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Title gets across the gist, though I would like to say, in my defense, that Eldar was what I first bought, way back in the early 90s, when I was a wee lad. So it's kind of nostalgic coming back to them, especially when I can get my hands on the same Aspect Warriors that I had back then!

Which units should I spend my money (or trade) for? Which should I steer clear of? All suggestions welcome!

Thanks in advance Dakka!

-C6

You do realise that they just got a new codex right? Based on my read through/s so far I would start buying every Jetbike in sight. Also Spiders are really good, Scorpions and Reapers look good. Basically everything got better, its just finding the cost effective options atm.

Banshees are one of the few units that moved from bad to worse with this codex, they don't have grenades and the Mask just drops your opponents I by 5, so they can't charge into cover anymore. Considering they were bad before because they couldn't assault out of a Serpent I wouldn't even bother with them now.

Jetbikes, jetbikes, jetbikes. They were good in the 4th dex and got MUCH cheaper. I would say the best troop in the game atm. 5x3 units of GJB will be a force to deal with.
Autarch on jetbike with veil of the laughing god are stupidly strong. 2+ rerollable cover save with hit and run and melta gun+banshee mask+ laser lance for ~130.
Wave serpents also good pretty good, though expensive.
Fire dragons are great between battle trance, the better Serpents, and 3+ armor. Still a deal at 22 points.
Warp spiders got even better from an already good state.

scorpions.... they have promise infiltrating. I will see
Rangers got MUCH cheaper, but still are pretty meh in terms of damage and survival. Good back troop though.

stay away from guardians, they are still bad.
I still think wraithguard are a trap and are too easy to deal with.
Reapers still seem meh
Hawks are also meh still
banshees are meh

So sad the Banshees weren't tweaked at all. The girls really need some love.

spiritseets are level 2 and can take runes of BATTLE or telepathy...and join ANY unit

want scorpions with stealth and shroud? you got it! cheaper than karanadas!

I think one of them in a wraithguard squad will be nasty and put them in a wave serpent.



Automatically Appended Next Post:

BlaxicanX wrote:
So sad the Banshees weren't tweaked at all. The girls really need some love.

they were tweaked

fleet, battlefocus

mask is always now
and they run +3"

isn't an autarch only T3 though?

2+ re-rollable cover, sure. But if I'm ignoring your cover and I'm shooting 8 S6 Plasma guns at you... Well, I guess that's just Tau.

I'll tell you one thing, Eldar may have some over powered units, but they don't seem like Tau at all. In Tau, there's a fight for every slot, and it's very easy to quickly fill up every single FOC without a second thought.

I'm not trying to say Eldar aren't going to be OP, but I am saying that you have to be wary. Eldar are a codex of niches. (not a niche codex, like SOB or BT). What I mean is there are many paths to take, and some of them lead you down roads that force you to run certain things. Make sure you're ready to go down these paths once you commit to a list.

BlaxicanX wrote:
So sad the Banshees weren't tweaked at all. The girls really need some love.

They did get tweaked, they got worse lol. They dropped 1pt, got the ability to Run faster and had their Masks nerfed into the ground so they can't charge into cover anymore. The best use for them now is as a minimum sized squad charging in so that your real assault units (i.e Scorpions, Wraithblades, Wraithlords, Shining Spears) are guaranteed to go first.

@zephoid. I agree Jetbikes are amazing, but why would you only take 3 man units? I'm thinking the 6 man unit with 2 Cannons is going to be the bulk of my army, at 122pts they don't break the bank and then you add 1-2 9 man units with a Warlock for the Seer/s to join. Throw in a WK/Prisms/Nightspinner for long ranged support and a Crimson Hunter to give you some chance against fliers and you are good to go.

Except the other CC options all have grenades and high I, so they're probably going first anyway.

I'll also probably take 2x6 Jetbikes at least, instead of 4x3 which increases the demand for Warlocks.

Serpents are quite useful. With energy shield and holofield, they should be quite resilient. Moreover, I'd opt for Wraith units to be transported in Serpents and the army be led by a Spiritseer to make Wraith units troops.

3x jetbikes reduce target priority. An enemy will fire his "big guns" at 6x jetbikes. 3x though, why bother?. Its a waste of firepower. Most things that can kill 3 marines can kill more than 3 marines if fired. If you make them overkill your units, you are reducing their firepower. MSU wins games.

Autarch is T4 on jetbike. Plasma doesnt ID, you need something with less rof

Fliers are way overcosted. Dont even bother. The razorwing was iffy at 2/3 that cost and overall better firepower.Without any defensive equipment i will be sticking with nightwings.

Fire dragons melt everything for bargain bin prices still.

Marines? Fwoosh gone. Tanks? Fwoosh gone. MCs? Fwoosh gone. Terminators? Fwoosh gone. Fortifications? Fwoosh gone. Deathstars? Fwoosh gone.

The main question for an Eldar player is not if they should take Fire Dragons, but how many.

 Kain wrote:
Fire dragons melt everything for bargain bin prices still.

Marines? Fwoosh gone. Tanks? Fwoosh gone. MCs? Fwoosh gone. Terminators? Fwoosh gone. Fortifications? Fwoosh gone. Deathstars? Fwoosh gone.

The main question for an Eldar player is not if they should take Fire Dragons, but how many.

Thanks everyone for the suggestions!

I am already stocking up on Fire Dragons, Warp Spiders, and Dark Reapers. Helps that I happen to like all those models

I am thinking of picking up a Fire Prism, and definitely some new Wraithguard.

Any further suggestions?

-C6

I'm not up to date with the rumors, and it will be a while before I can see one of the codex's. Would someone be kind enough to tell me if the farseer's lost the board wide anti-psyker runes?

Yep they did. Runes are now one use only and barely register in the fight as the enemy needs to be targeting the Farseer's unit for the runes to come into play.

M.

Is it just me, or are warlocks overcosted at LD8 and needing to roll psychic tests?

I loved them, but then realized I'd only get the power off 75% of the time.

 Polonius wrote:
Is it just me, or are warlocks overcosted at LD8 and needing to roll psychic tests?

I loved them, but then realized I'd only get the power off 75% of the time.

i think that is why we can take 20 of them potentially and the army as a whole does not require them anymore.

Theorius wrote:

 Polonius wrote:
Is it just me, or are warlocks overcosted at LD8 and needing to roll psychic tests?

I loved them, but then realized I'd only get the power off 75% of the time.

i think that is why we can take 20 of them potentially and the army as a whole does not require them anymore.

Here's how I see it. Being an Ulthwé player I was a bit annoyed about the nerfs to Warlocks casting abilities, but I came to realise that actually its only an issue if you only need one or two, in which case the Spirit Seer actually make a very good Warlock alternative (I think he's actually the hidden gem of the codex). If you're looking to take full seer councils then the changes have little effect because of multiple redundancy, the powers are actually better and they're actually 7pts per wound cheaper to boot! Shame you can't take a jetspiritseer tho....

Theorius wrote:

 Polonius wrote:
Is it just me, or are warlocks overcosted at LD8 and needing to roll psychic tests?

I loved them, but then realized I'd only get the power off 75% of the time.

i think that is why we can take 20 of them potentially and the army as a whole does not require them anymore.

You can only take 10. They aren't unlocked by Farseers anymore, you get 10 per detachment which is yet another reason Jetcouncil builds are a bad idea. I still think they are worth bringing along for certain units (Jetbikes and Artillery in particular) if you run large units of them, simply because some of the powers on that chart are seriously powerful. But at 35pts a pop you shouldn't be throwing them into every squad.

@Farseer_Kaiser. I agree, the Spiritseer is a great buy, mostly because the Rune of Battle chart is actually better than the Rune of Fate chart. Its all Warp Charge 1, is all highly flexible and basically none of the powers are useless (Quicken is probably the worst, but when you are running and shooting an extra 3" can be helpful).

Just played against it:

Most special characters are good, but sadly are far too expensive. You pay for a bunch of random abilities that aren't that useful/won't be used.

Look at a special character. Look at the cost of a squad of fire dragons/wraithblades/wraithlord/fire prism. Reconsider.

Pathfinders(not rangers) are awful.

When playing, remember that wraiths are NOT INVINCIBLE. it is really easy to just assume they'll be alright, then your wraithlord is vaporized in one salvo by a forgefiend.

T8. W3. 3+. Don't forget.

Tough troops are a godsend for eldar, though. And fast ones, in the form of jetbikes.

 Scipio Africanus wrote:
isn't an autarch only T3 though?

2+ re-rollable cover, sure. But if I'm ignoring your cover and I'm shooting 8 S6 Plasma guns at you... Well, I guess that's just Tau.

I'll tell you one thing, Eldar may have some over powered units, but they don't seem like Tau at all. In Tau, there's a fight for every slot, and it's very easy to quickly fill up every single FOC without a second thought.

I'm not trying to say Eldar aren't going to be OP, but I am saying that you have to be wary. Eldar are a codex of niches. (not a niche codex, like SOB or BT). What I mean is there are many paths to take, and some of them lead you down roads that force you to run certain things. Make sure you're ready to go down these paths once you commit to a list.

Tau have some really clear winners in the HQ, Elite, Troops and FA slot. Which tend to be Etherals/Commander, Riptides/Crisis, Firewarriors, Pathfinders. Nothing else really registers in those slots. There is mostly certainly not a fight for every slot.

Jetbikes also improve T by +1, so the Autarch on a Jetbike will be T4.

Anyone have an opinion/experience about the Avatar?

Farseer_Kaiser wrote: Shame you can't take a jetspiritseer tho....

This +1

 Uriels_Flame wrote:

Farseer_Kaiser wrote: Shame you can't take a jetspiritseer tho....

This +1

I think that was done to prevent seers from joining de reavers or beast packs.

 catharsix wrote:
Anyone have an opinion/experience about the Avatar?

The manliest, most terrifying unit in our entire Codex.



If you field the Avatar, I think you'll really, really enjoy Forgeworld's Avatar of Khaine. Tactical efficacy be damned, he's worth fielding for awe-inspiring badassery alone.


In terms of tactical usage, though, he's an incredibly effective linebreaker but may require some support to get him to the front. His offensive profile is devastating against the right targets; he can put two BS 10 melta shots into a transport, then charge the remnants with a S6 Hammer of Wrath attack plus six S6 AP 2 attacks, all delivered at WS 10 and I10. After dusting off the squad, he can use Battle Focus to run and put two more melta shots into a tank ~22" away. Is there a heavy target in his way? Hit them with three S10 Smash attacks. The Avatar has the statline and attack options to clear a section of board for you if your opponent lets him run amok.

Of course, your opponent will probably not want this to happen! While he excels in assault, he can be tarpitted by Fearless hordes of cheap infantry (like Ork Boyz or Hormagaunts) and be unable to contribute to the greater fight. Further, some relatively common weapons (sniper, poison, plasma, missiles) can be used to gun down the 200 point Avatar swiftly if fire is concentrated on him. This is where having proper support can help save him.

First, the Avatar loves having another hard-hitting assault unit around to crush tarpitting infantry squads under weight of attacks. Striking Scorpions perform marvelously in this role, but most other Eldar assault units can do the job as well.

Second, the Avatar is a huge beneficiary of psychic support. He's a prime target for Fortune from the Farseer and Renewer from your Warlocks and Spiritseer.

Third, the Avatar benefits from having other tough, threatening units around who can draw fire from him. Wraithknights are a prime example of a distraction unit, but even units like Support Batteries and Wraithguard can help keep the Avatar alive by diverting hits that your magma-armored Daemon would otherwise have to soak himself.


In the previous edition, the Avatar was inexpensive enough that you could justify using him as a missile sponge for your vehicles and be satisfied with his contributions even if he didn't make it to the front lines. In the new Codex, the Avatar is a Marine-crushing, tank-impaling, Tyranid-roasting God of Battle who's expensive enough to warrant protecting. If you can, though, he's going to be demolishing sections of your opponents army with murderous efficiency.

^ Well you've sold me there, you should write the marketing blurb for GW

Can someone fill me in on Harlequins?
They've always been my favorite Eldar unit, and if this dex was nice to them it might be time to pick up a box...

 Chimaera2000 wrote:


The manliest, most terrifying unit in our entire Codex.

First, the Avatar loves having another hard-hitting assault unit around to crush tarpitting infantry squads under weight of attacks. Striking Scorpions perform marvelously in this role, but most other Eldar assault units can do the job as well.

Third, the Avatar benefits from having other tough, threatening units around who can draw fire from him. Wraithknights are a prime example of a distraction unit, but even units like Support Batteries and Wraithguard can help keep the Avatar alive by diverting hits that your magma-armored Daemon would otherwise have to soak himself.

I haven't gotten to play just yet, but I'm going to try and run my 5th ed tactic of having him screened by 3 War Walkers and flanked by 2 Wraithlords. This castle got a LOT more expensive to put on the board though.

I really like your Scorpion idea though. We'll have to see... Soon I hope.

UnadoptedPuppy wrote:
Can someone fill me in on Harlequins?
They've always been my favorite Eldar unit, and if this dex was nice to them it might be time to pick up a box...

Still do obscene amounts of damage, now are invincible at >24" but suffer greatly due to lack of spammable fortune and coversave. Previously I ran them with Fuegan to tank the damage at the front and a Fortuneseer to keep them alive but now I just don't see that being enough in isolation, they might work well with a Spiritseer in the squad behind a Wraithwall with Eldrad, aiming for either Fortune or Invisibility.

A nice little trick is to have a min size squad with a Shadowseer and maybe a Death Jester and no other upgrades, then add Maugan Ra to them, whacking people with 8 s6 rending shots with no chance of return fire, but I think that's more fun than competitive.

Just curious as in how do you put 2 melta shots in to a tank?

Makutsu wrote:
Just curious as in how do you put 2 melta shots in to a tank?

You can upgrade the Avatar to have fast shot.