Here’s a review of the new book.
First off, unfortunately, they’re sold out. Le bummer.
But, I would bet they make more eventually as they tend to. There are still digital products available too, and stores may have a few on the shelf.
That said, let’s talk about this bad boy.
First off: I like it. I like it a lot. It is a nice bookm with a ton of really cool fluff to further flesh out Iyanden, a great color section with examples of paint schemes and unique Iyanden markings, etc. This book really brings the sub-faction of Iyanden to life.
I have read a lot of belly aching online about the fact that there are only 2 pages of rules. That is true (if you don’t count the rules for Planetstrike, City Fight, custom scenarios, etc.) but what rules they are! Seriously, these are a few rules that pack a lot of punch and variety into the book.
You get a new Warlord Table that is really, really good. I would argue that it is better than the Eldar book’s because each of the options is all around useful, not just situationally as with some of the Eldar powers (such as splitfire: amazing on some warlords, pointless on others). You have options such as a 6+ FnP bubble, gain Spirit Mark for your Warlord (or an additional one if you already have it), D3 rerolls, Hatred for the warlord and his unit, +1 to Deny rolls or faux-Fortune for the warlord (goes away when failed). All of those are super useful (assuming you have at least one wraith unit). You can also make a Wraithlord or Wraithknight your Warlord, which is cool. Using this table for normal HQ’s is the hotness also, as an Avatar or Autarch for example, can really gain a lot form it.
The Primaris Spirit Seer power is really hot, 2 warp charge, but grants all Wraith units within 12″ Furious Charge and Battle Focus! Wowzers, that is really, really good! It makes Wraithblades hit even harder and a Wraithknight with Battle Focus is so solid! Also, Wraithguard with D-Scythes becomes even more devastating than they already were! Plus you can take 1-5 Spirit Seers as a single HQ choice. You can go crazy with some death stars with that, but don’t forget you have to take that Iyanden Primaris.
You also get access to some really cool special issue wargear! Some of these are real gems. It is important to note that while you can take items from this or the special Eldar lists, a single model can not choose from both. The ability to cherry pick to an extent is really, really good.
The Wraithforge Stone gives you a 3+ to heal a wound on a Wraithlord or Knight!! Holy moly, that combined with the Restore power could be incredibly useful. If your opponent can’t kill a Lord or Knight in a single round of shooting, they shouldn’t even bother.
The Celestial Lance is a pretty solid weapon, to me designed for an Autarch on a bike or with Wings. It both shoots and assaults pretty well so long as you get the charge, you will be doing some work. It also causes models killed by it to explode for extra damage.
The Guardian Helm of Xellethon is solid as well. It means you auto pass LoS! rolls so long as you can pass the wounds to a Wraithguard or Blade. It also allows you to use either of those types of models to accept a challenge. Nice! That could be really useful for dealing with per powerful characters like Draigo or Abbadon. Let them munch a single Wraith model while you unit kills theirs.
The Spear of Teuthlas is a rending Singing Spear. A bit pricey for what you get, but cool.
My favorite though, is the Soulshrive! This thing is straight up bananas. It is S3 AP2, Master Crafted, Melee. Nice, but the rela kicker is that for each unsaved wound you cause with the weapon, it’s strength goes up by 1 to a max of 10!!! Holy crap! Put this on an Autarch on a bike, have him turn two assault a squishy unit to go Super Sayan, and then run around bringing the heat on anything he touches! That is pretty solid, right there!
While that is essentially the extent of the rules, they subtly add a lot to the army. This really allows you to play the army in a very different way. It is still Eldar, but you can have a distinctly Iyanden force. Or, if you like to power game, you can pick and choose the best abilities to build exactly the list you want to build. My only minor critique would be that it would have been nice to see a little FoC swapping, but as you can already make Wraith units troops and they allow a Wraithknight to be your Warlord, I can see why they didn’t. However if we see a Biel Tan supplement for example, I hope we can at least get a single Aspect as a troops choice or something similar.
What really excited me about this though, is that the book sold out. Hopefully this means that we will see more of them! And why not? if it turns a profit it could really, really open up the game for us. I mean, we already have seen an exponential increase in build opportunities and with multiple supplements for each army, plus allies, plus Forge World….holy crap. Your imagination becomes the limit to what you can do. Imagine supplements like this for Space Marine Legions, Ork Clans, IG Regiments, Dark Eldar Cabals, Necron Tomb Worlds, Tyranid Hive Fleets, etc., etc., etc. It is pretty awesome to think about what could be done with this. So here’s to hoping we get more!
Now for that broken combo we promised!
I can’t take credit for this and I am sure others have seen it already, but it was new to me. While on the Imperial Vox Caster pod cast the host, Bill, asked me if it was legal to attach Illic Night Spear to a unit and infiltrate using his special rule which allows you to ignore the normal range restrictions on infiltration.
That is straight up cray cray.
As infiltrate confers onto a unit from an IC, it appears that you can take Illic and say, a unit of Wraithguard with D-Scythes, and infiltrate 1″ away from the enemy. Assuming you have first turn and don’t get seized on, you then erase an enemy unit with little to nothing they ca do about it. And considering infiltration occurs after normal deployment, you can put this unit where they will do the most damage. I can’t imagine this was intentional, but I see no rule that prohibits it.
(Edit: Has this broken combo been broken? I have always played the rule that an IC with infiltrate can join a unit in deployment and grant the ability onto them. Pg.38 strongly implies that that is the intent. However, Pg.39 tells us that IC’s can begin the game with a unit, but with the caveat that to do so they must deploy in coherency with them or be placed in reserves with them. In order to be placed in coherency with a unit, both the unit and the IC must have infiltrate. Therefore, an IC doesn’t actually confer his ability onto a unit as order of operations tells us you can’t do both simultaneously without both units have the rule. Now, to me the implication is quite clear that the opposite should be true, however, perhaps GW is more clever than we give them credit for and this was a way to say an IC with Infiltrate can only Infiltrate with a unit that has the rule but they can outflank a unit that does not. Possible, but I think the rules for an IC joining a unit were just poorly written as the first sentence of an IC joining a unit stating they can begin the game already with a unit seems to tell the story. What do you guys think? I am glad to have an argument to stop this broken combo but are we throwing the baby out with the bathwater? A lot of other units will get affected by this, too.)
(Edit 2: Illic’s rule states that he has infiltrate, and then goes on to state that he ignores range restrictions. The way the rule is worded it is unclear of the modification to infiltrate applies to him specifically or to his rule. It is an important distinction because if it modifies the rule he would be able to grant his improved infiltrate onto his unit. If it pertains to him, then no. However as a second caveat, assuming you accept the above argument it is moot as the units would have to both deploy and then join, and as only Illic at that time would be able to ignore the range restrictions, it wouldn’t work. What you could do though, is use him to get the unit a little bit closer 2″ coherency and his 1″ base. What do you guys think?)
If you go second it isn’t as punishing (still really solid, though!) and if you get seized on this often means you instead handed all those points to your opponent, but when it works….wow. Roughly 5/12 games it will work out for you (assuming you don’t try and pull this off with a seize) which is not bad odds considering how powerful it can be.
Until and if it gets FAQ’d, that is going to be pretty gnarly.
IC’s can only join units during regular deployment or reserves..
I think the Iyanden supp is great. Really, there are no downsides.
To clarify, ICs join the squad by being placed in coherency with them. So before you place the IC on the table, he hasn’t actually joined the squad to grant them the rule (unless you place them in reserves, but that precludes Infiltrating, though you could Outflank).
So your regular deployment goes, and if you hold back the IC to Infiltrate, you’re forced to deploy the squad because they haven’t gained Infiltrate yet and you can’t hold them back without Infiltrate. If you deploy the IC to grant them Infiltrate, then you’ve just deployed normally so Infiltrate doesn’t do you any good.
Ah, I see your argument. Pg.39 implies that the ONLY way to join a unit is to deploy with them or join them in reserves and order of operations dictates you cannot infiltrate with a unit until you have joined them. OK, I see that. I feel that the intention of the rule was the opposite as on Pg.38 it has a caveat for an IC not being able to join a unit of infiltrators if it lacks the rule but stating that if a unit has at least one model with infiltrate they can do so. That to me says quite clearly what the rules writers intended but by strict RAW they achieved the opposite result, hahaha.
Hmm, I suppose the real argument then is, “can a unit begin the game with an IC attached.” That would therefore allow them to do what it seems they were intended to do.
The illic combo doesn’t work. Rules are specific about attaching IC to squads at deployment, you can only do it by sending them into the same transport or by deploying the character within 2″ of the unit. If deploy the unit first, wraithguard don’t have infiltrate on their own so they can’t get out there to be joined by illic. If you deploy illic first, wraithguard can’t be placed by him since, again, they don’t have infiltrate.
Additionally, that rule says only Illic can ignore the range restrictiton. It does not extend that ability to the unit, so you can’t drop him 2″ away from enemy and then put a squad of scorpions by him, either.
I don’t see the argument against him doing this with Scorps (I do see the argument against it with a non-infiltrating unit though). I mean, let’s be clear, I am against this combo for sure as it is totally ridiculous, but his rule states that he has Infiltrate, and then goes on to modify his infiltrate rule without placing caveats on it. To further muddy the water, the amended rule section doesn’t even specify Illic, it seems to reference the rule itself.
I suppose though that you could make the argument that the amendment to infiltrate he has only applies to him. It is not clear at all though. They should have worded it as: Walker of the Hidden Path functions like infiltrate while allowing Illic to ignore range restrictions although this does onto confer on to any unit he joins.
I would also like to add, that even if it is FAQ’d that ICs can go along with an infiltrating unit, Illic’s additional rules are more than just infiltrate, and since they don’t mention anything about it to being confered with the unit he’s with, it still wouldn’t allow him to infiltrate with wraithguard.
Yup, shrike can do it as he has a FAQ dedicated to making it work. Also crazy
Spirit seer combo, get the gem that lowers costs by one warp charge at the loss of the invul save from the eldar book for the guy taking the primaris so he can still double buff.
Also how awesome is the primaris with the +3 run on the wraith guard threat range of 27inches rather than 18 you get from the basic book.
Yeah, I was thinking about that, too! Crazy little fact too, it appears that those powers stack?! The odds of having a lot of them aren’t that high, but if they do stack it is conceivable to battle focus +6″ or more to your run.
The Infiltrate question is annoyingly unclear. Shrike’s rule doesn’t necessarily make him an exception- it just says
“Shrike (and any models in a unit chosen from Codex: Space Marines that he has joined before deployment) benefit from the Infiltrate special rule”
‘Joining units before deployment’ isn’t phrased as a special rule here- the rule doesn’t say ‘Shrike can join units before deployment’, it just assumes that’s already happened, which makes it look like something anyone can do. The point of the rule is arguably just to limit the effect to Codex Space Marines units.
In fact, since the rule doesn’t actually grant Shrike the ability, you could argue that he can’t Infiltrate other units either. Sure, it’ll work on ‘a unit he has joined before deployment’, but since according to the rules he can’t join units before deployment anyway… it has no effect.
FAQ needed, basically.
This was my take on it, too. It seems to be implied quite strongly that IC’s with infiltrate can bring along their buddies. That is the way we have been playing it here (perhaps incorrectly) as it just seemed obvious as to the intent. We actually never even questioned it, this is the first time I have heard a counter argument against it, actually.
Oh, and if a FAQ ever does allow it, I know what I’ll be doing… Karandaras attached to three D-cannon artillery, safely behind cover and about 24″ away from whatever needs to be hit by a triple S10 AP1 D-barrage…
I’ve been wanting to use Huron to give himself infiltrate, then attach him to 30 Zombies w/ Typhus. And still have d2 more units that can infiltrate.. Instead of relying on rolling a 3 for my d3 and having to use all 3 on a single blob.
With Karandras, and a warlock with conceal… that’s a hefty cover save.
No Reecius, you very clearly cannot infiltrate anything other than Illic himself closer than 12″ or 18″.
What makes you say that? I was trying to come up with the same argument, but his rule state he has infiltrate that also does x,y,z. There are no restrictions in there.
It indicates he has Infiltrate, however it doesn’t say anything about the other abilities being transferred to his unit.
It also doesn’t say they do not. It is not very clear. My first read was that he had a modified infiltrate that otherwise followed the normal rules for infiltration.
“It also doesn’t say they do not.”
Really? I expected better from you Reecius. You know full well that 40k is a permissive rule set, and you MUST be given permission to do something rather than be disallowed from doing it.
In addition, the rules actually DO state that you are not allowed to do this. Page 32 BRB under “What special rules do I have” specifically states that a model or unit does not have a special rule unless it is listed on their profile or granted by something else.
Right there is a rule stating that Illic’s unit does NOT have the special rule unless it is specifically granted to them in some way.
Page 39 of the BRB under “Independent Characters” under the sub-heading “Special Rules” unequivocally states that an IC does not confer special rules onto a unit and a unit does not confer special rules onto an IC unless it is specifically stated in the rule that this is so.
There is a rule right there specifically stating that Illic’s rule CANNOT be conferred onto a unit unless THAT rule states it is conferred.
Illic’s rule is called “Walker of the Hidden Path”. That rule is specifically disallowed by the rules from being conferred onto a unit Illic joins. The only exception to that is if “Walker of the Hidden Path” states in its rule that it is conferred to a unit that Illic joins.
“Walker of the Hidden Path” says no such thing.
The rules are very clear that “Walker in the Hidden Path” is not conferred onto a unit that Illic joins, and the only rule granting the right to infiltrate while ignoring the usual range restrictions is “Walker in the Hidden Path”. If the unit or model does not have “Walker in the Hidden Path” then it is not granted the right to ignore the range restrictions when infiltrating.
This is very, very clear in the rules.
I agree that there are a lot of people trying to muddy the waters on this and trying to make it something that is open to interpretation. I mostly blame that on early rumors that said this was possible. Now that the codex has been released, the rules are very clear that it is indeed NOT possible.
All these arguments about when does infiltrate get conferred are completely moot. It doesn’t matter, because the only rule granting the right to infiltrate while ignoring range restrictions is “Walker of the Hidden Path”. And that rule is NOT conferred onto a unit that Illic joins.
Woah, haha, I wasn’t trying to start a fight here, I was just curious as to your point of view.
His rule states that he has Infiltrate, then goes on to modify infiltrate. Infiltrate is conferred onto a unit so long as one model has it. It really isn’t as clear to others as it is to you. You may be right, I think you have a good argument, but the key to having a rules debate and not an argument, is to not take an absolute stance. Things break down at light speed when we do that.
Has anyone stopped to think how rediculously exploitive and unfair this is to your opponent, even IF IT’S LEGAL? Or did we just toss that out the window. If it requires a wall of text to explain to your opponent how you are doing this rediculously broken “trick,” you probably are trying to hard and might be cheating. Just play the game. Eldar are a very strong codex which can stand on its own without people rules lawyering ways to do highly exploitive things like this. I am a competative player who runs the best lists I can field, but I could not look my opponent in the eye and even consider trying such an obviously exploitive move. I fear the desire to win has overridden both common decensy, and common sense in this situation.
I agree, however your assertion requires both parties to be on the same page. What you feel is common sense the other person may feel the exact opposite is common sense and from that conflict do rules arguments arise.
I wish it were as simple as doing what felt right, but it isn’t. People get really upset with rules issues, especially when they feel they are right.
Now, is this combo broken? Yeah, it sure is and I agree that it should not be possible which it doesn’t look like it is.
“Woah, haha, I wasn’t trying to start a fight here”
Then present a reasonable basis for your assertion instead of falling back on “well it doesn’t say I can’t”. If you want to have a discussion, then have one. If you want to make silly comments like that one, then I’m going to call you on it (and I would expect you to call me on it if the reverse were true).
Back to my actual issue with your argument:
“His rule states that he has Infiltrate, then goes on to modify infiltrate”
No it doesn’t actually. The operative noun of the sentence is Illic Nightspear, not the word infiltrate. So the sentence discusses what Illic can do, not what infiltrate can do.
But we’ll ignore that for the moment, and I will assume that what you are saying is correct. In which case, infiltrate would be granted to the unit that Illic is attached to. The ability to ignore the range restrictions still would not be. <– That ability is granted by the special rule "Walker of the Hidden Path", which is Illic's special rule. Illic's rule is not granted to a unit he's attached to. Illic's rule would HAVE to state that it is granted to his unit. Illic's rule does not state this.
I have clearly shown you the rules that state that Illic's rule is not granted to his unit. No matter how you read Illic's rule, it is not ever granted to a unit he joins. And without Illic's rule, you are not granted permission to ignore the range restrictions on infiltrate. Illic's rule can "modify infiltrate" all it wants, because it will only ever modify infiltrate for a model or unit that has Illic's rule. And, once again, no unit joined by Illic is ever granted Illic's rule.
Your argument has absolutely no basis in the rules whatsoever.
Or is it your contention that Illic's rule updates and modifies the Infiltrate rule in the BRB? In which case you do not need Illic on the board. You don't need him attached to the unit. Hell, you don't even need him in your army. If Illic's rule changes the infiltrate rule, then I can use it to infiltrate multiple units of Chaos Terminators 1" from my opponent.
After all, there is nothing in Illic's rule saying he needs to be on the board or a part of your army for his rule to work. According to you his abilities are just always on and have nothing to do with being attached to a unit.
That's how ridiculous your argument is.
Or are you actually saying that he does need to be attached? Because if Illic needs to be attached to a unit to grant HIS SPECIAL RULE to the unit, then we are right back to the rules that I have indicated. Rules that very clearly state that Illic's rule is not granted to his unit, because Illic's rule would HAVE to say that it is granted to his unit in order for that to happen..
Illic's rule does not say this. Again, Illic's rule can change Infiltrate all it wants (which it doesn't), but it would only ever change it for Illic. Not for the unit he is attached to, because for the rule to alter infiltrate for Illic and his attached unit, the rule would have to expressly state that it modifies the infiltrate rule for units that Illic is attached to.
I don't know how many times I have to say this:
You are NOT given permission to grant Illic's rule to the unit he is joined to, and without Illic's rule you are NOT given permission to infiltrate closer than 12" or 18". Illlic's rule only grant's Illic himself the ability to ignore the normal restrictions on infiltrate.
If you disagree then show me the rule which states, "Illic's Nightspears Walker of the Hidden Path rule is granted to any unit he joins".
If you cannot produce a rule that says exactly that, then you have no basis for your argument.
I think you missed the point I was trying to make and my tone. That is easy to do on the internet.
I understand that the rules are permissive. I wasn’t making the argument that you can do anything the rules don’t expressly prohibit. I was working from the assumption that you could infiltrate with a character, and that as Illic has a form of infiltration, his rule would apply. So, my point was since infiltrate does X,Y,Z, and Illic has modified infiltrate, then logically he could take a unit with him and they would benefit form his improved form of infiltration.
As it seems that you are pretty worked up I will just leave it at I am most likely mistaken on this rule, and that it most likely does not work the way I thought it did. Internet arguments are really pointless so I am not going to engage any further on that topic. I think you made some good points but you are also a little too emotionally charged (at least that is how I read your comments, I could be wrong).
Reduction ad absurdum is a cheap debating tool and only makes others feel small, I would avoid it to prevent upsetting others on the Internet unless that is your aim.
The infiltrate rule has been debated in many locations and most haven’t fully reached a conclusion.
From a competitive standpoint a number of tournaments have FAQ’d it that it works (4th place Adepticon Eldar Army did it with Karandras with permission) so regardless of rules interpretation I’d check with your TO first.
Well said. Arguing on the internet too quickly devolves into a battle of egos and as such, I usually just refuse to engage as nothing gets accomplished in most cases. All it tends to do is typically piss both parties off to no gain.
I think as you said, this is really not a clear case at all, and it will often come down to player choice or TO prerogative.
bwahahaha, do it till the internet screams STOP
Cray cray cray… Hope you go first just like Tau
If you’ve got first turn you can infiltrate illic next to your enemies quad gun and fire 4 BS 9 precision shots with it… Now that’s funny.
HA! Hahahahahaha!! I hadn’t considered that, that is so funny!
This certainly does need a FAQ, but I think it should allow Illic to infiltrate a unit based on the practical application of this rule. There is no reason for Illic to be 1″ away from the enemy unless he is leading a unit. He is a sniper, not a close combat expert. The post above about infiltrating onto an enemy quad-gun is amusing, but unless you feel like giving your opponent an easy First Blood point this rule only works if Illic brings a unit with him.
Oh yeah, I agree. Illic up close would be good for a laugh and then he dies so hey.
its totally Illic Distortion flamer fun, 535 points in the back field just ready to get countered with everything in the army after they get off one terrifying death template storm, then turn 2 infiltrate 30 path followers onto him for one round of snap fire and you’ll win every game for sure !!!! thumbs up