Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

So... I'm starting up an Eldar Corsairs army, mainly because I want to keep on keeping on with the Eldar but don't want to invest more into my Codex army until the new one comes out.

I'm of the tactic re flyers of just ignore and kill everything that walks. However, the Corsair list gives me Phoenix Bombers and Nightwing Interceptors.

At the moment I will have 2 Nightwings and a Phoenix to be my air support - the NW's providing AA with their lances/cannons and then AT hunting whilst the Phoenix provides some tasty anti-blob / anti infantry with 2x nightfire missile launchers (S4 AP5 ignore cover, small blast, heavy 3 each) and shuri cannons.

Both flyers have AV10 all around, but they have agile and shrouded for 4+ cover saves, 2+ when evading, and they both have vector dancer to stay on the board (hopefully). I was wanting some tactical advice on what to do with them? Change them around, get more, how to use them best on the field, etc.

Nightwing has a 24" range on the cannons, so it often needs to get closer to the fight. The Pheonix, however, should never be anywhere closer than 48". At that range, the pulse laser and missiles can hit, which is what you are paying for. Sit it on your board edge and move it back and forth every turn with vector dancer. the 45 degree arch should allow you to maintain perpendicular to the board edge to keep it as far away as possible. Void dreamer can follow it around and prescience it as there is no reason to ever have void dreamers keep their powers.

Corsair air force is decent, but you will struggle to win against almost anything with just an air force. Corsairs needs the whole codex to win, not just one section. While the nightwing is good, the pheonix is vastly overcosted. The corsair book depends on target saturation and quantity of units, so putting 225 points into one AV10 unit is probably going to cause you more harm than good. Id take 3 corsair jetbike squads over the pheonix any day.

A few notes.

First the void dreamer cannot trade its powers in at all. So no prescience for him.

The other points are about correct they both have vector dancer but you really need to bring something that can kill T7 Sv3+ interceptors (quadd gun) and AV12 hydras. If the enemy brings hydras (IG codex) your flyers will disappear. Luckily you have the perfect units for this in the deep striking fusion/ML jetpack troops or bring a prince and deep strike some fire dragons in to deal with them.

Be aware that even bolters can glance you. Do not just fly these things right up into the enemies face. Use that 24/36" range and try to keep at 23.9" away from the enemy so they cannot double tap you. If you have to evade you have reduced your shooting effectiveness.

Conversely do not be afraid to zoom across the board and unload a salvo into the rear armour of a leman russ squad. The shu-cannons on the nightwing are fairly good at glancing AV10 to death.

The pheonix with the basic set up can do some real damage to vehicles by vector dancing into the rear armour. If you have valid targets though try to keep it at 48" as zephoid said, the less you get shot at the better.

Either one can and will win a dog fight with a vendetta if used correctly. If you take the blast missiles on the pheonix you loose the ability to do this but gain fantastic horde killing ability so be aware that this is only really worth it against true horde armies.

Personally, I think the nightfire missiles aren't that great because you lose the versatility of 6 Str5 shots...which gives the bomber 14 shots vs a flyer. Remember that the bomber has strafing run as well. Thus, it's guns are BS 5 vs. ground targets. I'd rather have the AP3 shots vs. the blasts as marines don't care about Str4 blasts. Corsairs can get rid of quad guns quite easily as they can take a unit of DE in a venom. Use the DE venom to plink the measily 2 wounds off the quad gun. Quad guns no likey poison weapons. Hydras are easy to kill with Hornets. Lastly, Phoenixes evade on a 3+ and the Nightwing on a 2+. The Nightwing has Agile which is defined in the Aeronautica book as adding +1 to it's jink save. The bomber does not.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
@ansacs is correct only the FW special character Farseer can trade his powers.

In the rest of my list (2k points) I have a warp hunter or 2 to take out MEQ... the large blast AP2 templates melt MEQ very easily, especially for 125 points each.

I have a butt-tonne of other models on the field committing all sorts of JSJ shenanigans (including Wasps) and have a Corsair Princess for deep striking goodness as well as dropping her void strike - either the S9 AP2 lance large blast on something tasty or the S4 AP5 D6+6" ignore cover blast versus hoards/IG platoons/Tau cover whores.

The nightfire missiles were more for applying the old "make them roll enough dice and stuff dies" and as for vs flyers it's more that I was hoping the nightwings could take out the air for me, leaving the Phoenix to be a ground crusher and murder infantry.

My local meta isn't overly MEQ heavy. Lots of Tau, Demons, 2 or so Marine armies, 1 GK army, 2 Necron, 3 Nids, 2 Dark Eldar, 2 Craftworld (including myself) etc. Very Xeno heavy here...