Farseer

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The Farseer is a warrior psychic of the highest order. They can see into the future and can command armies of the Eldar. Farseers are protected by Rune armour that gives them an invulnerable 4+ save. Farseers are also able to cast several psychic powers and they also have a range of wargear available to them.


WARGEAR CHOICES:


The "Ghosthelm" at only 5 points, should be considered essential as it allows the Farseer to ignore an attack from a daemon on or roll of 4+ during the psychic test. The "Ghosthelm" also halves the weapon skill (rounding up) of any daemon that attacks the Farseer in close combat.


The "Runes of Warding" are very useful when the Farseer is fighting against an enemy that has psykers as they force the enemy psyker to take a psychic test with 3 dice and discard the lowest. Good value at 10 points.


The "Runes of Witnessing" are another cheap way to ensure that your Farseer maintains effectiveness as it allows the Farseer to roll 3 dice for the psychic test and pick the two lowest. The one draw back is that you must pick the two lowest numbers even if they are double ones (which can happen at the worst possible time).


At 40 points "Spirit Stones" may seem expensive but they are very good value as they let the Farseer cast two different psychic powers per turn.  Be careful about tying up too many points in your Farseer with this option because if you take "Spirit Stones" it also means that another psychic power has to be bought.


The "Singing Spear" is my weapon of choice for my Farseer as it allows him to stay a little back from the front and to have a way to deal with any enemy vehicles that may come too close. The "Singing Spear" has two disadvantages.
Is that it needs to be wielded with both hands and therefore the Farseer can’t get another attack if he has another close combat weapon.


Once the "Singing Spear" has been thrown it cant be used in hand to hand, although it returns to the Farseer.  The witch balde is an excellent choice if the farseer is mounted on a jetbike as the effective range of the singing spear will be increased to 24".

The "Witch Blade" is a good choice if you intend to use the Farseer in hand to hand.  Don't forget to also take a shuriken pistol, because at 1 point it's worth getting the extra attack if you have taken a witch blade.

The Jetbike is a great way to get your Farseer around the battle field to take out that pesky tank or to aid another squad.  Another advantage of the jetbike is that it increases the toughness of the Farseer from 4, to 5.

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TACTICAL SUGGESTIONS:

Farseers can choose psychic powers from the following list.

"Elditch Storm"
"Fortune"
"Guide"
"Mind War"


"Elditch Storm" can be useful if the Farseer can get close to vehicles that have low armour value or troops with low toughness. On the whole though, "Elditch Storm" isn’t worth the points.


The psychic power of "Fortune’ is designed to complement the units near the Farseer rather than be offensive. "Fortune" is used to re-roll any failed armour saves of any unit within 6". This can produce amazing results when used on the Farseer's bodyguard of Warlocks.  Fortune is also good when used on screening troops, particularly jetbikes with their higher toughness and 3+ armour save.


"Guide" can be used to re-roll any missed shots of any unit nominated within 6". When ‘Guide" is used to re-roll missed shots it can really enhance the effectiveness of a squad. The Farseer can be kept at the back of your lines to use "Guide" to enable your Fire Prism or Dark Reapers to re-roll any missed shots. A Fire Prism that hits most of the time is an awesome thing to see in action.

 
"Mind War", (if you are lucky) can be used to kill off enemy leaders if they have ordinary armour (unlikely). "Mind War" represents good value at 15 points but I’d suggest that it should only taken as a second psychic power and used with the aid of "spirit stones".  Think twice about taking "Mind War" if you are up against an opponent that puts all his troops in vehicles (this often happens with Space Marine armies) as mind war only works when you have line of sight and if everything is in vehicles then Mind War is useless.  One should be very careful about loading up one’s Farseer with too many psychic powers and too much wargear for two reasons.

  1. It will be too many points in one place. All your eggs in one basket, so to speak.
  2. It’s cheesy.


The Farseer can also act in an offensive capacity as well. A Falcon loaded up with the Farseer and a bodyguard of Warlocks can destroy, just about any squad or tank they choose.  Such a valuable cargo as a Farseer and his bodyguard deserve to ride into battle in an upgraded Falcon with a holo-field. To find out more about the Farseer's body guard, visit the Warlock page.
When using your Farseer in such an offensive way it is recommended that "Fortune" with its "re-roll failed armour saves" is used.

A Farseer mounted on a jetbike with a singing spear, using the power "fortune" is a good way to deal with annoying units.  The jetbike will enable the Jetbike riding Farseer to move a total of 18" per turn.  A Faseer kitted out this way should be able to dart from cover to cover, to get close to the enemy, while fortune increases his chances of survival.


When using the Falcon to transport a Farseer and his entourage, star cannons make a good weapons choice to go with the pulse laser.  The Falcon drops off the Farseer and Warlocks behind the enemy troops (if possible, to take advantage of the crossfire rules) and fires into the squad to be attacked. The Farseer and the Warlocks then shoot with their pistols. After the shooting, comes assault. The "Fortune" will allow you to re-roll failed armour saves and the Farseer's squad will wade through the enemy.

 
With a bit of luck you will destroy the whole squad or make it fall back into the Falcon so it is destroyed. If the victorious Farseer and bodyguard are near enough to the Falcon, they can consolidate back into it.
Wave Serpents are also good transports for Farseers and their bodyguards.  A twin linked bright lance can help crack open those transports so the Eldar HQ can get at them.


How long the Farseer and his bodyguard last in assault is entirely dependent on how well you have coordinated your attack. It is always better to combine your attacks with other squads. If the Farseer can sweep in to a squad that is already in hand to hand with another squad of your troops, it will mean that they won't be shot at, in your foe's next turn.  Another reason to attack squads that are already in hand to hand combat, is that there is probably a better chance of wiping that squad out, and therefore consolidation back into any transport that was used.


Of course assaulting an army that specialises in hand to hand wouldn't be a good idea, as it would favour your enemy.

Basic Tactics
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