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As the title says, I'm curious to know how folks would start collecting Eldar from scratch, with an eye towards building playable armies at 500/1000/1500/2000 points and generally building a collection using at least two of Craftworld / Harlequins / Drukhari.

If it helps, I'm new to 40k and trying to do this very thing. I have my own ideas as to where I will start, but I'm wondering how others would approach it.

Well, Aeldari is not easy to play. It is not forgiving.
As a long term Eldar player, I'd consider the following units in the first place:
Farseer on jetbike, Rangers, Serpents, Dark Reapers;
Archon, Kabalite Warriors, Venoms or Raiders, Ravagers;
Shadowseer, Skyweavers.
Add some flyers for anti-tank.

I would just hold out another week to see if there is going to be any nerf to soup armies and what happens to knights.

However, I would try to figure out which army appeals to you the most to be the base. What is it you like about Craftworlds, Drukhari and Harlequins to draw you toward them. Figure that out and make that your base and then add complimentary units from the one of the other armies (hard to do all 3 at once). Harlequins strength is in their jetbikes, both Craftworlds and Drukhari have good flyers, etc.

First Welcome to Dakka, 40k and Eldar.

How competitive do you want to be? What units to take can vary widely if you want to play in tournaments/ very aggressive FLGS. For more casual play a lot more options open up.

What drew you to Eldar? Are there concepts/craftworlds/models that are a must to include in your lists? If a fast moving jetbike is what caught your eye, recommending a slow plodding wraith construct list is not going to make you happy, despite the relative strengths of the units. And Eldar are very susceptible to the whims of codex and edition changes. They generally have always been strong as an army, but the units that make up that list fluctuate wildly.

I can only really speak for the Craftworld side, as I don’t soup personally.

I’ll second Wuestenfux’s recommendations above. Farseers are one of the better units that we have, and can leverage a lot of power on the table with psychic shenanigans. The bike lets he get to where he needs to be, and is worth the points. Wave Serpents are solid tanks, good transport, tough with firepower. Reapers put some serious dakka downrange, and rangers fill troop slots nicely.

I tend to play a mechanized list. So units hiding in tanks, bikes, and a flyer covering the sky. T3 infantry tend to evaporate once out in the open, so I try to keep buttoned up until needed. I’ve recently started fielding wraithguard w/ D-scythes, which make for a nasty anvil unit. Dire Avengers a/o guardians in transports are a good way to fill troop slots.

With a soup list, I’d try to make sure at least one of your factions can fill a battalion (2xHQ, 3xTroops). From a collection POV, I’d try to make sure they all could, and then you can mix and match depending on mood of which is your primary faction for the day.

From a practical standpoint, I’d see if you could grab the Eldar half of the Wake the Dead box. Supplement that with a farseer on bike, ranger squad, and one other troop pick. And probably more wave serpents. YMMV, a lot depends on what you are going fo.

 bullyboy wrote:
I would just hold out another week to see if there is going to be any nerf to soup armies and what happens to knights.

However, I would try to figure out which army appeals to you the most to be the base. What is it you like about Craftworlds, Drukhari and Harlequins to draw you toward them. Figure that out and make that your base and then add complimentary units from the one of the other armies (hard to do all 3 at once). Harlequins strength is in their jetbikes, both Craftworlds and Drukhari have good flyers, etc.

They are not needing soup armies. So feel feel to soup up OP. Those that hate the soup wagon are behind the times and we need to soup them out of this game together!

If you're new to 40K then don't collect soup, collect 1 faction first.

 Shadenuat wrote:
If you're new to 40K then don't collect soup, collect 1 faction first.

This is terrible advice. Collect what YOU want to collect. This game is a modeling and painting hobby first, a miniatures war game second. If you like the look of all the aeldari factions shown, then do just that.

We at GW are happy you promote buying our models, sir. We would contact you for the fee we promised you.

 Shadenuat wrote:
We at GW are happy you promote buying our models, sir. We would contact you for the fee we promised you.

The guys from GW have no idea how to play an army competitively.
Stay away from those offers.

 Shadenuat wrote:
We at GW are happy you promote buying our models, sir. We would contact you for the fee we promised you.

Saw someone got a little anyway ignore all that, but what you want it’s your army.

A soup with no salt is no soup at all.

 Shadenuat wrote:
We at GW are happy you promote buying our models, sir. We would contact you for the fee we promised you.

Just a fake from Moscow.

 wuestenfux wrote:

 Shadenuat wrote:
We at GW are happy you promote buying our models, sir. We would contact you for the fee we promised you.

Just a fake from Moscow.

Что?

Thanks for the welcome and the feedback, y'all.

As a long time EVE Online player, a salty Russian makes me feel right at home.

I would say that I'm looking to build something that is competitive at the friendly pickup game level. I'm not thinking about tournaments or anything like that. I want something that is functional on the tabletop but also to allow myself to try lots of different things, especially at this early stage. Especially as has been pointed out because meta shifts happen far more rapidly than my ability to adapt a growing collection to.

I don't mind steep learning curves. That's part of the attraction to Eldar and to the game in general.

More than anything I've found myself gravitating towards different units for their cumulative allure from playstyle, lore, and modeling. For example, one of my first goals is to collect a Spearhead detachment worth of Talos, because I think it's a gorgeous model and I love its versatility on the table. At the same time I haven't wanted to jump in with a full battalion of Coven because I don't want to build my army around such a slow-moving core with limited shooting. The lack of a gunline foundation is also what prevents me from starting with Harlequins. Projection and speed are general interests of mine though there are some exceptions to that, like the Talos.

I do love the aesthetic and mobility of jetbikes, so an Outrider detachment of Skyweavers is also forefront in my mind, with the addition of a Solitaire at some stage because it's another unit I'm smitten with in terms of lore, look, and playstyle.

I've generally considered starting with a battalion of Craftworld and then adding one of the above detachments. This feels like a bit of delayed gratification given that "the fun stuff" (Talos, Skyweavers, etc) gets put off being bought, built, and played a bit, but it also seems the most practical. I had considered starting with that Spearhead of Talos plus something miscellaneous (a unit of Groteseques or Mandrakes? a Craftworld patrol detachment?) to quickly build a 500 point list, but I've concerns of coming off as That Guy when really I'm just trying to play with models that interest me as quickly as possible.

I have eyed the Eldar portion of Wake the Dead intermittently but hadn't really looked at it points-wise until now. It plus a Farseer Skyunner and two units of troops (I'd probably go 1x Rangers and 1x Dire Avengers) seems a cheap and easy way to hit 750 points that gives me a lot of versatility to build off of and allow me to start splashing Harlequins or Drukhari from there. Definitely a strong consideration that gets me in the neighborhood of 1000 points much more quickly than I thought would be possible.

Pain4Pleasure wrote:

 Shadenuat wrote:
If you're new to 40K then don't collect soup, collect 1 faction first.

This is terrible advice. Collect what YOU want to collect. This game is a modeling and painting hobby first, a miniatures war game second. If you like the look of all the aeldari factions shown, then do just that.

Clarification: If you like multiple factions by all means go ahead and collect multiple factions, but if you also want to play the game you should be aware of how detachments work when you're making purchasing decisions. Don't feel compelled to build to netlists or plan out your army list ahead of time (though do if you enjoy that), but it will make your life way easier down the road if you assume that you'll need HQ/Troops units from every faction you want to use.

When it comes to friendly pickup games, mono CW & DE are both good, to the point that you can really take almost anything. At least that is true for Craftworlds. Mixing elves together, especially things like Talos, is a fast path to TFG.

I would probably start with just Covens, if you like them.

I recently re-started my Eldar collection and wrote a blog about it, if you're interested: https://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/768724.page

Well, at the 500 point level, you might as well stick to one faction, and I'd suggest Craftworlds.

Then you need to decide if you want to try to form a Battalion at 500 points. It's a lot of CP for a 500 point force but it forces you into a corner, build wise. 10 Guardians are 80 points plus a support weapon and 3 units of that are half your point value. 5 Rangers or Dire Avengers are 60 points, 180 points for 3 units, but neither of those units can bring a support weapon. If you want to sit back and shoot, Rangers are the obvious choice, but support weapons are a cheap way to get get some badly needed firepower on the table. You could always take a mix, like 2x5 Rangers and a Guardian blob of 20+2 support weapons.

Or skip the Batallion and go for something else - Patrol by default (1 HQ 1 Troop) or go more specialist, like an Outrider with Shining Spears and Vypers with jetbike Farseer. It really depends what you want to paint first, I guess.

1st: I'd buy any Codex/rules that apply.
2nd: I'd make a list of all the models I like.
3rd: I'd tinker around making lists that incorporate those (plus whatever elseI found that fits/is needed)
4th: I'd make my shopping list.
5th: Buy/build/paint - concentrating on making the working core + my favorite model/unit first.

Wait for the FAQ in a couple weeks honestly, rumors are theres going to be big soup changes.

 Qik wrote:
Thanks for the welcome and the feedback, y'all.

As a long time EVE Online player, a salty Russian makes me feel right at home.

I would say that I'm looking to build something that is competitive at the friendly pickup game level. I'm not thinking about tournaments or anything like that. I want something that is functional on the tabletop but also to allow myself to try lots of different things, especially at this early stage. Especially as has been pointed out because meta shifts happen far more rapidly than my ability to adapt a growing collection to.

I don't mind steep learning curves. That's part of the attraction to Eldar and to the game in general.

More than anything I've found myself gravitating towards different units for their cumulative allure from playstyle, lore, and modeling. For example, one of my first goals is to collect a Spearhead detachment worth of Talos, because I think it's a gorgeous model and I love its versatility on the table. At the same time I haven't wanted to jump in with a full battalion of Coven because I don't want to build my army around such a slow-moving core with limited shooting. The lack of a gunline foundation is also what prevents me from starting with Harlequins. Projection and speed are general interests of mine though there are some exceptions to that, like the Talos.

I do love the aesthetic and mobility of jetbikes, so an Outrider detachment of Skyweavers is also forefront in my mind, with the addition of a Solitaire at some stage because it's another unit I'm smitten with in terms of lore, look, and playstyle.

I've generally considered starting with a battalion of Craftworld and then adding one of the above detachments. This feels like a bit of delayed gratification given that "the fun stuff" (Talos, Skyweavers, etc) gets put off being bought, built, and played a bit, but it also seems the most practical. I had considered starting with that Spearhead of Talos plus something miscellaneous (a unit of Groteseques or Mandrakes? a Craftworld patrol detachment?) to quickly build a 500 point list, but I've concerns of coming off as That Guy when really I'm just trying to play with models that interest me as quickly as possible.

I have eyed the Eldar portion of Wake the Dead intermittently but hadn't really looked at it points-wise until now. It plus a Farseer Skyunner and two units of troops (I'd probably go 1x Rangers and 1x Dire Avengers) seems a cheap and easy way to hit 750 points that gives me a lot of versatility to build off of and allow me to start splashing Harlequins or Drukhari from there. Definitely a strong consideration that gets me in the neighborhood of 1000 points much more quickly than I thought would be possible.

Just spitballing ideas here, take with a grain of salt (especially as I don’t really play 2/3s of the soup you want)

From an army composition standpoint, it sounds like you have 3 ideas for the 3 factions.

Craftworld can sit back, gunline up a bit, and provide fire support.
DE coven is your stike element. They are going to grind forward to the center and murderize things with talos
Harlis are your reactive troubleshooters. They go where they are needed, grab objectives on the fringes, blender things that irritate you.

Now, you could easily swap roles around, or double up on some. A lot of that depednds on points and what models you like. Generally there is synergy by having one faction stay together because some buffs will only effect some units.

I’m a mostly casual player, but I often do a gunline-ish Eldar army with tanks. Wave Serpents, Falcons, Fire Prism/Nightspinner. DA and guardians stay buttoned up in their transports as long as possible. Sit back, shoot pulse lasers and brightlances downrange, when the foe gets close, deploy the troops like an ablitive cloud of chaff to buy an extra round or two of fire. I do use bikes/swooping hawks/warp spiders as a mobile strike element, but if you are souping, that role can be done elsewhere.

You want the farseer on bike as one HQ. No question. As a secondary one, there are more options, depending on points and mood.

For troops you could go a couple of different ways.
5x rangers. Cheep, easy, decent.
Mechanized infantry (DA or guardians) You are really buying the tank here, but the troops can put the hurt on something that gets close, especially with buffs.
Big blob of guardians. 20 man, w/guns. You can either use webway tricks to drop this into someone’s lap, or just hunker down on an objective, try to weather the storm, and pop shots down range with the platforms.

For other units a lot depends on what you like, but if we are talking firebase, Dark Reapers should top the list. I’m biased towards the tanks, but I have a soft spot for grav armor (It’s what drew me to the army) Warwalkers are not bad, our flyers are decent. Not a whole lot of bad choices here. Some are just more point efficient than others.

 Amishprn86 wrote:
Wait for the FAQ in a couple weeks honestly, rumors are theres going to be big soup changes.

Where is the validity in the rumors for “soup change”? I’d like to see those. People on dakka saying they hope for it isn’t factual or evidence what so ever.

Pain4Pleasure wrote:

 Amishprn86 wrote:
Wait for the FAQ in a couple weeks honestly, rumors are theres going to be big soup changes.

Where is the validity in the rumors for “soup change”? I’d like to see those. People on dakka saying they hope for it isn’t factual or evidence what so ever.

Well for eldar they just ,at best , changed Inari a lot . So maybe buying in to the triumvirate is on wait on see delay.

Pain4Pleasure wrote:

 Amishprn86 wrote:
Wait for the FAQ in a couple weeks honestly, rumors are theres going to be big soup changes.

Where is the validity in the rumors for “soup change”? I’d like to see those. People on dakka saying they hope for it isn’t factual or evidence what so ever.

Well, if soup changes, then first consider CW and buy models and units accordingly.

Pain4Pleasure wrote:

 Amishprn86 wrote:
Wait for the FAQ in a couple weeks honestly, rumors are theres going to be big soup changes.

Where is the validity in the rumors for “soup change”? I’d like to see those. People on dakka saying they hope for it isn’t factual or evidence what so ever.

Beta testing hinting at it, go listen to some of the podcasts. No concrete rumors jstu "wink wink, soup is being looked at, wink wink"

And bc its a week or 2 away (3 at the most) might as well get the models you like and then wait. But No matter what, CWE HQ's and troops will always be good.

Beta test hint at many things though. Before CA there were huge articles how stuff is going to get better, there were hints, and people on podcasts how CA is going to change the meta, specialy for the weaker armies.

I don't think we have seen many harlequins being played.

The half wake the dead option is a good one. Two lots is probably worth it too. Two squads of five avengers for backfield objective/screening duties and a squad of 20 guardians for webway bombing. A couple of reasonable HQ's. A couple of wave serpents that can carry the wraiths up the field. A good battalion to build up from.
Everything is useable, the troops and serpents viable up to full competitive games.

 John Prins wrote:
I recently re-started my Eldar collection and wrote a blog about it, if you're interested: https://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/768724.page

Well, at the 500 point level, you might as well stick to one faction, and I'd suggest Craftworlds.

Then you need to decide if you want to try to form a Battalion at 500 points. It's a lot of CP for a 500 point force but it forces you into a corner, build wise. 10 Guardians are 80 points plus a support weapon and 3 units of that are half your point value. 5 Rangers or Dire Avengers are 60 points, 180 points for 3 units, but neither of those units can bring a support weapon. If you want to sit back and shoot, Rangers are the obvious choice, but support weapons are a cheap way to get get some badly needed firepower on the table. You could always take a mix, like 2x5 Rangers and a Guardian blob of 20+2 support weapons.

Or skip the Batallion and go for something else - Patrol by default (1 HQ 1 Troop) or go more specialist, like an Outrider with Shining Spears and Vypers with jetbike Farseer. It really depends what you want to paint first, I guess.

I enjoyed your project and your painting scheme! I think one of the reasons I want a soup-y army is because I feel as though I have a lot of experimenting to do with painting and color schemes at this beginning stage and soup helps justify that.

Whether or not to build a battalion has been one of my main points of struggle, as whether or not I start in that direction has a huge influence on where I start and how the collection will grow. It's tough to know how to prioritize practical list building versus my early flights of list building fancy, since most of the units I'm drawn to like jet bikes and Talos don't form the core of battalions. At the same time I recognize that building a collection of my favorite-looking models is not a recipe for an enjoyable army on the table top.

 Nevelon wrote:
Just spitballing ideas here, take with a grain of salt (especially as I don’t really play 2/3s of the soup you want)

From an army composition standpoint, it sounds like you have 3 ideas for the 3 factions.

Craftworld can sit back, gunline up a bit, and provide fire support.
DE coven is your stike element. They are going to grind forward to the center and murderize things with talos
Harlis are your reactive troubleshooters. They go where they are needed, grab objectives on the fringes, blender things that irritate you.

Now, you could easily swap roles around, or double up on some. A lot of that depednds on points and what models you like. Generally there is synergy by having one faction stay together because some buffs will only effect some units.

I’m a mostly casual player, but I often do a gunline-ish Eldar army with tanks. Wave Serpents, Falcons, Fire Prism/Nightspinner. DA and guardians stay buttoned up in their transports as long as possible. Sit back, shoot pulse lasers and brightlances downrange, when the foe gets close, deploy the troops like an ablitive cloud of chaff to buy an extra round or two of fire. I do use bikes/swooping hawks/warp spiders as a mobile strike element, but if you are souping, that role can be done elsewhere.

You want the farseer on bike as one HQ. No question. As a secondary one, there are more options, depending on points and mood.

For troops you could go a couple of different ways.
5x rangers. Cheep, easy, decent.
Mechanized infantry (DA or guardians) You are really buying the tank here, but the troops can put the hurt on something that gets close, especially with buffs.
Big blob of guardians. 20 man, w/guns. You can either use webway tricks to drop this into someone’s lap, or just hunker down on an objective, try to weather the storm, and pop shots down range with the platforms.

For other units a lot depends on what you like, but if we are talking firebase, Dark Reapers should top the list. I’m biased towards the tanks, but I have a soft spot for grav armor (It’s what drew me to the army) Warwalkers are not bad, our flyers are decent. Not a whole lot of bad choices here. Some are just more point efficient than others.

You've got it! That really is the vision, and I feel as though those three parts could potentially complement themselves well enough to be functional on the table top while also being quite fun to build, paint, and play. I love the mix of elements and visual aesthetics. Altogether such an Eldar battalion plus an Outrider of Skyweavers plus a Spearhead of Talos gets me up to around 1200 points. It's hard for me to tell if that's a serviceable army for that point level, but it seems a decent place to start, no?

Also as you say with that core there's a lot of flexibility to swap things in and out: say, take out the Craftworld battalion for one of Kabalites in Venoms if I want something more aggressive, or swap in some Aspect Warriors somewhere if I want to take more Eldar. Just like you say you're biased towards the tanks, I'm biased towards these mid-sized units like Talos and Skyweavers that can punch above their weight class if played right.

I've considered starting that prospective Eldar battalion with one unit of each of those troops, just to get a feel for their playstyle and see what I like before committing more strongly to one or the other.

And I'm with you on that Farseer Skyrunner. It's on the to-purchase list, no question!

ccs wrote:
1st: I'd buy any Codex/rules that apply.
2nd: I'd make a list of all the models I like.
3rd: I'd tinker around making lists that incorporate those (plus whatever elseI found that fits/is needed)
4th: I'd make my shopping list.
5th: Buy/build/paint - concentrating on making the working core + my favorite model/unit first.

HOW DARE YOU USE LOGIC AND REASON! (j/k)

seriously, OP, everyone here is right...even the two that seem to disagree with each other quite vehemently.
If you want to play Eldar soup, then play Eldar soup. While it isn't the way I would go, especially if you are just starting out in the hobby, the first thing I would do here choose one of the other, (Drukhari or Aeldari) and build a battalion from that. That battalion will make the basis for so many of your lists going forward, and from there you can (though with no CP bonus because it would all be in the same detachment) add up to three elites, three heavy support, and three fast attack selections. That allows you a fair amount of flexibility in what you build until you are sure what you want to do.

Because you aren't too focused on the competitive side, I would, as many have, suggest craftworlds Eldar, at least to start. They have a LOT of flexibility to play with especially in just the craftworld benefits alone.

Ultimately, the choice is yours, and I would do what you like most! I play craftworld Iyanden, and am not the most competitive player (though i do enjoying going to ITC tournaments and just looking at all the cool models and playing games) and enjoy the hobby.

1. Fill out troops (even if duplicate), and make sure you get an HQ or two.
2. Get them. Build them. Paint them.
3. Try a game
4. Find a *different* box you like.
5. Get it. Build it. Paint it.
6. GOTO (3).

Build the base minimums (An HQ or two, 2-3 troops). Then you can start trying out the game.

Then just add to your army over time.

At the beginning, I'd suggest varying your purchases. If you don't get more than one of any given box (aside from Troops, dedicated transports, and if neceessary HQs), so you wind up playing a more diverse army with more options. It keeps you from falling into a spam or deathstar trap. And makes your games more interesting (for both sides of the board).

A Start Collecting box will start you off with a variety. As long as you think you might use almost everything in the box, at least.

At this point, just choose something that is interesting with Eldar, and play them. Harly, Dork Eldar, ynnarri, Craftworld. Get a 2K force together and start working on your skills.

Then after the FAQ drops, and you have some ability in understanding what is competitive, either go meta, or try a counter meta.

Eldar are a huge force with a huge range. They will have some force that will be able to play well on the table top.