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Hey all,

This is my first foray into a different army. I've played Orks my whole life, so making a list for a small elite army has proved quite challenging.

This is a planned 2000 points to work towards, based mostly on the models I already have. I'm looking for critique to see if I'm on the right track - I'm not aiming to win tournaments, just to have a decent TAC list.

HQ

Farseer - singing spear, runes of witnessing

Autarch - mandiblasters, fusion gun, scorpion chainsword

ELITES

Striking scorpions x5 + Exarch w/ scorpion claw, chainsword, crushing blow

Fire dragons x5 + Exarch w/ Firepike, fast shot
Wave serpent w/ TL scatter lasers, shuricannon, holofields

TROOPS

Guardians x10 w/ Bright lance platform

Guardians x10 w/ Bright lance platform

Dire avengers x9 + Exarch w/ power weapon and shimmershield, disarming strike
Wave serpent w/ TL scatter lasers, shuricannon, holofields

Jetbikes x5 w/ 1 shuricannon

FAST ATTACK

Vyper squadron - 2x vypers w/ 2x shuricannon, holofields

Warp spiders x4 + exarch w/ TL deathspinners, fast shot

HEAVY SUPPORT

Fire prism w/ shuricannon, holofields

Wraithlord w/ ghost glaive, shuripults, bright lance


The farseer goes with the dire avengers, the foot warlocks go with the guardian squads, the jetbike warlock goes with the windrider squad, autarch goes with the scorpions. Strategy wise I want the army to be nice and well-rounded - I play against a large variety of armies and lists, so I've tried to be as varied as I can with my unit selections.

Thanks for your feedback!

Upgrades on the dire avengers are a waste, and really shoudnt be taken at all unless they have a way to get close enough to shoot (Wave serpents). Same thing goes with guardians, they will just be outranged and outgunned and with there crap armor theyll just fold. They need a way to get close to shoot (wave serpents). Vypers are the flat out worst vehicle in the codex. Are outclassed by warwalkers in everyway it matters, and are easily beaten by the fire power that a wave serpent gives you. Wraith lords are slow and dont give anything to this list. Striking scorpions will never make it to combat and die way to easily. Not worth takings, especially in a 5 man squad.

So drop upgrades from DA, the vypers, striking scorpions, and the wraith lord,
and add 3 wave serpents for guardians and dire avengers. Then you got a good tac list.

Whilst NFD's suggestions will definitely make the list more cookie-cutter competitive, I'll offer some suggestions for improvements that aren't as major:

You haven't actually listed the Warlocks in your post, but I'll assume at least the one on Jetbike has a Singing Spear?
Blobbing the two guardian squads means they need to take more casualties before Ld tests, you'd only need one Warlock, and you'd only need to cast Conceal once rather than twice (meaning you can throw more dice at it). However, this means they can only hold one objective rather than 2, and a few other downsides, so have a think.
For the Dire Avengers, I'm not sold on Disarming Strike - it only takes an ordinary CCW to take out an Exarch anyway, I'm fond of Shield of Grace but YMMV.
For the Vypers, they want either dual-shuricannons or Scatter Laser / Shuricannon setup.
The Fire Prism, on the other hand, doesn't need the underslung upgrade - it should be far enough from it's target that a Shuricannon would be out of range or unable to damage it (AV13+).
Dual flamers win over dual catapults on Wraithlords IMHO, they're great against mass infantry - something the WL struggles with in melee.
There is an embargo against characters without Infiltrate joining units with Infiltrate - I'm away from my books so I can't remember if Outflank is still an option, and you've not really got much you'd want in reserves anyway, so the Autarch is a bit of a gooseberry. Without a PW he doesn't add much to the Scorps. I'll echo that the sentiment that Scorps can be difficult to get into combat, and however cool the Claw is they don't seem worth taking the whole squad of bullet-catchers for.
Runes of Witnessing are pricy (the Chaos version is re-usable), but if your dice rolls are like mine they can be worth it.

Thanks for the feedback!

I played my first game as Eldar last night at 1000 points against Imperial Guard, and won without losing a single model, lol.

Woop, I did forget to add the Warlocks to that list. I'll edit them back in. The one that's going with the jetbikes gets a singing spear.

Blobbing the guardians is definitely an option, but I like the flexibility of two squads, since they can fire at different targets with the bright lances if need be, or hold two objectives like you said. A second warlock also means another warp charge so yeah I'll probably keep em split.

I didn't realize the Autarch wouldn't be able to back up the scorpions like I anticipated... I'll have to think about what to take to replace him. Is a second Farseer a better option for another HQ?

I'll rejigger the list based on some of your suggestions and resubmit. Thanks again!

 Jambles wrote:
I'll have to think about what to take to replace him. Is a second Farseer a better option for another HQ?

Farseer's are good choices, but they are support characters rather than shooty or beatstick characters - you need to think about what that Farseer is going to be doing:

Most of the time, a Farseer is providing Guide / Prescience and Doom / Perfect Timing to increase another units shooting, or Fortune / Shrouding / Invisibility to increase it's survivability, so to make the most of a Farseer, you need to make sure he has a suitable target.
Warp Spiders for example are a great target for Guide - the 24" range is vital as they'll often be away from your lines, and with re-rolls they can pull anti-air duties with S7 weapons, but to make the most of the Blessing you want a larger unit than just 5 models. So rather than taking another Farseer to give another unit re-rolls (say, the DA), you could spend the points for a larger unit of Spiders in the first place and increase the effectiveness of the first Farseer.
Another angle for Farseers is to give them a Jetbike and some offensive spells, like Psychic Shriek.
In both cases, you'll need to think about how to protect them - either joined to a unit or upgrades like the Mantle of the Laughing God.

I'm not saying the Autarches are bad btw, just that to make the most of them they often show up in lists with a chunk of Reserves so that they can add value beyond being a beatstick.