40K: Biel-Tan, Shurikens, and You – A Primer
Biel-Tan, aka the Kinder Surprise of Craftworlds, sure loves its Dire Avengers…
That’s right friends, the Eldar of Biel-Tan are back, and this time there’s a very specific thing for their Dire Avengers to avenge…direly. We’re talking about the fact that their Craftworld got broken open by Slaanesh, which worked out better than you’d think, because the silver lining to losing their home was the revelation of Ynnead. So just think, if the Eldar of Biel-Tan had just been a little better at fighting off chaos, we wouldn’t have Primaris Marines.
Their Craftworld rule plays up the fact that these are the most militant of the Eldar. They get a bonus to leadership and can reroll 1’s with all shuriken weapons. Being really good with Aspect Warriors and shuriken weapons might sound like something your friend who owns multiple katanas proclaims on a regular basis, but it also means that the Eldar of Biel-Tan are going to bring the Dire Avengers in addition to the noise and funk. And, as GW pointed out on the Warhammer Community site, Dire Avengers and their shuriken weapons are going to be cheaper now.
Combo that with stratagems that let you fall back and shoot/function like a normal unit, because why should the Eldar have to follow any of those pesky rules things everyone’s always going on about, they’re special and better than everyone else.
You’ll note, this is 2cp, but they can shoot and charge. So if you got tied up fighting one unit, but really wanna break off to charge a different unit, you can. This could be really good for durable close combat units who can hop from unit to unit, using the melee as cover. Or to keep important units from shooting.
The other big thing mentioned in today’s preview is the Avatar of Khaine. Master of all four elements, this HQ choice that seems to be smaller than he should probably be, is revealed to really help buff Biel-Tan units–letting them reroll misses and add 3 to their charge rolls. Make your assaults assaultier with just 2 command points.
That seems to be a recurring theme here–Eldar strategies are solid, but expensive. Good thing they have some cheap HQ choices, you’ll want at least a couple detachments. And if you’re worried about the Avatar getting shot off the table, don’t worry, unless he’s in the Avatar State, he’ll just move on to his next incarnation. Sorry. Yncarnaetion. But also there’s a stratagem that helps him endure the turn you really need him to stick around.
But it’s expensive and you can only do it in the fight phase. So, I guess he’ll still get shot off the table. This stratagem does encourage a little aggression, but that seems counter to what the Eldar are good at, which is staying mobile and protected. And armed with scatterlasers.
And that’s Biel-Tan. Tune in tomorrow for Craftworld Jetbikes Halloween Sam-Hainn.
