Editing Warhammer 40,000/5th Edition Tactics/Eldar (section)

===Heavy Support===
*'''Dark Reapers'''
At a glance, these guys look like ideal Space Marine killers, which they would be if there weren't so many pesky cover saves around. They have long range guns with above-average strength and just the right amount of AP to ignore Space Marine armor. OH, and a decent armor save. They are also ridiculously expensive, come in small squad sizes, and will have half of their kills ignored by cover saves. Reapers aren't Fleet (not that you will want to assault with them very often). That being said,any infantry caught in the open when these guys open up better have either very good invulnerable or absurd armor save or it's going to die quickly and painfully. 

The Exarch will wind up doing half of the squad's killing, and should probably always be taken if you're using these guys. He can take an Eldar Missile Launcher, good for killing enemy tanks if need be, or a Tempest Launcher that drops a nice number of blasts on the enemy. He can also take a Shuriken Cannon, but there's no point - it has much lower range and can't do what the reapers do, which is kill non-terminator Marines from far away. Exarch powers include Fast Shot, that gives the Exarch an extra shot per turn (especially good when using the Eldar Missile Launcher), and Crack Shot, that lets him (and only him) reroll wound rolls and ignore cover, but unfortunately you can only use one power at a time.

Dark Reapers are surprisingly effective against light vehicles, being as powerful as heavy bolters but with longer reach. Also, you can use the Exarch to kill heavier vehicles when you give him the Eldar Missile Launcher, should you have nothing else to shoot at. It has been my experience that the Eldar Missile Launcher is better than the Tempest Launcher for the role Reapers are generally taken for. Others argue that an EML is taken for versatility, while the reaper launcher is taken if you want to focus on marines. 

Overall, Dark Reapers are a pretty good unit that is not taken very often because their niche is narrow, they cost a great deal and the Eldar simply have more potent Heavy Support options.

*'''Falcon'''
The Eldar standard battle tank is a fast skimmer with 12 armor for 115 points stock. It can carry a squad of six. It packs the regular twin cats or cannon on the belly, and the turret carries a Pulse Laser, a Grade-A long range tank killer that shoots twice, and an optional bolt-on heavy weapon. When given delicious, precious holo-fields the Falcon becomes one of the most durable vehicles in the game. The falcon is essential for any mechanized army and packs more firepower than other APC's. Generally considered to be the best choice in the Eldar heavy support slot, though the mediocre BS of eldar tanks can occasionally do a number on you. Your army is probably not complete without an anti-tank rigged Falcon.

*'''Fire Prism'''
"Imma chargin' ur lazer!"
You know in anime where one guy shoots his laser into a giant crystal which shoots the laser into another guy's weapon to power it up? That's what Fire Prisms do. This is basically a Falcon, except instead of a transport capacity they carry the high watermark of Eldar guns, the Prism Cannon. With its upgraded BS, the Fire Prism can drop the little template at S9 or a large blast with slightly less strength and average AP. The gimmick is that you can give up your Fire Prism's shot to supercharge (and twin-link) yet another Fire Prism's cannon!

This is a fun trick, but these are cannons with 60" range and maximum Strength mounted on fast skimmer tanks that fire at BS4. If you brought two of them to the same battle, you should probably find two things worth shooting at. Or shoot the same target twice. Again, take holo-fields to make it more durable.

*'''Wraithlord'''
These are Wraith Guard on steroids. 90 chips stock and bristling with hardpoints, they have some of the highest toughness in the game, a good armor save, are monstrous creatures with 3 wounds and swing at the highest possible strength while ignoring armor in a fight. Each arm carries either a catapult or a precious, scarce Eldar flamer, and must take a big gun and/or a sword that lets them reroll missed attacks in close combat. Another shoulder-mounted heavy weapon can be taken for the same cost, but if duplicate the guns, you only get one twin-linked one - and you pay the full price twice. Don't do that. Ever.

Wraith Lords are bullet magnets that can put the hurt on just about anything, while being impressively resistant to harm - and flat-out ignoring any attack at S4 or less that doesn't either rend or poison. Their drawbacks are that they have a 1 in 6 chance of going stupid in absence of a friendly psyker, are unable to move as quickly as the fast stuff in the Eldar army and lack an invulnerable save which makes them vulnerable to Low AP anti-tank fire, other monstrous creatures or special characters with power weapons and higher strength.

Taken in pairs or trios rather than by themselves, Wraithdreads draw more anti-tank fire away from the rest of your army and will also give you more shots with the weapons (because two shots just doesn't cut it most of the time.) Flamers, a Scatter Laser (or Shuriken Cannon) and a sword make for a cheap Wraithlord that will be terrifying in close combat. The Wraithsword/Brightlance combo is 140 points of hurt, but leaves you spread a little thin. Take an Eldar Missile Launcher and a Brightlance to be a threat to anybody. A solid choice if your army isn't all skimmers all the time. Remember that monstrous creatures have Move Through Cover, but that doesn't help you strike at normal initiative against enemies in cover.

*'''War Walker'''
These guys can throw out a ton of fire power. You can take up to three of them as a single unit, they have a reasonable cost, and they can be equipped with all kinds of different guns. They are cheap at 30 points stock and fragile at armor 10. Two of the most potent combinations are dual scatter lasers on each walker for a ridiculous number of shots, and dual Eldar Missile Launchers which let them serve as either anti-tank or anti-infantry according to your needs. Shuriken cannons also deserve a mention if you are looking for cheap and efficient dakka, but the lower range may pose you a problem.

They can also use the Outflank rule and unload a salvo of shots on your opponent's vehicles' rear armor, which is nice. A very solid choice for an Eldar army.  

*'''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. Gunners get a rifle. 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 explode if they are hit with a potato or forced to cross a dirty floor, and they can't run.

The first gun is the D-cannon which can kill just about anything in the game dumb enough to come within its mediocre range. It ignores armor saves, wounds models with a toughness on 2s, glances vehicles on 3s, and penetrates them on 5s. As a barrage weapon it doesn't need line of sight to shoot at a target however it does scatter.

The next gun is the vibro cannon. An interesting gun in that you simply roll to hit with each gun and the number of hits determines the strength of the battery. Once you roll to hit you draw a straight 36" line from a gun model and hit EVERYTHING in that line (including things you can't see, friendly units, and units in assault) causing a d6 hits and causing glancing hits on any vehicle model hit. Sadly this gun has no AP so everything gets armor; against vehicles it inflicts a single glancing hit, regardless of armor value.

The last variety is the Shadow Weaver, which is notable for having the longest range of the three guns. It fires a blast with S6 but no AP and is a barrage weapons so it again doesn't need line of sight and denies directional cover saves.

You can also give a battery a warlock if you want, though I feel that the points are generally wasted given the ease with which a cover save can be attained, though a basic Warlock can make a Battery more resistant to assaults by small cavalry/beast units.

*'''Nightspinner''' (Forgeworld)
A mean cousin of the Fire Prism, this tank was released in July of 2010 as part of the new Fire Prism kit and the rules for it are available in the white dwarf of that month. In short it is a fire support tank that fires a STR 6 AP - twin linked rending large blast barrage weapon at an absurd range that causes models hit with the thing to be treated as being in difficult AND dangerous terrain in their next movement phase. That was a mouthful. While it may not pack as much punch as the Fire Prism, it is an excellent heavy support choice due to it's ability to slow down large swathes of the enemy army. As a barrage weapon, it allows the tank to stay out of sight and still shoot, making it even harder to kill than normal for an Eldar vehicle. And of course it can take all of the usual Eldar vehicle upgrades. A solid choice if you want some anti-horde artillery, and the movement denial gimmick can be a nice trick, both slowing and doing some damage if the enemy wants to get to you.

*'''Warp Hunter''' (Forgeworld)
The Fire Prism's other mean cousin, it appeared in the latest Imperial Armour book. It is, essentially, a fire prism trading its gun for an improved version of the D-Cannon. It can either shoot it as a barrage large blast at up to 36 inches or use it as a template, starting 6 inches from the gun (like the IG hellhound). In either form the D-cannon is nasty - AP2, wounds everything with a toughness on 2+, instakills on 6, glances vehicles on 2-4 (not 3-4 like the other D-weapons in the Eldar codex) and penetrates on 5+. It is slightly more expensive than the prism, but that gun is pure murder. On the other hand, it doesn't have the prism's range, and even a glancing hit will probably silence the gun least a round. Consider it a faster, lighter version of the Vindicator - it can be shut down, and it will attract a lot of firepower, but if it shoots, someone will cry.