I took a scaled down version of my Golden Throne GT army list to a local RT to see how it would do against various opponents/armies and was pleasantly surprised with how amazing Eldar with Tau allies can be. This post will cover battle reports of my 3 games.
The list I took was:
Eldar Primary: 1275
HQ: 170
-Farseer
-Spiritseer
Troops: 596
-5x D-Scythe Wraithguard in Scatter/Holofield Serpent
-5x Dire Avengers in Scatter/Holofield Serpent
-3x Windrider Jetbikes
Fast Attack: 152
-8x Warp Spiders
Heavy Support: 357
-5x Dark Reapers w/ Exarch, Fast Shot, EML, Flak Missiles in a Scatter/Holofield Serpent
Fortification:
-Aeigis with Icarus Lascannon.
Tau Allies:470
-Tau Commander w/ Multi Sensor Suite, Puretide Neuro-engram Chip, Iridium Armor, 2xMissile Pod, Velocity Tracker, Early Warning Override
-Riptide w/ Ion Accelorator, Early Warning Override, Velocity Tracker, Twin-linked Fusion Guns
-10x Kroot
I think I was at least 20 points under and didn't even realize it because the above list, what I took, at best can only be 1830!? Oh well, I guess I needed a handicap or something...
Missions:
Game 1 was Crusade with 5 objectives and Dawn of War deployment
Game 2 was Purge the Alien with Hammer & Anvil deployment
Game 4 was Emperor's will with Vanguard Strike deployment
NOTE: Secondary objectives only counted as bonus points for winning the tournament, not the games themselves-those are won purely on securing mission objectives.
Game 1:
This game was against a nicely painted Space Wolf list that focused on aggressive drop pod tactics to deliver the pain. It included a Rune Priest, 2 units of Grey Hunters in Drop Pods with assorted Special Weapons, 1 unit of Grey Hunters in a Rhino, 1 Dread in a Drop Pod, 1 unit of Grey Hunters with an attached Terminator dude in a Land Raider Redeemer, 2 units of Longfangs w/5 Missile Launchers, 2 Land Speeders with Flamer/Melta.
Setup/deployment:
 |
| My deployment |
 |
| Opponent's deployment |
I won roll for first turn so I
My opponent deployed to counter mine with Long Fangs to my right virtually directly across from my army an another unit centrally with his Rune Priest while a Rhino filled with Grey Hunters deployed by an objective in his back field and his Land Raider deployed centrally to threaten any objectives and come at my main line.
Sieze Initiative: No
Night Fight: Yes
Turn 1:
Me:
I start off by buffing the Dark Reapers I kept in their Wave Serpent (to protect them from first turn shooting if opponent seized) and cast Prescience/Conceal then disembarked to man the Icarus Lascannon and moved the Tau Commander to join the unit. The rest of the army moved around to establish fire lanes and get in position while the Riptide moved up to protect the Reapers and get in a good firing position. Shooting saw my Dark Reapers completely wipe out the Long Fangs and Rune Priest in the center thank's to re-rolling hits, Ignoring Cover and Night Vision. First Blood and Slay the Warlord go to the Eldar while the rest of the shooting is inconsequential though my D-Scythe equipped Wraithguard move flat-out to engage the other Long Fang squad.
Opponent:
My opponent's first turn has his Drop Pods come down howling for vengeance...The Dread and a unit of Longfangs drop close to my lines but neither scatters at all. His Rhino filled with Grey Hunters stays put to secure that objective while the Land Raider also comes full speed at me. All of his shooting only manages to put a wound on my Tau Commander and Riptide.
Turn 2:
Me:
 |
| A sample of my opponent's bad armor save dice =( |
This turn I buff Riptide/Dark Reapers with Guide/Prescience and Cast Conceal on the Reapers as well. I move my Wraithguard up to engage the Long Fangs but one survives the torrent of D-Scythes while my other Serpents move up to take out the Drop-Pod units while my Warp Spiders come in and don't scatter thank's to my Warlord Trait of "no scatter if deployed within 6," woot it was not totally useless this game! After combined shooting from everything and some bad rolling on my opponent's part, I destroy all of the Grey Hunters and that Dreadnought. Incidentally, my Winrider squad did not come in but the Kroot did so the managed to come in on a side where an objective was conveniently placed...But can they hang on long enough to hold it?
Opponent:
 |
| Land Speeder "Kroot b Gone" before... |
This turn my opponent gets in another Grey Hunter unit in Drop Pod and a Land Speeder and deepstrikes the Grey Hunters near my main army on the bottom right to engage my Dire Avenger transport while his Speeder Deep Strikes in a daring position to wipe out all of my congo-lined Kroot with his Flamer...And hits with both drops (actually my opponent rolled to-hits very poorly but never rolled anything but a "hit" on a scatter dice, we were joking about how he should just roll scatter dice for his to-hits)!
 |
| ...And after! |
His shooting managed to wipe out the Kroot completely while immobilizing my Dire Avenger Serpent. He also moves up his Land Raider.
Turn 3:
Me:
This turn I Guided/Prescienced my Riptide/Reapers and cast Conceal again while my Wraithguard embarked and moved up with the Serpent to get in position to engage the Land Raider unit or Grey Hunters in Rhino in the back. The rest of my army moves up to engage the Grey Hunters that immobilized my Dire Avenger Serpent and I manage to whittle down his Grey Hunters a bit while blowing up his Land Raider and getting his unit inside down to just 2 models...All in all a solid turn of shooting for the Eldar.
Opponent:
My opponent this turn gets his last Speeder in and deepstrikes it directly behind my Wraithguard's Serpent and rolls a "Hit" on the scatter dice while the rest of his army moves up to engage mine though his Grey Hunters in the Rhino remain on the objective in their Rhino. He manages to blow up my Dire Avenger Serpent with his remaining Grey Hunters but his Land Speeder misses with his Melta and my Wraithguard's Serpent is safe for another turn.
Turn 4:
Me:
 |
| 3 6s of glancing doom! |
Opponent:
This turn my opponent spreads his Grey Hunters out as much as possible and takes some shots at my Wraithguard's Serpent failing to do anything. =(
Turn 5:
Me:
This potentially being the final turn and with me being a doofus and not playing to objectives as much as I should have (my Dire Avengers after moving towards my backfield objective were still too far to claim it) the game was currently 1 objective to 1! I had to get rid of that Grey Hunter unit and if I didn't I had to hope for another game turn...Well, despite spreading out as best as he could, between all of my Wraithguard, Riptide, Dark Reaper and Wave Serpent shooting I manage to wipe out the Grey Hunters to the man.
Game ends with 1 Objective Eldar and none for the Space Wolves while I also picked up First Blood, Slay the Warlord and Line-Breaker. Incidentally, I managed to kill all of the Drop Pods between rounds to get a bonus point for tabling my opponent.
All in all, a solid victory for Eldar having only lost a Kroot unit and Wave Serpent though my opponent's dice were pretty darn bad =(. This game taught me to focus more on objectives than killing opponents though the missions were set-up to encourage tabling opponents with how the bonus points were set-up, oh well.
Game 2:
Set-up:
 |
| Opponent's deployment |
 |
| My deployment |
This game was against a Dark Angels army with Belial, Librarian, 2x10 Terminator units (one w/ TH/SS and another with 2 Cyclone Missiles and Storm Bolters), 3x5 Tactical marines with Missile/Flak (one in a Rhino), 1 Rifleman Dread, 1 Land Raider. My opponent won the roll for first turn and deployed as below while I counter deployed to just try and take him out as he came at me. I was worried about how my list would handle so many terminators as well.
Night Fight: No
Seize the Initiative: No
Turn 1:
Opponent:
My opponent moved up this turn with his Dread, Rhino, Land Raider and took some shots at my Serpents which passed their cover saves.
Me:
On my turn I cast Prescience/Conceal on my Dark Reapers and get out while moving the rest of my army into position to set-up fire lanes and anticipate the incoming Terminators. I manage to take out the Rifleman Dread with the Reapers for First Blood.
Turn 2:
Opponent:
His terminators come in and with no where to hide from my Riptide, they go all out and land next to my Dark Reapers with the Farseer, Spiritseer and Tau Commander. The rest of his army moves up while my Interceptor shot from the Riptide lands on target killing a bunch of them.
 |
| After Riptide Interceptor was resolved |
 |
| Before Riptide Interceptor is resolved |
The rest of his shooting doesn't do much as I pass my saves from his Terminator unit, Land Raider, Tac Marines.
Me:
I think I am in love with Interceptor and S8 Ap2 Large Blasts! With that said, I cast Prescience/Guide on some units, move my Wriathguard into position to flame the Terminators while the rest of my army moves around to take out his Rhino, put some wounds on his Tac squads and block his Land Raider with my Serpents. All of the Wraithguard leave only Belial with 1 wound left and it takes my Warp Spider shooting to finish him off. Also, my Jetbikes came on and decided to hide.
 |
| The end of my turn looks something like this |
Turn 3:
Opponent:
Not wanting to simply charge my Kroot that are screening the rest of my army, my opponent moves his Land Raider up while the rest of his army takes pot-shots at my Serpents failing to do anything more than taking off a HP here and there.
Me:
I move to surround the Land Raider as best I can and then take it out between my Riptide's shooting and Close Combat Smash attacks...His Terminators get out and I realize I should have also moved my Spiders to completely surround the Raider, oh well, time to get multi-charged in the face!
Turn 4:
Opponent:
Now that I presented my opponent with 2 Wave Serpents, Kroot and a Riptide to combo charge, my opponent rolls to see how far he can move/charge and only manages to get into the Kroot, Riptide and a Serpent. He Wrecks the Serpent and does enough damage to the Kroot and Riptide to make them fall back (but not enough to kill them) and then consolidates into the wreckage of his Land Raider/my Serpent. Not staying in combat really hurt him this turn.
Me:
This turn I try to move my Wraithguard to flame up the Terminators with D-Scythes but roll poorly with my terrain tests while the rest of my army moves to shoot up his Terminator unit. Riptide regroups while Kroot keep running and between all of my shooting I manage to wipe out the terminator unit
At this point, we call the game as I have ample movement/firepower to take out his damaged Tactical squads for max battle points including First Blood, Slay the Warlord and Line Breaker.
Game 3:
This game was against a very balanced Ultramarine army with Calgar, 2 Tactical squads in Rhinos, 1 Scout squad, 1 Sternguard in Rhino, 1 Predator with autocannon/lascannons, 1 Terminator unit, 1 Whirlwind, 1 Thunderfire Cannon/Tech Marine, Storm Talon, Aegis Defense Line with Quad Gun.
Night Fight: Yes
Seize the Initiative: No
Setup:
My opponent won the roll to go first but let me have it since this was an objective game. I deployed by castling in a corner. My opponent countered by deploying many things across from my army while having some things on the other side of the board to try and protect his objective (mine was by the Riptide in the above picture while his was by the Quad Gun).
Turn 1:
Me:
I Guide/Prescience Reapers/Riptide and man the Icarus then proceed to kill the Tech Priest and Thunderfire gun for First Blood and eliminating some of my opponent's firepower. The rest of my army just moves up and takes potshots at his vehicles but I don't manage to do anything.
Opponent:
My opponent primarily just moves up as much as he can popping smoke and hugging cover. His shooting doesn't do much of anything due to Night Fighting though his Whirlwind manages to kill 2 Reapers.
Turn 2:
Me:
I cast Guide/Prescience on the usual suspects, move up and my Kroot/Warp Spiders come in as well. My Kroot do nothing to the Scouts in the building while the rest of my army blows up the Sternguard Rhino and bring them down to 2 models who fall back and then I also blow up the Tac Marine Rhino on my right. I also move my D-Scythe Wraithguard flat out towards his objective.
Opponent:
He continues to move up and takes some pot-shots at my vehicles and immobilizes my empty Serpent the right. His Whirlwind kills 2 Dark Reapers. His Terminators move up to kill my Wraithguard and he blows up their Serpent with ease.
Turn 3:
Me:
I cast Guide/Prescience again and kill some Tac Marines on the right while my Reapers blow off the weapon on his Whirlwind. My Wraithguard kill every Terminator while my Jetbikes come on and with the Kroot manage to do some damage to the Scouts leaving only a few alive.
Opponent:
Flyer refuses to come on but that doesn't stop him from wiping out all of the Wraithguard, Dark Reapers (Calgar called down a bombardment and I failed my saves) and putting a wound on the Riptide.
Turn 4:
Me:
Again I cast the requisite powers and since all of the Reapers are dead my Tau Commander goes to town blowing up his Predator while my Serpents blow up the remaining Sternguard. My Kroot/Jetbikes finish off the Scouts while the Spiders take out any remaining Marines on the right. Riptide fails to blow up the Tac Rhino in the middle with 2 Fusion gun shots and Close Combat attacks!
Opponent:
His Flyer comes in and Interceptor shots from my Commander/Icarus and Riptide basically blow off the assault cannon while he puts some wounds on my Kroot and tries to make a dash for my objective with his Rhino filled with Tac marines...If he can make it it will be a close/tie game!
Turn 5:
Me:
This is the turn to win or lose the game...I have a Dire Avenger squad that I can claim my objective with while my opponent has 5 Tac Marines with Calgar on his objective and a full Tac squad ready to take my objective...
I cast relevant powers and blow his Tac Marine's Rhino up with my Commander while the Riptide/Dire Avengers finish off the unit inside. A Serpent shoots down the Flyer while combined shooting from Warp Spiders, remaining Serpent and my Windriders finish off the Tac squad and Calgar (with the Windriders actually delivering the killing blow to Calgar).
Game ends with Eldar victory due to tabling opponent along with First Blood, Line Breaker and Slay the Warlord.
Conclusion:
So this tournament was basically a means to see how effective Tau Commander/Riptide are with Eldar along with how Warp Spiders/D-Scythe Wraithguard do for the army.
Tau Commander:
Overall, I am sold on the Tau Commander for making the Dark Reapers "super effective" and if my opponent doesn't get First Blood or if I go first, this unit is virtually guaranteed to get you First Blood as they kill what they shoot at.
Riptide:
The Tau Riptide also definitely did a lot for me with his Interceptor shooting which basically makes anything Deep Striking near your lines think twice since it will have to deal with a S8 AP2 Large Blast coming its way.
Warp Spiders:
The Warp Spiders were phenomenal and their firepower/mobility are immense. They kill what they shoot at and are on the other side of the table before you know it. Knowing when to Deep Strike them and when not to along with their proper targets are key to making them work IMO.
D-Scythe Wraithguard:
This unit is a solid scoring unit but very expensive-I really wish it was either a 2 point upgrade or a straight swap as 10 points is very steep. However, they do provide some nice insurance against any terminators that try to get too close and they also make short work of any other scoring units hiding in cover. Definitely a unit your opponent can't ignore.
Wind Riders:
These guys got very lucky every game between blowing up a Land Speeder game 1 to taking out Calgar and some Scouts game 3. Regardless, their mobility and firepower is pretty awesome when you get them in the right place.
Overall, I learned that Tau/Eldar can support each other very well and offer some very potent, complementary firepower. Eldar mobility/scoring with Tau fire support is a winning combo so no wonder so many players are taking Tau with Eldar!