Starting Eldar Again

After quite a few years of playing Eldar, I had set them aside when the new Grey Knight book came out to enjoy them.  The Grey Knights and their 3rd and 5th edition book had been a blast to play.  But recently I've had a hard time finding an enjoyable play style with them in the new edition.

Back towards the end of 5th I had developed an all deep strike Grey Knight army that I had a blast playing.  It was unusual, it was powerful, and it was unpredictable which made it a blast to play.  But the competitive GK builds have gone back to the static gun lines that I find boring.

With the new Eldar book I've found myself enjoying the game again, and in need of some hobby time.  So I decided to completely rebuild and repaint my entire Eldar army.  Call me crazy, I know I do, but I know that over the years my painting skills have developed dramatically and I can't wait to see how they turn out with adding an airbrush to my collection of tools.

Above is the picture of some guardians just from the 4 man box that I'm using to test out my paint scheme and the best way to paint them.  After watching plenty of videos and lots of tutorials I think I might have learned something ;)

To the left you can see two different methods I was testing for masking.  The guy on the left is using BluTack and the guy on the right is using Vallejo Liquid Mask (some of which has been peeled away.)

To the right you can see the masks removed.  Which the men reversed this time (I'll try to stay consistent in the future).  The guardian on the right had the Blu Tack and the guardian on the left had the Liquid Mask.  I've got to say that the Blu Tack, while as not as controllable in application is much easier to put on and take off.

The Liquid Mask has quite a few problems I noticed, it tends to dry rather quickly, so if you're trying to apply it and it starts to dry, then it'll start to peel off during application.  Then it is also a pain to take back off, and if you're working quickly is less forgiving and will begin to pull paint off.  I think I'll be sticking with Blu Tack in the future for most of my masking needs.

Blue Backpack

White Backpack

Above are two variations I'm thinking about for the color scheme.  I'm really liking the Bleached bone and Dark Blue look.  And I'll be working the models further over the next day or two.  But right now I'm trying to decide Blue or White Backpacks, I'm leaning White, but what do you guys think?

750pt and 1,000 pt Eldar

I was recently asked how to take my 1,850 point Eldar army down to 750 and 1,000 pts.  That's a hard one for me as 1,500 is really the lowest point level I play, and I enjoy playing it.  But I pulled up good old army builder and did a little thinking and came up with this.

At 750 pts, I would try something along these lines;

-=HQ=-
Farseer - 93 (or 95)
Singing Spear, Runes of Warding, Guide (or Doom)

-=Elites=-
Fire Dragons x5 - 190
Wave Serpent, TL-Shuriken Cannons, Spirit Stones

-=Troops=-
Guardian Jetbike Squad x6 - 202
2x Shuriken Cannon
Warlock, Embolden

Guadian Jetbike Squad x3 - 66

-=Fast=-
Warp Spiders x4 - 137
Exarch, Powerblades, Death Spinner x2

-=Heavy=-
Warwalker - 60
2x Scatter Laser

With this list you'll be playing a pretty mobile army with some good str 6 weapons that can reach out and touch someone or get into position to do so.  The Farseer will ride with the Dragons, and either guide them, or doom their target.  Doom really isn't necessary for them, so I find guiding and being able to hit the target to be the better choice.

The bikes will be a harassing unit, moving around the board, shooting at targets of opportunity and then moving into take objectives near the end of the game.


At 1,000 pts, try adding these;

-=Elites=-

Fire Dragons x5 - 190
Wave Serpent, TL-Shuriken Cannons, Spirit Stones

-=Heavy=-

Warwalker - 60
2x Scatter Laser



With these two units added, your opponent will have a hard time going after your troop choices and ignoring the pain that these can bring.  But play smart, don't think your opponent won't shoot down your troops if you leave them out in the open.

Are Eldar Still Competitive?

Are Eldar still competitive? Hell yes they are. But not all builds are competitive now a days. Over the past two years I have seen pure mech Eldar become much more difficult to pull off successfully. Eldar transports are just to expensive, and the abundance of Str 8 weapons, IG spam, Space Wolf spam make it fielding Armor 12 vehicles quite difficult.

I've also seen seen the Deathstar JetSeer squads become less and less useful. It is way to easy to tie them up in combat and with no power weapons and no ability to dish out a good number of attacks they start to fall rather flat.

So what can Eldar do really well right now. Str 6 Spam. Yes yes, I know spamming isn't what people like to do, but after str 4 str 6 weapons are the most common in the Eldar army, and not only are they common, they are quite cheap. Scatter Lasers and Warp Spiders should be your friend in all Eldar armies. Not only do the Spiders give you great mobility, but the Scatter Lasers are usually attached to mobile bases also. You mix this with a couple squads of Fire Dragons, a Farseer to Guide Warwalkers and Doom your enemy, and an Autarch to allow you to reserve denial and you're pretty much Golden.

Here's the list I've been running for close to a year now. This list is about putting as much firepower on the board as possible, because when it comes down to my dice rolls, quantity is way better then quality.

All Comer's List

-=HQ=-
Farseer - 145
Runes Wit, Runes Ward, Stones, Doom, Guide

Autarch - 125
PWeapon, Fusion Gun, MandiBlaster, WarpGenerator

-=Elites=-
Fire Dragons x7 - 222
Wave Serpent, Stones, TL-SCannon

Fire Dragons x7 - 222
Wave Serpent, Stones, TL-SCannon

-=Troops=-
Guardian Jetbikes x6 - 205
2x SCannons
Warlock, Embolden, Spear

Guardian Jetbikes x3 - 66

Guardian Jetbikes x3 - 66

Dire Avengers x5 - 60

-=Fast Attack=-
Warp Spiders x6 - 181
Exarch, PowerBlades, Dual Spinners

Warp Spiders x7 - 203
Exarch, PowerBlades, Dual Spinners

-=Heavy=-
Falcon - 175
SLasers, Stones, Holo-fields

War Walkers x3 - 180
2x Slasers

Total - 1850


Give it a try, let me know if it works for you. It's been working for me every game for about a year now.

Forge World: Eldar Hornet

Forge World just recently came out with a new Eldar Tank model, that Hornet. Along with some experimental rules that can be used with the new craft.

On first glance the model looks fantastic, although it does slightly resemble a lopster, I can get past that as it seems to have gone the opposite direction of many of the Eldar models, and that's smaller. Which given the available table space with the armies we play these days is a good thing.

But I was quite disturbed by the experiment rules they had given it. With weapons it comes to be pretty expensive. Especially compared to the costs of our Dark Brother's Codex. They're still asking 30pts for a BS3 Bright Lance, instead of the 25 Points for the BS4 Dark Lance.

So after drudging through the Dark Eldar codex for a bit and checking out their point values, I figured I'd come up with my own Experimental Rules for the latest Forge World Model.

You'll have to understand that it's going to be slightly cheaper then some Eldar Equivalents as I feel the current Eldar dex is slightly overpriced compared to current 5th edition codexes.

Hornet.............................................................60pts

BS: 3
Armor: F 11, S 11, R 10

Unit Comp: 1-3 Hornets
Unit Type: Vehicle (Fast, Skimmer)

Special Rules: Scout, Maneuverable, Concentrated Fire

Wargear: 2 Shuriken Cannons

Weapons: Each Hornet may upgrade each of their Shuriken Cannon's for the cost below;
Scatter laser..........................................+5 points each
Eldar missile launcher...........................+10 points each
Starcannon..........................................+10 points each
Bright lance.........................................+15 points each
Pulse laser...........................................+20 points each

Options: Any hornet may be ungraded with the following;
Holo-feild..................................................+20 points
Vector Engines........................................+10 points
Spirit stones............................................+10 points
Star Engines............................................+10 points

Manuverable: The light tank is employed for reconnaissance and raiding, and is often used for hit and run tactics. A vehicle with this special rule may always make a 6" move during it's Assault Phase, unless it is immobilized.

Concentrated Fire: The vehicle's computer systems are adapted to fire on a single target and let loose with all of it's fire power. As long as the Hornet is armed with two of the same kind of weapon, the vehicle can forfeit shooting both weapons to instead fire one as Twin Linked. This counts as only firing one weapon.

Well there you have it, some rules that add a little something new to the Eldar. I think that it uses a little of what the Dark Eldar were able to get in their new book, and refresh the Craftworld a little. Let me know what you think, and if you get a chance to play test it at all ;)

-CKR

Tactics: Reserve Denial

So at the Wasteland Wars 7 Tournament back in August I used a tactic called Reserves Denial for 4 out of the 5 games I played. It's a tactic a picked up a little from reading the internet and a little from playing against my good friend who was using his Drop Pods to take out make tanks before I ever got to begin my turn.

The point of Reserves Denial is to deny your opponent a turn or two of shooting. The way this works is much like the way going second in Dawn of War works. Player one is on the board, and has their entire army. Then you either have your 1 HQ and 2 Troops, or you leave them all off the board. Player one's turn then consists of moving his units, and if nothing is on the board he then losing out on a shooting phase. Leaving you the chance to come back and shoot after you come onto the board during your turn.

This tactic favors the Eldar quite a bit, as it allows their weaker units the chance to attack before they are shot at and destroyed. It also gives them a chance to either turbo boost or move flat out to get those cover saves in games with very little terrain.

The main issue with Reserves Denial is that it can leave you open for some bad rolling when it's time to bring your units onto the table. I've had a couple games where my units dribbled onto the game board leaving me wide open to taken out piece by piece.

Advantages:
- If you're not on the board, you can't die.
- If you go second, you deny your opponent 2 turns of damage against you.
- Creates a great Alpha Stike ability for your army.
- Lets you react to your opponents deployment and movement.

Disadvantages:
- Creates a chance for your forces to come in sparactically.
- Gives you less time to destroy your opponent/complete objectives.

There are three armies that can really take advantage of Reserves Denial by minimizes the disadvantages. The Eldar, Space Marines and Imperial Guard all have ways to increase the chances of your units coming on the board from reserves.

Eldar: They have the Auctarch, with the master Strategist Ability which allows you to add 1 to your rolls for reserves. Eldar also have the benefit of taking two which allows you the ability to add plus 2 to your reserves. So what are the odds of your men coming in?

Normal: Turn 2 - 50% Turn 3 - 67% Turn 4 - 83% Turn 5 - Automatically
1 Autarch: Turn 2 - 67% Turn 83% Turn 4 - 83% Turn 5 - Automatically
2 Autarchs: Turn 2 - 83% Turn 3 - 83% Turn 4 - 83% Turn 5 - Automatically

You might be wondering why it caps out at 83%, this is because a roll of a 1 always fails, and you always have a 1 in 6 chance of rolling a 1. But with 2 Autarchs you should be very confident in getting 80% of your forces on the board.

Space Marines: Have Varro Tigurius, the Chief Librarian of the Ultramarines and a Special Character. He has the ability, Gift of Presence, which allows you to re-roll any reserve rolls. His ability actually gives you a chance to re-roll that 1 on the dice, and will also allow you to re-roll passed rolls if you have something you want to stay in reserves. So what are the benefits of his re-roll?

Normal: Turn 2 - 50% Turn 3 - 67% Turn 4 - 83% Turn 5 - Automatically
Re-roll: Turn 2 - 75% Turn 3 - 89% Turn 4 - 97% Turn 5 - Automatically

Imperial Guard: Under the Regimental Advisors there is the Astropath. He has the Telepathic Relay that works exactly the same way as the Eldar Autaurch, along with a bonus of allowing you to re-roll your outflank rolls (wish the Autarch could do that). I've not yet seen any IG players do Reserve Denial because it's usually players pulling this tactic against them, but it could open up some possibilities of an outflanking army or something else if you're not playing the normal Gunline IG. Here's your odds.

Normal: Turn 2 - 50% Turn 3 - 67% Turn 4 - 83% Turn 5 - Automatically
1 Autarch: Turn 2 - 67% Turn 83% Turn 4 - 83% Turn 5 - Automatically
2 Autarchs: Turn 2 - 83% Turn 3 - 83% Turn 4 - 83% Turn 5 - Automatically

While people may not always find it fun playing against the Reserve Denial List, it's a great way to counter the Alpha Strike or Leaf Blower list that wipes you off the board Turn 1.

Eldar: Army Overview

Models:
*Plastic to Metal ratio, Eldar have slowly been updated through out the years to plastics, these include the basic troops, vehicles, and jetbikes. All Aspect warriors HQs and Specialists will still be in metal.

*How old the current models are, Many of the current models have been updated in the Last 5 years, with Weapon Support Platforms and the New Plastic Fireprism/NightSpinner coming out in 2010.

*Anything new coming out soon, as of right now there is no News of new stuff.

*Large back catalogue of Classic/OOP models? GW does not carry any of the older models, but they are still floating around on the internet, and for relatively cheap prices.

*Fun/easy to paint, many schemes available to choose from? Eldar have quite a few different army theme, with many different painting styles and color combinations. The models are about middle diffuclty to paint, but they lend themselves to very nice detailing such as stones, and the like.

*How many models in an average army of 1,500-2,000 points, Most armies will consist of about 45-65 models. Slightly more if you use less transports and bikes and concentrate on Guardian Defenders as your troops choice.

*Costs in £/$ in collecting the average army, relatively cheap or expensive when compared to other armies, The average starting army for Eldar will run you about $500. This will include a little variety in HQ and supporting options. Because of the amount of metal that is needed to field the more specialized side of eldar, this list will probably run a little above average when it comes to other armies.

Background:
*Small summary of the race's history, The Eldar are one of the most ancient of races. They are very technologically advanced and known for their speed and psychic powers. However at the apex of their civilization the Eldar were dominated by lusts and sensations at which point their emotions became so extreme the Chaos god known as Slanesh was created, in this event the Eldar race was almost utterly destroyed. Those that saw it coming, went to live on giant Craft Worlds, cities in space. The others that were caught in the wake of destruction and survived went to live in the warp, and are now known as Dark Eldar.

*How do they get on with other races, The Eldar feel very much like High Elves in space. They feel very much above the other races and only deal with them when there is danger to their race.

Play Style:
*General playing style, the Eldar are known for being fast and specialized. Each Eldar unit plays a critical role in doing one thing. If you're looking for versatility, that's not the Eldar. They have units specialized in CC, units specialized in Tank Hunting, etc. The current meta and play style of Eldar requires them to almost take a fully mechanized army as they have low armor values and must survive to do their jobs.

*Themed army list types, there are a couple of themes, which can be seen in the Codex's Craftworlds.

Biel-Tan - Takes mostly aspect warriors (the specialists) which are mostly elite choices, these lists will usually contain 2 units of Fire Dragons for Tank Hunting, 1 CC Unit (Banshees or Striking Scorpions) and then Units of Dire Avengers for Troops choices. All fielding in Wave Serpents, with either Falcons or Fire Prisms for Heavy Support. These lists are very specialized and usually leave the smallest room for error.

Saim-Hann - Are the fully mobile lists, usually consisting of a Farseer Council on Jetbikes with an Autaurch as the Death Star Unit. Then units of Eldar Jetbikes for Troops Choices and Vypers for Fast Attack support. This army is very fast and mobile.

Iyanden - This list is the Toughest (Toughness and Armor Wise) It usually contains 2 units of 10 Man Wraithguard so you can take them as Troops, at T6 they become hard to take down. There is usually 2 Farseers, or 1 Farseer and Eldrad there to Fortune and Doom. And then 3 Wraithlords for Support.

Ulthwe - Are the masters of Psychic powers, back in 3rd ed they were the first to let you take Seercouncils. They are usually very low on aspect warriors and use Guardians as Troops. They've taken a hit with 5th ed as Mobility is now a key factor, and Guardians are not usually worth the points you spend on them.

Alaitoc - Is one of my favorites fluff wise, they are known for stealth making use of the Pathfinders and Rangers found in the codex to snipe off enemies. They will usually have a low Aspect model count and rely on the Guardians for numbers.

*Competitive list types, - All of the current competitive lists are very heavy mechanized. Usually consisting of Dire Avengers in Wave Serpents as Troops Choices or Eldar Jet Bikes. They will almost always contain 2 units of Fire Dragons for reliable anti-tank, and will have a Farseer to buff their units. The rest of the points then go into filler units that help you play to your play style.

*Current tournament standings, Eldar have started to slide in the tournament brackets because of the large amount of anti-tank now hitting the tables. They have a hard time balancing a list that can both go against MEQ units and Hoards. You will usually see one in the top 10 at large tournaments but not much more then that until they are able to find a way to deal with Leafblower IG Lists.

Misc:
*How popular is the army, The Eldar have been a favorite of many since they've been around. They were one of the original races and large following of players who enjoy them.

*When was the book released, The current Eldar Codex was released in November 2006, making it one of the older 4th Edition books, just above Tau and Black Templars.

*When is the next one due if known, it's not known when the next one will be due, but some rumors have said Late 2011, or 1st Quarter 2012.

*Any race specific forums, I've not found any Eldar Forums, if you find one let me know and I'll update.

***If you find any information on here outdated or inaccurate please let me know so that I can update, thanks***

1,500 pts of Eldar

So over the last couple of months I've played in a couple of tournaments and ended up getting Best Overall in the Hobby Town Championships, and Best General over at Wasteland Wars 7 in Lubbock. So now it's time to share some of what I've learned.

First off, ignore all internet chatter, people have no idea what they're talking about (including me lol) some of what people say works, some doesn't. It's all about finding what fits your play style, and the meta game in your area.

But here's the list I used to win the Hobby Town Championship.

-=HQ=-
Farseer
Runes of Warding, Runes of Witnessing, Guide

-=Elites=-
Fire Dragons x7
Wave Serpent, Spirit Stones, Shuriken Cannon, TL Shuriken Cannon

Fire Dragons x6
Wave Serpent, Spirit Stones, Shuriken Cannon, TL Shuriken Cannon

-=Troops=-
Guardian Jetbikes x6
2 Shuriken Cannons
Warlock, Embolden

Guardian Jetbikes x3

Guardian Jetbikes x3

Dire Avengers x5

-=Fast Attack=-
Warp Spiders x7
Warp Spider Exarch, Dual Death Spinners, Powerblades

-=Heavy Support=-
War Walkers x3
All with Scatter Lasers

Falcon
Holo-Fields, Spirit Stones, Scatter Laser

Total - 1,500 Pts


So just a brief summary of how this army works. The Farseer and the Dire Avengers try to sit there happy butts in the Falcon the entire game. The Seer will either guide the Falcon or the War Walkers, depending on if he's close enough to the Walkers, or if I really need that Str 8 Pulse Laser Shot for popping a transport.

The two small Jetbike squads will start in reserves 95% of the time. Unless it's not objective based and I want the extra shots. But they are there to harass objects towards the end game, and thus must stay off the board to keep from getting killed.

The Dragons of course, are there to take out the biggest baddest thing on the board, they are my demoralizing unit. People seem to start to crumble when their Landraider perishes, and have a hard time pulling things back together. They usually help me win just by putting emotional strain on my opponent.

Then there are the Warp Spiders, these guys are the wild card. No one ever sees them on them board, and I've been falling in love with them over the last couple tournies. The sure weight of firepower is enormous, and wounding almost everything in the game on a 2+ just helps so much. Just remember to always jump back out of assault range :)

So that's my happy little 1,500 list. I'll probably post my Wasteland Wars on here in a couple days.

-CKR

What are the Eldar?

Once again there was a wish listing thread on Warseer. I know it's not uncommon, actually almost a weekly occurrence for one codex to start wish listing until it cycles over again. But the main problem with the Eldar wish listing thread was the need to find out how you want your Eldar to play, or how are they expected to play.

From the fluff of the most recent codex, the Eldar are small in numbers, but an elite group. Each unit specializing in the dismantlement of different parts of an enemies army. The Eldar themselves are much more advanced physiologically then humans, with heart rates twice that of a normal human, their mind processes with baffling speeds, and they can physically move almost faster then a human can see.

What we don't want is a generalized Space Marine army, where everything can do everything. Each unit should have more or less a specific task, do it very well, and maybe be able to do something else, but not to any great degree.

To start figuring out what the Eldar are, we should start by looking at the design of the Guardian. As this should be the most abundant unit in the army, seeing as how they make up almost the entire Troops selection.

What we're looking for.
1. Small in Number
2. Specialized in their role
3. Advanced Race
4. Dying Race
5. Technologically advanced Race

To satisfy 3 and 4 I suggest to create new Eldar Special Army Rules. As of now they actually have no special rules. Fleet was given to everyone as Run, and Fleet was actually handed out to quite a few groups.

So other then Fleet being there as a Mainstay freebie I recommend adding a rule called Eldar Agility.

Eldar Agility - The Superior Mental and Physical Prowness of the Eldar shines in everything they do. To represent their speed all eldar with this ability have +1 to cover saves at all times (so in open terrain this would be a 6+ cover save). All Eldar with this ability roll 3d6 for difficult terrain and run checks and take the highest result. In close combat, opponents can never have better then a 4+ to hit an Eldar Model with this ability as their shear speed allows them duck and weave in combat.

To satisfy number 4 we need to look at the fact that they are a dying race. The Eldar do not just go out and fight battles on a whim. They are very tactical, and every battle must be fought to be won, or the entire race may be lost.

Eldar Last Stand - All Eldar units with this ability may always attempt to regroup.

This should satisfy both 3 and 4 and help Eldar to feel more like the race they are portrayed to be.

Now let's move on and take a look at the Guardian, the back bone to the Eldar army. There are quite a few things that are wrong with the guardian if we are to consider those 6 simple rules for making Eldar. First, they are not small in numbers, 10-20 is bordering on Ork levels. Eldar are quite frankly, not Green Skins, and never will be. So first thing is we should limit Guardians to 5-10.

Secondly, Guardians do not represent a dying race, or the fact that they are specially trained to defend their craft worlds. Most people say they are just a militia, but remember militias defeated the Elite British in the Revolutionary War. Not to mention these militia are super humans in prowess and have survived for centuries. Not to mention, a technologically advanced race does not send it's troops out wearing paper bags. I believe upgrading the BS to 4, and armor to 4+ will help satisfy being part of a dying race, and the Eldar physical ability, mental ability, and training.

Now lets talk about Technology, especially technology for defenders. Everyone knows you do not defend a place with pistols when everyone is shooting at you with rifles. The key to defense is range, and 12" allows one volley of fire before you're knee deep in your own guts from the bayonet the 18 year old human was holding. To fix this, it's imperative we give Eldar Guardians a 24" gun. This allows a minimum of 2 volleys, and possibly 3. Now lets look at the gun itself. It's a Shurikan weapon, and fluff wise it basically slices through anything. Now I'm not advocating AP4, but I think AP5 with re-roll passed saves would represent this weapon very nicely.

Let's take a look at what we have.

______WS BS| S | T| W| I | A LD Sv
Guardian 3 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 8 | 4+
Defender

Special Rules
Fleet, Eldar Agilty, Last Stand

Weapons
Shurikan Catapult - 24" range, Str4, AP5, Assault 2, Re-roll Passed Saves
1 Weapon Platform per 5 men
Defensive Grenades, Haywire Grenades

Now how much should these new warriors costs? I think the closest comparisons to these men are Sisters of Battle, Space Marine Scouts, and Imperial Guard Vets

For BS 4 armor 4+ vets, it's 10 points a model, with a Seargent and grenades
For WS 4, BS 4, Shield of Faith, and Act of Faith 3+ Sisters it's 11 points a model
For Str 4, T 4, ATSKNF, Scout, Infiltrate, Move through Cover, grenades Scouts it's 13 points a model

I think 11 Points a model would be about appropriate for the new stats on the Guardian Defenders. Sure it's about 3 points more a model then before, but they'd actually be worth taking, and would feel much more like Eldar then they do now.

Let me know what you guys think.

-CKR

Under Rated Units - Eldar Edition

There are many units out there that people consider to be under rated. Today I'm going to talk about 2 of the Eldar units I recently started using and having plenty of fun with.

Warp Spiders - You look at these guys on paper and go, wow they Suck, I can't believe they even exist. Sure they have a Str 6 shooting weapon, but what happened to the AP? Where did it go. At least that's how I was, and how most of the forums were as I was reading them. But then someone said, no no they're actually pretty good.

So I decided I was tired of playing pure competition lists and would try out some different things. Wow was I surprised at how well these guys perform. I'm running 7 of them plus an exarch with power blades and dual Death Spinners. That's 18 Str 6 shots raining out from these guys. Sure the range of 12" isn't the best, but they are fast and have a 3+ save and can move backwards after shooting, they've been doing a great job in my games, and I might end up working them into my 1,500 pt lists later on.

Striking Scorpions - Again you see them, and you have Howling Banshees on the other page screaming out, hey we all have power weapons. The thing that's been eating me up when I run Banshees is the amount of Heavy Flamers that are out there these days, they eat things, and banshees will dies faster then anything else when that template is put down.

But not the Scorpions, they get that beautiful 3+ save, they also are Str 4, which means they don't suck against units you haven't Doomed, and and they get 1 extra attack. So they get 4 attacks on the charge vs 3, and will usually wound on 4s vs 5s. Now I know what you're saying, "POWERWEAPONS" yeah they rock. But the odds are you're actually doing the same amount of kills with Scorpions on everything armor 4 and up. They get edge out with 2+ and 3+ but that's when you shoot those buggers to death.

The pure survivability of this unit makes it a winner in my book, especially when my race is already dieing off ;)

Maybe one of these days I'll trying some Swooping Hawks out, but I wouldn't hold my breath.

-CKR

Doubles Tournament Background Story

Hi Everyone, I'm not sure if everyone is familiar with most of the tournaments here in the DFW area but a good majority have alot of points built into different things such as painting, display bases and carrying cases along with back ground stories.

For this one it was a bit more interesting then the ones done in the past as we had to find a way to get our two armies to fall in line with each other, and the better you explain it the more points you get.

So a brief background on the story, before I tell it to you. Me and my partner fought at the North Texas Champion Ships mid last year and my friend ended up winning and I placed second, well this time we've teamed together, and the story takes place at the end of our battle at that turnament. Hope you enjoy.

**********************************

The Enemy of thy Enemy…

The battles upon planet Hoby T’wn, had been quick and devastating. The Swordwind’s Sheath had been pitted against Dark Eldar raiders for weeks, and had also faced the worlds’ Imperial Guard regiment along with their Inquisitorial allies. The Inquisition, always viewing itself as just and righteous in all its actions, had made the mistake of getting in the way of the Eldar.

Nothing would stop the Sheath; the short-sighted humans had no idea of the terror near at hand

The Swordwind’s Sheath had taken refuge in the humans crude refineries. The Farseer hoped they would be able to hold off the enemy as well as get some much needed rest. Just as dusk began, explosive bolter volleys broke upon the Eldar defensive line and the sound of filthy and primitive engines of human machinery could be heard in the distance. Armored warriors in green armor, the Emperor’s Space Marines had arrived.

As the two armies clashed, the surrounded Eldar dug in deep, and tried their best to weather the storm. Left and right the souls of the fallen left this world filling their spirit stones.

Corpses and destroyed wargear began to litter the battlefield; Salamander Space Marines pierced by shuriken rounds or alien energy blasts, and Eldar warriors ripped to pieces by the primitive, but no less destructive, weapons brought to bear against them.

Suddenly the sounds of weapon fire stopped. In a flash of light, the Salamander Librarian, Pyriel, towered over fallen Farseer Gali’lucus. He gripped his weapon, ready to end the life of the foul xenos before him. His force staff crackling with energy, he brought the weapon back ready to strike the fatal blow.

The heavens and earth began to shake with such ferocity that the Librarian could barely hold himself upright. Seeing his chance, Gali’ reached out for his force spear and brought it to bear, the tip drawing a single drop of blood from the Librarians Neck.

The Librarian, with a shocked expression, looked down at the xenos witch, his eyes wide with anger and surprise. “Finish it you Xeno Filth,” spat Pyriel.

“Be silent human! Are you so blind that you can not see what falls upon this world?”

Librarian Pyriel raised his head to the sky, the fury of battle draining from his eyes, “It cannot be!” He stepped back, inadvertently leaving room for Gali’ to rise to his feet, his spear still at the Librarians Throat.

“Yes Human, the Devourer of Worlds is here, with your blind eyes you failed to see why we were present here,” he said scornfully.
Pyriel looked at the seer with hate in his eyes, “You are wrong witch. The sons of Vulcan will never let this world fall, not while one of us lives to fight.”

“Then there may yet still be hope human.” Gali’lucus looked at the sky, tracer rounds and energy bolts lanced into the heavens as Spore Pods rained down upon the world. The skies already turning black, the planet was rebelling against the invading foe like a living organism fighting against a viral infection.

Farseer Gali’lucus fell into himself; he walked upon the threads of fate, seeing what choices there were, where those choices led. Multiple futures appeared to him; too many were of death and further destruction. There! There was one path that may lead to victory and life. There was no other choice; if this world fell the precious lives of thousands of eldar would be lost.

“Yes, if this world falls, much will be lost, and this cannot happen. Gather what is left of your warriors, only together is there any hope of victory today, for your people and mine.” The Farseer watched as this new ally walked towards the space marine army. There was no time to mourn newly fallen, no time to collect the precious soulstones. “Human, because of your nature, many elder have fallen today, I will not soon forget this.”

Gali’ composed himself, he now had to fight with the enemy he was trying to destroy only moments ago. The Farseer began to walk over to where the marines were mustering, he paused as he felt a presence behind him. A small unit of Dire Avengers appeared out of the dust and smoke created in the short battle.

“Farseer Gali’lucus?” said the front-most aspect warrior, “We are at your command. We received word from Farseer Si’lth of your need for help, but…”

“Yes this battle is over, I must prepare what is left of my forces for the true battle. There is still time, what other forces are with you?”

He was answered not by the avenger but what he saw coming from the dust cloud. Two squads of his brave Guardians riding Jetbikes flanked not by one, but two heavy Fire Prism grav-tanks, followed by a Falcon grav-tank.

Nodding his head to the Dire Avenger, he turned and approached the space marine force with the Avengers as his side.

“This is Heresy!” Cried out Sergeant Pri’er, “We can not ally ourselves with these xenos.”

“Quite yourself Sergeant!” yelled out the Librarian. “For now we must fight the Tyranids with these eldar. Without the eldar forces this world is lost, will you have the blood of this planet’s people on your hands?”
“Farseer, it seems that you have had some help arrive. I will be aboard the Land Raider. We will wait for your word, but do not betray me witch.” With that he turned and boarded, Sergeant Pri’er turned and walked back to his waiting squad.

Gali’ joined the avengers in the Falcon”Wind Runner”, the Fire Prisms Crystalis and V’room took positions on either side of the transport. As the Jetbikes formed a perimeter around the tanks, the uneasy alliance of Eldar and Marines turned to face the approaching storm…..

Building and Painting a Wave Serpent

Ode to a Wave Serpent, oh how yea brings the flames of war upon the heads on my enemy so that I can see them melt at my feet.

Lol, CoolKidRoc here, so for many of you, you probably know that Eldar is currently my main army having started them last year I've gone through quite a few units, but my favorite has to be a Wave Serpent filled with those fiery dragons you see above. I usually run two squads and they've yet to fail me.

But this isn't about what I run it's about the easiest way to get your serpent built and painted, or vice versa.



Ok, so as usually excuse the bad pictures, I've not been able to scrounge up money on that new camera yet :P

But as you can see above is the waveserpent with the bottom put together, and the top together. I primered the bottom in white and the top pieces in black. For the bottom I then used chaos black to blacken the engines.



Here are all the individual parts that are not together when I start painting, you can see that the pilot is together and painted. It's very important to do this before you put it together if you want to actually get any details on the pilot.



So after painting the pilot I usually go back and start working on all the green that goes into my tanks. I used to start off with Dark Angels Green, but then I would just end up repainting most of it in Snot Green, so now I start off with Snot Green, and paint everything that will be green in Snot Green.



Here again is everything in Snot Green.



So with the first coat on, It's time to add the pilot and the windshield, make sure to be very picky with the amount of glue you put on otherwise it'll go to the windshield and it won't be able to open.



Here you can see the Pilot and the windshield, there is also that special Y shaped piece behind the pilots head. Make sure you have that there because it holds the windshield in place.



I usually place it where it needs to go, flip it over and make sure the windshield will open and close. Then glue around where the seat touches the hull of the wave serpent.



With the pilot and windshield in place you can glue the top and bottom together, just glue where they should touch and grab some rubber bands and let dry for a bit, usually about 5-10 minutes is fine but if I'm watching a good TV show I'll leave it there a while ;)



Ok so with the glue dry I start on making the green pop by dry brushing the entire hull in Goblin Green. Be generous, as it gives it a nice weathered look.



After that then highlight the raised areas with Scorpion Green.



With the greens done, I then start adding the Vines, I usually go thin almost like using a pen to trace out where I want the vines to go, and then I go back and thicken the vines aftwards. You can also see I've painted the Shield Generators white.



















After that it's all about adding the little details, the vine needles are pretty easy to do, and finding the runes you would like to paint red. With those done add some decals and you've got a Wave Serpent ready for the table.

-CKR