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I've always hated eldar. With a passion.

Mainly. Because a friend plays them and they've always seem ridonkulously overpowered but.. I think they're the army that I want..

They have a low model count... So it makes them easier to paint.
They have some fairly elite units..
They can be either cc or shooting orientated.
That have a big centerpiece unit (wraith knight)
They have some pretty awesome vehicles (fire prism) (war walkers)
And they have that forge world avatar!

Question in hand is... can you play eldar and do well whilst avoiding power lists??

I'd want to take dark reapers and fire dragons! Wraith guard or wraith Lords.. maybe an avatar leading striking scorpions or howling banshees?

Eldar are weaker and their armor isn't that great, but they can pack a punch. Instead of using Farseers, Spiritseers and Warlocks just go with the Autarch or Avatar. The only thing bad thing that I have seen with an Avatar is getting his T down by one and having Arjac Rockfist take him out. Other than that he can tank. I've seen Striking Scorpions do some work, better off infiltrating them than charging in for linebreaker. Wave Serpents are OP. Wraith armies are pretty scary too.

If you want an army with a reasonably low model count that looks awesome, go with the Great Court Of The Young King - it used to be an apocalypse formation but you can more-or-less recreate it in normal 40k

it's one squad of each aspect plus an Avatar of Khaine.

It's a challenge to play because you'll end up mostly footslogging, and your units are all very specialised, but you've got the ability to handle any threat with the right tactics.

I love the idea of them. I was actually set of Space wolves but I'm not feeling the love at the moment. They just feel like any other MEQ army? Aside from TWC which I quite like.

I like the idea of eldar being completely different. But then I don't want to play a power list. But then am I gimping myself by not doing so? Can eldar play well with an autarch rather then a farseer?

Can I get my troops close without spamming wave serpents??

locarno24 wrote:
If you want an army with a reasonably low model count that looks awesome, go with the Great Court Of The Young King - it used to be an apocalypse formation but you can more-or-less recreate it in normal 40k

it's one squad of each aspect plus an Avatar of Khaine.

It's a challenge to play because you'll end up mostly footslogging, and your units are all very specialised, but you've got the ability to handle any threat with the right tactics.

Isn't the Court of the Young King one each of the Phoenix Lords and the Avatar?

Eldar can be great no matter how you play them, provided you cover the basics and your units work together.

I still feel Eldars best strength is its speed, which footslogging kinda negates.

I often play Swordwind with basically one box of each Aspect. Threw the FD into a transport, add more DAs (2x10 or 1x10+2x5), and a Phoenix Lord (or Avatar - similar in points). Everything but the Fragons footslog. Makes it hard to get the troops into position, but it feels more 'right', and people seem to enjoy that list.

The Avatar can't join any unit as an MC. Plasma and missiles eat it. Most anti-Marine weapons will, aside from the flamers/meltas of course. But he is a boss.

It can be hard to have the necessary mobility without transports.
With Falcon transports, you're eating HS slots, meaning you're capped at 3. But you probably will want some other HS toys (Wraithlord, Reapers, and War Walkers are all up there with the Falcon for how fun they are). And you're limited to 6 models, so you can't push with a decent sized unit using Falcons.
Serpents allow 12 models, and are DTs, but they pack so much firepower they ruin games. And, at their points level, you need to use at least some of their shooting (115 stock, usually 145 kitted). So you really can't utilize them much without hurting the game.

Eldar do have Battlefocus, but as just shown, unless you're gonna bring a few Serpents, your troops are still slow compared to anything else mounted. A lot of people use bikes for the speed. Great harassment, movement, and Obsec. But not my flavor, and can't push a line.

My point being, be careful not to fall into the Davu/WK trap (most people don't enjoy that), and Eldar can be a lot of fun. They do have limitations, and youll have to know them. Don't send DAs after Rhinos or stronger. Don't send FDs against Orks or Rhinos. Know what mobility everything has, and be wary of the lack of DS and such. But Eldar can be fun for both players.

My other piece of advice is to wait a while. What you seem to like about Eldar is mostly true for a number of other factions too. I'm not so sure they're what you're looking for.

 Andy140491 wrote:
I love the idea of them. I was actually set of Space wolves but I'm not feeling the love at the moment. They just feel like any other MEQ army? Aside from TWC which I quite like.

I like the idea of eldar being completely different. But then I don't want to play a power list. But then am I gimping myself by not doing so? Can eldar play well with an autarch rather then a farseer?

Can I get my troops close without spamming wave serpents??

I think it'd be a cool challenge to play all the aspects+avatar.

I'd say that, plus a DE allied detachment for:

1 fairly wimpy archon to super-deep strike the unit of spiders
1 thing of basic kabalites for required troops
A Raider to carry your Howling Banshees (they are in desperate need of an assault vehicle)

So then you'll probably need 1 serpent for the fire dragons. Footslogging reapers, deep striking hawks, deep striking spiders, infiltrating scorpions.

And Outflanking a squad of Warwalkers can do some stuff.

To your question if an Autarch can play well without the Farseer, its a gamble now theses days. With the release of 7th edition i have seen more pyskers in peoples list now than before, so you might have to try that for yourself. And Wave Serpents are used to generally camp on objectives with troops in it. Put I have played against an Footdar list and I lost because of the spam of guys he had.