Guard or Eldar?

[thefoolish]

Very simple question:

I am wanting to start a new army, and I am just wondering, without bias, which is more competitive: IG or Eldar? I have played long enough to know that these questions rarely actually get answered, but I am curious what opinions I can get.

[Absolutionis]

The obvious answer is that it depends on the player's skill.

With the 'codex creep', Imperial Guard seems to be able to out-Eldar the Eldar with their Valkyries and Lasgun "Bladestorm". Additionally, the Guard are more forgiving of mistakes in play.

Eldar are not going to receive a codex in some time, and for the time being, the Imperial Guard are slightly better. Many units in the Eldar Codex have redundant rules or are overcosted. However, the Eldar list still has some very solid choices in Avengers, Dragons, and Scorpions.

Ironically, Eldar can stand their own against Imperial Guard rather well.

Of course, this is all fully dependent on the player's skill. As mentioned, the Eldar are less forgiving of mistakes than the Guard army.

[thefoolish]

Yes, the player skill is a definate factor. I suppose the easiest way to think of it would be which army would a player, assuming he has the same skill with both armies, be better off with?

Another question is which is more fun in general for a player? This includes the painting, collecting, and gaming process.

[ericismyname]

If you want to play Eldar, you will want to go ahead and purchase 2-3 wave serpeants along with 2-3 fire prisms. some Dire Avengers, Farseers, and Howling banshees. Or scorpions. or both.

The main advantage is that everything is so fast and their tanks are relatively strong, that you can move one 24" at end of turn 5 or 6 and contest all their objectives usually.

I have been an eldar player for many many many years. I admit I only started them because I think they look just outstanding. As for painting they can be pretty challenging to paint and rather time consuming. I thought space marines were way easier to paint.

Eldar is probably not going to get a new codex for awhile and with the current edition/codex almost all competetive eldar armies are completely mechanized.

I have never played imperial guard, but played against them yes. I noticed that their massed laser powers are really negated when everything is in transport and onlyt gets out to assault (so no shooting) or gets out and blade storms from behind a wave serpeant (so cover saves for return fire...if it were to negate their armor save) Bright lances and linked prisms are your only hope against lemon russes! haha, no jk there may be a chance ull sneak a vyper or something to the rear armor....but doubtful.

Good luck, hopefully guard players can tell you some pros/cons for them.

[thefoolish]

Thanks for the in depth reply, Eric.

I still really don't know which to choose...From everything I've heard, even the new Guard aren't quite as competitive as the Eldar, and when they are they're pure cheese. I dunno, guys. Help me out! :tremble:

[Absolutionis]

I disagree. I think the new IG is more competitive than Eldar if only because the codex is newer and the army itself is more forgiving of mistakes. The IG Hydra Flak is a painful counter to Eldar Vehicles, and the IG Hellhound is just as strong as it ever was.

I mostly agree with ericismyname's list of 'must-gets', aside from Fire Prisms. You don't need Fire Prisms. On the contrary, I support Fire Dragons. Either way, don't get the Battleforce.

[ericismyname]

I mostly agree with ericismyname's list of 'must-gets', aside from Fire Prisms. You don't need Fire Prisms. On the contrary, I support Fire Dragons. Either way, don't get the Battleforce.


I have yet to see a competive eldar list, that can repeat its battle results often, without prisms.


Its really up to you my man, if you think they are both cool armies, go with which one has more desirable fluff and model ranges.

Because there is no real way of saying whose better, its about the player and DICE ROLLS.

[thefoolish]

Damn, you mean I can't have you guys make the decision for me? ;-)

I find them both interesting, so it may end up coming to a coin flip, though I am enjoying this discussion!

[ericismyname]

Damn, you mean I can't have you guys make the decision for me? ;-)

I find them both interesting, so it may end up coming to a coin flip, though I am enjoying this discussion!


well pick guard,....so u can field the baneblade and tons of valks in apoc!

[Absolutionis]

With the current rules of Apocalypse, you can run a Baneblade alongside a few Carnifexes and a Monolith if you can make up enough of a flavor justification.

[visseking]

Foolish, you have to choose Eldar. They are the most beautiful models in the whole game of 40k...

[cKerensky]

Or do what I do, and play both!

^_^

I'm an eldar player, and I've just started up my IG secondary list. I can see IG being powerful, and strong in a tournament where Eldar might lack.

One of my buddies plays Eldar, too, and against my IG army it becomes an uphill fight. Eldar can tailor their army to kill any other army with relative ease, but in tournaments like Eric said, it becomes much harder to make a generic list. Imperial guard, though is new and has a lot of powerful options at its disposial.

With this in mind, I won't vote. If you're here to win against friends you play against regularly, go Eldar. Read the Way of the Sam Hainn, and you'll never lose. If you enter tournaments, it gets a lot harder for Eldar. We're not as adaptable. IG is a polar opposite, which is why I like them, too: My veteran squads are OK at popping termies, OK at dealing with transports, and OK at dealing with hordes. My eldar? Good at one thing. But damn good at it. Usually one of the, if not the best, units in the game for every situation but next to zero flexibility (Dire Avengers are an exception, as are prism tanks). And lets not forget, Eldar are better at melee than IG is:

Against hordes:
Striking Scorpions
Against Power Armour:
Howling Bainshees
Against Vehicles:
Seer Council
When in doubt:
Harlequins
Against Hordes/non-dedicated melee:
Storm guardians.


IG gets.....
....ogryns.



So...you're asking whats better? Apples or oranges.

I like apples, but I like oranges too. They're polar opposite armies.

Eldar rely on speed, precision, and tactical thinking to win. If you win, you win big. If you lose, you lose big.

IG rely on firepower, manpower, and flexibility. If you win, you win. If you lose, you lose.

One extreme to the other.

[visseking]

IG gets.....
....ogryns.

You forgot penal legion, Shame on u :P

[AppleCookie]

Commissar Yarrick too?