THE KABAL OF THE BROKEN SOUL

Archon Paul Handley

Paul: It all started with the Dark Elf army I had been collecting for Warhammer. After years of collecting, painting and hard gaming I fancied a change. It was at this time that Codex: Dark Eldar appeared. It was only natural that a twisted Dark Elf general like myself would find the Dark Eldar appealing – I just couldn't resist the temptation.

It actually took me quite a long time to get around to painting my army of Dark Eldar (too many miniatures and never enough time). But when I finally made the effort, it only took about a month to convert and paint my core force of Dark Eldar.

Paul handley's converted Archon and retinue of Incubi.

The first thing I had to do was decide what colours I would use. I wanted the army to have an overall dark and moody look to it, so this had to be reflected in the colours that I chose. I took a cue from my Dark Elf army. They already had a strong look of dark blues, purples and metals. Now I love the finish you get from deep purple highlighted up, so I decided to use Liche and Warlock Purple as my main colours.

I also wanted my bases to be different from the more conventional green. I used gravel and painted them in more of an urban colour of black, drybrushed with grey (they perfectly match the gaming board in the Nottingham shop). So I set to work and the Kabal of the Broken Soul was born and took shape. Over the next couple of pages I will try to explain the conversions and ideas that went into my army.

Paul Handley's Dark Eldar Army - click to enlarge.

BROKEN SOUL TACTICS

I have never met an army general who really enjoys revealing his tactics. We all like to keep these little aces to ourselves. But with the menacing presence of Dark Lord Nick hanging over me, I feel I must part with some of the lessons I have learned using this army.

The main thing about a Dark Eldar army is that they are extremely fragile. They are more 'typically' Eldar in that respect than the Craftworld Eldar. So I try to keep everything moving as fast as I can towards the enemy. I have reflected this with my army selection, keeping it as fast and agile as possible. My army has only got weapons that I can move and fire with. This helps to keep from being pinned down. All my squads carry weapons that are capable of taking out heavy armour and heavily armoured troops with ease (I have the full quota of blasters!). I then assign tasks to each part of my army and make sure they carry them out.

Dark Eldar Talos.

My Talos (a more recent addition) has the simple task of ploughing forwards and drawing as much heavy fire as possible away from the rest of my army. The Reavers also have a similar job, although they usually charge straight at the nearest heavy weapon squad at full turbo. Their Invulnerable Save is a real bonus and it's really cool to watch you opponent's disbelief as plasma cannons and lascannons bounce off them.

I load my two Raiders up with a Raider squad and Wyches. I try to get them into the middle of the battle as soon as possible, leaping off the Raiders and into an assault or to capture an objective. These are followed up by my Warrior squad and Retinue, who also move up the battlefield firing shots off at whatever is foolish enough to come near them.

So my basic tactic is to go in with everything I've got, keep the pressure on my opponent and don't allow him to go on the offensive. As long as you control the battle you will win the game! Now onto my army.

Dark Eldar Archon.

My Archon is my favourite conversion. I wanted him to look completely unique (as all Archons should be).

He is built from a plastic Dark Eldar model, using splinter cannon arms, a sword from a Chaos Space Marine and the plastic Chaos Warrior cloak and trophies.

I painted him in the same colours as the Incubi bodyguard, as this is a very effective, menacing paint job.

I decided that all my Wyches would be female (like the Dark Elf Witch Elves). This, of course, called for lots of converting. A lot of it just involved very simple weapon swaps or limb bending to make the most of the three different female Wych models available.

The hardest thing was deciding their colour scheme. I thought red was going to be too bright, and then I saw the paint job on Chris FitzPatrick's own Wyches and I knew that black would be the colour for me. Only the Succubus' hair would be painted red so they could easily be picked out.

Wych squad and Raider transport.

Reaver Jetbike squad - click to enlarge

To keep with the theme of the rest of the Wyches in the army, my Reaver squad just had to be all female as well. This took the longest to do of all my converted squads, as they all had to be torso swaps – but I am pleased with the overall effect.

I wanted my Warrior squad (below) and Raider squad to have a unique look to them.

Their poses were heavily influenced by various action films, comic books, computer games and the 'Ain't Dark Eldar Brilliant Too' article in White Dwarf 227.

To distinguish them from the rest of the squad, both of my Sybarites are metal. This way my opponent knows the other models are just armed with close combat weapons for effect.

Dark Eldar Warrior squad.

The Talos is the latest addition to my army and the simplest of my conversions. I have always seen the Talos as a mass of spinning arms, so I decided to put an extra set on it!

Related Articles
Dark Eldar Miniatures Range | Painting Dark Eldar Warriors

Online Store
Dark Eldar