Is this the Time for Footdar to shine? Footdar list bulding in 6th

Hey all Kevin here to explore the realm of a list people use to consider a joke, unless they ran into Greg Sparks(sorry if the name is spelled wrong), Reecius or Blackmoor no one considered it a good list. I've heard stories that on the west coast players like Reecius have made footdar some-what of a popular trend. With the nerfing in general of transport based armies people will be, leaving razorbacks, and the majority of, rhinos at home and bring larger squads on foot. So could we see an extreme rise in the power of footdar?

Now I will admit Eldar players are fairly rare around my two playing areas. I only ever played 5 players personally that played Eldar 3 of which were footdar. Now I have never actually lost to Eldar but they still to this day keep me anxious on the battlefield and I always expect them to pull a fritz on me and make me lose in the end. Yet in general when I ended up playing transport spam I was able to corral in the transports and pick them apart until they could not make a move on the objectives and footdar when I was playing assault based lists and could corner them....yet I still see the power in them.

In general the footdar I have played and have seen all have one thing in common.Wraithguard

Besides the fact that they are T6 with a 3+ save they also have some very good weapons that wound on a 2+, instant death on a 6 and are AP2...crucial when I expect terminators running across the table at me every single time I see power armored armies. With 10 of these lead by a Spirit seer these guys become a scoring unit and a rock of one at that. without a solid vehicle to transport to protect foot mobiles running across the table at you these guys just got better. Also with the fact they glance on a 3+ and pen on a 4+ makes these guys the occasional land Raider killer as well. Wraithsight can hurt but these guys are still a great choice as an anchor from my experience. A wraithlord hanging around these guys is also useful

Another good choice from my viewpoint are pathfinders. Besides the fact that these boys can get some serious cover saves snipers got a lot more potent this edition. when more bodies are on the table pinning in general will be useful. Small units of these guys even, as long as they are well protected, can infiltrate on to objectives and camp very well....always a good, expensive, but good choice.

Now since good troop choices with solid firepower are in demand we might as well throw a unit of Dire Avengers in. Bladestorming, especially with the exarch in the unit, can put some crucial firepower down field. Even still with the introduction of overwatch a lot of shots can be put down field by any of the troops units listed to be potent.

Lastly there is the one troop choice that should be taken at the minimum level and hidden till turn 5...and that's is a unit of three guardian jetbikes.....I would take two of these to hide all game and jump on outward objectives late in the game.

Now lets take a step back and look at HQ choices. I will not talk about him since he is so common but eldrad is the auto take. Now another farseer is also an auto take. Now Eldrad should be taken with the normal Eldar powers yet the other farseer I could see mixing in divination or telepathy even if they are open to you. Now to take a seer council or to not? Well for purposes of the list I would say the counter punch is useful yet they are too expensive for my taste....so for now no...if so on bikes to be quick enough to respond.

Now the wraithlord, in my opinion, should be given a brightlance in order to have some long range anti heavy firepower....but we do not need too much in my opinion....other than these guys we really do not scatter lasers and as much as possible.....2 sets of 3 warwalkers should be able to do this fine.....Now how about allies? I would state that if I was based in Eldar I would not use allies but there are a few nice combos that could be thrown in.....

So this is my 1850 footdar list I would take....same caveats apply as this is an army I would play but do not have......footdar kings please add in some thoughts in the comments....

HQ
1. Eldrad
2. Farseer, spirit stones, runes of warding, runes of witnessing, singing spear, fortune, doom guide

Troops
1. Pathfinders x6
2. Pathfinders x6
3. Dire avengers x10, exarch, 2 avenegers SC
4. Guardian Jetbikes x3
5. Guardian jetbikes x3
6 Wraithguard x11, spirit seer, singing spear

Heavy support
1. Wraithlord, x2 flamers, bright lance, starcannon
2. x3 war walkers, each w/ x2 scatter lasers
3. x3 war walkers, each w/ x2 scatter lasers

All in all six troops choice to score, (9 if its the heavy choices count as scoring mission) to hang around and jump on objectives when we need them too...lots of firepower and a list I would be comfortable with.

so thanks for reading and please hit the subscribe button on the side. Expect Marcus to write an article on tyranids and maybe necrons. I will do a general rundown on all the armies as well sometime in the future :)