Re: [Epic] Uncheesy detachments

From: Mark A Shieh <SHODAN+_at_...>
Date: Mon, 9 Feb 1998 14:43:51 -0500 (EST)

"Miller, Chris" <CMiller_at_...> writes:
> The true test of the Eldar though, is Guardian use. Did you use
> 'em, and if so how many? I know a few Eldar players who wouldn't use
> guardians at all...

        I couldn't bring myself to use them, as they just weren't that
good, and the Eldar don't like to use them except in large battles
anyways. I figured, if they're that low on manpower, they can afford
to equip their guardians well. I shoved all of mine onto Jetbikes,
Vypers, or told them to crew vehicles. They were far more effective
for me this way. The Warhost was stuck with identical orders for
troops and transport, and the Defender host was just too painful to
think about. The small Eldar detachment size and their half-point
hosing meant that they coughed up VPs faster than any army except
Chaos.

        I tried using them a few times. They tended to die in
droves, and were too pathetic to assault anything, and too few and
ineffectual to hold an objective properly. I switched to jetbikes and
aspects after a while, since jetbikes are the real fodder unit in the
Eldar army. Horrible at everything, but dirt cheap. My bikers
consistently died horribly while doing nothing more than holding up
enemy detachments or taking fire from stuff they charged to distract
them. Only problem is, you can't hold an objective with bikes alone
unless there's clear terrain nearby, since you couldn't hover above
rough terrain. Aspects held my forest and building objectives. It's
a pity that my Jetbike and Vyper detachments were so overpriced. The
Windrider host wasn't anything great, but it at least got me numbers
without paying more than they were worth.

        Towards the end of SM/TL around here, I was using 3 companies
as my core. A Spirit host, a Windrider host, and a Falcon host. A
couple more months and I might have managed to paint another Phantom
Titan for a Phantom Battlegroup. I never liked my Phantoms though.
Taking them just meant that my other units didn't get barraged. It
sucked being the only army whose Titans didn't get shielding of any
useful sort, or some sort of psychic defense. At least in E40k they
do a decent job of defending against that nasty auto-critical. It
seems appropriate that massed firepower, rather than a few death rays,
is the most effective way to bring down Eldar Titans. It's also nice
to have more than 1 useful weapon to pick from, and to have a close
combat weapon this time.

        Of course, I haven't played Epic of any sort for almost a
year, though I have painted some. I think I always enjoyed painting
more than playing. I know I enjoy talking about it more than playing.

Mark
Received on Mon Feb 09 1998 - 19:43:51 UTC