How to Deal with Eldar Mobility as Chaos, 1v1

[Commissar Vocaloid]

Before I go off to bed (3:30, tomorrow's going to suck waking up haha), curious how people deal with Eldar in 1v1 as a CL, as an example.

The other day, was recommended I use the combiflamer and I found its effectiveness to be ... miserable at best. And at 30 power, it was a hefty expenditure. I also went for raptors versus a double setup team, but I feel that they are such a shitty unit, that they end up bleeding more in the long run as their effectiveness just tapers off in comparison to some of the better jump squads. I've noted that in most games where I field them, I generally dont do well because of their power investment putting me behind in T1 and usually to little effect on the field. And to clarify, I do use jump squads and have done well with ASM and Stormboys, but I just can't seem to find that niche for raptors.

What are general strategies chaos players have in 1v1 as Chaos?

[FiSH]

The best way to deal with a mobile race is to force fights. i.e. push gen farm.

[Nurland]

Combi-Flamer is sooooo good against Eldar in T1. It scales a bit bad but is very good. I haven't played that much 1v1 in a while but generally gl barrage + focus fire + running CL in is enough to force off a set up in T1 so i generally prefer Letters over Raptors as they have longer jump range and fare better against dedicated melee.

[Torpid]

I find this a really hard MU. If you end up with 2 tics vs the warlock you're already disadvantaged, but 2 tics are quite optimal vs the FS/WSE. I would honestly just stick with dual CSM, the problem then being tanky melee heroes+autarch in t2.

For t1 then: tics, csm, csm, havocs if they're the warlock. If they're not 1 csm, GL tics, AC tics, havocs. The combi bolter probably is best, just remember you can use it as a ranged weapon, like, in ranged stance so you're not conceding tonnes of damage to shurikens. I find the BC+BL combo to be quite strong alongside autocannon havocs for my t2 and then following it up with autocannon termies often works well. Overall I find this MU a struggle though, mainly because it's difficult to know whether they're warlock or not early enough. CSM scale pretty poorly, tics scale poorly, in fact the entire chaos t1 scales awfully eldar. It's so easy for grenades to kill everything. Chaos probably is my worst race, but that's what I try to do going into the match.

[HandSome SoddiNg]

I find this a really hard MU. If you end up with 2 tics vs the warlock you're already disadvantaged, but 2 tics are quite optimal vs the FS/WSE. I would honestly just stick with dual CSM, the problem then being tanky melee heroes+autarch in t2.

Yeah precisely . You"ll see the Derpdar unit composition before deciding upon raptors/NM or Havocs . Arguably WL can the toughest MU for Chaos ,still Chaos has fascinating global abilities to wither Banshees and win engagements in their favor . I think 2 CSM/2 GL Tics can work vs WSE/FS ,else 2 CSM/Havocs and tics . NM is a solid choice vs derpdar generally , sneaky gene-bashes and has their defense ability to escape safetly from Shees. Still able to disable setups , just avoid Ranger fire . Derpdar 1111 can be problematic for chaos to deal with, KCSM/Meele Tics are worthy compositions to deal against Eldar aggression . 2 CSM to promptly threaten the WL and kite him around should suffice T1, Havocs would do that job while Raptors can jump into SC or rangers. CL should be Maul/Combi-flamer + Let galaxy burn/Mark of khorne else just the classic tanker build if derpdar is pure Range composition .

Raptors will get chopped up quite quickly and minced apart from WL/Leviathian blades/Shees/DR in t2,still they make excellent counter to Fire prisims in T3 then slow-moving PM with only Khorne worship perfectly syngerizes with . The PC has great CC AOE/Global abilities to control Shees as well as CS ,exceptional of CL global but his wargears helps . Sometimes,its gud keeping Heretics in their melee state just to guard CSM and provoke them little ,its also a Gamble getting Chaos dreadnought easily countered by WL . T3 , CT w LC can counteract Seer councils and shred them to Bits or just Demoralize Derpdar infantries and support them gud with Heretic worship and Chaos heroes . Getting GUO is a better purchase then LR phobos followed with PM ,their durability late-game will help . Raptors can counter D-Cannons in t3 should Derpdar be sitting ducks which i doubt it covering VP or just flank round .

[Tex]

If its a wide map split into thirds, (typically like green tooth gorge) I will invest in raptors simply because they are a unit that usually forces a 2 squad response, and thus I can lock down a third of the map with 1 unit. This will really help deal with the mobility problem.

The trick is to make sure that the rest of your composition can do 2 things without the raptors though:

1) Initiate combat (chaos t1 is aggression based except if you are getting 2 or more grenade launchers) against suppression or snipers.
2) Transition into necessary roles in T2 (don't forget that noise marines can be a valuable source of AV in T2).

If you are fighting against shurikan play, do remember that a havok will suppress a shurikan with its first burst, so you can use havoks to counter shurikans even if you aren't in position first.
If you are fighting against rangers, leading your attacks with a hero or heretics is a must so that you can soak up important shots. Also, heretic sight range will really help here.
I don't often build grenade launchers against eldar (they scale very poorly in this matchup) but in a case where I have isolated my raptors from my main army, I would definitely think about picking up this upgrade.

My build in a situation like this usually looks like this:
-starting tics
-csm
-tics
-AC on tic squad that needs it or node+2 gens if I don't
-raptors
-havoks or wargear
-third generator if needed, wargear if needed.

Also, keep in mind that because T1 is going to be power heavy, capping 2 nodes immediately is my first priority and then I will build 2 generators as soon as possible, but I won't build the third until much later.