Stelek just posted a competitive 2K Dark Eldar list on YTTH today. Looking at it, I got to wondering: "What does this baby cost?"
Here's the list:
1 Haemonculus, 50 pts
3 Kabalite Trueborn, 141 pts (Blaster x2)
1 Venom (Splinter Cannon x2)
3 Kabalite Trueborn, 141 pts (Blaster x2)
1 Venom (Splinter Cannon x2)
3 Kabalite Trueborn, 141 pts (Blaster x2)
1 Venom (Splinter Cannon x2)
5 Kabalite Warriors, 135 pts (Blaster x1)
1 Venom (Splinter Cannon x2)
5 Kabalite Warriors, 135 pts (Blaster x1)
1 Venom (Splinter Cannon x2)
5 Kabalite Warriors, 130 pts (Blaster x1)
1 Raider (Flickerfield)
5 Kabalite Warriors, 130 pts (Blaster x1)
1 Raider (Flickerfield)
5 Kabalite Warriors, 130 pts (Blaster x1)
1 Raider (Flickerfield)
5 Kabalite Warriors, 130 pts (Blaster x1)
1 Raider (Flickerfield)
3 Beastmasters, 149 pts (Venom Blade)
4 Khymerae
4 Razorwing Flocks
3 Beastmasters, 161 pts (Venom Blade)
5 Khymerae
4 Razorwing Flocks
3 Beastmasters, 161 pts (Venom Blade)
5 Khymerae
4 Razorwing Flocks
1 Ravager, 105 pts
1 Ravager, 105 pts
1 Ravager, 105 pts
Total Roster Cost: 2000
And here's the cost breakdown if you bought it all from the GW website:
1 Haemonculus = $10.75
4 Boxes of Kabalite Warriors (Trueborn converted from these too.) = $99.00
9 Raiders (If Venoms are converted from these.) = $297.00
3 Ravagers = $148.50
12 Razorwing Flocks = $147.00
14 Khymerae = $196.00
9 Beastmasters = $135.00
Total Army Cost: $1033.25
A THOUSAND DOLLARS?!?! Yikes! If you remember, I once added up the replacement cost of my 2K Mech Guard Army, and it was $819.00 for Cadian plastics. Only all-metal guard would be more expensive than this.
The Emo-Wing was $347.00. Which is why there's 2-3 people who've started or are planning to start Sanguinary Guard armies locally. It's a worldwide recession/depression GW, remember?
But back to the list... The Beast units are the most expensive part of it, totalling $478.00 by themselves. So you could probably cut that down if you bought different models instead. But that still puts the army in the $800.00 range.
So perhaps that's why I've been underwhelmed thus far with the Dark Eldar. In theory, they should be pretty competitive with my Guard. But in reality I've been tabling them regularly. Maybe it's simply a matter of cost. Unless you've already got a collection, the price tag is pretty daunting for the tools you need to compete.
Gads, talk about barriers to entry. I don't know how GW does it. I collect my "new" models off the secondary market and refurbish other people's horrible paint jobs. I generally pay half of MSRP that way. I don't know how folks buy new stuff.
ReplyDeleteFor the cost of a new army there are a lot of things I would consider instead. A month's mortgage, for instance. Or a vacation for a week. Or THREE track events with my car.
Beasts are overpriced but the DE in general seem pretty reasonable with most stuff being available in plastic.
ReplyDeleteUsing regular Hellions instead of Beastmasters, Wargs and Dire Wolves instead of Khymerae and Bat Swarms instead of Razorwings you pay $165.75
You need 20 40mm bases for the loose beasts but coincidentally you can but 20 right now on ebay for $10 (with free shipping).
That means $175.75 vs $478 and brings the overall cost down to $731
I believe the broken forge does around a 25% discount so it'd come in all told around $548.25 plus shipping.
Seems okay to me really and you could shave costs further by using raiders instead of ravagers. You're going to have plenty of dark lances from the Kabalite warrior boxes and the spare turrets from the converted venoms.
It really goes to show though, if you can get a mainly plastic army the prices really tumble pretty fast.
Korona makes some solid points, but a new player to warhammer is not going to have that insight and will likely pay retail for the "approved" models.
ReplyDeleteI get most of my bitz and OOP "collectors" stuff from eBay. But otherwise I buy from local shops where the discount is usually around 10%. The extra 10-15% I could theoretically save by going online is my "thank you" to the shop for providing space to play.
ReplyDeleteTo be fair to GW, they don't push that kind of army on their players. While the typical White Dwarf army isn't that competitive, they usually don't have spammed lists like this.
ReplyDeletedon't forget the 25% discount you get for building 1500 point armies instead of 2000...
ReplyDeleteYeah, you definitely want to ebay most of that stuff, if not do some heavy-duty repurposing. You might want to convert Venoms from Vypers instead of the more costly Raiders, in which case all you would need to do is, say spend an extra $6 or so on prow parts from bits sellers.
ReplyDeleteOur local (Champaign, IL) DE player would probably agree with you that while the army is feared on paper, but frankly the old rules (3E) made for a far more vicious army... Though he did just start doing the beast swarm spam, so maybe that was the missing element... In his case, he had a huge collection, but even with the new plastics starting that army from scratch would be cost prohibitive... I'd be interested to see if they (GW) simply repackage the Viper as a Venom (with some additional "bits"), since his conversions look pretty good in that direction...
ReplyDeleteI purchased a 1500 point Tyranid army two years ago from my FLGS @20% discount (back when Battle box's had 'fex) for the same cost as those nine Raiders.
ReplyDeleteIf you are happy to convert Warriors into Hive Guard then you can get a reasonable 1750 army for £200 or CA$400
Seems like a lot of kill points.
ReplyDeleteMaybe it's just me... but do anyone else's eyes bleed just a bit with this list?
ReplyDeleteI mean... I know (believe, me, I know) that DE aren't known for survivability... but...
Does every squad (barring the Beasts) really need to be at minimum size?
Seriously... has the world not heard of kill points?
Uh yeah they have heard of KP's and that is why they strongly lobby for an adjusted (usually 5) KP scenario. So that they can spam the best MSU's and not suffer the penalties of the balancing factor.
ReplyDeleteAs much as I think the KP mission should be adjusted, I almost want to fight to keep it in place to make lists like this pay out their ears in blood.
ReplyDeleteI have to disagree with you Scotty, but only on the word "Best". Of course, this is only my opinion, but still...
I've never fully gotten behind the whole "Trueborn Blaster Deathsquad" idea. Compared to the Fire Dragon squad (most similar squad that I can think of) it's essentially more expensive for less shots. Granted, it does have some benefits (like being able to shoot from the open topped vehicle). But I honestly do not understand only taking 2 Blasters. It's better than one, sure, but 3 gives you an expected result. 2 does not. Is 15 points really too much to pay to "guarantee" that your squad will do its job? It's kind of the magic number with Lance weapons.
I see so many fun and interesting DE lists that incorporate such varied elements that I really wish I had more DE players to throw down against. I've finally been able to play against another DE army, but not against, say, a primarily Wych Cult army, nor a Coven list.
If Stelek wants to lobby for 5-KP scenarios just so that a list like this *can* be competitive (instead of KP Bait at worst, and functional at its best), then I'm going to start lobbying for AV14 Raiders at no extra cost, because Land Raiders have it, so obviously my Raiders should. It only makes sense.
LOL!
ReplyDeleteI think it's true that Stelek is no longer playing (to whatever extent he actually plays) the same 40K that the rest of us are. In his world, KPs don't matter and every opponent is MSU mech.
He needs to get out more.
When the first wave went up I put in an order for 2000 points of True Kin. With the 20% discount that my store gave me for ordering all at once. In the end spent just under $600.00 for 2 Haemonculus, 1 portal, 1 archon,5 incubi, 40 warriors, 20 wyches, 6 raiders, 12 Reavers, 2 Ravagers, and a partridge in a pear tree. It has often been my experince that if you are willing to place a large order at once the LFGS is willing to bump up any discount.
ReplyDeleteWhile the list might not be the best msu dark energy spam list on the net it should be fun to play. Regrettably school has once again suck up all of my hobby time and the army is 90% built and 0% painted.