Surviving Eldar

[goldenwonder]

Hi All;

 

I need some help with dealing with the Eldar.

 

In my first game against an Alaitoc themed force (scheduled to last an hour as opponant had to leave due to unforseen circumstances after booking game) my force was severely beaten to put it mildly. Between his Farseers with Warlock bodyguard, Warwalkers with 2 Starcannons apiece, 3 Vypers with Bright Lances,3 Ranger/Pathfinder Units and Howling Banshees in Wave Serp, my forces were outgunned and after 4 turns all I had left was a Rhino.

 

I was completely unprepared for the speed of the vehicles and the sheer volume of AP1 shots the Rangers/Pathfinders could produce.

 

I killed 7 models overall - though his previous opponant only killed a single model and since doesn't play against this Eldar force. I on the other hand am a glutton for punishment and love a challenge. The opponant said he played a bit harder due to time constraints and would play loser next time - but I don't want him to feel he has to go easy. The only way to get better is face better players and harder lists plus as long as there is some fun in the game then the overall result is secondary.

 

I have a rematch next week and the player and I was hoping for some advice or pointers regarding the Eldar to avert another whipping. If I am to lose I would rather go down swinging :P. I will post the list I used and alternate models I have later as soon as I get chance.

 

Cheers

Goldenwonder

[Rain]

Well first of all, that list sounds a tad taliored to kill Meq as Starcannons and Banshees are generally marine killers that are pretty bad against hordes. I haven't actually played Eldar in a while, but from what I remember, pathfinders need to be assaulted as their cover saves are too ridiculous for you to waste shots on. They aren't very mobile and a squad of normal undivided marines will smash their heads in pretty well, provided the rhino gets there.

 

Vipers are very lightly armored and (may be can't remember for sure) open topped, but in any case they really aren't that hard to kill, and against rhinos the lance effect is moot, you can kill these with heavy weapons or hell even with bolters since they will be moving around and will crash if immobilized.

 

All of which brings me to the main point, your army is completely mechanized, right? If you're foot slogging any halfway good list will probably table you, Chaos does not work outside of rhinos, so make sure all of your troops are mounted and remember to pop those smoke launchers. With a couple rhinos, some oblits, and a daemon prince, the list you presented as your opponents should not be able to prevent something from getting close enough to assault his pathfinders, also remember that if he for whatever reason has 2 squads close together, you can do a multiple assault. Also shoot down the wave serpent if possible either with oblits or a meltagun from inside a rhino.

[Canadin]

Ok, use a unit of 6 havoks Icon of Chaos Glory and 4 AutoCannons

 

Autocannons are THE gun to kill Eldar, they cause instant death on farseers, pen the armor of aspect warriors, and will definetly smash whatever skimmer you are shooting at.

 

If hes tailoring to fight marines, just drop down 2 squads filled with Autocannons (180 points for 6 marine, 4 AC, ICG)

 

For the rangers,... Get a Daemon Prince with Wings and Lash of submission, once the rangers are out of cover, Anything can kill them

[afrodude112]

There is a reason the eldar are called "the glass sword"

 

find the armys gimmick, kill it and khorne will be satisfied with the following eldar stomp

[Lady_Canoness]

Slaaneshi units work quite well against Eldar.

 

Lords with steeds move crazy fast and can curb-stomp just about any eldar they touch (and the I6 makes them faster than most Eldar on the field.

Noise Marines also get the nod, for, so long as Dark Reapers are not present, they have the mobility, range, and weight of firepower to knock the average space elf on his arse no matter what he is riding in.

Mobility and hitting power - not resilience - are your friends here. You'll bleed either way, but the trick is to make him bleed faster!

[Shas'o R'Vre]

Slaaneshi units work quite well against Eldar.

Now THAT is Irony :)

[Iron Father Ferrum]

As an Eldar player in my spare time, allow me to elaborate.

 

The Eldar hit like a freight train, but crumple if you can land a solid blow. Plus, the entire army consists of specialist units who do one thing, and one thing only, amazingly well but suck at everything else. The way to defeat them is to not play to their strengths.

 

Looking at the enemy army comp, you have to do the following:

 

1.) Shoot the Banshees and don't ever -- and I mean ever let them get into assault with you. They stack power weapons with rerolls to wound off the Farseer and will murder Marines this way. Bolters wound them on 3+'s, and heavy bolters, heavy flamers, and autocannons will reap a bloody toll since they wound on 2+ and pen the Banshee's armor. If you absolutely have to get stuck in, hit them with Termies/Oblits. You'll at least get a save, and they won't.

 

2.) Assault the Pathfinders. They might have a 2+ save in cover against shooting, but their base armor is only a 5+ and they get one attack a piece at WS3, S3. Terminators and/or Oblits are probably overkill -- save them to engage the Banshees, if you have them -- but get a mechanized squad or Chosen into the Pathfinder's cover and assault them. You will butcher them, I guarantee* it.

 

3.) Bring lascannons. The current melta fad for anti-armor loses out in the face of the Eldar, since Wave Serpent power fields eliminate the extra die. Lascannons may drop to S8 against those shields, but you can engage their blindingly-fast transports from almost anywhere on the table with lascannons, whereas meltas and multimeltas need to get right on top of them -- which is hard to do for Chaos unless you're biking it.

 

4.) War Walkers are not dreadnoughts, and their armor is ten all around. Don't be afraid to lock them up in an assault because you don't even need grenades to damage them with Marines of any sort. Due to their speed, Vypers should be dealt with using ranged fire, but again -- they're AV10 all around and open-topped, so even massed bolter fire can bring them down.

 

5.) Kill the Farseer -- fast. Find where he is on the table and use your biggest gribbliest unit to cut him down. I recommend Oblits and Daemon Princes because they can teleport/fly and therefore get to the Farseer quicker. An Eldar army like this one relies so heavily on psychic support its not even funny. Remove their Guide/Doom support, and Banshees and War Walkers become much less terrifying.

 

 

 

* = Dice rolls notwithstanding.

[Solid Zaku]

A few things I learned fighting Eldar as a Loyalist lapdog of the false corpse god (say that eight times fast)

 

1. Don't send anything you're not totally willing to let go of after WLords. Hordes of power armor are a safer bet than two or three Terminators who might get Wraithstomped thanks to their cheesy-powerful CC spells and items...of which none I can recall.

 

2. Canadin speaks wisdom. Autocannons are something I dreadfully wish they'll give to us Loyalists. I'd not waste the shots on Aspects if I could, but I'd most certainly use them to bust their pesky skimmers.

 

3. Eldar put the "Head" in Headquarters unit. If you can manage to shut their Warlocks/Farseers up, then you're more or less golden. Most Eldar players use their spells and whatnots as a crutch to their playstyle...kick it out from under them. Send something Nurgly their way in front of something Slaaneshi. Have your Daemonettes do nasty things to them. Trust me, they earned it.

 

4. Jetbikes are the galactic karma for the whole 'death of your species' thing. If you find a Jetbike spam army and you've got a cover-saturated table, unless you have something faster than them and dead killy in CC, kiss your mutated buns goodbye.

[goldenwonder]

Thanks for the feedback.

 

Between PC problems and life cropping up :) I forgot about this thread :) .

 

I am in the process of tweeking my list, adding some Slaanesh elements to my force so the suggestion of using Slaanesh is great. Seekers make excellent stand-ins for summoned daemons :).

 

Deus Ex Ferrum - thanks for some (in-depth) advice from the eldritch side of the fence. To be honest I think I was nervous having never faced Eldar before and having such a poor first turn (even by my standards - my dice rolls were humiliatingly poor :P ) threw common sense out of the window and I essentially reacted (poorly) to my opponant's strategy as opposed to trying to seize the initiative.

 

Shoot the Banshees and don't ever -- and I mean ever let them get into assault with you. They stack power weapons with rerolls to wound off the Farseer and will murder Marines this way.

 

Truer words are seldom spoken - as I found to my cost. I shall never underestimate this unit again thats for sure.

 

Kill the Farseer -- fast. Find where he is on the table and use your biggest gribbliest unit to cut him down. I recommend Oblits and Daemon Princes because they can teleport/fly and therefore get to the Farseer quicker. An Eldar army like this one relies so heavily on psychic support its not even funny. Remove their Guide/Doom support, and Banshees and War Walkers become much less terrifying.

 

On reflection, this is where my army became unstuck and I absolutely fluffed it. I was reacting to other units rather than realising that the psychic powers were doing the real damage.

 

There is a reason the eldar are called "the glass sword"

The Eldar hit like a freight train, but crumple if you can land a solid blow. Plus, the entire army consists of specialist units who do one thing, and one thing only, amazingly well but suck at everything else. The way to defeat them is to not play to their strengths.

 

I shall certainly bear this in mind.

 

I haven't had chance to play this force again sadly but will hopefully get to try and earn back some honour (or at least put up more of a struggle ;) ). Anyhow I'm going to re-read this advice again. Thanks again all.

Goldenwonder

[Iron Father Ferrum]

I'm an Elf-ophile, so I came into 40K with Eldar on the mind, but Traitor Marines -- the Alphas -- were my first army. Hydra Dominatus! For Chaos!

[Supreme Overlord]

I'm an Elf-ophile, so I came into 40K with Eldar on the mind, but Traitor Marines -- the Alphas -- were my first army. Hydra Dominatus! For Chaos!

 

I like those last two sentences much more than the first. :wacko: Specifically, the For Chaos part...

 

I have little experience against Eldar...but I do recall from one game back before I had my break from 40k (so it might have been the previous Eldar codex, not sure) that they literally ran circles around my Orks. Quite frustrating having little Elves pleasantly fly about the battlefield when you are trying to unpleasantly hack them to pieces!