For those who have been under a rock for the last couple weeks, trueborn are the elite versions of dark eldar warriors. They have access to a lot of gear and can really be decked out in any way you would want. Unlike a lot of the other squads in the codex, there is no required number of models per weapon upgrade, so MSU players should be very happy with this unit. Here is a unit that will probably be making it into a lot of lists:
4-5 trueborn, 4 of which have blasters, put them in a raider or venom and call it a day.
This squad clocks in at a little bit under 200 or possibly 163 if you take 4 guys in a venom with no vehicle upgrades. Having four blasters for less than 200 points is very appealing to say the least.
However, taking a deeper look into these guys proves that they can serve a much larger role than expendable antitank. In fact, if an archon is willing to spend around 100 more points on his trueborn court they become the ultimate supporting unit. I like to run two courts of trueborn supported by a nearby archon and his incubi. As the fluff would suggest, these trueborn are equipped with some of the best war gear available.
10 trueborn, 4 blasters, 5 with ccw/pistol, dracon with phantasm, agonizer, blast pistol
Of course they have their own raiders with flickerfields and nightshields as one would expect of these nobles.
With the transport this squad comes in at a solid 320 points. I will be the first to admit it may seem hard to justify this many points for a single squad, especially in a fragile army like dark eldar. For the extra 100+ points I could take another troop squad on foot, pay for a ravager, or just use them to bulk out other squads. So why does this squad deserve the precious points?
Simply put, one or two of these squads will win you games. With a loadout like this, the squad goes from antitank to one that can handle armor with ease, down elite infantry with 5 str8 ap2 shots, at least tie if not win in cc even while being charged, and mount a charge capable of taking out most troop units. The ability to deal the death blow to squads combined with a full squad size means getting a pain token is quite achievable for these guys. This is particularly true if two courts are used to support each other, as their strengths play off of each other greatly. It is also wise to use these with your archon as a concentrated strike force. The archon with incubi can rescue the courts if they bite off too much to chew in close combat.
Another note is that this squad makes very effective use of pain tokens. Once your opponent finds out what these guys are capable of it will most likely be very high on target priority. That is why it is important to use your court wisely. At least until they get the first pain token they should only be disembarking in cover and well supported areas. Once they get the first pain token you now have an amazing squad that is also quite hard to kill. 4 or 5 turns of concentrated blaster fire is extremely potent and your opponent will be cursing these guys by the end of the game. Once they receive a second token they become very dangerous in assault. A volley of blaster fire followed by a nice handful of dice at str 4 will allow them to branch out from the archon and get into fights on their own. And finally, if you manage the third token, which may happen to come quite quickly once the squad has furious charge, your opponent will have no choice but to kill them to the last man. Even a squad that becomes whittled down to just a dracon or two blasters is effective on its own with fnp fc and fearless.
Spending this many points on trueborn squads may take away from a kabal that focuses on winning on the first turn, but in the long run the rewards can be substantial. Either way you choose to play, trueborn are among the most useful elite squads an archon can use.