Dual Council (@ 2k)

Hello again. Sorry for a hiatus, been busy with missus, work and working out postgrad studys for this year. There was a question asked on Warseer a weekor so back which I replied to and I thought I'd flesh it out here. The poster wanted to know if Dual Councils were viable and if so how to make a list. So here's a step by step on a list.

Well foot councils (mounted or not) suck, so skip that. Why do they suck? No 3+ save (and non mounted = too slow. hell even mounted are too slow). They just aren't survivable enough to warrant the points you're going to drop into them. Therefore bikes are mandatory. You're going to want 2-3 troops (mostly in Serpents either DAVUs or flamer storm guardians but Jetbikes are viable), couple Prisms and 2-3 Dragons in Serpents. This will net you roughly 1000-1200 points depending. So you will generally have 800+ points to work on your councils. So let's say we take the following:

We'll start with 2x 5x Avengers in BL serpents w/underslung cannon. I take underslung cannons for 2 reasons. First off, the tank is that much more dangerous. When you multiple 3 S6 shots for every tank that's a lot of S6 coming at you. 2nd, one weapon-destroyed doesn't make the tank useless. Brightlances give us stopping range for any armor at range. You need this when you come up against AV14 (bar the monolith) which allows you more flexibility with your Dragons. Spirit stones are not taken because they simply aren't needed. I haven't used mass stones for most of 5th due to the changes in the damage chart. Why do most people? They plan to "last turn" contest. With the variable game end this is hard to pick and if you've played your game right you shouldn't need your whole force able to mass contest. It's a nice saftey net but I'd rather save 10pts a tank (which pays for my cannon).

So this gives us scoring units in a nice pretty tank which can actually allow the Eldar to slow heavy tanks at range, is pretty survivable and has multiple weapons for 410pts.

Next we want some excellent anti-tank and the best option there is mech'd Dragons. We want at least 2 of these so we'll get 2 5 man squads in Serpents w/Scatters, underslung cannon and stones. I've taken stones here because we really want the Dragons where we want them. They are optional but it forces your opponent to keep focusing on these serpents unless it becomes immoblised or worse. Whilst this is only a modified 16.6% chance for the Dragon unit I believe it's worth it. For the main cannon it can easily be brought down to Shuriken Cannons to shave some points. This is an additional 430 pts for 840 total.

Now the list is lacking a bit in real long range punch. We'll add in 2 Prisms w/underslung cannons for 250 pts (990 total). This gives us excellent anti-infantry at range and if needed can anti-tank in a pinch. We are not adding HF because they are a waste of points (HF make losing that prism cannon more likely).

So far:
2x 5x Avengers in BL serpents

2x 5x Dragons in SL serpents

2x Prisms

So we have the basis of the army and we want a dual council so 2 Farseers are required. We already know foot councils don't work (no 3+ save is bad) so jetbikes are also required.

2 Farseers w/Jetbike, RoWard, Fortune and Doom cost 350pts. We shouldn't need 2 RoWard so we can save 15 pts there. This brings our total to 1325 leaving us 675 points for Locks (i.e. 15 bare). Jetbike is obviously essential as is Fortune since it is the Council's bread and butter. RoWit is certainly an option and as psychic defenses step up it's a wise investment. Doom should be used on at least one Seer and I would advise it for both but Mind War and Guide can certainly be of use as well.

We'll try with 2x 6 base locks first (540 pts). We need an embolden and enhance each and 2-3 Destructors per squad (let's say 3 each for the moment) which brings the combined total of the squads to 640. 25 pts spare. Emoblden and Enhance are musts. Enhance raises the WS and I of the Locks so they generally strike first and on a 3+. Embolden makes your psychic powers very, very reliable. Multiple destructors gives the unit hitting power outside of combat and are an excellent torrent weapon.

So now we have:

Farseer w/Jetbike, Fortune, Doom, Spirit Stones, RoWard
6x Warlocks w/Jetbikes, 3x Destructor, embolden, Enhance

Farseer w/Jetbike, Fortune, Doom, Spirit Stones
6x Warlocks w/Jetbikes, 3x Destructor, embolden, Enhance

5x Dragons w/Wave Serpent w/underslung cannon, spirit stones and twin-linked Scatter Lasers

5x Dragons w/Wave Serpent w/underslung cannon, spirit stones and twin-linked Scatter Lasers

5x Avengers w/Wave Serpent w/underslung cannon and twin-linked Bright Lances

5x Avengers w/Wave Serpent w/underslung cannon and twin-linked Bright Lances

Fire Prism w/underslung cannon

Fire Prism w/underslung cannon

for a total of: 1965 pts, 14 jetbike models, 20 infantry and 6 tanks.

It's a fair list with some tweaking needed for personification but covers the essentials. Everything is duplicated and most units can deal with both armor and infantry. You have good anti-tank in your Dragons and the BLs at range and in a pinch you have a lot of S6 firepower (and prisms). The councils can also add to this with their witchblades. You have excellent anti-infantry in the majority of your units (Avengers in Serpents are the weaklink here) with a lot of S6 shots, blasts and templates.

Your tank count is a bit low but with Eldar survivability they'll stick around for a bit and with 2 fast moving fire magnets it becomes a tradeoff for the opponent. With 2 councils and fortunes running about you are more likely to get fortune off against psychic defenses at least once and can use the vehicles for screening when it fails.