I’ve got a big Eldar collection, and I’m beginning a Custodes collection. Here are my hopes for these armies in the new edition.
Eldar
Jank seems like it’s in a weird place in 9th. The missions favor tough units standing on objectives through your opponent’s turn, which the fragile Eldar are not good at. Furthermore, the new character targeting rules prevent you from leaving a couple of weenies in your backfield while your flying guns or teleporting fists of fury fly up the board and wreak havoc on your opponent. In general, when I play Eldar in 9th it will probably have a lot to do with Bikes.
Be it Skyweavers, Spears, or both, those fast-moving and hard-hitting units will find a place in my list. The other discussion point for me is Talos or Wraithlords/Wraithseers. They’re similarly pointed tough monsters. Which is better? The Wraithlords have much better shooting options and accuracy, and have access to Expert Crafters. They’re T8, but lack an invuln so could be swallowed up by the postulated anti-vehicle meta on the horizon.
Talos ar better in combat, have that 4++, and are still t7. Wraithseers are a nice balance between the two; they get that sweet 5++ and if they get access to smite in the Great ForgeWorld Redo, they come very interesting choices. I’m also more inclined to play with the Wraith Units because I can convert them and it will add to my armies Exodite theme (Dark Eldar don’t really do the exodite thing.)
Eldar, and most armies in the game, are going to have to look to their tougher units so they can hold those objectives in the middle of the table to score primary. It’s a whole new world for the elves, and victories will be achieved on the back of tough guys and fast explosive units.
Custodes
I suspect this will be the army I use in most competitive scenarios. See my article from last week about being a bandwagoner, lmao. They tick all the boxes that Eldar don’t for me right now. I’ve been soaking up wisdom from the various custodes chats and talking heads across the world wide web. I’ve gleaned the Terminators (jury is still out for me on Allarus vs Aquilon) are pretty nasty with all their new defensive buffs, and barring a nerfing in the Great ForgeWorld Redo, the Telemon is a big badass boi.
Given how expensive Custodes are, I’ll just be taking 2 Terminator Units and a Telemon, along with the necessary support characters (Trajann, Vexila.) I hope to get into some jank once I have the army built and ready to go. The thing I really enjoyed about my old Eldar armies was the potent combat characters, and I wonder if there is a list for Custodes out there with Triple Dawneagle captains that I could made work.
I’ll be getting my first reps in of 9th ed, and with Custodes this weekend, so I’ll be able to really sink my teeth into all of this new material.
I love the Eldar, but I have grown a bit tired of Codex: Jetbike. That may very well be on me. A lack of creativity in list building can lead to army burnout, but it’s undeniable that the bikes are just that good, and if you’re not taking one or two units, you’re playing yourself. That’s one reason I have been taking a look at the wraith units and Talos recently, but I’ve reached a personal plateau with the Eldar. I used to really belive that you should only play one army (well, superfaction,) and if you start collecting other armies it somehow dilutes your passion for your first army.
That is silly.
I haven’t been this excited about 40k in a long time! Sure, there’s a pandemic on and I haven’t been able to play very much, or go to any events, and won’t for the foreseeable future, but the prospect of an all new hobby project and a new way to play 40k with a fresh army gets my blood pumping.
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