Topic: The First Steps on the Path

[Myen'Tal]

Exalted ones, I bid you welcome...

Some of you maybe surprised to see this thread, but it's happening, and now I am in need of your advice . I am looking to start a Craftworlds force and do not know where to start exactly. Especially since the aspect warriors are on the precipice of glorious resurgence...

So, the first thing I'll be acquiring are the new Banshees and Jain Zar (and probably Drazhar and 10 Incubi, in case GW decides to take millennium to release them .

My initial plan is to buy enough to form 2 squads of 10. Unnecessary? Perhaps, but damn cool? You betcha'!

Outside of that, I plan on picking up a few kits for the Craftworlds at the same time I finish collecting the remaining kits I need for my Idoneth.

So my first questions are... what should I focus on at the moment to build a small force? I am thinking to pick up Eldrad and run him as a farseer, a couple of Dire Avenger kits, since they're getting uplifted in Phoenix Rises, and a Wave Serpent.

Keep in mind that I have not played 40k in a long, long time. So if you have any advice, all of it is welcome.

[Blazinghand]

All Eldar forces need a Farseer, Farseer Skyrunner, or Eldrad, in order to cast Doom, so that's a good choice. For troops, Dire Avengers and Guardians are both good and pretty straightforward, and because they're both in plastic you're in a good spot.

These days, instead of "1 HQ, 2 Troops" you want to be able to run "2 HQ, 3 Troops" for the standard force organization element, the Battalion. 2 squads of Dire Avengers and a squad of Guardians is a good setup for this, usually, though some people like to go for Rangers since they're cheap and can contribute from afar. If you're running Ulthwe, bringing 20 Guardians is both lore-compliant and pretty strong.

In terms of kits that are very posable and pretty up to date, I'd check out the plastic Wraithguard/blades and Wraithlord kits. While these aren't amazingly new, they're handsome minis, and the new plastic Spiritseer looks good with them and complements them well on the table.

[Partninja]

Farseer and Warlock for HQ. Guardians and Avengers for troops. Three serpents to put them in.

From there is all about taste.

Shuriken cannon jetbikes are still pretty good. Put out some damage and move to objectives.

Dark Reapers just do the business.

[Myen'Tal]

Thanks for the advice, guys, it is much appreciated  !

Is the Biel-Tan Strategy still being run these days? With the vast majority of the army consisting of Aspect Warriors?

I imagine they might be more difficult to run without the Court of the Young King, but at least the avatar is still there (please give us an updated Avatar GW, please). How is he doing these days?

I like Biel-Tan, Iyanden, and Ulthwe' for Craftworlds.

My plan is to build a Craftworld Yme-Loc force and experiment with different ones.

[Partninja]

The Biel-tan craftworld trait isn't that beneficial when taking a lot of aspects. It only affects shuriken weapons so you're going to want to run a lot of catapults and cannons to get the most use out of it.

I would hold off until you have the new codex to really decide what models to buy. I would also get the new expansion book which is going to have even more craftworld trait options.

[Dread]

Fire prisms, night spinners and crimson hunters all day  long. Check the Saim Hann rules, I play it mainly, lots of jetbikes, fast and tough. My shining spears do a great job backed by an autarch skyrunner with the novalance.

I, myself, haven't seen anything about a new codex but I don't read everything posted, just look at the pretty pictures

Welcome to the future my friend.

[magenb]

Shooting, lots and lots of shooting

Best starter HQ is a Farseer with Doom and Guide, easy to get your head around how to use those powers.

Troops:
Dire Avengers are OK, their range kind of sucks since Marines can double tap at over 30 inches now.

Guardians with Shuriken cannon on the weapons platform, you can take to hits on the weapons platform, which makes them surprisingly survivable. 

Rangers- really depends on the meta in your area. These used to be used a lot in top tier lists, but now marines have units specifically to remove units like these guys. Worth having in your collection, a 5 man squad is worth playing around with, but really I wouldn't start with these guys.

Crimson Hunters and Hemlocks are both great options, It is possible to use magnets to swap the configs over. You really want 2 CH, where as a single Hemlock can work well in support roles and its a psyker, so having it through out Jinx is awesome (works on invul saves too)

Night Spinner vs Fireprism. It depends on the role, Night Spinners are anti-primaris/infantry and don't require CP spend, plus they don't need LOS.. Fireprisms should be run in multiples, their main benefit is they can be used to target a variety of things not just infantry, but they really need CP spend to make them do work. You can magnetise this kit reasonably easily.

Dark Reapers are CWE answer to pretty much everything lol, super costly though as you really should be running a screening unit to protect them. I think these are still failcast, but you can find metal ones on ebay.

Shinning Spear, standout unit, but one that has been played to death, and are not terribly difficult to shoot off the table. Pairs really well with an Autarch.

Wave serpents are a contender for best transport in the game.


Everthing else based on the current rule set (which changes in a few day lol), is just usable, not outstanding or just really situational.


A word of warning with Banshees, they sound freaking awesome, but they _need_ support to work, say a warlock using empower and a Farseer dooming their target really maxes out the damage potential. While their points for the unit are not terrible, you have to consider the points for the warlock and transport (your taking a Farseer anyway ;p ), it can be more efficient to spend the points on other units. They also rarely make it into combat as they are basically the poster bunnies for CWE and no one wants a face full of power weapons


Did I mention shooting?

I, myself, haven't seen anything about a new codex but I don't read everything posted, just look at the pretty pictures

Basically they are doing to Eldar what they did with Space marines, we are getting a supplement that gives at least CWE and DE new rules, that in theory should help against the power creep of the new Space Marine supplements...

[Myen'Tal]

Thanks for the wellspring of information, guys, it's giving me a good bit to think about .

Do we know if Phoenix Rising is changing any points costs at all?

Well, Jain Zar is definitely going to make Banshees a good boost on the battlefield, as does the new banshee masks for the Aspect Shrine.

I'm not certain if it's Jain Zar or the Banshees or both that get acrobatic though.

Rules images removed for copyright reasons.  Please see forum rule 1 for details - Iris.

[Partninja]

They both get acrobatic. I'm not that impressed by Jainy. The only value she adds to the banshee squad (besides hitting harder) is a mediocre support bubble using her cry. You should be charging being able to swing first anyway. Prolonged combats is where banshees fall and where special ability kicks in.

Her storm of silence ability seems cool on paper but unless she's the only model left and completely surrounded you don't really get much more attacks than normal.

I'd rather just take more Banshees, a Farseer or two more warlocks for the points.