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500 on the dot.
8 Dire Avengers 104pt
Wave Serpent with Scatters and a Cannon 130pt
3 Jetbikes 51
Autarch with Warp Pack, Mandiblasters, Fusion gun and Powersword 120pt
5 Warp spiders 95pt

Coming back after 2 years absence, looks like Eldar are OP again.

Deep Strike the spiders and HQ. Flank the Bikes. Need input.

Its a good starter list, very soild

Switch Mandiblaster with Banshee Mask, Mask is far superior for CC.

 Rune Stonegrinder wrote:
Its a good starter list, very soild

Switch Mandiblaster with Banshee Mask, Mask is far superior for CC.

Thanks! Definitely wont be charging into CC with a spider squad. Also he comes with Int 6 to begin with not to shabby but this is mostly a hit and run grp. The Mandi and Psword are Justin Case.

You are going to get more milage out of the 100 point level 3 psycher that is the Farseer than you will out of the Autarch at this points level. You lose out on the Fusion Gun, but can still take a singing spear.

If you are dead set on an Autarch, I would recommend a Power Maul, you lose out on some ap, but having s5 is far superior than s3. The mandiblasters lost a lot of their appeal when they went from +1 attack to a single s3 attack in close combat, this means they don't make your power weapon any more effective and are basically just a free warp spider attack =/. The Banshee Mask is nice because it reduces the speed of initiative monsters like Blood Thirsters, Keepers, and Daemon Princes down to i5 or below on the turn the Autarch charges- this gives him the chance to OHKO with the Shard of Anaris. It should also be noted that the Banshee Mask is cheaper. Still though, I feel as though the Autarch isn't worth it unless you've got things like Crimson Hunters or other units you plan on holding in reserve, which means he will only really be at his best in larger point games. So I would stick with a Farseer as noted above.

I would not recommend always deep striking with the Spiders. They are very fast, and there are a lot of risks involved with Deep Striking. Often it is better to deploy them on the table, advance using cover, and shoot away! A word of warning concerning Warp Jumps, in the new book a RANDOM model is removed on a double (yes this does mean your Autarch has a chance to be removed from play on a bad warp jump) Since you are only running a 5 man squad each casualty you take increases your chances of your Autarch performing an inadvertant suicide- which in a 500 point game will almost certainly cause you to lose!

Jetbikes should be rocking a Shuriken Cannon, it gives them a longer reach which helps with Wound Allocaiton if they ever decide to kite an enemy unit. It also gives them an option to plink with from 24 inches when darting in and out of cover with JSJ. Don't count on them to actually do anything (like take out a flank) They are just cheap scoring units who occassionally might get a lucky Shuriken Cannon volley off. Consider finding points for a Warlock- a Singing Spear adds a lot of duality to the squad, and the primaris power conceal is very powerful when combined with Jink Saves.

I always recommend War Walkers in low point games, and that still holds true. Although Warp Spiders can fulfill the same roll, so pick your poison!

I hope some of that rambling helped

 akaean wrote:


I hope some of that rambling helped

Wow ok alot of things here I did not realize yet. I still thought Mandi was +1 =/. I was taking the Autarch as antiarmour primarily. Also didnt see the Random model lost. I dont plan on using the bikes at all cept quick zooming to objectives and potshots when they are safe. I can see the Farseer with a spear working as well but not nearly as mobile. Afraid to get him caught in CC. I have had too many bad experiences with Walkers getting melted first turn with firing a shot. I guess drop the Seer in the Serpent with the Avengers? Have the rules changed with casting from inside transports?

you could aslo drop one dire avenger to add the holo feilds on to the srepnt.

The WS will be your workhorse. Protect it. Pull the autarch's mandiblaster and powersword for the Holofield and a cannon for your bikes.

Autarch is still a fast heavy hitting model for vehicle hunting and jetbike entry. He may or may not be the best use of points at 500 but he serves an important role here.

Your key is to quickly kill the two or three things that can kill your WS before you ride it to victory.

serathnal wrote:
The WS will be your workhorse. Protect it. Pull the autarch's mandiblaster and powersword for the Holofield and a cannon for your bikes.

Autarch is still a fast heavy hitting model for vehicle hunting and jetbike entry. He may or may not be the best use of points at 500 but he serves an important role here.

Your key is to quickly kill the two or three things that can kill your WS before you ride it to victory.

This is a very good idea. I have thought some and researched a bit about using a farseer. Seems protecting him in a transport is useless. Haveing him open on the field I dont like. So Im left putting him on a bike. His powers plus a spear should be decent enough anti armour and maybe throw the mantle of the laughing god for lol 3+ cover saves while moving or 2+ turbo boosting plus his 4++ would make him a bit expensive 160 I think but would be hard to kill and good anti tank/warlord/monster. Thoughts on that setup? I would still have to drop the spider squad but perhaps a single walker could fit in.

Yes, a Mantled and Biked Seer or Autarch is vastly more effective than the Warp Jump Autarch. The Spiders don't need help with anything but AV14 so attaching an expensive Autarch isn't a good use of points. BTW, you should read the entry for Mantle again, its a 2+ rerollable when moving, 4+ rerollable if you haven't moved, no turboboost required. Laser Lance and fusion gun is a common setup for the Autarch.

Epicfail wrote:

serathnal wrote:
The WS will be your workhorse. Protect it. Pull the autarch's mandiblaster and powersword for the Holofield and a cannon for your bikes.

Autarch is still a fast heavy hitting model for vehicle hunting and jetbike entry. He may or may not be the best use of points at 500 but he serves an important role here.

Your key is to quickly kill the two or three things that can kill your WS before you ride it to victory.

This is a very good idea. I have thought some and researched a bit about using a farseer. Seems protecting him in a transport is useless. Haveing him open on the field I dont like. So Im left putting him on a bike. His powers plus a spear should be decent enough anti armour and maybe throw the mantle of the laughing god for lol 3+ cover saves while moving or 2+ turbo boosting plus his 4++ would make him a bit expensive 160 I think but would be hard to kill and good anti tank/warlord/monster. Thoughts on that setup? I would still have to drop the spider squad but perhaps a single walker could fit in.

yes mantle gives stealth (+1) and shrouded (+2) for a total of +3 to yuor covre save by moving. Jink gives a 5+ for moving. 5+ + (or shoud it be -) 3 means 2+.

Ok so revised so far.

5 Dire Avengers 65pt
Wave Serpent with Scatters and a Cannon 130pt
3 Jetbikes with a Cannon 61
Autarch with the Mantle on a Bike with a Fusion and a Laser Lance, Banshee Mask 150
5 Warp spiders 95pt

501 points

Having trouble fitting Holo on the Serpent. Could swap out the spiders for Rangers possibly or a Walker. not big on the walker would like to keep the model count up.

Autarch doesn't need a banshee mask anymore, with that kit his primary role is tank hunting. Also since you have the mantle he relies on his re-rollable cover saves to stay alive, which he does not get in close combat. keep him away from things that would assault him.

The holo-fields on the serpent are paramount as it is what will win you the game. in a 500 point game they are near impossible to kill unless they are assaulted. Removal of the banshee mask and one cannon will allow for the upgrade. Whether you take the cannon off the bikes or the serpent is your call. You have enough strength 6+ in your list to comfortably sacrifice one.

Side note: 501 points is illegal, make sure whoever you're playing knows you are over the limit and are okay with it.

On the Autarch being a "Tank Hunter" - 500 point games are too small to pigeonhole units like that. There's a good chance your opponent won't bring any vehicles at all. To that end, the Banshee Mask is a reasonable 5 point upgrade - the Autarch himself will rarely need it, but it helps out his DA's or Warp Spiders if they are in a multi-combat with the Autarch. I agree that it's definitely not necessary, just want to dispel the notion that you'll be able to specialize any unit in a 500 point game.

Autarch is perfectly capable of all kinds of useful mop up work. Tank killing, character hunting, wiping damaged units, and reserve manipulation.

I personally prefer the Farseer but the autarch's a totally viable option.

Bojazz wrote:
Autarch doesn't need a banshee mask anymore, with that kit his primary role is tank hunting. Also since you have the mantle he relies on his re-rollable cover saves to stay alive, which he does not get in close combat. keep him away from things that would assault him.

are you saying keep him away from every assult? because thats not smart.

keep him away from units that will kill him in combat, but charge every other unit.

 ninjafiredragon wrote:


are you saying keep him away from every assult? because thats not smart.

keep him away from units that will kill him in combat, but charge every other unit.

I'm saying his primary role is tank hunting, so getting him caught up in assault will either kill him or slow down what he needs to do, which is bad. After the enemy armor is taken care of (or if there is no enemy armor), then yeah, go wild. Assault whatever you think he can beat up.

he has hit and run, which will help. assult, his turn jump him away, blow a tank, repeat.

Where does he get hit and run from?
Edit - Nevermind completely missed that mantle gives hit and run.

main point still stands though, but with a slight addendum. Keep him away from assaults *that could kill him*. A 2+ rerollable from a volley of moderate shooting is a lot safer than a 3+ 4++ in close combat from a moderate sized squad that he can't kill first in close combat, so just always try to judge where he should be to take the least amount of damage/deal the most amount of damage. It all depends on the circumstance.

The reason I am picking her over a Seer is due to her versatility. The seer costs more and has less of a chance for a decent assault. In this few points of a game 10 points is a large amount. I am already investing way too many points in my HQ as it is. In 500 point games I have seen crap such as Monoliths. I need some form of anti armor. If I don't land a game vs super cheese then I need the HQ to be decent at other tasks. She will get more dice in assault and will have decent Str on the charge where the Seer will be stuck at 3 Str not to mention fewer hits. Yes I lose out on maybe some good powers but in the end I think she will be worth it. I realize the importance of the Holo's on the Serpent and am considering dropping the spiders in favor of something that is 79 points or less but still has a high model count that is effective in a 500 point game.