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I've always wanted to make a Eldar army, but there is one question that has always been bugging me. Are the Eldar's Banshees, SS, and other Assault-focused units good in their job? I do not own a Eldar Codex yet (I'm waiting to see if they will get a new codex this year) and all I know regarding Eldar CC is this, always get the Space Clowns. But I'm sure that they are expensive for small games or am I wrong? I want to know what my other options will be if I choose, for whatever horrible reason, to forgo the Harlequins for something cheaper(?).

Eldar assalt armies tend to get put down in favour of shooty with assalt elements if playing PURE eldar. That i can advise against, as when dark eldar and eldar work together the resulting assalt units are some of the best in the game!

When doing dark eldar allies they can add a few things the eldar army doesn't have. Cheap, reliable anti-tank -Teq in the form of blasterborn or incubi. One of the best assalt units in 6th ed in the form of a big beast pack, running with a jetseer taking all 4 powers, then rolling for invisability. And the Haliestar which is a bunch of haliequins lead by eldrad and a Archon with shadowfield, running with a 2+ shadowfield re-rollable.

Other options are a Mounted Seer council which i hear great things about, even if they are bloody expensive, which would leave you open to play the beastpack with the Baron and a jetseer, giving you 2 amazing deathstars!

That is the main eldar assalt force, sad to say that the deathstars FAR outstrip the other assalt units. Banshees got hit so hard by the nerf bat they are bearly useable thanks to the face of no eldar assalt vehical. SS are still as good as they ever where, i'd say better only due to the fact banshees got a lot worse. You have to take both exarch powers, a unit of 7 makes a great threat that has to be dealt with and makes a distraction for the deathstars to get close.

While you CAN make a very potent assalt force, you do need surport elements. Cheap surport ro as the deathstars really eat into the points, so troops most often are 3 untis of 3 jetbikes in reserve hoping to grab obj last turn. Fire dragon exarch on quad gun, and a wraithlord or 2. Eldar/Dark eldar rely on there gimicks to win in assalt games, good job we have the best gimicks in the game!

Hopefully we will get a new codex and, if I were you, I'd wait until then before starting. As for our assault units, well, they're not that great, but not bad either.

One big problem is, despite being a fast army with plenty of good transports, is that none of said vehicles are assault vehicles, which means we either have to slog it up the board or at the very best, hitch a ride, hang around for a turn, shoot some pistols perhaps, and hope we in turn get charged.

As for the assault units themselves, Harlequins probably are the best. You'll want to give them Harlequin Kisses, which gives them rending, which, with their high level of attacks and Furious Charge, makes them quite nasty. Harlequins have a few more aces up their sleeves too, some can take fusion pistols which is essentially a melta pistol, which can usually get a kill before assaulting. The troupe master can take a power sword and they can also take a Shadowseer who has a nifty of effect of making enemy units wanting to shoot at the unit roll for their spotting distance, which does help with the "slog it up the board" thing. And they all have invulnerable saves, which is nice (but no armour).

One other unit people take a lot that's good in CC, is a Seer Council, often on Jetbikes. I've never really used one, so can't comment much, but the constant presence of Psykers gives you great supporting powers, such as Doom and Fortune (or you can go all rulebook-y and make them invisible) as well as some nifty Warlock ones to increase WS and chuck out lots of template powers. Witchblades are, still S9, which is pretty awesome, especially if you're after tanks, although I'm not sure what their AP is in the new rules, it was just "-" before. This unit is really rather expensive though, so you've got to be aware of that.

Now for Banshees. Not many people use Banshees, but I really like them. Or did. But yeah, I used to run them a lot in 5th Edition, with a Doom + Fortune Seer accompanying them. It was something a little different, and it worked. Really, the concept is the same, they do have to slog it up the board, but once they get into combat, they're fairly nasty. They're arguably more durable, with a Farseer in tow, against shooting, since Fortune gives them a nice re-rollable save, which is pretty useful against your average bolter or similar shooting weapon. Just watch out for anything with half-decent AP. They're pretty good in combat, as I say, and will always strike first when they charge. Since they're strength 3, they largely require Doom support to kill stuff effectively which, with Deny The Witch in this edition, could go wrong. Speaking of new edition changes, their Power Swords got nerfed down to AP3, which really upset me, because they can no longer take on terminators. You used to be able to Doom a unit of (Non SS) termies, charge in, and wipe them out in a turn. Alas, no more. They're still great against your standard MEQ though. Banshees, again, do have a few more tricks up their sleeves. They can take Counter Attack and the Exarch can be armed with a power sword that adds +2 Strength or some short ranged weapon which I think is AP2 still, that can be used as a power weapon in CC.

Now we move onto Striking Scorpions. They've never been the best of the bunch, lacking fleet, but this edition's changes to Outflank means they've gotten worse. That said, they still have lots of attacks, so are great for shredding horde units like Orks (yes, they're even S4) and can take some other nifty stuff, like MTC, and the Exarch can even take a Power Fist.

Finally, I guess, is Storm Guardians. Storm Guardians are actually not that bad, since they're fairly cheap. Being S3 and having no nifty stuff other than Furious Charge, although you can take Fusion Pistols, they're not quite as deadly as some other units. That said, they are pretty cheap, they're troops and can be taken in units of 20. If you want to run an all CC force, these guys are your troops choices. Can also be led by a Warlock who can boost their WS or give them a cover save, or other stuff, as well as providing some lovely S9 witchblade goodness. With the fusion pistols as well, you'd be surprised about how well a unit of these takes out tanks.

Oh, and all (most) Eldar CC units benefit from fleet and a high initiative which comes in very useful.

Hope I've helped!

You two have been a great help. After reading your guys post, I really want to make a CC Eldar army for; 1) The lawlz. 2) It really sounds interesting and will throw my opponent off. 3) It sounds like FUN!

EDIT: Would IG allies (mostly troops) help this style of army even though they aren't Battle Brothers in the Alloes Chart?

I highly advise you look into dark eldar allies, they are battlebrothers, they can join your units are they wont contest your own objectives. All of which IG allies dont do. What would you want them for? Obviously not for assalt, you dont need a meat shield really and aparently not for tanks either. What possible use have you got for them?

Take a look at this battle report, its one of a few dark eldar/eldar assalt forces at a highly competitive level. http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/507383.page

Just wanted to note, the above mention of the shadowseer causing enemies to roll for their shooting range when shooting at the squad is outdated. They FAQ'ed it to give stealth/shrouding instead.

I did a proxy game with harliquins and they were a nasty bunch. Tore a pile of termies up before they had a chance to strike back, good fun! That rending made them regret deepstriking so close.

 ALEXisAWESOME wrote:
I highly advise you look into dark eldar allies, they are battlebrothers, they can join your units are they wont contest your own objectives. All of which IG allies dont do. What would you want them for? Obviously not for assalt, you dont need a meat shield really and aparently not for tanks either. What possible use have you got for them?

I have some tanks and artillery and I plan on getting more (mostly artillery) while I'm waiting for the Eldar codex to come out. Having a assault army is good and all, but even I realize that there has to be some cover fire/supporting fire to help the assault troops do their job easier. For example, I'm not gonna send 6-7 SS at a Ork Mob that numbers 2/3 for every model I have. It would be better to soften them up from shooting even if I only kill one guy, that could make the difference.
Also, IG is my current army so I was wondering if they could fill on that role even though they aren't battle brothers.

Go with the Space Clowns

 The Shadow wrote:
Now for Banshees. Speaking of new edition changes, their Power Swords got nerfed down to AP3, which really upset me, because they can no longer take on terminators.

On the other hand in the 6th ed FAQ Banshee Masks got upgraded to help against terrain again - they've been attacking enemies in cover at I1 since 4th edition came out. I'd say the Banshees came out ahead in that trade. ;-)

Spetulhu wrote:

 The Shadow wrote:
Now for Banshees. Speaking of new edition changes, their Power Swords got nerfed down to AP3, which really upset me, because they can no longer take on terminators.

On the other hand in the 6th ed FAQ Banshee Masks got upgraded to help against terrain again - they've been attacking enemies in cover at I1 since 4th edition came out. I'd say the Banshees came out ahead in that trade. ;-)

I had looked around and read what other people have said about the Eldar CC units. Would I be correct to say that Banshees will, for the most part, be more effective against MEQ units (short of heavy infantry (i.e. terminators) and vehicles) then SS and would be cheaper points-wise then the Space Clowns since they have to be upgraded for their awesome gear? And if what The Shadow had said was any indication, the Banshees all start out with power swords unless I'm jumping to conclusions.

Banshees have power swords, except for Exarchs. They're AP3, but S3, with I-mod abilities. They're still good anti-MEQ, if you can get them into combat.

SS have lots of S4 AP- attacks, which are better than most Eldar units.

Another aspect of a combat focussed eldar list that I haven't seen anyone bring up are their monstrous creatures. Both wraithlords and avatars can add some much needed muscle to the otherwise mostly low srength units the eldar have access to. They shouldn't be used independently but when used to support other units I have been very pleased with their performance.

shortavenger wrote:
Another aspect of a combat focussed eldar list that I haven't seen anyone bring up are their monstrous creatures. Both wraithlords and avatars can add some much needed muscle to the otherwise mostly low srength units the eldar have access to. They shouldn't be used independently but when used to support other units I have been very pleased with their performance.

I'm planning on taking a Avatar along with a Farseer for my Eldar army since as far as I know, the Avatar will give Bloodthirsters a slight pause and a Eldar army without a Farseer won't be as effective as it could be. I remember someone telling me that Wraithguards/Wraithlords need a Eldar Psyker near them or else they will lock themselves down for a turn. While having a MC will help, won't it be a set back by having the Farseer run with the Wraithlord(s) instead of throwing out buffs and debuffs somewhere else? Granted anything near the Wraithlord will be screwed, but only those guys near the Wraithlord. Unless there's something about the Eldar that I don't know or got wrong.

You can take a psyker with the wraithguard as an upgrade, but you still need someone with the wraithlord. I ran the harlequin with Eldrad behind the wraithlords in the game I played to provide moving cover, which worked great with the new shadowseer FAQ.

 gnoise wrote:
While having a MC will help, won't it be a set back by having the Farseer run with the Wraithlord(s) instead of throwing out buffs and debuffs somewhere else? Granted anything near the Wraithlord will be screwed, but only those guys near the Wraithlord. Unless there's something about the Eldar that I don't know or got wrong.

Farseers can Fortune a Wraithlord, and still Doom another unit if they have Stones.