[dnL.Flip.It]

i was wondering if anyone actually used these guys. I played and used them once and they did fairly well against IG. Just searching for tactics and usage of them because they are so overlooked in DE armies. It seems to me the best quality is the hidden set up rule for them.

(also, any good conversions ?, because the models are incredibly ugly)

[deraj]

I love using mandrakes, ecspecially with their character, the decapitator. I happen to use wood elf war dancers with spare kroot bits for guns and pouches. I also use some spare splinter pistols from my other de. I have also known people who use Dark elf wyches.

[Lix Tetrax]

I used a squad of 10 Mandrakes in my first dozen or so games. They are great for defending a WWP, claiming objectives (in cover) or tying up fire-support units that would shoot down Raiders otherwise. The best thing I found I could do with them is get them behind an advancing unit (especially MEQ's) that I knew I was going to shoot up or assault with my Lord or Wyches. When they fall back, the Mandrakes block their fall-back corridor and wipe them out. It's tough to do, but when it works it's wonderful!

[Praying Mantidae]

I have an Army of Shadows in progress... Maxxed Mandrakes and deepstriking Raider Squads. Most of my army doesn't start on the table :P


Its a really hit-or-miss tactic... but then, so is everything when it comes to Dark Eldar.

[EmblazonedMauveGearbox]

I've used these guys on and off (proxied them) and really liked them.

In assault mandrakes are kind of like warp beasts, they're a support unit and need to have some help, anything from warriors to lords to wyches can accomplish this for you and the mandrakes most often appear where there are other squads for them to help. I like using them against things like tau and IG but against MEQs they don't fare so well.

The second use is objective grabbing. They really excell at at this because in a building they end up with a 2+ cover save...and since they aren't really a threat no one is likely to bother throwing the insane amount of firepower their way that they need to dislodge them. Another cool little trick is that if you put them in a fortified building or bunker they receive a 1+ cover save...a 1 still fails, but even if a markerlight reduces it they have a 2+save.

[Siruk]

City Fight FTW

They are not effective against 3+ save armies, that i can tell you.

I guess guard and Tau would be the best army to face with them.

They can use cover well, and they have 3 turns of movement at the enemy before getting attacked in anyway. You could also use them as a herding unit if your opponent is inexperienced. The three models could be moved to force a unit to back away from the mandrakes and into say, your wyches/ lords charge range

[darkskys]

i use a wwp kabal so next to nothing starts on the table. i use the mandrakes as a support unit for those units coming in through the wwp. or to tie up their units until my assault units hit them. the mandrakes will only last the first assault or so. so never expect to much out of them as for game play. but their great for bluffing your enemy to make a mistake.

[deraj]

That just gave me an interesting idea. Could you give a mandrake a web way portal? That would be pretty interesting(or cheesy, depending on your viewpoint)

[Siruk]

Unfortunately you cant, they dont have anything that can buy stuff from the armoury.

[KwiKwag]

Mandrakes are good against the non-power armor armies (like, tau, IG, Orks, eldar and some nids). As mentioned, I use them for escorting the wwp or playing the mission - they also assist in CC where they are needed so they are very flexible.

However, I have found I really dont need more than 1 squad of 10 - usually they can be used against a particular unit or mission objective but I dont need 20 or 30 of them to get the job done.

For some Cities of Death scenarios I like to split one squad of 10 into 2 squads of 5 for claiming objectives (6 counters floating around) but that is when I dont use the other elite spots (rare).

Unfortunately I have discovered using Kroot to be more effective than Mandrakes and are cheaper (even including a power weapon). I am going to try both out together and see how the work as a team.