# Eldar: Dark Eldar and Tau allied units?



## geneticdeviant (Sep 17, 2009)

Hey guys,

looking for advice.

I have a full Eldar army, I've just picked up the guts of a Tau army and am currently contemplating getting some Dark Eldar. Beings as they are all Battle Brothers.

At my club there are lots of competitive tournament type players, thus lately my Eldar havent had much of a run out as I dont find them competitive at all right now.

I'm hoping with these allies I can become more competitive.

So my question is this.......

What allied unit(s) / unit setup would you recommend? and why are they so good?

Also we generally play at 1850 ponts so any army list suggestions would also be appreciated.


Thanks in advance


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## Straken's_Fist (Aug 15, 2012)

I am thinking of doing the same, since I have some Tau crisis suits and fire warriors that have been collecting dust for about 2 years now, but also fancy some Eldar models to paint.

I've been reading about people going the Iyanden craftworld route with Eldar from both fluff and gaming perspectives: Iyanden is one of two craftworld's by the eastern fringe, and being so decimated by the nidz it seems likely they would make an alliance (even if only temporarily) with Tau as they are so low on troops. 
So this would man 10 wraithguard as your troop choice led by Eldrad who basically uses his psychic powers to buff them and make them very good objective holders - of course, this will only work in higher points games as all of this is expensive. 
Maybe then whack in some guardian jetbikes for fast objective holders, and some striking scorpions to make up for Tau's lack of CC. 

As for Tau, some crisis suits, fire warriors and a small gunline with railguns would probably compliment the above nicely. Maybe bring a fire prism with Eldar for a template weapon. 

I dunno, I have very little experience with both so these are just ideas I have had reading what others have been doing.


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## troybuckle (Nov 24, 2010)

Eldar are not to bad in 6th as is, but if you were to align with tau and take some fire warriors, and some battle suits it.will fill out your ranged fire power nicely see as that the name of the.game in 6th range.


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## LTKage (May 2, 2012)

Yeah, Tau and Eldar work well together. Tau make great allies in general. Broadsides bring reliable long range anti-tank, which Eldar lack. The problem is that Eldar psychic powers are just better than the BRB powers, so you have to choose between just Eldar or the whole army. Not really an expert though.

Dark Eldar bring something very similar to Eldar but different to the table. Whereas Eldar tend to spam STR 6, Dark Eldar Spam STR 8 lances. Dark Eldar tend to have better range and nasty tricks. If you need to bring in lots of Dark Light (Blasters/Dark Lances), you can do so very cheaply. Here's an example:

Haemonculus 50
x3 Kabalite Trueborn with x3 Blasters in Venom with Dual Splinter Cannons 146
x5 Kabalite Warriors with Blaster in Venom with Dual Splinter Cannons 125
x5 Kabalite Warriors with Blaster in Venom with Dual Splinter Cannons 125
Ravager 105

Total: 551 Points
Blasters: 5
Dark Lances: 3
Splinter Cannons: 6

You could also give the Trueborn Dark Lances for 5 points more if you really want better range. Venoms have 5++ stock so they don't need to move. That might also be less of an issue financially because you can only make 2 blasters per Warrior sprue.


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## Archon Dan (Feb 6, 2012)

That is a very nice Ally Detachment LT. It can support the main army or opperate autonomously. It can handle the big nasty tanks or monsters an opponent has or crush line troops. 

There are a couple other things to consider from the Dark Elsar too, genetic. The Ravager, while best in groups, can pack a punch as an ally unit. If you are secure in anti-tank elsewhere, I'd go with 3 Disintegrator Cannons to mow down Terminators and the like. If you are anticipating a horde army or need lots of hits to one MeQ unit, the Razorwing is also nice. Of course, it is point heavy for an ally unit. But I find it utterly destroys infantry. The last time I used it, mine cleared two full Grey Hunter squads off objectives back-to-back.


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## MetalHandkerchief (Aug 3, 2009)

Tau with Eldar allies is in my experience better than Eldar with Tau allies. With Eldar you can add a lot of fine sauce to Tau because they have at least one good option in every FoC slot (usually goes Farseer, Ranger squad, Bikes, War Walker, Warp Spiders/ Dark Reapers) but Tau do not. Basically, an Eldar allied detachment does more for Tau than a Tau allied detachment does for Eldar.

As for Dark Eldar, it doesn't add much* that Eldar don't already have, but that doesn't have to matter it'll still be decent.


_*not nothing, but not much_


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## Vdor103 (Feb 23, 2012)

Id say it really depends on how you play. If you're more defensive, Tau provides more shooty components to make your Eldar even more powerful in the shooting phase.

If you're more aggressive you'll need a bit more CC and survivability to help your Eldar pack more punch.

I'm more of the latter and have embraced DE as a the better allies. Mainly because there are DE HQ's that act as tanks for my units. I'm sure you've heard of the various deathstars out there where DE HQ's with Shadowfield + Fortune = re-rollable 2++ saves. Also the cheap DE troops and cheap transport give you sturdy and maneuverable options to capture objectives.

As of today, I say Dark Eldar, but once the Tau codex comes out, I'm sure there'll be new combos to explore.


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## MetalHandkerchief (Aug 3, 2009)

Vdor103 said:


> Id say it really depends on how you play. If you're more defensive, Tau provides more shooty components to make your Eldar even more powerful in the shooting phase.
> 
> If you're more aggressive you'll need a bit more CC and survivability to help your Eldar pack more punch.
> 
> ...


This again.

Tau are not meant to be used as a static, defensive, fortified gunline army. This is nothing but a component in a much more mobile army.

I'll easily contest that because of DE's inherent frailty, they have to play much more defensively than Tau. In fact, these two armies are my two main armies, and after thousands of battles I'll guarantee that Tau are the more aggressive option!


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## Vdor103 (Feb 23, 2012)

Sorry. Meant no offense.

In my mind aggressiveness is that of advancement and positioning.

I'll admit, Eldar is my main (and only real army) and only dabble in the allies to borrow their traits, but I didn't see any Tau units that are great at advancing forward. Feel free to school me on this.


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## Vdor103 (Feb 23, 2012)

As for DE, while DE are indeed frail at majority T3, its elements like feel no pain, 4++ in CC (Wyches), Shadowfield and maneuverability (even if paper airplanes) are items that help list build to the way I play. Again, feel free to school me here to.


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## MetalHandkerchief (Aug 3, 2009)

Ah. I think I see your perspective now. I'll admit Tau aren't aggressive in terms of how "in your face" they are, but they also have a much larger effective range on pretty much everything. Tau tend to deliver some solid blows without the need to close much on the enemy, and in some cases, like with battlesuits, can retreat out of sight like a harassment unit even if they just delivered a shocking amount of firepower.

While Dark Eldar harassment units, like Reavers, inflict less damage per turn but have to use their speed and cover defensively no matter what to be able to keep doing it.

I guess I meant, in terms of pure weight of damage per turn, Tau seems the more aggressive. Dark Eldar can often deliver far more damage in a turn, but at a greater cost, and won't be as consistent throughout an entire game.


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