[Amishcellphone]

Hey all,
Been a while since I have visited the forum, or even played or read about WH40K for that matter. That being said, a group I used to play with is having a cash tournament later this month and I'm trying to get a 1500 point list together.

As I was brainstorming a list, a friend had recommended BOLS for Eldar articles and tips. I came upon an article about non-linear combat and it talked about how important it is for Eldar players in 5th edition to make use of alternative methods of deployment, "Stop lining up your plastic army men!" it protested. Well I listened, and here is 1500 points of poison darts, punji sticks, caltrops, and bear traps.

Army List - Eldar Ambush

HQ:

Karandras the Shadow Hunter

Troops:

6x Pathfinders

7x Pathfinders

3x Guardian Jetbikes - Shuriken Cannon

3x Guardian Jetbikes - Shuriken Cannon

Elites:

9x Striking Scorpions with Exarch - Biting Blade

6x Fire Dragons

Fast Attack:

7x Warp Spiders with Exarch - Dual Death Spinners, Withdraw

Heavy Support:

Falcon - Eldar Missle Launcher, Holofield, Spirit Stones, Star Engines

3x War Walkers - Dual Scatter Laser

1507pts (+/-10 pts is ok) 46 models

Tactics:

The only units that cannot infiltrate, outflank, or deep strike are the bikes and the fire falcon. This provides a lot of opportunities for nonlinear play.

Infiltrate the snipers into good cover as well as the scorpions for CC protection, both squads flourish in cover/difficult terrain. As your enemy approaches pelted by sniper fire, jetbike squads appear and attack opposing transports stranding their precious cargo in the open before slipping away behind cover. Silently, warp spiders descend around the isolated unit and turn it into gore with monofilament wires. Meanwhile, a squadron of war walkers approaches from a flank opening up with a hail of laser fire on the soft side armor of enemy tanks. By now the falcon has ferried the fire dragons to the now burning remains of a poorly protected vehicle.

In this scenario, the fundamentals of the Eldar army are exemplified. Units working together to sow discord and chaos among enemy ranks. To seem to be coming from all angles but working together in concert to achieve a greater goal.

Unit Roles:

Karandras and Striking Scorpions: The close combat specialists of the army, I elected to stick a biting blade on the exarch to assist in battles against MC's and other high toughness units, as well as to add more transport killing power to the unit. Karandras also gives the scorpions better cover saves which improves their survivability in addition to their MEQ armor save, as well as making them fearless.

Pathfinders: Pathfinders are best used to hunt MCs, elites or units with FNP. They can also be used to pin low Ld infantry in a pinch, if there were any in the game it seems... but I digress.

Jetbikes: Jetbikes are best used as harassment units and should be getting use out of their 6" assault move every turn to hide behind something even if it's the scorpion's close combat killzone. I see jetbikes as transport hunters; against most units that get transported, they will not receive significant return fire if they manage to wreck their transport, and with their mobility its easier for them to get to side or rear armor.

Fire Dragons/Falcon: This is the anti-main tank unit. Most people like to use artillery and heavy tanks to create long range firing lanes and put out suppressive fire. This unit focuses on closing that gap as quickly as it can and making those people regret that decision. The fire falcon also doubles as MC, elite, or lone IC hunter in a pinch and is never useless.

Warp Spiders: Against heavily mechanized lists Warp spiders are quite good. They have little problem popping av 10/11 and their high strength, high volume shooting is capable of hurting MEQs and non-MEQs alike. Add in their extra assault jump and you have perfect hit and run unit that will leave your opponent torn between chasing them and focusing on the rest of your force.

War Walkers: War Walkers are the most cost effective way of loading an Eldar army with heavy weapons. I like to think of War walkers as devastators on stilts; in other words, they are delicate and must be used extremely carefully. They are already outflanking, saving them from the riskiness of the first turn shooting phase, but bet your bottom dollar that they become priority number 1 when they do show up and wreak havoc. For this reason, they should be placed in cover or limit the LoS enemy units will have to them.


Honestly this sounds more like a primer than an army list, but that being said, comments and questions are appreciated.

 

[MidMan]

I think this is the first time I've ever seen a list without a farseer.

I understand why, but still. It's odd.

Just wanted to throw that out there. I'll give you some feedback later tonight, when I have time to type more than a few sentences.

edit: Okay here we go.

I think you should definitely have an autarch. Give him a warp jump generator and a fusion gun, power weapon and mandiblasters, and deep strike him with the spiders. This is a pretty common setup that I think works really well. In addition, it'll give you more success if you choose to go all reserves, which sounds like a key plan with this list.

I like the idea with all the infiltrators, but honestly I don't think they will end up being as useful as they look. Pathfinders are really expensive, and despite being able to give them 2+ cover, they are easy to kill with flamers or CC. I'd replace them with some mechanized troops, it'll give you more mobility and they will be hard to crack. If you use storm guardians, you can attach warlocks and have well-rounded squads that can template troops or destroy vehicles with the witchblade (or a spear if you choose to give it to them.)

The scorpion idea looks good on paper as well, but much like the pathfinders, I don't think they'll end up being overly useful. I think you should drop the phoenix lord and outflank them.

Your jetbikes are in small squads, and I think they will be easy kill points. Consider beefing them up and giving them warlocks with embolden. If you give the warlocks spears, they'll make your transport hunters even more deadly while still supporting move shoot move tactics.

I think the falcon is a big issue. All of your anti-tank is housed in this one vehicle, and you don't have any other vehicles in the list to share the anti-tank fire. This thing is gonna go down, and you're going to lose all your AT capabilities. Either replace it, or add the autarch to the list and run the falcon from reserves. It'll have more of a chance of having a target within close proximity when it comes in, and even if it doesn't, you can star engine to a target in one turn and hopefully have more distractions on the field by that point, especially if you add some transports to the list to divert AT fire.

 

[nakaruru]

It seems like non linear eldar are popping up all over the place. I think dropping the phoenix lord for an autarch ( cheaper and lets you play with reserves and outflanking be more reliable ) could help the list. I would also switch out one or both of the pathfinder squads ( they never do much for me ) and get a couple of transported troops. Coming in from reserves with a possible 24" move makes them very useful in reinforcing the units you have outflanking/deepstriking or hitting enemies that have moved a bit to far forward. Having a couple more tanks on the field might also draw some fire away from the walkers/falcon. not sure how it would all fit points wise, those are just the ideas that came to mind when I saw the list.