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I just picked up a bunch of Warp Spiders recently, and I am wondering how to use them. I like their look, and I'm going for a fast Eldar army, so I thought they would fit. However, every tactica I've read says something along the lines of forget these in favor of such and such auto include unit.
Does anyone know the best way to equip these guys and use them on the battlefield? I'd love to hear peoples' thoughts!
Thanks

Exarch with dual spinners is a must. Powerblades are not bad if you have the points. Withdraw is a must for large squads or autarch delivery squad.

I usually use them in large groups and throw in an autarch w/warp jump generator, fusion gun, mandiblasters and power weapon. They also work fine in squads of 5 with just the dual spinner exarch.

Use them on AV10, or against small squads of infantary. S6 means you wound MEQ on2's, and although you are AP - sheer volume of fire means you will do some damage. In larger squads with an autarch they are great against squadrons when they drop in, and make good transport hunters after that. Pop the transport then assault the insides, withdraw if you need to next turn and go again.

Not the most super competitive choice, but still very effective and the best fast attack choice the eldar have.

I'm actually a big fan of Warp Spiders. They provide an excellent source of S6 shots.

Of course, only take them if you've got points left over after taking: all 3 HS slots, 1-2 Fire Dragons units in WS, 2 HQ units, 3-4 DA/Storm Guardians in WS

I've found Warp Spiders work best as a small strike force. Take them in small units of 5-7. The Exarch upgrade is worthwhile if you give him a 2nd Death Spinner. Don't bother with any other upgrades for him.

Then, hold the unit in reserves and have them deep strike in, behind whatever unit is giving you the most trouble, and take it out. They can't do much to vehicles that are more than AV10 (especially with AP-, you need a ton of penetrating hits to do anything). But, they are pretty reliable at taking out an AV10 vehicle, or an MC, or a small squad that's providing fire support.

Ideally, there'd be a solid wall that blocks all LOS nearby, so you can hop back and forth across that. But, if not, they can still work.



Edit: I see Serling responded as I was typing. I agree with him completely. Add an Autarch to the squad and it become much deadlier. Of course, that means you lose out on a Farseer... so the choice is yours.

Warp Spiders are a staple in my Footdar lists. They give me the speed that the rest of my army lacks. I agree with much of what has already been written above. I always run an exarch and give him dual spinners. He gets powerblades most of the time and withdraw when I have the points even though that makes him a 64-point model. They really shouldn't be seeking assault, but sometimes powerblades and withdraw can help them get out of a scrape and get back to shooting.

They work best against infantry where they can generate a lot of wounds. A seven or eight-man squad can drop a daemon prince in one round of shooting. As stated before they can do ok against transports or with side shots on things like chimeras and manticores. In a pinch they can glance AV12 and stop something from shooting for a turn.

I usually deepstrike them. Most of the time when I've brought them on from the board edge or started them on the board I've come to regret it.

They're a high-risk, high-reward kind of unit. Without any way to influence their scatter, bad things can and do happen. Two weeks ago my squad scattered the full 12" into terrain and I lost 5 of 9 models to dangerous terrain tests. LOL.

Great advice guys! They sound like a fun unit, so I'm probably going to need quite a bit of practice before I can make good use of them

Oh, they are fun. They're the fastest infantry unit in the game with up to 30" of movement in a turn (12+d6run+2d6assault jump). The 2d6 assault move messes up most people. They just don't expect a unit to be able to do that.

Arschbombe wrote:Oh, they are fun. They're the fastest infantry unit in the game with up to 30" of movement in a turn (12+d6run+2d6assault jump). The 2d6 assault move messes up most people. They just don't expect a unit to be able to do that.

They don't expect it because it's illegal. You only get to jump a second time if you do not assult that turn. You do not get to jump a second time and use that as your assult distance or assult after the second jump.

Roadkill Zombie wrote:

Arschbombe wrote:Oh, they are fun. They're the fastest infantry unit in the game with up to 30" of movement in a turn (12+d6run+2d6assault jump). The 2d6 assault move messes up most people. They just don't expect a unit to be able to do that.

They don't expect it because it's illegal. You only get to jump a second time if you do not assult that turn. You do not get to jump a second time and use that as your assult distance or assult after the second jump.

I think you're misreading Arschbombe's post: by "assault move", he means a move in the assault phase, similar to those of Eldar Jetbikes, not assault distance.

Personally, I love Warp Spiders both fluffwise and gamewise. As stated before, they are some of the fastest infantry in the game and can be excellent for taking out rear-armour on vehicles, MCs and even thinning-out hordes.

Like all things in the Eldar codex however, they are very expensive and despite the 3+ armour, relatively fragile. They work best in an army with many other mobile threats so that they don't attract as much fire and using them as a "Jump Shoot Jump" harrasment unit.

Iranna.

Oh, yeah. I didn't mean to imply that Spiders could jump 2d6 into assault. You want to keep them out of assault 99% of the time.