Farseer
Let's start at the top; non-Special character Eldar HQ units don't get better than the Farseer, when they're done properly. This is not necessarily a compliment. And by “properly" we mean "don't put them in any position where they have to fight something". Their stat-line and list of abilities should be a loud and clear warning that you are to use the guy for supporting the rest of your army, not being it's spearhead. Letting your opponent shoot at or - God forbid - get into close combat with your T3, A1 non-Eternal Warrior is Christmas come early for him.
- Runes of Warding: In most metagames, this upgrade is mandatory. It has no maximum range and doesn't require line of sight, so if it's not a nasty inconvenience for guys like Mephiston then it's completely shutting down entire armies like Grey Knights and quite a lot of Daemons and Tyranids.
- Runes of Witnessing: Not such a good idea - while it reduces yours chance of rolling double 6's, it also significantly increases your chance of double 1's, so you're not really improving anything. While the Ghost Helm will save you most of the time, if you're using a lot of powers it's generally safer just to rely on Ld10 doing all the hard work for you and then back it up with a Warlock with the Embolden power.
- Spirit Stones: Never to be used in conjunction with Runes of Witnessing, as your Farseer will eventually do himself more harm than good. That said, in smaller games where you can only make room for one Farseer it's extremely helpful to be able to use Guide and Fortune, or Guide and Doom, in the same turn. If you have more than one Farseer, however, you can usually get away with overlooking 'Stones for something else.
- Singing Spear: On paper, an important upgrade. Why not give him a s9 shot that doubles as a handy can-opener against tanks, for 3 measly points? The answer is, because your Farseer shouldn't be in any position to use it, that's why! If you're 12" away from the enemy, they *might* take one casualty, and then they are going to Assault you and you are going to die. Don't leave yourself open to temptation – if you want to kill one guy per shooting phase, Mind War him instead and make it count and then stab his buddies twice in the Assault phase.
- Jetbike: Expensive, and requires a lot of (also expensive) support, however when used right a Farseer on a Jetbike can be a game winner. Effectively, it means that you will never be out of range for Mind War and/or Doom. On a Jetbike with a bodyguard, is also the only place to genuinely consider taking a Singing Spear - you're fast enough to get away from threats of Assault while also fast enough to get within striking range in the first turn. If your Farseer is with Guardians, give him a 'Spear and he becomes their Tank Killer; if he's with anything else, don't bother as they probably have their own ways and means of doing the same thing, but better.
Psychic Powers
- Doom: No Farseer should leave home without it. Good range, and it can benefit anything in your army rather than a few units in specific situations. There are no circumstances that require you to NOT kill your enemies, so you might as well do it properly.
- Guide: Since you're not supposed to put your Farseer near the front line, this is a good power to give to him while he is lurking in cover, near your Heavy weapons. If you're not into that sort of thing and prefer a fast, close combat army, don't waste your points on re-rolling to hit with Shuriken Pistols.
- Mind War: Extremely useful, particularly on a Jetbike. Also known as 'Turn 1: Kill That Guy With A Lascannon, Or That Monstrous Creature Too Tough Or Far Away To Be Hurt By Shurikens'. Often a good way to deal with enemy Psychic Hoods, if you're feeling brave and want to risk a straight coin flip to see who wins. A lucky roll early on, however, will reap a great benefit over the next few turns.
- Eldritch Storm: Much better in the previous edition, when a vehicle used up it's movement to turn itself around on the spot. Nowadays all you're doing is risking a small chance that your enemy might be pinned (Rangers are better for this task) or an even smaller chance of exposing rear armour on an enemy vehicle for 1 turn. Too random, either way - avoid.
- Fortune: Combined with a unit that has high toughness or an invulnerable save - Warlocks, or Wraithguard, for example - Fortune ensures that they aren't going to die. In the case of Wraithguard, who are already 3+ and can be given 5++ with a nearby Warlock, ever. If your army is light on these sorts of units, or you have a play-style that requires lots of fast, light units, it's not so good. Re-rolling a 5+ save probably isn't going to help you as much as killing your opponent before he can shoot you, so in such a circumstance Doom is a better choice.
Warlock Bodyguard
You won't need very many before the squad gets extremely expensive, but they're one of precious few Eldar sources that have an invulnerable save. If your Farseer is riding a Jetbike, along with these guys such a unit has been known to stampede through a surprising number of Tournaments for their ability to soak up an impressive amount of fire-power and then kill whatever they reach in their own turn. On foot, they're not so hot due to low toughness and lack of Attacks/Power Weaponry. In a perfect world, Witchblades would be Force Weapons. Alas.....
- Jetbike: Farseer + Fortune + Jetbikes + Invulnerable Saves = extremely resilient, always able to get where you need them, and enough s9 attacks will kill anything quickly. Just try not to get carried away and take too many of them; you're going to be spending a hideously large amount of points on a none-scoring unit, so plan accordingly.
- Singing Spear: A given unit of Warlocks should contain one guy with the Enhance power, one guy with Embolden *IF* they're with a Farseer and everyone else with Destructor. Those two odd guys can take a Singing Spear in order to give themselves something to do in the Shooting phase and to crack Tanks if you find that you have fallen short/haven't already given one to the Farseer. Also as with the Farseer entry, you're better off having more attacks in Assault than one and a short ranged shooting attack.
- Wave Serpent: If you have a big unit of Warlocks, this is the slightly cheaper alternative to Jetbikes. Since a unit of Fortune'd Warlocks are one of the most likely things in the Codex to survive the turn after disembarking, and because Wave Serpents are so awesome (more on that later) this is not as unlikely as it sounds. Even so, taking a Wave Serpent with a Warlock bodyguard almost certainly means that you're also putting your Farseer on the front line, and inevitably on foot. THINK. VERY. CAREFULLY. About what you're about to do, before you do it.
- Spirit Seer: A Warlock Bodyguard doesn't need this. If you're crazy about Wraithguard then they can have their own private Warlock, and there's enough other places to put a single Spirit Seer within range of a Wraithlord that you won't have two of your most expensive units within range of a single artillery barrage.
Psychic Powers
- Conceal: Useful for an individual Warlock that is attached to a unit of Troops, virtually useless in a Bodyguard who already have 3+/4++.
- Enhance: At least 1 member of the Bodyguard unit should always have this power. You only need 1, and (Vindicare/enemy Mind War antics aside) he should be the last person to die.
- Embolden: Your Farseer hasn't taken Runes of Witnessing. A Farseer can join a unit of Warlocks. Psychic powers are "a normal leadership test". See what I'm getting at? (Cheat code: Take 1 guy with this power if a Farseer has joined the unit, and save yourself the price of a set of more dangerous Runes of Warding). Certainly, don't take Embolden and Runes of Warding – if you're regularly rolling 3d6, picking the lowest 2 and finding that you need a re-roll, your money would be better spent on new dice, than new models......
- Destructor: Everyone who doesn't have [i]Embolden[i] or Enhance, should a) always have this instead (on foot) or b) probably have it anyway (if mounted on Jetbikes). Twin-Linked Shuriken Catapults are usually "okay", Destructor can sometimes be "great", so take your pick depending on what you're going to do with them.
Autarch
If you prefer a more aggressive play style, or want to use lots of the more exotic Eldar units, then an Autarch is the man for you. A respectable stat-line and not a bad cost, though again he's let down by a paltry T3. If you hadn't noticed, this is going to be a reoccurring - and depressing - theme.
- Master Strategist: Manipulating the Reserves roll can be crucial to the success of an army that relies on lots of Reserves, especially if it has a very heavy Swooping Hawk theme as the bonus stacks if you have more than one Autarch and are intending to Skyleap a lot. I wouldn't complain too loud since on such a cheap model you're getting it for "free", but there are better abilities that he could have had in an ideal world.
- Haywire Grenades: Oooh, shiny! Again they're "free", and you never know when a Tank Shock is going to come out of no-where. Don't rely on them to be your only source of Tank Killing, if you're building a Tank Killer Autarch though - 1/6 is not good odds, especially when Fusion Guns are cheap, plentiful and just better.
Now, choosing equipment for your Autarch is going to rely incredibly heavily on what he is expected to do in your army - there's no point in giving him a Laser Lance and a Jetbike if there are no other Jetbikes in your army, for example - he's just going to be shot to bits. Similarly, even with WS6, a (s3!) power weapon and a 4++ save, sending him into a melee solo will not end well.
The idea, instead, is to pick a unit for him to accompany and equip him appropriately - the following are just guidelines for what to do when you have made that choice:
- Swooping Hawk Wings: ….Are NOT interchangeable with a Jump Generator, although Master Strategist only requires the Autarch to be alive - not necessarily on the table - for Sky Leaping shenanigans.
- Warp Jump Generator: ….Is NOT interchangeable with Hawk Wings, if you want to use the Warp Jump feature. Which you should NEVER, EVER do without first being attached to a unit of Warp Spiders, because Instant-Death-No-Save on your Autarch really isn't funny.
Quite frankly, the Autarch doesn't need either of these things, with the sole exception of having him join the appropriate squad. Between the two, he does more for 'Hawks than 'Spiders, but you'd need a pretty spectacular plan in mind to invest so much in such a hit-or-miss unit. - Jet Bike: You don't give an Autarch a Jetbike so that he can join a unit of Shining Spears - they really don't need his help. No; you do it so that he can take a Reaper Launcher and be Relentless with it. Or occasionally, if he's hanging out with Jetbike Guardians, a Fusion Gun so that he can be there as the “I-Kill-Tanks” guy.
- Banshee Mask: Your Autarch is already I6 and has both types of grenades, so there aren't many times when he won't be going first anyway. Generally he's better off with.....
- Mandiblasters: What's that? A5 (+1 on the charge), probably with a Power Weapon at I6 and WS6? Okay, you're only s3, but that's still pretty funny.
- Power Weapon: See above. Lots of attacks with a Power Weapon is hilarious.
- Scorpion Chainsword: A reasonable alternative; most things in the game are T4-ish, so being s4 in response can be very helpful. Still, all things considered, rather than risk your opponent getting any save your best plan is to take a Power Weapon and then Doom your target so that s3 isn't such an issue any more.
- Laser Lance: An expensive option, since it requires a Jetbike to pull off, and there are limited places that it'll get used. Guardian Jetbikes don't want to be in Assault and will be a death sentence to any Autarch stuck with them if that happens regardless of what weapon the Autarch has; Warlock Bodyguards don't need the added expense; and Shining Spears can generally be relied upon to get the job done on their own. Generally speaking, an Autarch on a Jetbike has better things to do, and better places to be.
- Avenger Shuriken Catapult: Bargain basement. Take this is you're in an incredibly low-points game and for some reason are desperate to fill your HQ slot because you don't have a Farseer model. While not a bad weapon per-say, almost anything else is a more optimised choice.
- Death-Spinner: Not a fan. Why take s6 AP-, when the s8 AP1 Fusion Gun will do exactly the same job, more reliably, and also against more heavily armoured opponents? Speaking of which......
- Fusion Gun: Give this to an Autarch with either 'Wings or a Jump Generator, and he becomes a very useful problem solver. Just remember to give him a bodyguard, otherwise he will instead become a priority target.
- Lasblaster: No, thanks. It might be cheaper than an Avenger Catapult, but it's also not as good. No one is intimidated by s3 AP5, especially when it sarcastically leaves you in range for s4 AP5 Boltguns to retaliate.
- Reaper Launcher: Highly recommended if you're on a Jetbike. Never to be used on foot - the Autarch can do far, far more interesting things than babysit a squad of Dark Reapers.
The Avatar of Khaine
"TAK" to his friends, the Avatar is - of all the units in the Codex - one of the most debated. On the one hand, he's a Monstrous Creature who is outright immune to two varieties of weapon (unique throughout the rest of the game, almost) and is something of a close combat powerhouse. On the other, he's an otherwise fairly vanilla Monstrous Creature and as such comes with most of the usual drawbacks, and he doesn't really offer very much in the way of synergy to the rest of your army.
On the plus side, he has no wargear options at all, so if you're lazy you can just throw him in as-is and just forget about it.
- Daemon: Note the wording of the rule; the Avatar is "affected by weapons and abilities that affect Daemons", so that means he is easy prey for Grey Knight armies. Similarly it doesn't say that he GAINS the abilities usually associated with Daemons, and as such is not an Eternal Warrior. Which, despite T6 and 4++, sucks thanks to the abundance of Force Weapons out there nowadays.
- Inspiring: Fearless isn't so great. That TAK can't ride in a transport, Deep Strike or Infiltrate - like nearly all other Assault orientated Eldar units can - means that all this usually does is stop the occasional unit of Guardians from running away, and is mostly several turns away from being used by someone that really needs it in a tricky Assault.
- Molten Body: Thanks to the errata, this rule applies to pretty much anything with the "Melta" rule or that has the word "Flame" or "Fire" in it's name or description. Which is pretty cool. It does not, however, do anything against Krak Missiles or Lascannons, which are far more likely to be pointed at such a big target that has no choice but to just footslog forward and suck it up.
"High explosives and anti-tank weaponry? Curse you, meddling kids - my only weaknesses!"
~ TAK (Attributed)
All in all..... In close combat he will break almost anything and then go looking for more. The hard part is getting him there in one piece, and if you're drawn in a Tournament against Grey Knights, Imperial Guard or almost any Space Wolf player with half a brain then you may well just give him up for dead. Use him at your own risk, preferably in a casual environment.
HQ Diagnosis: Two Farseers with Runes of Warding and sharing Doom, Guide and Fortune between them - plus Mind War if you're feeling sassy – will solve an impressively large number of problems regardless of what else you take. Take an Autarch if you really, really want to Deep Strike lots of stuff, but fully expect him to get one-shot'ed soon after arriving.
Re: Warhammer 40K Tabletop XV: "More People Should Be Punched In The Head."
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