Game One With The Eldar

Well I have gotten one game in so far with the new codex. I know, I know....one game. Its been rough since

So I got to try out the Wraithknight. I should really say though that I got to put the Wraithknight on the table and watch it get lit up, literally, and then blasted by every piece of kroot sniper gear and heavy ordnance the Tau could throw at it. I will have to say it did take the whole army unloading for one shooting phase to take out the big guy. With that toughness and that many wounds with a Suncannon I can't blame them. In the next few games I am going to reserve the big guy if I am forced to go second. Holding him back or even deep striking him into the rear of the enemy seems prudent. I know I would be kind of panicked if a T 8, STR 10, 6 wound beasty with 3 plasma templates to place dropped into my backyard. I guess I am going to have to play it a lot as I am still convinced that the Suncannon / scatter shield configuration is the best one. Also going to deep strike if I have to go second. The unit is just to expensive to loose right off the bat. You almost want to play it very reserved and protected, but it seems to me you cant do that and have it be effective. Picking your targets is going to be very very important with the Wraithknight if you want to earn his points back in a game.

There are three things that really stuck out though. I also noticed the same three things while watching Spellduckwrong play tonight at the shop. By stuck out, I mean that they really are literal game changers . They affect how you play and are things that really enhance the armies effectiveness in my opinion. Those three things being, battle focus, pseudo rending weapons and ballistic skill 4. Yes there are many changes and unit buffs that also add, but I really think these three are the big ones.

I like battle focus. Shooting and running or running then shooting amps up the armies mobility, which was really lacking when compared to the Dark Kins new book. Foot armies are so much more viable now in terms of moving your forces and getting them into optimal position for taking objectives and destroying units. I had a unit of Dire Avengers tear up Tau in a close range fire fight thanks to the ability. I could move out into the open while in a building, shoot and then run down back out of line of sight. Two units of Fire Warriors and a Crisis Team had to be dedicated to rooting out my unit. My Warp Spiders also were moving like crazy harassing units in the back field. I plan on much experimenting with Battle focus. Its trixie.

Having an army that is entirely BS 4 is very nice. Upping the Guardians is especially nice. I once again have my Black Guardians. Its worth it taking Wave Serpents geared for Tank Hunting. In fact points wise, as I pointed out last time, its cheaper. Heavy spots are at a premium so being able to take Serpents and leave the heavy spots open for long range artillery is very handy. BS 4 is also pretty deadly when you combine it with the changes to the weaponry. Better weapons are now hitting more often and getting their special abilities to actually matter.

Special abilities like the Pseudo rending of shuriken weaponry. Its pretty nice with Dire Avengers, but really comes into its own with Guardians. Be it Storm Guardians, Guardian Defenders, Jet bikes or even the crews of the Vauls Wrath Batteries. I run Guardians in bricks of 15 to 20. 30 to 40 basically rending shots at BS 4 is pretty scary. The really scary thing about the whole thing though is that when you actually think about it, the basic sidearm of the Eldar army is rending. Everybody and their brother has a shuriken pistol. Our dedicated assault units have a 1-2 punch again. Striking scorpions have the 3 stage assault now. Shoot, Mandiblast them and then the main assault. Power armored units and their equivalents have to think hard about assaulting and getting into close range with Eldar infantry units now.

So far I am loving the codex. Sadly I have been moving once again and working. I have a 40 minute commute now and I have not been able to get in the games I want to. I am hoping this will change soon though and I can full explore all the thoughts and Ideas I have been having. I have a list ready to roll. I call it “fun with monfiliment”. More on that next time.

Until then....