Yeah that’s right. A bucket.
Reecius from Frontline Gaming here with my bucket.
Why did you bring a bucket, Reecius? I can hear you asking.
Why? To catch all the tears of the cry babies out there who make it sound like Eldar suck, that’s why! Otherwise they’d form into a river and all the internet Eldar players would have to get in their Boo-Hoo Canoes and sail away.
It both amuses and astounds me how much negativity there is online about this book! Haha, oh interwebz, you are such a weird place.
Here are some of the crazy arguments against Eldar I have read so far with counters based on ACTUALLY PLAYING THE BOOK, not just theory and/or trying to see the units in the dex the way they were as opposed to how they function now.
Guide got worse because Eldar BS went up to 4…….
Uh, what? First of all, math says twin linked BS4 is in actuality better than BS3, just gonna lead off with that. Second of all, what? Hahaha, talk about seeing the glass half empty, somehow folks are actually turning positives into negatives in their minds. That’s just silly.
Wraithknights suck because they can’t kill Paladins……
Why would you expect a 240pt model to take on a 1,000pt unit and have anything happen but die? And why in the world would you charge Paladins in the first place? Wriathknights are faster…..and have longer range….combat should only be happening if the Eldar player chooses for it to. Come on folks, I don’t think you need a tactics article to tell you that you use a tool correctly or not at all. Remember the old maxim: chop the shooty and shoot the choppy.
I actually saw someone seriously saying Wraithknights should be toughness 10 and/or immune to poison…..hahahaha! What? If you can’t keep a Tough 8, 6 Wound Jump Monstrous Creature around I honestly don’t know what to say. So far in half a dozen test games, mine has never gone below 3 wounds and has routinely doubled his points value in kills. I quite literally will take him in every Eldar list, he is fantastic as a gap filler. Also, Prescience is your best friend with this guy as it really increases his offense in both shooting and assault.
Wave Serpents don’t have assault ramps….
Boo. Hoo. Wave Serpents are borderline broken good. You can make a very strong argument that they are the best transport in the game, currently. If you can’t get a unit where you need it with a Wave Serpent then you are either incredibly unlucky or need to brush up on general tactics. The fault lies not with the vehicle, I can assure you of that.
If you’re bummed Banshees or Scorps can’t assault out of the transport, look at their stats and wargear for more of a hint as to what function they serve. Banshees don’t have grenades. That to me says they aren’t meant for all out assault. What they are is a top notch counter assault unit. Cheap, fast, hard hitting. Plus, they are very mobile with Acrobatics. They come in to preexisting combats or into units that have just hit a screening unit and clean up. Scorps are your go out and punch style unit, with infiltrate and move through cover, plus grenades and better defense. Neither is designed with a transport vehicle in mind. One is very fast on foot (average speed of around 13″ while shooting over open ground) and the other infiltrates. And remember, Prescience lets you reroll to hit rolls in assault, too. It really increases the damage output of both of these units and you can plan on having it every time if you want to build your list tactics around it.
Serpents are there to get SHOOTY units in to position. The Serpent Shield is straight up amazing. It not only protects the vehicle but greatly reduces the odds that the unit inside is affected by a Stun or Shaken result.
Combine that with the Wave Serpent’s hitting power (Go Go Wave Shot!) and speed and yeah, stop complaining about it. The tanks is fantastic. The only closed top vehicles with the assault rule are much, much more expensive and are actually not much more potent in offense or survivable in defense, either.
Runes of Warding got nerfed….
Already covered this one previously. It was a terrible piece of wargear that made the game less fun and was a crutch. Good riddance.
No assurance of Fortune or Doom….
Nope, they not a certainty anymore. But now we have a certainty of multiple twin linked units per turn. And, each Farseer can twin link twice, you no longer need Eldrad to pull this type of thing off. That means you have really force multiplied your offense at a lower cost than we previously paid to increase our defense. Alter your tactics and perspective and you will see that this is just as good, if not better.
Unit X doesn’t work as well as it should….
Never analyze a unit in a vacuum. It is silly to do so. Units can only accurately be analyzed within the context of a list and even then you can’t really pass judgement until you know how the owning player intents to use said unit. I can’t tell you how many times I have written a unit off as being bad on paper only to see someone else use it in a way I had not considered and then totally changing my perspective on it.
Eldar units especially operate on this principal. This isn’t an army you just smash the other guy on the head with (although there are a few builds like that in the book), generally this is an army that is about combos and force multiplication. Think about how these units function within the overall context of your list and what roll you want them to perform and you may come to see uses for units that you previously missed. Every single unit in this book is good, and I mean that literally. For once, I see no obviously crummy units. Granted, some are better than others but that is inevitable in a game where everything is made to be purposefully different.
Here are some video bat reps of actual games that should help to illustrate my points. Sorry for the harsh tone, but the whining on this one is really annoying! Eldar are GREAT and I will put them on the table against any other list and feel confident that victory is possible so long as I use my units well.
You sir, have read my mind! It’s the same whenever any new codex drops. People whinge that their previously broken/underpriced unit is now crap/too expensive.
Oh and the “unit in a vacuum” thing is rife across in the internet. Don’t take this unit because that one unit you meet in every 100 games is sure to kill it if you’re stupid enough to go anywhere near it.
Thank you for talking sense.
Glad you enjoyed it and thanks!
*stands on chair and starts applauding*
Totally agree. Its a very good codex and im having alot of fun trying everything out. Warp spiders still seem uber brutal to me.
On an off note. Tried this and erm…well, while its very spammy..it doesnt seem very fair either :/
id noticed that going first when you have wave serpents they got picked on quick as they almost guarantee getting first blood if taken en masse…so tried this 1850:
autarch, bike, mantle
5x dire avenger squads in pimped out serpents
3x wraith knights
If your worried as your not going first you leave all the serpents and thier troops off table. Your opponent has 3 knights and a hidden reroll cover saved model to try and get it instead. then all the serpents come in on a 2 on turn 2 and do what they were going to do anyway. 3 wraith knights get all up in peoples faces and curb stomp things.
its brutal if a boring list.
That sounds pretty solid to me, actually. My only concern would be the low amount of units you have to engage enemy units but then, when they are as tough as yours are, it doesn’t make that big of a difference, does it?
I’m definitely up on the book, but that doesn’t mean I don’t have criticisms. I like that they nerfed RoW – I just wish it was now something in between the old one and the new one in effectiveness level. Or not, it saves me points I guess.
As for Banshees – for those who say they’re good, can we see a battle report showing them effective in action? I haven’t seen anyone take them at *all* yet.
You’re starting to convince me on the Wraithknight. I wasn’t hesitant because of the durability, but because of the cost (both points and price!) and damage output. The reports are swaying me on the damage output, but it’s just more to consider in a *very* filled Heavy category.
Yeah, he certainly isn’t cheap, that is for sure. But, I fell that he definitely is worth his cost (points and money, it is a beautiful model) and I thoroughly enjoy using him.
I will play Banshees, sure. I think they will be excellent as a counter attack unit. For the points, they really pack a punch.
I must admit, im guilty of that a bit. Looking at them in a vacum.
I saw the 3+ save and just saw it dying to to many things. Strengthed up force weapons, poison, rending, stuff that ignored toughness straight out. But having played with one they are good. They do have some things that they dont like…..but thats why you have the rest of the army!!!
Awesome post Reecius, I have gave up reading the stuff on eldar, people whining like bitches.
Yeah, I agree. So much negativity and it is totally unfounded.
I used to be a huge proponent of the internet in getting list ideas and such but it does seem so many negative thoughts on units that when put in situations to succeed are good. It seems the next few books will be living in the shadow of Tau and if they are not able to break free of that everyone will see them as a failure. I really like the new Eldar book and think the synergies between all their units is very good. They may not be the easy to use hammer but in the hands of a skilled player will dissect lesser players. Thanks Reece for the great articles and trying to pull some of these internet weasels back into reality.
You’re welcome, sir!
If you are up to it and have the buddies with the means, I would love to see a 2-3 batrep series showing the new Eldar vs these three, one at a time of course, using the same list. (not as you have here necessarily just the same list against all three opponents)
A Tau Gunline
A FMC/Hound Rush list
A Dark Eldar Venom list
Consider it a challenge on your friends behalf ;), loser buys the rounds for the 4 generals.
I think if you want to show just how tough the knight and the new eldar are, that would be the way to do it.
Venom DE will be the worst nightmare of Eldar the way I play them. Always have been! Mechdar, however, owns Venom spam. It isn’t even a game, honestly.
We don’t have Tau here, that is one of the only armies we don’t have, however, one of our team mates does. I will see if we can get a game lined up.
I have played FMC Daemons/Chaos twice now with Eldar and the first game was close but Eldar won, second game was a total blowout, Chaos got utterly owned by turn 2.
Batreps or it didn’t happen 😉
Hahaha, I’d love to post every game but filming, editing and uploading the games actually takes a lot of work. I try to get one a week, maybe two if possible, but it isn’t always doable. Sometimes we just sneak a game in when we can and play fast, which precludes filming as that adds about 45 minutes to an hour to the total game length.
more bat reps please just have a table set up for live streaming to ustream 🙂
We’re looking into some new ways to film bat reps that are like that.
I want to cry a river on how super overpower Eldar is. In order to make Eldar playable to the messes. GW buff Eldar too much. I hate battle focus. For avg player that just mean they can move faster. but to me BF just give me an extra movement phase on every turn and i choice the order. in a game base on movement that just way too OP. what i am saying is . in order for eldar to be playable by an avg player they give away too much.
Great post! I just equate most of the noise to the interwebz. It happens with Warmachine/Hordes releases too. The OP players whine and the good players use the new stuff anyway and make most of it work.
T.
Haha, so true! Work with what you’ve got or move on to another army. It is OK to offer critiques, but no sense in making a big boo-hoo session about it.
Frankly, I’m in love with the new Eldar dex. My 2k list is kind of a hodge podge of what I own, but it brings a great amount of variety and is surprisingly rugged.
Not sold on all of it, but it has worked just fine so far.
Farseer: 120
Runes of Witnessing, Singing Spear
5 Firedragons: 145 + 135
Exarch: Firepike, Fast Shot
Wave Serpent: TL Bright Lance, Holofields
10 Striking Scorpions: 225
Exarch: Scorpion’s Claw, Crushing Blow,
Monster Hunter
10 Rangers: 120
20 Guardian Defenders: 220
2 Bright Lances
10 Dire Avengers: 160 + 135
Exarch: Power Weapon, Shimmershield
Wave Serpent: TL Bright Lance, Holofields
10 Dire Avengers: 160 + 135
Exarch: Power Weapon, Shimmershield
Wave Serpent: TL Bright Lance, Holofields
3 Shadowweavers: 90
3 War Walkers: 210
3x Dual Scatter Lasers
3 Dark Reapers: 144
Starshot Missiles
Exarch: Fast Shot, Marksmen’s Eye
1999 pts
Yeah, Eldar are great fun to play! I am thoroughly enjoying them.
You should seriously try the Scatter Laser on the Wave Serpents. It makes them so good, really ratchets up their power. I run mine: Twin Scatter, Shuriken. Gives them very potent offense.
My meta just seems to have a lot of riptides and AV13+ vehicles. And, while I know I can shurken a riptide down relatively easily if he gets in range, dropping those tanks can be a bear.
I’ll give your elder a true test next Friday if you’re up to it with my Chaos.
Good article. Totally agree, except the bit about wave serpents being arguably the best transport in the game. I’m of the opinion that necron night scythes are.
Let’s do it! I have yet to lose with my Eldar, only had a single close game so far.
And yes, I think it is Night Scythes and Wave Serpents in contention for best, IMO, and that is why I said arguably and not absolutely =)