WH40K Eldar Craftworlds

[Tren]

So, I'm just getting into Warhammer 40K and I'm putting together an Eldar army but I'm getting a little confused on craftworlds. I've been reading some articles that describe alternate rules and troop options for different craftworld, but looking through my codex I can't find these rules anywhere :smalleek:

In my codex there's history and background on a few craftworlds and flavor recommendations, but nothing rules-wise. Are these special craftworld rules from an older codex, or am I just completely missing them somehow?

[Illiterate Scribe]

They were for the previous Eldar Codex, I'm afraid.

What craftworld were you looking at, so we can advise you?

[LBO]

Yeah. 3rd ed Eldar had the "Codex: Craftworld Eldar", which had specialised armies for five of the top Craftworlds (Biel-Tan with Aspect warriors as troops choices, Iyanden with wraithguard EVERYWHERE). 4th ed doesn't have any of that, but it has a few concessions to it (you can have maxed out Wraithguard squads or Jetbike squads as troops, Rangers can be upgraded to Pathfinders, big bunches of Warlocks as an almost-Seer Council.)

Craftworld stuff is (sadly) outdated, stick to your codex.

[Tren]

Well if my craftworld choice doesn't have an impact on my unit choices, it's less of a concern for me. That said I like the color scheme of the Biel-Tan, and from a pure fanboy position any fighting force called the Swordwind is cool in my book.

For a little background, I'm mostly going to be playing against friends who are also starting up. As poor college students we can't afford too much, so we're starting with 500 point armies. So far I've got a Farseer for an HQ (with Doom, Guide, and Spirit Stones), a squad of 10 Dire Avengers (which I may drop a few for extra points) with an exarch with an extra shuriken catapult and Bladestorm.

I was planning on using the Dire Avengers to soften up a unit, especially if I combined Doom, Guide, and Bladestorm I can deliver 32 shots with a chance to reroll to hit and wound on all shots, then if I get some howling banshees they can fleet over and assault from up to 18'' and mop up with their power weapons while still benefiting from Doom.

Now at 500 points nobody's really taking any vehicles besides some bikes, so I'm focused more on infantry right now, but I'm not entirely sure what to take for my second troop choice. Without any real vehicles to worry about a squad of 5 pathfinders seems like a better option than guardians. The chance for AP1 on a 5+ would be really effective against the 4 space marine players I expect to be up against regularly, and the pinning would be very handy against the two Imperial Guard and Ork players.

So, admittedly I'm very new to all this and haven't had a chance to actually sit down and play a game myself yet, but given my circumstances I think I've got a solid base to work with, any thoughts comments or constructive criticism would be appreciated!

[SmartAlec]

Biel-Tan's theme is pretty simple: Aspect Warriors, Aspect Warriors, and more Aspect Warriors. Although according to that theme I might have suggested you go for another unit of Dire Avengers, here's an interesting point: in the new 40K coming out in July, only Troops units will be able to capture objectives. HQ, Elites, Heavy Support and Fast Attack will be there to do the fighting while the Troops hold the positions. So maybe something with a bit of resilience will help; can't go wrong with a unit of Guardians, Warlock, Conceal power. If not now, then certainly when you move up to 1000 points.

[Psychotic]

Ahh. Good to see a man joining the Eldar cause.

Flavorwise (and game play wise), I think Biel-tan is one of the best choices that a new player can make simply because you're specializing, only not really. For example - Saim-hann armies typically have loads of Jetbikes, vipers and falcons and depend on using their superior speed to outflank their opponents. Alaitoc armies have the focus on Rangers/Pathfinders and infiltration and Iyanden has their focus on Wraithguards and Wraithlords. Problem with those three is that there are some battles which those armies are unlikely to win.

Biel-tan, however, is superior simply due to it's flexibility. You can have ANY aspect warrior you want and thus can be better prepared to deal with almost any given situation should it arise. You can fix any mobility problems with the addition of Wave Serpents or Falcons.

Now, to the meat of the issue and somethings you might want to consider.

Farseer - This guy is my favorite commander in the entire 40k line. I usually take 3-4 Psychic powers and have him follow around a squad to support. My standard repertoire is Fortune, Doom, and Mind War. Add Guide if you can spare the points. Runes of Witnessing and Spirit Stones are absolutely necessary! They double the effectiveness of the Farseer with little drawback (points and the chance of PotW). and basicall Another option is to get the Warlock seer council going on, but keep in the mind how much that will cost pointwise.

Dire Avengers - These guys are fabulous. They'll likely be your bread and butter troop choice for a long time. I know they're mine. Their good guns, Ballistic Skill, Fleet of Foot and Bladestorm make'em nice for nearly any encounter. Throw enough dice at an enemy and eventually they'll fall.

Striking Scorpions - Solid meatshields. They're great in mass melee, but are otherwise kinda useless. I'm not a huge fan of Eldar in melee combat. Toughness 3 for most troops and Str 3 for all but Scorpions makes them not as useful as you'd like. However, the "throw enough dice" tactic works well enough to not complain.

Howling Banshees - They're good against those high armor save schmucks with 3 attacks on the charge. Just use Doom on their victims since Str 3 is not likely going to get you very far.

Fire Dragons - I personally really like these boys. I stick a squad of 6 (including Exarch) in a Falcon and usually send the Falcon/Fire Dragons tank hunting. Dragons bag the armor and the Falcon lays down cover fire for the Dragons. I know you're starting out small right now - but I've found that this strategy works pretty well for those larger sized games.

Swooping Hawks - Eh? They're extremely mobile, but against most armies their Str 3 guns don't pack enough punch.

Warp Spiders - These guys are pro. Str 6 weapons means that you'll be wounding on a 2+ most of the time and with their great mobility you can effectively harass your enemies until they can't ignore the Warp Spiders any longer. When that happens, hit'em with everything you have.

Shining Spears - These guys are expensive but they're worth it. They are especially good at killing things which your other guys can't (monstrous creatures, guys with massive armor saves, etc). Whatever gets hit by a squad of these probably isn't gonna get back up.

Dark Reapers - Another solid unit, imo. They can lay down some nice heavy fire and are especially good against Space Marines (chaos or otherwise). Str 5/AP 3 means that each Dark Reaper has a 43% chance of outright killing a standard Space Marine.

Well, those are the aspect warriors for you. I'm sure you could have found a more comprehensive guide, but given that I typed this up in 10 minutes and without my Eldar codex on me, I hope you found this helpful.

[LBO]

*snip*
...Except none of that craftworld stuff is true any more, because Codex: Craftworld Eldar is out of date and you can't have Swordwind lists. Pay attention...

[Wraith]

Codex: Craftworld Eldar is indeed out of date, but you're quite, quite wrong about not being able to play a Swordwind army. Legally, I might add.

HQ: Autarch or the Pheonix Lord of your favourite Aspect (probably Dire Avengers, by the sounds of it).
Elite: Striking Scorpians, Fire Dragons, howling Banshees.
HQ: Dire Avengers, Dire Avengers, more Dire Avengers.
Fast: Warp Spiders, Shining Spears, Swooping Hawks.
Heavy: Dark Reapers

Taken straight from the current Codex, you can play nothing but Aspect Warriors and similarly themed HQ supported by the fluff found in the middle of the same book.
That would be the definition of a Swordwind army, would it not? :smallbiggrin:

Tren - If you're open to recommendations, I'd simply say take another 10 Dire Avengers as your second Troop choice. While I don't have any myself, it's only because I play the Iyanden army and I don't have enough points to fit them even into my 3000 points! :smallwink:
At the 500 point level and knowing you're likely to face lots of infantry, however, they're great. Give them all an Exarch with Bladestorm and you'll quickly find out that 60 strength 4 shots is going to decimate virtually anything, often including the lighter sort of Tank you might come across.

Scouts, not to much. They're comparatively expensive and their rate of fire if quite embarrassing in a situation where More is More. I'd still recommend a small squad of 5 or so though, just to pick off special characters and the tougher sort of troop that might be wandering around, but they're very tricky to make as your mainstay unit (Alaitoc players, feel free to prove me wrong of course :smallsmile: )

Farseer (with Guide and Doom)
10x Dire Avengers with Exarch/Bladestorm
10x Dire Avengers with Exarch/Bladestorm
5x Rangers or 5 x Banshees, depending on your taste
1x Vyper or preferably 1x War Walker; some big guns as backup for emergencies.

Fiddle with the numbers a little, and I would say that's not a bad little army. Please keep us appraised, as I love to hear how people put their armies together, just in case I get inspired to try something new myself :smallbiggrin: