"After carefully reviewing the data vaults of BFK, ITS, EoA, and the RT core file, I have discovered a discrepancy that I was to address. The vile xeno race called "Eldar" have inferior weapons compared to the Imperium's armaments."

Yes yes, I know Eldar Lance components have the "Pulse" effect, but what about the range of their Lances? 3, 4, 5?? Really? The average Imperial Lance is 5 to 6, while the average Eldar Lance is 3 to 4. Not to mention their Torpedoes have 20 less range than the Imperium's Torpedoes…. I don't understand this. Their ships have very little crew, yet they have to get close in order to shoot you, not to mention their ships have low armour (Holofield helps alot, but why get close in the first place to test that theory).

Anyhoot, maybe I'm missing something. I mean, all their hand-held laser weapons have far longer range than Imperial weapons. Why shouldn't their ship armaments be the same as well?

Simple remedy though. I triple the low ranged components, and double the high range ones. Am I wrong in doing this? Was the intent behind the Eldars having shorter range ship armaments a way to balance them out and I've failed to notice how exactly this makes sense?

In the tabletop game Battlefleet Gothic Eldar ships all have pretty short ranges (nearly everything, even on cruisers, had a 30cm range, only their battleship had a 45 cm range - whilst ranges up to 60cm were not that uncommon on larger Imperial warships) - I imagine this was for game balance as much as anything - Eldar weapons had loads of advantages, and the ships were super speedy and manoevreable (in optimum conditions, Eldar escorts could outrun bomber wings etc), and had holo fields (which were probably better in BFG than in RT, to be honest). Having average-short ranged guns forced one to bring your ships, whose hulls were basically made from tin foil, into a situations where it was possible to be shot at at all.

I imagine in RT Eldar ships just have a very short range partly to reflect their wargame inspiration, and to counterbalance their speed and manoevrability advantages, as well as (I believe, I don't have books to hand), having generally high crew ratings etc.

One could easily apply 'good' or 'best' quality to the weapons (I think the rules for improving the quality of ship components is in Into the Storm or Battlefleet Koronos, I forget) deployed on Eldar ships, and use that rule to boost their range or damage (or both). That might be good from a fluff point of view, as Eldar ships would probably be very well made compared to human ones.

My players have only fought an Eldar ship once, and though they outranged it, the ship commanded by their ally got crippled very quickly - I found Eldar ships devestating in their element, and able to get out of danger quickly if need be. I didn't think them underpowered, and their short range more characterful/balancing than anything, but I can understand why it seems quite strange.

All best,

David.

Yeah, while I'm only guessing, I would assume that their special traits are being balanced out by shorter range. Their torpedoes are shorter range, but always guided, and equipped with the same holofields the ship and bombers have, making defensive turrets crap. Their lances are shorter range, but multiple hits from single shots hurt, while their starcannons get bonuses for Eldar being the greatest voidmasters in the galaxy. Also, since many are Corsair pirates, they are meant to be hit and run specialists, who the enemy will be hard-pressed to hit, and they can maintain some distance by firing in the middle of their movement, then continuing on away.

Add to that their group-combat tendency, while you are just as likely to have only one ship (yours), and the fact that the first hits will likely be surprise attacks, do to their sensor-baffling abilities, they could leave you hurting and adrift very easily, and very quickly. If you do survive the initial pelting, you might have a good chance of making it out of the encounter, since a few hits against them will likely make the Eldar withdraw.

So yeah, I believe their ranges are less because they CAN be. So much of the Eldar design seem to work around it just fine. Never actually gotten to test all this, but it seems to read as such. The Eldar are my overall favorite race i 40k, so I hope that they really are to be feared in space.

You see I tested this theory. Had an Eldar ship attack my PC's 6 VU's away. They hit, scared the PC's and did decent damage to their Frigate. The Eldar ship then runs 12 VU's away. So, they are now a total of 18 VU's away from the PC's ship. PC's turn, the do a superb job of maneuvering and get 12 VU's away from the Eldar ship. And what do most PC's have as armament components on their ships, but Macrocannon batteries. 2 dorsal shoots later, with a -20 to hit, destroys the poor Eldar corsair. Poor Hemlock, he was only trying to say hi.

Now, if the Eldar ship had a normal range of 6, I would of had them shoot 8 - 10 VU's away and then flee. So would of been more like "Tag, your hit." Anyhoot, maybe I'm just venting. I'll concede for now, but will still continue to keep these Houserules in my back pocket for other RT games in the future. Can't really change something mid stride just because the PC's are good at what they do. Gotta hit them differently, hehe.

Nameless2all said:

You know that your Eldar ship could have been using Evasion Manoeuvers, right ? they do have a high Manoeuvrability, high BS & crew rating, thus they can still pack some punch while being a very hard target.