Your list has been selected for inclusion in the Big List of Eldar Lists project! You will be receiving a score from me using the 5/5 system as outlined in the Big List of Eldar Lists in the stickies on this board. Following is the critique I have given:
Background: 1You;ve done a rather excellent job of developing the theme of this list and selecting units that make sense given the theatres they will be fighting in [it seems like much of this fighting is done to quell uprising in their own populace!]. While making for a good read, it also helps to rule out certain suggestions, so others offering advice can avoid making irrelevent suggestions. And of course, we have a place for you at POC EO if you're looking for one
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Composition: .5Given your lack of combat units [which makes sense under your fluff] you will need to take pains to ensure your army won't get steamrolled once enemy units reach your lines. This will be especially painful as there are no transports for your infantry to board and thereby escape enemy assaults. Having two guides seems a little unnecessary with only one unit desperately in need of it; Doom would have been a more sensible choice, enabling you to dedicate your avengers to more than one enemy squad, or enabling doom to be cast into combats once enemy hit your lines. Direswords would have been a good stopgap measure on all your Avenger teams, as you lack other effective ways of dealing with armor in combat. You have taken measures with your shooting phase to handle a wide variety of targets. The variety of units in your army is not very great, meaning you have lots of repeated vulnerabilities that a single enemy unit could exploit over and over again, causing loads of trouble.
Utility: 1Your unit builds compliment their intended roles very well, without many points sunk into unnecessary upgrades. The primary offender is the holofields on the prisms, which should really be reserved for god-prisms [which are anathema to me anyways, I feel all those points when you could just by a third prism instead... what a waste!] In your case those extra points could have given you a third walker, which would make that squad even more awe-inspiring, even if it took dual scatters and you upped your avengers to some direswords. Consider your opportunity costs; survivability keeps you alive but also reduces your ability to hurt the enemy in some ways - so if you don't absolutely need it, don't buy it! Granted, by your background material you actually
do need it, but since I've seen that this has been altered to suit the list previously, I assume it is there simply to justify the list, rather than sticking to your background, which means it isn't necessary [perhaps they just don't
use falcons and vypers...?]
Flexibility: .5By the nature of your design you have a lot of inflexible units, still, some steps could be taken to reduce this impact, such as occasional direswords/powerblades on units, grabbing some resilient stuff such as those wraith units you've mentioned... Avengers are tactically one of the weakest units available because they have no choice but to go for infantry of lower toughness, with no optiones enabling them to effectively deal with other threats. This means you need to be sure other units can pick up the slack. While having the firepower available to deal with such enemies is nice, you may find yourself stuck in combat much faster than you would like, at which point those tanks can't kill the enemy assaulters any more.
Ingenuity: 0Before I forget, why would you want to guide twin-linked [or even single!] prism shots? The walkers will always need this more than the prisms, especially since the cumulative effect is far greater with the walkers. Apart from that it is good to see a simple battle plan formulated, but with the glaring vulnerability to combat you've left yourself with, you must address the assault phase in your plans. If you do not you will have a very hard time of dealing with opponents. Orks, Eldar, DE are all capable of turn 1 combats while many other armies can get there on turn 2. You do not want to spend 4+ game turns incapable of dealing with your opponent. Think further on this as you develop your army.
Total Score: 3, for a solid list
Keep in mind that this rating is given in light of your army's design. Your army will suffer in games vs tournament-style lists, simply because of the lack of options you have available [unit wise] and given the weakness of the army as a whole in the assault phase. I would strongly consider including some of those assault elements you've left out [such as scorps, or when you're not using prisms, the wraithlords]. You may also want to consider harlequin aid, as you've mentioned nothing against them.
I like the idea of the army, but feel it would need some more work to really make it come together on the tabletop. So I'm going to offer some alternatives now that I've given a review.
HQ
115 Farseer Doom, Guide, Runes of Warding
130 Farseer Doom, Fortune, Stones
Elites:
176: Scorpions 9 Exarch Scorpion Claw, Stalker
Troops
145 Dire Avengers 9 Exarch Diresword, Bladestorm
145 Dire Avengers 9 Exarch Diresword, Defend
140 Dire Avengers 9 Exarch Power Weapon, Shimmershield
95 Rangers 5
Fast Attack
164 Warp Spiders 6 Exarch Withdraw Additional death spinner
Heavy Support
140 War Walkers 2 Eldar missile launchers
250 Fire Prisms 2 Spirit Stones
In this variation, the prisms rely on range and linking beams to keep one prism out of LOS while the other outranges enemy retaliation. The walkers are guided by one doomseer, who switches to doom once combats require it [and probably won't need the stones since the walkers will likely be dead by then]. The other seer follows the unit of scorpions, casting fortune on them as they advance with the Avengers. Against hordes the defend avengers lead your firebase [reducing incoming attacks]; against powerweapons and fists the Avengers with the shimmershield stand in front of the Scorps and get fortuned instead [to protect the scorpions from powerfist death]. The bladestorming Avengers are a flank operator, with the walkers shielding them somewhat from enemy retaliation, or can operate behind the main shooting block, using bladestorm on the turn before the enemy hit your lines, and then fleeting away as they reload.
Just some ideas, hope they help.
