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Hi,

I've long been meaning to start an Eldar army, but find myself rather lost, when looking over the entries in the Eldar Codex.

Would anyone be so kind as to add a few Army List builds, and state their "art of play" / purpose (perferably in the 1,5k-2k point range!).

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I'm currently running a 'Nidz Fast Assault/MC list, so i was considering something different.


Thanks in advance,
Bill'

Well, I played a mech list (2000 pts) in a recent RTT: http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/336218.page
It plays rather straightforward depending on the mission.

Interesting list. You field alot of units i've often heard criticized, such as Guardians (lack of usefullness, i believe?), and the Seer Council (heavy point cost), and actually make them work?

I've been drooling over the Seer Council ever since i first encountered them (In DOW, i believe?), and have been meaning to start collecting some Eldars eventually.

Though, it still confuses me the Eldars don't bring more models. I might be a little stuck upon building 'nid lists.

Anyways, thanks a bunch for the link!

Ok, here is a list I've played (proxy only, don't own eldar army, but play practice theory games a fair amount)

Autarch: Jetbike, laser lance, mandiblaster ~130

5 fire dragons w/ wave serpent w/shuriken cannon + catapult ~ 180
5 fire dragons w/ wave serpent w/shuriken cannon + catapult ~ 180

5 dire avengers naked ~ 60
6 jetbikes + warlock: 2 shuriken cannon, warlock with singing spear ~ 200
6 jetbikes + warlock: 2 shuriken cannon, warlock with singing spear ~ 200

3 vypers with scatter laser ~ 180
3 vypers with scatter laser ~ 180

Fire prism: cannon upgrade ~ 125
Fire prism: cannon upgrade ~ 125
falcon: Cannon upgrade, bright lance, holofields ~ 190

Total ~ 1750

The purpose of the falcon is to hold the dire avengers for scoring, and to add some long range anti tank. The prisms are for very long range utility shooting, and have the extra gun since they are unlikely to move (and in case they lose their main gun) The rest of the list is an exercise in S6 shooting, with every unit able to contribute at transport and anti infantry duty. Fire dragons are the anti heavy mech units, their transports are specialized in S6 since the fire dragons have the anti tank covered. The vipers have scatter lasers and catapults so they can fire both and still move. They are pretty small models so can get cover pretty decently.

Why S6 spam? It wound nearly all infantry on 2s, and can threaten all common transports (side shots on chimeras to get good results). The fact that S6 seems to be the threshold for getting good volume of shots, and eldar seem to get more affordable and easily taken S6 than anyone else, means that this list tends to play to their strengths. Also every unit is either mounted in a fast transport, or is a fast unit itself.

The autarch is included since a farseer isn't needed with this list, and the autarch can be useful in case you need to reserve.

Hey Bill.

Here are my preferred lists for Footdar and Mechdar:

Footdar:
Unit Description Size Cost
HQ
Eldrad 1 210
Avatar 1 155

Troops
Rangers 5 95
Dire Avengers Exarch, Bladestorm, Dual S.Cat 10 152
Guardians EML 10 100
Guardians EML 10 100
Guardians EML 10 100
Jetbikes Warlock, Destructor, S.Spear, S.Cannon 4 134

Elites
Harlequins Shadowseer, Kisses 10 250
Firedragons Exarch, Firepike, Crack Shot 5 105
Firedragons Exarch, Firepike, Crack Shot 5 105

Fast Attack

Heavy Support
Wraithlord B.Lance, EML 1 155
Wraithlord B.Lance, EML 1 155
War Walkers S.Laser x 6 3 180

Totals 76 1996

Mechdar:
Unit Description Size Cost
HQ
Autarch Bike, L.Lance, Melta gun, Mandi Blasters 1 140
Yriel 1 155

Troops
Guardian Jetbikes Warlock, Destructor, S.Spear, S.Cannon 4 134
Guardian Jetbikes Warlock, Destructor, S.Spear, S.Cannon 4 134
Storm Guardians Flamers x 2, Warlock, S.Spear, Destructor 11 130
Wave Serpent T.L.S.Cannons, S.Stones 1 110

Elites
Firedragons Exarch, Firepike, Crack Shot 5 105
Wave Serpent T.L.S.Cannons, S.Stones 1 110
Banshees Exarch, Executioner, Acrobatic 10 187
Wave Serpent T.L.S.Cannons, S.Stones, S.Engines 1 125
Firedragons Exarch, Firepike, Crack Shot 5 105
Wave Serpent T.L.S.Cannons, S.Stones 1 110

Fast Attack

Heavy Support
Fireprism H.Fields 1 150
Fireprism H.Fields 1 150
Night Spinner H.Fields 1 150

Totals 48 1995

They play totally differently but I have had good success. Hopefully that gives you some ideas to try out new stuff, and if you have any questions, feel free to ask.

Oh, and Yriel rides with the Banshees, makes for a nice hitting unit. The Dual Autarchs lets me reserve up and always get "first turn" so to speak.

Billinator wrote:Interesting list. You field alot of units i've often heard criticized, such as Guardians (lack of usefullness, i believe?), and the Seer Council (heavy point cost), and actually make them work?

I've been drooling over the Seer Council ever since i first encountered them (In DOW, i believe?), and have been meaning to start collecting some Eldars eventually.

Though, it still confuses me the Eldars don't bring more models. I might be a little stuck upon building 'nid lists.

Anyways, thanks a bunch for the link!

Guardians are absolute crap in mechdar (they only work well with an Avatar leading the way).

But, he's running Storm Guardians. Storm Guardians are pretty amazing if you take 2 flamer upgrades and give them a Warlock with Destructor. Throwing down 3 Templates (preferibly against a Doomed squad) is shockingly destructive.

You've heard correctly about the Seer Council being criticized for it's high point costs. But, it is a unit that's incredibly hard to kill. If you play it well, keep Fortune active on it, and don't let it get stuck in CC with a tarpitting unit, it can be an excellent choice.

I concur with Grakmar, guardian defenders don't have much of a place in a mechdar force. They belong in Footdar where they are quite good.

Storm Guardians, on the other hand, are awesome in a serpent as stated.

Seer councils are great, jet seers are better. They make a mess of vehicles and can thump most units well, but they do have short comings. I prefer not to rely on them and instead take more units which I feel provides more versatility.

Reecius wrote:I concur with Grakmar, guardian defenders don't have much of a place in a mechdar force. They belong in Footdar where they are quite good.

Storm Guardians, on the other hand, are awesome in a serpent as stated.

Seer councils are great, jet seers are better. They make a mess of vehicles and can thump most units well, but they do have short comings. I prefer not to rely on them and instead take more units which I feel provides more versatility.

And this is all the work of the psychic defense hoods out there, if i had to place my bet. That sure does annoy me to a fair extent!

Anyways, thanks a bunch the the feedback, everyone. I find Reecius' Footdar list very, much appealing, even though it somehow resembles my much familiar 'nidz, though i might favor having something different from the hungry dog concept the 'nidz tend to offer

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A question though; The mech lists, which i am far from familiar with - mind giving a little explanation about how they're best played?

A footdar list works well, and is what I typically play. But, it's not top tier and if you're playing against an opponent who's running a fully optimized list, don't expect to win. If you're playing more casual games, go for it.

For mechdar, you basically run the following items:

HQ:
Farseer (RoWard, Power or 2 Powers and Stones) Jetbike optional if you take warlocks, if you do, add RoWit and make sure Fortune is one of your powers
Optional Unit: Warlocks on Jetbikes (7-10, 1 Embolden, 1 Enhance, a few Singing Spears, a few Destructors)

Elite:
5 Fire Dragons in WS with TL-Cannon or TL-Scatter Laser, Stones optional

Troop (Take ~1 of either for every 600pts or so):
10 DA (Exarch, Dual-Catapults, Bladestorm) in WS with TL-Brightlance or TL-EML
10 Storm Guardians (2 Flamers) with Warlock with Destructor in WS with TL-Brightlance or TL-EML

FA:
5-10 Warp Spiders with Exarch with Dual Death Spinner, Powerblades and Withdraw optional

HS:
Fire Prism (run in pairs)
3 War Walkers with 2 Scatter Lasers each


Alternatively to the Fire Prisms, you can run:
Falcon with EML or Brightlance with a squad of 5 DA riding inside


Your entire strategy is to outmaneuver your opponent. Suicide the Dragons at your opponent's strongest tank. Keep your force concentrated and pick off his units 1 at a time. At the last moment, try and cap objectives, but don't worry about sitting on them too soon. You're the most mobile army in the game, use it to your advantage.

@Grakmar
Excellent. Thanks for the advice. Truly appreciated!

Though; i have been gazing more and more at the Mech-list(s).
- I already play 'nidz, and they're hardly Mechanized (besides when the MCs gets tank tracks stuck between their teeth.). So i'd perfeer if i was able to pick up a different kind of army now and then. I'm not entirely sure, that i'm gonna grasp them all from the first games, but i'm not a quitter when it comes to games. So i'm much prepared to take a beating before i learn how to fully utilize them!

Anyways, thanks for the replies so far - You've been most helpful!