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So I'm trying to play in more tournaments. I've spent all this time and money on an army and haven't got to play it much lately and I love the variety of opponents that a tournament offer. I'm sure at some point this topic has been hit on several times. I also realize that I'll have to take my lumps a lot to get experienced, not to mention my starting army is eldar which has it's own learning curve. My question is what are the top 5 or 10 or what ever tournament newbies, or tournewb for short just because it sounds fun, make. Also what are some of the major mistakes that eldar players can make in a tournament. I also realize that I'm going to have to learn what the meta-game climate is. I guess to sum it up I'm between theory hammering my way through tournaments and having the experience to be a capable general and was hoping for some insight from who ever cares to give it. It's finals and I'm pretty fried in the brains o excuse anything that doesn't make sense(or runs on) I apologize in advance.

There's a handy dandy link in my profile called the Tournament Survival guide.

Its exactly what you're looking for. Read it, and drop a post to bump it from whatever obscurity its fallen into.

Thanks I was hoping to avoid redundancy because I'm sure people ask this all the time. I'll check it out.

Dashofpepper wrote:There's a handy dandy link in my profile called the Tournament Survival guide.

Its exactly what you're looking for. Read it, and drop a post to bump it from whatever obscurity its fallen into.

Yah, Dash's article is "How to do well at a tournament 101". Commit everything in that article to memory. You will be tested.

And failure to pass that test will result in you ending up in my slave pits.

Dashofpepper wrote:And failure to pass that test will result in you ending up in my slave pits.

But don't worry, it's multiple choice!

AHHHHHH! Long term memory functions have reached critical mass. The word test, at this very moment makes me ill. But I will try, what better way to relieve math anxiety that RULING THE UNIVERSE(with squishy eldar!) So far it looks pretty good I will get right on making flash cards and doing push ups as I quote it verbatim.

You need to get familiar with your army enough to know when to reserve. A lot of tournament missions will be objective based.

Eldar unfortunately have a lot of expensive units/transports which will leave you with only a few things on the table compared to a lot of opponents.

The first major hurdle (after building the best list possible) is reading the mission. Plan for the end game make sure you have units left alive to actually 'win.'

Thanks for the input blood angel. That is one major thing I need to work on. I've played mostly annihilation and it is a much different mind set to be thinking about controlling objectives at the end of the game. Which as far as eldar are concerned leads me to another question.
It seems standard practice to hold you army in reserve should I be taking Autarchs to help me come in when I want to or stick with the farseers? So far I have stuck with a farseer but a guy won a tournament sporting two Autarchs. I realize this decision will probably rely on a better knowledge of the local met-game.

The biggest thing I have learned playing my Eldar...
.... Dont get excited and forget to cast fortune! lol

Ha that's hilarious and don't worry I had the same lesson in not getting excited to melt things a hop all my fire dragons out too quickly.

Dashofpepper wrote:There's a handy dandy link in my profile called the Tournament Survival guide.

Its exactly what you're looking for. Read it, and drop a post to bump it from whatever obscurity its fallen into.

But what if they don't let you drink the Captain Morgan?

Hey I know this thread is a little old but I wanted to throw out some comments out anyway. Dash I just read your guide and even though I've only played in one tournament I've already found a lot of what you've said to be true. I'm going to play a small 1000 point tournament. It will be my second and I will for sure try to employ everything. The biggest thing I want to do is ask question. I try to play experimentally but I also play eldar so it's not always forgiving so a little opponent feedback could be really helpful.

Hey Dash I red the tournament guide it was really helpful. Especially the showering part. I hope to encourage good hygiene at future tournamnets. Nah people were pretty good there where a coulple in question but I've been there. I ended up tying all three games but it was an improvement from my first tournament. An I just heard you on 11th company so holla.

alot of eldar generals are to aggressive , and or bring bad lists.

As eldar you will do well in a tournament if you play for the objectives. Alot of time your army will be in shambles, but you will turbo boost late game and win. Its imperative as an eldar player you bring a good list, as bringing bad units will table yourself. You will need an autarch at 1500pts+. You will need to learn to reserve your army. NEVER, and I repeate NEVER let yourself get shot at or "alpha striked". If your army is ligned up, and someone's guneline is shooting at your skimmers, youve lost. Always always always reserve, never let your army got shot at.

Reserving is also huge becuase your army doesnt take shots until turn (assuming you go second which you should against objectives). This allows for you to have 33% more units on the board to contest/gain objetives.

practice is always important as well, play 20+ games with a certain eldar list and you will know how to play its strenghts.

That's sound advice Smitty. My first tournament I didn't reserve at all I was really nervous about peace-mealing in. Needless to say I got destroyed. In my second tournament I just played this last saturday I reserved every game. My first game I was even able to hold everything out until the bottom of turn three. I think I will need to practice a lot more. It's hard to find time but I'm going to try and get a game in a week at least. I did take the Autarch in my last 1000 point tournament. I thought it was useful because most thing are twin linked or in the case of the war walkers they put out enough shots anyway. I tied every game by tank shocking objectives and staying alive. Now I realize tying every games is not ideal but it was much better than my first tournamnet.
I'm currently trying to take this list to 2000 points. Is this viable to do with Eldar?

Here is the list I ran at the 1000 point tournament I'm not sure how to make it work at 2000 pt.

So I'm a pretty newd tournament player. I just played my second tournamnet with my eldar. It was 1000pts. It was a little funny because I tied all three games. They were all three objective games. As bad as tying all three games sounds it was an improvement from my first tournament.

This was my tournament list this last weekend. There is a 2K tournament in July I thought would be go to try for the experience. Is a good way to scale this list up.
In an attempt to not expect everyone do the work for me here are the whole in the army I noticed. So far my horde killing is limited. The two warwalkers were a lot of help but in my third game a Tau opponent covered either board edge so the insta-destroyed when I tried to outflank them. So I will need to look at some wound pumping units. I also was wondering where do I take my elites. I could throw more fire dragons in there but I feel like extra dragons don't add a lot to a list. Granted at 2000 points they will die off more quickly. I was also thinking of adding a third war walker and a couple of Vipers to increase my killing power. I know eldar aren't known for the hurt they can put out, but I feel like my three tie streek was partially a result of not being able to clear objectives. Which also may have been a result of poorly executed or under-executed tanks shocks.

Any way if there's anymore specific information you think you might need just ask but if you have any insight on how to make a mechanized list work at 2000 points let me know. My birthday is coming up so hopefully any models I don't own I can get my hands on fairly easy.

Thanks for the consideration and time.

Autarch 80 pts
Fusion Gun

Dire Avengers x 5 190pts
Wave Serpents
Eldar Missile Launcher
Spirit Stones
Dire Avengers x 5 190 pts
Wave Serpents
Eldar Missile Launcher
Spirit Stone

Fire Dragon x 5 190 pts
Wave Serpent
Shuriken Cannon
Spirit Stones

Fire Prism 115 pts

Fire Prism 115 pts

War Walker x2 120 pts
Scatter Laser x 4

1000 pts