40k List Design: Eldar Autarchs

I was introduced to 40k during third edition and my first army was Eldar. Their HQ choices were of course Farseers and the Avatar. You know what Space Marines get? They get Chaplains. They get Librarians. Third ed Chaplains terrorized the Eldar. Wearing a jump pack they could sweeping advance 3d6" for an average of over 10". Wraithlords notwithstanding, if you had two in the same combat there was a good chance at least one would sweeping advance over 12". With a 2+ save, 100 attacks on the charge and a base movement of 12" (flying over terrain) they would rampage across the entire battlefield raping and pillaging as they went. Oh yeah, and don't forget there's the rest of the army behind them cheering them on maybe taking a pot shot with a lascannon and seizing objectives.

Facing such insurmountable odds, Eldar Generals were faced with three options
1) "What is this shit?"
2) "Who wants to buy my models?"
3) "Why don't I get anything like that?"

With the release of Epic in I-dunno-who-cares maybe 2003 the Eldar army got a new HQ option, the 'Autarch'. With a new Codex release rumoured for 'sometime soon' we now we had a new option

4) "Fuck that Space Marine cheese shi-ite wait till you see what the Autarch will do, with Swooping Hawk wings and a Mandiblaster and a Jet Bike and S4/T4/2+/4++ and a Web of Skulls and a Fire Pike and Defend and War Shout and and and ...."

So 2005/2006 comes around and the codices get released. Space Marine Chaplains (which weren't powerful enough already) now got their attacks boosted up to 200 on the charge (with re-rolls) and they make the whole army Ld10 and the opponent's army runs away within 24" (when they're not being pinned). Or something. Oh, they cancel all psychic powers too.

So what does the Autarch get? From the new Eldar Codex
"Autarchs are the supreme commanders of the Eldar warhost, and have a consummate understanding of the art of war."
"All right! Love that Sun Tzu shit! Fucking Chaplains! Die! Die! DIE!!!!"

"Held in high esteem by seer and soldier alike, each Autarch has mastered many paths over the centuries, including one or more of the facets of the Warrior path. At some point in their lives all Autarchs start developing a passion for command and strategy."
"Sure sure fluff is law etc etc."

"Autarchs believe that the true path to martial excellence lies not so much in the heat of melee, but rather in gaining a wider vision of the battle and directing the Eldar warhost on the most lethal and efficient way to victory."
"Melee! Fuck yeah! Let's do this thing! Wait a minute ..."

"This is the Path of Command, a burning obsession with truly understanding how each mission can be made part of a complex battle plan, and in turn each battle can be made part of a grand war plan. To guide them along this path, Autarchs draw their inspiration from the mythical leaders of the great Houses of old, such as Eldanesh Ulthanash and Bierellian."
"Bierellian? WTF!?!"

XD
-------
Everybody who's involved in the hobby knows Autarchs are S3 T3 and three attacks (they couldn't give them 4 attacks base, come on?), relegating them to the ranks of the "close combat support" HQ rather than the "close combat ass-munching" coveted by SM HQ's and 200+ point jump-pack-less Pheonix Lords.

As my brother likes to say, "they're just a big banshee". I haven't actually used them, but were I to do so I would give them a power weapon and a shuriken catapult and put them in with the Dire Avengers.

Points Breakdown
- Dire Avenger Shuriken Catapult: I'd say worth 5 points when combined with Blade Storm. Space Marines get Storm Bolters for 5 points, and they lose an attack for the privledge. Autarchs keep their Shuriken Pistol.
- +1 Reserve Roll: I'd say worth 15 points (with Hawks). Personally I think Escalation is just a hack to fix shitty rules altho I'm not a tournament player.
- ld 10: Say 10 points.
- Plasma and Haywire Grenades: Say < 5 points
- 4++: A Rosarius is 25 points. With T3 we're getting a steal here. Call it 15 points, since it's mandatory.
- Fleet of Foot: ???. Call it 0 points since it's in with the Avengers.

So that gets us down to 30/40 points. For 32 points we could have a couple banshees. All things considered the Autarch isn't a bad deal if you want a REALLY expensive Dire Avenger Squad, which is essentially what you're doing. Even if your opponent decides to shoot down Dire Avengers he's not effecting the Autarch much. The addition of the 4++ (and not making it optional grr) boosts their points by a little bit, making them a real jack-of-all-trades 'what do I do with this thing' character. You want to keep it away from power firsts, period and it won't win a duel with an HQ. It will however help the squad win combat over the HQ and its squad.

I could see myself going heavy on Troops and taking 2/3 Guardian squads and 2 Dire Avenger Squads in a refused flank formation (like a spear head). In that case the Autarch would be more useful, since if one squad got shot to pieces he could switch over to the other squad. The other thing the Autarch has going for it is at ~70 points cheaper than an Avatar maybe the HQ you want really IS just a big banshee.

The Avatar's fearless ability makes the Ld10 pretty irrevelent. But in a non-mech/purely infantry list the Autarch could be preferred especially while taking both Hawks and deep-striking Warp Spiders. Or (gods above) TWO squads of Hawks *drools*.

As far as other Wargear is concerned, I don't really see the point. Wings could be nice just for some lategame re-positioning. He's a support character not an ass-muncher. I do like the 'Shining Spears Autarch' joining a squad of 3/4 Spears including Exarch. That squad is how we finally get our hands on an ass-munching HQ. 3d6" fall back w/ Hit&Run and we can finally dance across the table Chaplain-style.