Goatboy’s 40k: The Eldar Future
Goatboy here to peer into my goaty Eldar crystal ball. Lets take a look at some curious Eldar questions…
Goatboy here again doing what he does best – looking at the random trends of 40k and try to make some sense of them. If you’ve been living under a rock and only reading my articles then you might not have heard the Eldar are finally coming to 6th Edition (they skipped 5th because – well – they thought Grey Knights sucked). Today I want to go over some things and start a dialogue about what we could expect. We got some small tidbits in the White Dwarf so I know there is probably a ton of stuff in the new Codex.
The biggest question I have is what is up with Runes of Warding? I didn’t see it anywhere in the battle report (They played Necrons you ninny – they don’t gots no mind funnies) nor have I seen it in any slips and secrets. Did it go away? Has it changed? I have noticed that GW is utilizing psychics as a means to give an army a jump in power (Daemons, Nids, etc) and would expect the blessings to continue to flow. I wonder if they will just have modifiers to Deny the Witch or at least a shorter ranged ability. Will see next week when we get that new book.
It is also interesting we have an FAQ already hitting. I know we are all saying – hire some proof readers but maybe this was just a mix up between editions and printing. Either way it is interesting as Monafiliment is now a key word. I am guessing Rending and Difficult/Dangerous Terrain as before. If this is the case – then Warp Spyders are going to be the kind of the D*$ks.
This new book with their fancy new tall man barbie means the beginning of neutered super heavies in 40k. Look for the Stompa and the Baneblade next year for those kits and maybe if we are lucky a Knight for the Marines. The big fancy kit is here to stay. The only issue I have with it is how the hell are you going to get that thing through an airport? Plus it looks like it needs to eat a hamburger with those skinny little legs. I do like the model and hope it is stupid broken. It just means I have to run more instant death options in daemons and roll a 6 or two.
The lack of redone aspects warriors is kind of a bummer. I know that is a lot of money to dump into fixing casts but still – it would have been nice to have fully plastic aspect warriors. The hobby has moved away from buying one kit at a time and has moved to the full army buy phase. Look at how well Tau did with only three real new kits and 2 of those options most players already had (Broadsides and Pathfinders). I would think they would fix the Warp Spyders and Striking Scorpions first. The Banshees look decent and the Dark Reapers are nice enough right now. But hey I am not a bean counter for GW so what do I know.
The other big thing is a push towards more infantry killing power. Does this mean the Rhino might make a comeback? Or other APC’s? It is a thought as there are some many blasts, high rate of fire, and the rumored changed to the Shruiken catapult. I do think small, elite armies are going to have issues if they don’t have high toughness or massed retools. I know this implies selling more models so it is pretty obvious the game is going to move towards larger units to hurt our power little wallets.
The Psychic powers are interesting as there are 14 powers total by the looks of it. The book powers have mostly been meh as of late so hopefully this isn’t just – take the main rule book powers and eff off to the Eldar Mind Spells. I know how annoying it is not getting the ability you want so having that many seems like a waste to me. Will have to see when we get the book. Also do the Warlocks have to cast spells now? That is a big change as you can now stop the Destructor as well as have them fail Conceal. This would fit in how GW has really amped up how many units can throw spells around.
The battle report did have a small as hell list. This was frustrating as I can just see games going south as you quickly roll a crap ton of 2’s over and over and watch your expensive guys fly off to their warp stones. I know Guardians took a drop in points but it is worrisome that a lot of the Aspect warriors might have gone up. Will see how much troop jumps happen in the new book. That will determine how interesting the codex turns out.
The new Wraithguard look awesome. I am still not convinced a one attack/wound model will be any good in assault. Will see if massed T6 is worthwhile as they charge into combat. It is awesome the new kit brings the cost down from 25 to 10 bucks a model. That is a hell of a deal and if you haven’t had a ton of them already it is an exciting time for the “new” Eldar player. Add in that super WraithKnight and Wraithlord and you got a good ole Warpbone party. They do drink martinis.
We also haven’t heard how much their Tanks cost. If they don’t drop in points then will we see them at all? How about those Vypers and the paper they are made out of? Will we see a return of the turn 5 win? I have a feeling they will just see a change up in their rules and some kind of invulnerable save. This lack of cover ability going out all over the table top will mean a return of the 5+ inv save.
I am not an Eldar player. In fact I would rather play Tau (which you all know I don’t like too much) then ever deal with the Space Elves. I am happy we have a new book as a few local buddies are happy and will start kicking my butt again. I just hope to see my completed army circle soon with the Orks. Are you excited about the Eldar? What are you hoping to see? Will we see Apocalypse 2 or Space Marines next?
Goat out – What’s your greatest worry about the new codex?
