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What do you guys think? Would you really recommend eldar to a new player?
If so is it because each unit is so single tasked that they always know what to do with them? Or is it because the eldar have so many  "cheesy" options?

Voted no because Eldar are a terribly unforgiving army for simple miscalculations or mistakes. Something a new person is going to make a lot of.

Eldar can be frustrating for a new player because the units are so fragile. It's obvious what units are supposed to do, but following those specializations without knowing how to follow-through or preserve your units means a lot of casualties and a lot of lost games.

To many rules and units to know and memorize. To much specialization in thier builds.

I think that if a "newb" is steered in the right direction they can build an effective list with the eldar codex.

Prisms and Falcons are the most survivable and therefore forgiving tanks in the game.  Hords of fearless guardians led by an avatar are pretty easy to work with.

The problem is that point for point, eldar don't kills as much as say, chaos or marines unless they are doing something very specific, and someone new isn't going to know that.

Eldar do make up for it by being really good at specific things, and also have the speed advantage, but that's going to take a while to pick up and make use of.

I think Eldar are somewhere in the middle of the pack. For example, I'd say Tau are even less friendly to the noobish mind than Eldar, but clearly Necrons are much more forgiving (probably the most noob friendly army, yes even more than Marines).

I have too Agree with phryxis there I started out with Necrons and i got my butt handed too me a few games until i got my groove In, the new eldar would be a hard for a noob too play not understanding some of the rules and then looking at certain list and saying that cool only too find out they suck unless you know how too play them....
my vote is still No for noob unless they have mentor or a coach with them while playing a few of there first games...

Cool,
That is as it should be then. I was a bit worried that eldar were getting too easy to play.

I also agree that they are a bit stiff, basically because they are fragile. However, I think there is something to be said for having assault troops, and shooty troops....

I have been in many games where new players wouldn't charge with whole squads of tac marines, simply because they thought of them as shooty marines, and wouldn't shoot with assault marines.

I voted no.

The Eldar army is to complex for new players, furthermore I suspect it is generally not as capable as the standard benchmark new player armies (MEq).

Almost everything in the Eldar list need things to work in concert with something else to make it effective, and enemy match ups are very important.  A new player won't have the mental inventory of matchups to even know what to take or how to commit it.  For example, A banshee squad really needs doom to be effective, and wraith units really need warlocks, likewise the use of a farseer, for any of the psychic abilities really depends on what else is in the army.  By comparrison, a marine tac  squad with a power glove vet and heavy weapon is pretty good all around vs other infantry, armor, characters, a Necron squad is generally good in all match ups etc... It doesnt matter weather or not the SM librarian is there to make the tac squad work.  Things like that make a huge difference with Eldar. 

Furthermore, T3 armies can be really frustrating, they go away pretty fast by all sorts of methods.  I think of all the T3 armies out there the IG are probably the most forgiving, and theyre not a good new player army because of investment and quantity of painting...

 

New players should watch a few games and then choose the army they like the style and fluff on. My first army was Dark Eldar. Needless to say, I lost my first 11 games or so. After that initial period, I won 90% of them with that army. I loved the speed and the mobility. Most all all, there was something really cool about satanic, S&M space elves.

While eldar are not as forgiving as say SAFH marines or 'crons, they are still a lot more forgiving than their dark brethren, Tzneetch Chaos, or Grey Knights.

I just don't think it is wise to tell new players to commit to a $300 investment on an army they might not even want. They'll lose a lot in the beginning no matter what they play. The ideal way to learn the game is probably to start in an escallation league. That way our new player's army will grow slowly and carefully.

More experienced players can help this new player out by playing their "fluffy or fun lists." Bust out that Iron Warriors force with 4 chaos dreads that you've always been wanting to play. Try some footslogging orcs. Bust out those 3rd ed rhinos and rhino rush!

Also, be willing to play a 750, 1000, or 1200 pt game. (I can't think of anything more balanced then a 1000 pt drop pod army!) Don't force someone to instantly commit hundreds of dollars to the hobby and to buy units with no idea as to their effectiveness. With 1,000 pts on the board their are far fewer units, often with fewer special rules, than at 1850.

The right army for a new player is the army they want to play with the models and fluff they like. It's our job to teach them the game. The term Newb itself never leaves a good nerd's mouth without an inflection of derision anyway. We should help people new to the hobby get started with an army they are passionate about. Then (when they know what they are doing someday) beating them up with your Lysander Wing will be something to actually be proud of.

My 2 cents.

ps...Sorry to flame the list, something in here got under my skin a little. There are enough MEQ armies out there and you can learn on any army list if you are allowed to start slowly. Also, this game ain't rocket science. If I had actually read the rulebook like I do now, the first 10 games I played would have gone better.

Eldar are not overly overpowered. They can be handled. It's not like you build and eldar list and therefore win.

An eldar player can lose his army quickly if mistakes are made. This is why eldar are not a beginners army (though they are better for a beginner than IG).

I don't think they are Newb friendly, but a newb with a good head can probably master them fairly quickly, but they are not the norm.

My first army was nids, back when they were really forgiving.

There are armys that do their thing aka IW or Khorne. These are pretty easy to learn.

And there are armys that work around countering the opponents plans. Eldar are one of these.

Problem with this type of army is that you not only need to know all your own rules, but also the metagame, which requires experience a new player cant have. This becomes even more of a problem with Eldar because they cant simply switch some wargear to adjust their army. They need loads of new models to field different aspects.

IW, Marines and such armies are easy to learn because they have a solid core of survivable and effective units that are very straight forward to use - point them at the enemy and kill them. Eldar (in my admittedly limited experience) are an objective oriented force that wins through maneuver and VP denial as much as opponent casualty count. VP denial is one of the trickier concepts for a newb to grasp (at least it was for me) therefore, I voted no.

Sgt scruffy makes a good point.

When a person who is new to wargames approaches a table, they go with preconceived notions of war. Wars are usually won by who kills the other side through overbearing power.

But not all wars are based on strength. Some wars merely show a presence and use politics (VP denial) and out maneuver tha opponent to force them to withdraw.

I view the eldar as the more political and subtle of armies available. Hence beyond the ken of the inexperienced.