Help with Eldar

[northoceanbeach]

Hi, I played ELdar the other day for the first time in a while to a draw, the mission was home base objective. Here are the major problems I encountered.

 

Maugen Ra and 5 or 6 death reapers. Hard to assault, Maugen Ra cleans up, and on my way in I got shot to pieces, they were all the way back at the board edge.

 

Eldrad-He makes it so I really can't take a librarian, and his is almost unstoppable. The fortune, guides and dooms caused alot of damage to my squads.

 

Their Vehicles- Not only are they fast and resilient, but at the last turn, they can just zip up and contest my objectiv, even from very far away. I had two turns of two twin linked lascannons shooting at a wave serpent, a squad with two meltas(which did not get their melta abilities) and then assaulted in in close combat, and just shook it and weapon destroyed it, but it was still there to contest. This wasn't the first time this has happened to me either.

[SamaNagol]

Play them again a couple of times with the same list and you will see that you had a couple of abnormal dice rolls. You will even find a few more strategies to use.

 

In the meanwhile can you tell us your list?

[Brother-Captain Lucius]

Why can't you take a Librarian?

 

Librarians are the best thing you can take against Eldar. The hood is INVALUABLE. You don't cast any powers, you just stop them.

 

Taking away their Fortune and Doom makes Eldar so much easier to take apart in combat.

 

Also, post your list.

[AbusePuppy]

Maugun Ra and his Reaper buddies are effective against Marine targets, but remember that squad is costing him an insane number of points. If you can aim some shooty firepower his way, you'll find they roll over and die pretty easily. (Also, remember that you can still take FNP against their shots, since they aren't AP2/1 or double your strength.)

 

Eldrad is a jerk, but your Libby will still shut down 1/3 of his powers, so you want that guy around. Eldar are VERY reliant on getting their powers off to compensate for a lot of their other stuff being mediocre (low BS, expensive, etc), so if you can deny him that, he's in trouble.

 

Their tanks are ridiculously hard to kill, but priced to match; you could be fielding two LasPlas for every hull he has on the table pretty easily. The best way to prevent the last-turn rush is by using vehicles to block him off; Ramming is a very, very risky tactic for him, much more so than Tank Shocks are. Wave Serpents should get the majority of your firepower over the game, since you have a much better chance of killing them; Falcons should just eat a shot to shake/stun them each turn until you can get a Meltagun in close and explode them. (Unlike Serpents, they are not immune to extra penetration dice and the +1 on the damage chart makes Holofields less meaningful.)

 

BA can do just fine, even great, against Eldar, and it sounds like your friend is using a suboptimal list anyways; give us a good idea what you're running and we can make suggestions for more specific strategies and units to improve.

[Grey Mage]

The Psychic Hood on your libby will help shut down his powers- if you normally take one, continue to do so just dont rely on his powers, instead rely on his hood.

 

For the Dark Reapers- theyre a nasty unit that doesnt see the light of day in alot of Eldar armies- Im impressed your opponent used them. That being said, a drop podding dreadnaught or baal predator with flamestorm cannon is going to absolutely murder this small and valuable squad with relatively littley they can do themselves to kill it. I suggest the Dread with dual lightning claws personally, and perhaps a flamer to root out any objective camping rangers/pathfinders.

 

As for their vehicles- yes they are a pain. A waveserpent with brightlances and spiritstones is 145pts though. You can also get a pretty nice, and offensively much better tank for that point value. More to the point, you need to know a few things:

 

-Waverserpents do cap incoming firepower at Str 8. They also allow only 1d6 armor penetration

-They do NOT get ANY of these benefits against shots on their rear armor.

-They do NOT get ANY of these benefits in close combat, ever.

-They do NOT stop AP 1 from gibing you +1 on the damage chart.

 

So descent of angels your happy little combat squad behind his very expensive transport and blow it to smithereens. Even better, if you can manage it, try to get as close to possible to make it nearly impossible for him to disembark from its rear access point- the only one it has. Thatll make him not only take possible damge from explosions, but spend the next turn pinned from having to exit the hard way. You can use this to assault them, or drop a whirlwind salvo on their heads.

 

As for Maugan Ra- he is indeed, a bad:cuss, however hes only T4 with a 2+ save and eternal warrior- he has no invulnerable save to speak of. Your low AP plasma weaponry, high strength power fists, etc should make quick work of him. That dreadnaught, with its AV 13 front, again makes a wonderful foil to his S6 power weapon attacks... and complete lack of grenades.