The other big boy on the block for 6th edition was Eldar and with the transfer to 7th edition, they have if anything, gotten better. Like with the Tau post we will be looking at the impacts the rules have on Eldar and what this will likely mean for Eldar army building and units we will see.

Implications

Eldar didn’t benefit from Tau nearly as much as Tau benefited from Eldar in terms of the ally department but they are still Allies of Convenience with all of the Imperial Armies and Tau and Battle Brothers with Dark Eldar so not as significant a change here. And with everyone wanting to run Baron to “facilitate” Seerstar the main concept is still there. Really not a fan of this concept but then I hate deathstars in general and although this was probably the “best” list of 6th edition due to its flexibility, less reliance on gimnoire and better supporting cast, hope the 7th edition mechanics really give it the kick. Regardless, Eldar still have access to decent Allies as necessary and really outside of Imperial armies, the Battle Brother combinations are a thing of the past (though some people seem to be giddy about Banshees coming out of Dark Eldar Raiders; bad combat unit in a bad assault unit delivery vehicle… ya…).

The biggest thing for Eldar however is the changes to objectives. Firstly with Objective Secured, Wave Serpents are overall better. One can argue all we want with the back and forth on Jink but at day’s end, whoever has more objectives wins and with Jink being a better save than before, this means more Serpents are likely to survive (not to mention the added bonuses of the vehicle damage table) and given they are fast, have decent durability and a very effective offensive capacity, you’re going to see these lots as Troops. Chuck in Guardian Jetbikes for every other Troops slot for more fast moving Objective Secured options for Eldar and you need to have a very good reason why you are not running full Troops (dependent upon points level obviously) for Eldar. This is very important for end-game and mid-game winning (assuming the implementation of some sort of Maelstrom system) but while it does seem great on paper, remember more anti-vehicle weaponry is going to be brought to the table and S7 will strip down AV12 eventually (even with 3+ or 4+ cover) and popping Jetbikes out mid-game for Maelstrom means you’re not using them at end game when they are often worth more. Lots of opportunity costs here but Eldar are probably one of the best armies to come out ahead of all these tactical questions due to their speed and offensive prowess.

On top of this, everything scores. Objective Secured is a massive advantage Eldar can and should take advantage of but even your Aspect Warriors score now. With scoring allowed within transports, except small DAVU or Storm Guardians to come back. With the high mobility of Eldar in nearly every slot, everything scoring and Maelstrom is a huge advantage for Eldar across the board ( get the picture yet?). Warp Spiders in particular are insanely fast and having characters on Jetbikes to score objectives anywhere on the table is very very solid. Battle Focus simply adds to this – not only can you shoot effectively but gain extra bits of movement both before and after shooting to identify better objective grabbing. For this reason alone I’d say 9 times out of 10 I would want to go second against Eldar and go second as Eldar – their flexible mobility is huge when mid-gaming scoring is in play.

Speaking of opportunity cost – Jink. Jink does force very big questions on Wave Serpents and this is where that back and forth will come into play. Jink makes Serpents more durable (along with the changes to vehicle damage charts, firing off the Shield has less opportunity cost than before) but reduces their shooting a lot. Serpents are very efficient when shooting straight up – anywhere from 2 to 7 S7 shots and 4 to 7 S6 shots is a lot, particularly when they are twin-linked and at range. Not to mention the S7 ignores cover… Regardless, Jinking becomes an actual serious question for Wave Serpents and while it certainly helps first turn durability when going second, one must consider each and every Jink move. Jetbikes however, care far less. A full squad is going to lose a bunch of firepower but your smaller scoring squads? No dramas. Same with Shining Spears, Jetcouncil or Solitaires.

Wraithknights aren’t happy – they’ve lost easy cover with Area Terrain essentially disappearing and their Smash attacks aren’t as good as before (not as big an issue as say with Riptides but still annoying).

Psychic powers are probably where Eldar will be a very strong army in terms of having the capacity to generate quiet a few Warp Charges. To get a huge pile you’ll need to stock up on Warlocks but grabbing Warlocks to fuel Farseers and/or utilise their basic powers is a more attractive, if expensive option, than before (looking at you Jetlocks with Jetbikes). Psychic focus is great for Warlocks who basically get a free roll on their table and then can keep the good primaris anyway. Actually using Warlock powers though without a huge pool can be difficult as most armies will find – you need two to three times the Warp Charges compared to power cost to actually be getting things off reliably. This does mean their psychic defences are more likely to be better than most though. This all being said, I think with the reduction of Tau allies being a useful option and solo Psychic characters being less useful in their reliance upon a D6 for Warp Charge generation, other HQs might see more use (looking at you Autarch). Of course if tournaments blanket nerf 2+ re-rolls, that won’t happen…

Army Changes

With both of the previously strong units getting arguably better in Jetbikes and Wave Serpents (when scoring) expect to see even more of these. Again, any Eldar army without full Troops better have some explaining to do however; these units have a very particular offensive niche. You’re not going to be dropping heavy armor with either of the units unless you’re running Bright Lances on the Serpents (really; what?). With armor becoming increasingly popular the same question Tau have to answer is being asked here for Eldar and without melta scattered throughout the army like Imperials, this needs to be addressed. Wraithknights / Wraithguard are a solid option where their Wraithweapons don’t really care about AV – I’m becoming more and more partial to Wraithguard with D-Scythes though more than one squad is really expensive and just one squad makes the Spiritseer a pretty hefty Troop tax. On that note though, Wraithguard may see more use in general as a solid tarpit / Objective Secured unit. I’m foreseeing Eldrad with 10 Wraithguard and Invisibility being a right pain… Storm Guardians as my old stand-by are also a solid option particularly now you can stay in your vehicles and score.

Some more of the Aspects may see use as well – Fire Dragons again with a need for anti-vehicle but with Wave Serpents being so much better in the Troops slot, taking Wave Serpents outside of Troops almost seems criminal (and if you do, don’t be a stinker and “forget” which ones have Objective Secured). That being said, plopping Objective Secured units into non-Troops Serpents can spread the Objective Secured love pretty well.

Jetlocks or Warlocks in squads may be a more common sight though as mentioned above, I feel (hope almost) that Jetstars will fade away and mass Warp Charge spam will take on a different look if it continues. This will lead to a more balanced feel overall, much like Tau, which is a good thing though anything not in a Wave Serpent or with some super speedy awesomeness better be a War Walker or Support Platform.

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How good Eldar will be really depends on Maelstrom use – I feel this will be incorporated in some way into tournament missions and therefore I’d stick Eldar as the clear frontrunners though they’ll likely regress into the pack as more playtime happens with other armies. If Maelstrom is not being used, I’d still put Eldar and Tau on top in terms of being the most flexible firepower based armies though their “struggles” in relation to higher AVs will be interesting to watch. We recall most 5th edition Xenos armies struggled with vehicles in 5th edition due to lack of melta; I don’t think this will be nearly as poignant here but I wouldn’t be surprised to seem some regression based upon this fact and needing to diversify the armies to take on those higher AVs / mass vehicles.