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Codex Eldar Overview and Tactics
Written & Submitted by, Kevin Wade
I have noticed since the release of Codex:Eldar a certain lack of guides based off of the updated army list for the fledgling Farseer. The new eldar list is, if anything, a mix of speed, finesse', and firepower that all need to be delicately balanced in order to achieve victory on the field of battle. A newer player may find themselves overwhelmed by the number of choices open to them, while veterans may overlook some of the updated units in favor of 'flashy' toys that have prohibitive point costs associated with their inclusion. My intent is to lay out a comprehensive guide to the army list that can help a player decide what to include or exclude from their own force while maintaining the delicate balance that the eldar need to consistently win.
What you will not find here are example army lists, killer combinations, or 'ultimate' units that will win you the game. Instead, I will go over the choices contained within the codex and describe what I consider each unit's strengths, weaknesses, and ideal uses are.
HQ
Avatar
Strengths: Large imposing figure, Invulnerable save, Independent character means he cannot be shot at if near other squads, Makes nearby units fearless while in close combat and modifies close combat results when he is involved, monstrous.
Weaknesses: Vulnerable to massed small arms fire, few attacks risks him being stuck in a close combat for long periods of time, cannot use fleet of foot rule, no wargear options.
Uses: Use an Avatar in your force if you have multiple hand to hand units to take the greatest advantage of his inspiring ability. Keep him near other squads to avoid the inevitable fire that will be thrown his way, but make sure those units can take enough punishment to get him across the field. Attack enemy hard targets (like tanks) and 'hard' infantry (Space Marines, ork 'ard boyz, etc.) to make best use of his monstrous ability or Dreadnoughts because his initiative of 5 means he will strike first (and hopefully destroy the Dread before its counter strike).
Farseer
Strengths: Invulnerable save, Wargear options, psychic powers, Independent character, high leadership, allows you to include Warlocks in the army.
Weaknesses: Only one base attack, subject to auto-kill, can get expensive quickly.
Uses: Farseers are best used in conjunction with other squads. Placing one with the Guide power next to a squad of Dark Reapers, Warwalkers, or Fire Dragons can greatly increase their kill potential. Give the Farseer a Witchblade and the Fortune power and have him join a squad of Striking Scorpions or Howling Banshees to make them even more potent in an assault. Giving the Farseer Mindwar allows you to pick out dangerous characters that are nearby (such as a power weapon armed Space Marine heading for your Dire Avengers). Eldritch Storm forces a pin check to be made (even if it does not cause any wounds!) and can expose a vehicle's weak rear armor for other units to fire at. If you keep the Farseer's retinue of Warlocks with him, you have a unit that can hold up an enemy assault despite power weapons or power fists - though not forever.
Warlocks
Strengths: Invulnerable save, Wargear options, psychic powers that can beef up a squad without the need for a psychic test.
Weaknesses: Only one base attack, only one wound, can get expensive quickly, only have leadership of 8.
Uses: Warlocks, like Farseers, are best used to compliment other squads. Conceal is by far the most popular option as it gives a squad of Guardians, Wraithguard, Jetbikes, or Support Weapons a 5+ cover save which greatly increases their survivability. Enhance is useful for giving a bonus to Guardian Storm squads or Wraithguard squads in close combat. Destructor gives a squad a heavy flamer for 15 points (plus the cost of the Warlock). Embolden allows the re-roll of a failed morale check which can keep those leadership 8 Guardian units from breaking.
Elites
Warp Spiders
Strengths: High strength weapon, very fast, good armor save
Weaknesses: Low rate of fire while moving, short range, high point cost, no AP
Uses: Warp Spiders have changed greatly from 2nd edition. Before, they could be counted on to wipe out hordes of enemy troops while warping from cover to cover. Now, their role on the battlefield is significantly different. The greatest asset that Warp Spiders now possess is their mobility. With the high strength of their Death Spinners they can jump behind an enemy tank, shoot it in the weak rear armor, and then warp back to cover. This tactic can also be used to harass large creatures that lack a low saving throw (like Greater Demons). With their speed, Warp Spiders are also ideal for getting behind enemy units to take advantage of the crossfire rules. The exarch armed with dual Death Spinners is a good choice (giving the squad two more shots that will hit on a 2+), but powerblades are a gamble with the low strength of 3. The Withdraw power can keep them out of enemy assaults, making them much harder to wipe out. Surprise Assault seems to be a very powerful option, but the combination of low numbers and strength means they cannot be counted on to win an assault by themselves. Still, this power can be useful if you use the Warp Spiders in conjunction with one of your hand to hand specialist squads.
(Note: The Death Spinners do not become range 6" when on the move! The rule is rapid fire weapons are limited to 12" when moving, not ½ their normal range!)
Striking Scorpions
Strengths: Strength 4, mandiblasters, good armor saves
Weaknesses: Cannot Fleet of foot.
Uses: Striking Scorpions are one of the close combat specialist squads open to the eldar. A large squad of scorpions can advance, fire their shuriken pistols, and charge gaining both their mandiblaster attacks and their normal close combat attacks. Use them to engage your opponent's weaker close combat squads (space marine tactical squads, dark eldar warrior squads, ork shoota boyz), but beware of power weapons which will negate one of their advantages. An exarch is an excellent choice to join the squad, giving them even more of a punch in hand to hand. Giving the exarch a scorpion's claw gives the squad a little more firepower and the might of a model with a powerfist, but it forces the exarch to strike last which means he may not last until the end of the turn to hit back. The biting blade is useful for targeting enemy characters, overwhelming them with the number of wounds that they must save against. Crushing blow helps no matter how the exarch is armed. Stealth is a gamble, seeing as how not every scenario allows infiltrating. Putting the squad in a Waveserpent (or Falcon if you prefer smaller squads) is a better way to make sure they make it into close combat where they belong.
Howling Banshees
Strengths: Entire squad armed with power weapons, strike first, may fleet of foot
Weaknesses: Low strength
Uses: Banshees are best used to engage the enemy's heavily armored troops (Terminators, Obliterators, etc). Use them in numbers to make up for their low strength, but watch out for squads with invulnerable saving throws, multiple wounds, or exceptional toughness. Again, an exarch is excellent choices for this squad, giving them even more hand to hand ability. An Executioner is ideal if you know you will be facing an opponent with toughness 4, while powerblades give the squad even more attacks to throw at an opponent - and both options are relatively inexpensive. War Shout is really only useful against lower leadership armies, but the Acrobatic power more than makes up for this - allowing you to target dangerous characters in a unit (like power weapon armed Veteran Sergeants). Never be afraid to use their fleet of foot ability in place of firing, especially if it will give you the ability to make it into close combat!
Fire Dragons
Strengths: High strength weapon with low AP, meltabombs, may fleet of foot
Weaknesses: Short ranged, low rate of fire
Uses: Fire Dragons are the ultimate tank hunters. The entire squad is armed with melta weaponry meaning any armored unit that gets too close risks either being shot to pieces or charged by a squad equipped with meltabombs. Their other good use is to put an end to heavily armored infantry (though they must be careful or they will get charged). Once again, an exarch can lend a great deal to this aspect squad if taken. The firepike upgrade significantly increases the squad's anti-tank ability, as does the power tank hunter. Burning fist can be useful if the squad finds itself in an assault.
Wraithguard
Strengths: Wraithcannon, high strength and toughness, good save
Weaknesses: Wraithsight, short range, expensive, low rate of fire
Uses: Wraithguard are best used in the highly specialized role of tank hunting/character killing. Their wraithcannon gives them a good chance to take out almost any single model on the board. Try to use them to take out multi-wound opponents, heavily armored infantry, high toughness opponents, and heavily armored vehicles. If possible, avoid using them to weed out large squads as their low fire rate will yield a low body count. Giving the squad a Warlock from the Farseer's bodyguard is practically a must, if not attaching the Farseer himself to the squad. They are also useful in helping out an assault, though you must be careful not to expose their 'keeper' to too much danger or you could find them standing around helpless afterwards.
Troops
Guardian Storm Squads
Strengths: Inexpensive, special weapons, large squad size, may fleet of foot
Weaknesses: poor armor save, mediocre stats
Uses: Guardian storm squads are useful for swamping an opponent in numbers. If led by a Warlock with conceal the squad should be able to make it across the field to do their damage. On the other hand, Enhance allows the squad to strike before most other opponents. Flamers in the squad are a good choice, as it offsets the guardian's average ballistic skill of 3. If used in conjunction with an aspect warrior squad the opponent could find his men quickly outnumbered and fleeing from the pressing mass of eldar numbers.
Guardian Defender squad
Strengths: Inexpensive, platform weaponry, high rate of fire, large squad size, may fleet of foot
Weaknesses: poor armor save, short range, mediocre stats
Uses: Guardian Defender squads are best used in medium to large groups. A squad of five defenders is simply a waste of 40 points. Their ability to take a platform weapon lends a large amount of firepower to the squad. Good choices are Shuriken Cannon, Scatterlasers, and Starcannon - all weapons with multiple shots to help offset the Guardian's average ballistic skill of 3. Warlocks can also enhance the squad's survivability on the field with either the conceal or embolden power. Their best use is in conjunction with other squads, allowing them to lend fire support if any enemy squads get too close or if an opponent sweeping advances into the center of your army.
Dire Avengers
Strengths: Inexpensive, high rate of fire, may fleet of foot
Weaknesses: short range
Uses: Dire Avengers, along with Guardian squads, can form the backbone of a solid army. Their ability to fleet of foot can catch an opponent off guard and their higher ballistic skill means more shots will find their target. Use them much the same as you would a Guardian Defender squad - lending fire support and protecting against sweeping advances. Exarchs are not necessary with this squad, but they can give an extra edge in close combat. Direswords are brutal against low leadership characters, or they can be equipped with a power weapon as a less expensive option. Both exarch powers deal with close combat and can give the squad more survivability if they end up at close quarters. Given the short range of the shuriken catapults, hand to hand fighting is a definite possibility with a Dire Avenger squad.
Rangers
Strengths: Ranger long rifles, increased cover saves, infiltration, may fleet of foot, move through cover
Weaknesses: high point cost, low rate of fire, vulnerable to weapons that ignore cover saves
Uses: Rangers should be used to confuse, slow down, and harass your opponent's infantry. Their rifles give you a good chance to ignore your opponent's armor save and all it takes is one wound to force a pin check. Small squads should aim for the largest groups of enemy troops, or specialist squads that may cause a problem within the next turn (like assault squads, devestators, or huge mobs of orks or tyranids). Alternately, large squads of rangers can be used to pick apart your opponent's more dangerous squads or large creatures (like Talos, Carnifexes, or Hive Tyrants). Regardless of how you use them, make sure to keep the squad safe from enemy assaults or you could soon find your expensive ranger squad overrun by assault specialists.
Fast Attack
Guardian Jetbikes
Strengths: Good save, fast, high rate of fire, twin-linked weapons, skimmers
Weaknesses: high point cost, short range
Uses: Jetbike squadrons are useful for harassing enemy units and grabbing objectives late in the game. Their extra 6" movement can keep them from being assaulted while laying down a constant hail of fire from their twin-linked catapults. Including a Warlock in the squad can increase their survivability, helping to safeguard your investment. As a last turn unit, their 18" movement can get them where you need them to be for the final victory point tally. Just be careful not to expose them to too much enemy fire, as the 3+ save does not make them invulnerable.
Shining Spears
Strengths: fast, good in close combat, twin-linked weapons, high rate of fire, skimmers
Weaknesses: very high point cost, small squad size for assaulting
Uses: Shining spears are best used to help tip the balance in your favor during an assault. Coordinate a charge between them and another close combat squad and watch your opponent's face pale. You have to keep them out of the firing lanes or your opponent's small arms fire will quickly overwhelm the small squad. The exarch's choices for wargear are not stellar, the brightlance replaces his laser lance, as does the power weapon. Both of the exarch powers are useful, however, as skillful rider benefits the entire squad when moving through difficult terrain and evade gives you a model with a 3+ invulnerable save!
Swooping Hawks
Strengths: fast, may always deploy from deep strike, hawk grenade pack, high rate of fire
Weaknesses: low shooting strength, high point cost
Uses: Swooping hawks can quickly whittle away your opponent's squads - if they have low toughness and high armor saves. Otherwise, they should be used to harrass, distract, and confuse your opponent, as well as setting up opportunities for crossfire. Exarchs either give more support to fire or give the squad a hand to hand punch. Sustained assault and bounding leap is a good character killer combination if the exarch is decked for close combat. I would caution against engaging an opponent with the squad alone, they can lend much more use in a supporting role to a close combat specialist squad.
Vypers
Strengths: fast, heavy weapons, skimmers
Weaknesses: paper thin armor
Uses: Vypers are best used in squads of 'one' to take out hard targets, put out possible fires, and support their larger cousins. Using multiple shot weapons (Shuriken cannon, Scatterlasers, and Starcannon) make up for the Guardian's mediocre ballistic skill of 3. If placed in larger squads then they become more susceptible to masses of small arms fire, units with multiple heavy weapons, or large template weapons. Loading a Vyper up with expensive options like crystal targeting matrixes or holofields may seem like a good way to protect your investment, but all things considered this just makes them that much more tempting for your opponent to target.
Heavy Support
Falcons
Strengths: fast, heavy weapons, skimmer, troop transport
Weaknesses: vulnerable to heavy weapons fire, expensive
Uses: Falcons are useful in a variety of roles. Their Pulse laser gives them adequate tank busting ability with the d3 shots helping to make up for the Guardian's mediocre ballistic skill of 3. Mounting a second heavy weapon is mandatory, but sinking the points into such options as a brightlance or missile launcher is redundant. One of the Falcon's greatest assets is speed and if you slow down to fire two heavy weapons you are not making use of its strengths. Multiple shot weapons used as secondary armament give the Falcon more flexibility, as it can now choose to target squads of troops in place of hard targets. Giving the Falcon a spirit stone helps keep the vehicle in the action and moving to avoid full penetration hits, and a holo-field, though costly, makes the Falcon a very hard target to take down. Though it can only transport a maximum of six figures, use this to your best advantage. Drop a ranger or dark reaper squad off in a strategic position. Carry a hand to hand unit in to mop up a weakened squad. Transport a fast crossfire unit such as warp spiders into position for a surprise. Move a tank-busting unit like fire dragons to the front. These are all ideal roles for this tank/transport to play on the field and since the vehicle is purchased from the heavy support section it can transport any squad during the course of the game.
Fire Prism
Strengths: fast, prism cannon, skimmer
Weaknesses: vulnerable to heavy weapons fire
Uses: Fire prisms should be used much in the same way as Falcons are, with the exception of carrying squads around the battlefield. Their prism cannon can make short work of most enemy hard targets or heavy infantry squads from a comfortable range, but remember that you only get one shot per turn which gives you equal chances of hitting or missing.
War Walkers
Strengths: multiple heavy weapons, squads of 1-3, energy field
Weaknesses: paper thin armor, expensive
Uses: War walkers are simply large heavy weapons platforms. Keep them in back of your force and limit how many units can see them. Mount weapons that have similar uses, if not the exact same weapons on each side. The energy field isn't as useful on the war walker as it is on the waveserpent, so you need to be careful about how much firepower can be turned towards the squad. A single barrage from an ordnance weapon, devestator squad, or a lot of small arms fire can down three war walkers in a single turn.
Wraithlord
Strengths: high toughness, multiple wounds, good save, heavy weapon, good in assaults, can take advantage of cover saves
Weaknesses: attracts lots of heavy weapon fire, cannot fleet of foot
Uses: Wraithlords should be used to decimate an opponent's line. Their only major weakness is that they tend to attract lots of heavy weapons fire, which can be used to your advantage if you have other, more fragile hard targets in your army. Keep the wraithlord behind cover as it advances to take advantage of the fact that it is considered a creature and can benefit from a cover save. Don't wade out into your opponent's heavy weapons lines of fire, wraithlords are tough but they are not invincible. Beware of units that bait you in and then fall back to keep the wraithlord beyond charge range. Any heavy weapons are good options, as their ballistic skill of 4 allows them to be confident when firing single shot weapons and, generally, yields multiple hits from multiple shot weapons.
Support weapon batteries
Strengths: good range of weaponry, can take a Warlock for survivability
Weaknesses: crew vulnerable to shooting and assaults
Uses: each battery of weapons has its own uses on the battlefield. Vibrocannon are good for disrupting large formations of tightly packed infantry and shaking up armored targets. The biggest downside to vibrocannon is that you need to roll to hit (only one roll no matter how large the battery is), and if you miss the weapon(s) effectively don't fire. Shadow weavers are the closest thing that eldar have to barrage weaponry. The high strength of the weapon is useful for taking out tougher enemies, but the lack of AP limits its usefulness to lighter armored foes. This weapon can also force a pin check, making it good for slowing down your opponent's advance. Distort cannon remain one of the more powerful weapons of the game. With its high strength, low AP, and special rules against vehicles it can devastate almost anything it can hit. The biggest problem is its short range, making it highly susceptible to enemy charges and other indirect weapons (such as the Griffon or Whirlwind) that can out-distance the battery and kill the crew with one good shot. If you do use D-cannons in your army, make sure to include other units that can eliminate these threats before they silence your guns.
Dark Reapers
Strengths: high rate of fire, low AP weapons, good range
Weaknesses: low squad size, expensive
Uses: Dark Reapers should be used to soften up (or sometimes wipe out) your opponent's infantry squads. Their reaper launchers combine range, strength, low AP, and high fire rate to be one of the more feared weapons in the game. They will attract a high amount of fire, and the squad cannot stand up to masses of small arms fire, large template weapons, or assaults. They need to be set up with a good firing lane, in cover, at the beginning of the game. If you're moving you reapers around you are not using them at their greatest roles - long range support and battlefield control. Even if you're not shooting at the enemy, if you've got a good position you can force him to come to you on your terms, which can be even better. Exarchs give an already dangerous squad more accuracy. Against some opponents the shuriken cannon may be a good choice, but the lack of range when compared to the reaper launcher makes it seem to be a waste. The missile launcher is worthwhile, as you can fire either plasma or krak missiles to enhance the other launchers in the squad. Crack shot allows the re-roll of failed to-wound rolls and ignores cover saves, a good combination for +10 points. Fast shot either turns the missile launcher into a huge version of the reaper launcher (effectively), or adds an additional attack with a reaper launcher that will hit on 2+. Both options are good, but I would shy away from taking both as you can only use one at a time.
Transports
Waveserpent
Strengths: fast, skimmer, energy field, can carry large squads, can mount twin-linked heavy weapons
Weaknesses: Even stripped down versions are expensive compared to other transports, vulnerable to massed heavy weapon fire
Uses: Waveserpents should be used to deliver your specialist squads to where they need to be. Alternately, for less points than a Falcon, you can buy a Waveserpent with twin-linked brightlances that is nearly as good (if not better) as a tank hunter/transport. Their energy field guarantees that shots from the front or sides must at least roll a 4+ to affect the vehicle no matter what the strength. Despite this, you cannot go around thinking that the Waveserpent is invulnerable. As with everything else, it can be shot down (and, being a skimmer, an immobilized result is just as bad as a destroyed one). Spirit stones will help get the squad inside to their destination despite heavy enemy fire. Alternately, if you have the points to spare, you can include a crystal targeting matrix to allow you to dart from cover to cover, adding fire to the rest of your force and getting that squad into position. No matter what configuration you choose the waveserpent remains one of the best troop transports in the game.
(Note: Waveserpents cannot take the holo-field vehicle upgrade!)