IN Fleet, how would you face Eldar? Other favoured compositional counters?

[Algavinn]

There are certainly different styles you could use with each different fleet, but there are some preferences in fighting style or fleet composition to deal with each enemy style or fleet.  For example I expect my main opponent as IN will be facing Eldar Coirsairs (namely because I own both fleets, and marines, and my friend will likely be using my fleets until/if it really catches on for him).  As such I'd love to have some input on how you IN commanders prefer to compose your fleets, and how you tend to play against them, tactics and strategy wise.  I'm still building my marine fleet, so I'm sure I will be needing to figure out exactly how I want to face them as well, but that isn't really my main concern at the moment. I'm pretty new to the BFG scene, but have played 40k for past 20 years now, so adapting won't be hard.

My fleets (just what I own, not specific lists) as it stands are the below, though I am open to new acquisitions and changes in classes (I haven't magnatized my ships, but I use goop so changing cruiser classes is easy).

IN:
Emperor class battleship
Oppressor class battlecruiser (8 squad carrier)
Mars class battlecruiser
Dictator class cruiser
3x lunar class cruiser (one typically with a nova)
maelstrom class light cruiser (4 squad light carrier)
dauntless class light cruiser (Haven't bought this yet, probably going torpedo)
3x sword class frigates
4x cobra class destroyers

Eldar:
void stalker
2x shadow cruisers
2x eclipse cruisers
2x aurora light cruisers
2x hellebore frigates
3x hemlock frigates
6x nightshade destroyers
6x aconite destroyers


So what approaches do you prefer?  As these eldar ships offer little in assault craft, my IN fleet can overwhelm that and send a lot of ordnance in general.  I dont have a massive amount of batteries as it is to exploit that particular weakness, but I could certainly change things around to make it more so.  My fleet as it stands has quite a bit of power to pour on from range or close up so I haven't chosen an overall plan against my eldar besides sending off as much ordnance as I can immediately to cause as much damage as possible before they get within range to do damage themselves, yatta yatta...

Any input would be appreciated!

[AndrewChristlieb]

Against Eldar I see a lot more of the... less popular... IN ships. Tyrants and Overlords especially while often overlooked are excellent for dealing with Eldar due to their above average range. Your Emperor if played correctly can be very effective by forcing the enemy to deal with a large amount of weapons in multiple arcs, the attack craft of course will help you protect your flanks. Swords are the preferred escort by far these are usually more than worth their points against the Eldar. Torpedoes are about worthless, but given the nerfing of the Nova cannon to absolutely worthless their your best bet. All of the grand cruisers sport a large amount of weapons batteries great for taking on the Eldar and each of them plays a bit differently, I would probably try to take a Vengance or Exorcist for the ranged weapons as it can be quite difficult sometimes to get those 30cm guns in range.

[Trickstick]

I like taking a couple of vengeance class and an emperor. That is a lot of 60cm battery fire on platforms with decent defence. I haven't actually fought eldar yet so take my advice with caution though. In my current campaign these ships are going to be my main defence against eldar raids. I even managed to get targeting matrices on both of the vengeances, although that is obviously not possible in normal games.

If you know you are going against eldar then 45-60cm batteries are the way to go. Novas, lances and attack craft all have to go against that 2+ holofield save, and 30cm batteries should rarely get a chance to fire.

[horizon]

From where are the Oppressor CB @ Maelstom CL?
Both intervene with 'gentleman agreement ship design rules'.
(aka no 8 AC on a cruiser hull, no 4 AC on a light cruiser hull).

Just design two fleets that are allround. Not two fleets tailored against eachother.
In my opinion that is.

[Algavinn]

The two cruisers are indeed not GW designed, but I think I will be toning those down more to 6 and 3 respectively, but I will be working this out with my gaming partner in the future to ensure any self designed vessels are not just fair in a points value fashion, but in the context of the fleets of which they are based and the games we play. 

I don't intend on tailoring a specific list to each opponent, and instead want a take all comers fleet, but I want to know how people prefer too fight against eldar and what vessels they judge worthy of such specific threats so I have a greater context from which to form such an all comers fleet (Why bother including a ship that doesn't work well against marines and imperial type vessels, as well as being a ship that people don't even want to take against Eldar, ya know?).

I'm just not a fan of grand cruisers, for a mixture of their lack of frontal weaponry in a fleet that espouses masses of torpedoes and armoured prows, not to mention dorsal weapons attack craft and nova canon letting them attack from a distance, as well as the financial expense of a grand cruiser being as many dollars/pounds as a battleship nearly, aaaand while cruisers and battlecruisers I can just pop off a hard point and change the class of the ship.