Editing Warhammer 40,000/9th Edition Tactics/Eldar (section)

==Matchups and Counterplay==
Last but not least, here are some general tactics and counterplay advice on dealing with the various factions you may find yourself facing.

===Imperium===
*'''Space Marines''' - The Codex giveth, and GW taketh away. With your new Codex, many of your weapons got a bump to be able to handle Space Marines. Now, with the new Armor of Contempt rule, all those extra pips of AP your weapons received in the codex pretty much mean nothing against Marines now. With ''all'' AP being reduced by a value of 1 against nearly the entire SM Codex, even your Shuriken Crits are less effective than they used to be. Fortunately, at least your forces are generally more lethal ''and'' durable to compensate. Now that all of your Aspect Warriors at least have a baked in 5++ save, your specialists all have a chance of shrugging off most conventional weaponry that would absolutely otherwise kill them. It's no reason to become complacent though; Space Marines absolutely still have the tools to reliably drop your infantry with their standard weaponry at range or up close. Despite the recent buff to their armour, your Guardians and Scorpions can still do work with the sheer number of attacks and mortal wound output they can generate (respectively). Banshees are a good option if you're looking to engage them in melee. Victory will be obtained by striking first and striking hard; if you can dictate the engagement, you'll have much greater odds of cleaning up key Space Marine units before they can wreak terrible havoc on your forces. Unfortunately, this bites both ways. If you lose initiative or allow your opponent opportunities to shoot or charge your forces unimpeded, you ''will'' suffer dramatically for it. Lastly, keep an eye on your opponent's chapter; though Space Marines in general are one of the most flexible factions in the game, each mainline chapter has a particular specialty. Avoid playing into their strengths while you search for weaknesses to exploit.
**'''Deathwatch''' - The Space Marines designed to slaughter anything not human (heretic or no), and they certainly pack the tools to do it. Try to spam Mortal Wounds against Kill Teams utilizing a Terminator or Storm Shield to tank high AP hits before you light up whatever's left of their squad and beware the hell of their Frag Cannons.
**'''Grey Knights''' - Everybody's a psyker and everybody is able to kill you at range or in melee. They're one of two factions in the entire game that can spam Smite, though most non-elite units will only deal a single mortal wound. Save your denial roles for powers from their disciplines and engage them at range; they're significantly less dangerous and have a relative lack of dedicated gunline units. As an elite subdivision of an already elite faction, you won't find it hard to outnumber whatever force your opponent is bringing to bear. With the introduction of their Tides (combat doctrines), you'll want to pay attention and avoid engaging them in matchups that compliment their current tide. You can prevent them from changing their current Tide by denying any of their Psykers attempting to use Warp Shaping.
*'''Astra Militarum''' - A horde-friendly army with no shortage of heavy armor, Astra Militarum can spam bodies and tanks from table edge to table edge and be cost effective doing it. Their main weakness is a mediocre ballistic skill and generally non-existent weapons skill (with a few select exceptions), but they make up for it by being able to fill the air with so many shots that you'll still lose something valuable by the end of the turn. Close Combat is a bit of a shortcoming for Guard players; Striking Scorpions in particular can reliably carve through them without support with their sheer number of attacks and innate 3+ save, assuming they survive any retaliating Guardsmen will struggle to do the same. Dealing with their Leman Russ tanks can be a bit trickier now that they can't really be tied up in melee, so ideally you'll want to use Wraithguard or Fire Dragons to pop them whenever possible. If you can get rid of any potential screening units, you can Webway Strike a squad of Wraithguard and drop them on top of a vulnerable tank to deal crippling or lethal damage to it. Alternatively, if you are looking for more cost effective options, a D-Cannon Support Platform can punch through heavy armor outside LoS. Lastly, the lynch-pin unit of many Guard lists are their ''officers''. Whenever possible, try to focus down any officers to prevent them from supporting units with their signature Orders; a squad or two of Rangers can usually pick off any infantry officers within a turn or two while a Fire Prism or two can burn through any tank commanders hunkered downfield.
*'''Adeptus Mechanicus''' - The Imperium's cyberpunk tech support is a mixed bag; very flexible and abundant special weapons make their basic troops particularly adept at handling virtually any standard threat while their heavier vehicles and servitors can weather no small degree of firepower before falling. Their Skitarii units share very similar statlines to aspect warriors like your Dire Avengers or Howling Banshees; reliable accuracy both at range and in melee make them significant offensive threats, but they also crumble easily enough to most standard weapons. Caution should be taken around their basic Vanguard troops; not only do they put out a significant amount of dakka, but they can also debuff the toughness of anything they engage in melee. For you, this means any S4 attacks coming in on your living infantry will wound them on a 2+, a "privilege" normally reserved for nurgling swarms. Ad Mech notably lacks much in the way of in-house psychic support and are vulnerable to your offensive powers.
*'''Adeptus Custodes''' - The most elite standard army you could face, bar a pure Imperial Knight list, that is an absolute nightmare to face in melee. Though they are exceptionally durable, they do have a bit of a weakness to mortal wounds, which cut through their fancy 2+/4++ and force them to use a 6+++ Feel no Pain. You also won't find it challenging to outnumber and outmaneuver them. Under ideal conditions, you don't want to attempt to match their close combat game under any circumstances, though in the event you're feeling suicidal, Striking Scorpions that get the drop on them can do work thanks to mortal wound output and volume of attacks. At range, which is your strength, focus on volume of fire with a decent amount of AP. Leave the guardians to sit on objectives (or the shelf at home), Dire Avengers, Warp Spiders, Night Spinners and such can throw some decent shots out at them. 
*Do note they can also take Sisters of Silence, which will fuck with psychic abilities too. They're less of a threat in melee and come in with a similar statline to your own heavy infantry. However, they have an aura that gives a -1 to psychic tests, which stacks up to -3 in 18", while also being unable to be affected by psychic powers at all and a slight bonus to attacking psykers. Warlocks in particular will have a bad time if they're caught on their own, though your typical anti-infantry weapons that'll work against the custodes will also shred these. Aim to do such before they get close.
*'''Adeptus Sororitas''' - Bolters, Flamers and Melta. The holy trinity abounds in the Sisters of Battle armies and should be expected whenever you see them take to the field. Using long range units like Rangers, Dark Reapers and Fire Prisms will let you engage the sisters well outside their conventional ranges which they'll struggle at. Despite their reliable saves, sisters are also notably squishy underneath all that armor and faith; massed fire from Guardian blobs, Dire Avengers, Windriders or War Walkers will invariably whittle through them reasonably well enough. If you're bringing psykers, keep in mind that much like the Grey Knights, every single unit of sisters can attempt to deny the witch. Unlike the Grey Knights, they are limited to only 1d6 for their denials, but they have several oppressive ways to buff their rolls and debuff your psychic tests if they're close enough. Keep your Warlocks at bay. Also worth noting they get Armour of Contempt too, just like marines which will let them ignore a point of AP.
*'''Imperial Knights''' - Very big, very scary robots that can fuck your shit up sideways if approached carelessly. More often than not they'll be used to supplement detachments composed of the other Imperial factions (like the Adeptus Mechanicus, with whom they share a lot of synergy with), but they still occasionally are fielded as a pure-strain army. In the case of the later, you'll effortlessly be able to outnumber them and maintain much higher control over the table, giving you an advantage in objective-based game modes. Your Wraithguard, Fire Prisms, D-Cannon Support Weapons and Wraithknights can deal severe damage to them with enough support. You'll have no real trouble providing it either, as again they lack much in the way of stopping your Psykers from buffing or debuffing whatever you need so that you can reliably break through their defenses.

===Chaos===
*'''Chaos Space Marines''' - These guys play similarly to regular Space Marines, albeit with a bit more of melee flavour that many of the same tactics that apply to them apply here as well. Key differences do start with their Daemon Engines, which regenerate automatically each turn if not completely destroyed, as well as the ability to summon in Daemon allies if they so desire. Overall this will be an easy matchup for now, given they've got an old book and still have single wound marine models. Don't go too hard on 'em.
**'''Thousand Sons''' - The only other faction in the game that can spam Smite to hell and back and has enough native psychic potential to outclass your own. Multi-wound weapons are a must against these guys, as any 1-wound weapons actually increase their Rubric marine's saving throws by 1 (even the invuln save). Combine that with Armour of Contempt and they can be absurdly hard to shift. Tzaangors are actually fairly threatening to engage in melee against, so much like the Death Guard, you'll want to keep your distance as you lay fire upon their ranks. You'll want to save your deny the witches for any major psychic powers your opponent attempts to cast, even if it means eating a smite or two.
**'''Death Guard''' - Slow, thick and pestilent, Death Guard represents the best of what papa Nurgle has to offer; Disgustingly Resilient models that can tank hits left and right as they gradually creep across the table. High strength/AP weapons are a must, though guns that deal multiple wounds (like Starcannons and Reaper Launchers) will be less effective against them than regular marines, as they reduce the damage by 1. Howling Banshees, with the Exarch having an executioner and the power for +1 Damage to her melee weapon will shred them nicely though. You will have absolutely no trouble outrunning Death Guard units and keeping them from getting into combat with your ''much'' squishier infantry models. Their plague marines no longer have their FNP, making smite a decent option to get rid of them. Don't get too close though; with their new rules, your infantry will get wounded on 2's.
*'''Chaos Daemons''' A general rule of thumb with Chaos daemons is that they all rely almost entirely on their new Daemon Saves to deflect incoming attacks. Instead of Invulns, Daemons have two values for their Armour saves that cannot be ignored or modified in any way (barring mortal wounds, funnily enough) This is exacerbated by their generally lower toughness (T3 infantry on average, Chaos God dependent). To this end, you should prioritize maximizing the number of shots your units put out as opposed to harder hitting firepower, something you've got an abundance of both of. You'll also want to bring a few psykers to both lay down mortal wounds to get through their Daemon Saves and to run interference against ''their'' psychic powers (particularly against Tzeentch). Be warned, there are now little if any penalties for souping Daemons together with the new Codex. Watch for Monster Mash combos and Tzeentch ranged attacks.
**'''Khorne''' - Notably the only daemon faction without Psykers (given how Khorne [[RAGE|hates]] them, this is unsurprising), Khorne daemons are particularly vulnerable to your psykers and mortal wound spam in general. As an army entirely focused on melee units, they are also very vulnerable to being picked off at range, something you should have absolutely no trouble accomplishing. Bring down any Skull Cannons they may have brought and stay the hell out of melee with these guys, given they'll go through any armour you've got like paper.
**'''Nurgle''' - Their painfully slow movement speed will ensure you will have no trouble playing keep away the entire game. With the update, their Plaguebearers are now T5 with two wounds but are insanely pricey for what they do. Their nurglings lack ObSec, but their improved Beasts of Nurgle will automatically heal back to full wounds unless they're outright destroyed.
**'''Tzeentch''' - A buff to their Daemon save means most of their standard units benefit from a 3+ in range. Units to watch out for would be their Flamers and Blue Scribes, the later of which can make your Psykers permanently lose any power they fail at casting within 12" of them.
**'''Slaanesh''' - The subjects of She-who-thirsts. Much like Khorne, Slaanesh daemons are dedicated melee combatants only with a heightened emphasis on speed over power. Suffice to say, pick them apart at range where you can. Swooping Hawks are a good choice with their ability to pretty much redeploy after shooting and guns that'll drown them in saves.
*'''Chaos Knights''' - Evil Knights that individually are more flexible in their loadout than their imperial counterparts. As a dedicated Super-Heavy list, they are heavily limited by their minimal model count and being focus fired. Wraith units and D-Weapons in general are excellent Knight-B-Gone tools that can erase or cripple knights after a single volley. Psychic powers, namely Guide, Doom and Jinx are highly recommended to ensure every shot you make counts. Offensive powers like Smite are also great tools to bypass their toughness and armor/invuln saves. Special note, in a Battle-Forged Knight list, you can opt to use leadership buffs/nukes and Mind War against their nominated {{W40kKeyword|Character}} to lay down a large number of mortal wounds a turn. Defensively, hug LoS blocking terrain like your life depends on it; in many cases it does. You may also wish to place your more valuable units (like Wraithguard or Fire Prisms) in reserve so that they can be protected in the event you fail to get first turn.
*'''Renegades and Heretics''' - Effectively Chaos Imperial Guard, only worse due to their lackluster support due to being a Forgeworld faction. Much of what applies against the guard still applies with Renegades, though you'll need to keep aware of any potential allies they take as they'll likely present a greater threat. Especially given this faction's basically dead now too.

===Xenos===
====Eldar====
*'''Craftworld Eldar''' - By now, you should have a solid idea on how they play, seeing as how that's what this entire page discusses. Try to focus on putting their aspect warriors in generally unfavorable matchups and focus on taking down their psychic support whenever possible. Rangers are especially good for picking off the odd warlock or possibly a spiritseer. Farseers will be more difficult, though. Do note that you should have no trouble at all dealing with the armour your own statline provides, or any of the other factions below. 
*'''Dark Eldar''' - Your edgy kin are just as fast and deadly as you, though they're a bit frailer and cheaper too. They lack any native psychic support, which gives you a slight advantage if you choose to go that route, but they make up for it by their units being a bit more flexible and deadly, especially in melee. Their poisoned weaponry doesn't give a damn about your Wraith units' high toughness, so caution should be taken when facing large numbers of splinter rifle wielding kabalites. Wyches are equally deadly and surprisingly versatile, with the drugs they can take to enhance various aspects of them. A lot of their mobility comes from their transports, which can easily be popped by anything with a weapon that can remotely pull anti-tank duty. Once you do so, mopping up the infantry taking cover within should be no challenge in the slightest. Lastly be aware that your dark kin are well suited to exploiting any openings in your formation as you close around them, a misplaced unit of aspect warriors, or badly parked wave serpent can be enough dor them to snowball an advantage.
*'''Harlequins''' - Your clown cousins are probably the trickiest of your kin to deal with; their insane speed coupled with their universal 4++ invuln saves, along with the inability to reroll against them make it difficult to successfully wound them on the approach, especially since they can simply move through terrain and models to get to your dudes. Wraithblades and Wraithlords can overpower them in a straight up fistfight, but beware any Fusion Pistol, or even Neuro Disruptor wielding Troupes; they'll ruin your day. However, that massed bolter-equivalent fire that shreds your guardians? Those'll work just as well on the clowns too. Sure, AP might not mean anything at all to them but even five shuriken catapult shots against their coin-flip saves will typically drop a squad, if everything goes right. Swooping Hawks, literally anything with a flamer or scatter laser and Dire Avengers in particular have a good volume of fire and are reasonably prices and make for decent threats against them, along with any other source of massed attacks to overwhelm their saves. If you choose to engage them in melee though, for god's sake make sure you strike first. Conversely, so long as you focus down any Shadowseers your opponent may have brought, Smite spam, alongside executioner is a very reliable option that can dispose of entire troupe squads at a time.
*'''Ynnari''' - Ultimately, the Ynnari will play just like any of the prior eldar armies mentioned, only with an obvious predilection towards melee combat. They'll honestly probably be easier to deal with than if the player had just run those factions in their vanilla incarnations, since Ynnari lists sacrifice a lot of the original synergistic psychic and stratagem options for more generic, overpriced, situational and arguably useless equivalents.

====Tyranids====

*'''Genestealer Cultists''' - Unlike Imperial Guard (whom they may take as "allies" btw), many of the Genestealer units in this faction are ''not'' ideal targets to engage in melee. Between their Aberrants, Acolytes and Purestrain Genestealers, these guys will tear through your infantry (and even Wraith units, in the case of Aberrants) like tissue paper. Be extra cautious of squads deep-striking into your back lines and keep a Farseer paired with a squad of Dark Reapers to heavily discourage this tactic with the ''Forewarned'' stratagem. Lastly, you'll want to focus down any of their Patriarchs or other Psykers before they can cause havoc by disrupting your units.
*'''Tyranids''' - These space bugs are well renowned for two things; hordes and monsters. Both are particularly adept at melee combat and many of their units can either match your speed or even surpass it. Try to keep your distance and focus down any Synapse Tyranids that you can. Take a care with their innate Shadow in the Warp, as it can particularly interfere with your Warlock's casting. Warlock Conclaves can overcome this by using their ''Concordance of Power'' stratagem to cast safely outside the range of SitW if needed.
**Keep tabs on any units like the Venomthrope or Malanthrope, who can buff nearby tyranids with to-hit modifiers and take them down as soon as possible. Fire Prisms excel at killing single-model units like these, the Linked Fire stratagem in particular deserving a mention. Dark Reapers, as ever, serve as a handy counter to hit-modifiers and can even be used as snipers with the appropriate exarch power.

====Miscellaneous====

*'''Necrons''' - Extremely tough metal skeletons that will. Not. Die. You'll need to focus down entire units at a time or they'll slowly start replenishing lost models and wounds thanks to their reanimation protocols and living metal respectively. They are particularly vulnerable to your vast array of psychic powers as the only way they can deny the witch is to upgrade their canoptek vehicles with Gloom Prisms, and get a bit of defence through a specific dynasty. Drowning their units with mortal wounds does deny them their reanimation, combine that with limited psychic defence and smite spam will do work versus them.
*'''Orks''' - A tough horde of [[Boyz]] who'll do their damnedest to close the distance and beat you to death in an ideal world. Though you can avoid a significant amount their ranged game due to your abundance of -1 to hit options and their abysmal ballistic skills, you should also not underestimate ranged lists in the slightest as they can and will wipe units through sheer volume of fire alone. Your Wraith units can safely tango in melee with Orks, though you'll want to keep an eye out for Power Klaws. For the rest of your infantry, use your superior speed to kite their units while dashing into cover wherever possible and pick away at them from range. Their relatively low armor saves makes them easy prey from these kinds of hit and run tactics, and particularly vulnerable to scatter lasers.
*'''Tau''' - Howling Banshees. These fine ladies can completely counter the typical Tau gameplan simply by charging them; Overwatch becomes meaningless and Banshees utterly hose any Tau unit they can engage in melee (granted, pretty much fucking anything will beat Tau in melee). With the ability to advance and charge on top of a base 8" movement, that's a very easy feat to achieve. Storm Guardians also have a natural affinity against the Tau, and they can dispel their Serpent Shield platform to shut down overwatch on a target they're ready to charge, but keep in mind they're not remotely as lethal as their Banshee sisters at the same job. They can, at least, pack a few Fusion Guns to deal with Tau vehicles and battlesuits. Lastly, Shining Spears. If you're concerned about Tau Battlesuits potentially leaping out of range or behind intervening cover to get away from your Banshees, Shining Spears will excel at hunting them down. Another solid strategy would be to focus on your psykers. Like the Necrons, Tau are virtually defenseless against the onslaught of powers you can churn out a turn. Do take as much a chance to deploy everything you can in deepstrike/reserves, Tau have some disgustingly good shooting that can ignore line of sight requirements.
*'''Leagues of Votann''' - Space dwarfs! While not exactly xenos, they aren't imperium aligned though are still technically human. They're a close-range shooting faction with some okay melee support. Slow, decent armour (Ignores a point of AP and also prevents rerolls for both wounds and damage. Don't bring doom on your Farseers.) and they've got a mechanic that lets their to hit rolls auto-wound, which can go up to a 4+. On the bright side, you don't really care much about that last one, thanks to having a nigh-universal T3. Abuse your high mobility to weave in and out of cover, try and tie them up in melee and you should have a pretty good time actually. 

[[Category: Warhammer 40,000]]
[[Category: Warhammer 40,000 9E]]
[[Category: Warhammer 40000 Tactics (9E)]]
[[Category: Xenos]]
[[Category: Eldar]]
[[Category: Craftworld Eldar]]
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