Warhammer 40,000/7th Edition Tactics/Eldar

This is the previous Edition's Eldar tactics. The 8th Edition Tactics are here while the 6th Edition Tactics are here.

Why Play Eldar

The Eldar are all about elegance, efficiency, finesse, style, and precision, and are basically alone in this aesthetic among the races of Warhammer 40,000. As such, they're often denigrated as not being manly enough for the setting. Much of 40k is concerned with the simple romanticism of the uncompromising, hard-as-nails hero, the pure wickedness of the unnatural, hideous villain, or the gleeful brutality of the amoral barbarian, which is fine. But the Eldar are unique in that at one time or another in their long history, they have been all of these things; the race as a whole knows each of these motivations well, knows each one's strengths and follies, and they have already learned and moved on from them. Above all else, the Eldar are an experienced people, and this is reflected in their culture, their attitudes, and their goals. Their technology, too, has been refined to a razor-sharp point, with all unwieldiness and ruggedness cut away. They have seen and heard (and been) it all. Guess how much they concern themselves with the opinions of younger races who think they're pansies.

As far as making an army of Your Dudes using Craftworld Eldar, the only thing you really have to keep in mind is that their primary themes are elegiac (el-uh-JY-ic), which means they are mournful and long to return to a bygone golden age by regaining something that was lost. In their case, that something is most of their race and a galactic empire, as well as salvation from a ravenous Chaos god who would eat every one of their souls if given the chance. It's a tall order, and the Eldar often have conflicting ideas on how to go about it, so this is a good place to start. What opinion do Your Dudes have on the matter and what are they willing to do about it? (War, alliances, deceit, Eldar HERESY?) Whatever you decide, remember you can use all of the Eldar's accumulated perspectives, wisdom and experience to shape who Your Dudes are and what they stand for.

In the game, the Eldar are a fast army with great guns, awesome toys and mediocre resilience. Each unit plays a very particular role. Usually, everyone in a squad has the same gun and the squad as a whole aims for one goal, as opposed to squads of dudes each toting a different gun for a different kind of foe. This can help new players by not forcing them to keep all of a squad's weaponry in mind, but it also requires you move the right squad for the job to the right place, which can be tactically challenging. An ill-positioned Eldar squad has a greater chance of doing nothing than those of other armies. Some units, like Jetbikes, overcome this disadvantage with superior speed and mobility. This is huge in a game where most of the missions are about capturing objectives. If you are the kind of elf who likes it when a plan comes together, you might be tactical enough to lead the Eldar to their victory upon the battlefield.

With their new, updated codex, Eldar are given a firm footing in the game to compete with or dominate their numerous foes through their increased special abilities, units’ tactical applications and general ability to put shurikens into things and make those things fall down. The newer codex makes units even more point efficient in doing their job. Tactical blunders will see your army turned into rainbow confetti, but if you can get the right part of your Eldar army fighting the right bad guys, you can ruin Christmas every time.

Eldar are almost universally Fleet, pack high Leadership, high Initiative and good overall stats (apart from defenses, with some notable exceptions, such as Wraith constructs), their accuracy is good, their special abilities are rich and useful and their armies need never run the same trick twice. With the Battle Focus ability they can choose to take a run action either before or after shooting, for free, a benefit that allows them to become more mobile than the competition by far. Almost all of their vehicles are skimmers or flyers; those that aren't can Deep Strike or outflank, and they have three different flavors of jump troops and fast-as-hell Jetbikes. Eldar look good when they fight and often kill their enemies in style.

In summary:

Pros

• The codex is brand new and it is even more powerful than before. Eldar are widely considered the easiest army to win with without using net listing/formations.
• They're fast as hell, and they can secure objectives faster than anybody.
• They're also dodgey as hell and have multiple ways to stay out of range and to generate cover saves.
• They have the best movement in the game.
• They have some of the best shooting in the game, with with an amazing number of AP3 weapons or better, the quasi-Rending rules Bladestorm and Monofilament, and specialized laser weapons for every situation.
• They have some of the best close combat attacks in the game on Wraithknights.
• D weapons. D weapons everywhere.
• You can't match certain Chaos characters for sheer psychic dakka, but unless you're up against Daemons or CSM, you own the psychic phase.
• Exarchs (unit champions) can solo MEQs and TEQs with little effort.
• This is not a horde army, so you don't need to paint and buy as many models. This makes them perfect for tournament play.

Cons

• Most Eldar are as tough as wet paper.
• If you don't have a strategy or your plan gets ruined, it's hard for your specialized units to adapt.
• The Eldar are a dwindling species, so they don't really have cannon fodder or meat shields.
• Eldar vehicles are lightly armored and instead rely on gadgets and mobility to stay alive.
• They suffer under Fear more than other armies.
• The old Eldar codex has a reputation of being powerful and the new codex buffed a lot of units. This was not well received by some players.
• Some players with weaker codices may not be that happy to play against Eldar.
• You're at risk of being banned from casual games entirely at your LGS, purely because of how insanely overpowered your codex is. Play Eldar at your own risk!

All that needs to happen now is a showdown between Necrons, Tau, and Eldar to see which Xenos army can bring the biggest stack of gooey cheese! Just do the community a favor: if you're playing casual games, don't be a cheesemonster. Yes, the new formation says it's legal to bring five Wraithknights in a 2000 point game. Don't do that. Don't show up with 30 Windriders, all packing scatter lasers. You can win without doing that.

Eldar Rules and Wargear

Eldar Special Rules

Ancient Doom: Pretty much every unit in the book has this rule. On the one hand, you get Hatred against anything Slaaneshi. On the other hand, you take Fear tests at -1 Ld against Slaaneshi units. This more or less evens out; the average Leadership of the Eldar is high enough that the -1 won't usually matter, although it does mean that Fear might actually matter for the first time this edition. Hatred is nice, but it will only affect the first turn of combat, and most Eldar units don't want to be in close combat anyway. So, all in all, a fluffy but largely pointless addition to the army.

Battle Focus: One of the most interesting Special rules, and one that Kelly himself admits was Matt Ward's idea. Battle Focus is a special rule that essentially all non-Wraith units have. It allows Eldar units to run and shoot (in either order) in the same phase. This means that the threat range of an Eldar unit fluctuates by d6", and it also allows Eldar to pull off the "jump-shoot-jump" shenanigans enjoyed by Jet Pack units. Also remember that Eldar units with this rule also have Fleet, so the d6 for running can be re-rolled. It isn't a huge change, but it does allow Eldar units on foot to remain more mobile while shooting. And no, it does not affect assaulting.

• On a side note, units riding jetbikes have this as well, but they can't actually Run (only Turbo Boost), so the only use of this is if you want to stick some independent character on foot into a unit of jetbikes. Since all models in a unit need to have battle focus for the rule to work, your character can join the unit and still run and shoot. Not that this will happen a lot though.

Warlord Traits

Note that these are the standard Warlord Traits from the Eldar Codex available to all HQ units. Most named HQs chosen as warlords have a set trait and do not give the option of rolling.

1. Ambush of Blades: Single use. Allows your Warlord and all Eldar units within 12" to re-roll 1s To Wound for a whole phase (shooting or assault!). This means a lot more fire will actually damage targets, but it's only for one phase, so use it wisely. Prince Yriel and Karandras have this by default
2. An Eye on Distant Events: You can give D3 units the Scout special rule, nasty for getting thing like Fire Dragons or Wraithguard in prime position prior to the game beginning. This one is pure awesome, Eldrad has this one by default.
3. Falcon's Swiftness: The Warlord and his unit get +3" when running. This makes Battle Focus more reliable and adds a significant amount of movement over time. Jain Zar and Baharroth have this by default.
4. Fate's Messenger: The Warlord can re-roll all saving throws of 1.
5. Mark of the Incomparable Hunter: The Warlord gets Split Fire. This might be useful on an Autarch or Uldaneshi long rifle bearer, but apart from that it is only useful to allow your warlord's unit to annihilate one target in the shooting phase and still be able to assault another target because of that one shuriken pistol aimed at it. If it isn't right for your warlord, you can re-roll if you're in a battleforged list. Illic Nightspear, Fuegan and Maugan Ra all have this by default (though it's redundant on the latter, since his Whirlwind of Death rule lets him do this already)
6. Seer of the Shifting Vector: Deep Striking Eldar won't scatter if they land within 12" of the Warlord. Some of its usefulness is undercut by the Swooping Hawks (who never scatter anyway) and the fact you generally won't want to Deep Strike near the Warlord (except Khaine), but it is potentially powerful nonetheless.

Fighter Aces

In Skies of Death, you now have a bonus rule allowing you to pay 35 points for one of 3 special traits for any Flyer or FMC (FGC is still debatable).

1. Dance of the Dawn - +1 BS. Pretty nice grab, but you can get this for your Crimson Hunters for 20 points by upgrading them to an Exarch (and get Precision Shots out of the bargain).
2. Dance of the Dusk - Fighter Ace can pivot 180 before moving. Pretty good to help bait with your planes, because you'll never take them on in a brawl.
3. Symbol of Khaine - Fellow models within 12" of a Fighter Ace with the same codex gain Hatred. Not a bright roll, as it'll force you to charge with squads that should be shooting, not chopping.

Tactical Objecives

• 11 - Legacy of Sorrow: 1 VP for killing an enemy character. Trust me, you'll get it.
• 12 - Skyborne Assault: 1 VP if you kill an enemy unit with your skimmers/jetbikes. Becomes d3 if you kill three or more enemy units.
• 13 - Khaine's Wrath: 1 VP for charging an enemy, upped to d3 if you charge more than three. Your ideal units for this: Warp Spiders, Striking Scorpions and Howling Banshees.
• 14 - Guardians of the Hidden Path: Roll a d6. You get 1 VP if there are no enemies within 12" of the objective that d6 indicated.
• 15 - Strands of Fate: Roll a d6. Whatever that result is, you can alter it by +/- 1 if your warlord is a psyker. You get 1 VP if you own the objective that is indicated.
• 16 - Combined Strike: 1 VP if you killed an enemy in either the Psychic, Shooting, or Assault phase. d3 if you kill an enemy in two of those phases, and d3+3 VP if you killed an enemy in all three.

Remnants of Glory

The artifacts of the age long past these relics are the unique and powerful wargear that can be equipped to any combination of your Autarch, Farseer and Spiritseers HQs. Only one of each item can exist in your army at a time and each costs anywhere between 15 and 40 points. As a general rule of thumb your Autarch is the assault based HQ of choice for any of the close combat type weapons, where as your Farseer and Spiritseer both want to be back a ways and away from melee. Note that a dedicated melee Farseer can be built if you luck out on psychic powers and get something like Hammerhand or Precognition (rolled AFTER you buy gear annoyingly), but it's kinda inefficient. With the Iyanden Gifts of Asuryan gone now, one of the better weapons for a Farseer is gone anyway.

• Shard of Anaris: The Shard of Anaris is the all comers MURDER SWORD of the Eldar army, a piece of the original blade Anaris and damned worthy of its legend. Right out of the gate Anaris boosts the wielder's strength stat by 2 and gives them Rending and Fearless. However, the shard excels more for direct challenges between characters than all-purpose melee. Once in a challenge Anaris gains Fleshbane and Instant Death! Realistically while not a worthless buy, you’re paying for a weapon that will always lose out against the equivalent of all the other races (though at your initiative and with Rending you just gotta get one good slash in; only eternal warrior will save them). Issue this to a Jetseer in a Dark Eldar beast pack to give the whole unit fearless (which is the unit's greatest weakness) and laugh as the beast blob eats everything before it and refuses to go away. An Autarch on Jetbike with this thing is HILARIOUSLY good at killing monstrous creatures who are also characters. Daemons such as Great Unclean Ones, or even a Hive Tyrant in a pinch, are usually relying on their high toughness (which Fleshbane negates) and invul save (which will continue to work, unlike having a high Wounds stat) to protect them. If you're in a Challenge, Fleshbane plus Instant Death will serve you very well against them.
• Firesabre: Where Shard of Anaris is for killing off that one specific model, Firesabre is more of your generic infantry sweeper sword. Boasting +1 strength and AP3 this is a better Eldar power weapon with the Soul Blaze added feature (so it's a Space Wolves Frost Sword with Soul Blaze and Wildfire that costs 10 points more than the Wolves pay for it). Soul Blaze is the big core of the Firesabre, or at least the unique Wildfire rule that goes alongside it. Whenever the blaze deals a wound to the afflicted unit you roll a d6 for every friend and foe unit (not counting the wielder's unit) within 6” of the burning unit. On a 4+ you give them Soul Blaze as well. In reality this is a very very high gamble ability. Soul Blaze barely wounds most armies to start and needing a 4+ to propagate this weak rule doesn’t help the Firesabre’s case. An above average power weapon for a higher cost and likely not worth it (though a Spiritseer hanging around with Wraithblades might consider it just to avoid being total dead weight against MEQ).
• The Spirit Stone of Anath’lan: A clearly Farseer/Spiritseer-oriented item, the Spiritstone was made by a psyker for psykers. The stone allows you to drop the cost of a power you are manifesting by 1 warp charge (min. 1) at the expense of your Rune armor invulnerability save for a turn. Almost all powers from the Runes of Fate as well as a couple from the Telepathy and Daemonology disciplines are cost 2 or more. If you don’t roll any of these powers then sucks to be you by the way. Useful and affordable for support Farseers who can get good cover saves and enjoy throwing around a good whack of powers.
• Uldanorethi Long Rifle: Probably the simplest and most universal of the Remants, the long rifle is a sweet tool for any and all Eldar commanders. A very easy to read sniper weapon featuring AP3 and ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY INCHES of range. 120”! This gun shoots farther than battlecannons, railguns, prism cannons, even the Icarus lascannon. Now right off the bat this item has some easy uses, thrown onto a supportseer or backline Autarch the long rifle allows your HQ to actually contribute firepower during the shooting phase. A support-built (Guide/Prescience) Farseer inside a squad of Dark Reapers hammers out a single accurate sniper shot right into an enemy unit the reapers are firing upon, cool. If your warlord wields this and rolled split fire as the warlord trait this weapon is improved in power; otherwise, it just adds to the power of existing squads, but hey, your Farseer is BS5, might as well plink off a shot or two rather than none.
• Kurnous' Bow: Well, no more Mantle of the Laughing God (the real Solitaire is back). Will we get Iyanden's Celestial Lance? No! Instead, you get a pistol. Not even an especially good pistol, just a measly S4 AP3 pistol with Rending. Huzzah. I think. At least it's cheap. Not actually awful, but both Autarchs and Farseers have something they'd rather shoot instead (if you're paying any attention at all). Spiritseers don't, so maybe this is a decent choice there.
• Faolchu’s Wing: Faolchu’s wing is the new trolling artifact, now that the Mantle's gone. During the battle focus run step the equipped model may now move 48”! This makes them faster and more mobile than jetbikes, skimmers, and even most fliers. This item does need a purpose to justify its cost, seeing how only the model may move and sacrifices the rest of the turn to do so. A tricky commander can use that insane movement to possibly launch your HQ into a held objective to suddenly contest the thing. Using a Psychic Power during the Psychic Phase will stop the Wing from being used, which limits it mostly to Autarchs. Hilariously, as the Wing grants the ability to Run, it is completely usable by an Autarch Skyrunner, even though normally Jetbikes cannot run.
• The Phoenix Gem: A multi-purpose item, the gem is a single use treasure that activates when the equipped HQ would be slain. Instantly engulfing the area in fire, the gem uses a large blast centered on the HQ, dealing damage with an S4 AP5 explosion. The ability can sometimes fail if you roll a 1 but usually goes off pretty easily. Then you check if the blast dealt any actual damage; if any model was dealt a wound (friend or foe), then your HQ will get back up with a single wound to stay and fight the good fight. At range this might save your support seer from death by blasting nearby allies, but generally you would rather threaten your foes. Might also come in somewhat handy for an Autarch that's going to be in the thick of it, like maybe riding around with Shining Spears or the like.

Let's Talk About Guns

The Eldar boast a variety of advanced weapons with nifty special rules and potential for more dakka. New codex brought some changes that you should remember to use carefully and tactically.

• Shuriken Weapons: Functionally, Shuriken Weapons are very similar to Bolt Weapons. Most are S4 AP 5, making them "standard" anti-infantry. However, they all have the Bladestorm which is functionally equivalent to Rending versus non-vehicle targets. Enough Guardians and Tyranids will hate you, be warned.
• Fusion Weapons: Literally, renamed Meltas. The Fusion Pistol is the exact same as the Inquisition/Blood Angel/Sisters of Battle Inferno Pistol; with only range 6, best be on a Bike so you're more likely to survive the impending explosion! Last but not least, the Fire Pike is a Meltagun with an extra 6" of range.
• Monofilament Weapons: Monofilament weapons now wound against initiative if shooting at something with wounds and resolves it at AP2 on a roll of 6 To Wound. They just use base strength now against vehicles and since they aren't "wounded" there is no AP bonus on any penetrating hits. Note that for the purposes of instant death, you still compare the weapon's strength to the model's toughness.
• Lasers: Unlike the puny Flashlights the easily slaughtered hammer of the Imperium uses, your blasters truly pack a punch. From the AP5 Assault 3 Lasblasters used by the Swooping Hawks (just those stats alone make it better than the Bolter, despite being a wimpy S3 like the flashlight) to the famed Brightlance renowned for its ranged anti-tank, there's some truly glorious choices. The Scatter Laser is also part of this category, but more on that below.
• Eldar Heavy Weapons: Some units have the option to grab heavier weapons as add-ons or replacements for existing guns. The standard list is as follows:
  • Shuriken Cannon: Now not so cheap, but still reliable, the 24" shuriken cannon fires lots of nice S6 shots that pierces weak armor at base. Valuable for moderately priced dakka and augmented with Bladestorm (see above).
  • Scatter Laser: With 4 shots at S6 AP6, the scatter laser is quite an effective option at laying on the saves, and glancing AV10-12 to death. Unfortunately, it no longer provides Laser Lock.
  • Starcannon: A good but not great AP2 weapon, the Starcannon doesn't get hot like plasma weapons. Viable alternative to the scatter laser, take your pick. Or pick both if you're facing 2+ aplenty.
  • Eldar Missile Launcher: You take EML for its versatility. It has single target S8 AP3 starshot or a small blast S4 AP4 plasma, which both lost pinning in the newest Codex. All EMLs now get flakk missiles, I mean Starhawk missiles, which feature S7 with skyfire. However, it all comes to the price when looking at this baby - and the price is damn high. Usually more affordable in the new Codex and the Skyfire option means it actually makes sense on a lot of things now.
  • Bright Lance: Possibly your primary heavy armour buster, with S8 and Lance. Tear down AV13/14 and the new codex makes the bright lance more affordable by far on most models. Also handy for wrecking T4 multi-wound enemies like Crisis suits or Tyranid medium bugs.
  • Distort Weapons: It's time the Eldar brought the big D to the battle (no, we're not talking about Eldrad). All distort weapons are D-strength bringing all of the multiple wound, ignoring FNP stuff that comes with it, and ignoring any form of save on a 6, all of which is quite powerful considering how a few normal units can take them now. It's not all bullshit though, as the "Scythe" types found on the wraithfighter or instead of wraithcannons on wraithguard operate at -1 on the Destroyer table, so no chance of a deathblow with them, plus a 33% chance of nothing happening at all, as well as only counting as S4 for instant death, if somehow your target survives the buttload of saves coming their way, which will be difficult because all of the scythe types use a form of template (blast or flame, depending on the gun). Also don't be fooled when your opponent tries to say that "counting as" S4 still allows him his Feel No Pain rolls, he doesn't because it's part of the FnP rule itself that the the rolls can't be taken against destroyer hits.

Eldar Vehicle Upgrades

All praise Phillius Kellius for he delivered us the new upgrades that suck a little bit less. Each piece of equipment is toned down from previous incarnations and are simple effects with easy to track benefits at an affordable price tag.

• Holo-Fields: 5++ invul save on your vehicles. A huge boon to your vehicles, given the many, many ways to ignore cover in 7th Edition.
• Power Field: Stock Warwalker gear, identical to Holo-fields in every respect. Gives the bastards a 5++, making them more expensive base but worth every damned penny given their low AV and hull points.
• Star Engines: A simple and optional wargear for vehicles that increases their mobility even further if required. Grants an extra 6" to a flat out movement by an Eldar vehicle, which you don't really need with max speed 30" per turn except in ginormous Apocalypse maps. If equipped to a walker, said walkers run an additional 3", which is pretty handy considering they have Battle Focus.
• Vectored Engines: With the upgrade the vehicle can now pivot in place immediately following its shooting attack, allows for some safe play by tanks with exposed rears. Jet in, smoke rear armor of target, pivot towards living threats with your front and side armor. Handy when transporting Fire Dragons too. Cannot be used while immobilized.
• Spirit Stones: Extra Armor Eldar style, or more Living Metal Eldar style, the psyche inside the spirit stones take over in emergencies and allow the vehicle to ignore crew shaken on 2+ and crew stunned on 4+, nothing grand but nothing terrible.
• Crystal Targeting Matrix: Single use. Can be used after completing a flat out movement on any non-walker vehicle, allowing the tank to fire a single weapon at full ballistic skill. Probably best on a Nightspinner or Warp Hunter to get into Torrent range fast!
• Ghostwalk Matrix: Eldar dozer blades equivalent, except better, because it gives you move through cover on any speed, rather than re-roll DT tests, and only on combat speed. Nothing that will break the bank and a safe purchase if you have points to spend. If you plan to hide your tank in 4+ ruins, this is pretty much auto-take. If you take Black Guardian Vypers or Warwalkers, this can open up some impassible terrain shenanigans.
• Serpent Shield: Stock Wave Serpent gear. Wargear that replaces the iconic energy field but for a good trade, while active the serpent transforms side and front based penetrating hits into mere glances on a 2+. That's good cheddar right there. Then, if you feel the serpent needs to do something, it can turn its shield into a medium-ranged energy shockwave that hits for 2D6 S6 ignore cover hits once per game. However, upon using the Serpent Shield's shooting attack, you lose its benefits for the rest of the game.
• Mindshock Pod: Stock Hemlock wraithfighter gear. A 12" radius brain scrambler that causes all units within the radius to suffer a -2 leadership penalty when making morale and pinning checks, and under the new codex this only effects enemy units. Given that the Hemlock's weapons are short ranged, you can fly up over the enemy units, blast them with your D-Strength Lite weapons and force them to fail their LD tests and run off the board.

Psychic Powers

Runes of Fate

Available to Farseers as well as Eldrad. Can be taken in addition to the Telepathy, Daemonology (Sanctic), and Divination tables from the core rulebook. Farseers can choose to roll each power off a different table, though keep in mind it will cost you Psychic Focus (Get discipline's Primaris Power for free), remember to kit your Farseer for best utility. Got slightly shuffled and simplified as of the 7th Edition Codex.

Runes of Fate Powers

Number	Name	Type	Range	Target	Description	Charges
Primaris	Guide	Blessing	24	Unit	Guide, the most iconic and renowned power of the Farseer since time immemorial. Boosted significantly from past editions, the new Guide features a range of 24", twice the range of Prescience on the Divination table. The power basically twin-links the weapons of the target squad, allowing each and every model to re-roll their to-hit rolls for shooting (but unlike Prescience this only effects shooting, not assault). Under the new rules, the Farseer requires line of sight for this ability but it shouldn't be an issue. It's wonderful and grants greater power to the army on the whole, and even better, you will get it if you pick all powers from Runes of Fate (Psychic Focus!)	1
1	Executioner	Witchfire (Focused) (Profileless)	24	Model	Range Type S AP Special Rules 24 Assault 3 - - Fleshbane A focused witchfire that deals 3 hits (which land automatically because this power actually doesn't have a weapon profile) to the model "hit" in the target unit, and, thanks to Fleshbane, always wounds on 2+ regardless of Toughness. If the model dies, another model from the same unit takes 2 of the same hits, and if that model is removed from play a following model receives 1 hit. Both additional models are chosen the same way as the first one - so all three are random or all three are chosen by the caster, if you paid to focus it.	1
2	Doom	Malediction	24	Unit	This is another classic Farseer power and a powerful one at that, targeting an enemy within 24" and then all failed wounding/armor penetration rolls against them get a free re-roll for the turn (i.e. Shred). This is your primary assassination power, ensuring you kill that Commissar or bosspole Nob in one turn. Remember that since it's a Malediction, not a Blessing, even your non-Battle Brother allies get to re-roll against the debuffed foe, but the target will be allowed to try to Deny the Witch.	2
3	Will of Asuryan	Blessing	Self	Model	You get a 12" bubble of Fearless and Adamantium Will. Great for making certain that you HOLD THE LINE! Though admittedly there are other ways to get Fearless units with Eldar. Adamantium Will makes the Farseer's unit and any nearby unit with a psyker a Denying machine. Recall that fleeing units will auto-regroup upon entering the bubble and becoming Fearless, and it also cancels the effects of Going To Ground. Send your Guardians to ground in a ruin for a nice 3+, pop this, have them stand back up and unload at full BS next turn.	2
4	Fortune	Blessing	24	Unit	Now with 24" of range, this allows the Farseer to sit back and stay safe while the affected unit gets a re-roll on all failed saving throws AND Deny the Witch rolls until the Farseer's next turn. Remember the Farseer needs to have line of sight and it costs 2 warp charges. This is probably the strongest power ever to be available to this army. Anyone with Fortune is the absolute key to making even simple units become invincible rape trains. Warlocks, Wraithguard, shit...fucking Dire Avengers with a shimmershield start to scare the balls off of your enemy. Fortune is just one power that contributes to the lethality of a unit joined by the Seer.	2
5	Mind War	Witchfire (Focused) (Profileless)	24	Model	Range Type S AP Special Rules 24 Assault 1 - 2 Ignores Cover Basically a simplified version of Psychic Shriek from Telepathy, and more reliable. Changed a little in 7th but with no downside to the Farseer. Like Executioner, Mind War technically has no weapon profile, so you don't have to roll to hit. Each combatant (the psyker and the model hit) rolls a 1D6 and adds the result to their Leadership (so 1D6+10 for Farseers). Then you compare the two numbers; if the Farseer scores lower, nothing happens; if there is a draw, then the model instantly has their WS and BS dropped by 1 until the end of the next turn; if the Farseer scores higher, then the target also suffers the difference in wounds with no armour or cover saving throws allowed. Great if you can hit the unit with a Warlock's Horrify power in advance (see Runes of Battle below). Note that this power will never kill more than one model (all wounds it deals are always allocated to the same one), whereas Psychic Shriek targets and affects units, so its wounds get spread around (and must be spread around, as it cannot be focused).	2
6	Eldritch Storm	Witchfire	24	Unit	Range Type S AP Special Rules 24 Assault 1 3 3 Large/Apocalyptic Blast, Haywire, Fleshbane Classic Eldritch Storm! 3 Warp Charges makes this thing Large Blast, 4 Warp Charges makes it an apocalyptic 10" blast. You have to choose the casting value BEFORE you roll though, so no aiming for three, then getting lucky and upgrading the power. Hit anything up to and including MEQs with those pie plates and watch most if not all of the squad (or squads if you're going Apocalyptic!) go bye-bye. While WC4 makes your Farseer more likely to Peril, make sure you leave 1 WC remaining to ignore the wound using his/her Ghosthelm. Or just re-roll the offending dice with Runes of the Farseer, which you should probably save each turn for Eldritch Storm if you're planning to use it.	3/4

Runes of Battle

Available to Warlocks and Spiritseers. Runes of battle are the Eldar powers of war, short term manifestations of their psychic might made to turn the battlefield in their favor. Warlock utilize these powers to affect the outcome of skirmishes and battles across the stars while the Farseers pilot the destinies of whole craftworld through eons. Warlock have tempered their powers to a fine blade but every sword in their hands can be used as a shield, allowing them to use each power either for themselves or against their foes, giving the psykers a supreme range of versatility. As a rule all powers from the runes of battle have a range of no greater than 18", either for the beneficial or debilitating versions of the powers. Warlocks can be attached to Guardian Defenders, Storm Guardians, Windriders, or Vaul's Wrath artillery. Also, remember that, under 7th edition rules, a Warlock will know 2 powers, Conceal/Reveal and whatever power he rolls. So, with a Warlock, NEVER switch for the Primaris, you get it anyway.

• The Spiritseer can be attached (as an IC) to almost any squad; this matters for when Runes of Battle powers are referred to as boosting the defenses of units such as Wraithblades and Dark Reapers, in that normal warlocks will not usually be able to benefit squads they are not attached to.
• Primaris Power - Conceal/Reveal WC 1
  • Conceal grants the warlock the shrouded special rule and as such benefits the whole squad attached to him, a +2 to existing cover saves or just a flat out 5+ cover in the open is phenomenal, no warlock would go wrong taking conceal as most units benefit from enhanced defenses and a cover save booster like this goes fantastic on everything that can benefit from it, Guardians, Wraithguard, Scorpions, you name it.
  • Reveal, by contrast, strips both the stealth AND shrouded rules from an enemy in range; this can sometimes strip powerful defenses from units you are planning to wipe out. However, like all Runes of Battle, you need to make tactical use of the power which may be often skipped for the benefits of Conceal.
• 1: Destructor/Renewer WC 1
  • Destructor is the Kamehameha of warlocks, their direct fire power from codices of old, a psychic heavy flamer the destructor is an iconic power that now features the soul blaze special rule. As a power and not an actual weapon the warlock cannot fire this in overwatch.
  • Renewer is a big tool for the right units, a nearly unheard of targeted healing power that restores a single allied model in range for a single lost wound. Most models only have one wound to begin with so this power doesn't affect them (and cannot be cast as a phoenix down) but instead serves a fantastic purpose when targeting most HQ units or durable multiwound models in the army such as Wraithlords and Wraithknights, as well as the potent Avatar of Khaine. HEALMEHAMEHAAA!
• 2: Embolden/Horrify WC 1
  • Embolden is back from the old codex but with a new effect, granting the warlock and his unit fearless rather than leadership rerolling powers. This is a boost and nerf over previous version as fearless straight up negates pinning, morale, ect. However embolden used to allow for rerolling on your leadership test which included psychic powers, an ability beloved by power spamming seers and what have you. A solid power for anything not already fearless such as fragile storm guardians.
  • Horrify is a power that is unfair to judge on its lonesome. At its core it reduces the LD of an enemy unit by -3, making them of course more susceptible to morale tests and the like. However, with the advent of multiple pinning weapons with the new codex as well as that of the Hemlock Wraithfighter's Mindshock pod the horrify power has enormous effect. A unit with reduced leadership is at best LD7 now, reducing their chance of success against any and all pinning or morale tests down a full 33.4% (16.7% if they can reroll). In armies with the right weapon it’s amazing, otherwise it's just decent. Also fun to consider is that the diresword benefits greatly when used on a Horrified target as they now have a decent shot (42% at LD 7) of being removed from play (fuck you, Eternal Warrior!) if they take a wound. Be sure to high five Eldrad if this goes off. Also makes Mind War far more reliable AND potent. Combine this with Harlequin allies and the Shadowseer or Death Jester for even more trolling.
• 3: Enhance/Drain WC 1
  • Enhance is yet another staple of the warlock power of yesteryear, often seen in Seer councils and Storm Guardian squads this power gives a simple boost of +1WS and Init to unit. Eldar are already quick to the punch but with this power what they did well just got even better, Storm Guardians and Wraithblades (Spiritseer support) see a noticeable gain from the power and should have it active at all times prior to an assault. If you roll it on a squad of Guardian Defenders or Vaul's Wrath, use the Malediction version on the off chance someone's about to charge you - you might hold out long enough for the Shining Spears to bail you out...
  • Drain sucks out the same befits that enhance gives, reducing an enemy’s WS and Init by 1, unless you are assaulting a squad with two or more of your own units I don't tend to recommend Drain over Enhance as a lucky deny the witch would negate the power, however like all tactical powers you have to cast each power according to which effect would benefit you the most. It may be used to boost mono-filament weapons, though - try it if you're facing Dark Eldar, melee Tyranids or the minions of She Who Thirsts...
• 4: Protect/Jinx WC 1
  • Protect is a power that even idiots understand and appreciate, a simple but potent bonus to the units existing armor save by 1. This is quality cheddar right here - Guardians of both kinds now get armor that can stop bolters, while Windriders, Fire Dragons or Striking Scorpions now might as well have artificer armor. Wraithblades will become nigh-unkillable tarpits from hell. Probably even better on a Spiritseer than a Warlock, but won't go amiss either way. This power is awesome, and on the right units is worth casting every round, since few units’ don’t benefit from hardier armor than what they already have.
  • Jinx by extension has an equally nuts benefit for you as the former, reducing an enemy’s own armor save making them that much easier to kill off. Now a unit like Terminators suddenly fear AP3 Reapers, Spears and Banshees with a passion, fragile 4+ units suddenly became instantly shredded by mere shuriken catapults, making Guardian firepower or similar a hurricane of reaping death. Against units who are relying more on their cover or invulnerability save the benefits of this power are reduced somewhat, still if you reduce an enemy’s armor save and they need it against your guns, make them that much more screwed and cackle with glee.
• 5: Quicken/Restrain WC 1
  • Quicken grants your unit swiftness of the Eldar and improves the running distance off the unit by a flat 3", letting you close gaps or create them that much easier. With Battle Focus being found on just about every Eldar model this power only flops when the unit happens to be hunkered down in cover and wont be running for the rest of the game (I’m looking at you, Rangers and Dark Reapers).
  • Restrain by comparison is a power I don't honestly find very useful. Stripping away an enemy’s ability to run completely sounds useful, however the range of the power is 18" so you were already pretty close to the unit to start, and save the Eldar most armies sacrifice their shooting in order to use run in the first place, and cannot charge into assault if they did so. Useful for slowing down objective-grabbers or kiting melee deathstars, though. Although, try using against Wulfen or Harlequins, or anyone else who can charge after running, and see them fume as they have to rethink their plans.
• 6: Empower/Enervate WC 1
  • Empower instantly grants the psyker and attached unit gain an extra +1S. This is enough to make Storm Guardians actually effective against T4, though Vaul's Wrath, Guardian Defenders and Windriders usually don't care. Spiritseers could get more mileage out of it though - Banshees, Scorpions and Wraithblades really like this. (Can't usefully use it on Shining Spears, though. Roll on Daemonology with a Farseer hoping for Hammerhand if you want to try that.)
  • Enervate also has a limited benefit to you most days of the week, stripping the enemy squad (which I remind you is already within 18" of you) of 1S as to reduce their threat in melee. Now this is alright if you know you’re getting charged next turn and the drop in strength is the difference in melee ability like marines against Wraithguard. However on the whole few units even need their regular strength to threaten your flimsy Eldar, our brittle bones clock in at a pitiful T3 with most armies boasting at least a S4. Debuffing an enemy squad prior to an assault by yourself is alright though if the difference can be noticed, like Enhance/Drain you want to choose carefully between the two abilities. It's worth noting here that S2 can't wound T6 targets so when charging anything with S3 (like a blob or guards, cultists, orks and all brands of eldar) with Wraithblades always have your Spiritseer cast Enervate, then the only thing your wraiths will feel in the return swing is a soothing foot massage as their wraithbone boots crush the pathetic fleshy thing's trachea.

Unit Analysis

HQ

With 4 generic options and 9 Special Characters (and not a dud amongst them), the HQ section is easily one of the most crowded in the codex. All of them, even the Autarch, can find some utility depending on your list, and you only have 2 slots, unless you take multiple detachments or formations. Choose carefully, and if you get stuck remember that Farseers and Eldrad are always welcome.

• Autarch: Autarchs are the commanders of the warhost - they are the generals of the greatest Eldar military battles and should be a strong tactical benefit to your army as a whole. They aren't, but they should be. While the fluff makes much of their tactical ability, The Path of Command is pretty weak, only adding +/-1 to your reserve rolls. The Autarch's real value comes in his ability to access virtually all of the Eldar's best toys. 70 points base they come stock with two grenades, a pistol, 3+ armor and a 4+ invulnerable save. They are one of the most versatile choices in the new codex, the new wargear rules means that a kitted out Autarch can strongly benefit whatever squad he gets attached to; a single Banshee mask will allow his entire unit to ignore overwatch, wings means he can now skyleap (or just move 18") around the battlefield bringing fusion gun/pistols wherever he likes, Jetbikes and Relentless reaper launcher or Uldanorethi Long Rifle? The combinations are manifold, which can easily bring them to around 120 points by the end. Autarchs can equip Remnants of Glory and work better in this role than the base Farseer with higher WS, Init, and Attacks. Shard of Anaris or Firesabre with banshee mask is a core assault setup.
  • While Remnants of Glory/Gifts of Asuryan weapons will replace his shuriken pistol, most of his wargear will not, so you can take a Scorpion chainsword, power weapon, or laser lance to have +1A from 2 CCWs immediately. Likewise, if you take two non-relic guns on him, he will have three guns (four with an eldar jetbike), although he will only be able to shoot one of them each phase.
• Autarch Skyrunner:+1T, Relentless, Twin-linked Shuriken Catapult, 12" move, 36" Turbo-boost or 2D6 Assault jump, Jinking, but loses fleet (and can't make use of Battle Focus). It helps the Autarch survive S6 much easier.
  • Note, this lets you take a Laser Lance, which is strictly better than a Power Sword - even if you never shoot it or charge, you still have what amounts to a Power Sword at a 5 point discount.
• Farseer: This guy is your standard HQ choice and warhost leader, he sees the future of your foes and allows you to throw wrenches into their fate so only the Eldar come out on top. His price is increased base from old editions and his versatility is not to be underestimated. The Farseer's mastery level has skyrocketed to Mastery Level 3 which is fantastic and gives a huge availability for warp charge expenditure and up to three abilities in a turn, though with a bit more risk due to runes of witnessing and ghosthelm nerfs. The Farseer can generate his powers from Divination, Telepathy, Daemonology (Sanctic) or the codex’s own Runes of Fate. Note he can only take Sanctic now since despite GW clearly being design idiots with the Wraithknight, they at least respect the fluff because of dickholes potentially summoning Slaanesh Daemons through Malefic Farseers. His staggering versatility as a model is not to be underestimated, between available powers from three different charts as well as a plethora of Remnants of Glory. He comes automatically equipped with a couple pieces of useful Eldar wargear with which to do battle:
  • Ghosthelm: Allows him to negate a wound caused by Perils of the Warp by expending a remaining Warp Charge, note: he still takes the result so you can still lose a power, lose Warp Charges, or get sucked into the Warp with a horrific Ld roll. An essential defense against terrible shit happening.
    • Ghosthelms along with the Runes of the Farseer (see below) make Farseers the most reliable casters of Sanctic daemonology powers what with their higher than usual number of charges available, as long as they have a spare warp charge they can throw lots more dice into the casting of charge 3 powers and run zero risk of injury.
    • Throwing more dice at any casting with less risk of perils (not just with demonology) makes it even less likely to be denied, since few armies other than grey knights and mono-Tzeentch builds can match you in sheer numbers of charges available, many opponents will attempt an "all or nothing" approach with their own denial warp charges, saving them for the powers they really don't want you to cast, so you can use this psychological advantage and get off a few minor powers that would be worth denying in any other situation.
  • Runes of the Farseer: Use on a single psychic test or Deny the Witch roll each psychic phase. For that test you can reroll any number of dice you wish. That's right, you can potentially avert Perils in two ways or just make a high level power actually go off.
  • Shuriken pistol: An average pistol weapon with the new bladestorm rule, never forget it since casting no longer interrupts your shooting phase. You keep it even if you take a bike, though in that case you probably won't need to use it.
  • Rune Armour: Grants the classic 4++ invulnerability save Farseers do so enjoy.
  • Witchblade: A heavily nerfed weapon that sports Fleshbane and Armourbane but with shitty AP-, a bad weapon that will always disappoint.

He can also spend points on some upgrades.

• • Singing Spear: A nearly free witchblade replacement that is highly recommended. Identical to the witchblade in assault (no longer two-handed in 6th), and can also be thrown 12" at S9 for a 17% chance to pen AV14 at range instead of the witchblade's 3% chance in melee. A damn good buy in most (but not all) situations.
• Farseer Skyrunner: Jetbikes are still cool and Farseers still make them look good, buy to suit and enjoy the ride. You get +1T and 3+ armor, plus ludicrous speed, Hammer of Wrath, Jink and a twin-linked gun - only skip this if you're planning to stuff your Farseer into a transport.
  • Modeling Note: Howling Banshees Exarch bodies are perfect for female Farseers conversions, just stick a cape on them, a Farseer helm to replace the Exarch one (or a modified Guardian's one if you don't want to spend even more money), and for the weapons I'd suggest the ones in the new Storm Guardians upgrade pack. If you want to go helmetless on your Farseer, I suggest grabbing a Dark Eldar Wych head or a Scourge head.
  • Spiritseer: The Spiritseer is a souped-up, Independent Character Warlock with some special abilities for boosting Wraith units. Luckily, he is a fairly decent choice, with two Mastery Levels, the choice of Runes of Battle, Telepathy or Daemonology (Sanctic), and Spirit Mark (which will be discussed later). Sadly, he can't provide the level of support the Farseer can, nor can he directly buff units and mess with reserves like an Autarch can, but he provides reasonable buffs to Wraith units. As with all of the Seer units, he comes with rune armour (for a 4++ invulnerable save) and a shuriken pistol. He also has a witch staff, which is essentially a witchblade that also causes Soul Blaze. Sadly, this won't come into play very often, as Spiritseers are poor in close combat. However, he is useful close to the front lines thanks to his Spirit Mark ability. This allows all Wraith-constructs (including Wraithguard, Wraithblades, Wraithlords, and Wraithknights) to re-roll To Hit rolls of 1 against enemies within 12" of him. This means that fewer shots will be wasted, and more times to shove that D down every motherfucker's throat. However, Spiritseers are also fairly cheap; if you are running an Iyanden/Wraithwall-style list, the Spiritseer is all but mandatory, but he has limited effect on other units. However, Spiritseers are independent characters, so they can join Aspect Warrior units, as well as any unit from the Dark Eldar and Harlequins, since you can give them Runes of Battle powers which only the Warlock Conclave and Guardian Squads would normally have.
• Warlock Conclave: Formerly known as a Seer Council, the Warlock Council now follows the template started by the Wolf Guard of the Space Wolves and the Royal Court of the Necrons. Only, now there's not such a huge reason to even buy them because they're invariably worse off here than being bought as sergeants for other squads. See, you're held back by the fact that you're a legit squad now that can't be split up and takes up a HQ choice by itself. What you get is a variant on the Brotherhood of Psykers rule; you get powers based on how many models are in there: 1-3 Warlocks make you ML1, 4-6 makes you ML2, and any more makes you ML3, however you STILL generate a warp charge for each Warlock in the squad, despite being a brotherhood. That being said, if you lose enough of them, you start to lose powers as the mastery level. You can pick between Runes of Battle and Sanctic, so you better pray that your Farseer gets Invisibility if you want to make that Jetseer Council.
  • Alternate View: There are a couple of reasons to take this squad, despite its glaring inefficiencies compared to other HQ choices (like a Farseer), but those reasons require you to stop thinking in FOC mode and look towards the formations. The core "Guardian" Formations have the Conclave as prerequisite or an optional requirement, so even if you don't use the Warlocks you've got yourself a source of Warp Charges to boost your compulsory Farseer with. Additionally, The stand-alone Seer Council is an absolute beast of a formation that gets 11+D6 warp charges minimum and harnesses those charges on 3+ and the formation is small enough that you can play it as an additional detachment to a regular FOC without paying the Guardian formation tax.
• Wraithseer (Forge World): The 7th edition rules are found in IA:DoM, 2nd Edition (no volume number). This is you get when you take the a spirit stone containing the soul of a farseer or warlock and stick them into a special wraithlord chassis. A beast. There is no more requirement to take anything alongside this, so it's just as straight up HQ choice from now on. A Fearless T8 bastard starting at 185 points, and the ability to equip a freaking D-cannon for 60 more on its shoulder, and loaded with crazy powers... It's a godsend to an army that really needed a durable and powerful HQ choice. As for special glitter, It has a close combat weapon with +2 Str and a redundant AP2 that re-rolls your failed attempts at opening vehicles. It has a 5+ Invul and a 3+ normal save, Psyker ML1 with three unique psychic powers found nowhere else, two of which are designed to be used on wraith-units. All of them are WC1, but it can still only use one per turn. Enliven gives them Fleet, Deliverance gives them Feel No Pain (5+) (now try to bring down THAT) and the third is Foreboding which is a 18" Assault D6 witchfire that only has S3 AP5, but voodoos any target "hit" into making a LD test at a -2 or soil themselves and be pinned (which surprisingly stacks perfectly with Hemlock Wraithfighter mindshock). The D cannon really is the only weapon option you will need for the Wraithseer as the conventional guns just pale in comparison.

Special Characters

• Eldrad Ulthran: If a normal Farseer is a Jedi, then Eldrad is a tall almighty Yoda. Also invented both Just as Planned and Not as Planned. He's the big cheese of the Eldar army; he's basically got all the possible options for a normal Farseer wrapped together into one package with a slew of tricks to add to the deal, minus the mobility of a jetbike. At his core Eldrad is an enhanced Farseer, T4, 3++ (so it's like he is a Psyker with a Storm Shield) and mastery level 4. There is no Eldar army that couldn't be improved by adding this guy. He comes stock with the regular Farseer gear, and improved rune armor (3++ instead of 4++). Eldrad rolls off the Divination, Sanctic, Telepathy and Runes of Fate tables like other Farseers. Hilariously enough, the 7th edition codex has reduced his points cost a bit. Probably because he lost his The Path Beyond rule.
  • Staff of Ulthamar: This thing is Eldrad's personal license to print money and coin a monopoly on the tears of your enemies. As a weapon it beats out the other Farseer weapons easy, fleshbane, AP3, force, it is just THAT good, enough said really. Then if Eldrad isn’t currently stomping in melee the staff augments his powers in a fun way. Every time he casts a power (of which he can cast 5 - 6 if you spring for Psychic Focus), he has a 33% chance to regain a warp charge, which considering the number of warp charges you can have may make your Psychic phase last much much longer than it needs to be. This warp charge can be spent however you want: force weapon, casting a power you haven't cast yet, etc. You could (with luck) fire off several powers AND have enough left over to kill with a force weapon in a single turn (just remember that psykers are limited to X cast attempts where X is their mastery level; so even if Eldrad has dice left over he himself is done after 4 casts that phase). Eldrad also carries a Witchblade as well as his Staff. Both of these weapons are Melee but neither of them have Specialist Weapon OR Requires Two Hands. That means he gets a +1A to his stats due to having two melee weapons equipped. Therefore he can dish out 2A with Fleshbane at AP3 (or Force as well if you activate it) per turn. With 3++, he will be able to do some damage, even against challenging melee characters.
• Prince Yriel of Iyanden: Once upon a time, there was a guy named Yriel who won a battle by using almost all of Iyanden's forces in an attack. This scared the guys in charge of Iyanden who said, "Hey! We could've gotten attacked while you were gone!" To which Yriel replied, "Yeah, but you didn't," to which they replied, "That's it! You're fired!" So Yriel went off to be a pirate for a while. While he was busy counting his loot, some Tyranids came and attacked Iyanden so the guys in charge were all like, "Crud! We wish Yriel was here to save us!" So Yriel comes back, gets a magic spear of awesome and saves the day, but now he's cursed and slowly dying as the spear sucks out his chi or something. Yeah, this guy needs his own anime show or something. He gets the reserve rule the Autarch gets, but instead of buying aspect warrior war gear, he has a spear so awesome it consumed a black hole (and a monocle):
  • The Spear of Twilight: An armourbane, fleshbane AP3 spear, making his low strength a null point and his high Init and Attacks fantastic. This allow him to threaten a lot of foes but also has the downside of forcing him to reroll 6s on saves in melee, shitty. Yriel is a master of fighting basically anything lacking a 2+ armour save, and with a lucky roll from a nearby warlock might even not care, given the warlocks ability to debuff armour saves. Against the right foe he hits hard, fast and often.
  • Eye of Wrath: For real laughs, send him charging heroically solo into any squad of MEQ and activate his Ambush of Blades warlord trait and his patented Eye of Wrath finisher move. Sadly he has to attack before most opponents pile-in, but this throws down an S6 AP3 pie plate that will deliver a hit for every single goddamn model that's under that pieplate. Alternately challenge someone, kill him and let his angry buddies pile in, and hit EVERY ONE of them next turn.
• Illic Nightspear: Rangers are followers of a path that’s very off road for other Eldar, they go against the grain of Eldar’s path based society enough they have trouble fitting in. Now the old standby troop slot just got an HQ to call their own. Illic is a big noise maker and with good reason, he's powerful in his own way and offers some great tactical options for the army (unlike Autarchs). First up his stats, nothing to write home about in fact it all looks kind of...WHOA BS9! His weapon is now ALMOST twin-linked but he has no need for guide honestly. Next up his built in warlord trait, giving him split fire for free, allowing him to hide in a squad of dudes but shoot other dudes than the dudes his squad is shooting at...dude. He has shrouded which he gives to attached squads because why the fuck not, Hatred+Preferred enemy Necrons, which is cool and lovable. But wait there's more, any and ALL shots fired by Illic are precision shots, meaning he gets to choose which head goes splat every time he fires his weapon. His weapon, is an AP2 sniper, meaning as long as he gets a 4+ to wound (doom) the model probably dies. If the wounding roll is a 6, the model is hit by an instant death shot, so bye-bye HQ. It can even pen tanks on a 6. It's also worth considering buying a Aegis Defence Line (ADL) and upgrading it to a Lascannon. Plop Illic behind it and he gets to control the Lascannon. And all his shots are Precision Shots. This allows you to snipe anything you want. At BS9 too. Another option is to put him in a squad of Dark Reapers. It's not a Death Star unit, but a nice one.
  • Walker of the Hidden Path: Illic can infiltrate ANYWHERE on the map, giving no shits about locations of enemy forces or anything like that. Oh, and he can bring some buddies along for the ride too.
• Farseer Bel-Annath (Forge World): Got a massive update. Now is a Farseer crossed with a Fire Dragon for 150 points. Unlike other Farseers he has WS6, A2 and Stubborn so he fares a little bit better in melee, but not by much. He also has a fusion pistol and a unique spear which acts like a witchblade in melee, but allows him to burst a S5 AP- armourbane/fleshbane flamer template once per game. His warlord trait lets him benefit from Fire Dragons "Assured Destruction", therefore granting +1 on Vehicle Damage rolls, it also allows him to take a squad of Fire Dragons that don't take up any slots. Like any Farseer he's ML3, but his psychic power selection is fixed as Doom, Molten Beam & Fire Shield making him the only Farseer to use the Pyromancy discipline and also makes him really easy to form strategies around since you know what he gets instead of having to randomly determine powers. You can provide some added protection and melta overkill by keeping him with a Dragon squad, or combo his Fire Shield with Conceal Warlock Conclave to get a 2+ cover save.

Phoenix Lords

Kaela Mensha Khaine is the Eldar God of War, and the Phoenix Lords are his champions. Crunchwise. they're best thougut of as Exarches + 1. As a group, they pack awesome statlines, 2+ armor, Eternal Warrior, and Fearless. They make amazing fighters but generally are poor force multipliers as a whole.

• Asurmen (Dire Avengers): 220 points. On the offence he gets Twin-linked Avenger Shuriken Catapult, an AP 2 Master-Crafted +1 S diresword. On the defense he has Shield of Grace (4++ which ups to 3++ in a challenge) and BOTH Counter Attack and Defense Tactics, so he can choose to Overwatch at BS2 (with re-rolls for Twin-Linked) or get Counter Attack and Stubborn when charged. Obviously he'll never choose the second (Hint: he already has Counter Attack and Fearless, which supersedes Stubborn, and both are conferred to his unit). Asurmen can anchor a key unit, if you want to play against the traditional grain of Eldar being a S6 alphastrike army. for some turns and hoping for the better. His most notable ability though is that he is the Hand of Asuryan and gets to roll d3 Codex: Craftworld warlord traits, rerolling duplicates. With how good the traits of the codex are, this ability has some neat potential.
• Jain Zar (Howling Banshees): 200 points. Founder of the Howling Banshees, Jain is the pinnacle of close combat terrors on the battlefield. Loaded with not one, not two, but THREE Remnants of glory, she's the most heavily loaded phoenix lord in the codex. Her triskele, "Silent Death" can be tossed 12" as an assault 4 S4 Ap2 weapon. Once she's in the thick of it, her enhanced banshee mask bumfucks the enemy unit (and everyone within 6" as if to give an even bigger finger to certain blueberry armies) with -5 WS and -5 I (not only on the round in which you have charged but on ALL rounds) and also makes her and her squad immune to Overwatch. Lastly, when the Blade of Destruction comes into play, this AP2 Shredding monster can reap orks and terminators alike with oh so much blending fury. If, and I mean IF, anyone decides to try and take her in a challenge, her disarming strike rule applies, meaning she will automatically strip her enemy of one weapon, at the cost of one of her attacks. This, combined with the negative stat modifiers she inflicts, make her easily one of the top challengers in all of 40k- Abaddon, Grimnar, Dante, Draigo? They'll all be in for a rough time. Also with her fixed warlord trait (Falcon's Swiftness) and her Acrobatic rule (which the Banshees share), her and any Banshees she joins will be running d6+6". Yes, d6 plus SIX, while charging 2d6+3, and all this while having fleet. Despite her being the quintessential challenge specialist, she's not great against Monstrous Creature Characters, as her strength isn't great, and her armour save can be negated with Smash. But then again, with her speed she should be able to easily avoid them. If you want to deal with her, don't even think of going into close combat- blast her and her unit off the table with everything you've got before it's too late! (Just be careful if your opponent brings a Culexus Assassin. That thing has a counter for every one of Zar's special tricks and will reliably kill her in 2 rounds of combat).
• Baharroth (Swooping Hawks): 170 points. Now the cheapest of the Phoenix Lords, and for a reason: Baharroth doesn't have any weapon capable of dealing with 2+ armour units and is quite weak in melee, while not being impressive in the shooting phase. The gun on Baharroth is basically the regular lasblaster with a higher strength and his special sword is basically a power sword with Blind. But what he gives to the table is, in one word, speed. Blinding, in every sense of the word. With is 18" regular move and 1d6+3 run move he, and his squad, can be anywhere on the table, bringing the firepower of the Hawks where it is more needed, or even dealing with Vehicles, thanks to Haywire Grenades. He also has Hit & Run so he can always escape melee, which is a GOOD thing, or tying some strong ranged units, to dodge their volley, and then finish it off in his turn. His unique ability is the sun's brilliance ability he comes with: when landing with deep strike he sets of a flash of blinding light, causing foes within 6" of him to make an Init test or go blind for the turn. Having also Herald of Victory (never scatter when Deep Strike) this can be used with utterly lethal precision. Unlike his aspect, though, he strangely doesn't have Intercept.
• Karandras (Striking Scorpions): 200 pennies. Karandras is basically the Uber-Ninja of wh 40k. More than capable of stomping over most enemies with ease, very effective at striking from an unexpected quarter. He has all the rules of Striking Scorpions plus Night Vision, and his Scorpions Bite is a super version of the normal Mandiblaster, automatically hitting a target at initiative 10 and wounding him on 2+ (4+ if GC) and ignoring armour saves. Following that, his melee options lies in his strength boosting sword (that you will NEVER USE) useful only for giving him +1 attack for wielding 2 non-specialist weapon, or, more importantly, the Scorpions Claw, a power fist that is so much more than just a power fist, striking at full initiative and without the Specialist Weapon bullshit. He's taken a bit of a blow in the combat department, since he lacks Monster Hunter and, unlike his Exarchs, who should have learned everything from him, he can't gain an extra attack for each step of initiative he has over an enemy. But on the plus side, if he Infiltrates he gets Shrouded until he shoots or fights. Alternatively, he can automatically arrive (with a squad of Scorpions) from reserves on turn 2, and he get to choose from which table edge he wants to enter from. This includes your opponent's. Maybe not the strongest Phoenix Lord in the Shooting nor Melee department, but he's unpredictable and can strike from the shadow targeting your opponent's weak points, making for a real good strategic character, like he should be.
• Fuegan (Fire Dragons): 220 points. Sadly, Fuegan forgot how to double-tap with his Firepike, but he can now re-roll any single dice during the shooting phase, add +1 to the result on the Vehicle Damage Chart and he also got a flat increase on his base strength (being now the only Phoenix Lord without the exact stat-line of all others). He doesn’t have an invuln save but he does boast Feel no Pain, making him an even more durable lord than most, and then there is his special rule: each time he suffers an unsaved wound he gains +1 to his Strength and Attacks for the rest of the game, and considering he already has an AP1 axe that hits at initiative with Armourbane, he's pretty much guaranteed to kill MSUs. If a renewer warlock bro happens to be anywhere nearby he could just heal from said wounds (even in combat) and get back to doing what Fuegan does best, ruining Christmas, Easter and birthday parties. An expensive Lord that will have to be used with care, but that will wreck faces (and Vehicles) if done right.
• Maugan Ra (Dark Reapers): 195 points. Like his previous incarnation Maugan Ra either still cannot remember what his reaper gun is supposed to do or reapers on the whole just didn't follow big daddy’s rules right to the letter. Sporting shorter range but more dakka than reapers, Maugan Ra is a serious bastion of firepower, just not in the same way as Dark Reapers. S6 AP5 isn’t a great weapon for armored targets, however it does have rending, which helps a little. If that doesn't satisfy you, he can also fire Assault 1 Poisoned (2+) AP5 Rending shots with Pinning that causes Bio-Cataclysm (If a non-vehicle model dies to this gun,drop a Large Blast template where he used to stand. Everyone under that takes an S5 AP4 hit that ignores cover). Rules-wise he has Night Vision and Hatred (Chaos Daemons), or, more importantly, Whirlwind of Death, that let him fire the Maugetar twice using either of these ammo types, even at two different targets, which is seriously boss. Also don't forget his Warlord Trait, which gives him Split Fire, or the profile of melee profile of Maugetar, basically a power scythe with +2 S and Ap 3, making him not bad against anything but TEQ. All in all, a really good ranged lord with a decent potential in melee.
• Irillyth (Shadow Spectres) (Forge World - recently updated IA11): A Phoenix lord only just back from the dead, this guy will wreak a vengeance on your foes. Like his aspect warriors, he causes fear, but will actually have a possible chance to use it, as he does have Hit & Run and some kind of power lance (like S+1 AP3 normally and S+2 AP2 on charge), that can also shoot three S7 AP2 shots (which can also be turned into single S10 AP2 hit per Ghostlight rule). But still, remember that the Shadow Spectres are not close-combat oriented, so rest oh his squad are probably don't want to be there. Also for some reasons have Night Vision and Acute Senses special rules. The one thing that seems stupid and gimmicky at first glance is the Shadow of Death rule. However, the Eldar and their Dark kin can do all sorts of shenanigans with leadership, like Hemlock Wraithfighter, Armour of Misery, Soulfright Grenades, etc, so that probably may be useful depending on your opponent. All in all, he is a cool, fluffy choice that still presents some serious kick at range, especially with his own aspect warriors.

Troops

First, the elephant in the room. Guardian Jetbikes are good. Really really good. With unlimited access to Scatter Laser and Jetbike movement, they are arguably the best Troop choice in the entire game.

That out of the way, the other Troops are usable for less cutthroat games, or even in the odd competitive game if you build your list to accomodate them.

• Dire Avengers: These Aspect Warriors are your standard infantry. The whole idea behind the aspect is that they are the perfect balance between offense and defense; in other words, they're useful both for sitting back and shooting and for getting up close and personal and storming objectives. Ironically, then, they aren't amazing at close combat, although (especially with the Exarch's weapon choices) they can survive there. Perhaps most importantly, though, they have special shuriken catapults, appropriately called avenger shuriken catapults. Unlike regular shuriken catapults (and their pathetic range of 12"), avenger shuriken catapults have a range of 18". Combined with every Eldar's innate Battle Focus ability and the new shuriken rules, the extra range allows the Avengers to play a merry game of keep-away with the opponent. Also, their Aspect Armor comes with a 4+ save, which makes them a fair bit hardier than Guardians. New to 7E is the ability Defense Tactics: Whenever they get charged, the Avengers can choose between Overwatching at BS2 or gaining Counter-Attack (which they used to have stock) and Stubborn without any Overwatch. Overall, they've taken a bit of a shift, but otherwise remain the prime example of Eldar Infantry.
  • Exarchs: Unlike most Exarchs, the Exarch in a Dire Avenger squad can radically change his role in the squad with a simple weapon swap. The Exarch gains a 4++ save, which makes him slightly more durable in melee, but he no longer can claim himself ideally suited for it.
    • Twin-Linked Avenger Shuriken Catapult: Cheap and boosts his ranged effectiveness.
    • Diresword/Shuriken Pistol: AP2 weapon that forces models that take wounds from it to make a Leadership test for each wound taken, or be removed from play. Incredibly potent, especially in a challenge; make sure to cast Empower or Hammerhand to solve S3!
    • Power Sword/Shimmershield: This option is all about sacrificing the Exarch's ranged and melee firepower (except in plasma grenade range) for a squad-wide 5+ Invulnerable save. Possibly worth it if you see a lot of AP4 or Rending/Bladestorm/Sniper.
    • Power Sword/Shuriken Pistol: Trash. The diresword is much better, and for only 5 points more to boot.
• Guardian Defenders: The Guardians' gear is probably the most underwhelming in the codex - a 5+ armor save you will never want to have to use as well as the trusty shuriken catapult. The catapult is still among the shortest-ranged of any troop weapon found in 40k (fleshborers and spinefists say "Hi") but comes with bladestorm. Bladestorm allows Guardians to wound anything and penetrate any armor save, with the sheer mass of shots they make at their improved BS4 this is a pretty serious threat to most models in the game. Guardian Defenders also host a second feature that needs mentioning, the one that may make you take them over Dire Avengers - a heavy weapon mount for every 10 bodies in the squad, up to 2. These platforms are now true models within the squad, moving and shooting under their own power and with a toughness and armor save to take into account. The support platform can be equipped with any of the heavy weapon options at a noticeable cost, as does the option to join in a Warlock. The Guardians' downsides are obvious - they are fragile Eldar in 5+ armor, enough said. Sit them in one form of cover or another with a conceal warlock however and we have something to talk about, a good saving unit with a lot of bodies and long range powerful weapons sitting on an objective with a fuckton of dakka for overwatch or sudden shuriken rushes. Dictate your price with them, adding warlocks and heavy weapons to suit - most any of them could be good, with the cheap shuriken cannon or the longer-ranged scatter laser cracking open transports, the starcannon for TEQs and MCs, the brightlance for tanks or the missile launcher to handle both hordes and armor adroitly and provide emergency anti-air and the anti air option comes free but it is the most expensive option however with guardian war host you can get it for free in three units eat that flying circuses. Like Dire Avengers, they can take a Wave Serpent - with their numbers they might not be riding in it, but it's mobile cover and yet another set of heavy weapons, so don't overlook it. Weirdly, they do come with plasma grenades - don't forget to chuck one if a horde gets close.
• Storm Guardians: Guardians that trade their Catapults for Pistols, Swords and Plasma Grenades. They also forfeit the option for a Heavy Weapon Platform in exchange for other equipment options. The unit can take two Power Swords, and two Flamers or Meltaguns. Unlike the Defender Host, you can also run a smaller unit, with a minimum of 8 models instead of 10. This is all the better, because these guys are pretty gimpy. They cost like Fire Warriors, shoot like Assault Marines, and die like Guardsmen. If you want anti-tank, you take Fire Dragons. If you want melee, you ally in Harlequins or take a Wraithknight. (Or take Banshees/Wraithblades). And if you want Objective Secured, you take Jetbike squadrons! That said, they become a lot better in a Guardian Stormhost.

• Windrider Jetbike Squadrons: Guardian jetbikes are Eldar who take their mastery of speed to heart and are a well-known unit to see Eldar field due to the extraordinary mobility the jetbike offers. The only gear the Windriders feature is the jetbikes but that’s all the unit really needs. Automatically giving them an enhanced T4 and magical 3+ armor save windriders are the equivalent of MEQs but with far greater maneuverability. The jetbike comes with a built in twin-linked shuriken catapult, 90% accuracy for a shuriken weapon and bladestorm still applies here. Each jetbike can switch out for a much larger, much meaner shuriken cannon for extra general-purpose dakka or a scatter laser for long-range transport wrecking. Aside from the usual, Windriders also boast the benefits of Eldar jetbikes that allow them a special 2d6 move during the assault phase and all those delicious cover saves for Jinking and turbo boosting. The only issue the Windrider faces lies in their low numbers and higher cost, not a big issue since they cost just under two guardians normally but these are models you should try not to lose. Like with all guardians a warlock can join the squad and instantly make it better, conceal boosting their already good cover save, protect to give them terminator armor, even embolden can remove the issue of their lower leadership. Zip around like the Tasmanian devil, chunk units of anything, troll everyone and grab or contest objectives to make enemies weep little black tears.
  • These guys now get their own ML1 Warlock for 7th Edition, it's a 50 point upgrade and it can take from Sanctic Daemonology (I guess Gee-Dubs realized the fluff stupidity of Eldar summoning Slaanesh Daemons) or Runes of Battle. He can - and should - take a Singing Spear, just in case you run up against some AV13/14.
  • They also have access to the Scatter Laser now. So for 270 points, a squad puts out 40 S6 shots. Ouch. Or, for the same price, 30 S6 shots with Bladestorm. That's gonna leave a mark. Of course, any return fire will likely leave a mark on your points budget as well at 27pts for a T4, 3+ model that can jink.
  • It's usually easier to take multiple squads of 3 or 4 scatterbikes (which were the top army lists of 2016), starting at just 81 points each. This forces your opponent to split firepower, and allows you to change targets after your dozen-shot str6 units wipe units off the table.
• Rangers: When an Eldar finds no path that suits them they often turn to the path of the ranger, venturing from the craftworld to see new sights and places. Their pathless existence goes against the grain of Eldar society but lends them unique viewpoints and skills many Eldar never find themselves possessing. The ranger long rifle is core of the unit and as such has a few aspect that need discussing. As written the weapon is a heavy 1 sniper with long range, its AP6 is undesirable but rangers fire it at their BS4. Sniper weapons means they precision shot on hits of 6 and get AP2 on wounds of 6, and always wound on a 4+. The basic formula of the ranger goes something like this: 66% chance to hit, 50% chance to wound (if not vehicle), 55.56% chance to damage MEQ armor (since a wounded model has a 1/3 chance of having been wounded by an AP2 hit). The special rules of the rangers is their classic infiltrate, fleet, stealth and move through cover. This makes them theoretically maneuverable but realistically immobile. You see, the squad can only do snapshots with their rifles after moving in the move phase (but they at least now have shuriken pistols), and battle focus also specifies it does not work with heavy weapons on non-relentless models. Flamers and various other cover ignoring weapons like barrage and noise marine blasts ruin your rangers every day. Ultimately the rangers will end the game exactly where they started, moving only to shuffle towards an objective or away from an approaching melee unit. Rangers can infiltrate either to an advantageous position or on top of a cover providing objective, then they will sit there for as long as they can laying down a few suppressing shots into choice targets. Their cost was significantly reduced from previous editions but the unit will still need to work hard to make its points back.

Ranger Long Rifle

Range	Type	S	AP	Special Rules
48	Heavy 1	4	6	Sniper

• • Modeling Tips: Hate the hoodless rangers but you don't want them with helmets or applying green stuff because you suck at making anything with green stuff? Fear not, because there is a solution. If you have the money, grab a box of Wood Elf archers, or something with Elf hoods, and smash a new head on them. You might need to fill in some spaces with green stuff though.

Dedicated Transports

Wave Serpent

The Wave Serpent is yet another Falcon chassis tank but featuring a large carrying capacity for the various infantry and a real threat in terms of a battlefield vehicle. The Wave Serpent comes stock with the standard AV12 and ability to grab vehicle upgrades such as holofields and star engines. It comes with a twin-linked catapult and shuriken cannon, the cannon being tradeable for a twin-linked starcannon, brightlance or scatter laser. It can also trade for an EML (with flakk) for a heavy price as well as switch out that little catapult for a cannon (because who wants a tank with 12” range?) for a little bit more. Unlike other races the Wave Serpent is a costly machine, clocking at 110 points base and with lots of reason to spend more. You cannot just throw this transport away and it also features no fire points as well as not being an assault transport. Our dedicated transport kicks the daddy bags of other such transports of the other races and in large point games you can afford to get a whole lot more armour onto the field. The Wave Serpent has various uses and strategy we’re all used to by this point in addition to its useful medium range anti-cover attack. Move it carefully and let it bring your units to where they can do their job best. It got 5 points cheaper in the new codex, but now is balanced by the nerf to the Serpent Shield (see below) and the loss of Laser Lock on the Scatter Laser. Given the loss of Laser Lock, consider starcannons or brightlances to deal with armor or TEQs, or el-cheapo shuriken cannons to slice up infantry and transports.

Serpent Shield

Once responsible for untold amounts of bitching from the 6th Edition Codex, the Wave Serpent comes with a barrier that causes all of its front and side based penetrating hits to magically transform into a mere glance on a 2+. Then, once per game you can unleash an S6 2D6 cover-ignoring shitstorm at 24" range. However, if you dissipate the Serpent Shield to shoot it, you lose the infamous "switch pen to glance on 2+" for the rest of the game.

Elites

Aspect Warriors are the meat and potatoes of the Eldar Army. They appear in Troops, Fast, Heavy, and Elites. They are the whole thing people are talking about when they say the Eldar Army is mostly specialists. They have a pretty good statline, great leadership, and are all Fleet with Battle focus. Each squad of Aspect Warriors can upgrade one of their number to an Eldar Sergeant called an Exarch. Exarchs get bumps all over the statline - Initiative goes to a tyranid-like 6, attacks to 2, and most importantly they go up to 2 wounds - and they can then take fancy versions of their weapons. However, Exarchs have shifted radically in the new codex. They are all a base of ten more points (except for the Reapers) to gain the above benefits and a special rule that generally only benefits the Exarch. Remember, though, that you will generally not be playing an Exarch without any special weapons, so you will also be paying for those. With the loss of Exarch powers, their cost to effect ratio has to be carefully considered now and will be discussed more in depth in their respective aspect's entry.

• Fire Dragons: Now you see the tank - FOOOOM! - now you don't - Fire dragons in a nutshell both past and present. A unit dedicated to making sure the most heavily armoured units of your enemy's army go away quickly once they're in range by adding +1 to all vehicle damage rolls. With their fusion guns (melta-guns) and melta-bombs tanks and fortifications stand little chance. They also demolish Monstrous Creatures, though not quite as well as Wraithguard. With a surprisingly good volume of fire for AP1, they're also one of the go-to units for terminating, err, Terminators. Their main drawback is they're expensive like lawyers, so be prepared to pay through the nose for them. A Falcon, Wave Serpent, Venom, or Raider transport is near-obligatory for them, so that will inflate the price further. The often asked question of Fire Dragons vs Wraithguard is a matter of what you normally play against. Wraithguard are better at handling Monstrous Creatures and Terminators while Fire Dragons destroy Vehicles and Fortification as described above. Both units are equally good at taking out Superheavies. However, Fire Dragons are usually cheaper, can fit in Falcons/Venoms period, have Battle-Focus by default (good for closing Melta gaps or ducking back in cover), and can become BS5 thanks to the Aspect Host Formation.
  • Exarchs: Lose all their badass rules, with the only difference between them and a basic Dragon being the ability to re-roll one die during the shooting phase. Can replace their fusion gun with:
    • Dragon's Breath Flamer:A Heavy Flamer. Generally considered a waste of the Exarch's skills, but can be a handy "backup" weapon, in case you're up against Genestealer Cults or other infantry-heavy foes.
    • Fire Pike: Fusion gun with 6" extra range while still being an Assault weapon, lets you hide your Exarch behind his friends and still hit the target.
• Striking Scorpions: The heavy ninja melee force of the Eldar infantry. Sneaky and sinister they constitute a strong force for assault units and strength 4 beatings. They sport a ludicrous amount of abilities and rules - 3+ armour, +1S chainswords, plasma grenades and Mandiblasters (50% chance of a savable auto-wound at Init 10 that hits automatically) complement Stealth, Infiltrate, Move Through Cover, Fleet (unlike the 4th ed variants) and Battle Focus right off the bat, giving the flexible commander a ton of options. Also has Shrouded until they shoot or charge, so that's a good bonus! They're every bit as good at straight combat (they'll maul hordes and even take down Tactical squads through weight of attacks on the charge - 2 normally, 3 on the charge+Mandiblaster hits) as they are at wreaking havoc in your opponent's deployment zone when used correctly. Fleet ensures that their mobility problems compared to Banshees are a thing of the past (mostly). Their only real problem now is their inability to get through 2+ saves, so keep them focused on lightly armoured foes. If you must face TEQ's try to face smaller squads if possible and ensure your Exarch is still alive, use your weight of attacks and the Exarchs Scorpion Claw to take them down before they strike back. Or if you rolled it use the Jinx psychic power to reduce their armour save to more reasonable levels. Remember though only do this if necessary, there are far more efficient anti-TEQ units in your army and Scorpions would be better served focusing elsewhere but just remember they are not useless at it either.
  • Exarchs: Gained a very fancy new power in the 7th edition codex: in a Challenge, compare the Exarch's Initiative to the enemy character's. For every point of Initiative the Exarch has over the opponent, the Exarch gains an extra attack. Can equip:
    • Scorpion claw: Grants him x2 Strength attacks with AP2 and no loss of speed, with a shuriken catapult added in just for fun. No two-handed or specialist weapon, so he still gets an extra attack for having a sword. The most expensive weapon choice but rightfully so.
    • Biting blade: A Two-Handed sword that hits at S5 AP4 at the cost of his chainsword. Ehhh, skip.
    • Chainsabres: Two weapons that grant a shuriken catapult and gives the scorpion rending in melee. Cheap but fairly crappy.
• Howling Banshees: These sword-wielding ladies are the fast, lightweight, hand-to-hand Aspect of the Eldar warhost, designed to blend MEQ armour across a large swath of the battlefield. With AP3 power swords and their trademark Banshee masks (which now mean the Bansheees can't be overwatched when charging and they cause Fear. Guess which army's fucking ridiculous overwatch we can now mess up?). With their lighter armour they always need to grab the charge to get in as many attacks as possible, and now grab Acrobatic, giving them a bonus 3" on their Run moves and charge moves. MEQs will be mown down by them, but hordes will overwhelm them and TEQs will eat them for breakfast, so choose your battles wisely. A good idea is to to use Banshees as more defensive CC units to protect your gun-line units from potential enemy charges. Striking Scorpions are better suited as backfield enemy harassers with their better armour and strength (arguably making them the better option to use against TEQ'S and Monstrous Creatures). Banshees overwatch defenses and longer charges make them great deterrents against outflankers and infiltrating squads that might try to sneak around to take out your HQ's or long-range weaponry. Transports are optional - they'll get there faster, but Eldar have no assault transports. If you use Dark Eldar or Harlequin allies, consider grabbing a Venom/Raider or a Starweaver instead. Luckily they got a bit of a points reduction this edition. Be aware that the masks no longer confer the initiative debuff that they once did - be somewhat careful when dealing with Slaaneshi Chaos Marines, unless you also have Jain Zar.
  • Exarchs: Became kinda weak without their purchased powers. Now they can only make enemies they're in combat with take -2 Leadership. Can equip:
    • Executioners: Nasty two-handed power weapon at S5 AP2. (The only chance the Exarch has in a challenge!)
    • Mirror swords: Replaces both the pistol and power sword for AP 3 and a Master-crafted re-roll. (Not worth paying for 1 re-roll instead of shooting!)
    • Triskele: A throwing weapon with S3 AP3 Assault 3 that funnily enough replaces the power sword. Could be worth it as you run down MEQ since it also doubles as a power sword (Which Jain Zar's strangely can't do Yes it can, its an AP 2 shred sword you mong).
• Wraithguard: Resilient and terrible in their destructive power Wraithguard are the otherworldly goliaths of Eldar infantry, and their vigil is eternal. With a toughness of 6 and 3+ armor save Wraithguard are as durable as terminator equivalents of other armies and wield terrific weapons. The Wraithcannon is short ranged but utterly lethal against all targets - a Strength D AP2 gun that shreds all targets with equal fury with the ability to instantly demolish almost anything thanks to the Destroyer rule. Importantly, this makes them quite possibly the best destroyers of monstrous and gargantuan creatures available. The D-scythe has received a buff too- they gained strength D but they get a -1 on the Destroyer table (meaning the 6 result is totally out) and they only count as strength four for instant death.Consider carefully if the ten points more per model is worth the reduced destroyer effectiveness and lack of ID to potentially drown your enemy in wounds (and don't forget that you will have D3 Strength D auto-hits when firing overwatch). You want to use the Wraithguard as the anvil of your army, moving up fearlessly each turn while other more mobile Eldar chip away at your opponent’s forces. Once in range of a target Wraithguard will kill it, no questions, and they will stick around a lot longer than your enemies will be comfortable with. Six can fit into a Wave Serpent and emerge to deliver unfair levels of wrath upon their targets. Plus these guys are tough enough to survive a crash landing without a single casualty.
• Wraithblades: Like Wraithguard, Wraithblades are Eldar wraithbone constructs, only with a focus on melee combat as opposed to near melee ranged weaponry, distinctively having Rage for 2 extra attacks on the charge. Wraithblades come with two kit options which can alter their dynamic pretty significantly. Base loadout is two Ghostswords, giving you +1S and AP3, which works well against MEQ squads. Ghostaxes give you +2S and AP2, and the accompanying Forceshield gives you a 4++ on top of your already significant protection, and will never see you wrong when up against TEQs. Either way, they're very impressive in combat, as with their natural toughness they're hard work for even AP3-equipped assault units, and will trash most equivalently-priced units when given the latter loadout. One idea is to stick a bunch of Forceshield-equipped Blades in front of your key unit and watch your opponent weep with frustration as nearly everything bounces off them. As a bonus, they now cost 10 points less than a squad of Wraithguard. They can take a Wave Serpent, but probably don't want to in most cases. Due to the new 7th Edition Rulebook FAQ, no battle brothers can deploy inside allied transports, so no more throwing Wraithblades or Wraithguard into Raiders, unless you want to have them stand around and embark on Turn 1.

Fast Attack

In this slot we find the fastest of our already quick moving and mobile army, armed to the teeth with a variety of weapons such as the spammy lasblaster and armor melting Bright Lance. In this slot you can find not only options for engaging and destroying infantry but many of these slots features unit who can either outfit themselves totally for anti-vehicle or just do a decent job of it if called upon. You also find both of your flyers in this slot and each performs a very different job that should be carefully considered.

• Swooping Hawks: Hawks are somewhat rare among the Eldar Aspects in that they can do a variety of battlefield tasks quite effectively. They're at their best when facing down hordes of lightly armed infantry with their Lasblasters, which are now Assault 3. Even though they are S3 laser pointers, the sheer volume of shots is pretty threatening now, being equal to any standard basic 40k gun in firepower, while boasting much more comfortable range, in fact with the changes to their Hawk Wings they now have an insane threat range of 18" movement plus 24"+D6" shooting (with Battle Focus) meaning even if they didn't drop this turn you could still reach any target on the board you wanted to. Additionally, anti-tank is well served with their standard issue Haywire Grenades, which are a very reliable way to peel off hull points. But that's far from all. The grenade pack gives them a cover ignoring S4 AP4 sky burst blast when the hawks enter from deep strike (Skyleap is now part of the Swooping Hawk Wings). If you have 6 models in the squad this is a large blast (pro tip: have 6 models). With Hawks tactics and timing are everything - choose your target, Deep Strike perfectly, gun down your enemies, then run off. They also get a new rule that allows them to hit flyers and FMCs they flew over in the movement phase! Roll a D6 for every model that passed over a Flyer or FMC, if they roll a 4+, they deliver an S4 AP4 Haywire hit to the side, making planes literally cry. It's not too hard for flyers to stay out of the way, but it's deadly to any that are dumb enough to get close, so they're quite good for area denial (though not so much against FMCs). Be careful, and use Battle Focus to run into cover after the Deep Strike!
  • Exarchs: Now provide the awesome Herald of Victory rule (which allows for precision deep-strikes), making them near-mandatory if you didn't take Baharroth. Can equip:
  • Hawk's Talon: Just a heavier strength lasblaster and thus alright.
  • Sunrifle: It fires at S3 but at AP3 and the Blind special rule, great for protecting the hawks from return fire and crippling a potential threat from the target squad. Stupidly effective against low-Initiative models (save Tau battlesuits), although with 7e rules it does not affect vehicles any more.
• Shining Spears: Shining Spears are the Eldar equivalent of Earth history's jousting knights. On Jetbikes. What's not to love? Shining Spears are all about the Laser Lances. The laser lance can fire a single 6" S6 AP3 Lance shot - which can be very useful against heavy vehicles if you're out of other options. Basically a 17% chance to glance armor and maybe better for lower AV. After this shot is fired the spears can jet into an assault, using their Lances' momentum for the first turn of combat to function as S6 AP3 Lance weapons - which will hammer any MEQ units you come across and can glance vehicles to death. With Outflank and Skilled Rider they're as mobile as you'd expect, and their good armour and Toughness give them decent survivability, and as a bonus, they gain a 4+ cover if they moved (which they decided to remove from Ork bikes for some fucktarded reason). As an additional bonus of the 7th Edition codex, the Lance keeps its AP value in subsequent rounds of close combat, meaning that if you don't win on the first phase, you'll keep a measure of threat in the following rounds. The downsides of Spears are easy to see - tremendously expensive models with not a lot of staying power, especially if you get stuck in combat longer than one round. Bringing along an Autarch or Farseer to tank and keep the Exarch alive would make a lot of sense. Note that they don't have Hit and Run anymore, much to everyone's consternation. Pick your targets carefully.
  • Exarchs: Bring a bit more sting to the squad with more attacks and better stats overall for what they will be doing. They're able to re-roll wounds against MCs and Armor Pens that didn't actually pen, making them a handy utility tool.
    • Power Weapon: It's free, but...why would we do this? A Power sword/Maul is worse than the Star Lance, the Power Lance is an utter joke in the face of the laser/Star lance, and the axe drops you to I1 which is a waste of the Exarch's I6. Take the extra 10 points and get the Star Lance below if you want AP2.
    • Star Lance: Better than a laser lance (like S8 AP2 at range, S+5 AP2 on the charge better), thus good as a weapon and a simple purchase.
• Warp Spiders: Another unit with a few switcheroos this Codex, Warp Spiders still have their troll-tastic Warp Jump Packs, allowing them to either jump their normal 6" or warp jump up to 6+2d6" (now only losing a model on a double 1 result, as opposed to any double) in a direction, then they get their run courtesy of Battle Focus with Fleet re-rolls. Then you spin a whole lot of death, then you jet (troll) pack away 2d6" to avoid anyone who tries to charge you leaving them with no-one to shoot at. Deathspinners changed up considerably, as well as getting AP2 on rolls to wound of 6 they now roll To-Wound against Initiative values which can completely annihilate armies like Orks, Necrons, or Tau. Unfortunately they took a hit against vehicles; they simply roll to penetrate using the strength of the weapon as normal and don't get any AP bonus for rolling sixes or strength bonus for hitting slow vehicles any more and their guns still compare to toughness for instant death. That said, their mobility/firepower combination is pretty much unrivaled, allowing them to get in, unload brutal amounts of firepower that'll threaten anything, and get out. Highly worth considering. Note: Their new rule, Flickerjump, allows them to immediately use their jump pack when targeted by an enemy in the ENEMY shooting phase. They jump as normal with the caveat that they only go 2d6" and cannot use their Warp Jump next turn.
  • Exarchs: Are really only useful in that they let you auto-pass Pinning, Morale, Fear, and Regroup tests. Can equip:
    • Twin-linked Spinner: A more accurate spinner than the regular for almost nothing. Since the Exarch is already BS5 (BS6 in an Aspect Host) it may be a little overkill.
    • Spinneret Rifle: An 18" rapid fire weapon with monofilament and pinning, all with S6 AP1. Note the rapid fire distance is less than the death spinner's normal range, so you have to get within 9” for the rapid fire benefit.
    • Powerblades: Would be helpful for murdering some enemy character (who is likely the only thing with a power weapon in a squad) if you choose to dive into melee with some shooty squad to avoid return fire, then Hit & Run out. Besides that they also look cool.
• Vyper Jetbike: Another Fast Attack stalwart, the Vyper is the Eldar playstyle to a T - fast and hard-hitting with some of the Eldar's heaviest weapons, but fragile at AV10 all round (it's not actually a jetbike, but rather a fast open-topped skimmer) and only 2 Hull Points. Shuriken Cannon comes as standard, with options to swap for Scatter Laser, Starcannon, Bright Lance, or Eldar Missile Launcher (all of which got cheaper with this codex). Also has a hull-mounted twin-linked shuriken catapult, upgradable to a cannon (the obvious choice). You can customize as necessary, as all these weapons will excel against some foe or other. Vypers can also be squadroned, giving you six in a single slot. Benefiting from BS4 this Codex, a Crystal Targeting Matrix is near-mandatory, while Holo-Fields will help survivability. With its speed, the Vyper excels at getting onto an opponent's rear table quickly and hitting foes hard from behind - particularly useful when utilizing a Bright Lance to deal with Leman Russes or Tau Hammerheads. They also got ten points cheaper!
  • Note: In case you couldn't tell from the discussion of AV and Hull Points, these are fast open-topped skimmers, not jetbikes.
• Crimson Hunter (Fighter): While not the Nightwing Eldar players know and love the Crimson Hunter is still a fantastic answer to the fliers of other races. Twin Bright Lances (or Starcannons) and a Pulse Laser give plenty of firepower, and Crimson Hunters have a few special rules that add to the ease of their job on the battlefield. Skyhunter allows them to re-roll any non-glancing non-penetrating shots made against fliers, giving the Crimson Hunter an almost guaranteed kill with its anti-armor load out. Vector dancer allows her to pivot 90° with ease at the end of her move, keeping him a hunter on the board far longer than the other races. The downsides are obvious - AV10 will not keep you alive long, and they're infuriatingly expensive for something even a bolter could knock down. Granted, as a Flier, it has plenty of chances to mitigate this, with Cover Saves and Jink, but often the best bet is often to come onto the field after his prey is already present, allowing him to down the target flier before the enemy can bring sufficient weapons to bear on him (The Autarch's special ability makes this a tiny bit easier to accomplish). If this doesn't work out, then hope you last long enough to down that flier before getting shot out of the sky. Hilariously enough, they got a full twenty points cheaper this edition.
  • Exarchs: Can be taken for the Crimson Hunters, Eldar men and women of such unreasonable skill they gain the power to deliver Precision Shots against foes below even while jetting across the battlefield at supersonic speeds, an utterly demented idea the Exarchs pride themselves on. They gain the ability to make Precision Shots on a 5+, making them very capable of blowing stuff up. Invariably worth it for the bump to BS, giving them the beauty of hitting on 2+ and making damn well sure whatever flyer they are chasing will die spectacularly, regardless of how many hull points it has.
• Hemlock Wraithfighter (Attack Flyer): If the Crimson Hunter is your source of anti-Flier, the Hemlock is your ground attack, coming with two Heavy D-Scythes. 18" range for a D AP2 Blast (Which gets -1 on the destroyer table and counts as a S4 hit for the purposes of ID), which can be pretty great at taking out near anything including tanks. These weapons make the Hemlock totally incapable of aerial combat (the most recent Nov 2016 FAQ does not allow blasts to hit flyers/FMC, even with skyfire), but who cares about that when you have THE ALMIGHTY D? However, the Hemlock's real power comes from its Mindshock pods (which forces enemies within 12" to take -2 on Morale and Pinning tests, should you not have killed enough things) and its ML2 granting it access to Sanctic, Runes of Battle, and Telepathy (Which can potentially make it the single best flyer in the history of fucking EVER). For protection, you have Spiritstones, which allows you to ignore Crew Shaken on a 2+ and Crew Stunned on a 4+. If you seriously want to kill blobs and want to limit how much fucking cheese you take (and miss the point), take one of these.
• Shadow Spectres (Forge World): Guess who's back? Shadow Spectres get an update, that turned them from weird overpriced unit who don't know what they suppose to do into proper all-rounders. Sure they are fragile and few in numbers, but with Battle Focus and JsJ they can jump around BLOS, and even if they get targeted, 3+ armour and cover (now stacks with stealth/shrouded) may help a bit. Then comes their guns - they have "MEQ-killer" and "Horde Sweeper" mode, with the later getting buffed to AP4 (making it a threat to anything with a word "warrior" in its name), and with Ghostlight they can threaten tanks as well. And they come equipped with haywire for when you REALLY want that Land Raider or Monolith dead - just be aware that Specters themselves would probably die the next turn after they charge some big metal box, and that you paid a lot of points and pounds to field them. For some reasons they get Fear, but don't rely on it - they still suck in close combat.
  • Exarchs: Come with the "Shadow of Death" power to make enemy leadership and morale checks within 12" a 3d6 deal. Can equip:
    • Prism Blaster: Boosts MEQ, TEQ, and motster-killing ability of Exarch a lot and boosts Ghostlight, but for a price of no blast mode. Definatelly worth it against marines, and might be worth against heavy mech, if not the following one:
    • Haywire Launcher: Two shots with haywire backed with a hail of S6 or Ghostlight lance of his squad would kill most vehicles in one turn. The downside is that it's all but useless against anything else but mech, being just an AP4 flashlight.
      • Note: Do take in to account that the range of their weapons is limited to 18 inches. While they get a 4+ cover save if they use a thrust move, this cannot be added upon with stealth or shroud terrain or fortifications. Their purpose is pretty clear: Take the Phoenix lord, an exarch and a full squad, force nightfight, and get as close to your enemy as you can while hiding in LOS cover, and play the Tau JSJ game every round. If you -really- don't like a specific squad that isn't fearless, move within 12 and shoot away, and try and force them to SQUAD BROKEN. They are going to be shot a lot, so be sure they are screened by other, just as dangerous units.
      • With the last update of IA11 these guys become far more effective. Now 25 points per model, Shadow Spectres keep most of their wargear and special rules, but now gain 3+ save in form of Heavy Aspect Armor. Also have their own formation in the Craftworld Warhost.
• Wasp Assault Walkers (Forgeworld): Update pending…
• Hornet (Forgeworld): Guess what? The update is out and what do we have? First of all, the Hornet itself is now 70 points and all weapons except for EML are 5 points. Yes. Even the pulse laser. It now has access to Scout and Acute Senses in case you don't want to get right into the fray. They're paper boats and a perfect example of a glass cannon; while not open-topped like Vypers, they still crumble to dust the moment the enemy looks at them funny, unless you drown said enemy in massed S8 AP2 fire first, that is. With 12 shots per a squadron of 3 (yes, you might take them in squadrons) they can hurt almost anything in an effective range of 60", whether you deploy them normally and shower the opponent from the other edge of the table, or decide to further annoy them with reserve shenanigans and emerge from one of the sides to test their rear armour. But wait, there's more! They have in-built Star Engines and the ability to move Flat-Out in a turn they fired Snap Shots. Yes. In case you're in danger, don't be afraid to Jink and then run away like the cunning coward you are to live and fight another day (or turn). Since they can take vehicle upgrades, they can get Holo-fields for a 5++ save to increase their survivability. Fairly expensive, but why not? And don't forget to cast Guide on them. You can always destroy the enemy harder, after all.
• Nightwing Interceptor (Forgeworld): Still fast, still able to mince other flyers, and more likely than not a vehicle a turn. Gets a pretty sweet cover save, but every bit as paper thin as other Eldar flyers.
• Phoenix Bomber (Forgeworld): Now fast attack! One of the best flyers that the Eldar have to offer but sadly one of the most unused and understated flyers in 40k. It costs nearly as much as a Land Raider but it's easy to see why.First lets take a look at its stat line: AV 10 all round and 3HP but as you will find out, it has a few tricks up its sleeve to make it less like a wet paper bag. Vector Dancer allows it to pivot after every move to aim better. It has Strafing Run so when shooting at ground targets gets a +1 BS bonus - hitting on 2's. Now onto its wargear which is very OP. 2x Phoenix Missile launchers: not twin-linked so you can get some real Space Marine annihilation happening with 2x3 S5 AP3 Shots. You can also spend 10 points on exchanging this Space Marine killer for a Tyranid Crowd Control missile payload for 2x3 S4 AP5 Small Pie Plates that ignore cover and have the Pinning Special Rule. This is also very effective against Guardsmen with Pinning as Tyranids have Synapse to make their Gaunts Fearless. (Please Note that these are not the Missile type weaponry but Heavy type instead). 2x Shuriken Cannons: Not twinlinked so fires 6 shots per turn for some damage against light vehicles or infantry left over from your missile barrage. Last is an underslung weapon which can either be a Pulse Laser or a Twinlinked Starcannon for when you need to absolutely rape Monstrous Creatures, TEQ units or alone IC after running out of hordes to destroy. Now onto the special rules, this is what separates it from the Crimson Hunter and the Hemlock Wraithfighter. Stealth (not Shrouded, as previously stated): 6+ Cover without jinking and a 3+ Cover save with jinking makes it pretty hard to take down. It has the option to buy Holofields (a permanant 5+ invul) for 15 points, which turns into a debatable option. (PRO TIP: If you are fighting someone with flyers use this flyer in conjunction with the Crimson Hunter or the Nightwing and the ability to change reserve rolls from the Autarch or ally Space Marines and get the command Rhino or Land Raider Prometheus. On the second turn, use your -1 roll on the Phoenix Bomber to try and make sure it doesn't come on in that turn. Then use the -1 on your other flyer if you went first, if you go second then use the +1. If you allied with Marines, then you can modify the dice rolls to get your opponent's flyer(s) to turn up before your Crimson Hunter enters play and wrecks that flyer. Then if your opponent has no more flyers then get your Phoenix Bomber onto the battlefield and start wrecking scrubs.) Your opponents will rage and shoot everything at it whilst your forces move up the table unhindered. Success!

It also becomes a good anti-air vehicle in its own right, pumping out a dozen Str 5 shots plus the Pulse Laser/Starcannon, easily putting a few glancing or penetrating hits on most enemy flyers.

Heavy Support

Heavy support was a slot already tight for space with the majority of the Eldars best and brightest weapons vying for our attention, now the issue is only made worse with the overall improvement of just about every unit in the slot. You will almost guaranteed fill all three slots of this unit type regardless of the army you field given that the heavy supports offer something for everyone. Heavy support is now a pinched slot, so choose wisely and take great care with the units you commit to taking, since you’re turning down other equally good options to do it.

• Dark Reapers: Once upon a time, Dark Reapers were once relegated to a small squad of dedicated marine killers with their exarch easily responsible for well over half the squad’s actual value. Now each Reaper has a choice of weapons to choose from and he loves each option equally. Regular reapers come with the devastating starswarm launcher, a weapon that fires salvos of S5 AP3 shots from across the board and can also take starshot missiles (in addition to their starswarm missiles), a single heavy hitting shot at S8 AP3 that will ruin any biker/vehicle/MC's day. The reaper rangefinders prevent jink saves, lending even more weight to their armor hunting ability. Slow and Purposeful aids their ability to move and keep blasting, and their ability to reroll hits against zooming/swooping models give the squad (and army) much needed AA ability if you still feel the need for it, just be aware this is not true skyfire, only the Exarch can do that (and then only with an upgrade). They also got a point decrease with the new codex. Allying with Harlequins to grab a Death Jester is a very recommended idea for anti-infantry squads when you factor in the Jester's ability to direct where the enemy falls back. They can, like most Aspect Warriors, take a Wave Serpent as a dedicated transport. Mounting up a squad in a Starweaver or Raider could be incredibly annoying too, but with their long range they rarely need a transport at all. You might consider one if you're playing in a very Marine-heavy meta, to avoid being the target of a first-turn alpha strike in the event that you go second.
  • Exarchs used to be all the squad was worth, now they enhance it rather than make it look bad by comparison. Their special ability lets them fire one extra shot from their weapon, which can mean the difference between merely foiling a charge and fucking them up so badly they need to roll morale. Oh, and it also works on turrets and emplaced weapons (say hello to two shot Aquila vortex missile silos). Can equip:
    • Shuriken Cannon: A big big step back in range, this weapon probably hurts the Exarch more than helps him. Has some limited utility if you're teaming up with Death Jesters and Maugan Ra, however.
    • Tempest Launcher: The same 36" anti MEQ barrage tool of the past edition, good with fast shot, low strength and can't snap-shoot, so unlike the Reaper Launcher and Shuriken Cannon, it doesn't have any emergency AA capability.
    • Eldar missile launcher: As versatile as it is expensive it comes with free flakk missiles now to shoot down air threats. Against MEQs, the standard Reaper Launcher or the Tempest Launcher would be better, but the EML covers every possibility with plasma, starshot and starhawk missiles. Good choice if you don't have other AA (like War Walkers with missiles, Crimson Hunters or Falcons/Wave Serpents with missiles).
• Vaul's Wrath Support Weapon Battery: These are the artillery of the Eldar army which can be taken in squads of three and are crewed by two guardians per gun model and come in three flavors. They can also get a warlock optionally with a host of supportive power options. Gunners get a basic shuriken catapult you should hopefully never have to fire. Bear in mind that these support weapon batteries show none of the awesome convenience of Guardian squad support platforms - they are type Artillery and therefore function like a Napoleonic-era field cannon; they can run in 7th edition. The crew benefits from the gun's awesome T7 against enemy shooting attacks. On the bright side they are dirt cheap. In the ever-competitive heavy support slot the Vaul's Wrath needs to work damn hard to make its place at the table. The suite of artillery weapons are:
  • Shadow Weaver: Default weapon. Lightweight version of Nightspinner's main gun, it packs one less strength, but it's still a small blast (read the faq) barrage and have all the monofilament benefits. Fired in groups these function as a salvo and thus the first shot is all the more important.
  • Vibro-cannons: No longer featuring the LOS ignoring line of dubstep the Vibro cannon has lost a lot of its character. For every vibro cannon that hits beyond the first they increase the strength of all hits. You get +1S -1AP for each vibro canon that scored a hit. The base stats are S7 AP4. Sadly, you can only take 3 of them, so they cap at S9 AP2 and have the pinning rule.
  • D-cannon: Another distortion weapon out of the Eldar armoury and like the others, it contains THE ALMIGHTY D. Sure, it has half the range with barrage and blast, but taking it practically guarantees that whatever it hits will suffer a painful D-eath.
• Falcon: Oddly unchanged in an era where everything else seems to, the Falcon still fulfills its job as APC with guns to spare. Falcons come stock with their pulse laser, a S8 AP2 lulzbeam with great range and track record as well as underslung catapult (upgrade to a cannon). Then it gets its choice of heavy weapon from the pretty standard list of Brightlance, Starcannon, Scatterlaser and EML (with flakk), giving it enough options for you to customize depending on the opponent. The Falcon also has a Transport capacity of 6, allowing you to field a small squad (ideally Fire Dragons) for dropping off and raising merry hell. If you take three of them in a squad, you can actually deep strike them without scattering so long as they're within 4" of each other, allowing you to make for some fantastic traps with a WWP Raider.
• Fire Prism: With the new Codex, the Fire Prism finally gives Eldar players an answer to the long range guns of other races. This magnificent jeweled weapon focuses such intense power as to turn foes of all shapes and sizes into all shapes and sizes of slag. Now boasting THREE FIRING MODES the prism cannon rules as king of your culinary delights. For your meat lovers you have the dispersed mode, a S5 AP3 large blast, great for MEQ and anything more fragile. For your vegetarians you have the focused mode, a TEQ hunting small blast with S7 and AP2, good for all things the previous mode didn’t quite get. Finally we turn the volume up to 11 and give our vegans out there the lance mode, used to scythe down anything that doesn’t strictly walk where it needs to go (and will blow smoking holes in Daemons and Tyranids, too). At S9 AP1 with the LANCE special rule this weapon will crush any armoured vehicle going in the game today. What downsides does the Fire Prism have, you ask? Expensive tank + upgrades costs, high aggro generation and usual complaint of Eldar vehicles but nothing beyond that - a solid workhorse in the army. You could field three and no one would bat an eyelash. Three full squadrons, however, would make almost anyone cry. With The new 7E Craftworlds codex, you can take them in squadrons and, to boot, you gain the combined fire mode back, but now under more lenient terms: One tank can fire, and they gain +1 S -1 AP for each Fire Prism in the squad (generally not worth losing another tank's shooting). However, two tanks in a squadron could drop an S6 AP2 large blast, very nasty for dealing with Terminators and their ilk with slightly greater odds than the small blast - which could, itself, be amped up to S9 AP1. See you later, Paladins!
• Nightspinner: Less useful than its Fire Prism cousin, the Nightspinner is still a useful choice when used correctly. The Doomweaver is the primary weapon and features 99% of the tanks actual threat, laying down a S7 shot of monofilament onto the board, as well as the mini rending power that makes it auto wound and AP2. Like its close cousin the Fire Prism, Nightspinners feature different modes of attack. The dispersed mode launches the shot high above the battlefield to rest silently and invisibly as a large blast, wounding and possibly pinning the target squad. Now there is also the focussed mode, a torrent weapon that fires the same deadly web but with increased accuracy, ignoring cover saves and lacks the pinning. Nightspinners are possibly more resilient due to not needing to be exposed most of the time but also have a chaotic track record of actual threat, sometimes wiping whole squads from the board other times managing to wound maybe a model or two, not a great buy for the player who likes guarantees. The Nightspinner can, as a barrage weapon, hide completely from view to fire it's shot and can be used effectively as the least upgraded of the Eldar tank options, requiring no actual upgrades to its weapons or gear (excellent because it's already the cheapest tank). Exposing the Nightspinner to fire is doable and sometimes even necessary depending on the available terrain but in those cases it benefits from its BS to reduce scatter. The 7E codex gave it a huge point reduction and the option to to team up with up to two other Nightspinners to do a combined fire like the Fire Prism, only now the firing tank adds +1 shot +1 S for each tank joining in. And for some reason the way it is worded means the tank firing gets 3 pie plates that can get up to strength nine. Covering an IG parking lot or Necron pirate fleet with S9 pie plates sounds nice.
  • Alternate View: With the change of the wording of the Monofilament special rule, a single Nightspinner as not as worth taking as it used to be, 2 in a squadron are good, but then you may be wasting a bit too much dakka at one unit than ideal.
• Wraithlord: With the Heavy Support section more crowded with quality units than ever, the Wraithlord needed to step up its game to stay competitive this Codex - and it has done just that. The heavy weapons have been greatly reduced in price, and you can now properly take two of them, instead of the old "twin-linked" routine. In addition the Ghostglaive keeps the Lord threatening against MCs and characters - +1S and the option to reroll a single missed Hit each turn give the already formidable lord plenty of killing CC power. At T8 and 3+ armour, you need heavy anti-tank weaponry or lots of Poison (watch out for Dark Eldar and Nurgle) to stand a chance of bringing it down quickly. In short, it's an ideal DISTRACTION CARNIFEX - a threat at range or in CC no player can afford to ignore. Hilariously, they now count as characters - allowing you to directly challenge and squish those annoying enemy special units before power fists and the like become annoying (veteran players might recall doing this in the glory days of 3rd ed anyway). The only real drawback? It is slow. In an Eldar army. Alternatively, pair one or two with an Avatar and go nuts. Oh, sure, the Avatar's faster, but the Wraithlord has higher S and T - pretty much nobody really wants to tangle with either one!
• War Walker Squadron: Much like the Vyper over in Fast Attack, War Walkers embody the Eldar playstyle perfectly - fast, armed to the teeth and absurdly fragile. With BS4 now, they're even more reliable at putting huge amounts of firepower into whatever foe is unlucky enough to be in range. As to that firepower, they get the usual range of Eldar weapons. Bright Lances for tank-hunting, Starcannons for heavy infantry, Shuriken Cannons and Scatter Laser for light infantry. Finally the big option, the Eldar missile launcher - a gun as versatile as the EML clocks in at several times the price of alternate options. But there's a good reason: it can either be anti-armor or anti-infantry and now gets Skyfire for free. And with Battle Focus and Relentless, their firepower is unimpeded by their mobility. With AV10, Open-Topped and only two Hull points they're brutally fragile. Power Fields give you a 5++, but that's not the most reliable save out there - stick near sources of cover for those all-important saves. These are the one unit that might actually want Star Engines to get even better Battle Focus shenanigans.
• Fire Storm (Forgeworld): A very decent AA-Tank (it's still a Fast Skimmer) from the Imperial Armour 2005 Update. It costs 190 pts base, has BS 3 (which is not THAT great on a AA Tank), 12/12/10 and 3 HP. It comes stock with a Fire Storm Scatter Laser, which is a beefed up Scatter Laser for flyer hunting, with 60" Range, Heavy 6(!) and Skyfire, Interceptor and TWIN-LINKED. Sadly it's keeping his Strength 6 and AP 6, which is why it threatens FMC not as much as it does light flyers. Altough the sheer volume of shots with twin-linked should make up for that. If you buy one, you also have to take either a Shuriken cannon or twin-linked shuriken catapults (why would you?). You can also give it Star- and Vectored-Engines, Holo-Fields and Spirit-stones. The Holo-Field and Spirit Stones are mandatory on this thing, because you don't won't it to Jink, get stunned or shaken, which would decrease it's potential to kill a flyer (remember, it only has BS3). Star-Engines aren't worth the points, because you don't want it to move with full speed anyways, whereas the Vectored-Engines are quite useful if you don't want to face your back at the flyer that just flew over you, and could potentially turn around to hit you in the rear armour. All in all, not a bad choice if you need additional AA firepower. But then again, you have much cheaper and better suited flyers for that.
• Lynx (Forgeworld): Lighter and cheaper version of Scorpion. Might be considered a heavy grav-tank. Has 5 HPs, decent 12/12/11 armour and hull-mounted Lynx Pulsar or Sonic Lance, with additional underslung Shuriken Cannon. The Sonic Lance is mean 18"-Hellstorm with AP2, which wounds everything on 3+ and rolls 3D6 for armour penetration. Holo-fields and Spirit Stones are basically obligatory upgrades to keep this thing going after being shot at. While technically a clumsy Flyer that might not Jink and can only fire Snapshots whilst Zooming, Lynx can be also deployed as a Fast Skimmer with the Tank type at the beginning of the game. Aside from running away from some nasty assault, this is the preferable mode. All in all comparable to Wraithknight, Lynx trades durability for higher firepower and slightly lower cost even with upgrades.
• Warp Hunter (Forgeworld): The new update made things more interesting. Its D-flail is S:D AP2, which can either be fired as the banewolf template from hell or a d3+1 shot barrage weapon. (Small blasts). Better and worse than the Corsair version. Craftworlds aren't limited to 1 squadron per detachment, but the Dispersed rule is a straight -1 to the Destroyer table (unlike the Corsairs "6s are 5s" version).

Lords of War

• Avatar of Khaine: Oh, hell yes. With a Greater Daemon-esque statline unlike anything else in the codex (S/T6, WS/BS/I10) the Avatar can take on the toughest of opponents with ease, usually hitting with 5 attacks minimum. With a 3+ armour save, 5++, +2 Strength in Close Combat for S8, and total immunity to melta weapons and flamers (as well as Pyromancy and Soul Blaze weapons for good measure making him an utter god-send (pun intended) against Tzeentch who spam soul-blaze to warp and back), he's surprisingly hard to take down too. Oh, and he gives himself and any troops within 12" Fearless, Rage, and Furious Charge as well. His main detraction point is that even with Fleet he's pretty slow. In an Eldar army. Still, for CC potential, he's way up there in the army list. Only problem is, he now occupies the Lord of War slot along with the Wraithknight.
  • Note: If you do decide to take him (cause you can't fit a Wraithknight in, are doubling up on FOC or are taking the Eldar specific detachment, which can fit both) you might want to make him the Warlord. If you do, you should probably take Personal Traits, as they can really help the Avatar become even more of a badass motherfucker. Only Furious Charge is a dud right now, all the rest...Counter Attack? Outflank? It Will Not Die? Feel No Pain?! Yeah, you want those.
  • Note 2: Just to be clear, the original entry for the Avatar was written when he was merely a Challenge Monster, so let me be extremely blunt: with his current rules set, the Avatar is a Challenge God. All of the big Challenge Lords: Kharn, Dante, Skulltaker, Logan Grimnar, even Chapter Master Smashfucker, all of them will statistically lose to the Avatar. Only the really big cheeses like Draigo or Abbadon have a good shot of taking him down (and even Abbadon will be one bad Drachn'yen roll away from losing obviously use the claw and statistically win without breaking a sweat). In order to beat him reliably in CC, you need a REALLY good Invul save or absurdly high toughness, a reliable source of Instant Death, D Strength, or a lot of high Strength attacks. And that's just challenges, on the charge he can and will punch FAR above his points level (he will knock down an Imperial Knight on the charge, no questions asked). This might not affect your decision to take him (Eldar are primarily a shooting army) but if you want a good challenge god, there is no one better in the Eldar codex.
    • Refutation to the Alternate Take: Now before this becomes a pissing match (in which case post further in the discussion board), the Avatar of Khaine is WS10 and I10 (He hits first against everything and if you survive to hit back you most likely will hit on 5+) with an Invulnerable save and 5/7 S9 AP1 Armorbane attacks, most Monstrous creatures outside the Keeper of Secrets and the Bloodthirster do not even come close to that. The only thing he lacks is Eternal Warrior. You have to be WS5 or better lest only 1/3 of your attacks hit. He may not be great at killing 3 of a shit ton of unique characters (the rest he kicks their shit in), but nobody is better at destroying Monstrous creatures, walkers (up to and including Imperial Knights with a little luck), and entire squads of MEQ and TEQ in one wrecking-ball charge.
• Wraithknight: As of the Craftworlds Codex, this criminally under costed thing is now a Lord of War, and a Gargantuan Creature. Bigger than a Riptide and almost the size of a Revenant Titan, the Wraithknight is truly a monstrous force upon the battlefield, and armed to the teeth with it. For shoulder weapons, Shuriken cannons and starcannons both give it anti-light or anti-heavy infantry power but these options are subpar. It's got a huge mobility advantage too, counting as a Jump Gargantuan Creature. Move up to 12" in the move phase, end in some piece of cover or whatever else you need to be and if assaulting reroll the charge distance if you need to and Hammer of Wrath with Smash etc etc. It is now resistant to the Poison and Sniper rules (needing 6s to wound it), while instant-death and remove from play effects only does D3 wounds to it and it also has Feel no Pain. It's best to imitate the Riptide generally though. The Wraithknight will wipe the floor with Dreadnoughts and MCs in CC thanks to its Ghostglaive now being Strength D. and the high Initiative of 5, but don't forget about hammering your foes with your unique firepower (see below) and generally providing a massive distraction for your other, squishier, troops. It'll always draw tons of fire, so watch out for heavy anti-tank. Here are the pros and cons of each loadout:
  • Heavy Wraithcannons: Identical to the fearsome Wraithguard weapons but with three times the range, the Wraithknight can dominate and annihilate any individual target regardless of size or defenses; being a Destroyer Weapon allows these guns (you have two, remember) to remove any two targets you please (being a Gargantuan Creature allows you to target 2 separate units with each of your two Wraithcannons). These come stock on the Wraithknight; however, like the regular Wraithcannons, these weapons run into issues against cover saves unless you roll a 6 to wound on the Destroyer Table. Now you're a Gargantuan Creature. Take those extra weapons you can fire!
  • Ghostglaive & Scattershield: The Ghostglaive is Strength D, Master-Crafted, and the Scattershield confers a 5++ invuln save. Additionally, whenever the wraithknight passes the 5++ any enemy models within 6" must make a blind test. While it sounds like an ideal choice for a CC knight, it is largely outshined by the other options. Strength D is only really necessary super heavies, gargantuans, high toughness MCs, pimped out Eternal Warriors, etc. For everything else the Wraithknight's S10 is sufficient. So versus the Wraithcannons, you are trading 2 long range D shots (a rather rare ability in non-apoc games) for a 5++ and marginally better melee. Not worth it from a purely competitive point of view. But since the Wraithknight itself is quite cheesy, it might make your games more fun and fair if your big boy is purely CC.
  • Suncannon & Scattershield: perhaps the greatest of Vaul's creations, the Suncannon is the absolute pinnacle of Eldar plasma weaponry, burning with the heat of a star but cool to the touch, meaning no dumb killing itself with every shot bullshit like other units. The Suncannon fires three shots at a lovely 48" range, each is a TEQ hunting nightmare with S6 AP2, but that’s not enough is it? No, now the weapons shots are all diamonds, I mean small blasts. With Guide support the blasts should land pretty easily on target. This weapon could potentially reduce a squad to no dudes or not enough models left to care about, it is deadly, and it will do serious damage. Comes with a scattershield as well for a 5++ save. As of 7th Edition, it's now a free upgrade. Which loadout you give it depends on what you normally face. The double Wraith-cannons sacrifice defence for removing 2 separate, high priority single targets, the Ghost Glaive is to make the Wraithknight the scariest close combat beast in the game. This gives you the ability to demolish both hordes and TEQ alike, but is pretty shit against moderate AV vehicles or higher.
    • In larger points games (Over 1500 or so) a Wraithknight can become the biggest and most unreasonably tough DISTRACTION CARNIFEX ever. With T8, it's immune to everything S4 and below, you have to be S7 before you need better than a 6 to wound it, and its 3+, 5++, FnP, built-in resistance to Poison and Sniper (only works on 6s), AND 6 wounds means that it's nigh on impossible to bring down (this goes double if you manage to cast Fortune on it). (But our depraved cousins might just Webway Portal a bunch of S8AP2 shots into your face, as is their right, so watch out for that.) Access to the D in both melee and long range will make it a serious threat to absolutely everything up to and including Titans, and as a Jump Gargantuan Creature, it's fast enough that your opponent can't ignore it. Throw on the Pacific Rim theme as your personal Jaeger drop kicks tank battalions, hops over ADLs to smash artillery and squish heavy weapons teams, while all the while your Falcons and Aspect Warriors run around getting to kill things unmolested, because the Wraithknight is absorbing all the fire. The only practical way to take one down as of now is to either tarpit it with a shitload of tough models (who might get stomped anyway) or fire as many lascannons or grav-weaponry at it as possible and hope for the best.
    • They ran this thing against a Wrath of Khorne Bloodthirster, a Bloodthirster of Insensate Rage, an Imperial Knight, a Toxicrene, and Deathwing Knights. Of them all, only the Deathwing Knights managed to kill it with 2 guys remaining thanks to SMITE MODE (This was an idealized scenario. We all know you Eldar players would either ignore them or gang up on them with Bladestorm. Deathwing is still shit). The Toxicrene was hilariously wiped since its Instant-death and poison now mean jack to a Gargantuan Creature, the Knight was downed because the Wraithknight went first and also had a D-weapon. The two bloodthirsters are unfortunately little surprises. The WoKBTs weapons now are expensive paperweights for the GC, and the BToIR with its I1 Destroyer weapon, the Great Axe of Khorne, was stomped even. If you can tarpit it with 50 or more fearless models, go for it. The simple fact is is that this thing is awfully undercosted for what it brings to the table.
• Skathach Wraithknight (Forgeworld): Good news everyone! We've got an offical Wraithknight variant. The Skathach Wraithknight is 315 points, a bit more expensive than your normal Wraithknight, but might be worth it if you want to shell out the points. Has the same statline as your favorite undercosted Gargantuan, but has one piece of new wargear on both types. The Warp Shunt Generator, allows you to leave the table in the movement phase, allowing you to get out of a sticky situation, or to move in any direction 18"[Errata], and then scatter 1d6. You can also use it to disengage from a fight[Errata]. This makes sure that you never get stuck behind a few rocks. If you scatter into a unit, you leave the table and take a wound. You can take 2 of their weapons, or 1 and a Scattershield (Primaries and Shield are all for free), as well as up to 2 Heavy Weapons in any combination (Scatter Lasers, Starcannons and Shuriken Cannons).
  • Inferno Lance The Inferno Lance is a d3+2 shot S8 AP1 Melta gun with a 36 inch range. I like to think of it, as a very consistent D weapon, firing 4 per lance on average, and peeling wounds off of other GC's, and slapping super heavies around pretty easily. It's less "Ride or Die" than the Wraithcannon and praying to roll a 6.
  • Deathshroud Cannon Imagine if a Warp Spider Exarch trained hard every day. He trained so hard, that one day, he became Wraithknight sized. This is your unit. Each Deathshroud Cannon is S7 AP4, with the Mono-filament rule, and shred. This either fires a Hellstorm Template, or a Massive Blast at 48" with the same statline. Perfect for mulching hordes, and slapping some Autocannon rounds at tight clusters of vehicles.
  • Note: This thing right here is one of the most cheesiest bricks in the whole game. Seriously. Unless you want to have a CC Wraithknight (or you run out of points), you should always use this Monster here instead of a regular Wraithknight. It has the same Statlines and Special rules, so it's basically as good at stomping something dead in CC as every other WK variant. Pay only a (relatively) small amount of extra points to give this thing two Starcannons and equip it with two Deathshroud cannons. Voila, you got yourself a only a bit more expensive JGC with a teleporter and two hellstorm templates (or 7" Blasts) that will wreck almost everything. Also note, that you can use your FnP against the Wound when you scatter off into ongoing reserves.

Super Heavy and Titans

Eldar Titans (e.g. Revenant & Phantom) have titan holofields, which force your enemies to roll D6 after hitting it with ranged weapons and roll 4+ or 3+ if your vehicle does not move (why wouldn't it?) or nullify the hit - which is just an odd and unwieldy way to describe 4++/5++ which works against D-weapons and stacks with other saves. This make their medium-armored hulls far, FAR more resilient, especially against D-strength weapons. Throw in Fortune for even more annoying trollery. With the recent update of IA11, the super heavy tanks have Improved Holo-fields, which give a 4++.

• Scorpion (Forgeworld) – Huge fast tank with twin-linked turret-mounted pulsar (which is R60 SD Heavy 2 5"blast). The Shadowsword wishes it could be so deadly. It wasn’t selling very well compared to the other Eldar superheavy skimmers, so instead of fixing it (say giving it Heavy 4 or even the only Heavy 2 pulsar) they have nerfed the other two.
• Cobra (Forgeworld) – Scorpion chassis with HUGE hull-mounted D-Impaler (cue chuckle). The gun is short ranged for a superheavy (only 36"), but has a 7" massive blast, ignores void and power fields and has your regular Str D Primary weapon perks. The 7" blast template stays on the ground for a round, the glowing ground wounding all non-superheavies that start or end their movement take a wound/glancing hit on a 6.
• Revenant Titan (Forgeworld) – Your light titan. Two pulsars or two sonic lances, its missile launcher now also has Skyfire + Interceptor, in case there's a pesky flyer nearby, can fly on its giant jump-pack up to 36". With the update to IA11, it can no longer Run and Shoot, however it auto-runs 12" now, . Extremely mobile and deadly, but a bit fragile with only AV12. However in combat a little rule called Wraith Titan helps him out which debuffs anything trying to hit it (Gargantuans and Superheavies can only hit it on 5+, everything else on a 6) means that when playing a CC army he is still very useful. This also affects the Phantom titan.
  • Weapons: - It can take one of each as written, but FW does not sell them with separate weapon options.
    • Pulsars: - 2 Large blasts per gun at strength D, the go to weapon if you think the enemy is bringing another Super Heavy, or some crazy deathblob.
    • Sonic Lances: - Whats better than AP 2 hellstorm pinning templates that wound on 3+? Hellstorm templates that torrent 18" away. When firing at a vehicle they count as S1, but roll 4d6 and pick the highest 3 (due to ordnance.) These have a unique addition to their rules when used by the Revenant, which are as follows, pinning test is made with 3d6 picking the 2 highest, and non superheavy vehicles hit by this weapon are auto Crew Stunned in addition to any other effects, if it gets a penetrating hit against a super heavy, it loses an additional D3 HP. Your go to anti infantry weapon, but not useless if they're mostly vehicles, infact, auto stunning a vehicle is hilariously broken.
• Phantom Titan (Forgeworld) – Absurdly powerful. With AV13, titan holofield bullshit forces re-rolls to shoot it, and 24 HP make it almost indestructible. It could spam D-strength pie-plates with 4-shot pulsars, blast enormous areas to hell with SUPER D-Bombard (like the Cobra's D-Impaler but with a 10" diameter, and instead of 6's it AUTO puts a Str D shot on anything in the glowing crater at the start of the victim's movement OR shooting phase, or fuck anything (up to and including Imperator titan) in close combat with XBAWXHUEG space-elf-ninja-titan sword. And unlike imperial or orky heavy titans the Phantom is fast – it can also run 12" without rolling.
• Vampire Raider (Forgeworld) – Eldar transport flyer, can equip pulsar, and poorly armored, but still very tough with eldar holofields. It’s a good vehicle on its own, but Eldar are fast enough, especially with 6-th edition buffed flat-out moves for fast skimmers. Leave heavy sky transport to space marines and weaboo space communists.
• Vampire Hunter (Forgeworld) – Twin linked pulsar on flying platform. Fucking awesome.

Fortifications

Sadly, at the moment there are only Imperial-themed fortifications. Meh, just say it is a stand in for the superior Eldar tech or your army stole it, build your own or buy some 3th party fortifications really there is no reason not to use them. Here are general tactics for fortifications [1]

Aegis Defense Line: Fortification is decent considering that many of your units would like to have a cover save when the bolts start flying. The guns are nice, both featuring skyfire and interceptor at hefty cost but worthwhile since Eldar only count their true AA in the two flakk users and crimson hunter. A Dark reaper exarch with the right powers is pure murder on it, the Dark reaper Exarch can ignore jink cover saves as well as apply fast shot to the weapon. Alternately have the exarch fire his EML twice (as it has skyfire missiles now) and have another reaper fire the quadgun. This gives you 6 S7 skyfire shots that ignore jink, hitting on a 2+ with rerolls if they're part of an aspect host (BS5 twinlinked/BS6). Good options for gunnery units include but are not limited to: Dark reapers and exarch, guardians and warlocks from Vaul’s wrath squads, Farseers with nothing better for their shooting phase, Autarchs in general or whatever other models you have available to fire these weapons.

Skyshield Landing Pad: The 4+ invulnerable save vs. shooting for everyone sitting on top of the thing can be especially good considering the Eldar don't usually have great resiliency, combo with a lurking fortune seer and you can get a very durable static fire base. Rangers, Vauls wrath teams, dark reapers, war walkers and even the Wraithknight come to mind as powerful long ranged options for a resilient fire base but there are many more units who can make use of it. The deep strike accuracy it provides will be somewhat under-utilized but with the new codex a few options are there for you to deep strike in like spiders and the Wrightknight (heh, have the skypad on their side and deep strike a meleeknight :D). Also a very good idea to have a Vampire start the game on a Skyshield, so you don't risk a 750+point model being stuck in reserve for most of the game...

Imperial Bastion: Provides a decent if bunker for hiding and gunning in it along with a tough AV14 shell to crack. The tower comes stock with 1 heavy bolter from each side providing a wide angle of attack along with the units positioned inside it. Becomes more useful with the additional weapon option for either comlink or one of the two Aegis skyfire weapons to seriously menace the skies. Rangers, reapers, maybe even the support weapon batteries can make use of the parking space and menace anything within a huge radius. Make note of the limited fire points for units within, you don’t want to hide a massive sqaud of reapers within only to sacrifices several of their attacks.

Fortress of Redemption: On the high HIGH points of the spectrum we come to the deathstar of fortifications, a bastion of unbreakable defense and bristling with enough guns to melt even the most horrific of warpspawn. Stock the fortress comes with one longer ranged AA gun and an infantry menacing barrage weapon, is divided into three buildings each armored like a landraider and enough floor space to afford a decent smattering of your favorite Eldar bastion buddies. At 220points base its tight to fit into a budget but start slapping on up to four Heavy bolters around and upgrading the missile launcher to drop S8 AP3 barrage blasts anywhere on the field, it can go up to 290points, potentially threatening your list for more troops of necessity. (Beware the central building doesn't get ruptured or you will discover the one door to be busted and your units will have to start throwing themselves out the windows to escape)

Formations

Craftworld Warhost

Like the Necron and Khorne codex before them, the Eldar have a detachment based on formations. For using this, you get to automatically run 6" every time.

• You need to take 1-3 of the following Core formation choices:
  • Guardian Battlehost - A Farseer takes 3 Guardian Defender squads, a squad of Vypers, War Walkers, and a Vaul’s Wrath support Battery with an optional Warlock Conclave. The Vypers, Warwalkers and Vaul’s Wrath get preferred enemy against an enemy within 12″ of the Defenders. Guardians can also purchase a Platform for free, meaning free missiles!
  • Guardian Storm Host - Same as the Guardian Battlehost, but replacing the Guardian Defenders with Storm Guardians. The Storm Guardians can now take their weapons AND power weapons for free (Free Melta? YES PLESE!) and the non-infantry units get their Preferred Enemy.
  • Windrider Host: A Farseer and a Warlock Conclave take bikes to join 3 gangs of Windriders and a Vyper Squadron. Once per game all models in this formation get Shred when firing shuriken weapons
  • Pale Courts Battlehost (Doom of Mymeara, Warhosts of the Pale Courts): 1 Farseer, 3 Guardian Defender units, 0-1 Warlock councils, then choose up to two of traits:
    • Crossroads of Eternity:The Battlehost may include a Harlequin Troupe and/or a Corsair Raider band, either choice counts as CE Eldar faction
    • Children of Khaine: The 3 units of Guardians must be Storm Guardians who are S4 when they roll a '6' to hit
    • Disciples of Vaul: The Battlehost adds 1-3 Vaul's Wrath batteries and the Guardians may take 1 support weapon per 5 models
    • Graveyard of Dreams: The Battlehost must take 3 Wraithblade units, the Guardians become 0-3. The wraithblades get Crusader.
    • Tomb-Ship of Fallen Heroes Take a Spiritseer or Wraithseer instead of the Farseer, roll 2D6 take the best for Warlord traits. May also take a Wraithlord.
    • Aspect-Lord Shrine: Guardians become 0-3, You must include three Aspect Warrior units from a single aspect. However you cannot take a Dire Avenger Shrine formation, unless your chosen Aspect was Dire Avengers in the first place.
    • Fortress of Discipline: Must take 1-3 War Walkers or 1 unit of Wasps. They get pinning against anything Guardians targeted that turn.
    • Swift to Anger: Pale Court must add 1-3 Vyper units or 1 Hornet unit. They get outflank and can re-roll their reserve rolls.
    • Halls of Martial Splendor: Take an Autarch instead of the Farseer. He re-rolls failed to-hit and to-wounds in a challenge.
    • The Strong Stand Alone: The Pale Court adds a single squadron of Warp Hunters, Night Spinners, or Fire Prisms. However, your army cannot contain any other detachments except more Pale Courts Warhosts.
• You can take 0-3 of the following Command choices per Core choice.
  • Heroes of the Craftworlds - Autarch, Yriel, Eldrad, or Illic, right here to grab if you want a spare HQ (as long as it isn't a Farseer). Note that this is not a stand alone formation.
  • Seer Council - 2 Farseers (one of which can be Eldrad) permanently join a Warlock Conclave of at least 5 models, and if one model takes bike, then the others must as well (this does not grant them the ability to do so if they lack it, so you can't use this to put Eldrad on a bike). They can all harness Warp Charges on a 3+, and if a Farseer from here is the Warlord, they get to re-roll their WT. It's pretty much the best way to run a Jetseer army.
  • Living Legends - An Avatar or a Phoenix Lord of your choice. Join up with an Aspect Host with their Shrine repped. Note that this is not a stand alone formation.
  • Lord of the undying host (Doom of Mymeara)- One of the new formations that the eldar can take from the Doom of Mymeara book. This formation is 1 wraithseer with 1-3 units of wraithblades. Special rules for this formation are:
    • The wraithseer can re-roll his warlord trait if he is the warlord.
    • Wraithblades from this formation re-roll 1s in close combat on the turn they charge if the combat includes the Wraithseer.
• You get from 1-12 of the following Auxiliary Choices per Core choice.
  • Outcasts - A pack of Rangers. If you needed snipers, y'know. Note that this is not a stand alone formation.
  • Aspect Host - 3 Units of Aspect Warriors in any combination, all with Exarchs. They all can re-roll Morale, Pinning, and Fear and they get to add +1 to WS or BS (chosen for the ENTIRE formation, not squad by squad).
    • NOTE: The formation specifically says all units when choosing the BS or WS buff. So, if you take any Transports for units, they gain that benefit. +1WS on a vehicle is useless, but having a Wave Serpent hit on 2+ is glorious.
    • NOTE: This formation is fantastic, even if you're not using the Craftworld warhost. If you're using a CAD and you've got 3 squads of Aspect Warriors who aren't getting Objective Secured, you've literally got no reason not to take this. BS5 Fire Dragons and Dark Reapers will fuck shit up, and even WS5 Banshees or Scorpions have their uses.
  • Dire Avenger Shrine - 3 Units of Dire Avengers with one Exarch present grants +1 to the BS of all units and a re-roll for Morale, Pinning, and Fear. Once per game, Shuriken catapults are also upped to Assault 3.
  • Crimson Death - 3 Crimson Hunters, one of which must be an Exarch. They all get Preferred enemy (Flyers/FMC), a 4+ cover save, and if they Jink, may re-roll the cover save. Congrats, you now own the air.
  • Engines of Vaul - A squad of Falcons, Fire Prisms, or Nightspinners, keyed based on what you exactly need to fire at. Note that this is not a stand alone formation.
  • Wraith Host - A Spiritseer joins 3 Units of Wraithguard or Wraithblades in any combination, a Wraithlord, and a Wraithknight. Everyone gets Battle Focus and all Wraith-constructs get to re-roll to-hit an enemy within 18" of the Spiritseer.
  • Wraith-Construct - A Hemlock, Wraithlord or Wraithknight to plug in any holes you have that don't need an entire Wraith Host. Note that this is not a stand alone formation.
  • Shadow Spectres Shrine (Doom of Mymeara)- A formation of 3 units of shadow spectres only one of which can take an Exarch. Your special rules for taking this formation gives you one extra D6 for your jet-pack moves pick the 2 highest. They can re-roll Morale, Pinning and Fear tests and any enemy models within 12 of the formations Exarch must re-roll successful fear tests.
  • Khaine's Hawks Squadron (Doom of Mymeara)- A formation of 2-3 Nightwings a nice way to get some air support come with 2 extra rules the first allows you to add ignores cover to one weapon attack per turn but only against zooming flyers. The second rule allows you to re-roll your reserve roll for the squadron if an enemy flyer came on the turn before.
  • Fires of the Phoenix (Doom of Mymeara)- 2 units of Phoenix bombers that must take the same vehicle upgrades (RAW it means the number of flyers too, so the formation will be either 2 or 4 Bombers). All the flyers become one single unit. Comes with a special rule that allows the bombers to re-roll 1's on both hits and wounds if both bombers target the same non-flyer unit. Considering with Strafing run they already hit on 2's, this essentially makes them BS 10 against ground targets. Also helps a little if they jinked to get off more snap fire shots.
  • Fist of Vaul (Doom of Mymeara)- An awesome unit of 2-3 Warp Hunters; all of the tanks must take the same upgrades and gain the special rule Warp Breach: more than one Warp Hunter may choose to forfeit their shooting attacks to make a single Warp Breach. 2 Warp hunters gives you a Range 72" Str D AP 2 Large Blast Ordnance Twin-linked, 3 will boost the blast up to a Massive Blast with everything else staying the same.
  • Hornet Swarm (Doom of Mymeara)- Take an already awesome unit and make it better. 3-6 Hornets form a single squadron that must take all the same upgrades they gain 2 special rules first allows them to jink and firer all their weapons at full BS on the tern they arrive from reserves. Next special rule lets you bring them in from reserves on a 2+ as long as you score a primary or secondary objective the turn before.
  • Wasp Phalanx (Doom of Mymeara)- 3-6 wasp assault walkers with one awesome special rule on the turn they are deployed onto the table from deep strike they re-roll all power field saves and all of their shooting is twin-linked and gains pinning. All of this would be super cool apart from the fact that forgeworld forgot to give them any way to deepstrike onto the table so wait for an FAQ on this formation. (They are not Jetpack infantry they have a rule called wasp jump packs instead and the wasp jump pack does not say they get deepstrike instead they either move 12 or when they charge they get to roll 3d6 and get d6+1 hammer of wrath but NO DEEP STIKE.)
• The Doom of Mymeara book also adds a new sub-section to the warhost detachment called Support; you can have 0-1 per Core choice you take. These are your big super heavy units.
  • Hammer of Vaul (Doom of Mymeara)- This allows you to take either 1 Scorpion or 1 Cobra Super-heavy. In addition you get a couple of special rules first causes you to give your opponent 1 victory point if they blow up your tank the second rule allows all models in the same army that are within 6 to re-roll failed regroup tests.
  • Skyhunters Squadron (Doom of Mymeara)- This is a formation of 1-3 Lynx Grav-tanks and it come with a special rule that gives the formation a 4+ cover save when they arrive from deep strike.
  • Skyraver Raiding Echelon (Doom of Mymeara)- A formation of 1 Vampire Raider with 1 Autarch, 1+ Storm guardians or Guardian Defender units and 1 Vaul's Wraith Support Battery. All of the units must start the game inside the Vampire Raider. Your special rules for this formation give the Vampire Raider the assault vehicle special rule which would be awesome with any other units and a rule that allows the artillery to get in the Vampire Raider each gun counts as 3 and each crewman takes up 1.
  • Wraith Titans (Doom of Mymeara)- This formation allows you to take 1 Revenant Titan or 1 Phantom Titan in addition you can add 0-2 Wraith Knights to hang out with them. The special rule allows the Wraith Knights to work like bouncers as long as they are within 6" of an Eldar Titan then any enemy unit which charges the Titan must instead target the Wraith Knight.
    • Note: As an avid Eldar player, this formation is the brokenest BS in the entire game, not due to the special rule of the formation, but the ability to take a Titan no string attached and remain battle forged, AND getting to bring a wraithknight if you didnt have enough already.

Additional Formations

• Eldar Runeweaver Host (Start Collecting!) - A Farseer Skyrunner joins a squad of Windriders, with a lone Fire Prism for support. The Fire Prism's weapons gain Twin-Linked on a unit within LOS of the Farseer. Essentially, the Farseer "twin-links" 3 units: The Prism, guide another, prescience another.

• Eldar Ghost Warriors - A Wraithknight goes with two Wraithlords and three squads of either Wraithguard or Wraithblades (You can mix and match). While they can't go in any transportation as a formation, they do give Hatred to all Eldar within 6" and can give a model that is covered by the members a 4+ cover save. Other than that, you can pretty much kit them out as you wish, though the cost for the formation will get pretty hefty. Since it has the covering rule, it seems rather obvious that this is meant to be your big DISTRACTION FORMATION with the Wraithlord drawing in fire while the other guys can wipe out the firing squads. If you use them for the blocking cover save, then the odds of your squishies surviving long enough to fire with Hatred gets a little better.
  • Alternate take: put them in wave serpents with holo fields and you will get them up close and personal, forget wraith blades, D-scythes kill more and you do not have assault vehicles, get Eldrad as your warlord, outflank some wraith lords with full gear, bright lances, flamers and ghost sword, push your wraith knight on whatever is left, to get Eldrad you should add him in a combined arms with two windrider jetbike units for some trolling and objective sniping with objective secured.

• Phoenix Court of Khaine (Apocalypse) - Want to play lazy apocalypse and take as few models as possible? This is the formation for you! All six phoenix lords and an avatar for 1455 points (I'm not sure where this number cam from but the total cost for avatar of khaine and phoenix lords is actually 1400 points) in a high command unit.
  • The avatar's wailing doom range extends to 24" as does his Khaine awakened rule. He has Eternal Warrior, is immune to plasma, melta and flame weapons and he gets extra attacks up to the number of Lords within 6". This formation is a horrific beat stick , but like many deathstars in apoc can be blasted off board with SD weapons. It's also a great candidate for all out attack moves as most are cc oriented.

• Cloudstrike Squadron (Apocalypse) - 3-5 Falcon tanks are needed.
  • Every Falcon here can deep strike, get shrouded if they move full-out and get lance on their lasers and brightlances if they forgo a turn of shooting. Falcon tanks have a modest transport capacity and can tote some Fire Dragons around for the hell of it. If taken with the Phoenix Court, you can use Baharroth to ensure a deep strike location next to valuable targets.

• Farseer Council (Apocalypse) - 5-10 Farseers (with one possibly being Eldrad) meld minds.
  • An OK formation that gives anyone within 12" of the targeted Farseer a hyper version of Guide and Prescience. It also has a way to disregard perils so long as at least 3 of them are alive.

• Sunstorm Squadron (Apocalypse) - 3-5 Fire Prisms get to combine powers and blow shit up.
  • This is used for one thing: Combining fire. One of the Prisms have to fire TL with the others contributing, with each additional contributor adding to the range and stats of the shot, upping it from a Large Blast to an Apocalyptic Mega-Blast. All to ruin everyone's day.

• Wraithknight Dreamwalker Squad (Apocalypse) - 3-5 Wraithknights are made to join.
  • There's not many formations that can call themselves such utter cheese, but this is one of them. The Knights each get to add a bonus equal to the members in the squad to their movement, charge range, BS, and WS. Now, HOW WILL THIS BE FAIR?!?

• Windrider Host (Apocalypse) - A biking Autarch, a Vyper, and 2 Windrider squads are needed, with 3+ additional choices between Farseers, Warlocks, Windriders and Vypers.
  • This formation has two bonuses. One is Scout. The other allows bikers that fire shuriken catapults/cannons within 18" of the Autarch to re-roll failed to-wound/Pen tests that don't glance or Pen. Both are meant to keep them moving as quickly as possible.

Warzone Valedor

• The Crimson Death (Apocalypse) - 3-5 Crimson Hunters are grouped together, with one of them being an Exarch.
  • This formation is meant to be a very precise attack, as all its rules are meant for taking out priority targets. If they kill Superheavies of any sort or a Warlord, they gain an additional VP, while killing the Warmaster gives them d3 VPs. However, losing them all forks over a VP to the enemy, as these guys are rare as all get-out.

• Crystal Sons of Asuryan (Apocalypse) - Asurmen takes the lead of at least 3 Dire Avengers, each with an Exarch.
  • This is a risky loadout, as while the Avengers and Exarchs gain a bonus to their S and T equal to the number of turns, they must take an equal number of Toughness tests and for each one that passes, another Avenger of your choosing must be killed. If you can ensure that the other side can die very quickly, you're going to have to lose someone.

• Gemini Revenant Squad (Apocalypse) - 2 Revenant Titans are grouped up because Gemini.
  • The two titans are mindlinked in two ways: if one of them hits a target, the other gains TL on that same enemy on that turn. If one of them is hit in the Holofield, the other one gains Forewarned and everyone else can only fire snap shots at him for the rest of the turn. Just remember that just because one of them can be protected doesn't mean the other one can, and be sure to guard them accordingly.

• Ghost Warrior Warhost (Apocalypse) - At least 3 Spiritseers join at least 2 Wraithlords, at least 2 units of Wraithguard and/or Wraithblades, and at least 1 Wraithknight, all on foot.
  • This formation is meant to be supportive, as everyone within 12" of the formation gains Fearless and every unit in the formation within 6" of the Spiritseers gain Preferred Enemy against a single codex of your choosing. If you place them in front of the enemy, then rest assured that they will fight it and fight to the last.

• The Great Troupe (Apocalypse) - 3+ Harlequin Troupes (with one of them being a special Troupe Master) can take 3+ Vypers or Venoms.
  • This Troupe Master gets Crusader, Deep Strike, Fear, and Preferred Enemy (CSM and Daemons). He also gets WS/BS7, 3 Wounds, I7 and 4 attacks, making him almost a pseudo-Phoenix Lord. He also gives all Harlequins Blind and Concussive on their guns. Also, for every 6 rolled on the Blind test, the target gets confused and their melee weapons now get Unwieldy, giving them a chance to actually kill something.

• Guardian Battlehost (Apocalypse) - an Autarch leads 3+ squads of Guardians with at least 1 Vaul's Wrath battery and at least 1 War Walker to the battle. On foot.
  • Anyone within 12" of this formation gets stubborn, while also getting a new tool: the Celestial Shield. Once per game before your turn, you can pick a single point within 1" of this formation. This is where the shield will be and anyone within 12" of this point gets a 3++ save against shooting. However, you must roll d6 on every turn thereafter, where 1-3 means it leaves and a 4+ means it stays. Considering what saves they do have, a 3++ sounds real nice, and the range really can give your little guys some good breaks.

• High Council of Iyanden (Apocalypse) - Yriel, a Farseer, a Spiritseer, and a Wraithlord all become unique characters.
  • Yriel gets two orbital strikes to use on any turns (But not both at once) that must be paid for with VPs while he's alive, just so he can shock that Chapter Master.
  • The Farseer gives you the ability to take d3 Strategic Assets (Flank March, Precise Coordinates, or Strands of Fate).
  • The Wraithlord can make all his attacks Smash and his flamers become AP3. Rockin'.
  • The Spiritseer gives all Wraith units within 12" TL and re-rolls to hit in Combat. Niceness.

• Mindstorm Squadron (Apocalypse) - 3-5 Hemlock Wraithfighters blowing shit up.
  • More than 2 of the fighters can exchange their shots to make a Mindstorm within 72" and LoS from the members. The Mindstorm is a blast that changes in size depending on how many Hemlocks are within 12" of the leader, and anyone hit by it must test Ld on 3d6+Number of Hemlocks contributing. Failing causes a number of wounds equal to how much they failed, and it can also confer a vehicle damage result without taking hull points. This makes it very appealing to swarms and the like, as well as useful on vehicles if they don't fire back.

Supplements

Due to the renaming of the codex to Codex Eldar: Craftworlds, GW in the Codex Eldar: Craftworlds FAQ ruled this supplement still counts!

Iyanden

• Heroes of Iyanden: A Wraithlord or Wraithknight can be your Warlord, even though it's not an HQ model. This rule is weird and not particularly useful, especially given most of the Warlord powers are iffy to begin with. On the one hand, your opponent will struggle to take your Warlord down for an extra victory point; on the other hand, it will make your big Wraiths even more of a target than they already are.
• Shadow Council: You can take up to 5 Spiritseers per HQ slot. This means you can pepper them throughout the army without jeopardizing your chance to take a Farseer. However, note that taking a ton of them becomes very expensive very fast.
• Gifts of Asuryan: You can still take Remnants of Glory, you just can't take items from both lists on the same character. We'll go into more detail about those below.
• Voice of Twilight: Any Spiritseer in an Iyanden army treats the Voice of Twilight (a psychic power exclusive to Iyanden) as the primaris power for Runes of Battle, meaning you can't take Conceal/Reveal. Voice of Twilight is a two-Warp-Charge power that gives all Wraith units within 12" Battle Focus and Furious Charge. This probably takes more than it gives, given just how potent Conceal/Reveal is. Battle Focus makes them a bit more mobile (and is a darling for the Wraithknight), but Furious Charge is very iffy.
  • This power is more design for your Wraithguard/Blades if anything.
• Warlord Traits: Your Warlord can roll on the Iyanden Warlord Traits table, discussed below.

Warlord Traits

• 1: A Hero for Ages Past and Future: 3D rerolls for your warlord, useful if you make a Wrathknight or lord to be the Warlord.
• 2: Beacon of Hope Renewed: The Warlord and everybody within 12" of him get Feel No Pain (6+). It will cover most of your army fairly easily and is certainly nice, but it's not exactly a huge benefit.
• 3: Driven by Ancient Doom: The Warlord and his unit gain Hatred. Useful, but most of your Warlord options will not be close-combat oriented, and if they are, they generally have high WS anyway, so this is only mediocre.
• 4: Lord of the Sorrowful Dead: The Warlord can use the Spirit Mark ability from the Spiritseer; if he is a Spiritseer, he can Spirit Mark two enemies per turn. In both cases, it lightens the load on your Spiritseers, but this isn't as useful as in standard Eldar, since you can take a Shadow Council of a up to five Spiritseers. Also of special note is that you can get this for a Wraithlord or Wraithknight, which makes them far more effective as a support unit. Query: How does this work now since Spirit Mark has changed. I imagine it would be fine for non- Spiritseer HQs, but how does a Spiritseer spirit mark any units in this edition.
• 5: The Purity of a Flawless Soul: The Warlord and his unit get +1 to Deny the Witch. If you get this on a Farseer or Spiritseer, it'll make the unit all-but-invulnerable to psychic powers. For pretty much anything else, it's nice but not particularly good.
• 6: The Undying Flame: The Warlord rerolls all failed saving throws, but if he takes an unsaved wound, he loses the ability. This is pretty amazing, all things considered, since it greatly improves the survivability of your Warlord. This is especially nice on the Wraithknight and Wraithlord; it makes the two of those all-but-indestructible.

Gifts of Asuryan

• The Celestial Lance: The weapon of the Shining Spears Phoenix lord. It has a short range lance shot while its melee is basically a powerfist at normal initiative you can only use when you charge, but if it kills a character/monstrous creature it explodes! Place a large blast on top of it and everyone but the bearer takes a hit at equal strength with saves allowed.
• Soulshrive: A master-crafted S3 (not S User) AP2 melee weapon; every time you kill with it, you add 1 more strength to it.
• The Wraithforge Stone: Here's the cheese, during each of your movement phases a wraithlord or wraithkight heals a wound on a 3+. Makes them even harder to kill, which is good due to all the fire they're going to take.
• Guardian Helm of Xellethon: Wraithguard in your unit take all your hits, and can accept challenges.
• Spear of Teuthlas: You can't have Iyanna Arienal but here's the next best thing, her spear. Basically a singing spear with rending and +6" of range when you throw it. Given that you get the rending dice on any roll of a six this means that you can carve open vehicles that much better in melee, and, thanks to rending, have a better chance of going through somebody's armor save. When thrown, you lose armourbane, just like a singing spear, so Rending guarantees you can and will penetrate AV15, not that that's common. Not a lot, but at a mere 15 points if you were going to get a singing spear HQ model you may as well get this and add a little more punch.

Allies

Battle Brothers

a.k.a. They're all fucked in the head, but hey, kind looks after their own.

Dark Eldar

They may be emo assholes but sometimes you have to trust your family over a bunch of inbred apes. 7E FAQ has put the kibosh on numerous allies loopholes, like how battle brothers can no longer deploy in allied transports; however, their transports look like utter sex and they are still assault transports for your Banshees. Some fat/tg/uys might complain about fluff and brokenness; for fluff, in the novel Path of the Archon, Asdrubael Vect was shown to have enslaved some Wraithguard and kept them as a secret weapon. In this vein, consider a Webway Portal Archon/Haemonculus as a delivery system for your D-Guard. Suck it. Also, if you're looking to take some allied poison dakka and find the Deldar HQ choices underwhelming, a cheap alternative is taking a court with a single Lhamaean satisfying the mandatory HQ and keeping the list battleforged. An Autarch Skyrunner attached to a Reaver Squad is utter rape, and helps mitigate their fragility, vis-a-vis the Banshee Mask. Another unit to consider is Incubii; ap2 at initiative can do wonders if you want to sacrifice dakka for manfighting.

Harlequins

Thanks to the new minidex, you can now take a Harlequin Troupe as troops! (pun intended) (That's not a pun, it's a homophone.) They have far more flexibility! If you were eyeing the Inquisition assassins, try the Solitaire, with crazy close-combat goodness! The Shadowseer is capable of using Telepathy, Sanctic, and their own unique Discipline called Phantasmancy, which allows them to fire their trademark Veil of Tears AND another potentially trolltastic power to support your ground troops. The Death Jester can join Dark Reapers if you're too cheap to bring Maugan Ra or shack up with some random guardians and provide some bonus firepower. Just be sure you can protect their vehicles because they are way more fragile than yours since they're all open-topped.

Eldar Corsairs (Forge World)

Best allies by far but you have to convert most of them yourself. Take a Prince with Traveller of Forgotten Paths and give the leader of every squad a Warphase Key generator for 25 points. Yes, this piece of wargear is as awesome as it sounds. Create web-way portals anywhere within 3" of the model instead of shooting a weapon which any friendly unit in reserves can use to non-scatter deepstrike within 3" and any unit on the field can use to enter ongoing reserves.

Ynnari (Fracture of Biel-Tan)

99% of the best tricks you had with your allies came back, and all it cost you was a Craftworld getting eaten by the unlikely alliance of the Masque and Skarbrand. These guys give you the all the Craftworld and Harlequin tricks, and anything from the Dark City that isn't of the Covens or from Shaa'dom, in a scrappier, fight like there's no tomorrow faction. Where Craftworlders like to stay back and exploit their natural speed, and Dark Eldar need to wait until mid to late-game to hit on all cylinders, the Reborn like to keep tight, wade in, and turn any losses accrued, on either side, into advantages, either launching an opportunistic/retaliatory charge/salvo, or bugging out if things get too hairy. If you had buyer's remorse for grabbing Wyches/Hellions, take some small satisfaction in knowing that their fragility can serve a purpose in this list, by setting up Soulburst actions and acting as chaff. Wraithguard in a Raider is dirtier than ever in this list, almost guaranteed to get to double-tap their Wraithcannon every time they shoot, if sent against a reasonably small target. - however, it looks as though units in transports can't benefit from Strength from Death, since they are not on the table, so you'll need to disembark to do so.

Allies of Convenience

a.k.a. even we need bullet sponges

• Adepta Sororitas: Honestly, this is just a means to grab some more heavy anti-armor weapons, but Fire Dragons do it so much better at a better range. They do however have the option to have cover ignoring melta guns (be sure to have the Dominions give you a suicide squad brofist) and more template weapons than any other army. Plus, if you're footslogging, they provide cheap metal boxes to hide behind that are slightly less squishy than their Space Marine equivalents. Worth a look.
• Blood Angels: All of their finest units (eg: Death Company, Furiosos, Sanguinary Guard etc) will massively augment your Eldar force. They also like playing with high speed dickery and high AV transports really help. Oh yeah, and Stormravens. Obviously.
• Dark Angels: Fire support isn't something you really need between Fire Dragons, support platforms, and the Wave Serpent. Now, Deathwing might make for a decent (if expensive) beatstick force to keep busy for your guns, and Ravenwing gives you a lot more firepower for mobility, which regular bikers kinda struggle with.
• Grey Knights: Runes of Warding are no more so that wouldn't interfere with them, but they are a very expensive allies. What they aren't is squishy - Terminators and Paladins might make decent screens, if not for the fact that your infantry, even footslogging, will outrace them.
• Imperial Guard: Tons of shooting and big guns, tons of bodies, or a bit of both. You can use them as bullet shields, or to bring in more high-strength shooting at decent price.
• Inquisition: Their usefulness is based entirely upon their Battle Brothers, which you aren't. Take only if you're taking other Imperial units.
• Space Marines: Useful to deploy (Ironclad) dreadnoughts via drop pods next to units that can fire across the entire board, e.g. Deathstrike missile launcher. Also, they can deploy a thunderfire for cover boosting (techmarine) and decimating that squad of orks that fell out of the Battle Wagon whose front armour got blown open by a Fire Prism.
• Space Wolves: They provide some decent psyker protection and have impressive melee / counter-attack capabilities to protect your fire support.
• Tau Empire: Taudar, ever heard of it? An army with a lot of more shooting out of different guns then your own, with their own steroided codex they have some good options. Fire warriors for the longer ranged dakka, railguns for railguns sake, the Riptide which is like the Wraithknight but smaller and with better saves, and their fairly awesome commanders. They also have plenty of options for AA fire in case you don't feel like taking EMLs (or any of the units that can use them).
  • A Note: Seventh edition kiboshed the cheddarfest that 6e Taudar had been, with Farseer buffs on Riptides, or cover-ignoring, twin-linked Wraithguard, however, the combination is still effective.
• Imperial Knights Your Wraithknights are better. Don't bother.
• Officio Assassinorum: Vindicares? Well, at least they can snipe and they have more options than Illic or our rangers. Eversors? Yeah, they boast a lot of attacks, but out Banshees ignore overwatch and Shining Spears can hold their own at range. Callidus? Their use is strictly meta, and after their effects are used, so are they. Culexus? Get that shit out of here. They'll fuck up all your powers!

Desperate Allies

a.k.a. have the enemy kill them now, so we don't have to kill them later

• Orks: Meat shields extraordinaire. Sadly, as desperate allies you may not want to be too close to them - I say sadly, because orks eat overwatch fire like pros if you don't want to stock up on Howling Banshees. A less viable option but still useful as a tarpit if you take large units with a Painboy. Don't bother with their vehicles, yours outclass them by far.

Come the Apocalypse

Shit's already fucked, just make sure they die asap without getting our hands dirtyAnd there is good cheese in here to get it dirty with.

• Chaos Space Marines: Obliterators can provide you some weaponry to deal with almost any situation, and of course Heldrakes. Because you may as well cripple your opponent emotionally as well.
• Chaos Daemons:
• Necrons: If you "allie" with your ancient enemies you could as well bring an Overlord /w Scythe and S/B Lychguard plus some Troops all in Night Scythes, so they don't interfere with your army. You could also bring some Wraiths to eat fire and rend stuff. This should distract your enemy from your fragile troops.
• Tyranids: Chances are, these are what bring the apocalypse. If you somehow manage to ally yourself to a swarm of the least picky eaters in the galaxy, then god help whatever faces you. Ramming a blob of nasty looking man-sized bugs up the enemies arse might offer up a tasty distraction while your more damaging units and aspect warriors get to doing the real work.

Tactics

So, here we have an army that is strongly specialized heading into a battle where any sort of enemy (From an armor company to a swarm of angry cockroaches) could show up and start shooting, or eating faces. You gotta bring along the right tools or you're screwed. Within that context, putting together an Eldar army isn't so hard - half the troops only do one thing, and most often that's "shred infantry."

First, and I hate to repeat myself, the specialist nature of this army means that you could very easily bring 1000 points of awesome fun stuff but still lack the ability to melt enemy tanks. You then end up watching an invincible White Elephant stomp all over your fancy troops. For your own sake, don't go to war without a Falcon or a Fire Prism, or even some Dragons or Wraithguard, or just somebody with some Brightlances. Take anti-tank stuff, because nothing is more expensive than regret. Your army is likewise incomplete without some hand to hand troops. Against Space Marines and Necrons, Banshees are the suggested elf type, while Scorpions should be used against Orks and probably Tyranids. However, remember to tilt the odds in your favor before the fight. These aren't space marines you're playing, sonny boy - fight dirty.

Questions about Troops and capturing objectives are hard to settle, so every Kaladriel is going to have to decide for himself. Of course a big meaty unit of Guards or Vengers running over to an objective and Going to Ground is a great way to make everyone sad. Two such units (always take Warlocks and probably Scatter Lasers) will give you great ability to hold turf as long as you aren't point-charged by Vanguard Veterans. 3 Guardian Jetbikes go for 51 points, and they can beat almost anyone to a far-flung objective, except maybe Rangers who can infiltrate. Anyway, piles of raw bullet sponge are rare in the Eldar army (Wraithguard come to mind, but they cost a lot of points and have difficulty with transports) and everyone loves Objectives so think it over.

Seventh edition did make this a little easier, since now everything can score. Think about how badly you really need Objective Secured. It doesn't hurt, but it probably won't make or break you. Having the right tool for the job, however, will.

Space Marine and Necron officers might be fine at running around by themselves and doing CS Goto shit, but your little fairy princes and interior decorators can't do that because they will die. Your boss men have T3 and 4++ saves and there's nothing you can do about it. To practice true eldar Unit Synergy, you are going to team your Farseer or Autarch up with somebody. Between the two, the Autarch is the 'I don't care about my HQ' choice - he is cheap and easy to design once you accept that he is basically just going to lead your favorite team of Aspect Warriors. Don't overthink him, and don't feel like he always has to have a spider pack. Remember the reserve roll modifications, since that is probably the real reason you are taking him (or her, could be either). Farseers are the big HQ choice, who are there to set the tone of your army. The proactive Farseer (and his Warlocks) will want to jetbike forwards, whang on tanks and zap enemy officers with Mind War. The sneaky, methodical Eldar player will plant him in the middle somewhere and have him cast Guide and Doom into every firefight.

Above all else, play to this army's strengths. You will lose exchanges of fire with the hammer of the Imperium or the weeaboo space communists, you will lose battles of attrition to Orks and 'Nids, and you will lose in close-combat to the specialists of other races. Take full advantage of the other races' weaknesses, and exploit the ever-loving shit out of them. If you fail to do so, the bulk of your army will be turned into brightly-colored confetti in short order.

Special note must be made of enemy artillery units - focusing as heavily as they do on light armor, Basilisks, Manticore Rocket Launchers, and Doomsday Arks are your kryptonite, and must be focused on immediately, as much their analogues amongst other races, such as Whirlwinds or Skyrays. Make extensive use of your superior mobility against these, deep strike them if possible, and do anything you can to kill them before they can get a shot off - your superior mobility (and ability to control distance) means little to a unit which can fire from across the map.

Building your Army

• The Biel-tan Route: Commonly known as "One thousand frozen leaves falling to cut". More commonly known as Swordwind. This means getting Aspect warriors; Dire Avengers, Dark Reapers, Fire Dragons, etc. Who are very good at a particular task. This is the potentially most lethal of the three.
  • The advantage is the raw lethality of a specialist at its trade. Dire Avengers hold the line while Dark Reapers suppress the enemy. Warp spiders pop in and out of nowhere to tear apart enemies before ducking behind terrain. Fire Dragons close with the enemy to engage with Meltaguns. Scorpions creep into close combat as Howling Banshees pour out of a transport to tear apart heavy infantry.
  • The disadvantage is the reliance on cover and getting everyone in the right spot at the right time. Get knocked off your game and the army evaporates.
  • This method got majorly buffed in the Craftworlds codex, as now you can field "Aspect Hosts" that get +1 BS OR +1 WS for the formation. Want an entire squad of heavy elf ninjas with the combat prowess of Space Marine Commanders for a fraction of the cost? Just choose WS for your Scorpions and Banshees. Want to make IG Tank Companies run in terror of your fusion guns? Choose BS for your Fire Dragons and Dark Reapers and never miss a shot ever again. With Crimson Hunters being technically Aspect Warriors and have their own formation to boot, you can figuratively dominate the skies over your enemy's head and own the dirt on which they stand.

• The Saim-Hann Path: This means putting virtually everybody on jetbikes and disdaining everything without an engine. You run jetbiking seer councils, Farseers, and Autarchs. Your troops are Windriders. Your Fast Attack choices are Shining Spears and Vypers, or Hornets if you have the points and cash to burn on them. Your Heavy Supports are Falcons, Warp Hunters, and Fire Prisms. If your overall formation is even remotely comparable from one turn to the next, then you're doing it wrong.
  • Surprisingly, this is the most defensive path. Jetbikes confer a 3+ armor save on top of +1 toughness. The jetbikes of the army roll with a 4+ cover save from Jink (while Shining Spears get a 4+ just for moving and a 3+ if they Jink), while the vehicles also get a 5++ from Holo-fields. It is also very tactically flexible, seeing as the entire army can move more than 12" per turn and can be in and out of a given section of the board in seconds while your enemy swings at thin air.
  • Unfortunately, you need a fortune to field this kind of army. The vehicles alone are going to be 200+ apiece with upgrades and jetbikes aren't free. Expect to be outnumbered on a regular basis.
  • Don't forget Allies - Dark Eldar and Harlequin allies fit quite well with this overall strategy. Move like greased lightning, hit hard then fade out before the retribution can come. Be an unbelievable pain in the ass.
  • This has become one of the more versatile methods as the new Craftworld Host Detachment very easily allows you to field this with impunity. Obviously, Windrider Host will form the core of your army, but with it you gain a permanent 6" to your run move on top of the command benefits from the Windrider host itself. You also have access to a pure Jetseer formation (the Seer Council can be fielded on jetbikes) and a whopping 12 "Engines of Vaul" and "Aspect Hosts" choices, letting you deal death like no other (points provided of course).

• The Way of Alaitoc: This means Pathfinders saturating the good infiltration spots, War Walkers blowing the holy and unholy fuck out of shit, and more psykers than you can shake a bolter at. Long range firepower and lots of it.
  • This is the least powerful of the three set ups. Rangers got nerfed in terms of rules, but got a points reduction. Illic Nightspear is a must for this build, seeing as the Alaitoc players would want Pathfinders (shrouded and precision shots). Psykers, such as Farseers and Spiritseers, tie the entire thing together.
  • The bad thing about this is how static everything is. Pathfinders can't snipe and move and Wraith anythings don't Fleet. War Walkers have Battle Focus and a 5++ save and can outflank, their rules have improved, yet your starting positions tend to be your ending positions.
  • If you're using Allies with this kind of army setup, look at Tau, especially Kroot and Stealth Suits, possibly with Hazard suits to back up the War Walkers.

• The Way of Iyanden: AKA, the "Wraithwall" - this is a very slow moving setup that involves at least one Spiritseer and a metric tonne of Wraithguard that may or may not have Wraithlord or Wraithknight support. Whether they be in squads of five or ten, this set up can shrug off tremendous volleys of fire, keep on moving, and then unleash a barrage of Strength D shots that will table anything and everything, even Titans. Wave Serpents optional (and definitely something to be considered should you decide to field Wraithblades or D-Scythe Wraithguard).
  • If you want Allies, Dark Eldar are the obvious choice. Wraithblades' mobility is aided greatly by Raiders, since they can assault out of them, and a squad of Talos is a good compliment for the slow but tough Wraith units. As of the official FAQ you cannot have Battle Brothers start in each others' transports.
    • As of the release of Fracture of Biel-Tan, the Reborn Warhost is an objectively better way to run Iyanden-themed armies. Not only do you get ways to maximize your signature units' strengths, via Strength from Death, and minimize your main weakness, again through Soulburst actions and also through access to Raiders, Venoms, and Starweavers, but also through gaining access to the Whispering Ghost Hall Formation which, while having some lackluster rules (Fear, and extra support therefore), better chances to Hit and extra Psyker support make for a useful addition.
  • WORD OF WARNING: If you ever plan on running this method, do not, and I can't stress this enough, do NOT go overboard with D-scythes and Wraithknights if you ever want to play with friends again. If you plan to use the Warhost detachment, then you should only field one Wraith Host, and allocate the rest of your points on your troops.
  • Alternate Take: Your friends will hate you anyway. In a tournament standard 1850 points, take a Wraith Host, close combat style Wraithknight, one squad of Wriathguard in a Wave Serpent with D-Scythes, with a CAD consisting of two Farseers and two Bike Squads, all with Heavy Weapons and Warlocks. Take Runes of Fate on Both Farseers, and Telepathy on the Spiritseer. If you get Fortune, Invisibility, or both, and put them on the Wraithknight, you will be an unstoppable force. With both on it, a Wraithknight can take on 80+ Gauss shots and emerge without taking a single wound. You as a player, on the other hand, may not be so lucky when facing your opponent's wrath.

• The Yme-Loc mech: Remember the good old times when our Falcon-chassis didn't get glanced to death or Grav-gunned instantly due to bad wording? Yes, you do. You take up lots and lots of Serpents with basic Scatter lasers (or, now that scatter lasers lack Laser Lock, brightlances or starcannons), support it with a couple of Dragon-serpents or Wraith-serpents.
  • What's good is that you basically have up to 8 AV12 serpents with two of them being Dragon-pents to kill those things that can't be gunned down with SHITTONS of S6 shots (though admittedly not as many as before, at least not more than once). And yeah, you have 6 scoring units.

It is perfectly normal to blend these setups together. Just know how each part was built to be made and balance out the pros and cons.

<tabs> <tab name="10th">

Warhammer 40,000 Tactics Articles (10th Edition)

General Tactics	General Weapons Terrain
Imperium	Space Marines (Black Templars, Blood Angels, Dark Angels, Deathwatch, Space Wolves) Grey Knights
	Adeptus Mechanicus Adeptus Titanicus Imperial Knights Imperial Guard Sisters of Battle
	Adeptus Custodes & Sisters of Silence Imperial Agents (Inquisition, Rogue Traders, etc.)
Chaos	Chaos Space Marines (Death Guard Thousand Sons World Eaters)
	Chaos Daemons Chaos Knights Chaos Titans
Eldar	Eldar (Craftworlds, Corsairs, Harlequins, Ynnari) Dark Eldar
Necrons	Necrons
Orks	Orks
Tau	Tau
Tyranids	Tyranids Genestealer Cults
Votann	Leagues of Votann

</tab>

<tab name="9th">

Warhammer 40,000 Tactics Articles (9th Edition)

General Tactics	General Movement Psychic Fortifications Tactical Terrain Weapons Apocalypse
Imperium	Space Marines (Blood Angels Dark Angels Deathwatch Space Wolves) Grey Knights
	Adeptus Mechanicus Adeptus Titanicus Imperial Knights Imperial Guard Sisters of Battle
	Adeptus Custodes & Sisters of Silence Inquisition Officio Assassinorum Rogue Traders
Chaos	Chaos Space Marines (Death Guard Thousand Sons World Eaters)
	Chaos Daemons Chaos Knights Renegades and Heretics
Eldar	Craftworld Eldar Dark Eldar Harlequins Ynnari
Necrons	Necrons
Orks	Orks
Tau	Tau
Tyranids	Tyranids Genestealer Cults
Votann	Leagues of Votann

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<tab name="8th">

Warhammer 40,000 Tactics Articles (8th Edition)

General Tactics	General Movement Psychic Fortifications Apocalypse
Imperium	Space Marines Blood Angels Dark Angels Deathwatch Grey Knights Space Wolves
	Talons of the Emperor (Custodes and Sisters of Silence) Adeptus Mechanicus
	Adeptus Ministorum (Sisters of Battle and minor factions) Adeptus Titanicus
	Imperial Knights Imperial Guard Inquisition Officio Assassinorum
Chaos	Chaos Space Marines (Death Guard Thousand Sons)
	Chaos Daemons Chaos Knights Renegades and Heretics
Eldar	Eldar Dark Eldar Harlequins
Necrons	Necrons
Orks	Orks
Tau	Tau
Tyranids	Tyranids Genestealer Cults

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<tab name="7th">

Warhammer 40,000 Tactics Articles (7th Edition)

General Tactics	General Movement Psychic Fortifications
Imperium	Space Marines (Siege Assault Vanguard) Blood Angels Dark Angels Deathwatch Grey Knights Space Wolves
	Adeptus Custodes Cult Mechanicus Skitarii Adeptus Sororitas
	Imperial Knights Inquisition Officio Assassinorum
	Imperial Guard (Armoured Battlegroup Death Korps of Krieg Assault Brigade Death Korps of Krieg Siege Regiment Elysian Drop Troops D-99)
Chaos	Chaos Space Marines Khorne Daemonkin Chaos Daemons Renegades and Heretics
Eldar	Eldar Dark Eldar Harlequins Corsairs
Necrons	Necrons
Orks	Orks Ork Dred Mob
Tau	Tau
Tyranids	Tyranids Genestealer Cults

</tab>

<tab name="6th">

Warhammer 40,000 Tactics Articles (6th Edition)

General Tactics	General Movement Psychic Fortifications
Imperium	Space Marines Blood Angels Dark Angels Grey Knights Space Wolves
	Adeptus Sororitas Inquisition
	Imperial Guard (Armoured Battlegroup Death Korps of Krieg Assault Brigade Death Korps of Krieg Siege Regiment Elysian Drop Troops) Militarum Tempestus
Chaos	Chaos Space Marines Chaos Daemons Renegades and Heretics
Eldar	Eldar Dark Eldar Corsairs
Necrons	Necrons
Orks	Orks Ork Dred Mob
Tau	Tau
Tyranids	Tyranids

</tab>

<tab name="All">

Warhammer 40,000 Tactics Articles (All)

General Tactics	General (8th) Movement (8th 7th) Psychic (8th 7th 2nd) Fortifications (8th 7th) Tactical Terrain Apocalypse (8th)
Imperium (8th)	Space Marines (8th 7th 6th 5th 4th 3rd) Blood Angels (8th 7th) Dark Angels (8th 7th) Deathwatch (8th 7th) Grey Knights (8th 7th 6th 5th 3rd, AKA Daemonhunters) Space Wolves (8th 7th 6th 5th)
	Talons of the Emperor (Custodes and Sisters of Silence) (8th 7th) Adeptus Mechanicus (8th 7th) Adeptus Ministorum (Sisters of Battle and minor factions) (8th 7th 6th 3rd, AKA Witch Hunters) Adeptus Titanicus (8th)
	Imperial Knights (8th 7th) Imperial Guard (8th 7th 6th 5th 3rd) Inquisition (8th 7th 6th) Officio Assassinorum (8th 7th)
Chaos	Chaos Space Marines (8th 7th 6th 5th) Death Guard (8th) Khorne Daemonkin - 7th Edition Thousand Sons (8th) Chaos Daemons (8th 7th) Chaos Knights (8th) Renegades and Heretics (8th 7th 6th)
Eldar	Eldar (8th 7th 6th 5th) Dark Eldar (8th 7th 6th 5th 3rd Revised) Harlequins (8th 7th)
Necrons	Necrons (8th 7th 6th 5th 4th)
Orks	Orks (8th 7th 6th 5th 3rd) Ork Dred Mob - 7th edition (6th 5th) Ork Kult of Speed - 3rd edition Feral Orks - 3rd edition
Tau	Tau (8th 7th 6th 5th)
Tyranids	Tyranids (8th 7th 6th 5th) Genestealer Cults (8th 7th)

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</tabs>