POLISHed Faction Focus: Craftworld Eldar with Duda

                                        POLISHed Faction Focus: Craftworld Eldar with Duda 

Welcome to the first interview in the ‘POLISHed Faction Focus’ series. The intention of this article and the ones to follow is to provide additional insight into the army in question on top of what Games Workshop teases in their Faction Focuses. Here, we take a look back at how the armies fared in 9^th and previous editions and we search for trends and hints towards what might come in 10^th. These articles are aimed both at new players trying to get more information about specific armies before they choose the one to main in 10^th, as well as to provide food for thought for more experienced players who, perhaps, have never given the army a go and are looking for some incentive. Once 10th edition drops we will invite our interviewees to Contact Lost Podcast LIVE interviews to check how their armies have changed!

In the first interview we talked to Michał Duda – a staple of the Polish National team and arguably one of the best 40k players in the world. We focused on his army of choice: the Space Elves otherwise known as Asuryani, Aeldari or Craftworld Eldar (CWE for short).

Contact Lost (CL): Hi Michał, how long have you been involved in the hobby and what made you stick to Eldar over the years?

Michał Duda (MD): I’ve been playing this game for 14 years. Most of that time (10 years) with Eldar. I enjoy armies that force you to think harder and Eldar just happen to meet this criterium. It is an army that allows for a plethora of unit combinations and synergies that provide for interesting and creative gameplay.

CL: Eldar are a staple in every edition and you have been playing this army rather consistently ever since I remember. What makes you choose this army over many others?

MD: I usually do not pay attention to the army book’s power level. I tend to play Elves whether they are top or not. I like to tinker and look for original solutions and this army is just perfect for that. It also relies on multiple in-game mechanics which, if understood and executed well, make the eventual success taste even better. I like to feel that it was my piloting that made me victorious and not the sheer power of a codex. Additionally, I would not describe myself as an aggressive or passive player. I tend to observe the battlefield and adjust my playstyle to my opponent so I like toolkit armies that allow that. The Eldar are exactly that.

CL: They say Eldar are one of the top armies in every single edition. That is great for people who collect them, but does that mean that their playstyle has been consistent over different editions? Or is it such a versatile army that they allow the pilot to choose their playstyle?

MD: Their playstyle underwent many changes over the years, but this is just the way this army is built. We simply have a lot of units dedicated to a specific role on the battlefield (take Aspect Warriors) and so my builds include a little bit of everything. This army is inherently fast so I try to capitalize on that as much as I can with sensible use of Battle Focus (ability: moving after shooting) and Fire and Fade (stratagem: moving after shooting). The former needs practise but is workable with the right angles and use of terrain but on a key unit you will use Fire and Fade anyway.  On top of that, there is usually a ton of magic that needs to be used precisely in order to maximise the effectiveness of your units and I cannot imagine a list without it. Aeldari shooting is not their strongest asset, so I tend to pick units that can play additional roles on the battlefield (like scoring, move blocking etc.). Luckily, their combat is reliable and can be very strong. This army is active in all the phases and this combined with the in-game mechanics, which I mentioned earlier, makes for a potent and deadly mix. I am talking about getting those reliable charges where I need them, blocking movement and tripointing (trapping a model with your three or more models so that it cannot fall back), stealing objectives with fast biker units, applying buffs and, more importantly, debuffs to the enemy… Halving enemy’s movement or blocking their actions can make a huge difference in that pivotal turn. The army has a ton of such tricks and if you know how to capitalize on them – you can multiply its potential.

 

CL: At first glance the army might look feeble and vulnerable - what are its actual weaknesses?

MD: They are made out of paper… Not many units can withstand more than the opponent’s sneeze which makes this army very unforgiving. It is extremely easy to misplace and lose your units and even a loss of one can cost you dearly.

There are units and armies that Eldar do struggle against. Desolation squads simply destroy you and there is nothing you can do about it… Chaos Knights toy with your leadership, which is surprisingly low for the Elves – it is logical that an Exarch who’s fought on countless battlefields through millennia is as mentally resilient as a bumpkin with a pickaxe… And last but not least, Eldar struggle against most mechanised armies, unless they build specifically to tackle that. Once they do, other pairings may not play out that well.

CL: Are there any units you consider staples? Something that you don't leave home without? Any noteworthy combos that you enjoy?

MD: I do not believe that Eldar currently have any ‘tubro OP’ units. There are solid picks and there are very powerful units, but none of them feel like an absolute must. I definitely try to always bring a unit of Striking Scorpions with Crushing Blow or a unit of Banshees with Piercing Strikes. They simply provide fantastic value for money (or points). Baharroth seems to be making his way into every list I build as well.

CL: Can this army work with any terrain standard?

MD: This army prefers dense tables mainly due to their feeble nature with Toughness 3. When it comes to raw firepower, we do not really compare well to classic gunline armies such as Tau. And in order to excel in combat one must first safely get to it and it hardly ever works on a table that lacks in terrain.

CL: Is this army viable both in singles and team events?

MD: Technically – both. It does much worse in singles though. First of all, if the terrain on the table is scarce it turns into an uphill battle. Secondly, as mentioned earlier, this army boasts specialized fit for purpose units which here could be a downside. Creating a universal all-comer’s list for singles becomes a challenge as you need multiple units of X and a couple of Y and this quickly becomes costly. More often than not I catch myself dropping a certain unit or otherwise reducing points costs in order to bring the desired army composition.

In teams, however, this is a perfect army to bring. If the pairings are done masterfully and your captain gets you the table you want – you approach the game already at an advantage. This army is also perfect for skewing (building an army with a view to do one role but do it extremely well like anti-vehicle or anti-horde) to counter specific army types or compositions. The Asuryani book sports units that can counter absolutely anything so you can tailor your list and make it very fit for purpose.

CL: Have you seen more success with pure Asuryani lists or mixed with Harlequins or Ynnari?

MD: It depends. I have not tried Ynnari in 9^th edition as they seemed… middling most of the edition. Depending on the meta I’ve had great success both with pure CWE and a Harlie mix. Both versions are very fun, but personally I go for pure CWE whenever I can.

CL: Who is this army for and who should pick up this army in 10th?

MD: It is for ingenious players who like to dig and tinker. I really hope that they do not change that in 10^th as I enjoy this aspect a lot. Although, it is possible to build simplistic lists that play more like a hammer than a scalpel as well.

CL: Overall difficulty of the army from 1 - 10 where 1 is dead easy and 10 is really difficult to pilot. Is it easy to pick up?

MD: It definitely is a High Risk High Reward army. You could build it simple but you could also create intricate army compositions. Overall a 7.

CL: Having seen GW's faction focus for Eldar what are your thoughts?

MD: Generally what they revealed looks super strong. Strands of Fate (dice that can be used instead of rolling, acquired before the battle starts) in the form of 12 dice are an upgraded version of Miracle Dice in Sisters of Battle and an improved version of itself from 9^th. But what GW did here is their classic way to implement rules. Yet again you get your basic rules with some restrictions. You roll 12 dice at the start of the game and the only way you can manipulate them is to re-roll all of them but in this case you keep only 11. And one less every time you decide to re-roll. And this is good as it requires the players' conscious decision. Either you keep more dice with a worse roll or risk a re-roll but get fewer dice. But then (AS ALWAYS…) GW comes with 15 solutions to overcome those restrictions. And this is the bit that does not sit well with me. You get a Farseer that simply exchanges a chosen dice for a 6 which is just plain stupid and incredibly powerful at the same time. And if the Farseer is not enough, now every list will start with a unit of Guardians which will sit on the home objective granting you 5 additional dice throughout the game which again is just silly. I do not like such rule twists but what can you do. Overall, Strands = powerful.

The free “Master Artisan” reroll of one to hit and one to wound rule is also very strong. Not “SpaceMarines-pick-any-unit-and-remove-it-cuz-I-reroll-errrrrrything”-strong, but still strong. And it seems to play along nicely with the elite character of the Eldar where smaller units can increase their effectiveness that way.

Seeing the new Fortune, I expect that Guide and Doom will be gone from the book. And the way that Fortune works now infuriates me. It comes on a Farseer, who can use it as an command ability. But not like any other command ability – pick and click – but rather on a roll of a 2+. I do not get that bit of unnecessary randomness here and can already picture all the 1’s I roll at events for this. I guess giving the Eldar an ability that works automatically would cause GW headquarters’ roof to cave in… As usual I wish they would show more, but what they’ve shown looks ok.

CL: Can we see any of your previous lists to give people the idea of potential point/money investment?

MD: I will provide you my latest list soon but for now here is my list from two tournaments ago that I saw success with:

Factions Used: Aeldari, Asuryani
Army Points: 2000
Reinforcement Points: N/A
Number of Units / Killpoints: 19
Pre Game Stratagems: Relic, Relics of the Srhines, Champion of Aeldari
Starting Command Points: 3
Warlord & Trait: Farseer
Trait: Strads of Fate

Secondary Objectives
Information No Prisoners: 8VP / 79 Wounds
Bring it Down: 4VP
Assasination: 10VP
Abhor the Witch: 8VP
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Arks of Omen Detachment == Craftwlorlds == -3CP
Custom Atributes: Vengeful, Children of Prophecy

HQ1 Baharroth [160p, 7PL]
HQ2 Farseer skyrunner[135p, 6PL]
--- Relic: Sunstorm [-1CP]
--- Additional Warlord Trait: Ambush of Blades [-1CP]
--- Power: Smite, Doom, Fortune

HQ3 Farseer [105, 5PL] - WARLORD
--- Powers: Smite, Guide, Will of Asuryan

NoSlot1: 3 Warlock Skyrunners [120p, 5PL]
--- Powers: Quciken /Restrain, Protect /Jinx

Troop1: 5 Rangers [65p, 4PL]
Troop2: 5 Rangers [65p, 4PL]

Elite1: 5 Striking Scorpions [110p, 5PL]: Bitting Blade on Exarch
--- Exarch Power: Crushing Blows
Elite2: 5 Striking Scorpions [115p, 5PL]: Bitting Blade on Exarch
--- Exarch Power: Deadly Ambush
Elite3: 5 Howling Banshee [110p, 5PL]: Mirrorswords on Exarch
--- Exarh Power: Piercing Strikes
--- Relic of the Shrine: Cronescream [-0.5]
Elite4: 5 Wraithblades [225p, 10PL]: 5x Ghostaxe and Forceshield

FA1: 5 Warp Spiders [135p, 6PL]: Power Blades and addtional Death spinner on Exarch
--- Eaxrch Power: Web of Deceit
--- Relic of the Shrine: the Spider's Bite [-0.5CP]
FA2: 3 Shinning spears [125p, 6PL]: Paragon Blade and Shuriken Cannon on Exarch
--- Exarch Power: Heartstrike
FA3: 3 Shroudrunners [90p, 5PL]

LOW1: Wraithknight [440p,23PL] Heavy Wraithcannon, Titanic Ghostglaive, 2x Scatter Laser

 

CD: Amazing, thank you Michał for your words of wisdom and fingers crossed that the new book and the new edition turn out great.

MD: Thanks!

Author: Tomasz 'tweek' Data