So my opponent wiped the floor with my termies...

[Eisenhorn31388]

I was playing a 2000pt game at my local games workshop against Eldar. I don't remember what his list was but mine was as follows:

 

Belial

 

Librarian mastery level 2

 

10 man terminator squad w/ 2 CML

10 man terminator squad w/ CML and AC

 

Venerable Dreadnought w/ plasma cannon

 

Land Raider w/ 2 twin lascannons

Predator w/ all lascannons

Vindicator

 

I got absolutely annihilated. My tanks died as if made of paper and my termies 2+ was non existent. Anyone have any advice on playing deathwing against Eldar?

[Axagoras]

My advice is play a different opponent lol. Without knowing what he brought I cant help ya much, but 20 terminators isnt going to cut it you need more.

[The thousand son]

The guns that dont have good ap have rending with eldar... so you´re gonna have a hard time. Going termies against Eldar is gonna be rough, plain and simple.

That said, use your drop-n-shoot-twin-linked to your advantage. Get some heavy flamers to blast them apart (belial and party dont scatter).

[Eisenhorn31388]

Should I forego the heavy support for more guys? He fielded at least 4 tanks so I figured storm bolsters wouldn't cut it.

[minigun762]

Eldar tanks are tough to bust open.
Assuming that 50% of the tanks are Wave Serpents, you're looking at AV12 with a 4+ cover save that is virtually immune to pen hits.

This means your best bet is to overwhelm them with glances and the standard weapon for that is autocannons.

 

The other option, and something you can do with Terminators is to deepstrike behind them and rip into that AV10. WS's shields don't protect the rear and even stormbolters will strip hull points.

[Dam13n]

I would drop the Dreadnought and the Land Raider (and probably the Predator as well).

 

Dreadnoughts in 6th edition are made of wet tissue paper and straw tied up with string, they fall apart - quickly!

- Ironclads and Contemptors are a slightly different story as they have AV13, which adds some survivability.

 

Land Raiders (thanks to hull points) also aren't as survivable as they used to be, especially against an army that can pack a huge amount of S8, Lance and S10 weapons.  Not to mention the mandatory unit of Fire Dragons.

- You also won't be able to use it as a transport in your list as Deathwing Terminators can't combat squad.

 

The Predator also represents a relatively easy kill point in an army that doesn't have sufficient armour saturation to divert/split enemy anti-tank fire.

 

Personally I would look at Ravenwing as a great booster for your army, scouting bike units with 2 special weapons each and teleport homers for your Deathwing assault can be invaluable.  This will then allow you to split your 10man Terminator units into 5 man units giving you greater flexibility.

 

It may mean having to take Sammael instead of the Librarian (or Azrael instead of Belial), in order to make those Ravenwing Troops (and therefore scoring).

 

Another thing is weapon load-outs for the Terminators, as Deathwing can mix weapons, 2-3 TH/SS Terminators to weather the storm of AP1/2 and Rending shots will aid your survivability greatly.  At a cost of 4-6 stormbolter shots a turn (not a great loss really).

[Iron Father Ferrum]

Basically, what Damien said.

[Brother dean]

20 guys in 4 squads will survive better than in two squads because wounds wont carry over, also you have the possibility of claiming more objectives.  Five man squads are not the optimum but you take what you can get. 

 

The real Anti Tank capabilities of a Deathwing army is in the Left hand of Doom that every termie carries, but Eldar tanks can dance away from that and deny you HtH tho...  Deepstriking behind is a good option too....  Two krak missiles into the av10 with the twin linked buff from deep striking should do for a couple of the serpents.

 

The lascannons may be effective at keeping the WS pointed in a direction to keep the fields turned a predictable direction.  I would advise more guys, OR some fast firepower in the form of Land speeders with meltas or Missile launchers to get into the rear arcs of the tanks.

 

I think personally that a Phalanx (mobile)  or "Castle" (stationary) formation of 3x5 man squads surrounding the FnP banner in a command squad would be fun. and at 2k would probibly leave you another 3 squads for deep striking behind the enemy.  Subtract the outrider squads if you want speeders or other armor for support.

[Robert2004]

I played against a deathwing army recently in a tournament and his list was something like this,

 

Command squad with banner and the HQ to allow terminators as troops,

3 x 5 man squads with various weapons and equipment.

2xwhirlwinds, 2x5 scouts, 1 dreadnaught in a drop pod

a few assault squads with no jet packs but drop pods instead with dudes with melta guns!

 

May be worth your while taking a few assault squads (5m) in free drop pods for 100 points and a few melta guns stuck in to pop open a few tanks and the dreadnaught with a multi melta landing beside them too.

 

Have to agree with the dreadnaughts not being any use so you would need to try and directly points trade with something big by killing it when you land as you won't live much longer.

[Brother dean]

Assault squads cannot take Melta guns.   Vets squads and tac can tho.

[Axagoras]

Sergent can take a melta gun, so 110 points for 1 melta gun.

[McFisty]

I think Dreadnoughts are always useful. Against Eldar I use the Rifleman Dreadnoughts to spam S7 shots at their vehicles. I usually target the one with Fire Dragons in it to help protect my Land raider. In any case, the Eldar will be tough but Dreadnoughts can play an instrumental role in taking out their vehicles. A plasma cannon and even the close combat weapon on Dreadnoughts is not a great choice against Eldar. Their abundance of speed and mobility limits the CC weapon's chance to be useful and they have no 2+ armor saves so plasma will have reduced effectiveness. I recommend a lot of long ranged high strength weapons to counter their highly mobile vehicles. Again, Dreadnoughts can fill that role nicely.

 

Take 5 man squads of Terminators. You will need the flexibility afforded by keeping your troops units small. This will help you claim objectives and if you really need the firepower of a 10 man unit, then have two small units work together on that target. That counts for both shooting and assault. Remember to abuse the Split Fire rule as much as possible. Keep in mind that only half of your units, rounding up, can be held in reserve. The number of vehicle units you have will help balance the number of units that deploy so you can try to deep strike more units behind the Eldar vehicles and aim at their rear armor.

 

Eldar will get a lot of AP 2 shots against you, it is unavoidable. You can try to counter that by staying in ruins, if there are any, to get a 4+ cover save. You can also bring a command squad with the Banner of Fortitude for the 5+ Feel No Pain rule. You can stay in assault with them, which will be tough to manage, then they won't be able to shoot you. Other not so great options include blocking line of sight, shoot them first or hide in Land Raiders which tend to fare poorly against Eldar Bright Lances, Fire Dragons, Wraith Guard and Haywire Grenades.

 

I don't use Librarians very often but when I do I only use one power, Prescience. I feel the points are better spent on other things. I think a Predator has some merit against Eldar but my experience with Vindicators against Eldar is that they are rarely useful. I hope this helps.

 

For The Lion!

[Brother Navaer Solaq]

Your list looks like it is geared towards PA armies.  I'd follow "Dam13n" post since it is mirrors my idea.

 

[Grey Mage]

Try breaking those 10 man squads into 5s? I dont see the advantage in those huge squads.