Hey guys Cavalier checking in again, this time talking about my favorite list I’ve cooked up so far in 8th edition. This isn’t my BEST list, but its the list I love playing more than any other. Read along and I’ll explain why.
Flayed Skull Battalion
Archon- Warlord: Famed Savagery, Djinn Blade
Archon- Huskblade
Incubi x5
Raider- Dark Lance
Warriors x5- Blaster
Venom- Dual Cannons
Warriors x5- Blaster
Venom- Dual Cannons
Warriors x5- Blaster
Venom- Dual Cannons
Alaitoc Battalion
Farseer- Spear
Spirit Seer
Rangers x5
Rangers x5
Rangers x5
Hornet- Pulse Lasers x2
Reapers x5
Crimson Hunter Exarch
Soaring Spite Patrol
Troupe Master- Kiss, Fusion
Troupe- Fusion x3, Kiss x3
Starweaver
Skyweavers x4- Haywire x4
TAC Plus
So I invented a term which I call TAC+ which not only encompasses the standard definition of what we call “Take All Comers” but also extends a bit further in that its a TAC for all arenas of play. While this certainly isnt my best best when it comes to rocking into a local tourney, its strong enough to take up against my tournament-going friends in a pick up game and feel that I have a reasonable chance of winning if I play well. Furthermore I would feel totally comfortable taking it up against any of my casual buddies, playing it in a narrative or campaign game or against the “casually competitive” crowd that I’d lump myself in.
Challenge
As someone who plays only Eldar armies, this is one of those lists that challenges you to not only know your codices, but most especially your stratagems, when to use them and when to save your CP. This is a very CP hungry army with a lot of units wanting to use Fire and Fade, Lightening Fast and other key stratagems every turn. Knowing when to throw down Lightening Fast, Prismatic Blur and Fire and Fade on just my Skyweavers and when to divvy up the stratagem love across them, my Crimson Hunter, Dark Reapers etc. becomes a fun mini-game in and of itself. Consistently remembering all the stratagems across 3 books and playing them at the right time is no small feat either, especially when you’ve got Drukhari and Harlequins who have a ton of them.
Also this army has a decent chunk of melee in it and Eldar assault is not easy when you aren’t running Talos and Grotesques. Knowing when to counter-assault or when to be aggressive with fragile finesse units is always a challenge but a very satisfying one especially when you come out on the winning side of it.
Theme
Playing an army that rings true with the lore of the game is something that matters to me. I’m always looking for an immersive experience and this army does that for me. I play a Ynnari themed army and while I have all the bits and bobs to run a full blown Ynnari steamroller I dont enjoy it and neither do my opponents. My last experience playing legit Ynnari was in Apocalypse game a month or two ago and I was outperforming armies legit Titans, Tau’nar’s etc. Its one of those things where, I want to feel like I’m the one winning the game with smart play and creative decisions, not the raw power of my army.
But back to theme- fielding the 3 principal Aeldari factions in a single army is core appeal to me in playing Ynnari. Putting my usual “Corsair Spin” on it is an added benefit with my Alaitoc themed battalion representing an allied Corsair Coterie (ala’ Imperial Armor: 11) and then the Corsair themed Drukhari in their proper Ynnari red and gold just ticks off so many of the boxes in regards to achieving theme that I couldnt be happier playing it.
The Way it Works
My list has a good suite of tools capable of dealing with the threats I most commonly face.
Anti-Infantry- I’ve got a decent stable of anti-infantry units, with my Kabalite Warriors in their Venoms serving as the foundation. The re-roll 1’s from Flayed Skull plus ignore cover is great especially if I go first and my opponent plays prepared positions. When the rifles and cannons are both in rapid fire it puts out a lot of reliable anti-infantry fire power.
The Incubi also fall into this category. While they dont excel at killing Marines quite like I’d like, they certainly can deal with T3 Guardsmen, Fire Warriors and the like which I see in massive abundance (Guard is my #1 most faced opponent). Units like my Starweaver and Skyweavers can help out in a pinch too, both in combat and shooting if they dont have other targets. The Harlequins can pitch in as well if I’m facing truly overwhelming numbers. Also the Hornet (a newer addition to this list) packs more signficant punch that can help out against vehicles, or wreaking havoc on infantry of all types provided their arent great invuln. saves.
Anti-Armor- Probably the strongest asset of my list is the anti-armor punch I carry with this list. I face a ton of IG with lots of Leman Russ’, Knights and things of that nature. The Crimson Hunter Exarch is big dog in this respect putting out truly horrendous damage. In my “best list” I carry two of these every time, but its a bit over the top for my casual opponents and besides 1 is all I really need. His re-rolling 1’s, natural -2 to hit makes him a good lone operator that needs very little psychic or stratagem support which is good because the other units really need it.
The Skyweavers are sort of my “finisher” that deliver the killing blow against Knights and other super heavies after my Crimson Hunter has made his attack run.
The Dark Reapers are sort of free-lancers and insurance against a bad round of shooting from my Crimson Hunter. As are the trusty Blasters in my Kabalite Warrior squads and the 4x Fusion Pistols my Harlequins have in their back pocket.
Character Assassination
My Harlequins and my Archon’s are geared up to deal with support characters. The combination of high volume attacks, multi-damage melee weapons, fusion pistols etc. make them perfect for dealing with most characters. However they do need to go bully style when they do so, ganging up on characters rather than solo-ing them. Even with my warlord kicking out 8 attacks on the charge at Str 5 Ap-3 D3 damage, the entire collective are also not up to snuff for rumbling with real heavy hitters characters, but for generic HQ choices they can do work, especially with fire support from the stable of Alaitoc Rangers chipping away here and there.
Objective Holding + Objective Grabbing
In terms of holding objectives, my Alaitoc Rangers and Dark Reapers usually hold stuff in my own DZ and do so with very solid elusiveness due to being Alaitoc.
In progressive missions or late in game grabbing my opponents objectives usually goes to my Venoms, Skyweavers and Starweaver who has most likely deployed the Harlequins. At full strength thats 5 super mobile units (thanks to Flayed Skull’s bonus movement and Soaring Spite’s stable accuracy after advancing) capable of moving out while I’ve got 4 back line units holding my own objectives. This area is slightly weaker than I’d like it to be, but its the cost of having a lot of very good tools and honestly units that are just fun to play (like the Harlie Troupe).
Defense
Obviously this army carries a lot of -1 to hit around. Everything but the Raider is -1 to hit bare minimum. At the top end I’ve got a trio rocking easily a -2 to hit with the Alaitoc Crimson Hunter generating a natural -2 to hit, the Skyweavers slated for Lightning Fast they are -2 (with a 3++ after Prismatic Blur which I pop as a matter of course) and my Alaitoc Reapers being babysat by my Spirit Seer they are my designated target for Conceal. So besides the Reapers that trio of units is able to start on the table with an easy -2 to hit. Less quantifiable is the relatively small footprint of the units. I’ve found its really easy to hide out of LOS with the sort of “Vyper” class vehicles such as the Venoms, Starweavers and Hornets, or just peak around corners minimizing LOS my opponent can draw to them.
Also I’ve found the smaller unit of Reapers a lot easier to use in regards to Fire and Fade. I tend to get them clogged up at weird angles exposing them to fire power when I’m running 8-10 in my “hardcore list”. I’m losing a lot of firepower at only 5 men but the fact that they can duck and dive so easily does seem to add to the frustration factor of my opponents lol. I feel this list is considerably dialed back from what I can run so they’ll just have to deal with it! lol
Conclusion
This is a list I’ve had tremendous run of success playing, yet one I feel like I’m busting my brain to win with every time regardless of opponent. Its also a nice showcase of some of my favorite units and models which is pure win in my book. If you guys have similar sentiments about running your favorite list which might not be your strongest, please share in the comments below along with any other thoughts and opinions.
If you are interested in more Aeldari discussion check out our podcast: Splintermind for exclusive Drukharii and all things Aeldari news and discussion. If you are interested in following my painting exploits check me out on Instagram! Thanks for reading and stay tuned!
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As always very enjoyable to read! I play a similar list (though I play a full herlequin battalion but inly a drukhari spearhead with 3 Ravagers) and it is indeed very enjoyable. It used to have no counters and was TAC+ as you say, but with the arrival of the Ork Dex things got a bit more complicated. Not only traktor cannons seem to be tailored against us, but Lootas can deal enough damage to swipe an eldar army because they basically ignore -1s to hit and are mostly invulnerable due to grit shields, so how are you dealing with that? Really interested in knowing how similar armies face this.
How many grots they have? The issue is not the grot shields, the issue is not having enough shots for the whole horde. Don’t fire at the grots, force him to use the CP
If the Ork player has also lots of boyz in large squads, deal with them first, as slugga boyz with 4 attacks each can do a lot of damage if they get to you.
A few Traktor kannons can be easily dealt with by deepstriking your Ravagers
Depends of list, usually 30 Grots is enough, though you can see some with 90. Of course it would be great to kill the Grots and the Lootas, but usually eldar always struggle to kill infantry at range, which means you won’t be able to do it first turn and then, because of bonkers firepower, you’re dead. And I do spend CP to deep strike my Ravagers, but it still isn’t easy to deal with, as that means loosing one turn of reliable shooting that your opponent uses to pick off other threats. I don’t know overall I think orks are quite a counter against eldar as a whole, though I must agree with Cavalier Wraith units aren’t as affected. Probably Covens would work well too, as they also don’t need to hit modifiers to survive.
Thanks man! Really glad you’ve been enjoying the articles. Nice job on running the Harlie battalion I’m working towards that myself! Honestly I’ve not run into Orks, their just aren’t any Ork players in my area. Its all about Imperial Guard, Sisters, Tau, Chaos Space Marines, Daemons and a smattering of Space Marines in my area. I actually distinctly remember all my buddies selling their Ork stuff last edition they just got so frustrated.
I’d could theory hammer away on what I’d do, but I do have another type of list I really like running with Iyanden Wraithblades and Warp Hunters that could do really well against them- I think.
I really do miss playing against Orks and Tyranids for that matter but they just are not featured in my area
Great post and fun list. I think it is important to not always run as competitive as possible lists unless that’s what your opponents are doing. It does take some coordination though. My last game against a normally more casual player I brought 30 Dire Avengers, Asurman and the Avatar to have a nice themed list, he was trying to up his game and brought three greater demons….
lol… been there before bro. The trick is to have a good block of reliable power and fun elements to revolve around it. 8th edition is pretty forgiving because most units out there (at least for Eldar) are really solid and usually have high upside if you can pull off some tricks. Anyway man appreciate the feedback, glad you enjoyed thanks!
So whats in your most hardcore list? Just for comparisons sake.
Im loving hornets in this edition though I dont know if a minus 2 is enough protection ( with alaitoc and lightning fast and horneg pulse lasers) or go with shuricannons and vectored engines and go with -3 or – 4…..
Hey bud! Yeah my hardcore list swaps out the Hornet and Harlies for 8-10 Reapers and a second Crimson Hunter and some more odds and ends. I’ll probably do a future article and post all the units etc. t but its a really hard hitting list with some interchangeable elements (Swooping Hawks, Wyches for tarpitting) and a really nasty core.
This looks like so much fun. 2 questions. Do you take reaper launchers on all the dark reapers including the exarch?
Do you only take 5 harlequin troupe and put the character with them in the star weaver? Or do you take the 6 with the character flipping around taking objectives and help defend the back line?
Hey George thanks man. No I dont take the Reaper launcher. I got a lot of melee in this list and the Reapers are really on anti-knight, anti-tank duty with the Venoms and melee units going after everything else.
Also yes only 5 Harlies + Troupe Master in a Starweaver typically on character killing duty or lending some fire support with their fusion pistols while the Starweaver cruises around shooting and assaulting stuff to be a nuissance
Thanks for the reply man! I dont have a hornet so I have added more darp reapers and given the exarch the aeldari missile launcher. Also given my farseer a jetbike to get into position for doom easier and a blaster to the Archon for some sniping!
Cant wait for all my drukhari and harlequin stuff to arrive so I can get making! Thank you so much for this and I am looking forward to more content from you!
No problem brother. Got an article posting tomorrow! Yes I love my Farseer Skyrunner. Just played him with doom today and he’s a champion as always especially when he has more jetbike bros to zip around with. Anyway thanks again man, hope you enjoy the next article.