Winning with (Non Serpent) Eldar.

No one can really deny that Eldar are dominating the world's table tops right now. Whether or not you play competitively or socially, it is likely, at some stage or another, that you have faced the mighty Wave Serpent! In fact, there are so many 4-6 Wave Serpent spam armies littering the table tops that it can sometimes drive you to the point of insanity. However, some info dropped on BOLS about the latest 40k tournament stats and it got me thinking about the "meta" (a term I hate....quite openly). Can you run a non-Serpent spam list and win?

My answer? Yes. Or so it seems.

Here is the link to the info:
http://www.belloflostsouls.net/2013/10/40k-army-meta-q4-2013-edition.html

I'm an Eldar player and am not ashamed to say I utilise Serpent spam at tournaments. It's simple, it's good and it wins games. However, there are players out there who are beginning to use lists that don't have 5-6 Wave Serpents. Like this one that won Feast of Blades:

Via BOLS

Nick's winning Eldar list: "When Doves Cry"

Farseer - Barebones 

Farseer - Barebones 

20 man guardian unit with 2 bright lances 

Wave Serpent- Shuriken Cannon and holo-field 

20 man guardian unit with 2 bright lances 

Wave Serpent- Shuriken Cannon and holo-field 

6 Rangers 

3 man Jet bike squad 

3 man Jet bike squad 

7 Warp Spiders 

7 Warp Spiders 

Wraithknight 

Wraithknight

Not Serpent Spam.

Or, a new list being designed by Spellduckwrong from Craftworld Lansang:

Farseer (Jetbike, Singing Spear)
Farseer (Jetbike, Singing Spear)

Warlock x4 (Jetbike, Singing Spear)
Warlock x5 (Jetbike, Witchblade)

Shining Spears x8
Shining Spear Exarch x1 (Star Lance, Hit and Run, Monster Hunter)

Windrider Jetbikes x9 (3x Shuriken Cannons)
Windrider Jetbikes x9 (3x Shuriken Cannons)
Windrider Jetbikes x9 (3x Shuriken Cannons)

Rangers x6
Rangers x6

Crimson Hunter Exarch (2x Brightlances, Pulse Laser)

................Bike spam, and it even managed to beat Serpent Spam!

Check it out here:

http://craftworldlansing.blogspot.com.au/2013/10/wave-serpent-down-jetbikes-win-day.html#comment-form

What does this mean?

Evidently, Serpents are great, but not essential for winning with Eldar. Neither are Wraithknights or Wraithguard. It means that if you want to take an Eldar force with only 1-2 Serpents, you won't automatically be sent to the bottom of the ladder. Warp Spiders are a very competitive option, as are Jetbikes. With the rise of Grav guns beginning to creep their way into the competitive scene, I'm wondering how long WK's and Serpents will be viable. 

Speaking of which. It seems that it takes around two months for a new codex to truly become top of the lists. Tau and Eldar were hard to beat, and, Space Marines have a very strong codex - that can give both of it's predecessors a serious run for their money. Bring on the Nids.....

Now, who has some more winning lists?

- Out.