Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

What is so good about Mech Eldar? I keep hearing all this hype about the Mech Eldar doing so well.

What are the pros to the Mech Eldar?

How does this army list work?

Well, I play a mech Eldar list, qualifying for the GT final with it.
And I will run a mech Eldar army in the GT final, too.

I think the main point is the speed of this army; speed is its armor. It can be fielded in a very flexible manner; all units in reserve if necessary (e.g., a shooty enemy goes first). And it can roll up one flank. It has the toughest tanks in the game and its mid-range fire power is brutal. It has elite units that can deal with every enemy in the game. Moreover, a Seer Council is now again a viable option since powers (fortune, guide) can be casted in the transport.

On the other hand, it needs some skill to run this army effectively.

Yes a skill many players lack, most mech armies require skill to know how to play properly.

Have to know when to be aggressive and when not to be, there's usually a tipping point in every game where you go from one to the other to pull off the win.

Alot of armies are like that, I know. A lot of armies are also always one or the other, but mech armies generally require you to know exactly what you need to do because one slip up can cost you in a big way.

Good characterization, guys.

Just to add a bit, the maneuverability allows you to gain great focus of your forces on small portions of your opponent's force. This is generally the winning strategy with mech anything, but is especially possible with mech Eldar. Think of it as a very fast driving wedge that can't take serious blows to it's flanks (well, not like MEQ can) but hits a small target very, very hard. Beware of trying to focus in too many places at once: my 1750 force can handle two major conflict points, but only if the enemy are equally distributed. Against "castles", you've gotta soften them and then create one serious battering ram.

The other bonuses of mech Eldar are that you can adjust your deployment easily if the enemy does something unexpected and that you can misdirect enemy attention really well. This last bit is even more possible if you use Eldrad, as the Divination redeploy plus 24" movement can really pull a static opponent into unfavorable deployment and serious weakness.

OK, im going to be the devils advicate here, i play eldar yes and have won and lost over my years, and i would like to say that im against the big swing to mech eldar to be honest, this is just my opinion.

Here are the reasons, one, tanks dont come all that cheap, minium of 90 (havent read up on transports for a while lol im a foot slogga, sorry if the points are off)

second, serpants are easy to prang open, with only 12 AV

third, it is cheaper to arm a wraith lord or war walker with heavy weapons and will be firing every turn almost, not as mobile yes but still just as good and cheaper

Got to disagree with squig herder on the advantages of wraithlords and warwalkers.

The one costs too much when you add a warlock, the other is too fragile.

Prism Cannon has longer range and can move and shoot. That means it can hide if needed to.

Mech Eldar is a small elite force, and the tanks do cost a lot if they get the defensive upgrades.

I didn't know that Wraithlords let my Dire Avengers move 24".

MarvinGayeIsMyDaddy:

I know Squig_herder can be hard to understand but I'm pretty sure he addressed the fact that Wraithlords and Warwalkers won't let Dire Avengers move 24".

Squig_herder wrote:third, it is cheaper to arm a wraith lord or war walker with heavy weapons and will be firing every turn almost, not as mobile yes but still just as good and cheaper

Mech Eldar isn't the only viable build for the pointy-eared types, but it's popular thanks to the maneuverability. It's hard to adjust foot-list troops when the enemy outflanks, zooms across the board themselves, or surprises you with their deployment. You can also take distant objectives more reliably with mech, without having to get stalled by enemy sacrifice units.

squig_herder, the problem with compensating for a lack of tanks with Wraithlords and Warwalkers is that they proceed to catch every anti-tank weapon in the enemy army. Lots of tanks (that are indeed hard to kill thanks to the Serpent fields/holo fields) diffuse the enemy anti-tank fire widely. Wraithlords tend to die pretty quickly if there's nothing else to shoot those lascannons etc. at. Fielding 3 WLs or 2 WW units plus an Avatar spreads the fire out a bit, but they're still unlikely to make it past turn 3 versus a very shooty enemy.

Lots of folks like mech because it's a challenge to play with and against. Foot lists are a bit more of a slog. Frankly I'm getting a bit tired of mech myself, and really looking at shifting back to bikes- the worst of both worlds, but oh so fun to play!

I'm just saying it's apples and oranges. Wave Serpents are transports. Wraithlords are CC monsters with big guns. Warwalkers are heavy weapons platforms.

They all have a different purpose in an army.

Saying you like Wraithlords more than you like Wave Serpents is like saying you like Dreadnoughts more than Rhinos.

It is less about my TL Bright lance moving fast than it is about my scoring units moving fast.