We’ve recently been teasing you with Psychic Awakening… well, teasers, but as of Saturday, you’ll finally be able to pre-order your shiny new Aeldari miniatures – and the first book in the Psychic Awakening series! Let’s take a look at the details…
This article was originally published on the Warhammer-community page.
Blood of the Phoenix
We may have shown you some new models, but we haven’t shown you the amazing boxed set they come in! Blood of the Phoenix is the biggest battlebox that we’ve ever released. Not only does it feature 12 new plastic miniatures, including the stunning Incubi and Howling Banshee kits – not to mention two unique Characters, Jain Zar and Drazhar – but some Scourges, Hellions and no less than three vehicles too!
In addition to the miniatures, Blood of the Phoenix includes a 40-page campaign book telling the tale of the ancient grudge between those who fled the Fall aboard the space-faring Craftworlds and those who arrogantly continued the dark practices that first damned their race.
The action then follows Drazhar’s quest to cement his place in legend by slaying a Phoenix Lord in combat, and you can refight each stage of his bloodthirsty journey with three Echoes of War missions that are inspired by the narrative. Finally, the book features all of the datasheets for the models in the battlebox – including the awesome new rules for Jain Zar and Drazhar, both of whom are now utterly terrifying!
Psychic Awakening: Phoenix Rising
The first in an upcoming series of Psychic Awakening books, Phoenix Rising recounts the seismic events that may well change the future of the Aeldari race forever. Desperate alliances will be forged against ancient enemies. Hope and despair will become entwined. The mightiest champions of the Asuryani, Drukhari and Ynnari will fight as one to prevent their ultimate doom. Of course, this is just the first part of a galaxy-spanning series of events that is set to change the fate of Warhammer 40,000 forever, so even if you’re not an Aeldari fan, chances are you’ll want to get your hands on this book anyway!
You can read all about it and get all of the info you need to refight the key battles in an 80-page hardback book, deluxe Collector’s Edition, or in Enhanced and ePub digital formats. If you’re looking to treat yourself, the Collector’s Edition includes an additional 16 pages of background material, featuring Psychic Awakening fiction in the form of four short stories that won’t be available in print anywhere else!
In addition to a trio of exciting Echoes of War missions, Phoenix Rising includes rules for two Theatres of War – High Altitude and Maiden World – that you can apply to any of your battles. There are also the updated datasheets for all of the new miniatures from Blood of the Phoenix, as well as a number of other key Characters and units from the narrative.
And that’s just the start! There are loads of new rules and abilities for the Asuryani and Drukhari – an entire codex expansion’s worth of content! These include Exarch Power options for each Aspect temple, a third psychic discipline in the Runes of Fortune and new customisable Craftworld Attributes that work like the Successor Tactics in Codex: Space Marines! You’ll also find rules for Drukhari Obsessions (specifically for the Kabals, Wych Cults and Haemonculus Covens), and the full set of Ynnari rules first featured in May’s issue of White Dwarf.
White Dwarf – October 2019
On the topic of White Dwarf, you’ll also be able to pre-order your copy of October’s issue next weekend. While you’re at it, why not subscribe to receive your future copies through the post (usually a few days early, and always with exclusive, full-cover art), as your subscription will conveniently start from next month!
Keep an eye out for these fantastic releases, all of which will be available to pre-order next weekend. We’ll have more Phoenix Rising and Blood of the Phoenix previews for you to look forward to over the coming week, so be sure to check back every day for more awesome previews. Remember to sign up to our newsletter for all the latest information too!
And remember, Frontline Gaming sells gaming products at a discount, every day in their webcart!
I am so excited for this.
It really is a relief to know that Marines aren’t the only ones getting supplements and cool new rules. Hope these can measure up.
Looks promising.
I’m saddened not to see anything for Harlequins in this supplement though, maybe they’re still to come. They’re just dismal right now other than bikes. I ran into iron hands at my last tournament and was defeated turn one, tabled down to my units cowering behind BLOS, then those died right afterward. When I got to them I died super easy to boosed overwatch, there was literally nothing I could do, it was dumb.
Hoping to see other phoenix lords get an update, there are some dogs in there. A new Eldar codex actually, internal balance needs… a lot of work.
And Ynnari are going to be unchanged in this supplement? Ugh. They needed a nerf but now they’re just awful since they’re forced to that those HQs that eat too many points, and their power isn’t as good as Alatioc…. Not by a mile.
Yeah. Really curious to see if they bring Eldar up now so that average gamers (not super-jank ITC top 500 players) can bring an Eldar army and have a fun, exciting and close game against triple IH Repulsor, Ultramarine Aggressors, etc..
Doubt it’ll happen though.
On the other hand, if 20 to 30 Banshees will be the recipe for this, that’ll be a lot of spare Falcons and Vypers to go with that, lol.
“Oh hey, remember the Ynnari “codex” that we scrawled on the back of a napkin? Well that’s in the book, too. No of course we haven’t used this opportunity to fix even a single one of the glaring issues with its rules.”
I’m excited too, but GW are pretty good trolls bundling the upgrade to the 1990s Banshees and Jain Zar with 1990s Falcons and Vypers.
Falcons and Vypers taking new models Eldar players waited for more than 20 years hostage, how apt.
I’m very excited to put a squad of Banshees on the table and then have them instantly evaporate to a combination of indirect fire, boltguns, and regular melee punches from my opponent’s space marines.
But hey, at least they took away the one useful rule that Jain Zar had going for her, and replaced it with a completely worthless anti-horde ability.
I know I am in the minority but I love Banshees. They’re incredibly useful.
I love Banshees, too, I converted up twenty of them to use in casual games. But, conversely, I am well aware of their problems and failings, and in the current environment the problems they suffered before are vastly magnified. Shutting down overwatch and charging long distances is cool, but it ain’t gonna save you from the Ironstone, or Assault Centurions, or flyers fronting character Dreads. They’ll run up, scratch the paint slightly, and then get cut to pieces by AP-1 guns and AP-4 melee.
As I always tell people, they’re not there to actually kill anything. They’re cheap, fast and a great utility for tying things up.
What about Harlequins???
GW responded to that question on their Instagram, nothing in this book for Harlequins. Which, if all factions are impacted by PA, makes me wonder where they’ll turn up.
Strange they left them out but cool. Thank you
Not going to wait and see what the new rules are before judging?
I won’t say it’s impossible that they become good with these rules changes, but it seems unlikely; the information we have seen so far basically shows them to be the same in terms of broad strokes and does not solve any of their fundamental problems. And Banshees are already fairly cheap, so we aren’t likely to see a 5-10pt price drop on them, either.
The game is super killy now. Units need to have incredible durability or the ability to be placed anywhere on the board and strike on the same turn. I love Banshees and their no overwatch mechanic is awesome to help bring in more powerful assault elements, but they need a way to get there. Marine indirect fire is cheap, effective and incredibly efficient. Banshees need a way to get there.
I’d love to take some Incubi also. They have a lot of attacks and can get up to damage 3, but again they need a way to get there. Plus they need a way to get +1 to wound in combat so they become damage 3 on 5-6’s.
I know it’s a lot to ask, but IMO that is where we are right now. Everybody has access to Bobby G and the Repulsor’s now, not just Ultramarines. You can’t out shoot that stuff. You have to assault it somehow.
Well, if Marines are truly the first wave of a new design philosophy, Eldar versions of the basic point-and-click-style-list ought to go up to the same mathhammer baseline.
E.g. an Eldar flotilla of prisms and falcon in a nobody-move shootout should have roughly the same input/output math as the Iron Hands Repulsors. Volume-shooty units like Scatterbikes should ~triple their shots at better AP to be comparable to Aggressors. Wraithknights should finally be brought in line with Krast Crusaders, etc.. Detachment CP, cc-specialty-Knight bonuses, etc.. Perhaps as a doctrine-equivalent or something (non-vehicle?) Eldar get a flat -1 to hit on top of Alaitoc to balance out the insane Marine-re-rolls and +1-to-hit-candy-everywhere. Lots of ways they could make Eldar half-way viable again.
Of course, more likely Nu-Marines are just GW dropping the ball and not doing anything about it till 9th.
I’m hopeful to see what Psychic Awakening does for the Aeldari. The game I recently had against a Raven Guard player using his new codex for the first time was fun, but disheartening also. Eliminators are not good for Aeldari characters. And Str 8, -5 AP, damage 2 rapid fire overcharged Hellblasters in the Tactical Doctrine? With emo guy giving rerolls to mitigate the 1s. Yikes. Hope the rumors about Disintegrator Cannons getting a points increase in CA2019 are wrong.