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right, with a few people having the new codex etc, could you please explain the formations?
my main question is; do i need a 'primary detachment'? or could i use the aspect formation as the base for an army, and add hq and transport to that?
or could i use the aspect formation and the seer council detachment?

also, are the gun upgrades for WS the same as the last codex?

Formations are a type of detachment. All detachments are created equal, meaning you are never forced to take one over another. You could play with only the Allied Detachment from the rule book if you wanted. A unit can never be a part of more than one detachment though, and unless you are playing the nbound everyone must be in a detachment. So you could use the aspect formation and then take some other detachment for your HQ and transport. Of course, you will have to pay the tax of that detachment. CADfor example forces another two troops on you as what could be considered tax.

Just saw the aspect host and avenger shrine formations, and I"m quite excited about them! Now I can take a small themed force of all fast attack aspects or all melee or what have you without having to pay the normal troops tax. The avenger shrine is cool enough to make me consider picking up more avengers. Now if only I could fit in some Phoenix Lords without taking a combined arms. Ah well. Still a nice option to have!

Colonel Nicholson wrote:
right, with a few people having the new codex etc, could you please explain the formations?
my main question is; do i need a 'primary detachment'? or could i use the aspect formation as the base for an army, and add hq and transport to that?
or could i use the aspect formation and the seer council detachment?

also, are the gun upgrades for WS the same as the last codex?

yes, you could take the Aspect Host as a singular detachment (and primary). You cannot just add an HQ and transports (you can add wave serpents though obviously) unless you want to be Unbound. You can add a CAD to this or just the Seer Council, etc.

thank you for the replies
so i can put all the aspects in WS and that would be a legal detachment? and does this mean that the aspects would be troop choices?
and for the HQ, would i be able to take the autarch, with a warp jump generator and the uldanorethi rifle, as well as a few warlocks? with the warlocks being assigned to various units?
and if i took a formation of harlequins (the cast of players) would that count as an additional, legal, detachment?

also, opinions of having a DA exarch with diresword and pistol in a blob of 10?

Colonel Nicholson wrote:
thank you for the replies
so i can put all the aspects in WS and that would be a legal detachment? and does this mean that the aspects would be troop choices?
and for the HQ, would i be able to take the autarch, with a warp jump generator and the uldanorethi rifle, as well as a few warlocks? with the warlocks being assigned to various units?
and if i took a formation of harlequins (the cast of players) would that count as an additional, legal, detachment?

also, opinions of having a DA exarch with diresword and pistol in a blob of 10?

If the Aspect unit lets you take a Wave Serpent as a DT, you can take (purchase) one. For example, Fire Dragons let you take a WS, but Swooping Hawks don't. So if you had 2 Fire Dragons and 1 Swooping Hawk unit, you could buy 1 or 2 Wave Serpents as DTs for the Fire Dragons for 110 points each + whatever upgrades are available for the WS.

You don't have to worry about troop choices in a Formation; just follow the formation requirements. For example, Wraith Host has no troops. On the other hand, you're not allowed to take an HQ, or anything else either, unless the Formation allows it.

So, Crimson Death means you must take exactly 3 Crimson Hunters in that Formation. If you want a Farseer, you need to take a CAD, or a Warhost, etc. It may be of benefit for your formation to be an Auxiliary I the war host, since all you need is 1 Core, and then your formation gets the 6" run bonus (as a part of the war host).

Colonel Nicholson wrote:
thank you for the replies
so i can put all the aspects in WS and that would be a legal detachment? and does this mean that the aspects would be troop choices?
and for the HQ, would i be able to take the autarch, with a warp jump generator and the uldanorethi rifle, as well as a few warlocks? with the warlocks being assigned to various units?
and if i took a formation of harlequins (the cast of players) would that count as an additional, legal, detachment?

also, opinions of having a DA exarch with diresword and pistol in a blob of 10?

Yes, all aspects in serpents would be a legal army.
No, the aspects would not be "troops," nor would they gain objective secured. You simply don't need to have troops when constructing your army this way.
No, you can't take an autarch with the aspect formations. You could use the eldar detachments to add in an autarch if you took a guardian host detachment though. Or you could just take a cad to get the autarch.
Warlocks can't be added to the formation either, but you could take them as part of the seer council formation.
Adding a formation of harlequins would be perfectly legal!

I usually use the shimmershield or twin shuripults myself, but the diresword seems like a perfectly good option. You'll have a little trouble wounding with it (consider buffing his strength somehow), but it's not a terribly expensive way to give yourself a chance at insta-gibbing some serious beatstick characters.

wouldnt the DA stay as troops?
and if i jammed in the harlequin troop troupe, would they remain troops? and if i put in an outcast detachment (a unit of rangers) would that also be legal? and they would count as troops?
so any HQ for this sort of aspect -heavy army would probably be a CAD? what would i need to have in a CAD to make it legal?

When talking about detachments, completely forget troops, elites, hq etc. All is irrelevant. You have the detachment. It is the detachment and nothing else. It is a legal, bound force.

If you want to keep a bound force, and have your autarch, you will need to have a standard hq and 2 troops alongside your detachment.

Alternatively, you can use the warhost formation to have a core with your autarch etc, then your aspect force as an auxiliary for that core.

Colonel Nicholson wrote:
wouldnt the DA stay as troops?
and if i jammed in the harlequin troop troupe, would they remain troops? and if i put in an outcast detachment (a unit of rangers) would that also be legal? and they would count as troops?
so any HQ for this sort of aspect -heavy army would probably be a CAD? what would i need to have in a CAD to make it legal?

Sure, the DA are troops, but that has no significance, and they do not have ObSec.

In Battle forged armies, all units must belong to structures called detachments -- which prevent you from just using whatever models you want (unbound). Formations are a specific type of Detachment, which tell you exactly what units you have to take (more or less). The Combined Arms Detachment is another type of Detachment.

If you took 3 DA in CAD that would be legal, as long as you also had 1 HQ (cad needs min 2 troops and 1 HQ). As a bonus the troops in that detachment get ObSec and Ideal Warlord.

Alternatively, you could run 3 DA In an Aspect Host. Those troops do NOT get ObSec but they DO get +1ws or bs, and re rolls on some Ld tests (battle rites and something else). They do NOT contribute towards the 2 troops that would be compulsory for a CAD. You can't just add a HQ, because the Formation tells you, you can only take 3 mix and match units of <list of aspect warriors>. However, you can nominate any character there to be your Warlord, if you really wanted to (like the Exarch). If your army has no characters at all (like, you didn't take a single Exarch, no HQs, etc...), you can pick any model to be your Warlord, yippee!

So, if you wanted an HQ you could also run a CAD, and take an HQ plus 2 more DA, or 2 wind riders. Or, you could take an allied detachment and take 1HQ and 1 other troop. But this means your HQ can't be your warlord (because it says so in BRB).

If you had 3DA in an Aspec Host, and 2 more DA squads in a CAD, the 3 in the aspect host would get the battle rites, and the CAD DA would get the ObSec. Yes, that would be confusing on the tabletop, and your opponent won't like you very much. But I suppose if you play Eldar and blow your points on 5 squads of Dire Avengers, I guess he won't complain too loudly

Hope that is clear

i think im beginning to understand
so a legal list could look like

CAD
autarch
10 DA + Ws
5 Rangers
Warp Spiders

Aspect Host
Dark Reapers
Swooping Hawks
Fire Dragons + WS

Harli. detachment
cast of players

and is there still the option to have the uldanorethi rifle for the autarch? and has there been any point change to it?

Colonel Nicholson wrote:
i think im beginning to understand
so a legal list could look like

CAD
autarch
10 DA + Ws
5 Rangers
Warp Spiders

Aspect Host
Dark Reapers
Swooping Hawks
Fire Dragons + WS

Harli. detachment
cast of players

and is there still the option to have the uldanorethi rifle for the autarch? and has there been any point change to it?

Yay! You got it

I'm sure the Autarch can take a Remnant of Glory, and if that's the sniper rifle with the crazy range (that makes me want to get a bigger table, just so I can tell my buddy "HA, I'm out of range"), yes, it's still there, and no, I don't think the point value has changed... but don't quote me on that it just looked like copy/paste when I was comparing the new to the old codex.

By the way -- some tournaments limit the number of detachments you may take. If that's your thing, you may want to check on rules for that. Outside of any tournament limits on detachment count (like 2 with no duplicates), I can't imagine a person having a problem with someone playing CAD + Aspect + Harli

Colonel Nicholson wrote:
right, with a few people having the new codex etc, could you please explain the formations?
my main question is; do i need a 'primary detachment'? or could i use the aspect formation as the base for an army, and add hq and transport to that?
or could i use the aspect formation and the seer council detachment?

also, are the gun upgrades for WS the same as the last codex?

The primary detachment is whichever detachment contains your warlord.

Your warlord is any single character in your army that you to chose to nominate (or, if you don't have any characters then your warlord can be any model at all; though note if you don't have a character to be a warlord then the model you nominate as warlord won't have a warlord trait).

PS the warlord doesn't have to be an HQ character, nor does it have to have the highest leadership; it can literally be any character in your army!

it wont be for any tournaments; just games between friends
it is the rifle, and the warp jump generator still gives him the relentless rule?

PS, any one fancy buying 5 wraithguard with d-scythes off me? i can sort out an ebay link later today, for about 20 quid? they're assembled, but unpainted

My digital edition codex doesn't show a 4+ save / junk re roll for Crimson Death formation. Only the preferred enemy rule.

When my Exodites are on the field, I actually use my counts-as Wraithlord (Lord riding a large but slow dino) as my warlord, for example.

Although, specific to your army, you could double up on DA. Outside Davu, I don't think anyone complains about too many DAs. If max Aspects was your intent. (I do Aspect armies all the time - they're a lot of fun!)