Three Dark Eldar/Eldar lists up for review!

I'm more Archon than Farseer.

Alright guys, it's your turn to review my lists.  I know I show off a lot of lists all the time and talk about them, but I think it's time for you guys to pick one of my lists.  I'll present three and give you guys a decent breakdown of what they have.

*Allied force

First list
1849
17 kp

HQ:
Farseer (JB, Spear, Mantle) = 160
Succubus (VB) = 70*

TROOPS:
5x Dire Avengers (WS/Holo/Scatter/SC) = 210
5x Dire Avengers (WS/Holo/Scatter/SC) = 210
5x Warriors (Venom NS/SC, Blaster) = 135*
5x Jetbikes (SC) = 95
4x Jetbikes (SC) = 78

ELITE:
3x Trueborn (Venom NS/SC, 3x Blasters) = 156*

FA:
Crimson Hunter Exarch = 180

HEAVY:
Fire Prism (Holofields, SS) = 150
Fire Prism (Holofields, SS) = 150
Night Spinner (Holofields, SS) = 140
Ravager (NS) = 115*

Alpha Potential: 8x TL Scatters, 6x TL Shurikens (or 2d6 S7 Ignore Cover), 24x Poison shots, 2x S9 AP1 Lances, S8 Monofilament blast, 3x Dark Lances

Main Strength of list: 5x AV12 Grav-Tanks with Holofields, flexible shooting methods.

Main Weakness of list: Lack of scoring bodies.


Second list
1850
18 KP

HQ:
Farseer (JB, Spear, Mantle) = 160*
Succubus (VB, Haywire) = 75

TROOP:
5x Warriors (Raider NS, Blaster) = 130
5x Warriors (Venom NS/SC, Blaster) = 135
5x Warriors (Venom NS/SC, Blaster) = 135
10x Warriors (Raider NS/SR, Blaster, SC) = 195
10x Warriors (Raider NS/SR, Blaster, SC) = 195
5x Rangers = 60*

FA:
Crimson Hunter Exarch = 180*

HEAVY:
Ravager (NS) = 115
Ravager (NS) = 115
Ravager (NS) = 115
Wraithknight = 240

Alpha Strike: 12x Dark Lances, 24x Poison Shots, 2x S10 AP2 Heavy Wraithcannon shots

Main strength of list: Plentiful poison options and Dark Lance weaponry.  Giant T8 6W 3+ AS Wraithknight that can punch people in the face.

Main Weakness of list: Fragile Dark Eldar core.


Third list
1850
17 KP

HQ:
Succubus (VB, Haywire) = 75
Farseer (JB, Spear, Mantle) = 160*

TROOP:
5x Warriors (Raider NS, Blaster) = 130
5x Warriors (Venom NS/SC, Blaster) = 135
5x Warriors (Venom NS/SC, Blaster) = 135
10x Dire Avengers (WS/Holo/Scatter/SC) = 275*
10x Dire Avengers (WS/Holo/Scatter/SC) = 275*

FA:
Crimson Hunter Exarch = 180*

HEAVY:
Ravager (NS) = 115
Ravager (NS) = 115
Ravager (NS) = 115
Night Spinner (Holofields, SS) = 140*

Alpha Strike: 10x Dark Lances, 8x TL Scatters, 6x TL Shurikens (or 2d6 S7 Ignore Cover), 24x Poison shots, S8 Monofilament Barrage Large Blast

Main Strength of list: Broad spectrum of heavy weaponry and scoring units, 3x AV12 Grav-tanks in support of Dark Eldar forces.

Main Weakness of list: No giant robot or overwhelming strength.

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My competitive Eldar bucket

Scream at things.

So here's what I'm thinking:

Competitive bucket:
Farseers - Great. Should outright be in every list, or 90% of lists not focusing on specifically designed lists such as Wraith armies.  Double Guide is just fantastic and vastly improves the shooting output of your army.  When you need every shot to count, do not settle for anything less.  Plus you get the awesomeness that is Divination:  Giving you possible 4+ ward on Wraithknights, Scrier's Gaze, and the ability to combine Misfortune with Doom.

Avatar of Khaine - Works in the right list, mostly footslogging ones holding and offering target saturation. If you're running plenty of big units, Wraithguard, WK and WLs, then the Avatar is just another piece of the puzzle.  These guys shouldn't be too expensive with Fast Shot and possibly +1S for S7.

Eldrad - Works in the above said army and will continue to do so. Footslog is in a pretty good place right now minus the odd-ball AP2 template weapons. This is why I generally feel that footslog outright might not be the best, but mech + foot will be stronger. You are better able to conserve units that matter (scoring) while fielding units that someone like Tau can't really deal with (Wraithknights).  He's a footslogging champ because you get a very efficient Farseer that comes with all the bells and whistles plus a few more.

Autarch - Good.  His Strategy clause and reserve manipulation is the reason why he deserves to be in lists. When he is in a list, he needs to be cheap. Either hopping around with Warp Spiders, hanging around with Singing Spears, or tagging along with Jetbikes. Keep him cheap, for real.

Spiritseer - Better than Warlocks IMO, better leadership, larger array of spells, can join any unit, just an overall stronger pick than the Warlock. Wraithsight is just nice to have but the real boon is taking T6 3+ units as troops.

Warlock - Works in the right list, but is limited in where he can truly perform. His lack of spells worries me, his Ld.8 as well, but default Conceal gives him a spot in weapon teams, Guardians, Jetbikes, so if you're running those then he can see a spot. Otherwise, I prefer the stronger option of a Farseer with double guide, or the flexibility of a Spiritseer.

Dire Avengers - A lot of people don't like these guys because of their inability to combo with psychic abilities when they get out of a transport. However, Misfortune and Doom still exist and that's always something that benefits Dire Avengers a lot because of how Bladestorm works. I think they're good, either in 5s or 10s in a Serpent because of their base Ld.9 and plentiful shots. The Exarch options and the lack of previous Bladestorm is a shame, but I think 5/10 in a WS is the best way forward.  If you want a unit that can actually do damage from a distance, I would look into these guys.

Windrider Jetbikes - Just amazing value. The best offensive troops in the army because of their speed, flexibility, and reach. The reach part is huge because it allows them to take points and contest areas last minute. We're talking about the fastest moving scoring in the game here, and makes unreachable points a possibility in the last few minutes of every game. The price too, is just ridiculous. As ridiculous as the fact we've been using the same models for like 12 years.

Rangers - Fantastic points value as well, simply because they can take a point from god knows where and stay there until they no longer matter. Shoot, run away behind somewhere that BLoS and stay there until they're safe. They're one of the best units that draws fire and are incredibly hard to remove when GtG even in simple area terrain. They're cheap, offers BS4 snipers, naturally pins, and will benefit any player who knows how to correctly place objectives. Both Jetbikes and Rangers are useful for keeping your scoring, it's really dependent on the general. Place an objective in a place that allows the Rangers to slip behind LoS, or place a far flung objective on his slower flank so only your rocket bikes can reach it.

Wave Serpent - I don't think I need to argue the effectiveness of this thing. Holofields and Shuriken Cannon upgrade, Scatter Lasers and you've got yourself one of the best MBT/transports in the game. The effectiveness of Serpent Shield's shooting in combination with Laser Lock also makes sure more fragile units that depend on cover saves just outright eat it. Enemy DE vehicles come in mind immediately.

Fire Dragons - Expensive, but still fill in the same role of slagging tanks.

Wraithguard - Flamers or S10 AP2 shots are both welcome. Great in some lists because they score, good otherwise because they just shoot and burn things to death.

Swooping Hawks - Take 6, drop behind LoS, drop S4 AP4 Large Blast Ignore cover somewhere. Good, cheap, repeatable, and great way to clear out weaker infantry (T3, crap armor) trying to hug cover and score points.  Please take them MSU and understand you should be bombing with Grenade Packs as much as possible.

Warp Spiders - Amazing amount of damage can come from these guys, just fantastic. Great on reserves, combos with all of your psychic powers, great mobility, great Exarch powers, great weapon choices. My go-to aspect for doing ranged damage.  Multiple S6 shots basically threatens 90% of the game and it's one of the reasons why these guys are amazing.

Singing Spears - Actually not bad. Does good damage, Skilled Rider stacks with Jink, solid damage:price ratio, good for escorting the Exarch as well since he can buy a Power Lance. Not the best, but useful in certain lists.

Crimson Hunter - He's been solid for me simply because I hug the board edge and kill the Quad-Gun with Venoms before anything happens. He WILL die if he comes on before another enemy flier though. Since he has virtually no defensive capability, there's just nothing that can stop him from dying to enemy flyers. If you can take a Quad-Gun and Intercept his flyer, or have an Autarch to preserve your reserve roll, or Scrier's Gaze, realistically, that's the only way you can keep him alive from other flyers. Also, don't be afraid to run off the board and give his flyer the Alpha strike so you can shoot his ass down. Just remember you can't do this the same turn you fly in (has to be next turn). Example would be: You come in first, he doesn't come in. Next round you fly off the board so you can counter his flyer the following turn.

Vyper - BS4 and solid shooting is always good, especially on something armored, can go the distance and benefit from Jink. However, there are other options that do the same thing like the War Walker.

Vaul's Wrath Support Battery - Solid. A lot of cheap artillery units and even 3x D-Cannons can mess a lot of things up. If you're taking a Quad-Gun line with Aegis, these are one of the best units to look at. For 90 points, you can put down a lot of small blasts that do great damage in the form of the Shadow Weaver setup. Due to artillery rules, they can be T7 behind solid cover and that can be a total nightmare to remove.

Fire Prism - The best heavy support choice IMO. Wide range of firing options, strong options in the form of Holofields, Spirit Stones and the S9 AP1 Lance.

Night Spinner - Great tank, can fully utilize the Crystal Targeting Matrix and comes with two different options to deal damage. S8 large blasts vs. vehicles or a S8 torrent spray with AP1 on units is a great way to do damage.

War Warlkers - Like Vypers, but sacs mobility for 5+ ward and Battle Focus. I see them fulfilling the same roles, so it's either one or the other for me.

Wraithknight - I would of liked to see a better Heavy Wraithcannon, but for 240 points base and the ability to stare missile Tau down, I have no problem with this. One of his biggest strengths is his application to the metagame. Missile Tau just craps on a lot of lists right now and the Wraithknight single-handily tears the entire concept. Wounds on 5s, saves on 3s, beats all Tau options in melee because of his superior stats. He even offers the "threat" of ID vs. Riptides which, however unlikely, can still happen. Just don't get in combat with any Nemesis Dreadknights: They ID you with their Doomfists that are S10, and ignore your primary method of defense of T8 3+ AS.

Chillin in the Webway for now:
Dark Reapers - Overshadowed, not very durable.
Falcon - Better options in Heavy.
Wraithlord - Cheap, but doesn't apply to every army.  He's very list and theme dependent.
Hemlock Wraithfighter - Not good enough to justify 185 points. Limited to gimmick strats and poor overall battlefield application.
Wraithblades - We are a shooting army.
Harlequins - Now requires a test, and forced to footslog in a shooty edition.
Striking Scorpions - Shooty edition, they're great otherwise, but I'd rather bring more shooting solutions. Warp Spiders are outright better in every way.
Howling Banshees - I'm sad about this because it's one of my favorite aspects, but the truth is they're trash.
Guardians - Better scoring options; Avengers, Jetbikes, Rangers.
All the Phoenix Lords - Overpriced for what they do. The only one worth looking at realistically is Fuegan and Karandras.
Prince Yriel - Re-roll that 6 on the S6 ID? Very sad. However, you might be able to take take him in a suicide run to kill marines? Sounds like a waste of Eldar life to me.
Illic Nightspear - Gimmick, doesn't apply too much damage wise and enables an overpriced option to take Pathfinders over Rangers who can just GtG already. As of right now, his only application is the beardy sneaky 10 Wraithguard in your backline Infiltrate, and we might see an FAQ for this soon.

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GDS: More Eldar tidbits

Come on man, you can do better.

I originally posted this in the BoLS forums, but I don't think people have a clue about what I'm talking about so I'll transfer it here.  Hopefully the IQ jumps up a bit more.

Here are my predictions on Eldar:
Eldar will be very much in the middle of the line of 6th Ed. books power wise (and only 6th Ed. books and not including 5th), but weaker in terms of overall design mechanics. There's just too many inexcusable misses which seriously weakens the book. Fortunately, there's enough units in the Eldar war arsenal that doesn't throw off internal balance too badly.

I just need you guys to understand one thing:
Eldar is a hard army to design, so I can't rag on Kelly too much. The reason for this is because you're trying to design a high-priced, elite army with specialist roles, all at the same knowing that it's army-wide T3 in a very lethal environment. In order for this to this design to succeed for such a specialist army, every role must be clearly defined in design, function, and balanced through points. A specialist unit that's not good in its role is simply, trash and not worth taking.

For example, and let me just throw out some design ideas (or changes rather) I came up with so you can get a better picture:

What if Banshee Masks also counted as having assault grenades?
...Runes of Warding forced enemy psykers within 24" to re-roll their successful psychic tests.
...Runes of Witnessing allowed you to re-roll your failed ones.
...Crimson Hunters come with Holofields and Exarch upgrade allowed him to ignore the Snap Shot rule.
...Hemlocks were Torrent/Template weapons.
...Wave Serpents gained assault ramps.
...Harlequin's Veil of Tears should not require a psychic test.
...Autarch could take Exarch weapons and powers.
...Dire Avenger's Exarch kept his Bladestorm mechanic from the old book.
...Wraithtknight's Heavy Wraithcannons are 36" S10 AP2 Blast.
...much much more.

This is an example of what I call design inconsistency AND incorrect fluff to table-top translation:
Heavy D-Sycthe loses template, gains Blast, when the fluff and description of the weapon says it ignores cover and is NOT a blast. The lesser version of the weapon, the D-Sycthe, is a template weapon and ignores cover.

This is an example of just poor, lazy design:
Wraithknight's Heavy Wraithcannon only adds +24" on the weapon's range and nothing else.

This is an example of poor design AND incorrect fluff to table-top translation:
Banshees are melee specialists without grenades, and masks don't do anything to change how they attack into cover.  Why?

This is an example of poor design AND incorrect fluff to table-top translation:
Crimson Hunters are an Eldar Ace aspect, the best pilots in the galaxy, and has the same defensive ability as an Ork pilot.  Not to mention it doesn't come with the most basic of all Eldar vehicle countermeasures; Holofields.

What do you guys think this is?  Bad design, design inconsistency, or poor fluff to table translation?
Random spell generation, Ld. 8/9/10 Warlocks/SS/Farseer, one-use crappy psychic items.

I think it's all three.

Poor design, inconsistency, and poor table-top translation are all over this book.  This is one of the reasons why I docked them so hard in my previous review.  My next article will go over some of my own alterations to the book and explain the fantasy and logic behind all of them.  Stay tuned.

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GDS: Eldar Review

This is part of the Game Design Series.

Overall Design: 3.5/5

As much as I like Phil Kelly, I think the Eldar codex took a bit of a hit in terms of overall design.  There are some blatant fluff to gameplay mistakes that I didn't think should of happened.  From a purely design perspective, I can't for the life of me understand why the most superior aces in the galaxy go to battle without at least Holofields on their aircraft.  In fact, there's no option for them at all!  The Hemlock suffers a bit more when you look its weapon profile and question why D-Scythes have template weapons but not the Heavy D-Scythe.  You would think that the giant Pulsar-sized Heavy Wraithcannons on the Wraithknight did a little more than offer +24" onto a standard Wraithcannon.  I see missed opportunities, raised eyebrows and sighs of why? everywhere. That's always a concern.

Despite these things, Kelly was still able to capture much of the Eldar fluff on the table-top.  Everyone is now BS4 for the most part and Battle Focus brings back the old Move-Shoot-Move playstyle that many veterans will remember.  Monofilament and Shuriken weaponry has changed to match the fluff and I think the rules are pretty well done considering what they can do.  However, the changes to Eldar psykers leave much to be desired.  Consistency was something that Eldar was sure of in terms of the psychic field.  Unfortunately, random spell generation, Ld.8 Warlocks and a severely nerfed Runes of witnessing/Warding leaves me questioning if Eldar psykers even match the fluff.

What really hurts the overall design is the fact that Eldar, like High Elves, are an specialized army.  Specialization dictates that the points invested in whatever unit needs to do what you need it to do.  Dire Avengers should be good vs. Infantry, Banshees should rule assault, Fire Dragons should annihilate vehicles. This is very different than an all-purpose unit like most MEQ units where you can spread the love in all categories and balance it out with the correct offensive and defensive stats.  If you're spending points into a unit that's not able to execute on its sole purpose in the game, then that's a much serious design issue compared to a general-purpose unit decent at everything.  This right here is the difficulty when designing Eldar; especially when you have keep T3 and points cost in mind at all times.  Overall, I think Kelly did an alright job with this.

Internal Balance: 3.5/5

There are some questionable decisions here as well.  Maybe it's 6th Ed. in general where assault is not as glorious, but Banshees took a shovel to the face.  There were so many ways to address the assault void with Eldar and after so many years, one would think this will be addressed.  Then again, the Wave Serpent still don't have assault ramps so I guess it doesn't matter at this point.  Sadly, Banshees don't have even grenades, have a severely weakened mask and are still paper thin.  Where the design for Banshees have been embarrassing, other units fared a little better.

Kelly buffed a lot of other units that were sitting on the shelf before.  Striking Scorpions and Swooping Hawks have been re-designed slightly and buffed significantly.  Warp Spiders are now rock solid but Dire Avengers took a bit of a hit.  Were they really that good before with Bladestorm?  Not really but I think they added something unique in gameplay.  Now because their weapons have a chance to virtual-rend, Avengers have been brought down a bit in terms of points cost and having a useless Exarch.  I'm a little sad about this because I think the conscience decision to unload everything and reload next round is brilliant design.  In fact, anything that actively promotes player options is favorable army design.

Some units actually saw some minor redesign which is a nice surprise.  Aside from Guardians receiving BS4 along with many other units, the War Walker gained Fleet, Battle Focus and a 5+ invulnerable as stock.  Their price went up for sure, but if I'm looking at artillery support choices as a viable option in Heavy this is only a good sign.  I just wish the Falcon was made as dedicated transport and the Vaul's Support Batteries were molded into the Guardian squads.  Price-wise, we see some increases in units across the board; but with this comes reduced heavy weapon choices and effective special rules.  Another example is the Fire Prism, which no longer relies on another Prism nearby to utilize its weapon options.  Instead, it comes built with 3 different firing types!  Options man, options.

In terms of unique special abilities, they still sing with old Eldar flavor.  The Serpent Shield on the Wave Serpent, for example, can be used as a defensive option that reduces penetrating hits down to a glance on 2+, or it can be used to shoot out S7 hits that ignore cover.  However, in order to use this nice shooting attack, the player loses the defensive bonuses from the shield itself next round.  This is basically the design philosophy behind the old Dire Avenger Bladestorm, which is fine by me.  Sadly, this needed to happen more across the codex as I think it adds something fiercely unique to the Eldar playstyle.  No matter though, Wraith armies look to be pretty fluffy and solid, and from what I read about the Iyanden supplement they're going to get extra rules as well.  These supplements is definitely a step in the right direction.

External Design: 3/5

Although the codex has solid internal design, there are some things that just will not work.  Despite how good Striking Scorpions look on paper, I don't think they're going to be good simply because they'll got shot to death.  Harlequins now need to test for Veil of Tears, Banshees are a joke, and I'm pretty sure Eldar is going to erase CC completely from their builds.  In fact, the only competitive option I see are the bigger fatty units like the Wraithlords and Wraithknight.  Huh?  They have the stats worthy of a solid CC unit, come with high T, good armor and a good amount of wounds, but the fact that Eldar will be designated to a primarily shooting army is a bit of a let down.  I really hope next edition fixes this.

So where does this leave us really?  We have questionably better psykers than Space Marines, zero CC options outside of the Wraithknight, questionable viability in the form of fliers and AA options, and only a couple of troop choices that look competitive.  It always comes down to the competitive choices when we evaluate external balance.  I mean after all, you're comparing your bells and whistles to what the next guy has in his army.  Stacking Conceal on your bikes with your Ld.8 Warlocks is great and taking a bunch of scoring Wraiths is great, but what happens when your opponent is Tau and he rips your cover while dropping S8 AP2 templates on your Wraithguard?

To accurately judge a book's ability to impact the metagame, you have to look at what you have available.  I'm sorry to say, my competitive unit bucket doesn't look all that great compared to some of the other armies I've seen out there.  Eldar is one of those armies that is not auto-pilot and by nature is more difficult to play successfully.  All those specialized units must be utilized correctly or you lose a piece to an otherwise complete puzzle.  It's this reason that makes Eldar one of the tougher armies to design.  Their units are expensive to keep the army count elite, but how do you justify their effectiveness?  In this way, they share a commonality with High Elves.  Shocker.

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A slight re-design on Eldar fliers

Eldar Top Gun.

Man, I absolutely love the fluff and idea behind the Crimson Hunter aspect.  Sadly, I don't think Kelly did a good job capturing the aspect to the best of his abilities.  The fluff speaks of the Crimson Hunter aspect at being so fast with their reflexes that they can dodge light.  This makes plenty of sense if you consider the fact that all they do is fly around at breakneck speeds dueling against each other with Bright Lances (probably set to stun).

I can understand the Sky Hunter rule and why re-roll Pens vs. enemy aircraft.  It's to symbolize the pilots uncanny ability to accurately hit his target's weak points to better eliminate them from the sky.  Unfortunately, the game as we know it does not always translate well from the fluff.  With AV10 and 3 HP, it's safe to say that this almighty ace aspect is just as bad on the defense as an Ork fighter.  That's just disgraceful.

So... how do I want to append this rather questionable fluff to design implementation?  How about this houserule for fun:

The Crimson Hunter comes with the Holofields vehicle upgrade.
Replace the text for Perfect Strike (Crimson Hunter Exarch) with: A model with this special rule does not fire Snap Shots after choosing to Evade.

What this does essentially is allowing the Crimson Hunter Exarch to make a 4+ cover save (Jink + Holofields) and fire with full effect next turn.  This allows the Exarch to standout as an ace among aces while Holofields help negate some of the issues of AV10.  The Perfect Strike with Precision Shots just doesn't make sense to me while this does a lot more.  I still think it's hysterical that an air superiority fighter doesn't come with Holofields.  Even us 21st century humans know how to equip flares, chaff and other countermeasures on our aircraft.  Just ridiculous.

Next on the list.. the Hemlock.  The only thing that needs to be changed here is the Heavy D-Scythes should be Torrent/Template weapons.  It makes my heard hurt why regular D-Scythes are template weapons and not these.  I would of personally made them S4 AP2 Torrent/Templates.

Thought process:
Torrent and templates allow the aircraft to match the fluff.  The goal of the Hemlock is to destroy infantry, where it virtually casts the souls of those affected into the warp.  No cover should be allowed from such effects.  This also keeps design consistent with the D-Scythe being a template weapon.  If that weapon doesn't allow cover saves, why should the Heavy D-Scythe allow cover saves?  In addition, this is a mere extension of the effective range of the weapon.  A Wraithknight's Heavy Wraithcannon only extends the range of the Wraithcannon itself.  Thus, two design consistencies are matching.

Furthermore, Torrent/Template weapons allows the Hemlock to apply its effects immediately the units affected by the weapons due to its Mindshock Pod.  This is not comparable to the likes of the Heldrake in function because it's not AV12, does not have It Will Not Die and a demonic save, nor does not have a S6 template that is also effective vs. vehicles.  The function of the Hemlock is to be a terror weapon which is effective against moderate-Toughness infantry where armor and cover is no defense.  This is offset by its fragility in AV10, the fact it needs to be close to fully utilize its abilities, and its hefty price tag.

I'll touch upon the other units in the book in another post.

[Read More...]

Eldar primary, Dark Kin secondary

What sound do Warp Spiders make?

After some soul-searching the last couple of days with the Eldar codex, I've decided to go in another direction.  Instead of using Dark Eldar primary and using Eldar secondary, I've flipped the armies to take advantage of Eldar's stronger grav-tanks.  This is what the current army looks like:

1843
16 kp

HQ:
Farseer (JB, Spear, Mantle) = 160
Succubus (VB, Haywire) = 75*

TROOPS:
3x Jetbikes = 51
3x Jetbikes = 51
10x Warriors (Raider NS/SR, Blaster, SC) = 195*
10x Warriors (Raider NS/SR, Blaster, SC) = 195*

ELITE:
3x Trueborn (Venom NS/SC, 3x Blasters) = 156*

FA:
Crimson Hunter Exarch = 180
10x Warp Spiders (Ex/Spin/Fast Shot) = 225

HEAVY:
Fire Prism (Holofields, SS) = 150
Fire Prism (Holofields, SS) = 150
Night Spinner (Holofields, SS) = 140
Ravager (NS) = 115*

Another version at 1750:

1748
16 kp

HQ:
Farseer (JB, Spear, Mantle) = 160
Succubus (VB) = 70

TROOPS:
3x Jetbikes = 51
3x Jetbikes = 51
5x Warriors (Raider NS, Blaster) = 130*
5x Warriors (Raider NS, Blaster) = 130*
10x Dire Avengers (WS, Holofields, TL Scatter) = 265

ELITE:
3x Trueborn (Venom NS/SC, 3x Blasters) = 156*

FA:
Crimson Hunter Exarch = 180

HEAVY:
Fire Prism (Holofields, SS) = 150
Fire Prism (Holofields, SS) = 150
Night Spinner (Holofields, SS) = 140
Ravager (NS) = 115*

At first, the looks incredibly skinny, but the amount of weapon options available to me is gigantic.  The Laughing Seer starts the party off strong with reliable and mobile psychic support, alongside a strong shooting force of 3x Eldar Grav-tanks + the Dark Kin's lances.  The Venoms help support the cause as well and the Warp Spiders are fantastic units at killing just about anything.  Drop them behind some and have them stalk other flyer's rear armor all day!  There was a good amount of horde vulnerability with the old list, but I think this list gives me plenty of poison, templates and large blasts to handle most threats thrown my way.

All in all, I think this force gives me a better chance vs. the Tau.  Having Fire Prisms reach out and touch stationary gunlines gives greater reliability at doing damage from range.  Unfortunately, the Eldar race is still too few to present much of a intimidating presence.  Which list do you guys like more?

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Eldar Codex: First Impressions

Eldar release day!

Hey guys, really quick:  This will be a quick snapshot review of the Eldar book from a realistic standpoint.  I'll talk about which units I'd be interested in, and for those that will receive a lower rating, I'll talk about why I don't think they'll have a place on the battlefield.  Please feel free to disagree, as I plan on doing another design-focused review later that'll talk about overall balance, internal and external balance.


HQs

Eldrad Ulthran - Not bad, is now Lv.4 and has some pretty good abilities for cheap.  Comes stock with both runes, has a better weapon and have better protection, for cheaper than he was before.   The only problem with Eldrad is that he was nerfed indirectly.  He can no longer pick his spells, cast the same power per turn, and is limited to walking around everywhere.  However, if you're taking a footseer, I think he's the best choice.

Prince Yriel - Still good because of his price, and I think his extra wound is to balance out the fact the has has to successfully re-roll saves of 6s.  I don't know if this balances out well because when you need that 6 to save you from being ID'd, Yriel is in a very bad place.  However, his attacks still trump on MEQ really well and his S6 AP3 boom is still there.

Illic Nightspear - Not bad, but not fantastic.  If you like to shoot, I think he's a good addition to your army for the price.  His ability to unlock Pathfinders is also interesting, but having him sit back and shoot with Rangers while Split Firing is probably what he'll be doing.

Phoenix Lords - I grouped these guys together because all of them fit under the same category of expensive HQs that doesn't really make back their points.  The only ones that stands out for me is Karandras, Maugan Ra and maybe Fuegan.  Karandras is just a beast because of his S8 AP2 Scorpion Claw, Maugan Ra because of his ability to shoot sitting behind an ADL, and Fuegan because he can double-tap his BS7 Firepike while being a serious threat near vehicles.

Avatar of Khaine - I like him because of the stats and the abilities that he can take from the Exarch.  It's to note that he becomes noticebly more expensive with Exarch powers, however, I think some of them are definitely worth it (such as Fast Shot or Crushing Blow).  WS10 I10 with a good amount of attacks is no joke, what made him really stand out before is Fortune and now that's not garaunteed.  However, if you're taking an Avatar with Eldrad, Wraithknights and Wraithguard, I think he'll definitely play a role in the army.  In short, I think it's up to the list.

Autarch - He was never bad I thought, as you can bring in your reserves more precisely.  He can now alter your reserves as well just in case you don't want those scoring Jetbikes to come in just yet.  Maybe hang around with those scoring Jetbikes, equip yourself with a missile launcher and hang back with a Power Lance to do some damage when the time comes.

Farseer - The stable HQ is going to continue be the staple I think.  A lot of cheaper options, access to Fate and Divination gives him the potential for 2x Guides, but loses a lot of juice because of indirect nerfs.  With Runes of Witnessing and Warding being pretty bad, one-use only items, I can see this guy take a Singing Spear and a Bike and just calling it a day.

Spiritseer - Much better than the Warlock council IMO.  The reason why is because of the higher leadership, Wraithguards become troops, an ability that makes them better as well, while having access to Runes of Battle.  If you want to run a Wraithguard army, you take one of him and Eldrad and you're good to go.

Warlock Council - These guys are OK.  Access to base Conceal/Reveal is great, but having Ld.8 is a real big letdown for me.  Being able to be a Seer council is still cool, but I honestly think these guys will be overshadowed with more points effective options.


Troops

Dire Avengers - These guys are basically the same for me.  Their Shuriken weapons got better overall and this applies to everyone's Shuriken weaponry as well.  Built-in Counter-attack, but I'm not sure on losing Bladestorm.  I really liked that mechanic from a deisgn perspective and now they don't have it anymore.  I'm pretty upset.

Guardian/Storm Guardians - They're troop fodder that has been buffed indirectly.  Better Shuriken Weaponry, BS4 across Eldar, Battle Focus, but their weapons are still 12".  You can equip the Storm Guardians with better stuff, but you're still looking at T3 troops with paper armor at the end of the day.  The one thing that really stands out for these guys is that they're cheap, and can take a cheap artillery piece to make them a threat vs. almost any unit.

Windrider Jetbikes - Pretty damn good man.  Better Shurikens, Battle Focus, cheaper price, these guys are great.  For the price, I don't think there's a better scoring option in the Eldar warbook.  You're looking at 51 points for 3, adding +10 for a Shuriken Cannon for every 3.  Solid buy.

Rangers - Cheap, Infiltrate and Stealth.  These guys are good at sniping things and keeping points on the back side of the base.  Good choice if you need a cheap backfield scoring choice.

Wave Serpent - I guess I put this here because it's a dedicated transport for most of these units.  The Wave Serpent is truly amazing and worth its points IMO.  Much cheaper heavy weapon options and Serpent Shield reducing pens to glances on a 2+ is insanely good.  For a dedicated transport, it can shoot well, with heavy weapons, and can mitigate a lot of damage with good stats and Holofields.  The only thing that prevents him from being the best dedicated transport in the game is probably the no assault ramp.


Elites

Howling Banshees - Trash.  No grenades, AP3 weapons, strikes at the same time with opponents into cover.  I don't get it man, there were so many ways to fix these guys but I guess Kelly forgot how?

Striking Scorpions - Better Scorpion Claw (Power Fist without Unwieldy), price, rules and solid 3+ AS.  You're go to unit for dedicated combat in a transport.  No assault ramp is bad, but Fleet, Battle Focus and Infiltrate should be alright for now.  Much like all of the Eldar units, I don't think assault is an Eldar focal point.  That's more in line with Dark Eldar Wyches and Incubi.

Fire Dragons - More expensive, now has a 3+ AS, but otherwise the same aka does their job and does it damn well.

Harlequins - Take note on the Shadowseer's abilities being changed yet again.  Looks like we're back to square one with 2d6x2 or no shoots.  Otherwise, they're exactly the same as they were 3 editions ago.

Wraithguard - The improvement to D-cannons is something to take note here:  S10 AP2 is a much stronger statline than it was before.  It still has the 6s ID and gained 6s to auto-pen.  However, I don't think with S10 AP2 guns that we'll take advantage of the 6s to pen unless you're fighting something more Apoc flavored.

Wraithblades - The melee version of Wraithguard is pretty interesting.  You can give them pseudo TH/SS with the axes and 4++ invul, but I'm not seeing the value of CC Wraithguard because I'd rather take the shooting variant.  Why would you engage in melee when you would rather shoot people with S10 AP2 guns?  Seems a little weird to me.


Fast Attack

Swooping Hawks - Much better than they were before.  When they come in, they come in without scatter and drops a large template S4 AP4 blast that ignores cover.  Haywires, decent weapons and the ability to just hop out of there and precision contest later makes these guys good.

Warp Spiders - Really solid unit that puts out a large number of monofilament attacks at ranged.  With Battle Focus, these guys gained a lot of mobility and can cause some serious damage when they land.  With the Monofilament rule giving you +1S on the weapon if you're shooting at I3 or lower and 6s AP1, I think Warp Spiders are going to be fantastic in this new book.

Shining Spears - I never liked them, but I think they have a use with Skilled Rider and AP3 lances on the charge.  They do their job at killing MEQ well, with the Star Lance doing enough damage to rear-pen most vehicles.

Crimson Hunter - The fluff is amazing and the rules itself are quite nice.  However, you're still paying 160 points for an AV10 vehicle with no Holofields or anything.  Why?  I have no idea why there's no vehicle upgrade options for these guys.  Skyhunter with 4 S8 AP2 shots (can be BS5, 2 of them are Lance) is enough to do some serious damage to most fliers, but these guys die insanely quick to volume of fire or Quad-guns.

Vyper Squadron - Pretty solid shooting platform with Jink and BS4.  Scatter Lasers having Laser Lock really helps up their damage output when you factor in the BS increase.

Hemlock Wraithfighter - Just.. not good.  The fluff behind this piece had so much promise too!


Heavy Support

Dark Reapers - Solid anti-infantry units at long range with the ability to take multiple ways to deal long-ranged death.  However, I'm hesitant on their price and resilience compared to other heavy weapon options. Overall, not bad, but I don't think these will see much play over vehicles and Wraith units.

Vaul's Wrath Support Battery - Cheap artillery units that competes with a lot of the more mobile options.  I would probably just stick with the Guardian heavy weapons over these.. although adding a bunch of D-cannon templates into the fray can really do some work.  That's what the Warp Hunter is for right?

Fire Prism - The Fire Prism is now an all-star as far as heavy choices go.  The different firing modes are now S5 AP3 Large Blast, S7 AP2 Small Blast, or S9 AP1 Lance all at 60".  You don't need to take 2 to get mileage out of this unit and with affordable Holofields and Spirit Stones, I think Fire Prisms are going to be the go-to unit for handing out multi-purpose pain.

Night Spinner - Monofilament as an torrent option and as a Large Blast option is always good.  S7 base gives you the potential for S8 AP1 hits on 6s on select units, and that's ID range for a lot of threats in the game.  The price allows this guy to fit in most lists as its utility is really top notch.  I like it.

Falcon - I wish these guys went to dedicated transports, but I can see why Kelly wanted to keep these guys in Heavy.  The Pulse Laser is a strong choice along side the Scatter Laser, and the reason why the transport option is good is that Fire Dragons always find a home inside the protection of this main battle tank.  The fact that Falcons are flexible is the reason I think they stayed a a heavy choice, although I feel that if they moved to Dedicated it wouldn't be so bad.

War Walkers - Price has increased, but they gained Battle Focus, cheaper weapon options, Fleet and 5+ ward.  This basically makes them a better quality unit that you pay a little more for.  Other than that, these guys are just as good as before, but now can function as heavy weapon platforms due to BS4 and better weapon prices.

Wraithlord - The same old Wraithlord is now S8, but has a cheaper way to buy into heavy weapons and melee options.  Just as good, very few changes here.

Wraithknight - A little overpriced for what it can do, and I honestly think that the Suncannon/Scattershiled variant will be the best one.  Unfortunately, this jumps their price up considerably and I'm not really feeling that's needed.  I mean, when you can take a singular Wraithknight with a Suncannon, you can have 2 kitted out Fire Prisms with 3 different firing modes.  I'm a little disappointed with this guy.

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My new DE/Eldar list!

Man.. I wish they would redo BFG.

Alright guys, I've been thinking hard on this so let me know if you like it:

1846
18 kp
*Allied Detachment

HQ:
Succubus (Agonizer/VB) = 90
Farseer (Jetbike, Spear, Mantle) = 160*

TROOP:
5x Warriors (Raider NS, Blaster) = 130
5x Warriors (Raider NS, Blaster) = 130
5x Warriors (Raider NS, Blaster) = 130
10x Warriors (Raider, NS/SR, Blaster, SC) = 195
10x Warriors (Raider, NS/SR, Blaster, SC) = 195
3x Jetbikes = 51*

FAST ATTACK:
Crimson Hunter Exarch = 180*

HEAVY:
Ravager (NS) = 115
Ravager (NS) = 115
Ravager (NS) = 115
Wraithknight = 240*

There you go guys, a list built for 1850 play.. although I don't know how much of that I'll be doing that anytime soon (at least 2 weeks).  What you have here is something I want to try.. primarily with the Farseer.  He's Lv.3 now so he'll be taking 1 into Runes of Fate and 2 into Divination every game.  Why?  Because he prays he gets Doom or else he auto-defaults to Guide.  I then roll into Divination and look for Misfortune or Forewarning, or else he just defaults to Prescience.  This essentially gives you 2 Guides to throw on your shooting elements; Ravagers, Wraithknight, or the CHExarch if you really want something to die.

Another thing I wanted to try with the Farseer is give him the Mantle of the Laughing God.  He loses his IC status, but he gains Stealth, Shrouded and the ability to re-roll failed cover saves.  On a Jetbike, this gives him a 2++ re-rollable cover save.  Because his footprint is so small, and the Jetbike takes him to all kinds of crazy places, he can move with the rest of this crazy fast army and apply powers wherever I need him.

I think the big issue with this army so far is the heavy focus on anti-MEQ/Tank with a low focus on killing horde armies.  Personally, I think this is a meta issue (with mine being a lot of MEQ and mech-based armies still).  The 2x units of Warrior Gunboats in there delivers a lot of anti-infantry material so I'm just banking on them for now.  With careful positioning, some good play and of course some luck, I think I'll manage the situation pretty well.  Honestly, the only thing that really changed from this list compared to others I've had is the increase of Eldar presence.  The S10 AP2 shots from the Wraithknight punches through AV12 pretty easily which is something lances naturally suck at.  With 14 Dark Lances on the opening volley and 2 shots from the Wraithknight, I'm really looking to pop open some vehicles and make a big impression on how the rest of the battle will play out.

Sadly, the Succubus will just hang out with one of the Warrior units and the 3x Jetbikes will probably come from reserve to grab some points.  I'm dying to try out the Crimson Hunter Exarch because I'm curious how this "ace" will do when everyone and their mother takes a Quad-gun.  I'm just hoping I kill that thing first before my dude makes his entrance or he's going to be one sad mofo.  If I need to, the Wraithknight can also charge into something and punch it in the face.  With 4 attacks WS4 S10 I5, he's not all that terrible as a MC.

Another tweak of the list would be: Adding a Fire Prism (or Warp Hunter), getting another Gunboat over a Lanceboat (5-man Warrior Raider), and buffing up the Bikes + having the Farseer join them.

What do you guys think?

[Read More...]

Alright, we got some Eldar rules

Looks like Scorps got better!

I'm not going to post it here and attract any attention, but some people from 4Chan has been spilling stuff all over the place.

Check it out yo:
http://pastebin.com/ywUhvAyV

And on 4Chan:
https://boards.4chan.org/tg/res/25098359#p25098359

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Dark Eldar and Eldar

Pop goes the Leman Russ.

I'm going to outline my thought process how I'm going to incorporate Eldar in my Dark Eldar force.  Work's been really busy, so I doubt I'll be able to get this list on the table until another few weeks.  Thank goodness I have Vassal to try my lists out despite the fact that the meta is a lot different than what I'm used to.

Well, let's take a look at my Dark Eldar skeleton list.  It's basically a solid army list as the primary detachment, but it's missing a lot of support elements.  That's where the Eldar come in.

HQ:

Succubus (Agonizer/VB, Haywire) = 95

Just another layout that I'm using on my Succubus.  The Agonizer and VB allows me to customize my Succubus in combat vs. high toughness, crappy armor saves, or vs. MEQ without 2+ TDA.  She goes in my only unit of Wyches geared out with roughly the same thing.  The Blast Pistol has been cut in both cases to save on points.

TROOPS:

5x Warriors (Raider NS, Blaster) = 130

5x Warriors (Raider NS, Blaster) = 130

10x Warriors (Raider NS/SR, Blaster, SC) = 195

10x Warriors (Raider NS/SR, Blaster, SC) = 195

9x Wyches (Raider NS, Hekatrix/VB, Haywires) = 193

I've decided to play with even numbers for now simply because of the need to double up.  Right now I'm sporting two lanceboats, two gunboats and a single Wych boat to go with the Succubus.  The lanceboats gives me extra lances for cheap, as well as scoring bodies that I can throw somewhere last minute.  Fully-loaded Gunboats gives me plenty of ranged poison shooting and the Wyches are just solid units.  While I dislike what they've become in 6th Ed., for the points I can't really complain because of their flexibility.

HEAVY:

Ravager (NS) = 115

Ravager (NS) = 115

Ravager (NS) = 115

Due to the fact that my only AA source will come from an Eldar craft, I think for now I'll play around with 3x Ravagers.  My meta around here doesn't believe in flyer-spam.  While it is a realistic concern that I have when someone takes a crap ton of air, my focus shifts in destroy his ground support and scoring elements before the aircav wipes me out.  That's where having a ridiculously fast army comes into play:  It allows you to rapidly change the momentum of the game and capitalize on whatever mistake (either list building or bad play) your opponent makes.

Alright, now that that's done, what about Eldar?

I've been thinking about how I'm going to best utilize the Farseer in the last couple of days, and the only way I can see how is a Farseer on a Jetbike.  My playstyle with my DE is fully mechanized with lots of speed.  I play Lance-heavy which gives me a fair amount of bad matchups.  However, I'm convinced that as long as your play is good, you can turn tricky 80-20 scenario into a more manageable 60-40.

For now, I'm going to roughly pronounce the Farseer as ~160 points with Lv.3, looking for Guide/Doom on the roll but I'll settle for Divination as well because of Prescience.  Let's just say the troop bike tax is going to be ~66 with the Wraithknight coming in at ~300.  With about ~190 points left, let's pretend the Crimson Hunter is overpriced and there you have it.

Frankly, I don't like the fact that I only have 3 bikes as troops for my Eldar.  Even if they keep the 3+ AS, a T4 Jetbike with a single wound is going to eat loads of shit from enemy fire.  That's why they have to hide as much as possible in between terrain, negating as much fire as possible since you can only kill what you can see.  I seriously think this might hamper the Farseer's ability to play support since he has the keep pace while keeping himself alive.  Who knows?  It all depends on my opponent, the map I'm playing on, and the amount of terrain present on the map.  If Dark Eldar doesn't play with at least 25% of the table covered in terrain, buildings and LoS blockers, the match is going to be a headache anyway.

Alright, so what does the Wraithknight bring to the table?  Well, for one, I think it brings a giant bullet magnet.  T8, 6W and 3+ AS isn't really impressive if you think about it.  Rockets are going right through that AS, Lascannons certainly doesn't care, and even enough S7 shots are going to do wonders on the giant wraithbone duder.  The only realistic chance the WK has to live is from jumping cover to cover while claiming 25% of area terrain.  This might not seem realistic with a 9" tall model, but a lot of the 40K terrain around here and at other tournament-holding areas I've seen uses enough buildings to provide 25% cover.

The only way the Wraithknight is going to attract attention is if the guy can shoot.  Let's be honest now:  If his weapons suck, there's no way anyone's going to care about a giant wet noodle.  However, if he's blasting you turn after turn with S10 AP2 Blast Lance shots, then we're going to attract some real attention.  As of right now, I'm not sure what the guy is packing but I'm almost 100% sure I'm going to make him a firing solution.  Shooting is definitely the way to go this edition and with two Wraithcannons (no idea still..), I'm hoping he'll do enough damage to warrant taking one.  Regardless, I plan on buying two of these beasts simply because I like the model, and want to pretend I own a Titan.  I seriously pray Wraithcannons are just 36" 5" D-Cannons like the Warp Hunters.  That would make the opponent shit bricks of ice-cold fear.

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How will Eldar work with Dark Eldar?

Fast Attack option yes?!

Now that we've seen some rules floating around, we can get a better idea of what we want in our armies.  First thing's first:  Who will be the primary army and who will be secondary?  I honestly think the amount of lances and poison weaponry available to the Dark Eldar will make them a better primary army.  Eldar, because they bring in a lot of specialized and powerful support options, will be a better secondary.

With that said, I plan on rocking a Dark Eldar primary and Eldar secondary force.  Let me know what you guys will be running and why!

Who will lead this primary army?  Probably a cheap Succubus because I've been running with one for quite some time now.  I will probably be looking at cheaper lanceboat options because I want to run a Wraithknight in my army.  The model is quite nice, it's basically a mini-Titan and I'm hoping the rules are great.  So what does this mean really?  Well.. that means most of the anti-tank work will be left for my Heavy Support Ravagers and the Wraithknight.  This kind of rags on the need for Wyches and instead, more lances will be added for support.

My train of thought right now is:  Drop the Wyches, or just limit them to 1 for CC and tank.  Close combat has taken a bit of a hit in this new shoot-tastic edition and I want to be able to maximize my shooting.  Shooting in general works better with Psychic powers, and now with a Farseer to work alongside my Dark Eldar, I want to be able to utilize his abilities as much as possible.  According to the rumors, Eldar powers will no longer specially state Eldar units.

So what does this look like in the end of the day?
Wyches are out.
Cheaper Lanceboats to make up for troop choices.
We're looking at a lot of 130 point 5-warrior, Blaster, Raiders, and maybe other stuff.
Let's take 2 full gunboats for now because I want to be able to utilize their firepower in combination with Doom, Guide or Prescience or whatever.

Let's work with this as the skeleton:

HQ:
Succubus (Agonizer/BP, Haywire) = 105

TROOPS:
5x Warriors (Raider NS, Blaster) = 130
5x Warriors (Raider NS, Blaster) = 130
5x Warriors (Raider NS, Blaster) = 130
10x Warriors (Raider NS/SR, Blaster, SC) = 195
9x Wyches (Raider NS, Hekatrix/VB, Haywires) = 195

HEAVY:
Ravager (NS) = 115
Ravager (NS) = 115
Ravager (NS) = 115

Depending on how powerful the Wraithknight is at making up for my AP or AT needs, we're looking at roughly 770 points to play with in a 2k point game.

That should be enough to buy a Farseer on a bike + some scoring Eldar Jetbikes as troops, and a Wraithknight at least.  Depending on the points of all of this, I'll be able to take one of those new Eldar Crimson Hunters for AA duties in Fast Attack.

What about you guys?  What you plan on doing with your Dark Eldar/Eldar force?

PS - Baron, Wraithguard, new Conceal.  Tempting.. yes?

[Read More...]

Some Eldar rules rumors!

Eldar Wraithknight!

Here are some of the rules floating around the web:


via Dakka Dakka 5-21-2013
- From what I saw all the non Wraith infantry have the run/shoot shoot/run ability (the rule was called Battle something). Avengers definitely do (from the report) and Rangers definitely do (from tiny printed profile in the WD) as well. Not sure if its just for Shuriken weapons (Rangers do have Pistols I guess).

- It looks likes all Eldar have the 'Ancient Foe' special rule, no idea what this does but I suspect its something like Hatred Daemons of Slaneesh (don't think it was Necron related as the report was against Crons) since all Eldar appear to have it (including the Wraith units).

- There are 14 Eldar specific psychic powers from 2 different charts, Runes of Battle and Runes of Fate. However it looks like several of the powers are 2 in 1, i.e they have a buff mode and a debuff mode, so there are actually HEAPS of powers. I.e the Primaris for Battle is Conceal/Reveal (as a single card/roll etc), Conceal gives you Shrouded and Reveal removes Shrouded from an enemy. The 1 on the Battle Chart was Destructor/Renew(?), Destructor being the same as before with Soul Blaze added and Renew allowing you to restore a wound to a friendy model within range (18" I think). Primaris for Runes of Fate was Guide, which is now 24" range but is otherwise the exact same as before. Very surprising to see this as aside from the range it is far worse than the Divination Primaris (although I guess you could take both and effectively Guide two units). The 1 on the Fate Chart was a terrible Focuses Witchfire power. Fortune and Doom are still options (the Farseer in the report had them) and appear to have the same effects.

- The Avatar has Fleet. Also one of the psychic powers increases your movement speed/charge range somehow


- The Wraithknight is insanely huge, it is literally twice the height of a Wraithlord, and the sword option it can take is basically the size of a Wraithlord as well. It can take up to 2 Suncannons, which are S6 AP2 Heavy 3 Small Blast or up to 2 Wraithlances(?) which are presumably the heavy anti tank option. Sword replaces one of the big guns I think (they are arm mounted like the Titans). This is in addition to the two shoulder mounted heavy weapons (I saw Scatters and Starcannons, so presumably the normal range of heavy weapons are available)

- Wraithguard and Wraithblades look good, think scaled down Wraithlords. They looked a bit bigger than the old ones, but I think it was partly just the added range of motion in the poses on 40mm bases (similar to the old 25mm base Terminators vs the newer 40mm base ones, they are bigger but the better poses help as well). Wraithguard can now get either Wraithcannons (which from the fluff descriptions seemed to still be single shot and very powerful) or D Scythes which were described as a multi shot weapon but it could still Pen vehicles on a 6. Wraithblades are only 1A base (sadly) but looked like they could go either 2 CCW(no idea on stats of their weapons, but they appeared to have sword/axe options) or 1 CCW + Shield gen arm.

- Wraithguard are definitely S5 T6, Lord is almost certainly not T6 (a full unit of Destroyers shot one in the report and did nothing, which suggests T8 or some other equivalent buff). No idea on the stats for the Knight.

- It looks like Aspect Warriors have the same base profile, include Exarches with Ld9

- Reapers have Slow and Purposeful

- Rangers have WS4. They also have a character (not sure if he is upgrade or HQ) who has a 120" range Sniper Rifle.

- One of the fliers has 2 Heavy D Scythes on the wings and a psychic based main gun. The other has 2 Bright Lances and a Pulse Laser.

- Saw stats for what looked like special weapons for characters, might have been for Special Characters as well since the 120" range sniper was in there. One weapon was +2S, AP- Melee, Rending, Fleshbane, Instant Death. Another was +1S AP3, Soul Blaze, and if you killed anything with Soul Blaze then every unit within 6" of that unit would become effected by Soul Blaze as well. There was also a one use only piece of wargear, which you could use when the character died. On a 2+ you place a S4 AP3 template over the character, hitting both friend and foe, but if you cause at least 1 wound then the character stands back up with 1 wound. Last one I saw was an item which gave the user Fearless, Shrouded, Stealth and re-roll cover saves but they lose the IC rule, which gives people a way to make a Solitare (the name was something to do with the Laughing God).

- Wraightknight is said to have wounds, so it's probably a MC.


via Heresy Online 5-20-2013
There is also an upgrade pack in Finecast to make an Autarch on a jetbike.As far as the actual Codex goes:-You can make Run moves in addition to shooting Shuriken weapons.

-Shuriken weapons have a rule which makes them ignore armor on a to-wound roll of a 6– similar to rending, but it's not actually the Rending rule.

-The Wraithknight starts at about 250 points and caps around 350, and towers over even the Tau Riptide. It's 9” tall. The Wraithknight has the ability for its weapons to become twin-linked if it hits with a scatter laser it comes equipped with, even against airborne targets. It can shoot S9 and 10 small blasts, and has a total of four weapons on it– you have a choice of several, including a huge wraithblade and a lance weapon.

- Wraithguard are cheaper both points-wise and financially speaking, and are now S5 and T6, and have the option to be equipped with Wraithblades as per the current Codex's in place of their guns, making them a dangerous close combat unit.

- Including a Spiritseer as a HQ choice allows you to bring Wraithguard as Troops.

- Expect Guardians to supplant Dire Avengers as the staple Troops choice– they're very points efficient and with the buff to shuriken weapons, they should expect to be in a lot of competitive armies.

-The Fire Prism has been nerfed a bit– basically, they want to drive people back towards Aspect Warrior and Wraith-heavy armies, rather than the mechanized Eldar army literally everyone and their brother played with the exact same list. Can't really say to what extent, but the purchasing advice was to “Not load up on them.”

-The Avatar is “Definitely better.”

-The Iyanden supplement is not a splash release, and will be normally available. Iyanden is strictly a fluff book, and contains no game rules. The rules to play a themed Iyanden army are found completely in Codex: Eldar. This is a move to appease people who want more fluff in books as well as people who would rather just have more game content with the fluff optional. This is an experiment in seeing how this works– if it does well, expect Games Workshop to continue with the release of “chapter-specific” fluff supplements for their Codex releases.

[Read More...]

More Eldar pictures!

Looks like Latios and Latias.

Check it out guys!

[Read More...]

Rumors: Eldar pictures emerge!

Book cover!

And here they are...
Thanks to the BoLS lounge!

Wraithknight

There's also a Iyanden supplement coming.. which is really cool because that means they might do supplements for other armies as well.  Black Templars onto Space Marines?

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