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What is the best way for Eldar to deal with Raven Wing that gets in my face turn 1?

Shoot them? If you can deal with T4, I don't see T5 being much more difficult.

Maybe bring wraithguard or get in some vehicles?

SoloFalcon1138 wrote:Shoot them? If you can deal with T4, I don't see T5 being much more difficult.

Yeah.

Anything with S6 is wounding T5 on 3's, which is still pretty good, and bikes only have the same armor save as marines, but are more expensive, so there will be fewer of them.

Likewise, S4 isn't exactly bad against T5 when you bring a bunch of it.

S4 Catapults anyone?

The same way the other Xenos armies deal with them... Shoot them till they hit you then mop up.

so sheer volume of fire seems to be the direction. Thank you.
I have issues with their invul sves and FNP from the banner.

Don't get me wrong they are powerful and they are fast and that combination makes them deadly. But I have yet to find an issue with them if I direct fire at them. If you shoot enough at something it will go away.

Shoot the banner first to get rid of the FnP. Once that is gone focus on the other stuff.

Is the banner in a command squad or LR?

Matt2429 wrote:
so sheer volume of fire seems to be the direction. Thank you.
I have issues with their invul sves and FNP from the banner.

most Ravenwing bikers dont have an invul save, most dont have FNP. If they have a ++ save or FNP, figure out where it is coming from and what it's range is. Then focus on killing the other easier bikers first.

Dark reapers...

You did pick up the new Eldar codex right?
Cause if you didn't then your problem makes since; otherwise it should be that you feel so bad for your ravenwing opponent who you will wipe the floor with on the fire turn

Yeah a dark reaper unit ruins all ravenwing units.

I would suggest bringing a Wraithknight to stop him getting up in your face straight away. Ravenwing really struggle to deal with a Wraithknight, he can reliably chop through a squad of Bikes in two rounds so if he gets up in your face you can push the WK in and slowly clean him up.

This is one of the many matchups where I think the common Mech Eldar builds will get shown up as a weaker build compared to a more infantry heavy one using Spiders. Against vehicles the Ravenwing can close the distance in two turns or so and get Krak Grenades into the rear armour. Against a list with Spiders pushing forward that fast just puts you straight into their ideal shooting range, and a squad of Spider is going to mess up a squad of Bikes per turn even without Guide.

Really depends on what support units the RW player takes. I play RW and have come accross many Eldar players who just didnt know how to "get away". You can focus fire thats great so can we. I can go on and on about how to counter all of the ideas thrown your way. But i will not instead ill help out. Best thing to do is snipe the banner, Kill the black knights kill the libby and kill the darkshorud if taken. Your going to have to soften him up befor you go for the kill and waste shots. Now if its a bare bone get as many bikers as you can. Kill the black knights first as they are the heavy hitters and then the norm bikes. When you deploy do not bunch up either, well i surround the player so they have no where to go which is ez turn one to do. Lock you down and shoot assualt HAR an do it all over again. Also the WK is going to be the first target or tarpited with some bikes, so i wouldnt put all your eggs in one basket on him.

How will I ever deal with the expensive 3+ saves who like getting close to me?

Surely these dirt cheap pseduo-rending weapons won't be of any use.

 Chumbalaya wrote:
How will I ever deal with the expensive 3+ saves who like getting close to me?

Surely these dirt cheap pseduo-rending weapons won't be of any use.

Nor those Starcannons or Dark Reapers. Especially those Dark Reapers with Starshot missiles. Hell, those darn Warp Spiders with their average 17" movement per turn with S6 weapons that can be AP1 are damn near useless in these situations.

wave serpents and fire prisms work well, my RW have alot of issues with my buddy who runs either mechdar or jetbikes.

Eldar has the tools to destroy RW. its not very hard to do so either. Black knights need to be killed first there plas talons will ruine your day S7 AP2 twin linked. Depends on how many he has. Do star cannons and repears,warp siders have anything that ignor cover? I play eldar as well, but cant recall if they do..

I wouldn't recommend a Wraithknight. A Rad shell will lower your toughness, then you'll get torn apart by twin linked plasma followed by Corvus hammers.

Strght 5 hammer right Plus 1 to strght and rending.

 SheSpits wrote:
Strght 5 hammer right Plus 1 to strght and rending.

the rending is enough. The plasma will put on a ton of wounds to begin with and then every 6 to wound is another wound down. For 200 points you could do better.

If he's playing banner of devastation, try and kill the black knights first. the Rad launcher would lower wraithguard, yes, but it would also make Guardians and Dire avengers T2.

24 bolter shots a squad +T2=a lot of dead space elfs.

 Exergy wrote:

Matt2429 wrote:
so sheer volume of fire seems to be the direction. Thank you.
I have issues with their invul sves and FNP from the banner.

most Ravenwing bikers dont have an invul save, most dont have FNP. If they have a ++ save or FNP, figure out where it is coming from and what it's range is. Then focus on killing the other easier bikers first.

I made a mistake on this part when I didn't question him to see the rules.

He claimed that his raven wing had FnP and the invul save. Everybody says shoot them til it hurts but they assaulted half my army turn 2. cause of thier scout move and him going first.

He may be taking the FNP from a banner that makes a 12" bubble from a RW comand squad

and those invuln saves are probably just jink saves, as he gets those every time a bikes move. It can be improved with turbo boost, Skilled rider and both stealth and shroud.

Did he have any of those derp speeders behind him?

He will get a +5 cover save for moving, maybe this is where you are getting the invuln save idea from?

If he has FNP then it will either be coming from apothecaries or the FNP banner. Both are pretty expensive and no more durable than a normal biker, just target them asap. (The standard bearer isn't even a character, so no watch out sir rolls).
If he is using the FNP banner, instead of the dakka banner, then consider yourself lucky. His firepower will be greatly limited by how few models he has on the table. (Only 1 banner may be taken per army, tough he could have the ravenwing standard as well).

Now as for tactics: Take out the dakka banner first if he has one, followed by the black knights. (Kill the FNP squad early if they are making a blob, remember FNP banner only has 12 range, Dakka banner is only range 6(!). These make great targets for blast weapons (especially ap 3+, so suncannons, fireprisms, D-cannons).

If he likes to assault then try to use cover, normal bikes are just tough tac marines in assault (only 1 str 4 attack) and must still check for difficult terrain.
Castling up in cover might be a decent tactic if appropriate cover is available. Try to shoot down the black knights first and only present dedicated melee units or guardian tar pits to be charged.

Wraith units could prove valuable. T6 is great at shrugging off bolter fire, though the standard 12 range of the guns may leave them standing idle a lot of the game. T8 MC will have to be used carefully, as ravenwing often field a lot of melta weapons, though they are still much better off than most vehicles.
A Wraithknight could be very valuable due to its high movement speed. Ravenwing often use their speed to gain the advantage. By fielding a highly mobile T8 MC you can put more pressure on him. Just be make sure to support it and try to keep rad grenades off it.

Darkshorud plus black knights and a biker libby with PFG will give them a 2+cover save and a 3+ invuln might be 4. Sammy with norm bikers will give them Skilled rider. We also have hit and run so be carful with that to. You best bet is to bottle neck him. And the libby can cast buffs on them as well.

black knights always have skilled rider, so sammy might be in the RW command squad to make them more mobile with the turbo boost Warlord Trait, or for more wounds.

Put Sammy with a unit of nom bikers and they all get Skilled rider. Its a tick i use to try and spread out more buffs. Plus it creates more threat targets to the enemy makeing them split fire. Its worked pretty good for me as my libby is my warlord not sammy. Ive only done this twice though lol.

Pre-FAQ Sam was often used to pad out command squads to protect the banner. Now the squad can be 5 man it has less importance.
You could also run him with black knights as they are suited to CC, whereas in a RAS he wouldn't get to use his sword much.

That said I'm more of a fan of using his speeder. 200 points for 1 plasmacannon and some str 4 (even if it is ap2) melee attacks isn't worth 200 points to me.
BS 5 assault cannon and heavy bolter with av 14 is more worth the price tag IMO. (Might not be a good choice here though, depending on how many bright lances the eldar have.)