Tons more new 40k rules are on the way to turn the Eldar into the Xenos equivalent of Space Marines. Check out the updates to bring them up to speed!
Coming from Warhammer Community, check out these Stratagems and rules coming to the Dark Eldar and Eldar shortly in Phoenix Rising.
Here’s one of the first rules previews we’ve seen for the Aeldari as a whole as a part of what will be inside the Phoenix Rising book.
Craftworld Successors Get Custom Attributes
There are no fewer than 22 Craftworld Attributes to choose from, offering your Asuryani a wealth of tactical and thematic opportunities.
In the same way, Space Marine Chapters have their successors, the Eldar are getting the same thing. Just as you can pick your own Chapter Tactics inside of the Marine supplements for your personal Chapters, the Aeldari will now be able to as well.
Being called Craftworld Attributes one of them you will have to pick from is the Children of Khaine. Obviously, it only makes sense to pick this attribute if you plan on getting your Aspect warriors into melee combat. Speaking of Aspect Warriors…
There are six new powers to choose from for each of the nine Aspects, ranging from Howling Banshees to Crimson Hunters. You can either replace your Exarch’s existing power with one of the new options, or make use of the Exemplar Stratagems to pick one in addition.
If you’re loading up on the new Banshee models, you can use the Exemplar of the Banshee Shrine strat to take their base War Shout ability on top of another from the table of Shrine powers instead of replacing it. Essentially, one Aspect is going to be favored among the others.
Disarming Strike, for example, can cripple the enemy unit’s ability to fight back in melee. Note that this only works on a model so the best things to use this on might be something like a Smash Captain or Knight.
Boosting Your Shurikens
Shuriken weapons are what’s being spammed in the meta right now. With rending 6’s, pumping out a lot of these shots can papercut any enemy to death. In half-range, your Shurikens will always have -1 AP attached to their shots. You still only rend at a -3 save, however.
All in all, this might be one of the more competitive options for sure.
Wraithguard Get Attribute Support
If you’re gearing up for Wraith-chassis units, you can reroll wounds of 1. Mixed with another rule called Diviners of Fate for a 6++ Invuln save, these guys will be slightly tankier and have a better damage output. All things considered, however, the Shuriken’s Hail of Doom seems like a much more potent option.
Craftworld Psychic Powers
Phoenix Rising introduces a brand-new psychic discipline, Runes of Fortune, to the mighty psykers of the craftworlds – six new powers that offer some alternate narrative or competitive flavour.
One of the powers previewed is Ghostwalk. It only needs a 6 to go off and you can make a unit within 6″ of the Psyker get +2 to the charge. Maybe a chunky unit of Wraithguard might be an awesome backbone force to the Aeldari soon.
Dark Eldar Kabal Obsessions
In the same way the Eldar have attributes, they Drukhari are getting obsessions.
Most Dark Eldar weapons have a certain die roll they need to make regardless of toughness. However, if you roll a 6 on your poison weapon’s wound, it inflicts additional damage. The shoulder-fired weapons from the foot-soldiers can be hitting like an autocannon here and there!
Like most vehicles in any Xenos army fly, Mobile Raiders will be a fantastic option if you plan on running a mechanized force. Essentially everything in your army with any armor plating will have +3″ to movement. It might not make a huge difference to the Ravagers. However, Raiders and Venoms will be all the more deadly.
Wytch Cults Become Tanky Tank-Killers
Space Marines, Chaos, and Orks are known for carrying a lot of vehicles or Monsters into battle with them. If you plan on going against some of the scariest things some factions have to offer, even the glass cannon Drukhari will be able to rip them apart a bit easier.
While Drukhari are normally glass cannons, if you pick Acrobatic Display, you can’t pick another obsession to pair. However, when your army has an invuln save active, they add 1 to their invuln saves. However, they lose it as soon as they get into melee. You’ll be able to absorb shots from afar. But be sure you can kill whatever you get into combat with on the charge.
Haemonculous Coven Obsessions
If you’re a fan of Haemonuli, they’re getting their own special treatment of themed obsessions as well.
Depending on the units in your Haemonculus Covens collection, the Obsessions at your disposal can be engineered as effectively as the twisted flesh of your warriors! If you have lots of Wracks, consider Dark Harvest, which offers each model in the unit the chance to inflict a mortal wound on the charge.
Master Torturers
What looks to be another obsession hidden within the Warhammer Community article, Master Torturers may be another obsession that halves the cost of a stratagem called Torturer’s Craft which gives your units +1 to wound.
Dark Harvest mixed in with blobs of units geared around melee can help you dish out a handful of mortal wounds before you even begin to fight. This little push of damage might be what separates you from getting smacked first against someone like Slaanesh.
Finally, with Experimental Creations, you’ll be able to add 1 to the Strength of your units as well as 1 to your poison weapons rolls against lower-toughness units. This seems like another extremely powerful obsession to take. Especially if you can pair it with another similar to the Space Marine successor Chapter Tactics.
What do you think about this batch of Aeldari rules? Do you think we will see competitive lists beyond flyer spam now? What’s the best rules combination out of these revealed?
Let us know in the comments of our Facebook Hobby Group, and sign up to get your free hobby updates newsletter (with discount coupon codes) each morning as well!
About the Author: Wesley Floyd
Wesley Floyd
Job Title: Staff Writer
Joined: 2018
Socials:@RealmbrushPainting
About Wesley Floyd: Wes has been in the Warhammer hobby since 2015 and joined the Spikey Bits writing team in 2018. He is known for his satirist takes on trending topics and imaginative yet amazingly affordable hobby solutions to painting Warhammer miniatures.
Imperial fanboy, tabletop fanatic, and the self-proclaimed King of Sprues. He knows for a fact that Mephiston red is the best-tasting paint and is the commission painting equivalent of a Wendy’s 4 for $4. If you like what he writes and want to contact him or have your tabletop minatures painted (to a mostly okayish standard), message him on Instagram.
