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Ok, so just wanted a general feel on what people prefer to use when facing a Tyranid invasion using Eldar.

Any match winning units or mvp's? Foot or mech?

Suggestions would be appreciated, cheers guys!

As I play both Eldar and 'nids I can add a few suggestions.

1) Mech against 'nids never hurts, as they are somewhat weak at Anti-Armor, and usually are forced to
rely on assaulting with MC. With Eldar's vehicle maneuverability and decent weapon load-outs, you could
really give them a headache. I've also had great luck with Fire Prisms using their large blasts on masses of
poor T3 Tyranid ground Gants.

2)Avoid your CC units. Yea, Banshees are awesome and have PWs, but Tyranid Armor saves are crap to
begin with, and their tactics are to simply out-number you, and either ID you with Str 6+ MC, or out
number you 1,000,000 to 1 with Gants, who are usually 4+ Poison. So I'd recommend avoiding getting into
melee with them whenever you can.

3)Be aware of Shadow in the Warp!!!! Nothing can ruin a good Eldar build worse then not being prepared
for Shadow in the Warp, and having your psykers blow their own brains out.

4)You are going to most likely be outnumbered by alot, accept it, get over it, and be prepared for it. Don't
let that massive amount of troops they can field psych you, as its one of the 'nids big Meta-game advantages.
As a 'nid player myself, I sometimes spam the board with over 200+ basic troops just to see the look on my
opponents face. And nothing sucks worse then trying to Deepstrike on a board with a Nid-horde who is also
using Spore Mines. I've seen people tabled turn 1 that way.

5) Remember they may have ferocity and numbers, but you have superior weapons, armor, and training.
Blast and template weapons are your friends, as are guns with multiple shots.

6) Don't try to out MC them. Avatars and Wraith Lords are awesome, and can be very effective against the
'nids, but you do not want to try to get into a MC pissing match with them against 'nids. A Swarmlord with
one or two Tyrant Guard will make a joke of your Avatar 9 times out of 10, and when Trygons, Carnifexes,
Tervigons, etc... hit the field, you'll just plain be outgunned in that area. Trust me, I learned this the hard
way.

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Anyway, hope these few ideas help. I find Eldar vs. Tyranids is one of my fav match-ups due to all the cool
hijinks that can ensue. I've been on both sides of the field (my wife will often swipe my Tyranids, leaving me
to play Eldar), and can say either way its usually a interesting game.

I play both as well, and my bane is always Fire Prisms.

The Basic pie plate ignores most tyranid armor saves right off the bat, and you can throw down three of these per turn, and a beastly range.

Avoid HG. They are the biggest threat to your tanks, by far. they have a 24' range, and one unit will likely wreck a serpent per turn.

Use your mobility to your advantage. Nothing in the Tyranid Army can keep up with fast skimmers, with proper tactics you should be able to stay out of the range of threats, and pummel them to death.

Bladestorming Dire Avengers will wreck just about any unit of Tyranids, except MCs.


Just use your shooting power to your advantage, and avoid close combat, because even your dedicated cc units will fold against any Tyranid unit in CC.

Good luck!

when i read this i though, omg thats briliant (i read this before i got into the eldar, its from the gw website) dire avengers: fire at 18" keep em moving and shooting anything without fleet.

also, i'd recomend either falcon or fire prism (i'm not completely sure since i dont have my codex and im a little new to eldar, army's not that big)

basically im going with my strategy of "lots of bullets and keep moving" its worked pretty well but i cant say its perfect.

since this is relevant and i was curious, how good would a wraithlord be against nids?

kenzosan wrote:when i read this i though, omg thats briliant (i read this before i got into the eldar, its from the gw website) dire avengers: fire at 18" keep em moving and shooting anything without fleet.

also, i'd recomend either falcon or fire prism (i'm not completely sure since i dont have my codex and im a little new to eldar, army's not that big)

basically im going with my strategy of "lots of bullets and keep moving" its worked pretty well but i cant say its perfect.

since this is relevant and i was curious, how good would a wraithlord be against nids?

A wraithlord would most likely be killed in a single round, before even getting to strike. As it stands, a Fire Prism is much more effective, even if you use the wraith lord for a firing platform.to much 4+ Poison will drown a Wratihlord, as well as any MC, since it has no Invul save.


3 Fire Prisms with Holofields are Ideal, and much more cost efficient.

Heavy firepower -

3 x 3 war walkers with scatterlaser
3 x 3 vypers with sl and shuriken cannon

If you actually fielded this, you would be putting out 135 S6 shots every turn. Even assuming you don't guide any of it that should result in 67 hits and 56 kills versus any little bug every turn. 33 wounds against MK every turn - On average, that means your opponent will lose 22 wounds every turn if you focus your fire on them. Even a hive tyrant will drop.

Now this is about 1200 points of commitment but every demon army and bug army will cry.

Sasori wrote:A wraithlord would most likely be killed in a single round, before even getting to strike. As it stands, a Fire Prism is much more effective, even if you use the wraith lord for a firing platform.to much 4+ Poison will drown a Wratihlord, as well as any MC, since it has no Invul save.


3 Fire Prisms with Holofields are Ideal, and much more cost efficient.

i thought as much, fire prisms are probably my favorite unit next to a wraithlord (i love building that wraithlord)

Night Spinners own 'nids. Drop the template so that it hits the corner unit in one brood and hits at least one other brood, and maybe a MC or two. It doesn't matter if you wound them or not - you just put dangerous terrain on at least 2 squads. Rending S6 has a good chance to cause some serious damage, too.

TehScat wrote:Night Spinners own 'nids. Drop the template so that it hits the corner unit in one brood and hits at least one other brood, and maybe a MC or two. It doesn't matter if you wound them or not - you just put dangerous terrain on at least 2 squads. Rending S6 has a good chance to cause some serious damage, too.

Tyranids are one of the armies that Nightspinners are great against. I would however, advise against it if you are making an all comers list.

Thanks for the feedback here's what i'm thinking of fielding - x 2 WS, 1 with 2 squads of DA and the other with 2 squads of FD. Then 1 falcon with seer council. 1 squad of 6 jetbikes and and a squad of Dark reapers for fire support. I don't have prisms though which I think I need to invest in.

My overall strategy would be mobility and hit and run, use the seer council for doom and fortune. Probably direct the Dragons towards any MC and the DA and Seer Council to the main bulk, with Reaper support. Thoughts?

neilvicks wrote:Thanks for the feedback here's what i'm thinking of fielding - x 2 WS, 1 with 2 squads of DA and the other with 2 squads of FD. Then 1 falcon with seer council. 1 squad of 6 jetbikes and and a squad of Dark reapers for fire support. I don't have prisms though which I think I need to invest in.

My overall strategy would be mobility and hit and run, use the seer council for doom and fortune. Probably direct the Dragons towards any MC and the DA and Seer Council to the main bulk, with Reaper support. Thoughts?

Well, You have to be wary of several things. A Seer council is really not as effective against Nids, as it is for other armies, for several reasons. They Rely on your Psychic powers, which are very unreliable in the face of Shadow in the Warp. They will also fold against any Tyranid infantry, thanks things like poison, and massed attacks. In all honesty, a Seer council is a heavy point sink, and it will be almost completely useless against Nids.

Fire Dragons are excellent for taking out things like MC, but if you don't kill it in one round of shooting, you can be sure it will lock you in close combat, and finish off the firedragons without breaking a sweat.

Dire Avengers are great. Give them an Exarch with Bladestorm,and they should shred most things. Use the serpent and your 18" range to your advantage, because like everything in the Eldar Army, they will fold in assault.

Fire Prisms will serve you well in any list. I urge you as strongly as possible to pick up three of them when you can. You will not regret it. They have a plethora of uses, Anti-Tank, Anti-Infantry, Anti anything really. With Holofields they are also VERY hard to kill.

I've never really used Jetbikes, and I've never really fought against them either. I have no opinion on them.

Dark Reapers don't really put out enough shots, and with cover being so common, their AP 3 is negligible. They also take up a a spot in the crowded heavy support section. You have better options.
'

I'm a huge council fan, and I don't like using them against Tyranids. They're still good against the big MCs, but you'll take a lot of casualties against nid horde. Destructor still hurts them big time, so its not a complete waste.

Never put assault troops in a falcon. Falcons are gun boats, they need to sit and shoot. If you want to put the farseer in the falcon for guide or safety, give him avengers and not a council. They're scoring and cheaper.

Dark Reapers are a lot weaker than they look on paper. Even against marines, they underperform for their cost. Against nids, they're a huge waste. Go for prisms.

Jetbikes are super sexy, keep them at max shuriken cannon range and rain hell on the advancing nids. Keeping cover saves up is easy with jsj too.

Here are some quick (Hopefully a bit spoiler-free) tips on dealing with Nids that work for... most armies, I'd guess.

1. Never, EVER allow them to get close.

2.Always, ALWAYS keep an eye out for those Genestealers.

3.Deal with the Pyrovores at a range.

4.If a Zoanthrope is nearby a tank, kill it. Kill it with fire, kill it immediately.

5.Nids operate most effectively nearby Synapse creatures.

6.Looks can be deceiving, especially with the Nids.

If you're playing a fast army (lots of skimmers and/or bikes) then you have a huge advantage in that you can keep moving. Look up the Swing Wing on youtube and learn what you can, it owns Tyranids if they don't see it coming.

3.Deal with the Pyrovores at a range.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

Pyrovores...good joke... and the post wasn't even made April first...

4.If a Zoanthrope is nearby a tank, kill it. Kill it with fire, kill it immediately.

Zoanthropes are next to useless against eldar's fast vehicles wile they have psychic defense... next to no range hurts them.

1. Never, EVER allow them to get close.

Unless they are Pyrovores :-)

wisdomseyes1 wrote:

3.Deal with the Pyrovores at a range.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

Pyrovores...good joke... and the post wasn't even made April first...

Now I'm either enlightening you on the abilities of Pyrovores, or being a noob and not understanding that you already know, being a regular and all, but Pyrovores kind of explode when they die... yeah.

AwesomeFex wrote:

wisdomseyes1 wrote:

3.Deal with the Pyrovores at a range.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

Pyrovores...good joke... and the post wasn't even made April first...

Now I'm either enlightening you on the abilities of Pyrovores, or being a noob and not understanding that you already know, being a regular and all, but Pyrovores kind of explode when they die... yeah.

Pyrovores are widely regarded as one of the worst units in the game, and any player taking them will be an easy win. Both because they wasted an important elite slot on crap, and they were dumb enough to think it was good, proving they are a bad player.

Played against Eldar today as Nids in a 1500 point tourny. I won, but here's some thing that messed me up;

Rangers, those AP1 shots are irritating against MCs, didn't do too much overall though, maybe 3-4 wounds to MCs in 3 shooting phases?
Starcannon + bright lance spam on the serpents, falcon and vyper, taking 5+ wounds a turn off of MCs sucks.
Dire Avengers, put out a lot of anti-infantry firepower. Try to catch infantry in the open and watch them evaporate.
Farseer + locks. 3 warlocks and a farseer charged and killed 8 genestealers...then walked over and charged my tervigon. While they were working on that 4 more genestealers and 10 termigants joined to help out....they killed all THAT too. Had to throw my Tyrant, 4 hive guard shooting at them and 6 more ymgarls to put them down...and the farseer was still alive when the game ended. He must have passed 60+ saves with fortune, can't believe they wouldn't die.

AwesomeFex wrote:

wisdomseyes1 wrote:

3.Deal with the Pyrovores at a range.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

Pyrovores...good joke... and the post wasn't even made April first...

Now I'm either enlightening you on the abilities of Pyrovores, or being a noob and not understanding that you already know, being a regular and all, but Pyrovores kind of explode when they die... yeah.

Half of the time... if hit with a wound that causes ID... With a S3 AP- explosion...

The Pyrovore is absolutely the worst unit in the Tyranid codex... You can find more use in spore mines... In the game? Probably pretty far down there.

they have power weapons... with 1 attack at I1 and S4. With a cruddy save and T4... it isn't all that great in close combat.

It is slow... so it isn't getting very far very fast.

so what did you just spend your points on? a heavy flamer that probably wont get close enough to be used and the model itself doesn't want to be that close.

I have to agree with the general Pyrovore suck rant that is going on above.

Take a balanced force with lots of shooting and little to no melee troops. Steer clear of wraithlords and avatar becuase yes, many nids have poison these days. Hive guard are a threat, kill them fast. take two psychers that way you can doom to your hearts content. and yes. Nids do have a problem with mech so take mech if you can.

Mind War absolutely destroys MCs, especially Carnifexes and any others that aren't LD10. I lost 2 Carnifexes and a Trygon Prime that had 4 wounds left to Eldrad a few games ago. 600 points of MC lost to a 25pt power? Ouch! Eldrad is a really solid choice and will give the nids player hell unless they take Deathleaper.

Strength 6 spam - such as 3x War Walkers with scatter lasers, scatters and shuricannons wherever you can get them - is also great because it hurts everything the 'nids can field.

Harlequins can also be a good choice but you have to be careful with them. Their high I, rending and FC means they can really put the hurt on anything except genestealers in melee. Stack 'em up with an Avatar to make a solid-core counterattack force, and put a death jester in there for the extra shuricannon.

If the 'nids bring biovores, spread the hell out; biovores absolutely trash Eldar infantry. My opponent kept his infantry clumped up and I had one biovore kill 6 guardians, 6 harlequins and about 11 DA's in 2 shots. He won't make that mistake again.

ill agree on the mindwar. i inflicted a whooping 7 wounds on a mawlock with my seer. yes a council isn't super effective and you could probably spend your points better. ill have to disagree on the close combat. you have some very nice cc units, am i the only one in the world who likes striking scopions? i have used a couple of times to great effect against nids, you just have to spring them when the time is right and when doom is up and they have been worked over by your shooting, then when your melee line hits them you'll wipe the floor with him. but all this is based upon my own experience.

I'm prob gonna field a council with Eldrad, a unit of rangers to pin down mc's and then shuttle my 2 squads of da's and fd's in 2 wave serpents and have a falcon as fire support. That leaves me with an infiltrating unit of sc's with karandras for flanking and a squad of 6 jetbikes for extra manouverability. Sound good?

The games on saturday, been lookin forward to it. He seems to think he's gonna swarm me with his superior numbers. He does have a death leaper though, any suggestions on taking it down?

Instead of Eldrad, you can field 2 Farseers with guide and mindwar(1 with RoW).

I also run 2 Fire Prisms and 1 Falcon with missile launcher. Gives you flexibility to deal with both horde and MC.

I prefer Shuri cannon over SL on my serpents because SL are only AP6 and cost 15 pts more.

maybe but it has more range and more shots

Death Leapers and Shadows of the Warp peeps, suggestions?


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Death Leapers and Shadows of the Warp peeps, suggestions?

Most times, when I play against the Elder, I just sit in the corner and cry as the Eldar whirl around me in circles dropping pie plates of doom on my head.

Okay, in all seriousness, When I play as Nids I seem to have a hell of a time trying to pull out a win. Eldrad using doom and fortune with a group of guys who can use bladestorm hurts a lot. As well as getting nukes with Fire Prisms that always keep just out of reach and ALSO having holo-fields, man I hate holo fields.

They are just too fast for what little range Nids have.

Does the shadows of the warp thing affect Eldrad though? Whats the best cc unit for them should things get ugly? I'm thinking Scorpions with Karandras would be pretty devastating for anything.

neilvicks wrote:Does the shadows of the warp thing affect Eldrad though? Whats the best cc unit for them should things get ugly? I'm thinking Scorpions with Karandras would be pretty devastating for anything.

Don't waste your points on any CC unit. Just pummel them to death with your far superior ranged firepower, this is the Eldar Strong suit, use it to your advantage.

And Shadows in the Warp would affect Eldrad, as long as he is not in a transport, and within 12' of a creature with SitW.

You don't need CC units at all, just stay in vehicles and move away from them when you need to. Any infantry unit (including Scorpions and Banshees) which get caught in an assault will almost inevitably lose as they get swarmed by masses of Gaunts and finished off by MCs. This also ignores the fact that's its almost impossible to get the charge off from a Serpent unless its against a unit they don't mind you kill, your threat range isn't that big (particularly with Scorpions). The only CC based unit which might work would be a JetCouncil, because they can just fly straight into the middle of the Nid army, multi charge everything and cause a crazy amount of pain with winning combat + Fearless wounds while tanking all the return damage.

Shadows is only a problem if you are outside of a vehicle (because for some reason it doesn't effect you in a vehicle), so Doom/Guide Seers who hide in transports the entire game don't really care. The only time it becomes an issue is when you get out to cast Mind War (cause Eldritch Storm is a waste of time), or more notably on the likes of the JetCouncil mentioned above which obviously isn't in a vehicle and needs Fortune up at all times. Fortunately you can just take Witnessing to get around this, its not 100% clear how it interacts with Shadows but its generally played as it was ruled in the old Nid FAQ (for the previous book, where Shadows was basically the same) that Shadows + Witnessing just cancels out (so you roll on 2D6 like normal). Eldrad comes with Witnessing so its not an issue for him.

Good Mechdar lists are terrible matchups for most Nid lists, because in general Nids rely heavily on combat to kill vehicles. I can easily remove any Hive Guard in 1-2 turns with massed Scatter Laser fire (usually with only a turn of fire back a best) and just laugh at Zoanthropes, and can then systematically remove the MCs depending on how threatening they are all the while backing off or shuffling sideways to maximise the time I have to do it. Dragons get used to remove any MCs which get too close and then I watch as the smaller bugs do nothing to my vehicles and then run and hide when I tank shock them or they fail IB. My biggest concern is the Tyrannofex, who is a nightmare to bring down, but I haven't seen anyone use one in a tournament so it hasn't been an issue yet.

from what iv gathered on the forums, cc is only good against tau

anyway, shadows affects eldred, roll 2d6 for runes of witnessing vs shadows