I know as a Footdar player, that would make me happy, but it is important to remember, we did not write the rules or anything. Our goal was to provide feedback and hopefully make all the different playstyles within each codex viable and fun.
All joking aside, I hope there will be a clearer distinction between weapons. Like Scat be anti-infantry and Shuri-Cannon be anti-elite but then what becomes of starcannons…Then there is Brighlance vs Pulse Laser…Oh well I guess roughly 1 more month of waiting time…
I really hope most of this is hype generation for 8th, because the hyperbole in your article makes it sound like Eldar is going to be even better than they are now, which is already a balance issue in 7th. Would hope 8th is not yet another Eldar dominance edition
All three of the faction preview articles so far have focused on how units are that were traditionally underused/underpowered have gotten better in this edition. I’d wait until seeing the actual army to worry about whether Eldar are still OP.
That wasn’t the intent of communication of the article (and also remember, they do get edited by GW, too).
I did point out the powerhouse units in this edition and the somewhat lack of variety, and then pointed out how “bad” units now are likely to improve. I don’t think any of that says Eldar dominance.
I think the issue of “Bad units becoming playable” in an army like Eldar (who really dont have any truly “bad” units) Combined with what they already have is giving people pause.
It’s meaningless to assume that they’re going to be at the same power level as they are now though. All rules are being re-written and being released at once.
Assuming that anything not otherwise stated to be different is going to be at the same power level has no founding and shouldn’t be done.
I think they’re going to be strong in different ways. It seems like scat bikes are going to be much less effective and buffing other units like striking scorpions will add more diversity to eldar armies. I’d love to play against eldar and see more variety in their lists.
They’re going to be very strong for people like me who only played Footdar in 7th. I don’t own a Wraithknight or any Scatbikes or Warp Spiders–not a single one. So I’m used to doing without those units and have a lot of experience with Striking Scorpions, Karandras, Rangers, Dark Reapers, Vypers, and Swooping Hawks.
I use Rangers and Scorpions all the time. They work, but it takes a lot of effort when going against powerful armies. And against the most powerful armies, it’s a slog.
They are currently fine in the confines of garage hammer or 12 person tournaments. Its my preferred method of playing Eldar (lots of outflanking/infiltrating) Oh, and I use swooping hawks too.
I’d just like them to hold a candle to the true elites of the dex.
That’s basically my experience. I have a chance at winning a small tournament when using them.
And I wreck face with the Avatar of Khaine…but only when I keep invisibility on him while he crosses the board. Otherwise, he dies turn one, turn two at the latest.
Improvements to Eldar get players nervous because of their current OP status. Most people on forums are getting anxious about seeing mortal wounds in abundance. D weapons are especially pointed at as something that doesn’t need the mortal wounds mechanic since most players would like to see those tempered a bit. I myself don’t mind seeing powerful weaponry as long as points dictate lower volumes.
Any insight on Shining Spears and Warp Spiders getting Phoenix Lords in this edition? Also, did they make Shinning Spears more viable? (I know there are thing you can and cannot say…but worth a try hahaha)
All Shining Spears need in 7th is Hit and Run and grenades, so it wouldn’t take much to make them good. Honestly, they’re decent now if you use them to fill the right role.
Thank you for the sneak peek the Eldar leaks have my interest peaked!
However I am concerned about the armies that have yet to see anything and have remained bottom tier, like my Dark Eldar, and many other factions.
It would be nice to get some drips of info on some of these factions that have been left behind in this edition, and not just the armies that are already on top 🙂
I know GW is listening to feedback since they used Rubric Marines as the example for how Datasheets work after many fans complained that the Astra Militarum Faction Focus had so much more “meat” in it than the CSM.
In the spirit of that could you please try and persuade them to do a similar look at Pyrovores, please? They are such amazing models, I want to use my 3 on the tabletop all the time, haha.
Totally understand, and thank you. I realize it’s not your call, but as the closest to an ambassador we have you get to be the focus of a lot of requests, haha.
After the rules are out will you be allowed to talk about the playtesting process? I just think it would be interesting to hear about.
Also, if you can throw some Warrior hopes in that future ‘Nid article, it would be pretty nice. I think every true swarm player wants Warriors being a decent synaptic core on balanced lists.
Thanks for the articles, and the efforts done towards making better the game we love.
These articles give me a migraine. I know this could be right but my brain just goes with years of conditioning and assumes every claim released by GW is bollocks. If my head explodes this is all your fault.
You didn’t answer if I can still use my original 2nd edition Avatar figure?
Honestly, if you guys keep writing all the warhammer community articles, we aren’t going to believe you had “very little to do” with the writing of the new rule set!!
Something to think of here. If Scatter lasers have no armor pen as would stand to reason, a scat bike on the move has about a 22% chance of killing a single marine in cover. In 7th that was about 75%. Put another way it takes about 5 moving scat bikes to reliably kill a single marine in cover. Instead of 5 bikes killing 4 marines now.
That’s with just the -1 to hit for heavy weapons on the move, cover adding to save, and S6 wounding T4 on 3s instead of 2s.
There’s a lot more moving pieces with warp spiders and they don’t have a -1 to hit, but suffice to say wounding on 3s and cover adding to save means that they are going to be less lethal to marines.
A single scatter laser *averaged* about .75 wounds against a Marine. That’s not the same thing as killing them 75% of the time. The chance to kill them was actually more like 56%.
2/3 x 5/6 x 1/3 = 18.5% chance to wound (AKA 81.5% chance not to wound)
.815^4 = .44 (chance that the marine lives meaning the chance they die is 56%).
But there are still too many unknowns to try to do math on what they will do in newhammer. We do know that the marine would get a 2+ in cover and likely would only be wounded on a 3+, but we have no idea if the number of scatter laser shots have remained constant or if jetbikes will actually suffer -1 BS for moving and shooting. We’ve only seen the datasheet for one unit that used to be relentless (Rubric Marines) and they still retained the ability to move and fire through their own special rule. Eldar bikes could very well get a rule that allows them to move and shoot as well.
Just because I like doing math a scatter laser had these percentages against a marine squad in cover in 7th:
0 wounds – 44.08%
1 wound – 40.07%
2 wounds – 13.66%
3 wounds – 2.07%
5 wounds – 0.12%
Something to keep in mind: Previously, we would suckling at the teet of every rumor website out there, desperate for any news of what would be included in the new edition. Even when we heard something, it would always be “I can’t take this seriously, since it’s a rumor…”
Now, we get a nice warmup to the edition. When launch comes, you won’t need two weeks to comb through the book looking for anything the rumor mill missed, you won’t need to frantically think about how your army’s playstyle is different. You’ll already know, from GW.
So for those who are saying “omg i’m impatient just release the dang thing already” realize that the release date would be the same, the only difference is that with the new Gdub, you actually know what’s coming 🙂
It’s going to make learning the game really easy because we will have effectively already have read a primer on the rules and know the play styles of many units/armies.
Aw man, when I saw this – I clicked so fast as I’m so desperate for any news on anything eldar (which we’ve received nothing of until now xD)
and the article is awesome – nice writeup Reecius!
However, it did have one effect on me I wasn’t expecting. It’s made me want Dark Eldar info more than Eldar haha.
I’m actually really worried about getting my hopes up with DE since all these changes we’ve been seeing so far look really exciting and fun – but based on past edition updates to DE, I’m worried that their rules/special things will be more boring than most of the other factions again.
That being said. I can’t help but be excited at the cool things they COULD be doing with Dark Eldar.
I’m all for making everything good. I want to see everything viable in the ITC, and elsewhere. The one thing I worry about is that my favorite part of the Eldar, jetbikes, are going to be nerfed into oblivion now due to them having been so powerful for a while now. GW doesn’t seem to be going in that direction, but I love those models so much. They definitely need to be taken down a notch, but I want to still be able to use them. I know my worry is highly unlikely, but I’m really anxious for GW to release some profiles. That would probably get the apprehension in the back of my mind to shut up about this.
I wouldn’t be too worried. Jetbikes have always had, and will always, have, their proper place. Siam Hann has been a major Eldar sub-faction for years, even without specific rules for them. Jetbikes have speed, and will for sure in the new edition keep their heavy weapons (since GW said all your models will remain legal). While they may lose a lot of point efficiency compared to how they are now, they will likely still be a fantastic choice, if only because of that speed. Movement is one of the most important things in the game, and it’s the thing Jetbikes are most known for.
Yeah, I actually kind of hope they do get a points increase. They’re under-costed right now. I just remember what happened to Grey Knights in 7th after their previous codex. Still, that was before the “new GW” phenomena happened, so there’s hope.
Compared to the previous 2 articles this does pretty much sound like Eldar are getting a straight buff rather than a re-balance. Its not so much tone down Jetbikes, Warp Spiders and Wraithknights and sounds more like everything else has been brought up to their level.
The entire game was re-written from the ground up. Gargantuan creature status is gone. D-weapons are gone. Everything is being completely re-balanced.
So I’d say it’s kind of impossible to state “it sounds like everything Eldar is OP now” when we don’t actually have any idea how Jetbikes, Warpspiders, or Wraithknights are even going to function.
Especially considering a few things we do know (cover improves armor saves, wounding T4 with S6 guns got harder, etc) implies that a lot of the S6 AP- gun spam Eldar used to have won’t be quite as powerful this edition.
I wouldn’t say it means everything got buffed up to be the same power level as WK (and/or everything else). Can you imagine a GW article (or in this case, a GW-edited article) saying something like, “Hey, these units are great now. And one of the reasons you’ll want to use them is because the crutches of over-powered, under-costed cheese units have been hit so hard with the nerf-bat they’re practically under-powered now.”
No?
I can’t either.
But then again, if it were me making the rules, we’d be looking at “Warhammer 40,000: The Eldar Punishment Edition” (subtitle: “Eldar Finally Get to See What it Feels Like to Suck).
You might say I’m a dreamer (but I’m not the only one).
Scatterlasers likely won’t be the defacto standard: won’t be as effective against vehicles, wounding MEQ on a 3+, and possibly having a -1 to hit if fired from a Jetbike.
Scorpions and Banshees in assault are not horrible; they have their place. However, 40K mechanics in nearly every edition have made it an exceptionally difficult task to get them into assault. Giving Scorpions a Mortal Wound ability won’t mean much if they can’t make it to assault. Aside from early 3rd edition, these units have not been an overly viable choice. I’m in the ‘wait and see’ camp before I start painting any more of these models.
Twin linked weapons are interesting as I look at Wave Serpents.
If the Avatar has 9 or 10 wounds, I will be very excited. I used him extensively in 7th edition and if he gets a built in protection from shooting, I can see continuing his usage.
Without knowing any rules, I anticipate Wraithguard units see more usage. When first released, Eldar players bought these great looking models. Through the passage of time, it’s a rare day I see Eldar players put them on the table. These are newer Eldar models and I speculate GW would like to drive up their sales a bit more. Again, complete speculation.
Make Wraithlords more viable! It’s a great model kit and I want to get more use out of mine.
In 2018, I want to see more plastic Aspect Warriors. Come on GW. We are still using Warp Spiders designed from the mid 90’s.
All in all, I’m very excited for this new edition and can’t wait for it to breathe new life into my Eldar. Thanks for the article!
Ew, dirty Elves? Where are my Necrons?
😛
All in good time, sir =)
The return of Footdar!
I know as a Footdar player, that would make me happy, but it is important to remember, we did not write the rules or anything. Our goal was to provide feedback and hopefully make all the different playstyles within each codex viable and fun.
This sounds to me like:
Reece: WK, warp spiders, and Scat Bikes needs to be toned down GW so other units in the codex are viable!
GW: You are right! Lets buff everything else while still slightly buffing WK, Spiders, and bikes since those are our bread and butter!
Reece:…
HAHAHA Just pure speculation and joking 😀
lol, not quite accurate but I like your style!
All joking aside, I hope there will be a clearer distinction between weapons. Like Scat be anti-infantry and Shuri-Cannon be anti-elite but then what becomes of starcannons…Then there is Brighlance vs Pulse Laser…Oh well I guess roughly 1 more month of waiting time…
Things will be different in what we hope will be perceived as a good way =)
Darn you and your cryptic respond! How different are we talking about? Start figuring out how to detach the scat from bikes different? HAHAHAHA
I really hope most of this is hype generation for 8th, because the hyperbole in your article makes it sound like Eldar is going to be even better than they are now, which is already a balance issue in 7th. Would hope 8th is not yet another Eldar dominance edition
All three of the faction preview articles so far have focused on how units are that were traditionally underused/underpowered have gotten better in this edition. I’d wait until seeing the actual army to worry about whether Eldar are still OP.
That wasn’t the intent of communication of the article (and also remember, they do get edited by GW, too).
I did point out the powerhouse units in this edition and the somewhat lack of variety, and then pointed out how “bad” units now are likely to improve. I don’t think any of that says Eldar dominance.
I think the issue of “Bad units becoming playable” in an army like Eldar (who really dont have any truly “bad” units) Combined with what they already have is giving people pause.
Variety is nice, but 51 flavors of OP is still OP
Sure, I totally get it.
That is not the case here though, at least not IMO.
It’s meaningless to assume that they’re going to be at the same power level as they are now though. All rules are being re-written and being released at once.
Assuming that anything not otherwise stated to be different is going to be at the same power level has no founding and shouldn’t be done.
I think they’re going to be strong in different ways. It seems like scat bikes are going to be much less effective and buffing other units like striking scorpions will add more diversity to eldar armies. I’d love to play against eldar and see more variety in their lists.
They’re going to be very strong for people like me who only played Footdar in 7th. I don’t own a Wraithknight or any Scatbikes or Warp Spiders–not a single one. So I’m used to doing without those units and have a lot of experience with Striking Scorpions, Karandras, Rangers, Dark Reapers, Vypers, and Swooping Hawks.
I just want an army based on Rangers, Striking Scorpions, and War Walkers to work.
I think you will be quite pleased =)
I’m holding you personally responsible if they aren’t perfect! 😛
Given the changes to characters and sniper weapons I think Rangers will be coming up in a big way.
I use Rangers and Scorpions all the time. They work, but it takes a lot of effort when going against powerful armies. And against the most powerful armies, it’s a slog.
They are currently fine in the confines of garage hammer or 12 person tournaments. Its my preferred method of playing Eldar (lots of outflanking/infiltrating) Oh, and I use swooping hawks too.
I’d just like them to hold a candle to the true elites of the dex.
That’s basically my experience. I have a chance at winning a small tournament when using them.
And I wreck face with the Avatar of Khaine…but only when I keep invisibility on him while he crosses the board. Otherwise, he dies turn one, turn two at the latest.
Assuming Ynnari still exist (i hope so) I can’t wait to get more info in that area 🙂
Improvements to Eldar get players nervous because of their current OP status. Most people on forums are getting anxious about seeing mortal wounds in abundance. D weapons are especially pointed at as something that doesn’t need the mortal wounds mechanic since most players would like to see those tempered a bit. I myself don’t mind seeing powerful weaponry as long as points dictate lower volumes.
I would say that is a fair concern, but before we know what D Weapons actually do, I would not jump to conclusions about how good they are or are not.
Same goes for mortal wounds, without knowing the specifics of how these things work I would again caution patience before jumping to conclusions =)
No jumping to conclusions here 😉 Just reflecting what’s being discussed on the forums. Great article BTW
Haha, I just keep repeating that phrase as folks are losing their minds over things taken out of context. Glad to hear you are keeping a level head =)
Glad you enjoyed the article.
Now hurry up and write me a saucy Daemon article, so I can determine how much more money I need to throw at you handsome bastards.
😉
Tzeentch demands interesting change.
Any insight on Shining Spears and Warp Spiders getting Phoenix Lords in this edition? Also, did they make Shinning Spears more viable? (I know there are thing you can and cannot say…but worth a try hahaha)
Our goals was to make every unit good =)
And as to any new units, even if I did know, I would not be able to say, sorry.
All Shining Spears need in 7th is Hit and Run and grenades, so it wouldn’t take much to make them good. Honestly, they’re decent now if you use them to fill the right role.
Thank you for the sneak peek the Eldar leaks have my interest peaked!
However I am concerned about the armies that have yet to see anything and have remained bottom tier, like my Dark Eldar, and many other factions.
It would be nice to get some drips of info on some of these factions that have been left behind in this edition, and not just the armies that are already on top 🙂
We write them in the order GW asks, but, if you remain patient for a while longer I think you will be rewarded.
I know GW is listening to feedback since they used Rubric Marines as the example for how Datasheets work after many fans complained that the Astra Militarum Faction Focus had so much more “meat” in it than the CSM.
In the spirit of that could you please try and persuade them to do a similar look at Pyrovores, please? They are such amazing models, I want to use my 3 on the tabletop all the time, haha.
Yeah, after CSM they asked us to throw in more rules, so we did. When Nids roll around I will see if we can include some chatter about Pyrovores =)
Please understand though, that it is not my call to make, ultimately.
Totally understand, and thank you. I realize it’s not your call, but as the closest to an ambassador we have you get to be the focus of a lot of requests, haha.
After the rules are out will you be allowed to talk about the playtesting process? I just think it would be interesting to hear about.
Pyrovore hype!
Also, if you can throw some Warrior hopes in that future ‘Nid article, it would be pretty nice. I think every true swarm player wants Warriors being a decent synaptic core on balanced lists.
Thanks for the articles, and the efforts done towards making better the game we love.
These articles give me a migraine. I know this could be right but my brain just goes with years of conditioning and assumes every claim released by GW is bollocks. If my head explodes this is all your fault.
You didn’t answer if I can still use my original 2nd edition Avatar figure?
Honestly, if you guys keep writing all the warhammer community articles, we aren’t going to believe you had “very little to do” with the writing of the new rule set!!
Something to think of here. If Scatter lasers have no armor pen as would stand to reason, a scat bike on the move has about a 22% chance of killing a single marine in cover. In 7th that was about 75%. Put another way it takes about 5 moving scat bikes to reliably kill a single marine in cover. Instead of 5 bikes killing 4 marines now.
That’s with just the -1 to hit for heavy weapons on the move, cover adding to save, and S6 wounding T4 on 3s instead of 2s.
There’s a lot more moving pieces with warp spiders and they don’t have a -1 to hit, but suffice to say wounding on 3s and cover adding to save means that they are going to be less lethal to marines.
A single scatter laser *averaged* about .75 wounds against a Marine. That’s not the same thing as killing them 75% of the time. The chance to kill them was actually more like 56%.
2/3 x 5/6 x 1/3 = 18.5% chance to wound (AKA 81.5% chance not to wound)
.815^4 = .44 (chance that the marine lives meaning the chance they die is 56%).
But there are still too many unknowns to try to do math on what they will do in newhammer. We do know that the marine would get a 2+ in cover and likely would only be wounded on a 3+, but we have no idea if the number of scatter laser shots have remained constant or if jetbikes will actually suffer -1 BS for moving and shooting. We’ve only seen the datasheet for one unit that used to be relentless (Rubric Marines) and they still retained the ability to move and fire through their own special rule. Eldar bikes could very well get a rule that allows them to move and shoot as well.
Just because I like doing math a scatter laser had these percentages against a marine squad in cover in 7th:
0 wounds – 44.08%
1 wound – 40.07%
2 wounds – 13.66%
3 wounds – 2.07%
5 wounds – 0.12%
How does a 4 shot weapon get 5 wounds?
Typodaemon interference.
Well you see when you hit the wrong key and suddenly you jump from 3 wounds to 5 😉
Something to keep in mind: Previously, we would suckling at the teet of every rumor website out there, desperate for any news of what would be included in the new edition. Even when we heard something, it would always be “I can’t take this seriously, since it’s a rumor…”
Now, we get a nice warmup to the edition. When launch comes, you won’t need two weeks to comb through the book looking for anything the rumor mill missed, you won’t need to frantically think about how your army’s playstyle is different. You’ll already know, from GW.
So for those who are saying “omg i’m impatient just release the dang thing already” realize that the release date would be the same, the only difference is that with the new Gdub, you actually know what’s coming 🙂
It’s going to make learning the game really easy because we will have effectively already have read a primer on the rules and know the play styles of many units/armies.
Aw man, when I saw this – I clicked so fast as I’m so desperate for any news on anything eldar (which we’ve received nothing of until now xD)
and the article is awesome – nice writeup Reecius!
However, it did have one effect on me I wasn’t expecting. It’s made me want Dark Eldar info more than Eldar haha.
I’m actually really worried about getting my hopes up with DE since all these changes we’ve been seeing so far look really exciting and fun – but based on past edition updates to DE, I’m worried that their rules/special things will be more boring than most of the other factions again.
That being said. I can’t help but be excited at the cool things they COULD be doing with Dark Eldar.
I’m all for making everything good. I want to see everything viable in the ITC, and elsewhere. The one thing I worry about is that my favorite part of the Eldar, jetbikes, are going to be nerfed into oblivion now due to them having been so powerful for a while now. GW doesn’t seem to be going in that direction, but I love those models so much. They definitely need to be taken down a notch, but I want to still be able to use them. I know my worry is highly unlikely, but I’m really anxious for GW to release some profiles. That would probably get the apprehension in the back of my mind to shut up about this.
I wouldn’t be too worried. Jetbikes have always had, and will always, have, their proper place. Siam Hann has been a major Eldar sub-faction for years, even without specific rules for them. Jetbikes have speed, and will for sure in the new edition keep their heavy weapons (since GW said all your models will remain legal). While they may lose a lot of point efficiency compared to how they are now, they will likely still be a fantastic choice, if only because of that speed. Movement is one of the most important things in the game, and it’s the thing Jetbikes are most known for.
Yeah, I actually kind of hope they do get a points increase. They’re under-costed right now. I just remember what happened to Grey Knights in 7th after their previous codex. Still, that was before the “new GW” phenomena happened, so there’s hope.
Compared to the previous 2 articles this does pretty much sound like Eldar are getting a straight buff rather than a re-balance. Its not so much tone down Jetbikes, Warp Spiders and Wraithknights and sounds more like everything else has been brought up to their level.
The entire game was re-written from the ground up. Gargantuan creature status is gone. D-weapons are gone. Everything is being completely re-balanced.
So I’d say it’s kind of impossible to state “it sounds like everything Eldar is OP now” when we don’t actually have any idea how Jetbikes, Warpspiders, or Wraithknights are even going to function.
Especially considering a few things we do know (cover improves armor saves, wounding T4 with S6 guns got harder, etc) implies that a lot of the S6 AP- gun spam Eldar used to have won’t be quite as powerful this edition.
I wouldn’t say it means everything got buffed up to be the same power level as WK (and/or everything else). Can you imagine a GW article (or in this case, a GW-edited article) saying something like, “Hey, these units are great now. And one of the reasons you’ll want to use them is because the crutches of over-powered, under-costed cheese units have been hit so hard with the nerf-bat they’re practically under-powered now.”
No?
I can’t either.
But then again, if it were me making the rules, we’d be looking at “Warhammer 40,000: The Eldar Punishment Edition” (subtitle: “Eldar Finally Get to See What it Feels Like to Suck).
You might say I’m a dreamer (but I’m not the only one).
Scatterlasers likely won’t be the defacto standard: won’t be as effective against vehicles, wounding MEQ on a 3+, and possibly having a -1 to hit if fired from a Jetbike.
Scorpions and Banshees in assault are not horrible; they have their place. However, 40K mechanics in nearly every edition have made it an exceptionally difficult task to get them into assault. Giving Scorpions a Mortal Wound ability won’t mean much if they can’t make it to assault. Aside from early 3rd edition, these units have not been an overly viable choice. I’m in the ‘wait and see’ camp before I start painting any more of these models.
Twin linked weapons are interesting as I look at Wave Serpents.
If the Avatar has 9 or 10 wounds, I will be very excited. I used him extensively in 7th edition and if he gets a built in protection from shooting, I can see continuing his usage.
Without knowing any rules, I anticipate Wraithguard units see more usage. When first released, Eldar players bought these great looking models. Through the passage of time, it’s a rare day I see Eldar players put them on the table. These are newer Eldar models and I speculate GW would like to drive up their sales a bit more. Again, complete speculation.
Make Wraithlords more viable! It’s a great model kit and I want to get more use out of mine.
In 2018, I want to see more plastic Aspect Warriors. Come on GW. We are still using Warp Spiders designed from the mid 90’s.
All in all, I’m very excited for this new edition and can’t wait for it to breathe new life into my Eldar. Thanks for the article!