Figure it’s time for another one of these things. As usual the internet is up in arms about how terrible/OP the Eldar codex is and how everything is better/ruined/the same.

Phil Kelly… still isn’t really a good codex author, sadly. Unlike the Tau book, there are obvious standout units that will always be in some lists and some very clear trash units that are never going to make the cut. It’s not an awful book, but I suspect that like the Dark Eldar book it will give rise to some sadly narrow builds and age very poorly in the long run. However, that isn’t to say it’s without merits, although I really have to question the common supposition that Phil Kelly is some kind of awesome fluff guru- the book actually feels rather bland in that respect (although it is very pretty.)



Ancient Doom is cute but not really relevant. The only Slaanesh units that will be getting into assault with you are ones that will kick your ass so thoroughly nothing else matters. It is a fluffy little piece, though, so I can forgive its inclusion.

Battle Focus is a really strong ability; its big limiter is the generally-short range on Eldar guns. Kirbs’ article makes some good points with it, though, so go look at that if you want some real analysis.

The Warlord traits are kinda weak, all things considered. Ambush of Blades is pretty much strictly worse than the Tau version (since you’re rerolling wounds, not shots, so there will basically always be less dice.) It’s cute with Bladestorm, but not enough. Eye on Distant Events is likewise almost purely worse than the Tau version (Stealth vs. ignore Going to Ground), although it does at least have the advantage of affecting vehicles, which is non-inconsequential. Running a miniscule amount further is completely laughable, and pretending that you are Tzeentch with your Warlord is also an incredibly narrow ability. Split Fire is actually a pretty okay thing to have, but… can Eldar actually make any use of it? I dunno, I suppose we’ll see. The only Eldar models that will ever Deep Strike are ones that don’t scatter, so that’s also worthless.

Come on, Phil, this isn’t hard. The BRB warlord tables are pretty shoddy- there’s so many narrow/unusable abilities on there designed something better is basically child’s play. All three of the other 6E books easily got over that bar, and yet somehow you couldn’t? Really? That does not bode well for your book.

Shard of Anaris is pretty derpy. You want something better than Rending if you’re gonna be seeking out challenges with other characters, otherwise anyone competent is gonna break you in half just by passing some saves. Instant Death is a nice rule and all, but it’s only really gonna scare stuff like Tervigons that rely on piles of wounds to win through fights.

Firesabre is a cute variant of the Power Sword. Not particularly good, but amusing enough to get a pass.

The Spirit Stone is actually pretty good, just make sure that your Farseer isn’t sitting at the front of the squad and the other guy doesn’t have easy Precision wounds. Works best if you’re pulling from Telepathy/Fate, which have lots of WC2 powers.

The Long Rifle is… it sure it an item you’re allowed to purchase.

Mantle of the Laughing God is kooky, but I don’t think any Eldar characters are scary enough in a fight for it to be a big deal. Something to keep an eye on, though.

Faolchu’s Wing is likewise a kooky piece of gear that has potential by sheer virtue of being very unique in what it does. Can you have an IC with this Run while the rest of a bike squad Turbo-Boosts? Might be worth something, but at that point why not just give the guy a bike? Hrm.

The Phoenix Gem is another gimmick, although kind of a cool one.

The two Eldar psychic disciplines are pretty strong, though the people who can use them tend to be the limiters. Runes of Battle is nice because each power comes with an offensive and a defensive option, giving you some flexibility in what you do. Conceal/Reveal is very strong, if a little less so than its close cousin Invisibility. The Renewer half of Destructor/Renewer is very cool just for its uniqueness; keeping your warlord or MC alive could be very handy. Spamming it onto a Wraithknight could be a huge pain. Embolden is a pretty decent thing, since Fearless is always nice for breaking your Gone to Ground status, but Horrify is the real fist-pump here; -3Ld can wreck many units, even Space Marines. Enhance/Drain is a bit situational, but against the right armies it can make a huge difference. Sadly there aren’t a lot of good Eldar melee units or else this would get a lot more mileage. Protect/Jinx is pretty much going to exclusively be used for the blessing, which can make some Eldar units into real tanks. Quicken/Restrain is a bit of a dud, although in certain circumstances it can be game-breaking, such as stopping that last turn contest- however, you won’t be able to predict those in advance, so it’s not gonna see much use. Empower/Ennervate is another iffy melee buff- yeah, yeah, you can use it on Banshees or whatever, but it doesn’t solve their main problem. Call me back when it gives +1 Toughness.

Runes of Fate, like Divination, has an awesome primaris power, which means often enough you’ll be trying at least one roll on it regardless. It also means that Farseers can hand out two reroll buffs per turn, which is something no other army can match. (Don’t believe idiots- rerolls are still incredibly good even with BS4 across the army.) It doesn’t work on melee attacks, but it does have a longer range, so it’s probably a wash overall compared to Prescience. Executioner is interesting but probably not quite reliable enough to be happy about- the chances that you will fail some wound rolls (even with Fleshbane), or the other guy will pass enough saves, or whatever mean that you will rarely get all three cycles out of it and just as rarely will it hit the models you want. If your best-case scenario kills three models, your power is probably not worth it. Doom is fantastic, even better than before- the only problem is that now it’s not guaranteed. Eldritch Storm is… I dunno, it seems okay, but WC2 is a bit more than I’d like to pay for it. Still, it does have the potential to hurt essentially anything. Death Mission is pretty stupid- it will pretty often kill you by the time your next turn comes up (average four counters, three of your phases and three enemy phases means six 50/50 chances to lose a counter.) Also it ALWAYS kills your Farseer (as one of the conditions is the game ending) and that’s really bad considering it… basically just adds some attacks to the guy? Farseers can’t get a weapon scary enough to scythe through so many guys that this would be good. Fortune is really good, as before, and now you can potentially get a 2+ rerollable. Also makes you all but immune to psychic powers as a side effect. Mind War is like Executioner, except instead of maybe killing three guys it maybe kills one guy and is WC2 for some reason.

Ghostwalk Matrix is… well, twice as expensive as the Tau one for whatever reason. Spirit Stones are pretty okay, working just like Living Metal. (Stunned suuuuuuuuucks now, boys and girls; getting to shrug it off matters.) Holo-Fields are pretty solid, especially since Eldar tanks are all kinda pricey and Fast. Star Engines are kinda unnecessary- you already move 18″, another 6″ isn’t gonna change anything. Vectored Engines… I dunno, most Eldar tanks have turrets and flyers can’t get ’em, so probably not much use. Crystal Targeting Matrix is grossly overpriced for anything except maybe, maybe a Fire Prism.

Eldrad has an actual Force weapon now; that’s actually kinda scary. Also he regained Fleet somehow, but stayed T4. If you really wanna go whole-hog on psychic powers, he is kinda your dude, since he gets more than anyone else can. Probably too expensive all in all, though.

Yriel is… sorta okay? His curse is actually relevant now, but his eyesplosion is also more dangerous most of the time.

Illic is a cool guy and I like that he made it in- Preferred Enemy is always good times- but I’m not sure if he has a good army to support him. He is, however, one of the ICs who has Shrouded/Infiltrate and thus can do shenanigans with sneaking some guys in close or whatnot. Pathfinders really aren’t worth it overall- 25pts is a LOT for a T3 model- but he has other stuff going for him.

All of the Phoenix Lords range from middling to bad. :\ Asurmen gets d3 of the mediocre warlord traits and basically nothing else, Jain Zar fucking forgot her assault grenades, Karandaras is hella pricey (but can at least play those Infiltrate games), Fuegan is an Exarch with 150pts tagged onto his price, Baharroth boasts a might Strength 5 gun with three shots, a feat no mortal could match (except every Tau Fire Warrior), Maugan Ra is still a badass but not even close to worth his cost. Seriously, none of them come in more than a hair less than two hundred space bucks, and for that you get… T4? Eternal Warrior? And generic Exarch stuff? Fuck you, Mr. Kelly, the Phoenix Lords are supposed to be cool and special.

The Avatar gains a wound and some points to its cost and that’s largely it. Oh, and it only has a 5++ instead of a 4++ now, so it’s basically Missile bait.

Autarchs have gotten something of a bad rap, but they actually have a decent reserve-affecting ability and can get some decent gear for an HQ (like a meltagun, missile launcher, etc.) Jetbike is a prime choice, since it makes him fast, T4, and most importantly Relentless, which lets him make better use of some of the guns. Still not gonna be better than a psychic HQ, but he at least has a reason to exist.

Farseers can pull from three excellent disciplines and are reasonably cheap for ML3; give them a bike and maybe one of the Runes and you’re good to go. Remember, just because you can access Divination doesn’t mean you should always spam it- Telepathy has some game-changing powers in it.

Spiritseers are basically cut-down Farseers that also let you take Wraithguard for troops. No access to Divination, but Runes of Battle is good enough to use- beware Ld9, though. One thing I will say in the codex’s favor- this guy works even when allied, unlike previous books. I honestly do appreciate that, as it lets people have more fun with things. Options are good.

Warlocks now function like Royal Courts/Wolf Guard, splitting off before the game to join squads; they can’t join up with some of the stuff they used to be in (like Wraithguard), but mostly all the troops can have them. However, the big change is that they are Ld8 now and have to cast their powers, and to make matters more awkward they join a squad then roll for their powers, so no figuring what guys are good at before sending them away. Also, stupidly, buying a Jetbike for one is pointless if you plan on detaching him, as doing so reverts his unit type to Infantry (Character) despite possession of the bike. :\

People seem to think Dire Avengers are worse now, though I don’t get it. The loss of old Bladestorm is easily compensated for by the new version plus all the other stuff they have (Battle Focus, Counter-Attack, etc.) Exarch is pretty worthless, though, since getting a Shimmershield (5++ for the unit!) means paying a lot of points and losing your gun.

Guardian Defenders are more useful as objective-sitters thanks to their heavy weapon not being shit (and also keeping its old, kooky rules), but Ld8 means they are NOT reliable at staying in place. I would probably expect to see a lot of 13 + Scatter Laser/Bright Lance that just hang back and go to ground a lot. Their guns are pretty dangerous at point-blank range, though.

Storm Guardians are pretty weak looking. They can get two specials, true, but lack any real shooting to speak of and aren’t good in assault, either (no, not even with a Warlock attending.) They might be defendable as a squad to sit in a Wave Serpent, though, ’cause you gotta have SOMETHING to kill a Land Raider with.

Guardian Jetbikes nee Windrider Jetbikes got purely better. Lost 1pt cost, gained BS4, and their guns got Bladestorm. These guys are an ideal ally contingent for a Tau and several other armies. Why do they have Battle Focus, though?

Rangers are somewhat alright, lining up fairly evenly with Space Marine Scouts. They benefit from BS4, which is nice, and natural Stealth without having to pay a tax, but are a bit weaker and lack ATSKNF. I think they’ll be an interesting test of whether Sniper weapons are actually any good this edition.

Wave Serpents are REALLY good. Expensive, yeah, but the ability to shoot your shield at the other guy is really powerful (S7 Ignores Cover? Yes please!) and twin-linking it with a Scatter Laser is boss. The underslung Cannon may or may not see much use, but as a shooty transport the Serpent is excellent. Grab some Holofields for it while you’re at the store.

Howling Banshees are awful. Not unusable awful, like Pyrovores or Legion of the Damned, but pretty worthless. Hey Phil, if you change the way their Masks work you should probably remember to give them some fucking Plasma Grenades or something- fluffy mirrors of Slaanesh abilities ain’t enough, asshole.

Striking Scorpions are basically what would happen if Banshees didn’t suck. S4? Check. Built-in delivery system? Check. Tough enough to weather fire as they close? Check. Functional against many different targets? Check. Mandiblasters going to one S3 autohit is kinda unfortunate, but they still churn through most types of basic infantry pretty effectively.

Fire Dragons got significantly more expensive, but really, who didn’t see that coming? Costing less than an IG Veteran with a Meltagun was clearly not what they were going to stay at. They gained 3+ armor, at least (which they had always kinda looked like they had anyways) and still have MB as well, so they’re nothing to sneeze at. Being able to Run behind a wall, Serpent, etc, after shooting is a big advantage for them, given their generally-suicidal status.

Harlequins essentially reverted to their old version, which is kinda weird; Veil of Tears is now a legit psychic power, so it’s not nearly as much of a “fuck you all I’m untouchable” defense, as you can fail the Ld9 check or simply go second and not have a chance to cast it. When it’s working, though, it is still a pretty obnoxious thing to see, as 2d6x2″ is not very far at all- chances are they will charge you before you get to shoot them. However, once they’re inside that range they are basically gonna get annihilated if someone isn’t casting Invisibility or the like on them.

Wraithguard are realistically going to be troops far more often than not, since “being really tough and fearless” is a pretty good thing to have on a scoring unit. However, they are pricey and VERY short-ranged. Probably it will be necessary to use Wave Serpents to deliver them (and there’s just enough room for a minimum squad + HQ inside of one, almost like someone was thinking of that…) in order to get any use out of their guns. D-Scythes are scary as heck to most things, but probably too expensive/short-ranged. They do negate one of the unit’s weaknesses (assaults) pretty handily, though.

Wraithblades are like Wraithguard who double down on things. They’re pretty murderous in CC, but anything that they can’t punch they are completely helpless against. I imagine they probably are worse than their brethren, but there’s some potential there, with them being one of the few assault units worth a damn.

Swooping Hawks are… actually decent? I don’t want to live on this planet anymore. No, I kid- they have a surprisingly-good damage output with their guns (equivalent to a Storm Bolter against MEQs and better against almost everything else) and come with a huge array of gear, including Haywire Grenades, which I don’t think anyone else gets. Their mobility is pretty much without equal thanks to a combination of deep strike without scatter, Skyleap, 12″ move, and Battle Focus. They seem like a potentially very annoying harassment unit for a reasonable price.

Warp Spiders actually come out very similar to Hawks… sadly, their models are horribly old, having not been updated since I played Eldar waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay back in the day. S6 two-shot guns (S7 against tanks and some other guys) gives you very good firepower and their jump generators plus Hit and Run make them excellent at skitting around the field causing havoc. They’re a bit more expensive thank Hawks, but are also tougher in the bargain, so I think they work out very similarly, with the Hawks being better at long-range engagements and the Spiders doing better at close ranges.

Shining Spears, once one of the laughingstocks of the codex, also get fairly good. Skilled Rider means they are getting a 4+ all the time and a 3+ when you gotta go fast. Outflank is… something I suppose. And their lances are pretty dangerous to MEQs and such (and can even put some hurt on vehicles) yet again Mr. Kelly has neglected to give them grenades- however, in their case it’s a lot more circumventable.

The Crimson Hunter is another “balanced” flyer, which is to say it doesn’t even come close to matching some of the all-stars running around in the game right now. Sadly, the amount of AA most people will bring means it has a very, very short lifespan thanks to AV10, but if it gets the chance to shoot it is all but guaranteed to bring down an enemy airplane (BS4/5, Tank Hunter against planes, four AP2 shots.) Oh, it’s also got Vector Dancer, which is a really good rule and means that (should you live) you will be getting your hits on the rear armor of most things.

Vypers have a sad comparison when paired next to Piranhas, since they not only lose AV11 in the front but also have a worse starting damage output for a higher cost. Double-Cannon Vypers put a lot of shots downrange for a not-unreasonable price, though.

The Hemlock is a weird beastie; it’s really fragile like the Crimson Hunter, but has zero anti-air capability. What it does do, however, is play havoc with enemy morale, since it comes with the Terrify power and forces rerolls on Ld checks. Its guns are kinda weird (small blast Distort weapons), but they’re basically secondary to its ability to just hang around and screw up enemy rolls. Note that it can’t ever use Terrify the first turn it arrives, as it’s a Malediction, so very rarely will you see that cast, as the Hemlock is going to be a priority target. Some kind of goofy Pinning/Morale-based build might be able to make some use of it in combination with a bunch of Horrify Warlocks, etc.

Dark Reapers are scary to infantry out of cover and are pretty decent at keeping on the move while putting out heavy hits, but T3/3+ for 30pts each is gonna be problematic- people bring enough infantry-killing to give you a really bad time these days in return. If they didn’t have to pay extra to get the S8 missile they would be a lot better, sadly. Oh, and the Exarch is apparently the victim of some kind of bizarre extortion scheme, as he has to pay all KINDS of extra space dollars to get any equipment.

Support Batteries are artillery, which is really good, but they aren’t mobile like Guardian versions are. D-Cannons are awfully expensive, although barrage S10 is pretty snazzy; I expect the Shadow Weavers will be the ones to get used, if any, however, as Rending and wounding on a 2+ is pretty fine. S7 also hurts most vehicles quite well thanks to tagging side armor.

Fire Prisms are good. AP3 large blast and Lance shot are both very dangerous and you can flit about the backfield putting shots into things with a 4+ cover save. Got a little bit more expensive, but who cares?

Night Spinners kinda suffer in comparison to their buddy- their gun essentially lost the thing that forces dangerous/difficult on guys, which (while worse in 6th) was the main point of them, and with the Prism having a large blast that’s good at killing MEQs you’re gonna be hard-pressed to have a reason to use one of these.

The Falcon throws down a lot of AP2 shots, but Wave Serpents get a not-dissimilar kind of firepower with a better transport capacity and not eating a HS slot. I’m not seeing a compelling reason you’d want one, honestly.

War Walkers get a 5++ now, which is nice, but they’ll still probably die the instant something looks their way. Scatter Lasers are likely still the go-to gun, although Bladestorm gives Cannons a reason to exist at least. I don’t think mixed weapons trying to use the Scatter Laser’s reroll are really needed/useful, although dual Bright Lances is pretty fine for the price, since you can outflank with them still.

Wraithlords, despite some claims, didn’t really get worse- for one, you can have two identical weapons without them getting stuck together, and Bright Lances are a reasonable price now. The sword doesn’t eat up a weapon slot anymore, either, so it’s something of a no-brainer to avoid getting stuck in melee. Oh, and so are twin Flamers- 2d3 autohits discourages a lot of charges from happening, as it turns out. For 150-160pts you could do a lot worse.

Wraithknights, on the other hand, are incredibly underwhelming in my opinion. Two S10 guns, yeah, that’s cool. And T8/W6 is pretty friggin’ enormous, especially with Jump MC status. But a 3+ save means that Snipers/poison are going to have a field day with you and you are sinking a LOT of points into these guys. Oh, and you have no invuln unless you pay a bunch of points and give up your good guns.