Project: 40kforums Tactica - Utilising Eldar Infantry.

[Rifleman Lizard]

Nowhere near done. I'm very tried from work and am going to sleep now. I'll come back to this tomorrow.

Eldar are a deadly race of pointy eared athletes. They are swift and nimble. Consequently this makes them fragile and vulnerable to an ass kicking if you make a mistake or two.


Guardians: Guardians are the conscripts of your Eldar warhost. They are required to take a heavy weapons platform. The weapon you use will have a great impact on your squad versatility. With a ballistic skill of 3 they are not to be over trusted with one shot heavy weapons. The Scatter Laser is the most versatile of your choices. It has an impressive rate of fire and packs a hefty punch. It is a weapon that can be trusted to take down those incoming Guardsmen and Genestealers. If you decide to opt for a Brightlance or Eldar Missile Launcher then you will need a Farseer nearby to cast Guide on them. Rolling a single die and hoping for the best is not the Eldar way.
Your Guardians are very useful objective holders. With Fleet of Foot they can quickly capture a defendable position and lay down some weapons fire. Shuriken Catapults are brilliant defensive weapons. Hold the line and take your shots and if possible get your charge in first. After taking all of that shooting the enemy is going to be weakened at his point. Finish them off. They should never stay out in an open street, especially in front of a dozen smoking bolters. You want a save! Covers save from a suitable vantage point will save your squad. Do not opt for the "advance forward into range" tactic because your Guardians will get peppered into mush. Remember! Your Guardians never want to be on the wrong end of shooting. It is better to sacrifice shooting in favour of still breathing. Get your guardians out of line of sight even if you need to fleet! Use cover and obstacles to your advantage. Patience and knowing when to run are the orders of the day.

Rangers: Rangers are your army snipers. Infiltrate them to a suitable vantage point, preferably with a decent cover save. Rangers are kept alive by cover saves. Beware weapons that negate cover saves. Thankfully such weapons tend to have a short range but keep an eye out for deep strikers. Rangers excel at taking out Terminators due to possible AP1 shots as well as high toughness beasties. Pathfinders enhance this ability but the points are usually better spent elsewhere.

Dire Avengers: Due to the greater range of the Avenger Catapult these guys are a pain for most opponents. They excel at shooting. Your Exarch should ideally carry 2 Shuriken Catapults. A couple of Eldar power weapon swings isn’t going to stop anyone serious and a 5+ save in combat? Why the hell would you want these shooters in combat? Keep your enemy within range as much as possible. Ideally these blue guys should mess with a close combat squad so you aren’t in any serious danger of return fire. Get them in range and let them surge forwards, then back off and let a volley loose. Let them move further, desperate for close combat and fire another volley. If you cannot avoid close combat then get your charge in first. First let loose with Bladestorm and get your charge in the following phase. Dire Avengers are perfect horde killers.

Fire Dragons: Your tank killers. The most effective way to use them is to transport them via Falcon or Wave Serpent. Obviously if your using a Falcon then your squad will be significantly smaller. They carry melta weapons so get them within spitting distance of those tanks. Your ideal targets are heavy artillery guns (you know the ones). Fly full pelt in your transport skimmer, reduce it to slag and get back in. Basilisks and other artillery are normally well concealed by your opponents (in an attempt to keep them alive). This means you should be little safer from the coming return fire.

Howling Banshee's: The number one rule with banshees is to attack first. Like all Eldar they’re fragile and vulnerable to bolter fire. Keep them concealed (either in a transport or in a building etc until you pick a suitable target (suitable distance and a squad with plenty of wounds, you don’t want to overkill the opponent only to be left in the open and out of combat). Due to a low strength compared to MEQ units it is ideal to have a Farseer nearby to cast Doom and rack up as many wounds as possible. Your ideal targets are Terminators and other heavily armoured goons. Your power weapons will make mincemeat of them, it’s your to wound rolls that count against these guys.

Striking Scorpions: Ideally you want to infiltrate your Scorpions into a good assault distance. They should be targeting large infantry squads. With superior strength (to other Eldar infantry) and plenty of attacks you wont want to waste them on minor squads of little importance. A nice armour save means they have a little more survivability. So keep them in combat and take a heavy toll with that Biting Blade or Power Claw (take the claw if you’re facing a MEQ list to avoid a couple of those damn power armour saves).

[wildseven]

Woot eldar

Interested to see what you think on certain units : P

EDIT: you may want to put numbers. Having 10 fire dragons is usually overkill, and 3 wraith guard are kinda silly.

Seven

[Phazael]

I did a number of threads on the eldar units a long time ago, but that is the previous codex (though much of it still applies). I am reluctant to make my own tactica until I am done with my own playtesting, but I can post some first impressions (and counterpoints to Chris's comments).

Guardians:
Contrary to what most people will claim, these guys are still superior to Dire Avengers in terms of point efficiency. First off, Defenders are much cheaper. Second, they have options to make them capable anti-armor units. Finally, the presence of a warlock means you can pretty much be certain of them having cover or passing morale tests. For best results, take mounted squads with a scatter laser platform. The warlock is nice for fending off dreadnaughts and providing either Conceal or (the more useful) Embolden. If you are going to run an Avatar as a goalie for your army, then take conceal. Otherwise, stick to Embolden, as it will keep guardians around longer than cover will.

Rangers:
Always pay for the pathfinder upgrade. Always. The scouts rule and the additional +1 cover save are easily worth the cost, but the doubling of killy power against armored infantry is the icing on the cake. My experience has taught me that these are best used in squads of five and scattered all over for annoyance factor. Anything more than five makes them woth the time it takes to kill them, but five of them are a serious irritation which requires the diversion of a dedicated CC unit to deal with.

Dire Avengers:
There are two instances where Dire Avengers are a more efficient option than guardians. The first is when you are trying to maximize wave serpents and the five man dire unit with no options is the cheapest way to cram another one on the table. The second is in an entirely mechanized shooting list, where you do nothing but drive by shootings with mounted Dires. In both cases, they have to have a wave serpent to be effective at all and any exharch should only have dual catapults and blade storm. The CC upgrades should never be taken, because as a point of fact, storm guardians with an enchance warlock are actually superior to dire avengers in CC on a point for point basis. The purely shooty unit is slightly more effective than guardian shooting, in terms of points per kill, when the Dires are full squad size, but lacking the options a platform brings. In short, they no longer suck like they used to, but they are not as efficient as guardians in most forces. If your running pure mechanized, then they are a good option to take. Just fly up, jump out and shoot, then remount the survivors and move on. Repeat until desired results are achieved.

Fire Dragons:
Second most powerful infantry unit in the entire eldar army (Clowns are number one). Contrary to what Chris stated, Fire Dragons work best as heavy infantry killers. This is even more the case in the new codex thanks to the S8 meltaweapons. These ensure that nasty units of multiwound or Feel No Pain MEQs (Crons, Thousand Sons, Death Company, ect), get snuffed out immediately. Mounting them is essential. In the past, their main weakness (other than CC) was against horde units, but now for a mere 17 points, you can have an Exharch with a twin linked heavy flamer, basically negating any threat from horde units entirely. I view the exharch upgrade as a must and my playtesting has shown that a ten man mounted unit is virtually assured of making its points back, no matter what you are fighting. I cannot recommend putting small squads in Falcons, because if you roll escalation (33% of all games), you are left with six guys having to hike it and an empty falcon in reserve where a less expensive Fire Prism could have been.

Banshees:
First things first, they need to be mounted to do anything useful. No one, and I mean NO ONE is going to let a unit of Banshees walk across the table intact and one pod of double tapping bolters is all it takes to nueter the unit. Mount them, or do not take them. If you do take them, the Exharch is worth skipping. Warshout is still largely useless (anything likely to fail the LD test is already lower WS than you) and counter attack will never get used, because anyone with a brain will always choose to shoot you rather than charge you. If you do take the Exharch, opt for the Mirror Swords, as they are generally superior to the Executioner. Banshees are another squad that needs to be taken at full size, or not at all, but the unit is only any good for one reason; MEQ players have an irrational fear of them that will lead to them spending excess effort on killing them. For the most part, Scorpians and Clowns are superior and neither requires a transport to be workable. If your area has nothing but MEQs (and a fair amount of termies to boot), then Banshees are worth their points, otherwise their are better elite choices.

Scorpions:
The loss of haywires and the nerfing of the claw has hampered this units main appeal, its versitility. It is still relatively solid, however, as long as you are not forced to fight dreadnaughts or wraith lords. My testing has shown that they are workable as infiltrators, but if you roll Omega mission level, you are stuck with a slow moving non shooting unit on foot in your deployment zone. You best option is to therefore use them as a dedicated counter assault unit in a static army and in this role they excell. They work fairly well mounted, as well. As always, take the exharch with the claw and both of his powers, or don't bother with the squad at all.

Clowns:
256 points gets you 41 rending attacks on the charge at Initiative 7 with plasma gernades and Veil of Tears. Tagging a fortune bot farseer behind them adds in some anti armor mele and improve their save rate to roughly 52%. The entire unit, with the Farseer, still costs less than any other mounted aspect squad of the same size and will absolutely melt face on anything it touches in close combat. For those of you who suck at math, it generally works out to about 7 Rends on average, which will tear through just about anything. Always pay for the rending (its retardedly cheap), the Shadow Seer(duh), and always pay for the squad leader (he is Leadership 10 and you get a free Kiss and added attack for a measly 10 points). The Death Jester is a waste as you will be spending the entire game fleeting into combat anyhow and he cannot take the Kiss. Avoid taking fussion pistols for similar reasons. Simpy put, Clowns are the supremely stupid overpowered unit of the codex, especially with fortune tossed in. They are the death company of Eldar and the only reason not to take them is purely thematic or sportsmanship related.

Wraith Guard:
Bumping their T to 6 did not solve their main issue as the same weapons still kill them on a 2+ to wound (power fist, plasma, ect) and they have one measly attack in CC. While they are certainly more durable than fire dragons, the Fire Dragons are actually superior at shooting in every concievable way for less than half the points. Taking them as a troop choice is pretty pointless as well, as no one will close within 12" of them unless its to charge them with power fists, so you are in essence paying over 400 points for a slow moving target with no range in one troop slot. The change to the 6 roll basically makes the gun a lot less scary, especially against anything immune to instand death. The only instance where they are better than fire dragons is against a monolith, so if you are tailoring against Crons, dust these guys off. In all other cases, Fire Dragons will do the same job for less points, and better.

[EcoTerrorist]

Banshees:
First things first, they need to be mounted to do anything useful. No one, and I mean NO ONE is going to let a unit of Banshees walk across the table intact and one pod of double tapping bolters is all it takes to nueter the unit. Mount them, or do not take them. If you do take them, the Exharch is worth skipping. Warshout is still largely useless (anything likely to fail the LD test is already lower WS than you) and counter attack will never get used, because anyone with a brain will always choose to shoot you rather than charge you. If you do take the Exharch, opt for the Mirror Swords, as they are generally superior to the Executioner. Banshees are another squad that needs to be taken at full size, or not at all, but the unit is only any good for one reason; MEQ players have an irrational fear of them that will lead to them spending excess effort on killing them. For the most part, Scorpians and Clowns are superior and neither requires a transport to be workable. If your area has nothing but MEQs (and a fair amount of termies to boot), then Banshees are worth their points, otherwise their are better elite choices.

I must Disagree with this enthusiastically...
Patience is needed here (For all of Eldar Really) but you will shine with patience and use of Banshees

I despise using Banshees in a Transport for a number of reasons, and Banshees can decimate enemy units and control the field of battle with their mere presence.

Consider this... A Transport moves 12" and then deploys the squad which cannot move until next turn, so to be safe you must deploy behind cover... if you deploy in front of a unit you want to assault... your in range of their assault AND their pesky rapid fire weapons... ouch!

Using Fleet you can move 12" and get behind cover... yes you need a 6 on the roll, but patience and tactics and you can move safely even with a poor roll of 1.

Staying on the ground also means you can assault from 18" away... you CANNOT do that from a transport... you deploy and then take it in the face... Transports hinder Banshees, use them for Fire Dragons...

Banshees in the middle of the field of battle behind a wall or nice cover WILL cause the enemy to go around their position for fear of getting whooped in CC. With the potential of assaulting from 18" away your opponent will stay away or forget about fleet and get too close, then you pounce on him... this requires PATIENCE... if you expose your banshees (like ALL ELDAR) you will pay dearly...

Another great use of Banshees is as a rear guard if your facing a primary CC enemy. Hold the banshees back behind cover. Then, when you foe comes in to kill your Avengers... you pounce on him and violate him in many ways...

Lastly the executioner is better than the Mirror Swords...
The extra attacks seem soo nice at first glance, but that +2 strength makes such a huge difference. Mirror Swords cannot wound T8... an executioner can... Mirror Swords have LOTS of trouble wounding T5.. an executioner does not, and on T3 an executioner is deadly...

When I first started using Banshees I felt the same way as Phaez, but over time I have developed tactics on how to use them and now they are amazingly effective for me. I hope this helps others that wish to try them, but have either had difficulties or did not know good uses for them.
Save the Transport for Dragons or Dire Avengers... Footslog the Banshees.

[Rifleman Lizard]

Talk about necromancy. I should write more in this thread come to think about it. I never did finish it.

[DeathForce]

I just noticed the necromancy as well I don't normally look at dates when replying to things. It is an interesting discussion though I believe it deserves to continue!

[EcoTerrorist]

Nowhere near done. I'm very tried from work and am going to sleep now. I'll come back to this tomorrow.

Just tell em you just woke up...

I saw this in the Stickied Tactics section, so I am not truly worthy of being a Necromancer. But since it was in that section I figured I needed to put my own two cents in on the Banshees... I just love those gals...

[Rifleman Lizard]

Hibernation sounds good to me!

Oh I didn't realise this was a sticky. Sorry, man. I was never complaining or having a dig at you, I just realised how long it's been since I posted this.

[fleetofclaw]

update this fo sho! good thread, great discussion . i'm curious to hear some discussion on warp spiders and reapers.

[lock-off]

Chris, I can't read this until later, but I want you to know that you're at the top of my list for eldar tacticians. I'm sure I can learn something from your article.

[Trajan]

"Consider this... A Transport moves 12" and then deploys the squad which cannot move until next turn, so to be safe you must deploy behind cover... if you deploy in front of a unit you want to assault... your in range of their assault AND their pesky rapid fire weapons... ouch! "

Why not just angle the WS and deploy behind it? Enemy has to keep 1' away and move around it which limits there shooting and often preempts a chance to charge

Also I have to disagree about hit and run and banshees.
You use to disengage after the Enemies CC, that way they cant shot you and the charge and then YOU get the charge bonus again

[tone.tran]

Deploying behind a WS would limit enemy charges but the shooting is what gets you. I don't see how it limits their shooting having to be 1" from the WS. Care to expand on this?

[EcoTerrorist]

Like tone said Skimmers cannot block LOS so they can still shoot you to pieces... as for the assault... it "hinders" yes, but stops no, as they can work around the Serp to get to you... if they have enough movement that is.

And yes, I didn't mention Hit and Run but that is a way to use it.

[XvStealth]

i'm in compliance with fleetofclaw...i think this eldar unit list needs to be expanded to cover the rest of the units in the codex. i love eldar, they were my army when i started out with 40k back in 2nd ed (when i was a little kid!). since then i went to marines and tau but would love to get back to my first inspiration in this hobby.

[Rifleman Lizard]

Chris, I can't read this until later, but I want you to know that you're at the top of my list for eldar tacticians. I'm sure I can learn something from your article.

Cool. Thanks. It's been a while since I hung around the tactics section.

i'm in compliance with fleetofclaw...i think this eldar unit list needs to be expanded to cover the rest of the units in the codex. i love eldar, they were my army when i started out with 40k back in 2nd ed (when i was a little kid!). since then i went to marines and tau but would love to get back to my first inspiration in this hobby.

Alright then. I'll expand on this later on in the week. Besides, I qualified for a tournament final and I'm using my Eldar list in a few days. It'll refresh my memory.

[Proturbo]

I like Warlock Chris' take on the infantry units

I also think that Phazael is thinking in terms of a perfect situation for the enemy/you but he brings up some interesting points

[k_orr]

I'd swear i posted in here when it was first put up...

oh well nevermind.

On one thing i will always disagreee with chris is his complete lack of faith in 1 shot BS 3 weaponry.

Using a farseer to guide a guardian suad, soley to boost the chances of 1 gun hitting is terrible advise too dude.

For guardians i would recomend an EML most of the time. EML is cheaper than a brightlance, but is just as good vs Medium and light vehicles. It is also more effectictive at killing infantry than a BL. It also cause pinning. Never forget that. Pining is not as usless as you guys might think (unless you are always up against Chaos and Tyranids, then its a different story.)

If you find your self up against MeQ most of teh time, then yup, scatter lasers are teh way to go. However, If you are fighting eldar or IG, you will learn that AP 6 is a pain in th but. Infact, The EML looks like it was designed to kill other eldar.

Paying the points to upgrade rangers to pathfinders is well woth it. Cost is increased 26%, yet their potential to save most shooting attacks is increased by 32% if in normal cover (woods n shit that gives you a 5+ save normaly), and increased by by 100% if out in the open. add to this doubling you chances of scoring an AP 1 hit. Of course, all thes fancy figures count for jack if they get assaulted, and a 26% increase is a fairly large amount.

[Faolmor]

How I used my banshees in the WS (before I replaced their asses) was not to move 12" then deploy and be vulnerable to shooting but rather to do so but don't disembark. Then next turn before my transport moves, I disembark and my banshees are able to move shoot AND assault <gasp> and then the WS is free to fly around on the same turn and provide cover fire with its <insert generic eldar weapon>...

This is legal btw... Did a lot of research before I went into a tourney with my old eldar army...

[Rifleman Lizard]

I'd swear i posted in here when it was first put up...

oh well nevermind.

On one thing i will always disagreee with chris is his complete lack of faith in 1 shot BS 3 weaponry.

Using a farseer to guide a guardian suad, soley to boost the chances of 1 gun hitting is terrible advise too dude.

For guardians i would recomend an EML most of the time. EML is cheaper than a brightlance, but is just as good vs Medium and light vehicles. It is also more effectictive at killing infantry than a BL. It also cause pinning. Never forget that. Pining is not as usless as you guys might think (unless you are always up against Chaos and Tyranids, then its a different story.)

I hate relying on BS3 mixed with one shot weapons. I'd much rather put the bigger guns on things that are more reliable shooters. I like the EML too but it's one shot, as opposed to the four shots from a scatter laser. Guide in guardian squads is something I've done a few times now, but only when I run a brightlance. It's never the sole purpose of the farseer though. There's always others nearby who could use fortune. If range is short then re-rolling all those shuriken catapult shots is a beauty to see. The squad benefits from a higher leadership too. So it's not solely to boost the chances of hitting with one weapon. It's worked well for me. Even so, too many times has one shot determined a winner and a loser.
BS3, one shot - Chances of missing are likely. Re-roll it - problem solved.
It's worked surprisingly well for me.

[fleetofclaw]

On one thing i will always disagreee with chris is his complete lack of faith in 1 shot BS 3 weaponry.

wha wha what? one thing i know, and believe me i don't know much about eldar, is that i can pretty much write off any bs3 1 shotters. the second i count on it to save the day against some vehicle barreling in to my lines, i flip heads when i wanted tails.

the attitude i use is i make sure it's not my primary source of fire. if it hits, bonusland, if it doesn't, no big deal cuz i wasn't expecting it too. this is from muchos barbed strangler shots from my wonky eyed, can't hit the broad side of a barn, carnifexes. he's shooting his 2 VC shots hoping to land 1, and if i get the lucky prize, he lands a strangler shot. any time i use thropes i try to keep 'em in relative proximity and use them in tandem to make sure i pop something.

if you feel otherwise, then you must have the blessing of the dice gods.




anyway... i want to hear about warp spiders and reapers! feed me!