Eldar Trickery: Tactica : Blade Rush



Bladestorm when it absolutely, positively has to be removed from the table.

The other day I started looking back through all my old posts and smiling as the memories associated with them got brought back. But in my musings on the past I noticed one trend, that I have rarely if ever just talked about tactics that one can use with the Eldar. So I figured I would have some posts in the future, starting with this one, that talk about tactics I use when I play. When I started thinking of what tactic to start with I figured I would go with my most favorite one, the tactic I call Blade Rush.


What is Blade Rush you ask, well in truth it is a combination psyic, shooting, and assault tactic. Now what does that mean? Well it starts off with the selection of a target, most of the time the target you need to be removed from the table in the most painful and successful way possible. In turth this target actually needs to be chosen the turn before so that you can get your pieces into play for the BladeRush. The main pieces involved in the BladeRush are A Farseer, and a unit of Dire Avengers with BladeStorm. After you have chosen your target and your pieces are where they need to be you start off with what I like to call the Eldar Psychic phase, the time you cast non psy shooting powers before moving. The main power that is used in this is Doom, it makes that handfull of dice that you will be shortly picking up even more devistating. With the power cast and upon the target you go into your normal movement phase, for the BladeRush you will want to move your Dire Avengers as close as possible.

After moving everything, you go into the shooting phase, I normally add a few more things to the mix to help ensure what I am trying to kill dies, but for this example I will stick to just the DA squad. A full DA squad with a PW/SS Exarch throws out 27 shots, with a potential of even more if you Twin Cat the Exarch. I normally don't run the twin cats exarch because it can't really perform the final step to the Blade Rush. With a BS of 4 and rerolling wounds that 27 dice is going to put some serious hurting on what ever it hits. But the Dire Avengers are not done yet, oh no, the last and final part of the BladeRush is the charge. *Gasps* Charge? You realize your playing Eldar right Elthrai? Yes.. Yes I do. The charge is the final and in someways the most insedious part of the BladeRush. My DA squads come kitted with an exarch that has both  Defend and Bladestorm packing a PW and Shimmershield. So when they charge they each get 2 attacks a piece while the enemy loses one to a min of one, doing this to assault marines or things with a base 2 attacks is just rude as that attack reduction will continue for as long as the Exarch lives. With I 5 and I6 you will go first against most things, and the shimmer shield gives you atleast a chance to surive the now limited attacks back. Now granted if cover is involved, and the lack of any type of grenade will hurt the Da but not as much as you would think, with the damage done to them by the shooting and their loss of an attack thanks to defend there isn't as many attacks coming your way.

So with each step achieved you are looking at 27 shooting attacks getting 18 close combat attacks, 3 power weapon attacks, and rerolling all the wounds to those attacks. That is 48 attacks coming from one squad in one turn, that is a good bit of Fire Pressure on one squad. I'll get into the concept of Fire Pressure in further posts, anyway I hope you guys enjoyed this little bit of Eldar Trickery.