What makes Eldar so powerful every edition?

[Jorin Helm-splitter]

Black Star, that's an interesting idea that, somehow, I never considered. It is strange that the Ulthwé trait can't stack but the Alaitoc trait can. I wonder if preventing the -1 to hit stacking would alleviate most of the complaints against Eldar. I want to see an elegant fix to any imbalance as I'd like to play my favorite army without being called a WAAC power gamer.

 

In the last month or so, my local area has become very hostile towards Eldar with many people complaining about them being "cheesy and OP" the second you pull out your army. (However, most of the vocal players are new to 40k in 8th edition and never experienced the mess that was "balance" in 7th).

 

Well the best route towards not being called WAAC is not to use Alaitoc, reapers, or spamming in general. In addition no Ynnari. Also reminding opponents of their special rules, explaining yours before the game starts, letting them go backwards when they forget something, and good sportsmanship goes a long way to changing their perception of you (the important part). 

 

Its something a lot of players have to deal with.

[Shiboinky]

Haha trust me, I get that. I'm very much a laid back/fluffy player. I typically run at most a single squad of dark reapers (only after the FAQ) OR Spears, use Biel Tan as my craftworld, and have never used a single ynnari or Alaitoc detachment. Any and all Eldar use is looked down on here. I think tensions are just a bit high because the other Eldar players in like to run Alaitoc craftworld with 25 dark reapers supported by 3 hemlocks and tend to rank very well in our local events. I think that while powerful overall, a few bad eggs in the eldar book (reapers, Alaitoc, etc.) tend to ruin people's perception of the army. I've made it a bit of a mission to change people's view on playing against eldar. They seem ok when I center a list around less powerful units like dire avengers, striking scorpions, and wraithlords, but the second you burn 2CP to fall back and shoot with a half dead squad of fire dragons, the complaints start up again lol.

 

I appologize if it seems that I am complaining, I just need to vent a little as I love playing this army in a casual style and no one likes to be called out for powergaming while bending over backwards to pull punches and be a kind opponent. Regardless, this has been a very interesting thread to read through.

[Marshlands]

For the past two editions at least, it's the defensive buffs that have made them so difficult for me. 7th was terrible for it and now in 8th it's the -2 hemlocks and bug units of guardians with spells and stratagems