Warlocks
As with the Farseer, Warlocks are very useful characters as their psychic
abilities enhance their combat abilities. Unfortunately they can only
be taken at level three or less, which means if you have a 'pure' Eldar
army i.e. no Harlequins etc, you are restricted to a single level four
psyker. However, despite this lack of level four, a Warlock is still
very powerful. As with the Farseer, take a force weapon and you can
be very potent against troops and vehicles. warlocks of this calibre
advancing with a squad can provide protection in both combat and through
the use of powers such as 'Fortune' and 'Destructor'. The Spirit Stone
can add an extra 1-3 warp cards which is never a problem. Additonally
more force weapons means more storage for force cards. Examples of nasty
tactics with Warlocks are; stand one with 'Guide' behind a Dark Reaper
squad or in a Falcon and watch a free shot land on target every turn,
or clear an easy path through troublesome troops with 'Destructor' or
'Eldritch Storm', lastly increase the power of Banshees and Striking
Sorpions even more by casting 'Fortune' on the squad, the Warlock can
then engage harder characters and support the squad in close combat.
Lastly try a jumpack or warpjump on one and see the look on your opponents
face when a low level psyker is making an apparently suicidal charge
into his deploymeny zone, you may die in the end but remember that you
get a 4+ unmodifiable save as standard and can easily take down your
points worth in enemy before you go.
Exarches
Exarches are right up there with some of the best charcters in the game.
Unlike most character that are restricted to only wargear (and possibly
Chaos Rewards) the Exarch is allowed two wargear cards and then two
powers. These can be combined into a single deadly fighting machine.
Those of you who love close combat should try the Howling Banshee Exarch
with a Banshee mask, frenzon, executioner, stealth and fighting fury.
the more long ranged players may prefer the Dark Reaper Exarch with
Dark Reaper Helmet (with either the cannon or the missile launcher)
, armour piercing ammo, a field of some kind and powers such as tough
or crack shot. A personal favourite is a Swooping Hawk Exarch with the
Hawk Wings, Lasblaster, fast shot, crack shot and a vortex grenade.
This means six shots at BS7 and a nice large V grenade to plant on anything
he can reach - which with the Hawk wings is anywhere on the battlefield.
There are many other equally devastating combos for these characters
and unlike most characters there is really no right or wrong way to
equip them.
Avatar
The main good point about the Avatar isn't his incredible stat line,
it is his abilities. The fact that he can shrug off melta gun hits,
blasts from Heavy plasma, Inferno cannons etc means that really only
lascannons, battlecannons and krak missiles are likely to hurt him,
and even then he has a 2+ save that can only be modified to 4+. As a
Terror causing creature he can rampage through the likes of Orks, Grots
and Imperial Guard without too much trouble as most of them will run.
Against vehicles and characters his WS and Attacks coupled with a very
power weapon mean that he slices through them easily. The Wailing Doom
is also good at range as it is nearly comparable to a melta-gun. I have
even seen it destroy a Bloodthirster in hand to hand.
Pirate captains
The Pirate captain has an interesting purpose, although personally I
never use them, I know people who have used them to an effective degree.
One of the best purposes I can see for these characters is to put in
your Guardian squads as a way of making sure they are not torn to shreds
in hand to hand combat. In my experience (which isn't that much with
these guys but still) I have found its best to give them close combat
weapons with a wargear card that's cheap yet useful like a teleport
jammer for instants, or a medi-pack, these both mean you have these
items but not on characters that would be hampered if they took them.
Also another tactic is to equip them with a specialist type of grenade
to make sure that troublesome vehicles or characters are taken care
of.
Exodite lords
Another character that I myself do not utilise, but again there uses
are there. For instance they make the punch in an exodite squad or a
high level character that has a fast mount. They are fantastic in close
combat as the dragon's speed of 8 and its extra 2 attacks mean that
even the lowliest champion is a lethal killer in close combat.
Guardians
Guardians are a badly underrated troop type; their prime use is getting
rid of rank and file troops. The squad equipped with Shuriken catapults
represents a squad that can make even the likes of the Space marine's
rapid fire look weak. Each toting a S4 weapon with a -2 save modifier
each boasting a sustained fire dice, meaning each weapon can fire 3
shots, so potentially a squad of 10 guardians can get 30 shots! Not
bad for a squad that costs 13 points with its weapon as opposed to a
space marine that can get 2 shots maximum a turn costing 30 points each.
We do suggest you do not equip Guardians with close combat weapons as
their major advantage is lost using this combination and with a WS of
3 and only Mesh armour their combat effectiveness is not much. The last
good point about Guardians is the option to upgrade to jetbikes and
get double the sustained fire dice. Jetbikes are also probably the best
bike in the games, combining hire fire power, speed and a targeter.
Dire Avengers
One of my favourite troop types. Their uses are so wide that they are
a permanent part of my army, even though they are basically Guardians
with better armour and better stats. I suggest taking squads of these
at maximum size to be most effective, hiding them in hard cover with
a warlock nearby to cast fortune means these guys will be even tougher
to shift. As with guardians they are best against massed IG, Orks and
Grots, though the Catapult will easily scare Marines as well. Try putting
a couple of squads in Falcons and drooping them behind lines of devastators
and support weapons.
Fire Dragons
Use these to clear out Space Marine terminators and hard characters.
The melta gun is excellent if a little short ranged. Hold a couple of
squads back and pounce on any vehicles that come too close for comfort,
you should be able to vapourise anything.
Swooping Hawks
In many ways hawks are very weak, they only have the equivalent of mesh
armour and areb armed with only as lasgun. However, the ability to move
36" or to fly high is excellent, especially when combined with
krak grenades. Use these as support for Hawk exarches and to destroy
vehicles that are out of range to your assault troops such as whirlwinds,
basiliks and griffons.
Dark Reapers
These are brilliant heavy weapons squads. The targeter and range finder
helmet means that they will hit most things on a 2+ regardless. The
choice of missiles is also good, I would never go into battle without
plasma missiles. Use plasma to create areas of danger for the enemy
and to kill marines etc. Frags do well against most lightly armour troops
and the kraks are excellent against terminators, vehicles and hard charcters.
Probably the best heavy weapons troops in the game, they are onlt let
down by the lack of options for heavy weapons, imagine squads of them
armed with lascannon, move and fire shuriken cannon or heavy plasma
guns. Lethal :)
Howling Banshees
One of the best close combat troops in the game. Due to the Banshee
mask and your good charge range try and ensure that it is you who charges
and not your opponent. very good vs high WS and high attcks troops and
characters where you can negate they advantages. The additional attack
and a parry is also good, so use them to the best of their ability.
NEVER stand and shoot, the laspistol is crap.
Striking Scorpions
Again, a very good close combat squad, but more versatile than the Banshees
as the Mandiblasters work regardless of who charged. Not quite so good
against tougher troops and characters, but excellent at butchering standard
front line troops. As with Banshees they get a parry and two attacks,
so use them. The pistol is slightly better than the laspistol is you
are forcedto stand and fire, so check your options before wildly charging.
The blasters are very good and I have seen 6 Scorpions charge 6 Genestealers
and win with even lifting their weapons.
Warp Spiders
Excellent against lost armour or low initiative troops like Guardsmen
and Orks. Even Marines are in trouble if you hit them more than once.
Use the ability to jump to your advantage and not merely as a way of
covering more ground than normal. Be careful when performing additional
jumps around chaos as you have another chance to be possessed. Don't
even think about attacking tanks, but you should be able to put paid
to bikes and other light vehicles.
Shining Spears
These troop types have never played a big role in my plans; although
I am sure given access to them I would take them. Their major advantage
I can see is BS4 and a Jetbike, not to mention a 3+ save on top of that.
Their primary weapon however doesn't seem worthwhile enough to take
them over normal Guardians on bikes.
Eldar Scouts
Another very useful troop type. It is debatable whether they are any
better or worse than other scouts as there are some such as the Chaos
Veterans who can boast stats that make the Eldar scouts look pitiful,
but they do have their uses. As with other scouts the Needle Sniper
rifle makes a mockery of high toughness, leaving only your armour to
save you. A good usefor them is to take outlightly armoured vehicles
with exposed crew, as some shots should hit the crew and in the case
of IG and Orks the crew are wounded auto with no save allowed. The only
problem is hitting in the first place with BS3, however infiltrate them
into cover along paths the vehicles will take and hope you get in short
range.
Wraithguard
The Wraithguard are a troop type rarely seen on a battlefield although
when they are, all hell breaks loose. Their armoured body and wraith
cannon makes this troop type an opponent to be feared. As with dreadnoughts
and to an extent terminators, they armoured bodies make them all but
immune to small arms fire. Unfortunately their weapon is short ranged
and unpredictable, but when it hits you can totally destroy most things.
Take a small squad and hope for the best.
Exodite Dragon Knights
These are rather amazing close assault troops as they have the highest
movement of infantry in your army, and the massive +3 modifier of the
Dragon means that they get a 2+ save which is the same as a Berserker.
They still have only WS3 however and so you need to kit them out to
take best advantage of any hits you do get. Add in the extra attacks
of the Dragona dn you have a very formidable if expensive fighter.
Eldar Pirates
Pirates have no real advantage over Guardians except the ability to
have a good leader. As mentioned above under the Pirate captain, take
a captain and give him equipment to aid and protect the squad. otherwise
just take normal guardians.
Dreadnought
The Eldar dreadnought is very useful as it can mount a D-Cannon, which
is capable of destroying anything. However you can only mount one weapon
and this reduces the tactical abilityof the Dreadnought. You are probably
best fielding them in pairs or threes and giving them long ranged weapons.
If deployed near anti-grav platforms and Dark Reapers etc they can provide
a bit extra clout in close combat to protect them.
Support platforms
Very useful, and probably a lot better than most other support weapons.
Give them Heavy Plasma and other weapons that cannot be carried by Dark
Reapers and harass the opposition by making pop-up attacks.
Warwalker
This is a very lightly armoured scout walker with a power field protected
crewman. The twin heavy weapons and speed allow you to quickly engage
the enemy and blow apart tanks, characters or troop formations. Try
a couple with twin scatter lasers against Orks and IG, or use them with
lascannon etc against characters and tanks.
Vyper Jetbike
One of my favourite pieces of kit. The Vyper jet bike represents an
element that no Eldar army should be without, its combination of extreme
speed and ability to carry 2 heavy weapons means it is a force to be
reckoned with. The way I would suggest using these is in squadrons of
3, each with a different heavy weapon; one for vehicles, one for troops
and one for cutting down the rest. The armour isn't amazing, but hide
them behind buildings during deployemnt and then either make pop-up
attacks or scream across the battlefield at 35" a turn. This speed
means that on a normal battlefield you can usually pick what you want
to attack and engage it from range. With vehicles try to fly around
the back and shoot at the weaker rear armour. Give them holofields and
supercharged engines for extra survivability and agility. Watch out
for overwatch fire and be careful about just making pop-up attacks.
Falcon Grav Tank
As with the vyper this is an amazing vehicle. When flying at anything
other than slow speed it cannot be attacked in close combat, and the
speed should hopefully mean that most heavy weapons will miss it. Always
take a Holofield and Crystal Targetting Matrix for disposing of fast
moving tanks and other troops. I find that a scatter laser is probably
the best second weapon for the turret and always upgrade the catapults
to a cannon. This way you can mow through troops and still have the
ability to pick off vehicles and characters. try using them to redeploy
units that are out on a limb, or to reinforce a broken flank. Often the
sight of these can be enough to wreck an opponents plan.
Fire Prism Grav Tank
Take this vehicle! It is the ultimate terminator killer. Fly across
the the battlefield, under the cover of leading falcons and then blast
away at tankis, bunkers and anything else that is hard and annoying.
The built in CTM means that vehicles are no trouble to destroy. As with
falcons always take a holofield for that additional -1 to hit.
Great Harlequin
One of the hardest characters available to Eldar, the Great Harlequin
should be kitted out for close combat and should be leading his squads
of Harlequins into battle. Always give him a field of sort as he has
no normal armour, parries are always good, as are high strength weapons. Melta
bombs are a must for dealing with vehicles.
Death Jester
When used in conjunction with Dark Reapers, these are deadly. The ability
to move and fire, 2 SD and a high ballistics skill means are perfect
for destroying rapid assault troops and anything hiding in cover. Use
them in pairs to support the main bulk of the army from nasty troops
and light vehicles.
Solitaire
This character is incredible. With stats comparable to an Inquisitor
Lord and an immense range of wargear to choose from, he is able to become
one of the most powerful close combats characters in your army. Kit
him out as with the Great harlequin and then go and kick ass in close
combat.
Shadow Seer
Along with the Death Jesters this is one of the most useful Harlequins.
They are powerful fighters in their own right, but also are the only
way you have of gaining additional L4 psykers. Tool them up as with
Farseers, but remember that they will probably not draw as much fire
as they are not commanders. Use this to your advantage and move them
up with the Harlequins ready to strike out with Doom, Mind War etc when
the time is right.
Harlequins
A very powerful close combat squad that is much more flexible than Banshees
and Scorpions. While they do not have Mandiblasters or a Banshee Mask,
they have higher WS, better weapons options, the ever useful holosuit
and the possibility of Refractor Fields. Take as many as you can and
use them in conjunction with Banshees and Scorpions to annihiliate the
front line of the enemy.
Eldrad Ulthran
A mediocre character of some use. He has lower stats than a normal farseer
butmore wounds and +1 toughness. The Staff is avery good wargear card
as there is no limit to the amount force cards stored in it, which becomes
very useful in a large game. Eldrad is probably only a worthy buy if
you fight large battles. In smaller battles his use is probably less
than that of a normal farseer.
Asurmen
A very good close combat character but obviously one that is merely
meant to have studied close combat not excelled at it. His combination
of skills is useful and he plays a good supporting role to JainZar and
Karandras, but he relaly should be so much more considering he is meant
to be the original Phoenix Lord. Try a jump pack or similar for his
last wargear slot.
Maugan-Ra
A must for fighting Marines, the maugetar has a -4 save and S6 meaning
it wounds on 2+ with no save allowed and gets 2SD!. He is most definitely
a character with which to protect your heavy squads. As a second wargear
card I always take a powerfield as his WS is high enough the counter
the -1 and he shouldn't really be getting in close combat anyway.
Karandras
Give him combat drugs and then cut him loose. The chainsword and powerfist
means that troops and characters alike will fall, while vehicle can
be pounded in crushed metal. With the drugs activated he gets 7 attacks
and T7 meaning that most shots will bounce off and that he can shred
virtually anything. An excellent all round fighter.
Fuegan the Burning Lance
Use Fuegan to support to Fire dragons and to destroy characters and
and vehicles before they get too close to cause damage. Fast shot with
BS7 means that you should get two hits on whatever you fire at and the
Fire Axe is very good at killing characters and vehicles.
Baharroth the Cry of the
Wind
As with the normal Swooping Hawk Exarch take a vortex grenade for Baharroth.
He is an amazing character madse from a bad Aspect. Fly him high with
the other Hawks and any other Exarchs and then descend on vehicles and
characters. MNany an opponent has fallen to this combination when they
thought he was just an annoying pain in the neck.
Jain Zar the Storm of Silence
Certainly one of the best close combats fighters there is. She has 2
parries, S7 and counts opponents fumbles as doubles. As a character
killer of the Eldar she is probably second to none (unless you have
given another Phoenix Lord or a Solitaire the executioner) and can sycthe
through troops with ease. She is quite so good against vehicles but
can still destroy them given the amount of attacks she has (4). As with
other Phoenis Lords let her lead the squads of her Aspects and support
her with exarches of her Aspects and she will excel. One of my favourite
special characters ever.