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This isn't necessarily a list I'm making but I'm curious about how many tanks really makes Mech Eldar a force to be reckoned with. I only use 3 in my list but feel I could use about 5; however just messing around I made a 2000pt list with 9 tanks all together and in theory it seemed pretty strong. I have yet to lose all 3 of my tanks in a game yet; I usually only lose 2. 3 fire prisms backing a massive 6 Wave serpents would survive even most of the power builds out there if played right.

How many tanks do you use in your mechdar list?

How many do you think really could do the best in a tourney?

Please also give point values for your answers.

I just did very poorly at 'ard boyz with 9 wave serpents.

The trap is that if everything you have is flying around in grav tanks, your offensive ability falls by the wayside and without killing the enemy's stuff, eventually they'll kill your tanks. Add to that the fact that the squads inside will be tiny and thus ineffective, and now once the serpents are popped the passengers can't stop the enemy, since they attack piecemeal.

I'd go with around 6 or 7, and make sure the rest of the army is hard-hitting stuff that can make the enemy suffer, taking out their key units that would pose a threat to you before they can cripple your force.

The army I used was eldrad, 6 5-man dire avenger squads in serpents, 3 fire dragon squads in serpents, and 9 warwalkers. I faced plaguemarines [wouldn't die to S6 shots] round 1 and horde orks in nightfight round 2. It just wasn't enough oomph.

Spellbound wrote:I just did very poorly at 'ard boyz with 9 wave serpents.

The army I used was eldrad, 6 5-man dire avenger squads in serpents, 3 fire dragon squads in serpents, and 9 warwalkers. I faced plaguemarines [wouldn't die to S6 shots] round 1 and horde orks in nightfight round 2. It just wasn't enough oomph.

I see. My idea had 6 serpents with 4x6man DA's with 2 Fire dragons, 3 vanilla prisms and a jet council. I would give all the Serpents Scatter Lasers. But if your 9 Walkers were'nt enough... I don't know what would be. And that must be maddening to lay all that dough into such an expensive army and not have it work out

All of them?

Fire Prisms are better because they are cheaper and you can fit in more Wave Serpents. Falcons + Dragons or Harlies are better because they are better.

I used to use two Falcons + Wave Serpents. Now I would probably go 3x Prisms + Wave Serpents. I do not own Dragons anymore anyway.

The warwalkers really need guide to be all that effective. The fire dragons are the only things that can handle big targets, and they die immediately afterwards. Someone getting lucky with feel no pain can shrug off any number of shuriken cannon shots, and the dire avengers can't contribute anything to the army's offensive potential until the enemy's already crippled, or else they'll die to any sort of return fire.

Haha!

Sorry Spellbound but I called it when someone posted your list in the other thread

I would think at 2k you could field 6 Grav Tanks and still have 4 killy units (my idea is 2xWarpspider squads, Seer Council, and a unit of Shining Spears but i'm crazy for fast attack that can jump out of combat )

Hulksmash wrote:
I would think at 2k you could field 6 Grav Tanks and still have 4 killy units (my idea is 2xWarpspider squads, Seer Council, and a unit of Shining Spears but i'm crazy for fast attack that can jump out of combat )

Yeah, 3 troop units in Serpents, 3 Prisms, Warpspiders, Shining Spears, and Jetseer Council.
This is a more killy army as a pure mech army with Prisms and Serpents.

As a Mech Eldar player myself, I think you shouldn't take too much Dire Avenger units in Wave Serpents. They just don't do that much damage. I only use my Dire Avengers to claim objectives and expect them to do nothing more.

This is exactly why I think Spellbound's army didn't work in the 'Ard Boyz event (though I have not read the 'Ard Boyz missions, perhaps you really needed a load of scoring units). I mean, 6 mounted Dire Avenger squads (of 5) are going to cost over 1000 points. Which is a pretty hefty price tag for stuff that only claims objectives.

What my point is, is that you shouldn't just cram as much Grav-Tanks in the list as you can.

Waveserpents are great ... but they are overcosted for what you get. Compare them to the IG vendetta and you see that the serpents by themselves are not properly priced.

What makes the waveserpent a real threat is its cargo. A unit of fire dragons or a unit of DA in a wave serpent makes a very dangerous combo, its the punch plus the speed that makes the eldar a threat.

Treating the serpent solely as a tank is a losing path. The serpent just doesnt have the armament to win the game on its own.


Sliggoth

Sliggoth wrote:Waveserpents are great ... but they are overcosted for what you get. Compare them to the IG vendetta and you see that the serpents by themselves are not properly priced.

I think this is more a statement about the Vendetta being underpriced rather than the Serpent being overpriced. Before the Vendetta there was nothing comparable to Serpents in the game. Now, are there things that would help the Serpent? Sure, Scout Movement, Outflanking without Scorpions, Deep Striking, etc. It's still an amazing tank and transport, it just kind of sucks that every single unit choice of ours is so much better off in one than on the board.

6 seems to be the magic number with the prism/serpent combo...Thanks for the replies! I had kinda figured Dakka would bring down my 9 tank idea

I am not an expert on playing them, but I find against Eldar I have the most trouble with falcons and prisms (#@$% holofields) I see Eldar working best as long as you compliment each unit in your army to work seamlessly. Try to avoid taking 1 uber cool unit and take 2 moderate units. What I am trying to get to is don't put all your eggs in one basket.

Sphe wrote:6 seems to be the magic number with the prism/serpent combo...Thanks for the replies! I had kinda figured Dakka would bring down my 9 tank idea

Magic number?
Target saturation is key.

Lanchester square law applies here.
Roughly, if you have 2 skimmers the enemy needs 4 heavy weapons to take them on.

On the other hand, the more tanks the less killing potential of infantry.

Thus, there is a trade-off between target saturation and killing potential.
If you do more math, you eventually arrive at magic numbere = 6.