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With 6th edition I wanted to try out Eldar again now they have access to allies.
My starting point was models that I had available, and I have been play testing and experimenting new units (using proxies), before purchasing them.
This is the where I am at the moment. Any suggestions or ideas?


HQ1: Eldrad 210pts
HQ2: Maugan Ra 195pts

Elites1: 8 Harlequins /w kiss (incl shadowseer and death jester) 212pts

Troops1: 5x Dire Avengers 60pts
Troops2: 5x Rangers /w pathfinder upgrade 120pts

Fast Attack: 10x Warp spiders /w Exarch (extra deathspinner and surprise assault) 247pts

Heavy Support1: Falcon /w 2x shuri. cannon 130pts
Heavy Support2: 3x War walkers /w 2x shuri. cannon 120pts

Allies
HQ 1: Archon /w shadowfield 90pts

Troops1: 10x Kabalite warriors (+ Sybarite and a blaster) in raider /w splinter racks 160pts
Troops2: 10x Kabalite warriors (+ Sybarite and a blaster) in raider /w splinter racks 160pts

Heavy support1: Voidraven 145pts

Eldrad rides with the DA in the Falcon. Using fortune and guide to support my units, with the occasional Doom to destroy any units coming too close. The DA stay in the falcon until turn 4 or 5 when I drop them off at an objective.

The Archon and Maugan Ra go with the Harleys. (We have a house rule at our gamestore that a 2++ reroll is broken. So the Archon doesn't get a reroll from Fortune, but the reason why I added him is because I needed a cheap Dark Eldar HQ and even without fortune he is still good to soak up some wounds for my harleys with his 2+ invul save.

With Maugan Ra (making the harleys fearless) and the Death Jester, the unit also has some dakka while on the move (8x STR6 shots) in addition, Maugan Ra is pretty awesome in CC and he can soak some wounds with his 2+ save to keep the unit alive in CC together with the Archon.

The Warpspiders are so far doing very well in the games that I used them, especially together with guide (= 24x twin-linked S6 shots). I tend to use them very conservatively, always making sure they can get back into cover after shooting.

The rangers are used to hold defensive objectives, and offer some long range support, trying to take out priests, commissars, apothecaries, etc ... needing a 6 to do so makes it is not really reliable, but they are their primarily to hold an objective and if they do snipe a character it is a bonus.

The warriors and the walkers, usually advance together with the harleys, providing some fire support.

I play aggressive in the sense that I try to get into my opponents table half, but I always try to focus on keeping my units alive as long as possible, sacrificing some fire power if needed.

Any tips or feedback are welcome

I would say the Harlies are pretty easy to deal with as far as deathstars go (T3, 5++ save), but having 2 HQs in there would make it easier.
I think your tactics will work well with your list, but that Harlequin group would be a major fire magnet i think.

Adding one of the good phoenix lords to the harleystar makes it absoultely nasty. I would try to make the unit a full ten clowns.

Drop suprise assault from the warp spiders.All 6 normal missions allow deep strike.

The kabbies would do better spending ten points on a splinter cannon, not a sybarite. Splinter racks are also questionable unless you have ten kabbies all with rifles.

I gotta say I'm not sure how it would work on the table, but I really love this list for some reason it uses allies beautifully and it's unconventional, but I think still viable with interesting tactics.

What's key I think as per the harlies being a major fire magnet is to fortune them every turn, with the new rules that's 4++ cover saves rerollable with maugan and the archon to soak up extra fire as you said. Its a pretty tough deathstar-ish unit which I think is ultra cool and I hope it works out for you!

Oh yea, aslo drop suprise assault from the warp spiders as mentioned above and maybe give the archon an agonizer? idk those seem to kill me plenty.

The deathstar is highly survivable because the archon goes in front of the unit, eldrad fortunes the unit so that his 2++ is rerollable. The shadowseer also plays havoc with the enemies' shooting. I've played a similar unit, it works very well

Crystal-Maze wrote:The deathstar is highly survivable because the archon goes in front of the unit, eldrad fortunes the unit so that his 2++ is rerollable. The shadowseer also plays havoc with the enemies' shooting. I've played a similar unit, it works very well

Technically that can be negated by simply moving a unit to the side and shooting the flank of the formation, but i understand your point.

@iGuy91
Indeed the harleys draws a lot of fire, but I try to keep them in cover as long as possible and with fortune on them they tend to survive long enough to get into assault. The only thing I am really scared of is getting a lot of templates on the unit, like 5 devastators shooting frag missiles or some flames, that can hurt.

@Dr. Serling
Initially I had 10 harleys and Maugan Ra, and this was really needed so that I had enough harleys left to have enough punch when I got in CC. But adding the Archon reduced the attrition I suffer from fire so that I can reduce the unit in size (needing the points elsewhere) and you don't want to kill the unit you charge in your turn. So 8 tend to get the job done

Good tip on the spiders, I could use those points elsewhere, thanks!

If I am not mistaken the kabbies only have Ld 8 and considering their ride will get shot under them and they need to stick around to hold an objective. I added the Sybarite for the extra Ld. Also I picked a blaster to give the unit some versatility and a chance to hurt vehicles. Good point on the splinter racks, I was thinking of dropping it also, as I only have one or maybe two turns use of it.

@rivers64 thanks, I also like this mix and so far it works pretty ok. I haven't lost yet playing against some strong matchups like IG with SW allies and BA with SW allies. The key is indeed to keep the harleys alive, they draw away a lot of fire from other units.

It's a good base, but I think it can be tidied.

Basic thoughts, more anti- tank (I understand you have lote of S6 but you need more anti AV13/14)

Turn the Falcon into a Wave Serpent, possibly give it a TL EML or Bright Lance, or just drop it all together to free up some points. Whatever you do this frees the Heavy Support so you can have 3 single War Walkers which is more versatile.

Split the Warp Spiders into 2 minimal squads, giving both Exarch's the Spinneret Rifle, Powerblades and Withdraw.

Give both Raiders Dark Lances.

Give the Dire Avenger Exarch a Power Weapon and Shimmershield, Bladestorm and Defend.

I know little about Dark Eldar options so I can't comment there.

I would advise dropping Eldrad for a Farseer with Spirit Stones, Doom, Guide, Fortune, Singing Spear and Runes of Warding.

Get your extra points from dropping either the Wave Serpent or some Kabalite Warriors (squads of 8 are just as good) and Eldrad.

Put the Farseer with Harlies and give them 2 Fusion Guns, keep Maugan Ra in there. Put the Archon in a Raider with the Warriors. Instead of the large Warp Spider Squad and the 3 War Walkers you now have 5 more versatile squads.

Just my 2 penneth.

Thanks for the tips.

I agree, with only 6x s8 and 2x s9 shots I might indeed have some problems vs. AV13/14.
I was pondering to solve this by trying to fit in 5x wyches with haywire grenades in a venom, and drop a raider with warriors.

You do add some other good points worth thinking about. Splitting the warp spiders, gives more versatility but makes giving the Guide less interesting.
I love the combo of throwing doom on a unit of marines and than guide on my spiders and dakka them to shreds ;-)

I'd love to add more walkers, so swapping the falcon with a WS is a good point, but I am afraid I lack the points to add more walkers, and the Falcon adds a bit more punch with the 2x S8 shots.

What I don't get is why I should take an exarch with the DA and pimp the exarch with power/shield and defend, same with the spiders, giving the exarch powerbldes and withdraw.
I tend to avoid getting in CC with these units.

Sorry, but its a horrible list. Too many pts go into the HQ and into the Harlies. Warp Spiders are a mediocre unit and Falcons are next to useless even with a holofield.

wuestenfux wrote:Sorry, but its a horrible list. Too many pts go into the HQ and into the Harlies. Warp Spiders are a mediocre unit and Falcons are next to useless even with a holofield.

Bit harsh, but we are trying. At least be constructive with the list posted. It doesn't have to be fantastic, just the units he likes and enjoys using.

Taking an Exarch on DA is a good way to go, Shimmershield makes them much more durable, Bladestorm is a great power for a desperate moment, Defend helps as well so they are harder to mow down. Granted this works better on a 10 man squad but points are a problem.

I like Warp Spiders and if you have luck with them keep them. Power Blades may be OTT but Withdraw is good if you do get charged. The Spinneret Rifle is AP1 so it is an almost guaranteed dead Marine.

I don't know how good Wyches are but Haywire Grenades and the Venom could come in handy.

You don't have to add more War Walkers, just split the existing unit into 3 small ones.

A Wave Serpent is far better than a Falcon because it has 2 weapons. You can move 12" getting the Jink save and still fire both. The Falcon has 3 guns, so most of the time 1 will be useless.

Okay, to be a bit more constructive, here is an Eldar core list that should still work:

Farseer w/ runes of warding, doom – 90

5 Fire Dragons – 205
Serpent w/ tl scatterlaser, shuricannon

5 Fire Dragons – 205
Serpent w/ tl scatterlaser, shuricannon

5 Pathfinders – 120

10 Dire Avengers w/ bladestorm – 247
Serpent w/ tl scatterlaser, shuricannon

10 Dire Avengers w/ bladestorm – 247
Serpent w/ tl scatterlaser, shuricannon

3 Warwalkers w/ dual scatterlasers – 180

Now allies can come in like SM (Dreads, Storm Talon), DE (Venoms, Ravager), and others.