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Does anyone know of some good tactics and strategies for close combat eldar in tournament games of 2500 points?

Or is Mech Eldar the only competitive build for eldar these days?

The problem with Eldar HtH is that all your best HtH units are elites, so you tend to run out of slots. Storm guardians, spiders and hawks aren't actually viable assault troops. Foot councils are effective against walkers and vehicles, but get bogged against anything with a good save. Shining spears are expensive and vulnerable to shooting, and if they don't kill their target on the charge they're screwed.

Having said that, I've had some success with a mechanized assault army built around 3 units of assault troops (scorpions, banshees and/or harlequins) in transports (serpents for the scorpions/banshees, falcon for the harlequins).

Put stones, vectored and star engines on the transports, and take a couple of additional transports with avengers or whatever for backup, then go like this:

Your turn 1--move 36" into your opponent's face with your assault transports. You can tank-shock through bubble wrap units to get within 1" of the stuff you actually want to assault. Put your back-up serpents behind your assault transports to prevent fast movers from blocking your exit hatches.

If your opponent is mechanized, then you use your backup shooting at this point to open up transports and give your assaulty guys something to attack.

Your opponent's turn, he can try to move away, but unless he moves faster than infantry, he's not going to get far enough. Also, with only 12" to work with on a 48" table, he can't get far anyway. So basically he gets a turn of free shooting at your SMF 4+ save transports. If you can manage to fortune some of them, that helps.

Your next turn--before the transports move you disembark assault troops, move 6", fleet d6 (except scorpions) and assault 6".

Up to that point is the easy part. Dealing with the counterattack and having a follow-up is the hard part, since Eldar have trouble in attrition battles. In the best possible situation, your guys will be able to cripple the opponent's army and then get away before the counterattack, but as with any glass hammer army, things can go wrong really quickly and completely.

So it's not the most competitive army out there, but it is doable. And can be fun.

Thank you Flavius, I've been trying to build a good close combat Eldar list to take to tournaments for a few weeks now but I keep seeing glaring weaknesses.

If I take enough anti-tank I can't take enough assult units. If I take enough assult units I can't take enough anti-tank. It's kind of a catch 22 that is starting to become annoying.

I may drop the Fire Prisms and go with three Falcons as they can also transport troops. But giving them Bright Lances on a BS 3 platform just doesn't look like a good idea.

I do tend to favor Star Engines on my tanks because it allows them to move to provide cover for my units that kill all of their opponents on the turn they assult but it gets sort of expensive after a few tanks get it.

Well, hopefully others have some ideas as well. I would love to hear more from the Dakka community.

Well you can shave a few point by only putting star engines on the tanks that are participating in the assault. Also you can put EMLs on your falcons instead of brightlances--that gives you 3 Str8 shots when moving slow, which is better at killing AR11-12 than a fire prism. You need the vectored engines on the assault tanks, though, because if they get immobilized after moving fast, you can still just disembark and assault the next turn.

But yes, it gets really expensive really fast and you kind of have to do without fire dragons.

Are you using a seer council as anti tank? If not, maybe it is something worth considering as it is both anti tank, and can fight a bit in close combat.

No, I wasn't as I just don't see them as a very good assult unit. Sure, they can wound anything on a 2 if taking on non vehicles but the opponent still gets an armour save so that makes it almost as bad as not having wounded at when dealing with FNP troops (which seems to be saturating the tournament scene these days.)

They're also very expensive and have no real armor, so anything that ignores invulnerable saves is gonna chew through them. For what they cost I don't see them as being worth it. (I'm specifically talking about foot seer council here).

Dire Avengers with Defend and Shimmershield are a great tarpit unit to hold something in place for your scorpions/banshees/harlequins to get to if you need something to not move and they are too far away. They are also pretty good at tying up shooty units in CC so they cant rip your stuff apart at range.

And of course, they can hold there own if you bladestorm right before you charge in!!!!

Fortunately very few things ignore invuls. The nightbringer, necrons lords, paraiahs, and psycannons come to mind. Then there are the reroll invuln guys like the swarm lord.

I guess the main advantage of the council is that it can pop tanks if they are within a foot of them. I agree that they are not great at close combat, but they may be able to buy you time or assist in assaults and thus reduce your casualties.

I've been running a bike council lately and I'm very satisfied with it. Not everyone plays FNP marines. My council can eat almost anything and come out on top. I'm really only worried about instant death against my Farseer and Autarch. It's when opponents underestimate their offensive output that they are most surprising.

But that said, I'd back them up with another CC unit if I had the points. Harlequins would be cool because they both have invulnerable saves for fighting PWs and MCs together. Shining Spears for their mobility to match the council's bikes or if I were running doom on my farseer I'd be cool with banshees.

But yeah they are compatible with most of our CC units. It may be worth looking into, R. Z.

A foot council rocks walkers of all types like nothing else in the Eldar list can. Most walkers are I4 or less (are there any that are I5?) and with enhance, your witchblades are going at I5-6, hitting on 3s at str9. My biggest problem when I send a foot council against a walker is getting out of the way of the explosion.

If you keep fortune up, a foot council is durable against shooting and things with only a few attacks per round (like dreads). It's a viable 4th assault unit to add to your three elites. Just try to keep them away from 2+ save models.

Well... don't know so much about eldar but one thing... WHEN HARLEQUINS CHARGE IT'S BLOODY PAINFUL!
Just 3 days ago played against eldar. Didn't finish the game since I had to hurry, but in 2nd turn Harlequins charged in nobz totally annihilating them. And their special rule (that works sort of like night-vision rule but only you multiple the roll by 2) makes them extremely painfull to shoot from long distance. That's bout the advice I can give. Hope it helps

Well I guess I'm gonna take some advice and use a Jetbike seer council and see how that does for me. I just spent about two hours converting five of my Jetbikes into warlocks so hopefully that should be enough.

I'm gonna playtest against a few friends lists and see how they do.

I've really appreciated all of the comments so far, thank you everyone. Something I have wanted to try is to see how well Dire Avengers with Power Weapon and Shimmer Shield fare against Thunder Hammer/Storm Shield Terminators if they are led by Asurmen. So I think I'm gonna give that a try too. I'm thinking the defend with the tarpit ability of the Dire Avengers+Asurmen may allow my other close combat units to go to work on the rest of my opponents marine army while keeping the Terminators pinned down.

Defend makes them lose one of their vital attacks and the unit is so cheap that TT/SS termies are wasted when taken against them. Last time I got charged by them after being blown out of a skimmer in my opponents turn. This time I plan on doing the charging.

There are worse close combat squads in the game than Warp Spiders.

2500 you are definitely looking at bike councils unless you are thinking maybe heavy on the close combat + shooting support.

I've seen Yriel plus Eldrad in a foot council once, expensive, but kills just about anything.
Now you probably dont need both of them, but either one seems good in an Eldar CC list.

Roadkill Zombie wrote:Well I guess I'm gonna take some advice and use a Jetbike seer council and see how that does for me. I just spent about two hours converting five of my Jetbikes into warlocks so hopefully that should be enough.

I'm gonna playtest against a few friends lists and see how they do.

I've really appreciated all of the comments so far, thank you everyone. Something I have wanted to try is to see how well Dire Avengers with Power Weapon and Shimmer Shield fare against Thunder Hammer/Storm Shield Terminators if they are led by Asurmen. So I think I'm gonna give that a try too. I'm thinking the defend with the tarpit ability of the Dire Avengers+Asurmen may allow my other close combat units to go to work on the rest of my opponents marine army while keeping the Terminators pinned down.

Defend makes them lose one of their vital attacks and the unit is so cheap that TT/SS termies are wasted when taken against them. Last time I got charged by them after being blown out of a skimmer in my opponents turn. This time I plan on doing the charging.

Bladestorm them first!!!! It may only kill one, but thats one less that will have a chance to swing back.

Galador wrote:Dire Avengers with Defend and Shimmershield are a great tarpit unit to hold something in place for your scorpions/banshees/harlequins to get to if you need something to not move and they are too far away. They are also pretty good at tying up shooty units in CC so they cant rip your stuff apart at range.

And of course, they can hold there own if you bladestorm right before you charge in!!!!

Tooled out...they rock I run two unit's and they score!

I don't know if you've got your Heavies maxxed yet, but 300 points buys you 3 Wraithlords with Wraithswords. Keep one Guardian Storm squad with Warlock (spiritseer) a little bit back and you shouldn't get into any Wraithsight issues. These guys are prettyc cheap and durable, can deal with a lot of stuff that your main troops can't, and can be used to block off areas of the board to help control where your enemy can flee to.

The biggest problem with a cc eldar army, is that it has trouble closing in quickly since wave serpents are open topped, and only have a rear access point.

The problem is further augmented that we have no jump assault infantry, and shining spears are over costed with no defenses.

A Jetlock Council is essential to any eldar list wishing for a cc focus, as it provides a fast and durable assault unit, capable of engaging many targets and drawing dangerous fire power. As has been noted they have trouble with MEQ FNP, as well as terminator armor, but they can certainly stall out a TH SS termie squad. adding in a jet autarch with a laser lance can add some solid power weapon attacks on your council's charge, making smashing through MEQs and termies a bit easier. The Autarch's awesome initiative means the opponent cannot allocate his power weapon attacks on one model. The biggest problem with council's are psychic defense. Hoods and even shadow in the warp can cause massive problems. If fortune doesn't go off... you are done.

Banshees in Bright Lance Serpents are probabaly what you want as your main assaulting force. Their power weapons compliment the Seer Council quite adaquetly, and because they have fleet they are a bit better at makign it to combat from an unmoved wave serpent than scorpions. Harlequins cannot take a dedicated transport, and you want your entire army to be fast so you can make it to cc.

For troops you'll want Storm Guardians. Squads of 10 + Warlocks, 2 melta guns and an enhance warlock with a singing spear. These guys back up the Banshees in close combat, and hunt heavy tanks for you if your council is busy. Alternately going for 2 flamers and a destructor lock is great for smashing hordes that give banshees some trouble, but they don't perform very well in cc. At the end of the day, even with enhance Storm Guardians aren't great cc units. But they are scoring, and they ARE better than Dire Avengers at killing stuff in close combat. the lack of grenades is a huge pain in the butt though. be very warey of charging things in cover.

Wraithlords and harlies are lacking because of their low speed. They work great as counter charge in a wraith wall list, but thats quite different than an assault force, where they will be left behind, dividing your army in half.

For heavy support, I'd suggest investing in some nice solid anti horde. 2 or 3 plain night spinners will do perfectly. Night Spinners are great because they massacure the units that would otherwise give you pause. They slow down TWC deathstars, they shred massed infantry like 30 strong boyz mobs and power blobs which might otherwise be a problem for your council and 'shees, and they can blanket a parking lot with dangerous terrain, making enemy tanks less likely to move and more suceptible to multi charges from your council.

this list, with a focus on the council, and banshees could actually suprise quite a few lists. DoA assault angels will not be pleased to face off against 2 or 3 squads of I10 Power Weapons with counter attack!

In any event I doubt you'll win a tournament with a list like this. But it certainly might take some people by suprise! chop chop!

EDIT: haha, funny... you know I meant not open topped . Also I don't like the idea of taking harlies in a falcons... Falcons are very expensive and can only transport a small squad of harlies. I'd rather have 10 banshees in a wave serpent than 6 harlies in a falcon... and I think the points are about even on that.

[edit]
I agree that Eldar assault doesn't work the way it used to when you could assault out of non-open-topped transports. But in my experience of actually running Eldar assault armies, Eldar have the speed (star engines, fleet) and the durability to still pull it off. Not all the time, but often enough to make it a playable army.

Also, harlequins can ride in a falcon in units of up to 6. Not only do they fleet like banshees, but they also ignore difficult terrain, which means they can often get assaults in terrain that even banshees can't manage.

It is viable.

3 x WL with wraith sword and flamers
30 x Harlies
Avatar
Eldrad or Farseer
Guardians for troops, storm or defender.

I have seen people run these armies and they work fine. Harlies are great as they can't be shot till they are within their charge range (on average) and with fleet and ignoring terrain they are a lot faster than people think.

The big guys run every turn and soak fire until they get there.

Is it a top tier army? No, but it is viable. The main problem would be armies like Deldar and Mechdar who can fly away and shoot your socks off.

Plus, it would be a really cool army. I saw one like this at adepticaon last year and it was a beauty.

Fritz (I think that's the blogger's name) fielded a Harlie army with Pathfinder troops at The Conflict GT. It looked sweet, though I don't think it did all that well.