Dakkafex? and what is viable?

[undertow92182]

Hi there,

Before I get started with the question allow me to lay a little groundwork. The main army I play against is a Dark Eldar army, so this is already an uphill battle. Thankfully he does not do a venom spam army, though he does field a couple of them.

With that understood, I'm curious if Dakkafexs are considered competitive or just fluffy. At first glance it looks like the same old Carnifex point cost dilemma, but is there something I'm missing? I know poison shots can eat up MCs so I figured it is best to Mycetic Spore one onto my opponents back lines.. but would a unit of devilgants do a better job and mitigate some of the damage?

To go along with this train of thought I'm curious what other models are currently considered worth their points and which units are gambles. I know everyone adores tervigons and hive guards but what about Mawlocs? Trygons? Tyrannofexs? ect.

[leeroy1986]

Dakkafexes are indeed competitive, they're 190 Points each but throw out 12 str 6 twin-linked shots each, strength 9 in combat, they're pretty damned good in my book

[Jabberwocky]

Against primarily AV10, devilgants will actually be more effective and more resilient to poison/lances.

However, those S9 HoW and S6 spam to deny FnP on characters etc, can be invaluable.

Either way, spores will definitely be worth using.

[tylertt]

In my experience against DE, I find that lots of shots takes down DE very effectively. Devilgaunts work wonders at popping transports if needed, or wiping down freshly exposed units.

I find Zoanthropes work well in pods against DE. I have yet to use my Fex against them, but my Trygon usually is always first to go, but he draws enough heat to allow my Tyrant to move unharmed.

[infornography]

Dakkafexes are good, they aren't great, but they are competitive. I would be wary about fielding them against armies with lots of poisoned attacks though. They would drop quick. I will say that dakkafexes are the only competitive build for the carnifex.

Trygons are VERY competitive but again, risky against an army with lots of poison.

Hive guards are VERY competitive also, but again they rely on high toughness for survivability. You can at least hide them in terrain that blocks line of sight to protect them though.

T-Fexes are not competitive really. They are decent against horde armies but not against hard targets and it is really easy to tarpit them and make them useless.

Mawlocs are not competitive either. Yeah that blast they get is awesome but in the course of a game they will only do it 2 or 3 times if they live long enough.

Zoanthropes are probably a good pick vs dark eldar since their survivability relies almost exclusively on their 3++ invuln save.

Flyrants are ascendant right now (pun partially intended) as they are our only reliable anti-air option. They should also be ok vs dark eldar for the most part due to being able to just swoop. otherwise armored shell might give you enough survivability with the 2+ armor.

I love swarmy, but I wouldn't take him against dark eldar.

Tervs are great. Slightly risky against dark eldar. They really throw a monkey wrench in our schtick.

Tyranid prime is really good, but probably won't be a huge benefit since ground based tyrants are in greater danger to poison attacks.

Tyrant guard are important if you have a swarmlord or ground based tyrant. They do a good job of keeping it alive.

And The Parasite of Mortrex is not very competitive, a few people swear by him but in general, if you are looking for an IC, it is better to go with the Prime.

Deathleaper may be a decent pick against dark eldar, hard to say.

Ymgarls are almost always a good pick. Might be harder to pick good terrain for them to spawn in when fighting an army as mobile as D.Eldar though. Probably going for one near an objective would be a safe bet.

The DOOM would be a solid pick if your opponent runs any foot sloggers or deploys troops on rounds 2 and 3. Otherwise, probably will be wasted.

Venomthropes may be handy, they are generally not competitive in 6th edition, but they might help against D.Eldar some.

Pyrovores Suck. Period.

Lictors are less than effective. Sometimes they do a good job but usually they amount to little more than a very temporary distraction.

Leave genestealers at home. 6th edition hit them with 3 different nerf hammers and now they are pretty much just a free kill point for your opponent more often than not.

Hormies are hit and miss. Some people swear by them, others get frustrated at how fragile they are. I personally don't run them, but your mileage may vary and they don't have anything to particularly fear from poisoned attacks in general so against D.Eldar they might prove effective.

Rippers are terrible. Particularly in 6th. They would be great if they were cheaper but they are just too expensive as they are.

Termagants are very useful, particularly with terv support. They are cheap, plentiful, and effective at short range and in melee. With devourers they get somewhat pricey but you get tons of S4 firepower out of them for those points. If you think the enemy will come within 18" of them on purpose then they can hide in some ruins and light them up on the approach. They also have a moderately nasty overwatch.

Warriors are generally not worth their points but against D.Eldar they may prove themselves to be very effective. Definitely worth considering. They don't have any particular fear of poisoned attacks and can be very painful opponents.

Gargoyles might be a good pick here. They are fast and can do a lot of damage in melee for their price. They are very fragile and a pain in the butt to transport, but if you take a lot of them they can make D.Eldar's lives miserable.

Harpys are terrible. too fragile for their points and can't do anything significant to most flyers.

Raveners are pretty good. They have the same fragility problems warriors do, but if you aren't facing a lot of S8+ firepower they can be devastating.

Sky slashers are terrible, see rippers

Spore mines are not worth buying on their own. If you want spore mines take biovores.

Shrikes are hit and miss, same issues as warriors and raveners, again if you aren't seeing a lot of S8+ weaponry, probably worth taking, otherwise no.

Biovores are really effective, especially against things with armour 4 or less that come in large clumps. I highly recommend them. plus you can hide them behind solid walls and they can still shoot although with a bit less accuracy.

Old One Eye is drastically overpriced, don't bother

I think that is pretty much everything, hope this helps.

[commandersasha]

Excellent summary by Info there, can I suggest you put a copy if that in the Vs Dark Eldar forum?

[infornography]

Thanks, and done.

[iiigunneriii]

This was a great summary! Thanks for that!