Eldar questions

[Blood Angel]

I ended up with 2 starter army boxes of Eldar.
I have 15 Dire Avengers right now. What is the best way to take them? 5 man squads or ten man. I mean just in general.
Also, Is there any reason to take a guardian squad without the heavy weapon and what is the preferred weapon in the heavy weapon.
I have one of those boxes of 4 Eldar guardians so I could go with an all foot Guardian squad x 2
I have 3 guardian squads total, and three wave serpents, three 5 man squads of DA, 3 jet bikes, 2 of the Vypers, one box of wraithguard, farseer, spiritseer, one box of SS, 1 hemlock fighter, 2 crimson hunters and a wraithknight.

Any suggestions on equipping them and filling this army out?

[Cpt Codpiece]

2 10 man DA in serpents with either shuricannons top and bottom or scatter and cannon bottom.
keep 5 DA man as foot sloggers to grab objectives. no exarch needed for DA most of the time
one massive guardian squad with a warlock and 2 platforms (if you have em.... and magnetise the guns too)
wraithguard in serpent with seer (scythes FTW)
use vypers to pester flanks (keep em fast and in cover) same with jetbikes but also objective grabbers

i would get some fire dragons and reapers, pop the dragons in a serpent if you get another or switch for one of the avengers WS and foot slog the DA
reapers don't really need the exarch TBH and are lethal.

the thing i find with eldar, buy what you like the look/feel of. you have a load of stuff......... play some gaps and fill in the gaps where you feel the synergy is lacking

[Blood Angel]

2 10 man DA in serpents with either shuricannons top and bottom or scatter and cannon bottom.
keep 5 DA man as foot sloggers to grab objectives. no exarch needed for DA most of the time
one massive guardian squad with a warlock and 2 platforms (if you have em.... and magnetise the guns too)
wraithguard in serpent with seer (scythes FTW)
use vypers to pester flanks (keep em fast and in cover) same with jetbikes but also objective grabbers

i would get some fire dragons and reapers, pop the dragons in a serpent if you get another or switch for one of the avengers WS and foot slog the DA
reapers don't really need the exarch TBH and are lethal.

the thing i find with eldar, buy what you like the look/feel of. you have a load of stuff......... play some gaps and fill in the gaps where you feel the synergy is lacking

Thanks for the Advice. I have one 5 man DA built with Exarch but the others aren't built yet. That's was one of my questions since once the glue dries, I don't want to have to rip the arms off and such lol. As a mainly Marine Player, Squads are simple, you always have a sgt, just how to equip the squad. There are more options for individual squads with Eldar and I need to get a feel for what is needed and what is just wasted points.
Never played them before, Always wanted to.
SO I suppose the next couple of DA squads I get, I'll just go sans Exarch. Maybe buy one on ebay so I can have one to pop in if needed.
Thanks again.

[Dave Mcturk]

so much depends on the points level you play at and who your regular opponents are !

but due to their multi-posing dire avengers are the cheapest and prettiest to bulk an army out... stick five in a wave serpent with TL britelance and you have one of the cheapest in points and pounds multi function units in the game... it is also fast and versatile... magnatise weapons and you can swap them around at will

enjoy

[Garradh]

I ended up with 2 starter army boxes of Eldar.
I have 15 Dire Avengers right now. What is the best way to take them? 5 man squads or ten man. I mean just in general.
Also, Is there any reason to take a guardian squad without the heavy weapon and what is the preferred weapon in the heavy weapon.
I have one of those boxes of 4 Eldar guardians so I could go with an all foot Guardian squad x 2
I have 3 guardian squads total, and three wave serpents, three 5 man squads of DA, 3 jet bikes, 2 of the Vypers, one box of wraithguard, farseer, spiritseer, one box of SS, 1 hemlock fighter, 2 crimson hunters and a wraithknight.

Any suggestions on equipping them and filling this army out?

3x5 man DA squads in your three Wave Serpents, use TL SL/SC and Holofield (it works well because it works well). 3 Jetbikes to hide in the back for late grab/contest. That's 4 troops choices so far so you'll either need to round out the WS DA squads to 1x7 and 1x8 or play two beefier Guardian squads (neither is advisable, though I do play an 8-man DA squad mounted in WS). As for the heavy weapon options, with the limited range on Guardian squads the heavy weapon defines the squad for the first part of the game. My advice is take a bright lance in each and find some cover to occupy.

Two Vypers - I recommend Scatter Laser/Shuricannon for them. Keep them at range or hidden until you score First Blood so they aren't an easy first-round kill. Forget the Hemlock and play the Crimson Hunters to do most of your heavy lifting in the antitank department. I would also recommend twin super wraithcannons on the Wraithknight for AT.

Wraithguard and Striking Scorpions - good question how to use these. Both have to get up close and personal to the enemy to be useful unlike the bulk of your army. If you need to drop points somewhere, I would recommend leaving these units in the box. Alternatively run both behind the advancing Wraithknight for some up-close-and-personal goodness.

[El_Davo]

I agree with cpt. codpiece. i use my DA's 10 man and in wave serpents w/holofields. i built them exarchs with the dual catapults or w/shimmer shield but 100% if the time i just proxy them as normal DA.
as for the guardians, if you run them 20 man w/ 2 heavy weapons, i'd run them forward w/ the wave serpents. i'd give them s-cannons just to maximise anti infantry capabilities.
vypers are awesome. i run mine with dual shuiken cannons and the often get the first and last kill of the game. i also give them holo fields.
so get a defense line and some dark reapers and you'll be in pretty good shape if you ask me.

[cebalrai]

I agree with cpt. codpiece. i use my DA's 10 man and in wave serpents w/holofields. i built them exarchs with the dual catapults or w/shimmer shield but 100% if the time i just proxy them as normal DA.
as for the guardians, if you run them 20 man w/ 2 heavy weapons, i'd run them forward w/ the wave serpents. i'd give them s-cannons just to maximise anti infantry capabilities.
vypers are awesome. i run mine with dual shuiken cannons and the often get the first and last kill of the game. i also give them holo fields.
so get a defense line and some dark reapers and you'll be in pretty good shape if you ask me.

When I run 3x Vypers I usually just give the one I position in front holofields. It's way too expensive to deck them all out like that.

[Da Gargoyle]

I realise this is an old thread but, I like it.

Until Ed 6 I did not think much of dire avengers. 18" range for the catapults, no real CC ability, I know they have a high initiative but they have no CC weapons, are only S3, T3 and have 1 attack each. Yes I know an exarch can carry scary assault weapons but that is one soldier in the unit and he can be tied up with a challenge. Now this new bladestorm thing is happening they may be more valuable, but I'ld field them in units of 10.

I usually field Storm Guardian and Guardian squads instead of DA. Units of 12 SG with a flamers or fusion guns or a combo will fit in Serpent and actually out perform DA. I used to automatically take a Warlock with them but that is questionable now. In a game yesterday I rolled protect/jinx for a Warlock accompanying my SG. But he failed his psychic roll twice and they reverted to 5+sv when he died. I used a meld of Dark Eldar Wyches and Guardians to make my latest SG squad.

In the mean time my standard Guardians sit in Squads of 12 in the back line with a SL/EML/SC and snipe at targets of opportunity. Now they have BS4 this makes them more deadly. I usually field 4 of the Guardians in front of the platform as a meat shield, but all of them under cover if I can help it.

Then its down to what else you can afford for the points game. Firedragons, scary but expensive, Scorpions, hard to get into CC but deadly when they are there. A Falcon with SL & SC to compliment the pulse laser, laser lock gives you a twin link on your other weapons at BS 4

Serpents - really fast but impossible to assault from. Fire Prisms, deadly but they lost their link up and are expensive for a single unit. My favourite was Pathfinders, which you can't have anymore and so are less effective shooting and holding objectives. (I know you can upgrade to Ailotoc Pathfinders, if you pay 140 points for Ilic and a whopping extra 13 points per ranger. Who can afford that for a unit that still does not have the abilities of the previous codex?)

I have just started getting into Far Seers when 6ed and the new dex hit. Now its either Eldrad or back to my Autarch with Scorpion Sword and Fusion gun. He is better in CC, can improve your chances in bringing on reserves or flanking moves and is a cracking good shot and has pretty decent armour. I used to give him manidblasters but now I am thinking banshee mask.

I also regularly use a Wraith Lord with a blade and flamers. His stat's have changed now but he is still quit deadly with vehicles and horde troops. I once roasted a mob of 25 Orks.

Not so big on Warlocks these days unless I have the room for a counsel of 5 on jet bikes with singing spears. Expensive but improved toughness and armour saves while retaining that 4+ invun. Also you will almost certainly get the psych power you wanted at least once in the group.

I am now experimenting with Artillery and Walkers but still have to finish building them. And I liked the look of the Avatar but he is too slow to get around the battlefield.