Eldar Allies for Tau -- New Eldar Codex

Note: Sorry about the cut-off sentences between segments. Not sure what happened there.

The new Eldar codex brings a lot of great units to the table top, but not all of them are necessary or beneficial to a Tau player looking to bring Eldar allies. Here, I discuss how striking scorpions, fire prism grav tanks, farseers, and windrider jetbikes can be used to address some of the weaknesses in the Tau Empire.

Striking Scorpions: While Tau are obviously weakest in close combat, allied detachments are probably best utilized if they do not try to supplement the Tau's firepower with assault units. The reason? If an assault unit is doing its job (punching things in the face) the rest of your army is completely useless against it. That said, if you wanted to bring a CC unit, striking scorpions would be it. Reasonably durable, with good close combat abilities and an exarch that can dominate in challenges.

Fire Prisms: The Tau have great weaponry for anti-tank, but nothing is quite as good as the old twin-linked railgun that disappeared in this latest edition of the codex. If you're relying on hammerhead railguns for anti-tank, perhaps it would be worth considering taking a fire prism instead. Fire prisms, unlikely hammerheads, are Fast, and for the same points (or less) can take a more versatile weapon that will more reliably take out armor 14 due to the Lance special rule.

Farseers: Having a psychic presence on the field can do a lot of good for your army and a lot of bad for your opponent. Farseers got a nice buff with the new codex, and can really bring the hurt with a combination of prescience, guide, doom, and fortune. The other Runes of Fate eldar powers are also effective, but not necessarily the most synergistic with the Tau.

Windrider (Guardian) Jetbikes: Tau lack a highly mobile scoring option. They have access to kroot, which can use infiltrate, but arent particularly mobile when on the field, and devilfish, which are faster, but not as fast as jetbikes. Jetbikes are a durable troops choice (3+ save) that benefit from jink. They can even benefit from a lucky warlock roll to increase their durability further, although this isn't something you should plan on happening. Most importantly, they can claim far-off objectives late game after you've blown them away with your .... army.

So, what would I bring? In an 1850 lsit I'm planning on bringing a Farseer on bike, with either 2x3 jetbikes or 1x6 (not sure yet).

Thanks for watching (and reading)!