Combat Patrol: Eldar Style

Well the Iron Warriors project is off to a decent start. I have started Painting. I need to buy quite a bit but paint has started to hit what I do have. I have decided to do Combat Patrol as well as the GT this year at Adepticon. I felt I had to still whip the Craftworlders back and fourth at Adepticon this year. I Think they will do well in the combat patrol. In the highly competitive environment of the GT I don’t think I can bring an Eldar army that can really deal with everything. That said I do think I can bring a 400 point force that can be competitive. Especially with the changes to the rules this year. Namely the rules for vehicles. Wave Serpents are now viable. Expensive but very cool.

I have designed a list that really is in the spirit of a patrol. This means mobile units. Even if they cannot pack a huge punch they can still hit targets fast and move away from harm. Luckily the Eldar excel in hit and run. They also have very mobile units that can lay down very impressive levels of fire.

The first unit that comes to mind when thinking about a patrol is the good old War Walker. With a variable unit size, 1-3, and an impressive array for weapons available. They also fit into the required rules for armor facings. Since you get a swing slot two squadrons could be taken. The popular scatter laser load out, that means two per walker, for most players works very well in combat patrol as the amount of fire you can lay down is pretty overwhelming for this point level. Range is not a real issue as you can pretty much hit everything in a 4x4 even with shuriken cannons, a nice cheap option for any unit. War Walkers also have 2 attacks with a strength of 5 in close combat so chicken kicking units or vehicles is a nice last ditch.

A basic unit of 5 Rangers or even Pathfinders is very nice in combat patrol. The Pathfinders especially can really be a threat to lightly armored vehicles. Precision shots, rolls of 6's to hit which are also AP 1 for these guys, let you pick out possibly the only model with a high leadership value in the opposing force. This gives you better chances of pinning units and driving them off the board. They also allow you to eliminate those pesky 2 wound HQ units quickly, that are relatively cheap and pretty over powered in a low point game. Units are also pretty cheap. A unit of 5 Rangers is only 95 points and a unit of 5 Pathfinders is only 120 points.

Jetbikes are great in a combat patrol albeit expensive. You don’t need large units though in this particular style of 40K game though. In fact having single large units works against you as you can only pick out individual units while a strike force of 3 or 4 units, 4 if you really number crunch, can engage multiple units or just concentrate fire into the one unit. Jet Bikes got better in 6^th edition. I actually am working on a blog covering the Eldar codex presently about re purposing units due to the new rules. Eldar Jet Bikes are now mobile to the extreme and have lots of nice options to add to make the unit tough and be able to deal with just about anything your opponent can throw at you in a 400 point game. You have access to shuriken cannons and twin linked weaponry. You can add a Warlock for some psychic punch and to act as the patrol Leader. Being a troop they also act as your mandatory troop choice. Jet Bikes and Rangers really are your best troop options for combat patrol In my opinion.

Being at the the same point level as a jet bike squadron we cant overlook Warp Spiders. These guys are always a favorite because of their mobility and high strength weaponry. A fully kitted squad of 5 including an Exarch is 152 points. If you take a unit of 3 war walkers it is about 180 points. Granted the War Walkers give you more shots, with scatter lasers, but the Warp Spiders give you a higher quality shot with a higher ballistic skill. They are also more mobile. Plus like the jet bikes you have nicer close combat options now. Hammer of wrath although not earth shattering can help tip the balance in some cases.

There are many more options. Theses are my favorites though. I will be putting together my Combat Patrol force together as I build the Iron Warriors. Which speaking of the Iron Warriors. Apparently I am going to be part of a blog vs blog painting challenge starting in January. Look for detail over at Dark Future Games next month.

Until Next Time...........

Blood Runs, Anger Rises, Death Wakes, War Calls!!!!!!!!!!!!

DEATH TO THE FALSE EMPORER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!