Warhammer 40,000/10th Edition Tactics/Eldar: Difference between revisions

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This is the current [[Warhammer_40,000/10th Edition Tactics|10th Edition's]] [[Eldar]] tactics. [[Warhammer 40,000/9th Edition Tactics/Eldar|9th Edition Tactics are here.]]
This is the current [[Warhammer_40,000/10th Edition Tactics|10th Edition's]] [[Eldar]] tactics. [[Warhammer 40,000/9th Edition Tactics/Eldar|9th Edition Tactics are here.]]
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===Pros===
===Pros===
*Assault weapons are everywhere for your infantry, and with no penalty to shoot after advancing with them, you can advance most of your units without issue.
*Space elves have a bit of a reputation for their speed; a standard movement of 7" for virtually all of your infantry and the {{W40kkeyword|Fly}} keyword on basically everything with an engine generally lets you get where you need to go.
*Craftworlders know how to ''craft'' some pretty good guns. Your weapon equivalents tend to hit harder and with a bit more AP compared to the fare of other factions.
*As is their signature style, the Craftworlders field armies of specialists. Much of their roster is tailored to perform certain roles and in general they perform them pretty well. At least, in theory. Many of them are admittedly underpowered currently.
*Strands of fate, combined with the detachment rule Eldar get make for an incredibly potent combo, carrying your heavier weapons farther than other factions get.


===Cons===
===Cons===
*Shuriken weapons lost their AP bump on a critical hit. Honestly kinda crippling for a force that relied on it to get an edge over well-armored foes like marines. They still have an AP of -1, so it’s still reducing Marines to a 4+ Armor save - the same as an Eldar Guardian, and their still wounding Powered Armored Marines on a 4+, with their 2 shot 18 range assault guns - that lets them advance and shoot; it’s still a decent gun against most infantry in the game. Plus they get to re-roll a wound roll every time they select to shoot, so they still have a good chance to do some decent damage. Still sad to see it go, as it had become pretty iconic for the weapon, and really bought it back to relevance in previous editions, when the gun was a bit of a sad joke of a weapon; might still be a thing on Avenger versions.
*Shuriken weapons lost their AP bump on a critical wound. Kinda hurts your units that could once punch above their weight class but should've been seen coming with Hail of Doom lists from last edition being so popular. At the very least it's now been relegated to a 1CP stratagem (Blade Storm) that can be used on any Ranged weapon.
*from the designer notes, the army will be very fragile, and collapse like a wet cardboard box if they let the enemy get within spitting distance, so unfortunately it looks like melee Aspects are going to be off the table this edition; not that they have been very good over the last few editions anyway. This also means Eldar characters like Phoenix Lords are probably going back to being subpar (boarder line unplayable) options; Farseers have already lost a wound from their last incarnations, so that doesn’t look too promising. Wraith constructs are likely going to be less resilient then in previous editions. This is rather unfortunate, as they don’t really hit any harder then the other factions overall; many factions actually hit far harder. They may end up being a ‘Glass canon, without the canon”; which is often the fear for this army - if they make them too fragile and expensive then they will just be swept off the board.
*Though Shuriken Weapons retained their increased range from last edition, Craftworlders still need to get a bit close for comfort to actually use many of their weapons. Most of your infantry is going to easily find themselves within charge range just to fire their weapons at all. This is not the kind of position your squishy elves tend to enjoy.
*Defensive statlines are relatively unchanged from the buffs they've been given in the jump from 8th to 9th. It's not saying much when you've still got a T3, 1W, 4+ save across most of your units.
*As is their signature style, the Craftworlders field armies of specialists. Woe betide that unit of Howling Banshees thrown at an enemy Leman Russ tank or that squad of Fire Dragons facing down a herd of Ork Boyz. When caught outside their element, your units are going to have a real bad day; it would certainly be nice if Banshee’s were good against Ork boys- but with only 3 ST4 attacks their not going to do much, and Fire Dragon’s aren’t going to be effective against anything other then speeders and other light vehicles, they won’t be able to hurt actual tanks at all- so it would be nice if they were actually good at what they are supposed to be good at.
*You’re a traditionally psychic faction in an edition where the psychic phase has been removed. This translates into the 18 psychic powers we had in 9th edition largely getting deleted or handed out as core abilities here and there to Psykers. This dramatically reduces each Psyker's flexibility or in some cases (such as the Spiritseer) completely neuters them outside their very specific roles.
*As an army that's traditionally relied on MSUs for the past few editions, this is kinda a negative when it comes to attaching characters to squads. A 5-elf blob of the previously mentioned statline isn't hard to chew through for most armies by any stretch.
*We're considered OP in competitive, meaning nerfs are inevitable. Pray that they don't whack us too hard. But then again this is nothing new, and the whaling and calls for Nerfs started even before the first leaks appeared (Eldar are fragile but hit hard- rules show that Eldar hit hard, immediately calls for them to be nerfed). This is a common expectation from the community whenever Eldar get a release, and is becoming very boring (it’s the exact same song and dance as always) the same thing happened in 9th, when people were adamantly claiming that Eldar were S tier, and would dominate the game- and then people actually played them on the table and it became very clear that they were nowhere near S, but rather a high Mid/low high tier army; they floated around the 50% mark for almost the entirety of 9th. Are they going to be strong, yes (and point adjustments are likely), but once people adapt to the new meta, hopefully the loud noises will once again fade into the background. If your going to play Eldar expect to be facing an endless wave of people proclaiming every single element of your rules are OP, even if they have never actually looked at the rules themselves; it’s just something you’ll have to get used to.


==Faction Rules==
==Faction Rules==
*'''Strands of Fate''': At the start of the game, roll 12d6 and record their results. You can use any of these dice in place of other rolls for advance rolls, charge rolls, battle-shock tests, hit rolls, wound rolls, damage rolls and saves.
*'''Strands of Fate''': At the start of the game, roll 12d6.  If you don't like what you get you can re-roll the entire pool with one less die in it, and you can repeat that if you like, although of course at one die there's no reason not to keep it. You can use any of these dice in place of other rolls for advance rolls, charge rolls, battle-shock tests, hit rolls, wound rolls, damage rolls and saves.
**While not nearly an overload as before it does come with the major issue of low rolls being next to useless now. That said, you can re-roll these dice if you rolled too many low, but doing so requires you to roll one less die each time.
**Because the number of dice doesn't scale at all, the more units your army has,  the more advance/charge/hit rolls you'll tend to have, with a similar concern for hit and wound rolls based on attack volume (damage too, but static damage weapons can mitigate this).  Your melee units are more dangerous as one big unit (it will cost you fewer dice to guarantee a charge) and your ranged units are more dangerous with single-shot weapons that hit accurately and very hard (if will cost you fewer dice to hit and wound).
**As long as you have one Farseer you can potentially change a low roll into an automatic 6 (per turn, so one in your turn and one in your opponents- a potential of around 10 over the course of a game), so even if roughly half your rolls are low you can keep them and later turn them into an auto success. These Dice count as an unmodified roll, so those 6’s will be providing additional rules depending on the weapon being used.
**Math on re-rolling: the rolls you can use your dice for don't all work the same way and as a result a truly optimal rolling strategy depends on your list ''and'' your opponent's list, but the short version is that what makes the most sense given that you need to be able to quickly determine if you're re-rolling or not is counting how many dice you rolled that were 4+.  If you roll less than half your pool (don't round; half of 11 is 5.5 and 5 is less than 5.5) as 4+, re-roll.  This will give you, on average, 6.78 (slightly more than 6 and 3/4) 4+ dice that will be reasonably likely to help you without worrying too much about too many otherwise-useless 1s or incredibly valuable 6s.
**Make sure to secure as many objectives as possible with Guardian units, as they generate more Fate Dice.
***As long as you have one Farseer you can potentially change a low roll into an automatic 6 (per turn, so one in your turn and one in your opponent's - a potential of up to 10 over the course of a game), so even if roughly half your rolls are low you can keep them and later turn them into an auto success. These dice count as an unmodified roll, so those 6s will be providing additional rules depending on the weapon being used.
**There are seemingly no restrictions on how many dice you can use per turn or per unit- each time a dice would be rolled it can be substituted as long as it is one of the rolls listed.
**There are seemingly no restrictions on how many dice you can use per turn or per unit - each time a die would be rolled it can be substituted as long as it is one of the rolls listed.  Spending them defensively is therefore a relatively bad idea, because you are free to dump your entire pool into wiping out your enemy and thereby avoid needing to make defensive rolls in the first place.  Spending on them on acquiring more Fate Dice - e.g. by helping your Defenders of Fate units wipe out whatever is contesting their objectives - is a very good idea.
*'''Corsairs & Traveling Players:''' Allows you to add in {{W40kKeyword|Harlequins}} and {{W40kKeyword|Anhrathe}} units to a Dark Eldar army. That said, they can only take up to 25% of the army's total allowance and can't be given any enhancements, nor can any model become the warlord.
**really only the Solitaire and Death Jester are worth considering.
*'''Ynnari:''' If you take Yvraine as a warlord, you're now able to field Dark Eldar in your Craftworld army, with the limit being up to 50% the army's total allowance. That said, none of your dark kin can ever take enhancements.
**There are some keywords barred from joining a Ynnari Army: {{W40kKeyword|Anhrathe}}, {{W40kKeyword|Haemonculus Covens}}, {{W40kKeyword|Phoenix Lords}}, the Avatar of Khaine and the Solitaire.
**Bear in mind that Dark Eldar units uniformly have the {{W40Kkeyword|Aeldari}} keyword, it's just not their ''faction'' keyword, so an awful lot of your buffs work on them (like Farseers).


==Detachments==
==Detachments==
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===Battle Host===
===Battle Host===
====Special Rules====
====Special Rules====
*'''Unprecedented Foresight:''' Your units can re-roll one hit and one wound roll each time it is selected to fight or shoot. Most useful on single powerful shot weapons, such as a Bright Lance or Fire Prism or potentially useful on Exarchs, depending on if they are usable this edition. This is a nice rule that means you are less inclined to use your Fate Dice on smaller actions, and allows you to be more confident in keeping them aside for when you really need them.
*'''Unprecedented Foresight:''' Your units can re-roll one hit and one wound roll each time it is selected to fight or shoot. Most useful on single-shot weapons, such as a Bright Lance or Fire Prism, or potentially useful on Exarchs, depending on if they are usable this edition; also a strong incentive to go MSU. This is a nice rule that means you are less inclined to use your Fate Dice on smaller actions, and allows you to be more confident in keeping them aside for when you really need them.


====Stratagems====
====Stratagems====
*'''Fire and Fade (2 CP):''' One non-{{W40kKeyword|Aircraft}} unit that isn't engaged can immediately move after shooting (their full movement). While they can't run into a transport or charge after moving, it's still great for keeping your forces out of an open lane of fire.
<tabs>
<tab name="Battle Tactic">
*'''Matchless Agility (1 CP):''' When one unit advances, they move a full additional 6" rather than rolling.
*'''Lightning Fast Reactions (1 CP):''' In your opponent's Shooting phase you can provide a unit with a -1 to be hit buff.
</tab>
<tab name="Strategic Ploy">
*'''Bladestorm (1 CP):''' Sadly gone from standard Shuriken weapons. When a unit shoots, on a critical wound roll the AP for those weapons improves by 2. Fortunately, this is not locked to Shuriken weapons, and can be used by any Ranged weapon in the army. 
**Potentially very nasty on warp spiders, given they've basically got flamers now and pump out a decent volume of shots at AP0, which can benefit from -2AP the most.
*'''Fire and Fade (2 CP):''' One non-{{W40kKeyword|Aircraft}} unit that isn't engaged can immediately make a normal move after shooting. While they can't run into a transport or charge after moving, it's still great for keeping your forces out of an open lane of fire.
*'''Feigned Retreat (1 CP):''' One unit can shoot and charge after falling back. Expect to use it a lot, because these guys need every shot they can make.
*'''Phantasm (1 CP):''' At the end of the enemy's movement phase, one unit can immediately move 7", though this can't be used to enter a transport and can't throw them into melee. It also blocks the unit from performing Heroic Interventions later on. So what is this for? Getting a squad away from incoming charges or shuffling Rangers into position to snipe away; mostly useful for keeping scary melee units out of charge range, so you can get at least another round of shooting into them before they can get to you.
</tab>
</tabs>


==Equipment==
====Enhancements====
 
*'''Fate's Messenger:''' Once per turn, after making a hit roll, wound roll, or saving throw, a model in the bearer's unit can treat the result as an unmodified 6. Nice way to make those Fate dice go further.
*'''The Phoenix Gem:''' The first time the bearer is destroyed, roll a D6; on a 2+ it is a success, and at the end of the phase the model returns with full wounds remaining.  Pity Epic Heroes can't take enhancements.
*'''Reader of the Runes:''' {{W40Kkeyword|Psyker}} only. In your command phase you can re-roll one of the Fate Dice in your pool for free. This is actually really quite good, as it allows you to fish for those higher numbers, and makes re-rolling all your initial dice (sacrificing one each time) at the beginning of the game, in order to get a better Fate Pool a lot less necessary. 
*'''The Weeping Stone:''' Every time the bearer's unit destroys an enemy unit, roll a D6 and add it to your Fate pool.
 
====Tactics====
An example list at 2000 points:
 
*Autarch Wayleaper (Reaper Launcher, Star Glaive, Banshee Mask): 80
**Warlord
**Phoenix Gem: 25
*Farseer (Singing Spear): 65
*Wave Serpent (Twin Starcannon, Shuriken Cannon): 120
**Death Jester: 70
***Fate's Messenger: 15
**Maugan Ra: 130
**Fire Dragons x5 (Firepike) x2: 170
*War Walkers (Bright Lance x2) x1 x3: 285
*Fire Prism (Shuriken Cannon) x3: 375
*Support Weapons (D-Cannon) x3: 255
*Warp Spiders x5 (Death Spinners x6, Power Blades) x3: 300
**Alternate if you aren't worried about contesting enemy objectives: drop all 3 Spider units and the Phoenix Gem from the Autarch (since he won't be nearly as tempted to get over-exposed) and take either:
***2 MSU units of Wraithcannon Wraithguard with the Weeping Stones on the Farseer in case you get lucky with the Bright Lance, or more likely...
***Drop the Farseer entirely for a Weeping Stones Shadowseer.
****In either case, you now have a ''very'' slow but ''very'' hard to stop marching unit of death.
 
How each piece works:
*The Wave Serpent won't consume significant Fate Dice while shooting the enemy reasonably well and then dumping its payload.
**Said payload has 2 MSU Fire Dragons, which both gets you an additional Firepike over a 10-man unit and maximizes your Detachment re-rolling.  The loss of Fuegan is meaningless because he's so badly overcosted.
**There's a Fate's Messenger Death Jester in there too, which can dump an astonishing number of mortal wounds on an enemy.
**Maugan Ra is even better than the Jester ''but only when attacking a unit below half-strength'', so make sure to have him fire after you've softened a target up.
*The War Walkers, Fire Prisms, and Support Weapons should behave fairly intuitively.
*The Farseer hangs out with the Guardian Defenders on your home objective (likely along with your Support Weapons), farming Fate Dice.
*The Autarch can go wherever he's needed - his ''main'' job is CP generation, and pegging away with his rocket launcher.  That said, he can Deep Strike or Advance into position if you need the Spiders supported in Battleshock.  The Phoenix Gem has a good chance of keeping him alive if he gets over-exposed.
*The Spiders can be anywhere you need them to be on the table, right now, ready to dump mortal wounds on the enemy (an average of 3.64 per unit, after your single re-roll to wound).  They're more about mobility and hence taking control of or at least contesting an objective (or similar, e.g. if you are attempting Emergency Evacuation or Orbital Strike Coordinates) than they are killing, though. 
**If you want more killing or tanking, swap the Spiders out for Wraithguard.
 
 
As has become fairly obvious, going full Infantry this edition is not a very good idea unless these units can reliably get access to some strength 10+ weapons in the mix - otherwise, you are going to be facing an uphill struggle if your opponent has gone a bit tank(walker) heavy. Infantry is going to be very ineffective against anything that is toughness 9 and up, so you are going to need to make sure to bring enough big guns to counter what your opponent is likely to bring to the table. If you are still running an Infantry-heavy list, like you could in 9th, then don’t be surprised when you lose to a mechanized heavy army list that you might have been able to deal with in the past.
 
===The Fatebreakers (Combat Patrol)===
<div class="toccolours mw-collapsible mw-collapsed>
A decent introduction into the shooty and psychic nature of the space elves.
<div class="mw-collapsible-content">
<u>'''Composition:'''</u>
1 Farseer Idraneth, 10 Guardian Defenders + HWP, 6 Windriders, 1 Wraithlord
*'''Farseer Idraneth:''' A Farseer with a Singing Spear. Sadly lost out on the auto 6s on bad Fate rolls but still keeps the defensive buff.
*'''Guardian Defenders:''' Comes with a Starcannon weapons platform, allowing them to reliably dent any monsters they'll face and reliably eradicate a TEQ. Fortunately, they remain your one way of regenerating Fate Die.
*'''Windriders:''' Come with two Scatter Lasers. You can split them up into two squads of three with a Scatter Laser on each squad, allowing them both to at least benefit from the high rate of fire.
*'''Wraithlord:''' Your one true anti-monster force with a Bright Lance and Ghost Glaive to break them reliably. While it can't generate free Fate for killing anything, it remains the best thing out there to handle anything too big for your elves.
 
<u>'''Enhancements'''</u>
*'''Foresight:''' Farseer Idraneth's unit can use the Fire Overwatch strat for free once per turn, even if it was already used. The squad can also hit on a 5+ or a 4+ if they're on an objective. All great as a default since he's stuck with those guardians anyway.
*'''Eldritch Might:''' Farseer Idraneth can re-roll 1s to hit, wound and damage on psychic weapons. Only really worth it if your enemy is equally averse to melee.
 
<u>'''Secondary Objectives'''</u>
*'''Ineffable Agenda:''' Basic default objective. 3 VP each turn where you control a new objective outside of your DZ.
*'''A Greater Destiny:''' 10 VP if you get a unit that isn't battle-shocked on the enemy DZ by the end of the game.
 
<u>'''Stratagems'''</u>
*'''Storm of Shots (1 CP):''' One {{W40kKeyword|Infantry}} unit or two {{W40kKeyword|Mounted}} units can re-roll 1s to hit when shooting. At the very least, it spares you using some of your Fate Die.
*'''Whip-Fast Reactions (1 CP):''' Enemies take -1 to hit one of your {{W40kKeyword|Infantry}} or {{W40kKeyword|Mounted}} units.
*'''Zephyr-Swift (1 CP):''' One {{W40kKeyword|Infantry}} unit or two {{W40kKeyword|Mounted}} units can make a move after shooting, which helps get them out of the line of fire after shooting up a mob.
</div>
</div>
 
==Wargear==
*'''Banshee Mask:''' Grants the Autarch ''Fights First''.
*'''Mandiblasters:''' Any critical wounds against non-{{W40kKeyword|Vehicle/Monster}} units gain ''[Devstating Wounds]''. Autarchs can and will stack this with the Banshee Mask.


==Unit Analysis==
==Unit Analysis==


===Characters===
===Characters===
*'''Farseer:''' In an age where many have lost their array of psychic power, the Farseer is one who hasn't suffered quite as severely. Branching Fates lets you make a Fate die you use on one unit within 12" count as a natural 6, which is incredibly useful if you've got some bad rolls. Fortune lets you give a friendly unit within 12" a bit of protection by letting any attacks against them take -1 to wound.
 
**While their combat prowess remains limited, Eldritch Storm being a weapon does give them the ability to handle some crowds (and unlike the majority of psychic weapons, it's not Hazardous). The choice between the Singing Spear and Witch Blade is pretty much a choice between the Witch Blade's ''Anti-Infantry 2+'' making it pretty lethal on unprotected foes and the Spear's ability to be thrown as a ranged weapon.
If you just want a quick guide on who can lead what, organized by unit:
**Probably best to keep them away from the frontlines, as they are kind of bad in combat, and use them as a support unit for your big guns- that -1 to the wound roll is going to be far more useful in keeping your tanks alive then it is wasting it on Guardians; who should be sat back on your objectives farming Fate Dice anyway.  
*'''Corsair Voidreavers/Voidscarred:''' Prince Yriel, Visarch, Yvraine
*'''Guardian Defenders/Storm Guardians:''' Autarch/Prince Yriel, Farseer/Eldrad, Visarch, Warlock, Yvraine
*'''Kabalites/Wyches:''' Visarch, Yvraine
*'''Rangers:''' Illic Nightspear
*'''Troupe:''' Shadowseer, Troupe Master, Visarch, Yvraine
*'''Warlock Conclave:''' Farseer/Eldrad
*'''Warlock Skyrunner Conclave:''' Farseer Skyrunner
*'''Windriders:''' Autarch Skyrunner, Farseer Skyrunner, Warlock Skyrunner
*'''Wraithblades/Wraithguard/Wraithlord:''' Spiritseer
 
 
*'''Autarch:''' Your most flexible hero and the one most kitted for fighting at any range. Taking one as the warlord gives you 1 CP per turn, which is vital considering how much you'll need them to compensate for your flimsy troops. You can't mix and match wargear options like previously, but exact options depend on which Autarch we're talking about. 
<tabs>
<tab name="On Foot">
Lets their squad use a stratagem that's already been used, making them the most convenient for extra VP.  Wargear options are largely an illusion, because you'd be an absolute idiot to give up the Banshee Mask, which buffs the Autarch's ''entire unit'' with '''Fights First'''.  You're also never going to swap your glaive for a scorpion chainsword, and you're ''always'' going to swap out the shuriken pistol.  What you swap it out for is never going to be a fusion gun, but there's a genuine choice to be made between the Death Spinner for superior Overwatch and the Reaper Launcher for contributing to long-range fire support while the unit camps an objective.  That said, you'll probably pick the Reaper Launcher.
*While either a foot or Wayleaper autarch does have access to the full set of weapons included in either box, either unit can either choose any items from the ones in the foot autarch box,[[Derp| or take the fusion pistol/sword loadout from the flytarch box only.]]
*Bear in mind Fights First is only an incredibly minor deterrent to being charged and stratagem spam is going to get very expensive very quickly, so you might prefer the Wayleaper, which gives up both for Battle-Shock support.
</tab>
<tab name="Skyrunner">
Comes with the basic buffs of M14" and +1 to T/W/OC, but also gives any squad of Windriders he leads the ability to always advance 6" without rolling.  Can be given a Fusion Gun, in which case [[Fail|he will not have a melee weapon]], a Laser Lance, or a Banshee Blade, but you'll never do that last one since the Laser Lance is better in almost all cases.
</tab>
<tab name="Wayleaper">
This is the one with Swooping Hawk wings, apparently, since he's faster than a Warp Spider Jump Pack would allow baseline and doesn't have access to its special jump power, but no opponent has a valid argument if they take issue with you using the Jump Pack model as one. Unlike the standard Autarch, the Wayleaper is a '''Lone Operative''' and cannot join any units. Instead, this Autarch has '''Deep Strike''' and grants a 6" bubble of +1 to battle-shock and Leadership checks for your forces, but they're otherwise identical to a footslogging Autarch.  The fundamental trade-off here is simple: the footslogger provides stratagem spam and '''Fights First''' to their led unit, while the Wayleaper provides battle-shock/leadership support in a bubble instead.
*Always take the Glaive, Banshee Mask, and Reaper Launcher (so you can stay outside of Lone Operative range of your enemies).
</tab>
</tabs>
 
*'''Farseer:''' In an age where many have lost their array of psychic power, the Farseer is one who hasn't suffered quite as severely. Branching Fates lets you make a Fate die you use on one unit within 12" count as a natural 6, which is incredibly useful if you've got some bad rolls - in particular, you can drastically improve the odds of a deep strike charge succeeding, because if either die is a 3, the 6 you generate will make the charge succeed, which means an 88.89% success rate. Has a psychic power that goes off on a 2+ on 1d6 in the Command Phase; in a success, target a friendly faction unit within 12" to be buffed until the start of your next Command Phase.
**While their combat prowess remains limited, Eldritch Storm being a weapon does give them the ability to handle some crowds, throwing out D6 attacks (which you can't use a fate die to max out, unfortunately) from 24", with decent strength, AP and damage while also having ''[Blast]'' (and unlike the majority of psychic weapons, it's not ''[Hazardous]'').  
**Unlike a lot of other psykers, Farseers can actually cast their support powers on units they're not attached to. Unfortunately all of their powers have a maximum of 12" range, making this the second rules update in a row to nerf Farseer power ranges. That being said, you can cast their powers on any Aeldari unit, including aspect units and vehicles.   
**The choice between the Singing Spear and Witch Blade is pretty much a choice between the Witch Blade's ''[Anti-Infantry 2+]'' making it pretty lethal on unprotected {{W40Kkeyword|infantry}} and the Spear's ability to be thrown as a ranged weapon. You're better off with the Spear because you can shoot it and your Storm at the same time, as neither has ''Pistol'' and your farseers don't really wanna really be in melee anyway. They won't contribute much with those two attacks anyway. The spear should really be treated as a ranged weapon that you can get lucky with, having a crazy high strength of 9, though it falls down to 3 in melee.
<tabs>
<tab name="On Foot">
Has Fortune as its psychic power, which provides -1 to be wounded.  Put this on a target that's already very hard to wound - the ideal case is when you take enemy guns from 5+ to wound to 6+. Probably best to keep them away from the front lines, as they are kind of bad in combat, and use them as a support unit for your big guns - that -1 to the wound roll is going to be far more useful keeping your tanks alive (it has a bigger impact on a gun that needs 5s to wound than one that needs 2s) than it is wasting it on Guardians, who should be sat back on your objectives farming Fate Dice anyway.  
</tab>
<tab name="Skyrunner">
Has '''Guide''' as its psychic power, which provides re-rolling hit rolls.  Put this on a target that really likes hitting critically, so '''Lethal Hits''' and/or '''Sustained Hits X'''. Alongside the expected bump in speed and Twin Shuriken Catapult, the bike also adds +1 to Wounds, Toughness, and even Objective Control. A bit of a surprise to see them do this much for a hero.  Has '''Leader''' set to {{W40Kkeyword|warlock skyrunner conclave}} and {{W40Kkeyword|windriders}}.
</tab>
</tabs>
 
*'''Spiritseer:''' If you're not bringing any {{W40kkeyword|Wraithguard}}, {{W40kkeyword|Wraithblades}}, or a {{W40kkeyword|Wraithlord}}, you can leave this guy on the shelf. If you are bringing any of the above and aren't bringing a Spiritseer, you should probably get your head checked. With all standard Wraith units dropping to a WS/BS 4+ profile on all their weapons, a Spiritseer is all but mandatory to effectively return them up to a more reliable 3+ WS/BS. Additionally, he also grants his accompanying unit '''Lethal Hits''' to get even more bang out of your proverbial buck (and these being Wraith units... you are admittedly going to be spending a pretty point to field them). The last and most important detail is that once per command phase (note that it doesn’t state ‘your’ Command Phase- so can be done in both yours and the opponents), if the Bodyguard unit the Spiritseer is accompanying has lost any models, he can resurrect one of those models. Considering how tough Wraithguard/blades are (and expensive), this is an immensely valuable perk for keeping that unit on the field. Unfortunately, that is the literal extent of a Spiritseer's usefulness. With no other psychic powers (offensive or defensive) and only a mere Shuriken Pistol and Witch Staff to his name, there's pretty much nothing this guy can do outside of his relevant bodyguard unit.
 
*'''Warlock:''' As expected, they're pretty much a weaker Farseer, having their WS/BS set to 3+ and only W2. They can join squads accompanying other heroes, allowing them to supplement their powers with their Runes - with the exception of joining any other Warlocks (since that would be too cheesy) or Warlock Conclaves.
**While their weapons choice is similar to the Farseer, they have Destructor as their designated psychic weapon. This is essentially a psychic heavy flamer but slightly better with S5 AP-1 ''[Torrent]'' so they don't need to roll to hit anything and can help ward off most things.
<tabs>
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On his own, not great, but not terrible. His choice of powers is restricted to Quicken (auto-advance 6" without rolling, which will stop a Guardian Defenders HWP from firing, as well as the Warlock's own psychic power, but not his spear) or Restrain (-2 to incoming charges, doesn't stack with itself). On a Guardian Defender team holding an objective, Restrain is a very valuable perk that potentially prevents a melee strike squad from diving onto your very squishy and otherwise helpless Guardians (in fact, it functionally makes Deep Strike charging them outright impossible). If you want to burn a CP on Overwatch on them like an idiot, the Warlock does ship with a ''[Torrent]'' weapon, but... 45pts? That's slightly more than 4 of the Defenders he's, well, defending.
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<tab name="Skyrunner">
Adds the same buffs it does to a Farseer; a bump in speed, Twin Shuriken Catapults, +1 to Wounds, Toughness, and Objective control. Their leader ability is the Runes of Battle, which gives them the old Conceal/Reveal power during the Command phase. Conceal gives their attached unit of Windriders ''[Stealth]'' for a bit of protection, the latter gives the unit's guns ''[Ignores Cover]''.
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====Harlequins====
*'''Death Jester:'''  You can take up to 3 of them, but they have an ability only one of them can use their special ability to gain ''[Ignores Cover]'', ''[Precision]'', or the really big deal, ''[Sustained Hits 3]'' on their launcher, and they're costed as if the ability is always on, so you're going to want exactly 1 in your army in practice.
**A quick note on the math for shooting the gun when Sustained Hits 3 is up and you're using your Detachment rule to re-roll 1 hit: because anything less than a 6 to hit is a below average hit, you ''absolutely do'' want to re-roll 2-5 to fish for 6, ''but'' remember how the game rules work: you're ''cheating'' if you roll all 3 attack dice and then pick up a die to re-roll it, because you're supposed to roll sequentially and can only roll in parallel when it would not change the math, which in this case, it absolutely would.  You have to roll each of your three hit dice one at a time if you're fishing, so the very first time you roll a 5 or less, you can re-roll it.  If you do this, the mortal wounds a Death Jester can put out is fairly incredible.
*'''Shadowseer:'''
*'''Troupe Leader:''' The only warlord you can take if you want a pure detachment of space clowns since he makes Troupes {{W40kKeyword|Battleline}}. That said, there's not a whole lot this big clown offers, merely giving an attached Troupe ''[Devastating Wounds]'' and an an ability to eat one fate die used by themselves on a hit, wound, or save turn into a natural 6.
**If you're looking for a pistol, the neuro disruptor is the easiest choice you can make if you're only looking to hit troops and really want to cheese out the DW buff. The fusion pistol will struggle against anything stronger than your own vehicles without DW backing it up. For no reason should you ever trade off the sword for anything.


====Epic Heroes====
====Epic Heroes====
*'''[[Avatar of Khaine]]:''' M10 T12 2+/4++ W14 LD6+ OC5 and the ability to halve the damage of every attack it takes (this will stack with Fortune for that -1 to wound); the Avatar looks pretty damn solid.
**It has deadly demise D3, Strands of Fate, and has a 6" aura that adds 1 to advance and charge rolls.
**Shooting: 12" A1 BS2+('''Sustained Hits d3''') S16 AP-4 Dd6+2 - pretty damned solid.
**Melee: either an A6 S14 AP-4 Dd6+2 or A12 S7 AP-2 D2 attack profile - putting it in a similar category with Guilliman for damage output.
*'''[[Eldrad Ulthran]]:''' '''Leader''' of {{W40Kkeyword|guardian defenders}}, {{W40Kkeyword|storm guardians}}, and {{W40Kkeyword|warlock conclave}}s, but doesn't provide any benefits to his led unit.  Instead, he gives you 3 additional Fate dice when you start rolling them (so an initial pool of 15) and his psychic 2+ power, '''Doom''', is a debuff on a visible enemy unit within 18", giving friendly {{W40Kkeyword|aeldari}} +1 to Wound the debuffed target.  The easiest rule to synergise this with is '''Precision''': slap this on a led unit and shoot it up with Rangers to notice immediate results. 
**M7 T4 SV6+/4++ W5
**Has an ok melee of A3 WS2+ S5(Anti-infantry 2+) AP-1 D2.
**Mind War is 18" A1 BS2+ S5(Anti-character 4+,Precision) AP-2 Dd6.
**Less the psychic powerhouse he once was, Eldrad is now a supportive unit that wants to get fairly close to the enemy. If you want him to try to pull his weight, he needs to be ''Doom''ing big targets and you need to be taking advantage of that, so you'll need to give him an escort so he can sit in the middle of No Man's Land as long as possible to do his thing.
**He isn’t really ''better'' than a regular Farseer, more of a side-grade; take a Skyrunner instead.
**A pretty big issue with Mind War is that it’s very short range, requiring Eldrad to be within 18 of an enemy unit, and the Anti-character 4+ is only relevant against targets of T6+, all of which will have greater than 6 wounds. Note that because Doom never stacks with Anti-, the only character targets where Doom will assist Mind War are T4 or T5.
**seems a bit over costed, being 35pts more then a regular Farseer; it could be argued that Doom is worth the extra points, but as most other named psychic characters are all around 80pts, he could do dropping to around 85 or 90- it’s not like he’s a psychic powerhouse anymore.
*'''[[Illic Nightspear]]:''' This dude is fantastic.  Strap him to a unit of Rangers and none of them can be shot outside of 12" and all of them re-roll wound rolls (in melee too, in case that comes up).  He also has an excellent gun that makes excellent uses of said re-rolls to Wound: R48 A1 BS2+('''Heavy''') S6('''Precision''') AP-3('''Devastating Wounds''') D3.  He can function without the unit if you want, since the Battle Host detachment rule will give him re-rolling to wound and he has immunity to being shot even when not leading a unit, but you almost certainly want to give him a Ranger escort so you can infiltrate the whole mess onto an objective and start sniping enemy leadership.
*'''[[Prince Yriel]]:'''
*'''[[Solitaire]]:''' [[Games Workshop]] forgot they were blanks so they have no anti-psyker foo, but they ''are'' capable of charging after advancing so they can more easily attack from outside the range of ''Lone Operative''. Their armaments give a barrage of S6 AP-2 D2 attacks with ''[Precision]'' to take down any enemy characters and they get a single-use power that not only boosts their basic movement by 2d6" (thus negating any need to advance) and adding +3 attacks to get even blendier.
**While the Solitaire is just as weedy as any other elf, the benefit of both ''Lone Operative'' and a 3++ save is not one to easily ignore unless the enemy picks up anything with ''[Devastating Wounds]''.
*'''The [[Visarch]]:'''
*'''The [[Yncarne]]:'''
*'''[[Yvraine]]:'''
=====[[Phoenix Lords]]=====
*Each Phoenix Lord is able to only join their chosen students, giving the squad a +1 to hit (which won't ever do anything for ''[Sustained Hits]'' or ''[Lethal Hits]''), which means you're looking for units that roll to hit but don't care about critting when fielding one. Going down a wound and now only being T3, along with losing their Aura abilities means that they can now only effect a single Unit for the entire game and are very squishy; they are less Epic Heroes and Demigods of war, and more just fancy lieutenants who will only be of benefit to that single flimsy unit (guess that second unit of Dire Avengers just couldn't care less that their founder is fighting on the same battlefield). Their worth is entirely dependent on whether you want that particular, single, Aspect unit in your army. Their actual point efficiently will have to include the points cost of the character and the points cost of the Unit combined - if the character or unit is too over-costed, it could make the points investment a bit off-putting. Overall, they can barely put a scratch on things like Greater Demons or Primarchs, kind of sad how weak they are individually.
**Just model another Exarch, use it to represent the Phoenix Lord so you get the rules, but treat it as if it’s just the Exarch of that Aspect Shrine (not the Phoenix lord themselves) and the other is just their top student at least that would take the bitter taste away.
**Bear in mind that they'll also negate any -1 to hits on enemy units too. But still, not the best use for them to just overcome something like that.
*'''Asurmen:''' The Bloody Twins got a surprising buff of becoming ''Pistol'' weapons, letting him offload the rain of shards while in combat. The Sword of the Asur remains pretty Strong with 6 S6 AP-3 D3 attacks with ''Devastating Wounds''. Uniquely, he gives the Avengers he joins the ability to use the Fire Overwatch stratagem for free once per turn, even if you'd already used hit beforehand. Combined with their improved overwatch BS, you're going to have quite the strongpoint set up with him in charge. Thankfully he retained his 3++, so he's at least a bit survivable.
**Dire Avengers are full of '''Lethal Hits''', and ''even worse'', their signature ability to hit better on Overwatch has absolutely no synergy with +1 to hit.  ''However'', Asurmen makes Fire Overwatch cost 0 on the unit, so you might want to consider him.
*'''Baharroth:''' Swooping Hawks are full of '''Lethal Hits''', so skip Baharroth.
*'''Fuegan:''' Fire Dragons love +1 to hit, but right now, Fuegan costs too much, plain and simple, relative to the cost of the unit he's buffing (even after including his own additional firepower).
*'''Jain Zar:''' Banshees like +1 to hit just fine.  Jain Zar is, in a strong sense, the best Phoenix Lord, because she alone a) provides +1 to hit to a unit that genuinely appreciates it ''while also'' b) providing a secondary benefit to the led unit (Fuegan and Maugan Ra both have secondary benefits that only benefit themselves, although Fuegan's is a durability buff and hence makes his +1 to hit more likely to stick around). On her own she has a decent melee profile, against generic Infantry (hitting about as hard as a Primaris Captain, if they don’t use their once per battle boost), but like her Scorpion counterpart, is let down by the (only) unit that she can join- as Banshee’s are pretty bad.
*'''Karandras:''' A decent melee character with Ahra's Bane giving an extra point in AP in melee compared to the basic claw while its gun has a bump in Strength. Isirmathil, meanwhile, is a bit stronger when compared to the average chainsword with S6 AP-1, but it lacks the damage of the big sword. He has Sustained Assault, which lets him score critical hits on a 4+ (making the ''Sustained Hits 1'' on his weapons all the more relevant- bringing him back up to how he used to be in 9th) when he charges while his special mandiblasters can work on anything that isn't {{W40kKeyword|Titanic}}. Shame he can only join a Striking Scorpion unit, as they're kind of in a bit of a no-man's land when it comes to what they are actually good against; decent mid tier character, let down by the unit he has to join.
**Striking Scorpions are chock full of '''Sustained Hits 1''', so skip Karandras.
*'''Maugan Ra:'''  An excellent choice, because Dark Reapers can ignore negative hit roll modifiers without ignoring Maugan Ra's +1.  Has the same problem as Fuegan, though - he costs nearly as much as a 10-elf unit of Reapers by himself, and he just doesn't make a 10-elf squad twice as good with his presence.
*'''Irilyth<sup>IA</sup>:''' He's back, even if his model isn't actively stocked. His Spear of Starlight Prism Rifle makes him one of your more Lethal ranged characters; 3 S8 AP-2 D4 shots will put down quite out a lotta hurt on any model on 2 legs (that's, you know, not too big and/or boxy). When paired with his Shadow Spectres, he buffs them by adding 1 to their hit rolls (a pretty good boon when using their focused profile) and by forcing enemy units within 6" to subtract 1 from their battleshock and leadership tests. He can also put up a half decent fight in melee, though if your spectres are in combat, you made some serious mistakes.
**This does come with a massive glaring issue: [[Derp|He lacks a jump pack and the {{W40kKeyword|Fly}} keyword]]. This means that his squad can't fly over any terrain and limits their verticality.


===Battleline===
===Battleline===
*'''Guardian Defenders:''' Shuriken weapons lost their universal AP bump on a critical hit, which severely limits their effectiveness against more armored foes. Catapults remain reliable ''Assault'' weapons, so they can at least still be fired on the move. Their mobility is just as vital too, as they can cap objectives so you can roll 1d6 to add to your Strands of Fate pool.
*'''Corsair Voidreavers:''' Your {{W40kkeyword|Anhrathe}} Battleline choice and your most flexible. They have a 7" {{W40kkeyword|Scout}} move and can be equipped with a fairly wide array of equipment. By default, the whole squad can wield either Aeldari Power Swords and Shuriken Pistols for some melee goodness or they can come packing with Shuriken Rifles for a long-ranged firefight. 1 out of every 5 models can also ditch those options and pick up either a Corsair Shredder or Blaster (you will always take the Blaster; thanks to the unit re-rolling 1s to hit, it's the more reliable gun overall) and if there are 10 models total in the unit, another one can drop their Shuriken Rifle for a Wraithcannon or Shuriken Cannon for even greater damage. As a standalone unit, these guys are great; native re-roll 1's to hit (or flat out to hit re-rolls if the enemy is within range of an Objective) combined with their hard-hitting special weapons can really pack a wallop, but as you can expect from a merry band of space pirates, they don't exactly have much synergy with the rest of your army. Take one or two if you want, but if you really want to capitalize on your Strands of Fate, you should stick with Guardian Defenders as much as possible.
**This revamp of Strength and Toughness also affects your weapon platform's uses as well. While the Scatter Laser remains a reliable horde weapon, the Shuriken Cannon now gets ''Sustained Hits 1'' so it can more easily handle armored troops. The Starcannon is now relegated to mostly targeting small monsters at S8 AP-3 D2, with the Brightlance going anti-tank for S12 AP-3 D2+d6 and the Missile Launcher giving you the ability to do either at reduced effectiveness.
*'''Guardian Defenders:''' Your premier Battleline tax this edition. Guardian Defenders retain their defensive profile of 4+ T3 1W, which paired with the generally reduced AP across the board this edition, makes this edition the burliest your citizen militia has ever been... minus lost Strategems and Psychic Powers, of course. Sadly, that still doesn't mean much in the grand scheme of things and your Guardians will be hard pressed to shake off even standard arms fire. Fortunately, they are gifted with a few tools that give them a bit of an edge over their pugnacious Guardian competition. First, their Shuriken Catapults grant them reasonable bite at range and allow them to advance and shoot without penalty. Second, their Defense Platform offers a minor but flexible ranged punch that can be tailor made to help deal with a wide array of threats, even if only modestly so. Finally, and the most important aspect, these guys are your Fate Dice farmers. For every Objective you control at the end of your Command Phase with a group of Guardians popping a squat next to it, you roll and add a die to your Fate Dice pool. If paired with a Farseer, this basically just gives you a renewable source of guaranteed 6s for anything you could ever need.
**These guys are going to be sat on an objective and farming Fate Dice that the rest of your army can use- probably best keeping them at minimal until size and giving them a weapon platform that has a longer range, so that they can take advantage of that extra hit and wound re-roll, whilst keeping them out of the enemy’s reach.
**This revamp of Strength and Toughness also affects your weapon platform's uses as well. While the Scatter Laser remains a reliable horde weapon, the Shuriken Cannon now gets ''Sustained Hits 1'' so it can more easily handle armored troops. The Starcannon is now relegated to mostly targeting small monsters at S8 AP-3 D2, with the Bright Lance going anti-tank with A1 BS3+ S12 AP-3 Dd6+2 and the Missile Launcher giving you the ability to do either at reduced effectiveness. Until Eldar get more detachments, always take a Bright Lance, and never spend Fate Dice on its accuracy or wounding, just rely on your detachment re-rolls; if your target fails its save, burn a Fate Die on the damage roll.
**stick some eldar support weapon units or War-walkers in front, and fortify your position. Use these units to babysit your Fate Farms, then when you can move forward to claim another objective, leave the minimum sized unit of Guardian’s behind on the previous objective, and move up the board with another small unit of Guardian’s to set up another Fate Farm.
**Stick some eldar support weapon units or War-walkers in front, and fortify your position. Use these units to babysit your Fate Farms, then when you can move forward to claim another objective, leave the minimum sized unit of Guardian’s behind on the previous objective, and move up the board with another small unit of Guardian’s to set up another Fate Farm.
*'''Storm Guardians:''' While they're primarily made for fighting in melee (believe it or not, those butter knives they're waving about ''aren't'' just for decoration), they're not exactly great at it. 2 attacks each at S3 and no AP means that the only things that'll feel even a little threatened by your Storm Guardians are... other Storm Guardians and maybe the Guardsmen they were able to tickle to death. Space Marines or similarly tough foes will probably manage to stifle the odd laugh before backhanding half the squad off the board with an involuntary twitch. ''Fortunately'', a 4+ save and 5++ invuln (with the Serpent Shield) means that small arms fire isn't necessarily an immediate death sentence for your Storm Guardians and their ability to pack in two special guns (flamers or fusion guns) gives them a surprising amount of ranged bite that can soften up a key target for a more specialized unit to deal with. The major selling point for these guys, besides filling the mandatory Battleline tax, is their ability to cap a point and ''keep'' it capped. Yes, you can rush in your Storm Guardians to an uncapped point or one you just secured then, after the start of your following turn, leave it completely undefended and it will still count as a point you control. This will remain in effect until an opponent manages to secure it. If you're able to set up a defensive perimeter and don't need to worry about Deep-strikers or flyers infiltrating your back lines, this can really free up your forces to push forward into enemy territory or focus on other, more pressing matters.


===Infantry===
===Infantry===
*'''Corsair Voidscarred:''' The corsair specialists. While they come with all the options available to the Voireavers, you can also grab a pet bird on a sword-wielding corsair to make all their guns ignore cover while another can go gunslinger with a fusion pistol and shuriken pistol.
**Now for the specialists. The Shade Runner comes with paired blades, hoping that the extra attack and ''[Twin Linked]'' might allow them to overcome the drop in Strength. The Soul Channeler makes the first save the squad fails deal no damage to help mitigate some damage, but it's easily cheesed out by a canny foe. The Wayseeker provides you with a psyker using a staff and the powerful Executioner power that can cut through infantry with relative ease thanks to ''[Anti-Infantry 2+]'', but nothing beyond that.
*'''Rangers:''' Dedicated sniper infantry second only to your Dark Reapers in range, if not firepower. Their Ranger Long Rifles pack a bit of a punch; S4 AP-1 isn't exactly going to be punching through MEQs with any real degree of consistency, though the flat D2 damage ''will'' ensure any such infantry will drop all the same should a shot land true. Of course, being {{W40Kkeyword|Precision}} and {{W40Kkeyword|Heavy}} weapons, they'll have little difficulty hitting their shots on key supporting leaders. To this end, they excel at dealing with such individuals, at least if they're T4 or below. With their {{W40Kkeyword|Infiltration}} ability, you can deploy these guys anywhere you need them to be right from turn 1, even on an open objective. Defensively, there's sadly not a whole lot going for them; a -1 to hit modifier certainly helps, but a 5+/5++ (invlun only against shooting) statline is going to do jack against even standard arms fire. If something gets a little too close (within 9" of them), your Rangers can dash a quick d6" to try and get out of dodge, but if something is close enough to trigger this ability, you may as well count that Ranger unit out of the game. On their own, they're decent, though if you're taking a squad, you should probably just get one max-model unit and stick Illic Nightspear in with them.
*'''Troupe:''' Troupes are the only melee infantry you have capable of competing with Wraithblades for your attention, and they're much better than your other choices; it's just deceptive to see that, because they need leadership to shine.  Baseline, they're just a bunch of melee output (A5 WS3+ S3 AP0 D1 with ''[Lance]'' except the USR isn't actually on their datasheet because GW forgot its own rules) with 1 Lead Player (A5 WS3+ S4 AP-2 D1, same fake ''[Lance]'') and some pistol options that don't really matter here.  What matters is that with proper leadership, this unit will completely outshine Banshees, Scorpions, and so on. 
**Note also that if you have a Troupe master as your Warlord, this unit gains {{W40Kkeyword|battleline}}; still doesn’t make them good, as to make them even remotely viable you need to invest even more points into the unit- save yourself the hassle and just go Guardian Defenders, as you will get more bang for your buck.
**'''Troupe Master:''' The whole unit will have ''[Devastating Wounds]'' and broadly speaking lets them just plain outperform Striking Scorpions.
**'''Shadowseer:''' The whole unit will have ''Stealth'', re-roll Advance rolls, and charge after Advancing, and in general outperform Banshees.
**'''Visarch:'''  Gives ''Fights First'', for outperforming the other trick Banshees can do. Can stack with Yvraine for 5+++ and regenerating, on average, 5/3 dead models per round.
*'''Warlock Conclave:''' A small band of weaker Warlocks who can accompany a Farseer as an elite retinue. Not only does the squad gain a 4+++ against all psychic weapons, but all attacks against the squad while a Farseer's with them take -1 to wound.
**Unlike their solo variants, these guys don't actually have any psychic powers they can use to support other units: Their one buff power (which is identical to the foot Farseer's) can only be cast on themselves and doesn't have the offensive variant that Runes of Battle used to come with, again unlike solo Warlocks.
*'''Wraithblades:''' Angry statues that are experts at carving up (heavy) infantry and just forming an immovable wall of wraithbone. With the same defensive profile as Wraithguard, Wraithblades are tough as hell to crack through without serious firepower. This can be made even more daunting with the Ghostaxe/Forceshield combo conferring a hefty 4++ invuln against any/all attacks. The best part is, even if something manages to punch through that tough statue in melee, they have a 50% chance of staying on their feet long enough to get a retaliatory burst of melee attacks against their attacker before getting taken off the board. You can then laugh in your opponent's face as your Spiritseer resurrects the deceased Wraithblade in your next command phase; and as the rule is written, another in their Command Phase- a returned Wraith each player turn ain’t bad.
**The Ghostswords are ''not'' the best choice for your Wraithblades. Sure, you get 5 attacks to the 3 a Ghostaxe would grant you, but the Ghostaxe hits slightly harder and deals a flat 2 damage per swing. Additionally, the 4++ invuln save the Forceshield gives you is ''really'' hard to say no to. You'll likely only ever want the Ghostswords if you're dealing with a GEQ-heavy army, and even then, you'll probably prefer using more affordable Banshees, Scorpions, or regular Guardian Defenders to clean up the chaff.
*'''Wraithguard:''' As to be expected from Wraith units, Wraithguard return to the new edition tougher than ever: T7 with a 2+ save and 3 wounds apiece lets these guys wade through small arms fire without a care in the world. Indeed, even a bump up to a movement of 6" grants Wraithguard just a smidge more pep to their step compared to prior editions. Offensively, they still hit really damn hard with their S10 D-Scythes or S14(!) Wraithcannons eviscerating anything on two legs. They can even, once per battle round, retaliate against any attacks (melee or ranged) by firing off a volley against their assailants. Yes, they can fire their weapons at point blank range if their foes were trying to hit them with a stick. Unfortunately, this came at the cost of their native accuracy; all Wraithguard weapon profiles have degraded to a BS of a 4+ now. This all but mandates that you bring a {{W40kkeyword|Spiritseer}} and put it in the squad to restore their accuracy to a more reliable 3+. This is recommended anyway due to the Spiritseer being able to resurrect a Wraithguard/blade model once per turn.
====Aspect Warriors====
Aspect Warriors are very tuned down this edition, having lost their ability to choose an Exarch power - and Exarchs are once again reduced to just having +1W and potentially distinct (and therefore better or worse) wargear/weapons. Many of theses units are going to struggle to find a place in a list, as there are other units available that make them somewhat redundant. Note that "Aspect Warriors" isn't a keyword on the units, but all of these units share the fact that they can only be led by their Phoenix Lord - and if they don't have a Phoenix Lord with a model/rules, they can't have a leader at all.
With the points reveal, the Phoenix Lords cost more (in some cases almost double) than a 5 Warrior team, essentially more than doubling (almost triple for some) the cost of the unit without doubling the unit's effectiveness; even at 10 Warriors, they just generally don't earn their keep.
It’s not all bad, at least Aspect warriors are now fairly cheap, so at least they might be usable, even if their performance is going to be a bit lackluster.
*'''Dark Reapers''': Heavy Weapons Elves, with a 3+ BS that can never be changed. Each model's Reaper Launcher gives them a choice between one shot made to dent small monsters, bikers, or TEQs, or two shots more meant for hitting MEQ or GEQ, both able to get past cover natively. The Exarch can pick up alternative weapons, with a missile launcher that gives both stronger anti-tank fire and genuine crowd control, a Shuriken Cannon that can give loads of fire thanks to ''[Sustained Hits 1]'', and the Tempest Launcher, your only gun that gets bothered by cover but gives extreme mob-blasting power. While the squad can now once again be bumped up between 5-10 models, the overall buff to vehicle/monster toughness means that Dark Reapers will now struggle to realistically deal with heavy armor, and lack the number of shots needed to concern hordes.
*'''Dire Avengers:''' Their Shuriken Catapults retain that single extra shot compared to the guardians, but they also gain ''[Lethal Hits]'' so they can capitalize on crits by negating enemy Toughness - shame they still have to deal with armour, though. Defense Tactics helps them hit on a 5+ when firing Overwatch, but this improves to an even better 4+ when they're camping on an objective.  Note the lack of synergy here: Lethal Hits only goes off on a 6+ to hit regardless of Defense Tactics (and a similar issue comes up when you try to buff them with Asurmen).
**The choice between the Exarch taking a Diresword or Power Glaive really hinges upon whether you need the glaive's S5 over how likely you are at triggering the Diresword's ''[Devastating Wounds]''. Of course, you can still dual-wield catapults for maximum firepower.
**Overall they are not really that noticeably better than Guardian Defenders (who get to take heavy weapons, hold objectives with OC2 and are a source of Fate Dice), so probably not really much incentive to take them instead of one of the other options available. 
**They also suffer quite noticeably compared to Warp Spiders, who occupy the same niche Dire Avengers try to occupy with their buffed Overwatch. Against MEQ, for example, ''even on 4+ Overwatch'' Warp Spiders deal nearly double (35/18) as much damage as Dire Avengers. Since Warp Spiders also have superior M and Sv, it's questionable what purpose Dire Avengers could serve in your army.
*'''Fire Dragons:''' Formerly your premier anti-{{W40Kkeyword|Vehicle/Monster}} infantry squad, your Fire Dragons sadly aren't packing as much fire as they used to. While S9 re-rolling 1s to wound against {{W40Kkeyword|monsters/vehicles}} is certainly adequate for punching through heavy infantry, lighter monsters, bikers and some light vehicles, it sadly ''isn't'' quite potent enough to burn through the heavier toughness found on the average Imperial Guard or Space Marine tanks. If such shots ''do'' manage to burn through, the AP-4 all but guarantees that those vehicles won't get an armor save. With {{W40Kkeyword|Melta 3}} and Dd6 on all their Fusion Guns, anything within half range that gets shot ''will'' feel the heat. Tragically, that's about where all the good news stops. While a 3+ save is virtually unheard of for still-living Aeldari infantry, T3 W1 is a tale as old as time, and with a pitiful 12" range on their Fusion Guns, the concept of "escape" is but a fairy tale to these soldiers. If they are ever in range to unload their wrath onto a target, they're assuredly within revenge range for either the tank they just failed to scratch or the angry soldiers who just piled out of it.
**You can get relatively decent output from these guys if you load them into a Falcon, drive the Falcon up, drop off the dragons, and have everyone shoot - wraithguard can't even fit inside a Falcon, so there's no competition there.  The problem with this is that a Falcon is more fragile than a Wave Serpent, but your efficiency will drop precipitously if you switch to a Wave Serpent based solution.  Fire Prisms are negligibly less efficient at killing things than a Falcon plus Fire Dragons, but you don't have to worry about dropping off your cargo intact and then having everyone unload into the same target.
*'''Howling Banshees''': Well, Banshees took a bit of a fall from grace - not only do they only have three S4 AP-3 swings per model, but they also lost the ability to ignore Overwatch with their masks. Instead, Banshees have the ''Fights First'' ability, a fairly brisk 8" move, and the ability to charge after advancing or falling back. Still, Howling Banshees are definitely your go-to melee troopers when you're looking to deal with armored infantry; a 4++ save while in melee can make them surprisingly survivable (for Eldar) and their consistent AP-3 weapons mean that even MEQ units can't exactly brush them off. Unfortunately, the loss of supporting Psychic powers such as Empower and Doom (unless Eldrad is nearby) means that Howling Banshees will struggle to do anything of note to TEQs or T5+ units. Still a decent, if highly niche, choice.
**The Exarch's Executioner is the only weapon that makes you more dangerous against TEQs, but that still suffers the pitfall of no ''[Devastating Wounds]'' to make them worth it. Still, it is the best anti-MEQ weapon you can get your Banshee Exarch. If you're facing mono-wound foes or hordes, the Mirrorswords with their 6 attacks at AP-3 will be your best friend.
**Like Striking Scorpions, fundamental failures relative to a Troupe with the right Leadership - a Shadowseer's Troupe can also charge after advancing but has '''Stealth''' while hitting harder, while a Troupe led by the Visarch and Yvraine Fights First, has a 5+++, and regenerates dead Banshees.  If you want to make this unit even try to keep up, Jain Zar will provide a unit-wide +1 to hit and more importantly will get you 0CP Heroic Interventions even if someone else already Heroically Intervened, but there's only so much you can do.
*'''Striking Scorpions:''' Rather than fishing for a couple mortal wounds on top of everything else, the Mandiblasters now give ''[Devastating Wounds]'' to all melee attacks against non-{{W40Kkeyword|monsters/vehicles}} - a much needed damage buff as their 4 ST4 AP0 chainsword attacks aren't cutting through any armour anymore (and will struggle to deal with Orks, or anything that has low save, high toughness, which is what should be their specialty), even if they get a bunch of accurate attacks with ''[Sustained Hits 1]''.
**The Exarch can of course grab the claw instead of a pistol - the mounted pistol not only gets an extra shot on a pistol but also getting an equivalent to a power fist. Instead, you could trade everything for the Biting Blade if you're that dedicated to going down swinging in melee with S5 AP-1 D2.
**This unit is struggling to find what it's actually good at - what target do they actually do well against? It's not armoured infantry, it's not tough infantry, and it's certainly not vehicles. They have about the same damage output as the Hounds of Morkai, but lack any sniping potential and have less than half the durability.  Also, Karandras doesn't do much for them, whereas if you take a Troupe with a Troupe Master, you'll get, on a fundamental level, this unit but better.
*'''Swooping Hawks:''' Your flyboys are not only very fast, but they can always fly back into reserves so long as they aren't in any fights - Not that you'd want them to anyways, their armament is their Lasblasters, decent guns 4 shots at S4 with ''[Lethal Hits]'' and ''[Assault]'', but not cut out for any armor; add in a bit of ‘Blade Storm’ (or simply taking advantage of Plunging Fire) and their potential damage output improves quite a bit against armored units. With this in mind, these hawks are only good for harassment, jumping in to piss someone off and then flying back away from enemy retribution. This unit would also work very well with ‘Doom’ for that +1 to wound- a very mobile unit, able to deliver a hail of shots (Lethal on a 6) that now wound marines on 3+ (Heck they would be wounding Custodes on 4+) and can get extra AP for just 1CP- they certainly would be a unit that could make sure that’s it’s in position to take full advantage of the effect.
*'''Warp Spiders:''' The warp packs are now fully turned into a {{W40kKeyword|Fly}} keyword, though that doesn't really affect the mobility of the Spiders much. It does, however, change Flickerjump into now giving a flat boost in movement to 24" (over a default of 12") with a 1/6 chance of suffering a mortal wound on the unit. While they can't charge after making the jump, you don't really want to anyway since only the Exarch can take Powerblades and get any sort of AP in a fight. Instead, you're more inclined to use the Death Spinners, S4 AP0 webbers (''[Devastating Wounds]'' rather than ignoring cover) so you can cheese out armour. They don't deal a lot of damage, and will struggle to wound most things, unless you get lucky and roll a few 6s - mostly usable as a harassment unit, because you can get them anywhere they need to be (e.g. to pick up Plunging Fire) to both shoot the enemy and be in position for Overwatch.  To give you a sense of how their guns work, each one will, on average, deal 35/36 of a wound to MEQ; since a typical unit of 5 Spiders will have 6 guns in it, a full unit firing will, on average, kill 2 MEQ and leave a third wounded.  Their optimal targets are invuln-based, so their lack of AP won't matter but their Devastating Wounds still has a chance to be on full display - e.g. they'll jump in utility against a Chaos Daemons army.
*'''Shadow Spectres<sup>IA</sup>:''' One of your better Aspect Warriors (not that the competition is very stiff at the moment). Shadow Spectres return as your speedy, flexible mid-ranged anti-infantry unit this edition. They have a solid defensive profile at 3+/5++ with a baked in -1 to-hit modifier courtesy of  ''Stealth'' and have the frankly bonkers ability to freely move another 6" after shooting, no CP or rolls required. This stacks with their normal 12", giving them immense mobile flexibility to engage and retreat to safer positions. Offensively, they're quite well equipped to put down MEQ or GEQ models with their focused (S6 AP-2 D2) or dispersed (Ad6 S4 AP-1 D1) profiles respectively. Uniquely among Aspect Warriors, their Exarch isn't included by default; you have to purchase him separately (with both money and points, funnily enough). Additionally, he's 20pts as opposed to the 16pts a normal Spectre costs and provides no extra benefits aside the extra wound. Though this makes them the only Aspect unit that can have up to 11 models (160pt 10-elf squad plus the exarch), there's not really a good reason to splurge for him.
===Mounted===
Points costs are in.  As of right now, Shroud Runners and Windriders are 26.67 ppm, Shining Spears are 40 ppm, Skyweavers are 47.5 ppm, and a Warlock Skyrunner Conclave is 50 ppm. 
*'''Shining Spears:'''  Your fast strike-bikers, Shining Spears are designed with the charge in mind. This is something they are... decent at. A solid move of 14" and {{W40kkeyword|Fly}} will get them to an optimal charging position pretty reliably. Once they're in position, a savvy player can let loose a respectable S6 AP-2 D2 salvo into the faces of the MEQs these guys are built to deal with before slamming them with their Laser Lances. Unfortunately, outside of the actual charge, where they get to add 1 to their wound rolls, these guys are lackluster in a prolonged fight. S4 isn't really a good position to deal with Marines or similar units, even if each successful wound does kill a Marine. Unfortunately, a unit that relies on charging and falling back on a unit that can't natively fall back and charge is not ideal. This is made worse by the lack of any and all support they can get from Leaders. Though a T4 Sv3+/5++ W2 and a -1 to be hit helps cover these guys, it's still not the ''greatest'' defensive statline. All in all, though these guys are your premier melee bikers, you should probably only ever invest in one single squad to chase down key infantry squads.
*'''Shroud Runners:''' Mounted Rangers that can initiate a pre-game 9" {{W40kkeyword|Scout}} move and put out a lot of anti-GEQ firepower courtesy of their Scatterlasers. Unlike regular Rangers, the Ranger Rifle on the bike doesn't have the '''Heavy''' property, so it'll be less accurate compared to said Rangers if you're looking for leader deterrent. One of the main reasons you'll want to consider this unit is their '''Target Acquisition''' ability. This lets the Shroud Runners pick a visible enemy unit within 12" of them and grants ''all'' ranged weapons targeting that unit the '''Lethal Hits''' property. This is one of the relatively few perks that can just blatantly benefit your entire army, in an edition where psychic support is all but a distant memory. Certainly worth considering even just a single squad.
*'''Skyweavers:''' A hybrid biker unit that can be tailored to harass units at range or close in for combat. Compared to Shining Spears, Skyweavers can put out a higher volume of attacks in melee, though with pidly S3 and no AP on their standard Close Combat weapon attacks, they're not putting down anything heartier than a Guardsman. If you give up the Star bolas for a Zephyrglaive, they gain a more reliable S5 AP-1 D2 weapon that can put down Space Marines with a modicum of reliability. Either way you slice it, you can equip each bike with either the standard Shuriken Cannon for anti-infantry or the Skyweaver haywire cannon to give it a lethal edge against other vehicles, and the unit can inflict, on average, half a mortal wound (1 MW on a 4+ on 1d6) per model on a non-{{W40Kkeyword|monster/vehicle}} unit it Normal Moves over.
**A more direct comparison to Shining Spears; Shining Spears are slightly more durable due to their -1 to be hit modifier and are more durable against AP0 weapons due to their higher standard save. Skyweavers are much more flexible, are superior at range, and have the potential to put out Mortal Wounds against non-{{W40kkeyword|Monster}}/{{W40kkeyword|Vehicle}} units simply by passing over them. On the charge, Shining Spears are better at cutting down GEQ or MEQ units.
*'''Warlock Skyrunner Conclave:''' M14 T4 Sv3+ W3 Ld6+ OC2, and they and their {{W40Kkeyword|farseer skyrunner}} leader get -1 to be wounded while they're led, and the entire unit has a 4++ against '''Psychic''' attacks, led or not.  Puts out a credible amount of close-range dakka compared to Windriders while better protecting a Farseer, but ''very'' expensive.
*'''Windriders:''' M14 T4 SV3+ W2 Ld6+ OC2 and access to multiple leaders - you know them, you love them, Windriders are still a great option for any Eldar army.  They have 3 weapon choices, but you're always going to take Shuriken Cannon spam since you have easy access to re-rolling hit rolls:  R24 A3 BS3+('''Sustained Hits 1''') S6 AP-1 D2.
**Swift Demise: Each time you make a ranged attack you can re-roll a hit roll of 1, but if the enemy unit targeted is within range of an objective controlled by the opponent, then you can just straight-up re-roll the Hit roll.
**Can be led by: Autarch Skyrunner (advance 6" without rolling), Farseer Skyrunner (no unit buffs per se, but the Farseer can always target their own unit with either or both of their buffs; one forces a Fate Die to be a 6 and the other enables re-rolling Hit Rolls), or what's going to be your go-to, Warlock Skyrunner (every time it's your Command Phase, choose Ignores Cover or Stealth).
**These guys are going to be great at clearing enemy held objectives - add in a Vyper to get rid of any pesky cover save, and they will do the job very well.
**They should be able to take full advantage of Plunging Fire, which will improve the AP of their attacks.


===Vehicles===
===Vehicles===
*'''Support Weapons:''' M3 T6 SV4+ W5, these are going to be defending your deployment zone fate farms from anyone thinking of getting too close.  They have a maximum unit size of 1, so take 3 in every list you make.
**They have the Artillery Barrage rule, and so will be handing out -1 to hit debuffing effects on enemy non-{{W40Kkeyword|monster/vehicle}} units that they fire at.
**They get a selection of either Vibro Cannons, Shadow Weavers, or D-cannons; each offers a decent amount of firepower dependent on what the actual points cost is going to be, but thanks to your detachment rule, you're going to stick to D-cannons: 24"('''Indirect Fire''') Ad3('''Blast''') BS3+('''Heavy''') S16 AP-4('''Devastating Wounds''') Dd6+2.
**seeing as all options are the exact same cost, the choice is a bit easier to make.
**The Unit is very slow, being only movement 3, and a selection of short range weapons- they work very well as a deterrent. If you allow yourself to get within range of their weapons, expect to get shot in the face, however it is very easy to play around theses units- or take them out from outside their limited threat range. 
====Fly====
tl;dr: As of current point costs, Fire Prisms win this entire section for airborne murder.  As for Falcons, Starweavers, and Wave Serpents, well, a lot depends on what you want carried into battle.
*'''Falcon:''' This can {{W40Kkeyword|transport}} 6 non-{{W40Kkeyword|jump pack}} {{W40Kkeyword|aeldari infantry}}, with {{W40Kkeyword|wraith construct}}s counting as 2 models each.  [[Derp|That means you can't carry any wraith units at all when the game begins, as none will fit.]]  Because of their Fire Support rule marking foes for passengers to re-roll to wound, you want the models inside to have ''[Devastating Wounds]'' on their guns. While 3 Wraithguard would be completely acceptable contents, this means the best possible contents out the gate are, in the absence of points costs, 3 Death Jesters and 3 Autarchs with Death Spinners; Maugan Ra, Illic Nightspear, and Yvraine would all benefit mightily, but they're all also meaningfully buffing leaders - Illic leading a unit will give him re-rolling to wound anyway, while Maugan can get it by shooting something that's below half-strength, and Yvraine is worth ''far'' more than her gun.
*'''Fire Prism:''' At M14 T9 Sv3+ W12, the Prism is about as survivable as a Marine Land Speeder; not bad, but you're going to have to be careful with how you play them.  T9 is ''very'' fragile by 10e "tank" standards, and you should regard these as glass cannons.
**It has a dispersed Pulse and a Focused Lance profile on its gun, both at 60" (but the latter has more range in practice) BS3+. This model also re-rolls 1 hit roll and 1 wound roll each time it shoots, so with your detachment providing a second one of each, you should never need to burn Fate Dice on its offense. This thing is now your best anti-vehicle/monster unit; Focused Lance fire is all but impossible to mitigate without an invuln save and the flat 6 damage per successful wound will do wonders against key targets.
***Dispersed Pulse: A2d6 S6 DP-1 D2.
***Focused Lance: A2 S18 AP-4 D6, '''Linked Fire''': you can determine range and visibility from any {{W40Kkeyword|fire prism}} this model can see.
****You can have a bit of fun here, as you could have two or three Prisms out of range of the enemy, then get a Farseer to give one of them the -1 to be wounded bonus (even something with S18+ is going to be wounding it on a 3+), send that one forward, so that it’s in range of something you want gone, use Linked Fire to fire all six Focused attacks at the enemy unit, re-rolling all 6 of your hit and wound rolls, as each model is attacking individually. If the point model starts taking heavy fire despite the buff, burn Fate Dice on its saves. You could also use Fire and Fade to zip forward, unleash hell, then immediately move back to safety. If it’s taken a beating, then send it back, bless one of the other fresh Prisms, send it forward and rinse and repeat.
*'''Night Spinner:''' You take one of these for its giant fuck-off gun: R48('''Indirect Fire''') Ad6+3('''Blast''') BS3+ S7('''Twin-Linked''') AP0('''Devastating Wounds''') D2.  Points cost will make or break this model, as its gun is fundamentally ''worse'' than a Support Weapon D-Cannon.
*'''Voidweaver:''' You can force one thing you shoot and hit to take a Battle-Shock Test, and you're armed with 2 Shuriken Cannons and your choice of R36 A2 BS3+ S12 AP-3 D4 or R24 A3 BS3+ S4('''Anti-Vehicle 4+''') AP-1('''Devastating Wounds''') D3.  Fundamentally occupies a similar niche to Vypers; as of right now, Voidweavers are better, because they cost a third again the points of a Vyper while being more than a third again as lethal and vaguely more durable.
*'''Vypers:''' M14 T6 SV3+ W6 - as long as they remain cheap and cheerful they will still hold a place in an Eldar army list, but points cost will make or break this model, as it's in direct competition with Voidweavers for effectively the same niche.  Right now, Voidweavers seal the deal.
**They have the Deadly Demise 1, Strands of Fate, and Harassment Fire, which removes the benefit of cover from an enemy unit.
**As long as they remain fairly cheap they will provide a nimble weapon platform, that can help support your other units dig out entrenched enemy units. Probably good alongside units of Wind Riders who can take advantage of that cover nerf.
*'''Hornet<sup>IA</sup>:'''
*'''Lynx<sup>IA</sup>:'''
*'''Warp Hunter<sup>IA</sup>:'''
=====Dedicated Transports=====
*'''Starweaver:''' Has '''Firing Deck 6''', but the only guns you can put on it worth a damn are Death Jesters (and Yvraine, should the rules end up allowing her to board it provided she's leading a Troupe), and they're better off riding a Falcon.  Skip this.
*'''Wave Serpent:''' The ever-reliable transport (carries 12 models without {{W40kKeyword|Jump Pack}}, {{W40kKeyword|Wraith Construct}} models count as 2) got a minor bump in Toughness (M14 T9 Sv3+/5++ W13) to withstand meltaguns, but it'll remain just as exposed to any lascannons with only a 5++ save protecting them. While it lost the ability to ignore certain rolls to wound, the shield regained its ability to be used as a one-time weapon, making an enemy unit within 12" eat d3 mortal wounds and take a battleshock test to potentially pin them down for its troops.
**For weapon choices, everything is '''twin-linked''' so you won't be using your Detachment ability to re-roll wounds unless you swap the twin shuriken catapult for a shuriken cannon,  but you'll basically always be reaching for the Twin Starcannon: 36" A4 BS3+ S8('''Twin-Linked''') AP-3 D2.  The Twin Bright Lance trades number of attacks for damage and strength, which normally you'd be all about, but the built-in Twin Linking means the bump in S is deceptive, and it has to consume Fate Dice to keep its total damage out on par with the Starcannon.
**That said, don't lose track of the fact that you took this model as a transport, not a weapon platform.
=====Aircraft=====
None of your Aircraft have '''Hover''', so gone are the days of superior Eldar agility in the air.
*'''Crimson Hunter:''' +1 to Hit and Wound {{W40Kkeyword|fly}}, with 2 Bright Lances and a Pulse Laser in practice (all on BS3+ base), unless points costs get ''really'' strange, War Walkers, Vypers, and Falcons between them have this base well-covered.
*'''Hemlock Wraithfighter:''' Has a 9" aura of -1 to Battle-Shock and Leadership tests, but since it hasn't got Hover you can't slow down to apply the aura where you need it, and while the guns are honestly perfectly adequate at murdering, well, everything, you're not strapped for good guns elsewhere on models that don't have all the problems that come with being {{W40Kkeyword|aircraft}}.
*'''Nightwing<sup>IA</sup>:'''
====Walkers====
*'''War Walkers:''' Pretty well-protected with T7 SV3+/4++ W6 as well as making enemies take -1 to wounded. Fortunately, they're highly mobile with its speed and ''Scout 9"'' letting it reach key positions to open fire.
**Let's be clear: Fire Prisms murder things better but also die more easily.  Some of the points cost of these dudes is their frankly very reasonable durability, which they want anyway since they're going to Scout forward to get hit first if you go second.
====Titanic====
*'''Cobra<sup>IA</sup>:'''
*'''Scorpion<sup>IA</sup>:'''
===Monsters===
====Walkers====
*'''Wraithlord:''' T11 Sv2+ W10, and just... ''too expensive'' to compete with War Walkers, especially because in practice you will ''never'' field one of these without a Spiritseer babysitter (which also slows the unit down to M7" over it's base 10").  Just as before, the bare (wraith)bones loadout is simply its boney knuckles and a pair of Shuriken Catapults mounted on its wrists, but you can swap those out for Flamers if you so wish and mount any two heavy weapons onto its shoulders for any conceivable purpose. It can also wield a Ghostglaive (which you should always give it) to punish heavy infantry or monsters with 4 S10 swings at AP-3 for d6+1 damage or 8 S7 AP-2 D2 swipes to clear out GEQ/MEQ blobs. If it should deal the finishing blow to any units it may find itself facing in battle, Fated Hero will grant you the ability to roll a d6 and add the result to your Fate dice pool. It's not all good news though; as with the Wraith infantry, the Wraithlord's BS/WS dropped down to a 4+ natively. Without Spiritseer support, this is a pretty unfortunate debuff to an otherwise fantastic {{W40kkeyword|Walker Monster}} unit. However, if you have the points, you can pair a Spiritseer with it to grant it +1 to hit and '''Lethal Hits''', which can get particularly spicy with the sheer volume of fire Scatter lasers or Sweeping Ghostglaive attacks can put out.
*'''Wraithseer<sup>IA</sup>:''' A Wraithlord with a Warlock inside of it, but it can be led by a Spiritseer all the same. While it gets a 4++ invuln and keeps the Destructor psychic weapon, it can only equip a single heavy weapon, a massive letdown when compared to the Wraithlord's many guns and isn't compensated much by making anyone it shoots take a battle-shock test. While it comes stock with a Ghostspear, it's more or less an inferior Ghostglaive with the benefit of ''[Anti-Infantry 2+]'' and ''[Precision]'' is using the Strike profile.
====Titanic====
*'''Wraithknight<sup>{{W40Kkeyword|monster}}</sup>:''' Your competition to the Imperial Knight is... looking kinda squishy to be honest. Capping at T12 (only 1 toughness higher than a Wraithlord half its size) and W18, it's still quite vulnerable to lascannons or similar weaponry. Sure, it has a 2+ save, but that's not going to really do much against the kind of firepower that's going to be pointed at this behemoth. Of course, there's no native invuln save to help against heavier weaponry unless you strictly forego one of the Wraithknight's extremely lethal weapons for a Scattershield, so you're going to have to weigh your choices. Do you sacrifice a Heavy Wraithcannon (R36 d3 shots at S20 AP-4 2D6 - with Dev Wounds and Blast; note that it doesn't have Indirect Fire, like some are claiming; its a Titanic unit, what were you expecting, that it would be armed with a water gun?) just to have a half decent save against the likes of a lascannon? Whatever your choice, you do still at least have the option of pairing either the Scattershield or the Wraithcannon with another Wraithcannon, Suncannon, or Titanic Ghostglaive.
**Unfortunately, the Suncannon is ''still'' 2d6 shots, leaving it as an extremely swingy option for dealing with infantry. Even at a flat D3 and AP-3, you have better, more cost effective anti-infantry weapons at your disposal.
**The Titanic Ghostglaive is actually looking pretty reasonable. A5 WS3+ S16 AP-3 D6 will put down pretty much any single model you point it at, while the Sweeping profile puts out 15A WS3+ S8 AP-2 D2, easily more than enough to pulp any 10-man squad of MEQ or GEQ. Arguably this is actually the most cost effective way of running the Knight; you get a decent INV sav, a way of dealing with hordes and single unit opponents- putting out a good deal of damage for both, and you don’t actually have to waste Fate Dice on improving its performance, so you can focus on using them to support the rest of your army.
**at 370 it a fairly hefty chunk of points, but worth it. Like always the internet is throwing its rattle out the cradle (they did the same thing over Support platforms), when it comes to D weapons; the claim is that you are going to use all your Fate Dice (that are all magically 6, how strange) and use them all in one go, on a single Unit in your army- this is never going to happen on the table, and is frankly a very stupid thing to do; in an actual game you are only likely to average 2 to 3 6’s in your initial role, and you might get a 6 from a Farseer once per turn (which will cost you at least another 125pts to do- bringing the points cost up to 495, for realistically improving the damage out put for this unit for one single shooting phase in the entire game)the ridicules levels of hysteria over a situation that can only take place in a complete vacuum (it’s math hammer, but the annoying hyperbolic kind), and just straight up ignores the fact that you will never have the number of 6’s in your pool to make it work, is alarming. It’s a strong unit, and depending on it’s actually table top performance, will dictate whether anything needs tweaking- but anyone claiming that it should be 800pts is being just a tad silly. It’s no more difficult to kill then a Land Raider, so if you can kill one of those you can just as easily kill a Wraithknight- it’s weapons are what makes it a hundred points more expensive, and it’s hardly got the biggest guns in the game (a single hit from a Thundercoil Harpoon will be putting out a much greater number of Mortal Wounds then a wraith Cannon)- guard tanks will shoot it off the board easily enough.
**if you expect to charge a Titanic unit this edition with Infantry and walk away victorious, then you need to change the way you think and play; same goes for going Infantry heavy against Tanks or heavy walkers- it just isn't going to work.   
**seeing as everyone and their dog is throwing out sky high numbers, let’s cut out the hyperbolic nonsense, and actually look at this realistically; on an average Fate Dice roll you should expect at least 2 6’s (you could roll more or none at all), so if you decide to use both on a Wraithknight you will use one on the hit roll, to trigger the Devastating Wounds, then the other to max out one of your 2d6 damage rolls, giving you an average of 9 wounds for that shot- enough to reliably kill 4.5 Marines; if you went and spent the extra points for a Farseer and bodyguard you would then increase that to 12, enough to kill 6 marines- so in order to make sure you can kill 6 marines that phase you have now used up all your naturally rolled 6’s, these are now unavailable to the rest of your army. On an average roll you should expect to get at least 2 shots from a Wraith cannon, but you will now have no more 6’s to change the results, and have to roll a natural 6 to trigger Mortal wounds again - if you do that will result in around 6 mortal wounds for that one shot on average (if you spent the points you could reliably put out 6 mortal wounds on a single shot in your shooting phase thanks to attaching a Farseer to its hip, but again this would only be enough to trigger the wounds on one shot, not enough to mess with the damage roll, or effect any other shot that might be made. Anyone going around claiming that they have faced three Wraithknight, and each was throwing out Mortal wounds like candy, then they are talking absolute horse shit, as there will simply not be enough 6’s in the Fate pool to actually make it happen.
**if you go full offense, you can take two Wraith Cannons, but by doing so you forfeit any sort of Invulnerable save- leavening you very exposed to the big guns of your opponent, as the Wraith Cannons have a fairly shot range. Your can however take a shield providing you that much needed inv save, but by doing so you halve your offensive output.
**to demonstrate how you can deal with a Wraithknight we can take a quick look in the Marine Index: 2x Predator Annihilator’s (260pts- 110pts cheaper then the Knight; you could almost go for 3 for nearly the same price). That gives you: 2x Predator twin Lascannon (2xD6+1) 2x Hunter killer missiles (2xD6) 4x Lascannons (4xD6+1). Add in Re-rolling damage rolls of 1 and Oath of Moment and they will light a Wraithknight up like a Christmas tree, even on an average roll. 8D6 +6 will put a Wraithknight in the ground with little difficulty, especially if you don’t give up one of the Wraith Cannon’s for the shield.


*Fire prism:
*'''Skathach Wraithknight<sup>IA</sup>:'''
**although we do not have the entire unit rules yet, we do have the rules for its main weapon.
*'''Phantom Titan<sup>IA</sup>:''' A zippy but relatively durable titan at T14 and W55, but it's only got a 2+ save with the 5++ only working against any guns. It can walk over most things like anything short of other titans and tall terrain and can shoot and charge after falling back, giving it an exceptional amount of mobility, but it is CP hungry as any stratagems used on it require triple the cost.
**It has a dispersed Pulse and a Focused Lance function. The Dispersed Pulse gives you 2D6 attacks at ST6 and 2 damage (AP -1), the Focused Lance gives you 2 attacks at ST18 and 6 damage (AP -4). The Prism is pretty good at dealing with both individuals and hoard targets, but isn’t really outstanding in either; however it does provide a more stable performance then a lot of other big guns in other factions.
*'''Revenant Titan<sup>IA</sup>:'''
**Linked Fire: enables multiple Fire Prism’s to fire through another Fire Prism that is visible to it. You can have a bit of fun here, as you could have two or three Prisms out of range of the enemy, then get a Farseer to give one of them the -1 to wound bonus (even something with a strength 20+ is going to be wounding it on a 3+), send that one forward, so that it’s in range of something you want gone, use Linked Fire to fire all six Focused attacks at the enemy unit; re-rolling 3 hit rolls and 3 wound rolls, as each model is attacking individually, or 6D6 shots with blast. This should give you around 36 wounds on a target if you used the Focused Lance, and managed to get them all through, more then enough to take anything out the picture; if you managed to take out the primary target early, you could simply change to the Dispersed mode for some quick Hoard management. If the Prism takes damage from any kind of retaliation, then it has that handy -1 to wound, and if push comes to shove, and it becomes a target of something it really doesn’t want to be hit by, use a Fate Dice to shrug it off. You could also use Fire and Fade to zip forward, unleash hell, then immediately move back to safety. If it’s taken a beating, then send it back, bless one of the other fresh Prism’s, send it forward and rinse and repeat.  


===Fortifications===
*'''Webway Gate:''' A giant pair of arches that are big obstacles to give cover. Their only purpose is to let your units jump in from reserves to anywhere within 6" of the gate. Fortunately, this allows you to set up units anywhere within 9" of any enemies that are near the gate, and this lets the squad count as having charged for the coming Fight phase.


Falcon:  
===Unit Tier List===
*As with the Fire Prism we do not have the full rules reveal yet.
Note: the grouping will likely change once the points for each unit is revealed. Given the overall (relative)fragile nature of many units, and the fairly small model count on the table, each unit will need to pull its weight and redeem its points cost, as you can’t really afford to waste points on a unit that isn’t going to perform.
*Fire Support: If you fire into an enemy unit then until the end of the turn, any friendly models that have disembarked that turn can re-roll the wound roll each time they make an attack against that targeted unit until the end of the turn - this applies to all attacks, not just shooting attacks. Depending on their rules, this could be massive for units like Fire Dragons.
{| class=wikitable
! scope=col | || Units and Characters ||
|-
| S || Farseer Skyrunner, Fire Prism, Autarch Wayleaper, Support Weapons || These Units should be considered an auto-include
|-
| A || Farseer, Windriders (with Farseer or Autarch Skyrunner and/or Warlock Skyrunner), War Walkers, Avatar of Khaine, Eldrad Ulthran, Illic Nightspear(+Rangers), Spiritseer(+Wraith Unit), Fuegan(+Fire Dragons), Wraithknight, Yncarne || These units are strong, and will be of benefit to the army
|-
| B || Guardian Defenders, Warp Spiders, Fire Dragons, Wraithguard, Voidweavers/Vypers, Wave Serpent, Asurmen(+Dire Avengers), Karandras(+Striking Scorpions), Baharroth(+Swooping Hawks), Autarch, Warlock, Wraithlord, Wraithblades, Shroud Runners, Falcon, Night Spinner, Yvraine, Visarch, Death Jester, Solitaire, Warlock Conclave || Generally solid and dependable unit
|-
| C || Rangers, Dire Avengers, Swooping Hawks, Prince Yriel, Maugan Ra(+Dark Reapers), Jain Zar(+Howling Banshees), Voidscarred, Shining Spears, Crimson Hunter, Hemlock, Skyweaver, Starweaver, Voidweaver || Ok but somewhat subpar, and can be left out quite easily
|-
| D || Dark Reapers, Howling Banshees, Harlequin troupes, Striking Scorpions, Troupe Master, Shadowseer || Pretty bad, and overall skippable 
|-
| E || Storm Guardians, Webway Gate || Borderline useless, and should be left on the shelf
|-
| 😂 || Phantom Titan || nothing to do with unit performance, but never going to see on the table regardless.
|}




{{Warhammer 40k Tactics}}
{{Warhammer 40k Tactics}}
[[Category: Warhammer 40000 Tactics (10E)]]
[[Category: Warhammer 40000 Tactics (10E)]]

Latest revision as of 23:03, 23 June 2023

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This is the current 10th Edition's Eldar tactics. 9th Edition Tactics are here.


Why Play Craftworld Eldar[edit]

Pros[edit]

  • Assault weapons are everywhere for your infantry, and with no penalty to shoot after advancing with them, you can advance most of your units without issue.
  • Space elves have a bit of a reputation for their speed; a standard movement of 7" for virtually all of your infantry and the Fly keyword on basically everything with an engine generally lets you get where you need to go.
  • Craftworlders know how to craft some pretty good guns. Your weapon equivalents tend to hit harder and with a bit more AP compared to the fare of other factions.
  • As is their signature style, the Craftworlders field armies of specialists. Much of their roster is tailored to perform certain roles and in general they perform them pretty well. At least, in theory. Many of them are admittedly underpowered currently.
  • Strands of fate, combined with the detachment rule Eldar get make for an incredibly potent combo, carrying your heavier weapons farther than other factions get.

Cons[edit]

  • Shuriken weapons lost their AP bump on a critical wound. Kinda hurts your units that could once punch above their weight class but should've been seen coming with Hail of Doom lists from last edition being so popular. At the very least it's now been relegated to a 1CP stratagem (Blade Storm) that can be used on any Ranged weapon.
  • Though Shuriken Weapons retained their increased range from last edition, Craftworlders still need to get a bit close for comfort to actually use many of their weapons. Most of your infantry is going to easily find themselves within charge range just to fire their weapons at all. This is not the kind of position your squishy elves tend to enjoy.
  • Defensive statlines are relatively unchanged from the buffs they've been given in the jump from 8th to 9th. It's not saying much when you've still got a T3, 1W, 4+ save across most of your units.
  • As is their signature style, the Craftworlders field armies of specialists. Woe betide that unit of Howling Banshees thrown at an enemy Leman Russ tank or that squad of Fire Dragons facing down a herd of Ork Boyz. When caught outside their element, your units are going to have a real bad day; it would certainly be nice if Banshee’s were good against Ork boys- but with only 3 ST4 attacks their not going to do much, and Fire Dragon’s aren’t going to be effective against anything other then speeders and other light vehicles, they won’t be able to hurt actual tanks at all- so it would be nice if they were actually good at what they are supposed to be good at.
  • You’re a traditionally psychic faction in an edition where the psychic phase has been removed. This translates into the 18 psychic powers we had in 9th edition largely getting deleted or handed out as core abilities here and there to Psykers. This dramatically reduces each Psyker's flexibility or in some cases (such as the Spiritseer) completely neuters them outside their very specific roles.
  • As an army that's traditionally relied on MSUs for the past few editions, this is kinda a negative when it comes to attaching characters to squads. A 5-elf blob of the previously mentioned statline isn't hard to chew through for most armies by any stretch.
  • We're considered OP in competitive, meaning nerfs are inevitable. Pray that they don't whack us too hard. But then again this is nothing new, and the whaling and calls for Nerfs started even before the first leaks appeared (Eldar are fragile but hit hard- rules show that Eldar hit hard, immediately calls for them to be nerfed). This is a common expectation from the community whenever Eldar get a release, and is becoming very boring (it’s the exact same song and dance as always) the same thing happened in 9th, when people were adamantly claiming that Eldar were S tier, and would dominate the game- and then people actually played them on the table and it became very clear that they were nowhere near S, but rather a high Mid/low high tier army; they floated around the 50% mark for almost the entirety of 9th. Are they going to be strong, yes (and point adjustments are likely), but once people adapt to the new meta, hopefully the loud noises will once again fade into the background. If your going to play Eldar expect to be facing an endless wave of people proclaiming every single element of your rules are OP, even if they have never actually looked at the rules themselves; it’s just something you’ll have to get used to.

Faction Rules[edit]

  • Strands of Fate: At the start of the game, roll 12d6. If you don't like what you get you can re-roll the entire pool with one less die in it, and you can repeat that if you like, although of course at one die there's no reason not to keep it. You can use any of these dice in place of other rolls for advance rolls, charge rolls, battle-shock tests, hit rolls, wound rolls, damage rolls and saves.
    • Because the number of dice doesn't scale at all, the more units your army has, the more advance/charge/hit rolls you'll tend to have, with a similar concern for hit and wound rolls based on attack volume (damage too, but static damage weapons can mitigate this). Your melee units are more dangerous as one big unit (it will cost you fewer dice to guarantee a charge) and your ranged units are more dangerous with single-shot weapons that hit accurately and very hard (if will cost you fewer dice to hit and wound).
    • Math on re-rolling: the rolls you can use your dice for don't all work the same way and as a result a truly optimal rolling strategy depends on your list and your opponent's list, but the short version is that what makes the most sense given that you need to be able to quickly determine if you're re-rolling or not is counting how many dice you rolled that were 4+. If you roll less than half your pool (don't round; half of 11 is 5.5 and 5 is less than 5.5) as 4+, re-roll. This will give you, on average, 6.78 (slightly more than 6 and 3/4) 4+ dice that will be reasonably likely to help you without worrying too much about too many otherwise-useless 1s or incredibly valuable 6s.
      • As long as you have one Farseer you can potentially change a low roll into an automatic 6 (per turn, so one in your turn and one in your opponent's - a potential of up to 10 over the course of a game), so even if roughly half your rolls are low you can keep them and later turn them into an auto success. These dice count as an unmodified roll, so those 6s will be providing additional rules depending on the weapon being used.
    • There are seemingly no restrictions on how many dice you can use per turn or per unit - each time a die would be rolled it can be substituted as long as it is one of the rolls listed. Spending them defensively is therefore a relatively bad idea, because you are free to dump your entire pool into wiping out your enemy and thereby avoid needing to make defensive rolls in the first place. Spending on them on acquiring more Fate Dice - e.g. by helping your Defenders of Fate units wipe out whatever is contesting their objectives - is a very good idea.
  • Corsairs & Traveling Players: Allows you to add in Harlequins and Anhrathe units to a Dark Eldar army. That said, they can only take up to 25% of the army's total allowance and can't be given any enhancements, nor can any model become the warlord.
    • really only the Solitaire and Death Jester are worth considering.
  • Ynnari: If you take Yvraine as a warlord, you're now able to field Dark Eldar in your Craftworld army, with the limit being up to 50% the army's total allowance. That said, none of your dark kin can ever take enhancements.
    • There are some keywords barred from joining a Ynnari Army: Anhrathe, Haemonculus Covens, Phoenix Lords, the Avatar of Khaine and the Solitaire.
    • Bear in mind that Dark Eldar units uniformly have the Aeldari keyword, it's just not their faction keyword, so an awful lot of your buffs work on them (like Farseers).

Detachments[edit]

Battle Host[edit]

Special Rules[edit]

  • Unprecedented Foresight: Your units can re-roll one hit and one wound roll each time it is selected to fight or shoot. Most useful on single-shot weapons, such as a Bright Lance or Fire Prism, or potentially useful on Exarchs, depending on if they are usable this edition; also a strong incentive to go MSU. This is a nice rule that means you are less inclined to use your Fate Dice on smaller actions, and allows you to be more confident in keeping them aside for when you really need them.

Stratagems[edit]

<tabs> <tab name="Battle Tactic">

  • Matchless Agility (1 CP): When one unit advances, they move a full additional 6" rather than rolling.
  • Lightning Fast Reactions (1 CP): In your opponent's Shooting phase you can provide a unit with a -1 to be hit buff.

</tab> <tab name="Strategic Ploy">

  • Bladestorm (1 CP): Sadly gone from standard Shuriken weapons. When a unit shoots, on a critical wound roll the AP for those weapons improves by 2. Fortunately, this is not locked to Shuriken weapons, and can be used by any Ranged weapon in the army.
    • Potentially very nasty on warp spiders, given they've basically got flamers now and pump out a decent volume of shots at AP0, which can benefit from -2AP the most.
  • Fire and Fade (2 CP): One non-Aircraft unit that isn't engaged can immediately make a normal move after shooting. While they can't run into a transport or charge after moving, it's still great for keeping your forces out of an open lane of fire.
  • Feigned Retreat (1 CP): One unit can shoot and charge after falling back. Expect to use it a lot, because these guys need every shot they can make.
  • Phantasm (1 CP): At the end of the enemy's movement phase, one unit can immediately move 7", though this can't be used to enter a transport and can't throw them into melee. It also blocks the unit from performing Heroic Interventions later on. So what is this for? Getting a squad away from incoming charges or shuffling Rangers into position to snipe away; mostly useful for keeping scary melee units out of charge range, so you can get at least another round of shooting into them before they can get to you.

</tab> </tabs>

Enhancements[edit]

  • Fate's Messenger: Once per turn, after making a hit roll, wound roll, or saving throw, a model in the bearer's unit can treat the result as an unmodified 6. Nice way to make those Fate dice go further.
  • The Phoenix Gem: The first time the bearer is destroyed, roll a D6; on a 2+ it is a success, and at the end of the phase the model returns with full wounds remaining. Pity Epic Heroes can't take enhancements.
  • Reader of the Runes: Psyker only. In your command phase you can re-roll one of the Fate Dice in your pool for free. This is actually really quite good, as it allows you to fish for those higher numbers, and makes re-rolling all your initial dice (sacrificing one each time) at the beginning of the game, in order to get a better Fate Pool a lot less necessary.
  • The Weeping Stone: Every time the bearer's unit destroys an enemy unit, roll a D6 and add it to your Fate pool.

Tactics[edit]

An example list at 2000 points:

  • Autarch Wayleaper (Reaper Launcher, Star Glaive, Banshee Mask): 80
    • Warlord
    • Phoenix Gem: 25
  • Farseer (Singing Spear): 65
  • Wave Serpent (Twin Starcannon, Shuriken Cannon): 120
    • Death Jester: 70
      • Fate's Messenger: 15
    • Maugan Ra: 130
    • Fire Dragons x5 (Firepike) x2: 170
  • War Walkers (Bright Lance x2) x1 x3: 285
  • Fire Prism (Shuriken Cannon) x3: 375
  • Support Weapons (D-Cannon) x3: 255
  • Warp Spiders x5 (Death Spinners x6, Power Blades) x3: 300
    • Alternate if you aren't worried about contesting enemy objectives: drop all 3 Spider units and the Phoenix Gem from the Autarch (since he won't be nearly as tempted to get over-exposed) and take either:
      • 2 MSU units of Wraithcannon Wraithguard with the Weeping Stones on the Farseer in case you get lucky with the Bright Lance, or more likely...
      • Drop the Farseer entirely for a Weeping Stones Shadowseer.
        • In either case, you now have a very slow but very hard to stop marching unit of death.

How each piece works:

  • The Wave Serpent won't consume significant Fate Dice while shooting the enemy reasonably well and then dumping its payload.
    • Said payload has 2 MSU Fire Dragons, which both gets you an additional Firepike over a 10-man unit and maximizes your Detachment re-rolling. The loss of Fuegan is meaningless because he's so badly overcosted.
    • There's a Fate's Messenger Death Jester in there too, which can dump an astonishing number of mortal wounds on an enemy.
    • Maugan Ra is even better than the Jester but only when attacking a unit below half-strength, so make sure to have him fire after you've softened a target up.
  • The War Walkers, Fire Prisms, and Support Weapons should behave fairly intuitively.
  • The Farseer hangs out with the Guardian Defenders on your home objective (likely along with your Support Weapons), farming Fate Dice.
  • The Autarch can go wherever he's needed - his main job is CP generation, and pegging away with his rocket launcher. That said, he can Deep Strike or Advance into position if you need the Spiders supported in Battleshock. The Phoenix Gem has a good chance of keeping him alive if he gets over-exposed.
  • The Spiders can be anywhere you need them to be on the table, right now, ready to dump mortal wounds on the enemy (an average of 3.64 per unit, after your single re-roll to wound). They're more about mobility and hence taking control of or at least contesting an objective (or similar, e.g. if you are attempting Emergency Evacuation or Orbital Strike Coordinates) than they are killing, though.
    • If you want more killing or tanking, swap the Spiders out for Wraithguard.


As has become fairly obvious, going full Infantry this edition is not a very good idea unless these units can reliably get access to some strength 10+ weapons in the mix - otherwise, you are going to be facing an uphill struggle if your opponent has gone a bit tank(walker) heavy. Infantry is going to be very ineffective against anything that is toughness 9 and up, so you are going to need to make sure to bring enough big guns to counter what your opponent is likely to bring to the table. If you are still running an Infantry-heavy list, like you could in 9th, then don’t be surprised when you lose to a mechanized heavy army list that you might have been able to deal with in the past.

The Fatebreakers (Combat Patrol)[edit]

A decent introduction into the shooty and psychic nature of the space elves.

Composition: 1 Farseer Idraneth, 10 Guardian Defenders + HWP, 6 Windriders, 1 Wraithlord

  • Farseer Idraneth: A Farseer with a Singing Spear. Sadly lost out on the auto 6s on bad Fate rolls but still keeps the defensive buff.
  • Guardian Defenders: Comes with a Starcannon weapons platform, allowing them to reliably dent any monsters they'll face and reliably eradicate a TEQ. Fortunately, they remain your one way of regenerating Fate Die.
  • Windriders: Come with two Scatter Lasers. You can split them up into two squads of three with a Scatter Laser on each squad, allowing them both to at least benefit from the high rate of fire.
  • Wraithlord: Your one true anti-monster force with a Bright Lance and Ghost Glaive to break them reliably. While it can't generate free Fate for killing anything, it remains the best thing out there to handle anything too big for your elves.

Enhancements

  • Foresight: Farseer Idraneth's unit can use the Fire Overwatch strat for free once per turn, even if it was already used. The squad can also hit on a 5+ or a 4+ if they're on an objective. All great as a default since he's stuck with those guardians anyway.
  • Eldritch Might: Farseer Idraneth can re-roll 1s to hit, wound and damage on psychic weapons. Only really worth it if your enemy is equally averse to melee.

Secondary Objectives

  • Ineffable Agenda: Basic default objective. 3 VP each turn where you control a new objective outside of your DZ.
  • A Greater Destiny: 10 VP if you get a unit that isn't battle-shocked on the enemy DZ by the end of the game.

Stratagems

  • Storm of Shots (1 CP): One Infantry unit or two Mounted units can re-roll 1s to hit when shooting. At the very least, it spares you using some of your Fate Die.
  • Whip-Fast Reactions (1 CP): Enemies take -1 to hit one of your Infantry or Mounted units.
  • Zephyr-Swift (1 CP): One Infantry unit or two Mounted units can make a move after shooting, which helps get them out of the line of fire after shooting up a mob.

Wargear[edit]

  • Banshee Mask: Grants the Autarch Fights First.
  • Mandiblasters: Any critical wounds against non-Vehicle/Monster units gain [Devstating Wounds]. Autarchs can and will stack this with the Banshee Mask.

Unit Analysis[edit]

Characters[edit]

If you just want a quick guide on who can lead what, organized by unit:

  • Corsair Voidreavers/Voidscarred: Prince Yriel, Visarch, Yvraine
  • Guardian Defenders/Storm Guardians: Autarch/Prince Yriel, Farseer/Eldrad, Visarch, Warlock, Yvraine
  • Kabalites/Wyches: Visarch, Yvraine
  • Rangers: Illic Nightspear
  • Troupe: Shadowseer, Troupe Master, Visarch, Yvraine
  • Warlock Conclave: Farseer/Eldrad
  • Warlock Skyrunner Conclave: Farseer Skyrunner
  • Windriders: Autarch Skyrunner, Farseer Skyrunner, Warlock Skyrunner
  • Wraithblades/Wraithguard/Wraithlord: Spiritseer


  • Autarch: Your most flexible hero and the one most kitted for fighting at any range. Taking one as the warlord gives you 1 CP per turn, which is vital considering how much you'll need them to compensate for your flimsy troops. You can't mix and match wargear options like previously, but exact options depend on which Autarch we're talking about.

<tabs> <tab name="On Foot"> Lets their squad use a stratagem that's already been used, making them the most convenient for extra VP. Wargear options are largely an illusion, because you'd be an absolute idiot to give up the Banshee Mask, which buffs the Autarch's entire unit with Fights First. You're also never going to swap your glaive for a scorpion chainsword, and you're always going to swap out the shuriken pistol. What you swap it out for is never going to be a fusion gun, but there's a genuine choice to be made between the Death Spinner for superior Overwatch and the Reaper Launcher for contributing to long-range fire support while the unit camps an objective. That said, you'll probably pick the Reaper Launcher.

  • While either a foot or Wayleaper autarch does have access to the full set of weapons included in either box, either unit can either choose any items from the ones in the foot autarch box, or take the fusion pistol/sword loadout from the flytarch box only.
  • Bear in mind Fights First is only an incredibly minor deterrent to being charged and stratagem spam is going to get very expensive very quickly, so you might prefer the Wayleaper, which gives up both for Battle-Shock support.

</tab> <tab name="Skyrunner"> Comes with the basic buffs of M14" and +1 to T/W/OC, but also gives any squad of Windriders he leads the ability to always advance 6" without rolling. Can be given a Fusion Gun, in which case he will not have a melee weapon, a Laser Lance, or a Banshee Blade, but you'll never do that last one since the Laser Lance is better in almost all cases. </tab> <tab name="Wayleaper"> This is the one with Swooping Hawk wings, apparently, since he's faster than a Warp Spider Jump Pack would allow baseline and doesn't have access to its special jump power, but no opponent has a valid argument if they take issue with you using the Jump Pack model as one. Unlike the standard Autarch, the Wayleaper is a Lone Operative and cannot join any units. Instead, this Autarch has Deep Strike and grants a 6" bubble of +1 to battle-shock and Leadership checks for your forces, but they're otherwise identical to a footslogging Autarch. The fundamental trade-off here is simple: the footslogger provides stratagem spam and Fights First to their led unit, while the Wayleaper provides battle-shock/leadership support in a bubble instead.

  • Always take the Glaive, Banshee Mask, and Reaper Launcher (so you can stay outside of Lone Operative range of your enemies).

</tab> </tabs>

  • Farseer: In an age where many have lost their array of psychic power, the Farseer is one who hasn't suffered quite as severely. Branching Fates lets you make a Fate die you use on one unit within 12" count as a natural 6, which is incredibly useful if you've got some bad rolls - in particular, you can drastically improve the odds of a deep strike charge succeeding, because if either die is a 3, the 6 you generate will make the charge succeed, which means an 88.89% success rate. Has a psychic power that goes off on a 2+ on 1d6 in the Command Phase; in a success, target a friendly faction unit within 12" to be buffed until the start of your next Command Phase.
    • While their combat prowess remains limited, Eldritch Storm being a weapon does give them the ability to handle some crowds, throwing out D6 attacks (which you can't use a fate die to max out, unfortunately) from 24", with decent strength, AP and damage while also having [Blast] (and unlike the majority of psychic weapons, it's not [Hazardous]).
    • Unlike a lot of other psykers, Farseers can actually cast their support powers on units they're not attached to. Unfortunately all of their powers have a maximum of 12" range, making this the second rules update in a row to nerf Farseer power ranges. That being said, you can cast their powers on any Aeldari unit, including aspect units and vehicles.
    • The choice between the Singing Spear and Witch Blade is pretty much a choice between the Witch Blade's [Anti-Infantry 2+] making it pretty lethal on unprotected infantry and the Spear's ability to be thrown as a ranged weapon. You're better off with the Spear because you can shoot it and your Storm at the same time, as neither has Pistol and your farseers don't really wanna really be in melee anyway. They won't contribute much with those two attacks anyway. The spear should really be treated as a ranged weapon that you can get lucky with, having a crazy high strength of 9, though it falls down to 3 in melee.

<tabs> <tab name="On Foot"> Has Fortune as its psychic power, which provides -1 to be wounded. Put this on a target that's already very hard to wound - the ideal case is when you take enemy guns from 5+ to wound to 6+. Probably best to keep them away from the front lines, as they are kind of bad in combat, and use them as a support unit for your big guns - that -1 to the wound roll is going to be far more useful keeping your tanks alive (it has a bigger impact on a gun that needs 5s to wound than one that needs 2s) than it is wasting it on Guardians, who should be sat back on your objectives farming Fate Dice anyway. </tab> <tab name="Skyrunner"> Has Guide as its psychic power, which provides re-rolling hit rolls. Put this on a target that really likes hitting critically, so Lethal Hits and/or Sustained Hits X. Alongside the expected bump in speed and Twin Shuriken Catapult, the bike also adds +1 to Wounds, Toughness, and even Objective Control. A bit of a surprise to see them do this much for a hero. Has Leader set to warlock skyrunner conclave and windriders. </tab> </tabs>

  • Spiritseer: If you're not bringing any Wraithguard, Wraithblades, or a Wraithlord, you can leave this guy on the shelf. If you are bringing any of the above and aren't bringing a Spiritseer, you should probably get your head checked. With all standard Wraith units dropping to a WS/BS 4+ profile on all their weapons, a Spiritseer is all but mandatory to effectively return them up to a more reliable 3+ WS/BS. Additionally, he also grants his accompanying unit Lethal Hits to get even more bang out of your proverbial buck (and these being Wraith units... you are admittedly going to be spending a pretty point to field them). The last and most important detail is that once per command phase (note that it doesn’t state ‘your’ Command Phase- so can be done in both yours and the opponents), if the Bodyguard unit the Spiritseer is accompanying has lost any models, he can resurrect one of those models. Considering how tough Wraithguard/blades are (and expensive), this is an immensely valuable perk for keeping that unit on the field. Unfortunately, that is the literal extent of a Spiritseer's usefulness. With no other psychic powers (offensive or defensive) and only a mere Shuriken Pistol and Witch Staff to his name, there's pretty much nothing this guy can do outside of his relevant bodyguard unit.
  • Warlock: As expected, they're pretty much a weaker Farseer, having their WS/BS set to 3+ and only W2. They can join squads accompanying other heroes, allowing them to supplement their powers with their Runes - with the exception of joining any other Warlocks (since that would be too cheesy) or Warlock Conclaves.
    • While their weapons choice is similar to the Farseer, they have Destructor as their designated psychic weapon. This is essentially a psychic heavy flamer but slightly better with S5 AP-1 [Torrent] so they don't need to roll to hit anything and can help ward off most things.

<tabs> <tab name="On Foot"> On his own, not great, but not terrible. His choice of powers is restricted to Quicken (auto-advance 6" without rolling, which will stop a Guardian Defenders HWP from firing, as well as the Warlock's own psychic power, but not his spear) or Restrain (-2 to incoming charges, doesn't stack with itself). On a Guardian Defender team holding an objective, Restrain is a very valuable perk that potentially prevents a melee strike squad from diving onto your very squishy and otherwise helpless Guardians (in fact, it functionally makes Deep Strike charging them outright impossible). If you want to burn a CP on Overwatch on them like an idiot, the Warlock does ship with a [Torrent] weapon, but... 45pts? That's slightly more than 4 of the Defenders he's, well, defending. </tab> <tab name="Skyrunner"> Adds the same buffs it does to a Farseer; a bump in speed, Twin Shuriken Catapults, +1 to Wounds, Toughness, and Objective control. Their leader ability is the Runes of Battle, which gives them the old Conceal/Reveal power during the Command phase. Conceal gives their attached unit of Windriders [Stealth] for a bit of protection, the latter gives the unit's guns [Ignores Cover]. </tab> </tabs>


Harlequins[edit]

  • Death Jester: You can take up to 3 of them, but they have an ability only one of them can use their special ability to gain [Ignores Cover], [Precision], or the really big deal, [Sustained Hits 3] on their launcher, and they're costed as if the ability is always on, so you're going to want exactly 1 in your army in practice.
    • A quick note on the math for shooting the gun when Sustained Hits 3 is up and you're using your Detachment rule to re-roll 1 hit: because anything less than a 6 to hit is a below average hit, you absolutely do want to re-roll 2-5 to fish for 6, but remember how the game rules work: you're cheating if you roll all 3 attack dice and then pick up a die to re-roll it, because you're supposed to roll sequentially and can only roll in parallel when it would not change the math, which in this case, it absolutely would. You have to roll each of your three hit dice one at a time if you're fishing, so the very first time you roll a 5 or less, you can re-roll it. If you do this, the mortal wounds a Death Jester can put out is fairly incredible.
  • Shadowseer:
  • Troupe Leader: The only warlord you can take if you want a pure detachment of space clowns since he makes Troupes Battleline. That said, there's not a whole lot this big clown offers, merely giving an attached Troupe [Devastating Wounds] and an an ability to eat one fate die used by themselves on a hit, wound, or save turn into a natural 6.
    • If you're looking for a pistol, the neuro disruptor is the easiest choice you can make if you're only looking to hit troops and really want to cheese out the DW buff. The fusion pistol will struggle against anything stronger than your own vehicles without DW backing it up. For no reason should you ever trade off the sword for anything.

Epic Heroes[edit]

  • Avatar of Khaine: M10 T12 2+/4++ W14 LD6+ OC5 and the ability to halve the damage of every attack it takes (this will stack with Fortune for that -1 to wound); the Avatar looks pretty damn solid.
    • It has deadly demise D3, Strands of Fate, and has a 6" aura that adds 1 to advance and charge rolls.
    • Shooting: 12" A1 BS2+(Sustained Hits d3) S16 AP-4 Dd6+2 - pretty damned solid.
    • Melee: either an A6 S14 AP-4 Dd6+2 or A12 S7 AP-2 D2 attack profile - putting it in a similar category with Guilliman for damage output.
  • Eldrad Ulthran: Leader of guardian defenders, storm guardians, and warlock conclaves, but doesn't provide any benefits to his led unit. Instead, he gives you 3 additional Fate dice when you start rolling them (so an initial pool of 15) and his psychic 2+ power, Doom, is a debuff on a visible enemy unit within 18", giving friendly aeldari +1 to Wound the debuffed target. The easiest rule to synergise this with is Precision: slap this on a led unit and shoot it up with Rangers to notice immediate results.
    • M7 T4 SV6+/4++ W5
    • Has an ok melee of A3 WS2+ S5(Anti-infantry 2+) AP-1 D2.
    • Mind War is 18" A1 BS2+ S5(Anti-character 4+,Precision) AP-2 Dd6.
    • Less the psychic powerhouse he once was, Eldrad is now a supportive unit that wants to get fairly close to the enemy. If you want him to try to pull his weight, he needs to be Dooming big targets and you need to be taking advantage of that, so you'll need to give him an escort so he can sit in the middle of No Man's Land as long as possible to do his thing.
    • He isn’t really better than a regular Farseer, more of a side-grade; take a Skyrunner instead.
    • A pretty big issue with Mind War is that it’s very short range, requiring Eldrad to be within 18 of an enemy unit, and the Anti-character 4+ is only relevant against targets of T6+, all of which will have greater than 6 wounds. Note that because Doom never stacks with Anti-, the only character targets where Doom will assist Mind War are T4 or T5.
    • seems a bit over costed, being 35pts more then a regular Farseer; it could be argued that Doom is worth the extra points, but as most other named psychic characters are all around 80pts, he could do dropping to around 85 or 90- it’s not like he’s a psychic powerhouse anymore.
  • Illic Nightspear: This dude is fantastic. Strap him to a unit of Rangers and none of them can be shot outside of 12" and all of them re-roll wound rolls (in melee too, in case that comes up). He also has an excellent gun that makes excellent uses of said re-rolls to Wound: R48 A1 BS2+(Heavy) S6(Precision) AP-3(Devastating Wounds) D3. He can function without the unit if you want, since the Battle Host detachment rule will give him re-rolling to wound and he has immunity to being shot even when not leading a unit, but you almost certainly want to give him a Ranger escort so you can infiltrate the whole mess onto an objective and start sniping enemy leadership.
  • Prince Yriel:
  • Solitaire: Games Workshop forgot they were blanks so they have no anti-psyker foo, but they are capable of charging after advancing so they can more easily attack from outside the range of Lone Operative. Their armaments give a barrage of S6 AP-2 D2 attacks with [Precision] to take down any enemy characters and they get a single-use power that not only boosts their basic movement by 2d6" (thus negating any need to advance) and adding +3 attacks to get even blendier.
    • While the Solitaire is just as weedy as any other elf, the benefit of both Lone Operative and a 3++ save is not one to easily ignore unless the enemy picks up anything with [Devastating Wounds].
  • The Visarch:
  • The Yncarne:
  • Yvraine:
Phoenix Lords[edit]
  • Each Phoenix Lord is able to only join their chosen students, giving the squad a +1 to hit (which won't ever do anything for [Sustained Hits] or [Lethal Hits]), which means you're looking for units that roll to hit but don't care about critting when fielding one. Going down a wound and now only being T3, along with losing their Aura abilities means that they can now only effect a single Unit for the entire game and are very squishy; they are less Epic Heroes and Demigods of war, and more just fancy lieutenants who will only be of benefit to that single flimsy unit (guess that second unit of Dire Avengers just couldn't care less that their founder is fighting on the same battlefield). Their worth is entirely dependent on whether you want that particular, single, Aspect unit in your army. Their actual point efficiently will have to include the points cost of the character and the points cost of the Unit combined - if the character or unit is too over-costed, it could make the points investment a bit off-putting. Overall, they can barely put a scratch on things like Greater Demons or Primarchs, kind of sad how weak they are individually.
    • Just model another Exarch, use it to represent the Phoenix Lord so you get the rules, but treat it as if it’s just the Exarch of that Aspect Shrine (not the Phoenix lord themselves) and the other is just their top student at least that would take the bitter taste away.
    • Bear in mind that they'll also negate any -1 to hits on enemy units too. But still, not the best use for them to just overcome something like that.
  • Asurmen: The Bloody Twins got a surprising buff of becoming Pistol weapons, letting him offload the rain of shards while in combat. The Sword of the Asur remains pretty Strong with 6 S6 AP-3 D3 attacks with Devastating Wounds. Uniquely, he gives the Avengers he joins the ability to use the Fire Overwatch stratagem for free once per turn, even if you'd already used hit beforehand. Combined with their improved overwatch BS, you're going to have quite the strongpoint set up with him in charge. Thankfully he retained his 3++, so he's at least a bit survivable.
    • Dire Avengers are full of Lethal Hits, and even worse, their signature ability to hit better on Overwatch has absolutely no synergy with +1 to hit. However, Asurmen makes Fire Overwatch cost 0 on the unit, so you might want to consider him.
  • Baharroth: Swooping Hawks are full of Lethal Hits, so skip Baharroth.
  • Fuegan: Fire Dragons love +1 to hit, but right now, Fuegan costs too much, plain and simple, relative to the cost of the unit he's buffing (even after including his own additional firepower).
  • Jain Zar: Banshees like +1 to hit just fine. Jain Zar is, in a strong sense, the best Phoenix Lord, because she alone a) provides +1 to hit to a unit that genuinely appreciates it while also b) providing a secondary benefit to the led unit (Fuegan and Maugan Ra both have secondary benefits that only benefit themselves, although Fuegan's is a durability buff and hence makes his +1 to hit more likely to stick around). On her own she has a decent melee profile, against generic Infantry (hitting about as hard as a Primaris Captain, if they don’t use their once per battle boost), but like her Scorpion counterpart, is let down by the (only) unit that she can join- as Banshee’s are pretty bad.
  • Karandras: A decent melee character with Ahra's Bane giving an extra point in AP in melee compared to the basic claw while its gun has a bump in Strength. Isirmathil, meanwhile, is a bit stronger when compared to the average chainsword with S6 AP-1, but it lacks the damage of the big sword. He has Sustained Assault, which lets him score critical hits on a 4+ (making the Sustained Hits 1 on his weapons all the more relevant- bringing him back up to how he used to be in 9th) when he charges while his special mandiblasters can work on anything that isn't Titanic. Shame he can only join a Striking Scorpion unit, as they're kind of in a bit of a no-man's land when it comes to what they are actually good against; decent mid tier character, let down by the unit he has to join.
    • Striking Scorpions are chock full of Sustained Hits 1, so skip Karandras.
  • Maugan Ra: An excellent choice, because Dark Reapers can ignore negative hit roll modifiers without ignoring Maugan Ra's +1. Has the same problem as Fuegan, though - he costs nearly as much as a 10-elf unit of Reapers by himself, and he just doesn't make a 10-elf squad twice as good with his presence.


  • IrilythIA: He's back, even if his model isn't actively stocked. His Spear of Starlight Prism Rifle makes him one of your more Lethal ranged characters; 3 S8 AP-2 D4 shots will put down quite out a lotta hurt on any model on 2 legs (that's, you know, not too big and/or boxy). When paired with his Shadow Spectres, he buffs them by adding 1 to their hit rolls (a pretty good boon when using their focused profile) and by forcing enemy units within 6" to subtract 1 from their battleshock and leadership tests. He can also put up a half decent fight in melee, though if your spectres are in combat, you made some serious mistakes.

Battleline[edit]

  • Corsair Voidreavers: Your Anhrathe Battleline choice and your most flexible. They have a 7" Scout move and can be equipped with a fairly wide array of equipment. By default, the whole squad can wield either Aeldari Power Swords and Shuriken Pistols for some melee goodness or they can come packing with Shuriken Rifles for a long-ranged firefight. 1 out of every 5 models can also ditch those options and pick up either a Corsair Shredder or Blaster (you will always take the Blaster; thanks to the unit re-rolling 1s to hit, it's the more reliable gun overall) and if there are 10 models total in the unit, another one can drop their Shuriken Rifle for a Wraithcannon or Shuriken Cannon for even greater damage. As a standalone unit, these guys are great; native re-roll 1's to hit (or flat out to hit re-rolls if the enemy is within range of an Objective) combined with their hard-hitting special weapons can really pack a wallop, but as you can expect from a merry band of space pirates, they don't exactly have much synergy with the rest of your army. Take one or two if you want, but if you really want to capitalize on your Strands of Fate, you should stick with Guardian Defenders as much as possible.
  • Guardian Defenders: Your premier Battleline tax this edition. Guardian Defenders retain their defensive profile of 4+ T3 1W, which paired with the generally reduced AP across the board this edition, makes this edition the burliest your citizen militia has ever been... minus lost Strategems and Psychic Powers, of course. Sadly, that still doesn't mean much in the grand scheme of things and your Guardians will be hard pressed to shake off even standard arms fire. Fortunately, they are gifted with a few tools that give them a bit of an edge over their pugnacious Guardian competition. First, their Shuriken Catapults grant them reasonable bite at range and allow them to advance and shoot without penalty. Second, their Defense Platform offers a minor but flexible ranged punch that can be tailor made to help deal with a wide array of threats, even if only modestly so. Finally, and the most important aspect, these guys are your Fate Dice farmers. For every Objective you control at the end of your Command Phase with a group of Guardians popping a squat next to it, you roll and add a die to your Fate Dice pool. If paired with a Farseer, this basically just gives you a renewable source of guaranteed 6s for anything you could ever need.
    • This revamp of Strength and Toughness also affects your weapon platform's uses as well. While the Scatter Laser remains a reliable horde weapon, the Shuriken Cannon now gets Sustained Hits 1 so it can more easily handle armored troops. The Starcannon is now relegated to mostly targeting small monsters at S8 AP-3 D2, with the Bright Lance going anti-tank with A1 BS3+ S12 AP-3 Dd6+2 and the Missile Launcher giving you the ability to do either at reduced effectiveness. Until Eldar get more detachments, always take a Bright Lance, and never spend Fate Dice on its accuracy or wounding, just rely on your detachment re-rolls; if your target fails its save, burn a Fate Die on the damage roll.
    • Stick some eldar support weapon units or War-walkers in front, and fortify your position. Use these units to babysit your Fate Farms, then when you can move forward to claim another objective, leave the minimum sized unit of Guardian’s behind on the previous objective, and move up the board with another small unit of Guardian’s to set up another Fate Farm.
  • Storm Guardians: While they're primarily made for fighting in melee (believe it or not, those butter knives they're waving about aren't just for decoration), they're not exactly great at it. 2 attacks each at S3 and no AP means that the only things that'll feel even a little threatened by your Storm Guardians are... other Storm Guardians and maybe the Guardsmen they were able to tickle to death. Space Marines or similarly tough foes will probably manage to stifle the odd laugh before backhanding half the squad off the board with an involuntary twitch. Fortunately, a 4+ save and 5++ invuln (with the Serpent Shield) means that small arms fire isn't necessarily an immediate death sentence for your Storm Guardians and their ability to pack in two special guns (flamers or fusion guns) gives them a surprising amount of ranged bite that can soften up a key target for a more specialized unit to deal with. The major selling point for these guys, besides filling the mandatory Battleline tax, is their ability to cap a point and keep it capped. Yes, you can rush in your Storm Guardians to an uncapped point or one you just secured then, after the start of your following turn, leave it completely undefended and it will still count as a point you control. This will remain in effect until an opponent manages to secure it. If you're able to set up a defensive perimeter and don't need to worry about Deep-strikers or flyers infiltrating your back lines, this can really free up your forces to push forward into enemy territory or focus on other, more pressing matters.

Infantry[edit]

  • Corsair Voidscarred: The corsair specialists. While they come with all the options available to the Voireavers, you can also grab a pet bird on a sword-wielding corsair to make all their guns ignore cover while another can go gunslinger with a fusion pistol and shuriken pistol.
    • Now for the specialists. The Shade Runner comes with paired blades, hoping that the extra attack and [Twin Linked] might allow them to overcome the drop in Strength. The Soul Channeler makes the first save the squad fails deal no damage to help mitigate some damage, but it's easily cheesed out by a canny foe. The Wayseeker provides you with a psyker using a staff and the powerful Executioner power that can cut through infantry with relative ease thanks to [Anti-Infantry 2+], but nothing beyond that.
  • Rangers: Dedicated sniper infantry second only to your Dark Reapers in range, if not firepower. Their Ranger Long Rifles pack a bit of a punch; S4 AP-1 isn't exactly going to be punching through MEQs with any real degree of consistency, though the flat D2 damage will ensure any such infantry will drop all the same should a shot land true. Of course, being Precision and Heavy weapons, they'll have little difficulty hitting their shots on key supporting leaders. To this end, they excel at dealing with such individuals, at least if they're T4 or below. With their Infiltration ability, you can deploy these guys anywhere you need them to be right from turn 1, even on an open objective. Defensively, there's sadly not a whole lot going for them; a -1 to hit modifier certainly helps, but a 5+/5++ (invlun only against shooting) statline is going to do jack against even standard arms fire. If something gets a little too close (within 9" of them), your Rangers can dash a quick d6" to try and get out of dodge, but if something is close enough to trigger this ability, you may as well count that Ranger unit out of the game. On their own, they're decent, though if you're taking a squad, you should probably just get one max-model unit and stick Illic Nightspear in with them.
  • Troupe: Troupes are the only melee infantry you have capable of competing with Wraithblades for your attention, and they're much better than your other choices; it's just deceptive to see that, because they need leadership to shine. Baseline, they're just a bunch of melee output (A5 WS3+ S3 AP0 D1 with [Lance] except the USR isn't actually on their datasheet because GW forgot its own rules) with 1 Lead Player (A5 WS3+ S4 AP-2 D1, same fake [Lance]) and some pistol options that don't really matter here. What matters is that with proper leadership, this unit will completely outshine Banshees, Scorpions, and so on.
    • Note also that if you have a Troupe master as your Warlord, this unit gains battleline; still doesn’t make them good, as to make them even remotely viable you need to invest even more points into the unit- save yourself the hassle and just go Guardian Defenders, as you will get more bang for your buck.
    • Troupe Master: The whole unit will have [Devastating Wounds] and broadly speaking lets them just plain outperform Striking Scorpions.
    • Shadowseer: The whole unit will have Stealth, re-roll Advance rolls, and charge after Advancing, and in general outperform Banshees.
    • Visarch: Gives Fights First, for outperforming the other trick Banshees can do. Can stack with Yvraine for 5+++ and regenerating, on average, 5/3 dead models per round.
  • Warlock Conclave: A small band of weaker Warlocks who can accompany a Farseer as an elite retinue. Not only does the squad gain a 4+++ against all psychic weapons, but all attacks against the squad while a Farseer's with them take -1 to wound.
    • Unlike their solo variants, these guys don't actually have any psychic powers they can use to support other units: Their one buff power (which is identical to the foot Farseer's) can only be cast on themselves and doesn't have the offensive variant that Runes of Battle used to come with, again unlike solo Warlocks.
  • Wraithblades: Angry statues that are experts at carving up (heavy) infantry and just forming an immovable wall of wraithbone. With the same defensive profile as Wraithguard, Wraithblades are tough as hell to crack through without serious firepower. This can be made even more daunting with the Ghostaxe/Forceshield combo conferring a hefty 4++ invuln against any/all attacks. The best part is, even if something manages to punch through that tough statue in melee, they have a 50% chance of staying on their feet long enough to get a retaliatory burst of melee attacks against their attacker before getting taken off the board. You can then laugh in your opponent's face as your Spiritseer resurrects the deceased Wraithblade in your next command phase; and as the rule is written, another in their Command Phase- a returned Wraith each player turn ain’t bad.
    • The Ghostswords are not the best choice for your Wraithblades. Sure, you get 5 attacks to the 3 a Ghostaxe would grant you, but the Ghostaxe hits slightly harder and deals a flat 2 damage per swing. Additionally, the 4++ invuln save the Forceshield gives you is really hard to say no to. You'll likely only ever want the Ghostswords if you're dealing with a GEQ-heavy army, and even then, you'll probably prefer using more affordable Banshees, Scorpions, or regular Guardian Defenders to clean up the chaff.
  • Wraithguard: As to be expected from Wraith units, Wraithguard return to the new edition tougher than ever: T7 with a 2+ save and 3 wounds apiece lets these guys wade through small arms fire without a care in the world. Indeed, even a bump up to a movement of 6" grants Wraithguard just a smidge more pep to their step compared to prior editions. Offensively, they still hit really damn hard with their S10 D-Scythes or S14(!) Wraithcannons eviscerating anything on two legs. They can even, once per battle round, retaliate against any attacks (melee or ranged) by firing off a volley against their assailants. Yes, they can fire their weapons at point blank range if their foes were trying to hit them with a stick. Unfortunately, this came at the cost of their native accuracy; all Wraithguard weapon profiles have degraded to a BS of a 4+ now. This all but mandates that you bring a Spiritseer and put it in the squad to restore their accuracy to a more reliable 3+. This is recommended anyway due to the Spiritseer being able to resurrect a Wraithguard/blade model once per turn.

Aspect Warriors[edit]

Aspect Warriors are very tuned down this edition, having lost their ability to choose an Exarch power - and Exarchs are once again reduced to just having +1W and potentially distinct (and therefore better or worse) wargear/weapons. Many of theses units are going to struggle to find a place in a list, as there are other units available that make them somewhat redundant. Note that "Aspect Warriors" isn't a keyword on the units, but all of these units share the fact that they can only be led by their Phoenix Lord - and if they don't have a Phoenix Lord with a model/rules, they can't have a leader at all.

With the points reveal, the Phoenix Lords cost more (in some cases almost double) than a 5 Warrior team, essentially more than doubling (almost triple for some) the cost of the unit without doubling the unit's effectiveness; even at 10 Warriors, they just generally don't earn their keep.

It’s not all bad, at least Aspect warriors are now fairly cheap, so at least they might be usable, even if their performance is going to be a bit lackluster.

  • Dark Reapers: Heavy Weapons Elves, with a 3+ BS that can never be changed. Each model's Reaper Launcher gives them a choice between one shot made to dent small monsters, bikers, or TEQs, or two shots more meant for hitting MEQ or GEQ, both able to get past cover natively. The Exarch can pick up alternative weapons, with a missile launcher that gives both stronger anti-tank fire and genuine crowd control, a Shuriken Cannon that can give loads of fire thanks to [Sustained Hits 1], and the Tempest Launcher, your only gun that gets bothered by cover but gives extreme mob-blasting power. While the squad can now once again be bumped up between 5-10 models, the overall buff to vehicle/monster toughness means that Dark Reapers will now struggle to realistically deal with heavy armor, and lack the number of shots needed to concern hordes.
  • Dire Avengers: Their Shuriken Catapults retain that single extra shot compared to the guardians, but they also gain [Lethal Hits] so they can capitalize on crits by negating enemy Toughness - shame they still have to deal with armour, though. Defense Tactics helps them hit on a 5+ when firing Overwatch, but this improves to an even better 4+ when they're camping on an objective. Note the lack of synergy here: Lethal Hits only goes off on a 6+ to hit regardless of Defense Tactics (and a similar issue comes up when you try to buff them with Asurmen).
    • The choice between the Exarch taking a Diresword or Power Glaive really hinges upon whether you need the glaive's S5 over how likely you are at triggering the Diresword's [Devastating Wounds]. Of course, you can still dual-wield catapults for maximum firepower.
    • Overall they are not really that noticeably better than Guardian Defenders (who get to take heavy weapons, hold objectives with OC2 and are a source of Fate Dice), so probably not really much incentive to take them instead of one of the other options available.
    • They also suffer quite noticeably compared to Warp Spiders, who occupy the same niche Dire Avengers try to occupy with their buffed Overwatch. Against MEQ, for example, even on 4+ Overwatch Warp Spiders deal nearly double (35/18) as much damage as Dire Avengers. Since Warp Spiders also have superior M and Sv, it's questionable what purpose Dire Avengers could serve in your army.
  • Fire Dragons: Formerly your premier anti-Vehicle/Monster infantry squad, your Fire Dragons sadly aren't packing as much fire as they used to. While S9 re-rolling 1s to wound against monsters/vehicles is certainly adequate for punching through heavy infantry, lighter monsters, bikers and some light vehicles, it sadly isn't quite potent enough to burn through the heavier toughness found on the average Imperial Guard or Space Marine tanks. If such shots do manage to burn through, the AP-4 all but guarantees that those vehicles won't get an armor save. With Melta 3 and Dd6 on all their Fusion Guns, anything within half range that gets shot will feel the heat. Tragically, that's about where all the good news stops. While a 3+ save is virtually unheard of for still-living Aeldari infantry, T3 W1 is a tale as old as time, and with a pitiful 12" range on their Fusion Guns, the concept of "escape" is but a fairy tale to these soldiers. If they are ever in range to unload their wrath onto a target, they're assuredly within revenge range for either the tank they just failed to scratch or the angry soldiers who just piled out of it.
    • You can get relatively decent output from these guys if you load them into a Falcon, drive the Falcon up, drop off the dragons, and have everyone shoot - wraithguard can't even fit inside a Falcon, so there's no competition there. The problem with this is that a Falcon is more fragile than a Wave Serpent, but your efficiency will drop precipitously if you switch to a Wave Serpent based solution. Fire Prisms are negligibly less efficient at killing things than a Falcon plus Fire Dragons, but you don't have to worry about dropping off your cargo intact and then having everyone unload into the same target.
  • Howling Banshees: Well, Banshees took a bit of a fall from grace - not only do they only have three S4 AP-3 swings per model, but they also lost the ability to ignore Overwatch with their masks. Instead, Banshees have the Fights First ability, a fairly brisk 8" move, and the ability to charge after advancing or falling back. Still, Howling Banshees are definitely your go-to melee troopers when you're looking to deal with armored infantry; a 4++ save while in melee can make them surprisingly survivable (for Eldar) and their consistent AP-3 weapons mean that even MEQ units can't exactly brush them off. Unfortunately, the loss of supporting Psychic powers such as Empower and Doom (unless Eldrad is nearby) means that Howling Banshees will struggle to do anything of note to TEQs or T5+ units. Still a decent, if highly niche, choice.
    • The Exarch's Executioner is the only weapon that makes you more dangerous against TEQs, but that still suffers the pitfall of no [Devastating Wounds] to make them worth it. Still, it is the best anti-MEQ weapon you can get your Banshee Exarch. If you're facing mono-wound foes or hordes, the Mirrorswords with their 6 attacks at AP-3 will be your best friend.
    • Like Striking Scorpions, fundamental failures relative to a Troupe with the right Leadership - a Shadowseer's Troupe can also charge after advancing but has Stealth while hitting harder, while a Troupe led by the Visarch and Yvraine Fights First, has a 5+++, and regenerates dead Banshees. If you want to make this unit even try to keep up, Jain Zar will provide a unit-wide +1 to hit and more importantly will get you 0CP Heroic Interventions even if someone else already Heroically Intervened, but there's only so much you can do.
  • Striking Scorpions: Rather than fishing for a couple mortal wounds on top of everything else, the Mandiblasters now give [Devastating Wounds] to all melee attacks against non-monsters/vehicles - a much needed damage buff as their 4 ST4 AP0 chainsword attacks aren't cutting through any armour anymore (and will struggle to deal with Orks, or anything that has low save, high toughness, which is what should be their specialty), even if they get a bunch of accurate attacks with [Sustained Hits 1].
    • The Exarch can of course grab the claw instead of a pistol - the mounted pistol not only gets an extra shot on a pistol but also getting an equivalent to a power fist. Instead, you could trade everything for the Biting Blade if you're that dedicated to going down swinging in melee with S5 AP-1 D2.
    • This unit is struggling to find what it's actually good at - what target do they actually do well against? It's not armoured infantry, it's not tough infantry, and it's certainly not vehicles. They have about the same damage output as the Hounds of Morkai, but lack any sniping potential and have less than half the durability. Also, Karandras doesn't do much for them, whereas if you take a Troupe with a Troupe Master, you'll get, on a fundamental level, this unit but better.
  • Swooping Hawks: Your flyboys are not only very fast, but they can always fly back into reserves so long as they aren't in any fights - Not that you'd want them to anyways, their armament is their Lasblasters, decent guns 4 shots at S4 with [Lethal Hits] and [Assault], but not cut out for any armor; add in a bit of ‘Blade Storm’ (or simply taking advantage of Plunging Fire) and their potential damage output improves quite a bit against armored units. With this in mind, these hawks are only good for harassment, jumping in to piss someone off and then flying back away from enemy retribution. This unit would also work very well with ‘Doom’ for that +1 to wound- a very mobile unit, able to deliver a hail of shots (Lethal on a 6) that now wound marines on 3+ (Heck they would be wounding Custodes on 4+) and can get extra AP for just 1CP- they certainly would be a unit that could make sure that’s it’s in position to take full advantage of the effect.
  • Warp Spiders: The warp packs are now fully turned into a Fly keyword, though that doesn't really affect the mobility of the Spiders much. It does, however, change Flickerjump into now giving a flat boost in movement to 24" (over a default of 12") with a 1/6 chance of suffering a mortal wound on the unit. While they can't charge after making the jump, you don't really want to anyway since only the Exarch can take Powerblades and get any sort of AP in a fight. Instead, you're more inclined to use the Death Spinners, S4 AP0 webbers ([Devastating Wounds] rather than ignoring cover) so you can cheese out armour. They don't deal a lot of damage, and will struggle to wound most things, unless you get lucky and roll a few 6s - mostly usable as a harassment unit, because you can get them anywhere they need to be (e.g. to pick up Plunging Fire) to both shoot the enemy and be in position for Overwatch. To give you a sense of how their guns work, each one will, on average, deal 35/36 of a wound to MEQ; since a typical unit of 5 Spiders will have 6 guns in it, a full unit firing will, on average, kill 2 MEQ and leave a third wounded. Their optimal targets are invuln-based, so their lack of AP won't matter but their Devastating Wounds still has a chance to be on full display - e.g. they'll jump in utility against a Chaos Daemons army.
  • Shadow SpectresIA: One of your better Aspect Warriors (not that the competition is very stiff at the moment). Shadow Spectres return as your speedy, flexible mid-ranged anti-infantry unit this edition. They have a solid defensive profile at 3+/5++ with a baked in -1 to-hit modifier courtesy of Stealth and have the frankly bonkers ability to freely move another 6" after shooting, no CP or rolls required. This stacks with their normal 12", giving them immense mobile flexibility to engage and retreat to safer positions. Offensively, they're quite well equipped to put down MEQ or GEQ models with their focused (S6 AP-2 D2) or dispersed (Ad6 S4 AP-1 D1) profiles respectively. Uniquely among Aspect Warriors, their Exarch isn't included by default; you have to purchase him separately (with both money and points, funnily enough). Additionally, he's 20pts as opposed to the 16pts a normal Spectre costs and provides no extra benefits aside the extra wound. Though this makes them the only Aspect unit that can have up to 11 models (160pt 10-elf squad plus the exarch), there's not really a good reason to splurge for him.

Mounted[edit]

Points costs are in. As of right now, Shroud Runners and Windriders are 26.67 ppm, Shining Spears are 40 ppm, Skyweavers are 47.5 ppm, and a Warlock Skyrunner Conclave is 50 ppm.

  • Shining Spears: Your fast strike-bikers, Shining Spears are designed with the charge in mind. This is something they are... decent at. A solid move of 14" and Fly will get them to an optimal charging position pretty reliably. Once they're in position, a savvy player can let loose a respectable S6 AP-2 D2 salvo into the faces of the MEQs these guys are built to deal with before slamming them with their Laser Lances. Unfortunately, outside of the actual charge, where they get to add 1 to their wound rolls, these guys are lackluster in a prolonged fight. S4 isn't really a good position to deal with Marines or similar units, even if each successful wound does kill a Marine. Unfortunately, a unit that relies on charging and falling back on a unit that can't natively fall back and charge is not ideal. This is made worse by the lack of any and all support they can get from Leaders. Though a T4 Sv3+/5++ W2 and a -1 to be hit helps cover these guys, it's still not the greatest defensive statline. All in all, though these guys are your premier melee bikers, you should probably only ever invest in one single squad to chase down key infantry squads.
  • Shroud Runners: Mounted Rangers that can initiate a pre-game 9" Scout move and put out a lot of anti-GEQ firepower courtesy of their Scatterlasers. Unlike regular Rangers, the Ranger Rifle on the bike doesn't have the Heavy property, so it'll be less accurate compared to said Rangers if you're looking for leader deterrent. One of the main reasons you'll want to consider this unit is their Target Acquisition ability. This lets the Shroud Runners pick a visible enemy unit within 12" of them and grants all ranged weapons targeting that unit the Lethal Hits property. This is one of the relatively few perks that can just blatantly benefit your entire army, in an edition where psychic support is all but a distant memory. Certainly worth considering even just a single squad.
  • Skyweavers: A hybrid biker unit that can be tailored to harass units at range or close in for combat. Compared to Shining Spears, Skyweavers can put out a higher volume of attacks in melee, though with pidly S3 and no AP on their standard Close Combat weapon attacks, they're not putting down anything heartier than a Guardsman. If you give up the Star bolas for a Zephyrglaive, they gain a more reliable S5 AP-1 D2 weapon that can put down Space Marines with a modicum of reliability. Either way you slice it, you can equip each bike with either the standard Shuriken Cannon for anti-infantry or the Skyweaver haywire cannon to give it a lethal edge against other vehicles, and the unit can inflict, on average, half a mortal wound (1 MW on a 4+ on 1d6) per model on a non-monster/vehicle unit it Normal Moves over.
    • A more direct comparison to Shining Spears; Shining Spears are slightly more durable due to their -1 to be hit modifier and are more durable against AP0 weapons due to their higher standard save. Skyweavers are much more flexible, are superior at range, and have the potential to put out Mortal Wounds against non-Monster/Vehicle units simply by passing over them. On the charge, Shining Spears are better at cutting down GEQ or MEQ units.
  • Warlock Skyrunner Conclave: M14 T4 Sv3+ W3 Ld6+ OC2, and they and their farseer skyrunner leader get -1 to be wounded while they're led, and the entire unit has a 4++ against Psychic attacks, led or not. Puts out a credible amount of close-range dakka compared to Windriders while better protecting a Farseer, but very expensive.
  • Windriders: M14 T4 SV3+ W2 Ld6+ OC2 and access to multiple leaders - you know them, you love them, Windriders are still a great option for any Eldar army. They have 3 weapon choices, but you're always going to take Shuriken Cannon spam since you have easy access to re-rolling hit rolls: R24 A3 BS3+(Sustained Hits 1) S6 AP-1 D2.
    • Swift Demise: Each time you make a ranged attack you can re-roll a hit roll of 1, but if the enemy unit targeted is within range of an objective controlled by the opponent, then you can just straight-up re-roll the Hit roll.
    • Can be led by: Autarch Skyrunner (advance 6" without rolling), Farseer Skyrunner (no unit buffs per se, but the Farseer can always target their own unit with either or both of their buffs; one forces a Fate Die to be a 6 and the other enables re-rolling Hit Rolls), or what's going to be your go-to, Warlock Skyrunner (every time it's your Command Phase, choose Ignores Cover or Stealth).
    • These guys are going to be great at clearing enemy held objectives - add in a Vyper to get rid of any pesky cover save, and they will do the job very well.
    • They should be able to take full advantage of Plunging Fire, which will improve the AP of their attacks.

Vehicles[edit]

  • Support Weapons: M3 T6 SV4+ W5, these are going to be defending your deployment zone fate farms from anyone thinking of getting too close. They have a maximum unit size of 1, so take 3 in every list you make.
    • They have the Artillery Barrage rule, and so will be handing out -1 to hit debuffing effects on enemy non-monster/vehicle units that they fire at.
    • They get a selection of either Vibro Cannons, Shadow Weavers, or D-cannons; each offers a decent amount of firepower dependent on what the actual points cost is going to be, but thanks to your detachment rule, you're going to stick to D-cannons: 24"(Indirect Fire) Ad3(Blast) BS3+(Heavy) S16 AP-4(Devastating Wounds) Dd6+2.
    • seeing as all options are the exact same cost, the choice is a bit easier to make.
    • The Unit is very slow, being only movement 3, and a selection of short range weapons- they work very well as a deterrent. If you allow yourself to get within range of their weapons, expect to get shot in the face, however it is very easy to play around theses units- or take them out from outside their limited threat range.

Fly[edit]

tl;dr: As of current point costs, Fire Prisms win this entire section for airborne murder. As for Falcons, Starweavers, and Wave Serpents, well, a lot depends on what you want carried into battle.

  • Falcon: This can transport 6 non-jump pack aeldari infantry, with wraith constructs counting as 2 models each. That means you can't carry any wraith units at all when the game begins, as none will fit. Because of their Fire Support rule marking foes for passengers to re-roll to wound, you want the models inside to have [Devastating Wounds] on their guns. While 3 Wraithguard would be completely acceptable contents, this means the best possible contents out the gate are, in the absence of points costs, 3 Death Jesters and 3 Autarchs with Death Spinners; Maugan Ra, Illic Nightspear, and Yvraine would all benefit mightily, but they're all also meaningfully buffing leaders - Illic leading a unit will give him re-rolling to wound anyway, while Maugan can get it by shooting something that's below half-strength, and Yvraine is worth far more than her gun.
  • Fire Prism: At M14 T9 Sv3+ W12, the Prism is about as survivable as a Marine Land Speeder; not bad, but you're going to have to be careful with how you play them. T9 is very fragile by 10e "tank" standards, and you should regard these as glass cannons.
    • It has a dispersed Pulse and a Focused Lance profile on its gun, both at 60" (but the latter has more range in practice) BS3+. This model also re-rolls 1 hit roll and 1 wound roll each time it shoots, so with your detachment providing a second one of each, you should never need to burn Fate Dice on its offense. This thing is now your best anti-vehicle/monster unit; Focused Lance fire is all but impossible to mitigate without an invuln save and the flat 6 damage per successful wound will do wonders against key targets.
      • Dispersed Pulse: A2d6 S6 DP-1 D2.
      • Focused Lance: A2 S18 AP-4 D6, Linked Fire: you can determine range and visibility from any fire prism this model can see.
        • You can have a bit of fun here, as you could have two or three Prisms out of range of the enemy, then get a Farseer to give one of them the -1 to be wounded bonus (even something with S18+ is going to be wounding it on a 3+), send that one forward, so that it’s in range of something you want gone, use Linked Fire to fire all six Focused attacks at the enemy unit, re-rolling all 6 of your hit and wound rolls, as each model is attacking individually. If the point model starts taking heavy fire despite the buff, burn Fate Dice on its saves. You could also use Fire and Fade to zip forward, unleash hell, then immediately move back to safety. If it’s taken a beating, then send it back, bless one of the other fresh Prisms, send it forward and rinse and repeat.
  • Night Spinner: You take one of these for its giant fuck-off gun: R48(Indirect Fire) Ad6+3(Blast) BS3+ S7(Twin-Linked) AP0(Devastating Wounds) D2. Points cost will make or break this model, as its gun is fundamentally worse than a Support Weapon D-Cannon.
  • Voidweaver: You can force one thing you shoot and hit to take a Battle-Shock Test, and you're armed with 2 Shuriken Cannons and your choice of R36 A2 BS3+ S12 AP-3 D4 or R24 A3 BS3+ S4(Anti-Vehicle 4+) AP-1(Devastating Wounds) D3. Fundamentally occupies a similar niche to Vypers; as of right now, Voidweavers are better, because they cost a third again the points of a Vyper while being more than a third again as lethal and vaguely more durable.
  • Vypers: M14 T6 SV3+ W6 - as long as they remain cheap and cheerful they will still hold a place in an Eldar army list, but points cost will make or break this model, as it's in direct competition with Voidweavers for effectively the same niche. Right now, Voidweavers seal the deal.
    • They have the Deadly Demise 1, Strands of Fate, and Harassment Fire, which removes the benefit of cover from an enemy unit.
    • As long as they remain fairly cheap they will provide a nimble weapon platform, that can help support your other units dig out entrenched enemy units. Probably good alongside units of Wind Riders who can take advantage of that cover nerf.
  • HornetIA:
  • LynxIA:
  • Warp HunterIA:
Dedicated Transports[edit]
  • Starweaver: Has Firing Deck 6, but the only guns you can put on it worth a damn are Death Jesters (and Yvraine, should the rules end up allowing her to board it provided she's leading a Troupe), and they're better off riding a Falcon. Skip this.
  • Wave Serpent: The ever-reliable transport (carries 12 models without Jump Pack, Wraith Construct models count as 2) got a minor bump in Toughness (M14 T9 Sv3+/5++ W13) to withstand meltaguns, but it'll remain just as exposed to any lascannons with only a 5++ save protecting them. While it lost the ability to ignore certain rolls to wound, the shield regained its ability to be used as a one-time weapon, making an enemy unit within 12" eat d3 mortal wounds and take a battleshock test to potentially pin them down for its troops.
    • For weapon choices, everything is twin-linked so you won't be using your Detachment ability to re-roll wounds unless you swap the twin shuriken catapult for a shuriken cannon, but you'll basically always be reaching for the Twin Starcannon: 36" A4 BS3+ S8(Twin-Linked) AP-3 D2. The Twin Bright Lance trades number of attacks for damage and strength, which normally you'd be all about, but the built-in Twin Linking means the bump in S is deceptive, and it has to consume Fate Dice to keep its total damage out on par with the Starcannon.
    • That said, don't lose track of the fact that you took this model as a transport, not a weapon platform.
Aircraft[edit]

None of your Aircraft have Hover, so gone are the days of superior Eldar agility in the air.

  • Crimson Hunter: +1 to Hit and Wound fly, with 2 Bright Lances and a Pulse Laser in practice (all on BS3+ base), unless points costs get really strange, War Walkers, Vypers, and Falcons between them have this base well-covered.
  • Hemlock Wraithfighter: Has a 9" aura of -1 to Battle-Shock and Leadership tests, but since it hasn't got Hover you can't slow down to apply the aura where you need it, and while the guns are honestly perfectly adequate at murdering, well, everything, you're not strapped for good guns elsewhere on models that don't have all the problems that come with being aircraft.
  • NightwingIA:

Walkers[edit]

  • War Walkers: Pretty well-protected with T7 SV3+/4++ W6 as well as making enemies take -1 to wounded. Fortunately, they're highly mobile with its speed and Scout 9" letting it reach key positions to open fire.
    • Let's be clear: Fire Prisms murder things better but also die more easily. Some of the points cost of these dudes is their frankly very reasonable durability, which they want anyway since they're going to Scout forward to get hit first if you go second.

Titanic[edit]

  • CobraIA:
  • ScorpionIA:

Monsters[edit]

Walkers[edit]

  • Wraithlord: T11 Sv2+ W10, and just... too expensive to compete with War Walkers, especially because in practice you will never field one of these without a Spiritseer babysitter (which also slows the unit down to M7" over it's base 10"). Just as before, the bare (wraith)bones loadout is simply its boney knuckles and a pair of Shuriken Catapults mounted on its wrists, but you can swap those out for Flamers if you so wish and mount any two heavy weapons onto its shoulders for any conceivable purpose. It can also wield a Ghostglaive (which you should always give it) to punish heavy infantry or monsters with 4 S10 swings at AP-3 for d6+1 damage or 8 S7 AP-2 D2 swipes to clear out GEQ/MEQ blobs. If it should deal the finishing blow to any units it may find itself facing in battle, Fated Hero will grant you the ability to roll a d6 and add the result to your Fate dice pool. It's not all good news though; as with the Wraith infantry, the Wraithlord's BS/WS dropped down to a 4+ natively. Without Spiritseer support, this is a pretty unfortunate debuff to an otherwise fantastic Walker Monster unit. However, if you have the points, you can pair a Spiritseer with it to grant it +1 to hit and Lethal Hits, which can get particularly spicy with the sheer volume of fire Scatter lasers or Sweeping Ghostglaive attacks can put out.
  • WraithseerIA: A Wraithlord with a Warlock inside of it, but it can be led by a Spiritseer all the same. While it gets a 4++ invuln and keeps the Destructor psychic weapon, it can only equip a single heavy weapon, a massive letdown when compared to the Wraithlord's many guns and isn't compensated much by making anyone it shoots take a battle-shock test. While it comes stock with a Ghostspear, it's more or less an inferior Ghostglaive with the benefit of [Anti-Infantry 2+] and [Precision] is using the Strike profile.

Titanic[edit]

  • Wraithknightmonster: Your competition to the Imperial Knight is... looking kinda squishy to be honest. Capping at T12 (only 1 toughness higher than a Wraithlord half its size) and W18, it's still quite vulnerable to lascannons or similar weaponry. Sure, it has a 2+ save, but that's not going to really do much against the kind of firepower that's going to be pointed at this behemoth. Of course, there's no native invuln save to help against heavier weaponry unless you strictly forego one of the Wraithknight's extremely lethal weapons for a Scattershield, so you're going to have to weigh your choices. Do you sacrifice a Heavy Wraithcannon (R36 d3 shots at S20 AP-4 2D6 - with Dev Wounds and Blast; note that it doesn't have Indirect Fire, like some are claiming; its a Titanic unit, what were you expecting, that it would be armed with a water gun?) just to have a half decent save against the likes of a lascannon? Whatever your choice, you do still at least have the option of pairing either the Scattershield or the Wraithcannon with another Wraithcannon, Suncannon, or Titanic Ghostglaive.
    • Unfortunately, the Suncannon is still 2d6 shots, leaving it as an extremely swingy option for dealing with infantry. Even at a flat D3 and AP-3, you have better, more cost effective anti-infantry weapons at your disposal.
    • The Titanic Ghostglaive is actually looking pretty reasonable. A5 WS3+ S16 AP-3 D6 will put down pretty much any single model you point it at, while the Sweeping profile puts out 15A WS3+ S8 AP-2 D2, easily more than enough to pulp any 10-man squad of MEQ or GEQ. Arguably this is actually the most cost effective way of running the Knight; you get a decent INV sav, a way of dealing with hordes and single unit opponents- putting out a good deal of damage for both, and you don’t actually have to waste Fate Dice on improving its performance, so you can focus on using them to support the rest of your army.
    • at 370 it a fairly hefty chunk of points, but worth it. Like always the internet is throwing its rattle out the cradle (they did the same thing over Support platforms), when it comes to D weapons; the claim is that you are going to use all your Fate Dice (that are all magically 6, how strange) and use them all in one go, on a single Unit in your army- this is never going to happen on the table, and is frankly a very stupid thing to do; in an actual game you are only likely to average 2 to 3 6’s in your initial role, and you might get a 6 from a Farseer once per turn (which will cost you at least another 125pts to do- bringing the points cost up to 495, for realistically improving the damage out put for this unit for one single shooting phase in the entire game)the ridicules levels of hysteria over a situation that can only take place in a complete vacuum (it’s math hammer, but the annoying hyperbolic kind), and just straight up ignores the fact that you will never have the number of 6’s in your pool to make it work, is alarming. It’s a strong unit, and depending on it’s actually table top performance, will dictate whether anything needs tweaking- but anyone claiming that it should be 800pts is being just a tad silly. It’s no more difficult to kill then a Land Raider, so if you can kill one of those you can just as easily kill a Wraithknight- it’s weapons are what makes it a hundred points more expensive, and it’s hardly got the biggest guns in the game (a single hit from a Thundercoil Harpoon will be putting out a much greater number of Mortal Wounds then a wraith Cannon)- guard tanks will shoot it off the board easily enough.
    • if you expect to charge a Titanic unit this edition with Infantry and walk away victorious, then you need to change the way you think and play; same goes for going Infantry heavy against Tanks or heavy walkers- it just isn't going to work.
    • seeing as everyone and their dog is throwing out sky high numbers, let’s cut out the hyperbolic nonsense, and actually look at this realistically; on an average Fate Dice roll you should expect at least 2 6’s (you could roll more or none at all), so if you decide to use both on a Wraithknight you will use one on the hit roll, to trigger the Devastating Wounds, then the other to max out one of your 2d6 damage rolls, giving you an average of 9 wounds for that shot- enough to reliably kill 4.5 Marines; if you went and spent the extra points for a Farseer and bodyguard you would then increase that to 12, enough to kill 6 marines- so in order to make sure you can kill 6 marines that phase you have now used up all your naturally rolled 6’s, these are now unavailable to the rest of your army. On an average roll you should expect to get at least 2 shots from a Wraith cannon, but you will now have no more 6’s to change the results, and have to roll a natural 6 to trigger Mortal wounds again - if you do that will result in around 6 mortal wounds for that one shot on average (if you spent the points you could reliably put out 6 mortal wounds on a single shot in your shooting phase thanks to attaching a Farseer to its hip, but again this would only be enough to trigger the wounds on one shot, not enough to mess with the damage roll, or effect any other shot that might be made. Anyone going around claiming that they have faced three Wraithknight, and each was throwing out Mortal wounds like candy, then they are talking absolute horse shit, as there will simply not be enough 6’s in the Fate pool to actually make it happen.
    • if you go full offense, you can take two Wraith Cannons, but by doing so you forfeit any sort of Invulnerable save- leavening you very exposed to the big guns of your opponent, as the Wraith Cannons have a fairly shot range. Your can however take a shield providing you that much needed inv save, but by doing so you halve your offensive output.
    • to demonstrate how you can deal with a Wraithknight we can take a quick look in the Marine Index: 2x Predator Annihilator’s (260pts- 110pts cheaper then the Knight; you could almost go for 3 for nearly the same price). That gives you: 2x Predator twin Lascannon (2xD6+1) 2x Hunter killer missiles (2xD6) 4x Lascannons (4xD6+1). Add in Re-rolling damage rolls of 1 and Oath of Moment and they will light a Wraithknight up like a Christmas tree, even on an average roll. 8D6 +6 will put a Wraithknight in the ground with little difficulty, especially if you don’t give up one of the Wraith Cannon’s for the shield.
  • Skathach WraithknightIA:
  • Phantom TitanIA: A zippy but relatively durable titan at T14 and W55, but it's only got a 2+ save with the 5++ only working against any guns. It can walk over most things like anything short of other titans and tall terrain and can shoot and charge after falling back, giving it an exceptional amount of mobility, but it is CP hungry as any stratagems used on it require triple the cost.
  • Revenant TitanIA:

Fortifications[edit]

  • Webway Gate: A giant pair of arches that are big obstacles to give cover. Their only purpose is to let your units jump in from reserves to anywhere within 6" of the gate. Fortunately, this allows you to set up units anywhere within 9" of any enemies that are near the gate, and this lets the squad count as having charged for the coming Fight phase.

Unit Tier List[edit]

Note: the grouping will likely change once the points for each unit is revealed. Given the overall (relative)fragile nature of many units, and the fairly small model count on the table, each unit will need to pull its weight and redeem its points cost, as you can’t really afford to waste points on a unit that isn’t going to perform.

Units and Characters
S Farseer Skyrunner, Fire Prism, Autarch Wayleaper, Support Weapons These Units should be considered an auto-include
A Farseer, Windriders (with Farseer or Autarch Skyrunner and/or Warlock Skyrunner), War Walkers, Avatar of Khaine, Eldrad Ulthran, Illic Nightspear(+Rangers), Spiritseer(+Wraith Unit), Fuegan(+Fire Dragons), Wraithknight, Yncarne These units are strong, and will be of benefit to the army
B Guardian Defenders, Warp Spiders, Fire Dragons, Wraithguard, Voidweavers/Vypers, Wave Serpent, Asurmen(+Dire Avengers), Karandras(+Striking Scorpions), Baharroth(+Swooping Hawks), Autarch, Warlock, Wraithlord, Wraithblades, Shroud Runners, Falcon, Night Spinner, Yvraine, Visarch, Death Jester, Solitaire, Warlock Conclave Generally solid and dependable unit
C Rangers, Dire Avengers, Swooping Hawks, Prince Yriel, Maugan Ra(+Dark Reapers), Jain Zar(+Howling Banshees), Voidscarred, Shining Spears, Crimson Hunter, Hemlock, Skyweaver, Starweaver, Voidweaver Ok but somewhat subpar, and can be left out quite easily
D Dark Reapers, Howling Banshees, Harlequin troupes, Striking Scorpions, Troupe Master, Shadowseer Pretty bad, and overall skippable
E Storm Guardians, Webway Gate Borderline useless, and should be left on the shelf
😂 Phantom Titan nothing to do with unit performance, but never going to see on the table regardless.


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