Aeldari: Craftworlds Tactical Guide | Warhammer 40,000 Tactical Guide

Avatar The Chef February 26, 202215  11 15 Likes

Aeldari: Craftworlds Go to Contents


The Aeldari of the Craftworlds (or Asuryani I suppose) are a fast, hard hitting army capable of fulfilling a variety of army styles, with great melee and ranged output alongside good board control and support elements.

A note on Harlequins – whilst they are part of the Aeldari Codex, and can be used within an Asuryani army in some capacity, they have a fair bit of uniqueness and the ability to operate independently. As such, they have their own Tactical Guide HERE, which covers their own rules, interactions and tips.


Contents



Pros and Cons Go to Contents


  • A very varied army capable of operating equally well at close, mid and long range, and with a big selection of army builds
  • Fantastic mobility and manoeuvring prowess lets them play Objectives very well and stay out of harms way
  • Great Psyker support alongside a wide range of tricks and utility
  • Lots of specialised units that when used well makes the army feel even greater than the sum of its parts
  • Ostensibly easy to kill, but have access to some very tough to shift units, and a plethora of Invulnerable saves, all whilst being quite cheap
  • Most of their non Vehicle units are quite flimsy, with generally low Toughness and Wounds, making them reliant on terrain, transports and other tricks
  • A lot of their power is tied up in Psychic Powers and other slightly random or costly elements, meaning careful planning and backups are usually needed
  • With lots of good options, the really strong ones stand out and some units that fulfil similar roles will be left out by the wayside
  • Generally quite specialised, with many units being particularly good at one thing, but little else
  • “Eldar Hate” is real, and as the Codex is powerful and quite cheap for what it does, this trend will likely continue- expect to see some FAQs in the future, and dirty looks in the meantime

Tactica Primer Back to Contents


Here are some key points to remember when reading this Primer, mainly to save it being typed out every time. Don’t forget that this presumes you have the Codex, so some basic things may not be explained here.

Any of the rules discussed below apply only to ASURYANI models with the same <CRAFTWORLD> Keyword, so no overlapping or crossing of Auras (no BIEL-TAN Auras or powers affecting YNNARI units, for example), outside of explicitly noted abilities. 

Some common shorthand terms found throughout-

  • X++ means an invulnerable save
  • X+++, or ‘shrug’, ‘Feel No Pain’ or ‘Ignore Damage roll’ depending on how you’re feeling, means it is a dice roll to ignore each point of damage, which is taken after any failed saves.
  • ‘6s explode’ essentially translates to ‘An unmodified 6 to Hit does an additional hit’, so read that as ‘Does 2 Hits instead of 1’. Per the Core Rules, anything that might also happen on a 6 to hit (such as auto-wounding) does not apply to the additional hit, only the original. 
  • ‘First turn of combat’ means any rules that trigger when you Charge, are Charged, or Heroically Intervene. 
  • ‘Deep Strike’ essentially means the unit can be placed into Reinforcements and arrive more than 9” away from enemy units.
  • ‘Infiltrate’ or something on those lines means the unit can be deployed anywhere on the table over 9” away from enemy models and the enemy deployment zone, instead of deploying normally. 

Detachment Rules Back to Contents


If your Detachment is Battle-Forged (which will be most armies) and only has ASURYANI units in it (though there are exceptions for YNNARI, covered in their section).

  • Leaders of the Warhost– A maximum of one AUTARCH per Detachment. This is fine, and you likely weren’t looking to take more than one anyways
  • Objective Secured– All your Troops get Objective Secured, which isn’t terrible given their relatively cheap cost, though they aren’t the toughest things around so be wary of losing points under your control quickly should you leave them unsupported.
  • Craftworld Attributes– As you’d guess, these are the rules associated with being from a particular Craftworld, explained below. The YNNARI are classed as a CRAFTWORLD in all aspects, but have few more complications that warrant their own section.
  • Travelling Players– You can take a single Patrol of HARLEQUINS in other Eldar armies even though they don’t share a Faction Keyword, and they don’t prevent them you from getting Strands of Fate, Secondaries and any other ‘your whole Army must be X’ rules. The Harlequin Detachment even gets to have their Saedath Characteristations, letting you add a flexible fighting force to cover a gap you might need, whether its a rapid melee force in a shooting army, or a group of ranged VEHICLES to add some firepower to cover your melee forces’ advance.

Every CRAFTWORLD unit gains an Attribute, provided the whole army is from the same CRAFTWORLD, granting them unique abilities, as well as a Warlord Trait, Stratagem and should your WARLORD have the associated Tenet, you are also eligible to have their Relic too.

Attribute- Foresight of the Damned

Hold onto your butts, we’ve got four abilities to go through here. Everything gets a 6++ and a 5+++ vs Mortal Wounds, each unit also gets to reroll a Wound each time they Shoot or Fight, and finally all of your PSYKERS get +1 to Cast on the first Psychic Test each turn. Whilst these traits are all fairly niche or not widely applicable, with many units already getting a better Invulnerable, Mortal Wound shrugs being nice to have but not always necessary, and not everything being a PSYKER, they are persistent and reliable, giving you extra layers of defence on units that didn’t have it, making your bigger powers far more reliable when used first, and the Wound reroll always great, granting you nice reliability, especially with all the big guns Eldar have access to.

Warlord Trait- Fate Reader

When you generate your Strands of Fate, if this WARLORD is on the battlefield you can keep +1 Dice. Strands of Fate offers some very potent reliability, at the cost of not always getting what you want (or enough of them). This helps you in keeping more of what you do get, and helps in those instances where all the results would be useful. Eldrad has this, master of the skeins that he is.

Relic- The Ghosthelm of Alishazier

A PSYKER knows an additional Rune of Fortune power, and if they cast anything on an unmodified 9, they can’t be Denied. The unmodified portion can be good in clutch moments, though of course nothing to be relied upon. The Fortune powers are a mixed bag but do have some powerful albeit niche utility, so this can be worth taking for those alone.

Stratagem- Discipline of the Black Guardians

A GUARDIAN unit gets +1 to Hit when Shooting or Fighting, giving them great reliability when used en masse. A potent buff for only 1CP, this will affect a decent amount of units on the battlefield, and let them punch well above their weight through sheer accurate firepower. Less useful in combat, but still worth remembering if needed.

Attribute- Fieldcraft

Units get Light Cover if the Attacker is over 12” away, if they are INFANTRY or BIKERS that are wholly within/on terrain they also get Dense Cover, and your INFANTRY ignores all modifiers to their Mv Characteristic and Advance rolls. A decent spread of defensive and utility buffs that benefit long range focused armies more (though don’t neglect the use of the defensive boosts to help units closing in), and whilst predominantly focused on your non-VEHICLES this still affords a solid boost for them. With your INFANTRY and BIKES capable of sporting higher than average saves as well as minuses to Hit, they can last a lot longer than perhaps anticipated, letting you outlast and manoeuvre for the decisive blows. The Movement protection is a bit more niche, but such debuffs can be crippling in the game, so not having to worry about them at all is a nice bonus.

Warlord Trait- Master of Ambush

Let’s you pick an INFANTRY unit within 9” in your Command Phase, letting them Shoot whilst doing an Action, and also lets you redeploy a single RANGER unit at the start of Round One. Both are fairly niche in application, though solid enough if you’ve built around those aspects, and works nicely with the Scout Positions Secondary to get some early points with relative ease.

Relic- Shiftshroud of Alanssair

An INFANTRY model dons this, meaning they can’t be shot whilst receiving the benefits of cover unless they’re the closest eligible target and within 12”. Whilst reliant on cover, this basically makes you immune to any shooting from over 12” away, as you’ll get Cover from your Attribute and thus activate this, and even when close a bit of terrain and some Look Out Sir still protects you from snipers. Good for a footslogging Farseer to keep them safe.

Stratagem- Pathfinder Ambush

After an enemy unit is set up as Reinforcements, a unit of RANGERS that is either on the Battlefield or in Strategic Reserve can be selected for this Stratagem for 1CP. If they were in Strategic Reserve, immediately set them up within 18” and over 9” away from an enemy Reinforcement unit, and regardless they can shoot that enemy unit at the end of the Movement Phase. Whilst the Ranger’s shooting isn’t exactly phenomenal, it can be useful to chip away at something, but more importantly this can help screen out more units due to arrive, or to protect your own assets, as it happens as soon as an enemy unit is placed down. Don’t look at this as a way to get extra shots, but as a disruption tool to cause havoc to an enemies deep strike plans.

Attribute- Swordwind

When you Advance or Battle Focus, 1s and 2s on the dice count as 3, and you can reroll a Hit each time you Shoot and Fight. A minimum of 3” each time you Advance and Battle Focus offers fantastic speed and manoeuvrability, letting you guarantee a minimum distance when moving into position to strike or take Objectives, and ensuring you’re never let down by a rogue 1 on a Focus move behind some terrain. Likewise reroll a Hit roll every time a unit attacks will stack up over time, granting you great reliability, especially for your heavier weapons which you should always try to use first to maximise this aspect of the Attribute.

Warlord Trait- Natural Leader

A CORE unit within 6” in your Command Phase can reroll all Hits until your next turn. This is a fantastically strong Command Trait, ensuring you get maximum hits, and letting your Farseers either use a Guide elsewhere, or focus on other powers. Almost a must take in a Biel-Tan army.

Relic- The Spirit Stone of Anath’lan

A PSYKER knows an extra power from their chosen Discipline, and they can reroll a single Psychic Test once per turn. Offers flexibility in your powers, especially if you’re running a low number of Pyskers, granting you options, and the reliability from a free reroll ensures your key powers don’t fail when you least expect it.

Stratagem- Wrath of the Shrines

Grants exploding 6s to an ASPECT WARRIOR unit for a Phase, for a single CP. A potent combat and ranged boost, and cheap for the output, great on units like SPEARS in either phase, or things like BANSHEES or DRAGONS in their specialised areas to give them a further edge. Also hilarious on things when combined with other exploding 6s rules like the Bladestorm Stratagem or Sustained Assault.

Attribute- Stoic Endurance

+1 to Combat Attrition checks and reduces AP -1 and -2 attacks against you by 1 (so they become AP0 and -1, respectively). Simple but handy benefits, with the Attrition boost effectively giving you autopass when above Half-Strength, and a layer of protection otherwise, whilst the AP boost applies to many common weapons, ensuring you maintain a healthy armour save most of the time. Not the flashiest of Attributes, but reliable and consistent.

Warlord Trait- Enduring Resolve

The WARLORD has a 5+++. Not bad, not spectacular, it will be useful in a pinch, but remember with T3 or 4 most of the time, and 6W and below, it will only go so far. Prince Yriel has this, cos holding a cursed blade that tries to drain your life at every opportunity tends to temper your will.

Relic- Psytronome of Iyanden

Grants a SPIRIT HOST unit within 9” in your Command Phase +1 Attack, and also Battle Focus if they are WRAITHGUARD. This is a great boost to any of your Wraith units, Blade or Guard variety, letting them get the most benefits they can from their role, be it killier in melee or able to shoot and stay out of combat respectively. Has a bit less use on the Lords and Knights, but still an extra Attack on tap isn’t to be sniffed at if you’ve no other options.

Stratagem- Guided Wraithsight

A SPIRITSEER model on the battlefield grants its Spirit Mark ability to any SPIRIT HOST unit on the battlefield for a Phase. Provided you have both units available, this is a decent use of a CP, letting your squishy Character stay out of harm’s way, or just ensuring they can move to a more advantageous position without sacrificing effectiveness on your Wraith units.

Attribute- Wild Host

Reroll Charges and Fall Back and Charge, this is all about melee aggression. This will ensure charges are made, and that you can’t be bogged down against units you don’t want or aren’t geared to fight. Whilst it won’t help shooting elements of your army, the melee components will be hard pressed to get a better offensive set of traits, and even then can be useful if you have VEHICLES supporting your units close, ensuring they can move away from something that tagged them, only to charge and shut down something else across the board.

Warlord Trait- Wild Rider Chieftain

The WARLORD gets +1 Attack, and can Heroically Intervene 6”. A nice set of combat boosts, helping you zone out or support in a larger area, whilst being better to do so. If you’re gearing up to make a Melee Autarch, you can’t go too wrong with this one.

Relic- Talisman of Tionchar

If the bearer Charged or Heroically Intervened, they get +1 Str, AP and Dmg for their melee attacks that turn. This can make some particularly nasty combat Autarchs, especially considering your Attribute ensures you’ll usually be in a position to charge, and combines nicely with the Chieftain trait above for more options to trigger it and Attacks to make use of it. 

Stratagem- Warriors of the Raging Winds

A BIKER unit can Charge even if they Advanced that turn. Tailor made for SHINING SPEARS or combat Autarchs, though can still be useful on other BIKERS to help tie up a key enemy unit to keep other parts of your army safe, which can be well worth the 1CP if you’ve no other options, or the time to commit a melee unit isn’t right.

Custom Craftworlds basically, picking two from the list below, unless it says otherwise.

  • In the Footsteps of the Ancients- Pick a Craftworld above. Get it’s Attributes, Warlord Trait, Relic and Warlord Trait. You can’t pick another Far-flung Attribute. This is the one most of us will use, cos Your Dudes plus good all round rules (and extras).
  • Children of Khaine- +1 Dmg with Melee Attacks on 6s to Wound. This can be pretty nasty if going melee heavy, especially as most of your combat units are 1 or 2 Dmg to begin with, so this can help in dealing with meatier targets, but it’s not massively reliable, and your opponent will have choice of save order (unless you slow roll, but don’t do that).
  • Children of Morai-Heg- Ynnari Light. If a unit is below Starting Strength, get +1 to Hit rolls. Great for your units, worthless for CHARACTERS and VEHICLES. Still, this is actually a powerful ability to offset casualties and ensure your units are still able to contribute reliable output as the game goes on. 
  • Children of Prophecy- Your PSYKERS can reroll 1s and 2s when Casting or Denying. Offers decent reliability for their powers, which are pretty crucial to the running of the army, though the cost of a more widely applicable army ability can be sorely felt.
  • Children of the Open Skies- +1” Mv, or +2” if you have FLY, alongside Advancing a minimum of 3” like Biel-Tan, this makes for an exceptionally speedy force, able to reliably press board control and mission play, whilst also able to get into position or out of danger a bit easier. 
  • Diviners of Fate- Roll an additional D6 for Strands of Fate. This is fine to help fish for the options you want, though it doesn’t allow you to keep any extra so just bear that in mind. Not a terrible choice, especially if nothing else takes your fancy. 
  • Expert Crafters- Rather than predicting where to place the perfect shot like Ulthwé, you just have finer wargear I guess. Rerolling a Wound when you Shoot or Fight is an always reliable bonus to have.
  • Grim- Iyanden Jr, getting +1 to Combat Attrition checks. It’s ok, as with Iyanden it’s nice to have though by no means a necessity or indeed game changing ability.
  • Hail of Doom- 6s to Hit with Shurikens autowound, and are explicitly stated as counting as a 6, meaning it triggers the extra AP. This is actually a pretty significant reliability boost as pretty much everything has a Shuriken weapon in some capacity, so this will really stack up over the course of the game with reliable wounds. 
  • Headstrong- Saim-Hann v1.5, granting you reroll Advance and Charge rolls. Both are solid benefits to have across your army, whether it’s to help get into range with Battle Focus units, ensuring combat is made, or just moving around for the mission. 
  • Hunters of Ancient Relics- Units can Shoot and still perform Actions. Quite niche, but given there are a number of Action based Objectives now, it’s not a terrible thing to have access to, letting you still contribute whilst scoring.
  • Elite Citizenry- Biel-Tan for Beginners, granting you the Hit Reroll each time you Shoot or Fight, as well as +1 Ld for kicks. The Reroll is the key bit here, granting you extra reliability, though the Ld can help as a little extra buffer to Morale losses.
  • Masterful Shots- Ignore Light Cover is a potent army wide buff, especially given the already good AP on your weaponry, and whilst not totally applicable to all units, it will help the bulk of your army pretty significantly. 
  • Masters of Concealment- My First Alaitoc Army, getting Light Cover when over 12” away. This is a solid survivability boost in the early stages of the game, as well as in later turns depending on how much distance you keep, being ideal for units that are aiming to stay away from the midboard and hold home objectives. 
  • Mobile Fighters- When a unit Disembarks, they get +1 to Wound for the rest of that Turn. Great for both Shooting and Melee, this is a strong offensive boost, however being entirely reliant on Transports, them sticking around, and doing enough damage when jumping out, makes this a tricky one to use past an alpha strike.
  • Savage Blades- Units get an extra -1AP in the first round of combat. This is decent enough, though really the units that you want in melee already have a high AP already, and the units you don’t want in melee won’t get too much benefit from this in the first place. It’s not terrible, but there’s better melee focused traits.
  • Swift Strikes- You always count as Remaining Stationary for Shooting, unless you Fall Back. Effectively an ‘upgraded’ version of Battle Focus for your Heavy Weapons, as well as for VEHICLES, this is a good for ensuring you can stay on the move and get into line of sight or range easier, though for most units they could already do that anyway due to Battle Focus, so consider that in your army construction. 
  • Students of Vaul- VEHICLES get +1 to Armour Saves vs D1 Weapons. I mean it’s fine, and can help prevent annoying chip damage from light weapons, but D1 shots on your tanks is generally the least of your concerns. 
  • Superior Shurikens- +3” Range to all Shuriken Weapons. Not terrible, given there’s tons of them in the book, and helps bring them into a bit of a healthier range for maintaining safe distance on your squishier units 
  • Vengeful- Exploding 6s in Melee. This is pretty potent, able to really help dish out damage with your dedicated melee units, or to just add a modicum of extra attacks with your ranged units when fighting lesser units that might try to tag them. 
  • Warding Runes- Wannabe Ulthwé Warriors, with a 6++ and 5+++ vs Mortal Wounds, giving you some niche protection army wide, and at least a chance of survival for non-ASPECTS and VEHICLES against higher AP weaponry.
  • Webway Warriors- Exploding 6s for the turn you’re set up from Reinforcements. Very niche, and generally Vengeful is better for melee focused troops, what with being always active, however this can be very nasty for Shooting units when combined with the various ways to manipulate Strategic Reserves, Deep Strike, and arrive from Reinforcements turn 1.
  • Wrath of the Dead- WRAITH CONSTRUCTS can Heroically Intervene. If you’re going heavy on Wraithblades and Lords, this can make them an effective denial tool, though the overall uses of this are pretty limited. Doesn’t work on your Hemlocks, cos that would be stupid.

The Ynnari Back to Contents


So the Ynnari are…complicated. And I don’t mean in terms of fluff. Simply put, they basically operate as a <CRAFTWORLD> now for all intents and purposes, but they can also bring DRUKHARI and HARLEQUINS along, with some caveats and other restrictions. Hence, they have their own section, cos special Elves gonna special.

You still count as an ASURYANI Detachment, even if including non-ASURYANI units. This means you get all the same rules described above. 

For each ASURYANI unit in a Detachment, you can take a HARLEQUIN, KABAL, WYCH CULT, INCUBI or SCOURGE unit, provided they match the same Battlefield Role. So if you have a unit of GUARDIANS (Troops), you could take one unit of KABALITE WARRIORS, WYCHES or TROUPES. Note you do not get Strands of Fate if you do this, as per those rules every unit must be ASURYANI and the same Craftworld, which by the very nature of including non-ASURYANI units, precludes you from it. This is pretty stupid, so expect it to be FAQ’d eventually. 

Regardless of which Codex they are from, they gain YNNARI, and lose their previous Faction Keyword. This does mean they get Strength From Death below, as well as have the Keyword for relevant Stratagems and special rules (eg Auras). Note it’s not 100% clear if you only change the Keywords in your Keyword section, or everywhere on the Datasheet – this could mean things like Troupe Masters keep their reroll wound aura as SAEDATH only, of which none of your units will be. This seems…odd, but wait for an FAQ. 

PSYKERS can’t use Runes of Fate, but can use Revenant. You can still use Runes of Battle and Fortune, as well as Phantasmancy, though remember your Harlequin components won’t have the SAEDATH Keyword to use the bulk of the powers. 

You can’t take any paid upgrades from the other armies, so no Pivotal Roles or Lords of Commorragh/Favoured Retinues.

No Named Characters (apart from the YNNARI ones, duh), SOLITAIRES or ANRATHE units. No, you still can’t have Jain Zar or Prince Yriel in a Ynnari Army, despite the fluff. 

Just as a final note, you can give a HARLEQUIN CHARACTER a Harlequin Warlord Trait via the Champion of the Aeldari Stratagem, but you are locked out of any DRUKHARI Warlord Traits, and you can’t take any HARLEQUIN or DRUKHARI Relics, as a result of how the various interlocking Stratagems work. Also you can’t give any ASURYANI specific Warlord Traits (including the Warden of Souls below) to a HARLEQUIN or DRUKHARI Character. 

Units can only embark on their “type” of Transport, ie ASURYANI can’t jump into a DRUKHARI or HARLEQUIN Transport, and vice versa. The only exceptions are YVRAINE and THE VISARCH, who can jump in any of the various boats.

As INCUBI and SCOURGES will now be getting an actual Attribute, they cost more points, a whopping 4 for INCUBI and 2 for SCOURGES. This is quite steep for what they get, but such is the price of devotion.

Attribute- Strength from Death

Always Fight First, and if you are below Starting Strength you get +1 to Hit. These are both great abilities to have, letting you dictate the flow of combat, as well as helping you maintain output even with casualties. Now for CHARACTERS only the first part is less useful, and for your VEHICLES both parts are basically worthless, but in general both parts are impactful for the bulk of your units, improving your melee effectiveness as well as now offering a boost to Shooting (at the small price of one of their friend’s soul).

Warlord Trait- Warden of Souls

Heal 1 Wound in your Command Phase, if you are within Engagement Range of an enemy unit below their Starting Strength when you Fight, you get +1 Str and Attack. A mixed bag of abilities, some of which might not come up (because you either don’t take damage or die before you can heal), though the combat benefits are nice if you have a Character working in concert with another unit, or able to pounce on a weakened enemy. Yvraine has this, because it’s her job now to eat keep hold of souls.

Relic- The Lost Shroud

-1 Damage and +1 Armour Save vs unmodified D1 weapons, which is interesting as it’s the first time this has been specifically called out. Either way it’s a nice boost in both respects, giving you a decent boost against bigger weapons and a handy buff vs lighter attacks. Doesn’t make you invincible mind, and a +1 Sv won’t help a huge amount if there’s a ton of attacks or there’s AP involved.

Stratagem- Inevitable Fate

Grants a unit +1 Wound against an enemy unit that is below Half-Strength. Useful to help finish off a unit that needs to die, though needing them pretty heavily damaged in the first place could cause issues for getting this active in the first place. Still, for 1CP it’s a cheap boost, and applicable in both Shooting and Fighting helps in using it across your army as needed.


Stratagems Back to Contents


The Craftworld Stratagems are a mixed bag with a good number of utility Stratagems to help with movement or general mission play, as well as a decent amount of offensive and defensive abilities. However they are generally quite restricted in applicability, apply to one unit, or niche in use. Realistically, you’ll have about 2-3 you’ll use every game, a few more based on your army choices, and then 1 or 2 you’ll use once in a blue moon, so like most Stratagems really…

Stratagems marked with a * are part of the general AELDARI set of Stratagems, so if you are running a mixed Army with some HARLEQUINS, you can’t double up on them, so consider that in list building and in game. 

A note for YNNARI armies- Some Stratagems are explicitly for ASURYANI, meaning despite being part of a Ynnari army, you’re locked out of using them on your non-Craftworld siblings, though practically they aren’t many nor really applicable for the units they can’t affect. It’s also worth pointing out you don’t get access to any of the HARLEQUIN exclusive Stratagems unless you have a HARLEQUINS Patrol, so consider taking some Travelling Players if you’re going heavy on them in your YNNARI side and want access to their tricks.

  • The Great Enemy- Reroll Hits and Wounds vs SLAANESH units in the Fight Phase. One of those “fluffy and super limited but also ludicrous against the one army” Stratagems, for 1CP this all but deletes any Slaanesh unit you touch when used on a melee geared unit. Will very rarely come up, but I guess enjoy it when it does…just not too much. Cos Slaanesh.
  • Matchless Agility- An ASURYANI unit that makes a Battle Focus move automatically goes 6”. Great for 1CP to ensure you get back to safety, onto an Objective, or just continue to establish board control. 
  • Lightning Fast Reactions- Grants a unit -1 to be Hit for a Phase, which offers a nice defensive boost. This is always great, providing a solid defensive boost to pretty much all your units for only 1CP, you just need to be aware of it being baited out by a canny opponent so they can turn their attentions elsewhere. It doesn’t work on MONSTERS, but everything else is fair game, so yes, you can have ninja-flipping WRAITHBLADES.
  • Bladestorm- Grants exploding 6s to a units’ Shuriken weapons. Given the vast amounts you can have in the army, this can be pretty devastating for only 1CP. Dire Avengers, Windriders, War Walkers, even the humble Guardian can all benefit from this and really lay on the pain.
  • Martial Citizenry- Gives a GUARDIAN unit reroll 1s to Hit for a Phase. Decent enough, and not costly for a CP regardless of unit or size, but it’s not netting a huge return. Handy to have, but by no means essential. 
  • Fire and Reposition- When an OUTCASTS unit makes a Battle Focus move, they ignore the penalty for moving through Area Terrain. Good for 1CP to ensure a unit makes it through some terrain with no downsides, but overall pretty niche.
  • Avengers of Asuryan- Shoot again at the end of your Shooting Phase with a DIRE AVENGERS unit that is below Starting Strength. Whilst limited in when it can be used, and costly at 2CP, it can be pretty devastating given the already solid output of Avengers. Might not be the easiest or most worthwhile use of CP, and generally not worth it on 4 or less Avengers unless something near them really needs the extra damage opportunity.
  • Unparalleled Mastery- Lets you manifest an additional Psychic Power with a non-WARLOCK/HEMLOCK model. It’s not bad, but realistically it boils down to “cast a Smite”, as all your Psykers can cast as many powers as they know already. Sometimes you just have to get some Mortals off in conjunction with your main powers though, and for 1CP it can serve you well. You do have to select them at the start of the Psychic Phase however, so you might not realise you need it til after the opportunity has passed, or vice versa you may not even need to use the extra power, so just be aware of that.
  • Multifaceted Mind- A FARSEER, or YVRAINE, can do a Psychic Action and still cast a single Power. Great if you’re looking at the Warpcraft Secondaries (or going all in on Eldritch Storm, cos lightning), letting you still contribute your potent buffs to the battlefield when needed. Certainly not something to always use, or indeed can always be used, but handy to have for only 1CP.
  • The Phoenix Reborn- When a PHOENIX LORD dies, you can bring them back to life with D3 Wounds at the end of that Phase on a 4+. Cheap for 1CP, even though it’s 50/50, and can be useful to do in order to maintain their presence for buffs or output. Can’t be used on the same Lord more than once per game, and ideally you want to make sure they’re able to do stuff the following turn (reviving at the end of the opponent’s Shooting to then get charged and killed again is less than ideal).
  • The Avatar Resurgent- If the AVATAR is killed in the Fight Phase and not fought yet, it immediately Fights after the attacking unit before it is removed, and gets +2A to boot. The latter part there is a bit tricksy, as he will be on his bottom profile when he attacks, so it essentially just puts him back up to 7A, but still, this is a nasty trump card to have to take a chunk out of, if not mutually kill, an attacker that gets the drop on him. The jury’s out on how this interacts with Burning Demise, as it doesn’t say, though it’s a safe bet this is done instead of Exploding, as most of these Stratagems say such things.
  • Battle Psykers- When a WARLOCKS unit with 4+ models casts a Runes of Battle power, you do both effects instead of choosing one. Getting both the buff and debuff is a powerful effect, as they are all generally pretty significant, however at 2CP and requiring a large unit, this isn’t the easiest or cheapest thing to pull off, though it can be potent indeed if you do. 
  • Champion of the Aeldari- Give a Character a Warlord Trait. There are some solid Traits available to the Craftworlds, so this can help make some strong characters for both offence or support. 
  • Treasures of the Aeldari- Give a Character a Relic. As with the above, this can help build some strong Characters, and there are some good ones to choose from, especially for melee Autarchs. 
  • Relics of the Shrines- Get two extra Exarch Relics. The Exarch Relics are pretty decent, though some are of course better than others, and realistically you want to ensure you are getting the most bang for your buck by having multiple ASPECT units. Still, if there’s one you really want, you’ll always get the second so it’s literally no loss in having it.
  • Seer Council- One FARSEER and one unit of WARLOCKS with 2+ models in your army form a Seer Council, giving the FARSEER +1 to Cast whilst within 6” of the WARLOCKS, and they also act as Bodyguards for that FARSEER (ie they can’t be shot whilst they are within 3” of the WARLOCKS). A decent buy for only a CP, the casting boost is nice, as is the Bodyguard with all its associated shenanigans for hiding out of Line of Sight to keep the HQ protected.
  • Linked Fire- At the start of your Shooting Phase, you pick one FIRE PRISM, then another one, or two, FIRE PRISMS that is visible to the first, and within 12”. When the first FIRE PRISM fires it’s Prism Cannon with the Focused Lance profile, it fires +2 Shots for each other FIRE PRISM chosen, and all their shots ignore Invulnerable Saves. The other FIRE PRISMS can’t fire their own Prism Cannons that turn, but who cares, you’ve basically fired them anyways, potentially at a target they couldn’t see, and now you’ve punched through pretty much every Save. Which is pretty gnarly. However It does cost a hefty 2CP, needs multiple FIRE PRISMS near each other (as it specifically says “select” not “may select”, making the selection of at least one other tank a requirement), and makes you lose flexibility, as all the shots have to go onto one target. But when you really need one target dead…
  • Feigned Retreat- Lets a unit Fall Back and Shoot or Charge for 1CP, or do both for 2CP. This offers a fantastic amount of flexibility for your army, letting key units dictate their targets, or just avoid being tied down where they don’t want to be. The main downside is both aspects are tied to one Stratagem, so this is less useful if needed in multiple parts of the battlefield.
  • Forewarned- A unit within 12” of a FARSEER can shoot at an enemy Reinforcement that arrived within 18” of them that turn (the chosen unit, not the FARSEER), at the end of the opponent’s Reinforcement Step. Not cheap at 2CP, and requires a Farseer nearby to guide them, but this works on any unit you arrive near. Crisis Suits arriving within range of some War Walkers with Bright Lances, have at it. Warp Spiders onto a unit of Acolyte Hybrids, ouch time for them. A unit of Terminators thinking they’re clever and appearing near some Wraithguard, they’re gonna have a bad time. This can cause some serious headaches to your opponent’s game plans, so be sure to have a Farseer around your heavy hitters to “dissuade” enemy arrivals.
  • The Tears of Isha- A WRAITH CONSTRUCT heals D3 Wounds in your Command Phase, or flat 3 if within 6” of a SPIRITSEER. Not bad for 1CP, or 2CP if TITANIC, this can help keep a unit of Guard/Blades/Lord in the fight a bit longer, or bump a Hemlock or Knight up a bracket in time of need.
  • Fire and Fade- For 2CP a non-AIRCRAFT unit can make a Normal Move after Shooting, though you cannot Charge that turn, nor can you Embark that turn. Whilst costly, it opens up a lot of utility, either to get into range for embarked units, block or pin in enemy units, get out of range or line of sight, or make moves for the Mission. Expensive, but a very versatile and potent ability.
  • Phantasm- Redeploy up to 3 non-TITANIC units before the First Turn begins, for 2CP. Any redeploy ability is great to react to an opening that might present itself should you go first, to counter deploy going second, to allow a safety net in any mistakes you might make, or to react to any of your opponent’s redeploy or pregame moves. Can also be used to put units into Strategic Reserve, giving further flexibility and synergising nicely with the Webway Gate. Whilst you won’t always need to use it, having access to it offers you tons of options. 
  • Eldritch Storm- Alright so you know how most armies get some 3CP Orbital Bombardment type Stratagem that’s cute but barely usable? Yeah the Eldar one is actually usable. Reason being is as follows. In your Command Phase you place a marker within 24” of a FARSEER. In your Psychic Phase, any of your FARSEERS can attempt a WC 5 Psychic Action, Empower Storm. Then, in your Shooting Phase, the Storm goes off, hitting every unit within 6” of the marker on a 2+ (or 4+ if they’re an INFANTRY CHARACTER), and doing D3 Mortal Wounds to them, with an additional +1 for each Empower Storm Action that was completed. So it’s reliable, can do a bunch of Mortal Wounds in a big area, and most importantly has zero counterplay from your Opponent compared to other similar Stratagems, as they cannot move away from the explosion. Whilst they can attempt to Deny the Action to make it stronger, not everyone has Denies, and even then they might fail, and it will still be doing a decent chunk of Mortal Wounds even if they do Deny it. Now, it is pricey at 3CP, limited to once per game, you’re potentially sacrificing casting power of buffs for a turn, and you need multiple Farseers to really make it go nuclear, however the sheer threat of it alone can make entering in a 24” radius of a Farseer en masse a dangerous prospect indeed. Not always relevant, but worth considering if you need to do some damage in a big area.
  • Webway Strike- Place an INFANTRY or BIKER unit into Deep Strike for 1CP, or 2 of them for 3CP. More deployment options are always good, allowing you good utility and flexibility. Costly if used on 2 units, so consider how vital it will be to put 2 into Deep Strike, especially when compared to Phantasm for Strategic Reserves, Webway Gate plays, or units which can just innately do so. With manipulation from the Strands of Fate however, this can lead to some incredibly reliable Charges from Deep Strike, very powerful on things like Wraithblades or Shining Spears.
  • Wireweave Grenades- At the start of your Opponent’s Movement or Charge Phase, pick a non-FLY enemy unit within 12” of a SHROUD RUNNER unit. Roll a single D3, and that enemy unit takes that many Mortal Wounds (to a max of 1 per model in the squad), and subtract that number from their Mv and Charge Rolls for that Phase. Decent for 1CP, and given the speed of Shroud Runners you can get them into position to help slow down units a fair bit, or act as support to give your lines a bit of charge protection. The Mortal Wounds are a nice bonus on top, and for 1CP it’s a useful tool to have if you’re using the Shroud Runners. 
  • Shield Discharge- At the start of your Charge Phase, pick a unit with a Serpent Shield. An enemy unit within 12” cannot Overwatch, Set to Defend, and is -1 to Hit, until the end of your turn. That unit then loses their Serpent Shield rule for the rest of the game. Useful to act as support for units on their way into combat, or even to assist in an ongoing combat to put the -1 to Hit on. The loss of the Shield itself can be a big blow however, making the bearer much more susceptible to attacks, so it’s important to evaluate the benefits provided to the unit you’re supporting over the potential increase in damage the Shield unit will likely be taking in following turns. 
  • Grenade Pack- After a SWOOPING HAWK unit makes a Normal Move or Advances over an enemy unit, roll a D6 for each HAWK model. For each 4+ (or 5+ for non-VEHICLE/MONSTER CHARACTERS), that enemy unit takes a Mortal Wound, to a max of 6. A decent bit of extra damage for only 1CP, letting you soften up a tough unit on your way past. You only need to ‘clip’ the enemy unit, so a single model passing over lets the whole unit drop their bombs.
  • Starhawk Missile- When an ASURYANI model shoots an Aeldari Missile Launcher at an AIRCRAFT, you can use this for 1CP to make a single shot with +1 to Hit, doing 2D3 Mortal Wounds if you Hit. It’s pretty niche, obviously, but a decent enough option to have if needed. Applies to any ASURYANI, so feel free to use on your Vehicles, but note it affects an Aeldari Missile Launcher, so doesn’t apply to both their Missiles (in the case of WRAITHLORDS or WAR WALKERS), nor does it work on Twin Missiles (sorry WAVE SERPENTS).
  • Resonator Shard- When a unit that has a D-Cannon, Shadow Weaver or Doomweaver shoots, if they target a unit within 12” of a RESONATOR SHARD unit (so RANGERS, they could have just said RANGERS), they can reroll Hits. This is a potent option for only 1CP, making your already strong (and probably undercosted…) barrage type weapons even better. Whilst it requires a unit of Rangers to ‘spot’ for them, they’re likely to be up close already, are cheap enough to be sprinkled around the board to offer support, and don’t need to be in range of your models as well so you have flexibility.
  • Fusion Charges- A FIRE DRAGON model makes 1 melee attack instead of their normal ones, and can only attack a VEHICLE, but does 2D3 Mortal Wounds if they Hit. Realistically it will be a rare tank indeed that survives onslaught from a unit of Fire Dragons in the first place, but for 1CP this can help against those with Invulnerables, ones you just had a bit of a whiff against, or ones that come to you.

Exarch Powers Back to Contents


Your paid upgrade rules, giving you extra rules for Exarchs you select in your army, or in the case of CRIMSON HUNTERS, upgrades them to be an Exarch. As you’d expect, each one is unique to the army, and each Exarch can only be given one Power. Should go without saying that the abilities only work if the Exarch is alive (I’m sure someone was wondering…)

Each power also grants +1 Wound to the Exarch in question, as well as a stat boost. 

CRIMSON HUNTER, DARK REAPER, SWOOPING HAWK and FIRE DRAGON Exarchs get +1BS

STRIKING SCORPION, HOWLING BANSHEE, SHINING SPEAR and WARP SPIDER Exarchs get +1 Attack. 

These stat boosts alone are nice indeed, making the abilities themselves actually quite cheap for what they do.

  • Eyes of Khaine- When you target a FLY unit, you automatically Hit. This is a powerful upgrade, however it costs a whopping 30pts for the privilege. Remember you’ll be BS 2 at this point (before degrading), with a +1 to Hit FLY built in, so this will help ensure you continue to hit even in the throes of death, but otherwise it’s a steep ask. 
  • Strafing Assault- 20pts nets you Ignore Cover, which is a solid offensive boost helping you hit through Dense, and the high AP of your weapons ensures they aren’t denied too much by Light Cover. A great buy, let alone before the stat boosts.
  • Swooping Evasion- A 5++ is a nice upgrade, albeit at 25pts, but this can make a significant difference against common anti tank weapons.
  • Defensive Stance- Shooting into Engagement Range is a nasty trick, acting as a nice deterrent to being tagged, or to help inflict damage on those that didn’t finish you off. Not shabby for 20pts.
  • Shredding Fire- The Shuriken AP bonus triggers on unmodified 5+ for this unit. Avenger Catapults already have good AP, so reaching that scary AP4 double the times makes them a lot more potent. Costly at 25pts, but can inflict serious damage.
  • Stand Firm- +1 Ld and ObSec is a great upgrade for only 10pts, letting a unit help stake claim to an Objective, move in to contest or steal a point, or interact with certain mission rules.
  • Spider’s Lair- Once per game you can booby trap an Area Terrain piece at the end of your Movement Phase if your unit is wholly within it. Until the start of your next turn, enemy units treat that Terrain as Difficult Ground, and takes D3 Mortal Wounds on a 2+ each time they finish a move within it (except Pile In and Consolidation). Not bad as a denial tool for 15pts, even though it’s once per game and can be avoided, the ability to help dictate your opponents pace or position can be important indeed, especially if used on a key piece they were intending to move through in their turn. 
  • Surprise Assault- When you arrive from Deep Strike, your unit gets +1 Shot with their Death Spinners. Not a terrible upgrade for 15pts, but you get plenty of shots already, so this isn’t really necessary outside of a big squad- an extra Spider is generally a better use of the points.
  • Web of Deceit- Once per game you can redeploy 9” away from enemy models instead of making a Battle Focus move. This is a great movement tool, letting you completely get out of danger, or move into a position to set up for the next turn or nab some Objectives. Limited by needing to be able to Battle Focus in the first place, ie having been in range to shoot, but it’s by no means a difficult task, and for 15pts it’s cheap for the utility it offers.
  • Expert Lancers- The unit gets +1 to Hit on the turn they charge, making your small units a bit more efficient. Great for the 20pts, though of course you need to ensure you’re the one getting the charges, which given your speed isn’t too difficult initially, rather getting further use from it in further turns. 
  • Heartstrike- The Exarch does an additional Mortal Wound on 5+ to Wound. Not bad for 15pts, this can spike quite high, though realistically you’ll net 1 or 2 Mortals from this each time they fight.
  • Lightning Attacks- +6” to Consolidation for 20pts. It’s an expensive upgrade for what it does on paper, but a 9” Consolidation move is no joke, letting you tag numerous enemies or just move into position or safer spots a lot easier.
  • Graceful Avoidance- 20pts nets you a 4++ vs Melee. With your built in minus, this makes you particularly tougher to shift, especially if you get caught out by countercharges or have some bad luck and don’t wipe the unit you engage.
  • Nerve-shredding Shriek- The Exarch picks an enemy in Engagement Range after Charging, doing a Mortal Wound and -1 to Combat Attrition on a 2+. For 10pts this is cheap as chips, and whilst not massively impactful, the Attrition modifier can occasionally be useful, and realistically the stat buffs are paid for with the ability as a bonus with this one.
  • Piercing Strikes- 15pts to get +1 Damage to the Exarch’s melee weapons. This is a good buy, helping the Banshees out with their main issue (mainly high Wound targets), and can help you with dealing with a greater variety of targets
  • Crushing Blows- The Exarch’s Melee attacks autowound non-TITANIC models if they Hit. Whilst this does lock them out of using their Mandiblasters, the reliability of knowing some big hits will go through, especially if kitted with a special weapon, can offset the loss of the 1 Mortal Wound you might have done. For 15pts it’s a good buy.
  • Deadly Ambush- Whilst the unit is wholly within Area Terrain, their Melee attacks get +1 to Hit and -1AP. For 20pts this is a solid offensive boost, though the caveat of needing the whole unit to be wholly within Area Terrain can be an occasional dampener, so you’ll need to position and charge carefully to make the most of this. Fortunately, your foe doesn’t need to be wholly within as well, so it’s trickier for them to deny it.
  • Scorpion’s Sting- Costs a mighty 30pts, but makes your Exarch’s Mandiblasters work on 5+, which is a good boost in Mortal Wound output, but for only a single model, albeit one with around 6 attacks. Has the potential to spike hard, especially with Doom, but is probably not worth the 30pts for 1-2 extra Mortals on average.
  • Bringer of Death- Your Exarch gets either +1 Shot with a Reaper Launcher or Shuriken Cannon, or Ignore Cover with an Aeldari Missile Launcher or Tempest Launcher. Pricey at 25pts, though both aspects are solid in boosting the unit’s ranged output. 
  • Focused Fire- The Exarch gets +1 to Wound with their Ranged Attacks. A great buff to your output, this is a strong upgrade for any of your weapons, making them much more reliable for 15pts.
  • Reaper’s Reach- The unit ignores the -1 to Hit for Moving and Shooting Heavy Weapons. This is a brilliant buy for the unit, and approaching an auto include at 15pts, ensuring you can always fire at full effectiveness whilst getting into range or firing alleys.
  • Blazing Fury- +4” Range is a decent boost for 20pts, letting you reach out a little safer with your Meltas, and given they’re always on it means you can maintain a decent distance, as well as working nicely with Deep Strike to prevent being screened as easily. 
  • Burning Heat- If you Hit a target within 9” with a Ranged Attack, you autowound. Your guns were already wounding pretty easily anyways, but this just all but guarantees that what you look at just dies. Obviously being that close means they’ll be in trouble themselves next turn, but by then they’ll have done their job and turned whatever they wanted into molten slag. 25pts to help remove the odds of failing will be well spent the first time you get this off.
  • Dragon’s Bite- The Exarch gets a Damage boost if Shooting a VEHICLE or MONSTER within half range, getting +2 for their Fusion Gun or Firepike, or +1 if it’s a Dragons’ Breath Flamer. Both are decent upgrades for only 15pts, though really if you’re shooting a unit of Fire Dragons at a big thing and are that close, it’s probably already dead. Cheap, but not essential.
  • Rapid Redeployment- 20pts nets you Fall Back and Shoot. A nice upgrade, especially given the speed of Hawks, letting you always be active with your decent weaponry, and not be at fear about being tagged in melee. 
  • Suppressing Fire- Roll 3D6 for one enemy unit you targeted in your Shooting Phase. If you beat their Ld, they cannot Overwatch, Set to Defend, or perform Actions until your next Shooting Phase, and any Actions they were performing immediately fail. For 15pts this can be pretty significant, especially given the greater number of Actions related to Missions now, as well as the support it can offer to units about to hit melee. The average on 3D6 is 11, so most things shy of Custodes will be susceptible to this. 
  • Winged Evasion- -1 to be Hit by Ranged Attacks is a nice survivability boost, and a bit easier to use compared to the other upgrades as it will generally always be useful. T3 and a 4+/5++ still doesn’t mean they’re all that tough, so don’t suddenly think they’ll withstand concentrated firepower, but for helping them survive light offence, you can’t really go wrong for 15pts.

Warlord Traits Back to Contents


  1. Ambush of Blades- A CORE or CHARACTER within 9″ in your Command Phase gets -1AP on their Melee Attacks until your next turn. Not bad, though many of your melee units already have very good AP. This can help ensure there’s no Saves, or to help out a unit with lesser AP, but overall it’s not massively needed.
  2. Walker of Many Paths- Reroll a Hit, Wound or Damage once per Turn for this WARLORD. Pretty good for a beatstick Autarch, but overall fairly limited. Good for a Fusion Gun toting Autarch to ensure your gun does something. The Visarch has this cos…you know, he’s done it.
  3. Falcon’s Swiftness- +2″ Mv, Ignore Difficult Ground and always Battle Focus 6″. A nice spread of speed buffs for a footslogger, and whilst those with movement upgrades already will be ignoring Difficult Ground, the other boosts are still worthwhile.
  4. Fate’s Messenger- Once per turn turn the Damage of an Attack to 0 after you fail the Save. A great defensive boost, and can be saved for a big hit, without needing 5o worry about it being fished out by lighter attacks. A solid and dependable buff.
  5. Mark of the Incomparable Hunter- +1 Str to Ranged Attacks, and 6s to Wound do a Mortal Wound in addition. A solid enough shooting boost, particularly good on a Skyrunner or Death Spinner equipped model, given the large number of shots. Illic Nightspear has this, making him a sniper supreme.
  6. Seer of the Shifting Vector- Whenever any CP is spent t, by you or your opponent, roll a D6, gaining a CP on a 6. A good source of CP throughout the game, especially if you’re utilising the double CP reroll of the Autarch often. Whilst most of your Stratagems aren’t always needed, there are some you’ll want to access to often, so this helps keep you fuelled.

These are your standard Relics for your CHARACTERS. Just bears repeating for YNNARI, these are ASURYANI Relics, so can’t be taken on any HARLEQUIN or DRUKHARI models. 

  • Kurnous’ Bow- A Str 5 Shuriken Pistol with +6” Range and +2 Shots, if it wounds, it just does a Mortal Wound instead of normal damage. It’s fine, Mortal Wounds are nice, but you need to Wound in the first place, making this still a bit unreliable and fairly low damage despite ignoring saves. 
  • The Phoenix Gem- When the bearer dies for the first time, they revive with D3 Wounds at the end of the Phase on a 2+, over 1” away from enemy models. A good way to keep an important Character alive, though as always with these revive type abilities, this could just be delaying the inevitable as they then get killed in a subsequent Phase. Not a bad pick if you’ve no other decent choices, and it’s better than nothing. 
  • Shard of Anaris- Replaces an AUTARCHS’ Banshee Blade or Starglaive with a Power Sword that gives an additional 3+D3 Attacks. That’s it really. Killing Infantry isn’t really something Eldar need a Character to be doing, so whilst this is kinda funny, it’s not really something you’ll be taking. 
  • Faolchú’s Wing- An INFANTRY model gets 12” Mv, FLY, and can pick one unit they moved across to take D3 Mortal Wounds on a 2+. A decent upgrade if you’re missing the points to put someone on a Bike or give them a movement upgrade, and the Mortal Wounds are a nice bonus. 
  • Firesabre- Replacing a Banshee Blade or Starglaive, you get +3Str AP-4 D2 that does an additional Mortal Wound on 6s to Wound. It’s not bad as far as melee weapons go, though it’s a fairly minor upgrade for a Starglaive.
  • Sunstorm- A Relic BIKE, giving the bearer a 20″ Mv and Objective Secured. Good to act as a support element, helping to offset ObSec units or steal an Objective with help from your own units, and the speed boost helps you get to where you need to be.
  • Aegis of Eldanesh- AUTARCH only, granting them a 2+ Sv and -1Dmg. A nice defensive boost to keep their useful abilities around, or just help them tank more damage.
  • The Weeping Stones- PSYKER only, letting you roll an additional Strand of Fate dice if they’re on the battlefield. Extra opportunities to get the Strand you want is a powerful tool to further bump up the reliability of the army even more.

Instead of one of the Treasures Relics, you can instead take 2 of these Relics to give to the Exarch in a unit. Otherwise the normal rules apply (one per army, replacing wargear as relevant etc)

  • The Avenging Blade- A DIRE AVENGER Exarch upgrades their Diresword with a +1 Str, and that’s it. It’s fine, but it’s Avengers in combat.
  • Dragon’s Fury- A FIRE DRAGON Exarch imposes -2″ to Charge rolls against their unit. A nice defensive upgrade, helping to minimise counter charges given their short range.
  • Shadowsting- A STRIKING SCORPION Exarch upgrades their Biting Blade with +1Str. That’s it. Not exactly flashy, but Str 6 is generally a nice sweet spot for wounding some tougher units out there, though you do have Mandiblasters to help with that.
  • Cronescream- A HOWLING BANSHEE Exarch can, once per Battle at the start of a Fight Phase, causes one enemy unit in Engagement Range to take D3 Mortal Wounds on a 2+, doing +1 Mortal for each ChargeMove they’ve made this battle. So given the general “one and done” nature of Banshees, it’s D3. Not amazing, but can help in softening or finishing something off.
  • The Phoenix Plume- A SWOOPING HAWK Exarch gets a 4++, and also grants a 5+++ to their unit. Hawks are already a nuisance to deal with, so giving them a shrug makes them even tougher. Combines well with the Winged Evasion Exarch Power for maximum frustration.
  • The Spider’s Bite- A WARP SPIDER Exarch’s Powerblades get +1 Str AP and Dmg, and also does Dmg3 on 6s to Wound. Continuing the long running theme of trying to convince everyone the Warp Spiders want to be in melee, this actually isn’t all that bad, making a fairly nasty surprise in a unit, and with their speed this can actually make a unit a potent assassin for lighter Characters.
  • Khaine’s Lance- A SHINING SPEAR Exarch causes one enemy unit in Engagement Range that they charged to take D3 Mortal Wounds and also Fight Last. Whilst only 50/50 and relying on the charge, this can have a powerful impact on the game, ensuring the Spears cannot be interrupted, or helping support another unit in Melee. Not totally reliable, but worthy of consideration.
  • Shrine Skull- A DARK REAPER Exarch imposes a -1 to Combat Attrition to any units they inflicted casualties to. Decent enough, though the Exarch themselves needs to inflict at least one casualty, so you’ll have to roll them separately, and even then there’s no guarantee.

Psychic Disciplines Back to Contents


Ynnari players be aware, all the Blessing (ie buffing) powers call out ASURYANI, so no Psychic buffs onto your DRUKHARI or HARLEQUIN elements.

When you cast any of these powers, you pick either a Blessing or Malediction effect. Note that whilst these are from the same Power, you can cast the opposite component in the same Psychic Phase, ie you can cast both Conceal and Reveal in the same turn, though you can’t cast Reveal twice.

All of these Powers, regardless of form taken, have an 18″ Range, don’t need Line of Sight, and last until your next Psychic Phase.

  1. Conceal/Reveal (WC 6)-
    • Conceal grants Light Cover to a CORE unit, offering a decent level of extra protection to your Infantry and Bikes, though with middling Armour or built in Invulnerables already, this might not always be useful.
    • Reveal turns off Cover for an enemy unit, letting all your ASURYANI units Ignore Cover against the target. Great for punching through Light Cover, as well as improving your accuracy through Dense. Good to have at any opportunity.
  2. Embolden/Horrify (WC 7)-
    • Embolden grants a CORE or CHARACTER +2 Ld and Fight First. The Ld buff is neat, but the Fight First is the key part here, helping you in ongoing combats, or to offset a Fight Last debuff placed on them by the enemy.
    • Horrify reduces an enemy unit’s Ld by -2, and imposes Fight Last, which can cripple an offensive or an ongoing melee, protecting your units from being killed first, or to shut down Interrupts. The Ld reduction is icing on the cake.
  3. Enhance/Drain (WC 6)-
    • Enhance gives a CORE unit +1 to Hit in Melee, great for your powerful melee units to really ensure an enemy is carved to pieces, or just to offset a minus that might be prevalent.
    • Drain makes an enemy unit -1 to Hit with Melee, a potent survivability tool to help mitigate a key unit’s combat prowess, or just to help minimise lucky attacks from other units on your own.
  4. Protect/Jinx (WC 7)-
    • Protect gives a CORE unit +1 to their Sv Characteristic, to a max of 2+. Helping offset even a single pip of AP can be significant, especially on already harder to shift units like Wraithblades or Shining Spears, but still useful on other units as well. Generally better than Conceal, as you can still get Light Cover, and bypass Ignore Cover rules, so it’s worth the extra Warp Charge.
    • Jinx reduces an enemy unit’s Sv Characteristic by 1, to a minimum of 6+. This is a very powerful debuff, making your plethora of high AP weaponry much more effective against a key target that must be dealt with. Just be wary of Invulnerables, as they are unaffected, and if you were pushing a unit to their Invulns already, this would be a waste to use on them.
  5. Quicken/Restrain (WC 6)-
    • Quicken lets a CORE or CHARACTER immediately make Normal Move, Advance or Fall Back, though you cannot Shoot or Charge that turn. Useful for positioning, making last minute Objective grabs, or getting out of danger.
    • Restrain halves an enemy unit’s Mv Characteristic, and stops them performing Actions, with any ongoing Actions immediately failing. Controlling your opponent’s manoeuvrability as well as their interaction with Missions or special rules is very strong, and if timed well this can be game winning, preventing a unit from getting to a crucial position, denying board control or shutting down the chance for Victory Points.
  6. Empower/Enervate (WC 7)-
    • Empower grants a CORE unit +1 to Wound with Melee Attacks, making your combat units very reliable. Usually their attacks are already high in both quantity and quality, so this helps ensure they stick and a key unit is dealt with efficiently.
    • Enervate makes an enemy unit -1 to Wound in Melee, heavily neutering a key combat unit, or ensuring lesser units have little chance of hurting your own units.

Powers marked with a * last until your next Psychic Phase. 

All of these Powers don’t need Line of Sight and have an 18″ Range, but if manifested on a 10+ their range is increased to 24” (except for Mind War, see that power for details). The range boosts, whilst nice, aren’t something to realistically be relied upon, so position in such a way that a lower casting isn’t wasted if you can’t quite get to the unit you actually wanted to cast on, or just don’t be in a situation that requires such a high roll in the first place. 

  1. Guide* (WC 6)- A CORE or CHARACTER unit gets Reroll Hits. A powerful buff for a low cost, and applicable to many units for both Shooting and Fighting, this offers great reliability for many of your units and will generally always be useful.
  2. Doom* (WC 7)- An enemy unit is selected as the target of this Power, and then every CORE and CHARACTER model gets Reroll Wounds against that enemy unit. A phenomenally strong buff, effectively acting as a death sentence for a crucial enemy unit. Whilst it won’t be useful in a tank heavy army, it is nonetheless useful for the vast majority of units in your army, and pretty much an autotake for any Farseer.
  3. Fortune* (WC 6)- Grants a CORE or CHARACTER a 5+++, offering a decent layer of defence to your otherwise flimsy units. Where this gets particularly nasty is on your innately tougher units, particularly Wraithblades or Wraithguard, or even on things like Shining Spears. Regardless of target, it will serve well in keeping a unit around for a fair bit longer, or at the very least require a greater investment of resources to deal with. 
  4. Executioner (WC 7)- An enemy unit (except CHARACTERS with less than 9 Wounds) takes D3 Mortal Wounds, and if any models were destroyed, the unit takes an additional D3. A high casting value, but what amounts to a targetable Smite with no need for Line of Sight as well as the potential to inflict even more damage is a nasty spell to have in your toolkit. Paired with a Smite to soften a unit up first can lead to heavy casualties inflicted.
  5. Will of Asuryan* (WC 6)- A CORE or CHARACTER gets ObSec, autopasses Morale, and can Shoot and still do Actions. A trio of nice benefits for a low cost, the Objective Secured is the main benefit here, with auto passing Morale helping to ensure a unit has to be killed to a main, and the Action buff being a bit more niche but still useful in certain missions. A good power to have that whilst not as outright potent as others in the Discipline, is nevertheless good to have.
  6. Mind War (WC 7)- An enemy CHARACTER rolls off with your caster, adding your Leaderships. If you beat your opponent’s total, their CHARACTER takes the difference in Mortal Wounds. Can potentially one shot an enemy HQ, can just as likely do nothing. With Ld 9 on your Farseers, you have a decent enough chance of doing some damage to a Ld 7 or 8 Character, though realistically it will amount to maybe 2 or 3 Mortals. If you cast this power on a 10+, you roll 2D3 instead of a D6 for your part of the roll off, giving you a little bit more reliability.

Powers marked with a * last until your next Psychic Phase.  

  1. Fateful Divergence (WC 5)- Gain a CP. It’s nothing fancy, but it is reliable to cast and some of your better Stratagems are fairly costly in CP, so this can help ensure you have a steady supply available. 
  2. Witch Strike* (WC 6)- One PSYKER model in the unit (must be the Way Seeker in a Voidscarred unit) does a Mortal Wound instead of normal damage whenever they Wound something in Melee. It’s fine, but with your limited number of attacks, and general desire to not be anywhere near combat, it’s generally not worth looking at. 
  3. Ghostwalk* (WC 5)- A CORE or CHARACTER within 12” gets +2” to Charge Rolls. Useful for extra reliability, especially when combined with Strands of Fate, and for a low casting value this is great on units looking to maximise their chances of making melee, whether on the board or arriving from Deep Strike. 
  4. Crushing Orb (WC 6)- Roll 3D6 for a visible enemy unit within 18”, doing 1 Mortal Wound for each 4+ (or 2+ if they’re a VEHICLE, MONSTER or have 6+ models). A good alternative to Smite, being targetable as well as fairly efficient against bigger targets. Also useful to have for targeting Characters.
  5. Focus Will* (WC 6)- A PSYKER within 24” gets +2 to Casting and Denying, making them much more reliable, and combined with Strands or rerolls can all but guarantee that key powers go off, as well as offering a modicum of extra psychic defence against your foes.
  6. Impair Senses* (WC 6)- A visible enemy unit within 18” cannot benefit from friendly Auras. A very strong ability for a low cost, whether it’s to prevent access to rerolls, Objective Secured abilities or defensive buffs, this can hamper a vital unit significantly. Just remember this is explicitly Aura abilities, so any targeted rules will still work, and this prevents them from benefiting from Auras, not giving them out, so choose targets carefully.

YNNARI only. Shouldn’t need saying, but I do get surprised from time to time.

Powers marked with a * last until your next Psychic Phase. 

  1. Gaze of Ynnead (WC 6)- Roll a D6 for an enemy unit within 18”, with -2 to the roll if they have a Starting Strength of 1 (so most CHARACTERS, VEHICLES and MONSTERS). A 1 nets you a Mortal Wound, a 2-5 is D3, and a 6 gives you a mighty D6 Mortal Wounds. A pseudo-targetable Smite, though better off on units that start bigger so you’ve a more reasonable chance of getting more wounds through.
  2. Storm of Whispers (WC 6)- Roll 3D6 for each enemy unit within 9”, inflicting a Mortal Wound for each 4+. Quite dangerous if you’re willing to get your Psyker in the thick of it, able to spread out a large chunk of damage if you can tag multiple units. 
  3. Word of the Phoenix (WC 6)- A non-SPIRIT HOST INFANTRY unit within 6” revives one dead model, or D3 if they’re Troops. Not bad to bring back an expensive model like a Banshee or Dark Reaper, but the short range and limited numbers makes this somewhat tricky to use. Nice to have, but not really essential.
  4. Unbind Souls* (WC 6)- An enemy unit within 18” is selected, then any Melee attacks made against them autowound on a 6 to Hit. Nice for some extra reliability, particularly with lower strength units, and being able to benefit multiple units means you can help ensure a key unit is dragged down. 
  5. Shield of Ynnead* (WC 6)- Grants a non-TITANIC unit within 12” a 4++. Cheap for the buff it offers, and usable on pretty much anything, so can be used to buff up your Tanks, expensive units, or just improve the survivability of units with existing Invulnerables if needed. 
  6. Ancestor’s Grace* (WC 7)- A unit within 18” gets +1 to Wound with Melee attacks, giving them much greater output. Good on any unit looking to fight in combat, with of course better returns on those already kitted out for close quarters carnage.

Secondary Objectives Back to Contents


The following are available if you have a ASURYANI or YNNARI WARLORD when playing Matched Play or Grand Tournament Mission, with the usual restrictions.

Warpcraft - Scry Futures

An ASURYANI PSYKER (yup, no YNNARI ones can do it) can perform a WC4 Psychic Action whilst in range of an Objective Marker that hasn’t been Scryed yet. If you cast the Action, the Objective is Scryed, the Action goes up by +1WC, and you score 3VP. A nice reliable Secondary which can quite easily net you 9-12 VP on most Missions, though needing to sacrifice your casting can be an issue should you need the support, as well as it being one per turn meaning you need to ensure you have ways of getting your limited number of Psykers around the field in safety. By no means a bad choice, and in some matchups this will be a good choice, but just consider the logistics of ferrying them around, and what you might give up to do so.

No Mercy, No Respite - Wrath of Khaine

At the end of each Battle Round, score as follows-

  • 1VP if 1 or more enemy units were destroyed by an ASPECT WARRIORS’ Melee Attacks
  • 1VP if 1 or more enemy units were destroyed by a different ASPECT WARRIORS’ Shooting Attacks
  • 2VP if both the above apply

So yes you score 4VP if you kill a unit with one ASPECT WARRIOR in Shooting, then another with a different unit in Melee, otherwise you basically get 1VP. It’s pretty all in, but if you have the army built to capitalise on it, you can score 8-12 quite easily, making this a good pick against units with small or ideally suited targets to your Aspects.

Shadow Operations - Scout the Enemy

Once per turn, a unit can perform the Scout the Enemy Action at the end of your Movement Phase, provided it is not within 6” of your Deployment Zone, completing the Action at the start of your next turn, or at the end of this turn if they are a RANGER unit. When completed, score 2VP, or 4VP if the unit is wholly within the enemy Deployment Zone. A decent pick, especially if you have some Ranger units, or are capable of keeping units alive to perform the Action in later turns whilst deep in enemy lines. Any unit can perform this, so even a tank that has no real danger to it can do this to net you some extra VP, and given their speed, it can be quite easy to get into the enemy territory.

Battlefield Supremacy - The Hidden Path

If you have a WEBWAY GATE, it must be set up outside 6” of your Deployment Zone. If you don’t have a WEBWAY GATE, you must select an Objective Marker outside 6” of your Deployment Zone. At the end of your Command Phase, score VP equal to the current Battle Round if you have another unit within 3” of the WEBWAY GATE and no enemy models are within 3”, or if you control the Objective Marker you chose. A bit of a weird one, as whilst you have a modicum of control over what it is you need to control, it is ironically easier to score if you don’t have a WEBWAY GATE, as you don’t need to wipe the area clean of the enemy, simply have control over it. It’s also fairly easy for an enemy unit to deny this by just being near your chosen Objective, though in the case of a WEBWAY GATE that can work in your favour by bringing a big melee unit through it into combat with them, so swings and roundabouts. A tricky one to make work in general however, as you need to score it every turn to max it out, which is only doable if you have Infiltrating units to babysit it Turn 1, and with it scoring higher as the game goes on means casualties or losing board control can mean you sacrifice a lot of points. Can potentially be game defining as the enemy needs to contend it, but at the same time might end up scoring you low and costing you the game, making it a pretty big gamble.


Army Rules Back to Contents


These are rules that will be commonly found across multiple, if not all, units in the Craftworlds section of the Codex.

A two for one special, giving you two abilities, though they are mutually exclusive on the same turn. Most things have this, with the exception of your WRAITH units, FLY VEHICLES, ARTILLERY and DARK REAPERS, so it’s something to always be aware of when positioning and moving around the battlefield.

The first part lets you count as Remaining Stationary if you Advance, though you can only fire Assault or Pistol weapons. This is great for getting into range, or to just add some extra firepower whilst moving around the board. Will restrict certain units with upgrades, mainly Guardians, but still useful to have, and the plethora of Assault weapons across the army makes this widely usable.

The second part lets you make a Normal Move D6” after Shooting, provided you haven’t Advanced, Fallen Back or arrived from Reinforcements that turn. You can’t use it to Embark, you can’t Charge that turn, and if you move over any part of Area Terrain you -3” from the distance moved (though you don’t suffer the -2” from Difficult Ground). This is a powerful ability to help extend charge ranges, get out of line of sight, or to use aggressively to establish further board control. 

It does have limitations as mentioned however, and it certainly isn’t always reliable (though you do have the Matchless Agility Stratagem for when you have to get high), so plan for the worst to happen when it comes to your positioning, lest you roll low at a key moment – there is no way to reroll or manipulate it outside of the Stratagem or being Biel-Tan, so best not to be in a situation where a low roll might cost you. 

All your PHOENIX LORDS have this, granting them a 4++, making them only capable of losing 3 Wounds max a phase, but preventing them from having a Relic or Warlord Trait. A solid spread of defensive benefits, helping them stay alive quite easily. They all have 6 Wounds however so it is still possible to lose one in a turn, but the opponent will have to work for it given their Character status. The last bits aren’t a major deal, as they’re strong enough without them, and basically carry Relics already.

The “Pure Army” Rule (though as pointed out in the beginning, not removed by a Travelling Players Detachment, and currently not applicable for mixed YNNARI, soooo….). This allows you to roll 6D6 at the start of each Battle Round, and keep up to 4 of them (in a Strike Force sized game) as a Fate Dice. Each Fate Dice corresponds with a certain roll in game-

  1. Advance
  2. Charge Roll (used in place of one of them)
  3. Psychic Test (used in place of one of them)
  4. Hit
  5. Wound
  6. Save

Before making one of those rolls, if you have a Fate Dice of the same type, you can expend it to make the roll count as an unmodified 6 instead. So if you need that Bright Lance to wound and have a 5 as a Fate Dice, just make it a 6, and hey you’ve Wounded. A single anti tank weapon in your opponent’s army but you have a 6 in your pool for a Wave Serpent, congratulations, it won’t be killed by it this turn. Doom is vital to your plan, well a 3 has you covered, making one of them a 6 and then just roll for the other one. These offer phenomenal reliability for very important rolls, provided you get them of course, and there will be times it spikes to a ludicrous degree. 4 lots of 2s in an all melee army, well enjoy your minimum 7” Charges on 4 units, or a straight up 12” on one of them. On the flip side, there will be times where it might not be all that useful, such as getting a bunch of Advances or Saves when you don’t need them or aren’t under threat that turn. You also lose them at the end of the Round, so no saving them up. Regardless they are an incredibly strong mechanic that affords great reliability through the course of the game at the worst of times, and are potentially game winning in the best case scenarios. 

Infiltrate, letting you deploy aggressively in the mid board, either to establish early firing lanes, screening or turn 1 alpha potential. Powerful offensively and defensively, this is an important ability to establish board control and help mitigate your opponents own Infiltrators.

Deep Strike, basically. A fair few units have this, mostly shooting units, so they have decent flexibility on where to arrive. Good for pincer attacks, getting to a hidden unit, or for completing Missions, and works very well with Strands of Fate on Charges for making combat.

All your Shuriken Weapons get an additional 2AP on 6s to Wound. Shuriken weapons already have a decent base AP, and they are fairly ubiquitous throughout the army, be it on basic Infantry, battle tanks or Aspect Warrior sidearms, so this will crop up fairly often. Why this lets razor thin discs slice through inch thick metal I don’t know, but also, it’s 40k, so…

All your ASPECT WARRIORS have a 5++, affording them a decent survivability boost at both range and melee. It will only go so far, but it’s generally always useful to have.

Any WRAITH CONSTRUCT model gets a built in -1 Dmg, a hefty defensive boost on top of their already high Toughness and Wounds. This makes them very tough to shift with many commonly found weapons, necessitating overinvestment, using lighter weapons on them, or diverting anti tank weaponry. Whilst most of them don’t have an innate Invulnerable, this will still give them a lot more breathing room than your opponent is probably happy with.

Many Aeldari units can take one, if not multiple combinations of, their standard Heavy Weapons. In the interests of not repeating them every time, their stats are listed here for reference for when deciding what you need on each unit:

Scatter Laser – 36” Heavy 6 Str 6 Ap0 D1

Shuriken Cannon – 24” Heavy 3 Str 6 -1 D2 Shuriken

Starcannon – 36” Heavy 2 Str 7 -3 D2

Missile Launcher – 48” Heavy 1 Str 8 – 2 Dmg D6 or Heavy D6 Str 4 -1 D1 Blast

Bright Lance – 36” Heavy 1 Str 8 -4 Dmg D3+3


Datasheets Back to Contents


Certain units with differing Datasheets will have common stats or rules, and so are condensed into one for ease of reference. 

Units marked with a * are CORE.

PSYKER units will be referred to as X/Y/Z PSYKERS, meaning how many they Know, Cast and Deny. So a 2/1/1 PSYKER will Know 2 Powers, Casts 1 Power, and can Deny 1 Power.

All Farseers have a decent statline, packing a 4++ and can manipulate the Strands of Fate, allowing you to reroll one Fate Dice before you choose which to keep, giving you a little extra chance to get the results you really want. Being a 2/2/2 PSYKER means you provide solid Psychic Support, and casting has no fear for you thanks to your Ghosthelm granting you flat immunity to Perils of the Warp (which works nicely with Strands as any errant 6s on the second roll mean nothing but good things for you). They can pick from Fortune and/or Fate (or Revenant), giving them flexibility in power choice, and with some of the powers being very powerful for the army, it makes at least one Farseer almost mandatory. Keep them away from the frontlines as best you can, as WS/BS2 is nice, but 2A is not, and your 4++ will only go so far.

On Foot

Pretty much as you’d expect a footslogging space elf to be, their T3 and 5W doesn’t make them the toughest thing around. Comes with a Witchblade (An AP-1 D2 melee weapon that always wounds on a 2+), which can be upgraded to a Singing Spear for 5pts (becoming AP 0 but Dmg3, and getting a 12” range Str 9 AP0 Dmg 3 shot as well)- either one is fine, as you want them for their powers. 90pts makes them super affordable for the support they bring.

Skyrunner

Being a little more expensive at 120pts, but often well worth it, upgrading you to a 16” FLY Mv, auto advance 6”, +1 T, +1W, and a Twin Shuriken Catapult for some extra ranged punch, which also allows you to benefit from Battle Focus a bit more, moving into position to cast, then shoot and move to get back to safety. Overall this is usually worth the price of admission, with the survivability and speed boosts being vital to such a key piece of the army.

The commanders of the Warhosts, granting a 6” Aura of Reroll 1s to Hit for CORE units, as well as the hyper frustrating/powerful ability to use CP rerolls twice per phase, your stance on that depending on whether you’re against them or using them. They come stock with a 3+/4++ and also have access to a pretty wide range of wargear offensively, and with WS/BS 2 and 5A, they are well suited to using them. Defensively however they are as most Eldar, being T3 and 5W, so they aren’t likely to stick around in a protracted battle.

On Foot

Coming in at 80pts base before wargear, the footslogging Autarch has the most range of options. Starting out with a Shuriken Pistol and Starglaive (a Power Fist without the -1 to Hit), they can trade out their Pistol for a 15pt Dragon Fusion Gun, Death Spinner at 10pts or Reaper Launcher for 15pts (see FIRE DRAGONS, WARP SPIDERS and DARK REAPERS respectively), giving them a variety of ranged options. They can also swap out their Glaive for a Scorpion Chainsword (don’t bother), can be given a Howling Banshee Mask for 5pts to prevent Overwatch, Set to Defend and impose Fight Last when they charge, and can also take a Jump Generator for 20pts, letting them move around like a Warp Spider. Alternatively, they can take none of these options and instead get a Fusion Pistol, a Banshee Blade, Mandiblasters and Swooping Hawk Wings for a total of 25pts, giving them a more ‘traditional’ Melee and Pistol Character vibe. What you kit them out with will be entirely dependant on what you want them to be doing, and though they can climb in cost fairly quickly, at most they’ll be 120pts for a Character that offers fast melee and ranged support.

Skyrunner

An Autarch on Bike gets the usual upgrades, being faster with a 16” FLY Mv, getting +1 T and W, and coming stock with a Twin Catapult. They only have a choice of 3 bits of Wargear, either a Laser Lance, Banshee Blade or Dragon Fusion Gun. At 100pts regardless of loadout, you have a semblance of choice here, with the Lance being ideal for a “all purpose” Autarch, giving them a modicum of shooting and good melee output, and the Fusion Gun affording a nice mobile tank hunter. The Banshee Blade is only really worthwhile if looking at a Relic to replace it, but generally the Lance is comparable to them, making it a downgrade at worst and a sidegrade at best.

A 1/1/1 PSYKER that knows Powers from Battle or Fortune, as well as having a 6” Aura that gives CORE SPIRIT HOST units reroll 1s to Wound, making them an ideal support piece for Wraith units. Not the toughest thing around with T3 and 4W, though their 4++ can help out a little in that regard. Whilst their Witch Staff is decent enough in melee, always wounding on 2+ with AP-1 and D3 Dmg, avoid combat with them if you can. Not bad at 70pts, however the only real advantage they have over things like a Warlock is their reroll wound aura and access to Fortune, so if neither of those are important or relevant to your gameplan, save 30pts and take a Warlock instead.

The big angry molten piece of a God himself, the Avatar has a substantial profile, packing a mighty WS 2, Str 7 T8 14W and a 2+/4++ and halving Damage to boot, making them very tough to kill. Whilst they can’t have a Warlord Trait nor ever benefit from a Craftworld Attribute, they do still have the CRAFTWORLD Keyword meaning they interact with a lot of synergies such as Stratagems and Psychic Powers well, and they give all CORE units within 6” reroll Charges, and all CORE within 12” ignore Attrition modifiers, making them useful as both a beatstick, distraction and buffer all in one. On the offence, The Wailing Doom is a potent weapon both up close and at range. Whilst only 12”, it is a Str 12 Fusion Gun that hits every unit under the line between them and the target, so can lead to some hilarious “snipes” at times, and in melee it affords a big hitter profile (Str 14 -5 D6+2) or a powerful sweep (x2 Attacks at Str 7 -2 D2), giving him great flexibility. Whilst he does lose Mv, BS and A at each degrade, he starts at 10” 2+ and 7 respectively, meaning even a heavily wounded Avatar is a powerful threat that most units won’t want to tangle with. He’s tough and killy, though can be focused down over time, and at 270pts he’s not the cheapest thing around, but will require your opponent’s attention regardless.

All the PHOENIX LORDS have a robust basic statline of WS/BS 2, S and T 4, 6W and A, as well as a 2+ and Favour of Khaine, though some of them have other improvements. They generally have a good selection of weapons, appropriate special rules akin to their Aspect, and they all give their favoured Warriors +2 Ld and ObSec. It’s worth noting that they also have their particular Shrines Keyword, so they’ll benefit from this as well, making them decent as a last ditch Objective holder, especially if they can’t be killed due to Favour, letting them be useful even as a standalone element.

Asurmen

The First DIRE AVENGER, Asurmen packs a 3++ for extra defence, and offensively his Bloody Twins unleash a nasty Assault 6 Str 4 -2 D2 Shuriken shots at 24”, whilst up close The Sword of Asur strikes at +2 Str -3 Dmg 3, with an additional D3 Mortals on 6s to Wound. At 150pts he’s not cheap, but offers a well rounded ranged and melee Character with a tough to shift profile, able to anchor a line or support lesser units when needed.

Baharroth

The SWOOPING HAWKS Leader, Baharroth offers good shooting support with the Fury of the Tempest, a Str 6 -2 D2 Lasblaster, as well as a decent melee profile with The Shining Blade, effectively a Master-crafted Power Sword with exploding 6s. With a 14” FLY Mv, Sudden Assault and their ability to redeploy 9” away from enemy units instead of Consolidating or Battle Focusing normally, they are very fast and manoeuvrable, able to get away from danger or into a more advantageous position when needed. Coming in at 140pts, they offer some nice damage support as well as utility for board presence.

Fuegan

King FIRE DRAGON, Fuegan rocks up with +1S and T over the other Lords, rerolls 1s to Wound with Ranged attacks vs VEHICLES and MONSTERS, and gets an extra +1 Str and A if he’s lost any wounds. Melee wise he wields The Fire Axe (look not all of the names can be winners), giving him AP-4 and Dmg 3, whilst at range he uses Searsong, which comes with Lance and Beam profiles. The Lance is a Str 10 Firepike, whilst the Beamis a 12” Str 6 -3 D4 shot that hits each unit under a line between him and the target, both of which offer some nice anti tank and anti heavy infantry firepower, especially if 2 or 3 units can be lined up. The most expensive of the Lords at 160, he is arguably one of the best in terms of raw offensive output.

Jain Zar

Head of the HOWLING BANSHEES, Jain Zar gets +1” Mv, is always -1 to be Hit and can Advance and Charge. As with her progeny, units cannot Overwatch or Set to Defend if she charges them, but she goes a step further by forcing all enemy units within Engagement Range to Fight Last and have -1A at all times, making her a great disruption unit. She can fling The Silent Death at 12” for Assault 6 Str 6 -3 D1, and in melee she uses The Blade of Destruction, either Piercing for +2Str -3 D2, or Sweeping for -3 D1 but double attacks, giving her some flexibility in targets. She’s not the most killy of the Lords, but at 140pts she can make her points back and then some via her disruption abilities.

Karandras

Technically the second master of the STRIKING SCORPIONS, Karandras retains the Sustained Assault (exploding 6s) and Advanced Positions of his Shrine, alongside his bespoke Mandiblasters doing 2 Mortal Wounds on each unmodified 6 to Wound against non-VEHICLES. He comes with two melee options in the form of Isirmathil for +2 -2 D1 double attacks for cleaving through lighter units, or Arhra’s Bane for x2 -4 D2 for some anti heavy infantry punch. He also has some token shooting with a Str 5 D2 Shuriken Catapult, but his main strength is the sheer melee output he can throw out against anything that isn’t a tank, and at 140pts he puts some early pressure on the board.

Maugan Ra

Master of the DARK REAPERS, Maugan Ra ignores Dense Cover like his brethren and any casualties he causes count as 2 for the purposes of Morale Checks. Wielding The Maugetar (look, when you’re a several millennia old warrior, you’ve probably earnt the right to name your gun after yourself), he strikes out at 36” with Assault 6 Str 7 -2 D2 that also does an additional Mortal Wound on 6s to Wound, he can cut a swathe through all manner of units, and add some extra damage onto heavier targets in a pinch. Whilst not his preferred area of battle, he can still throw down in melee with +2 -2 D2 attacks, so he’s not defenceless there. He’s costly at 150pts, for what he realistically does, but he will rack up kills from turn 1 with ease, consistently adding damage through the course of the battle.

Eldrad Ulthran

The Super Psyker of the 41st Millenium, Eldrad is a 3/3/2 Farseer with +1T and W, permanent Transhuman, can reroll all Psychic Tests, and is even slightly better in melee, with his Staff and Witchblade offering +2 Str AP -2 D2 with his 3 Attacks. Whilst he is a costly 55pts more over the standard footslogging Farseer, his extra psychic prowess is well worth it for Ulthwe, alongside his increased defences making him more likely to stick around to continue contributing should he get caught out.

Prince Yriel

For 10pts more than a normal Autarch, you get +1 W, +1 Dmg on your Starglaive, and trade out your Shuriken Pistol for an Assault 1 Str 6 -3 D2 shot. Your reroll 1s Aura also applies to ANHRATHE units (which incidentally applies to himself as that bit isn’t CORE locked), and any IYANDEN and ANHRATHE units in Strategic Reserve count as half their Power Level for determining how many CP you spend (not stacking with the Webway Gate). If you were looking at a footslogging Autarch with no other upgrades, he’s probably worth the 10pts extra.

Illic Nightspear

The only RANGER HQ, Illic is a primarily ranged unit, using his heavy duty Sniper Rifle Voidbringer to obliterate enemy HQs from afar, with a mighty 48” Range at Str 6 -3 Dmg 3, doing an additional D3 Mortal Wounds on unmodified 4+ to Wound on top. Defensively he has his Ranger Cloak for +1 to his Sv whilst getting Cover, so realistically he’ll be rocking a 2+ Sv most of the time. Not that it’s really needed, as you can’t target him at ranged whilst he’s getting Cover, unless within 12”, which if that happens, his 4A with a Power Sword will not do much, so keep him away from the frontlines. He also gets +1 to Hit and Wound against NECRONS, cos they needed to be brought down a peg… At 90pts, he’s only really a Sniper, though a good one that can zone out enemy characters from coming anywhere near his line of sight, lest they get taken down in one fell swoop.

Yvraine

The ‘sorta’ Farseer of the Ynnari, 2/2/2 PSYKER that draws from the Revenant Discipline, Yvraine is more of a ‘battlemage’ than normal Farseers, coming with 4A with Kha-vir the Sword of Sorrows, striking at +1 -3 D2, but 6s to Hit just do 2 Mortal Wounds instead of normal damage. As such she can defend herself a little better in melee, though don’t go looking for a fight. Defensively she has permanent Transhuman and a 4++, giving her some semblance of respite from attacks, and she also heals a Wound on a 4+ each time any AELDARI model dies within 6” of her, with the added bonus of giving her a new Power if they were a PSYKER. She does get rerolls on her Psychic Tests, giving her good reliability, but without a Ghosthelm you just need to be wary of rogue Perils. For 135pts however, she is pricey, being a much more ‘offensive’ Psyker given her rules and discipline, however if you’re running Ynnari and want to ensure their powers go off, as well as having a little bit more survivability and punch, she’s not a bad choice.

The Visarch

A ‘kinda’ Autarch for the Ynnari, the Visarch gets +1W and Sv over the footslogging Autarch. Whilst they don’t get the double CP reroll rule of the Autarch, they do heal a Wound on a 4+ if an AELDARI model is destroyed within 6”, and get +1 Attack as well if they were a CHARACTER. In addition, they’re a Bodyguard to YVRAINE, protecting them from shooting whilst within 3”, and also not taking up a HQ slot in the same Detachment to boot. They only carry Asu-var the Sword of Silent Screams (‘only’), which strikes at a nasty +2 -4 D2, and any Wound rolls of 4+ ignore Invulnerables as well, making him a good duellist for enemy characters and elite units as well. 95pts makes him a fairly good alternative to a standard Autarch, especially if you were looking for a melee focused one.

The Yncarne

The ‘maybe’ Avatar of She-Who-Thirsts Ynnead, the Yncarne is a 6/2/2 PSYKER, knowing all the Revenant Powers, and packing a monstrous statline on top. With WS2, T7 and 12W, alongside a degrading 10” Mv, Str 7 and 6A, they hit hard and are tough to shift, especially with their 3+/4++ and halving all Damage. Their Cronesword, Vilith-zhar the Sword of Souls, can strike at either +4 -4 D3+3 Dmg ignoring Invulnerables to make a mockery of pretty much any big thing, or can sweep at -4 D1 but double attacks to cleave through lighter units. They also have their Swirling Soul Energy, letting them autohit all enemy units within 6” for D6 Str 7 -2 D1 shots, helping them stack on damage to numerous targets once stuck in. They also offer all CORE within 12” ignore Attrition modifiers, letting them add more support on top of their Powers. Finally they have their unique deployment/redeployment ability, letting them arrive or redeploy within 1” of where the last model in any unit on the battlefield was destroyed, though they cannot arrive in Engagement Range, nor can they Charge or Heroically Intervene that turn, so it will require careful use to ensure they aren’t just arriving to then do nothing for a turn. This is ideal to use at the end of the enemy turn, to reposition them to get out of danger, or to use when a unit of yours does die but the retaliation will be minor vs the Yncarne, allowing you to keep the pressure on where your previous unit was. Practice makes perfect with this, and you must be aware that if you set them up in reserve they have to arrive via that way, and are still bound by Matched Play rules of not arriving on Turn 1, so they will be dependant on a unit dying turn 2 or 3 to arrive (otherwise they’re dead), and when they do, try to do in your enemy’s turn so you can act normally and charge in your following turn. At 250pts they’re not cheap, and need to be active a lot to make their points back as well as being used carefully so as not to throw them away. 

Coming Soon!

For 9pts a pop you get a WS3/BS3 Infantry packing a Shuriken Catapult for a nice Assault 2 at Str 4 -1 D1, at 18”. You can reroll 1s to Hit with Shuriken weapons whilst within range of an Objective, letting them operate fairly independently on the battlefield. Coming in squads of 10-20, you can also bring a Weapons Platform for every 10 Defenders, coming stock at 20pts with a Shuriken Cannon or Scatter Laser, which can be upgraded to a Missile Launcher or Starcannon for 5pts, or a Bright Lance for 10pts, giving them some extra fire support. Dependable and fairly cost effective for their output, they aren’t the toughest things around, with T3 1W and a 4+ Sv (or 2W and 3+ on the Platform) only going so far in the current game, and Ld 7 makes them a bit susceptible to Morale, so judicious use of Battle Focus will be needed to keep them safer than their base stats can provide.

OUTCASTS that come in units of 5-10, 13pts a model nets you the standard Eldar statline, but with BS2+, the better to leverage their Ranger Long Rifle. Their 5+ Sv isn’t much, but they do get +1 Sv when getting cover, so they will get a reasonable 3+ whilst in Light Cover. 1 in every 5 models can be given a Gloom Field (giving them Dense when over 18” away), or a Wireweave Net, a once per game anti-charge device that does D3 Mortal Wounds and -2” to an enemy charger, on a 2+. Both are great at 5pts, and will depend on what you want with the Rangers, with a backfield Objective camper preferring the Gloom Field, whilst a forward operating unit using their Advanced Positions won’t say no to the Wireweave to act as a deterrent. Whilst not the most offensive unit, they offer good board control and Mission utility, as well as being able to threaten light characters or heavily injured units when needed.

A melee focused version of the Defender above, costing a pt less, and trading out their Catapult for a Shuriken Pistol and Aeldari Blade (-1 D1 +1A), and getting reroll 1s to Hit in Melee against any enemy unit within range of an Objective. They also have access to a greater range of weaponry in the unit, with 2 per 10 being able to take Flamers and Fusion Guns for 5 and 10pts respectively, and 2 can take Power Swords for 5pts each. They can also bring a Serpent Scale Platform, that grants the unit a 5++ vs Ranged, and makes Ranged Wound rolls of 1-2 automatically fail, giving them a decent survivability boost for 20pts. The same downsides as the Defenders apply however, as they don’t have the greatest staying power, and offensively they aren’t incredible, being low output and close range.

Space Elf Pirates, but not quite as evil as their Spikey Cousins. Come in units of 5-10, at 10pts a go, they come with 2A and Power Swords as standard, alongside a Shuriken Pistol for a sidearm. If you’d prefer to go for a more ranged element, you can swap those out for Shuriken Rifles (an AP -1 Boltgun). Regardless, any 6s to Hit autowound as a 6 to Wound, giving you some decent reliability, and synergising well with the Shuriken Weapons. You can also bring a Blaster or Shredder per 5 models, identical to their Drukhari counterparts, and a unit of 10 can bring a Shuriken Cannon or Wraithcannon for some heavier support, each running you between 5-15pts. Finally the Felarch can have a Neuro Disruptor ala Harlequins, or a Mistshield to give him a 4++, both costing 5pts. A mixed bag of a unit, they can be fairly flexible in loadout, but they can’t be used as compulsory choices in a Detachment, meaning their actual use is going to be quite minimal, and their lack of synergies throughout the rest of the army makes them tricky to justify slotting in over other ranged or melee specialists.

A veteran version of the Voidreavers above, costing 12pts but getting +1A for their troubles. They come with the same spread of wargear as the Voidreavers, with some extra options, able to take a Ranger Long Rifle in a unit of 10 for 5pts, a Fusion Pistol in a unit of 10, for 10pts, and a Faolchu for 10pts, which grants the unit ignore Light Cover. They also have the option for 3 unique models in the unit, all with set wargear. A Shade Runner comes in at 18pts, gaining +1WS and A, though loses +1Str on their Hekatarii Blades. They do however cause Mortal Wounds on the charge, doing 1 Mortal on a 2+, or 2 Mortals on a 6. For 17pts a Soul Weaver brings Channeler Stones, letting you turn the first failed Save on the unit per turn into Dmg 0. Finally the Way Seeker is a 1/1/1 PSYKER for 25pts, knowing from Fate or Fortune, coming with a Witch Staff ala the Spiritseer, and can never Perils (which considering their 1W is a good thing lest they explode). Regardless of options, the unit is capped at 10 models, and as with the Voidreavers is a real mixed bag of identity and output, able to offer some extra firepower, though it can be done elsewhere, or some extra combat punch, which isn’t the most efficient compared to other units, though the benefits of the Way Seeker at the least can afford some extra psychic buffs.

A 1/1/1 PSYKER unit (which can be improved depending on unit size), they draw from the Runes of Battle, all of which offer great support options, and each FARSEER lets a unit be taken without using up a Detachment Slot, giving you some flexibility to slot them into the army. They all come with a Witchblade as standard, though can upgrade to a Singing Spear for 5pts more. If they are taken as a lone model, they do become more expensive, but become a CHARACTER, with their own advantages and disadvantages in that regard. The main issue with taking them as units is their overall low defences and model count, being T3 2W and a 4++. They’re certainly not bad as a unit, but will require careful positioning so they don’t get taken down quickly.

On Foot

40pts for a CHARACTER, or 20pts for a unit of 2-6. A unit of 4+ Knows an extra power, and as long as there are 4+ models when casting, they can Cast an extra power. This does give them a better chance of taking some hits and still being able to cast more things, but it’s still a risk. 

Skyrunner

Warlocks on Bikes, with the associated stat boosts and extra wargear, costing 60 for a CHARACTER, or 35 for a unit of 2-3. A unit of 3 Knows an extra power, and Casts an extra Power so long as there are 3 in the unit still. Their faster speed and slightly tougher frame makes them a bit more useful on the battlefield, though the smaller squad size means they are more susceptible to concentrated fire, so are probably better off as a single Character.

The ‘Basic’ ASPECT WARRIOR, which is basically the standard Guardian Profile with +1A and Ld. Able to Shoot and still do Actions with their Avenger Shuriken Catapults (Catapults with +1 Shot and AP), they make a decent utility unit to add some good anti infantry firepower as well as Objective/Mission play. The Exarch comes with +1W and A as standard, and the option for a second Catapult, a Pistol and Glaive (for +2 -2 D2 in Melee), Pistol and Diresword (a +1 Str Melee weapon which just does a Mortal Wound if you Wound), or a Shimmershield in place of the Pistol for 5pts more, giving the Exarch a 4++. At 12pts base they aren’t too expensive for their output, and provide some cheap anti infantry fire support if needed, though you may already have that covered by Guardians, so it will depend on what the rest of your army make up is.

The toughest Space Elves around with T4, and wearing ‘Heavy’ Aspect Armour for a 3+ Sv, these guys each pack a Dragon Fusion Gun, a Str 9 Meltagun that always gets +2Dmg regardless of Range, as well as reroll 1s to Wound vs VEHICLES and MONSTERS when Shooting, making them pretty reliable at destroying big targets, albeit at a short range. Their Exarch can swap out their Fusion Gun for a Dragon’s Breath Flamer (a Str 6 Heavy Flamer that is Assault type), or for 10pts upgrade it to a Firepike (getting +6” Range and +4Dmg instead of +2). At 23pts base these guys are quite cheap for their ability to annihilate big things and elite infantry alike, and whilst their range is short, there are plenty of ways to get them up close, be it via the Webway, a Cloudstriking Falcon, Wave Serpents or just using Advancing and using terrain to your advantage.

With +1 Mv and A over the base ASPECT statline, Banshees also come with a ton of special rules that make them far more dangerous than their base output appears on paper. With Advance and Charge they have a big threat range, especially with judicious use of Strands of Fate, and you want them charging, as they get +1 to Wound on the Charge, as well as preventing Overwatch, Set to Defend, and making anyone they charged Fight Last, giving them utility against interrupts or other Fight Last abilities that might be used on you. They also have a constant -1 to be Hit to grant them a modicum of extra survivability on their way in and once there. Offensively they bring a Pistol and Banshee Blade (a Power Sword with an extra AP), and the Exarch can swap out their Blade for either a Triskele for some slightly worse AP but getting 3 Shots at Str 5 -3 D1 at 12”, an Executioner for 5pts for +2 -3 D2, or trade both their weapons for Mirrorblades, losing a point of AP for double Attacks. All in all the Banshees are an excellent melee and disruption unit, fast enough to make melee quickly and shut down units when there, as well as put out some respectable damage. At 18pts a go however, they aren’t the cheapest of units, so keep them protected until the opportunity to strike presents itself. 

ASPECTS with +1A and Sv, these are your main forward operators that look to disrupt and engage the enemy early with their Advanced Positions, giving your army breathing room in the early game. They come standard with a Pistol and Scorpion Chainsword, packing a fairly impressive +2 -1 D1 +1A, making them ideal infantry blenders. This is further boosted by their Sustained Assault ability (exploding 6s in Melee) and their Mandiblasters, which cause an additional Mortal Wound on 6s to Wound vs non-MONSTER/VEHICLE units. Whilst any attacks made by Sustained Assault can’t trigger Mandiblasters, so you’ll need to put them in a separate pool, Scorpions can throw out a ton of attacks to obliterate light infantry, and even threaten heavy units. To help out a bit more against tougher units, the Exarch can bring a Biting Blade for +2 -2 D2 +2A, or a Scorpions Claw, effectively a Star Glaive with a built in Shuriken Catapult, costing 5 or 10pts respectively. At 17pts a piece they are cheap for their potential output, and can throw a serious wrench in the opponent’s plans, being able to make turn 1 charges easily should you get the first turn, or require dealing with by the opponent should you not.

The Melee WRAITH unit, with 40pts netting you a robust statline of WS 3, Str 5 T6 3W 3A and a 3+ Sv. They come with the option for Swords for +1 -3 D1 +2A, or Axe and Shield for 5pts, granting them +2 -3 D2 as well as a 4++, making them much more survivable. Whilst slightly more expensive, the Shield version is generally better, making them an effective anvil type unit that can withstand a great amount of firepower, and the Sword role of good anti infantry is usually covered elsewhere at both melee and ranged combined. Whilst not the swiftest of units at 5”, they are eligible for other ways to get around, be it transports for small squads, or via the Webway. Alternatively, they make for an excellent distraction unit, able to absorb all manner of firepower, diverting it from the rest of the army, whilst they march upfield.

The Ranged WRAITH unit, sporting the same statline but trading their melee options for either the anti tank Wraithcannon, making a single shot at 18” but at Str 10 -4 D3+3 Dmg and doing an additional Mortal Wound on 6s to Wound, or for 5pts the more anti infantry D-scythe, an Assault D6 12” Str 10 -4 D1 Blast with the same Mortal Wound rules. They can also shoot into units they are in Engagement Range with, though this of course won’t work with the Scythes being Blast, so be wary that those are effectively a ‘one and done’ type deal, unless you invest CP in Feigned Retreat of course. A mixed bag as they can absolutely cause devastation to their chosen targets, though the low ranges can come back to bite them, causing them to be counter charged and shut down against targets they don’t want to be engaged with.

The WRAITH Dreadnought, being a lone MONSTER that has nice T8 and 9W on defensive, with Str 7 and 4A on offence. Coming standard with 2 Catapults which can be upgraded to Flamers for 5pts each, they have access to up to 2 Heavy weapons in any combination, either Scatter Lasers for 5pts, Shuriken Cannons for 10, Starcannons or Missile Launchers for 15, or Bright Lances for 20. They initially strike with their Fists, for -3 Dmg 3, but can upgrade to a Ghostglaive for 15pts, granting them +2 -4 D3+3 Dmg, as well as a Sweep to hit at -2 D2 and double attacks, giving them much better melee utility. At 100pts base they start out quite cheap, but can add up in cost quickly if you pile on the upgrades, so consider what you want him to do. Whilst his defences are decent, no innate Invulnerable does make them susceptible to the usual anti tank suspects, and concentrated firepower will bring him down, so use terrain as best you can to cover his advance, or use him as a decently tough backfield that can offer fire support and lend a hand in shifting any interlopers to your lines. 

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Fast Attack Back to Contents


Guardians on Bikes, starting at 20pts for some significant boosts over their footslogging brethren. As you’d gather from the Bikes, they get a speedy 16” FLY Mv, +1T and W, as well as a 3+ Sv and a Twin Catapult, which can be upgraded to a Scatter Laser for 5pts, or a Shuriken Cannon for 10pts. If you keep the Catapults they get to reroll 1s to Hit with them when attacking enemy units in range of an Objective, making them even better suited at clearing light chaff units, and even heavier units through sheer weight of dice. Not too expensive, and packing serious firepower, Windriders are cost effective and potent fire support for the army, with the speed to get into range or line of sight with ease, alongside the ability to go and perform other mission based duties when needed.

Light skimmers, these VEHICLES come in squadrons of 1-3, each coming as standard with a Twin Shuriken Catapult and a Scatter Laser (free), Shuriken Cannon (5), Missile/Starcannon (10) or Bright Lance (15), on a base cost of 40pts. With a T5 6W and a 3+ Sv, they aren’t too tough, but a 16” FLY Mv means they can get into position and draw a bead on enemy units with ease, whilst adding some cheap heavy firepower into a list as well. 

ASPECT WARRIORS based on speed and anti light infantry firepower, they come with an impressive 14” FLY Mv, as well as the ability to redeploy over 9” away from enemy models instead of making a normal Battle Focus move. This affords them incredible manoeuvrability, able to completely negate shooting or melee back at them by simply flying away. They come down the same turn as well, meaning that you can still utilise them for things like Secondaries, to help screen against incoming enemies, or to threaten the opponent’s flanks or backline. They come stock with a Lasblaster, chucking out Assault 4 Str 4 D1 shots, that autowound on 6s to Hit, giving them a decent spread of firepower. The Exarch can take a Power Sword for 5pts, and upgrade his Lasblaster to a Hawk’s Talon for 10pts, granting it +1 Str and AP. At 18pts, they’re not that killy or tough, but they more than make up for it in their ability to play the mission, as well as the disruption they can cause with their repositioning.

These ASPECT WARRIORS are a bit of a mixed bag, with a predominately shooting unit, an Exarch with a melee leaning, but a bag full of tricks. With a 12” Mv that moves horizontally through terrain and models like they weren’t there, they each wield a Death Spinner, a 12” Range Assault D6 Str 6 -2 D1 Blast weapon, ideal for tearing through infantry and light tanks alike. Their Exarch can take a second Death Spinner as well as a set of Powerblades, giving him +1 -3 D1 +1A in melee, a decent set of upgrades for 10pts for the both. Bearing the heavier Aspect Armour for a 3+, the Warp Spiders main defences are their difficulty in being caught in the first place, being able to do a 2D6 Battle Focus Mv (albeit taking a Mortal Wound on a double 1, not really a big risk), as well as moving 6” the first time they’re charged each turn, at the cost of Overwatching or Setting to Defend. These make them very difficult to pin down with both shooting and melee, despite their short range putting them in dangerous positions normally. They aren’t too expensive either at 20pts, for their significant damage output and the movement options they have.

ASPECT WARRIORS that love the thrill of the hunt, each one is mounted on a Bike (with the usual stat boosts you’d expect by now), alongside +1A on the normal Aspect profile. Their Laser Lances offer dual purpose Shooting and Melee, geared towards punching through the toughest armour, either with a single 6” shot at Str 6 -4 D2, or +1 -4 D2 in melee, bumping up to +3Str on the Charge. They’re all -1 to be Hit with Ranged attacks as well, letting them close the gap with a bit more safety. The Exarch can upgrade to a Star Lance for 10pts, basically giving him Str 8 at Ranged and on the Charge, or swap it for a Paragon Sabre, effectively a Banshee Blade with +1A as well as Reroll Hits and Wounds. They can also bring a Shimmershield for 5pts to make him a little tougher as well. Shining Spears make great precision strike units, able to reach most units quickly, and are ideal for wiping out small units with a combination of their shooting and melee. However at 35pts each they’re not cheap, and only coming in squads of 3-6 make them susceptible to concentrated firepower, especially given their overall low defensive stats for their cost. Keep this in mind when positioning, use terrain to cover your advance and strike when it’s right, rather than relying on them to absorb too much firepower out in the open.

Rangers on Bikes! The usual “elf on bike” profile with an extra Wound (because there’s two of them), the BS2 of Rangers, and a 4+ Sv, they come with a Long Rifle and Scatter Laser, and a trio of nifty rules. The first enables them to benefit from Light Cover as if they were INFANTRY, and get +1 when getting cover via their camo cloaks (it doesn’t need to make sense, it’s 40k). They also pick an enemy unit within 12” at the start of your Shooting Phase and let all your Long Rifles ignore Cover against them, letting them be a bit more accurate and harder hitting. Finally, and probably most importantly, they can make a pregame Normal Move before the first turn begins. As this is done after knowing who has the first turn, this can be done to get into position for shooting, out of danger, or even threaten turn 1 charges on a vital shooting unit, looking to tie them up from moving out or shooting in the early stages of the game. They kick out a decent amount of firepower and have a solid spread of rules for 35pts each, but as with most Eldar they aren’t all that tough, so positioning is vital to their continued survival throughout the course of the game. 

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Heavy Support Back to Contents


Light Walker VEHICLES that pack strong firepower, coming in squads of 1-3 and able to set up line of sight early with Advanced Positions and their 10” Move, alongside Battle Focus to move back to safety. T6 6W and a 3+/5++ makes for a decently tough statline, and they come with a choice of any 2 Heavy Weapons, with Scatter Lasers being free, Shuriken Cannons at 5pts, Missiles/Starcannons for 10, or Bright Lances for 15pts, which on top of their fairly cheap starting cost of 55 makes them a cost effective way to bring heavy ranged support to the army, and in flexible loadouts as well.

Ranged Specialist ASPECT WARRIORS, who look to gun down elite infantry and light tanks with their Reaper Launchers, using either their Starswarm (Heavy 2 Str 5 -2 D2) or Starshot (Heavy 1 Str 8 -2 Dmg 3), and ignoring Dense Cover on top. The Exarch can swap out his Launcher for a Shuriken Cannon, Missile Launcher for 5pts, or a Tempest Launcher for 10pts (giving him Heavy 2D6 Str 4 -2 D1 Blast ignoring Line of Sight, albeit at a reduced 36”). Coming stock at 150pts for the squad, they aren’t cheap, A 3+ Sv won’t go very far, and with no Battle Focus to get out of danger and only coming in squads of 5, you’ll need to keep them far away for safety, but they can lay down some withering firepower on your opponent’s elites, and even inflict significant damage to Vehicles and Monsters when needed.

1-3 ARTILLERY platforms, coming with T5 5W and a 4+ on the defence (also weirdly Ld 10 and 7A, but those are likely typos). For all intents and purposes, the Crew models are more like tokens and generally don’t interact with the game in terms of range or line of sight, and the Platforms can never Advance, Charge, Intervene, Pile In or Consolidate. They start at 45pts and come stock with a Shadow Weaver, a decent mortar style weapon, firing D6 Shots at Str 6 -2 D1 Blast ignoring Line of Sight, offering some nice barrage style weaponry for dealing with light infantry and units holed up across the board. They can also upgrade to a Vibrocannon for 10pts, acting as a Heavy D6 Autocannon, with the added benefit of getting autohits if there are 2+ Vibrocannons in the same unit target the same non-FLY unit, and +1 to Wound if there are 3 targeting the same unit, making them great at setting up strong fire lanes to deal with any encroaching infantry or light tanks. The third option is the D-cannon for 20pts more, only having a 24” Range and D3 shots, but hitting at a mighty Str 12 -4 D6+2 Dmg, with Blast and Ignore Line of Sight, making them an excellent area denial tool for heavy infantry and bigger targets. All round, the Support Platforms are capable of adding some fairly significant firepower to the army for fairly cheap. 

The Grav-tanks all pack the same profile and similar warger upgrades on their chassis, coming with a decent 12W T7 and 3+ Sv, and an impressive 16/12/8 Mv on their profile, keeping them active even when damaged, and a fairly standard 3/4/5 BS on their Ranged elements. They all come standard with an underslung Twin Shuriken Catapult, which can be upgraded to a single Cannon for 5pts, as well as up to 4 pieces of wargear, costing 10pts each. A Crystal Targeting Matrix lets them ignore any modifiers to Hit, making them able to bypass Dense and any other defensive boosts an enemy might have. Spirit Stones make them count as double wounds remaining for their Damage Table, meaning they’re still fully operational even at 4 Wounds left, and need to be brought down to 2 to be on their bottom profile, helping you when you survive retaliation. Star Engines net you a flat +3” Mv, making them exceptionally fast, though with their already high speed and great range on their weapons, this is less vital. Finally the Vectored Engines grant them a once per game use of Battle Focus, helping them to move after Shooting, which can be significant in some edge cases, though realistically their large frame means hiding them can be somewhat difficult.

Falcon

The workhorse Battle Tank, coming with a Pulse Laser and Scatter Laser as standard for 140pts, the latter of which can be swapped out for one of the usual Heavy weapons (Shuriken Cannon for 5pts, Missile/Starcannon for 15, Bright Lance for 20). They also have a TRANSPORT Capacity of 6 non-JUMP PACK INFANTRY, with the WRAITHS taking up 2 slots. On top of this, they also have Cloudstrike, letting them arrive from Sudden Assault from Turn 1, and letting the unit inside jump out, ala a Drop Pod. This enables a ludicrous amount of flexibility and Alpha Strike potential and prevention, keeping you heavy firepower tank and a unit completely safe from enemy attack turn 1, with zero loss of firepower since they arrive that turn anyways. Alternatively it enables you to threaten your opponent’s deployment and positioning from the get go, as whilst they’ll know a Falcon will be arriving, they’ll need to consider screening it and it’s cargo out, which for some armies is easier said than done. Whilst the cost is fairly high, the sheer impact the Falcon and Friends can have before Deployment is even underway can’t be understated, whilst still being good at their base role after arrival.

Night Spinner

A big artillery piece at 140pts, coming with a Doomweaver sporting a tasty 2D6 Str 7 -2 D2 Blast shots that ignore Line of Sight, with a mighty 48” range. The Night Spinner is ideally suited for dealing with smaller squads that are looking to use terrain to cover their advance, and can even put pressure on tougher units or tanks looking to stay safe from direct shooting. Hiding the tank itself is trickier, so you might not be completely immune to reprisal yourself on certain deployments.

Fire Prism

The most expensive of the three at 160pts, the Prism Cannon it mounts on it’s turret more than makes up for the increased cost. Able to fire either anti tank with the Focused Lance (2 Shots at Str 14 -5 3D3 Dmg) or an infantry scything Dispersed Pulse (3D3 Shots with Str 6 -2 D2 Blast), the Fire Prism has excellent flexibility, able to deal with most targets with ease at a safe range, with only 3W models or high Invulnerable units being the main cause for loss of efficiency.

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Dedicated Transports Back to Contents


A Grav-tank with a larger TRANSPORT Capacity, doubling the Falcon’s hold to carry 12 models, with the same restrictions. They come stock with a Twin Shuriken Cannon, which can be exchanged for Twin versions of the usual suspects (Scatters being free, Missiles/Starcannons being 10, Bright Lances being 20), as well as the same upgrades as the other Grav-tanks above, though an underslung Shuriken Cannon costs them 10pts. They also come with their iconic Serpent Shield, giving them a 5++ vs Ranged, and any Ranged attacks against them can never Wound on better than 4+, making them tough to shift with their 13W. Fast and tough, as well as packing good firepower, the Serpent acts as an important tank in the army, getting your fragile or slow units into position safely, whilst providing fire support on the way. They stack up in points quickly if you look at too many upgrades, so consider keeping them cheap, or taking only the most vital ones.

170pts nets you a T6 12W Fighter Jet, coming standard with a Pulse Laser and 2 Starcannons, both of which can be upgraded to Bright Lances for 20pts for both. Their firepower is well suited for their preferred targets of FLY units, where they get a +1 to Hit, meaning their BS3/4/5 will still be decently accurate even when damaged. That’s kind of it though, they pack heavy firepower but cost a fair bit, and won’t last too long under heavy return fire. Whilst they do have the advantage of being AIRCRAFT and able to get to most places with ease, alongside it’s bonuses to hit, a Falcon can do similar, whilst being cheaper and bringing along friends. They certainly aren’t bad, and make a nice alternative to other tank hunters, but they aren’t necessarily the cheapest for what they do.

A WRAITH Plane with the same statline as the Hunter above, but they’re also a 1/1/1 PSYKER that draws from the Runes of Battle (though they can only cast the Blessing Powers), as well as imposing -2Ld debuff to enemy units in a massive 12” Aura, letting you stack up Morale Checks. They have a different role, focusing not on tank hunting but clearing Infantry, though they can definitely do damage to big targets when needed, their two Heavy D-scythes each packing a nasty D6 Blast shots at Str 12 -4 D2 with an additional Mortal on 6s to Wound, firing at 18”. A good combination of support, offence and disruption, the Hemlock does pay a pretty penny for all their abilities, coming in at 210pts, and whilst their -1 Dmg does help a bit they can still fall to concentrate firepower, so be sure to deal with heavy hitters first, or at least take a good chunk before you go.

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Lords of War Back to Contents


As the name suggests, this is the Eldar Knight equivalent, and it’s a WRAITH. Funny how names work. Whilst only 22W, they do have a built in 5++, as well as the -1 Dmg from Wraithbone Construct, lending them some decent defences alongside their T8. On the attack they have a choice of wargear, coming stock at 400pts with a Titanic Ghostglaive and Scattershield (for a potent 4++). The Glaive makes them a melee monster, striking at +6 -4 Dmg 6, or sweeping at -3 D2 with x3 Attacks, letting them deal with pretty much anything in melee with their 5 attacks. Alternatively you can swap either of them out for a Heavy Wraithcannon at 30pts a go, firing D3 shots at Str 16 -4 D3+6 Dmg, and doing an additional D3 Mortals on 6s to Wound (just in case I guess), or swap the Glaive out for a Suncannon, a Heavy 2D6 Str 8 -3 Dmg 3 elite mulcher, for 50pts. They can also bring up to 2 auxiliary weapons in the form of Scatter Lasers for 5pts, Shuriken Cannons for 10, or Starcannons for 15. Even if you go full shooting, you can still stomp on people, hitting at -2 D2, so not nearly as impressive as the blade, but still enough to cause small units some pause, and being Titanic you have the usual ability to Fall Back and Shoot/Charge with no issues, as well as walking over non-MONSTER/VEHICLE units. You do degrade fairly harshly however, your WS and BS going from 3/4/5, though your Mv goes down a bit better, 12/10/8, so they’re still plenty fast to threaten things on the board. All round the Wraithknight is a tough Lord of War that has the potential to be a significant thorn in your opponent’s side given how relatively cost effective they are, especially if just run bare bones with sword and board.

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Fortifications Back to Contents


A pair of towering archways, through which your forces emerge to wreak havoc. Able to set up anywhere on the battlefield that is 12” away from the enemy Deployment Zone and Models (so beware of units that can Infiltrate), the arches must be set up within 3” of each other, and are an Obstacle that offers Light and Heavy Cover, Inspiring to AELDARI, and are unstable. By having them in your army, you halve the CP cost of putting units into Strategic Reserve, rounding down, and units arriving from Strategic Reserve can arrive wholly within 6” of both archways, even if that’s within 9” of an enemy unit, and even in Engagement Range counting as Charging. For 80pts and a fraction of CP, this allows you to effectively deny a portion of the battlefield to the enemy, given the archways size (if set up correctly they will prevent certain units from ever passing through them as they’re so high), as well as effectively netting you a 12” bubble of auto counter charging, with low charge ranges even beyond that. Set up near Objectives for counterplay, the middle of the board for flexibility, or just to block off avenues of the board depending on set up. With cheaper CP costs, as well as Phantasm to put units in Strategic Reserve in reaction to your opponent, the Gates offer great flexibility and options, for an all told minimal cost.



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Mnizzle
Mnizzle
1 year ago

Hey all…..um this may be a silly question but with War Walkers, Chef, in this fantastic guide here and in your top 5 changes vid you say they get / can use Battle Focus but I can’t see anything in the codex or the interweb that confirms this.

Is it a mistake or am I being silly? 🙂

Last edited 1 year ago by Mnizzle
PartNinja
PartNinja
2 years ago

The 3rd scorpion Exarch power is incorrect. It only affects the Exarch, not the squad.

0MaxK0
Lodge Warrior Member
2 years ago

I’m still confused about the purpose of the Battle focus move. The – 3 over area terrain makes it fairly useless since you can’t reliably hide after shooting (which is a good thing). The problem is that even if you wanted extra movement why wouldn’t you just advance instead since you can use a fate dice/CP reroll if needed, the restrictions stopping you from advancing and battle focusing just makes it so limited.

Kaptin Steve
Lodge Member
2 years ago

Thanksfor this, can’t wait for my book in a week to start planning.

Owlsbane
2 years ago

I don’t think you get a ’12” bubble of auto-counter charging’ around the webway gate since you need to be within 6″ of both archways when setting up your models, which means you have an area of overlap in the middle of the archway and not much beyond that. So you take two circles, each centred on the innermost parts of an archway and the area where they overlap is the area of deployment. That area is largest when you place the archways closest together.

Metroid01
Metroid01
2 years ago

Well after reading this and watching other videos. I will not be purchasing this codex, it does nothing for the Ynnari but make them worse. Thanks GW!

Francois Lalonde
Lifetime Member
2 years ago

Great guide, love it.

Scout Maggs
Scout Maggs
2 years ago

Chef you beautiful bastard! Thanks for all the hard work, these guides are an amazing resource. Always turn to these when tweaking my lists, keep it up!