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!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Aspects of Khaine pt 6: Warp Spiders

Passing through the warp. Disappearing and reappearing behind the enemy. Bathing them in a shower of monofiliment wire. This aspect is not an aspect. Having more in common with the spiders that inhabit the infinity circuit hunting down rouge elements than the Bloody Handed God, the Warp Spiders are basically viewed as crazy by most Eldar. For who would willingly go into the realm of the Great Enemy.

Warp Spiders are A hit and run deep striking unit that can hit with massed fire and then jump away, using their warp packs, form the enemy to safety. The Death Spinner is a nice short range assault weapon that bring to bear some hefty fire power. At a strength of 6 it can wound most every kind of trooper on the field. Being Assault 2 brings weight of fire when you have a large unit that will force lots of saves. The Warp Jump Generator is an oddity. It allows the Warp Spider to basically teleport via the warp to a position 2d6 inches in any direction. If doubles are rolled you loose a spider to the warp. This mimics the Spiders of the Infinity circuits ability to meld with it and ride the currents to another location.

These pieces of equipment make the Warp Spiders a lethal hit and run shock troop that can devastate enemies in the back field. The Exarch powers are key to this. The Surprise assault power, which you should always take lets you deep strike the unit. The withdraw power lets them get out of combat if assaulted. Despite being able to arm the Exarch with power blades and double spinners, getting bogged down in combat is not a good idea. Spiders must be mobile to be effective. The second weapon option for the Exarch is nice. The spinneret rifle is strength 6 and AP 1. it is also a pinning weapon. Even though it is assault 1 if anybody dies they must make a pinning check. A failure could mean a quick death for the unit or a unmolested escape by the Warp Spiders.

Survivability is the key. And the key to this is keeping mobile. They do have a nice save of 3+, but you must keep the unit out of hand to hand so they can jump around and hit the enemy hard with their Death Spinners. Since the move like jump infantry and then get to use their jump packs in the assault phase you can keep out of the reach of assault troops and wipe them out before they reach your lines.

I like to use spiders to wreck havoc in the fire lines of armies that like to remain stationary. Jumping in behind troops and wiping out squads is a nice way to get the enemies attention and let your army advance.

Units of 5 or 6 can be very effective. I do like running units of 10 but only if terrain is light. You want to make sure you try and deep strike the unit within firing range of the unit you want to hit. After firing use the jump packs to get away. If you kept 9 to 10 inches away and then got a decent jump of 6 or 7 inches unless the unit is Calvary or jump infantry they will not be able to catch you to assault you and may not be able to get into rapid fire range. Try to jump behind terrain to give cover and obstruct line of site as this move is unaffected by terrain, including impassable. You can also try jumping behind other units so you force the unit you just shot to get into a hand to hand brawl with the unit of Striking Scorpions that is now in front of it.

Using hit and run tactics will help sow some confusion and break down fire discipline as your opponent tries to decide which is more important. Hitting the unit in his midst or shooting at the advancing army. As always you want to support the unit with long range fire power. Use your Dark Reapers or Prisms to help give a one two punch. Hitting the unit with Warp spiders thins the heard so to speak and allows you to hit units with you low AP weapons to get ride of special troopers rather than regular troops. As Always try and doom your targets to maximize the carnage. More wound means more saves and the more dice they have to roll the better.

So stay mobile and support your hit and run troops with long range support. Doom the enemy and use the terrain.

Our next installment will cover our last aspect. The ill used and often scoffed at winged avengers of Khaine. Swooping Hawks.

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

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