A couple of months ago I ran a series of Deathwatch games which saw the Killteam entering the Dark Eldar city of Commorragh, so I had to create stats for various types of Dark Eldar and their weapons. There were some rules for Dark Eldar in one of the Dark Heresy supplements, which I used as a basis for creating all the Dark Eldar enemies presented here, which I thought people might be interested in, so that they can go kill another variety of foul xenos! There are no doubt some flaws, since I made these rules very quickly. Feedback is welcome.

Dark Eldar General Rules

All Dark Eldar possess Hatred: Craftworld Eldar.

Special Rules: Power From Pain
When the Dark Eldar incapacitate or kill an opponent, they gain access to a number of talents and traits during the combat in which the kills/incapacitations were made:
1 Kill: gain Furious Assault (free attack after successful melee attack; uses a reaction)
2 Kills: gain Fearless (immune to fear and pinning – like most Astartes are already!)
3 Kills: gain Feel no Pain (take half damage from all attacks except power weapons)

Dark Eldar Weapons
Melee
Agonizer (Melee; 2d10+8 E; Pen 6; Felling (1), Unwieldy)
Electrocorrosive Whip (Melee; 2d10+6 E; Pen 6; Concussive, Unwieldy)
Klaive (Melee; 2D10+6 R; Pen 6; Balanced, Power Field, Razor Sharp, Tearing)
Mindphase Gauntlet (2D10 E; Pen 9; Special: those damaged by the Mindphase gauntlet must take a WP test, suffering -10 per degrees of success on the attack roll. Those who fail are stunned.)
Scissorhand (1D10+6 R; Pen 8; Razor Sharp, Tearing, Toxic)

Ranged
Liquifier Gun (20m; S/-/-; 2D10+2 Acid; Pen 1D10+2; Clip 6; Rld 2full) Special – the Liquefier gun sprays acid, which eats through armour at a random pace. It fires in a Burst like a flame weapon.
Shredder (10m; S/-/-; 2D10+8 R; Pen 0; Clip 4; Rld full; Snare – roll not to be immobilized)
Orb of Despair (5m; One Shot; 4D10+8; Pen 15; Blast 5)

Darklight Weapons
Blast Pistol (10m; S/-/-; 2D10+8 E; Pen 13; Clip 4; Rld Full)
Blaster (30m; S/2/4; 2D10+8 E; Pen 13; Clip 20; Rld Full)
Dark Lance (60m; S/-/-; 4D10+6 E; Pen 13; Clip 12; Rld 2 Full)

Splinter Weapons
Splinter Pistol (20m; S/-/-; 2D10+2 R; Pen 4; Clip 40; Rld 1full; Reliable, Toxic)
Splinter Rifle (80m; S/3/10; 2D10+2 R; Pen 4; Clip 200; Rld 2full; Hail of Splinters, Toxic)
Shardcarbine (60m; S/3/10; 2D10+5 R; Pen 4; Clip 200; Rld 2full; Hail of Splinters, Toxic)
Splinter Cannon (150m; -/-/10; 2D10+2 R; Pen 4; Clip 400; Rld 2full; Hail of Splinters, Storm, Toxic)

Wych Weapons
Shardnet and Impaler Combo :
Shardnet (Melee; 0 damage; Special: Shocking, Snare: attacks made with the shardnet seek to ensnare opponents with the Snare quality. If the target fails his agility test and becomes ensnared, he must test against the Shocking quality. Note: against an armored Astartes, this weapon is virtually useless!)
Impaler (Melee; 2D10+2 R; Pen 2; Balanced, Razor Sharp, Tearing)
Hydra Gauntlets (Melee; 2D10 R; Pen 4, Tearing, Special: Hydra Gauntlets grant the bearer the Swift Attack Talent, if the bearer already has the Swift Attack Talent, he gets the Lightning Attack Talent, if he already has the Lighting Attack Talent, then he gets the Preternatural Speed Talent, if he has the Preternatural Speed Talent, he gains +2 extra attacks when he uses Lightning Attack for a total of 5 attacks)
Razorflails (Melee; 1D10+6 R; Pen 6, Tearing, Unwieldy, Special: failed rolls to hit are re-rolled.)

Armour
Clone Field : Creates three false images. Roll randomly (or choose if using a battle map) to select a target.
Ghostplate Armour : provides all-over protection of 8 and an energy field which has a 20% chance of nullifying attacks.
Shadow Field : The shadow field has a 80% chance to negate any attack. However, once an attack passes through, the field is permanently disabled.
Vexator Mask : shows an image of the attacker’s most beloved friend, relative, etc. A WP test must be passed in order to attack the wearer of the mask. Once passed, it does not need to be rolled again.

Dark Eldar Troops

Kabalite Warriors
WS 46 BS 46 S 31 T 32 Ag (8) 45 Int 33 Per 37 WP 31 Fel 27
Wounds: 15
Movement: 4/8/12/24
Skills: Concealment (Ag), Dodge (Ag), Silent Move (Ag), Common Lore (Dark Eldar) (Int) +10, Speak Language (Dark Eldar)(Int).
Talents: All weapons trained, Unnatural Agility X2. Night Vision.
Armour: Dark Eldar armour, 6 all over.
Weapons: Splinter Rifle (80m; S/3/10; 2D10+2 R; Pen 4; Clip 200; Rld 2full; Hail of Splinters).
Hail of Splinters: Splinter Weapons used on full auto have the Tearing Quality.

Wyches
WS 55 BS 40 S 30 (+10 from Combat drugs) T 30 Ag 50 (10) Int 33 WP 31 Fel 30
Wounds: 15
Skills: Dodge, Concealment, Silent Move, Common Lore (Dark Eldar)(Int) +10, Speak Language (Dark Eldar)(Int).
Talents: Duel Weapon Wielder (Melee), Step Aside, Unnatural Agility X2.
Armour: Wyches armour roughly half of their bodies. These sections have an armour rating of 6.
Weapons: Close combat weapon, combat drugs, plasma grenades, splinter pistol, wychsuit.

Dark Eldar Elites
Incubi
WS 60 BS 46 S 41 (+10 from wielding the Klaive) T 40 Ag (10) 55 Int 38 Per 42 WP 40 Fel 40
Wounds: 40
Skills: Dodge, Concealment, Silent Move, Common Lore (Dark Eldar)(Int) +10, Speak Language (Dark Eldar)(Int).
Talents: Swift Attack, Unnatural Agility X2.
Armour: Incubus Warsuit (all 10)
Weapons: Klaive (Melee; 2D10+6 R; Pen 6; Balanced, Power Field, Razor Sharp, Tearing)

The Klaivex
As above, except the Klaivex has Lightning Attack, Preternatural Speed, 48 wounds and a WS of 66.
He also benefits from on of the following special rules (choose before each combat)
Onslaught: the Klaivex and his Incubi gain Furious Assault.
Murderous Assault: at any one time, the Klaivex can mark an enemy: the Klaivex and his incubi benefit from Hatred (+10 on melee rolls) against that enemy. If that enemy is incapacitated or killed, the Klaivex can nominate a new enemy as a free action.

Mandrake
WS 55 BS 55 S 40 T 40 Ag (10) 50 Int 38 Per 42 WP 40 Fel 40
Wounds: 30
Skills: Dodge, Concealment +20, Silent Move +20, Common Lore (Dark Eldar)(Int) +10, Speak Language (Dark Eldar)(Int).
Talents: Unnatural Agility X2. All have Swift Attack, Nightfiends have Lightning Attack.
Armour: Mandrakes do not wear armour, but are dimensionally unstable, and therefore all attacks have a 35% miss chance.
Weapons: Wicked Blades (2D10+2 R; Pen 4; Balanced, Razor Sharp, Tearing)
Special: Mandrakes can teleport through shadow (Agi X metres) as a reaction.

Wrack Acothysts
WS 46 BS 46 S 31 T (8) 40 Ag (8) 45 Int 33 Per 37 WP 31 Fel 27
Wounds: 25
Movement: 4/8/12/24
Skills: Concealment (Ag), Silent Move (Ag), Common Lore (Dark Eldar)(Int) +10, Speak Language (Dark Eldar)(Int).
Talents: All weapons trained, Unnatural Agility X2, Unnatural Toughness X2, Night Vision.
Armour: Gnarlskin, 4 all over.
Weapons: All of the following are in the Wrack Acothysts’ arsenal:
Liquifier Gun (20m; S/-/-; 2D10+2 Acid; Pen 1D10; Clip 6; Rld 2full)
Scissorhand (1D10+6 R; Pen 8; Razor Sharp, Tearing, Toxic, Unwieldy)
Mindphase Gauntlet (2D10 E; Pen 9; Unwieldy)
Special: those struck by the Mindphase gauntlet must take a WP test, suffering -10 per degrees of success on the attack roll. Those who fail are stunned.
Electrocorrosive Whip (Melee; 2d10+6 E; Pen 6; Concussive, Unwieldy)

Archon (Master) and Retinue (Elites)

MEDUSAE
WS 46 BS 46 S 31 T 32 Ag (8) 45 Int 33 Per 37 WP 31 Fel 27
Wounds: 22
Movement: 4/8/12/24
Skills: Concealment (Ag), Dodge (Ag) Silent Move (Ag), Common Lore (Dark Eldar)(Int) +10, Speak Language (Dark Eldar)(Int).
Talents: All weapons trained, Unnatural Agility X2. Night Vision.
Armour: Dark Eldar armour, 6 all over.
Weapons: Eyeburst - the Medusae host opens its visor, and all in range experience horrific visions and surges of overwhelming anguish (30m; S/-/-; roll 1D5: the result is how many D10’s of damage are rolled for the weapon that turn; Pen 1D10; Clip -; Rld -)

Description (from the Dark Eldar Codex): The visored slave-beings that Archons use to record the roiling emotions of the battlefield are hosts to strange creatures of the webway, known as Medusae. These highly empathic parasites look like a collection of brains and spinal cords one atop another, and they float through the ether like jellyfish, feeding on daydreams and nightmares. Medusae can latch onto a host that intrudes into their realm, absorbing their emotions directly and providing a means of motive power in realspace. Though meeting the gaze of a Medusae's host can cause instant emotional haemorrhaging, these hybrid creatures are highly valuable in Commorragh, for they absorb and store extreme sensations. Consuming one of the Medusae's brain-fruit brings back all the vivid and anarchic emotions of a raid as if they were happening then and there.

Ur-Ghuls
WS 66 BS – S (8) 40 T 32 Ag (8) 45 Int 20 Per 44 WP 31 Fel 20
Wounds: 30
Movement: 4/8/12/24
Skills: Concealment (Ag) Dodge(Ag), Silent Move (Ag), Common Lore (Dark Eldar)(Int) +10, Speak Language (Dark Eldar)(Int).
Talents: All weapons trained, Unnatural Strength X2, Unnatural Agility X2. Night Vision.
Weapons: Claws (1D10+10 R; Pen 3) Needle teeth (1D10+10; Pen 5)
Armour: tough skin (all over) 8.
Attacks: two attacks with claws, if successful, a final attack with the teeth is allowed.
Description: a hideous mass of long, ropy limbs, the Ur-Ghul seems to be all cartilage and no bone. It possesses no eyes and a circular, lamprey-like maw with rows and rows of needle-sharp teeth.

LHAMAEANS
WS 46 BS 55 S 31 T 32 Ag (8) 45 Int 33 Per 37 WP 31 Fel 27
Wounds: 30
Movement: 4/8/12/24
Skills: Concealment (Ag), Dodge +10 (Ag), Silent Move (Ag), Common Lore (Dark Eldar)(Int) +10, Speak Language (Dark Eldar)(Int).
Talents: All weapons trained, Unnatural Agility X2. Night Vision.
Armour: Dark Eldar armour, 6 all over.
Weapons: Splinter Pistol (20m; S/-/-; 2D10+2 R; Pen 4; Clip 40; Rld 1full; Reliable, Toxic)
Hail of Splinters: Splinter Weapons used on full auto have the Tearing Quality.
Special: all weapons possessed by the Lhamaean and her allies have the toxic quality, and if enemies fail their Toughness roll against the Toxic quality, they take 2D10 instead of the usual 1D10 damage.
Description: beautiful Dark Eldar females in tight, form-fitting matte black suits of armour.

SSLYTH
WS 50 BS 55 S (12) 66 T (8) 40 Ag 45 Int 30 Per 30 WP 40 Fel 27
Wounds: 30.
Movement: 4/8/12/24
Skills: Concealment (Ag), Dodge, Silent Move (Ag), Common Lore (Dark Eldar)(Int) +10, Speak Language (Dark Eldar)(Int).
Talents: All weapons trained, Unnatural Strength and Toughness X2. Night Vision.
Traits: Multiple arms grant 2 attacks in melee.
Armour: Kabalite armour, 6 all over.
Weapons: Shardcarbine (60m; S/3/10; 2D10+5 R; Pen 4; Clip 200; Rld 2full; Hail of Splinters, Toxic)
Hail of Splinters: Splinter Weapons used on full auto have the Tearing Quality.
Vicious swords (Melee; 2d10+6 E; Pen 6; Razor Sharp, Tearing)
Description: tall and powerfully built reptilian aliens with four arms, encased in matte black Kabalite armour. They carry a multitude of vicious blades.

Archon (Melee specialist Archon) Master
WS 78 BS 76 S 41 T 40 Ag (10) 55 Int 55 Per 42 WP 66 Fel 58
Wounds: 49
Skills: Dodge, Concealment, Silent Move, Common Lore (Dark Eldar)(Int) +10, Speak Language (Dark Eldar)(Int). Any other skills she could reasonably possess – Deceive, scrutiny, etc.
Talents: Lightning Attack, Preternatural Speed, Unnatural Agility X2. Special: When attacked in melee, the Archon may always roll to dodge. If successful, she may counterattack. During her turn, if she lands a successful melee attack, she may use her reaction to make another attack (like Furious Assault). Touched by the Fates 2.
Armour: Shadow Field (The shadow field has a 80% chance to negate any attack. However, once an attack passes through, the field is permanently disabled)
Ghostplate Armour (provides all-over protection of 8 and an energy field which has a 20% chance of nullifying attacks)
Vexator Mask: shows an image of the attacker’s most beloved friend, relative, etc. A WP test must be passed in order to attack the wearer of the mask.
Weapons: Agonizer (Melee; 2d10+8 E; Pen 6; Felling – ignores unnatural toughness, Unwieldy)
Blast Pistol (10m; S/-/-; 2D10+8 E; Pen 13; Clip 4; Rld Full)

If you like this, I have posted a bunch of daemon weapons and chaos artifacts over at the Black Crusade forum: www.fantasyflightgames.com/edge_foros_discusion.asp

Sorry, should have mentioned that the Kabalite warriors are taken from Dark Heresy largely unmodified.

way to TT-Codex inspired. Sorry but looks to like Matt Ward "outpour"...

Vendettar said:

As a community we need to encourage contributions not shout them down.

Well done WatchCaptain for putting all of this together. I look forward to reading in a bit more detail later on, having more options for foes is never a bad thing from a GM perspective.

Definitly great work!

I was just working on a mission using dark eldar as the enemies, and was looking for stats for them, so this is great!

The stats are cool, but some context would be nice for those who do not play TT, as to anyone unfamiliar with TT it's pretty meaningless.

At the moment there's a wall of stats, and little to go on as regards what the various troops are, how they work, how they work together and in what numbers, and what any of those weapons are.

Thanks for the feedback Telagos and Arcticintel! Sorry Siranui, I tend to assume that DW players also play TT, guess those assumptions are flawed. The Dark Eldar are classified as Troops, Elites and Master, the same classification system used in the core rulebook, which is a rough guide on their power level and how they should be used. As for context, I'm not really prepared to write a book on the Dark Eldar and post it here. The Dark Eldar codices contain flavor text, along with detailed descriptions of the weapons. Much easier to access though are the various online encyclopedias on the 40K universe. You can find a wealth of information on the Dark Eldar, their weapons and technology, at:

wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/Dark_Eldar

That's already great in my mind - I can do stats, but I must say I'm just too lazy to do so.

As for the rules themselves, I've seen some very minor issues that I'll be pointing out here.

- In Melee Weapons, the Agonizer has Feeling without a number (though I do assume that, as with any other Felling, it's 1? )
- In Melee Weapons, I think the wording on Mindphase Gauntlet may be misleading : "struck" = "hit" or "damaged"?

- In Ranged Weapons, Shredder : it's an AGI roll I suppose? --- Nevermind I found it on the Shardnet, is it the same then? Maybe create the quality if more than one weapon uses it.

- In Wych Weapons, when you say "confers an extra attack", what exactly do you mean? Is it always so or do you need to go Multiple Attacks action to get the benefit? (i.e. "I make a single attack as a full action + "confers an extra attack" => 2 attacks...) Does it stack with Two-Weapon Wielding?

- In Armour, does the Ghostplate have an Overload roll? (I think Shadow Field doesn't, seeing as it is special in every way )

- Shouldn't the Kabalites be trained in Dodge?
- For Wyches, "additional Dodge" = Step Aside Talent, isn't it?
- Shouldn't Wrack Acothysts be trained in Dodge? And you did not mention they have Unnatural Toughness, but the stats seem to indicate that.

- Medusae, no Dodge either?

All of these are details, but that's to clarify things

This is all pretty good in general, and a welcome contribution. But I would have done Wych weapons a little differently.

For one, this extra attack they provide? Would it not be simpler to note that Wyches have the Two-Weapon Wielder talent?

I doubt that the shardnet is useless against space marines, and I think it would be cool if it let you use the Disarm talent as one attack from a Multiple Attack Action.

Why does the Impaler have Tearing? The high damage is a little curious too, but not too distressing.

For Hydra Gauntlets, maybe add a number of additional attacks to the character's Multiple Attacks Action equal to half Agility bonus?

For Razor Flails, I'd give them the Flexible quality. Why is their damage lower than Hydra Gauntlets or Impaler?

Why do any of them have Unwieldly?

Hydras : but without Unnaturals, right ?

Because 2-3+4 (+1 for dual-wielding???) is a pretty crazy number of attacks...

I think overall theres a lot of interesting stuff in there. I am a tt player but I have never had the pleasure of leafing through the dark eldar codex so I have to admit a lot of the bad guys are just names to me. however i was a bit surprised at the relative power of splinter rifles. I would expect troops with splinter rifles to be something you fight in hordes (they are after all what you got in third ed's box set) but as it stands a mag 20 horde of dark eldar warriors with splinter rifles could hit up to 20 times doing 4d10+2 tearing toxic in one round which seems obscenely high to me, its better than tau firewarriors at shooting, which I am surprised by.

on the other hand eldar occur in relatively small numbers so I guess that they should not be used in hordes? is this a wierd assessment of these rules?

Compared to the Errata Space MArine Weapons they now are totaly OP...

Narkasis Broon said:

I'd say any hordes that were used would be relatively small in that they would be mostly vehicle mounted or in even smaller number. So I would imagine that they would need to stand up on their own to a degree, and with the toxic quality itself being all but redundant in DW it doesn't seem too bad.

DE were one of the things that I envisaged an improved toxic quality would be useful.

Overall very nice, for the most of use that are at least aware of the DE in general. For the others, well I guess someones going to have to pay some one to do it properly.

I tweaked some existing DE stats recently in a DW campaign. A few hordes of Mag 15 for Dark Eldar warriors/kabalites. Taking a combination of the best stats for Splinter Rifles between DH and RT. Only blind luck and the toxic trait was making them a threat for space marines. Hmm. The haemonculus with combat drugs giving him an effective Ag of 80 did alright though!

Stormast said:

Thanks for the feedback Stormast! Regarding the issues you raised, here are my responses, in order:

- Yes, the Agonizer has Felling (1). I am actually yet to see a published weapon with a higher Felling rating.

- Yes, you are correct, the wording on Mindphase Gauntlet is ambiguous. It should say 'damaged.'

- The Snare quality listed for the Shardnet is in the Deathwatch core

- If there was one thing I should have edited before posting these rules it was the Wych weapons! Please disregard all references to weapons granting extra attacks and instead grant the Wyches the Duel-Weapon Wielder (Melee) Talent.

- I ran the Ghostplate with no overload roll, seeing that its forcefield is not that powerful, and I wanted Dark Eldar technology to seem sleeker, sexier and more effective than the clunky, archaic tech of the Imperium.

- Yes, the Kabalites should definitely be trained in Dodge! Somehow that got left out of their profile, but I ran them with dodge trained.

- Yes, technically the Wyches should be listed with the Step Aside talent instead of as possessing an extra dodge. When I was running this story arc I had only been running Deathwatch for just over a month, and I had yet to memorize the endless talents and traits available, so I often just wrote in bare mechanics to make things easier for myself when I was running combats. That way I didn't have to keep looking up the enemies' Talents in the book.

- I didn't grant the Wrack Acothysts Dodge because they love pain so much! And yes, they should have Unnatural Toughness listed. As it turned out, the Killteam never fought any Wracks, they ended up avoiding combat with them, so they have never actually been play-tested. If I had of tested them and their lack of dodge meant that they got whaled on, I would have given them the skill. Guess I may never know...

- That is another mistake, the Medusae should have Dodge.

Thanks again for the feedback

Bandersnatch said:

Thanks for the feedback Bandersnatch, here are my responses re:

Wych Weapons: yes I agree, as I explained in my previous post, the Wyches should have the Two-Weapon Wielder (Melee) talent, and all references to weapons granting extra attacks should be disregarded.

The Shardnet: given their armor, Space Marines are not going to be seriously imperiled by the Shardnet, unless they are forced to fight DE Wyches unarmed in the arena...

As for your suggestion that the Shardnet allow the use of Disarm during a multiple attack action, sounds cool to me too.

Impaler: in hindsight it does seem a little op. Take out the Tearing quality and it should be OK.

Hydra Gauntlets: adding half the character's agility mod could get crazy, especially since DE mostly have unnatural agility. How about the following mechanic:

grants the bearer the Swift Attack Talent, if the bearer already has the Swift Attack Talent, he gets the Lightning Attack Talent, if he already has the Lighting Attack Talent, then he gets the Preternatural Speed Talent, if he has the Preternatural Speed Talent, he gains +2 extra attacks when he uses Lightning Attack for a total of 5 attacks. (this is the mechanic I have devised for other weapons intended to make someone a dervish of death)

Razor Flails: I guess I made the Razorflails do less damage because of their incredible ability to re-roll failed attacks. If you wanted to do them differently, then granting them the Flexible quality from Dark Heresy would make sense.

Unwieldy: I gave the whip and flail weapons the Unwieldy quality because such weapons are generally useless for parrying. You can't parry a sword with a whip, however the Razorflails might be considered heavy enough to parry with, but if so I think they should possess the unbalanced quality. As for the various gauntlet weapons (Mindphase Gauntlet, Scissorhand, Hydra Gauntlets, etc), I'm going to have to do another back flip and take out the unwieldy quality. Not sure what my reasoning was at the time, maybe I was basing them on the Astartes powerfist, but there are other gauntlet weapons such as Lightning claws which allow parrying, so they should as well. Overall though, I look at the DE as deadly but fragile enemies, with weapons suited to finesse rather than overwhelming force, and I tended to get them to dodge attacks rather than parry.

Thanks again for the feedback!

Narkasis Broon said:

Narkassis Broon,

thanks for the feedback, and I understand your point entirely. The reason I built Dark Eldar this way was because I did not use them in hordes. I wanted to make them truly horrifying antagonists, and having them attack in hordes as mooks would have provoked contempt from the PCS, so I used them in small groups. As I have written them up, they could still be used in hordes, but only against very powerful characters. If you wanted to use hordes of DE against rank 1-3 Space Marines, then using the rules for DE in Dark Heresy would probably be best. According to those rules, DE would only be capable of damaging Space Marines in hordes, because the Splinter Rifle only did 1D10+1 with a pen of 3. Even then, you would have to buff the splinter rifle, or use very big hordes, in order for the DE to be effective.

Ultimately, everyone should tailor the rules to match the feel of their game, and I was trying to create an atmosphere of terror, thus the power of the DE.

That being said, I didn't want to make them too powerful, and the Killteam still ultimately mopped the floor with all of these guys!

Thanks again to everyone who offered constructive feedback. I have edited the stats for some of the weapons and DE to incorporate some of your criticisms and suggestions. Cheers!

Thanks very much for posting these ive only just started GM'ing in Deathwatch but i am as you thought most would be a passionate TT player so i thankyou for the rules im using them as a basis to make even more dark eldar as it what nearly all my group wants to fight. Thanks again ill let you know how the rules go.

There are some Dark Eldar weapons in the new Rogue Trader supplement Hostile Acquisitions.

Unfortunately, with the differences in power level and statting, some of these weapons won't hurt an Astartes at all, but they might be a good starting point for adjustment.