Dark Eldar Raider review

The Dark Eldar are a race of evil science-fiction elves that inhabit the Warhammer 40,000 universe.

As an army the Dark Eldar has been much ignored of late, the last codex being released in 2001 during 3rd Edition.

The new codex is accompanied by a range of great looking new miniatures, the Raider is the Dark Eldars main transport vehicle.

First impressions

From the photos I first saw online I knew I was going to like this kit, on opening the box I wasn’t disappointed.

The main hull sections looked suitably stylish, the lattice work deck sections looked amazing and it was immediately obvious that there are a large number of options for this vehicle. For example there are two sails and two prow-rams, each raider requires only one of each of these so there is plenty of scope for adding variety to your force.

The Dark Eldar Raider sprues:

On closer inspection

The sprues contain all the core hull components required to build a Dark Eldar Raider along with 2 crew and 3 (quite litterally) hangers on.

The Dark Eldar Raider is certain to be taken in large numbers by Dark Eldar players, as mobility is essential with this army. With this in mind it is great to see that Games Workshop have included a huge number of options for the vehicle, almost all components that attach to the main hull of the vehicle are supplied twice. There are two of each of the following across the two Raider sprues; Prows, Sails, Rudders and the various blades that attach underneath the vehicle. It addition to these purely visual options the sprues also include optional weapons, Dark Lance or Disintegrator Cannon, and the various upgrades that are available to the vehicle in the codex.

The Raider was an interesting model to build. The main deck assembly is basically built from three layers of components. This made for an interesting, and probably much simpler, way of putting the various engine jets together. The core model was put together in no time.

Only one issue was encountered during the construction and that is that some of the details were incredibly frustrating to attach. Specifically the small spikes that run around the hull, each needs to be attached separately, these parts are tiny and they need to be placed accurately otherwise they can look terrible. I would definitely recommend using pliers or tweezers when attaching these details. If you are planning on building more than one Raider and you don’t have any hobby pliers now might be the time to invest in some. It may have been better to have these spikes supplied in strips but of course a degree of flexibility would have been sacrificed in doing this.

As you can see from the pics on this page, once built, the Raider is a great looking vehicle, sleek and deadly looking as you would expect from the Dark Eldar, the quality evident in the other DE releases is also obvious here. I have just one problem with the completed model… transport.

The model is potentially going to be a bit of a nightmare to carry around, it is so intricate that I fear that no matter how we packed the odd blade or spike may come loose. I would definitely recommend leaving the 3 hangers on unsecured to the Raider, they then make great in game markers to indicate the Raider is occupied. Without the hangers on, the Raider should fit into a 60-70mm cut-to-size foam tray comfortably, even so, I still expect that blades and spikes will get caught on the foam and could well be ripped off when either packing away or removing the model.

Returning to the Dark Eldar hangers on, the ones supplied with the Raider are Kabalite Warriors but according to this month’s White Dwarf the Dark Eldar Vemon, which is to be released later, will include Wyches as hangers on. This presents another reason not to glue these miniatures to the Raider as once the Vemon is released you can use the different models to show what troop type a specific vehicle contains.

Finally at £20 the Raider represents good value for money, which is most welcome as you will be using a lot of these…

On the tabletop

The Raider is going to be a mainstay of any Dark Eldar army. When fighting against most armies the Dark Eldar is going to want to close with the enemy as quickly as possible, this is where the Raider comes in.

It can carry 10 of the troops of your choice to the front line in no time at all and being a hoverer benefits from a host of special rules that will keep it in one piece on the way. Upgrades available for the Raider can boost it’s movement to up to 30″ per turn, allow it to deep strike or improve it’s survivability.

Once the Raider has dropped of it’s cargo of psychotic killers (AKA Dark Eldar), a Dark Lance also makes the Raider a formidable anti-tank vehicle.

The Raider is going to appears in significant numbers in any Dark Eldar army.

Summary

The Raider kit offers a large number of modelling options and contains all the weapons and equipment available to the vehicle in the codex.

The completed Raider is a great looking vehicle, sleek and deadly looking, as you would expect from the Dark Eldar, the quality evident in the other DE releases is also obvious here.

Finally the kit is pretty good value for money, especially by Games Workshops standards.

Were it not for a couple of minor annoyances I’d be thinking about awarding a truly awesome 10/10 here. Ultimately, it is the fact that adding some of the vehicle details was such an annoyance that prevents me awarding full marks for the Riader so it will have to settle for a merely spectacular 9/10.

Overall score: 9/10

Dark Eldar Raider

and some pliers to put it together with if required 😉 The Army Painter Hobby Pliers

*Accurate as of 30th October 2010