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As the title says, I have no experience playing whatsoever. I'd like to start by playing Eldar. What should I buy in order to prepare myself for a game? I'm not sure how many points most games are and I don't know what units to buy to start off with.
Thanks in advance.

6 To 8 wave serpent 2wrigth knight min squads of troops and get min squad of jetbikes farseer on jetbike

zilka86 wrote:
6 To 8 wave serpent 2wrigth knight min squads of troops and get min squad of jetbikes farseer on jetbike

^If you want no friends/to play in tournaments.

Which models in the Eldar range look coolest to you? Hopefully something in the Troops section will spring out and we can have a starting point.

Dire Avengers in Wave Serpent, apply, repeat as necessary.

 AnomanderRake wrote:

zilka86 wrote:
6 To 8 wave serpent 2wrigth knight min squads of troops and get min squad of jetbikes farseer on jetbike

^If you want no friends/to play in tournaments.

Which models in the Eldar range look coolest to you? Hopefully something in the Troops section will spring out and we can have a starting point.

The rangers, guardians, and warlocks all look cool to me.

turtleman wrote:

 AnomanderRake wrote:

zilka86 wrote:
6 To 8 wave serpent 2wrigth knight min squads of troops and get min squad of jetbikes farseer on jetbike

^If you want no friends/to play in tournaments.

Which models in the Eldar range look coolest to you? Hopefully something in the Troops section will spring out and we can have a starting point.

The rangers, guardians, and warlocks all look cool to me.

I suggest grabbing the Codex, a Farseer, a Warlock, and the Battleforce. That should net you about five hundred points for small intro games and give you a reasonable picture of how the army works. Not everything in that will go into tournament-grade lists but you'll have a CAD (Combined Arms Detachment, the primary type of detachment) with a reasonable amount of firepower and lots of mobility.

 AnomanderRake wrote:

turtleman wrote:

 AnomanderRake wrote:

zilka86 wrote:
6 To 8 wave serpent 2wrigth knight min squads of troops and get min squad of jetbikes farseer on jetbike

^If you want no friends/to play in tournaments.

Which models in the Eldar range look coolest to you? Hopefully something in the Troops section will spring out and we can have a starting point.

The rangers, guardians, and warlocks all look cool to me.

I suggest grabbing the Codex, a Farseer, a Warlock, and the Battleforce. That should net you about five hundred points for small intro games and give you a reasonable picture of how the army works. Not everything in that will go into tournament-grade lists but you'll have a CAD (Combined Arms Detachment, the primary type of detachment) with a reasonable amount of firepower and lots of mobility.

Thanks,
Just one farseer, or should I buy the pack that's 3 and a warlock?

The plastic Farseer kit is DOPE. Can't speak for the pack.

turtleman wrote:

 AnomanderRake wrote:

turtleman wrote:

 AnomanderRake wrote:

zilka86 wrote:
6 To 8 wave serpent 2wrigth knight min squads of troops and get min squad of jetbikes farseer on jetbike

^If you want no friends/to play in tournaments.

Which models in the Eldar range look coolest to you? Hopefully something in the Troops section will spring out and we can have a starting point.

The rangers, guardians, and warlocks all look cool to me.

I suggest grabbing the Codex, a Farseer, a Warlock, and the Battleforce. That should net you about five hundred points for small intro games and give you a reasonable picture of how the army works. Not everything in that will go into tournament-grade lists but you'll have a CAD (Combined Arms Detachment, the primary type of detachment) with a reasonable amount of firepower and lots of mobility.

Thanks,
Just one farseer, or should I buy the pack that's 3 and a warlock?

The pack is a Farseer and three Warlocks. It's a decent discount and you're going to want more Warlocks as you expand, might as well.

Mind that they're going to be Finecast (I'm sure you can find long threads complaining about it if you look) and are going to be pretty flimsy, be careful with them.

Fire dragons, dire avengers, and wraithguard in wave serpents, 2 wraithknights, whatever HQ you want. That will be about 1850 points. You will never lose.

This is the general forum, not the tactics forum.

The correct answer over on this side is "get your codex and the rulebook", followed by "what kind of models do you like?" and "what play style do you prefer?"

I'd recommend buying a bunch of Shining Spears and some of those heavy weapon guys... Dark Reapers I think they're called? Some Dire Avengers and 1-2 Wave Serpents.

turtleman wrote:
As the title says, I have no experience playing whatsoever. I'd like to start by playing Eldar. What should I buy in order to prepare myself for a game? I'm not sure how many points most games are and I don't know what units to buy to start off with.
Thanks in advance.

borrow stuff before you buy is good advice. Many players will let you. Take advantage of that.

In the Heavy Slot, WarWalkers are pretty brilliant for a large number of lists. So three of those are never a waste. Dual Star Cannons are scary.

For troops, my favorite is probably the Guardian Defenders with their Missile Launcher that still Pins and is AP 4 when its a blast. Pretty legit.

For Elites, there's a clogged category. Fire Dragons in Wave Serpents is probably hard to say no to, although my prsonal favorite are the Striing Scorpions (But Fire Dragons will gain more universale traction amongst most players)

Fast Attacks are tough too but I think the nod for best unit HAS to go to Warp Spiders. Crimson Hunter is a close second. Having anti-air like that is critical in the way things are so probably grab both.

as for HQ's, its real hard to vote against Eldrad. I don't ever use him but his strategic value before the game even starts is enormous and he's at least pretty decent in close combat. But of course he's mostly there for Psyker powers. My Psykers of choice are the Seer Council on Bikes as well as a pair of Hemlock Fighters. Cause FMC's are a pain in the ass. You'd be hard pressed ever to regret taking Eldrad though.
.

min squad in wave serpents, as many as you can, along with some Wraith Knights. Enjoy winning 90% of your games.

 AnomanderRake wrote:

zilka86 wrote:
6 To 8 wave serpent 2wrigth knight min squads of troops and get min squad of jetbikes farseer on jetbike

^If you want no friends/to play in tournaments.

Which models in the Eldar range look coolest to you? Hopefully something in the Troops section will spring out and we can have a starting point.

i onlt say that because its the only way and right way to play eldar if you post any other type of list people will freak on you.
just like only way to play sm is biker army.
so i no longer play my my marines because i don't field a biker.

Can't speak for his meta, but that's not at all what its like in my meta.

If Guardians, Rangers, and Farseers speak to you, get a box of each.

Then look for something else you like, then get a box of it.

The nicest thing about the CW Eldar codex is that you can just take one box of each thing you like (within FOC restrictions, of course), and have a fun list that'll do fine in casual metals.

So a box of 5 rangers, a box of 10 guardians + weapon platform of choice covers your troops.
Farseer covers the HQ (Plastic looks nice, but if you like the looks of a finecast one, go for it). The 3x Locks will basically mean 2 sit on the shelf until you get more guardian units, but at that price, not really a waste.

What else do you like the look of? Practically anything can fit this list.

The only things I'd caution against are Serpent Spam (wrecks the game for both players), and Harlequins (a bit too weak for a starting player).

Bharring wrote:
Can't speak for his meta, but that's not at all what its like in my meta.

If Guardians, Rangers, and Farseers speak to you, get a box of each.

Then look for something else you like, then get a box of it.

The nicest thing about the CW Eldar codex is that you can just take one box of each thing you like (within FOC restrictions, of course), and have a fun list that'll do fine in casual metals.

So a box of 5 rangers, a box of 10 guardians + weapon platform of choice covers your troops.
Farseer covers the HQ (Plastic looks nice, but if you like the looks of a finecast one, go for it). The 3x Locks will basically mean 2 sit on the shelf until you get more guardian units, but at that price, not really a waste.

What else do you like the look of? Practically anything can fit this list.

The only things I'd caution against are Serpent Spam (wrecks the game for both players), and Harlequins (a bit too weak for a starting player).

What are the weapon platforms?

They come with Guardians.

Guardians are just militia members, and their Shuriken Catapults are more sidearm than service rifle. They will often be operating a heavy weapon on a grav platform. Any Guardian in the unit can fire the heavy weapon instead of shooting. So, basically, the Guardian can fire an anti-tank laser or scatter laser or missile launcher, while his friends shoot their sidearms (if they're in range, and same target though). Makes them good at sitting back and holding something.

(Vaul's Wrath is completely different)

zilka86 wrote:

 AnomanderRake wrote:

zilka86 wrote:
6 To 8 wave serpent 2wrigth knight min squads of troops and get min squad of jetbikes farseer on jetbike

^If you want no friends/to play in tournaments.

Which models in the Eldar range look coolest to you? Hopefully something in the Troops section will spring out and we can have a starting point.

i onlt say that because its the only way and right way to play eldar if you post any other type of list people will freak on you.
just like only way to play sm is biker army.
so i no longer play my my marines because i don't field a biker.

I'm sorry you're bitter, but that's no reason to pass on your misfortunes to new players.

I not bitter try to let new players know that there's only one right way to play ever army out the if you play ur army any way but the right way our your doing it wrong only trying to save the guy the trouble of finding that out hard way

zilka86 wrote:

 AnomanderRake wrote:

zilka86 wrote:
6 To 8 wave serpent 2wrigth knight min squads of troops and get min squad of jetbikes farseer on jetbike

^If you want no friends/to play in tournaments.

Which models in the Eldar range look coolest to you? Hopefully something in the Troops section will spring out and we can have a starting point.

i onlt say that because its the only way and right way to play eldar if you post any other type of list people will freak on you.
just like only way to play sm is biker army.
so i no longer play my my marines because i don't field a biker.

So.. you're saying you can only play Eldar if you play a cheesy competitive list, and that if you don't, people will freak on you for playing with the things you like?

Look at the codex, pick which unit you like the most and field them. Don't let those powerplayers mislead you, the aim of the game is having fun and luckily most of the Eldar codex units are viable in normal games. Want to face-stomp everyone with 10 of the same units? Go with spamming wave serpent. Want to enjoy the challenge of battling other armies with up an downs and having to make hard tactical decisions? Then use our variety of cool aspect warriors, tanks and MC.

For example I didn't know which army to choose when I started this hobby until I saw the shining spears. I loved the looks of that unit and I will try to field them as many times as I can, even if they rarely make up their points (they scare the gak out of SM players XD).

to the OP:

what sort of games are you intending on playing?

if you play your mates all the time then go for what looks cool.
if you want to go down the competitive/tournament route then take a peek at the tactics section for unit/rule combo's.

but definitely get yourself a wave serpent - i don't like dealing with them, i think they're OP, but i think you have to use one to appreciate how useful they are. oh, and put some wraithguard in there with the flamer template weapons as the wave serpent isn't an assault vehicle.

my final word on the topic is; eldar are a race of beings who are all psychically able and your army will survive or die based on your effective use of their psychic powers. so farseers and warlocks are a good purchase, finecast or not.

Depends on your playstyle, I have a friend who is also new into the game and plays Eldar and he runs lots of guardians, swooping hawks, rangers, wraithlords, avatar, waraithguard with waveserpent.

It matches his playstyle and he loves the army, which really is the most important thing. Don't worry about tournaments, get into the hobby first, then decide if you want to play competitively later once you know what your getting into.

Honestly the best games are ones that are very close, not the ones you win outright.

Welcome and enjoy!

That's what am saying is that if ur not running cheesy list ur doing it wrong and yes i have laughed at people insulted me for playing my none biker sm army so i sheveld them for now . now i run cheesy eldar and i get told that now i have a proper army that's good

The people you play games with are really the most important factor. The group I play with will specifically tailor lists so that we can have interesting battles that aren't full of said "cheese".

We also play competitive lists, but not every game is the same list, nor are we sober most of the time during our games.

zilka86 wrote:
I not bitter. try to let new players know that there's only one right way to play ever army out the. if you play ur army any way but the right way our your doing it wrong. only trying to save the guy the trouble of finding that out hard way

Very. very wrong.
If you cannot make an army list work when people have have told you it should work, that's not their fault, only yours.
Check your rules, and make sure you are playing the game as it is written. You have repeatedly said you use houserules. Maybe that is why you only have 1 way to make any codex work.

Every recent codex has many ways of being played.
Eldar has:
Wraiths: Spiritseers and wraithguard and wraithknights. Wraithlords aren't as good, but work. This is a slow but tough force. An Avatar might help.
Skimmers: Jetbikes, and a mix of the skimmer tanks. It is very fast, and can take a range of foot troops in the transports. Crimson Hunters for AA.
Aspects: Mix up units of Aspect Warriors. Swooping Hawks take out pockets of infantry and vehicles. Striking Scorpions outflank and tarpit back-field units. Fire Dragons for AV. Warp Spiders for fast strikes. Etc. Autarchs provide additional power. Crimson Hunters are an aspect.
Guardian gunlines: Warlocks use psychic powers to help Guardian squads with HWP. War Walkers (and other vehicles) are piloted by guardians, so fit the theme. Add Farseers for support. Hemlock fighters are piloted by warlocks, IIRC.
Scouts: Rangers can be upgraded with the use of the sniper HQ. Add in other units to pad it out.

Only the Saim-Hann skimmers army needs WS transports, and even then, Falcons will do instead.

Not all of these use fully-competitive units, but they should all work as a viable force. Tweak the units used, or use fewer of some and more of an another.

Basically, look in the codex for units you like the look of, and browse through the army lists and batreps here to find out how people got on with them.
Look to get a force of around 1500-2000 points, but lots of people play smaller games. We often play 500 point games, for a quick test of units, or 'just-because'.

Who really plays games under 1500pts that's where i started play ing is at 1500pts now we normal play 2500pts and one low per army


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Who really plays games under 1500pts that's where i started play ing is at 1500pts now we normal play 2500pts and one low per army

Lots of people do:
testing out units,
quick games,
learning,
for those who aren't rich enough to have a 2500 point army for every game...

I have an ongoing campaign with about a dozen other friends of mine and we have games within that between 400-2000 pts regularly.


EDIT: Outside of the campaign we play between 800-3k depending on time and the type of game we want to play.