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So a friend of mine is new to the hobby, and started eldar, at our FLGS he will be the only eldar player, what kind of lists are going around to keep them competitve? I've only ever glanced through the codex, but i know he is wanting a "Run and Gun" kinda theme. any suggestions i can pass?

By "run and gun" style do mean mobile force that shoots then runs before it gets hit back, or a force that runs on foot and shoots?

Foot eldar are pretty hard to learn so I hope thats not the case, I would suggest mech eldar.

cheap Farseers with runes of warding are really good, same for dragons, and dire avengers are a solid a troop choice. They main piece of advice I would give him, is that eldar lack the firepower to table anyone so he should concentrate causing just enough damage to win while minimizing losses, and to remember that as long he takes one objective and contests the rest he'll be fine.

Multiple wave serpents, small units of dire avengers to go in them, a couple units of fire dragons, wave serpents for them too, possibly Eldrad, and possibly war-walkers. =D

Eldar aren't all that competitive. They essentially rely on last second contest-ations of objectives or hoping their Wave Serpents hold up so that they can eek out a kill point win. You will rarely see an Eldar list table someone. That isn't how the army is built. Not only that, the point costs are out of line with the new codices and put Eldar at a disadvantage. The army is full or all or nothing choices. Either things are good and competitive or fun only.

HQ- Farseer with Runes of Warding and Doom is solid. He can also be kitted out as needed. Eldrad is a great value at 1500+. The Avatar is a great deal. It doesn't fit that well in a full mech list but at the point he's a steal. Autrarch's are bad. Phoenix Lords are bad. Yriel is a gimmick.

Elites- Fire Dragons. Rinse and repeat. These guys are essential. Keep them cheap because they won't last long. Banshees are usable. They take some finesse. The rest of this section is pretty bad.

Troops- Bikes can be used as a cheap troop choice, but they are really pretty lackluster. Guardians aren't great either. I'd sadly recommend two min squads of Dire Avengers each in a Serpent. The unit costs far too much and isn't that great even when they are kitted out.

Transport- The Wave Serpent is overcosted. They are essential though. EML is the standard choice. Stones can be helpful as well. If they lose their mobility, they die. Effective use of Wave Serpents is the key to Eldar. They are good for tank popping, ramming, and objective grabbing. This takes lots of practice.

Fast Attack- Warp Spiders are....ok.... The rest is pretty bad.

Heavy Support- Many people swear by Fire Prisms. They are pretty solid and fit the theme of fun and gun. Linking is useful, but it's a lot of points for one shot. I like War Walkers with Scatter Lasers. These are paper thin but can take out anything. Reapers are too expensive and are awful versus mech. Falcons have trash BS and are a confused unit.

Eldar are basically constricted to a mono-build on the competitive spectrum. Some have run decent "Foot dar" lists, but overall, mech is their best bet. I don't mean to sound too down on Eldar; they can win. I just don't think their are a. very fun and b. think they are in the bottom tier of armies.

Awesome. Yeah i warned him that they are on the bottome tier right now on competitive right now, but whats important is that he liked the look and feel of them. We've played a few games and so far he is learning pretty much what he likes and hates, I think he wants to use Dire avengers in Serpents, minimum Gaurdians w/ BL, he really likes Striking Scorpions so far, and he likes having one squad of reapers, he wants the other two HW slots for fire prisms, and he wants to run fire dragons when he gets them. we'll just see what happens i think. Thanks for all the advice.

Awesome. Yeah i warned him that they are on the bottome tier right now on competitive right now, but whats important is that he liked the look and feel of them. We've played a few games and so far he is learning pretty much what he likes and hates, I think he wants to use Dire avengers in Serpents, minimum Gaurdians w/ BL, he really likes Striking Scorpions so far, and he likes having one squad of reapers, he wants the other two HW slots for fire prisms, and he wants to run fire dragons when he gets them. we'll just see what happens i think. Thanks for all the advice.

NP. Honestly I think he will be unpleasantly surprised by how little of that he can fit into a standard list.

Yeah, but if anything it will build character, lol

The Thunder Child wrote:Awesome. Yeah i warned him that they are on the bottome tier right now on competitive right now, but whats important is that he liked the look and feel of them.

I wouldn't call Eldar bottom tier (reserved for Necron, Tau, WH, Daemons). They're certainly not top tier (IG, SW, BA, GK), but they're fairly competitive. They're about as competitive as any other good 4th edition army.

Tbh I think eldar are still really strong between 1500-1850, its just they don't scale up well past that point, and at lower points they tend to because of how expensive wave serpents are.

lol Eldar are far from bottom tier. Just posted this for another user, but here is a good starter for him if he hasn't started purchasing yet...



Go out and buy the following

4 Wave Serpent Boxes
3 Fire Prism Boxes
2 Fire Dragon Boxes
1 Farseer
3 Guardian Jetbike (look at ebay for these, much cheaper)
1 Shrieker Jetbike(look at ebay for this, it's a guardian jetbike with a shuriken cannon underneath)
1 Warlock for a Jetbike (http://chapterhousestudios.com/webshop/component/virtuemart/?page=shop.product_details&flypage=flypage.tpl&product_id=80&category_id=36)

This will assemble the following list: (1500 pts)
Farseer w/ Both runes, Fortune, Guide, Stones

5 Fire Dragons
Wave Serpent with EML (Please take the time to magnetize gun options)

5 Fire Dragons
Wave Serpent with EML (Please take the time to magnetize gun options)

5 Dire Avengers
Wave Serpent with EML (Please take the time to magnetize gun options)

5 Dire Avengers
Wave Serpent with EML (Please take the time to magnetize gun options)

3 Guardian Jetbikers w/ 1 S. Cannon + Jetbike Warlock w/ Spear and Embolden (replace the typical jetbike rider with the warlock resin kit)

Fire Prism w/ Holofields (You CAN magnitize this to make it a nightspinner or fire prism)
Fire Prism w/ Holofields (You CAN magnitize this to make it a nightspinner or fire prism)
Fire Prism w/ Holofields (You CAN magnitize this to make it a nightspinner or fire prism)


This core list of models will be used in pretty much any list you use so you aren't stuck with a bunch of "looks cool" models that will get shelved. After you get this all assembled you can then buy models as you please to test them out.

The eldar codex is old. Like many old codex's, it means that there are only 1 or 2 competitive builds left in the army.
Let me give an example. A BA player can use any of these builds and use it at a competitive level.
* DoA
* AV 13 spam
* Razorback spam w/assault marines
The eldar codex only have 1 real build left that can hold its own in a competitive level.

If he likes the models and just wants to play with his friends, then tell your buddy to buy what he thinks is cool and accept that he wont play a 'uber competitive list'. When I play causal games, I will field a foot'dar list because its fun -- not because its full of win.

Edit : To play the cookie-cutter competitive list, follow BlueDaggers advise. He knows what hes talking about.