Goatboy: Hello Metagame Shift – Eldar Edition!
Goatboy here again and if you are reading the Eldar compilations then you probably know how I feel. Get used to change…
I don’t play the Space Elves but have a lot of friends that do and I feel kind of bad for them. The book is reading to be too good in most aspects which means that most likely any game you are playing with your Eldar will probably start off with a bad taste in your opponents mouth. That is the biggest hit I feel when reading about this book.
The REAL Problem with Eldar
When you play – there are at least 2 people involved. I think that is the biggest thing that is missing from these all or nothing type of events and this new book really emphasizes that. I don’t even want to review the book because – it sort of depresses me. I don’t want to come to the table top and look across the table and just feel like – wow I have to pull every hook and crook to make this a game which isn’t fun for me and probably not for my opponent. With that in mind – lets just go over what I think isn’t good for the game as whole in the new book.
Distortion/D/DBag weapons all over the place is not good game design. We all invest in our armies. Whether it is investment in points in your army or actual time investment in painting/building/etc there is a lot of hope/love in our choices. When you mix in a weapon that can just remove that choice with 1 to 2 shots without any real skill/investment from an opponent you have bad design. Sure to a basic trooper the gun doesn’t get much different, other then removing any chances to survive if your opponent rolls a 6. It just doesn’t sound fun at all. How are you going to feel when the Wraithguard/D Scytheguard come down either attached to an Archon or out the sides of a raider (I forgot they were bulky so no Falcon) that doesn’t scatter. Then your unit/units get covered in death flame and you pick up 400+ points of your army without any real interaction. How “fun” is that? How tactical is this? That is where it also gets upsetting because there are a lot of Eldar players that didn’t just start with the Wave Serpent bandwagon. They played when the Eldar army was a Ballet of offensive and defensive measures and had to outplay an opponent to win. Now the point and click nature has moved away from massed shots to extremely deadly shots. This removes a lot of play from both sides of the table and was not a good game choice.
The next thing is the upgrade/change of the Jetbike. Is it me or is their weapon load out looking like some of the 30k options where you can take 10 special weapons in squads? That much shooting at range is just not good. The release before this was an assault army but facing units that shoot out 40 shots a turn means those guys are never going to get into combat. This isn’t good. You add on the unit having Objective Secured in a normal CAD and you now have a default troop choice. They can move so fast, not engage the enemy in anyway, cost less then an “equivalent” unit, and shoot the new default decent strength weapon. It just isn’t good and again lets Eldar players not really engage an opponent. Forcing me to roll armor/cover/inv saves is not letting me play the game. It would be one thing if the unit costed more or limited the special weapon choices but everyone getting the upgrades just leaves me thinking that GW just didn’t care.
The next shame on this is that even though they made Aspect warriors cooler you still won’t see them on the table. Why would you pay more points for a specialized unit when you can take other options that have better guns? Why would you take Dire Avengers when Jetbikes will do the same thing better. Why take Fire Dragons when you can just take Wraithguard that deep strike in out of Falcons and kill anything guaranteed. You just need to roll some 6’s dawg and shrouding/cover/invulnerable saves are just meaningless. D-Scythe guys are just better in all ways to Fire Dragons so what is the point. Warp Spyders are the only ones that might see more use as they are in a different place on the force org. Heck why even take war walkers when you can just have more Jet Bikes too. Oh why even take Fire Prisms because Wraith Guard will just do it better out of a Falcon. I hope you didn’t get rid of all your Falcons because they just love the Wraith Knight getting kicked out of the heavy slot.
Speaking of that – is it me or is the Wraith Knight criminally under costed. You look at the other Gargantuan Creatures out there and they just shudder at the thought of facing a Wraith Knight. Heck the Phoenix lords are not much less then the Knight and you know the Knight will kill more then those guys. It makes me question why they let the D Blood Thirster go at initiative 1. Did Phil lose to many Knights to the D Slapping Thirster that they had to balance it? What about this Knight guy? The only hope I have is that events will limit you to one LoW but who the heck knows. I will tell you if that Decurion detachment is allowed and you see 1-3 Knights running around you are just better off taking that time, calling your mom, and wondering why you spent all that time/money on painting your army. Right now I feel sorry for the Nid codex because all the massed D will just utterly blow away any MC player. How many games will have the Knight just roll 2 6’s on your Flyrant and he leaves this life with a big hole in his multiple hearts.
Right now I just feel very torn. I am already limiting events due to a kid and if the game just turns into Eldar v Eldar all day then it is kind of pointless to waste money. Why spend all this time/investment in a game/event when you have to come to the table with a heavy heart and try to make it a fun game. It makes you question what events are going to do to try and get the lower tables involved because it just takes one shark who lost the mirror match to crush some new players dreams.
I had such high hope with the last few books feeling balanced that maybe the Eldar book will see things go back to normal. I actually like the Aspect warriors and changes to the HQ’s. I think if bikes were just left to have 3 Special weapons per squad then it would still be good but manageable. Even the Wraith Knight, as is, is ok with a limit of 1 per army. I have a feeling if just see massed Jetbikes I expect Heldrakes to come back, Centurions to be delivered in drop pods all the time, and hopefully an unnerfed Invisibility from ITC. I feel for the tournament organizers because top tables filled with the same type of army isn’t an exciting thing to show to new players.
Quick Rundown of Thoughts
Pros:
Aspect warriors are cooler and their rules seem fitting. No more summoning for Farseers. The Wave Serpent got a fix. Maybe a limit to Wraith Knights with going LoW. Finally seeing the 8 year old model for the new Eldar Jetbike.
Cons:
Massed D weapons are bad. Too many Special Weapons to the best troop in the game. Making Aspect warriors worthless as other options just do more/better for the point cost. Forcing Escalation rules into a regular book will force Events to upset players. Removing a lot of player skill from an army that was already at a point and click variety.
Right now – the reroll 2+ save thing is just not nearly a big deal especially when a player can just say – hey I just roll some 6’s. If the D forced you to reroll your inv save on a 6 then it might be ok but as is we are just waiting for players to Yahtzee you out of the event.
I know I don’t want to play/paint/built Eldar so any real question on what to spend my extra money on will just leave me thinking – maybe I should have just stuck with Magic.
