Eldar Units, Part 2

More Elites
Howling Banshees and Striking Scorpions
More accurately, there's a reason I'm skipping them. Eldar have no vehicles I can assault out of on the turn I arrive. This means I have to run up, ride out a turn of fire, then drop them off. They probably will still assault, but I just see better ways to spend points than this. Banshees are at least a good source of power weapons, but will be looking for 5's to wound most things, and Scorpions will be looking for 4's and then armor saves.

Troops
Wraithguard
I've become quite fond of these after a few games.

Pros
Wraithguard are NOTHING if not durable. T6, 3+ armor save, and a 5+ cover save from the Spiritseer nearby using Conceal. Their guns are nasty pieces of work, what with AP2 and a 'wounds on 2+, Instant Death on 6'. Same goes for the fixed penetration; 3-4 is a glance and 5-6 on the armor penetration roll penetrates.

Cons
Slow. Short-ranged. They move as normal, have no Fleet, and their awe-inspiring gun reaches all of 12". Melee skills are barely there, at WS4, I4, a single attack each, and S5.

Overall
Wraithguard are, as far as I can tell, a vanguard unit. They move out in front, grab cover as needed, and absorb abuse. Most weapons need 5's or 6's to wound, and T7 means even plasma is looking for 3+ instead of the near-guaranteed 2+. The attached Spiritseer helps any nearby Wraithlords, as well. At 496 points for 10 Wraithguard and a Conceal Spiritseer, they are pricy, and wholly unsuitable for smaller games. That aside, they'll absorb most of the other army's attention for a turn or two. They absolutely require melee support nearby, which is to say the Avatar and/or Harlequins.

Dire Avengers
They ride in a Wave Serpent in my lists. I suppose if I ever get around to a mostly-foot Avatar list, they'll be walking in that.

Pros
They're scoring troops that can kick out a decent number of shots. If I have to, they can backpedal and keep on firing out to 18". The gun's essentially a storm bolter with an 18" range.

Cons
Mono-tasked, like any Eldar unit. They're not bad at shooting infantry down, but they're not that good at anything else. I see no real point in the Exarch upgrades. Getting Bladestorm, or something else popular, runs me another 20 points. Additionally, a unit of 10 guys with Bladestorm (assuming I bought twin shuriken catapuls for my Exarch) means I can bladestorm for about 32 shots. Or, with ten normal Avengers, I can fire 20 shots this turn, and 20 shots next turn.

Overall
They're not bad at what they do. They're not great at much of anything else. This is Eldar.

Rangers
Amazing! Sniper units that DO something other than pad an uber-hoss veteran sergeant (read: Telion).

Pros
BS4 sniper rifles are a bit of a rarity. The whole 'to-hit rolls of 6 are AP1' combines with the rending inherent in sniper rifles means these guys can force the cover saves. Add in the Pathfinders upgrade, and suddenly the cover saves are 2+ wherever you go and there's even more AP1/rending hits on the other guy.

Cons
They evaporate when denied a cover save. T3, 5+ armor? No, they're gone if you let anyone with flamers near them. This was reinforced when 3 Obliterators dropped in nearby and cut loose with three twin-linked flamers.

Overall
These are high-quality objective sitters. A full unit of Pathfinders can get pricy, but there's not really a point in trying to dislodge them unless you can ignore cover saves.

Wave Serpents
I mention these in troops because they're the things that haul my troops.

Pros
The Energy Field special rule makes them fairly durable to weapons with a low shot count and high strength. It also more or less nullifies melta weapons' ability to penetrate from half-range, and ordnance. Additionally, they're an accurate source of Bright Lance fire, what with a twin-linked BS3 Bright Lance. (That translates to a 75% chance to hit). Additionally, as fast skimmer tanks they can move and shoot respectably well, and zoom 24" in a turn.

Cons
Only BS3. Fairly expensive tank, but it IS comparable to a well-armored razorback with a real heavy weapon. Still vulnerable to Loota.

Overall
I'm running them with twin-linked Bright Lances and an underslung Shuriken Cannon so far, and that comes out to 135. I'm generally liking the buildout, since if anyone does pop the Bright Lance off they can still at least inflict wounds with the Shuriken Cannon. It beats being stuck with a twin-linked Shuriken Catapult and its almighty 12" assault 2 S4 AP5 volley.