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I've been playing Orks the past 5 years or so, and recently sold the greenskins to purchase my new passion... Space Pixies!

90% of my games will be against a friend of mine, who is playing the Necrons, and he's playing them well, since he's mopping the table with almost anyone.
We will be playing 1750 games, and he's usually fielding tons of TL Tesla-stuff, in the shape of Annihilation Barges, Night Scythes and so on. The scythes are filled with troops, and the same goes for a couple of Ghost Arks as well. He's fond of Mindshackle Scarabs, which I haven't experienced yet, but really don't know how to handle.

Before I go out and invest tons of cash in models that might look good on paper, but suck against The Necs when the bullets/lazers are flying, I would like to hear some of you experienced Eldar players, what would be a compatible list against such a devastating foe?

For now, I would like to steer clear of any Wraith Guard heavy lists, due to their rather high price in real life cash.

Necrons has always been a nemesis army for Eldar. In particular, the Monolith was hard to take down by Eldar. This has changed but Necrons got new toys and gimmicks.
Well, a Seer Council still works well vs. Necrons, on foot or on jetbikes. Fire Dragons can take on Necron tanks which are mainly AV13. Here scatterlasers or shuricannons are useless. Eldar troops are weak as ever and anti-air weapons are not available these days. Not sure if you can counter your Necron opponent with a decent Eldar force (before the new Eldar codex will come out).

I suspect you'll want a crapton of mid-Strength shots to deal with the sheer volume of ground/air light vehicles; War Walkers are your friend. If you can get your hands on a copy of Imperial Armor Aeronautica see if you can convert a Firestorm, if not take as many War Walkers as is reasonably plausible. As Troops go Dire Avengers in transports, Pathfinders, and 6-model Jetbikes are your best options.

Thanks for the replies guys, anything helps at the moment

I've currently worked up this list, which is based on models I like and their "Eldar Trickery" features, which first drew me towards the codex. The points are currently over the top, so I need to shave a few points off, but I think a few of the units in the list wouldn't do all to well against a Necron army of the sort I described anyway.

1750 Pts - Eldar Roster

Total Roster Cost: 1766

HQ: Eldrad Ulthran (1#, 210 pts)
1 Eldrad Ulthran, 210 pts

Elite: Striking Scorpions (10#, 212 pts)
9 Striking Scorpions, 144 pts = 9 * 16
1 Striking Scorpion Exarch, 68 pts = (base cost 28 + Shadowstrike 20 + Stalker 5 + Scorpion Claw 15)

Elite: Fire Dragons (6#, 116 pts)
5 Fire Dragons, 80 pts = 5 * 16
1 Fire Dragon Exarch, 36 pts = (base cost 28 + Firepike 8 )

Troops: Dire Avengers (11#, 272 pts)
9 Dire Avengers, 108 pts = 9 * 12
1 Dire Avenger Exarch, 44 pts = (base cost 24 + Bladestorm 15 + 2 Avenger SC 5)
1 Wave Serpent, 120 pts = (base cost 90) + TL Missile Launchers 30

Troops: Guardian Jetbike Squadron (3#, 66 pts)
3 Guardian Jetbike Squadron, 66 pts = 3 * 22

Troops: Guardian Jetbike Squadron (3#, 66 pts)
3 Guardian Jetbike Squadron, 66 pts = 3 * 22

Troops: Pathfinders (Rangers) (5#, 120 pts)
5 Pathfinders (Rangers), 120 pts = 5 * 24 (base cost 19 + Pathfinders 5)

Fast Attack: Warp Spiders (5#, 127 pts)
4 Warp Spiders, 88 pts = 4 * 22
1 Warp Spider Exarch, 39 pts = (base cost 34 + Death Spinner x2 5)

Fast Attack: Warp Spiders (5#, 127 pts)
4 Warp Spiders, 88 pts = 4 * 22
1 Warp Spider Exarch, 39 pts = (base cost 34 + Death Spinner x2 5)

Heavy Support: Falcon (1#, 155 pts)
1 Falcon, 155 pts = (base cost 115) + Bright Lance 30 + Shuriken Cannon 10

Heavy Support: War Walker Squadron (3#, 180 pts)
1 War Walker Squadron, 0 pts
1 War Walker, 60 pts = (base cost 30) + Scatter Laser 15 + Scatter Laser 15
1 War Walker, 60 pts = (base cost 30) + Scatter Laser 15 + Scatter Laser 15
1 War Walker, 60 pts = (base cost 30) + Scatter Laser 15 + Scatter Laser 15

Heavy Support: Fire Prism (1#, 115 pts)
1 Fire Prism, 115 pts


I like to be mobile aswell as shooty, so I plan to infiltrate with the Scorpions, and send the WS with the DA's up to support them. Most of my opponents stuff is gonna start inside transports, so I need to open them up first with the Falcon, Fire Prism, WS and Fire Dragons.

The Pathfinders are gonna camp objectives in cover with their 2+ save.

The Warp Spiders are gonna drop down in the back armor of his vehicles.

The Walkers will hopefully survive long enough to rain Scatter Laser death down upon any units that are outside their transports.

And the two small Bike units are gonna swoop in to contest objectives in the last second.

I have no clue where Eldrad is going to be in all this though, since I'm used to playing Orks and throwing my HQ's head first into the biggest threat I find on the table. I'm thinking in the WS with the DA's, so he can support them and the other frontline troops with his Fortune and so on?


Please, fire away with critique, pointers and places I'm way off

I'm not an expert on Necrons by any means but does your friend use quantum shields? If so, he's getting AV13 on those vehicles that can use it which makes all your S6 shots useless against them. You only have 1 Bright Lance and 1 Prism to deal with AV13 which I don't think is enough.

Can you use Forgeworld units? If so, Warp Hunters would be a good bet. They can glance and pen AV13 and are AP2 so get +1 on the damage chart. Plus they use the large blast at 36" so it would be difficult to miss completely with them. They'd also be useful against large squads of necrons wounding on 2 and denying armour saves - you should be able to take out lots of necrons. If you take 2 warp hunters, you should be able to completely wipe a squad so not have to worry about them getting back up.

War walkers are still a great unit. Eldrad can also guide them to make sure lots of them hit as well. These guys are also 36" with scatter lasers and if I remember correctly, a lot of the necron guns are 24"? If so, you can plink away for a turn or two without taking hits from those annoying tesla weapons.

Forgeworld also gives you access to Hornets which can take 2 pulse lasers which are S8 AP2 and have a 48" range. They can also outflank. Again, you can use these to stay out of range and deny armour saves. You can even take these in squadrons of 3. This would give you 12 such shots, although I'd not use them in a squadron unless you can squeeze two squadrons into your list.

Of course, it all depends on tactics and like I said, I don't know loads about necrons but I hope this helps.

 ColdSadHungry wrote:
I'm not an expert on Necrons by any means but does your friend use quantum shields? If so, he's getting AV13 on those vehicles that can use it which makes all your S6 shots useless against them. You only have 1 Bright Lance and 1 Prism to deal with AV13 which I don't think is enough.

Can you use Forgeworld units? If so, Warp Hunters would be a good bet. They can glance and pen AV13 and are AP2 so get +1 on the damage chart. Plus they use the large blast at 36" so it would be difficult to miss completely with them. They'd also be useful against large squads of necrons wounding on 2 and denying armour saves - you should be able to take out lots of necrons. If you take 2 warp hunters, you should be able to completely wipe a squad so not have to worry about them getting back up.

War walkers are still a great unit. Eldrad can also guide them to make sure lots of them hit as well. These guys are also 36" with scatter lasers and if I remember correctly, a lot of the necron guns are 24"? If so, you can plink away for a turn or two without taking hits from those annoying tesla weapons.

Forgeworld also gives you access to Hornets which can take 2 pulse lasers which are S8 AP2 and have a 48" range. They can also outflank. Again, you can use these to stay out of range and deny armour saves. You can even take these in squadrons of 3. This would give you 12 such shots, although I'd not use them in a squadron unless you can squeeze two squadrons into your list.

Of course, it all depends on tactics and like I said, I don't know loads about necrons but I hope this helps.

And a missile launcher, don't forget the missile launcher. I do second the recommendation to look into Warp Hunters if you have access to Forge World stuff, but I'd advise investigating Wasps in addition to Hornets since they're cheaper and a little more versatile in their movement, and can also Deep Strike.

Unfortunately we've ruled out Forgeworld stuff, so I will have to make do with the original codex units.

Against AV13 i have: the Fire Prism, Falcon (pulse laser + bright lance), Wave Serpant (EML) and ofcourse the almighty Fire Dragons, if they make it that far.

The Scatter Lasers won't do much against his AV13, so is it viable to switch them to EML?

I think your list could benefit from a couple of wraithlords kitted out with BL's and ML's to help out with the necrons high av. In exchange I would probably drop the fire prism and the BL off the falcon along with the fire dragon exarch and maybe the dire avengers exarchs. I havent faced the necrons since their new edition so I dont know how stocked they are as far as anti-mc goes, but overall I think wraithlords are probably one of the strongest heavy supports for eldar so Im sure they'll do fine. Best of luck!