I actually had a really fun game of 40k using Eldar this evening! Since getting hold of a bargain bunch of wraithguard a few weeks ago on Ebay i have been fielding a list based around them, and a Wraithseer. This has made me able to largely get around the major drawbacks of playing the prettiest race in the game - S3 and T3.
Eldar look great. Even though the sculpts are generally several years old and the tanks are all identical chassis, they can still look great. But they really suffer, particularly on 4x4 boards from being physically weak.
You have to plan on getting into a fist fight on a smaller board. Orks, Marines (all flavours), and 'nids are all very strong on the assault and won't have far to go to get at your skinny space elves. But wraithguard, while not having bags of killing power up close, are at the very least a formidable roadblock with their high toughness. And, when you field a full squad, particularly with a warlock giving Enhance, they have a good chance of just wearing you down. Over a couple of rounds of combat this evening my guard were able to take out Korsarro Khan and go on to hold up a squad of hammernators for another two rounds. This after obliterating that same squad's Land Raider.
I also have a Wraithseer in this list and, although he had been very useful in previous games, tonight he was only so-so. After destroying a Rhino and pinning the tactical marines inside he got such in combat with the hammernators. Taking a wound reduced his initiative to the same as theirs, while his invulnerable save was actually worse. It took then a couple of turns but eventually they were able to dispatch him for the loss of only two marines.
When we set upthe game I was really expecting to get tabled. My opponent had built a White Scars list, using one of the new Stormtalons, a squadron of Typhoons, a biker squad, and the aforementioned hammernators. Playing Capture and Control, with him going first, I figured he would use Outflank to quickly assault me at my 'base' while protecting his with a tactical squad. To combat this, I kept all my force in reserve, thus denying him a turn of shooting if he deployed stuff early. Despite my army coming on in a rather piecemeal fashion, this tactic worked out for me. When my Fire Prisms and Wraithguard cane on, for examples, they were both immediately presented with convenient targets to destroy (a Land Raider) or force to flee (bye bye, bike squadron).
In the end I was able to Forrest Gump my way to a win. I had planned to use a Wave Serpent, carrying Dire Avengers, to go flat-out at his objective, dismount, then assault him, forcing his troops to move off the objective as they piled in making the game a draw as my objective was unheld. But, at the last minute, it occurred to me that the Pathfinders I had had sitting across the table from my objective were troops! And that the Falcon right next to them was a transport! So a quick embarkation and flight across the board later, plus that assault at the other end, and hey presto - a win for the Eldar!
Funnily enough, my opponent had also forgotten Eldar scouts are troops, so he had not seriously tried to destroy them during the game. So my win was probably even more of a shock to him than it was to me. Full credit to him though, he took it like a champ.
A good time then, as they say, was had by all.
Its always nice to get a win, but its even better to have a fun game. We both had good fortune and bad, we both made mistakes as well as having some things go our way. I'm sure we will both learn from those mistakes too.
Eldar look great. Even though the sculpts are generally several years old and the tanks are all identical chassis, they can still look great. But they really suffer, particularly on 4x4 boards from being physically weak.
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| Bark > Bite |
You have to plan on getting into a fist fight on a smaller board. Orks, Marines (all flavours), and 'nids are all very strong on the assault and won't have far to go to get at your skinny space elves. But wraithguard, while not having bags of killing power up close, are at the very least a formidable roadblock with their high toughness. And, when you field a full squad, particularly with a warlock giving Enhance, they have a good chance of just wearing you down. Over a couple of rounds of combat this evening my guard were able to take out Korsarro Khan and go on to hold up a squad of hammernators for another two rounds. This after obliterating that same squad's Land Raider.
I also have a Wraithseer in this list and, although he had been very useful in previous games, tonight he was only so-so. After destroying a Rhino and pinning the tactical marines inside he got such in combat with the hammernators. Taking a wound reduced his initiative to the same as theirs, while his invulnerable save was actually worse. It took then a couple of turns but eventually they were able to dispatch him for the loss of only two marines.
When we set upthe game I was really expecting to get tabled. My opponent had built a White Scars list, using one of the new Stormtalons, a squadron of Typhoons, a biker squad, and the aforementioned hammernators. Playing Capture and Control, with him going first, I figured he would use Outflank to quickly assault me at my 'base' while protecting his with a tactical squad. To combat this, I kept all my force in reserve, thus denying him a turn of shooting if he deployed stuff early. Despite my army coming on in a rather piecemeal fashion, this tactic worked out for me. When my Fire Prisms and Wraithguard cane on, for examples, they were both immediately presented with convenient targets to destroy (a Land Raider) or force to flee (bye bye, bike squadron).
In the end I was able to Forrest Gump my way to a win. I had planned to use a Wave Serpent, carrying Dire Avengers, to go flat-out at his objective, dismount, then assault him, forcing his troops to move off the objective as they piled in making the game a draw as my objective was unheld. But, at the last minute, it occurred to me that the Pathfinders I had had sitting across the table from my objective were troops! And that the Falcon right next to them was a transport! So a quick embarkation and flight across the board later, plus that assault at the other end, and hey presto - a win for the Eldar!
Funnily enough, my opponent had also forgotten Eldar scouts are troops, so he had not seriously tried to destroy them during the game. So my win was probably even more of a shock to him than it was to me. Full credit to him though, he took it like a champ.
A good time then, as they say, was had by all.
Its always nice to get a win, but its even better to have a fun game. We both had good fortune and bad, we both made mistakes as well as having some things go our way. I'm sure we will both learn from those mistakes too.
