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Okay so here goes:

First we take an Autarch, then we give him a Jetbike, then we give him a Laser Lance, then we give him a Fusion Gun, then we give him a Banshee Mask and finally we give him the Mantle of the Laughing God.

How much does this add up to? 150 points. Not too costly for an HQ choice.

What can he do? Let's first look at his stats:

WS 6
BS 6
S 6 (the turn he charges)
Marine toughness (thanks to jetbike)
Swarmlord Initiative, but banshee mask subtracts enemy initiative and he has plasma grenades, so there really is nobody in the meta that can strike before him.


How fast can he move? 12" in your 1st turn's movement phase, then 24" turbo-boost in your shooting phase = 36" from where he originally started, ignoring any and all terrain in between, but taking one dangerous terrain test everytime he begins or ends his movement in difficult terrain (thus upto 4 in a single turn if you are unlucky).

How good is he at dishing out pain? Well first off, he has a BS6 fusion gun. So against tanks - if you take his maneuverability into consideration - this guy has no problems getting within melta range. And when he charges, he can either attack the tank's rear (usually AV10) with his 5 S6 laser lance attacks, or if it is a Land Raider, glance it on a 2+ with his haywire grenade.

Against infantry, he is extremely resilient to overwatch due to his cover save. The turn he charges, he has five S6 AP3 attacks hitting most enemies on 3+ and wounding most infantry on 2+ and most MCs on 4+. If he charges into an enemy squad containing a character, that character cannot delay combat for a turn by sacrificing itself and issuing a challenge because the Mantle of the laughing God no longer makes the Autarch a character. The MotlG also gives him the Hit and Run special rule, so he can disengage 3D6" at the end of the combat phase of the turn he charged in, and weather the entire enemy army's ranged arsenal, cackling maniacally.

How much punishment can he take? The moment he moves, his jetbike gives him a 5+ jink save. But because he has the Mantle of the Laughing God, he has stealth and shrouded, so make this a 2+ jink save - regardless whether he turbo-boosts or not. And to top it all off, make this a re-rollable 2+ jink save thanks to MotlG. In close combat, the MotlG prevents him from being challenged.

So to kill him at range, you really have to get past 3 T4 wounds where he fails his re-rollable 2+ cover save every single time thrice in a row...good luck with that. And in close combat, you would have to weather his 5 S6 AP3 attacks before you get to strike, having probably already sustained another wound from his fusion gun, or you would have to charge him if you can...but given his maneuverability, I think this is very hard to pull off. And you would still only hit him on a 4+ and have to get past his 4+ invulnerable save. Either way, you would only get 1 combat phase before he pulls out and charges you and strikes first again.

So what do you guys think?

What I love about this guy is that he can work all by himself. You can stick him with a squad of Shining Spears or Jetbike Warlocks if you want, but you're only driving the points cost skyhigh by doing so. On his own, he is pretty decent for his points cost, and if you go the extra mile and give him a Phoenix Gem, he can take even more enemies with him and still remain for another turn of close combat asskicking.


Every unit has a weakness, and obviously, this guy's is the fact that he cannot scratch 2+ armor, and enemy invulnerable saves can take the steam off his charge. Still, I think he's a great unit and also has the bonus of manipulating your reserve rolls for the better or for worse (e.g. if you want your Crimson Hunter to stay in reserve for one more turn if possible).

Once you give him the mantle of the laughing god you can't put him in any units.

A single blastmaster shot will crush his day in a cacophony of sound and shattering bone.

Ignores Cover ruins him, Tau will have a fun time.

My friend has run that very same HQ for a while now and he is the absolute bane of my existence. I'm nearly considering going full Wraithwing since he wrecks my Necron's vehicles and infantry without breaking a sweat.

I'd consider taking the Phoenix Bomb as well, if you somehow die (especially in CC), there's a really good chance he comes back.

 ZebioLizard2 wrote:
Ignores Cover ruins him, Tau will have a fun time.

Except Tau would need to get 2 markerlights on him first (with BS3 thats usually dedicating an entire pathfinder team's attention on him), and then shoot at him with enough multi-shot AP3 or lower weapons (if crisis suits happen to be closeby...or dedicate the attention of an Hammrhead or Riptide to insta-kill him) and then still get past his 4+ invulnerable save. Thats around 200 points worth of units dedicating their attention to him, fine by me

But with this kind of maneuverability the Autarch can simply position himself behind LoS blocking terrain when facing Tau. Not too difficult.

What does the blastmaster do?

I have a mate running an Autarch like that in our FLGC's escalation league.

I was lucky to take 2 wounds off him,then he jumped out of combat and shot what was left of my GH squad to death.

Small Blast S8 AP3, ignores cover, with good range

I'm thinking he is a better choice than the Avatar as the Avatar costs a lot more points and is very slow. With some bad luck he wont be able to get into close combat at all.

S8 AP3 48" Ignores Cover, Blast

He can easily stay away from 36" range guns if he wants to. 48", not so much.

Fair enough. Then charging that squad will be a priority

He is not a bad choice but does have some really bad matchup issues. A few things:

-He loses IC status, but still is considered a 'Character' so he can be challenged in an assault. However, since he is no longer an IC, he can't join a unit so this is likely not a big issue. Look at the entry for Autarch and it's pretty clear.

-The Autarch needs to get close to be of any consequence. Once he gets close, he may get the first shot off, but afterwards I've seen this model go away fast as he's fairly exposed. Tau players don't need markerlights only to remove his cover save. Assault can just hammer this guy as well if the player is not careful. He is not overly great in assault by himself.

-He can stay out of range for most of the game and then be utilized to contest an objective or get linebreaker, but this seems to be a bit wasteful given it is an HQ slot you are utilizing.

-Overall, it's not a bad unit, but I don't think it is quite as good as folks make him out to be.

 Sarigar wrote:
He is not a bad choice but does have some really bad matchup issues. A few things:

-He loses IC status, but still is considered a 'Character' so he can be challenged in an assault. However, since he is no longer an IC, he can't join a unit so this is likely not a big issue. Look at the entry for Autarch and it's pretty clear.

-The Autarch needs to get close to be of any consequence. Once he gets close, he may get the first shot off, but afterwards I've seen this model go away fast as he's fairly exposed. Tau players don't need markerlights only to remove his cover save. Assault can just hammer this guy as well if the player is not careful. He is not overly great in assault by himself.

-He can stay out of range for most of the game and then be utilized to contest an objective or get linebreaker, but this seems to be a bit wasteful given it is an HQ slot you are utilizing.

-Overall, it's not a bad unit, but I don't think it is quite as good as folks make him out to be.

I beg to differ. Sure he can be less painful against certain armies, but against my Necrons he is an absolute beast and my SW can't really touch him either. He is nigh impossible to catch in CC if played carefully, and you have to remember that there's a lot more to an Eldar army. A LOT more that can easily remove any serious CC threats to him. Tau markerlights, Blastmaster (whatever that is, first time I hear about it), and lucky Divination rolls for Perfect Timing are the biggest threats to him. I don't think any HQ in the entire game is so good that they end up being super useful in every matchup anyway. Some people seem to even run bareboned HQs just because they are required.

E: But as always YMMV and it's really up to your meta how useful he can be.

Blastmaster (whatever that is, first time I hear about it)

Noise Marines Heavy/Assault weapon, no good NM squad is without one or two! Also they have other cover ignoring weapons, such as the S6/AP3 flamer, the S4 salvo cover ignore guns, and other such fun anti-cover tactics.

Yeah I hadnt given the idea of him getting charged too much thought, as this will actually leave him with S3 AP- attacks. In that case he needs a power weapon (or Firesabre) as backup.

This has been an Eldar favorite since te day the book dropped.

Tau isn't really a concern as a single jetbike is easy to hide...but their massed seeker missiles can hurt.

What you really need to watch out for are the counterassault units...sure, you have hit and run but you can still be taken out in a round of combat by termagants and anything with a 2+ sv...not to mention most things that charge you.

The Mask isn't really all too necessary I find...personally the points in my list are so tight I don't have 5 to spare...

Overall he is definitely worth it...but never make him the warlord as he'll probably kill 2-3 units and die to something random. I always get my points back 1,2,3x as much.

If you're using him though, be sure to make use of reserves. It's the biggest reason to run an Autarch in my opinion.

To me, this guy is the epitomy of Eldar. He's a knife that can carve out those few units that need to be destroyed so the rest of your army can proceed unassailed.

And don't forget about his TL shuriken catapults or the jetbike assault jump move.

And remember that he cannot join units. Otherwise he would be godlike.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 Sir Arun wrote:
Yeah I hadnt given the idea of him getting charged too much thought, as this will actually leave him with S3 AP- attacks. In that case he needs a power weapon (or Firesabre) as backup.

A scorpion chainsword should be enough to keep him trucking through.

If you need the firesabre...lose the lance...no reason to spend points on both.

Weazel wrote:

 Sarigar wrote:
He is not a bad choice but does have some really bad matchup issues. A few things:

-He loses IC status, but still is considered a 'Character' so he can be challenged in an assault. However, since he is no longer an IC, he can't join a unit so this is likely not a big issue. Look at the entry for Autarch and it's pretty clear.

-The Autarch needs to get close to be of any consequence. Once he gets close, he may get the first shot off, but afterwards I've seen this model go away fast as he's fairly exposed. Tau players don't need markerlights only to remove his cover save. Assault can just hammer this guy as well if the player is not careful. He is not overly great in assault by himself.

-He can stay out of range for most of the game and then be utilized to contest an objective or get linebreaker, but this seems to be a bit wasteful given it is an HQ slot you are utilizing.

-Overall, it's not a bad unit, but I don't think it is quite as good as folks make him out to be.

I beg to differ. Sure he can be less painful against certain armies, but against my Necrons he is an absolute beast and my SW can't really touch him either. He is nigh impossible to catch in CC if played carefully, and you have to remember that there's a lot more to an Eldar army. A LOT more that can easily remove any serious CC threats to him. Tau markerlights, Blastmaster (whatever that is, first time I hear about it), and lucky Divination rolls for Perfect Timing are the biggest threats to him. I don't think any HQ in the entire game is so good that they end up being super useful in every matchup anyway. Some people seem to even run bareboned HQs just because they are required.

E: But as always YMMV and it's really up to your meta how useful he can be.

You cant kill him as crons? I used to use this guy, but the fact that he died everygame in ASSULT which is where he is supposed to do best.
wraiths+destroyer lord=1 dead and useless autarch.

Overall its a pretty good unit, but i believe that a farseer on jetbike with mantle of the laughing god is better. casting powers while being near invincible, because he can stay out of combat, and has the cover.

But, its a matter of preference.

 ninjafiredragon wrote:
used to use this guy, but the fact that he died everygame in ASSULT which is where he is supposed to do best.
wraiths+destroyer lord=1 dead and useless autarch.

Yeah, don't get him anywhere near assault based units...it's not what he does best.

Burst Damage is the name of the game...neuter this unit, neuter that one...jump back and forth crippling the enemy's army from the inside. Don't ever stop moving to fight. If you didn't do what was necessary in round 1, GTFO.

You're point is to kill MEQ, kill armor, and chisel out support units/kill already weakened units.

 ductvader wrote:

 ninjafiredragon wrote:
used to use this guy, but the fact that he died everygame in ASSULT which is where he is supposed to do best.
wraiths+destroyer lord=1 dead and useless autarch.

Yeah, don't get him anywhere near assault based units...it's not what he does best.

Burst Damage is the name of the game...neuter this unit, neuter that one...jump back and forth crippling the enemy's army from the inside. Don't ever stop moving to fight. If you didn't do what was necessary in round 1, GTFO.

You're point is to kill MEQ, kill armor, and chisel out support units/kill already weakened units.

yes, but those wraiths were just as fast as me and so i coudn't go anywhere without them being right behind.
He has done well before, not saying hes bad on all occasions, it just surprised me that the necron player said he was having problems.

He is a great scalpel unit. He is actually a rather famous build at this point usually called a Laughingtarch, Mantletarch, etc.

For 150 pts he has great utility but you cannot just charge him into the opponent. He can also be further improved with the phoenix gem to allow him to resurrect.

Your statement of "tying up" 200 pts of shooting for 1 turn with 150 pts is a very very bad trade and should never be allowed to happen without a more important unit being saved in the process. At that rate you will be tabled within 2 turns. Usually to ensure a kill of 200 pts in a single turn it should take ~600 pts. If you go up against Tau you need to avoid letting ML get LoS to this guy. Same with blast masters. He has Hit and Run so you can always charge something to keep him "safe".

BTW he should never go against almost all MCs. All MCs can smash and so will ID him with ease if they get to attack back. The only MCs you should even consider are Init less than 6, 1 wound left, T < 7, and Sv3+ or worse... so very rare MCs.

He is perfect for bullying expensive shooty units and cleaning up troops. He will make your opponent dance around trying to protect these while you accomplish stuff with the rest of your army.

 ninjafiredragon wrote:

 ductvader wrote:

 ninjafiredragon wrote:
used to use this guy, but the fact that he died everygame in ASSULT which is where he is supposed to do best.
wraiths+destroyer lord=1 dead and useless autarch.

Yeah, don't get him anywhere near assault based units...it's not what he does best.

Burst Damage is the name of the game...neuter this unit, neuter that one...jump back and forth crippling the enemy's army from the inside. Don't ever stop moving to fight. If you didn't do what was necessary in round 1, GTFO.

You're point is to kill MEQ, kill armor, and chisel out support units/kill already weakened units.

yes, but those wraiths were just as fast as me and so i coudn't go anywhere without them being right behind.
He has done well before, not saying hes bad on all occasions, it just surprised me that the necron player said he was having problems.

Turbo-boost away. You may lose a turn of doing things, but Wraiths can't keep up with that. Also, you shouldn't be assaulting models with invuln saves with this guy. at best he has AP3, so you throw him against infantry to break those units. Heck, if you can assault them enough times, you can sweep them.

Str. 8. A single unit of Terminators. Thunderhammers, powerfist, all ID. Walkers and chaos engines, all ID and aren't all that scared of S6. You'll miss half 2-3 attacks and glance on a 6.

Any volume of fire attacks, like a Horrorstar or Herald star with 16d6 attacks, dakka banner DA, that type of thing. Only answer to a 2++ re rollable. 4 Heralds all combine for 16D6 Str. 6 shots. Save what you can boss. Plus they are jetbikes.

Not all perfect answers I know. It's the two I can think of. Definately a sick unit with some interesting potential. I just see a single t4 model on its own as too fragile to worry about much even with a gear fetish. As mentioned, any MC is ID also, so tyranids get angry on ya quick too.

EDIT- what about shieldbreaker rounds? or the Murdersword?

cod3x wrote:
Str. 8. A single unit of Terminators. Thunderhammers, powerfist, all ID. Walkers and chaos engines, all ID and aren't all that scared of S6. You'll miss half 2-3 attacks and glance on a 6.

Any volume of fire attacks, like a Horrorstar or Herald star with 16d6 attacks, dakka banner DA, that type of thing. Only answer to a 2++ re rollable. 4 Heralds all combine for 16D6 Str. 6 shots. Save what you can boss. Plus they are jetbikes.

Not all perfect answers I know. It's the two I can think of. Definately a sick unit with some interesting potential. I just see a single t4 model on its own as too fragile to worry about much even with a gear fetish. As mentioned, any MC is ID also, so tyranids get angry on ya quick too.

EDIT- what about shieldbreaker rounds? or the Murdersword?

If you're Assaulting terminators with the autarch, you're doing it very wrong.

i'd worry more about him being powerfisted in combat by a grey hunter or challenged by a 2+ sv character... He's slippery, but unless i'm missing something he's not EW right? I can think of a bunch of 150 pt characters that could give him serious worry

rune priest w/term armour + jaws (take him in CC and at range)
Kharne/Abbadon/Typhus/ most CSM HQ builds
t space marine CM on bikes with EW, Shield, Hammer, etc
Nec. Lord/Overloard with MSS and scythe....

these are just the armies i play. and i typically take these hq's in a friendly, all comers game. So.... i don't see him as an impossibly challenge

I've ALMOST allied this guy a few times with my Blood Angels, as the Banshee Mask would really help out against my buddies Nurgle Daemon Princes. They're initiative 8 and pretty much always wielding Instant Death weapons, so Mephiston, my biggest beatstick with the ability to force weapon them out, almost never gets a chance to strike before he's dead. The Jetbike Autarch with a Banshee Mask assaulting the same Daemon Prince in conjunction with Mephiston would pretty much solve everything, but it's not 100% fool-proof, and one doesn't always get the assault off against FMC.

Otherwise, I like the idea of the Mantle wearing Autarch. He just has a lot of competition at the HQ slot.

 McNinja wrote:

 ninjafiredragon wrote:

 ductvader wrote:

 ninjafiredragon wrote:
used to use this guy, but the fact that he died everygame in ASSULT which is where he is supposed to do best.
wraiths+destroyer lord=1 dead and useless autarch.

Yeah, don't get him anywhere near assault based units...it's not what he does best.

Burst Damage is the name of the game...neuter this unit, neuter that one...jump back and forth crippling the enemy's army from the inside. Don't ever stop moving to fight. If you didn't do what was necessary in round 1, GTFO.

You're point is to kill MEQ, kill armor, and chisel out support units/kill already weakened units.

yes, but those wraiths were just as fast as me and so i coudn't go anywhere without them being right behind.
He has done well before, not saying hes bad on all occasions, it just surprised me that the necron player said he was having problems.

Turbo-boost away. You may lose a turn of doing things, but Wraiths can't keep up with that. Also, you shouldn't be assaulting models with invuln saves with this guy. at best he has AP3, so you throw him against infantry to break those units. Heck, if you can assault them enough times, you can sweep them.

Im not the one assulting the wraiths. I assult one of his units (not wraiths) then hit and run away, but i get 1 at most of these in, killing 3-4 necron guys which isnt allot before the wraiths ketch up to me. sure, then i could turbo boost away again, but its just a cycle of me killing 3-4 guys, turboing away, then killin 3-4 guys in 2 turns. like i said, decent, but i prefer laughing sear.

This is a cool concept, but I think that its too flawed to do alot in very competitive play. There are just a few too many outs to it. just IMO

Shortly after the codex dropped this was in nearly every single thread. It's a time tested unit that can be very, very effective.

I think it's a tradeoff, if perhaps slight improvement. In the previous edition/codex the jetbike autarch was AP2, now he has a re-rollable 2+ cover save.

The Laughtarch ironically is negated by his own codex. Too many Wave Serpents driving around throwing down high strength ignores cover. Powerful unit, but the counters are common in tourney builds.