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I promised this a while back (along with one on speeders) so here goes. I'll post each new bit as I complete it. As this is my 1st tactica, thoughts and suggestions welcome. Straight up, despite playing many DE opponents across the years, there are some elements of the army list I've never faced. So this will be more a series of snapshots of different parts of the Dark Eldar army, rather than a comprehensive tactica. If you can add to this and fill in some of the blanks, feel free. For now, let's tackle the Dark Eldar lord.

Dark Eldar Archon/Dracon
First, the good news. With a toughness of 3 and a paltry armour save of 5+ that cannot be upgraded, a Dark Eldar lord on foot is easily injured. Now for the bad news. With fleet of foot, a shadowfield and the abilities to take a bodyguard and travel in a Raider, the lord can be extremely hard to target.

The Archon/Dracon has a limited choice of ranged weaponry and none that need be of any real concern to a Marine. Their ability to deal damage revolves around close combat. An agoniser, or a punisher combined with combat drugs will tear through power armour. A single lord can slaughter a squad of marines single-handed and that's before you add in the damage that a squad of Incubi can do. The ability to use a Raider will allow the Lord to attack at a time and place of their choosing.

A Dark Eldar player might think that giving their Lord a Raider and a bodyguard adds to their effectiveness. Let them think that. It is our job to disabuse them of that notion. To us, the Raider and the bodyguard are weaknesses just begging to be exploited.
If the Lord is mounted in a Raider, make it a priority to take it down. It only has an AV of 10 and takes a +1 on damage rolls for being open-topped. Heavy bolters are a prime choice. Whirlwinds are great in this role (I speak from experience), as are hvy bolter armed landspeeders, notably as they have the speed to keep up with a Raider. Success will reduce the Lord's mobility significantly, but a good roll will also damage the bodyguard and pin them.

The bodyguard as a weakness? Absolutely. If the bodyguard is made up of ordinary warriors, bolters will do the job nicely. Mow them down with the contempt that Xenos deserve. Incubi are harder - you'll need weaponry of AP3 or better (anyone else thinking Sternguard?), or multiple shots. Incubi, however, rob the Lord of fleet of foot and thus give us more shooting time. Your aim should be to force as many as break checks as possible: if they break when below 50%, brilliant - let them go and turn your attention to other targets. If they don't break, just keep pouring the firepower on. The lord will fail that 2+ invul sooner or later - remember the 5th ed wound allocation rules.

The final thought - avoid close combat if you can: a Dark Eldar can pretty much outfight any marine (higher initiative, Str 5, 2+invul). Let your ranged weaponry do the talking. If you must fight in close combat, whittle the Lord and their bodyguard down first.


Mandrakes
At first glance, the Mandrakes can seem extremely threatening. With their special deployment rules, the controlling player does not reveal their exact location until the 3rd turn. Until then, they can not attack or be attacked in any way. A canny player will use this ability to work their way into a threatening position. However, my experience fighting Dark Eldar is, simply put, Mandrakes are as big a threat as you let them be.
Bearing that in mind, ignore the Mandrakes, and carry on with your battle plan. Don't be distracted.
With a splinter pistol and a combat weapon, their weaponry is not the most threatening about, and their armour is nothing to write home about, although they do boast an enhanced cover save. Okay, they can contest objectives, they can tie up troops in assault and threaten a firebase. As I've already said, ignore them until they are revealed, then make them pay. They are an easy kill point.
Any weapon that ignores cover is a top choice for taking Mandrakes down. Flamers, a Whirlwind's incendiary rounds, Sternguard ammo - you choose. Alternatively, take them down in hand to hand. Given average rolls, a squad of scouts can take Mandrakes down - mine have on several occasions. Assault troops, needless to say, have an even better chance.


Top advice - treat them to a flamer or two. Alternatively, take them down in close combat. Given their low strength and toughness, and armour save, a squad of scouts can kill them, given average rolls.

The Reaver also makes him Toughness 4 basic, none of this T3(4) malarky so S6 weapons won't do anything and neither will Boltguns.

Obviously a well-placed Lascannon or Multi-Melta shot will do, but if the Lord joins a Reaver Squadron (as a smart player would do), things become a little trickier. Weight of fire with AP4 weapons (Autocannons, Heavy Bolters etc) will do its job but with such a fast moving unit, things will get messy extremely quickly. In this case, a Drachon will be hard enough to kill but pray to whoever it is you pray to that your opponent doesn't have a Reaver Archon...because that's just a year's worth of bad karma aimed at you and concentrated into an hour and a half.

You've also got to consider the prospect of facing a Lord on a Skyboard, or one with a monstrous Incubi bodyguard...how would you guys deal with them?