New List and More Painting!

So I have been wracking my brain over a new list I want to run.  With my current 1850 iteration, I have a very good track record with it.  Its a solid list and I know on a whim I can use the list, perform well at a tournament, and best of all not have to paint a model. 

My new list has Eldar as my primary army.  I am done being stubborn and want to run more Eldar units in my lists as I feel I have used all the units in the Dark Eldar book (yes even Mandrakes!) and been successful with them.  I feel it is time to try something new.

So this is what I got:

Eldar Primary

Farseer, Bike, Stone of Anath'lan, Shard of Anaris, Runes of Warding- 170
Maugan Ra- 195
Warlock- 35

x20 Guardians, x2 Lances- 220
x5 Dire Avengers, Serpent w/ Scatter Laser, Cannon- 195
x5 Dire Avengers, Serpent w/ Scatter Laser, Cannon- 195

x3 Vaul Batteries- 90
War Walker w/ x2 Bright Lances- 70

Dark Eldar Allies

Baron- 105

x5 Warriors, Venom w/ Trophies- 115
x5 Warriors, Venom w/ Trophies- 115

x5 Beast Masters, x1 Fiend, x5 Khymera, x6 Flock- 250

Aegis Line, Icarus Las-Cannon- 85

TOTAL 1850

So I like this list and the flexibility it brings.  So some basics...

 Maugan Ra and the Warlock join the Guardians.  Ra will be my Warlord and his Trait of SPlit Fire will come in handy.  He can choose to shoot anything and deal damage.  5 shots at BS 7, Str. 6 Rending?  Yeah pretty good I think.  He makes the Guardians Fearless, gives them a nice CC deterrent from normal 3+ saves with him being Str. 6 AP 3 with 4 base attacks and Int. 7, so not too bad.  If someone rolls up with an AP 2 guy, the lock can lock him for a turn.  The Warlock in turn will provide them with Shrouding which will help since they can stay behind the Line if need be and have a nice 2+ Cover save.  Also, Ra will be in base with the Icarus if my opponent has fliers so he can double shot it and knock it out of the sky.  Or a Guardian can man it and shoot 2 Lances, a Lascannon at a vehicle and have Ra shoot something else.  Combined, I feel confident they can take down any vehicle and are a threat to anything in the game.  Ra also gives Night Vision to the unit which is a nice little buff.  When shooting at a squad, Ra can Precision shot/strike on a 5+ with his Exarch power as well which again, is a nice little boost.  I feel he is expensive, but he provides nice support and boosts to the Guardians.

Seer still goes with Beasts and gives Fearless and hopefully Fortune.

Serpents and Venoms pew pew.

Weapon Batteries kill those pesky troops who hide out of LOS or pick off important weapon guys like Grav Guns or Apothercaries.  I know a lot of tournaments are going to start using the Alternate Mission set up and this will help knocking those units that want to just hang out on objectives and score points.

The War Walker seems a little out of place but I do have a plan.  He will usually be in Reserve and ready to Outflank and get a good side or rear armor shot.  With the emergence of Knights and AV13 (something I always have struggled with) I think a couple extra Lance shots will be nice.  He is easy to hide and doesn't cost much, but he can potentially do nice things against heavy hitters.  Plus, it saves me from praying that Ra will Rend if I shoot at high AV targets.

Strengths of my list:

Balance-  I can deal with anything I feel.  Spam armies one way or the other could cause problems, but I have an answer for anything

Target Saturation-  I have good, solid, hard to kill units.  Large Gaurdians, large Beasts, Defense Line, and a couple Wave Serpents cannot simply disappear in one turn

Unorthodox-  I don't think people will expect to see this list. Ra could be laughed out of the tournament when he is seen on the list.  No min maxing with double Seers, spamming Serpents, or Venom spamming is not there like some would expect.

Weaknesses of my list:

Fliers-  If someone brings 3 AV12 or 4+ AV11 fliers I could be in trouble.  The Icarus is nice, as is the Serpents.  But they can be taken out and after they go down I will be shooting the Guardians with Ra attached at them.  Multiple Vendettas or 5+ FMCs is something I do not want to see.

AV13/14-  If someone rolls up with 3 Landraiders, 6 AV13, or 3 Knights (unlikely I know, but Im sure there will be someone)  I could struggle.  I simply don't have the reliable shooting to kill these things.  I will rely on the Guardians, Ra, and the Icarus to do this.  Seems like I rely on them for a lot!

Well there is my list and what I will be testing soon.  I am hoping to get a game in against Adam Tricola this week so he can practice for Adepticon and I can just simply practice.  So let me know what you and how you think this will perform.  Critiques definitely welcome!

Last but not least, here is a couple pictures of my test model Swooping Hawk.  Let me know what you think!  Thanks!

I am debating on whether I want to highlight or not.  I really like the soft color look and think that if I tried it would ruin the look.  I will add a picture of him looking at you so you can see his leather pouch and such.  But I really really like how this guy turned out and is probably my favorite model I have painted.

My goal with all the Aspect Warriors I paint is to keep my scheme (green and grey) but also have a piece of their colors in there.  My Warp Spiders have Red and Black head and with the Hawks I wanted to keep the same thing.  Head and wings have the look (albeit not the same exact color but close) as the traditional Swooping Hawks.  I thought he turned out well and just looking at him you should be able to tell he is a Swooping Hawk.

Painting Block:

5 Swooping Hawks
5 Wraithguard
1 Warlock, counts as Spiritseer
10 new Secret Weapon bases

Quite a healthy stack but hope I can get some of this done!