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So after years away from the hobby and after purging quite literally every piece of wargaming stuff I owned some buddies and I are thinking about getting back into the game. By thinking about it I mean we are like 99.9% going to be starting up again. Yay for me having to re build a board and collect terrain etc. Anyway I am trying to determine if anyone has put together a psuedo Start Collecting list for Eldar. One of my buddies is going to be playing Tau and the other is likely playing Space Marines both of which have a Start Collecting box. In order to keep things small and tight when we first start I would like to build an Eldar army that mimics those boxes in terms of point values.

I understand being exact is hard but if someone could just at least point me in the right direction or give me a starting point that would be grand! Thanks!

https://www.games-workshop.com/en-US/Eldar-Battleforce

Isn't a bad idea. Some decent troops, decent vehicles. Warp spiders are good, farseers are good, maybe a wraithlord.

 Kap'n Krump wrote:
https://www.games-workshop.com/en-US/Eldar-Battleforce

Isn't a bad idea. Some decent troops, decent vehicles. Warp spiders are good, farseers are good, maybe a wraithlord.

This is pretty much the only thing close to a "Get Started" for Eldar, and it is pretty good. The biggest 2 differences between that and the Marine & Tau "Start Collecting" boxes is
1) Those sets come as a Formation, with rules in the box
2) Those sets come with an HQ model.

Get a Farseer Skyrunner pack as your HQ and the Battle Force and you have a force comparable to the Marine & Tau "start collecting" boxes.

I was expecting a Get Started box for the Eldar consisting of:

-Plastic Farseer
-Three new Jetbikes
-Guardian squad w/ platform
-Warwalker

Would be about in line with the size of the other boxes and a similar deal if priced $85. I wonder if we'll even see one.

Elbows wrote:
I was expecting a Get Started box for the Eldar consisting of:

-Plastic Farseer
-Three new Jetbikes
-Guardian squad w/ platform
-Warwalker

Would be about in line with the size of the other boxes and a similar deal if priced $85. I wonder if we'll even see one.

Ehhh...it's important to realize that they're not trying to give you "the best deal" possible or any such nonsense. Nor are they trying to give you a pointswise matching army. They're giving you a Formation to work with.
The other boxes consist of 3 items(2 boxes and a clamshell) for the most part. The only real exceptions off the top of my head are the Imperial Guard one, which includes a single Heavy Weapons Team because the Cadian Shock Troops box only includes a Flamethrower and Grenade Launcher, and the Ork one. Both of those are 4 items.

You'd likely see the following:
Guardian Squad with Platform
Wraithlord(an underselling item)
Autarch OR Farseer plastic kit(one or the other)
That clocks in at $108.50 MSRP.

The IG one is $115.5, Marines one is $119.25, Tau is $153(that's an estimate as the Ethereal on Hover Drone has not been sold separately), Necrons are $113.75, Orks are $129.50, Skitarii/Cult is $141, Tyranids are $133.75, and last but not least(I don't count Daemons as they've got AoS formations only) is Space Wolves clocking in at $127.25(and technically 4 items since it includes the old Space Marine Commander box AND a Space Wolves upgrade pack to make the Wolf Lord).

There's an alternative in the form of them doing a "Wraithhost" theme for it, with:
Farseer
Wraithlord
Wraithguard/Wraithblades box
That clocks in at $116.25 MSRP.

Yeah, all the Start Collecting boxes are: 1 Troop, 1 HQ & 1 Special thingy. The only exception I see is the Necron Scarabs (but they come on the Warrior sprue) and the Nurgle box which comes with 2 Troops (but again, one of the is a swarm)

If we follow this pattern the likely Eldar options are:
HQ: Farseer on Foot, or Skyrunner, or Plastic Autarch
Troop: Gaurdians, Windriders or Dire Avengers
Special: Any other plastic kit, but most likely a Grav-Tank

I worked out the points for the units with the war gear they come with and the points in the boxes are pretty close to the same. At least based on my information. I guess I'll just browse ebay for some units for cheap don't really want to buy a battleforce+ at this moment.

New baby on the way so I'm trying to work with a limited budget for the time being. Thanks for the input guys!

If I were to make a start collecting force for eldar it would be:

Farseer

10 dire avengers

Wraithlord

This keeps up with the theme of 1 hq, 1 troop, 1 big scary thing.

The dire avengers will do fine with their rending shots especially well if they have a shimmer shield to protect against ap 4. The farseer allows for psychic shenanigans and the wraithlord can tangle with the space marine dreadnought your buddy will have in his start collecting box.

Wraithlords are meh. Too slow and too less damage output.
A core could be:

Jetseer
2x3 Jetbikers
10 Guardians
5 Wraithguard w/ Serpent
1-3 Warwalkers

 wuestenfux wrote:
Wraithlords are meh. Too slow and too less damage output.
A core could be:

Jetseer
2x3 Jetbikers
10 Guardians
5 Wraithguard w/ Serpent
1-3 Warwalkers

Yes, let's put str D and 7 units in a 100 dollar, start collecting box. That's fair and makes sense right? We're trying to make a box in line with the rest, not start an army. Look at the other boxes for reference, each has 3 units and are around the same points.

I don't expect wraithlord to be there.
Any aspect other than dire avengers also unlikely.

Also, the HQ/troop/big thing does not necessarily apply. Tau had crisis team instead of big thing, so it's probably more of a HQ/troop/iconic type of thing.

Probably will be autarch HQ (no psykers for start collecting), maybe on jetbike, guardians for troops, and a pack of jetbikes.

 BoomWolf wrote:
I don't expect wraithlord to be there.
Any aspect other than dire avengers also unlikely.

There aren't many options for things that have unique or interesting rules for Eldar or that are a Walker/ Monstrous Creature.
Wraithlord is most likely for several reasons, most notably that they're considered a 'tax unit' for the Wraithhost and they do not sell well.

Also, the HQ/troop/big thing does not necessarily apply. Tau had crisis team instead of big thing, so it's probably more of a HQ/troop/iconic type of thing.

It absolutely does apply actually.
Tau got a Crisis Team in addition to an Ethereal on Hover Drone. The reason Tau got a Crisis Team is because that's the smallest "big thing" they could add that wasn't available in a boxed set that was discounted recently. A Piranha had been in Burning Dawn.

Probably will be autarch HQ (no psykers for start collecting), maybe on jetbike, guardians for troops, and a pack of jetbikes.

Hive Tyrants are Psykers. The Autarch on Jetbike is a Finecast kit for the plastic Jetbike.

Eldar have war walkers. It would probably be one of those, and comperable to the necron triarch stalker.

I would expect to see the plastic Farseer, a Squad of Guardians and maybe a Support Weapons battery, Squadron of Warwalkers or a single Wraithlord in a Start Collecting! box.

These are what would be considered an iconic Eldar Force and generally be stuff that probably isn't being moved as much.

 Orock wrote:
Eldar have war walkers. It would probably be one of those, and comperable to the necron triarch stalker.

War Walkers sell. They sell something fierce, in fact.

So? the Start Collecting boxes are not made by "what doesn't sell", otherwise no way we would see FW and crisis suits in the tau box-these two old like crazy before the kit (and now don't sell because the kit is such insane value its silly not to)

The Admech, SW and AM/IG also have quite useful kits that are sold wholesale as the units there are cornerstone for the armies and are taken in fair numbers.


If we had a CSM kit of CSM squad, chosen squad and an apostle, you'd make some sense.

Given the variety of plastic Eldar kits (and the fact that the other kits are different from their respective "Battle Force") the most likely Eldar Start Collecting would be:

Farseer on foot or skyrunner
10 Guardians or 3 Windriders
2-3 Support Batteries, or 2-3 WarWalkers or a WraithLord (a la Marines have a Dreadnaught)

There is a slim possibility for the plastic Autarch + Dire Avengers + Grav-Tank of some kind, but that doesn't seem as iconic as the above.

 Galef wrote:
Yeah, all the Start Collecting boxes are: 1 Troop, 1 HQ & 1 Special thingy. The only exception I see is the Necron Scarabs (but they come on the Warrior sprue) and the Nurgle box which comes with 2 Troops (but again, one of the is a swarm)

If we follow this pattern the likely Eldar options are:
HQ: Farseer Skyrunner
Troop: Windriders
Special: Any other plastic kit, but most likely a Grav-Tank

Who called this one? I do believe I did
http://www.belloflostsouls.net/2016/06/40k-eldar-dark-eldar-start-collecting-boxes-spotted.html

-

Must be nice getting a start collecting box that actually has useful models in it

SemperMortis wrote:
Must be nice getting a start collecting box that actually has useful models in it

I know I like prisms, but I don’t think they are widely appreciated. How many lists do you see them in?

That said, even “meh” Eldar units are pretty decent...

Shockingly low model count in that eldar box. And solidly useful units too... Neither of which I was expecting in a SCB.
Grav tank was expected imo but weird that they didnt try to shift less used models like the guardians to up the model count and sell more of the lesser used kits.

These boxes are going to sell so damn well

 Brother Payne wrote:
Shockingly low model count in that eldar box. And solidly useful units too... Neither of which I was expecting in a SCB.
Grav tank was expected imo but weird that they didnt try to shift less used models like the guardians to up the model count and sell more of the lesser used kits.

These boxes are going to sell so damn well

I doubt it, most people who wanted to spam scatbikes have already bought their fill and everyone already has a farseer or 3 on bike because seer council. Nobody wants a prism and it's cheaper (in Aus at least) to simple buy a box of scatbikes and a jetseer rather than wasting money on a prism that you'll never use.

Unless the box comes with rules for a formation. (Likely)

 Drasius wrote:

 Brother Payne wrote:
Shockingly low model count in that eldar box. And solidly useful units too... Neither of which I was expecting in a SCB.
Grav tank was expected imo but weird that they didnt try to shift less used models like the guardians to up the model count and sell more of the lesser used kits.

These boxes are going to sell so damn well

I doubt it, most people who wanted to spam scatbikes have already bought their fill and everyone already has a farseer or 3 on bike because seer council. Nobody wants a prism and it's cheaper (in Aus at least) to simple buy a box of scatbikes and a jetseer rather than wasting money on a prism that you'll never use.

That's a fair point about people having already bought stuff. Night spinners aren't bad imo so I may buy a few

 Jimsolo wrote:
Unless the box comes with rules for a formation. (Likely)

There's no "likely" about it.

The Start Collecting boxes all come with Formations for you to use; it's a new way for them to be able to introduce players to the game without a significant buy-in.

The box seems a little light. 5 models? Really?

They should have gone with Guardians imo.

 Frozocrone wrote:
The box seems a little light. 5 models? Really?

They should have gone with Guardians imo.

That would be making it battleforce lite though.

Notice how this and battleforce have pretty much zero overlap.

GW big boss already commented the range needs some trimming down in one of his yearly statements so adding 2nd box for eldars that's almost similar makes not much sense...

 Frozocrone wrote:
The box seems a little light. 5 models? Really?

They should have gone with Guardians imo.

I think it makes a lot of sense, especially because these boxes are meant to really capture the essence of each race and what their strategy is. Personally, I think the Tyranid one kind of massively failed in this regard, but the others have been slam dunks. Having Orks being able to fight twice in close combat to just drown an opponent in attacks and models is really fluffy. Space Marines being able to shoot twice is cool, and really lets them feel like they're setting up firing lanes and working together. Necrons just never dying is a staple, though perhaps this could have been done a little cleaner than it was.

I don't know what the formation of this will be, but the model-count helps reinforce that the Eldar are few in number, which is a commonly reinforced concept, with ready access to some of the most powerful weapons in the game, while also being one of the fastest in the game.

Also, VERY curious to see what the Chaos Space Marine formation does!

 Yarium wrote:

 Frozocrone wrote:
The box seems a little light. 5 models? Really?

They should have gone with Guardians imo.

I think it makes a lot of sense, especially because these boxes are meant to really capture the essence of each race and what their strategy is. Personally, I think the Tyranid one kind of massively failed in this regard, but the others have been slam dunks. Having Orks being able to fight twice in close combat to just drown an opponent in attacks and models is really fluffy. Space Marines being able to shoot twice is cool, and really lets them feel like they're setting up firing lanes and working together. Necrons just never dying is a staple, though perhaps this could have been done a little cleaner than it was.

I don't know what the formation of this will be, but the model-count helps reinforce that the Eldar are few in number, which is a commonly reinforced concept, with ready access to some of the most powerful weapons in the game, while also being one of the fastest in the game.

Also, VERY curious to see what the Chaos Space Marine formation does!

That’s a pretty good point. I hadn’t really looked at the SC boxes in that light, but it’s true. This should feel like an Eldar force. And for people starting, capturing the feel of the army is probably the best hook to get people to love the game.

From the leaked WD page, the formation bonus has something to do with the prism being more accurate when the farseer is near. Which is also classic Eldar.

For value, like all boxes, you need to decide how you feel about the contents.

$41 Jetbikes
$33 Farseer on bike
$49 Prism
----
$123 total, should sell for $85 like the rest of it’s peers. Pretty good value there. Assuming you want the stuff.

I have to say I feel a little disappointed in the Eldar start collecting set.