Starting an Eldar project

[Brother Captain Ed]

Greetings perfidious xenos.

 

In a fit of pique (and online sales) I picked up the Eldar Christmas battleforce. I am a sucker for savings. Also, I tend to gravitate to the elves in any fantasy setting, so I guess my arrival is overdue.

 

Anyway, I am looking to a build a coherent Craftworld force at around 2k and likely using the Ulthwé traits. As Ultramarines are my first love, and I am in the middle of a large Thousand Sons project, I am not looking to take the plunge and collect the whole range. Since I know virtually nothing about Eldar except some distant 5th Ed memories and the 1d4chan synopsis, a targeted acquisition plan is difficult.

 

However, since I have nothing but the Asuranyi Bladehost, my canvas is blank qnd I can go any way that I want.

 

So what makes the short list? I was considering Wake the Dead, as I play both sides of the box. Fire Prisms and Wave Serpents look cool and are Eldar staples, so maybe a couple of those. I'll need a cast of characters, but aside from Eldrad, I don't know what's worth taking or in what quantity. Same for infantry and bikes: Guardians seem good with Ulthwé, but most of the codex seems good, really. So the ratio of Guardians to other footsloggers/Wave Serpent cargo is unknown to me. Same case for the bike units (and their characters).

 

Bottom line: if you were building a 2k list out of the new battlebox, where would you take it?

 

Thanks for the help and/or links to discussions or blogs that I may have missed.

[Karhedron]

Wake the Dead is a good choice as it provides a 3rd Troops choice in the form of Guardians and a 2nd HQ in the Spiritseer meaning that you now have a full Battalion to field.

 

Aside from Eldrad, the named Characters seem a bit lackluster so I would not bother unless you particularly like the models thematically. If you have room/points for a 3rd HQ then an Autarch with Laser Lance on Jetbike has served me very well. He buffs my shooting units and adds some useful counter-charge ability. Add the Banshee Mask (Index option) to negate overwatch and he can lead charges very successfully. He also regenerates CPs on a 6 which can come in handy.

 

Fire Prisms and Dark Reapers are both excellent fire-support units although prisms work best in pairs to make use of the Linked Fire stratagem. Wraithlords got a significant discount in Chapter Approved and may be worth considering too.

[Slasher956]

To start with i'd pick the craftworld, then write a list of what you'd like to play ... then work out a shopping list...

 

When picking a craftworld you could look at play style, units helped / focused on and/or the background of them.

[Karhedron]

Both the Hemlock and Crimson Hunter are excellent aircraft and worth considering.

[Brother Captain Ed]

Thanks for the responses, gentlemen.

 

I did pick up Wake the Dead as I like both guardians and wraiths, so it seems like a solid box. I'm honestly considering a second Wake the Dead and/or a Start Collecting to keep the Wraith train rolling. Since the aspect warriors/phoenix lords don't do it for me, I'm not missing out on too much outside the bundles.

 

My Craftworld choices are either Ulthwé or Iyanden, and I suspect I'll run whichever strikes my fancy that day until I settle on a favorite. Iyanden will win out if the new Spirit Host detachment is as fun as it sounds, while Ulthwé will become default if Eldrad and the Guardian stratagem work as advertised. Neither color scheme really appeals to me, so I'll be painting a custom Craftworld to go either way. (Although that has been its own ordeal, I tell you what.)

[Slasher956]

cool....what I'd find a decent setup is a battalion of  Farseer & warlock conclave (2 or 3 strong) + 2 units of 10 guardians, one with Shuriken canon the other with brightlance & a unit of Rangers.. this is about 500 points and gives you the +5 CP you need... The I'd do a vanguard formation (and upgrade it to the spirt host) of Spirtseer (warlord, with the trait & relic from Vigilus), unit of wraithblades (5), two units of wraithguard (both 5 strong) & 3 waveserpents (weapons to taste)

[MadEdric]

Both Ulthwé and Iyanden work great with wraith units. Iyanden if you're taking more vehicles/lords as the trait means they are working at top form until they are down to 2-3 wounds. 

Ulthwé works great if you take more wraithguard units as the 6+ FNP is more useful since they don't have a degrading stat. 

I've played both craftworlds on different lists and haven't been let down yet.

Ulthwé gets the plus for getting Eldrad, possibly the best psyker in the game.