Eldar: What's Stopping you?

[Dark_Templar]

Hi all,
I have a BT collection, some Tau, and also have a few Necrons / Orks / IG (waiting for those plastic Stormies). I am currently focussing on building up my flufy Crimson Fists, but have always been fascinated with Eldar.

My real question would be whether the current Codex is worth getting for the read?

Also, I am under the impression that they are a mostly metal army, and this is the big thing that is stopping me from jumping in and getting started on them, as I like to be fairly unique and dynamic in my poses (and am pretty crude in my metal converting skills).

If people can be bothered, if you could let me know how they feel about Eldar collecting, the ups and downs, etc.

Also, am I right in assuming it will be 2011/2012 before the next Codex (I am pretty confident that the 2010 schedule is overflowing right now)? If this is true, I am guessing that it will be a long wait for me to see any new plastics.

Thanks in advance.

EDIT: Is there anybody else out there who is interested in Eldar but has not taken the leap for one reason or another?

[JxKxR]

I think you should get the codex and just take it from there, its worth the read.

[Drew da Destroya]

The codex is an interesting read from a Fluff perspective. A lot of 40k early-history stuff. Birth of Slaanesh, Old Night, etc... Admittedly, the Tin'ead codex is better for the reeaaallly old history, but that's also because they're the space-undead. And for some reason, Undead = Ancient.

[Duke]

Though Im a Blood Angels player I have about 25k worth of Eldar. That said I think that Eldar are a great army to collect/ paint/ play. The codex is very flexible and can have several mid/high-grade competitive builds. The codex it showing its age a little bit, but is a really fun one!

If you get bored painting the same colours all the time then Eldar will be great for you. All the different aspect warrior shrines are different colour pallets so it keeps your painting skills sharp.

As far as "lots of metals." yes, there are quite a few, but it isn't a reason not to play them. The most numerous models in my army are dire avengers and they are plastic.

I hope this helps some, feel free to ask more questions and Ill help where I can.

Duke

[Dark_Templar]

Thanks guys, I will definitely pick up the Codex.

I look through the minis, and the whole concept of the aspects is brilliant, the variety is awesome.

Duke, I am thinking I have just been spoiled as an Imperial player with the whole "everything is plastic" thing. I think I might just have to get over that, pick up the codex, and take it from there.

In your opinion guys, where is a good place to start with an army? The battleforce is light on models, but the punch it packs could be deceptive.

Any advice would be appreciated.

[Madness]

You might also want to get your hands on xenology and/or the 2nd ed. codex. Maybe possibly even the 3rd ed. craftworld codex. (http://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/Codex:_Craftworld_Eldar_(3rd_Edition))

[Dark_Templar]

You might also want to get your hands on xenology and/or the 2nd ed. codex. Maybe possibly even the 3rd ed. craftworld codex. (http://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/Codex:_Craftworld_Eldar_(3rd_Edition))

Thanks for suggesting 3rd ed.

I tried to get a hold of Xeno a few months ago, but wasn't willing to spend up to $700AUD on it...if anybody knows where to find one cheaper, I am open to suggestions.

EDIT: Just had another look for Xeno, and it seems I can get one for about $100AUD, which I will look at within the next month or so, as my funds allow.

[Nabterayl]

Thanks guys, I will definitely pick up the Codex.

I look through the minis, and the whole concept of the aspects is brilliant, the variety is awesome.

Duke, I am thinking I have just been spoiled as an Imperial player with the whole "everything is plastic" thing. I think I might just have to get over that, pick up the codex, and take it from there.

In your opinion guys, where is a good place to start with an army? The battleforce is light on models, but the punch it packs could be deceptive.

Any advice would be appreciated.
The battleforce is light on models, but its selection fits well with lots of builds. The two things to consider for the battleforce, I think, are where you stand on foot guardians and where you stand on war walkers. Lots of people think highly of war walker squadrons, as they're pretty much the cheapest heavy weapons platform in the book and can outflank. Others are put off by the fact that they're BS3 and AV10 open-topped.

I don't think many people think of guardians as a hard-core competitive unit, but I have seen them used to good effect in my games. They function not dissimilarly to Imperial Guard infantry in that they have lousy main weapons (S4 AP5 assault 2, but 12" range) and light armor, but they're cheap, Troops, and can carry a heavy weapon platform. In exchange for being more expensive than Imperial Guard (and having a marginally better statline), they make their heavy weapon an assault weapon by default (makes it much more useful), and they can be upgraded with a warlock squad leader who can take a number of always-on psyker powers. Conceal, which gives his unit a 5+ cover save, is a common choice in my area.

Wave serpents and dire avengers are going to be useful in virtually any build you can think of. If you like war walkers (which I do) and/or guardians (which I think have their uses), then I believe the battleforce makes sense economically.

[Dark_Templar]

NabterayL, that is awesome advice, it is exactly what I was after, thank you.


Well, I can get the codex and battleforce from Wayland for $109.13AUD including postage (as opposed to buying in Australia and paying $192AUD).

Might go for that as a starting point. What are the popular HQ choices? I am not really interested in the most competitive builds, but fluffy and fun ones.

[Nabterayl]

In my area at least the farseer is the most popular HQ choice. His support psychic powers, while somewhat dated, are still quite powerful. He can make friendlies re-roll misses and re-roll failed saves, and curse enemy units so that you re-roll failed rolls to wound against them - not exactly the stuff of psychic apocalypses, but still quite powerful. I also personally like the fluffy aspect of farseer powers being fairly subtle.

The Avatar, while a monstrous creature and way cool fluff-wise, is also slow, not the toughest MC on the block, and has no long range options. That tends to put people off (though in Planetstrike he's fairly awesome).

I know lots of people who find autarchs attractive, as they have a wide range of available wargear and increase the flexibility of your Reserve rolls, but autarchs can trick people into the trap of, "Oooh, my general has lots of wargear - that must make him a CC monster!" He's still S3 T3. If I were to try to break it down (and this is from the perspective of somebody who only ever faces eldar, so take it with a grain of salt) I'd say that autarchs are a utility combat unit and farseers are a utility support unit.

If you don't take an avatar, you'll be faced with the question of how to make your HQ mobile, which is obviously highly relevant from a model-purchasing standpoint. The two real choices, in my opinion, are eldar jetbikes and Wave Serpents/Falcons. Swooping Hawk wings are great visually, but Swooping Hawks themselves are not (basically they're really, really expensive Imperial Guardsmen). Warp Spider jump packs are slightly better, as are Warp Spiders themselves, but it's still not something I see much of. Warp Spiders are one of the more highly specialized aspects (their niche is "kiting hordes of lightly armored infantry"), and I don't think there's much that an autarch really adds to them.

Jetbikes are attractive because they increase your Toughness and come with a 3+ save. Of course, a lone jetbike HQ is easily slain, so once you factor in an escort unit jetbike HQs are very expensive. This does not stop people from taking them, though - in particular, the "jetbike seer council" (a unit of offensive power-focused warlocks on jetbikes riding with a support-focused farseer on a jetbike) is probably the premier death star unit in the codex, and even in 5e packs a tremendous punch.

The transport option is cheaper than jetbikes but eldar transports take some getting used to. They are expensive, high-quality vehicles, but they have no fire points and are not assault vehicles, so think carefully about every unit you place in one. Some transports can delivery some squads very effectively (e.g., every fire dragon is armed with a meltagun - they can be very effective popping out of a transport and firing a single volley); others are not even designed to get out of the transport (e.g., the ever-popular 5-man Dire Avenger scoring squad). Farseers also work in a support role in transports, as their powers generally do not require line of sight (although the shooting powers cannot be used, as you need a fire point to shoot, even if you don't require line of sight).

[Dark_Templar]

This is brilliant info, thanks heaps. Lots to mull over.

[Sangre]

I used to play the Eldar but I feel 5th has robbed them of their edge. Mainly in changes to wound allocation and the skimmer rules.