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Hi I'm a very novice 40k player who would like to start an Eldar army but I'm a little confused as to what I should start collecting and what tactics to use. For instance what is a good basic 500ish point starter force for Eldar, and Is it prudent to choose vanilla Craftworld Eldar or should I choose one of the several Craftworlds and why? I greatly appreciate any and all helpful advice regarding this question. Thank you for your time and assistance.

Well, are there any units you particularly like? Do you want to go full cheese competitive? Or do you want to keep your friends?

Anyway, I'd recommend some Dire Avengers and Jetbikes, a farseer and a Wraithlord or a Vyper.

I personally don't like it so much, but the Battleforce is certainly economical for a start.

But really it depends on how you want to compose your force.

You can go either Siam-Hann style with Jetbikes, Vypers and Wave Serpents (which, with scatterbikes is now considered cheese).

You can go Guardian heavy and make it like Ulthwé.

Or go full Aspects with Biel-Tan.

Whatever you want.

Buy a bunch of Scatterbikes and brew tea from the tears of your opponents.

Slayer-Fan123 wrote:
Buy a bunch of Scatterbikes and brew tea from the tears of your opponents.

This.

First off it doesn't really matter which craftworld you pick as they don't have any in game rules. However each of the main craftworlds have a specialty in the fluff so a certain army might look better to other eldar players if for example your psyker heavy army was painted in the Ulthwe colours of black and bone, or your wraith heavy list was the yellow and blue of Iyanden. I would suggest picking the sort of force you want to build first and then picking a craftworld to match it.

A good place to start is 2 troops and a HQ. For these I would suggest a squad of 10 dire avengers as they are a good all round unit, they have longer range than guardians and have a better save. I would also suggest getting a small squad of 3 windriders as these can be given heavy weapons and can help out against the light tanks you find in small games. For your HQ I would go with a farseer, I find these help your army with their spells much more than an autarch does, and there is less wargear to be worrying about with the farseer. Depending on the upgrades you take on these this gives you 300-350 points.

For your remaining points I would look at the sort of army the people you will be playing against most play.
If they have multiple tanks I would buy a falcon for it's strength 8 shots from the pulse laser and a bright lance.
If they are a horde army, maybe get some swooping hawks, their larger volume of shots with bad AP works best against these lists, along with the blast they drop when they arrive from reserve.
If there are small amounts of infantry with good saves, for example space marines, I would buy dark reapers for their higher strength and good AP.

Eldar can be played in many different ways as there are few bad units in the codex, so just pick the style you like best. The only unit I would avoid would be the rangers as I don't often see snipers causing any meaningful damage to the enemies army. Just remember that each of the aspect warriors are quite specialised, they each excel at fighting a certain type of enemy, put them up against that type and they will almost certainly win, put them up against something else and they might not be able to handle it.

Codex: Craftworld Eldar lists most ways to build an army. It doesn't easily let you build a Wraith army, but all the usual options are there.

The Eldar Battleforce is 2 troop choices and a transport, with a heavy choice. Get an HQ, and that's a working list.

If I was starting an army from scratch, look at the models, decide what you like the look of, and count up the points. There isn't much chance you can go to far wrong, as long as you can cater for vehicles and infantry, with maybe an option for anti-air.

Jet bikes are very good, as they are more survivable than most Eldar options, and are fast. A 3-bike Windrider unit is always a good choice.
Read up on what used each unit has, and drop in a unit to fill any gaps.

With Eldar, it REALLY depends how "fluffy" you want your army to be before you start collecting. If you're really into the lore and building a certain Craftworld, then I'd highly suggest you start reading up on Eldar, and the various craftworlds. Check out the Lexicanum for basic information: http://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/Craftworld.

If you don't care about the lore so much, then you can default back to what models you think are cool, or what models are the most affordable, but my suggestions below still sort of apply.

With Eldar there are really THREE major types of army you can start:

1) Windriders
2) Foot Troops
3) Wraiths

If you're into the Saim-Hann craftworld, then I'd start by picking up the Wind Rider Battlehost boxset. Then get yourself 4 Farseers on Jetbikes. Depending on how you do your upgrades, three squads of Jetbikes, 3 Warlocks, a Viper and a Farseer will run you about 500 points. Down the road, you'll probably want more jetbikes, and more Farseer kits so you can build a second Farseer and some more Warlocks.

If you're into Ulthwe or Biel Tan, start by picking up the Eldar Battleforce, and then add a Farseer. Then you might want to add another box of Dire Avengers, a Warlock, or a box of Windriders. That will get you up into the 500 point range. Down the road you can upgrade and get some Aspect Warriors like Warp Spiders, some more Dire Avengers, Wave Serpents, etc.

If you're into Iyanden, then start buying Wraithguard and Wave Serpents. Unfortunately you can't have Wraiths as Troops so you'll need some Guardians / Dire Avengers / Windriders as well. Unfortunately it will be very difficult to build a 500 point list with Wraiths. This is also probably the most expensive type of Eldar to get into price-wise.

I do like winning and can get rather competitive but I when I my friends may get slightly gassy If I bring a guardsman pie.....I mean pizza pie with too much cheese. Also I just moved to a new area with only one gaming store within about an hour drive which have not visited yet so I would really rather avoid ruffling too many feathers.

.

No love for Alaitoc.

a good start would be to click the "ignore" button on those that begin with things such as "do you want to keep your friends?". Those people will generally continue their Eldar hate non-stop while pushing gouda of their own mercilessly. I have no time for that.

First step is to find something that you really like about Eldar...

this could be their jetbikes, their aspect warriors, their wraith units, their Seers etc.

Start with the one unit that you really must have, then build around that.

 j31c3n wrote:
No love for Alaitoc.

I love their lore and their paint scheme. As far as building an Alaitoc-centric list, they're not that interesting though. Start with a couple squads of Rangers, and then build out from there in any direction you want to go. I guess you could go the extra mile and make sure you ALWAYS include an Exarch with any Aspect squad you bring.

[EDIT] Of course include Illic Nightspear for maximum Alaitoc factor.

1) Page through the book. Take note of fluff, paint schemes, and units that catch your eye
2) Based on fluff and paint schemes, figure out who you want to play as (I field Uthwe Swordwind... Not their typical army, but most craft world's have some of every type). Go for it.
3) Start picking up two troops:
a: Start with troops. You need two. Your options:
-Guardians - Go Defenders, not Storm - They hold an objective in cover - preferably backfield - while taking potshots with a heavy weapon (I use Brightlance). If something comes close (12" is really short), they can do some good shooting. Don't push forward with them, though. T3 5+ dies from a stiff wind out of cover.
- Dire Avengers - Guardians are militia, DAs are soldiers. They can push. Being out of cover isn't as scary for them. But they still die fast (2x as fast as Marines vs Boltguns). Get them in range, unload, then BF back or out of LOS. Don't mistake them for Marines, and they can do a lot of damage.
-Windriders. Cheese with a side of cheese. Their firepower is absurd when they take heavy weapons, and their durability is that of a Marine. They are just too good that way. A small unit (3) without going all-heavy (only 1) can be a reasonable unit.
-Rangers - Sit in back. Take potshots. Hide in cover. Expect nothing from them offensively. Don't let enemies get close. Cheap objective campers.
-Storm Guardians - ignore for now. Seriously.

Once you've picked your Troops, HQs are easier to pick.

Farseer or Autarch. Farseer is typically much better. If your units are in transports, no bike. If they're on bikes, give your HQ a bike. If they're on foot, a bike is usually given for the +1T, but I don't.

After HQ selection, look at any Guardian units. Consider if you like the idea of a Warlock assisting them. Especially if you didn't take a Farseer. Its 35points, and Shrouded is awesome for guardians. Can go either way.

Once all that is settled, return to your list of things you liked in the book. Pick up a box of your favorite. Add it to the army. Rinse and repeat until you're up to points.

At first, avoid the following:
-Wraithknights
-Storm Guardians
-Formations in general (start with the CAD)
-Wind riders with more than 1 heavy per 3
-DE Allies with WWP

Aside from that, don't double up non-troops. One box tends to be the right amount. This way, if you like a less-effective unit, you can make one box work. If you pick something that hard counters your opponent, you're not spamming it.

Final note, stop into the FLGS in question, talk it over with them. We can't know your meta.

 bullyboy wrote:


First step is to find something that you really like about Eldar...

this could be their jetbikes, their aspect warriors, their wraith units, their Seers etc.

Start with the one unit that you really must have, then build around that.

^ this.

I love my converted Storm Guardians. So I use them all the time. And just fill in the rest with what I need.

/Farstrand

I have decided to do sort of a Biel-Tan Aspect warrior heavy force, but I do have one more question. I'm torn between buying a Vyper or a War Walker Which is better and why? If neither is better or worse because they serve different roles what roles are they suited to?

Vyper is a single Heavy weapon that can flat out practically across the board.

War Walkers are a pair of heavy weapons with good mobility and, usually, range.

The Vyper is a fast flanking/harassment unit. The War Walker is a heavy anchor to one's line, and should be providing long range firepower. Whichever one you need is more dictated by the Aspect Warriors and other units you take.

Remember that Eldar don't have to roll alone. You can bring Harlequin, Dark Eldar, or Corsair allies that can provide you with all kinds of bennies, as well as a break from the same tired netlisting. "My brother and I against my cousin, my cousin and I against the world" is a motto the Eldar are more than familiar with.

Just off the top of my head, Dark Eldar: the consistent complaint of DE players is that their codex might as well be named Codex: Eldar Taxi service, and boy is it true. From Webway Portals (which you should NOT ignore) to their numerous open-topped transports (a feature your core army lacks entirely), the Dark Eldar can get you where you need to go better than your codex can on its own.

On a more in-depth note, you might consider Leadership-dependent strategies. Here's a series of posts about just such strategies for combined Eldar techniques. It's definitely one of my favorites (although I admit there's a little personal bias there! ) and should be able to point out several allied units that can help you out, or several ways you may not have thought about using your own Craftworld units, if allying isn't for you.

In any event, I hope that helps!

 Lightish Red Space Marine wrote:
I'm torn between buying a Vyper or a War Walker Which is better and why? If neither is better or worse because they serve different roles what roles are they suited to?

Vypers can have an underslung Shuriken Cannon upgrade, and a heavy weapon on the turret. They are fast, and can get anywhere. Being skimmers, they can Jink.
War Walkers are able to outflank or scout, have a 5+ power field, and a wider range of weapon choices. They have Battle Focus, so can run-and-gun, and dive out of sight after shooting.

Both are AV10, and 2 HPs.
Also, both are an obligatory unit for one or more of the core Warhost formations.

Another note: War Walkers and Vypers aren't mutually exclusive.

Sometimes the answer to "War Walker or Vyper" is yes.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
(Thematically, but maybe not tactically, I envision them helping out Guardians, or maybe Swordwind, but they can work almost anywhere.)

"a good start would be to click the "ignore" button on those that begin with things such as "do you want to keep your friends?". Those people will generally continue their Eldar hate non-stop while pushing gouda of their own mercilessly. I have no time for that. "

Be fair. It takes a lot of practice with Eldar to be able to piss off everyone.