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Hey there, haven't used Dakka Dakka in a long time, been away from my Eldar for far too long. Recently did a battle with my older brother where he played all the loose Space Marines lying about our house, and I played my Eldar. My army was roughly 2000 points, his was probably more than that (many many many marines). We had to use a long table as we don't own any boards - this might have been a contributing factor - and so in my first three turns I was absolutely helpless (especially my Avatar, who I didn't move for fear he'd get nuked).

I'd stealthed my Striking Scorpions into a decent amount of cover so they couldn't be taken out early, and they joined around the turning point of the battle, however they ended up (as they always have for me) being pretty damn useless.
What are other people's experiences with Striking Scorpions? Against my dad's Battle Sisters they had the same effect where he'd be attacking them with around 20 men but unable to kill them, however the Scorpions were doing nothing in return, and it would be up to the Avatar, Farseer, and Warlocks to carry my army to victory.

Though this time I had some pretty strong luck with my Harlequins and Fire Dragons, I'd like to know if the purpose of Striking Scorpions is just to be tanks and soak up fire, because that's all they've done for me...

Furthermore if someone could give me some helpful tips for fighting Space Marines (forgot how strong they were, sheesh), I'd be very thankful.

Cheers in advance!

I see Striking Scorpions as a Turn 2 trump card, with a Wave Serpent transport as well. Infiltrate deep into enemy territory, aim for a Devastator, Havoc, Pathfinder squad, anything that typically hides and shoots and has a massive bearing on the rest of the game. Use the Serpent turn 1, maybe with star and shuriken cannons just to lay down the hurt in a single deluge, deploy the Scorpions behind it but still in assault range, the Devs either move away (so they can't shoot well), stand their ground (and get assaulted turn 2) or other units move in to support (tying up a decent amount of the board to kill a single tough unit).

Sadly, I have no playtesting experience with this idea since my Eldar games are still too low points for Scorpions. I can only say how I plan to use them in 2000pt games.

 SharkoutofWata wrote:
I see Striking Scorpions as a Turn 2 trump card, with a Wave Serpent transport as well. Infiltrate deep into enemy territory, aim for a Devastator, Havoc, Pathfinder squad, anything that typically hides and shoots and has a massive bearing on the rest of the game. Use the Serpent turn 1, maybe with star and shuriken cannons just to lay down the hurt in a single deluge, deploy the Scorpions behind it but still in assault range, the Devs either move away (so they can't shoot well), stand their ground (and get assaulted turn 2) or other units move in to support (tying up a decent amount of the board to kill a single tough unit).

Sadly, I have no playtesting experience with this idea since my Eldar games are still too low points for Scorpions. I can only say how I plan to use them in 2000pt games.

Yeah I am going to disagree with pretty much all of this. For the record I have a generally low view of eldar melee.

Firstly, you can't get a serpent in front of scorpions that have infiltrated. You don't want then in the serpent because it's not an assault vehicle. Serpents perform best when carrying your heavy shooters, generally wraith guard with scythes or fire dragons.

The second use of serpents it to pair with dire avenger squads. This gives them objective secured in 7th and provides two tough and mobile units to go grab objectives.

On to your specific tactics. If the avatar isn't moving down the field, he is wasted points. That was mistake 1. Long boards aren't an issue for eldar as an army, it's just your model set. Jet bikes, swooping hawks, and warp spiders have massive mobility and a rather lethal attack. Look into getting some of those.

Marines have great initial mobility, but once they are committed they can't change position very well. Against marine players, I build what I call the crescent of death. Get them to commit forces to an objective. Pull your forces around them on the flanks. By turn 3 you should have set up an arc of fire around their leading elements. Power armor is great, but eldar can really put out some firepower. His advance elements die, your highly mobile stuff is messing up his back field and you have table control. Enjoy your win.

Dessorag wrote:
Firstly, you can't get a serpent in front of scorpions that have infiltrated. You don't want then in the serpent because it's not an assault vehicle. Serpents perform best when carrying your heavy shooters, generally wraith guard with scythes or fire dragons.

The second use of serpents it to pair with dire avenger squads. This gives them objective secured in 7th and provides two tough and mobile units to go grab objectives.

On to your specific tactics. If the avatar isn't moving down the field, he is wasted points. That was mistake 1. Long boards aren't an issue for eldar as an army, it's just your model set. Jet bikes, swooping hawks, and warp spiders have massive mobility and a rather lethal attack. Look into getting some of those.

Marines have great initial mobility, but once they are committed they can't change position very well. Against marine players, I build what I call the crescent of death. Get them to commit forces to an objective. Pull your forces around them on the flanks. By turn 3 you should have set up an arc of fire around their leading elements. Power armor is great, but eldar can really put out some firepower. His advance elements die, your highly mobile stuff is messing up his back field and you have table control. Enjoy your win.

Okay, I think I was carrying my Farseer and Warlocks one of my Wave Serpents and the others had a Dire Avengers squad. The second one got knocked out pretty quickly by a Lascannon, whilst the latter wasn't maneuvered very well because our table's very thin (not much space to switch troops around). Will try it with the Fire Dragons next time, who were probably my 2nd MVPs after the Harlequins.

We're investing in a new board with some better scenery and terrain, so some of my units will have a better chance earlier on (Dire Avengers and Guardians couldn't shoot until the third turn and were being gunned down by bolters the entire time.

I'll definitely take a look into a more mobile army, for now I guess I require some much better planning and a new battlefield for my army to stand a chance.

Thanks!

A Scorpion vs Marine battle is exactly the same as a Marine vs Marine battle, E.G Not time efficient. You will both be smacking each other over and over and neither will have much effect due to armour. To counter this, you have to take what you can get to sweeten the amount of damage you can do per round of combat. Scorpions have access to one such thing that is extremely effective, The Exarch. A SS Exarch with Scorpion Claw is putting out 4 Str 6 AP 2 attacks at I 6 on the charge, usually killing 3 Marines by his lonesome before they get to strike. In contrast, it takes 36 attacks of a normal Scorpion (!) to statistically kill that many Marines, That Exarch is pulling the weight of 12(!!!) Scorpions in this pathetic slap fight that is 3+ vs 3+. Not to mention the fact he is a Beast in challanges, adds punch enough to scare MC's and can potentially threaten light vehicles rear armour.

You *WILL* take the Scorpion Claw and you will enjoy it, because if ANY OTHER RACE had access to this weapon, it would be the most OP thing in the game...