Topic: 1500 list for competition

[swordoflux]

Greetings! It's been a super long time since I've posted here, but I'm excited about 8e and I thought I'd share a list I'm working on:

Eldar First Strike
1500 points Total (3 CP)
Patrol Detachment

  Farseer Skyrunner (1) - 171pts
    1 Farseer Skyrunner: Witchblade,Shuriken pistol,Twin shuriken catapult

  Dire Avengers (6) - 109pts
    1 Dire Avenger Exarch: Two avenger shuriken catapult
    5 Dire Avenger: Avenger shuriken catapult

 +Dire Avengers (6) - 109pts
    1 Dire Avenger Exarch: Two avenger shuriken catapult
    5 Dire Avenger: Avenger shuriken catapult

  Striking Scorpions (6) - 124pts
    1 Striking Scorpions Exarch: Shuriken pistol,Biting blade
    5 Striking Scorpion: Shuriken pistol,Scorpion chainsword

  Fire Dragons (6) - 144pts
    1 Fire Dragon Exarch: Dragon's breath flamer
    5 Fire Dragon: Fusion gun

  Wraithguard (6) - 240pts
    6 Wraithguard: Wraithguard fists,Wraithcannon

  Wave Serpent (1) - 167 pts
    1 Wave Serpent: Shrunken cannon Twin shuriken catapult,Twin starcannon,Crystal targeting matrix, Twin bright lance, Spirit stones

  Wave Serpent (1) - 151pts
    1 Wave Serpent: Shuriken cannon Twin shuriken catapult,Twin shuriken cannon,Spirit stones

  Shining Spears (5) - 215 pts
    1 Shining Spear Exarch: StarLance Laser lance, Twin shuriken catapult
    4 Shining Spear: Laser lanceTwin shuriken catapult

  Falcon (1) - 214 pts
    1 Falcon: Pulse laser,Shuriken cannon Twin shuriken catapult, Starcannon,Crystal targeting matrix, Bright lance, Spirit stones

My plan is to put everything in the transports, so I stand a decent chance of going first. There's some flexibility in what units go where, and I can deep strike the Scorpions if I feel like it. Then we head for a flank and unload everybody on Turn 2. The Farseer and Spears will stay wrapped by the transports to start. Farseer will work on Doom-ing the primary target.
Clearly, there are some weaknesses, but these are all units I enjoy using, and I think it will be fun to play. Any thoughts?
Thanks!

[Tweedz]

I truly feel that you are better off leaving the falcon at home these days. Either eldar flier will be a better investment for the points, especially since your transport needs are covered by the serpents.

[swordoflux]

Yeah that could work. I do enjoy using the Crimson Hunter, and I can just deep strike the Scorpions, and pair the Avengers and Dragons in one Serpent. Hmmm... now what to do with the extra points...

[Irisado]

A few things strike me about this list, which looks good on the whole, but may benefit from some tinkering.

The first is that I haven't fielded Dire Avengers in small unit sizes since second edition.  There was the option of running the DAVU back in fifth edition, but that was a defensive objective grabbing option and was very gimmicky and boring.  If you want to take the Dire Avengers, I'd suggest that you consider taking a unit of ten.  They are pretty expensive for what they do, but a small squad doesn't have the necessary fire power or survivability in my opinion.

Wraithguard and Fire Dragons are two of my favourite units.  I've rarely used both in the same army though, since their roles are similar.  Is there a particular reason why you want to include both?  Given that you only have 1,500 points to spend, I wonder whether it may be better to opt for one rather than both and spend the other points elsewhere.

Regarding the Falcon, I might be inclined to give it a go.  Falcons have easily been dismissed as an option for the last couple of editions, and it would be interesting to see how it performs in eighth.  On paper, there are definitely better choices, but you never know.

I think that your plan to wrap the Farseer and Shining Spears with the transports is a very wise one and to concentrate your attack on one flank is essential.  Make sure you follow that plan through and I think that this list should perform well.

I hope that helps.

[magenb]

yeah DA's are in an insanely weird spot right now, you can literally take twice as many Guardians, given the transport disembarking rules, and battle focus, range is not really an issue.


If you are running Wraithguard and FD for redundancy, I would consider going 2 FD squads, saves on points and room in the transport so you can stuff more bodies in

With the points you save, bump up the number of Spears, they will take fire, they will take losses and a tiny unit is not very useful.

For the points cost of the Falcon.. I would take a Hemlock without thinking twice.

[swordoflux]

Thanks for the feedback! I started playing Eldar back in 5e, and i didn't see any reason to spend money or points on Guardians, so I have none. Believe me, I am not happy about the cost of the Avengers, but I love the models and their firepower so I'll probably stick with them, or just take no Troops. Also, no Hemlock. I built a Crimson Hunter as a response to my friends taking flyers, and at the time it was the most efficient way to deal with them.

So, I have two ideas:
1) I like the resilience of the Wraithguard, so I drop the Fire Dragons, and replace them with 6 Dire Avengers w/Exarch and 1 Shining Spear. This improves the output of the Avengers to 28 catapult shots, and increases the wounds of the Spears. I can probably attempt Fortune on the Spears to help their resilience. (To keep the points under 1500 I'll need to put twin catapults on the transports.)

2) As above, but I also replace the Falcon with a Crimson Hunter and add another Shining spear (total 5). This means I'll have to deploy one of my units on the ground (and/or Deep Strike the Scorpions).

Both of these options mean I'm running a Patrol Detachment, but I've played lots of games with no rerolls, so having 3 is a step up.

Thoughts?

[Irisado]

Either option is viable, but I would favour the first, just because it ensures that all infantry units retain the option of riding in a transport and because I want to see someone use a Falcon for once .

[swordoflux]

Due to change in starcannons, I'll be exchanging them for brightlances.

I really wanted starcannons to be worth their points in this edition, too.