Saturday, January 12, 2013

Old Seers Learning New Tricks


SO I was having some thoughts about the Eldar as I was writing the Combat Patrol blog the other day. Since 6th edition came out and my grasp of the nuances of the game are growing I have been looking at our much outdated codex and trying to find things that an Eldar player can use to be a bit more competitive with the newer codexes. I was also corrected by a new Seer to the shop. George, who is a reader and I don’t know his blog handle, corrected me on some rules in a recent team game. Cvinton's Necrons teamed up with my Iron warriors to play The Judges Grey Knights and The Georges Eldar. Needless to say upon review I have to admit I was wrong. IN fact the group here at the FLGS has been interpreting a couple of rules wrong. Rather than pout I went back and started really reading the codex, the FAQ and the Rule Book. I have been stuck in the same way of doing things so long I did not really take the time to format my brain and relearn the game and my main army.

I have made a few realizations and found some new things that actually may re-purpose some units. As I have said before you have to try and get out of the old way of doing things. I am realizing this building and playing the new Chaos Marine Codex. I should have been really doing it with the Eldar. It just so happens you can teach an old Seer new tricks.

So first lets look at the vehicles. Many players, including the internet forum meta, denounces vehicles and says they are not as useful. In fact many go so far as to say that transports are dead and useless now. Although there have been some very successful tournament armies that are foot slogging, I think that the main reason they have been tournament winning is because people are still getting use to the game and are not ready for new and different things. I have to say that vehicles aren’t dead and transports are defiantly not useless. Lets take a look first at the Eldar's 2 transports. The ubiquitous Wave Serpent and the Falcon.

If it has done anything the new edition has helped out Falcons. The first thing that popped into my head is that you can actually fire all the weapons on the Falcon now. Moving the standard 12 inches most players move their fast skimmers, IE cruising speed, means you can fire both the turret weapons at full ballistic skill and snap for the chin mount. I would also like to point out that this makes Vypers more effective as fast moving fire support platforms. This means whatever squad you transport can make its way across the table faster and still have good fire support. The Pulse laser, the main gun for the Falcon, got a bit of a boost as a tank killer as well. Being AP 2 it now gets a +1 on the pen table.
So I ma going to dust off my Falcons and give them a new test drive.

The Wave Serpent has always been one of the best transports in the game. Although currently pricey they do full fill the role of both troop transport and battle tank. Thanks to the prow and side shielding it has a higher survivability probability than the Falcon or Fire Prism. Thanks to the new transport rules you can effectively deploy your units from the rather limited space at the rear of the Serpent. The slim rear profile of the serpent which makes hitting the rear armor harder for you opponent also gave issues to Eldar players because of the limited amount of deployment space given to them in 5th edition. It usually meant units where ripe for blast and template weapons. Now you can move 6 inches out when you deploy. So you can spread out and deploy effectively. The energy shields as always help out against any weapons capable of slaying the Wave Serpent with a single hit. I am also taking a second look at holo-fields. 35 points is still a big investment, but with key vehicles it could help with the new pen table. I have not really done the math, but I think it may give you a better chance against destruction. Is it a chance worth 35 points. Probably not, but I am not ruling anything out.

Well next time I am going to talk Vypers, Fire Prisms and War Walkers. I am also going to cover Artillery. Apparently I have been using Vibro cannons wrong. Apparently they don't require line of sight.

Until next time.........


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



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


6 comments:

  1. In that game I also learned that Farseers have 3 wounds instead of two. I wonder how long I have allowed that little nugget to remain uncorrected. Oh well, I guess getting your HQ slain by a Warpsmith over several rounds of glorious combat has its benefits.

    I look forward to critical thinking about the Eldar vehicles in your future posts. I am also trying to think up new ways to use the old toys. Mainly my 9 Vypers that still have 4th edition dust on them.

    -"Seer" George

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  2. Unfortunately I disagree with the majority of this post. Although Falcons are now able to sit back and shoot more effectively, their BS3 makes them less effective. The loss of holofields (under the old rules it would take an average of 9 penetrating hits to take one down, now it takes 3 pens or glances guaranteed.) Jink is ok but limited.

    Not being able to assault the turn after zooming up hurts as does the fact that vehicle results hit the transported units. So if I shake the wave serpent of falcon (a likely result). The fire dragons inside can only snapfire the next turn and can't use their melta bombs.

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  3. Steinerp,
    Falcons did get better. They can move and shoot more effectively (which is a huge benefit in an of itself nowadays), their weapon selection is still pretty decent and they are comparatively "cheaper" now because of not having to take Holofields (which I think are now obsolete/worthless).

    Unfortunately, they did not become anywhere near good. As you point out, the BS3 is limiting and Jink is a bonus but barely worth factoring into the equation. I would rank the Falcon at a "C" rating. Neither great nor terrible.

    As far as Eldar tanks go, I am kind of in love with the Night Spinner right now but my "go to" tank is the non-upgraded Fire Prism. For what it can do, 115pts is very equitable.

    True, Wave Serpents took a HUGE hit with the shaken/stunned transfer to embarked units and the inability to assault from the transport. But over all, given the mobility, forcefield and twin linked turret (with the option of full movement and still firing the underslung Shuriken Cannon) the Wave Serpent is a legitimate choice on the battlefield. So far, they have been treating me right in 6th. I give them a "B".

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  4. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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  5. The Blanket BS 3 on all Guardian piloted vehicles is kinda a thing you have to just accept. Since the hallowed days of the Crystal Targeting matrix you cant really control that your citizen soldiers are average like an imperial guardsman.

    The ability to assault from the Wave serpent is kind of moot as you could not do it in 5th regardless if it moved. I moved assault troops in a serpent rarly, basically only my seer council. I infiltrated and set striking scorpion units forward to save points.

    You do make some decent counter arguments though gentlemen

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  6. Crystal Targeting Matrix didn't help with BS. Just a trick on movement. Though, I have my fingers crossed it will make a return in the new Codex.
    I'm with you, I didn't do a whole lot of assault troop movement in Wave Serpents. It was too predictable.
    And I am glad you finally replied to your own blog, SeerK. I was beginning to wonder. There aren't enough experienced Eldar players communicating out here for my tastes. I look forward to your next entry.

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