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So my playgroup has unanimously decided to not let AoS get competitive. The competitive players have already ruined 40k in our area so we want to keep AoS fun. I would like to start a deepkin army and even before I saw how good Eels list were I wanted to run a bunch of them ( I like mounted armies and cav charges ) so my question is are eels so competitive that playing them would ruin our more casual games or are they only competitive due to the ITC rules and stuff?

They've since been nerfed, so you should be OK.

Cool thanks.

 NinthMusketeer wrote:
They've since been nerfed, so you should be OK.

They had I think 20pts or 30pts price rise for the morsarr(spear) eels. They're still the strongest list idoneth can put up, and can easily steamroll unprepared enemy unless the eel player decides to pay no attention to positioning and synergies.

I fell into the same issue as I wanted an all mounted army.
In terms of gameplay, they actually hit like a truck still and are one of the top deepkin lists you can make.

The only way I could really “balance” mine was by running a few Allopexes to eat points as they are nothing special.
Gorgeous model but rules wise, they are the weak link I’d say.

You will be fine at lower points as you will always be outnumbered drastically due to the cost of 3 man units, it’s when you start pushing past 1,500 that they really gain some ground.

I'm considering deepkin as a new army so researching this myself (although my area has no such ban). Unfortunately, the eels being as good as they are it means if you take too many of them you get lumped into the competitive category.

However, the comp eel lists take like at least 18 if not more, so you can consider that the breaking point.

Tourney eels are also pulling deep strike shenanigans--at which point one knows what they are doing. And so much of it depends on what armies other people run that just spamming eels may or may not be too strong.

When in doubt overload on too many battalions and take fun artifacts instead of the best ones.

Honestly, all it takes to make the list "fluff-friendly" but keep the knight theme is to include the turtle and/or some sharks instead of just running nothing but eels.

So long as you sing the Mighty Boosh Eels song while you use them, you're good.

Thanks for the replies. I will definitely add sharks and a turtle to eat up some points. I haven't read the battletomb yet, but whatever their deepstrike mechanic is should be easy to play around not using it.

 UncleJetMints wrote:
Thanks for the replies. I will definitely add sharks and a turtle to eat up some points. I haven't read the battletomb yet, but whatever their deepstrike mechanic is should be easy to play around not using it.

It's connected to the Soulscryer(the guy with the 'machine gun fish'), as he lets you take a certain number of units 'off board' before deployment.
Honestly, sharks and turtles aren't the only thing to use. You could just go actual fluffy and build a raiding party, bringing some Reavers and Thralls too.


The big thing to understand with regards to the tournament lists and the like is they take advantage of the 'have to target nearest unit' bit that Idoneth have as an army ability, running the sword+shield eels[Ishlaen Guard] out in front(they ignore rend modifiers when being attacked and on the turn that they charge, they go from a 4+ to a 3+ for save, meaning a 3+ unmodifiable save) to soak up fire from ranged attacks that don't dish out Mortal Wounds, while the spear eels[Morrsarr Guard] use their Biovoltaic Blast(once per game during a Combat Phase they can dish out Mortal Wounds to units within 3") and charge to get their Wave Riders perk going off(-2 Rend and damage 2 on the Voltspears instead of no rend and 1 damage) as often as they can.


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Also can't stress enough that bringing along a generic Akhelian King instead of Volturnos is a big handicapping for you! Same goes for any 'Aspect of...' for the Eidolon of Mathlaan. It's a gorgeous model, but damn does it eat into points and require you to rejig how you play the army.

So, there are 2 eels, 1 is Ishlaen and the other is Morrsarr.

Ishlaen are the non-competitive ones, Morrsarr are the Competitive ones.

Ishlaen are basically just Invul save eels with no rending attacks, Morrsarr are on the charge high rend high damage and a MW bomb once a game.

What makes Morrsarr even more powerful is that you can make them + attacks, +movement, and +charge distance, making them charge anything anywhere at anytime killing almost anything, finally you can DS/Outflank them with +charge distance, their MW bomb works Before the fighting starts, so you can deal 9-12D3 MW's to a unit, killing it, pilling into another units then get 20+ attacks with -2rend for 2D with re-rolls1's to hit/wound, effectively killing 2-3 units in 1 charge.

Ishlaen are a lot of basic attacks with low damage and no rend, but they are very good at sustaining in combat, so each player likes fighting against them a bit more.


EDIT: PS as someone that did play tournaments with IDK and did well with them, it doesnt matter if you have the turtle, low eels, lots of thralls, etc.. (lists that are consider bad) IDk still has insane movement combos and with the tides + king or Tidecaster, traits, and cant shoot non closes, you can still do some really good damage if you know how to play. My normal list is 6 Ishlaen, 9 Morrsarr, 1 Leviathan, Tidecaster, King, 1 Soulscryer, 10 Reavers, 2 Thralls and i still did extremely well. Thralls can take down KoS without trying, or help against hordes like Clan rats.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 Kanluwen wrote:

 UncleJetMints wrote:


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Also can't stress enough that bringing along a generic Akhelian King instead of Volturnos is a big handicapping for you! Same goes for any 'Aspect of...' for the Eidolon of Mathlaan. It's a gorgeous model, but damn does it eat into points and require you to rejig how you play the army.

I dont care about the named King, i honestly think he is a handicap. He will help buff more units but from all my games he is never in place to, you need the damage and movement to control the board before turn 3. I normally use a Tidecaster as general and it has always worked out better. And you can use a relic on him, there are many good relics for him.

But and Eidolon will for sure eat up points! So i agree with that.