Eldar Units in a Nutshell

Hi guys,

Johno here and today I’m going to summarize each section of the new Eldar Codex and pick out the good, the bad, and the ugly of each section. I know there are lots of excellent in-depth reviews of the new book online so I will take a lighter approach so for those of you at work can skim over this and get all the information you need without getting caught by your boss with your head in your smart phone. We are very lucky that our new book is very strong in nearly all areas and we have a lot to choose from. I'm going break this analysis it down into HQ, Troops, Elites, Fast Attack, Transport, and Heavy Support.

HQ Section

Excellent Choices:

Avatar – Fearless Bubble, Attracts fire from other units, anti-EVERYTHING. Cheap for what you get!

Loadout – 205pts with Fast Shot

Eldrad – Best Psyker in 40k, Nice special rules with a sprinkle of cheddar. You WILL lose friends.

Loadout – N/A

Farseer – Excellent Psyker and very versatile. Makes already excellent units amazing.

Loadout – No Addon’s really worth it

Autarch – Great Support Character, Often underestimated. Can hold his own against most.

Loadout – Jetbike, Mantle of the Laughing God, Power Axe, Banshee Mask.

Karandras – Godly close combat character. Powerfist strikes at I7.

Loadout – N/A

Asurman – Another great close combat character with good rules to match. Close call between him and Karandras.

Loadout – N/A

Fuegen – Really good close combat character and has feel no pain, whats not to love?

Loadout – N/A

Prince Yriel – Fantastic close combat character but at a hefty price.However you get a lot of nice special rules and a lot of killy for your buck.

Loadout – N/A

Moderate Choices:

Wraithseer – Crucial if you are taking Wraithguard/blades and can give them great buffs. Don’t bring if not taking Wraith units.

Loadout – No Addons

Warlocks – Excellent support units for large groups of guardians. Is 35pts too much for a guy who’s head can explode on a roll of 9 on 2d6? You’re Choice.

Loadout – Singing Spear (Basically a 12” range Lascannon).

Maugan Ra – Decent close combat and ranged character however he’s not exceptionally great at either really. Definitely not worth the outlay in points.

Loadout – N/A

Illic Nightspear – Comes with a great sniper rifle and very killy. Very Fragile. Unlocks Pathfinders. Can be a thorn in your opponents side.

Loadout – N/A

Poor Choices:

Jain Zar – Great Close Combat character however with lack of grenades means she will die fast.

Loadout – N/A

Baharroth – Can be useful but unlikely to really make back his points in most games. Can be good for stealing Line Breaker in late game.

Loadout – N/A

Troops Section

Excellent Choices

Guardian Defenders – Cheap and once in range are devastating. Great buy!

Loadout – Support Platform with Scatter Laser or Brightlance. Blobs of 20 are amazing.

Dire Avengers – Upgraded version of the Guardian. 18” range can be crucial. Better Armor and invun save from Exarch. Excellent unit.

Loadout – Exarch with Powersword and Shimmershield.

Guardian Jetbikes – Extremely fast and durable. Cheap and very reliable Catapults (Twin linked).

Loadout – Take in units of 3 or 6 with upgraded Shuriken cannon for every 3 you take.

Moderate Choices

Rangers - Still a great sniper unit however compared to other races snipers they are expensive for what you get. Not sure if worth it.

Loadout – N/A

Pathfinders - Amazing Snipers but having to spend all those points on Illic Nightspear to unlock them relegates them to moderate choice.

Loadout – N/A

Poor Choices

Storm Guardians – A close combat unit that does its intended job quite poorly.

Loadout - Can be ok if you take blobs of 20 with flamers or unit of 10 in a wave serpent with two fusion guns.

Elites Section

Excellent Choices

Fire Dragons – Still amazing even with points hike. Very reliable.

Loadout – 5 Fire Dragons in Wave Serpent, Done…

Wraithblades – Phenominally hard unit to shift if attached with Wraithseers giving buffs. Capable of 2+ armor save. Extremely killy and will worry your opponent from turn one.

Loadout – Axes and shields are best. Buy a unit of 10 with two spirit seers and march them across the board.

Wraithguard – Shares the W.Blades durability but lacking an invun save however give these Wraithscythes and they WILL kill anything you point them at.

Loadout – 5 bodies with Wraithscythes in wave serpent.

Striking Scorpions – Fantastic Close combat unit. The Exarch really makes them shine with his I6 Powerfist.

Loadout – 5 Scorpions with Exarch and Scorpions Claw.

Moderate Choices

Harlequins – As good, if not better close combat unit than Striking Scorpions, however you have to pay through the nose to get them.

Loadout – Shadowseer, Troop Master, Kisses all round.

Poor Choices

Howling Banshees – Best Model, Worst rules. Decent for protecting backfield troops or counter attacks. Will die in droves.

Loadout – 9 Banshees and Exarch with Executioner.

Fast Attack Section

Excellent Choices

Crimson Hunter – Best Air Superiority fighter in the game, epitome of “glass cannon”.

Loadout – Keep with the Pulse Laser and Bright lances and upgrade to an Exarch for BS5 goodness and able to pick out models in a squad on a roll of 6 to hit.

Warp Spiders – Amazing damage output, extremely fast. One of the codex’s best units.

Loadout – 8 Warp Spiders with Exarch and Dual Spinners.

Moderate Choices

Vyper Jetbike – Packs a huge punch but fragile. Very flexible. Can make back their points but die easily.

Loadout – Upgraded under Shuriken Cannon, Shuriken Cannon or Scatter Laser Turret.

Swooping Hawks – Great harassment units, Can win you games. Great at claiming line breaker. Will destroy tanks and infantry.

Loadout – 5 Hawks with Exarch and skyleap.

Poor Choices

Hemlock Wraith Fighter – Too expensive and rather situational. Can horrify your own units too. Best to leave at home.

Loadout – No Addons

Transports Section

Wave Serpent – Expensive transport but absolutely worth it. Probably best transport in the game right now and our best tank in general.

Loadout – Holofields, Scatter Laser, Upgraded under Shuriken Cannon

Heavy Support Section

Excellent Choices

Wraithknight – Extremely durable, fear factor, kills everything. Expensive but worth it.

Loadout – Standard two Heavy Wraith Cannons is best.

Fire Prism – Kills armor and all types of infantry with ease. Can be very difficult to kill. Avoid getting close to close combat troops.

Loadout – Holofields

War Walker – Good Value, More durable now with inv save, a lot of firepower.

Loadout – Dual Scatter Lasers is best

Moderate Choices

Falcon – Excellent anti-tank platform, Can carry small units. Typical tough Eldar tank design.

Loadout – Pulse Laser and Bright Lance, Holofields

Nightspinner – Kills all infantry with impunity. Durable grav tank. Cheap.

Loadout - Holofields

Wraith Lord – Very tough, Decent price, good all rounder. Can get bogged down in close combat with hordes.

Loadout – Ghostglaive, Brightlance, Missile Launcher

Dark Reapers – Expensive, Very killy, Can kill all infantry and vehicles and also aircraft with an Exarch.

Loadout – Upgraded all missiles to Starshot, 5 Reapers with an Exarch included, Night Vision, Skyfire, Fast Shot.

Vauls Battery – Very Cheap and durable but slow, move OR shoot.

Loadout – D-Cannons

No Poor Choices in Heavy

So there you have it, the Eldar codex in a nutshell. All the good and bad points of each unit. Hope you found this article useful for those of you wishing to know which units to take and their strengths and weaknesses. The above evaluation is by no means the bible but it should give you a snapshot of all the Eldar units.

Thanks for reading!

Johno

The Tournament Dilemma

Hi guys,

Johno here with idea’s for a couple of new look Eldar Saim Hann lists for an annual 1600pt national tournament coming up at the end of September called NWG. I love themed armies with lots of background and story to them, but sometimes we are led astray by wild thoughts for just a cool army regardless if it fits fluff or not. Well these new army lists kind of go against the usual make-up of a traditional Saim Hann army but I think it could be good fun to play and look brilliant on the table-top.

List 1:

HQ’s

Autarch 150pts – Jetbike, Mantle of Laughing God, Power Axe, Banshee Mask

This guy will boost my reserve roles for my Jetbikes or my fliers or allow me to delay them with his master of strategy rule. But also he is quite good on his own. With mantle of the laughing god he can’t join another unit but gains hit and run, shrouded and stealth and can reroll all cover saves which on a Jetbike can be a potential 2+ cover save. Pairing a Banshee Mask with the Power Axe should allow him to still hit with his axe before most enemies. He’s isnt going to kill Abaddon or anything but still quite good.

TROOP’S

10 Dire Avengers 160pts – Exarch, Power Sword and Shimmershield

10 Dire Avengers 160pts – Exarch, Power Sword and Shimmershield

10 Guardian Defenders – 110pts – Bright Lance

10 Guardian Defenders – 110pts – Bright Lance

5 Guardian Jetbikes – 85pts

The Guardian squads and their bright lances man backfield objectives if possible, the Avengers move forward using battle focus to kill enemy infantry and heavy infantry from afar. The Jetbikes will either go in reserve and contest or steal late objectives or backup another squad.

FAST ATTACK

Crimson Hunter 160pts – Pulse Laser, Bright Lance x 2

Crimson Hunter 160pts – Pulse Laser, Bright Lance x 2

Nightwing Interceptor 145pts – Shuriken Cannon x 2, Bright Lance x 2

This will be my source of a good amount of anti armor in my army. Although hard to hit for regular based weaponry, Eldar flier’s are extremely fragile so I will have to be intelligent in my placement of them. Luckily the Crimson Hunter’s weapons are ranged 48” so if im smart I can stay out of that intercepting weapons like Aegis etc.

HEAVY SUPPORT

2 War Walkers 140pts – Scatter Lasers x 2

5 Dark Reapers – 217pts – Exarch, Fast Shot, Skyfire, Night Vision, Starshot missiles.

Here my two War Walkers will tackle all types of targets, from infantry to light vehicles to fliers. My Dark Reapers excel at killing infantry and armor and the Exarch is pretty handy at taking out fliers also.

List 2:

HQ:

Farseer 100pts - Guide, Precience

Farseer 100pts - Guide, Precience

My two Farseers will take Guide and Precience and spam cast both powers on the Wraith Knights and Dire Avengers. I will run both Farseers in the Dire Avenger Squads.

TROOP’S

10 Dire Avengers 160pts – Exarch, Power Sword and Shimmershield

10 Dire Avengers 160pts – Exarch, Power Sword and Shimmershield

10 Guardian Defenders – 110pts – Scatter Laser

10 Guardian Defenders – 110pts – Scatter Laser

4 Guardian Jetbikes – 78pts – Shuriken Cannon

Both Dire Avenger Squads will benefit from guide from the Farseers spitting out 18” bladestorm death with rerolls to hit. The two will hold back field objectives and kill light vehicles and infantry with the 36” range scatter lasers. The Jetbikes will go in reserve and hopefully come in to steal late objectives or boost other units.

HEAVY SUPPORT

Wraithknight 240pts – Heavy Wraith Cannon x 2

Wraithknight 240pts – Heavy Wraith Cannon x 2

Wraithknight 300pts – Sun Cannon, Shimmershield, Scatter Laser

The two Wraith Knights with the Heavy Wraith Cannons will pop Tanks and Transports and Monstrous Creatures with their instant death Distortion rules, all the while advancing to get into close combat. The Sun Cannon Wraith Knight will take out Elite Infantry and Light Infantry while also advancing. Should be hard to deal with these three.

So there you have it, the two lists I am pondering for this tournament but I just don’t know which one to take. List one is excellent at anti-flier and air superiority however I know it won’t dominate some of those airforce lists out there but it should do ok. Plenty of troop’s choices with 5 squads in both lists at 1600pts. The Autarch will hopefully help manipulate reserve rolls and kick some butt with his Power Axe although he will stay well clear of Greater Daemons or Typhus etc. List two introduces three Wraith Knights. This could be a lot of fun and a pain in the arse for opponents to deal with provided they aren’t sporting a load of poison weaponry. The dual Farseer support should mean that all shots hit from these monsters and also from the Dire Avengers. The Farseers will also help with the Wraith Knights hitting fliers however it’s still a long shot and I suppose list 2 somewhat ignores fliers to an extent.

Which list would you take?

WraithMight!

The ground shook under foot, rubble from a ruined Imperial communications outpost poured off the rough edges of broken walls with each footfall. Luther’s Noise Marines dived out of the crumbling structure just in time as the alien construct smashed through what remained of the reinforced armored wall. With its elegant shape and smooth lines the Eldar Wraithknight moved with an un-natural grace for a silhouette of its size. The Wraithknight stood upright among the broken ruins bringing it to its full colossal height, challenging with its tank sized sword. Then it charged accelerating at breakneck speed….

I may be no author but I do like to think I know a little about Eldar and today I want to talk about the Wraithknight. This beast is the tallest kit GW has ever released standing at an impressive 9”, it even towers over the Tau Riptide and rivals the Ork Stompa. Aesthetically in my opinion this model is very nice, especially when armed with the Ghost Glaive and Shimmershield. So let’s take a closer look at this monster:

Type: Monstrous Creature

WS	BS	S	T	W	I	A	Ld
4	4	10	8	6	5	4	10

That’s a very impressive stat line right there especially with it’s incredible strength 10 and toughness 8 along with 6 wounds. This means most fire arms won’t be able to even wound the Wraithknight requiring weapons of strength 5 or more to even be allowed to roll to wound and at that, they are needing 6’s. Also in 6th edition monstrous creatures only need to have their toe in cover to claim that invaluable 5+.

Armaments:

Wraith Cannon’s x 2

I recently played a doubles game with this configuration and popped a Land Raider quite easily. This gives you two strength 10 shots at BS4 with an AP of 2. Also any roll of a 6 to wound causes instant death due to the distort rule. At base, this set up costs “just” 240pts and it WILL reliably kill armored targets. You pay the points to kill the enemy tanks and it will do it well but what happens when all the armor is destroyed? Well this is where I think investing in two shoulder-mounted Scatter Lasers might just come in handy.

In my recent game I destroyed the Land Raider and a Razorback, oh and managed to send Marneus Calgar into the warp but after all that there was very little to shoot at. I was shooting just two shot’s a turn so it felt like it was a little redundant, bit like shooting a high powered rifle at a swarm of rats. So my recommendation would be to take two Scatter Lasers along with the 2 Wraith Cannons bringing the points cost up to 280pts but making it much more flexible.

Suncannon & Shimmershield

Straight away im just gonna come out and say the Suncannon is awesome. It’s a 3 shot Strength 6 AP 2 small blast weapon with a decent range and is sure to melt infantry of all kinds in large numbers. Then there is also the Shimmershield which gives the Wraithknight that invaluable 5+ invulnerable save. So no more trying to touch cover, you can get that 5+ out in the open and in close combat. Then at least one Scatter Laser is a must have. That will allow you to reroll the scatter dice for the Suncannon shots making it super accurate. This is an absolute beast and will cause havoc with all armies you face. Just beware that everyone and their granny will be out to get it, but that’s what you want!

Ghostglaive & Shimmershield

Not as good as the other two set ups in my opinion but it certainly has its merits. Taking into account that the Wraithknight can jump 12” and then a potential 12” charge, that bring's its threat to a fantastic 24". Upon the charge the Wraithknight will also get a single Strength 10 Hammer of Wrath strike at initiative 10 so before the combat even starts you can take out that character in a 1v1. Then striking at initiative 5 with 5 attacks on the charge and at Strength 10, very little will survive. Just beware that if your Wraithknight gets charged by 30 Ork Boyz or Chaos Cultists or Plague Zombies that they will tar pit it for the rest of the game. Like all Eldar units it is still a precision tool and should be used for smashing vehicles or other monstrous creatures and small elite squads.

Overall the Wraithknight is an excellent addition to any Eldar army and will serve the player well. It isn’t a battering ram, but a destructive tool that in decent hands it will ruin your opponents day. Also enjoy the pictures in this article from various talented hobbyist's from around the globe.

Thanks for reading,

Johno

The Best Thing Since Sliced Bread - Gaming Clubs

Hi all, Johno here,

I would just like to discuss why joining a gaming club can enhance your hobby and bring your enthusiasm to a whole new level. Simple things like chatting with like minded individuals and discussing basic views on parts of the hobby are just some of the advantages to getting involved with your local club.

I would like to kick this off by giving a scenario that I think most of us have been in at one stage or another and where I think most of the gamers in the country are at currently. There are the gamers who haven’t yet discovered a vibrant and active community such as ours with players attending tournaments regularly and at their local clubs and participating online in various forums and blogs. For the few hundred players that we all know and that take part on online sites such as www.w-ired.org, I am convinced that there is at least twice or three times that amount of players who have started collecting a wargame and are completely oblivious to the Irish war gamming scene and on their own.

Obviously the Irish war gaming scene is relatively new in its current format that we see today. For instance when I played in 2^nd edition WH40k back in the 90’s there were no clubs around where I was from. When I got back into the hobby about 5 or 6 years ago I did what a lot people did, I went online to GW and checked out their models and since then I have never looked back. For two years or so I collected by myself, not knowing anyone else in the hobby until one day I went online and discovered Drogheda Gamers had a forum. Through there I met Jan Karnowski who was also living close to me at the time. We played nearly every week against each other but we realized we needed more opponents because although they were always fun games, we needed fresh blood so to speak.

I discovered www-w-ired.org run by Nigel Kavanagh and promptly wrote a post on behalf of Jan and myself looking for local gamers to play and perhaps set up a club. Nigel got back to me informing me that NWG and Grumpy Old Gamers were also looking to merge and form a new club and heard that a new hobby shop (The Hobby Shack) were opening in Wicklow town. On September 1^st 2011 5 of us met up and formed The Last Chancers gaming club over a very late pizza. Since then the Club has gone from strength to strength absolutely exploding in size and attracting players from miles around.

Since forming the club we have held painting day’s and competitions, ran painting tutorials and airbrush tutorials, hosted games days and held gaming nights every Thursday. Sure at the start there were Thursdays where sometimes on a rare occasion there were too few of us turning up every week to consistently get games in but we grinded it out and over time this has become a less and less an occurrence until it basically never happens anymore with up to 20 players or more playing one game or another on a Thursday evening.

What a club can offer is a group on enthusiastic gamers who all have similar interests to you and love sharing their ideas and talking and playing the hobby. Ever need advice about good or bad units or army lists? The lads will always jump hurdles in order to help you out. Members are always buying new armies and getting rid of old stuff. I can’t even begin to imagine how many bargains I have gotten from fellow TLC members over the years.

If you are really lucky like TLC is or some of the Dublin based clubs are, your club will obtain a base for gaming regularly. If you and your buddies are looking to start a new club in your area the first thing you need to do is secure a location to do your gaming week in week out. Without this it is very hard for your club to get off the ground. TLC was blessed to have The Hobby Shack’s support and indeed it was crucial to the clubs success to date.

If you are living in an area of the country where you think there isn’t any other gamers and you feel that enthusiasm for the hobby is slipping away, try dropping a post on www.w-ired.org and you never know what other players might be closer than you think…

I thought I would just leave you with some pics from Thursdays gaming in the club. Enjoy :)

Johno

 

The Power Of The Vyper

Johno here,

Those of you who have followed me either here or on www.w-ired.org or have played against my armies on the tabletop will know I love my Vypers. Even when we took the leap from 5th edition to 6th edition with introduction of hull points, I rarely played a game without my trusty Vypers. You hear alot all over the webtube how Vypers are useless and not worth the investment but I don't buy it at all.

Facts:

Base cost - 50 points
Ballistic Skill - 4
Weapons - twin linked Shuriken Catapults underneath and a Shuriken Cannon turret.
Armor - AV 10/10/10 (Open topped)
Type - Fast Skimmer

Options:

May exchange the Shuriken Cannon for one of the following; Bright Lance Scatter Laser Star Cannon
May exchange the twin linked Shuriken Catapult for a Shuriken Cannon
May take options from the vehicle equipment entry in Codex Eldar

Now how to load it out:

First things first, you will want to upgrade that 12" range Shuriken Catapult to the Shuriken Cannon for 10 Points. This immediately increases the Vypers firepower but almost as crucially, it's active range. With an armor value of 10 all way around, you don't want these getting anywhere near all those Boltors if at all possible. Then you need to decide if you want to upgrade the turret to a Bright Lance, Scatter Laser, Star Cannon or Missile Launcher.

Bright Lance

For 10 Points you can upgrade the Shuriken Cannon to the mighty Bright Lance. With a 48" Range and a Lance that's hitting on 3's now thanks to an upgraded BS4 in the new Codex this could plug a whole in much needed AT weapon systems. It has a Strength of 8 and is AP2 but for those unfamiliar with the Lance rule, anything above AV12 is counted as AV12. This means the Bright Lance will always glance on a 4 and penetrate on a 5 or 6 at the very worst. But back to the Vyper itself, would I equip my Vyper with a Bright Lance? The answer is simply no for two reasons. The first is that you have already upgraded the Shuriken Catapults to the Shuriken Cannon so by taking a Bright Lance you are equipping one anti-infantry weapon and one anti-tank weapon that don't compliment each other. That's a 70 point model that will never be firing to it's full potential each turn. The second reason is that there is so much better anti-tank option's in the heavy support section that it just seems like a waste of great anti-infantry potential for this unit. Therefore I cannot recommend the Bright Lance for the Vyper. The only way I see this working is if you don't upgrade the Catapults to the Cannon but for 10 Points it's hard to say no.

Scatter Laser

The next option is the fantastic Scatter Laser. The Scatter Laser has a long range of 36", and puts out 4 Strength 6 shots with an AP of 6. So it's not great at denying those armor saves but to be honest with the abundance of cover saves these days, I think the volume of high strength shot's mitigates against this. The best part about the Scatter Laser though is the new rule called Laser Lock. If one of your shots with a weapon that has this rule hit the target then all other weapons on the vehicle are twin linked. So the Scatter Laser is a 10 point upgrade for the Vyper which means you are paying 70 Points for a fast moving Vehicle that put's out 7 Strength 6 shots if you upgrade the Catapults and 3 of those 7 shots are twin linked and nearly always wounding models on a 2+ and any roll of a 6 to wound means it's counted as AP 2 thanks to the Bladestorm special rule. These can reliably strip other light vehicles and transports and can even have a decent chance of taking down flyers due to the volume of high strength shots. I highly recommend kitting out your Vyper's with a Scatter Laser Turret.

Star Cannon

The Star Cannon is third choice turret option and is a fairly decent gun. It is an Eldar version of a Plasma Gun with a 36" range and shooting two Strength 6 shots with an AP of 2, perfect for killing Terminators. I think this is a better option than the Bright Lance but compared to the stock Shuriken Cannon turret I dont think it is worth the point's investment for one less shot, and with the Bladestorm rule the Shuriken Cannon can get AP 2 shots too. It is far inferior to the Scatter Laser with only half the shots and lacks the Laser Lock special rule that makes the Scatter Laser so amazing.

Missile Launcher

The final option for the turret mounted weapon is the old reliable Missile Launcher. Like the regular Eldar Missile Launcher it fire's the Plasma (Strength 4 small blast) and Starshot missiles (Strength 8 AP3). Mounted on a Vyper you are paying 15 points for the privilage and bringing the cost of the skimmer to a expensive 75 points. I feel with the Missile Launcher it is a jack of all trades and master of none. The Bright Lance deals with armor better and the Scatter Laser and Shuriken Cannon deal with infantry better so I would refrain from taking the Missile Launcher.

Other Equipment worth taking

Just one other piece of equipment that you might want to consider is the Holo Field. The Holo field adds +1 to your cover save so a moving Vyper will get a 4+ Jink save and a 3+ when moving flat out. They are expensive however due to being 15 points each so I recommend you take one Vyper per squadron with a Holo field and place it a bit closer to the enemy with it's 4+ cover save since the other Vypers in the squadron with benefit hopefully from it's Holo Field.

So How To Run a Typical Squadron

Typical Vyper Squadron - 225pts

Vyper 1: Shuriken Cannon, Scatter Laser Turret, Holo Field
Vyper 2: Shuriken Cannon, Scatter Laser Turret
Vyper 3: Shuriken Cannon, Scatter Laser Turret

Thats 21 Strength 6 Shots, 9 of which can be potentially AP2 and 9 of which can be twin linked. Nice!

How to play them

Always keep your Vypers at arms length because the internet is right about this one, they are fragile. Focus on infantry and particularly heavy infantry and monstrous creatures. So move 12" keeping the Vyper with the Holo Field's an inch closer towards the enemy and shoot those Scatter Lasers first so your Shuriken Cannon can benfit from the Laser Lock special rule. Alot of opponents haven't played against Vypers before since most Eldar players don't field them and this can work to your advantage giving them a nasty surprise. When it comes to your second turn keep near your maximum range for the Shuriken Cannon which is 24" so fly backwards if you have to. If you are taking a few squadrons and both squadrons are focusing on one unit then have one of your Vyper squadrons move a bit closer so that it is still in range of those Terminators once the first squadron has finished shooting them. If you can, always try and keep them 25% partially behind a wall to get better cover saves with the Holo Fields.

I hope you enjoyed this article and convinced you to take some Vypers of your own. And lets be honest, the model still rocks after all these years.

Thanks for reading,

Johno.

New Eldar Psychic Powers

Psychic Powers

The Eldar are the most potently psychic living race in the galaxy yet some of their wargear doesn’t reflect this, like the super nerf to Runes of Warding and also leadership 8 warlocks, but in saying that I think their new psychic powers are quite nice. In the Codex there are two lines of psychic powers available, one for the warlocks (Runes of Battle) and one for the Farseers (Runes of Fate). Let’s take a look at them.

Runes of Fate Overview

One would think that with the name Fate as opposed to Battle, that the Runes of Fate would be all about blessing and helping your units but the fact is, that Runes of Fate are very much a direct set offensive powers compared to Runes of Battle with their blessings. These powers are available only to our Farseers and range 1 to 3 Warp Charges. The powers themselves are quite useful but they do have to compete with Divination and Telepathy from the main rulebook. So I will let you decide.

Primarius - Guide

The venerable guide, oh how we love you. Typically Guide was always one of the most used powers in the old Eldar Codex and even though it is similar to Divinations Primarius power Precience it’s still an excellent choice. It has a range of 24” which is fantastic (Precience is 12”) but unfortunately it only offers rerolls to hit with shooting as opposed to both shooting and close combat that Precience offers. For an truly excellent loadout on a Farseer take guide primaris power and then the precience primaris powers casting rerolls to hit with shooting and melee left, right and center on two separate units. Really effective on a backfield Farseer near some Scatter Laser Warwalkers or Dark Reapers.

Executioner

Executioner is a witchfire power with a range of 24” and deals 3 automatic hits to an enemy model. Also it carries the fleshbane special rule so you will be wounding on 2+. Unfortunately it doesn’t have an armor value but that doesn’t stop the fun. If the model targeted dies then another model is chosen and suffers 2 automatic hits and then if that model also dies then a third model is chosen and that suffers one automatic hit. Very handy for picking out heavy weapons and squad sergeants etc.

Doom

Like Guide, Doom is an old favourite among all Eldar players. However this version of doom has gotten a nice little buff. It now allows reroll failed to wound rolls and also failed armor penetration rolls against vehicles. Couple this with all our Wraith Cannons and rending Shuriken weapons and this becomes a real gem of a power. The only problem is as per the rest of the powers, it is randomly rolled for so you can’t rely on getting it.

Eldritch Storm

Eldritch Storm has a reach of 24” and throws out a Strength 3 large blast template, so it’s pretty good at taking out large blobs of infantry. But it also comes with fleshbane so you are wounding everything on a 2+. It also has the pinning special rules so it’s extremely useful against units with low leadership such as Orks or Guardsmen. The fun doesn’t stop there though, it has the Haywire special rule also so it will glance ANY vehicle on a roll of 2-5 and automatically pens it on a 6. With a large blast it could easily cover squadrons of light vehicles etc. A fairly decent power that at first glance seems underpar.

Death Mission

Death Mission is an interesting power. It costs two warp charges to cast and it boosts the Farseer’s Weapon Skill, Ballistic Skill and Initiative by +5 and also gives him/her an extra two attacks. This means that you will have a WS10, BS10, I 10 Atk 4 Psyker running around the battle field. Sounds good right? Not quite, because it certainly comes with its drawbacks. When you cast Death Mission you roll a D3+2 and that is how many tokens you have and on a D6 roll of a three or lower at the end of each turn, one token is lost. If you lose all of them, the model is removed as a casualty. The power once cast, lasts for the entire game and the only way to keep your tokens up is by casting it again so you can roll that D3+2. It seems a bit situational but could be useful if your Farseer is leading a close combat unit such as Harlequins. Having said that it’s random so you can’t rely on getting it.

Fortune

Good aul Fortune. I once played an apocalypse battle with a large seer council on bikes and they tanked the fire power of a full Tzeench and Dark Eldar force for three turns before being taken out. This power was a must have and it is still great only that it‘s now random. It has a range of 24” now as opposed to the old power which was only 6”. It costs two warp charges to cast and it allows you to reroll all saving throws and all deny the witch rolls. This could be incredibly useful and annoying for your opponents when cast on your Wraithknights or Wraithguard. It is effectively an even better version of the old Fortune but unfortunately it’s now random like the rest of the powers. I can kind of understand this though because it was quite broken in the last Codex.

Mind War

Mind War is a witchfire power that has a range of 24” and a warp charge of two. This power can be hilarious to use if you manage to get it off a few times during the battle. However the only times I have used it was in a recent game where my opponent managed to roll higher than me. You select a model within 24”, usually a character or Sergeant and you both roll a D6 and add it to your leadership. If the Farseer scores lower, he/she has their Weapon Skill, Ballistic Skill and Initiative reduced to one until their next turn. If both scores are equal the enemy suffers the above afflictions, however if the Farseer wins, the enemy suffers the number of automatic wounds equal to the difference rolled between the two players dice roll and these are at no armor saves or cover saves. It can be extremely effective at taking out those squad Sergeants with power fists or heavy weapons etc.

Runes of Battle Overview

The most obvious thing about the Runes of battle is that it is divided up into modes for each power that affect your enemy and also those that bless your own units. Most of these powers are quite supportive in their nature while the powers available for Runes of Fate are the opposite. The list of powers are actually very potent and nearly all are very useful however this is somewhat hampered by the fact that these are randomly rolled for. Not all is lost though, the primaries power “Conceal/Reveal” is a very strong ability and a lot of players might not bother on rolling on the table as this power is exactly what they are after.

Primaris - Conceal/Reveal

The blessing side of this power, Conceal, is an excellent power that grants the unit shrouded special rule. This is a fantastic rule especially when used in conjunction with Jetbikes who already have the 5+ cover save from jink. Now they can get a 3+ cover save. It really is a brilliant ability. The blessing side of the power removes stealth and shrouded from an enemy unit which can be extremely useful against some Tau and Daemon units and not to mention those other Eldar/Dark Eldar players you will be facing.

 
Destructor/Renewer

Destructor is a witchfire power and is basically a heavy flamer and features the nifty feature called soul blaze.I think this power will come in very handy against some of the tougher foes out there. Renewer on the other hand is a blessing power that if a friendly model is within 18”, you can restore a lost wound to it. It’s very useful if you are playing any of the Eldar Monstrous creatures in your list.

Embolden/Horrify

Good aul embolden, well now it has gotten better! Embolden makes the warlock and his unit fearless! I can see this great for twenty Guardians lead by a warlock. The Horrify power reduces the leadership value of an enemy unit by -3. This is absolutely lethal and used alongside a Wraith Fighter, you will see tones of Orks and Guardsmen running for the hills.

Enhance/Drain

Wow I used to never leave home without an Enhanced warlock in my seer council. Again if used with a large squad of Storm Guardians this could be effective but to be honest will you ever be running Storm Guardians? Enhance provides the Warlock and his attached unit with a +1 to their Weapon Skill and Initiative. Drain reduces the weapon skill and initiative of an enemy within 18” which could be excellent if one of your close combat units is about to charge an enemy unit.

Protect/Jinx

Protect is a potentially fantastic power that grants the Warlock and his unit a +1 bonus to their armour save which could be excellent for giving Jetbikes and Wraithguard that 2+ armor save to drastically increase their durability.  Jinx reduces the armor value of the enemy by -1 which could be excellent by softening up tough units like Terminators etc.

Quicken/Restrain

Quicken provides the Warlock and his unit with an additional three inches to any running they decide to do. Again due to the fact that Warlocks can only really join 4 units (Jetbikes, Defenders & Storm Guardians, Vaul Support Batteries) and the fact that bikes can’t even run anyway I think this is most useful to Guardian Defenders. Why? Well Storm Guardians are so outclassed by most other dedicated close combat units in our army but by adding 3 precious inches on a squad of 20 Guardians armed with 12” shuriken weapons, this could potentially be a big boost in getting them into range in conjunction with Battle Focus, Restrain reduces the chances of running from an enemy unit. I think this power will be mainly used in its blessing form due to the flexibility it provides.

Empower/Enervate

Finally we have the Empower/Enervate power. Empower grants the Warlock and his unit a +1 bonus Strength which given to the right unit could become extremely handy. Strength 5 Striking Scorpions or Strength 8 Ghost Axe wielding Wraithblades anyone, or dare I say Strength 4 Howling Banshees? Nice! The Enervate power typically targets an enemy unit within 18” and reduces their Strength by -1. It’s quite handy considering our close combat units and most of our units for that matter are toughness 3. If those space marines are wounding our units on a 4 instead of a 3 then all the better!

So there you have it Folks, a comprehensive look at our new psychic powers. What do you think? Which powers will you hope to get?

Eldar- First Game With New Codex

Hi guys,

Well last Thursday I played Ugo’s Death Guard in a 1650pts battle, the first one with the new Eldar Codex. You may have seen Ugo’s Death Guard on here before and if not check out this Battle Report. His army is truly one of the best painted armies I’ve ever seen and the camera just doesn’t do it justice.

Firstly this isnt a battle report but I will give an idea on how each unit performed in the battle. The list I took is slightly different to my normal list. As some of you may know I am building a new footdar 2000pts army list that comprises of a bit of air support too. But anyway here is what I ran.

Eldrad – I rolled and got Executioner, Guide, Mind war (All Runes of Fate), and took Prescience (Divination).

Avatar of Khaine

6 x Guardian Jetbikes (2 Cannons)

6 x Guardian Jetbikes (2 Cannons)

6 x Guardian Jetbikes (No Cannons)

10 x Dire Avengers with Exarch and Power Weapon & Shimmer Shield

2 x Vypers with Dual Shuriken Cannons

2 x Vypers with Dual Shuriken Cannons

5 x Fire Dragons

Wave Serpent with Dual Shuriken build

Fire Prism with Holo Fields

Fire Prism with Holo Fields

Performance Evaluation

HQ

Eldrad was with the Dire Avengers Squad and I deployed them midfield and in the front lines. I did this because I wanted Eldrad to manipulate as much as he could and be in range of everything. I also deployed the Avatar right next to them in the middle of the army to give the 12” fearless bubble but also act as a deterrent to any units wanting to get too close to Eldrad and the Avengers.

Eldrad First;

Eldrad performed amazing during this battle, he really pulled all the strings and had his hand err oh should I say mind, in many parts of the battle field to assist other units and generally be a nuisance. Granting Prescience onto the Avengers was fun rerolling to hit and Casting Executioner on the Havocs. However twice he cast Mind War and twice I rolled below my opponent reducing Eldrads WS,BS and Init to 1.

In the later part of the battle a squad of Plague marines double charged Eldrad and the Dire Avengers and a squad of Guardian Jetbikes. This battle lasted a few turns until the Plague Marines were wiped out. Only then the last remaining Death Guard Terminator charged but was cut down in overwatch by Eldrad and 3 remaining Dire Avengers. Eldrad isn’t so shabby in close combat either, with a base of 2 attacks due to his sword and pistol and with Fleshbane and AP3 it made mince meat of Plague Marines.

Eldrad finished the battle with just one wound and it is worth mentioning that both of those wounds were cause by Perils of the warp and not having any warp charges left to prevent the perils. It was typical that I would roll over 10 on my last casting each turn.
 

Avatar;

Believe it or not this was the first time I have ran an Avatar since 2^nd edition. The Avatar acted as the fire magnet and also to generally give my opponent a big worry from the very start. I had to go second so the Avatar lost a couple of wounds in the first turn due to some good shooting. It must be said that if a unit of havocs shoots at your Avatar or anything that bypasses his 3+ save, then you will notice the slight decrease that his  inv save provides going from 4+ to the now 5+.

Overall though the Avatar performed well this match, be it earning his points back and more but also dying after dispatching a Maulerfiend and Typhus along with a few terminators. It was the last few terminators that took him out though. Overall I am happy with his performance and not having to take those Ld8 break tests on guardians was a godsend. I think in future game though I will be taking the Fast Shot Exarch power on him for two wailing doom melta shots a turn at BS10!

TROOPS

Dire Avengers;

The Dire Avengers tagged along with Eldrad during this battle. I didn’t get much success out of their 18” range catapults apart from killing a Plague marine or two but that was due to the over effectiveness of my Guardian jetbikes which I will come to. However the 5+ Inv save offered by the Exarch’s Shimmer Shield really saved my bacon a few times when the Forgefiend dropped those multiple plasma cannon templates on their heads and I think overall this is a better option than the dual catapults due to its flexibility that they can be somewhat a threat in CC and get a inv save of 5+ compared to 2 Shuriken Catapult shots.

Their CC ability was tested later in the battle as mentioned already, where the Exarch was stuck in combat after being challenged by a Plague Marine Sergeant with a power first. This combat lasted 3 rounds believe it or not due to poor to hit and wound rolling by the Plague marine and also great inv saves by the Exarch himself. Eventually the Exarch struck down the Plague marine with his power sword. Overall I was very happy with this unit. It packs plenty of punch ranged and can hold itself in close combat. The Exarch is an exceptional upgrade.

Guardian Jetbikes;

I’m going to come out and say this right now, these guys have had such a boost in the new codex it almost seems… broken. But I say almost because it’s about time Eldar got a unit like this. Most other armies (not all) have an overpowered unit and I’m just glad we got one.

I ran three squads of these guys, two of which sporting two Shuriken Cannons. They performed absolutely brilliantly. The BS4/WS4 upgrade along with the new Bladestorm rule has had a huge impact on how good this unit is. The range of the twin linked Catapults is still only 12” but the bikes also move 12” so you are effectively getting 24” threat range. All shots are twin linked and all to wound rolls of a 6 are AP2… just nasty!

And all this for 17pts as opposed to a 23pt plague marines. Granted the Plague marine is fearless, has T5 and good poisoned CC ability but after a good discussion, myself and Ugo agreed the Jetbike is much more bang for your buck. The sheer number of twin linked and semi- rending shots these guys put out is crazy. If you are not playing Eldar and looking for an allied unit, pick these, you won’ be disappointed.

FAST ATTACK

Vyper;

I ran with two squads of two Vypers for this battle. Many people have said and continue to say that Vypers aren’t good. I have used them consistently for a year now in all my battles and rarely do they disappoint. Now though they are BS4 and Semi-rending Strength 6 24” guns that still fire 3 times each. They were just absolutely nasty and did an incredible amount of damage to the Deathguard.

 I think going forward I might equip them with a Shuriken cannon and Scatter Laser for the Laser Lock ability (Twin links any other weapon if the laser has hit previously). One squadron really decimated some Plague marines and the other unit flanked around and took out a Forgefiend through its rear armor and then finished off the havocs in the ruins. Really great unit even though they are made of wet tissue.

ELITES

Fire Dragons;

As per usual I still think more than five fire dragons is overkill and a waste of points that could be better spent elsewhere. Unfortunately the Wave Serpent carrying them blew up after being hit by a Lascannon and even with their 3+ save now, two of them still died in the explosion. This mean’t I had three left in area terrain in the middle of the battlefield. Even after some shooting these three survived the entire battle and managed to take out a couple of Terminators probably earning back their points in the process. Overall they performed OK but I don’t think their roll has changed much. They are now slightly tougher and more expensive and still do the same thing as before. Still though, always was and still is a solid unit.

Wave Serpent;

The Wave Serpent has gotten a massive upgrade. In this battle I ran it with Twin linked Shuriken Cannon turret and underslung Shuriken Cannon. In future I will put Holo Fields on it for that 4+ save. The Wave Serpent was blown out of the sky by a bullseye shot from a Lascannon totting havoc but it did manage to cause some casualties beforehand which ironically led it to becoming target no.1 for the Death Guard next turn.

 When it was still alive I shot at the havocs with it firing the BS4 6x Strength 6 semi rending shots, 50% were twin linked and then along with D6+1 Strength 7 shots (I rolled a 6 lol) that ignore cover and pin at the havocs killing about half the squad. It was awe inspiring to see such a formidable amount of fire power from one tank that has a transport capacity of 12. The above setup only cost 135pts too! That was 13 Strength 6/7 shots in all from one tank… wow! Although it didn’t last long enough in this battle it showed a glimpse of what is yet to come of this transport or should I say Battle Tank?

HEAVY SUPPORT

Fire Prism;

I took two Fire Prism tanks in this battle and equipped both with Holo fields to give them that +1 to cover. These tanks are still a steal at 125pts. Both tanks performed OK during this battle. They did manage to worry some Terminators but mainly dueled at range with the Forgefiend humorously stripping all 3 guns off the daemon engine over the course of the battle. The Forgefiend did manage to regenerate a couple of wounds throughout but eventually dying after getting flanked by a couple of Vypers. They didn’t perform too well in this battle but did enough to worry the Death Guard and draw some fire away from the rest of my army. Also the new Lance ability of the Prism Cannon was great for shooting single targets like the Forgefiend where you didn’t have to worry about scatter. Big upgrade and a main stay in a lot of my games going forward.

 

CONCLUSION

I am absolutely delighted with the well earned boost Eldar have gotten with the new Codex. I truly believe that all the moaning on the internet about lack of assault grenades and random generation of powers are only a minor hiccup in an otherwise exceptional piece of work by Phil Kelly. The army still requires finesse and is still quite fragile but it certainly got its sharp teeth back. From what I have seen so far, the Wave Serpent and Guardian Jetbikes are the star of the show.