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Alright, i'm planning out a new army, never played Eldar before but love the models.
My plan is a 1750 list of things Ilike the look of, followed by probably buying more effective units at a later date

But would like some early thoughts from experienced players about the list.

Autarch, Jetbike, Laser Lance, Mandiblasters, Reaper launcher

Autarch, Fusion gun

6 Firedragons, wave Serpent, twin scatter lasers, spirit stones

10 Dire Avengers, Exarch, Shimmershield, Defend, Bladestorm
Wave Serpent, twin missile launchers

10 Dire Avengers, Exarch, Shimmershield, Defend, Bladestorm
Wave Serpent, twin missile launchers

3 Jetbikes

3 Jetbikes

3 Vypers, Scatter lasers, Shuriken Cannons

Fireprism, holofield, spirit stines

Fireprism, Holofield, Spirit stones

I think all the models you have chosen are playable, so you might as well go ahead and try this out.

Some comments I've seen often in Eldar list critics:

- 3 Jetbikes are very vulnarable, 1 model lost and you need to check Ld. You can work around this by letting them start from reserves and hope they don't come on quickly, and when they do always keep them at range or turboboost.
If you expect to kill stuff with them you might want to consider -
-taking more models
-upgrade every 3rd bikes' catapult to cannon
-taking a Warlock with several possible upgrades like embolden, destructor and/or Singing Spear

-Vypers, you don't see them often as they are open topped AV 10. Still, I think they can be good.

-Some people say don't take the CC options on the DA exarch as you might get more out of dual catapults on him. I'm not sure I agree with that though. They certainly are better at shooting than CC but they can slow a unit down by assaulting it and hope to survive for a round or 2.

-If you need points you might want to consider naked Prisms

What are your Autarchs joining? Autarchs can be good in CC but you don't have any CC capable unit. I think you should consider taking a mounted CC element, some armies you cannot outshoot with this Eldar list (IG / Tau).

Agreed. Running that jet mounted Autarch into CC solo would do some damage, but is just asking for him to get killed. Throw him in with some jetlocks or something else that can keep pace. I'm not a fan of vypers but some people can make them work.

so possibly i'm thinking of merging the bike squads, maybe dropping one for a warlock with spear? or even mount up the other autarch?

Merging the bike squads is a good idea. I would run war walkers with twin scatter lasers rather than Vypers. They get more shots, cheaper, not open-topped, and can outflank. I would also consider dropping the other autarch for a cheap farseer, doom can do wonders for dires.

Jetbikes are taken in units of 6 with 2 cannons. Vypers are too expensive and almost never make their points back. If you take dire avengers take warlock for every unit. Doom+guide or/and doom+fortune works really well. Doomguided avengers will score about 23-25 wounds when they use blade storm. Prisms are perfect. Fire dragons are also fine. Cheers.

I understand that walkers may be better, but would not be in keeping with my theme, so not an option. I've conisdered the farseer instead of one of the autarchs, but i'm aware that a lot of people these days like all drop pod armies near me so the option of 2+ reserves is very inviting

You lack AT. drop the shields from the avenger exarch. they are a shooting unit so don't try to turn them into something their not or they lose some potency for virtually nothing. take a farseer instead of one of the autarchs.
war walkers are awesome so drop the vypers and take them instead.
another important thing is that you lack cc. going all shooty could be hard against guard or tau and an autarch just isn't enough.

Dire avengers with shimmershield and defend will do well in CC against units that are not uber.

ok, been playing around a bit trying to keep the core but altering the effectiveness. (thanks for the input!)

Decided a Farseer is going to be well placed with the DA's compared to the 2nd autarch, and yes enhancing the jet bike squad is sensible.

So Version 2 is (and yes AV 14 will be difficult, but the vypers should be firing a lot of S6 side armour shots against other vehicles) and the missile launchers will help of the serpents

HQ
Autarch –
Jetbike, Mandiblasters, Laser Lance, Reaper Launcher

Farseer, doom, guide, stones, witnessing, warding

6 Fire Dragons
Exarch, crack shot,
Wave Serpent, twin Scatter Lasers, spirit stones

9 Dire Avengers
Exarch, dual catapults, defend, bladestorm
Wave Serpent, twin lined missile launcher, spirit stones

9 Dire Avengers
Exarch, dual catapults, defend, bladestorm
Wave Serpent, twin lined missile launcher, spirit stones

6 Jetbikes + 2 cannons 152
Warlock on bike, embolden

2 Vipers with Scatter Lasers

Fire Prism, holofield, spirit stones
Fire Prism, holofield, spirit stones

Still think you should go with war walkers instead of vypers.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
or some scorpions

Lots of toys...

IMO you don't need a Fire Dragon Exarch. 6 FD will kill anything just as good as 6 FD plus an Exarch. While agree that Dire Avengers with defend aren't terrible in CC there is really no reason they should ever be in CC. If they are in CC you already messed up or they are a speed bump, either way defend won't really help. Doom plus a full DA squad blade-storming will take care of almost anything, imagine two blade-storming the same target, hello 30 dead orks... I would suggest running naked prisms like many have suggested and dropping defend. If you add all that up plus the savings from dropping the FD Exarch you could get another 6 man bike squad. I would always rather have another squad than some toys that only work in certain situations.

I dont agree pointzero. Dire avengers are squad that will shoot and then charge to finish off the rest of the squad. They are also charge magnet so you have to have those upgrades on them. They can stop trukkboyz or gaunt squad. Even small squad of genestealers shoudnt be huge problem. Assault marines- the same. I would go for war walkers too. Exarch is good in each squad that can have him. I dont like autarch. When riding with jetbike squad i think they will be shot to pieces right after those fire dragons. Jetbikes work better without warlock as mobile fire support. Take second farseer for second avenger unit instead. Looks like you have no way to kill monolith. Sad.

I thought the twin linked prism shots could take out a landy?

Yeah the number of upgrades I'm running is high, and I'm in two minds about it, I think if I was to drop something at the moment I'd go for the vypers and warlock to replace with some spear, It's in keeping with the mobility (scorpions are too slow) and would be good for the autarch and pack a small punch when needed.

Naked the prisms and stay near maxed range when shooting - save 90 pts
Take defend off of the DA, if your getting charged they are dead anyhoo - save 30 pts
Change the RL on the autarch for a fusion blaster, you have a long range weapon and a EXTREMELY short range weapon. FB and LL = death at 6" before the charge.
Lose the FD exarch, eats up unneed pts

Looks good on the rest, and yes a TL prism can kill a land raider. If you pace a 3 LR list you may have issues, but your troops will out manuever that list.

Defend must stay! Shimmershield too! Dire avengers are potent CC unit against someone who isnt CC specialised.

What do you need an invu save for if you are going to use them against units that arent CC specielised? Same thing with Defend, most non CC units only have 1 attack.

Prisms are certainly enough to take out high AV. I think you need more manpower. When expanding on that include more foot troops.

Eldar units should not be on foot, they should be mounted.