Fighting The Necron: Second Look at Eldar Units

Its been a busy week. Its been very very warm in Michigan this week, especially for March. Between the nice weather and car repairs its been tough to sit down and write. I have been contemplating the Eldar this week though. Contemplating how the fit into the new meta. Or I should say how they fit into the new meta now that Necrons have stormed the field once again. Old School Terminator and CVinton have been converted. They have been running rampant with their respective Armies of soulless killing machines for well over 2 months now. I have gotten in about 6 games against the Necron Codex and have lost every one. I am not ashamed to admit it. It has been a very good learning experience though.

I have been forced to really go through the Eldar codex and take a second look at units. Mainly units that have the capability of chasing down Command Barges and Night Scythes. I also have to balance the list out with units that can take down squads of immortals with little trouble. I am trying a different approach now. Units that have gone by the wayside have once again come to the forefront. It just goes to prove my point that you can know your army in and out, but you should always re read the codex. New situations and uses for units will always pop into your head.

Case in point I was faced with a modified, some would say meaner, version of CVintons “Tesla Orgy” when we played this past Friday at another local store, The Fortress. I broke out a very specialty unit for this battle. One that Eldar players oft overlook. In fact I seldom if ever use the red headed step child of Aspect Warriors. The Shining Spears. I took a hard look at all the units in the codex and the Spears kind of stuck out. Although their laser lances are very short range, they are strength 6 and a lance weapon. The Exarch can also pack a Star Lance which is strength 8 lance weapon. Given the Shining spears mobility and ability to hit and run. They make ideal Command Barge hunters.

In the game in question the Spears Acquitted themselves very well. Destroying a command barge on Turn one and then hunting down the Lord like a dog. Sadly due to the small unit size casualties were high. The Exarch, however, was on fire as he was the only member to live for most of the game. He claimed both command Barges and a Lord.

Another favorite Aspect of mine is the Swooping Hawks. They made a go at one of the Command Barges as well and were able to destroy its Tesla weapon before it ran off into the welcoming arms of the Shining Spear Exarch. I needed to run a bigger squad though. The intercept ability along with haywire grenades make them ideal for hunting fast vehicles and fast skimmers. You just have to be careful as they have a tendency to draw fire and they are fairly lightly armored. I only ran 6 in the squad and I should have run 8 maybe 10.

I don't know why I have not been running Dark reapers enmasse in the backfield. They are classic “Marine killers” and when you have a Farseer guiding and dooming they can wipe out heavy targets pretty quickly. Again I should have run more than one squad. The single squad was able to punish the immortal squads, despite the solar pulse being used on 2 turns. In fact the Solar pulse was the only thing really keeping all 3 Immortal squads alive, that and me only running 1 squad of Reapers. The squad was also able to clean up the scarab farm after a nice cleansing in the form of twin destructors from Eldrads Warlock retinue.

I am starting to see the value in running Pathfinders as my troop choices. Its a rare thing anymore where fluff actually points to an efficient army. Alaitoc Craftworld has been hunting down tomb worlds for thousands of years. They are the last of the Eldar that still remember their duty to the old ones. I may be starting up a second Craftworld soon. Running lots of Pathfinders and Rangers. The 2 squads I ran were able to get most of the Necron army in a nice big field of overlapping fire. Although they are more expensive than Dire Avengers and guardians, their shooting ability and range is better and they can deploy pretty much anywhere, giving you the ability to hold objectives effectively. Since pathfinders can potentially have a 2+ cover save they are very hard to get rid of without dedicating a ton of shooting. Even so they out range most other units. They are effective at taking out normal infantry and monstrous creatures.

So now I go to refine the list. With all this work going into dealing with the Necrons you may think its a massive amount of list tailoring on my part. It is actually, but any army I bring that is effective against the Necrons I think will also be very effective against any other army as well. Also my justification for tailoring is this. Although its nice having an all comers list, Eldar are a very specialized force and with the age of the codex showing, a bit of tailoring to the meta is very much needed to roll with all the new kids on the block.

So more on the list development as it happens. I will be announcing the official date and posting missions for the “Test Of Khaine” tournament in the coming week. I will also be hopefulling continuing my old series “The Foundations Of Vengeance” on Dark Future Games.

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

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

Aspects of Khaine pt 5: Shining Spears.

Riding only a few feet from the ground with only a whisper announcing their arrival they swoop in lances blazing. White hot energy immolates their enemies. With panic ans confusion sown they rocket away before the enemy realizes what it was that attacked them. They are the Spear of Khaine and the rarest of all the Aspect temples. They are the Shining Spears.

Armed with Jet Bikes and Laser lances these Aspect warriors fill a fast slot and are not often used. They have short ranged weaponry and awesome mobility as well as some very nice Exarch powers which compliment their odd nature.

The main weapon of a Shining Spear is the Laser lance. The Laser Lance is a short ranged lance weapon with a range of 6” and a strength of 6 and AP of 4. They also count as a strength 6 power weapons when the shining spears charge. The Jet Bikes are standard Jet Bikes.

The Exarch comes standard with a laser lance or he can exchange it for a power weapon for free. This option is quickly passed over though, when you see the Star Lance. It is a Laser Lance with a strength value of 8. This makes for some very potent first round combats.

The Exarch has two powers available. The first is a must. Withdraw gives the unit hit and run. This is essential to using your Shining spears. The other power is good to have when using the hit and run. Skilled rider. This allows re roll dangerous terrain rolls.

The standard tactic is to hit the enemy unit, withdraw using hit and run and preferable withdraw thru terrain to block the enemy from launching an attack the following round.

Shining Spears are best used on small units. Since they only have 2 attacks on the charge you want to hit smaller units. They are ideal for hitting devastator squads or heavy weapon teams. They are also nice for attacking transports and vehicles. Since you can blast them using the lance ability then hit rear armor on the assault with a decent strength you can pop tanks, artillery and transports and then run away . This unit should be used to harass the enemy and cause some havoc. They are not robust enough to last in a prolonged fight. With a unit maxing out at 5 you should use them in a support role. I personally like to bum rush Land Raiders with them. You can at least glace with the lance ability and with an Exarch with Star lance you have a good chance to pen in shooting. The same thing goes for close combat. They are most effective though in cracking open rhinos and chimeras. Allowing your other troops to shoot the soldiers that must now foot slog across the board.

Using the Turbo Boosting ability of the bikes is key to getting the Spear into enemy territory to sow some confusion in the ranks of the enemy. If you turbo boost turn 1 you get the 3+ cover save and on turn 2 you can begin taking the enemy transports apart. You can also disable your opponents long range support. This will force him to pull units from front line duty to hunt down the Spears. If anything they make a great diversion because nobody uses them often and players unfamiliar with them will not know their capabilities or how much a threat they actually are.

With the small size of the squad I would advise running a Farseer on Bike with them if possible. Give him the Guide and Doom powers. Arm him with a singing spear and you have a nice fast vehicle killing unit that can re-roll wounds and to hit rolls in shooting. Fortune comes in handy as well but you must decide if you want to maximize your shooting or survivability. Given the good ballistic skill of the unit guide may be dropped in favor of Fortune. This is very important for that first turn turbo boost. Being able to re-roll a 3+ cover is very nice.

The key to running Shining Spear with success is keeping them mobile. Momentum is very important for a mobile army. Support is , as always, very important as well. I have always thought of an Eldar army as having a one two punch. You must have an attack and then a follow up attack form a support unit to carry the momentum of the first. This makes you have fire discipline as you must choose your shots carefully and plan the follow up strategy to support what you have already done.

There you have it the Shining Spears. I plan on using a unit in the last round of the GW Store Tourney Series later in July. We only have two more aspects to go. Next Time we will cover the Aspect that is not an Aspect. Warp Spiders.

Until then................................................

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