One Does Not Simply Walk........:SeerK's Take On FootDar Pt1

Well its holiday time again. I apologize for the pause. I plowed through my finals and now I am free and clear, except for work, til the 16^th of January. I realized after my game with OST this past Wednesday that I have not actually had my Craftworlders out on the table in forever. I also realized I have not had an Eldar article in a while. I played OST's Deathwing at the FLGS This past week and I whipped out a good old fashioned Footdar list. It was very nice to hear the phrase “F#@*ing Eldar” ringing like a symphony in the store again.

The elusive Footdar list. Its a list that seemed to really go by the wayside in 5^th edition. Mech lists were the norm. As we get closer to 6^th edition the meta is changing once again and foot lists once again are making appearances. Mech lists and such are generally geared towards defeating other mech lists. The backlash from the excessive amount of mech was the reemergence of the foot list and horde armies.

I could go over a bunch of different Footdar lists and how they work and such, but each one if going to have key elements that are the same. These elements are what make the list work. It is a combination of key units, formation and strategy.

First we will look at the key units in a Footdar list, besides Eldrad or a Seer as you pretty mush always need one. The first and foremost, the lynchpin if you will, in a good Footdar list is The Avatar of Khaine. The Avatar is a very potent unit and a good deal at 155 points. Yes he takes up an HQ slot so you can't run two Farseers, but you get a lot of bang for your buck. Besides he potent combat ability The Avatar has his 12” Inspiring Presence aura. As you know any Eldar unit within 12 inches of the Avatar is fearless. This is important, especially if you are running hordes of Guardians. As the army advances you will get pounded by artillery and long range fire. I run big, 20 man, units of Guardians with a Warlock as my troops. The Warlock has Conceal for that 5+ cover save in the open, combine this with no leadership tests and you have a nice big mob to distract your opponent and solid squads who are not going to run from the field. The Avatar keep your units moving forward and really makes your opponent second guess his use of fire. This makes the Avatar a big target at the same time. You have to make sure you have your Seer in range to hit him with a Fortune. This should be easy as most of your units should have at least one member in orbit of The Avatar to ensure fearlessness. The real threat to the Avatar is Plasma. For the love of Khaine keep Plasma vets away from the avatar.

Picture By Tacticangle

Now this next unit I actually don't use much, but as I explore the Footdar again I am going to be using more. Harlequins. Harlequins, although expensive are an excellent advanced unit. The ignore difficult terrain and when you have a shadow seer in with the group are very hard to target. They can move as a screen ahead of the main force providing a better cover save. Giving them fusion pistols lets them crack armor and giving the unit Harlequins kisses gives them rending, on top of the Furious charge and hit & run. They are potent and thanks to months of playing dark Eldar I finally have a grasp on how to use them effectively.

Dark Reapers, in my view, are important components to a Footdar list. They are effective in taking out light armor and are very effective at killing power armor. They also prove valuable in killing light fast moving targets like venoms, raiders, ork truks, and space marine Land speeders. When you equip the Exarch with a Eldar Missile launcher and give him crack shot, the flat out move save becomes irrelevant . This can really hamper a meched up fast moving army. Dark Eldar are especially doomed if you crack open their transports and force them to hoof it. This also hurts webway portal delivery allowing you to contain the Dark Kin in a proverbial barrel.

Guardians are my mainstay for a Footdar list. They can be fielded in big units and Shuriken Catapult fire from a unit of 20, especially if they have been guided, has unit killing potential. I always include a Warlock with the Conceal power. This helps mitigate casualties as the blob marches forward. They can effectively hold objectives thru sheer numbers. The real key though is making sure the Avatar is close enough to keep them from running.

Warp Spiders are a quirky yet very effective unit. They are an advance force to really wreck some havoc in your opponents back field. Warp spiders are Eldar that are a little off. The whole concept of hurtling themselves through the warp is crazy talk to most Eldar. Not Warp Spiders. They have a screw loose, so you kind of need to play them like you have a screw loose. Deep Striking them in behind the soft rear ends of Imperial Guard artillery or any transports and blowing them really slows down your opponent and gives you time to bring your force up and deal the killing blows.

Night Spinners are another effective method for slowing down your opponent. I am a big fan of these guys. I will try and run two with a unit of Dark Reapers or one with 2 Units of Dark Reapers sitting in my back field to give my advancing force good suppressing fire and pop fast moving units. Since the monfiliment affects foot units and vehicles, and is strength 6, it is effective in slowing down and even damaging units.

One of my favorite things to use in a foot list is the support weapon Batteries. The one weapon I really like using is vibro cannons. In a battery of three they are strength 6. The auto glance vehicles and they hit everything in a line. Did I mention they also cause pinning This suppresses enemy fire and can really hamper foot units. A battery takes up a valuable heavy slot so I will use these if I am not using a night spinner. They can be interchangeable.

So my two cents about the units that are integral to a Footdar list. I will cover Strategy and formation in my next post as they go hand in hand. Time to break out some drawing programs.

Until Next time

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

WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The Phoenix Court of Khaine pt 7: The Avatar of Khaine

He is the fury of the Eldar psyche unleashed. He is the embodiment of war and death. He is the Avatar of Kaela Mensha Khaine the bloody handed god of the Eldar. The Avatar is a bestial engine of destruction. He inspires all Eldar around him with thoughts of bloodshed and compels them to new heights of heroism and resolve.

The Avatar is my second favorite HQ. Actually for one reason, he makes units fearless. This may seem like a small thing compared to his relatively low points cost, Ability to lay waste to units and vehicles alike either shooting or in close combat and his nigh unto indestructibility, thanks to Fortune and an invulnerably save. Making units fearless is no small thing though, especially when you run lots of guardians, as I often do.

The Avatar can be a literal lynch pin in holding objectives and holding back the tide of the enemy. Large units of Guardians can be very hard to wipe out when they are fearless and preferably in cover, although a conceal will do in a pinch. I like to put the Avatar between two units of Guardians and form a wall that protects the rest of my foot advancing units. The mobile units can then do hit and run attacks on priority targets. You can't ignore 30 to 40 Guardians advancing with the Avatar between them. In scenario set ups that allow you to get close quick, massed shuriken catapult fire can be very devastating, especially if the units have been guided and or the target units have been doomed. Guardian storm units can be very devastating too when the Warlock with them has Enhance. They are then quicker and on even footing with most units. Throw the Avatar into the mix and you have a close combat that is not enjoyable for your opponent.

Kari Christensen © 2006 Games Workshop http://karichristensen.com

As we all know the Avatar is immune to flame and melta weapons, including inferno cannons. This works to your advantage in a couple of different ways. First it makes placement of units with these weapons predictable. Why have your vet or chosen unit loaded with melta go after the big guy immune to the weapons? This allows you to plan your deployment to cover tanks and such with troops that will have no issue taking these units out. This also lets you lure these melta units in with a tempting target so you can wipe them out. Eldar strategy, to me anyways, is always a one two punch with a little bit of a psych out. Its a set up and knock down with a feint worked in just to keep your opponent guessing. The second advantage, kind of, is that the Avatar will take fire from the other big guns, such as battle cannons, manticores demolishers, lascannons and of course the Plasma guns that those Imperials love so much. So it is important to make sure you have a seer close at hand to fortune the big guy. This keeps these weapons from hitting the rest of your army. Smart players will see thru the ruse, although they will still try and take the Avatar and Guardian units out as he really can't ignore them.

The ultimate power of the Avatar is unleashed when you use him in an Apocalypse game. Although expensive the Phoenix Court of Khaine formation is awesome. All 6 Phoenix Lords with the Avatar. His aura and melta blast shooting attack double in range, he becomes immune to that nasty plasma and he gets an additional attack for every Phoenix Lord within 6 inches. Its is a very brightly colored Death star.

I field the Avatar quite a bit. He is a nice alternative to a Phoenix lord or second seer as he contributes to the army. He can kill his points in enemy troops without issue. He also enhances your units without any rolling required.

In my battle report coming later in the week I will detail the Avatar and his performance against the Green tide army I fought. He killed his points in ork boyz and them some. Also I will detail my Adepticon List development. I am bound and determined to use Swooping hawks although Baharoth may be left out in favor of the Avatar. It is a toss up.

So until next time.......

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