Eldar Tactics
"A commander must have the courage to see his plan through, for good
or ill. Wars are won or lost when the battle lines are drawn." -IMPERIUM
TACTICA
Advantages
At the core of any Eldar army you will find the Aspect Warrior, a path made
up of the many aspects of Khaine, the Eldar God of War. Swooping Hawks are
fast attack troops with the ability to fly across the battlefield with great
speed. Dire Avengers are armed with the deadly Shuriken Catapult and are
masters of ranged combat. Dark Reapers use their special missile targeting
system to insure enemy vehicles will be stopped dead in their tracks, and
and Fire Dragons are able to cook enemy troops with a lethal dose of microwaves
from their Meltaguns. Mastering the art of close combat are the Striking
Scorpions and Howling Banshees. The helmets of the Striking Scorpions are
fitted with small lasers that add a deadly sting in hand- to- hand. Howling
Banshees come with Sonic Amplifiers which freeze opponents with fearsome
psychic screams.
Exarchs are master Aspect Warriors, skilled in all forms of combat and able
to wield ancient and deadly weapons with great skill. Exarchs are the greatest
champions of the Eldar next to the mighty Avatar, of course.
Eldar Guardians often form the bulk of Eldar armies. Unlike the Aspect warriors,
Guardians do not choose war as a profession, but will take up arms during
emergencies. While not as deadly as the Aspect Warriors, Guardians are a
match for all but the most highly trained troops.
Something for Every Situation: The Eldar are an army of specialists. There
is always the proper tool available to a Eldar commander for the job. Two-for-one
Psyker and Army Commander: An Eldar army is often lead by a Farseer, a powerful
individual who has the abilities of a general and 4th level psychic power.
This allows you to save money on characters, as a Farseer fills two of your
requirements. Cool Models: This is another army which paints up well, but
they are perhaps the coolist army which is also easy to paint. A great choice
for those which want a good looking force, but are not the best painters.
Powerful Special Characters: While they aren't quite the best to be found,
Eldar Special Characters are some of the best around.
Disadvantages
Though the Eldar sound unbeatable, their Strength and Toughness value's
and Stratagy rating are often their downfall in battle. Playing Eldar, I
am sure that you have experienced what I call "the Cheasy Factor",
that is: opponents often complain that the Eldar army is "too cheasy",
or "unbeatable". The Eldar armory does contain weapons of mass
destruction, ex. Wraithcannon,
Distort-cannon. The trick is to take these sparingly, and look at their
many flaws, for example the Wraithguard: they carry the awsome wraithcannon
(auto-kill on 1-3, if hits), but move very slowly, the range of their weapons
is only 16", and their armour values are only a pidly 10! Not counting
the fact that they cost around 55$ a squad! The D-cannons flaws are: the
limited range of only 32", and must at least scatter twice (unless
you get two "HIT's" on the scater dice). So as you can see, these
weapons aren't as hot as your opponents might think.
Square Peg in Round Hole: While Eldar can conceivably do anything, each
of their squads tends to be specialized. If you get the right squad in the
wrong situation, they may end up dying very quickly. No Heavy Vehicles:
While Eldar do have vehicles, they are mostly easy to kill. This means you
tend to loose your heaviest firepower more quickly than average.
Psionics
Other then Squats, Eldar are one least versitile when it comes to psionics.
Possesing meager spells to amplify your own men, Eldar are always at a loss
when it comes to offensive spells, with a few exceptions. One of the best
spells is probably "Guide" which gives any one of your units,
within range, a free shot in the Psycic phase, doubles the range of the
weapon, and automatically hits. A good combination is a D-cannon, and the
guide spell: the spell reduces the flaws of the D-cannon to only one scatter
once (don't do this too often, though.) Another good spell is "Executioner",
it creates a psycic double of your farseer, or warlock that can fight a
near foe in close combat, if the opponent wins, nothing happens, apart from
ending the spell. This spell can be used just to stall someone powerfull
(Terminator, Dreadnoughts, etc.) So, as you can see, some good can be found
in these spell, also remember that most Eldar spells are prety cheap (mostly
1-2 force cards.)
Vehicles
Eldar vehicles are probably the fastest and most versetile in the Galaxy.
But beware, most Eldar vehicles (Dreadnoughts, jetbikes, warwalkers, support
weapons) have a low armour value, compared to their counterparts in the
Imperium. I suggest that your army takes a warwalker, or dreadnought to
at least distract your opponent. With "Ablative Armour", a D-cannon,
and two shuriken catapults, the Eldar Dreadnought is one tough mother! Also,
DO NOT hide your warwalker, and dreadnoughts (and Titans, if you have any),
they must be used to their fullest, and not just fire one weapon at a limited
audiance.
Here are a few examples of Eldar war machines:
Support Weapons: Good support cover, but low armour value.
Keep the crew out of sight, or risk loosing 'em.
War Walker: Armed with the devastating combination of a unit-shredding
scatter laser and a tank-killing lascannon, the War Walker adds a potent
offensive punch to the Eldar Army, but has no close-combat weapons, so watch
out and stay back.
Dreadnought: Towering over the battlefields of the 41st Millenium,
Eldar Dreadnoughts along with their great speed (8") lay down a hail
of supporting fire for advancing squads of Eldar, or crushes powerfull Terminators
in close combat.