exotic) 1d10+2 R, Pen 4, Balanced, Special, Weight 5,5 kg, Near Unique
Mono Blade (Primitive), Range 3m, 1d5+1 R, Pen 3, Weight 1 kg Rare

Dark Eldar Weapons:

Splinter Pistol and Rifle :
These vicious weapons are the mainstay of the Dark Eldar forces, they unload a vast quantity of lethal diamond hard splinters upon their victims causing agonizing deaths.

Destructor:
This baroque-looking alien weapon shoots a high pressured jet of virulent, corrosive acid designed to eat through armour and flesh.
This weapon, though larger than a normal pistol requires only a single hand to use.
Any Critical injury on the head, unless the victim has a sealed helmet or visor will result in permanent blindness.
A external canister like magazine(15kg) can be carried and this will increase its capacity to 5

Terrorfex:
This vile grenade is not designed to kill but break down morale and bring about large scale panic.
When hit by this weapon the victim must pass a Hard (-20) Willpower Test or suffer shock as per failed fear test.

Dark Lance:
These weapon fire a strange material called Dark Matter said to found in the centres of black holes. This weapon is usually vehicle or shoulder mounted and must be braced before firing and is usually used against vehicles
Should this weapon be used on more fleshy targets like humans or Eldar the Tearing special ability is added.

Splinter Cannon:
This is the heavy variant of the splinter weapon family, it is usually mounted on vehicles though sometimes it carried by infantry soldiers.
This weapon is enhanced by suspenders thus is very light and counts as being Auto Stabilised thus firing it at Full Auto is only a Half Action.

Poisoned Blade:
This wickedly curved wraith bone wrist mounted blade rends the very flesh of the bone, but even the slightest scratch will kill for when struck neural toxins will enter the body and kill the victim.

Hell Glaive:
These weapons, solely used by the Dark Eldar Hellions are two handed staff like weapons with blades on each side and a splinter rifle set in the hilt.

Mono Blade:
These Dark Eldar knives are wickedly sharp and very capable of penetrating most armour with little difficulty.

Vile Webber:
Not all Dark Eldar weapons are meant to be lethal though all of them are meant to be painful, the Webber, usually employed by Hellions and Raiders, fire painfully spiked webs at their victims.
To escape this net one must succeed in a Strength or Agility Test , failure by more than two degrees means the victim cuts himself on the sharp edges, wires and spikes of the net inflicting 1d5+SB (Victim Strength Bonus) Penetration 2 on the would be escapee.
Like the Splinter Rifle this weapon sprouts a dangerous set of blades meant to slay or goad the victim.

Special Ammunition:

Soul Seeker Ammunition:
This extremely rare ammunition used in Splinter Weapons holds the tortured souls of their victims, when fired it immediately seeks out the first living thing to exact their revenge.
This ammunition add +1 to damage and ignores any cover.

Stinger Ammunition:
This small crystal is heavily impregnated with virulent toxins, unfortunately it degrades the quality of the crystal an makes it less damaging but vastly more lethal.
This type of ammo can only be used in Splinter Pistols, reduces the damage to 1d10R but gains the Toxin special ability for 1d5 additional damage after a failed Toughness Test.

Dark Eldar Armour:

Dark Eldar Mesh , 4 AP All, Weight 2kg
Dark Eldar Warrior Mesh . 5 AP All, Weight 3kg

Dark Eldar Special Equipment:

Hellion Sky Board:
This bladed flying boards are used by the Hellions to fly high above the battleground, when diving in to attack these board make a horrifying screeching sounds which no survivor will ever forget.
The Hellion Sky Board grants the user a Fly Rate of 12.
Some Sky Boards are more advanced as the standard, they include Twin Linked Splinter Pistols which are Auto Stabilized and thus can be fired as a Half Action.

Hell Mask:
These masks forged of metal and imbued with a thousand tortured souls are meant to scare any creature that looks upon them.
These unholy artefacts grant the wearer a Fear Rating 2.

I think when I stat mine up it probably wouldnt be Unnatural Agility, they would have a high Ag of about 40-50, but the defining characteristic of Eldar is that they are fast little bastards and instead I'd give them Unnatural Speed instead.

MKX said:

Wouldn't the only difference between unnnatural speed and agiliy be that agility gives a bonus to initiative also? It seems fitting for an eldar to have a higher initiative also.

Lightning Reflexes talent (doubles Agility bonus for purposes of initiative)

You've pretty much got the same thing happening then, maybe being skitzo, paranoid Dark Eldar add in a bit of-

Rapid Reaction Talent (Agility test to React normally when suprised or ambushed)

...flavour for having a lifetime of being jumped on, mauled and tortured by family and friends

Just that mechanically, Unnatural Agility isn't that awesome, its good for initiative, dodges, being sneaky and athletics but it doesn't actually make you run fast and 45-50 Agility should make them fast and agile enough. Which after watching Eldar and Dark Eldar armies sprinting their arses off over the battlefield, doing some shooting, then getting buried under eleventydozens orks or blown up by cheap artillery, after running out of places to run, sort of typified the whole species.

I'd consider chucking Unnatural Agility on Wyches, simply because wearing a bikini and carrying sharp knife on a battlefield, they're going to need all the help they can get...

All the Eldars presented by FFG have Unnatural Agility x2, including the Dark eldar in PtU, so I think we can assume they simply have Unnatural Agility x2

Santiago said:

Agreed. But I could also see some of them having Unnatural Speed, Lightning Reflexes, Rapid Reaction, and more ...

JMHO.

Unnatural Speed, no, they are not Dark Sun Elves...
And don't forget a high agility already gives a higher speed.
Rather give them the Sprint Talent.

Some of my Dark Eldar already have Lightning reflex, Rapid Reaction etc.

Santiago said:

Okay, fair enough. I can see that.

With warp exposure and their shadowskin, shouldn't Mandrakes get the Phase Trait as well?

guest469 said:

Hrm ... I'll have to think on that one. But at first glance, that seems a bit much, at least to my mind.

I'd use the equivalent of a Synskin