I am starting a new editorial of sorts where I speak my mind candidly about Eldar, the state of the game and all things 40k. This post will talk about Eldar and their way of war according to the fluff and how their codex doesn't match up in its current state.
The Eldar, Art and War:
As any painter worth his salt has the right tool to create the right effect which ultimately brings about the desired finished product, Eldar are portrayed as not just warriors, but artists that use the right tools to obtain victory. Eldar look at warfare as an extension of their creative process and a shot from a Bright Lance or the flick of an Executioner have superior aesthetic qualities as well as superior killing power when compared with weapons of any lessor race.
However, while going over the Eldar codex in my "Eldar unit overviews," I am noticing how at one point in time, each aspect did indeed have a particular role to play in the Eldar war machine but as the game has changed and how other armies have changed, this is no longer the case.
Worn out are those brushes labeled "Striking Scorpions" and "Howling Banshees." Untenable are those brushes labeled "Swooping Hawks" and "Shining Spears." Some of our brushes for painting the picture of victory are simply old, frayed and worn out having a dire need of repair or replacement.
The changing climate for Eldar:
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I'd like to think of the guy in this
picture as being an IG vet... |
When you look at what the game and average army looked like when Eldar were in their prime, they did not have the tools available then as they do today so Eldar did not necessarily get worse over the years, everyone else got better.
Many people strongly oppose the notion of codex creep but they are blind to the obvious. When Storm Shields became 3++; when Space Marines got wide access to FNP and better firepower; when IG got access to Vendettas, Manticores, Hydras and Vets as troops; when Orks got access to Battle Wagons and Lootas, the game changed drastically for Eldar while the list of buffs to other armies only got longer.
Codex creep is essentially when newly released codices have more power and better options than they previously did to compensate for a tougher meta game. Taken individually it may not amount to much but collectively, the meta and the game in general has definitely seen an escalation of the average amount of killing power each codex/unit could put out. Eldar are sorely lagging behind the curb and really are in need of an update, anyone else feel this way too?
My soap box:
I think one of the biggest issues with the Eldar codex compared to newer armies and especially the newest edition is the focus of the army/codex. Our latest codex was made in an edition where troops were not vital to win the game, tanks were not the prevailing feature of an army and simply doing more damage to the opposing army than the opposing army did to you based on a percentage scale was the only means of victory.
Another issue is how the meta is flooded with Space Marine, IG or vehicle based armies like never before and these armies are much stronger than they were when the Eldar codex was last written. This isn't anyone's fault but the mass of players that have chosen the stronger army for themselves simply for the sake of having a stronger and easier to play army...or is it? Has GW encouraged the current meta to form by giving certain armies a stronger advantage than others, albeit out of ignorance and poor play testing?
It seems like a lot of our "sub-par" options are unusable because they can't do anything meaningful in the current "meta". Sure many of the newer codexes have useless units like Mandrakes, Penal Legion, Pyrovores and so on but they have so many other useful options in their respective codices that its generally not an issue. Not so for Eldar, we
generally have to settle for sub-par or sub-optimal options. This has been what generally made good Eldar players good...knowing how to get the most use out of your sub par units against better armies and out playing the competition. Eldar approach war in a different way than the average army such as Space Marines or IG and in general, tactics against the many popular armies are not the best against Eldar which gives us some leeway. Not many people know how to play against Eldar, possibly because there simply are not many Eldar players.
Ultimately, it is no secret that Eldar are showing their age more and more and I look forward to a rebirth of Eldar ascendancy to the 40k universe. What will GW need to do for the upcoming Eldar codex to make them more competitive/viable? What kind of things really irk you about our codex that you would like to see changed? These are questions that GW is tossing around, no doubt, and I can't wait to see what they come up with.
Now I am not saying Eldar are bad, they are still very solid and strong. The thing I am merely pointing out is how Eldar have it rough these days and could use a little love from GW!
