Ok lets explore the "mobile" strategy a little. The main idea is to use hit-&-run as far as possible - which means setting up overwhelming assaults wherever possible, while avoiding assaults that are 50:50 gambles.

First off, IMHO All Eldar armies should have at least one Guardian formation. The Farseer gives so many benefits including a "free" Avatar, and it can be used so many ways. Here, you need to mount them in Wave Serpents to get them mobile and more importantly to get protection. This is a powerfull assault formation that kicks out ~6x FF hits and the Wave Serpents can soak up the initial retaliation if you place the guardians behind them.

So against most armies, start with the Guardians on-board (the exception is where there are significant amounts of long ranged TK / MW fire). The point being that 3BP of artillery should only throw ~2 hits, and its 50% that these destroy a WS + contents for 4BMs. With the Guardians outside, they would score a further 4x infantry for 6BMs almost breaking the formation. I place the WS on the four points of a square leaving enough space between them to permit the Guardians to disembark if assaulted. This way the WS ZoC protects the Guardians from CC assaults while the WS skim so still use their FF values. To protect against assaults, place jetbike or Falcon formations close by (so now an assault will meet 18-24 FF hits).

2x Guardians and 4x Jetbikes/Falcons, and the obligatory Aspects (for an Autarch) is 1900-2100 points for 7 formations. Personally I rate Night Wings (300) and at least 2x Rangers (200) leaving 400-600 points for whatever takes your fancy  

The theme behind this is to out activate the opponent using minor formations, staying out of range as long as possible before moving the Aspects, and Guardian + other formations towards the centreline, moving to within 50cm of target formations (keeping the guardians on-board), and keeping the other formations well intermingled with Guardians. If successfull, each Guardian + bikes group can make three separate assaults using hit-and-run to let the victors support the next assault; or you can use the Farseer's 'Commander' to make a monster assault on some significant target. And the point of the army is that these assaults are 'long-range' ~50cms, so command a large part of the table. Better still, when victorious they can run away up to 35cm either to hide, or to support some further assault. And the Farseer can deploy the Avatar nearby to start things off . . .

One method of achieving this is to activate the small formations first, Marshalling them to keep them viable though the game while they manoever to support the army. To be successfull, you should have at least 3 assaults set up for turn #2 and preferably more. The trick here is all about positioning, and really needs much practice to determine not just how to attack, but also how to set up to maintain a fully supported defence. Getting into this position without huge numbers of BMs and damage is not easy and requires skill and patience (and some luck). But if you can successfully position 4-6 such formations, you should be able to destroy a number of enemy formations in turn #2 while keeping yours relatively intact, so increasing the activation advantage, and setting up a winning position for turn #3. . . .

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Sir Hemry Newbolt

These are the tactics I have employed with my Aspect formations, and they have been very successful, but I have been using my Guardians on foot, in order to have some kind of fire base and defensive formations for holding objectives in my half of the table.  Guardians on foot, even when accompanied by Wraithlords and/or Wraithguard have, however, been a dismal failure for me so far, since they just get shot to pieces, or put out of action by the sheer number of Blast Markers they accumulate, so I think I'm beginning to see the benefits of the Wave Serpent mounted option for them.

I would like to know, however, if it is possible to make them work on foot, because at the moment, I cannot see how the Eldar can hold objectives in their half of the table if the entire army ends up being mechanised.

Back in the Space Marine era, I used to use Guardians, Dark Reapers and a whole variety of skimmers as a fire base, but this just doesn't seem to work any more, and I'm struggling to get out of the habit of fielding these units in this way, so is there any way to make it work, or is the concept of mixed Eldar ancient history in Epic now?

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To continue different strategies, the "Infantry" strategy.
This is one of the harder Eldar strategies to master because it tends to rely on counter-attacking more than the others.

Here the Eldar intend to deploy infantry to key positions where they can destroy local opposition, making use of interior lines for support and using the infantry as an anchor for further attacks. I generally do this with 'gates, though others just walk them forward. Either way you need to adopt a 'ying-yang' strategy by considering the army in two parts; the normal and 'special'. In general the bulk of the army needs to occupy all enemy attention, allowing the rest of your force to concentrate on destroying the opponent. But he is not going to be idle . . . .

So you have bought 2x Storm Serpents, a Wraithgate and Aspects for 950. The best Aspects for this strategy could well be Warp Spiders, though Shining Spears are also good for their mobility. Each gate can only be used once per turn, and allowing from problems you should probably only keep a maximum of 4-5 formations in it (I usually only have three). This is to keep your activations high as before, so perhaps two reinforced Guardians (+Wraithguard) and two Bikes for 1000 points. But note there are still only three formations on table - and one of these is your BTS!! To defend these against pre-emptive assaults etc, you need AA (Falcons) some form of screen (Rangers) and possibly artillery (Void Spinners and/or Night Spinners) and possibly base defence (Guardians) giving you a further 5-6 activations for a total of 12-13 activations.

Objective placing is a key ability in Epic, and even more so for this army because you need to use your 'Take & Hold' objectives to encourage the opponent to adopt a strategy sympathetic to your aims. Typical enemy counter strategy is to place the objectives on each flanking table edge (to spread the Eldar forces while reducing the impact of assaults from a 'Flank' wraithgate). However you have negated these problems by keeping bikes off-table, which also allows you to swap your Blitz for a 'gate and still have the ability to influence large parts of the battlefield.

Your initial deployment is also critical. The Storm Serpents are the prime enemy target, and you should prepare accordingly. Deploy them inside terrain to reduce the possibility of being shot (taking a DT test when leaving), surrounded by other formations to prevent being assaulted by some sacrificial enemy formations. Consider positioning one SS to be able to assault the Wraithgate (to clear away enemy blocking it). Don't be tempted to keep the Aspects off-table as you need the Autarch on table for his re-roll. And as before, use the Rangers to deny terrain, block avenues of assault and protect the 'gate.

As with most Eldar games the initial activations are intended to draw out the enemy strategy whilst not moving too greatly or revealing your own, however be prepared to position some formations forward in case a SS breaks. In this case, move the broken SS to where there is a concentration of your forces and preferably to a point where you can launch an assault from it.

And finally whilst trying to delay the concentration of your forces as long as possible, don't forget to do it to make the most of supported and repeated assaults.

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What happens if you don't have any Storm Serpents, and are relying on starting most of your infantry on the board, and only keeping one, or maybe two, held back in the Webway to deploy via the Wraithgate?  Can this actually be made to work?

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Very useful formation - Guardians with 3 wraithguard. Keep them in the webway and ideally have a central TnH objective as your gate. Wait til something foolishly wanders within 30cm of the gate, then FF assault them out of it. Consolidate into terrain and next turn summon Avatar (within 15cm). Either advance and fire, then retain with the Avatar into assault and guardians as support, or keep the avatar within 5cm and use Commander to assault with both (I prefer the former, easier and less likely to wipe out the guardians on resolution). Always keep your wraithguard at the front to soak up hits on their RA. You can even do the same on foot starting on the board, just takes longer and more judicious use of terrain to avoid getting shot up. Using the gate keeps the fm pristine though.

I can't think of a game where that formation hasn't dealt out serious pain (even if I've lost).

Even better would be to use vypers or similar to swoop in, lay a BM or 2 and stop within 15cm of target fm, then retain with guardians out of the gate.

Using storm serpents to fire out vypers is pretty neat too - you can even use them defensive to protect the storm serpent, by advancing out and claiming crossfire then set up for an assault (if desired).

You always have to think several moves ahead. my mistake is always forgetting that, while i'm carrying out my super cool moves, my opponent is also doing stuff, so redundancy and multiple tactical options helps with that. Pretty much all the games I've lost have been as result of losing tactical flexibility - get a few nasty hits in the 1st turn and you're lucky to recover.

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Yes, but this is more a kind of 'rolling assault' that does not make the most of Eldar mobility (Hit-&-Run), which makes it even harder to use. The 500 points saved in this way need to be put to good use, perhaps a third reinforced Guardian and war walkers? In any event, the Guardians probably need to start near the centre of the table opposite your Take and Hold objectives (their target). They should double (or perhaps march) into position towards the end of the 1st turn with the BTS Aspects in support to their rear, with a view to setting up shooting / assault targets next turn. Don't forget that the WraithGuards have 6x MW5+ shots, so can threaten targets 45cm away and this second move should put them inside the enemy table-half. Try to position the Guardians in cover to improve their chance of survival, or failing that behind cover.

It is also worth considering using Wraith Lords in one of the formations for their anit-tank capabilities. Being AV, they also provide cover for their own troops but make the formation a combined AT/AP target, so this needs to be positioned carefully. Indeed, positioning the units is another key skill. Experiment with different shapes against shooting opposition - an extreme example is to form a hollow circle slightly larger than a template to minimise the number of units that can be covered, another is to clump units away from the Farseer to avoid him being targeted (if the formation breaks, consider breaking forward to a point where he can call the Avatar).

Finally the position of the supporting formations is key. The scouts are needed to screen the front of the advance, and if War Walkers are used, try screening them with nearby or even intermingled Rangers (keeping more than 5cm between the separate units of course) to make assaulting them harder. Falcons and Aspects slightly to the rear of the Guardians, Bikes on one flank, Artillery + Rangers guarding the Blitz, all within suport range of other formations wherever possible.

However, don't forget that 'the enemy' is also reading these notes - so be as unpredicable as possible. Try to mislead the opponent, use the mobile formations to switch the point of attack, Artillery and possibly A/c to disrupt enemy formations that can hurt your key formations.

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(You mean when I wander past, in fact you weren't even sitting in the gate!)

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Infantry strategy #2

While you do need to have Guardians (which need to be reinforced), don't discount Aspect formations in this strategy. There are a number of alterntive variations on the same theme. For example try using a set of 8x Swooping Hawks both for the teleport capabilities, and their speed. With 2x Exarchs (don't put the Autarch in this), they can launch long range assaults and then move to support another, moving 70cm in the process (or half way across the battlefield). The main problem I find with them is deploying them too close to the action. Mixed with Shining Spears you get a more resilient formation that can hurt RA targets, though this obviously loses teleport and does need to be a bit closer to be effective. As a Blitz guard, try a Guardian formation with a full complement of Heavy weapons and Support weapons, hiding in ruins on OW.

A completely different strategy for fun, is to try a form of Pop-corn army with 2-3 artillery, some form of AA and lots of Guardians and Rangers, eg 2x Void pinners, Falcons (+ Fire Storms), Night Wings, 4x Rangers, War Walkers, 9x Guardians for 18 formations. The Scouts are deployed forward to restrict the enemy options, preferably interlocked for resilience. The Falcons and War Walkers provide AT capabilities. Void Spinners and Night Wings give long-range support (and AA capabilities). And obviously the Guardians need to mob forward as fast as possible using whatever cover possible to get into assault range (and don't forget the Avatar). The army needs to stay together to make the best of mutual support and 'commander' where possible.

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How does a formation of 2 stormserpents fare? presumably its the bees knees for the triple activation assault? (Especially I guess with the ulthwe black guardian 1+ init formations.)

How does a dark reaper formation compare to a tricked out guardian formation for blitz defence?

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I find it better to take to two Storm Serpents in different formations, they are just easy to get rid off if they are in the same formation.

Slightly off topic but not really I guess.

If you had three formations in the Webway and one had Commander could you pull all three out of the Webway as combine engage action? I know it says one formation per WW but the three formations are treated as one formation temporally.

Also pending that answer could you do a combined assault with formations in the WW with formations already outside? The commander being in the WW or outside.

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A good idea, but when off-table you can only use the character's abilities on its own formation. Effectively this means that the only ability you can use is the Supreme commander re-roll to try to get his own formation onto the table.

To use 'Commander' the formations have to be within 5cm of each other, formations in the webway are deemed to further away, so this tactic won't work either.

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What if they were 5cm away from said WW portal. That could work right??  

I figured it was to good to be true...

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in fact, I didn't even have a gate. They were hiding in the trees though and your tankers were peering through little gun slits, so I'm guessing they thought it was an innocuous wood a la Little Red Riding Hood.

Only tried a support fm of Dark Reapers (in wave serpents) once and they were a bit meh. One of those units that sounds great but I've never really worked out a great tactic for. Be interesting as a mixed Vampire load out though - those plus warp spiders or fire dragons would cause a lot of irritation at the back of the board.

Personally my ideal blitz guard (particularly against termies or air assaulters) would be guardians+heavy weapons+2 or 3 wraithguard. Expensive but really nasty on OW. Only problem would be choosing to protect the wraithguard from CC (and therefore keeping their +1EA MW) by sticking them inside the guardian fm or using their RA to soak up assault hits. Thoughts?

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I think the term 'rolling assault' sums up everything that I have been doing incorrectly in two words.  I've been trying to use Guardians as defensive fire support (which was their role in Space Marine), and they just don't work in that way any more, so I'm going to have to severely alter my tactics.

The problem I have is that I'm so used to having a base line of Guardians and skimmers to cover more aggressive units, such as Jetbikes and Aspect Warriors, that I'm finding it very hard to adjust.

My opponent, a Space Marine player, just shoots up my Guardians on foot for fun, using the superior range of his Tactical and Devastator formations to very good effect, so I am going to have to find a way to counter this, but even with doubling or marching into cover, I'm not sure Guardians are going to be able to withstand this sort of punishment, so I may have to go down the mechanised route, even though I was desperately hoping to avoid doing that.

If I get the chance to have a game over Christmas though, I will try out the 'rolling assault' idea, in order to see if I can get it to work.

I've already found out the hard way about the double edged sword of including Wraithlords in Guardian Formations, so I will probably leave those in the box for my next battle.  I also cannot make up my mind about the value of Heavy Weapons and Support Weapons in Guardian squads.  They can add some blast markers to a formation, but if the Guardians are going to be being geared up for assaults, they seem to be more of a hindrance than a help.  Any thoughts?

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