Army List Breakdown #1: War Walkers

The War Walker Squadron is one of my favorite parts about my new style of list. (See last post) They're like a sneaky left hook. Their biggest feature: A cheap unit with lots of Dakka. With other expensive choices in the Heavy Support slot it is nice to see that I can have 18 Str 6 Ap 5 shots for slightly more than the cost of a baseline Fire Prism. I've used them in my last five games now, lost a total of 9 War Walkers in all, and wrecked a fair amount of face. Some career Highlights:

Game #1 vs. Blood Angels - Outflanked behind an outflanking Baal Predator and immobilized it with shots to the rear. Tied up Assault Marines in close combat for two turns before succumbing to Power Fists.

Game #2 vs. Tyranids - Outflanked onto the table and mopped up some Winged Warriors and Gaunts, tied up warriors in close combat until turn 6 where they met their end.

Game #3 vs. Orks - Came onto the board normally and removed a 7 man squad of Ork Lootas, then survived a 30-man Ork mob assault and slowly but surely picked it apart in the remaining rounds of combat. Lost two walkers to power klaws

Game #4 vs. Daemons - Less than spectacular, Outflanked on the wrong side of the table and fired pot shots at plague bearers

Game #5 vs. Daemonhunters - Outflanked onto the table, obliterated an Inquisitor's retinue, cleaned up a massed squad of guardsmen in close combat. After losing one to a Vindicare Assassin, they continued to pour shuriken into the woods holding a heavy weapons crew.

That is a nice resume considering what my Falcons normally do. Mosts games my Falcons fly around all shaken and stuff.

Now before I said that they were like a sneaky left hook, I mean more than that then they outflank onto the table and destroy stuff. There's a meta-game psychology attached to them. They are unassuming Armor 10 vehicles with the cheapest guns Eldar money can buy. Less intimidating, than say, A fire prism or Wraithlord. In fact, my Harlequin get the most attention in my previously described list. This leaves the War Walkers plenty of time to move into position.

You might be asking, "Isn't the Scatter Laser a better option? It has better range and 1 more shot. Why not take 6 of those instead of Shuriken Cannons?" For me the answer was related to saving points, but really I feel it's a matter of opinion. Scatter Lasers cost three times more than Shuriken Cannons, multiply that 6 times and the cheapness of the unit goes out the window. The differences between AP 5 and AP 6 may be unworthy of mention, but consider how many more units you can flat out kill with an AP 5 weapon over an AP 6. Who has armor 6? Orks, Kroot?. Who has armor 5? Some Eldar, most Imperial Guard, several sub-species of Nid, and some Tau. Weapons are progressively more awesome the better an AP they have.

Let's get back to tactics with these guys. Ideally suited for hoard armies, you can use them a little differently and still get the same bang for your buck. The Str 6 shot is good enough for all but the thickest tank armor and you can use these guys to pop transports like Rhinos and Chimeras. Or get at the rear of most other thanks and pummel them with shots as I did against that Baal Predator (He thought he'd be fast like Eldar! Showed you buddy!) You'll wound the inhabitants of said Transports on a 2+ more often than not, so even if they have 3+ armor saves, you're still likely to down a few. The biggest hindrance to this firepower is the BS 3 these Walkers shoot at. Why the Eldar don't have a Path of the Vehicle Operations Specialist is beyond me! Counter this drawback with Guide and you essentially have 6 twin-linked shuriken cannons! Relatively slow compared to other vehicles and namely other Eldar vehicles, War Walkers can take some effort to get them into position. Outflanking is really a good option. You'll get to where you want to be 2/3 of the time. Generally when it comes to outflanking players will not consider outflankers or at least not deem them a big enough threat. If they are concerned they will keep their forces centralized. Find out which type of player you're facing and use it to your advantage. More often than not your opponent could care less that three goofy looking Eldar Walkers can coming in from the side of the table, if so, walk on and go to work. If they are concerned they will condense their forces in the center of the table. Use this to your advantage and let other units like swooping hawks have some fun dropping grenades on the clustered infantry or multi-assaulting some tanks with haywire grenades. May be a far fetched plan, but not impossible. As I said earlier, the War Walker Squadron is generally unassuming. In a sense it doesn't draw Aggro as much as other units. That reason alone is what makes it good.

My Eldar Army

Was planning on making this post a battle report, but I've hit a bit of a dry spell with my 40k games. At any rate I'd like to drop the army list I've been running these days to give you an idea of the type of Eldar I play. Later I'll talk about how I use it. Here's 1000pts worth. I have been using it since a team tourney I played in, a couple of weeks back and wrecked enough face to really consider it as a viable play style.

HQ
Autarch w/Swooping Hawk Wings, Mandiblasters, Power Weapon, and Avenger Shuriken Catapult

Elite
Harlequin Troupe w/4x Harlequin Kiss, 2x Fusion Pistol, Troupe Master w/Power Weapon, Shadowseer, Deathjester

Troops
Guardian Jetbike Squadron x8 w/2x Shuriken Cannons
Rangers x5 w/Pathfinder upgrade

Fast Attack
Swooping Hawks x6 w/Exarch carrying Sunrifle and Skyleap/Intercept

Heavy Support
War Walker Squadron x3 w/Shuriken Cannons x6

If you've played me before you may be wondering where my Farseer and Falcons are. The lack of a Farseer was an unwilling sacrifice to save on points and I would like to have Eldrad or a Jetbike Farseer in the list if possible. As far as the Falcons go, I've stopped using them for awhile. Probably won't see them until the 5th Edition Eldar codex comes out where I'm hoping Falcons are cheaper and (fingers crossed) dedicated transports for aspect warriors.

A Time and Place for Autarchs

Now I will not simply dog on an Autarch without discussing some of their finer points. Farseers are just my personal preference, but even I have a use for Autarchs and can appreciate their tactical benefits. In an increasingly non-linear game the Autarch is slowly becoming necessary. My side of the table does not fight your side anymore. Units can come in from anywhere or any side. A few even come up from beneath! The catch to this new found mobility is that these units must come in from reserve. The Eldar codex just happens to be one of the few 4th Edition codices that was prepared for thee rules changes and no unit helps you maximize your outflank/deep strike potential like an Autarch and his master strategist ability. Whether the Autarch is in play or not you may opt to add one to your reserves rolls. Have two Autarchs?? Why not go ahead and add two to reserves! This means that if you use Swooping Hawks and Skyleap you will be able to drop a grenade pack nearly every turn, coming in on a 2+ as early as turn 2!

Outside of that handy ability the Autarch is a pretty solid warrior and will generally end up being cheaper than a Farseer after upgrades. The trick is to know what you want to use your Autarch for and choose wargear appropriately. Your choice of mobility upgrade is generally up to you. Which flavor of moving 12” across the battlefield do you like? Allow me to break it down. Swooping Hawk wings are the cheapest, but least mobile. You only get the Jump Infantry 12” move. Both the wings and the Warp Jump Generator allow you to deep strike, but the Warp Jump Generator also allows for an albeit risky 2d6” extra move in the assault phase. If you roll doubles however, kiss your Autarch good-bye. If you choose the Warp Jump Generator it’s best to run him with Warp Spiders to maximize the ability and cushion him from instant and certain death at the hands of Warp Beasts. The Jetbike is the most expensive choice, but for good reason. You get the 12” move; also you get to turbo-boost 24” and the Eldar Jetbike 6” assault move. Combine that with the increase in toughness and the relentless quality and the Jetbike makes for an excellent choice. As for choice of helmet, the Banshee mask is near useless. The Autarch comes standard with plasma grenades and you’ll rarely need an initiative higher than six. The mandiblasters are a much better choice, but if you need to save points 3 base attacks may be plenty. Statistically vs. Space Marines (and variants) the Power weapon ends up being the better choice. You will kill roughly 0.887 space Marines with your 4 attacks (+1 for pistol and close combat weapon) with the power weapon over 0.439 kills using the Scorpion Chain Sword. If your opponent is playing Orks you may want to go with the Scorpion Chainsword and it will give you some potential against monstrous creatures, but for most targets the Power Weapon is the way to go. The Laser lance can be awesome, but it is still only good on the turn you assault. Also, Autarchs cannot hit and run like Shining Spears so you may very well end up tar pitting your now very expensive HQ if you are not careful. Choose targets wisely. That said, with proper wargear you can have 6 Strength 6 power weapon attacks on the charge. As for your choice of ranged weaponry, the choice is yours. Keep in mind your goal and pick the right weapon for the job.

A few thoughts on ranged weapons before I go:
• An Autarch with a Shuriken Catapult in a squad of Dire Avengers can Bladestorm
• Jetbikes are relentless and a Reaper Launcher is a Heavy Weapon