Goatboy’s Warhammer 40K: Aeldari Craftworlds Rules Deepdive
We continue the new Codex week of review. Let’s dive into the best Aeldari Craftworlds and the custom builds you can do.
I want to look at this from a Competitive side of things as I think each of them are unique but as usual there are things that are more powerful than others for matched play. While not all games are matched play those rules do help make sure each game plays the same no matter where you are throwing down.
The book has 5 prebuilt Craftworlds, a “Ynnari-like” Craftworld, and then the custom build options. Thankfully for the custom builds there isn’t a Tau-style map you need to follow or some kind of points based system. It is a simple pick 2 unless you pick the one that lets you play as one of the 5 Craftworlds but your own custom thing. We’ll dive into the custom builds at the end but let’s look at each Craftworld.
Ulthwe Craftworld
Ulthwe aka Spooky Looking Pointy’ Ear Boyz
The first one is Ulthwe which is the one that Eldrad comes from. Those are the black with white highlights and remind me of some kind of Day of the Dead sort of color design. They get 4 Craftworld rules which are all pretty good. It is probably the best basic Craftworld as you get a 6+ invulnerable save for all models and a 5+ FNP to Mortal wounds. On top of these protection buffs you also get a +1 to your first cast for your psykers and a free wound reroll for each unit. That is a lot of rules for a single Craftworld and makes me think this is going to show up a lot.
On the Warlord side of things they have an interesting trait in that they get to keep an extra Strands of fate dice. This could be really good or just not useful depending on your rolls so I am not sure if it will be a mandatory Warlord Trait or spending 1 CP to get on someone. The relic though seems pretty spicy as it does give you an extra Psychic power from the Runes of Fortune and if you roll a 9+ for the spell/action it can’t be denied. With the +1 you get for a first cast and I am sure other options you could have a really good chance to have push a power thru uncontested.
The final bit of power they get is a Stratagem that lets a Guardian unit get a +1 to hit either in the shooting or fighting phase. As you can use it in either phase it can be used twice in a turn which seems pretty powerful. Plus it is only 1 CP which is great as a quick cheap option to overload power on a 20 man Guardian unit.
Overall this Craftworld seems set up to be pretty good and something you will see a lot on the table top.
Alaitoc Craftworld
Alaitoc aka Sneaky Looking Pointy’ Ear Boyz
Next up we have the Alaitoc Craftworld which is known as the Ranger/Scout army of the Eldar. They get 3 sets of rules for their craft world with the normal counts as light cover if over 12″ away and a -1 to hit if they are within terrain and over 12″ away. The common change that happened to all of these sneaky style armies. The last one is the ability for Infantry to ignore all modifiers to their move characteristics and advance characteristics. Overall it isn’t too bad and if you want to do a big Ranger army this is the Craftworld you want to do. I don’t know how good the counts as Light cover is as Tau just seem to ignore a ton of cover options which is a shame.
The Warlord trait seems interesting in that it has 2 powers that look to continue to add to the ability of Aeldari to constantly shift and move across the battlefield. The first one is they can pick an Infantry unit to be able to do an action and still shoot. This is powerful with one of the Aeldari secondaries that are better for Rangers. The second part is they can pick a Alaitoc Ranger unit and move them to redeploy on the battlefield. This seems pretty interesting as you can quickly set up some fun options to either score objectives or score that sneaky Secondary.
The Relic seems neat but as it is locked to Infantry it isn’t nearly as exciting. If the bearer is in terrain and over 12″ away from the enemy trying to target it – it can’t be targeted. I guess you could do some mean super Auratachs built with some damage potential so it isn’t too bad. I just don’t know how much you will want a character just hanging out.
The stratagem is pretty interesting in that you can take a Ranger unit in Reserves or on the battlefield during your opponents movement phase when they set up a unit from reserves. You place that unit within 18″ of that unit and 9″ away from any enemy models. At the end of the phase the Ranger unit can then shoot at that enemy unit as long as it is still eligible to be shot at. It is a lot of words for 1CP and while it isn’t always usable it is interesting.
Overall this army is going to show up for those who want to play a ton of Rangers as while it is interesting it isn’t nearly as good as some of the other Craftworlds.
Biel-Tan Craftworld
Biel-Tan aka Aspect Junky Boyz
If there is a foot Eldar army coming out using Aspect warriors I bet it will show up as this army. This Craftworld only has 2 traits to it but both are pretty good. Your first one counts all Advance or Battlefocus rolls that are 1-2 as 3 instead which is pretty good. You also get one hit re-roll per unit when it shoots or fights. These are both pretty good and again if you are doing some kind of Footdar army this might be one of the better ones as you are playing a ton of small units that hit hard.
The Warlord trait is very powerful in its simplicity. You get to pick a Core unit within 6″ and they can re-roll the hit roll. This feels like an auto take in these armies as you an shift some very powerful units into pushing for exploding 6’s if they have that option or just forcing a ton of hits thru. The Relic they have is for a Psyker and while not as good as the Ulthwe one it is pretty powerful as they can get an extra power form their chosen discipline and one re-roll of the psychic test.
Their stratagem is pretty amazing for an Aspect army build in that for a single CP that you can use in the fighting phase or the shooting phase you give a unit exploding 6’s. This is pretty dang amazing as you can use it on a unit of Reapers and then a unit of Shining Spears as they crash into combat.
I am wondering if there is a Shining Spear force mixed with Harlequins that would love this Craftworld. This is one of those armies that smarter players will figure out and beat the crap out of me with.
Iyanden Craftworld
Iyanden aka Robot Zombie Ghost Boyz
Here we have the Wraith army Craftworld to play with. They have 2 attributes designed to make your Wraithguard better. You get a +1 to Combat Attrition tests and you get to subtract 1 from opponents AP on weapons with -1 or -2. This means your Wraithguard can survive that mid ranged AP that comes from armies a lot better. Mix this with their default -1 to all damage and you start to have a very tough army to chew thru.
Their Warlord trait is interesting in that it just gives the character a 5+ FNP so it is cool but who knows how powerful it will be. I am sure you can create some interesting murder characters on bikes if you want but will see. Their Relic though is pretty powerful for these Spirit Host options in that you can give a unit a +1 attack and if they are Wraithguard they get Battle Focus. That is pretty dang powerful and as it is a 9″ range to give the ability out it will be a cornerstone for those Wraithguard armies.
Their Stratagem is again something for Spirit host armies as it lets your Spiritseer use their Spirit Mark Ability on a unit that it is not in range of. This can be powerful as you try to keep your ghosts doing damage across the table top. As it is 1 CP it is something you will see used a lot if you are playing versus an Iyanden force.
This is one of those Craftworld for those dedicated players who want to play with Wraithguard. I am wondering if will see a little bit of rules for this army in a Campaign book as it is something that was used before and could easily be recreated with some unique Psychic powers and other Relics.
Saim-Hann Craftworld
Saim-Hann aka Too Fast Pointy Earred Boyz
Finally we get the Jetbike loving army for the Aeldari in the Saim-Hann. Locally we have a player/painter that has an amazing looking army so I am used to seeing these guys a lot more than other Aeldari. They have 2 Attributes with the ability to re-roll to charge and they can declare a charge if they fall back. Both of these are very much set up to be powerful in a specific army build that utilizes speed.
Their Warlord trait lets you have a much more punchy Bike Auratach with a +1 to their attack and the ability to heroically intervene 6″. You can combo this with their Relic that gives the character a +1 to strength and damage plus an extra pip of AP. All of this if you charged or Heroically intervened into someone so you have a little murder machine if you want too.
Finally we have the always amazing Advance and charge stratagem that will be a major part of this army full of bikers and murder elves. This one is definitely an interesting and when I think about an all biker style army this might be the Craftworld I pick. Just having this ability for 1 CP means it is impossible to hide from Shining Spears and other bikers.
Custom Build Craftworlds
There are a lot of interesting options within this list. There is the always loved Exploding 6’s in melee option that could be powerful as well as some auto wound on shuriken weapons if you roll a 6 to hit. On top of this there is just a ton of power here if you want to make something unique. Let’s throw some combos out there that you could look at if you wanted.
Murder Ball Space Elves: Children of Khaine + Vengeful
You get exploding 6’s for hits in close combat mixed with an extra point of damage when rolling a 6 to wound. This could get very mean with some of the Aspect warriors coming in and getting ready to murder the crap out of your army.
Shootier Death Bikes: Swift Strikes + Hail of Doom
Here you get to always act as stationary when shooting if you didn’t fall back mixed with hits of 6’s cause an auto wound. You could run a ton of bikes and shuriken weapons to just move, advance, and throw out damage like a boss as you control the table top.
Overall I get the feeling will see normal Craftworlds beyond some weird assault combos coming out of the Custom builds. Either way there is a ton of options for players to pick from and it is a good time to be a Space Elves player.
Goatboy Out!
