IDICBeer 40k

Fire Dragon Orange!

2013-05-21T07:00:00.001+01:00

Nick speaking,

The one thing I love about my Eldar is all the different colours I get to paint, it is very refreshing to be able to paint a unit in a totally different colour from the previous unit, even though it is the same army. So, with my Fire Dragons up next, it's time to get the orange paint out! I will be putting my IDIC purple and white spin on the minis as well, but overall, I want to paint them GW style. Well, as best I can with the new paints anyway!

Laser Cut Flight Stands

2013-05-19T07:00:00.000+01:00

Nick speaking,

I have had the privileged of testing Laser Cut Card's brand new Flight Stands. There are three versions of them available, a flyer stand, a small skimmer stand and a large skimmer stand. They are not direct alternatives to GW bases, designed more for scratch built flyers and games like Bolt Action, but even so, I have to say I think they are pretty awesome, especially when you consider the price they are compared to the GW stands.

The one thing I really like about the Flyer stand is its ability to pose your models at angles, for a more dynamic look. This is due to the stand being a bit thinner than the original, so that it angels in the slot. It's worth noting that if you want your Flyer to be horizontal you will have to glue it into place! They do have tabs at the top of the stand allowing for an easy connection on any home made Flyers, or if you cut the tab off, you can slot them directly into the Flyer, or have the option to magnetise them. All three stands are available now to purchase on the Laser Cut Card website. As many of you already know, I have been after a replacement Flying stand for some time now, so I am going to give this product a massive thumbs up...

IDICBeer has Dwarfs!

2013-05-17T07:00:00.000+01:00

Nick speaking,

Yes, that's right Dwarfs, well one Dwarf! It's the free one that I had on the front cover of White Dwarf many years ago, that I recently found. I decided to paint him up and send him to my mate Kimal79, one of the Legion of Gamza members, and a great guy. I know he will make good use of him, so here he is all painted up for you buddy.

Necron 'Void Crons' Battle Report (2,000 Points)

2013-05-15T07:00:00.000+01:00

Nick speaking,

In a previous post I looked at my 1750 point three C'tan Void Cron list, but now that my buddies and I have decided (at long last) to move up to 2000 points, I need to beef it up a bit. I always felt that the list was lacking in mobilty, so with a couple of adjustments, it was very easy for me to add in a unit of Tomb Blades to fill that roll. Here is the list I was using in this battle report against my buddies 'shooty' Blood Angels...

Void Crons (2k v1)

HQ
1 x Overlord/Warscythe/MSS/Weave (130)
Royal Court:
1 x Cryptek/Tremorstave/Crucible (40)
1 x Cryptek/Tremorstave (30)
1 x Cryptek/Tremorstave (30)
1 x Cryptek/Tremorstave (30)

ELITES
1 x Void Dragon/Moulder/Thunder (255)
1 x Deceiver/Pyres/Worldscape (235)
1 x Nightbringer/Time/Gaze (275)

TROOPS
10 x Immortals/Gauss (170)
10 x Warriors (130)
10 x Warriors (130)
10 x Warriors (130)

FAST ATTACK
6x Scarab Swarms (90)
5x Tomb Blades/Scopes/Looms/Vanes (225)

FORTIFICATION
1x Defence Line/Quad Gun (100)

2000 Points

Community Cryptek Project - Archaeolas

2013-05-13T07:00:00.000+01:00

Nick speaking,

With the forth Cryptek I received for my Community Cryptek Project, I have something very special for you, a scratch built, fully sculpted mini! This amazingly sculpted Cryptek was sent to me by Archaeolas on his YouTube Channel. He even magnetised the arm so that the stave comes off for storage. This Cryptek is very special to me and I will treasure it forever, so thank you so much Archy, you are the best. Here are some pictures of the mini fully painted by Archy himself, but if you want to see this guy before he was painted, with the WIP pictures, then please check out his video here and don't forget to subscribe.

Army List Clinic - Tournament Eldar Help

2013-05-11T07:00:00.000+01:00

Rob speaking,

Thank you to everyone who has submitted their army lists to our Clinic, In today's post we will have a look at an Eldar 1000 point tournament list...

Email in:

Hi, I was wondering what you thought of this list which i was thinking of taking to a tournament. This is my first tournament for 40k and its only 1000 points, a points level that i haven't played for quite some time.

Farseer - 90

runes of warding, guide

5 Dire avengers - 60

3 War walkers - 180

scatter lasers

5 Fire dragons - 80

Wave serpent - 110

twin linked shuriken cannon, shuriken cannon

5 Fire dragons - 80

Wave serpent - 100

twin linked shuriken cannon

5 Fire dragons - 80

Wave serpent - 100

twin linked shurkien cannon

Now the basic plan for the list is to send the fire dragons after the scary units the opponent has, the farseer will guide the war walkers and they will take out any heavy weapons squads or general irritating units. The dire avengers need to take objectives and possibly shoot at what ever they can.

In the area we have a lot of ork, chaos space marines and daemon players so i have no idea if i should change my list to go after them or not. Any changes you can make would be great, as 1000 points isn't quite my strong point.

Thanks for any help

Hi there,

Thanks for taking the time to email the army list clinic, I’ve taken a look at the list and some weaknesses immediately jumped out at me, so here is the list I propose using similar units you’re already using:

Farseer - runes of warding, guide – 90

6 Dire avengers – 72

Wave Serpent – twin linked shuriken cannon – 100

3 Jetbikes – 66

6 Fire dragons – 96

Wave serpent – twin linked shurkien cannon – 100

8 Fire dragons – 128

Wave serpent – twin linked shurkien cannon – 100

3 War walkers – 6x scatter lasers – 180

998

3x Scoring units are enough at 1000pts, but I’ve swapped out 2x 5 Dire Avengers for 2x 3 Jetbikes, Five Dire Avengers on foot won’t get anywhere and will struggle to hold onto objectives, the Jetbikes are much better, they go in reserve and turbo boost about until turn 5 where they go wherever they want and score/contest, they are much more durable and much more mobile, so make for an all round better choice.

I’ve also tweaked the Fire Dragons, dropping one unit and adding to the other 2 units, the unit of 8 has the Guideseer in, remember you cannot use Guide out of vehicles so these will benefit the most, Fire Dragons can deal with most things on the game so make for a great choice.

The third Wave Serpent is given to the Dire Avengers for mobility and durability, giving you 3 very mobile scoring units.

Hope that helps, let me know how you get on.

If any of our Readers would like to offer any suggestions, please feel free to comment below, and if you would like to submit one of your army lists to us to have a look at, you can do so here: listclinic.idicbeer@gmail.com

More Tomb Blades Done

2013-05-09T07:00:00.000+01:00

Nick speaking,

It took a bit of patience and self control in making sure I got a good price, but I have now managed to get another two old Necron Destroyers to go with the three I already have. I use them as 'Tomb Blades' and have really enjoyed playing with these old classic minis. In the end, all five minis cost me under £20.00 including postage, all off eBay, of course. Considering most of these beauties are usually sold for £10.00 each as a 'buy it now' option, I think I did pretty well...

Fire Dragon Exarch Conversion!

2013-05-07T07:00:00.000+01:00

Nick speaking,

I am getting ready to paint my two units of Fire Dragons, which will mean I will nearly have a fully painted Mechdar army when they are done, with just a Farseer to go! I really like the current models, but I wanted to make the two Exarch's look a bit different from each other. Not sure if what I have done really counts as a conversion, as all I did was bend the fingers and arm of one of the minis, so that he wasn't pointing anymore! I have also set the magnets at different angles for the gun options, so that the guns end up slightly different as well, so maybe I can call it a conversion after all...

Just need to do the green stuff work on the magnets so that you can't see them and then I am all set for painting!

Community Cryptek Project - Ogres Lair

2013-05-05T07:00:00.000+01:00

Nick speaking,

Thank you to Ogres for supplying me with pictures of his very cool Necron Cryptek conversions, as part for my Community Cryptek Project. I think he has done an awesome job with them and it gives me great pleasure to be able to share them with you all. Please click on the link of each Tek to see the full post for each conversion, and don't forget to press the follow button on his Blog and give him some support.

Harbringer of Destruction

Harbringer of the Strom

Harbringer of Despair

Harbringer of Transmorgification

Mysterious Obelisk Painted

2013-05-03T07:00:00.000+01:00

Nick speaking,

I really enjoyed painting the new design, 'Cyborg' Obelisk that I got from Laser Cut Card recently. It was great to be able to paint it in a different way to my previous ones, as it is going to end up as a Mysterious piece of terrain for my board. As you can see from the pictures below, the new Glyph design not only makes the obelisk a doddle to build, but also looks a whole lot 'sharper' when painted up.

Necron Void Dragon List

2013-05-01T07:00:00.000+01:00

Nick speaking,

Right, with my Void Dragon conversion finished, all I need to do now is update my old three C'tan 5th Edition list. So, lets have a look at what changes have to happen so that I can get the three ~~Star Gods~~ C'tan Shards on the table, with some sort of chance in 6th Edition!

Starting with the three Shards, I want them to match the models and my vision of what they would do on the battlefield. The Nighbringer as the assault Shard, The Deceiver as the sneaky Shard and the Void Dragon as the shooty Shard. The three C'tan set up I was using was, The Nighbringer with Time and Gaze, The Deceiver with Dust and Worldscape and the Void Dragon with Pyres and Thunderbolt. Things have changed for Dust now though, as most cover saves are going to be 5+, so even with the Stealth rule Dust Grants, he isn't going to get much better than his 4++. Well, unless you get lucky with a building in your deployment zone! So, I have now moved the Pyreshard over to the Deceiver and given the Void Dragon Moulder of the World, which gives him two rather nice 24" guns...

Next, is how to run the list from here on? I am still playing at 1750pts and with 765pts sunk into the Shards, tough decisions will have to be made. I know that the dangerous terrain tests are nowhere near as dangerous as they were in 5th, but I still think I want to continue with the multi Tremorstave/Worldscape combo for now, just because...well, because it is fun. The only issue is getting all the staves spread out across the army, and the small units of five Immortals/Warriors that I was previously using, just isn't going to cut it in 6th.

With the need to beef up the sizes of the troop units to ten strong, I have decided to drop the mech side of the list I had, so the Ghost Ark and Annihilation barges are out, which sort of follows the trend of 6th anyway, as I have found 6th to be sort of all or nothing, when it comes to vehicles.

The next unit I want to take which is different from my first list, is a small unit of Scarabs. They will go in front of the Void Dragon and the Nightbringer as they advance forward. They will be their little distraction unit, either taking shots, busting tanks open or locking units in assault, depending on the situation! The Deceiver will be hanging back with the Warriors, keeping out of site if possible, to maintain Worldscape for as long as as he can, or until the troops need back up. Lastley, I have added in the faithful Defence line and Quad Gun, and with the few points left over, I put Weave on the Overlord, as he is going to be on foot instead of in the Ark and will need it.

Here is my final list, but what do you think? What would you take in a list that has the criteria of three C'tans? Would you go the Tremorstave route, or for something else? The main issue I see with my list at the moment is its lack of mobilty, and I have a feeling I may have to move away from the dangerous terrain theme at some point, but I want to try this out first, battle reports to follow...

Void Crons

HQ
1 x Overlord/Warscythe/MSS/Weave (130)
Royal Court:
1 x Cryptek/Tremorstave (30)
1 x Cryptek/Tremorstave (30)
1 x Cryptek/Tremorstave (30)
1 x Cryptek/Tremorstave (30)

ELITES
1 x Void Dragon/Moulder/Thunder (255)
1 x Deceiver/Pyres/Worldscape (235)
1 x Nightbringer/Time/Gaze (275)

TROOPS
10 x Immortals/Gauss (170)
10 x Warriors (130)
10 x Warriors (130)
10 x Warriors (130)

FAST ATTACK
5x Scarab Swarms (75)

FORTIFICATION
1x Defence Line/Quad Gun (100)

Points 1750

Ork Glyph for Looted Vehicles by Laser Cut Card

2013-04-29T07:00:00.000+01:00

Nick speaking,

I don't own any Orks, but even I wanted a pack of these new Laser Cut Card Orc Glyphs! OK, I am going to hand them over to my Ork playing buddy as a little gift, as I think he will love them, but before I do, lets have a quick look at them. For only £4.17 with free worldwide shipping, I say they are a bargain. They are the usual high standard Laser Cut Card product, with many awesome designs, perfect for either looting up your vehicles or for some Orky terrain...

Necron Void Dragon C'tan Painted!

2013-04-27T07:00:00.000+01:00

Nick speaking,

Here are some pictures of the paint job I did for my Void Dragon conversion. I tried to get him as near to the artwork that I was following as I could, although I decided to paint the lightning the same colour as the energy section of his chest, as it seemed to make more sense to me that way. I have to say that overall I am very happy with how he came out, but please let me know what you think...

Now that I have my three C'tan ready to go, I need to get my army list sorted again. I think the 5th edition list I was using will need quite a number of tweaks, if not a total re-write! So there is still a lot more fun to come on the three C'tan front...

Necron Obelisks Update

2013-04-25T07:00:00.002+01:00

Nick speaking,

There is nothing like seeing a company listening to customer feedback and then taking that feedback and making their products better! Well that is exactly what Neal from Laser Cut Card did with his 'Cyborg' Obelisks. I am sure you will all agree that the Obelisks he sells are pretty awesome, but it was a bit fiddly having to glue each individual circle into the Glyph section. Not anymore though! Neal has redesigned the template so that the circles stay attached to the Glyph after you remove the negative sections, except for two, making it so much easier and quicker to build than it was before. I plan on painting mine a bit different from my previous six, as I want to use it as a Mysterious piece of terrain...

Community Cryptek Project - Tomas Gessler

2013-04-23T07:00:00.000+01:00

Nick speaking,

Here is a third Cryptek I received for my Community Cryptek Project, this time from TomasGessler, who painted this old Necron Warrior as a Lancetek for me. I don't own any of the OOP Necron Warriors, so this is going to fit perfectly into my army as a Cryptek. Tomas has recently got a new video camera for his YouTube Channel and has been making some very cool videos lately, so please go and check him out and subscribe...

Necron Void Dragon Conversion Finished!

2013-04-21T07:00:00.000+01:00

Nick speaking,

Finally finished my Void Dragon C'tan conversion, if you haven't been following the series of posts, you can catch the first one here. I basically took an old Nightbringer model and tried to convert him up into the picture below. Overall I am very happy with how he came out, but what do you think?

Next is to get him painted...

Necron Scarab Farm Battle Report

2013-04-19T07:00:00.002+01:00

Nick speaking,

Still having lots of fun in 6th Edition with my Scarab Wave, this time I am up against a double Landraider Blood Angels army!

Army List Clinic - Imperial Guard Help

2013-04-17T07:00:00.000+01:00

Rob speaking,

Thank you to everyone who has submitted their army lists to our Clinic, we hope that our responses have given you some pointers and have been useful. In today's post we will have a look at a list submitted by our reader Adam and his Imperial Guard list.

Email in:

Hi chaps

It's my guard list! I am looking to make my 1500pt list better please!

So here's the list and thanks for your efforts and time in advance lads

Dunks Guard

Company command squad
Vox caster
Grenade launcher
3 vets
In chimera

Platoon
Platoon command squad
Platoon commander
Vox caster
3 guardsmen

3 infantry squads

Sergt combat weapon
Vox caster
Flamer
Auto cannon
5 guardsmen

A commisar will be attached to only one squad in the middle to stop um running

Squads 2 & 3 as above without commisar

These sit behind my aegis defense line with quad gun

Veteran squads x2 both as below

Sergt combat weapon
3x plasma
Vox caster
5 vets
In chimera

Fast attack

2x vendettas twin las and h.v Bolters

Leman russ with hv bolter no sponsons mind

Manticore

Marbo!

Think this is 1420 so have some to spend sentinel???? Perhaps

Let me know your thoughts and thanks again lads

Cheers

Adam

I think your original list has a lot of things that don’t add much to the list, dropping these free up a lot of pts.

So going through the list, your list at present is on 1500pts exactly, but by dropping the commissar from an infantry platoon, it doesn’t add much if you don’t want to ‘blob’ up and combine multiple infantry platoons, have a squad hang around in combat could cost you in certain situations, the flamers on the infantry platoons don’t add much either, the rest of the list is solid.

Marbo is a tough one, on one hand he’s fantastic, the Demo charge causes all sorts of issues, the fact he doesn’t scatter, has stealth, is a single model, so can be easy to hide. But he is a one hit wonder, if he arrives turn 2, he becomes a first blood target in the KP game, so he’s also a liability. I personally prefer to use a more reliable choice.

Here is the list I would use:

Company Command – 4 Plasmaguns, Vox, Chimera – 175

Platoon Command – 3 Flamers, Chimera – 100
Infantry squad – Vox, Autocannon – 65
Infantry squad – Vox, Autocannon – 65
Infantry squad – Vox, Autocannon – 65

Veteran squad – 3 Meltaguns, Vox, Chimera – 160
Veteran Squad: 3x Plasma, Vox, Chimera – 175

Vendetta – heavy bolters – 140
Vendetta – heavy bolters – 140

Leman Russ – 150
Manticore – 165

Aegis Defence Line – Quadgun – 100

1500pts

So whats changed?
Lots more special weapons, the command squad has Plasma, choosing plasma over melta gives you range, they are your warlord choice at 1500pts, melta means you have to get close and their job of popping tanks/MCs will basically be a suicide run, this will gift wrap your opponents Warlord, plasma makes it a bit more difficult to obtain and they can sit back a little bit.

Melta on a Veteran squad, these add a bit of variety to your Mech wing and will take some of the strain off the Vendettas which will be busy shooting down other flyers, the Platoon Command have been given flamers for toasting hordes, all the Chimeras should have heavy flamers as well.

Although you have lost as stubborn troops choice, you still have 6 scoring units and a lot of threats! The Platoons can all hide behind the Aegis, which can cover multiple objectives if your placement is right, so they should never need to leave the safety of the 4+/2+ cover, while they can still effect the game with the Autocannon in each squad.

Notes on changes:
If you’re not happy dropping the Marbo, I would drop the Platoon Commands Chimera, the platoon command can go in a Vendetta.

Please feel free to comment with your thoughts on Adams list, and if you want to submit one of your army lists to us, please do so here listclinic.idicbeer@gmail.com

Community Cryptek Project - Rebel Wargaming

2013-04-15T07:00:00.001+01:00

Nick speaking,

Here is the second Cryptek I received for my Community Cryptek Project, this Cryptek was converted and painted by Dan from Rebel Wargaming. Dan is not only an awesome guy, but he is also a fantastic painter and I am very proud to have his Cryptek join my army. Dan is also available for commission work at very reasonable prices, so why not go and check out his Channel and see what he is currently up to...

Necron Void Dragon Conversion (part 4)

2013-04-13T07:00:00.000+01:00

Nick speaking,

Continuing on with my Void Dragon conversion from the last post. I went in and extended the toes, cleaned up the inside of the cloak and added some shaping ridges ready for the cloak. The cloak section went really well which was helped with a lot of pre-planning and a template I made up before I set about the task. It is now looking a lot more like the picture I am basing it on, but I still have plenty of work to do...

Nid Bargain Box!

2013-04-11T07:00:00.002+01:00

Nick speaking,

Sometimes a bargain comes past you that you just have to take up, so when I saw this box of Nids in my local gaming shop for just £20.00, my money was in the till right away...

So that gives me some Y-Stealers, eighteen Termagants to add to my spawn collection and three Warriors ready to convert up into Hive Guard. What a bargain :)

Community Cryptek Project - Introduction

2013-04-09T07:00:00.000+01:00

Nick speaking,

It has been sometime since I received my Necron Cryptek painted up for me by my YouTube buddy Dunk, but ever since then I've had a little side project I've been wanting to do, sort of on the back burner as such. Basically, I thought it would be really, really cool if all the Crypteks in my army were all painted/converted by all my friends in the community, both on YouTube and here in the Blogosphere.

Now I know that this project may just sound like I am trying to get free models, but that is not the case, it is just something that I think would be very cool, and I am willing to buy the mini if needed. Having said that, I am currently in contact with several people on YouTube already, and it seems like there is a large proportion of very talented and generous people who would find pleasure in having a mini they did in my army, just like Dunk did...

The project is a little bit more involved than this alone, I would also like to build up a section on the Blog, where people can find loads of really cool Cryptek minis and conversions, after all, there is only one mini made by GW and there are five different Crypteks to choose from, with lots of different wargear options. So if you have any cool Cryptek conversion pictures of your minis, please feel free to email them to me or post a link below and I would be willing to do a shout out for you on the Blog.

Of course, if you wanted to convert and paint me up a Cryptek instead, I would not only be very happy and honoured to have him in my army, I would also do a YouTube video/Blog post with any links to your Channel/Blog as a little thank you. Here is an Introduction video to the project that I made, just in case you want to find out more...

Mech Grey Knight Tournament Report (day 2)

2013-04-07T07:00:00.000+01:00

Rob speaking,

So, with two wins from day one, I was feeling very happy with the first days work, but if I wanted to finish in a good position at the end, I needed to win at least one game from two...

Game 4, Scouring Hammer and Anvil Deployment

I would be facing off against Blood Angels with Imperial Guard Allies, Reclusiarch Jump Pack and Power Maul, 10x Death Company with Bolters in Landraider Crusader, 2x 5 Assault marines meltaguns in Razorback with las/plas, and a Vindicator, Company Command with 2x Flamers, Platoon Command 2x Flamers, Chimera, Vendetta, 2x Platoons with Autocannons and a Manticore. The objectives where split pretty even, 3 on my side and 3 on my opponents. I won the roll for first turn and took it, upon revealing the objectives I have a 4,3,2 while my opponent has a 1,2,3.

The highlights of the game, basically all my rending shots did nothing turn 1 and 2, but I did take out a Razorback and the Vindicator turn 1 and 2, but a Strike squad was all but taken out (down to 2 guys) as was both Chimeras and a Razorback, the Manticore was bouncing everything off passing about 4 or 5 5+ cover saves from the Dreadnoughts. In the end I managed to immobilise the Landraider full of Death Company, then whittled them down to about 6, but then charged and took out the other 10 man Strike squad, but the Characters and reserves came in for the kill, finishing the Death company and Chaplain. In the meantime the Dreadknight came down and took out an infantry platoon with its flamer. In the end my opponent held his 3 objectives and I held my 3, despite a last ditch effort for the Vendetta which was shot down in my deployment zone.

30-1 win!

Game 5 Kill Points and Dawn of War Deployment

With no pressure last game, I had my 3 wins so was satisfied no matter the result, I was never going to win this game as my list has 18 KP's. I would be facing off against Dark Angels with Imperial Guard, Azreal, Libby on bike, Primaris psyker, 50x Blob with Autocannons, Power Axes and meltabombs, 2x 3 Bikes with 1x 2 Plasma, 1x 2 Melta, 5x Bikes with 2x Plasma, 1x 3 Bike Command with Banner of Dakka. 9 Kp's, I have 18 and most of them are squishy tanks/MSU infantry units.

Highlights of the game... Well I lost firstblood and the game went downhill from then on as my opponent hid all his bikes behind a massive hill in the centre, which left me with precious little to kill.. In the end the game was a none event as it was never close, after being about 4 KP's down after turn 1 and about 7 KP's after turn 2. The blob took out a tank per turn, then my infantry squads in combat with a LONG charge through cover (11”) turn 7. I lost 11/6 on KP's in the end. But the game was never close or even a contest really.

1-30 Loss!

In the end I finished 25^th out of 60, so dropped a good number of places last game, which was a shame, but I’m happy to have finished in the top half, with only 1 practice game before the tournament with the list and in my mind, it goes some way to show that mech lists can certainly compete at a top event.

My two loses were also against European Team Champion players (some of the best players in the country) and I certainly feel with a couple of tweaks to the list (dropping the 5 Strikes to make a 10 man Interceptor squad) I will have a list I’m FINALLY happy with after many, many months of playing and changing lists, trying to find that balanced list. As for my next tournament, I’m looking at 1 or 2 in May, June and July, so watch this space.

Much more to come!

Necron Void Dragon Conversion (part 3)

2013-04-05T07:00:00.000+01:00

Nick speaking,

I have been working on the leg section of my Void Dragon conversion recently, I think it's really starting to take shape now. Still have a lot of work to do, but this it what I have done so far...

Army List Clinic - Eldar Help

2013-04-03T07:00:00.000+01:00

Nick speaking,

Thank you to everyone who has submitted their army lists to our Clinic, we hope that our responses have given you some pointers and have been useful. In today's post we will have a look at a list submitted by an IDICBeer YouTube subscriber and his Eldar...

Email in:

Hello IDICBeer,

thank you for a great job you do with all those videos. It made me write you this message to ask you for a help with Eldar, if you wouldn't mind.

I play GK in a very small, friendly, but competitive group against SM, CSM, Necron and Tau (maybe an Ork player will join us). With GK, I do very well, however I expect Eldar to be much more difficult to play.

Right now we're around 1250 pts. (because of Planetary Empire bonuses, armies are usually bigger, like up to 1650 pts or so). Our meta game favours heavy firepower (Dreadnought, Doomsday Arch, Annihilation Barge, Forgefiends, Broadsuits, Land Riders etc.) and the battles are mostly shooty.

I can't decide what to try with Eldar in order to not be utterly crushed -- I don't expect as powerful army as my GK feels, but I'd like to stay on par with others.

What list(s) for 1250 pts would you recommend? Why to pick certain units? How to play the army? How to sneak past the heavy firepower of my opponents with kinda low-T low-AV units Eldar have?

Thank you very much for any suggestions and your time.

Best wishes

Lockear

Hi Lockear

Thanks very much for your email, I am very pleased to have the opportunity to see if I can come up with something that may help you. You don’t mention any limitations with regards to the models you have, so I will run with that...

First, smaller games are even more of a challenge for such an old, unforgiving Codex, but that doesn’t mean we can’t take your Eldar into the game without a good fighting chance. I would like to be able to give you several options, but as I see it, the best way to go is to just run with the best units in the Codex that the points will allow for.

So, first up will be two Fire Prisms, take them bare boned to keep the points down. They will give you some nice long range variable stat firepower. Running with them would be two small bare boned units of Fire Dragons in Wave Serpents. I would run with Scatter Lasers myself, as the twin linked side of them will probably be your best AA on the table as well. That is your firepower sorted out to deal with all the high AV you will be facing.

Now we need to sort the troops and HQ out, and again this is a tough one if we want to take all the goodies as well. First we need the troops to work in line with the rest of the army, so I would forget ground troops like Guardians and Rangers, they are good, but won’t fit the type of army we need to go for to compete with your meta. I would opt for a strong core of Dire Avengers in a Wave Serpent with a Farseer, You could stick a Bright lance on this Serpent if you wanted some long range anti AV13/14, but they are expensive. The Farseer should have Fortune and Runes of warding for the anti pysker ability. I would then run along side that two units of jetbikes, these will be your fast moving troop choices. The army should look something like this…

1x Farseer/Fortune/RoW (100)

10x Dire Avengers/PW-Shield/Bladestorm/Wave Serpent/Scatter Lasers ( 277)

5x Jetbikes/1x Cannon (120)

5x Fire Dragons/Wave Serpent/Scatter Lasers (195)

1x Fire Prism (115)

1x Fire Prism/Cannon (125)

1247 pts

In the end we had a few points left over so I stuck a Cannon on a Prism, quite useful if you use that Prism to combine beams, as you can also shoot the Cannon at another unit as well, as per the Eldar FAQ.

So that’s the list, but how to run it? First up, you will have to use the army as a whole, try to keep the army together and use the entire force of your warhost against your enemy. Ideally, you will want to go first if you can, get your Farseer tank fortuned up and the warhost into position to attack. Going second does have some advantages though, especially if you want to grab those objectives with your jetbikes turn five.

One thing to bear in mind for Eldar at the moment is how important secondary objectives are, in reality you need to treat them as Primary objectives. ALWAYS think about taking First Blood (the best one as it cannot be shared) and Linebreaker (which should be doable with your fast army). Slay the Warlord is going to be subject to what is on the table, but the key thing to remember is, if you have more Secondary objectives than your opponent and you can contest/draw on Primary objectives, then you win, and Eldar at the moment find it much easier to tie Primary then win them.

Taking the list up in points, and I would start by increasing the Jetbike units to six strong with an extra Cannon and then a Warlock with Embolden in each, the re-roll leadership is invaluable in keeping them around longer. From then on, a nice distraction unit of Swooping Hawks jumping up and down works well, including getting Linebreaker for you, or maybe some Warp Spiders. Then you could just start adding units you like and see how it goes.