Hey there,

I'm a brandspankingnew player who inherited a gianormous Eldar army and is feeling rather overwhelmed by my choices... For a new player, who wants to get started with a small army (1500-2000 points at most, no airpower, no war engines or titans), can you toss me some advice?

So I take some Guardians, maybe some Falcons, and a Warlock stand. Now what? Egads, the choices boggle the mind.

1. What Aspect Warriors or other support guys (bright lances, vibro cannons, wraithguards, wraithlords etc) are really good, and why (remember, I'm new here, so steer away from acronyms and inside jokes. I'm a humorless bloodthirsty Eldar player, and won't understand what you're getting at)

2. What additional stands are really tough for the new guy to understand, use properly, and why?

3. Are any just underpowered and generally sucky, and can be avoided?

Thanks heaps for any advice (or links to posts I should have gone searching for myself, but didn't, as the Eldar are an inherently lazy race) in advance!

1) Guardian hosts are most useful if they have a couple ranged shots for laying BMs (blast markers). It's standard around here to trade out for some heavy weapons if you want a "stripped down" host for cheap.

Another common strategy is to add Wraithguard to give them a big boost to durability. Having the first couple shots hit those high-armor units will keep the formation a threat much longer. Of course, you pay for it, but most people think they are worth it.

Another option, though I don't see it much personally, is Guardians in Wave Serpents. The Wave Serpents provide ranged fire if you need to place BMs and the formation overall is strong in FF assaults.

Aspect warrior formations are usually tooled for CC or FF (close combat or firefight) to maximize the effectiveness of their specialization, but there are a few people who like them general purpose. Common compositions are things like....

6 Dire Avengers + 2 Dark Reapers w/ Exarchs - lots of FF. Although it's fewer FF attacks than all DAs, the extra attacks on the exarchs at the high FF value of the Reapers makes up for most of it. It has the additional advantage of a few ranged fire shots if you need to place BMs.

4 DA + 4 Warp Spiders w/ 2 Exarchs - again, an FF formation. Fewer attacks, but the Spiders and the attached Exarchs get First Strike, and they have better armor.

8 Scorpions + 2 Exarchs - CC. CC units are always optimal with some sort of transport or deep strike option. In this case that means Wave Serpents, Vampire Raider or a Storm Serpent portal.

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2) I don't think any of the units are hard to understand, but the overall flow of Eldar play has some nuances that might not be apparent. I would suggest doing a forum search for "rolling assault" and find a description how to set one up. It's effectively the Epic Eldar signature move, using a combination of "Hit and Run" and "Farsight."

Also related to assaults, staying in transports is less of a death trap for Eldar than other forces, as they can withdraw fully after an assault. A true hit-and-run style is workable with mech infantry and other fast assault units (bikes and the fast aspects).

There's a thread in the Strategy and Tactics forum. It's more of an ongoing discussion than a primer, but it may have some good info for you.

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3) There are only a few things people give a pass to.

In the Biel Tan list (BT), the Void Spinner is generally considered better than the Night Spinners for arty support, even at the higher price, so people skip the Night Spinners.

Howling Banshees have never quite held their own with the other Aspect Warriors.

There is a faction that believes the Phoenix Bombers are too expensive and points to the fact that they are seldom seen in competitive lists. The other side points out that the Bombers are 400 points, which is a big chunk of the "restricted" points at the normal tournament levels (~3000 points), so they aren't seen because of that rather than because they are inherently weak.

Nearly everything else makes at least semi-regular appearances.

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Edit: I'd also recommend reading Jaldon's basic "how to build an army" article for general game strategy.

Shining Spears. I just love 'em. Great for hunting tanks with reinforced armor, they're fast, and they aren't too shabby in a firefight either. Oh, they look cool too.

The Guardians also have an important function: they have a Farseer unit that can summon the Avatar, a free killing machine you get once per game. I never leave the Guardians behind. Ever. Putting them in Wave Serpents is expensive, but if you are only going to have one formation of them, it is a great way to place the Avatar up on the front lines and in your enemy's face.

Night Spinners might not be as good as a Void Spinner, but sometimes you only have 175 points left over they fit just right. I was helping two new Epic players a couple weeks ago and one fella's Nightspinners were just wrecking his opponent's Chaos formations. Not bad for an afterthought formation.

The one thing I see failing for any Eldar army is a lack of diversity. Too much of one thing or another will usually sink it fast. Too much infantry, too many tanks, etc. Eldar win usually because they take advantage of the tools at their disposal. Look through their special rules and you'll see quite a few. Don't be ashamed to use them to their maximum. You won't win a fight with your enemies going to toe-to-toe (unless its the Dark Eldar ).

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author of Syncing Forward and other stories...

It's a dog-eat-dog world, and I've got my Milkbone underwear on.

Night Spinners are very good! (I play Ulthwé so I have to use them.) It's just that in a BT army, the Void Spinner is a lot better at doing the exact same thing as them.

As it stands the Warlock Titan is much better than its 100 pt increase compared to the Phantom would indicate.

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Dire Avengers ... Dark Reapers and Swooping Hawks ... of course ... Firepower and mobility !

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Legion 4 "Cry Havoc, and let slip the Dogs of War !" ... "People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf."

As Neal and others say

1. On Formations to include:-
   • Always take at least one Guardian formation, and always upgrade them in some fashion.
     The presence of the Farseer allows you to bring on the Avatar for one turn, as well as gaining a second retain.
     - WraithGuard are arguably better than WraithLords but both turn the formation into an awesome assault machine
     - Wave Serpents give mobility as well as good assault capabilities
     - Support weapons and Heavy weapons make Guardians a good defensive formation on OverWatch
     However Falcons are rarely used as an upgrade as they only carry one Guardian unit which makes them much more expensive than Wave Serpents (and the odd point value can be irksome).
     
   • Always take at least one Aspect formation, and always include the Autarch upgrade (to gain the ability to re-roll some critical dice)
     
     - Warp Spiders are generally considered the best, Howling Banshees the least usefull.
     - Otherwise, they each have niche abilities, and there is almost endless discussion on how to use different types in one formation for different tactical abilities
   • Small formations of (4) Rangers both boost the number of activations and can be surprisingly resilient on Overwatch.
     Used to slow down and channel opposing formations
2. 'Stands that are hard to understand or use'
   • By this I think you are refering to 'units' within a 'formation'. Often it is the positioning of individual uniots that is important rather than their individual capabilities. So for example if you put your unarmoured Guardians ahead of their armoured upgrades (WraithGuards, Wave serpents etc), the formation will be vulnerable to shooting and assaults, as the hits (and casualties) will be taken from the front.
   • Units and formations that are harder to use well include
     - War Walkers
     - Howling Banshees
     - Cobra
     - Night Spinners
3. Formations / units that are 'underpowered or sucky'
   As Neal says, there are no units / formations that 'suck'. The point is that virtually all Eldar formations and units have niche roles and capabilities, but some are much narrower than others. If you can get them into the right position at the right time, all will shine - it is just harder to do this with some units / formations (listed above)
   For Example - Night Spinners
   
   Much less resilient than the Void Spinner, a single hit will break the formation as well as reducing the firepower. But if you can preserve them, they have the same firepower (at a shorter range) as the Void Spinner, and are 2/3 the cost

Are Banshees still considered underpowered at 2+ to hit? (NetEA draft rules)

Honest question, I haven't tried them much.

The short answer is 'Yes' they are still underpowered, mainly because they have to get into B-B. That combined with their 5+ armour value and 15cm move means they generally get caught and massacred in the open.

Also worth noting is that although Warp Spiders are one of the better aspects (if not the best) they can't use waveserpents and falcons for transport and at infantry speed are usually paired with a vampire or stormserpent (better aggressive use than through the fixed webway portal).

Swooping hawks and Shining spears are useful to have access to if you want cheaper aspect formations that are still fast by reducing the number of waveserpents required for transport (although you do lose resilience and the formation becomes more generalised)