Warhammer 40K: Aeldari Rules Preview – ‘Battle Focus’ Brings The Pain
The Craftworld Aeldari are going to get a “new” toy to play with as Battle Focus will the new army wide rule.
Get ready for the Aeldari to become speed demons once again because their Army Rule is shifting in the new codex. Battle Focus will enable them to use their speed and agility to perform supernatural feats. This is going to be a fairly big shift for the Craftworld armies out there. Let’s get into it!
Now, Aeldari armies levy their speed and agility to get the one-up on their opponents with Battle Focus tokens, which they earn at the start of every round based on the size of their war host. Each token can be spent on one of six abilities that trigger when certain units take an action, with each ability able to be used once per phase.
Battle Focus Returns
If you’re a player of a certain vintage you might remember the Aeldari had a Battle Focus ability in previous editions. While this new version does share a name it functions very differently than before. Mechanically speaking this ability reminds me of a variation of a Command Point-like resource you can spend to do other abilities. Regardless of the mechanics this new functionality opens up new ploys for the Aeldari army on the tabletop. So let’s see some of these abilities!
Above you can see two of these Agile Manoeuvres — one for a Vehicle Unit (like Fire Prisms pictured) and another for Infantry units like the Howling Banshees. Star Engines is another classic ability that has been reworked and it still allows for those Aeldari Vehicles to get a case of the Zoomies! Flitting Shadows is going to be great for getting into the enemy without fear of Overwatch.
Guardian Defenders are going be able to use Fleet of Foot to perform Fade Back. The best part is they won’t have to spend a Battle Focus token to do it! Additionally, it’s going to allow other units to use the same Fade Back move as well. Good luck pinning these units down.
Here’s a look at the other three options you can spend those Battle Focus tokens on. I’ll let your mind dance with the possibilities.
Strands of Fate Gone?!
Now, I know a lot of Aeldari players out there are probably thinking “Wait a minute, what about my beloved crutches that are the Strands of Fate dice.” Oh don’t worry…Strands of Fate are still going to be around. But in a more limited fashion:
“This doesn’t mean that your ability to manipulate the skeins of fate has been abandoned, but those powers now find themselves ensconced within a Detachment designed specifically to enhance the abilities of Aeldari psykers. We’ll be looking into this Seer Council later this week, so stay tuned for more on that.”
I’ve been pretty upfront about my dislike of those particular dice replacement/manipulation mechanics in the past. So I’m not sorry to see them get replaced and/or limited. But for those of you who do like them it appears they are just getting shifted to a specific detachment.
I’m thinking the Battle Focus is going to be a really potent shift for the Aeldari. But what do you think? Let us know in the comments!
Battle Focus is Back!
