I'm about halfway through my current project (Orks), and with the talk of GW discontinuing production of metals, I am going to do Eldar next.

I am torn, though, between Iyanden, Ulthwe, and Alaitoc craftworlds. How do they play? What are the differences in their styles? I'm not worried about getting a super-powerful army; I just want to get a sense of how each handles before plot my list and make my purchase(s).

Thanks!

The feature of Ulthwé is Black Guardians, few support slots and no Aspect Host, so your fighting power is going to be concentrated in your Black Guardian hosts (other lists should do every other style better I'd think, including the regular wraithguard with guardian support). I'm trying out mounted BG formations, they are a bit like a poor man's Avenger Host.

I've never played Alaitoc or Iyanden, from looking at the Alaitoc list it seems to be the most flexible list out there if you don't want big Aspect Hosts.

I've not played any of those three in epic but Iyanden were the largest craftworld that had most of their population wiped out by the tyranids so they use lots of Wraithguard and Wraithlords in their armies. Alaitoc are scouty with lots of Rangers, including veteran ones called Pathfinders. Whichever of the three you choose you aren't allowed Void Spinners as they're a Biel-tann only unit. You should ask Man of Kent about Ulthwe as he has an army of them.

NetEA Alaitoc can take Void Spinners. Is that a typo?

Yes, that's a typo - it should only be available to the Biel-tann list. The Void Spinner is "unique to Biel-tann and a handful of other craftworlds that follow the ideal of warrior supremacy". Other craftworlds hate the idea of using the ancient technology that was meant to create life (as part of Eldar terraforming) for killing and would never use it.

Should be. They're repourposed terraforming engines, not weapons. Only Biel Tan has the balls to use them as such.

Iyanden is generally a low activation army for Eldar, but most of the key units are hard as nails. They also have a rule that many of the 'living' Eldar units may not be taken more times than the Spirit Warhost. Personally, I really enjoy them, but the demand for Wraithguard means it can be hard to get sufficient of them for a larger army.

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SG

Ghost's Paint Blog, where everything goes that isn't something else.

Ive played eldar for a long time now, and from the 3 lists you have mentioned i would Iyanden ad the most enjoyable for myself for a good strong theme based army, on a more personal level i enjoy the Beil tan list the most as it give you all the basic elements of the Eldar as a race.
In saying that i had my first game just today using the Fir Lorin Titan list and that was very enjoyalbe it brought a whole new angle of playing them to the game, but to adress the original question id narrow your choices to Iyanden, Alaitoc , as from my experience i just find Ulthwe, a bland and boring and some what sub par version of Beil Tan, thats jsut my opinon of course and may not be true of all

Regards

Tim NZ

Thanks for the replies, everyone. I had been leaning more to Iyanden and Alaitoc because they are rather different and have some interesting background (I am a total "fluff" gamer), but wanted some feedback on that. The info on the Nightspinners is also useful, as it saves me some money.

Regarding the Wraithguard, I was actually considering using some DRM Andrayada as proxies, but how many stands would I need for a decent (3k-ish) Iyanden army?

Keep the good comments coming!

- Chris

I've played Ulthwe for a long time, with some success, and it can be an incredibly powerful army. For me what works best is a couple of upgraded guardian units (3 wraithguard stands, sometimes some support weapons) assaulting out of a wraithgate or stormserpent, with some nightspinners, rangers, couple of falcon+firestorm fms for AT and AA, a vampire with warp spiders for harrassment and a fm of nightwings. That with the SR5 is awesome. Never bothered with the Black Guardians, every time I've used them they've been meh at best.

Unfortunately that and the fact that support slots are so limited, leads to a very singular list and play style, so I'll probably paint up a Biel Tan army next to try out some different approaches.

Iyanden can be super powerful, so be aware that some gaming groups aren't too happy playing against it. The main beefs (or pluses, if you're the Iyanden player) are that all the main troops are Fearless 4+ RA dripping with MW extra attacks. I've thought about playing with Iyanden, but it doesn't feel very sportsmanlike.

You can get away with 2 Spirit Hosts for 3k, but three (18 stands) is probably better depending on composition, especially if you go Webway or foot heavy. I'm expecting my 4th soon, should be good for anything up to 5k or so.

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SG

Ghost's Paint Blog, where everything goes that isn't something else.

Actually Night Spinners are completely fine for any craftworld, just not Void Spinners. Night Spinners use the mono-filament wire while the latter also adds terraforming bacteria and wraithbone parasites into the mix, which scours all life and breaks everything down into molecules in the target area.

The old Craftworld Eldar codex had a section talking about how though the particular craftworlds predominantly fight in a particular style e.g. fast bikers, scouty, dead, ect they are large in size and can be flexible and fight in different ways at times i.e. if you want to use the Biel-tann or Saim-hann list with your painted up Alaitoc army sometimes for a change then this is completely fine.

Personally I'm doing a Saim-hann army but will sometimes use the Biel-tann list, just without taking Void Spinners and not having a Court of the Young King attack with the Avatar.

The question regarded the Void Spinners. Yes, Night Spinners are fine, though.

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SG

Ghost's Paint Blog, where everything goes that isn't something else.

Unfortunately, the Void Spinner is considered one of the best Eldar Super-Heavies, and is generally considered to be well worth the points premium over a squadron of Night Spinners. That’s not really a big deal, but I don’t really see what you get by using an Alaitoc or Ulthwé list instead of Biel-Tan. They’re more limiting, and the slightly different feel that they offer can be approximated by the Biel-Tan list (almost).

Exodus Wars has some bounty hunters that work well as Eldar Rangers… who have put on some weight while living in the wilderness. Other than their roundness they look great with their cloaks and long rifles. I’m not aware of any solutions to the wraithguard issue though, if you choose Iyanden.

Bah - combination typo/brain cramp.

I too have done this ,and really i find most list are able to be played regardless of paint scheme tbh its just a matter of having the models really.

Tim NZ