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Hey everyone, I'm looking to get into a second army. As it is right now the two I'm having issues choosing between is Eldar and Necrons. Any input would be extremely helpful. What I'm looking for is the current state of each army, how they play and what not. Thanks a lot in advance!

EDIT: Oh, and I'm looking to start at around 1k, or 1.5k...maybe as low as 750.

Hmm id say necrons but they may be getting a new codex soon which would bring them into 5th edition as a better force hell id go with necrons

Eldar because Crons are just terrible in 5th, the second they get in combat with anything CC proficient you might as well take them off the table.

If you're dead set on Necrons though just wait a bit they are apparently coming soon.

Can't Necrons get out of CC?

ArcSoll wrote:Can't Necrons get out of CC?

Via a monolith, but that's it.


Eldar are going to be a very expensive army, if you decide to get into them.

I have both Eldar, and Necrons, and right now, sadly my Crons' are shelved. They're a neat army, but they just arnt' in line with the codex creep yet.

I love my Crons, but it's just an uphill battle with them right now.

They can but the problem is that you will lose an entire unit if it gets caught running away.

For example 10 berzerkers charge 10 necron warriors. The berzerkers will kill 6 while the crons will kill zero, the necrons now have to pass their Ld 10 at -6 which will probably mean they'll fail.

and with I2 getting caught is very easy.

So most people here are saying Eldar correct? And at the moment the only real good Eldar army is a Mech one, right?

Also, I was pondering Tao, but it seems that they wouldn't be a great choice at around 1.5k and 750. Any input there?

Start Eldar.
Necrons are indeed terrible in the 5th edition.
They need an overhaul and will hopefully get it soon. ;D

Anyone have a recommended way of starting Eldar? Should I pick up the battle force and build from that? or just start getting pieces?

I'd go with Eldar. I love my Crons to death but it's just not cutting it atm, if you go with them you will be setting yourself up for some frustration but at the same time same for your opponent. Nothing riles up a guy's blood quite like when he realizes his entire shooting phase was wasted when a good majority of the dead crawl back up. Eldar have the maneuverability, punch and choices to get you what you want. Necrons atm are kinda a one trick pony with little selection. :crosses fingers for the update to be soon:

Contents: 1 Eldar Dire Avengers Squad (includes 4 Eldar Dire Avengers and an Eldar Exarch), 1 Eldar Guardian Squad (includes 8 Eldar Guardians), 1 Eldar War Walker, 1 Eldar Wave Serpent and 1 Eldar Heavy Weapon with 2 crew.

Well, I'd start getting pieces.
First consider a Farseer and 2 full squads of Dire Avengers mounted in Serpents.
This is a decent start at the 500 pt level.

Ravenous D wrote:They can but the problem is that you will lose an entire unit if it gets caught running away.

For example 10 berzerkers charge 10 necron warriors. The berzerkers will kill 6 while the crons will kill zero, the necrons now have to pass their Ld 10 at -6 which will probably mean they'll fail.

and with I2 getting caught is very easy.

Why did you pick a dedicated HtH unit, which costs 30pts more, to fight the Warriors in HtH? Why not Fire Warriors against the Necrons in HtH? According to your logic, Berzerkers are worse than Warriors, because 10 Berzerkers charging 8 Bloodcrushers will kill none and lose all 10 Berzerkers in the fight.

I will be in the minority here and say Necrons are not lousy in 5th edition. In fact they are quite potent, but not with the army lists from previous editions and those are the lists I think people are thinking about when they say Necrons stink in 5th. Monoliths, the Deceiver, Wraiths, Immortals are just some of the units that are still potent in 5th edition. Warriors are not and a good Necron list will not take many warriors. Usually 2 squads of 10 is it and those are almost always put in reserve. Let the powerful Necron units do their damage while the Warriors are safely hiding.

http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/273415.page

Here is a battle report of Necrons doing well in a 3 round tournament. 2 games against Guard and 1 against Eldar.

Now I say all of that and now tell you to start an Eldar army. Though Necrons can do well in a tournament, some units in the codex have become obsolete. The best Necron lists are all starting to look the same, the variety (what little they had) is gone. There should be a new Codex for Necron in a year or so. It would be hard to make a Necron army for now and then have a bunch of things change for the new codex. For that reason, above all others, I would suggest an Eldar army.

ArcSoll wrote:So most people here are saying Eldar correct? And at the moment the only real good Eldar army is a Mech one, right?

There are players who have success running a footslogging list. The units in those lists are completely different from a mechanised army, so you'd better plan ahead which way you would want to go with Eldar. The battleforce has units from both types, and a seldomly used unit (heavy Weapon Crew). I'd pass on the box.

While you defenietly have a point regarding the Berzerker comparison you pretty much do the same thing yourself when you compare your Necron list to that god awful eldar list.
Eldar would be my choice without doubt, then maybe you can do Necrons when they actually get an exciting codex in a year or two

Nivoglibina wrote:

ArcSoll wrote:So most people here are saying Eldar correct? And at the moment the only real good Eldar army is a Mech one, right?

There are players who have success running a footslogging list. The units in those lists are completely different from a mechanised army, so you'd better plan ahead which way you would want to go with Eldar. The battleforce has units from both types, and a seldomly used unit (heavy Weapon Crew). I'd pass on the box.

What is a footslogging army?

ArcSoll wrote:What is a footslogging army?

Footslogging is the nickname for an on foot force that uses little to no vehicles.

Yes if playing Eldar there is a lot of ways you can go. Read the fluff behind Eldar and see waht appeals to you, but makes sure to post here to get pros and cons before you go purchasing anything.

BlueDagger wrote:

ArcSoll wrote:What is a footslogging army?

Footslogging is the nickname for an on foot force that uses little to no vehicles.

Yes if playing Eldar there is a lot of ways you can go. Read the fluff behind Eldar and see waht appeals to you, but makes sure to post here to get pros and cons before you go purchasing anything.

Where do you recommend getting the fluff? I've read was on various wikkis and what not.

Its a rough choice for me because both of them appeal to me, lol

ArcSoll wrote:

BlueDagger wrote:

ArcSoll wrote:What is a footslogging army?

Footslogging is the nickname for an on foot force that uses little to no vehicles.

Yes if playing Eldar there is a lot of ways you can go. Read the fluff behind Eldar and see waht appeals to you, but makes sure to post here to get pros and cons before you go purchasing anything.

Where do you recommend getting the fluff? I've read was on various wikkis and what not.

Its a rough choice for me because both of them appeal to me, lol

Read in the codex about the different craftworlds, you may decide you want to field a siam-hann army with lots of JB and vypers etc, or an iylanden list, with lots of wraithguard with the army led by yriel himself.

On the 'what army?' question i'd go for eldar. Eldar have better units, and a wider range of units/army types. Plus eldar have an up to date codex and are just generally better

ArcSoll wrote:

BlueDagger wrote:

ArcSoll wrote:What is a footslogging army?

Footslogging is the nickname for an on foot force that uses little to no vehicles.

Yes if playing Eldar there is a lot of ways you can go. Read the fluff behind Eldar and see waht appeals to you, but makes sure to post here to get pros and cons before you go purchasing anything.

Where do you recommend getting the fluff? I've read was on various wikkis and what not.

Its a rough choice for me because both of them appeal to me, lol

The easiest fluff is in the full sized rule book or the eldar codex. Also, it really depends on your playstyle. You can got tough as nails but slow, hide with cover saves and surgical strike, move at full speed and outmaneuver, charge in headlong and aim for your polar opposite, outnumber you enemy with fearless...

There is a pile of different ways to run Eldar and while only 2-3 are really tourney effective all of them are fun to play. My personal recommendation is Wave Serpents, Prisms, Jetbikes, but you can go a pile of different ways even with that core.

I picked up the Eldar Codex...now im wondering which of the craftworlds have "competitive armies" and which style they use primarily.

Well, a foot slogging Eldar force is difficult to play for a beginner.
It requires good unit selection and army list, good deployment, proper priority target schedule, and thinking ahead for at least 1 turn.

Saim Hann can be competitive but reauires quite alot of money investment, and the Jetbike model will probably get redone in the not so far future so they might not be the ideal start. If you feel the need to stay close to the fluff I would go for Biel Tan, Dire Avengers, Fire Dragons and maybe Striking Scorpions all carried by Wave Serpents

Is there a recommended Eldar Army for a newer player?

I'd go for Wuestenflux suggestion then, a Farseer and 2 full squads of Dire Avengers mounted in Serpents.
These units are the basis of most mechanised Eldar armies.

Another option would be this list but minimum sized Dire Avengers in the Serpents and add a War Walker or 2.

totally eldar. they can run rings around the necrons. if you are eldar, then take a wraithlord.

Yeah, as people have suggested a nice way to start an eldar army is with 20 Dire Avengers (DA), 2 Wave Serpents and a Farseer. Not only is it a good 600pts army, its also a solid foundation for any pts lvl so you will still be using these units in larger battles.
Same thing goes for Fire Dragons (FDs), you will need that in any battle above 1k pts but they are still good at 750pts.

My 1k list contains 1 Farseer 20 DAs, 10 FDs and 4 Wave serpents, these units never stay on the shelf no matter if its a 2k battle or 1k battle

The FD's are good at taking out Tanks correct? I play against Tau and Space Marines. And the Tau like their Hammerhead, and the SM likes his Dreadnaught.

At what level of play do I attempt to throw a Fire Prism or two in there? Btw, we play at 1050 points.

On an offnote, when I picked up the codex yesterday I almost bought 20 DA, a farseer, and a squad of FD's...lol, just because I could.

hmm, 1050pts, thats rather odd . Maybe go for something like this?

HQ:
Farseer (Doom) = 80

Troops:
10xDAs (Exarch+Dual catapults+Bladestorm) = 152
Serpent (EML+Stones) = 130

10xDAs (Exarch+Dual catapults) = 137
Serpent (EML+Stones) = 130

Elites:
5x Fire Dragons = 80
Serpent (Stones+Shuriken Cannons) = 110

Heavy:
2xFire Prisms = 230

tedurur wrote:hmm, 1050pts, thats rather odd . Maybe go for something like this?

HQ:
Farseer (Doom) = 80

Troops:
10xDAs (Exarch+Dual catapults+Bladestorm) = 152
Serpent (EML+Stones) = 130

10xDAs (Exarch+Dual catapults) = 137
Serpent (EML+Stones) = 130

Elites:
5x Fire Dragons = 80
Serpent (Stones+Shuriken Cannons) = 110

Heavy:
2xFire Prisms = 230

Haha! I was putting bout the same thing together, cept my Farseer had Fortune on him.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
I was wondering if there's a way to avoid being so reliant on Troop transports though.

I just want to put in my 2 cents. I get my Clock Cleaned by eldar a lot. ( I used SoB, BT,SW.) He uses a mixture of foot, mounted and infiltrators. Guide and Doom suc on the recieving end.
Eldar are a "elite" army. Having lots of powerful units. They have T of 3? so they are weaker to would. They have a Int 5? They go first in assault, no matter who charged. The vehicle models are Points cheap. Check ebay & Dakka swap for models.
Necrons are good also, no one at the FLGS wants to play aginst a Vet Necron player. The new codex, could be worth waiting for. Everything is based on What armies will you go aginst. Styles of play and the amount of armor used. At my FLGS, A lot of us have several Land Raiders. Our Eldar player needed some anti-armor weapons.