Dark elves' army comp?

So I started playing dark elves, tested them a bit In custom. I assume the easiest way to use their army is Empire-style, meatshield, main damage source are shades/darkshards and some cavalry to deal with artillery and retreating enemies. With meatshield it's obvious dreadspears and black guards. Now the question: shades or shards? Assuming I'm not exactly good at micro. Also the cavalry. Dark riders looked really bad. Cold ones were okay when dealing with large enemies, but they seemed kinda slow and frenzied at inopportune times.