The Dark Eldar operate as raiders, pirates and slave merchants, uncaring for either the practicalities or aesthetics of ship design that so obsess their craftworld kin. The Dark Eldar construct their ships only to be ever more horrifying and devilish to observe, ever more destructive to oppose. In pursuit of torture, murder and desecration, the Dark Eldar construct all manner of perverse and obscene vessels, designed only to help them fulfil their insane lust for brutality. Ships bearing nothing but corridor after corridor of torture chambers echoing to the shrill cries of the enslaved, vast 'arboretums' exposed to the stars where row upon bloody row of impaled captives are leeched of their life by the hungry dark vacuum of space, huge cavernous hells surrounded on all sides by void in which captives are left to descend into madness, and all manner of such horrors are known amongst the fleets of the Dark Eldar raiders.

As such Dark Eldar fleets, whilst looking apparently alike, actually comprise a vast collection of uniquely outfitted raiding vessels, each tailored to best cater to the particular fetishes of the ship's own captain. Classifying such ships is difficult, and though many long and arcane treatises do attempt to exhaustively classify these ship's configurations, each new contact with the Eldar Raiders invariably invalidates many of the previous theories.

However, whilst such pedantry may suit the mindless drones of the Administratum, out on the front line, the practical needs of Imperial captains familiar with the nightmare of raids by these pirates has led them to refer to these ships by two broad designations - the Torture class cruiser, and the escort-sized Corsair.

All Dark Eldar ships add +1 to the Leadership score generated on page the Leadership table on page 10 of the Battlefleet Gothic Rulebook, giving them a leadership value of between 7 and 10.

The Dark Eldar are furious and brutal pirates, fanatical in the pursuit of violence and the hunt for captives. Their all-consuming blood lust can often overcome them, leaving them in an uncontrolled frenzy. Dark Eldar receive a +1 in the first round of any boarding action and a -1 in any subsequent rounds.

Dark Eldar vessels are incredibly sleek and agile, bearing arrays of delicate fins and operating sophisticated manoeuvring systems, allowing them to turn with an ease horrifying to the crews of Imperial vessels, leaden by comparison. Because of this, Dark Eldar ships do not need to pass a Command check in order to use Come to New Heading special orders.

Against attacks that use the Gunnery table, the shadowfields cause one column shift to the right, in addition to any other column shifts for range or Blast markers. Against any other form of attack (lances, torpedoes, etc), roll to hit an Dark Eldar ship as normal, but the Eldar player may then make a saving roll for his shadowfields:

A Dark Eldar vessel equipped with mimic engines is able to assume the apparent dimensions of enemy ships, thus allowing the Dark Eldar to sneak up on their prey unseen. The Dark Eldar are able to mimic Imperial, Eldar, Ork and Chaos ships, but not Tyranid or Necron vessels, so the mimic engine has no effect against either of these fleets.

A Dark Eldar ship equipped with mimic engines approaches closer to the enemy before the threat is realised and so may make one normal move immediately after deployment, but before either side has taken a turn.

In addition, if a mimic engine-equipped vessel is more than 30cm from the enemy at the start of the game (after making its extra move) it may NOT be targeted by enemy ships at all during the first turn of the game, until it itself has attacked another vessel. In the second and subsequent turns it is assumed that the exchange of information between vessels in the opposing fleet will uncover the impostors, meaning the Dark Eldar can be targeted normally.

Dark Eldar ships suffer a critical hit on the D6 score of a 4+, rather than the normal 6. When a Dark Eldar ship suffers a critical hit, roll 2D6 on the Dark Eldar Critical Hits table, rather than the normal Critical Hits table.