Gearing Up For Eldar Part 1

I've been refreshing the Eldar rumor thread on Dakka and BoLS all afternoon like a stock broker. I'm trying to take in all the speculative Eldar data I can whilst weeding through the now 100page long threads. It's been as intense as jamming the refresh button every 20mins can be and I gotta tell you I'm liking the look of things.

Here are the thread links for anyone interested:

• Dakka Dakka
• Bell of Lost Souls Lounge

Here's my take on some of what's going on:




Eldar Wraithknight
I suppose the first thing to talk about is the Wraithknight as it seems to be drawing the most attention. It's an impressive model, though I have mixed feelings on it. It's not that it's rumored to be around 300 points and $115 so quite expensive for a single model, but that's not my concern. Ultimately the problem I have with it is that it will either be a Heavy choice (most likely) or an Elites choice (Like the riptide surprised me with) assuming nothing is cut or moved the Wraithknight will be competing with War Walkers, Fire Prisms, Wraithlords, Falcons, Nightspinners, Dark Reapers, Support Weapon Batteries, and probably the new Hemlock. Or if it's an Elite, Banshees, Scorpions, Dragons, Wraithguard. I could see some models being moved around, like Nightspinner and War Walkers to fast attack, but still the Wraithknight is essentially making the Wraithlord a redudant option. Like you'll want the Wraithknight, but if you can't afford it, take a Wraithlord. Now the rules aren't out yet, just some info on it's weapons, but the Tau Riptide had it's own niche in the army outside of Broadsides and Crisis Suits. I'd like to see that here, but I haven't yet. I'm only hearing about a sword as big as a Wraithlord, the Sun Cannon which appears to be a Heavy 3 Blast Starcannon, or the Wraithlance which is an anti-tank option according to rumors (and because it has lance in the title) It's big, it's awesome, I just don't know what it brings to the table that we don't already have. Rules and time will tell

Crimson Hunter
Decidedly less dick-shaped than previously silhouetted. I like the concept here, finally some trained vehicle pilots. The fluff sounds cool, they basically follow the Path of the Warrior and represent Khaine the Top Gun Pilot. Now you can show your opponent the DANGER ZONE! I don't like that they pilot the "Nightshade" Interceptor when I have a perfectly good "Nightwing" Interceptor on my shelf, but what can you do, it's a little stubby, but still looks good. One rumor I read said something to the effect of an Exarch being able to take starcannons as an upgrade. This raises a question, can they be taken as a unit like other Aspect Warriors? It could just be an individual upgrade, but it stands to reason that if you can upgrade the model to essentially a Sergeant you can take more than one. If it's as fun as my Nightwing was to run hunting enemy flyers I'm ready to run a few of these on the table.

Hemlock Wraithfighter
Reportedly a Psychically armed bomber that will wreck havoc on enemy troops. Sounds like the Phoenix Bomber from IA: 11 which contained a bunch of anti-space marine missiles. Not much to go on, not much to say. The dual kit looks good as they did an excellent job making the two flyers distinct despite using the same parts. If it's anything like the Hemlock Frigate (Destroyer??) from BFG it should have a big underslung gun. I'm glad it doesn't though as I never felt that design was very Eldar-esque.. Here's the picture. 

Wraithguard/Wraithblades

Wraithguard get a new multishot gun which is cool and goes with the new plastic kit. I like it and I hope you can mix and match the options in one squad. Though it's kind of their thing, the Eldar war doctrine of this unit is good at this and that unit is good at that is extinct from modern warfare for a reason. The Wraithblades have me excited the most. Close Combat Wraithguard just look cool with their 2 Sword or Axe and Shimmershield looking thing. Based on style I'd expect it to give an invuln save because that's what that wargear seems to do for everybody. Whether it's for the model like an Autarch or squadbased like the Dire Avenger Exarch remains to be seen though I'd expect it to be per model since you're supposed to be taking units of these guys. Again, I'd like to be able to mix and match the weapon loadouts like TH+SS Termies and LC Termies.

This concludes part 1. Part 2 we will look over some of the rules leaked in the BatRep.