Review of 8th ed 40k Codex: Craftworlds aka: Eldar Part 1 of 3.

Howdy partners, Reecius here form Frontline Gaming to bring you a slightly overdue review on the new 8th ed Codex Craftworlds….or the Eldar Codex. Check the Tactics Corner for more great reviews. Part 1 of this review will cover the army and Craftworld wide special rules, psychic powers, Warlord Traits, relics, and stratagems.

And as always, you can purchase this and other Games Workshop products from Frontline Gaming’s web-cart at a discount every day, with FREE shipping within the continental USA for orders $99 and up!

Codex: Craftworlds is a seriously awesome book. Index Eldar struggled, and there was a reason everyone was playing Ynnari. Now however, you can play a specific Craftworld and not only compete but kick ass. Beyond the obvious points drops, there are so many combos and layered unit interactions in it that it is hard to contain my enthusiasm. This is a codex that provides tremendous depth and opportunities for mastery. Every time you play, you will see more and more potential combinations giving it a very nuanced and subtle feel with a multitude of play style options, which is perfect for Eldar, in my opinion.

Army Wide Special Rules

• Ancient Doom: Re-roll hit rolls in the fight phase if you charge or are charged by Slaanesh units, but also must add 1 to morale checks if within 3″ of them.
• Battle Focus: units with this rule can move and advance but shoot any weapons apart from Heavy as if they had not moved.
• The Path of Command: Autarch’s have a re-roll 1 aura for friendly <Craftworld> units within 6″ and if the Autarch is your Warlord and on the table, each time you spend a CP on the roll of a 6 you do not lose it.
• The Path of War: In a battle-forged Craftworlds Detachment, all Troops gain ObSec. Phoenix Lords can be taken and not lose these benefits.

These are fun abilities. Ancient Doom obviously doesn’t kick in that frequently (but is great when it does), however, Battle Focus is bad ass. I love it, the extreme mobility of the Eldar army is just a blast to experience. Path of Command is also very nice, regaining CP and a re-roll aura hardly require explanation and give you a big incentive to use an Autarch. The only problem I find myself having is which awesome HQ to take! Eldar have so many incredible choices available to them. My lists often have 4+ HQs in them as they all bring so much to the table.

Warlord Traits

Eldar have some very solid Warlord Traits available to them.

• Ambush of Blades: Hit rolls of 6+ in the fight phase for friendly <Craftworlds> units within 6″ the Warlord increase the ap of that attack by -1.
• An Eye on Distant Events: Enemy units may not fire Overwatch at your Warlord.
• Falcon’s Swiftness: +2 to your Warlord’s Move characteristic.
• Fate’s Messenger: Your Warlord gains +1 to wound and a 6+ FnP.
• Mark of the Incomparable Hunter: Your Warlord can target enemy Characters even if they are not the closest model.
• Seer of the Shifting Vectors: Once per Battle Round, your Warlord can re-roll a single hit roll, wound roll, save roll, Psychic test or Deny the Witch test made for your Warlord.

Obviously, those are pretty dang good. I tend to go with Falcon’s Swiftness on my Avatar as boosting him up to a 9″ move to speed him up which is very powerful in my list, but they are all very good. Mark of the Incomparable Hunter on an Autarch with Fusion Pistol, while short ranged, can be devastating.

And important to note: Phoenix Lords cannot take Warlord Traits. I often find giving it to the Farseer is a solid bet as they tend to not die very frequently in their support role.

Ambush of Blades has tremendous potential, too. I like to use Storm Guardians as a screen unit in my Eldar armies and with this Warlord Trait, and some additional buffs such as the Enhance or Empower psychic powers, plus re-rolls from an Autarch, combined with Doom, and even a stratagem like Supreme Disdain and they actually become deadly combatants! With a full unit of 20, they put out 40 attacks potentially hitting on 2’s with re-rolls, wounding T4 targets on a 4+, becoming rend -1 on a 5+ to hit which also generate additional attacks due to Supreme Disdain, and re-rolling failed wound rolls. You will be shocked at how quickly this wimpy unit all of a sudden starts chopping things to bits! That is a common theme in the Carftworlds Codex. It is all about finding those synergies that take a unit from good to amazing. We’ll be sure to take a look at more of them as we go!

Stratagems

There are loads of absolutely awesome stratagems in the Craftworlds Codex. As stated numerous times in previous, similar articles, 8th ed 40k lists will often be built around their stratagems and Eldar are no exception. They have some fantastic options in this regard. Let’s take a look at some of my favorite options!

• Celestial Shield: 1 CP, a unit of Guardians gains a 4++ for the shooting phase. You use it after they’ve been targeted.
  • This is AWESOME. If you use Guardians as your screen unit, the benefit is obvious. However, it goes up to an 11 when you combine it with things like the Protect and/or Fortune psychic powers for a potential 3++ with a 5+ FnP style save! Toss in Alaitoc for a possible -1 to hit and those wimpy Guardians can become neigh unkillable in the shooting phase.
• Cloudstrike: 1 CP, allows you to place an Asuryani Vehicle in deep strike reserves and if it has any units embarked, they get to go along with it. May not be used with Webway Strike.
  • This is another amazing Stratagem. For barely any investment, you get perfect defense against the alpha strike and can wait to see how a game develops before delivering a transport and unit where they are most useful. Just remember, you cannot disembark as this occurs at the end of the movement phase.
• Forewarned: 2 CP, Your standard “interceptor” stratagem to shoot units coming in from reserves.
  • I mention it only because not every Codex has gotten it and it is very good!
• Concordance of Power: 1 CP, doubles the range of a Warlock Conclave’s psychic power.
  • As the Runes of Battle psychic powers are stupidly amazing, this is also an amazing stratagem.
• Unparalleled Mastery: 1 CP, allows a Farseer to cast another power.
  • When you really need Fortune, Doom AND Guide or Smite in the same turn, well, here you go.

• Feigned Retreat: 2 CP, a unit may fall back from combat and still shoot and charge.
  • One of my favorite stratagems in the book and incredibly useful. Not being shut down in melee is worth its weight in gold, particularly with the incredibly mobile Eldar units that may take advantage of it.

• Linked Fire: 1 CP, can combo Fire Prisms fire power to give them all re-rolls to hit and wound if they fire at the same target.
  • This is obviously powerful, particularly when combined with the bad ass Pulsed Laser Discharge rule Fire Prisms got which lets them fire twice if they move half speed or less they can quickly make short work of things like Magnus, Mortarion, an Imperial Knight, etc. 
• Lightening-Fast Reactions: 2 CP, when a friendly Asuryani unit with the Fly keyword is targeted in the shooting phase, your opponent must subtract -1 to hit it for the rest of the phase.
  • Again, stacking this with Alaitoc, the Coneal power, etc. can quickly get a unit up to -3 to hit, making it essentially invulnerable to many shooting attacks. Not bad for delivering something like Fire Dragons up the field.
• Supreme Disdain: 1 CP, exploding 6’s to hit in the fight phase for a unit.
  • As noted above, combo this with the Enhance psychic power to get exploding attacks on a 5+.
• Webway Strike: 1 or 3 CP, place 1 unit in reserve or opt to pay 3 CP and put two units in reserves. These units then deep strike unto the table during the course of the game. Cannot be used with Cloudstrike.
  • Stupidly, amazingly awesome stratagem. The uses for it are longer than my arm and is an all-star ability. Fire Dragons will be raining form the sky!
• Overloaded Field Energy Projectors: 1 CP, allows you to fire a Serpent Shield for a second time.
• Starhawk Missile: Allows you to deal D3 mortal wounds to a target that can Fly when firing an Infantry model’s Aeldari missile launcher on a successful hit with +1.
  • Great for dealing with tough units like Magnus or Mortarion, etc. 
• Seer Council: 1 CP, if you have a Farseer within 6″ of a friendly Warlock, they both gain +1 to their Psychic tests for the rest of the phase.
  • Eldar Psychic powers are incredibly good, and this boosts them as they are typically WC 7 and helps a ton to make them reliable.

• Fire and Fade: 1 CP, allows an Asuryani unit to shoot and scoot 7″.
  • I use this bad boy all the time, it is incredibly useful with units to shoot then fade away behind cover, particularly after using the Webway Strike stratagem or something similar!
• Runes of Witnessing: 2 CP, friendly <Craftworld> units within 6″ of the targeted Farseer can re-roll wound rolls of 1 for the remainder of the phase in which the stratagem was used.
  • Stupid good for those turns when you really need to destroy whatever it is you are attacking or if Doom failed to go off. 
• Phantasm: 2 CP, pick up to 3 Asuryani units and redeploy them before the first battle round begins.
  • This is one of those stratagems that are amazing but may not seem that way at first glance. For anyone that played Eldrad back in 5th ed, you know how crazy good this is. You can use it for all kinds of high level tactics. You can bait your opponent by throwing units on a flank, forcing them to react to them, then pulling them back to the other side of the table. You can deploy units ultra aggressively but if you find yourself not going first, pull them back to safety. You can deploy units up-field to block enemy infiltrators, and then bring them back to safety once their job is done. This is an absolute gem of a stratagem. 
• The Tears of Isha: 2 CP, heal D3 wounds on a Wraith Construct.
  • Combo this with the new Bonesinger and you can potentially heal 2d3 wounds which is especially awesome if you are using Iyanden.
• Vaul’s Might: 1 CP, so long as two Support Weapons are within 6″ of one another, they both can re-roll 1’s to wound for that shooting phase.

• The Avatar Resurgent: 3 CP, after the Avatar is killed in the fight phase, this stratagem keeps him alive with D6 wounds.

Psychic Powers

Eldar have a blistering array of incredible Psychic powers available to them with essentially 18 different powers to choose from! These are quite simply amazing abilities. Runes of Battle especially having game changing powers in it.

• Runes of Battle: all of these have two options, one a friendly buff, the other an enemy debuff. The buff works on Asuryani Infantry and Bikers within 18″ (no LoS required), the debuff has no restrictions on what units it works on and is also 18″ with no LoS required.
  • Conceal/Reveal: WC 6, either granting a friendly unit -1 to hit vs. ranged weapons, or stripping cover from an enemy unit.
  • Embolden/Horrify: WC 6, +2 to friendly leadership, or -1 to enemy leadership.
  • Enhance/Drain: WC 7, either +1 to hit for a friendly unit or -1 to hit for an enemy unit.
    • As noted earlier, this combos especially well with any ability that triggers a special effect on a 6+ in melee as it will not trigger on a 5+ such as the Striking Scorpion Exarch’s Sustained Attack rule, doubling the amount of them you get!
  • Protect/Jinx: WC 7, +1 to a friendly unit’s saves or -1 to an enemy unit’s saves.
    • Stupid good. Remember, this impacts invulnerable saves, too!
  • Quicken/Restrain: WC 7, either move one of your units a second time in the psychic phase as if it were the movement phase, or halve the movement of an enemy unit.
    • Ridiculously, amazingly, beautifully good! No joke, this is one of the best powers in the entire game. Moving a unit like Howling Banshees or Fire Dragons a second time, or halving the movement pf a unit like Berzerkers or Magnus is game winning.
  • Empower/Enervate: WC 6, either +1 to wound rolls for a friendly unit in the fight phase or -1 to wound rolls for an enemy unit in the fight phase.
    • Again…bonkers good. Just incredible. As noted it makes your units that may not normally hit so hard much more dangerous and makes enemy units much less scary to your squishy Eldar. It also combos as with Enhance for abilities that trigger on a 6+ such as Asurmen‘s Sword of Asur.

• Runes of Fate: the traditional Eldar powers, still as good as ever.
  • Guide: WC 7, 24″ range, re-roll failed shooting attacks for a friendly unit.
  • Doom: WC 7, 24″ range, re-roll all failed wound rolls vs. the targeted enemy unit until the start of the next psychic phase.
    • This is also one of the best psychic powers in the game, and one you will want to focus your energies on getting off successfully as it can potentially buff your entire army.
  • Fortune: WC 7, 5+ FnP style roll for a friendly unit with 24″.
  • Executioner: WC 7, 18″ range, the nearest enemy unit takes D3 mortal wounds, if a model in the unit id destroyed, the unit takes another D3 mortal wounds.
  • Will of Asuryan: WC 5, 6″ fearless aura from the caster and +1 to Deny checks for the caster.
  • Mind War: WC 7, targets an enemy Character within 18″, both players roll a D6 adding their leadership, target takes a mortal wound for every point the Farseer wins the roll by.

Relics: Remnants of Glory

• Kurnous’ Bow: Replaces a Shuriken Pistol, same stats bu damage 2.
• The Phoenix Gem: The first time the bearer is slain deal D3 mortal wound to friendly units within 3″ on a 2+. If any mortal wounds are dealt, the bearer does not die but survives with a single wound.
• Shard of Anaris: replaces a model’s Power Sword, same stats but D3 damage and allows the bearer to re-roll failed wound rolls.
  • This is a great relic for an Autarch and dramatically increases their damage output. 
• Faolchu’s Wing: Infantry model only, bearer gains the Fly keyword and their move characteristic becomes 12″.
• Firesabre: replaces a model’s Power Sword, +1 strength, AP-4, 1 damage, on a 6+ to wound also deals a mortal wound.
• Blazing Star of Vaul: replaces a model’s Shuriken Catapult, increases the number of attacks of that weapon by 2.
• Shimmerplume of Achillrial: Autarch only, gives them a -1 to be hit.
  • Awesome! Particularly with Alaitoc and in combination with the Lightening-Fast Reactions stratagem.

 Craftworld Attributes, Relics, Warlord Traits, Characters and Stratagems

Alaitoc

Alaitoc is the Craftworld drawing the most attention online and for good reason, the -1 to hit ability for units 12″ or more away is very powerful, especially when combined with some of the other ways to stack -1 to hit on units, such as is native to Rangers and the Conceal power which gives a unit an additional -1 to hit for a potential -3 to hit! This can make your army incredibly difficult to take on in the shooting phase, especially for armies like Astra Militarum. Although, remember, this is no silver bullet as they can simply run up and punch you in the face, too! Eldar are squishy and even a Guardsman is a threat to you in melee. And as this will often be the only viable strategy left to them, you can count on this being what they do so bring some counter assault units.

However, this is a great baseline ability and helps to mitigate the alpha strike quite a bit and works well with seriously any army archetype. I don’t rate it quite as high personally as Eldar have so many ways to stay off of the table and often want to get close to deal maximum damage, but that is just me. What it does though is establish a baseline for an army that should win a long ranged shoot-out against a similar army due to the fact that you simply are harder to hit. We will be seeing a LOT of Aliatoc armies in the months to come.

• Fieldcraft: Your opponent is -1 to hit your units if they shoot at you from more than 12″ away.

• Pathfinders: Alaitoc Stratagem, 1 CP, used when a unit of Aliatoc Rangers is chosen as a target in the shooting phase, attacks against this unit hit on 6’s regardless of modifiers for the rest of the phase.
• Puritanical Zeal: Alaitoc Warlord Trait, so long as all units within 6″ of your Warlord are Alaitoc, they automatically pass morale.
• Shiftshroud of Alanssair: Alaitoc relic, Infantry models only, bearer is -1 to hit in the shooting phase and can be set up in deep strike reserves.
  • Bad ass relic. Just incredibly good. 
• Illic Nightspear: an Alaitoc sniper Character that packs a damage 3 sniper rifle!

Biel-Tan

Biel-Tan is my favorite Craftworld package for a number of reasons. For one, my play-style and preference for using infantry and the fact that I love Aspect Warriors means they are my go to choice as that is what Biel-Tan is about. Plus, I use loads of Dire Avengers and other Shuriken weapon toting units that tend to get in very close to the enemy where something like the Alaitoc bonus would be less effective for my play-style. As Eldar have a plethora of ways to deliver themselves into close ranged battles, the need to withstand an alpha strike isn’t so important as they can simple stay off of the table.

Beyond my personal preference though, Biel-Tan has a lot to offer. The re-rolls of 1 to hit with Shuriken weapons is solid and the +1 leadership for Aspect Warriors helps quite a bit if you are running an MSU play-style as you just don’t have to worry about morale in most instances. Their Warlord Trait is one of the strongest I’ve seen and their unique Stratagem and relics are also very good.

This army compliments a combined arms strategy quite well and as all of the various Aspect Warriors have gotten boosted across the board. You can really create a fun and flexible army using Biel-Tan as a core. As units self-buff in most instances, they can operate solo or you can string together some crazy combinations with them using what is also a very true to the lore army-list, which I love.

• Swordwind: +1 Leadership for Aspect Warriors and units with Shuriken Weapons re-roll 1’s to hit.
  • This is great for not only Aspect Warriors. War Walkers and Windriders with Shuriken weapons, Guardians, etc. all benefit from it quite a bit.

• Court of the Young King: Biel-Tan stratagem, 2 CP, a Biel-Tan unit of Aspect Warriors that has an Exarch add 2 to their Charge rolls and re-roll 1’s to hit in the fight phase. If within 6″ of an Avatar when the stratagem is used, they add +3″ to their charge and re-roll all misses in the fight phase.
  • This is an awesome stratagem, it has loads of uses, not the least of which is catapulting units coming out of reserves into easy charges by giving them +3″ to that roll. For units like Striking Scorpions, this means a 6″ charge with a re-roll due to the Avatar. Or for Howling Banshees combined with the Quicken psychic power, they have a potential 46″ threat range! That is absurd, lol, and a lot of fun to use. Coming out of reserves, they only have a 3″ charge when using this stratagem! Which, considering they cannot be hit with over-watch, is pretty dang good. You can then send in your other units after without having to worry about taking any casualties on the way in.

• Natural Leader: Biel-Tan Warlord Trait, at the start of your shooting phase, a friendly Biel-Tan unit within 3″ of your Warlord may re-roll all failed misses for that phase.
  • An automatic Guide? Yes, please! This is an exceptional Warlord Trait. Park a Farseer near some Dark Reapers, Windriders a Wraithknight, War Walkers, etc. and profit. 
• The Spirit Stone of Anath’Lan: Biel-Tan psykers only, this relic allows you to re-roll failed psychic checks but if you fail on the second check you cannot cast any further powers that psychic phase.
  • You obviously use this after you’ve used Runes of the Farseer if you have it on a Farseer. However, I find it is often better to use it on a Warlock or Spiritseer.
• The Burnished Blade of Eliarna: Biel-Tan model with a Power Sword, this relic replaces the Power Sword and has the same stats apart from damage 2 and +1 strength and damage vs. Orks.

Iyanden has some awesome abilities that can create a very powerful and unique play-style. Obviously the theme is Wraith Constructs and much of what they offer revolves around buffing those units but by no means must you play a Wraith army to get a lot out of what Iyanden has to offer. They can ironically run very effective hordes of Guardians and they can also run effective mechanized lists due to their Stoic Endurance rule with not a Wraith unit in sight.

Iyanden though benefits a great deal from the Wraith units. Taking say, 10 Wraithguard with D-Scythes or Wraithblades and dropping them in using the Webway Strike stratagem, then having them move a second time thanks to the Quicken power form your Spiritseer, then blast the pants off of a target unit and/or charge them after having popped the Psytronome of Iyanden combined with the application of Guided Wraithsight and you can deliver a punishing blow to your opponent. Meanwhile, units of potentially 20 Guardians or perhaps 10 Dire Avengers to maximize the impact of Stratagems and Psychic Powers used on them, run around grabbing objectives with no fear of punishing morale checks while a Wraithknight provides fire support remaining at full efficacy until nearly dead (at which point you can easily repair him) and you have a powerful army. That is just one example as well, the possibilities are limitless.

• Stoic Endurance: units with this ability never lose more than a single model from a failed Morale check, and double the number of wounds remaining for determining which profile they use in the instance they have a degrading profile.
  • This is an awesome trait and means you can run larger units without any morale control units. Guardians especially love this as you can take full sized units with impunity, but also full strength units of Aspect Warriors too, take very good advantage of this boost. And, obviously, any vehicle heavy or Wraith Construct heavy army.
• Enduring Resolve: Iyanden Warlord Trait, allows your Warlord to Deny the Witch or if they already can, to Deny another power.

• Guided Wraithsight: Iyanden stratagem, 1 CP, allows an Iyanden Spiritseer to increase their Spirit Mark aura to 12″ and and allows friendly Iyanden Wraith Construct units to re-roll all failed hit rolls.
  • This is a potent stratagem and one you will use pretty much every turn you can. The downside of course, is getting into range to trigger it, but on a turn in which you use this plus the Iyanden Relic, you will wreck things.

• Psytronome of Iyanden: Iyanden Pysker relic only, once per battle, Iyanden Wraith units within 6″ double their attacks characteristics for the fight phase and then take D3 mortal wounds.
  • This is a devastating relic when you can pull it off. A Wraithknight with 24 titanic feet attacks in melee? Wraithlords with 8 or Wraithblades with 4 attacks? That is potentially devastating, particularly when combined with the stratagem above, as stated. 
• Prince Yriel: An Iyanden Autarch character with a powerful melee weapon.

Saim-Hann provides a compliment of abilities that largely gear you towards assault and Biker armies which matches the fluff. However, while they may not scream power like some of the other do, you can build quite a good army with Saim-Hann. Scatter Laser Windriders are back in force here, and packs of them with psychic support will be devastating, particularly in this meta filled with chaff units. Guide+Doom+Dozens of Scatter Lasers=dead chaff. With their new, lower price point, Windriders will be back in a big way.

The other benefit of Saim-Hann is utilizing any unit that wants to engage in melee and can also go into reserves. Striking Scorpions (who are great for filling out those Brigade detachments) can function largely on their own here and have a much higher chance of getting in to melee after coming on to the table. However, Howling Banshees too, using Webway Strike, are great with Saim-Hann as with their +3″ charge and a re-roll, will have a very high chance of making the charge from reserves and as they ignore over-watch, can really jam your opponent up.

Saim-Hann are also great for simply taking a detachment of them. An Outrider detachment consisting of an Autarch and three units of Scat Packs will bring a lot to an Eldar army needing really no other support.

• Wild Host: You can re-roll failed charges for Saim-Hann units and Bikers ignore the penalty for moving and firing heavy weapons.
  • The Saim-Hann trait certainly aims you at running Bikers but hey, that is the Saim-Hann role in the lore. That said, the Scat Pack is back in a big way, as legions of cheap Jet Bikes packing serious firepower will be sure to be seen zipping around the table in no time. Obviously also, melee units will benefit quite a bit from re-rolls to charge.
•  Warriors of the Raging Winds: Saim-Hann stratagem, 1 CP, Saim-Hann Bikers can advance and still charge and also re-roll 1’s to hit in the fight phase.
  • This begs to be used by Shinning Spears who are very good, now. With a massive 56″ potential threat range combined with Quicken, there is nowhere safe on the table form a roaming pack of Saim-Hann Shining Spears. 
• Wild Rider Chiefton: Your Warlord can Heroically Intervene 3″ towards the nearest enemy Character, even if they are not the closest unit. If they do so and direct all of their close combat attacks on that enemy Character, they gain a bonus attack.
  • This is a solid meh on the scale of bad to awesome. It’s not terrible but it certainly isn’t all that exciting, either although like many of the similar Astra Militarum Warlord Traits, it is characterful. 
• The Novalance of Saim-Hann: This replaces an Autarch’s Laser Lance and has the following profile: shooting: 12″, Strength 6, AP-4, 2 damage; melee: strength user +2, AP-4, 2 damage, and goes up to strength 8 on the charge. On a wound roll of a 6+, the weapon does 4 damage.

Ulthwe provides an army wide durability buff which while it doesn’t scream power, when you approach it mathematically, it is not bad. Essentially, your entire army becomes 16.6% more durable which when viewed from a wider perspective, is quite good. As it works against all wounds and at any range, it means your army can be built in any way you like and you benefit from it, which is nice. It gives you a lot of freedom to build a list in any way you like whereas a Carftworld like Saim-Hann really wants you to use Bikers.

That said, Ulthwe does have a stratagem that only works on Guardians but Guardians are quite good in my opinion, and cheap. They have a plethora of buffs available to you, too, and simply deep striking in a large unit and blasting someone with 2+ to hit Shuriken Catapults then fading away using the Fire and Fade stratagem is an easy and effective tactic that does a lot of damage. Likewise, even Storm Guardians with Fusion Guns coming in using the Webway Portal, or running around the table, hitting on a 2+ or with some character support, are quite good.

But the real strength of Ulthwe again, is in having total freedom to build whatever army you like and simply having them be more durable than they would have been.

• Foresight of the Damned: Ulthwe trait, gives you a 6+ FnP style save.

• Discipline of the Black Guardians: Ulthwe stratagem, allows a unit of Ulthwe Guardians to gain a +1 to hit in either the Fight or Shooting phase.
  • This is a deceptively good stratagem. It can be stacked with the Enhance psychic power to gain a +2 to hit, which when further combined with the Ambush of Blades Warlord Trait and Supreme Disdain Stratagem to have Storm Guardians hit on a 2+, with exploding 4’s which also become AP-1. You can further boost this as noted earlier in this article with Doom and/or Empower to make them scary in melee, averaging roughly 58 hits assuming you are re-rolling 1’s to hit, wounding on no worse than a 5+, half of which are AP-1. 20 Storm Guardians with these buffs will destroy roughly 13 Berzerkers. Alternatively, simply have a unit of 20 Guardians drop in using the Webway Strike Stratagem and then boost up to BS 2+ for a far simpler, but brutally effective combo as you shred something with 40 shots. Combo this with Doom and profit. 
• Fate Reader: If your army is Battle-forged on your Warlord is on the Battlefield, on the roll of a 6 each Battle Round, you gain a CP.
• Ghosthelm of Alishazier: +1 to cast Smite for your Ulthwe psyker.
• Eldrad Ulthran: an Ulthwe Farseer special character and one of the best psykers in the game. Eldrad is very hard to kill in addition to providing an extra psychic power per phase and increased odds of successfully casting powers. He’s all around a great unit and at a reasonable price point, too.

Well there you have it! Part 1 of this 8th ed Eldar review over and done with. Part 2, covering the units in the dex, will be coming shortly. In the meantime, which Craftworld set-up is your favorite?

 

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