Editing Warhammer 40,000/8th Edition Tactics/Eldar (section)

===Specific Army Builds===

'''Bike Swarm:''' Not a pure craft worlds list per say but close enough to be included here. With the advent of the new space marine meta quite a few of the "classic" Craftworlds lists have been rendered almost unplayable, fortunately there are a few lists out there that almost perfectly counter the AIDS of the space marines meta; this one included. Take 1 to 3 max size units of Shining Spears with the withdraw Exarch power, (Starlance exarch weapon) and three warlock Skyrunners, Jinx/protect, Empower/enervate and Quicken/Restrain (probably take a Farseer with Doom and Guide as well). You'll also need 3 units of harlequin Skyweavers with zephyrglaives and haywire cannons with a Shadowseer, Twilight Pathways and Webway Dance. Finally take an Alaitoc or custom detachment with 3x units of rangers using your Quicken/Restrain warlock and Farseer as HQ's, if after all this you have any points to spare put them into a large unit of dark reapers with Tempest Launcher and Long-Ranged fire. 

You probably get the idea by now, as many fast hard to kill, 2 damage toting units you can get, a list tailor made to kill those Primaris rats, with Protect and Withdraw on your lead unit of Shining Spears you'll be almost immune to melee attacks from basic space marines, S6 AP-4 and D2 will make a mockery of Primaris and Centurions alike and their fly keyword allows them to charge those pesky Stormtalons and Stormhawks. One unit of skyweavers can have a 3++ every phase for 1cp and another can be -2 to hit, don't forget they can move twice too with twilight pathways. They're hitting with 3 S5 AP-1 D2 attacks each in combat, but their true strength is against vehicles at range, doing an average of 1-2 mortal wounds per bike to any unit with the vehicle keyword - no Ironstone is going to save them this time!        

'''Wave Serpents:''' The premiere tank of the Craftworlds, Wave Serpents outclass Falcons as durable transports that offer no small amount of firepower for considerably less cost than any other grav tank that you can field. However, if all it'll be transporting is a small squad of Fire Dragons/Howling Banshees, you could consider to pay a bit more for the Falcon in order to increase its fire power.
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*'''Wraith-Bus:''' Despite how durable wraith units are, they don't appreciate having to slowly slog it across the field with either melee or flamer-range weapons while your opponent lights them up with all manner of heavy firepower from half a table away. Wave Serpents can comfortably fit a squad of 5 blades or guard accompanied by a Spiritseer or Yvraine (or both if you wish!) while providing decent amounts of extra firepower. Wraithblades accompanied by an Enhance Spiritseer can absolutely slaughter most infantry with 20 S6 AP-2 attacks that hit on 2+ (with re-rolls!). This can be made extraordinarily terrifying if the Spiritseer is using a Psytronome of Iyanden, giving each Wraithblade within his 6" bubble a staggering 6 attacks on the charge (for a 5-statue squad, that's [[Rip and tear| 30 S6 AP-2 attacks!]] While this costs each affected squad d3 Mortal Wounds, you're at worst losing 1 Wraithblade in exchange for what's likely the entirety of the squad they just charged. If you're feeling feisty, you can do this with some Ynnari Wraithblades (They're still {{W40Kkeyword|<CRAFTWORLD>}} units after all, and the Psytronome applies to all {{W40Kkeyword|IYANDEN}} Wraith units) and ''very'' likely trigger a Soulburst. Just be careful that if you do this, you don't accidentally leave your Spiritseer to the [[Space Wolves|wolves]] while your Wraithblades charge off to make [[Khorne | Khaine]] proud. 
*'''Fire-Bus:''' The much cheaper option than those pricey wraith units, these guys basically exist to be crammed into Wave Serpents for your anti-vehicle/monster needs. While they're basically throw-away units after they open up on their first target, they can do surprising amounts of damage when operating under Strength from Death. Watch your opponent pop an artery when your Fire Dragons immediately incinerate those Space Marines that tumbled out of that rhino you roasted literally seconds before them. Depending on how important those Fire Dragons are, consider taking a non-warlord Autarch or Warlock to provide re-roll support or defensive buffs so that they can do their jobs effectively and ''potentially'' even survive the following turn.
*'''Banshee-Bus:''' A squad of 6-8 Howling Banshees grouped up with a 4-6 elf Warlock Conclave can prove a relatively competent strike-squad that can handle ''most'' standard infantry relatively well. A Drain-Empower casting conclave can significantly buff the survivability and damage output of the Howling Banshees, who will be able to relatively reliably wound infantry up to and including MEQ squads. Drain on top of the H.B's hit modifier means that most enemies remotely competent in melee are only hitting back on a 5+. The Warlocks can also try to join the fray with their Witchblades, though MEQ targets and above can usually shake off their attacks using their standard saves. Additionally, even though the Warlocks all have a 4++ with several wounds apiece, losing 1-3 of those Warlocks will permanently handicap your Banshees due to the reduced powers per turn. Commit them only if you're certain they can survive your opponent's next combat round. As far as the number of Warlocks you're taking, if you're confident that you can keep your Warlocks safe (remember, they're not characters in a conclave), feel free to take just 4 and fill the rest of the Serpent with more Banshees. Going half-and-half will reduce your Banshee's total attack output, but will ensure your warlocks can survive a couple casualties before dropping a tier on their powers.
**'''Alternate Take:''' If you have the points to spare and are able to take a secondary detachment, consider just taking a Supreme Command detachment of 2-4 Warlocks rather than cramming in a Conclave in your primary detachment. You will maximize the number of Runes of Battle your Warlocks can cast while simultaneously maximizing the number of Banshees crammed in the Wave Serpent with them. Additionally, these individual Warlocks are in fact Characters, and will be considerably easier to keep safe from enemy fire. Empower/Enervate and Enhance/Drain Warlocks are a must, and while Protect/Jinx and Quicken/Restrain warlocks are extremely helpful, are not required. Conceal/Reveal can be helpful on the approach, but as a melee specialist unit that'll likely be in a Wave Serpent if not ''in'' combat, would be a power better reserved for dedicated ranged units. Though the Embolden/Horrify power can find usage due to the Banshee's penchant for horde-killing, their naturally high leadership means that they likely won't fail many morale tests. As for the Horrify power, it is better reserved for units like the Hemlock Wraithfighter, which is far more suited for the Leadership bombing role than banshees are.
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'''Deathstars:''' While a good amount of eldar cheese has been toned down since 8th edition launched, there are still a couple units that can perform spectacularly when grouped together.
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*'''Banshee-Star:'''  With the Codex returning Howling Banshee's Overwatch immunity alongside acrobatic advances ''and'' charges (which they can now perform both in the same turn), getting into melee combat is easier than ever for these aspect warriors. Banshee Exarchs have a passive that is basically the Drain power which stacks with a Drain Warlock to make them absurdly resilient in melee. A second Warlock tagging along with Empower can help fix their poor ability to wound MEQs and above. Depending on whether or not you're going MSU with the Banshees, a standard 5-Banshee squad can appreciate having a 5-Dire Avenger squad tag along inside the Wave Serpent as a screening unit of sorts to give them a bit of cover fire. Be careful though; Unless Jain Zar is within 6" of your banshees, they no longer strike first in melee.
*'''Reaper-Star''': Take a full unit of 10 with a Reaper Launcher or Missile Launcher on the Exarch with a Farseer for Guide and either Doom for if the enemy gets close or Fortune if you're just worried about surviving the reprisal. [[Dakka|That is 10 of your pick out of Heavy 1 S8 AP-2 D3 or Heavy 2 S5 AP-2 D2 per turn]].  [[Rage|Just make sure you keep your range to survive your opponent's reaction to this]]. Make sure you take a screening unit like Guardians or Rangers to protect from Deep Strikes. If you're concerned about ranged enemy reprisal, a Conceal Warlock can go camp with them to give anyone trying to bip your Reapers a -1 to-hit penalty, -2 if {{W40Kkeyword|alaitoc}}.
*'''Shadow-Star(Forge World; best under {{W40Kkeyword|alaitoc}}):''' A group of 5-10 Shadow Spectres accompanied by a Warlock Skyrunner casting conceal can be a force to be feared indeed. With 3+ armor and a -2 to-hit modifier (per successful conceal cast), Shadow Spectres can be one of, if not the most, durable CW eldar infantry choices you can take. While Wraith units are tougher with more wounds and heavier firepower, Shadow Spectre armor comes at no cost to their mobility or accuracy, which comes in at a brisk 10" base movement with Battle Focus letting them fire off their Prism Rifles at Coherent(S6 AP-3)/Dispersed(S5 AP-1) mode with no penalty. On top of a much lower likelyhood of even being hit in the first place thanks to their Holo-Fields. Unfortunately, they're no longer <i>as</i> cheap as they were, at 165 points for a standard 5-elf squad. Despite that, they are still 35/60 points cheaper than a Wraithcannon/D-scythe Wraithguard squad, or 10/65 points cheaper than Ghostsword/Ghostaxe Wraithblades. An autarch joining in with Swooping Hawk wings can keep up with the Shadow Spectres and give them re-roll 1s support for their coherent beams for your MEQ blending needs as well. Of special note, Shadow Spectres can become even more of a pain to get rid of if using Alaitoc's "-1 to hit" rule, making them borderline untouchable at range (assuming your Warlock is still casting conceal on them, that's -3 to hit from 12" or further!). With careful positioning, Shadow Spectres can dance around and fire their Coherent Mode within that sweet 6" border that keeps them out of (most) rapid fire/charge ranges and keeps the -3 modifier going strong. Add the Lightning Fast Reflexes Stratagem to up that penalty '''further''' to a -4, and even units with BS 2+ will be all but incapable of hitting them. But beware of Adeptus Custodes Venerable Land Raiders- they get a Stratagem that lets them ignore all of those penalties entirely. However, given how expensive it is to do this, the Custodes will have more things to worry about from a mobile army like the Eldar, like being able to actually score objectives (though why they aren't just spamming Jetbikes against Eldar instead is another question entirely). And though the heavy Flamer profile on their Prism Rifles will likely give your opponent pause (especially since the Spectres can simply leave combat and light them up come your turn), CQC is a definite shortcoming for the Spectres; most of their to-hit bonuses will be negated (though not ''all'' of them) and they hit back about as hard as a stiff sneeze in the wind. Heavier melee units like the Custodes, Grey Knights, Blood Angels, and other Eldar Wraith units can generally tough out the overwatch and slaughter your Spectres in short order if you let them get too close.
*'''Spear-Star:''' Fairly straightforward; take 3 Warlocks with Enhance, Empower, and Quicken, and a Farseer with Guide/Fortune. You can take more Warlocks with less important powers like Protect, Embolden, or even Conceal if you're worried, but this is meant to punch things, not be durable.  Cast any non-Quicken buffs on the Spears, then Quicken them.  That's 38" of shooting threat, and 34" minimum (average 39") of charge threat, with, at full bore, +1 to hit and wound in melee, re-rolling misses with the guns.  If you combine it with the {{W40Kkeyword|Saim-Hann}} stratagem, you can advance the bikers, shoot at no penalty, charge with re-rolling charge rolls, and then have both +1 to hit and re-rolling of 1s to hit in melee, on top of the +1 to Wound.
**The most important trick here is simply noting that Quicken works best on fast units, and Shining Spears are both fast, and most in need of the help, since their otherwise tremendous guns are very short range.  If you want to pull this trick more than once, you'll want Skyrunners, so your buffers can keep up with your Spears.
*'''Wraithstar (Iyanden Only):''' Take a unit of 5 Wraithblades with Ghostswords, a Spiritseer with Enhance, and a Farseer with Doom and Fortune, with one of the characters carrying the Psytronome of Iyanden. When you activate the Psytronome, this gives the unit [[Rape |30 S6 AP-2 Attacks, hitting on Re-rollable 2s, Wounding on a re-rollable 2+ or 3+ against Infantry]], and it is [[Awesome|able to shrug off the Mortal wounds it sustains, all while fitting into a single Wave Serpent that has a statline that degrades at half the normal rate]]. While you're at it, feel free to use the ''Supreme Disdain'' stratagem to give the wraithblades exploding attacks on their 6+ rolls! Alternatively/additionally, while a Wraithseer can't fit in a Wave Serpent with them, it can give the Wraithblades re-rollable charges, and is no slouch in melee, either, since it also benefits from the Psytronome, as well as the boost to its degrading statline. Additionally, a Bonesinger tagging along can help recover wounds lost from combat/Psytronome usage, and lay down a Smite or two in the meantime to help soften up enemies from afar. Sadly, this is a one-time thing per battle, so make sure your priorities are clear before committing to a target. You can make a detachment running this strategy into a {{W40Kkeyword|Wraith Host}} to open up access to a few more stratagems to improve their offensive/defensive capabilities.
*'''Scorpion Star:''' Take 9 Scorpions, Karandras and 2 Spiritseers or Warlocks with Enhance/Empower of which one is your warlord with Ambush of Blades and put them into a Serpent. Let them Charge into something in Cover. Pull the Supreme Disdain Stratagem and Drown your enemies in saves. RAW each hit on 4+ will generate 2 additional Attacks(3 Attacks for the Exarch because he gets extra attacks from 3 different sources) wounding on 3+ against T4 or 2+ against T3, each hit on 4+ will be resolved with -1AP. This will be around 50 Hits with more than a half Attacks with -1AP if you factor in an Autarch plus all Mandiblasters, Karandras and the Spiritseers. Not really cost efficient, but really fun to pull off.
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