DAMN SPESS ELFS - What to with Eldar

[Tzeentch's Dark Agent]

Hello friends!

For 6th edition I am looking to start Eldar, I don't have a lot of experience with them I'll admit. Can anyone advise me of particular unit combos?
How would you rate the special characters?
Any units in particular that MUST be taken?

I'd like to build a semi-competitive list, nothing too pro. (I doubt Eldar can claim pro just yet)

Thanks

[Tzeentch's Dark Agent]

As an addendum, I know that I want a Farseer and at least 1 unit of Guardians. I want it to be a Craftworld, not an Aspect spam.

[gresha]

Eldar are a little tricky and personally I hate Guardians but i'll give you some of my favorites.

Rangers: With the new rules in 6E, Rangers are great now. I've always loved them but now they are just pure nasty. I've never taken them without the Pathfinder upgrade. +2 to cover save instead of +1, AP 1 on To Hits of 5 and 6(6's also give you the ability to pick a target as per 6E), and can Rend on 6's for To Wound rolls.

Farseer: Only psycher in the game with protection against Perils. If i run a regular Farseer I generally go with RoWit, RoWard, SS, Doom, and Fortune for around a buck and a half. Not terrible really. RoWard also isn't necessarily needed if you know who your going against. Necron, Tau, Dark Eldar, and Black Templar you can do without it but really everyone else you need it. With ally rules in play however you might be better off taking it JIC. They also keep the Wraith units in line.

Eldrad: Trying to create a standard Farseer to compare is hard. A Farseer with RoWit, RoWard, Spirit Stones, Doom, Fortune, Guide, and Mind War is 195 points. For 15 points you get a 1 better Invul Save, +1 T, 3rd power a turn which can be one you already casted, AP3 Witchblade, and can redeploy some units. The only thing Lord of the Eldar doesn't have is Fleet which can slow down a unit a little. I always take Eldrad in 2000+ points games.

Avatar: Still awesome and honestly I think you need to run one if you plan on running a lot of Guardians. Fearless no longer has a downside and he gives it to nearby units (I believe 12"). Guardians will be an annoyance to take out if they will never run away. Avatar also has a meltagun built into his sword and can't be hurt by Flame or Melta weapons. His 3+/4++ isn't the greatest but he's WS10 (most things will need 5+ to hit) and is Toughness 6. Avoid force weapons and you should be ok. Teaming him up with a Wraithlord was always fun in 5E but I haven't tried it in 6E.

Nightspinner: Can be a ton of fun against lists with orks and nids (as long as its swarm) but now people get a save for moving through Dangerous Terrain and failing so I'm not sure how useful it'll be.

Fire Prism: Nice buff that Blast weapons are always full Str against Vehicles as long as the template touches it. S9 hits on tanks can be fun especially if you can scoot around Rhinos and things like that.

Dark Reapers: Very expensive but very deadly. 6-10 Str5 ap3 shots a turn can really tear apart a unit of marines. The Tempest Launcher the Exarch can take is S4, AP3, Heavy 2 Blast, Pinning. Combine that with Crack Shot and you also reroll to wound and ignore cover. 217 points for 4 Reapers + 1 Exarch with Temp Launch and Crack Shot is expensive but you'll be taking out almost a unit a turn. Throw Guide on them and you'll be sure to rack up some more hits to the point of overkill.

Other Random Tips:
Starcannons are bad. Don't pick them. They were worth it 7 years ago when they were Heavy 3 but not it's not worth that many points.

Fire Dragons can be your best friends. Their anti-everything.

Support Batteries are a little more interesting now but since i've never used them I can't tell you how they function.

War Walkers can pore 24 str 6 shots a turn into a unit if you take them with 2 Scatter Lasers each.


Hope this helps a little bit.

[Diagnosis Ninja]

Draft in better "Guardians" using Dark Eldar :P

Special character:
Eldrad. There are no others. Just imagine some of the combos he can pull off if you swap 4 powers for Telepathy and Divination powers. And you still have the 5th power.

Guardians: Take a git blob of them and chuck them into an Eldar version of an Aegis Defence Line. Cheap as chips for what it does. Warlock for Embolden, challenge lolz, and BS4 on a Skyfire weapon. I won't try to discourage you because I like them, regardless of what others say.

Normal unit for me would look like:

10 Guardians
Starcannon
Warlock
Embolden
Aegis Defence line
Icarus

Comes to about 200 points, has AP 2 for a bit extra stress, and can sit on top of an objective with a 4+ cover save while dealing with vehicles.

As for others: I'm looking at Vypers, to add to my DE. Scorpions look much better, Harlequins look much better, and except for Banshees and Shining Spears I'd say everyone works better.

[Tzeentch's Dark Agent]

Yeah, that helps a bunch. Thank you very much.

I'll have a mull over that tonight.

EDIT: And thanks to you Ninja, I'll think about that too. :)

[DrLove42]

Agree with a lot of these points.

Use Eldrad or a Farseer and the Avatar for HQ
Decide what you'll do with physic powers and build around that. If you're going to swap them, buy the cheaper, crappy powers to save points. And make sure you use Runes of Warding! Those things are incredible

War Walkers can throw out a horrific amount of damage.

Pathfinders are great now, particularly if guided and fortuned....

Wraithlords are your highest BS platforms, and now with hull points, they damn hardy as well. And with impact hits...just fear DE... Decide what role they're in as well. Hunting armour? Lance and a EML. Hunting light armour/multipurpose? EML and Scatter laser. Combat? Shuri Cannon, 2 flamers and a sword.

Support batteries may actually get a look in now, that they're T7, and you have to roll against that T value, not majority. Cosider D cannons for anti terminators, or vibrocannons to offset the BS3.

Jetbikes are a bit better now, always counting as T4. And damn fast too. And they (unlike DE bikes) can score!

Harlequins aren't techincally craftworld, but are pretty damn good now

If you're club allows FW, use Warp Hunters. And Hornets.

[Tzeentch's Dark Agent]

Yes, my GW lets us use Forge World.

Do Wraithlords have hull points?

[DrLove42]

No Wraiths are Monstrous Creatures

T8, S10, 3 Wounds, WS, BS and I 4, Fearless and 2 A basic. With a 3+ save

So most stuff can't hurt you reliably (even melta guns need a 4+). You can turn nearly everything into paste and ID most characters.

Changes to fearless and giving him an impact hit makes them much better. Hes also a character so can challenge and be challenged

If you use FW, you can take a Wriathseer. His powers include the ability to make Wraithlords fleet, or have FNP. Also any wraithlord with a distance of him (think its 6") counts enemy cover saves as one less (so a Jink save is only 6+ for example)

[Tzeentch's Dark Agent]

Wraithlords are your highest BS platforms, and now with hull points, they damn hardy as well. And with impact hits...just fear DE... Decide what role they're in as well. Hunting armour? Lance and a EML. Hunting light armour/multipurpose? EML and Scatter laser. Combat? Shuri Cannon, 2 flamers and a sword.

I get what you mean now, I was just a bit confused. xD

Thanks for the current responses, it's good to get the feedback.

[celestialatc]

Yes, my GW lets us use Forge World.

Do Wraithlords have hull points?

Pretty sure that is a no since they are monstrous creatures and will have wounds.

[DrLove42]

I can see why i'm cofusing you.

No i mean now vehicles all have hull points, that they're much weaker, making him harder by default....

[Tzeentch's Dark Agent]

Oh cool, that's fine.

Me likey Wraithlords anyway. :D

[Tzeentch's Dark Agent]

Had a gander through the codex, got a rough idea of what works now... Why are there so many Heavy Support options that I like?? :D

[Melon-neko]

I play exodites so this is from a different perspective i guess =)

Eldrad: Unfortunately, if you don't want your farseer on a bike, eldrad is far superior to a normal farseer for about the same cost.

anti tank: This is what I have the hardest time with. With bright lances being 40 points I don't take any and I don't use tanks. the 24 shots from war walkers are great anti infantry and against anything av 12 or less, but against say necrons, they bounce off everything. Wraithlords smash things well if they can make it up there, but they are usually a priority target. I guess the fire dragon suicide run is still doable, although you could also take DE allies with dark lances (those don't work for me either, but theoretically they should kill vehicles)

Shining spears are not worth it, but i take 10 anyway =D They even got slightly better imo.

Harlequins are pretty amazing for charging out of terrain, very resilient to overwatch (except from templates) and can have rending. Kind of expensive though.

Wraithguard are pretty amazing anti tank now if they can get close. Might be a more resilient form of fire dragon suicide run.

haywire grenades annihilate any vehicle in h2h now, even dreadnaughts. Not sure if entire units of eldar can take them, but wych units can.

Psychics: I'm not sure if divination and telepathy are worth giving up fortune and doom =\

[Tzeentch's Dark Agent]

A lot of interesting opinions here guys, be sure that I'm taking note.

[Archon Charybdis]

I'd really suggest reconsidering your unit of guardians, I can't overemphasize how god awful they are. If you'd like to include a unit of the models for thematic reasons, consider just using them as Dire Avengers-- I commonly see Ulthwe players use the Dire Avenger rules for their Black Guardians. Also, Rangers and Guardian Jetbikes are both solid non-Aspect units you could include if you'd like to balance out your list thematically. You could also consider a unit of Corsair allies, they're similar to Guardians but much more useful and the Void Dreamer now with the book disciplines is quite a steal.

As far as special characters, Eldrad is amazing and always a good choice, Yriel is solid though less useful now that transports are a terrible way to deliver CC units. Phoenix Lords are all garbage, way overpriced and not an invuln among them except Asurmen.

One always fun combo is a Farseer with Doom and Guide (Prescience and Misfortune out of the Divination discipline works just as well) with a squad of Dire Avengers with Bladestorm. 32 BS4/5 shots re-rolling to hit and wound can force enough saves to take down just about anything.

A unit of 3 War Walkers with Scatter Lasers can bring 24 S6 shots, which is great to outflank and get side/rear armor shots. It's also really deadly if you park them in your deployment zone with a Farseer nearby to Guide/Prescience them for re-rolls.

As other people have mentioned, if your group is fine with using FW, there are a few forge world models that are basically better versions of things currently in the codex (i.e. actually worth taking). Hornets are basically usable Vypers, and the Warp Hunter is in my opinion a much more useful main battle tank, more akin to a vindicator. The Phoenix is also a solid (though expensive) choice that can bring a lot of firepower.

[eldargal]

Nightwing is also a good choice for FW units as it gets 4++ even against skyfire.

[Tzeentch's Dark Agent]

Ah, a nice summary, I won't include any Guardians then. I'll say that they're "busy".
Dire Avengers and Rangers to fill my troops methinks. May ally some Deldar.
Definitely taking 3 War Walkers, they are boss!
And definitely taking Eldrad (counts as) as he's awesome.

I realised that Yriel currently ignores armour saves. :D

[Archon Charybdis]

Ooh, good point about Yriel. I'm still not sure I'd take him though, because being unable to assault out of transports now is a real nail in the coffin for slow or fragile CC units that don't have access to Assault vehicles.

Anyway, like I was saying if you do like Guardian models or theme, consider allied Corsairs, I find them much more useful than Guardians and a good way to get some relentless missile launchers.

[Brandoncbaker]

And you can play 2000 points and take 6 heavys

[Defenestratus]

I can't disagree more about starcannons being "bad" now. A bit pricey sure, but with the overall nerf to power weapons now, anything that is AP2 or 1 just got an immediate bump in value.

Putting one on a wraithlord with a bright lance makes a superb heavy infantry killer.

Unfortunately WL's are about the only "durable" unit to put them on considering both Serpents and Falcons fold like a toiletpaper tent now.

[Archon Charybdis]

I can't disagree more about starcannons being "bad" now. A bit pricey sure, but with the overall nerf to power weapons now, anything that is AP2 or 1 just got an immediate bump in value.

Putting one on a wraithlord with a bright lance makes a superb heavy infantry killer.

Unfortunately WL's are about the only "durable" unit to put them on considering both Serpents and Falcons fold like a toiletpaper tent now.

I don't know about Serpents folding like toilet paper, they can be glanced to death sure but they also got a free 5+ cover save at basically all times. Either way though, Star Cannons are still just way the hell too expensive for glorified plasma guns. It seems to me a Fire Prism, D-cannon battery (still pricey, but artillery is so much tougher), or Warp Hunter (if your group uses FW) are way better means of getting anti-termie firepower.

[Tzeentch's Dark Agent]

Here is some fluff that I have been working on:

Craftworld Kaelor

Farseer Amonthyryr (Ah-mon-thigh-ihr)
A powerful yet reckless Farseer, true aryan appearance (blond hair, piercing blue eyes)
He walks a doomed path and threatens to take his Craftworld with him.
Will not stop until he cleanses the galaxy of intruders, really hates Necrons.

The previous "head" Farseer is now interred in a Wraithlord and serves as a kind of guide to Amonthyryr. Haven't got a name for him yet.

The Craftworld is famous for it's raid-like tactics, constantly on the offensive. Eldar from this Craftworld are particularly hot-headed and angry. The youth of the Craftworld typically join Corsair bands to get most of the excitement out of their system, as such the Eldar tend to be covered in war paint.

The Craftworld symbol is the sigil of Khaine’s Rebirth, embodying the War aspect of the Craftworld.

They're also in the Calixis sector, which means that they'll run into my Storm Wardens a lot.

[Aramel]

Eldrad, Yirel and Fuegan do not have power weapons. All of their entries say "ignores armour saves," except for Fuegan who attacks as a MC (AP2), so the "power weapon" rules do not apply. Unfortunately the FAQ says that Eldrad can only have 4 powers if he chooses the new abilites...not sure why. You must also choose either Eldar powers or rulebook ones, so his 5th is simply lost.

[Tzeentch's Dark Agent]

Meh, he still gets most of the Divination tree, all of which is EPIC.
Haven't tried Telepathy yet.

I knew about Yriel, it's pretty awesome.

[DrLove42]

Your "farseers guide" sounds like an excellent opportunity to use a Wraithseer....i'm just waiting on the FW FAQ to see if he can swap powers as well....

[Tzeentch's Dark Agent]

Same here. :D
I hope that I can ally Corsairs, because this will then be an EPIC army to make.

The Guide's name is Raenandril.

[Aramel]

Telepathy is pretty meh except for Invisibility which is godly. You need to spend 200pts on a farseer to get it pretty reliably though. But when you do, any unit within 24 in any kind of cover or with conceal gets a 2+ cover save, enemies need 5s to hit in combat and lose counter-attack if they have it.

[Tzeentch's Dark Agent]

Admittedly you can split which trees you pick from.

[Defenestratus]

Telepathy is pretty meh except for Invisibility which is godly. You need to spend 200pts on a farseer to get it pretty reliably though. But when you do, any unit within 24 in any kind of cover or with conceal gets a 2+ cover save, enemies need 5s to hit in combat and lose counter-attack if they have it.

I think that 3 out of the 6 are good. Puppetmaster could be so much fun on a vehicle. The one that takes away fearless will be very handy I believe and Hallucinagen is just FUN.

[Tzeentch's Dark Agent]

So I've gone for an Alaitoc army, basing it off of the "Path of" series, I'll post an army list asap.