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A few years ago, I helmed (with the input of a lot of my fellows at Warseer) a Fandex for Eldar.

I decided to revive and update the Codex, which you can view online here:

Fandex Eldar v4.00

I would welcome all Comments, Criticism, and Ideas. Especially need a second set of eyes for typos/inconsistencies.

Cheers,
- Squallish (long-time lurker)

Whats a Sentinel?

Liking the rules for Rangers - I think they're one of the coolest Eldar units and deserve some better abilities compared to their cost!

Warp Jump generators took a bit of a nerf, a wound on a double??

Still no assault transport then?

I like PL making their aspect scoring, would give me a valid reason to take Karandras.

I still think Warlocks should get 2 attacks.

No increase in range for our weapons then? I think at the least shuriken catapults and Wraith cannons should be 24'

I like there's more variation and it gives some the units more mileage.

Thanks for looking through it!

Whats a Sentinel?
It's a new unit, not mentioned anywhere that I made up. Summary I wrote before:
"Each Aspect Warrior Shrine is an Aspect of Khaine. Most focus on Offense, and I felt like something Eldar are lacking in is a purely Defensive unit. As Defense is an Aspect of War, I felt it would be best put in as a new Aspect. The Elite slot seems like the perfect location for this unit. Each Aspect is also based around an animal spirit, so Tortoises was the one I chose there. The models would use elongated shields (think LotR elves) and long spears to keep their enemy at bay (hence harder to hit with Glaives). On the table they would act almost as a mobile Aegis Defence line, providing better cover for the units behind them, and acting as a speed bump to advancing enemy forces. Would also work well at entangling tough units long enough for mop-up units like Shining Spears or Banshees to finish their work. I got a lot of concern with this unit because it doesn't fit the Eldar playstyle, but with Wraithwall being a popular build, I think Eldar have a wider variety of playstyles with them included."

Liking the rules for Rangers - I think they're one of the coolest Eldar units and deserve some better abilities compared to their cost!
Thanks

Warp Jump generators took a bit of a nerf, a wound on a double??
They do that right now!

Still no assault transport then?
I instead made Banshees treat their transport as an Assault Vehicle. Scorpions are more likely to Infiltrate, Harlequins can't ride in one, Warlocks can take Bikes.. so only really Banshees needed the option.

I like PL making their aspect scoring, would give me a valid reason to take Karandras.
Thanks!

I still think Warlocks should get 2 attacks.
Something to consider. Would need a pts bump though. Witchblades are pretty strong weapons against the right targets. 30-35pts for 2A base?

No increase in range for our weapons then? I think at the least shuriken catapults and Wraith cannons should be 24.
Catapults gained 6" and Wraithcannons 3". Guardians gained a number of other buffs as well: more platforms/specials per unit, 1pt drop, grenades. Wraithcannons at 24" (30" threat range) would be very very strong. I could be convinced that 18" is warranted.. but 24" would mean they would have to push 45pts per model, which is a little steep.

I like there's more variation and it gives some the units more mileage.
That was the idea, to buff the unusable, and make the competition in each slot very high. I'd be very interested if you see any units that are not attractive/useful or auto-include right now.

Cheers!

Looking back I have to agree with your points I guess 24' range for Wraithguard would be too good! I wouldn't mind a slight increase for Warlocks though if it meant they got 2 attacks, i know Seer Councils are good already but if Warlocks had 2 base attacks then they truly would be a force in CC. I don't think they would be OP as the witchblade still allows normal armour saves.

My bad on the spiders for some reason I thought it was double six only, shows the last time I used them I guess.

For me I think the Sentinels would change the game for Eldar quite a bit so I could see them being left out, I could be wrong though but maybe people would just opt for an Aegis line instead to protect their backfield objectives, going forward I guess they could find a use plumped right at the front line but you wouldn't get forward that quickly either.

I still can't justify taking Spectres as there's just other more effective ways to pop TEQ and armour, I guess they would be a fluff option more than anything, great looking unit though.

I had a thread recently about how much better I think Eldar would be if a list included Hornets and Warp Hunters instead of Falcons and Prisms. Hornets would free up a heavy slot and a squadron of three could provide 6 str 8 shots a turn. And the Warp Hunter is just a much better tank than the Prism in every way. Sadly people don't recognize FW units in most lists so it won't become common unless GW sort it in the next codex.

Imagine an Eldar list with Hornets and WW's and a couple of Warp Hunters with a Razorwing flying overhead. All you need then is a few WS's to deliver the troops or a nice Wraithwall advancing up the board and your opponent won't know where to focus their fire!

I think FW units make Eldar very competitive and just more fun in general.

If you are rewriting and entire codex, why do you also need to invent units whole cloth? You've already got the entire army to work with, why can't you use them to make a complete army.

If you're trying to have fun, why can't you just have my fun? You've already got my fun, why can't you just not have any other fun?

DarknessEternal wrote:If you are rewriting and entire codex, why do you also need to invent units whole cloth? You've already got the entire army to work with, why can't you use them to make a complete army.

There were no existing units available to fill the gap I identified.. and it is a Fandex.. in the proposed rules forum.

I could easily rewrite them to match some different fluff if you like.. like Everguard.

Squallish wrote:
There were no existing units available to fill the gap I identified..

Every unit provides cover to those behind them.

Dire Avengers are also traited to tie up units.

The thing you want already exists.

Looks good, but I think Autarchs should stay WS and BS 6.

Every unit provides cover to those behind them.
Shellguard do it better than anyone else. No other unit in the game is designed to be a mobile wall as its primary function.
Dire Avengers are also traited to tie up units.
Dire Avengers are different in this codex. They can tie up better in the 4th ed dex than in this one as Defend is weaker here (since all Exarch abilities are now Exarch Abilities, not squad Abilities). Dire Avengers also cannot perform in a speed bump role outside of cover at all.. I wanted a single unit to both screen infantry in shooting and assault.
The thing you want already exists.
I will respectfully disagree, as what I wanted was a purely defensive Aspect in the Elite slot. Not a hybrid unit in the Troops slot which you provided. If you dislike the unit, fair enough, but without commenting on how the unit will make the army tactically different and just dismissing it as not needed, I feel you're missing the bigger picture. Two units of Shellguard as a mobile wall for Guardians with Autarch + Shining Spears to bail the Shellguard out of assault. Tactically operates differently from a lot of armies out there.

DOOMBREAD wrote:Looks good, but I think Autarchs should stay WS and BS 6.

I had done so, but forgot to update the "fluff" page entry. Thanks for noticing!

I have updated the Codex fully to be more readable with many updates from here and Warseer. Will post pdf tonight.

I think Eldrad should be Mastery 4.

Otherwise, awesome list! Would very much like to see a version of this as a 6th ed official dex.

Von Chogg

This is really cool!
I'm having fun looking at it, eldar are ripe for meddling in my opinion.

So far I'm a little taken aback by the serious changes to DA. But the more I think about them, the more they seem the same, kinda expensive at 14 points. They sorta taste like devil guants, but find themselves a little improved, with some options to give them another jobs, but they find their points resembling something more like a necron warrior squad, the likely new price for CSM or Grey Hunters.

seems like a hard sell to me! Especially given that it doesn't do much more than being an expensive tarpit or a fragile scoring torrent!

This is so cool, I'll have to read more after work!

Thanks guys,

I'm glad you both like it.

I'm open to Mastery 4, as he is touted as the best Psyker, but he'll have to pay for it.. 300pts okay?

Dire Avengers in the 4th Ed book are slightly overcosted (should be 10pts imho). I gave them the following buffs, which I figured were worth the "4pt" hike:
- Bladestorm
- Grenades
- +1A (via CCW/Pistol)
- AP4 on Catapults

I'm open to repricing, that's just my reasoning on the points cost

300 would be good for mastery 4.


And avengers seem good, the AP 4 makes em worth the points Maybe drop em a point? As they are still ultimately easy to kill, IMO.


But still great!

Von Chogg

But 13pts is unlucky!

I've begun adding Art, with the Farseer entry. Currently I'll be linking to the artists for those used without permission.. but if anyone here has any well-painted models or fan art they would like to submit for a certain entry, please contact me via PM or post it here.

The shift from ap5 to 4 is pretty meager all things considered, not really worth a point to me, while rapid fire getting better and eldar weapons suddenly becoming very awkward does seem like it might be worth a points cut to me.

the face is, dire avengers are still not very good at anything but shooting at men and hoping that anything that charges them are tied up for more than a turn, they don't hold objectives well, they don't have any special targets, a stiff wind kills them and they are only very debatably better a killing normal dudes than your average bs4 bolter kinda guy, and usually a lot less resilient.

+1 attack is really not all that relevant on a 3 str guy that costs too much to field in numbers, I'd also say the grenades were something a long time coming and really don't seem like something reasonable to pay for

built in bladestorm is an interesting trick, but I'd price the group down, and then price the hail up. I'd also be inclined to give the exarch more unique equipment to add some of the famed dire avengers balance to the squad, which has seemed to always be lacking.

Bottom line with dire avengers, it's hard to make a S3 T3 and +4 or crappier armor guy too cheap. Well it can be done, but you can push it, without it getting out of hand very quickly. It's not like they're a unit you can lean on, they don't really do anything other than try to kill other troop choices, and you've got necron warriors, orc boys, and vetrans to compare them to. If the dire avenger is going to be balanced between a crappy shooting unit and an expensive tarpit, things just about any unit can do, at least make them efficient at it.

Okay one other thing I saw before heading to work today was that the farseer primaris power is mind war. That feels like a slap in the face to me. Did you give any special rules or wargear allowing the player to pick their powers? It just seems like a real nerf to take away an eldar player's ability to pick their powers and build their list around buff/debuff casters. You know how much more worth it dire avengers are when you have a surplus of doom laying around?

Just took a fast skim through units, will go through special characters later.

Why the increase of Scorpions cost to 18? They didn't gain any raw strengths and already at 16 they are meh. They will struggle to kill anything their cost. Or maybe I was just using them wrong.
They also have 4+ armour in characteristics.

I also think "From the Shadows" should be changed. Right now you will have both Shrouded and Stealth if both are in one unit. Shouldn't they just get Shrouded?

"The model(s) that choose to combine may not fire its Prism Cannon at another unit that turn." It would seem it can still fire it's cannon at the same unit

I like the Starcannon change. Too expensive (coupled with S5 only) to be auto include but enough RoF and AP to be of use at that price.

Love what you did with Exarch: cost, abilities (cheap enough to consider) and giving some abilities directly to units. Whoever thought current pimped Dark Reaper Exarch at ~90 points would be fair costed is nuts.

Can't say anything about balance because I would have to playtest it (not easy, my gaming group doesn't like house rules) or have a longer read.

Overall looks nice so complements on hard work.

I had an idea about distinguishing current Guide vs Prescience. Guide has half the range and works shooting only vs. no casting from vehicles. Would it be fair to add a little rule to the guide (as a reaction to Rapid Fire): "Shuriken Weaponry (Catapult, Cannon, Pistol??, Avenger Catapult) gains additional 6" of range.


And I agree with Lucre, on almost anything he said.
Dire Avengers should stay at 12 points max. 13 points is too close to GH, which are way out of their league. AP4 is awesome against other Eldar and close to useless against anything else.
I would also give Guide, Fortune or Doom as primaris power IF they have to be remade BRB style.Those are Eldar trademark, not Mind War.

I like it!!! Good job sir! There are still some issues, mainly some rules looks a little confused... I will post a list when i have time...

Loving it, I'll add a few of my thoughts, but just on my read through, i was thinking "If this was the next eldar codex, I would be excited, but not overly so" which is exactly what I'm looking for in the next codex. Good, but not stupidly over-powered.

Thoughts, in no particular order:

Wraithguard, I feel, should have 18" range. 15" might have been enough in 5th, but in 6th, with assaults and opposing fire having slightly longer ranges, I think 18" is warranted.

I don't feel like Shining Spears have been gotten "right". Looking through the fast attack section, I still see them as fairly fragile, expensive, high-value target hunters in a codex that (now) already has numerous ways of dealing with those units, all of which are more durable, and most of which are cheaper. I don't have a suggestion how to fix this, unfortunately.

Rangers - I like how pathfinders are the standard upgrade they are now, but with a bit of an extra dimension added in - pistols + CCW, with infiltrate, scout, and fleet. Good enough to cause problems if the opportunity allows it.

Farseer blessing powers - I feel like the range on guide and fortune could be increased. 12" isn't outlandish, and the only quibble I have with 4th edition farseers is that they are unit-upgrade characters, instead of army-leading characters. Their short range pigeonholes them into a single unit.

Autarch - Still, not really feeling the Autarch as a viable option to the psyker HQ options. If the Master Strategist rule included "may add or subtract 1 to their reserve and outflank rolls, that would seal the deal. He has the options to be placed in a supporting role in any aspect unit, but as stands, his rules don't allow him to change the army the way a farseer with fortune or doom does. If he could manipulate reserves to come in more-or-less where an eldar general wants, and when, he would be a good option.

The Avatar's Spear - God**** ****ing AWESOME.

Striking Scorpions - good, but not quite there, I don't feel. Bottom line, one of their biggest pluses in the 4th edition codex is 3+ armor. As stands they have 4+, and no way of improving. Consider giving the unit shrouded if the cover save in question comes from area terrain. This would cause them to be very effective at attacking from behind and through terrain, but no more durable in assault, which is very eldar-y.

Harlequins - 80 freakin' points for a shadowseer!?

Dire Avengers - ok, but kinda.... bleh. I view these guys as the Eldar's masters of the pitched battle. When you're going house-to-house, street-to-street, when you've absolutely got to get stuck in, in a roiling battle which shifts from close combat to close ranged shooting - Dire Avengers. They're close, but not quite there. I think the change they should have is this: When firing in overwatch, a unit of Dire Avengers always uses their normal Ballistic Skill. These guys are the masters of the shuican catapult. Experts at short-to-medium ranged fire-fights. They are Eldar, weilding the best, most versatile anti-infantry personal defense weapon the Eldar produce. Enemies shouldn't get a free pass at getting into combat with Dire Avengers.

Support weapon platforms - I feel like these are expensive. Yes, they are D-cannons in a troop slot, but 195 points for 3 D-cannons? Maybe make each crew 3 guardians @ 10 points each. This ups the squad to 10 guys total with a warlock. Same total cost (3@10 instead of 2@15), but a few more bodies.

Alaintar - i dunno. His benefits are sort of 'meh' for 75 points. He gets an extra attack, but pathfinders first-turn-charge is a pretty situational event. He gets timed ambush, but snapshots can't be precise, so the effectiveness of that is heavily degraded. He doesn't ignore cover, and any target against which Instant Death is most effective has a 2+ LoS! save. Consider, instead of ID, disallowing LoS! or ignoring cover. Also consider allowing him to shoot twice. Also consider giving Pathfinders Aspect Armor, and increasing their upgrade cost slightly.

Wraithlord - consider giving it Feel no Pain. First, it is only a 5+ save now, second - it isn't denied by power weapons. This makes them more durable against high-AP shooting (missiles, lascannons) while not significantly increasing their durability against other attacks. It isn't as absurdly powerful as a 2+ save, or a 4+ invulnerable. Then, change Song of the Wraithbone to be wraithguard only.

Dark Reapers - very good unit.

Special Characters - nicely priced, and beastly. Where is Alaitoc's?

Overall, an expensive codex, but powerful - right where the eldar should be.

Lucre wrote:...Dire Avenger Talk...

Okay one other thing I saw before heading to work today was that the farseer primaris power is mind war. That feels like a slap in the face to me. Did you give any special rules or wargear allowing the player to pick their powers? It just seems like a real nerf to take away an eldar player's ability to pick their powers and build their list around buff/debuff casters. You know how much more worth it dire avengers are when you have a surplus of doom laying around?

I agree with the DA points. A lot of the points costs haven't been thoroughly updated since 3 years ago when I started this project. I think I will drop to 12, as suggested with no changes.

Runes of Power (30pts) allow you to roll 3 dice when choosing your power. That's a really high chance at getting at least Doom/Guide or Fortune/Doom or Fortune/Ward. I view the Primaris as being a power you can gain if you don't want what you rolled, that isn't a bad power (and this Mind War is much buffed compared to the old one, imo). As it stands no matter what you roll, except maybe Void Ray against all infantry, you'll keep the power you roll anyway. I will probably swap to Fortune though.

Macok wrote:Just took a fast skim through units, will go through special characters later.

Why the increase of Scorpions cost to 18? They didn't gain any raw strengths and already at 16 they are meh. They will struggle to kill anything their cost. Or maybe I was just using them wrong.
They also have 4+ armour in characteristics.
The 4+ Armour was a mistake. They should have 3+. What they gained from their current incarnation: Infiltrate, Move Through Cover, Scout, AP5 in combat... all for 2pts.

I also think "From the Shadows" should be changed. Right now you will have both Shrouded and Stealth if both are in one unit. Shouldn't they just get Shrouded?
Good point!

"The model(s) that choose to combine may not fire its Prism Cannon at another unit that turn." It would seem it can still fire it's cannon at the same unit
Thanks!

I had an idea about distinguishing current Guide vs Prescience. Guide has half the range and works shooting only vs. no casting from vehicles. Would it be fair to add a little rule to the guide (as a reaction to Rapid Fire): "Shuriken Weaponry (Catapult, Cannon, Pistol??, Avenger Catapult) gains additional 6" of range.
I could just allow it to add 6" to everything.. would be attractive on Wraithguard and other units too that way. Good idea!

And I agree with Lucre, on almost anything he said.
Dire Avengers should stay at 12 points max. 13 points is too close to GH, which are way out of their league. AP4 is awesome against other Eldar and close to useless against anything else.
I would also give Guide, Fortune or Doom as primaris power IF they have to be remade BRB style.Those are Eldar trademark, not Mind War.
I think this is how new Psykers will be made, but yes I will update the Primaris.

punkow wrote: I like it!!! Good job sir! There are still some issues, mainly some rules looks a little confused... I will post a list when i have time...

Look forward to it!

Gwyidion wrote:Good, but not stupidly over-powered. That's the hope!

Thoughts, in no particular order:

Wraithguard, I feel, should have 18" range. 15" might have been enough in 5th, but in 6th, with assaults and opposing fire having slightly longer ranges, I think 18" is warranted.
I think this could be arranged (or how about the new Guide idea above?)


I don't feel like Shining Spears have been gotten "right". Looking through the fast attack section, I still see them as fairly fragile, expensive, high-value target hunters in a codex that (now) already has numerous ways of dealing with those units, all of which are more durable, and most of which are cheaper. I don't have a suggestion how to fix this, unfortunately.
They do have a pistol now (+1A), a 5pt drop, and access to some defensive buffs and grenades. Perhaps include one of the latter in their cost?

Rangers - I like how pathfinders are the standard upgrade they are now, but with a bit of an extra dimension added in - pistols + CCW, with infiltrate, scout, and fleet. Good enough to cause problems if the opportunity allows it.
Yeah, I have used infiltrating and assaulting Pathfinder units against Tau or IG gunlines in the past, so I thought it would be fun.

Farseer blessing powers - I feel like the range on guide and fortune could be increased. 12" isn't outlandish, and the only quibble I have with 4th edition farseers is that they are unit-upgrade characters, instead of army-leading characters. Their short range pigeonholes them into a single unit.
I can agree with that.

Autarch - Still, not really feeling the Autarch as a viable option to the psyker HQ options. If the Master Strategist rule included "may add or subtract 1 to their reserve and outflank rolls, that would seal the deal. He has the options to be placed in a supporting role in any aspect unit, but as stands, his rules don't allow him to change the army the way a farseer with fortune or doom does. If he could manipulate reserves to come in more-or-less where an eldar general wants, and when, he would be a good option.
The Autarch as is is designed to be used with a lot of units that don't depend on Farseers. Units with great offense (Shining Spears, Fire Dragons, Scorpions, Reapers) that don't *need* Doom or Fortune to survive. With the plethora of options available to them wargear wise, and the ability to choose the best Warlord Trait rolled for the army/mission, they can do some fun things like make a unit of Reapers Scoring, give Shining Spears bonus attacks, etc.. If he's not quite there yet, let me know (which I think you just did!

The Avatar's Spear - God**** ****ing AWESOME.


Striking Scorpions - good, but not quite there, I don't feel. Bottom line, one of their biggest pluses in the 4th edition codex is 3+ armor. As stands they have 4+, and no way of improving. Consider giving the unit shrouded if the cover save in question comes from area terrain. This would cause them to be very effective at attacking from behind and through terrain, but no more durable in assault, which is very eldar-y.
See above!

Harlequins - 80 freakin' points for a shadowseer!?
Well, they gained some really neat psychic powers, +1W, and make their unit Scoring (so you can build a pure Harlequin army).

Dire Avengers - ok, but kinda.... bleh. I view these guys as the Eldar's masters of the pitched battle. When you're going house-to-house, street-to-street, when you've absolutely got to get stuck in, in a roiling battle which shifts from close combat to close ranged shooting - Dire Avengers. They're close, but not quite there. I think the change they should have is this: When firing in overwatch, a unit of Dire Avengers always uses their normal Ballistic Skill. These guys are the masters of the shuican catapult. Experts at short-to-medium ranged fire-fights. They are Eldar, weilding the best, most versatile anti-infantry personal defense weapon the Eldar produce. Enemies shouldn't get a free pass at getting into combat with Dire Avengers.

Support weapon platforms - I feel like these are expensive. Yes, they are D-cannons in a troop slot, but 195 points for 3 D-cannons? Maybe make each crew 3 guardians @ 10 points each. This ups the squad to 10 guys total with a warlock. Same total cost (3@10 instead of 2@15), but a few more bodies.
With the buffs to Artillery in 6th, I kind of knee-jerked their pts costs. Keep in mind that they are 3 D-Cannons that score.

Alaintar - i dunno. His benefits are sort of 'meh' for 75 points. He gets an extra attack, but pathfinders first-turn-charge is a pretty situational event. He gets timed ambush, but snapshots can't be precise, so the effectiveness of that is heavily degraded. He doesn't ignore cover, and any target against which Instant Death is most effective has a 2+ LoS! save. Consider, instead of ID, disallowing LoS! or ignoring cover. Also consider allowing him to shoot twice. Also consider giving Pathfinders Aspect Armor, and increasing their upgrade cost slightly.
He was downgraded from a full-blown Special Character to be more like Tellion, so may need a tweak. Keep in mind those snap shots before the game starts (hitting on 6's) will all be Precision and AP1 and since done right after Infiltrating them, can be done in such a way the target has no cover. He is Alaitoc's special character, btw.

Wraithlord - consider giving it Feel no Pain. First, it is only a 5+ save now, second - it isn't denied by power weapons. This makes them more durable against high-AP shooting (missiles, lascannons) while not significantly increasing their durability against other attacks. It isn't as absurdly powerful as a 2+ save, or a 4+ invulnerable. Then, change Song of the Wraithbone to be wraithguard only.
They can get cover in 6th much more easily (25% so easy, and Area Terrain), so I don't think this is necessary. I have thought about immunity to poison, though to make them not auto-die turn 1 to DE.

Dark Reapers - very good unit.

So I need to pay 30 extra points to get a reliable-ish guide or doom seer instead of a mind war one? I shiver to think! Oh I guess it's fortune now, that's not awful, but it's also, really not great, my opponent will just shoot at something else and I'll feel bad about having a 100 point unit that gives one unit a save reroll, but then again, I've never been much of a deathstar person.

Somehow deathstars never felt too eldary to me either, but save re-rolls do, so I'll give you that!

What else? I guess I've been wondering for a few editions why striking scorpions deserve to be elites. They seem to sorta like super dire avengers to me that do their work in close combat and can be midfield in the beginning of the game. That still doesn't make them good for anything except getting in the way and forcing a lot of saves on crappy dudes. They are a tricky fix, but I've always thought they could be scoring, or be changed in some way so as to give you an interesting counter charge unit that wasn't competing with your fire dragons. I'll give you that you've handed them a number of options, which is very nice, but the nerf to outflank, charge and vehicle rules have hurt them too. I guess they are sorta like really weird CSM with the mark of khorne. They seem really expensive to me at 18, who needs csm with the mark of khorne anyway? They weren't really any good before, you gave them so slight buffs that didn't make them all that more exciting or give them new direction and then made them more expensive. Do scout and infiltrate interact in some evil way? I've never really had to deal with both.

They seem like they will be a tricky fix!

I love the new Howling Banshees I'm not sure how good they will be, but it seems like they will be able to do their job very well. I get the feeling they might be a little busted, but I suppose they are really flimsy outside of their initiative step in combat. I wish there was some way to build in more ability to take ap2 but such is life.

I like your wave serpent, but I think it might be a little inexpensive, I'd probably give it a token +5 points.
What I don't like is the Star Cannon! Why is it so expensive for such weak sauce? I love the current Star Cannon's design, I just think it's way too expensive to compete with other cheap str 6 options. Maybe it would be sorta niche cool if it was str 5 ap2 assault 4, but currently, hitting a MEQ or TEQ on .5, killing it on a .66 and then forcing a cover or invulnerable save is just not all that jazzy, even when twin linked. I love str6 ap2, it's such an interesting, useful profile!


Lots of neat ideas so far, can't wait to see what else rolls out!

 Lucre wrote:
So I need to pay 30 extra points to get a reliable-ish guide or doom seer instead of a mind war one? I shiver to think! Oh I guess it's fortune now, that's not awful, but it's also, really not great, my opponent will just shoot at something else and I'll feel bad about having a 100 point unit that gives one unit a save reroll, but then again, I've never been much of a deathstar person.
Well consider the current Farseer, versus this one. Currently, they are 55pts. If you want to get 2 powers and be able to cast them, they are a minimum of +60pts (so 115). At 100pts, you get all these things, but your powers are random (and you can fall back on an awesome power). If you want more choice over said powers, you pay the 30pts. 2 rolls with 3 dice each on average will give you a very high chance of getting the one spell you want. Add in Runes of Warding.. and you have 150pts (5pts more than a Fortune/Doom Seer with RoW now). They're designed to be useful but random if kept cheap, reliable if you spend the points.

Somehow deathstars never felt too eldary to me either, but save re-rolls do, so I'll give you that!
Save re-rolls I felt were the most army-wide useful out of Fortune/Doom/Guide no matter what choice you bring. You want to choose the weakest, but still strong and useful as the primaris.. and having Guide as the Primaris would feel too much like Divination.

What else? I guess I've been wondering for a few editions why striking scorpions deserve to be elites. They seem to sorta like super dire avengers to me that do their work in close combat and can be midfield in the beginning of the game. That still doesn't make them good for anything except getting in the way and forcing a lot of saves on crappy dudes. They are a tricky fix, but I've always thought they could be scoring, or be changed in some way so as to give you an interesting counter charge unit that wasn't competing with your fire dragons. I'll give you that you've handed them a number of options, which is very nice, but the nerf to outflank, charge and vehicle rules have hurt them too. I guess they are sorta like really weird CSM with the mark of khorne. They seem really expensive to me at 18, who needs csm with the mark of khorne anyway? They weren't really any good before, you gave them so slight buffs that didn't make them all that more exciting or give them new direction and then made them more expensive. Do scout and infiltrate interact in some evil way? I've never really had to deal with both.
I do agree with a lot here. Scorpions for me *almost* were made into Troops without the buffs for this Fandex. Scout and Infiltrate allow you to start as close as 6" from an enemy.. although I just noticed you can't assault if you infiltrate.. so I will probably give them a rule to do so.

They seem like they will be a tricky fix!

I love the new Howling Banshees I'm not sure how good they will be, but it seems like they will be able to do their job very well. I get the feeling they might be a little busted, but I suppose they are really flimsy outside of their initiative step in combat. I wish there was some way to build in more ability to take ap2 but such is life.
I could make them all AP2 no problem.. I just felt with the direction of 6th, they are meant to be AP3 with the option for AP2 (like DE Incubi). The WS1 in round 1 will really help them survive that first round a lot better, and make them not as Doom dependent.

I like your wave serpent, but I think it might be a little inexpensive, I'd probably give it a token +5 points.
I think 80pts, while cheap, is about right now for hull points 6th Ed. I would put Devilfish at 60pts naked, for example.

What I don't like is the Star Cannon! Why is it so expensive for such weak sauce? I love the current Star Cannon's design, I just think it's way too expensive to compete with other cheap str 6 options. Maybe it would be sorta niche cool if it was str 5 ap2 assault 4, but currently, hitting a MEQ or TEQ on .5, killing it on a .66 and then forcing a cover or invulnerable save is just not all that jazzy, even when twin linked. I love str6 ap2, it's such an interesting, useful profile!
Ok, trying something fun, how about S6 AP2 Assault d3?

Lots of neat ideas so far, can't wait to see what else rolls out!

I don't know why there has to be so much die rolling at all!

What about those fliers? They seem pretty incredibly bad ass! Maybe a little too good? Like 6 strength 8 shots is pretty cheap on a incredibly hard to hit flier. The crystal targeting matrix is pretty fun too!

I wonder what the best solution for durable and thematic scoring units is!

I figure Holing banshee's are fine at ap3. I just think it would be pretty neat for eldar to get some more ap2 close combat weapons to go with their low strength and high initiative values. It seems appropriate somehow.

My last comment concerns your changes to the vyper jetbikes! They are waaaaay bigger than usual jetbikes, and the older rules had them at av10 2 hp. I feel like it's sorta unreasonable to leave them at T4 3+, they ought to be heartier than that don't you think? Maybe a bigger bonus to toughness? It just doesn't feel right, or look right in the numbers!

ALSO!
As a special treat, here is my go to dire avenger update I'm still trying to throw in one more exarch piece of wargear to make them really more resemble the balanced aspect they are supposed to me. Even though they always seem sorta top loaded into the poor exarch.

I don't mind making them pretty good at the moment, but I'm being a little conservative with the costs. I rationalize the goodness of the exarch upgrades because there is such limited availability of special arms and the cost of upgrading to an exarch is a decent chunk of change, despite not really adding anything to your army, so I tend to group the cost of all that together. I'm also of the mind that flimsy marine inferior units should be fairly points efficient and have places where they excel. Especially ones that are not very robust and lack standard options people like to build their troops around (incredibly useful special weaponry, cheap and potent transport options). So I ended up trying to do a lot of cost reduction to build in a number of directions for them to go into efficiently and gave them some throw in abilities that don't really stand out, but improve their standard function. I think it might not be unreasonable to drop them to 10 points.

I'm also being kinda cavalier about ap2 and eldar. It really seems like something they should have to balance out their medicore number of attacks, low strength and poor access to strong hidden weapons, and high initiative coupled with a generally flimsy frame. It just feels right doesn't it?

Dire Avenger
11 Points per model
WS 4
BS 4
S 3
T 3
I 5
A 1
W 1
LD 9
Sv +4

Infantry

5-12

Wargear:

Avenger Shuriken Catapult
Plasma Grenades

Special Rules:

Fleet of Foot

Stand Tall (could be better)
Unit's charging the dire avengers do not receive the +1 attack bonus for assaulting.

Defend
An exarch with this ability and his squad count as having the counter attack universal special rule and hit with all their snap-shots on a roll of 5 or more.

Blade Storm
If the exarch has this ability, the dire avengers squad may fire their shuriken weapons in the shooting phase with one additional shot (so assault 2 becomes assault 3), but may not fire during the shooting phase next turn.

Options:

You can upgrade one Dire Avenger to an Exarch with Plasma Grenades, Dire Avenger Cataplult and Dire Avenger Pistol for 10 points.



The Exarch may exchange its Avenger shuriken pistol for:
A second Dire Avenger Cataplut for free.
A Shimmer Shield for 10 points.

The Exarch may exchange its close combat weapon for:
Power Sword for 10 points.
Dire Sword for 15 points.
Spear of Asur for 15 points.

The Exarch may take any number of special Exarch powers:
Blade Storm for 10 points.
Defend for 10 points.

Wargear Rules:

Avenger shuriken Catapult
Range 24" | S4 | AP5 | Assault 2
Pistol
Range 12" | S4 | AP5 | Pistol 1

Diresword
A diresword is a one handed close combat weapon that hits at a s equal to it's users, has AP 2 and any unsaved wounds taken by the diresword force the recipient to take a leadership test on 2 dice, failing that test, it is a victim of instant death and removed as a casualty.

Spear of Asur
Counts as a power lance in the assault phase, but must be weilded two handed and can never be used in conjuction with another close combat weapon or pistol in order to get a bonus attack.
In the shooting phase it has the following profile:
Range 24" | S6 | AP1 | Assault 1 Skyfire, Interceptor

Some interesting ideas in there. I like the Spear of Asur, better snapshots (although I think it fits better with Bladestorm). I think Stand Tall should just be replaced with Defensive grenades.

Yea, what I worry about, is still what are they good for? Popping out and helping torrent something down, and advancing in front of something in order to make a frustrating catcher?

I want Eldar to have more depth than flimsy torrents and fast skimmer spam. Or at least being able to incorporate that into something else.

I've been considering of late, vyper variants.
If they could say, be bought sort of as a squadron or as IC vehicles, that would be pretty neat. I'm also thinking about if they should be good particularly good for anything besides being versatile that way. I was wondering how they should interact with fliers too, maybe the shooty one would come with a strafing run ability.

Anyhow my thoughts on vypers tend to be keeping them as crappy vehicles that scoutflank to be a silver bullet, play escort to another vehicle or just be annoying and get in things way.

I've also been considering 3 variants, so long as you can break them up.
1. Chariot vyper, with blades on the bottom maybe and a jerk on top. That would be pretty neat to have a couple of those flying around with your HQ chariot eh?
2. Normal shooty vyper, that is cheap and cheerful and can be upgraded with strafing run or something for the gun.
3. Then maybe something like a venom or a landspeeder transport that can bring 5 guys with it in exchange for the gun.

I feel like giving them both assault transports and gunships suits the flexibility and rapid deployment / redeployment that is built into the eldar flavour. I also like the new shot allocation rules in terms of making adding vehicles to jetbike squads a lot easier to deal with.

Still not really sure what to do about footdar. Something tells me that the solution could be elaborating on arcane wargear. Eldar focus a lot on tanks and psychic powers, but very little on the wacko machinery they've created during their time at the top. Something other than a gun or sword or psychic modifier.

What about a single, complex vehicle squadron of light skimmers? Like Vypers, Hornets and maybe 1-2 other (new) type of fast skimmers forming one squadron. 1-8 vehicle(s) per squadron (in any combination) in a single Fast Attack slot. That would make Vypers worth considering as a support/escort for the other (better) guys.

Yes/No/Cancel?

Lucre:

They're a swiss army knife. The sheer weight of fire and ability to stand up to a lot of tougher unit in combat for a turn or two allow them to engage targets of all types. My Tyranid MCs have been torrented to death by a single unit of Avengers before.. it happens.

The Swift Dragon in the Fandex is your Vyper Chariot variant.

Also Vypers can be given CTM (which in the Fandex grants Strafing Run or Skyfire).. so there's your cheap and fancy options there.

The only think I don't really have are Venom equivalents, and I think that will be the next unit I add to the army.

I think Footdar are fine in the Fandex with gunlines being protected by Sentinels and Counter-attack elements.. and potentially fun gun-line combos like a Court with 4 Dark Reaper Exarchs, 3 x 5 Dark Reapers, 3 Guardian Defenders, 3 Support Platforms and a unit of Sentinels out front really being able to pour on the fire power.

AtoMaki:

It's an interesting concept, but could be easy to power-game. Bring a cheap naked skimmer with a bunch of highpower ones, then use the naked one as ablative wounds. It's harder to point cost units when you have their function being two things (potential ablative wounds for uber-skimmers AND offensive targets in their own right).

I consider Vypers themselves to be jetbikes with a canopy and a second gun.. much the way a Marine Attack bike is in function.

They could be tougher, though, I can agree with that.. I just wanted to keep them in the Eldar realm of jetbikes (Guardian Pilots, +1T) instead of justifying the extra T through looks.

Hey, not here to hate but just share my feedback.

I don't like the Fandex at all. It doesn't really improve the army, it just shuffles things slightly. Random Farseer powers? This seems like a terrible idea. A lot of the wargear changes don't make sense (Direswords being AP2, Pulse Laser is AP1). Fusion gun changes are pretty lame, we aren't Dark Eldar, we don't have Heat Lances nor do we need it. Banshees got a lot better while only slightly going up in points. And Shellguard Sentinels? A Slow and Purposeful Eldar Unit who is just a moving (or not) light energy wall? I don't think they fit the fluff of the Eldar or seem balanced for the game.

I don't think any of the 3 slot changes you made make actual sense. Just because Warwalkers have Scout doesn't mean they should be fast attack. They have that to reposition themselves before the battle begins. After that they are ranged, slightly mobile weapons platforms. They've always been there for a reason. Just because Support Weapons would be good as scoring doesn't mean they should be. If they are outshined by other options within the HS slot then make them more useful or fill another roll. Give them a Skyfire/Interceptor Scatter Laser or something like that, perhaps?

And while this is more of a personal part than an actual "problem" with your Fandex... I feel like it really is just played almost exactly the same way. Personally I was looking for something that varied the playstyle of Eldar and let you play them different ways, based on whatever your fluff is. Giving you options to slightly shuffle the FOC can go a long way... and almost every Codex has it but us in some place =( I know you offered something close to it in the Pheonix Lords... but I don't want to have to use up all my HQ slots on expensive ICs just to get a single unit to be scoring.

I hope this helps somewhat. Best of luck.