# Eldar: Bright Lances



## Kyban (Mar 24, 2009)

Why are they so popular, everyone seems to use them though it looks like an EML would be more useful most of the time, is there really that much heavy armor to deal with?


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## Katie Drake (Nov 28, 2007)

Kyban said:


> is there really that much heavy armor to deal with?


Well, yes and no. It largely depends on the armies that you play against most of the time. Space Marines, Imperial Guard and sometimes even Orks are all known for having at least one extremely high AV vehicle that's very hard to bring down with a normal krak missile. The bright lance excels in these situations.

Really though, having some Eldar Missile Launchers and some bright lances is probably the best way to go. Having all lances or all missile launchers will leave you vulnerable either way.


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## Underground Heretic (Aug 9, 2008)

Katie's right in saying that some armies have the kind of armor that a bright lance is better at killing. The Lance weapon type is amazing against most every army except Necrons and Dark Eldar who can't field AV 13 or 14 or can negate the Lance rule.

Against MEQ armies, I tend to always see a land raider or two when playing my Tau, and without a S10 and only one S9 ranged weapon, the Bright lance can be the equivalent of S10 when it is against AV 14. With the new TH/SS terminators being insanely durable and possibly having Lysander or Kantor with them in a Land Raider, to have time to kill them you need to pop the Land Raider quickly. Nothing in the Eldar arsenal does that better than the Bright Lance.


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## aegius (Mar 24, 2009)

I don't use bright lances in my eldar army at the moment. I find the points cost prohibatively high for what they do. Although the lance rule may look good at first, a majority of the people don't field vehicles where this rule is of any use. I have a feeling that the metagame is going to change again soon when the imperial guard are released and I may start finding the bright lance to be a weapon worth taking. At the moment however, I'm happy with using fire dragons and wraithguard for my anti-tank.

Just to put things in perspective, for the difference in points between an EML and a brightlance is only 1 point short of getting you a fire dragon, which works out as 2 anti-tank choices instead of 1.


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## Underground Heretic (Aug 9, 2008)

Well, metagame also depends on the group you play in. In mine, I either see a SM army with a Land Raider, Orks or Blood Angels. The advantage that the Lance has is that it has vastly more range than Fire Dragons.
I'll admit that Fire Dragons are amazing if you get within 12", fantastic if you get if you are within 6". But if you are that close to your enemy's armor, you are probably close enough that the Dragons will bite it next turn.
Mechanized Eldar would benefit from Bright Lances because Wave Serpents can move 12" and still fire it. I'm currently building a Saim Hann army, but have not tested it yet. I just find that the survivability of the Wave Serpent and Falcon makes them viable as an admittedly expensive transport and bright lance platform.


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## aegius (Mar 24, 2009)

If you are going to be fielding a saim hann themed force, then I do believe that bright lances would be the way to go. I wouldn't put them on falcons however as I feel that an EML is a better choice as it is s4 with the blast, therefore a defencive weapon. I can't argue with using them on waveserpents, but I'd still try and get a unit or 2 of firedragons in there, as firedragons can ruin anyones day. 10X firedragons jumping out of a waveserpent and gunning down a meq squad in the open is going to make you smile and your opponent cry.


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## Kyban (Mar 24, 2009)

With a Prism or two do you think BLs are necessary?


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## Grik (Jul 28, 2008)

Kyban said:


> With a Prism or two do you think BLs are necessary?


Yes, still necessary if you are facing an army with lots of armour, or a mechanized force. Although for most situations a couple Bright Lances and 2 Fire Prisms will get rid of just about every armour you can throw at them. I run a Bright Lance in a Guardian Defender Squad, 2 Guardian Defender Squads with Scater Laser, and 2 Fire Prisms, and I have no issues in dealing with armour, or massed infantry for that matter. Fire Prisms are AMAZINGLY useful and durable, but I think they are highly under rated and under used. Everyone seems to take a Wraithlord or two or a Falcon or two, which I think the Falcon is horrible in the new edition. Wraithlords are always good though. :biggrin:


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