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Hello people. Some of you might remember me from the Help a noob create fluffy for his first army thread.

Well... i'm finally prepared to begin buying my army. But there's a problem.
First, Maelstrom shipped my WH40k basic rulebook and Codex Eldar on 12/08 but it still didn't arrived. They asked me to wait one more week before they see what they will do about it. But now i want to begin assembling my army but i don't have a big grasp of the rules. I've read a lot from books my friends have, have read Tactica over the web, have read lots of combat reports but i don't feel i can just go and make an army list.
Second, the hobby is having problems growing here in Rio, most players are veterans and few people want to play smaller battle. A fellow noob said that the thinks his Blood Angels army will only see the battle field when he has 2000pt of them. So this is the magic mark i'm going for.

I do have some ideas, thought about doing some conversion work to have a count-as Eldrad Uthran (for fluffy reasons it would look strange to have him in my army) and maybe have a Jetbike autarch or another farseer as HQ choices.

A concept i toyed with was to have a strong back bone shooting (Fire prisms and probably something between Warwalkers, Fire Dragons and Fire Prisms) and having fast moving units to "control" the battlefield and divert the main army for the weaker backbone. Maybe this is more fantasy than tactics.

So, somebody has and idea about a good 2000pt army list for a noob?

Ok. So you want speed, dragons, fire prisms... You need a mech list. Here is a pretty standard Mech List for 2000 points.

Farseer- Doom, Guide, Spirit Stones, Both Runes

Farseer- Doom, Guide, Spirit Stones, Witnessing

2x5 Fire Dragons
Wave Serpent- tl shuri cannon, spirit stones

2x10 Dire Avengers- Exarch, Blade Storm, 2 catapults
Wave Serpent- tl eml, spirit stones

10 Storm Guardians + Warlock- 2 flamers, destructor
Wave Serpent- tl eml, spirit stones

3 Gu Bikes + Warlock- cannon, spear, embolden

2 Vypers- eml, underslung cannon

2x Fire Prism- spirit stones

This list is simple to run, the units are self explanitory, put the farseer with the Dire Avengers, Doom + Guide + Bladestorm will wreck havoc. Your storm guardians only need doom to fire at full effectiveness. Early on you can guide your vypers and shoot them at infantry. 2 ap4 blasts and a underslung cannon do mean things to light / medium infantry, or use them to help pop tanks early game.

The list I use however, has a bit more nuanced units, and more bells and whistles. If you want to see it I have it posted in my user article.

Another variant that will cost you a lil more.

Eldrad -$20
Farseer doom/guide, stones, Runes of Witnessing -$30 (Includes warlock below)

5 Fire Dragons -$33
Wave Serpent - TL Scatter Lasers -$44.50

5 Fire Dragons -$33
Wave Serpent - TL Scatter Lasers -$44.50

10 DA, Exarch with Dual S Catas, Bladestorm -$33
Wave Serpent - TL Missile Launcher -$44.50

10 DA, Exarch with Dual S Catas, Bladestorm -$33
Wave Serpent - TL Missile Launcher -$44.50

10 Guardans w/ Scatter Laser + Warlock with Embolden -$33
Wave Serpent - TL Missile Launcher -$44.50

Fire Prism w/ Holofield -$49.50

Fire Prism w/ Holofield -$49.50

3x Warwalker w/ Dual Scatter Lasers -$90 (can replace this with a night spinner, $49.50)


About $628 if you bought everything pure retail for some unknown reason. Remember though this is for a list that will kick the teeth off you opponent.

Both lists are viable.
My concern is that you better start at a smaller pt level and then try to make it up to 2000 pts.
Eldar is not so easy to master for a noob.

Thx people, some nice lists there.

and wuestenfux. I'll try begin playing with less points, the problem is finding people willing to do that here in Rio.

A little aside here - why Witnessing over Warding?

BlueDagger wrote:Another variant that will cost you a lil more.

Eldrad -$20
Farseer doom/guide, stones, Runes of Witnessing -$30 (Includes warlock below)

5 Fire Dragons -$33
Wave Serpent - TL Scatter Lasers -$44.50

5 Fire Dragons -$33
Wave Serpent - TL Scatter Lasers -$44.50

10 DA, Exarch with Dual S Catas, Bladestorm -$33
Wave Serpent - TL Missile Launcher -$44.50

10 DA, Exarch with Dual S Catas, Bladestorm -$33
Wave Serpent - TL Missile Launcher -$44.50

10 Guardans w/ Scatter Laser + Warlock with Embolden -$33
Wave Serpent - TL Missile Launcher -$44.50

Fire Prism w/ Holofield -$49.50

Fire Prism w/ Holofield -$49.50

3x Warwalker w/ Dual Scatter Lasers -$90 (can replace this with a night spinner, $49.50)


About $628 if you bought everything pure retail for some unknown reason. Remember though this is for a list that will kick the teeth off you opponent.

This list is actually quite good, but I would replace the Scatter Lasers with Shuriken Cannons, Drop the Holofields from the Prisms and take Spirit Stones on all of your Serpents, and chin cannons on the serpents with Missile Launchers.

Spirit Stones are essential in a skimmer list, since if you get caught in melee without having moved your opponent will very easily wreck your expensive transports. Fire Prisms are not terribly likely to get shot if you are careful, since they have a much longer range than most anti-tank weaponry and you can hold them in the back, so I do feel the Holofields can be scrapped in favor of other things. As for the chin cannons, I really like the TL Missile Launcher configuration with a Shuriken Cannon and Spirit Stones since you can move and fire your Cannon as well as Plasma Missiles for anti-infantry, or choose to fire the missile as anti-tank if necessary.

I'm also a big fan of the Nightspinner in place of the War Walkers. They work better in an infantry list than a Mech list, though if you want to take them you could outflank them and give them Shuriken Cannons to save points. The Nightspinner is a good option though since it gives you some control over enemy movement, which is huge when it comes to dealing with assault units, or close range units.

The list would work just fine as is, but I think adjusting a few things to at least fit in the Spirit Stones would be your best bet. Hope that helps!

Aldarionn wrote:

BlueDagger wrote:Another variant that will cost you a lil more.

Eldrad -$20
Farseer doom/guide, stones, Runes of Witnessing -$30 (Includes warlock below)

5 Fire Dragons -$33
Wave Serpent - TL Scatter Lasers -$44.50

5 Fire Dragons -$33
Wave Serpent - TL Scatter Lasers -$44.50

10 DA, Exarch with Dual S Catas, Bladestorm -$33
Wave Serpent - TL Missile Launcher -$44.50

10 DA, Exarch with Dual S Catas, Bladestorm -$33
Wave Serpent - TL Missile Launcher -$44.50

10 Guardans w/ Scatter Laser + Warlock with Embolden -$33
Wave Serpent - TL Missile Launcher -$44.50

Fire Prism w/ Holofield -$49.50

Fire Prism w/ Holofield -$49.50

3x Warwalker w/ Dual Scatter Lasers -$90 (can replace this with a night spinner, $49.50)


About $628 if you bought everything pure retail for some unknown reason. Remember though this is for a list that will kick the teeth off you opponent.

This list is actually quite good, but I would replace the Scatter Lasers with Shuriken Cannons, Drop the Holofields from the Prisms and take Spirit Stones on all of your Serpents, and chin cannons on the serpents with Missile Launchers.

Spirit Stones are essential in a skimmer list, since if you get caught in melee without having moved your opponent will very easily wreck your expensive transports. Fire Prisms are not terribly likely to get shot if you are careful, since they have a much longer range than most anti-tank weaponry and you can hold them in the back, so I do feel the Holofields can be scrapped in favor of other things. As for the chin cannons, I really like the TL Missile Launcher configuration with a Shuriken Cannon and Spirit Stones since you can move and fire your Cannon as well as Plasma Missiles for anti-infantry, or choose to fire the missile as anti-tank if necessary.

I'm also a big fan of the Nightspinner in place of the War Walkers. They work better in an infantry list than a Mech list, though if you want to take them you could outflank them and give them Shuriken Cannons to save points. The Nightspinner is a good option though since it gives you some control over enemy movement, which is huge when it comes to dealing with assault units, or close range units.

The list would work just fine as is, but I think adjusting a few things to at least fit in the Spirit Stones would be your best bet. Hope that helps!

Considering all those options. I'll probably come back in the future to propose changes to the list and give some ideas. Atl east i think i can safely decide that if i buy one or two squads of dire avengers and fire dragons i'll not be wasting my money and will put the money i assigned to buy my army to good use until i have more to spend (and have read all the needed books).

EDIT: I got to the conclusion that akaean's proposal and also the army list he uses (it's in his articles) are closer to the fluffy of the army, BlueDagger's however seem more competitive.

Tabris_ wrote:

Aldarionn wrote:

BlueDagger wrote:Another variant that will cost you a lil more.

Eldrad -$20
Farseer doom/guide, stones, Runes of Witnessing -$30 (Includes warlock below)

5 Fire Dragons -$33
Wave Serpent - TL Scatter Lasers -$44.50

5 Fire Dragons -$33
Wave Serpent - TL Scatter Lasers -$44.50

10 DA, Exarch with Dual S Catas, Bladestorm -$33
Wave Serpent - TL Missile Launcher -$44.50

10 DA, Exarch with Dual S Catas, Bladestorm -$33
Wave Serpent - TL Missile Launcher -$44.50

10 Guardans w/ Scatter Laser + Warlock with Embolden -$33
Wave Serpent - TL Missile Launcher -$44.50

Fire Prism w/ Holofield -$49.50

Fire Prism w/ Holofield -$49.50

3x Warwalker w/ Dual Scatter Lasers -$90 (can replace this with a night spinner, $49.50)


About $628 if you bought everything pure retail for some unknown reason. Remember though this is for a list that will kick the teeth off you opponent.

This list is actually quite good, but I would replace the Scatter Lasers with Shuriken Cannons, Drop the Holofields from the Prisms and take Spirit Stones on all of your Serpents, and chin cannons on the serpents with Missile Launchers.

Spirit Stones are essential in a skimmer list, since if you get caught in melee without having moved your opponent will very easily wreck your expensive transports. Fire Prisms are not terribly likely to get shot if you are careful, since they have a much longer range than most anti-tank weaponry and you can hold them in the back, so I do feel the Holofields can be scrapped in favor of other things. As for the chin cannons, I really like the TL Missile Launcher configuration with a Shuriken Cannon and Spirit Stones since you can move and fire your Cannon as well as Plasma Missiles for anti-infantry, or choose to fire the missile as anti-tank if necessary.

I'm also a big fan of the Nightspinner in place of the War Walkers. They work better in an infantry list than a Mech list, though if you want to take them you could outflank them and give them Shuriken Cannons to save points. The Nightspinner is a good option though since it gives you some control over enemy movement, which is huge when it comes to dealing with assault units, or close range units.

The list would work just fine as is, but I think adjusting a few things to at least fit in the Spirit Stones would be your best bet. Hope that helps!

Considering all those options. I'll probably come back in the future to propose changes to the list and give some ideas. Atl east i think i can safely decide that if i buy one or two squads of dire avengers and fire dragons i'll not be wasting my money and will put the money i assigned to buy my army to good use until i have more to spend (and have read all the needed books).

EDIT: I got to the conclusion that akaean's proposal and also the army list he uses (it's in his articles) are closer to the fluffy of the army, BlueDagger's however seem more competitive.

Just to clarify, if folks have read my posts I'm very opposed to underslug S Cannons, not a fan of spirit stones, and I believe holofields for prisms at higher point levels are a must.

Underslug S Cannon - 10pts for 3 S6 ap5 shots at BS3 24" range. In order to fire this you must also move 6" or less. So it get statistically 1 or may 2 shots of S6 you are forcing yourself to go at half speed and dance withinto range or your opponent's nastiest weaponry... not worth it. Save 10 pts and have fun firing at 36"-60" away from your target.

Spiritstones - Yes, downgrading a stun to shaken is nice. Serpents, a 17% chance for them to do anything for 10pts doesn't show me enough benefit. Keep moving at 6.1"+ and enemies assaulting you becomes a whole lot less of an issue. Prisms it's more worth it since there is an increased chance of stun result with holofields... but I make sure to keep my prisms well out of range that stun would be an issue.

Holofields - Yes, it is a 30% increase in the price of the fire prism. Yes, it increases the chances of a weapon destroyed result. However: Yes, it does make the prism ridiculously hard to wreck or explode. Yes, a weaponless Prism can still tank shock, ram, and contest objectives. Yes, a Prism will get the most hate on the board from most intelligent players and it's not hard to get in lascannon/ML range vs a fire prism as the board is only 6' long.

Underslung Cannons - I totally agree, with one exception. If taken with an Eldar Missile Launcher you can move 12" and fire the cannon along with Plasma Missiles which is relatively effective anti-infantry once your missiles and Dragons have taken care of opposing transports.

Spirit Stones - Eldar rely on a cohesive plan of attack, with all units supporting eachother to isolate a portion of the enemy list and crush it before moving on. If your vehicles are stunned that isnt happening, so I ALWAYS recommend Spirit Stones. Its up to you though.

Holofields - Great for a Falcon, but for a Prism I dont see them being worth it. If you are protecting your Prisms as you should be, they will be in the back out of range of most enemy anti-tank and behind cover. Also, only one will be visible to your opponent unless the single shots are more effective against a particular list. I just cant justify the points.