Sunday, June 9, 2013

My competitive Eldar bucket

Scream at things.

So here's what I'm thinking:

Competitive bucket:
Farseers - Great. Should outright be in every list, or 90% of lists not focusing on specifically designed lists such as Wraith armies.  Double Guide is just fantastic and vastly improves the shooting output of your army.  When you need every shot to count, do not settle for anything less.  Plus you get the awesomeness that is Divination:  Giving you possible 4+ ward on Wraithknights, Scrier's Gaze, and the ability to combine Misfortune with Doom.

Avatar of Khaine - Works in the right list, mostly footslogging ones holding and offering target saturation. If you're running plenty of big units, Wraithguard, WK and WLs, then the Avatar is just another piece of the puzzle.  These guys shouldn't be too expensive with Fast Shot and possibly +1S for S7.

Eldrad - Works in the above said army and will continue to do so. Footslog is in a pretty good place right now minus the odd-ball AP2 template weapons. This is why I generally feel that footslog outright might not be the best, but mech + foot will be stronger. You are better able to conserve units that matter (scoring) while fielding units that someone like Tau can't really deal with (Wraithknights).  He's a footslogging champ because you get a very efficient Farseer that comes with all the bells and whistles plus a few more.

Autarch - Good.  His Strategy clause and reserve manipulation is the reason why he deserves to be in lists. When he is in a list, he needs to be cheap. Either hopping around with Warp Spiders, hanging around with Singing Spears, or tagging along with Jetbikes. Keep him cheap, for real.

Spiritseer - Better than Warlocks IMO, better leadership, larger array of spells, can join any unit, just an overall stronger pick than the Warlock. Wraithsight is just nice to have but the real boon is taking T6 3+ units as troops.

Warlock - Works in the right list, but is limited in where he can truly perform. His lack of spells worries me, his Ld.8 as well, but default Conceal gives him a spot in weapon teams, Guardians, Jetbikes, so if you're running those then he can see a spot. Otherwise, I prefer the stronger option of a Farseer with double guide, or the flexibility of a Spiritseer.

Dire Avengers - A lot of people don't like these guys because of their inability to combo with psychic abilities when they get out of a transport. However, Misfortune and Doom still exist and that's always something that benefits Dire Avengers a lot because of how Bladestorm works. I think they're good, either in 5s or 10s in a Serpent because of their base Ld.9 and plentiful shots. The Exarch options and the lack of previous Bladestorm is a shame, but I think 5/10 in a WS is the best way forward.  If you want a unit that can actually do damage from a distance, I would look into these guys.

Windrider Jetbikes - Just amazing value. The best offensive troops in the army because of their speed, flexibility, and reach. The reach part is huge because it allows them to take points and contest areas last minute. We're talking about the fastest moving scoring in the game here, and makes unreachable points a possibility in the last few minutes of every game. The price too, is just ridiculous. As ridiculous as the fact we've been using the same models for like 12 years.

Rangers - Fantastic points value as well, simply because they can take a point from god knows where and stay there until they no longer matter. Shoot, run away behind somewhere that BLoS and stay there until they're safe. They're one of the best units that draws fire and are incredibly hard to remove when GtG even in simple area terrain. They're cheap, offers BS4 snipers, naturally pins, and will benefit any player who knows how to correctly place objectives. Both Jetbikes and Rangers are useful for keeping your scoring, it's really dependent on the general. Place an objective in a place that allows the Rangers to slip behind LoS, or place a far flung objective on his slower flank so only your rocket bikes can reach it.

Wave Serpent - I don't think I need to argue the effectiveness of this thing. Holofields and Shuriken Cannon upgrade, Scatter Lasers and you've got yourself one of the best MBT/transports in the game. The effectiveness of Serpent Shield's shooting in combination with Laser Lock also makes sure more fragile units that depend on cover saves just outright eat it. Enemy DE vehicles come in mind immediately.

Fire Dragons - Expensive, but still fill in the same role of slagging tanks.

Wraithguard - Flamers or S10 AP2 shots are both welcome. Great in some lists because they score, good otherwise because they just shoot and burn things to death.

Swooping Hawks - Take 6, drop behind LoS, drop S4 AP4 Large Blast Ignore cover somewhere. Good, cheap, repeatable, and great way to clear out weaker infantry (T3, crap armor) trying to hug cover and score points.  Please take them MSU and understand you should be bombing with Grenade Packs as much as possible.

Warp Spiders - Amazing amount of damage can come from these guys, just fantastic. Great on reserves, combos with all of your psychic powers, great mobility, great Exarch powers, great weapon choices. My go-to aspect for doing ranged damage.  Multiple S6 shots basically threatens 90% of the game and it's one of the reasons why these guys are amazing.

Singing Spears - Actually not bad. Does good damage, Skilled Rider stacks with Jink, solid damage:price ratio, good for escorting the Exarch as well since he can buy a Power Lance. Not the best, but useful in certain lists.

Crimson Hunter - He's been solid for me simply because I hug the board edge and kill the Quad-Gun with Venoms before anything happens. He WILL die if he comes on before another enemy flier though. Since he has virtually no defensive capability, there's just nothing that can stop him from dying to enemy flyers. If you can take a Quad-Gun and Intercept his flyer, or have an Autarch to preserve your reserve roll, or Scrier's Gaze, realistically, that's the only way you can keep him alive from other flyers. Also, don't be afraid to run off the board and give his flyer the Alpha strike so you can shoot his ass down. Just remember you can't do this the same turn you fly in (has to be next turn). Example would be: You come in first, he doesn't come in. Next round you fly off the board so you can counter his flyer the following turn.

Vyper - BS4 and solid shooting is always good, especially on something armored, can go the distance and benefit from Jink. However, there are other options that do the same thing like the War Walker.

Vaul's Wrath Support Battery - Solid. A lot of cheap artillery units and even 3x D-Cannons can mess a lot of things up. If you're taking a Quad-Gun line with Aegis, these are one of the best units to look at. For 90 points, you can put down a lot of small blasts that do great damage in the form of the Shadow Weaver setup. Due to artillery rules, they can be T7 behind solid cover and that can be a total nightmare to remove.

Fire Prism - The best heavy support choice IMO. Wide range of firing options, strong options in the form of Holofields, Spirit Stones and the S9 AP1 Lance.

Night Spinner - Great tank, can fully utilize the Crystal Targeting Matrix and comes with two different options to deal damage. S8 large blasts vs. vehicles or a S8 torrent spray with AP1 on units is a great way to do damage.

War Warlkers - Like Vypers, but sacs mobility for 5+ ward and Battle Focus. I see them fulfilling the same roles, so it's either one or the other for me.

Wraithknight - I would of liked to see a better Heavy Wraithcannon, but for 240 points base and the ability to stare missile Tau down, I have no problem with this. One of his biggest strengths is his application to the metagame. Missile Tau just craps on a lot of lists right now and the Wraithknight single-handily tears the entire concept. Wounds on 5s, saves on 3s, beats all Tau options in melee because of his superior stats. He even offers the "threat" of ID vs. Riptides which, however unlikely, can still happen. Just don't get in combat with any Nemesis Dreadknights: They ID you with their Doomfists that are S10, and ignore your primary method of defense of T8 3+ AS.

Chillin in the Webway for now:
Dark Reapers - Overshadowed, not very durable.
Falcon - Better options in Heavy.
Wraithlord - Cheap, but doesn't apply to every army.  He's very list and theme dependent.
Hemlock Wraithfighter - Not good enough to justify 185 points. Limited to gimmick strats and poor overall battlefield application.
Wraithblades - We are a shooting army.
Harlequins - Now requires a test, and forced to footslog in a shooty edition.
Striking Scorpions - Shooty edition, they're great otherwise, but I'd rather bring more shooting solutions. Warp Spiders are outright better in every way.
Howling Banshees - I'm sad about this because it's one of my favorite aspects, but the truth is they're trash.
Guardians - Better scoring options; Avengers, Jetbikes, Rangers.
All the Phoenix Lords - Overpriced for what they do. The only one worth looking at realistically is Fuegan and Karandras.
Prince Yriel - Re-roll that 6 on the S6 ID? Very sad. However, you might be able to take take him in a suicide run to kill marines? Sounds like a waste of Eldar life to me.
Illic Nightspear - Gimmick, doesn't apply too much damage wise and enables an overpriced option to take Pathfinders over Rangers who can just GtG already. As of right now, his only application is the beardy sneaky 10 Wraithguard in your backline Infiltrate, and we might see an FAQ for this soon.

8 comments:

Cylux said...

"Prince Yriel - Re-roll that 6 on the S6 ID? Very sad. However, you might be able to take take him in a suicide run to kill marines? Sounds like a waste of Eldar life to me."

He only re-rolls it in close combat though, and you should be eliminating all such cc threats with him before they can strike anyway.

HERO said...

Most things worth swinging at him will be packing S6+ in there somewhere. You can't always rely on sniping out a fist or IC all the time. The +1W doesn't really balance out the re-roll successful saves of 6s IMO. However, being able to kill a bunch of marines + blowing them up with Eye could instantly make his points back; something that Autarchs can't do for the most part. I guess this depends on what you want him doing!

Taejix said...

I'd like to contest the idea that Tau can't deal with Wraithknights. Kroot snipers, particularly if you've taken multiple units, can bring a Wraithknight down. Not sure about other folks, but I always have some in my lists.


I'll agree that they're hard to kill with missile spam though. Tough luck on the folks doing that sort of gimicky build. ;p

HERO said...

Missile Tau is gimmicky? That's news to me! The fact that 3x Broads can put out 12 S7 twin-linked shots before shooting off their TL S5 no cover missiles really makes a lot of DE/Eldar players hate their lives. Even less reason to take AV11 and more reasons to take AV14 these days. Sure thing about Kroot Snipers though, at this point I shouldn't be surprised Tau has an answer for everything.

KillmaimBurn said...

Don't forget the sniper drones! 27 Bs5 sniper shots (if an ethereal is nearby) is about the best MC killer in the game

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Yuan Sui said...

Performs in the above said military and will keep do so. Footslog is in a very great position right now devoid of MapleStory Mesos the odd-ball AP2 design weaponry. This is why I usually think that footslog overall might not be the best, but mech + feet will be more powerful. You are better able to Guild Wars 2 Gold preserve models that issue (scoring) while fielding models that someone like Tau can't really cope with (Wraithknights). He's a footslogging champion because you get Buy Diablo 3 Gold a very effective Farseer that comes with all the gadgets plus a few more.

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