Early Musings on the updated Eldar

        So the first thing I want to address is that when 6th Edition came out the Eldar were not completely fucked. In theory, everything in the Eldar army worked as it was supposed to: ultra-shooty tanks that can zip around faster than a horny house fly, ultra-stabby assault troops with protection from ranged attacks and excellent movement rules, extra zappy mind powers that used to be the envy of the 40k Universe. But it was an untenable list mainly because it did these things for way too many points, and given the disparity between 4th (when the book was written) and 6th edition rules, some of the Eldar special stuff like holofields was badly in need of an upgrade. Their troops, Dire Avengers being really the only reasonable choice (and that in minimum units to occupy falcons and such), were totally outclassed by the average Chaos Space marine, who thanks to the new rapid fire rules could shoot at full distance even on the move, and who now cost a single point more than the Avenger himself, and could purchase support weapons.
Then the new tau book came out, and for a few extra points every one of their tanks could be made into a fast skimmer with a 4+ jink save instead of the regular 5+ that everybody now had to make do. It seemed absurd to me that the tau could simply have a better save than even the most badass of Eldar vehicles, until the new book came out and had in it the exact same upgrade.

That's really a sentence that tells a whole story. What this book did was update the Eldar, not fundamentally change them. Theyve simply been put into the same 40k-Fuck-Yeah line of development that spawned the Dreadknight and the Trygon as well as the teleporting Cryptek death squads. Now the Eldar have a a pair of flyers and main-listable titan to go alongside the Tau's Riptide (although the Wraithknight is noticeably larger). They also have a new wargear section (sort of, but its Eldar, they never really had one anyways) but with a few cool trinkets that get me excited about every new list I make. A model on a jetbike with the Mantle of the Laughing God gets a 2+ rerollable jink save and hit and run, but loses his independent character status. Faolchu's Wing lets a character run up to 48", and reroll all cover saves until his next turn if he does.

Despite saying they havent changed the basics, the new Eldar have a couple tricks their opponents might not have seen before. Battle Focus is an ability that allows Eldar to either run then shoot or shoot then run in the shooting phase, at absolutely no penalty (although they still forgo assault). This is the type of rule which really impresses on both players the Firstborn's swiftness, their total manoeuvring superiority of which even under-competent Eldar generals can take advantage. This rule is very similar to the German stormtrooper moves in Flames of war, except that there is no test for it. Add to this rules like Herald of Victory which makes sure that Swooping Hawks don't scatter, or that Warp Spiders count as Jet pack infantry now (except that they can jump further in the movement phase at the risk of getting swallowed), and you have an army that can be exactly where it needs to be to deliver maximum death to the enemy.

Most of these aspect warriors were also reduced in cost, primarily because they cannot capture objectives. Dire Avengers, the only aspect warriors in the troops slot, actually increased by a single point, putting them on par with a Necron warrior or Chaos Marine. However, there is a very good reason for this. The eldar have gotten a firepower boost across the board - their basic shuriken weaponry has what amounts to rending, allowing them to properly shred enemy infantry as they were always supposed to do (it is interesting to note that when rending became a rule in 4th ed my brother and I always thought that it would apply perfectly to Eldar guns, given that they gave it to Assault cannons... the 4th ed codex is a relic of an age where they still tried to restrain themselves). Scatter Lasers, the favourite coaxial weapon of most eldar generals, finally has a coaxial special rule, allowing a vehicle to reroll to hit with one other weapon if the scattler-gun hits first. Monofilament weaponry, already at strength 6 at least, gets +1 if the target is particularly slow or dull-witted - tanks are included, making a Warp Spider one of the most economical tank destroyers in the game (though with a short range). Oh right, and it gets AP2 if you roll a 6 to wound. Pretty brutal.

Im looking forward to a few more games, so i can test out some varied lists. Ive played already against Orks and Necrons, choosing to assume victory in both cases, and cant wait to shred up some imperials soon. Tau and Eldar, given their similarity, make excellent opponents, and there are some memorable scores to settle against Molgrimmarr the annihilator.