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Getting a bit tired of Mechdar, so I decided to draw up a "horde"-style Eldar list, not something you see a ton of, but Guardians are cheap and damn shooty, so why not? Here it is for critique:

1850 points
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Primary Detachment: Eldar

HQ

Farseer, Singing Spear - 105
Farseer - 100
(Both join a blob of Guardians)

Troops

20x Guardians, 2x Bright Lances - 220
20x Guardians, 2x Bright Lances - 220
20x Guardians, 2x Bright Lances - 220
3x Windrider Jetbikes 51
3x Windrider Jetbikes 51

Fast Attack

10 Warp Spiders 190

Dedicated Transports (lol)

Wave Serpent, TL Scatter Lasers, Shuricannon, Holo-field 145
Wave Serpent, TL Scatter Lasers, Shuricannon, Holo-field 145
Wave Serpent, TL Scatter Lasers, Shuricannon, Holo-field 145

Allied Detachment - Tau

HQ

Commander - 2x Burst Cannon, Target Lock, Vectored Retro-Thrusters, Puretide Engram Neurochip, XV8-02 Crisis Iridium Battlesuit, Neuroweb System Jammer, Onager Gauntlet, 2x Shield Drones 186
(attaches to 3rd Guardian blob)

Troops

10x Kroot w/Sniper Rounds 70

The Farseers will join a blob each, rolling mostly on Divination for the goodies there, but one of them will probably pick up Guide for the third Guardian blob (unless I rekit the Tau Commander to take the re-roll to hit Signature System).

While allying Tau is definitely a bit passe, I chose to do so in this list since the primary detachment only allows for 2 Guardian blobs with an attached HQ - the native Guardian leadership of 8 is just too crappy to let them roll solo, and I definitely wanted 3 blobs for a real "horde" feel. There are downsides to using the Tau Commander as well, namely being that units he joins can't use their Eldar-specific movement while he's with them (Guardians can't Battle Focus, and Warp Spiders can't Warp Jump or Battle Focus, although they can still Thrust).

The main area I'm looking for advice on is how to kit out the Commander. Right now he's set up for tanking wounds with his 2+ armor and Shield Drones, in addition to Split Firing, but I could definitely be persuaded to go full "Support Tank" with him, dropping his weapons and Target Lock for some combination of the Reroll-to-hit/Ignores Cover Signature Systems, Feel No Pain, or the 4+ Inv.

Other than that, most of the list should be self-explanatory - the Guardian blobs provide great anti-tank platforms (of any AV) at range while obliterating any infantry/MCs that get close to them, Wave Serpents and Warp Spiders do what they do.

Thanks in advance for any help!

well i would get 3 warlocks to go with the gardians, giving them cover is nice, even with there low leadership.

 ninjafiredragon wrote:
well i would get 3 warlocks to go with the gardians, giving them cover is nice, even with there low leadership.

Yeah, that's definitely a viable option, but the 28% chance of failure on the Conceal (and 5.5% chance of Perils) is too unreliable for my tastes for 35 points. The hope is to get the 4+ Inv power from Divination on the Farseers, and use the Tau Commander to tank wounds on the other blob. Absolute worst case scenario... they're just Guardians, and that's the beauty of it!

I did consider a build which takes a Spiritseer (or Iyanden Spiritseer Council) instead of the second Farseer, which would give me Conceal on 83% instead of 72%, plus more powers on Runes of Battle/Telepathy, but overall my inclination is to go with the Farseer for Divination/Runes of Fate and guaranteed LD10.

This list is silly, ridiculous, insane and I love it. Way to think outside the box!

The eldar segment is really tight. The singing spear can be tossed for points elsewhere, but otherwise good. As far as your psychic powers, I always try to get doom/fortune from runes of fate. If I get either, roll again to get the other. Take guide on any other power. Once I have guide I go to divination, looking for the 4++, maybe misfortune. Default prescience. Telepathy with spare rolls for invisibility or hallucination, shriek is a nice backup. This list is one of the only ones I would advise against taking fortune, as you don't have anything to really bolster. Doom is amazing though. Forwarning on div is nice, and so is prescience in case you need the re rolls for melee. Long story short, you want to get some kind of save boost for your blobs. Shooting is fine till your shot dead.

This is a list where you don't need the tau commander to just sit there. The farseers can guide/prescience the squad, so you don't need the C&C node. Ignoring cover is nice, but not required. I would take missile pods over the burst cannons though. The range and strength mesh well with the bright lances for AT duty. Stim injectors may be a better buy than the target lock, but finding the points will be tough.

Last but not least, consider a kroot hound for the kroot. Helps with outflank, and if nothing else its an ablative wound and I5. Cheap for the utility gained.

This list is silly, ridiculous, insane and I love it. Way to think outside the box!

Thanks! I will give credit for the general concept to the winning list at Feast of Blades. He used 2 Guardian blobs and eschewed Tau allies in favor of double Wraithknights, but I wanted to fit a 3rd blob in there for maximum elf-y silliness.

 Dr. Serling wrote:

The eldar segment is really tight. The singing spear can be tossed for points elsewhere, but otherwise good.

I actually just included the Spear because that's how my Farseer is currently modeled, but I could proxy it if I absolutely needed to.

As far as your psychic powers, I always try to get doom/fortune from runes of fate. If I get either, roll again to get the other. Take guide on any other power. Once I have guide I go to divination, looking for the 4++, maybe misfortune. Default prescience. Telepathy with spare rolls for invisibility or hallucination, shriek is a nice backup. This list is one of the only ones I would advise against taking fortune, as you don't have anything to really bolster. Doom is amazing though. Forwarning on div is nice, and so is prescience in case you need the re rolls for melee. Long story short, you want to get some kind of save boost for your blobs. Shooting is fine till your shot dead.

Yeah, I generally agree that Div and RoF are comparable, but in this list IMO Div should get first preference. The 4++ is the most important power to get, and the only power I wouldn't have much use for is Precog - even Scrier's Gaze is useful for getting the Warp Spiders/Kroot/Jetbikes on the board when I want them to be. Whereas on RoF, Guide and Doom are great as always, but everything else is meh. If I go with the shooty Commander though, I will definitely be picking up at least one Guide for his unit.

This is a list where you don't need the tau commander to just sit there. The farseers can guide/prescience the squad, so you don't need the C&C node. Ignoring cover is nice, but not required. I would take missile pods over the burst cannons though. The range and strength mesh well with the bright lances for AT duty. Stim injectors may be a better buy than the target lock, but finding the points will be tough.

Yeah, I could find the points for Stim injectors, but the Support Systems slot for Target Lock just seems too important to me for maximum shooting efficiency - if my Guardians are unloading 36 TL shuricatapult shots and 2 TL Lances into some nearby infantry squad or MC, that target is almost certainly dead, so I'd rather use my Commander's weaponry to spread the hurt to something else. The other support system I could cut would be the Retro-thrusters, but Fleet (allowing the whole squad to use it, it's all or nothing) and Hit and Run are excellent for both survivability and mobility of the blob. I'd rather just lean hard on the Commander's 2+ armor, and if he gets targeted with AP2 weaponry, it's often few enough wounds that LOS'ing the wounds to the Shield Drones or a few Guardians isn't a big deal.

Last but not least, consider a kroot hound for the kroot. Helps with outflank, and if nothing else its an ablative wound and I5. Cheap for the utility gained.

Definitely a good option, Acute Senses is really useful for just a few points. I'm not that familiar with the Tau dex so thanks for pointing that out!