As I have seen many other reputable site release their reviews of the new Dark Eldar book I figured I would continue to establish myself as the “out-of the box”, “independently minded”, “don’t follow the heard” writer by doing one as well. (That and Reece has been bugging us for more DE content).
Naturally it was difficult to come by, but after digging around my local FLGS I stumbled on an available copy. As I am exceptionally lazy (you try manning a keyboard with these small paws) I won’t review the whole book just few entries from each section.
Initial impressions:
I love the new artwork, very expressive and thematic. A few things jumped out at me here, one of the first things is I am loving the new layout. It all sees very retro.
HQ:
For the Archon it’s interesting to see that the Shadowfield is now optional (costing 25 points) and restricted to one per army. It makes sense given GW’s focus on toning down invulnerable saves, but I didn’t think it was especially broken for each Archon to have one. The addition of Incubi body guard is a great thematic option. The Haemonculous may be the steal of the codex being only 25 points too.
Elites:
Big changes to Grots here, going down to W:2 and T:3 is a big blow as well as losing their save. Fortunately, their terrify ability, lower points cost and FNP may make them a competitive option. Definitely loving the switch towards the covens becoming more fragile, and in line with the rest of the codex.
Troops:
Not a fan of Wyches and Wracks being moved from the troops slot. I think it forces armies to appear to similar, though when I skimmed the HQ options I think I saw a way to manipulate force orgs to make them troops. This is probably my biggest issue with the new book. Warriors also seem over-costed at 8 points a model especially with BS 4. Also not sure why they split up the squads that can take a raider and the ones that cannot (maybe it’s to make up for the drop in troops choices?)
Fast Attack:
Very confused about reaver jetbikes. I heard all of the arguments about the proper points cost and I think GW definitely screwed up, as it show 25 points here. It is clearly a mistake as that seems a bit much for what they offer. I also see the issue with the heat-lances as that entry is obviously missing from the unit entry.
Heavy Support:
Big changes to the Talos here, while it has lost wounds like most other models it has picked up some fun rules. The wildfire rule offers some fun shenanigans if your opponent isn’t careful.
The ability for the Talos to ignore morale makes squads an appealing option. I was hoping that GW would move away from random attacks but it could be the maintaining holding the Talos back from true competitive dominance.
Special Characters:
Nice to see some old favorites returning including the Decapitator, Kruellagh and the big man Vect himself. None of them seem particularly game-breaking but I am excited to see what new sculpts GW has around the corner.
Overall, I am not sure I see why the hype is so virulent. Many of these units seem very fragile and over costed. Clearly the good results are due to the meta’s inability to adjust to the new play-style (like a hammer in a field of nails). It is possible that a lot of confusion is due to the rules in the Book of Rust which I haven’t been able to see yet. Given the obvious miss-information floating around it’s likely they are just getting confused with Crusade rules as GW would never release such a wonky, over-powered combo. I mean it’s just so obvious…..
Final competitive rating 3/10
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