First game in with the Eldar...

Well, got in a first game with the new Codex...  I played at the 1850 level with the following:

HQ:
Spirit Seer
Illic Nightspear
Warlock Council (2)

Troops:
Guardian Squad (10, Bright Lance)
Guardian Squad (10, Scatter Laser)
Dire Avengers (10, Exarch w/ TLSC)
    Wave Serpent (Bright Lance)
Wraithguard (5)
    Wave Serpent (Scatter Laser)
Ranger Squad

Elite:
Scorpions (10, Exarch w/ Chain sabers, Crushing Blow and Stalker)

Fast Attack:
Swooping Hawks (6, Exarch w/ Sun Rifle)
Warp Spiders (5, Exarch w/TL Spinner, Fast Shot, Marksman)

Heavy Support:
Wraithlord (Ghost Glaive, 2 Bright Lances)
Fire Prism


So, as you can see, a VERY haphazard group of more or less random things I wanted to try...  Some things I realized:

1. ALWAYS remember to use Battle Focus.  There were several times I remembered, and so on turn one I  was able to get a Guardian Squad within 12" range to let loose a hail of fire to kill a bunch of Chaos Marines...  Other times I completely forgot like with the Hawks, leaving them nicely bunched up after their drop in and shooting phase...  And a few times with Spiders I think...   But it is HUGE and something that I will need to get used to as a mechanism.
2. Base Rangers are 60 points.  They lost a lot, and frankly are about as useful as Marine Snipers now.  Which is to say, not really so much.  Relying on 6's on the damage roll makes Nightspear "less useful" as well.  Yes, BS 9 and 48" range so he can hit almost every time and he does place EVERY shot where he wants to, but still needing the 4+ to wound hurts.  Yes, iff he rolls the 6, it is Rending and Distortion, so the target it really, really dead, but...  Too easy to get cover saves and lacking Night Vision, etc. made him fairly useless for me.
3. The Wave Serpents are AWESOME.  I think my standard loadout will be the Scatter Laser though... BS 4, Twin Linked, and I get even one hit, the Shield in offensive mode gets twin linked.  D6+1 Str 7 no cover save shots now twin linked?  Yes Please.  They really did not get tested I think against a dedicated AT force though...  The mere presence of the shield was enough several turns to convince the Chaos player (Max, one of the better players at the Gopher) that there were other targets.  The ability to deploy, run then shoot means that the single hatch at the rear of the vehicle is not as much a problem as I had feared, certainly not for the Dire Avengers and Wraithguard.
4. Thinking that I will be switching several weapon loadouts from their old, traditional ones to something else.  The new "twin linked" option for the DA and WS Exarchs are less useful than I had thought.  Loosing out on the extra shots at BS 5 for the almost guaranteed, but only 2 now meant that I would much rather use other options.  The DA NEED something like the 5++ from the Shimmer Shield, so guessing that model gets deployed for me going forward.  Not so sure for the Spiders, though the always AP 1 Spinneret Rifle and Fast Shot/Marksman (for the 5+ to choose targets) might well be the best option.
5. Going forward I think I will be needing something toit deal with the obnoxious cover save things going on...  Dark Reapers with SnP are looking pretty good with their new special rules, and the Wraithguard with their alternate template weapons might well prove to be an excellent shock/line breaker unit.  Loaded out in a Serpent to deliver them to problem areas and drop in with a bunch of AP 2 flamer attacks.  Only Str 4, but Distort for the quasi rending effect...  And assaulting them would be suicidal with EACH of them getting d3 hits with their weapon...  The Reapers are looking REALLY good, though expensive.  Getting the old Reaper launcher AND the "Krak" missile options (at an additional cost) seems like a no brainer.  And with SnP they can be reserved or transported without losing their ability to shoot.  Exarch will be absolutely silly if I deck him out with say, Fast Shot and the Tempest Launcher...  3 Barrage blast markers at AP 3, no jink saves against ANY of the DR shooting...  So, death to bikes and light skimmers, sucks to be Scouts or even up to Marines behind cover...  And he will Artillery Snipe the hell out of things being able to place the Barrage template over what he wants to kill first with casualties coming from the center of the blast...
6. Wraithlord?  Was OK, but died due to an obnoxious number of 5++ saves being made when he crashed into 2 Obliterators...  The Ghost Glaive for 5 points gave him +1 Str and Master Crafting for a re-roll which did prove useful.  His loadout of 2 Bright Lances was less than optimal though.  I think a Scatter Laser or Star Cannons might be more suited to the local environment at least...
7. Weapon Platforms...  The Bright Lance at 20 points was not bad...  The Scatter Laser was much more of a "Why did I bother?"...  Think the Star Cannon might be one to bring for the AP 2 shooting...  Brings me to:
8. Stat lines...  Holy Crap, I5 everywhere...  Even Guardians get WS/BS 4 and I5...  We go first in HtH.  Won't DO shit for the most part, but at least I am going first, dammit.  Something I think to get used to with the old War Walkers being useful in the previous edition despite the BS 3...  Now with BS 4?  Guessing they will hit the table for me soon as well...  Damn, the Heavy Support slot is full...

So, was mostly a learning game for me, as I was clearly NOT prepared for an 1850 game with the much cheaper options...  I am thinking the Crimson Hunter will be the (current) premier air superiority fighter, so that may well be on the purchase list.  The Wraith Knight?  I do think it is an amazing model aesthetically.  I am just concerned that it is another model like the "Loki" Blood Claw "upgrade" in the Wolves Codex where it looks great and has a bunch of rules that simply do not work in the current edition of the game...  And it is NOT a $20 model, coming in at $115 pre-tax...  

Next week the Dark Reapers awaken from their long slumber of several editions...  Bikes as well likely, not sure what else though...