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I have been wanting to play Eldar for quite a while and I have narrowed it down to two, possibly three styles of Eldar Army.

Biel-Tan Swordwind Warhost, Iyanden Ghost Warrior and possibly Saim-Hann Wild Riders.

As a complete novice Eldar Player, what are the strengths and weaknesses of each force and which force will be good for me?

I usually play small elite armies - Deathwing and Grey Knights, but I have also played Necrons and Orks.

I'm not a fan of huge numbers of models and I prefer effective elite armies.

Any help would be welcome.

No Eldar list is going to have huge numbers, really... But if you wanted to fill out the FOC with the fluff-appropriate armies...

Smallest number of models would be an Iyanden Wraith list I suppose. It will also be the slowest and the toughest. Aaaand probably the most expensive models to buy... So let's say you take all and only Wraith... You can get a Spiritseer, 40 Wraithguard/Blades, say 2 'lords and a 'knight. If you want pure Ghost Warrior you won't take any Elites or Fast Attack. You can get away with taking some Wave Serpents, however they can only hold 6 Wraithguard/Blades, so that would restrict your unit size... So let's say you take two units of 10 'guard, and 2 units of 6 'blades with serpents to get them in there. Then you rock a pair of 'lords and a great big 'knight.... That right there is just brushing 2000 points, depending on options taken. Not going to move very quickly across the board (except for the 'blades and the 'knight) but will be very hard to shift. Hmmm. I think I'm going to build just such a force, now that I've specced it out...! Ooh, maybe chuck a Wraithfighter in there as well for another couple of hundred points...
So - model count = 33 infantry, 3 MCs, 2 tanks and a flyer

Wild Riders - fastest, obviously, and I suppose in some ways the least flexible... Tactics are going to be: keep moving as much as possible, don't let them pin you down anywhere, shred infantry and pop tanks from range with your bigger guns. Again, if you were going to fill the FOC...

Autarch on jetbike
4 squads of 10 jetbikes with a warlock each
2 squads of 3 vypers
Let's say a Crimson Hunter, and one each of the battle tanks - Falcon, Fire Prism and Nightspinner. Your entire army can move 24-36" a turn, has shiteloads of anti-infantry fire and some serious anti-tank, depending on the Vyper options, you can be claiming a 4+ jink on nearly everything, more for some of them with the right warlock power rolls... Again, you're pushing 2200-2300 points filling the FOC like that.
Model count = 41 jetbikes + 4 jetbike conversions (sigh), 6 Vypers, 3 tanks, 1 flyer. Again, I'd love this force - would be a lot of fun to play, but has been kinda played a lot by a lot of people because it's so effective.

Swordwind will be the most flexible since it will be lots of Aspects. Will probably have the highest model count, and those models will be smaller fiddlier individuals instead of larger, easier to paint stuff... Not going to think about a list there because really, Swordwind means "take a bit of everything, particularly stuff with swords". So probably no Jetbikes, but still a tank or two, definitely a flyer, lots of Elites in Wave Serpents...


That's a bit rambly... hope it's at least a little helpful...!

Thank you very much for the info, it's helped a great deal.

So lets talk options.

The Ghost Warrior army does intrigue me, but as you've said it's very expensive and very slow. It also lacks an Anti Air option (aside from the Scatter Serpents pulling double duty with their Wave Attack after achieving Laser Lock). Another reason it appeals to me is the MC. I like huge models. Easy to paint and in game they tear stuff apart. Adding a Wraithseer or Avatar would be great here.

The Wild Riders have a nasty trick up their sleeve. The ability to be almost untouchable. 2+ Jink Saves on Jetbikes means you can take smaller squads and have the points elsewhere. It can be a very cheap army when compared to the Ghost Warriors, but this depends on what else you take. Three Fire Prism sounds mandatory or two with a Falcon carrying some Fire Dragons. That's a lot of long range firepower.

Finally... the Swordwind army. This army is very expensive. A lot more than both the above armies. Most Aspect squads need ten men to be effective. Thats £50 per squad and that is expensive when you factor in that you might need transports too. That's now £80 a squad. Not very appealing to me. Also, this is not a very forgiving force. One mistake can cost you dearly and lose you the game. I like playing high risk, high reward armies, but I like a little resilience here and there.

So that narrows it down to two armies... Ghost Warrior and Wild Riders.

Going to write up a couple of lists and see how it works.

Thanks again.

I would use a variety tbh. I don't think any will be that effective on their own (Saim Hann for example will be fin right up to facing Tau or anything else that can ignore cover saves) it's best to have a balance of units.


While all these Craftworlds are known for their specialty, none of them will use it exclusively.

 shamikebab wrote:
I would use a variety tbh. I don't think any will be that effective on their own (Saim Hann for example will be fin right up to facing Tau or anything else that can ignore cover saves) it's best to have a balance of units.


While all these Craftworlds are known for their specialty, none of them will use it exclusively.

I appreciate what you're saying, but I am looking for more of a themed army to use in my games.

Every army has a weakness.

My Deathwing have murdered every army except Eldar (the previous ruleset), Dark Eldar and Orks.

If you love the fluff or a certain set of models, it shouldn't matter which army is your armies Achilles heel.

I think I'm gonna go for Iyanden Ghost Warriors though. Seeing that the Iyanden Codex has rules for fielding said army and is packed with the fluff from my favourite Craftworld, I'm going with that.

I think the Ghost Warrior fluff is pretty awesome, and makes for some fun lists. So long as you have some stuff in there that can move fast (such as WSs for your Wraithguard and hell, TWO 'knights) you should be fine. It's about the only Eldar army that can afford to be slow and slog it up under fire....!

TWO KNIGHTS???

Well I suppose that would be ok as the Wraithlord would be my Warlord under the Iyanden.