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Going against Eldar for the first time, need advice

1K views 14 replies 8 participants last post by  Polaria 
#1 · (Edited)
Okay, I've agreed to play a 1800 point game against my friends Eldar army in coming sunday. I'll be in a bit of disadvantage since 1800 points is near my maximum points and thus he should know quite well what I'll be bringing to table even before I'll see his list.

My list is:

Nightbringer
Lord + Orb
5 Pariahs
10 Warriors
10 Warriors
10 Warriors
10 Warriors
4 Destroyers
4 Destroyers

I do have a few left over models: Destro lord with scythe but no orb, one Pariah and 10 Scarab Swarms but thats it, so there isn't much room to change my list.

What I'll know of his list is following:

- HQ is likely autarch or farseer with warlock retinue. Possibly both.
- He has a lot of guardians and heavy weapon platforms so I'll be most likely to see a plenty of 'em.
- He has at least one squad of striking scorpions, banshees, dragons, reapers and possibly some other aspect warriors.
- Luckily I don't think he has much tanks or vehicles so it'll be infantry slugging match.

The mission will probably be random selection from Battle Missions, so it might be pretty much anything from Rulebook or Battle Missions but most likely either racial Battle Missions or standard from rulebook.

Any "last minute" advice on what I can expect from the Eldar and what kind of nasty surprises I should be wary of?

(Naturally I'll post a report of how it went)
 
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#2 ·
Hey

I don't normally play Eldar, but I have the codex on hand, and I have played them quite a bit myself. I will offer some advice, and I will base my decisions on what you think he will take.

In terms of a HQ, an Autarch (I'm assuming you meant this instead of an Exarch, as they are upgrades for certain squads) would most definitely be the more viable option here. In terms of survivabilty, it has a 3+/4++ save, fleet of foot, and is very effective in joining any Aspect squad. If it is attached to a squad of Banshees which you say may happen, then prepare for a hard fighting battle. They will be able to close the gap very quickly, and even if they do not take a Transport vehicle, it is of no consequence to them.

The tactic here, when used with your list, would be to deny any speculation of whether or not they can get to your units. If this occurs, seeing as how your list is not really designed to hold of a full frontal assault, expect this unit to be the forerunners of the army, before you are hit from afar with Rangers and Reapers, followed by a second wave of Striking Scorpions. I well and truly think that you need a Monolith, but if you are unable to get one, it will just mean that the match will be a lot tougher. As the formation of our units is designed to be an impenetrable phalanx, models like Autarchs are specifically designed to make the enemy commit themselves, and then attack en masse. With the units you have I strongly urge that you consider a Warscythe on your Lord. I understand the somewhat inept futility of the weapon, but if you can get into combat with your Lord and the Pariahs can potentially emerge victorious. If you choose to do this, a Phase Shifter would do you no harm either, as a lot of the Eldar weaponry has either low AP, or ignores Armor Save outright. The Nightbringer could work, but I would rather keep him back, and let the enemy commit theirself, as this is where it excels in disallowing the enemy to seal the wound that you have caused in their ranks.

You will be severely outnumbered, outgunned, and have the disadvantage in mobility, however they are not unbeatable. None of your ranged weapons, save for the Staff of Light, can ignore their average armor, and this will cause a severe blow. This is where a Monolith will be so invaluable, as the Eldar, with the units that they have, will have a hard time taking them out. I won't go into details about what can take out what, but I will talk about the Farseer, which can be a real trick.

With a Warlock Retinue, the entire enemy has absolutely no armor save. This can work to your advantage, as Warscythes, can come in real handy. But it is expensive, and Pariahs will have a hard time against these these units, as they are not hitting on par, and with so many Psychic powers working against you, I 'forsee' that the outcome will not be good for you.
Those powers like Fortune, which allowed failed saves to be re-rolled and Embolden, which allows Leadership test to be re-rolled, they are a real pain in the neck.

The only way that I can see you having any hope in this match is to target one unit at a time with everything that you have. In essence, your entire army is working as one giant Gauss Cannon. However, the first thing that the enemy throws at you should not necessarily be your first priority. Thank your lucky stars that there are no vehicles, as that would have made everything that little bit harder. Anyway, the idea is to throw off the different attacks that the enemy tries. Thus, they will eventually commit themself, and falter. This is where your Destroyers pounce, and blast them to smithereens.

I haven't played Necrons fo a long time, but like any army, if you take away their ability to move around the battlefield, you take away their chance to render a counter-attack, and hence break their lines.

If you have any questions, don't be afraid to yell out.

Hope that helps!

Good Hunting.
 
#3 ·
Thanks for your answers. I don't have a Monolith or any way of getting one for this fight so I'll just have to go without. Now, as the points on my list are even 1800 the only way I could get Warscythe and Phaseshifter for the Lord is to drop one Destroyer... However, I don't know if its really worth losing the staff of light and one destroyer.

I did read Eldar codex in preparation and many eldar units seem to have 4+ save which the Destroyers and Pariahs shooting attack can ignore. None of the psychic powers they have (barring Mindwar which might, with a good roll, actually instakill Nighty or Lord) really worry me *that* much so there is the option of dropping the Pariahs for a huge (10 model) Scarab Screen. However, in last fight againts the same player my Pariahs worried him so much (he was playing IG with a psycher squad) that they bought their points back simply by forcing him to concentrate all his firepower on the Pariahs before they could get within 6" of his psykers. I thought that I'll take the Pariahs again since they feel *very* threatening to psychers with invu saves. Not many units can deny invu save, after all.
 
#4 ·
If you're fighting a jetbike list, be wary of the Autarch (or whatever), I think my buddy fielded a warlock and or Autarch in some 5 man assault like squad, they all had 3+/4++ and got to reroll all failed saves plus the sheer volume of wounds is STUPID, plus moving 12" and assaulting 6" gives him quite a bit of mobility, which Necrons lack. If he fields anything like that I hate to say focus fire all destroyers on it, but yeah....if he doesn't hold them in reserve SHOOT them first if you can before they can activate the rerolling wounds bit!
 
#5 · (Edited)
Okay, the battle(s) are over and here comes the results:

Necron List (1800 point)

Nightbringer
Lord + Orb
5 Pariahs
10 Warriors
10 Warriors
10 Warriors
10 Warriors
4 Destroyers
4 Destroyers

Eldar List (1800 point)


Farseer (Doom, Fortune)
7 Striking Scorpion, Exarch
7 Fire Dragons, Exarch
8 Howling Banshees, Exarch
6 Pathfinder
5 Swooping Hawks, Exarch
5 Swooping Hawks, Exarch
3 Dark Reapers, Exarch
3 Dark Reapers
11 Storm Guardians, Warlock
20 Guardians, Warlock
13 Guardians, Warlock

Seize Ground, 4 objectives
Spearhead deployment, Necrons first

The terrain is half forest, half open and I deploy to the forest to force the eldars out into open.

Turn #1

Necrons walk closer to objectives and start shooting. Nightbringer kills one sniper, my pariahs shoot up four guardians and destroyers kill two dark reapers.

Eldars close up fast and don't run so they get to shoot. However, the starcannons don't really manage to do anything. Dark reapers and pathfinders score one wound to Nighty and kill one Pariah.

Turn #2

Necrons concentrate firepower on the guardian unit with farseer and pariahs push forward to close up with the guardians. Farseer is at Pariah aura range and now with just leadership of 7 the Guardians break... and as they are at below 50% they aren't coming back any more. The second dark reaper unit gets annihilated by the destroyers, leaving the eldar player with only one reaper left.

Swooping hawks suffer a terrible accident in the deep strike and the game is over for them. Scorpion come to the table near to destrioers and second guardian unit also get very close to destroyers too. Things are about to get close and personal. However, the dice gods are angry for the eldar and they manage to kill just one destroyer. Yet worse for the eldars taking the one destroyers to the ground left the guardians out of charging range so they get stuck right in the front of my warriors.

The turn ends with Eldars having lost Farseer, the biggest guardians squadron and swooping hawks and having tied the rest of their army into melee with three man destroyer squad.

Seeing his situation with half of the army out of action while having only killed one pariah and (maybe) one destroyer he gives up and we decide to take a quick rematch.

Now, had it been me playing eldars I would have probably wanted to see turn #3, but then again I am known for not giving up and trying to fight my way to draw even if I can't win. However, I do understand his point: At the start of the necron turn #3 my Nightbringer was within range to charge his pathfinders and at the same time the only unit my warriors, pariahs and destroyers could shoot was the 13 member guardian squad stuck somewhere inside 12” range of pretty much *everyone*. I am quite sure 80 gauss flayer shots, 12 gauss cannon shots and 8 warscythe shots would have completely annihilated them leaving the eldar player starting the turn #3 with nothing more than scorpions, one dark reaper and possible reinforcements left to play with.

Below is the winning deployment that pretty much ended up deciding the whole battle



....

Having won the fight faster and easier than I ever thought possible I wanted to give my friend a chance for a rematch. We were still both happy with the terrain we've created so we agreed to play the same table and terrain but roll another random mission...

Capture & Control with Pitched Battle deployment.

Necrons go first and deploy in wide gunline to take advantage of the open ground. The non-necron units (Nightbringer and Pariahs) deploy on the far right flank inside the forest to make it harder for the eldar to freely exploit the cover it offers. The eldar deployment is aggressive and they deploy as near to necrons as possible with everyone near or inside the big forest.

Turn #1

Eldar steal the initiative! The Farseer signals an all-out advance and attack and the troops start marching closer while heavies start to pound the Nighty, causing one wound. Farseer gets one wound from perils of the warp whiling giving the fortune to his unit.

Nighty and Pariahs close up iniside the forest to get the fire dragons. On the main gunlive the warriors and destroyers start pouring fire on closing guardians killing five. I'm trying to re-enact the success of my first fight and force the Farseer off the board with his guardians but Farseers fortune really pays off since he very narrowly escapes having to roll for morale. Pariahs kill one Fire Dragon.

Turn #2

Scorpions come to play, closing in on destroyers again. Swooping hawks swoop in and drop their plasmagrenades to no effect and skyleap off. Fire dragons, pathfinders and reapers put fire on Nighty and manage to cause one wound to him again. Scorpions assault one destroyers squad obliterating them completely, however, this leaves them dangerously out of combat while inside rapid fire range of the warriors.

I start my turn with both flanks threatened, one with Scorpions and one with Banshees... Now there is no chance in hell I'm going to let the Banshees wade into my warriors or the scorpions to cause any more distraction than they already have. So I have to divide fire... I pour fire on the scorpions. Lots of it, but still leaving one of them alive. On the right flank I divert Pariahs to deal with Basnhees and get a bit lucky with shooting leaving Banshees destroyed to the last girl. Nighty assaults both Fire Dragons and the storm guardians. Nighty uses the gaze of death to kill warlock and three guardians. Faced with this monstrosity the citizens of the craftworld decide to run. Things are looking much, much better for me again.

Start of Turn #3 on left flank... looking very good. You can see the lone scorpion and the guardians snaking forwards.



Start of Turn #3 on right flank. Nighty is about the finish the dragons and go towards the Eldar objective...



Turn #3

With scorpions reduced to one, the banshees dead and the fire dragons in melee with Nightbringer the future of the eldar war-effort is up to the citizen soldiers now. The guardians come in, fast. I know there will be a huge melee soon. Shuriken catapults start to reap the necrons, downing seven warriors and two pariahs. Now its up close and personal as the lines meet. Lone scorpion charges to drop one warrior before being slain by the machines. In the middle, the guardians assault to kill two warriors more but miraculously the last one of the warriors decides to hold his ground and is tied to combat. Against pariahs the guardians manage to kill one pariah. Nightbringer harnesses the tempest to throw the fire dragons away and towards the eldar objective guarded by the pathfinders and the reapers.

Several of the downed warriors pop back into action as I succeed almost ever WBB roll. Warriors and destroyers on left flank start to move forward in order to contest in the end. Nightbringer charges the fire dragons, killing them off to the last man. The last pariah keeps the melee going, killing one guardian and tying them up into combat. The warriors also keep the melee going. The momentum off the eldars is gone, they are tied off into a melee and my nightbringer is just one turn away from assaulting the pathfinders and the reapers on eldar objective. Looking good.

Turn #4

Swooping hawks come in for yet another bombing run sowing plasmabombs from their harnesses. Plasmabombs put down two warriors and the hawks skyleap off once more. The warriors hold on in melee while the last Pariah is killed.

Destroyers shoot up two reapers and warriors keep the melee going, locking the eldar squad into it. Far on the right the Nightbringer is getting dangerously close to the pathfinders... and then a make a huge mistake. I shoot with him and when enemy takes off the nearest model I suddenly find the Nighty *just* outside the 6” needed to assault.... Frustrating, yes, but also potentially dangerous as the Nightbringer is already reduced to one wound. I'm starting to realize that the next round the game can still go either way. If my nightbringer lives I can probably kill the pathfinders in one turn, leaving eldar objective with no troops on it while mine is still kept by warriors. However, if Nighty dies, my only hope is to turboboost the detsroyers to contest and hope the game ends.

Turn #5

The swooping hawks make a risky deep strike right on to my objective, contesting it. Their bombs drop one destroyer and one warrior and now they are sitting right next to my objective and warrior squad. The pathfinders rifles find their mark, hitting the Nightbringer once. In what was potentially a gamechanging invulnerability save I fail and pathfinders rifle breach Nightbringers necrodermis killing him in great explosion. The guardians assault the lords squad, but lose melee. They still succeed their leadership and keep the melee going.

The destroyers turboboost to contest and the warriors show their killing-machine nature by killing three guardians and forcing them to flee. We are now at both objectives contested draw. However, the game goes on.

Turn #6

The pathfinders now snipe off my destroyers and suddenly I've lost the chance to contest his objective with nothing fast on the table and even the nearest warrior sqaud more than 12” away from the hedgerow surrounding the objective. Meanwhile my objective is contested by swooping hawks and the guardians who down three warriors before the assault. The joint assault by swooping hawks and guardians sweep the warriors off the table and suddenly my objective is also in Eldar hands. Even though I still have two warrior squads and lord in the table I'm in a situaton where even breaking a draw would require a miracle of biblical proprotions (namely, wiping two swooping hawk squads and one guardian squad out to the last man in one turn armed with only 10 warriors and a Lord.) so I decide to yield and the second game ends in narrow eldar win on turn #6.

Now I admit making two small mistakes in this game which turned out to be big mistakes in the end:

My first mistake was putting Pariahs to the right flank along with the Nightbringer. They didn't really contribute anything to Nightbringers advance and were simply too far off to affect the main battle. I should have done like I did in the first battle and kept them as Lords bodyguard in the smack middle of the gunline. Their firepower and close-combat profess would have surely turned the tables decisively to my advantage in the middle and the warlocks and the farseer would have had serious trouble assaulting my objective. Most probably I could have won the whole battle in first three or four rounds if I had deployed the pariahs with the rest of the gunline.

I should not have fired that last lightning arc shot with Nightbringer. If I had passed on firing it Nighty would have assaulted the Pathfinders on turn #4 and cleared the eldar objective off all scoring units... Thus I could have forced a draw at the end of the turn #6 just by walking a few inches towards the objective with my warriors and the lord.
 
#8 ·
Hey

I would have to agree here. The Eldar List was not prioritized at all. Your opponent was mainly trying to focus on an all around attack, instead of actually targeting certain units with the specialized ones that he had. With the mobility that he had at his disposal, even though no Mech, I am surprised that he didn't attempt to bypass your defences through a pincer maneuver, or something to that effect. Alright, Deepstriking was an issue for him, but besides that, you held your own quite well. Good job!

Good Hunting.
 
#10 ·
If I was an eldar player and If I knew that I am going to phase a c'tan, I'd take a 10-man wraithguard squad. Without any re-roll, they reduce a c'tan 4 wounds on average.
POLARIA:
A monolith is a MUST, especially against eldar, imperial guard and orks. It's the most durable vehicle in the whole warhammer which you wbb re-rolls, large blasts, the ability to deep strike and so many other things.
 
#11 ·
POLARIA:
A monolith is a MUST, especially against eldar, imperial guard and orks. It's the most durable vehicle in the whole warhammer which you wbb re-rolls, large blasts, the ability to deep strike and so many other things.
I've been thinking about buying and painting one several times. Honestly. Haven't gotten around to it out of a strange combination of pride (I know I want to convert and paint it before I can play it), laziness (I already have so many projects half-ready at the table) and wishfull thinking (maybe Necrons will get new codex and there will be other heavy choices I absolutely want to take).
 
#15 ·
I've got the feeling that next codex (whenever that might be) will have:

- Tomb Spyder remade with much more options in weaponry and other gear than now
- Heavy Destroyer buffed (don't know how, maybe targeted or twin-linked)
- 'lith possibly nerfed
- A new big model (maybe walker?) in either heavy or fast slot

I'm basing this fully on educated guess (no secret sources) based on how the newest codex updates (Guard, 'Nids, red marines...) worked out. The objective of every new Codex update is to sell models and since pretty much everyone already owns a 'lith (and it is already pretty much as good as it'll ever come) while Tomb Spyders and Heavies are underused I'll bet they'll get some cheese on them. Also, GW loves selling big, pricey "signature models" (think of Baal Predator) with correspondigly huge rules. In the case of Necrons I can't see a new "signature model" being anything else than some kind of vehicle or MC in either heavy or fast slot.
 
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