I've been playing about with the Dark Eldar list again, but cannot make a decision.

This is probably why I'm obsessing about 500 point armies; the design space is so constrained there is little room for choice. And yet... that is where it becomes interesting. Design is about constraints. However, in WH 40k, as in many other games, there is amble opportunity to min/max, or be "cheesey"... as my upcoming lists will show... well, I think they will.

My previous lists were a little obsessed with worried about armor. However, after a bit of research I release that in the 500 point space there will not be much armor to worry about other than low armor level transports and the like. Sure an Imperial guard player could min/max to get a Leman Russ Battle tank; but a little anti-armor melta insurance should take care of that.

One idea is to switch the Dark lances on my original idea to change the Ravager's Dark Lances in my original (1.0) list to Disintergrators (and maybe the Raiders the other way) to up the anti- infantry and anti-swarm capacity. In this philosophy some Melta gun type stuff needs to be retained somewhere just in case.

The problem with my Dark Eldar list arises from countering the 500 point army I will post next. There are probably many more problems, but the problems of countering Space Marines has to be high on one's list of concerns. The problem really is how to counter Space Marines (of what ever flavor) that takes one or more Devastator Squads armed with multiple missile launchers. Those missile launchers will make short work of ANY Dark Eldar Vehicle on the field of play.

My [maybe] final Dark Eldar list for fighting space marine units is:

HQ: Archon with Agonizer, Ghostplate Armor and Clone Field*, and drugs (120 pts)

Troop One: Wyches x7: with Shardnet and Impaler (80 pts)

Transport: Raider with Dark Lance Cannon (60 pts)

Troop Two: Wyches x7: Hekatrix, Agonizer (100 pts)

Transport: Raider with Dark Lance Cannon (60 pts)

Fast attack: Reavers x3 (66)

The idea here is to use the Reavers to shut down the Space Marines Devastator Squad early. The Reavers are both a distraction (flies buzzing around) and able to take out a small unit with concentrated fire power.

Actually, this list sucks... no anti tank.

The problem with Dark Eldar is this... they need transports, but transports cost too much. The Dark Lance (or Disintegrator Cannon) is great, but only if you expect the Raider to last more than the first round of shooting. Rhino's cost 30 points. Take away the Dark Lance, maybe replace it with a twin linked splinter rifle and give the raider a base cost of 35-40 points (with a Dark Lance or Disintegrator Cannon upgrade for 20-25 points) and you have a winning transport option on par with the Rhino or Razorback. As it stands, Raiders suck in terms of price, and this kills Dark Eldar as a viable option.

My list... with Raiders costing 35 points will be forthcoming :)

* Shadow Field is an equivalent point option to Ghostplate Armor + Clone Field but I have come to the conclusion that Clone Field, buffed a bit with Ghostplate is the the best option in low point set-ups.