Editing Warhammer 40,000/6th Edition Tactics/Eldar (section)

===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 can then take fancy versions of their weapons and buy Exarch powers depending on what they are. Exarchs are very popular and are almost always worth the chips, most especially if you like to field big squads.


'''Fire Dragons''' 

Now you see the tank, <b>BOOOOM!</b> now you don't, this is Fire dragons in a nutshell both past and present. A unit dedicated to making sure win or lose your foes never get to keep their most precious possessions, leaving even the victorious broken hearted and awash with their own greasy tears.
Fire dragons come with a little bit of gear that does a whole lot of good, their new enhanced aspect armor among them. Fusion guns are short range/high win melta weapons known by many, feared by all. They also pack melta bombs for those rainy days and foolish MCs.
The only special rules worth mentioning are the benefits of Fleet & Battle focus on these already awesome gunners and the exarchs hilarious fast shot.
Expensive like lawyers now, fire dragons have seen a large increase in points with only a few benefits to offset the cost. They still rock even in tiny squads and can bring the heat even at the smallest of point costs, but fielding them can hurt in small lists and making them get their points back is paramount, especially for larger squads.
Noticeable boosts to the unit include heavy aspect warrior for all models to deal with return fire as well as the exarchs access to fast shot for less than an additional body. Battle focus & Fleet allows dragons to possibly close a gap into melta range or shuffle off behind cover to make revenge fire all the weaker. Small (5-6 man) squads love to ride in Falcons, which can be a good choice if you've already got one and don't want to buy them their own Wave Serpent.
*'''Exarchs''' could possibly be given crushing blow for boosted strength, but they won’t be. Iron Resolve boosts your LD to 10, which can be useful for not fleeing when they get shot at (and they will) but only if you have 5 points to burn. Fast shot is, in terms of cost is amazing, a second shot at the exarchs BS and using the longer fire pike, all for less than another dragon? Sign me up. Can equip:
**'''Dragons breath flamer''', HAHAHAHA no.
**'''Fire pike''', longer ranged than a fusion gun makes for better fast shots and more availability to get in range of that 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.
Scorpions come to battle equipped with the heavy aspect armor befitting their 3+ armor save, shuriken pistols and special chainswords that raise their strength up by 1. They also wield plasma grenades and a special head based wargear in the mandiblaster, which fires a S3 AP- auto-hits against the enemy unit at the Init 10 step, unaffected by things like lash whips or the like.
Add to that the plethora of rules such as built in stealth, infiltrate and move through cover, as well as the new Battle focus and old Fleet, a pretty mobile squad for a bruiser type unit with lots of options in terms of combat for the tactical commander.
Scorpions only suffer in regards to getting into said melee and chewing through armored foes who retain good odds against their AP 6 attacks. Their heavier armor grants them an improved durability over their banshee comrades but lacking the mobility they need to close the gap as quickly, possibly exposing themselves to even greater firepower.
Scorpions excel at drowning foes in a massive wave of attacks, two normally, three on the charge, with the consistent shots of the Mandiblasters raining fire on enemies before most people even have time to draw their weapons. As a result of this setup they can quickly rend through large hordes of light armored foes and are a solid fallback for melee units to hunt your enemies down.
*'''Exarchs''' can take up to two of stalker, monster hunter and most importantly, crushing blow. This power makes the exarch even stronger than normal and turns the scorpion claw weapon into a wonderfully ambiguous <s>S8</s> S7 power claw that strikes at full speed. The claws sheer stopping power combined with crushing blow really can be worth the points for a unit that could be called upon to attack just about anything they find themselves in combat with. Can equip:
**'''Scorpion claw''', granting 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 get extra attack for having a sword. The most expensive choice of weapon but rightfully so.
**'''Biting blade''', two handed sword that hits for S5 and AP4 at the cost of his chainsword.
**'''Chain sabres''', two weapons that grant a shuriken catapult and gives the scorpion rending in melee (and S4 like the normal scorpion chainsword but with AP5 instead of AP6, a good choice for a moderate cost)



'''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. 
They all come stock with a pistol, a power sword and an iconic banshee mask that makes their enemies get -5 to their Init for the first round of your charge. Beating everyone to the punch with multiple power weapon attacks is like Chapter 1 of the Big Book of Battles. They lack the heavy aspect armor of other units which means you want to chew through as many foes on your first attack as you can to avoid retaliation kills. 
Banshees gain the benefit of Acrobatic movement when comprised of only models with that rule, giving them a bonus 3" on their run move, this is lost if you try and sneak a Farseer or autarch into their ranks, but works with Jain Zar (and combos with her warlord trait).
Eldar lack an assault transport so that option is out, though banshees do fare better aboard a transport than slogging through open terrain even with Acrobatics, their fragility being a troublesome issue before and during assaults and they cannot be foolishly thrown against an enemy force hoping to claim easy victory. Banshee's also lack grenades of any sort but that sometimes only makes the playing field even with their mask, could be worse.
Generally speaking, you want to use banshees against MEQ armor, Scorpions excel against large low armor hordes and small TEQ squads. Banshee's will usually cull the enemy force significantly with any level of psyker boosting such as Doom or Jinx.
*'''Exarchs''' can take the Fear and Disarming strike powers to challenge like there's no tomorrow or scare LD8 enemies. Banshee Exarchs don't make or break the combat power of their unit but cannot hurt the effectiveness of the squad overall. Can equip:
**'''Executioners''', which are nasty two-handed power weapons at S5 AP2.
**'''Mirror swords''', which replace the pistol and power sword for an extra attack, AP 3 and a Master-crafted re-roll.
**'''Triskele''', a throwing weapon with S3, AP3, Assault 3 in addition to being a normal power weapon.


'''Harlequins:''' 

Scorpions are heavy, Banshees are light, and Harlequins are expensive and weird. Fluffwise, they are psychic, ninja, space-elf dancer clown historians of the 40k universe. For two points above the cost of a Banshee or Scorpion, you get a pretty fighty little elf with a pistol and a mean overhand right, a weak invulnerable save, and the ability to run across terrain, Hit and Run, Fleet, and Furious Charge. Two can be upgraded to carry a little melta pistol, and any can take a Harlequin's Kiss (not as romantic as it sounds; they shove a sharpened tube into the enemy and then use a super-thin metal wire to blend their insides) which Rends in hand-to-hand. Fine so far.

For a sawbuck, you can upgrade one to be a Troupe Master, who gets a free kiss or power weapon and gets an extra swing with it. You can upgrade another to be a Death Jester with a big machine gun for 10 points, and for the big 30 you can bring a unique psyker officer named Shadow Seer, who brings a pretty effective stealth field to the unit (the enemy, upon declaring he's shooting at them, must roll 2D6 times 2 to check if he can see them. If he can't the unit cannot declare another target. Bamf) and also hands out hallucinogen grenades and weed to everyone.

Harlequins require careful use, and only begin to shine in larger points. If you're just going to shell out for the basic 5 guys, don't bother, get more Banshees/Scorpions. Everyone gets a Harlequin's Kiss and you NEED a Troupe Master and a Shadowseer, no exceptions. At that point the squad becomes a pretty nasty assault squad, which unlike both Banshee's and Scorpions, can handle both large hordes and small elite squads. Against small elite squads their invul save and rending attacks will quickly add up, and against hordes they can pump out a large number of S4 attacks on the charge to wipe them out. If you can get them where they need to be unharmed and let them loose, they can actually be a pretty brutal squad overall.

NEW INFO: So harlequin's in 6th ed fall into a wonderful category of "not scorpions" and "not banshees" which in gameplay terms means, no dedicated AP3 wounds and no specific 3+ armor save.  Sending in the clowns this edition means you hit at Str 4 on the charge for furious charge, get a 5++ and are not slowed by difficult terrain for purposes of movement on the base unit and are fleet.  They pack shuriken pistols mostly, which are 12 in range and carry the same bladestorm rule that all other eldar shuriken weapons carry, which can put wounds on pretty much any non vehicle unit on a to wound roll of 6.  Additionally, they can take two fusion pistols per unit, a power sword on the troop master and a full unit of harlequin kiss (causes rending on wound rolls of 6).  The unit is WS 5, so they will be hitting on 3s on most line infantry and mostly on 4s against dedicated assault units. 

Harlies have three model upgrades that can be taken to the unit, changing the type: 

Troupemaster - basically your squad leader, extra attack and can take a power sword for free, allowing for AP 3 attacks, min 3 attacks, LD 10, all for 20 points. 

Death Jester - your machine gun toting dude, shrieker cannon is an assault 3, strength 6, AP 5 pinning weapon with bladestorm rule. (ap2 on roll of 6 to wound).  The jester provides limited fire support and dick jokes. 

Shadowseer - hallucinogen grenades: unit counts as having plasma grenades)also has veil of tears, a 1 warp charge blessing that forces any unit targeting them to based range on a roll 2D6, multiplied by 2.  If they cannot target the unit due to not being in range, the unit cannot fire at another unit that turn. 

These guys do best in FULL units, with all the special characters against armies such as guard, eldar, tau, nids and orks, basically any army with low armor saves and a lot of indiscriminate, but not necessarily well aimed firepower.  Against low armor save armies, the shrieker can lay some wounds that will go through the armor.  

With marines, AP3 will work on power armor, and bladestorm gives you some AP 2, on the charge these guys will put out a pretty respectable amount of attacks, and with the invul theres always a chance you will save against the overwatch. 

A good straregy against ALL armies: Start the unit in cover, then parade out, ALWAYS cast veil, as there's no reason not to and parade around like a gay rights parade float.  If your opponent is baited and shoots at them, there is a decent chance that the unit will preclude shooting on some of his gunline unit.  With the exception of D weapons, you will have a save.  If you can fortune the unit, the 5+ becomes rerollable.  

If they are charged, they still put out 3-4 attacks a piece with 2x combat weapons, which may rend, if they get the charge, 4-5 per with rending on the kisses at str 4.  As with all eldar work best if target is doomed and you are fortuned.  


'''Wraithguard''' 

Resilient and terrible in their destructive power Wraithguard are the otherworldly goliaths of Eldar infantry, and their vigil is eternal. Acting as vanguards for durable front line advances Wraithguard are a unit difficult avoid for enemies and foolish to ignore.
With a toughness of 6 and heavily armored wraithbone granting them a 3+ armor save wraithguard are as durable as terminator equivalents of other armies and wield terrific weapons. The Wraithcannon is short range and utterly lethal against all targets, the S10 AP2 gun shreds all targets with equal fury and distort rule gives it the ability to instant death, as though anything would survive it normally. The D-scythe is the newcomer in this codex, shorter range than even the cannon, the scythe unleashes the unraveling energies of the wraithcannon in a wave rather than a focused blast, S4 AP2 flamer means no cover or armour save can defend against them, and they maintain their distort ability for any tank crossing their path. Immune to assault because of WALL OF DEATH!
Wraithsight is gone HUZZAH, also a bulky and fearless unit, nothing new and nothing bad.
You want to use the Wraithguard as the anvil of your army, moving up fearlessly each turn while other more mobile Eldar think away at your opponent’s forces. Once in range of a target wraithguard will kill it, they just will, 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. 
*'''Spiritseer''' allow these units to becomes troops at all squad sizes. Wraithguard are a snatch for runes of battle powers like protect, conceal or quicken. Alternatively powers like reveal and horrify work well to soften your targets. Spirit-mark ability does not benefit D-scythes.


'''Wraithblades''' 

Like the wraithguard the wraithblades are Eldar wraithbone constructs, only with a focus on melee combat as opposed to near melee ranged weaponry. 
The armaments of the Wraithblades change their dynamic in pretty significant ways. For those that enjoy visceral reckless carnage they come stock dual-wielding ghostswords, AP3 swords you’ll be wielding with S6 and about two attacks a model. On the other hand, they can freely switch for a combination of Ghostaxe S7 AP2 with a 4++ shield, giving them more of a termy hunting role while being very durable and threatening unit.
No shitty Wraithsight which would have hurt them even worse than Wraithguard.
They do not make many attacks, however given the strength and AP of the weapons they would have just needed the distort rule of their ranged weapons to make everything blend, EVERYTHING. But although they DON'T have distort they're still beasts in melee. No assault transports for Eldar but in a pinch wraithblades with shields for the meatiest 'want to kill' target, [[DISTRACTION CARNIFEX|Which could be used for your advantage]].
*'''Spiritseer''' allows these units to becomes troops at all squad sizes. Wraithblades benefit greatly from enhance, protect, quicken, empower and even conceal if lacking shields (or in cover). Sapping your enemies own power in preparation for the assault are powers like horrify, drain and enervate.