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I just recently got into Warhammer 40k. After a lot of research I decided on building an Eldar army. When I went down to my local game shop they were have a 50% off sale on warhammer 40k items. So naturally, I bought every eldar item they had haha. Unfortunately most of the stuff was bought up because of the sale, so I got was was left over. I feel like I was left with a bunch of random stuff that will not work well together, and I do not know how to build on this foundation I have started. I was wondering if anyone could give me advice on fielding the units I already own and also the best unit choices to add these units. If some of the units I own do not need to be used that is fine to. I am pretty much just looking for any and all information on the best way to build up my army and the best way to equip what I already have. I am shooting for a 1000 point army for now, that I can also keep building up. But anyways here are the units I now own.

HQ:
- Eldar Autarch on Jetbike

Troops:
- 10x Guardians with Weapon Platform
- 5x Rangers

Elites:
- 5x Warp Spiders including Exarch
- 6x Swooping Hawks including Exarch
- 6x Howling Banshees including Exarch

I know I am need of transport, fast attack, and heavy support. But I am not sure where to go from here or if I should even use all of these units I now have. Any help would be greatly appreciated. I was thinking about getting either a Wave Serpent or Wraithlord next. Do I need to lose my HQ and get a new HQ? Haha I have so many questions.

Haha first off welcome to Eldar! To break the bad news, there is a reason you go that stuff 50% as they really aren't the most optimal option Eldar have.

To minimize you upfront investment at this point I would suggest either search Ebay for a "Eldar Army" that contains at least 3-4 Wave Serpents and 2 Fire prisms. If cost isn't an issue be prepaired to shell out about $300 retail to get rolling on a "competitve" army.

If you just want to flesh out what you already have I would suggest you purchase 2 Wave Serpents, a Farseer (or eldrad), a warlock, 2 Fire Prisms, another pack of Howling Banshees, and another pack of Warp Spiders.

That would give you...

Eldrad 210pt

9 Howling Banshees + Howling Banshee Exarch w/ Executioner, Acrobatic 187pts
Wave Serpent w/ Twin Linked Scatter Lasers 115pts

10 Guardians w/ Scatter Laser + Warlock w/ Embolden 125
Wave Serpent w/ Twin Linked Scatter Lasers 115pts

5 Pathfinders (Upgraded Rangers) 120pts

4 Swooping Hawks + Exarch w/ Skyleap, Sunrifle 147pts

9 Warp Spiders + Exarch w/ Powerblades, Death Spinner 247pts

2 Fire Prisms

1496 pts


I however can't stress enough to search Ebay and pickup 2nd hand items. A bath of simple green will strip off old paint and you'll save piles of cash rather then getting everything retail.

Thanks for the advice Blue Dagger!The only thing I don't like about buying 2nd hand items is I love to build and paint the models myself. Haha cost is definitely an issue though since I am a 20 year old college student living on my own. But I have seen items on ebay that are new in the box that are cheaper than retail price.

Another one of my problems is I cannot pick an army type. I see the mech types, jetbike types, and infantry types mentioned online but I want my army to have all of these haha. I want to be able to have a lot of infantry, war walkers, wraithlord, tanks, jetbikes, and vypers. I guess I'll eventually have to choose a specific.

So my next units should be the wave serpents?

#1 buy should be Wave Serpents.

If you are going to bite the bullet and buy retail then make sure to do it through a local store so they get some of the profit rather then an online store. Also take the time to magnetize all options or you will heavily regret it later.

Going over your "wants" rembmer that Eldar on foot die a horrific death, so stay away from that. Jetbikes mesh well with Mech builds, as well as War Walkers. Vypers work well but their learning curve to new players isn't very nice (they die from a light breeze). Wraithlords, while cool as hell looking, really don't get the job done anyone due to the proliferation of lots of things that can kill them with relative ease.

I think the first step is to determine what type of Eldar army you want. Basically, your options are the following:

Mechdar (Biel-Tan): This is by far the best Eldar army to run (from a competitive environment standpoint). 3x Wave Serpent, 2x10 Dire Avenger Squad (Exarch with Dual Catapult), 5 Fire Dragon squad (no Exarch), 2xFire Prisms, 3x War Walker, Farseer is a great place to start. Expand as needed. If you want to go Biel-Tan themed, this is the army to run, but throw in some more aspect warriors for fluff.

Footdar (Ulthwe): This army doesn't really work too well any more. You'll rely much more on Guardians. Harlies typically make an appearance here. Avatar does as well, oftentimes. This is the best choice to make a Ulthwe themed army if you go heavy on Seer council and Guardians.

Iyanden: A very fluffy army, and hard to kill. But, it typically lacks volume of firepower and very limited mobility. Doesn't do well competitively. Costs a TON of cash to play. Farseer, 2x 10 Wraithguard (with Spirit Seer), 3x Wraithlord is a great place to start.

Jetbike Eldar (Saim-Hann): Possibly the 2nd best Eldar army, but still not nearly as good as Mechdar. You run a ton of Guardian Jetbike units, and run a Farseer and Warlock squad all on Jetbikes. Again, a rather expensive army to purchase. If you want to go fluffy Saim-Hann, you're already most of the way there, you just need to get some Vypers and maybe drop the Warlocks.

MC Eldar: My favorite army, but not particularly good any more. You run Avatar and Wraithlords to just slowly advance on your opponent with incredibly tough units.

Alaitoc: An awful army. Only run it if you really like the fluffyness of it. Field a whole ton of Rangers/Pathfinders and hope for the best (which won't be much).


Mixing and matching simply doesn't work well in Eldar (or most any other army). Find a theme and stick with it.

Thanks for the help guys! Goshhh, I really do not want to have to choose a specific type of army haha. I wish I could just have everything all in one army. But anyways I am most interested in the Mechdar and Jetbike army types.

Is there any way to incorporate jet bikes into the Mechdar army? I may just need to make a seperate Jetbike army and a seperate Mechdar army.

Also if I go mechdar or jetbike, will the units I own be able to fit into either of these or be useless? I would assume the autarch on jetbike would fit into the jetbike army, but I'm not sure how the rest of the units I already own would fit into either a jetbike or mechdar type army.

Grakmar wrote:I think the first step is to determine what type of Eldar army you want.

Definitely this.

My 2 cents - Iyanden or Mech are the way to go, Iyanden for fluff and looks (coolest models IMO), Mech for fun and competitiveness.

Iyanden is the 'Ghost Army' theme - lots of wraithguards led by warlocks and wraithlords. Eldrad is great here accompanied by Yriel or an Avatar. A pure Wraithguard/Wraithlord army is expensive points-wise and financially, but VERY tough to kill and looks VERY cool on the board. Buy second hand - wraithguards don't have options, just come in 3 different poses. You need 10 of them + warlock (usually given conceal) to count as troop choice @ $18 CAD per model = $180 for one troop choice (!!!)

Mechdar is one of the fastest and most mobile armies out there. Cram as many grav tanks as you can - Wave Serpents to transport Dire Avengers and Fire Dragons, Falcons for some heavy fire power and light transport capabilities, Fire Prisms for some heavy firepower, Nightspinners for anti-horde. War Walkers are key - each one gets two weapon choices and can outflank. Equip with shuri-cannons for cheap str6 spam, or scatter lasers for extended range str6 spam.

For the models you have - I field an autarch, usually for the +1 to reserve roll. I never use guardians. I used Rangers (upgraded to Pathfinders) for footdar. Warp Spiders are definitely practical in many lists. I love Swooping Hawks, especially in combination with Autarch for 'yo-yo' tactic - a lot of fun! I've never used Howling Banshees, but many always field them ...

And always remember to have fun!

Grakmar wrote:Mixing and matching simply doesn't work well in Eldar (or most any other army). Find a theme and stick with it.

I think what he meant to say is mixing foot and mech elements won't work well, not mixing his theme points outs won't work well.

Mech Eldar (with the exception of war walkers) is fast. It relies on ability to ba anywhere when you need to be there. If you enemy shifts hard to the right you shift to the left and take shots on their flank. If the enemy tries to corner you, you high tail it in another direction and keep them guessing. Foot elements can't keep up with this pattern and often get single out due to being a predicable target.

If you go foot heavy with lots of guardians and an Avatar or piles of Wraithguard, then a mech element will be the minority and be ripped out of the sky due to focus fire from the Anti-Tank weapons everyone brings to counter Space Marine and typical mech.

Mech Eldar is by far the most competitive so if you go that route look for Wave Serpents, Dire Avengers, Fire Dragons, Fire Prisms, Night Spinner, Jetbikes, Warwalkers, Falcons, Guardians (debatable), Autauch (not on jetbike), Farseer, and Eldrad.


Other Eldar lists that are less then competitve:

Footdar is very specialized and calls for 60+ Guardians, an Avatar, Eldrad, and harlequins. (other various additions too)

Wraithwall calls for Eldrad, Piles of Wraithguard, Wraithlords, and Harlequins. (other Various additions too)

EldarMpuls3 wrote:Also if I go mechdar or jetbike, will the units I own be able to fit into either of these or be useless? I would assume the autarch on jetbike would fit into the jetbike army, but I'm not sure how the rest of the units I already own would fit into either a jetbike or mechdar type army.

Jet bikes fit in Mech armies. Autarch adds +1 to reserve, great for alpha strike tactics. Guardians with platform can transport in Serpent and are cheapest troop choice you can get - so not a waste at all! You can also easily fit warp spiders and banshees in list - gotta fill those transports with something! Make the army your own! I'm sure you can find a place for all those units, though you might find some more helpful than others, just adapt the list as you go along.

Also, def check out the Dakka Swap Shop for purchasing and/or trading units secondhand. I have a thread here with some Eldar I'm trading/selling if any interest you! /shamelessplug

Jetbikes can definitely fit into Mechdar. You won't want to run as many, but a single unit works well. If you want to run a Jetlock council (that's Farseer w/RoWard, RoWit, Fortune, Jetbike accompanied by 7-9 Warlocks w/Jetbikes, 1 Embolden, 1 Enhance, 3-4 Destructor, 4-6 Singing Spears), that works well in either Mechdar or Jetbikes.

For your specific units, I'll start off by saying keep them all! You may get sick on Mechdar and want to try something else, or the next codex/edition will change the balance of power and everyone will be collecting an entirely different Eldar army. Also, when playing "friendly" games, you get to use all those fun units that aren't competitive.

My review of the units you've got:
Autarch on Jetbike: A sub-par model. He goes well when joined with a Jetlock council, but nothing else. You could try putting him in a GJB unit, but they're rather weak, so he doesn't get his full potential there. And, he works well in a Singing Spear unit, but they're so awful, I often times forget they're in the codex.

Guardians with Weapon Platfrom: This is a core unit in a footdar list. But, don't run them in any mech'ed up list. Magnetize the weapon platform to make sure they'll always fit your style and the current metagame!

Rangers: These guys can fit into any Eldar army. You don't ever want to run too many of them (unless playing fluffy and non-competitive Alaitoc). I, personally, don't think they're any good. But, plenty of Eldar players like them for camping an objective.

Warp Spiders: In my view, one of the most overlooked units in the codex. These guys are a great addition to almost any list. But, don't skimp out on the better units for them. Only think about it when you're playing 1750 or more.

Swooping Hawks: The models themselves look really cool. Take your time painting them and they will look really awesome. Just, don't even think about fielding them. They're absolutely terrible and should never be played in any Eldar force.

Howling Banshees: These gals can be incredibly devastating if they make it to a target that has been Doomed. But, they're incredibly vulnerable to shooting, and with no transports to assault out of, they're very difficult to get to their target. They can work in a mechdar force (I don't like them, but others disagree with me). But, they don't really work in any other Eldar force. Footdar are close, but having to walk across the board tends to leave them dead.

One side note:

While I generally agree that Swooping hawks are terrible, they do have a complete cheese trick you can pull with them. There is a tactic that they can preform with the Exarch power skyleap that allows them to enter via deepstrike, drop a grenade, land, then immediately jump back into reserves therefor not allowing the opponent to shoot at them. While annoying this tactic is not worth it's point cost.

However, many tournaments like to use non-standard rules and now and then they put a rule into place that either you are allotted kill points you have to assign to your own units or they require you to nominate you most expensive unit as a goal to kill. When the hawks are combined with a winged Autauch you can effectively have a unit that you opponent can't touch, thus denying him those objectives.

As an example 'ard boyz this year made you nominate an HQ choice that is worth double victory points, so my Hawk Autauch took that honor. I played in a tourney that you assign 5 killpoints to you army, 3 went on 3 units of 5 man hawks, 1 went on my autauch, and 1 went on Eldrad lol.

Haha dang, looks like I have a lot to think about and decide on. Building a good army is a lot more complicated than I thought haha.

Thanks for all the help everyone!

Instead of making the Autarch on Jetbike, should I just make a regular guardian jet bike since the autarch on jet bike comes with the pieces to do so? Then I could get 4 more guardian jet bikes to make a guardian jet bike squad. Then get a farseer and warlocks squad as HQ. What is the best HQ for a mechdar army? This is what my new army list will look like, what needs to change?

HQ:
Farseer with 3 Warlocks (assuming I don't use Autarch on jet bike as HQ)

Troops:
10 Guardians with Warlock and Weapons Platform

5 Guardian Jet Bikes (assuming I use Autarch Jet bike as guardian jet bike and get 4 more rather than using him as HQ)

10 Dire Avengers

5 Rangers (or pathfinders, haven't decided yet)

Elites:
6 Howling Banshees including Exarch

Fast Attack:
5 Warp Spiders including Exarch

Heavy Support:
3 War Walkers (or maybe 2 War Walkers and 1 Fire Prism)

Transport:
2 Wave Serpents (1 for Dire Avengers, 1 for Howling Banshees)