Battleforce Review Part 1 - Eldar

Hello fellow plastic crack addicts,

I am going to do a series of articles relating to the range of battle forces that Games Workshop produce and I will review in-depth the models contained in each battle force box.

I am going to ask the question:

1.      Do you get much of a saving buying the battle force?

2.      Will you use every model contained in the battle force?
 

There are 12 battle forces in total so I am splitting each one up into a separate article, however I will break this series up with in between articles so were are not all battle forced out. I will also rate each unit in the battle force and give it a score out of 2.5 and hopefully the results will accumulate and give a total score at the end of the review.

Score Table

8.5 - 10 = Outstanding
7.0 - 8.4 = Very Good
5.5 - 6.9 = Good
4.0 - 5.4 = Poor
2.5 - 3.9 = Very Poor
0.0 - 2.4 = Aweful

 
So first up is Eldar...
 

Eldar Battle Force

So I'm going to start off with the Eldar Battle Force since I am most familiar with each unit that is contained in it. Lets look at what you get:

 

 

1. Five man Dire Avengers squad with an Exarch
2. Guardian Defender Squad with Heavy Weapon Platform
3. Wave Serpent Transport
4. Eldar War walker

 

At a quick glance it certainly isn't the worst collection of units so lets break the units down and see what we can do with it.

 

Dire Avengers

 

	WS	BS	S	T	W	I	A	Ld	Sv
Dire Avenger	4	4	3	3	1	5	1	9	4+

 

Dire Avengers are still currently one of our best troop choices that we have but don't let that fool you, they are still T3 and a OK 4+ armour save. Sure they are WS4 and I5 but they are not a dedicated CC unit by any means nor are they a formidable gun line unit. They are good all rounder's and their true strength lies within their Exarch's powers.

 

These are:

 

Blade Storm

The Exarch and his unit may fire one additional shot each that turn so a unit of 5 can fire 15 Str4 AP5 shots but the penalty for this is that the unit cannot fire in the consecutive turn. This power is useful and good when paired with dual catapults on the Exarch.

 

Defend

With this power the Exarch reduces 1 attack from the attacking enemies squad per turn to a minimum of 1 attack. This works well with a shimmer shield and a Dire Sword as you will know that your unit is going to be in close combat at some stage to try and "Tar pit" an enemy unit.

 

I can see the place of this unit in the battle force itself as a shock unit that is mounted into the wave serpent and flown across the table hoping that the Wave serpent doesn't get blown up into little pieces and then disembarks next to an enemy unit and unloads using blade storm to inflict maximum casualties.

 

My only irk with this unit is its numbers. Five T3 4+ Sv guys are not going to survive long and my only thoughts are that you would have to inflict maximum damage on the turn you disembark hoping that you kill enough so that the enemy unit doesn't have enough chaps left to fire back at you next turn.

 

If this unit was a larger size I would give it + 2.5 for definite but unfortunately the unit size really does let this inclusion down and without a doubt you would have to boost this to 8-10 Avengers for it to be more survivable and inflict the appropriate amount of damage to be willing to dump them out of a wave serpent and in the path of your enemies units.

 

 Verdict 1.3

Guardian Defenders

 

	WS	BS	S	T	W	I	A	Ld	Sv
Guardian	3	3	3	3	1	4	1	8	5+
Warlock	4	4	3	3	1	4	1	8	-

 

Ok I am going to be honest here... I don't like saying it as I love Eldar so so so much but it just has to be put out there.... Guardian Defenders are the worst troop choice in the game. There I said it!

 

Why you ask?

 

They can't hit the broad side of a barn door, BS3 with a 12" ranged weapon need i say more?

They couldn't even beat an egg, WS3, STR 3, T3, 1 attack.

 

So we know they cant do much really except be there.... oh and maybe try camp an objective. And this is where their strength lies guys. Take a unit of 20 guardian defenders with a warlock and embolden and just sit on an objective in cover and if a lot of fire is directed their way just go to ground and hope for the best.

 

If you are going to take a heavy weapon I would recommend the Shuriken Cannon or the Scatter Laser. Personally I would take the Scatter laser since for 15pts I think 4 STR 6 shots at 36" range is well worth it.

 

In saying all that we don't have 20 Guardians here we have 10 with a 12" range except for the heavy weapon. They have no Warlock support so are Ld8. Please god let guardians get some sort of improvement in our next codex.

 

Verdict 1.0

 

 

Wave Serpent Transport

 

	BS	Front Armour	Side Armour	Rear Armour
Wave Serpent	3	12	12	10

 

Behold our premier mode of transport the Wave Serpent. Base price is a whopping 90pts but you must take a turret option so this just adds to the already expensive points cost for a transport tank. Ok I know I started off a little bit negatively but there really isn't many more negatives about this tank. Yes it's 6th edition and all tanks took a whack of the nerf bat but it's still a very good tank.

 

Its max AV is 12 which is OK but it will get a 5+ invulnerable save as long as it moves. It has 3 hull points and a special energy field that negates the effects of melta and Ordinance rolling 2d6 for armour penetration. Also any weapon that fires on it over STR 8 stays as STR 8.

 

It can carry 12 models which is always handy and has very flexible armament options. I usually run mine as a dual Shuriken cannon load out. That is one cannon on the chin and a twin linked Shuriken cannon on the turret, however in this battle force list I would be tempted to upgrade the turret to a Twin Linked Bright Lance since 36" range would be nice for taking out some enemy armour, not that there would be much at this point level but you never know.

 

Don't bother with Spirit Stones or any of the upgrades to be honest. The tank is a transport tank not a battle tank so it's main function is to get its contents to where they are supposed to be supporting them if needs be. Keep it cheap if at all possible.

 

This is still a good tank and you will use it right up to your 2000pts games. The only thing I can fault it on is its cost and for that it loses a .5.

 

Verdict 2.0

 

War Walker

 

	WS	BS	S	I	A	Front Armour	Side Armour	Rear Armour
War Walker	3	3	5	4	2	10	10	10

 

The good ol War Walker... The Guardian on a lanky pair of stilts, well that's what the old model resembled more however the current model is a far superior to its predecessor. But in saying that it still is only a guardian driving this thing. This thing that is only AV 10 with 3 hull points and is as tall a lamp-post.

 

Wow this thing must really suck right?? Wrong! This is probably the best unit in the box and here's why. They cost 30 points basic, they can equip two heavy weapon each and even if you equip the same weapon it doesn't count as twin linked but as two individual weapons. They can also scout if you want to come in and hit that side armour and even though the guardian is sitting there in his open air cockpit, it isn't open-topped bizarrely.

 

The best way to field these in my opinion is with two scatter lasers at 60pts per model. In a larger game you could take a squadron (3) of these with scatter lasers pumping out 24 STR 6 shots at 36" range. If you have a Farseer you can guide those BS3 shots giving re-rolls to hit. I would be tempted to fill out my entire heavy support section with 9 War Walkers with Scatter Lasers with 72 STR 6 shots.

 

In this battle force I would give it the two Scatter Lasers and just remain behind cover sniping from 36" away. Overall a very solid unit if played right and kept at range.

 

Verdict 2.5

 

 So there you have it and with a respectable score of 6.8 it puts this battle force in the Good category. Its's certainly functional just not all units contained in it are up to scratch. It score really was carried by the Wave Serpent and War Walker.

If you were thinking of starting an Eldar Army though I think you could do alot worse than buying this battle force. You will probably use all the models in it one way or another. Guardians have the use's, few i know but they do and the Dire Avengers can be boosted up by buying an additional box of them to make two squads of 7 and 8. Infact buying two of these battle forces wouldn't be a bad investment for laying the foundations of an army.

Price comparision
Individual unit cost = 107 euro approx
Battle Force cost = 85 euro.
Saving of around 22 euro which aint too shabby.

Overall Score = 6.8 (Good)

Regards,

Johno