Goatboy 40k Thoughts: Where will Dark Eldar Take the Game?
Goatboy here again – thinking about where 40k is going right now. I know I bring this up from time to time but we have to constantly look and review the game to find what might be coming as well as what kind of issues might occur that we will have to deal with. Obviously we know each new codex is starting to change the rules and bend them into new ways that are both interesting as well as frustrating to the player that doesn’t jump on the new shiney thing.
I am sure we have all read the rumors for upcoming codexs and the overall lack of Marines in the “future” releases. So the question is what kind of stuff might we see with the rumor new Xenos book – Dark Eldar coming at us most likely in a few months? We have all heard about this army as it has been stated that the range was done a long time ago. We also hear that the codex was binned a few times too for being too – anti Dark Eldar. So the question is what will we most likely see?
From a model stand point the rumors all point to a push towards the old pirate design we have seen from time to time. There will be less dumb spikes as well as I hope a push away from man faced female models. There are some images in the 40k rule book that show case a different designed raider. I just hope it isn’t nearly as stabby as the old one. I don’t know about you, but I am tired of having all my spikes either bent or in my hands as I try to save it from falling over. Beyond all of this I do hope that all the metal models are just one piece stick in a base type. No more pewter bits that need to be stuck onto a thing piece of plastic. Those Ravagers were a crime against modeling if you ask me.
So with some cool models that hope is that the rules are at least decent. The talk is an alpha strike army that is all fast flying vehicles. Most likely they will be fragile as the thought of a ton of tough skimmers is not the most exciting to play against. The Lance rule is going to be all over the codex too and I am positive that there will be some super combat characters in there. In fact I have a feeling we will have the Supreme Bad Ass in this book with a large amount of attacks, a reroll, and most likely some kind of poison effect that makes you wet your pants. I am hoping there are more army build options in the book as right now Dark Eldar feel extremely stagnant with the same single design seen on the most effective lists. I am not sure what they could be, but I am just hoping for something different beyond spikey flyers filled with bad touch space elves.
So what does all of this mean for the other players? Well most likely we will start to see more reserves used. If the army is an alpha strike style list then sitting on the table, flapping in the wind, is something we don’t want to do. Tons of Dark Lances may put some pressure on the mech we see everywhere. The new black, the Missile Launcher, will still be extremely useful against the Dark Eldar as the rumors all point to low armor value on all the vehicles. With all the Lances running around, anything over armor 12 might will not be nearly as good too. It really just depends on how far they want to push the purple laser beam army. The interesting thing is that the good old bolter will still be the bane of many a Dark Eldar player who gets too close to an angry power armor army.
So there is most likely the next thoughts on how 40k will change a bit. Without the rules to look at I can’t really say if the sky is going to fall or if the so called metagame will flip around. I really doubt it as the army isn’t a common build, so the the amount of players that will bring it to the table will be small. If the models are good and the rules decent you could see this change. If I were GW I would look at ways to create a “deal” with the army. Massed plastic kits with extra cool bits and box set ups that create units versus just a couple cool models will be one way to push it. All I know is that a refresh of the game with an new all Xenos army is something I think 40k needs really badly right now. Tyranids created a faceless enemy that is hard to compare to any other army. Dark Eldar look to become that true boogie man in the closet waiting to come out and give you that evil bad touch.
Are you excited about the upcoming codex? The thought of new, spikey minis makes you a happy camper? What do you think the Dark Eldar will do to the 40k metagame? Does this shirt make me look fat? -Goatboy
