First questions.

[Tyrion89]

Hello fellow guardsman. So I played my first 40k game against my wife's eldar today. I got crushed so I am hoping some help from the most senior veterans will help out this green recruit. Sorry but I don't really remember the exact list I ran I will try to find where I wrote it down. Anyway I had a few problems but first some general information.

 

We ran at 1500 pts because we have both played other war games in the past so might as well jump in with both feet. My list consisted of a company command squad with psycher and master of ord. I also had two blocks of 30 guard, a vendetta, a group of leman Russ battle tanks, and a battery of basalisks. I know I had more but my memory fails me about the smaller units. Anyway my wife fielded a fast moving strike group. Most wasn't too terrible to take down her troops had better gear but quantity has a quality all its own. What shredded me was her crimson hunter. That thing was death itself one shouted my flyer than preceded to eat my vehicles.

 

So on to my questions, first is it just a case of needing to squadron my valks so I had more on the board? If it's not that simple than how would you recommend dealing with the Crimson hunter? Also to deal with the fire prisms my basalisks didn't seem to have to much issue but I worry if she brings too many, what do you think is the best way to counter them? Finally are any of the named characters worth it? I love creeds lore and will probably find a place for him anyway but i am curious if he is actually useful?

[WarriorFish]

First thing is that the despicable Eldars have a strong codex - one of the strongest - so you're not going to have an easy battle of it. We lack the super builds and deathstar units but that doesn't mean you can't win just that playing to Guard's strengths is essential.

 

Against the pointy ears this is predominantly numbers. Any unit they have will be better than yours even more so as they're full of specialists so one on one things won't look good - which is why it should never be like that ;) So what if their fancy aspect squad or whatever takes down an infantry squad if they're then obliterated by the avenging fire of several more squads of Guardsmen? In a war of attrition the xenos scum can not win, so I'd recommend keeping things cheap which includes no special characters.

 

As such I wouldn't squadron anything if you don't have to. The more points/capabilities you put into a single target the easier you're making it for their nasty guns and tricks. Doing this dilutes their fire power which can be priceless if you're outmatched or outgunned. Last but not least while you can't compete against Eldars mobility that doesn't mean you should sacrifice your own, but remember to stick your units together for mutual support.

 

As for the Crimson Hunter, throw enough bullets at it and it'll go down same as anything else. Perhaps a fortification and attached AA guns would be useful, or maybe taking a Vendetta for gunship roles?

[march10k]

The vendetta should be able to deal with the crimson hunter.  Basilisks are useless against eldar because they should have no trouble getting inside their minimum range.  AV14 is iffy because it's only AV12 as far as the point-ears are concerned...

 

Outflanking scout sentinels are nice, they tend to get rear armor shots on those pesky transports.

 

A hellhound has a very high chance of rooting out those stupid 2+ cover snipers before the eldar can do anything about it.

 

Eradicators are nice, since they deny cover saves and most eldar have nothing better than 4+ armor.

 

The only good option eldar have against fliers is a flier of their own, so that's a good way to make some of your firepower not only highly mobile, but hard to kill.  Your vendetta should have done a lot for you, as long as you targeted the enemy flier first and NEVER went into hover mode...

 

A blob of 50 conscripts with an attached priest can spread out and deny the enemy the use of a huge chunk of table, an excellent counter to their extreme mobility.

 

I've found that eldar players are extremely frustrated to face a horde of AV12 vehicles, since they're paying through the nose for all those poncey lance weapons.  A veteran squad with an autocannon in the back of a chimera gives you a lot of shooting for 135 points, and it's no easier to kill than leman russ...take as many chimeras and armored sentinels as you can, and pour on the dakka.