Rumors: 7th Vehicle Damage and Perils of the Warp Charts

Some new rumors (or perhaps leaks!) that I came across on BoLS a few moments ago. 

The vehicle chart is roughly what I would expect factoring in for the rumored 7+ explodes result. The thing that really caught my eye was (obviously) flyers crashing on a 1-2 out of d6 when immobilized. The old locked velocity rule never sat right with me when damaged mobility should logically make a plane crash. This is a welcome change in my eyes.

The perils chart is interesting, but I hoped it would be a lot more interesting (read: utterly brutal and unforgiving). Psychic powers seem like they're about to get even more useful than they have been. While perils is likely to happen more often with people rolling 5 or more dice and praying they don't double up on sixes, I don't see the need to reward someone for tempting the warp beyond casting the spell they were attempting. That's the inherent reward and it seems sufficient to me. 

I've seen people on the boards who think they're going to summon a million Pink Horrors with fifteen Heralds of Tzeentch. I think they are likely in for a surprise when they nuke themselves and their units too. When not casting powers Tzeentch has very low leadership. This chart would not be terribly friendly to them. Just a few days before 7th comes out (coincidentally on my birthday, though I'll be in Tokyo watching an Uematsu Nobuo concert[!]), so we only have to wait a little longer to see what truth lies behind these rumors. 

via Gary:

Vehicle Damage Table:

1-3 Crew Shaken: vehicle only firing snap shots like normal
4 Crew Stunned: vehicle only firing snap shots and cannot move or pivot. Zooming flyers cannot turn and must move 18". 
5 Weapon Destroyed: as normal and if all weapons have run out of ammunition or or already destroyed count as immobilized
6 Immobilized: Chariots count as Crew Stunned, Flyers 1-2 flyer crashes with Crash and Burn rule. 3+ it counts as crew stunned.An already immobilized vehicle suffering another immobilized result loses an additional hull point.
7+Explodes: D6 radius for a Strenth 4 hit on nearby units. vehicle destroyed

Crash and Burn: lg blast and scatters 2d6 for S6 hits.

Wrecked vehicles are those that lose all their hull points. becomes scenery

Perils of the Warp:
1. Dragged into the Warp: Psyker takes a leadership test, if passed suffers 1 wound or glancing hit no saves.if failed he is removed as a casualty and his unit takes d6 S6 AP1 hits. The hits come from the psyker for allocation
2. Mental Purge: Psyker suffers 1 wound/glancing hit no saves. randomly select one power from the psyker. its lost for the rest of the game. 
3. Power Drain: Psyker suffers 1 wound/glancing hit no saves. if its the psychic phase, both players lose d3 warp charge points 
4. Psychic Backlash: Psyker suffers 1 wound/glancing hit no saves.
5. Empyric Feedback: Psyker takes a leadership test. if failed Psyker suffers 1 wound/glancing hit no saves. If passed no effect.
6. Warp Surge: Psyker takes a leadership test. if failed Psyker suffers 1 wound/glancing hit no saves. If passed psyker gains a 3+ invul, fleshbane, armour bane, and smash until the next friendly psychic phase.

Inquisition Codex: I'm More Torn than Space-Time on the Crone Worlds

Let me remind you that I am skeptical of everything that isn't a hot sandwich or a cold beer. I love the Inquisition as much as a (barely) decent human being can love a maniacally obsessive, paranoid, genocidal army of cyborgs and side-show freaks. The designs, the flavor, the endless room for character personality--there is so much going for them. I haven't seen any rumors on what will be in this book. But I'll take a wild stab at it not being the tome it could be--a book with the GKs and Sisters redone and with the Deathwatch given their place as well. All three Ordos that would be, Malleus, Hereticus and Xenos, all under one sadistic, yet happy roof.

This release all but crushes any of hope of that under the hard sole of a Munitorum-issued boot. I can't wait to see it because I long ago learned that you have to take what you get with GW. The artwork does look really cool and a lot of the rules for 6th edition armies have been good, flavorful even. But I haven't seen the new Sisters stuff and that is probably the best indicator for this book. Bottom line for myself though, is that I let myself get too attached to a rumor I saw earlier in the year.

Which leads me to: that rumored 28mm Inquisition skirmish game. That was the most exciting rumor I read in the second half of this year. I hadn't heard anything about it so when I saw this news I went looking and found this not-so-recent thread on Dakka Dakka about it. This digital codex is slated for next month. It could make for a very Inquisition November to have this and the skirmish game come out around the same time. On the other hand I also worry that the skirmish game could have been twisted warp lies sent drifting in the aether of the internet. Terra help us if that's true.

Rumors: Space Marine Photo Dump

Here is a collection of all the new Space Marine photos I could scrounge up. Many of them came from Dakka and others from Pins of War, where you can find these photos of Tac Marines and Sternguard that I can't seem to steal shamelessly.

For my part, I'm none to impressed. I heard new Vanguard Vets and almost lost it because they have such potential. I do think they're the best of the bunch here, but from the GKs, Dark Vengeance chosen, DW Knights, and Death Company, I expected better. Especially from the Vanguard models. The poses are really disappointing to me. Especially when compared to that awesome PAGK kit where you get to have a guy stabbing through the skull of a Plaguebearer. It's a model so good it looks like a conversion, but isn't. The key to making amazing Vanguard Vets would have been in the momentum expressed by the poses, in my opinion. I do, however, like the Sternguard, tanks and the Libby a lot. Hope to see some good figures in the Sternguard kit as those photos surface.

Enjoy folks. I'll be around, but I'm on vacation and I'm trying to knock out that kids' book before I go back to work.

Space Marine Rumors: (Week of July 29th)

I'm not sure how much I buy into a whole new family of weapons for Space Marines, especially when the fluff behind it makes them extremely rare. Also the wounding method is wildly inconsistent with the established rules which makes me even more skeptical. Still, rumors will be rumors and they're fun to look at while we wait to see what becomes of half of the armies in the entire game.

Best_Pone wrote:
Up for release in September is the new Codex: Space Marines.  

 - There will be 7 Ltd Ed varients. 6 of these will be covers for First Founding chapters, whilst the 7th will have Black Templars on the cover.  

 - New weapon family: Grav weapons. I believe these wound against the armour save (so terminators would be wounded as if they had a toughness of 2).  

 - First Founding chapters will be getting a substantial section each to themselves, so hopefully this can be looked as as Codex: Space Marines instead of Codex:Ultramarines. This will also show in a rule called Chapter Tactics, for which the effects depend on the chapter being played. 

- There is a new armour type that at first glance looks to be somewhere between a terminator and a dreadnought - looking more closely, it appears to go over the marine's power armour however.
- This new armour can be armed in 2 ways, depending on the user. The devastator version has either a bolter array or missile launchers mounted on the chest armour, whilst the gauntlets can be armed with heavy bolters, lascannons or grav cannons. The assault version has a bolter array or frag launchers mounted on the chest armour, with assault drills mounted on the gauntlets.  

 - There are 2 new AA tanks. One tank veterans will already be familiar with as the Hunter, armed an AA missile launcher. The other tank mounts 2 tri-barreled turrets instead.  

 - There is a new tactical squad. Lots of options as you'd expect, but of particular interest will probably be the grav pistol and grav rifle.  

 - A new plastic Sternguard veteran squad.  

 - A new plastic Vanguard veteran squad.  

 - New plastic characters: a captain, a librarian and a chaplain.

What do you think? Look plausible? Got any wishlisting you want to do?

Rumors: Future Eldar Supplements - Biel-Tan and Saim-Hann (2013.07.25)

Here is some more cool rumor news from Natfka. Sounds like in addition to Tau Mercenaries, the Black Legion and White Scars, there are whispers of Biel-Tan and Saim-Hann supplements in the works. I saw elsewhere that the Biel-Tan supplement would be the first to feature a model wave as well. That would be really exciting to me because I saw the lack of aspect warrior updates as a missed opportunity in the initial launch (you know, not taking into account the Iyanden supplement launch strategy). There are a few of them that really need new versions  (hey there Hawks and Spiders).

via Stickmonkey on Faeit 212 

I'd heard Biel-Tan was being worked on after Iyaden, and Saim-Hann was later. But from what I've heard lately it seems the supplements are pure labors of love, and not necessarily slotting into releases like we've traditionally thought. That they are following a "when it's done" release scheme, and not strict deadlines. Multiple digital supplements in a month would also not be unheard of.  

There is a lot going on. I've heard scattered rumors of 2014 seeing many new models introduce to codexes with rules in box, but I haven't confirmed this.

More Classics Ported to iOS: Chainsaw Warrior

Wow that's really convenient. Yesterday I got curious about upcoming GW games was thinking to post what I found of this on DakkaDakka yesterday. Turns out I don't have to say much because Natfka has already covered it very well over at Faeit 212.

Very briefly, it's a single player game where you race against the clock to save NYC from an extra-dimensional horde of zombies and mutants. I love that they're trying specifically to maintain the bodaciously radical 80s feel. And the fact that they're embracing the camp that comes with a title like Chainsaw Warrior. That's refreshing in an age of games where many seem to be taking themselves all too serioiusly.

Chainsaw Warrior is developed by Auroch Digital and is scheduled to release later this year.

Rumors: Inquisition Skirmish Game in August?

I read somewhere on Natfka's blog that Inquisition is going to be the surprise release that was scheduled for August of this year. And here I was thinking I might have to wait a year or more!

From TastyTaste on Blood of Kittens 

http://natfka.blogspot.com/2013/07/inquisition-gws-entry-into-skirmish.html

GW is about to enter the skirmish scene with the release of Warhammer 40k: Inquisition Inquisition is designed for 2-4 players and each side will use custom cards and dice. Army sizes consist of about 5-10 models per side. A whole new set of models drawn from Blanche artwork will accompany. The game should be flexible as you can make and design your own Inquisitorial retinue. As for rules complexity that is anyone's guess, but the general marketing goal for Inquisition is a gateway game into the greater Warhammer 40k universe. 

Beyond that GW, seems to be taking cues from Kickstarter projects like Sedition Wars and home-brewed rules like Inq28 for Inquisitor. This also might not end up as a limited edition run, but that all depends on sales, and if any support is continued will be done through digital expansions and updates. 

Rumors: Sisters of Battle, Black Templars and Inquisitor Skimishes

Man, what a treat when I opened up my browser and saw so much good news! I mean, Apoc is nice news and all, but I favor medium-sized games and didn't really follow the rumors for it at all. These, however, I am very interested in. The Inquisition is easily my favorite faction in 40k after the Eldar. I could easily see myself playing a skirmish game based on Inquisitors instead of hive gangs. Something about Necromunda always seemed so despondently arbitrary considering the scale of the Imperium. I suppose that's part of the point, but it just didn't catch my interest. Persecuting cultists and witches on the other hand--sign me up!

Links to Natfka's Rumors Posts:

• Black Templars - Initial Rumors
• Black Templars - Initiates and Neophytes
• Black Templars - Initiates and Neophytes Part 2
• Sisters of Battle
• Inquisition

It still seems really early on a lot of this stuff and so I'm not really buying into the specifics yet. All I care about is that armies aren't being dropped and that hopefully there will be a skirmish alternative to Necromunda (sorry those figures are hideous). The Sisters are neat and I could see myself getting into collecting some to go with my GK/Inquisition forces. Hopefully they'll be even better integrated the next time around. Good lord I would love expanded Inquisition options.

On Black Templars, I don't have so much to say, I suppose. I hope they really do lose that rule where they run forward when they get shot. That's tactically too dumb for me to believe their chapter would survive very long at all. It must also be very hard for BT players to hold objectives right now hehe. Being able to attach Initiates and Neophytes to existing BT units would be awesome too and would provide some very cool flexibility.

And just because, the last rumored release schedule I saw looked something like this:

August: Lizardmen
September: Bloodbowl
October: Space Marines
November: Dwarves?
December: Hobbit
January: Tyranids
Later in 2014: IG

Eldar Rumors 2013.5.29: If These Aren't Real, it's a Lot of Work for a Troll

Word is that a huge portion of the new Eldar codex leaked through 4chan and can be found here. I've some Bioshock Infinite to be playing, so I'll leave comments for later. Generally I'm not terribly enthusiastic about the bulk of it. I kind of hope we're being trolled just before the release but it does seem in line with what has become of some of the 6th edition books. Mainly I wonder why he would type it all out and not just scan it if he has it already. I don't know whether typing out so much of the info is okay or not from a legal standpoint. I'm just sayin', pics or it didn't happen.

What do you think, troll or furrealz? How do you feel about what you see?

Eldar Rumors 2013.5.27: Wargear; An Aside about Fire Dragons

Someone on the Warseer forum threw around the rules of the Remnant of Glory:

- Mantle of the laughing god: hit and run, shrouded, stealth, reroll cover saves but you lose the IC rule (doesn't replace one of your weapons)
- Shard of Anaris: +2Str melee and rending melee weapon, in challenges you have flesh bane and instant death.
- Firesabre: +1Str, AP3 and soul blaze
- Faolchi wings: can run up to 48" in the shooting phase. But can't shoot charge or cast psychic powers, reroll all cover saves.
- Spirit stone: You give up your invun save until next turn so that you can reduce the charge cost of a power by 1 to a minimum of 1 (Farseer/spiritseer only, doesn't replace one of your weapons)
- Rifle: 120" standard sniper rifle, AP3.
- Phoenix gem. Before wearer dies roll a d6, on a 1 nothing happens but 2-6 a large blast is placed on the model, friend and foe suffer Str4 AP5 hits, if no one dies the wearer removed but if only 1 model dies the wearer gets back up with 1 wound. (One use only, doesn't replace one of your weapons)


That and wraithguard lose wraithsight apparently.

 There is a lot of really cool stuff in there. Notable to me is the sniper rifle at 120" range and AP3 base. I really hope that's true because I have a good number of Rangers and I have some more on the way. Something I'd like to try out is a mix of Rangers and Wraith units. Mostly as a fun army as it seems right now I'll have issues with mobile armies and deep striking flamers, but I think it could be a good time.

This is totally unrelated, but I saw that people are actually upset/surprised about Fire Dragons getting a point cost hike.  They even felt that FDs were a bad choice before. And furthermore that it was a waste of so many points because they need a transport to get their job done. Does it not occur to them that the transport is not dead weight and provides useful dakka? Or that Fire Dragons have a great stat line and amazing wargear for very few points? I think they are the most undercosted unit in the 4th ed codex. Dragons going up makes sense because they cost too little and can achieve great things. Them getting heavier armor makes sense because their targets regularly explode in their faces and you'd think they'd prepare for that. I'm actually pumped about having Fire Dragons I can treat as more than a suicide unit. With support, they may actually fire more than once. 3+ armor is nothing to laugh at when the guy in it is packing a melta gun and melta bombs.

Fire Dragons are unbelievably good as they are, but it seems that with these changes they might actually become a unit players take seriously and don't just throw away. Is anyone else with me on that?

Eldar Rumors 2013.5.26: Round-Up, Fire Dragons and Shuriken Catapults

Over at Faeit you can find an excellent list of recapitulated rumors. Everything looks so promising. Seems the Wraithknight is going to be absolutely devastating. Suncannons look like hell on infantry and Phantom Lasers will be just as bad against tanks. That's a LOT of T8 wounds too. It has as many as two Wraithlords and has much better weaponry.

Fire Dragons are looking pretty good too. They were way undercosted in the 4th edition book, so I'm happy to see them go up a bit. Especially since they're getting armor that will protect them from the exploding vehicles that used to kill them all the time when they'd do their job. It also seems to me that Falcons will not be dedicated transports since it isn't listed next to the Wave Serpent.

Fire Dragon WS 4 BS 4 S 3 T 3 W 1 I 5 A 1
Fire Dragon Exarch WS 5 BS 5 S 3 T 3 W 1 I 6 A 1
Wargear:
Heavy Aspect Armor (3+)
Fusion Gun
Melta Bombs
Special Rules: Ancient Doom
Battle Focus
Fleet -
5 Dragons 110 points
Options up to 5 more at 22/model
Exarch upgrade 10
Exarch may take Dragon's Breath Flamer for free or Firepike 15pts
Exarch may take up to two of the following exarch powers:
Iron Resolve 5pts
Crushing Blow 10pts
Fast Shot 10pts
May use a Wave Serpent as a Dedicated Transport.

So, Fire Dragons pick up a 3+ save, but jumped up in price by 6 points a head.

 And perhaps best of all is the Shuriken Catapult and Shuriken Cannon. I would have loved a little more range, but I have had plenty success with using ShuriCats as a last resort attack option and the new rules will make that even better.

Shuriken Catapult 12" S4 AP5 Assault 2, Bladestorm
Shuriken Cannon 24" S6 AP5 Assault 3, Bladestorm

Bladestorm: When a weapon with this special rule rolls a 6 To Wound, the target is wounded automatically and the Wound is resolved at AP2.

So basically they're all rending except they don't get +d3 against vehicles. That's definitely something I can live with since bringing down armor isn't even something that 4th edition Eldar have a problem with and I have a feeling it's not about to get any harder.

Eldar Rumors 2013.5.24: Time for One Last Set of Rules Rumors...

Spice! So spice! Just some last minute rules from BoLS. Just itching to see these preorders now! And good god I want to get my hands on that codex. The rules are so incredibly exciting!

The Eldar advanced orders are just hours away.  Here's the 11th hour latest on rules hot from the retail outlets.

A press release doing the rounds at retailers lists the following:

Reasons to Buy the New Eldar Releases

Codex Eldar :
- Craftworld ships will be introduced
- New special rules for many Eldar units. Old Nemesis (Slaanesh) and Battle Trance (running and shooting)
- Multiple exarch abilitys, options and equipment

Wraithknight (heavy support 240 points)
-Strong Profile (S:10 T:8 W:6 AS:3+, Jump-pack
- 2 heavy Phantom lasers (S10 AP 2 instant death on wound rolls of 6)
- Alternative equipment possible - for example close combat weapons with a 5+ invul and blind special rule or a S:6 5" Blast with AP2. with 5+ invul and blind special rule.

Somach Phantomhunter (fast attack 185 points)
- Psyker with the terrify psychic power
- 2 blast weapons with ap 2
- Enemy units within 12" have to reroll succesful ld tests.

Crimson Hunters (fast attack 160 points)
- New Aspect warriors with strong Exarch upgrades
- May reroll armor pen rolls against flyers
- Vector dancer

Wraithguard /Wraithblades (elite 160 points 5 models)
- Strong profile with S5 T 6 as 3+
- Wraithblades got 2 close combat weapons with AP3 and +1 S or can get a 4+ invul with a single AP2 weapon
- Runeseer can mark targets, every wraith unit can reroll missed to hit rolls of 1 against marked targets.
- If you select a runeseer as HQ, they become troops

Ililic Nightspear (hq 140 points)
- Alaitoc character that allows ranger units the Pathfinder upgrade.
- Has 9 special rules - one of them allows ranger units to infiltrate without the range restrictions to enemy units.
- BS:9 S:X AP2 instant death on wound rolls of 6

Other new releases for Eldar

Phantomseer, Runeprophet and cards for psychic powers.:
- 3 different kinds of psykers (Seer council, Phantomseer, Runeprophet)
- Divination, Telepathy and 2 new Eldar psychic disciplines: Runes of Battle and Runes of Fate (for Rune prophet and Runeseer respectively)
- Runes of Battle have always 2 effects, for example granting Shrouding or taking Shrouding off the enemy unit.
-Runes of Fate : 4 warpcharges, 2 powers, very strong and offensive

Eldar Rumors 2013.5.23: Eldar Jetbikes--Step Six is Acceptance

There's our answer. Not the one I'd hoped for, but at least now I'm going to be picking up the codex with my mind open to other options. I was dead set on buying tons of new bikes and running the fastest army I could conceive of. Well I'm definitely not doing that with these go-cart jockey Klansmen. I don't think I can convey how much I despise these models. As if their KKK hoods weren't bad enough they wear jackets like they want to be the Fonz. They look atrocious in pretty much every way. The bikes that I have bought I converted into a Jetbike Council. I covered up every stupid detail with green stuff robes and replaced and/or converted the heads. I even chopped the bike and reconfigured it to be longer. The go-cart shape just grates one me. So anyway, sorry if you're disappointed by this, but at least we're in it together.

Looking for a silver lining, however, I was wondering what their rules might be like. In particular I'm wondering if there might be other weapons that we can get on that third bike. Having a single option for a heavy weapon has always seemed stale to me. How could would it be to have a Star Cannon on something this fast? Denying cover saves would be a cinch! An EML would be fun too. A single heavy weapon is so dull though. I really hope they considered shoring up the options for the unit. That would make it even more appealing when they finally do release what might have been, in my opinion, the most exciting kit of the whole Eldar launch.

Someone on either a forum or in the comments on a blog I read, I forget where, proposed "What if Vypers could be part of the unit?" The possibility got shot down pretty quickly by the next posters because they thought it would be a nightmare from a wound-allocation standpoint. But I'm not so sure. A Vyper would provide a degree of protection from small arms, but would still likely die to massed bolters, so it wouldn't make a unit unduly durable. Not to mention that the aggressor chooses what weapons are dealt with first. If they want the krak missile to hit that Vyper first, that's their call to make. Another poster said that in the new Dark Angels codex the Ravenwing Attack Squadrons can take a Land Speeder. I hadn't ever noticed that and just checked it out. Seems if the squad numbers 6 or more you really can take one. So there is precedent for something cool like this. If it turned out to be true, the Vyper in the battle force would seem a little less silly.

Eldar Rumors 2013.5.23: More Pics

Here are some more pictures from 3++. Sad face at the first one. Guess that answers that. Cool stuff otherwise. I'm liking Illic Nightspear more and more =)

Eldar Crimson Hunters: Reading Between the Lines

So I noticed it says "the Exarch can swap his bright lances for Starcannons." Does this mean they can be taken in squadrons? The thought had never occurred to me, but that's how I'm reading this. I do suppose Exarch status could be an upgrade bought for each plane.

Edit: Kirby from 3++ said the Exarch is a vehicle upgrade. I'd be really happy if they could squadron too. He didn't specifically say they can't. Also he mentioned they're Fast Attack. So much for running a pair alongside my two Nightwings.

Eldar Photo Dump 2013.5.22: Flyers, Wraithblades, Sniper, Spiritseer and More

Well damn! You know what they say, when it rains it y'know...precipitates. Hm that wasn't very good, was it? WHO CARES! BEAUTIFUL ELDAR PICTURES!

The flyers actually look a good deal better than I was afraid they would. I'm still not terribly fond of the Wraithknight, but I can get behind just about everything else. Er, actually I'm not sure about the Spiritseer's helm. I get that they're trying to establish a new helm design, but I'm going to have to get used to it. And the sniper got an amazing sculpt! Definitely going to want one of those.

 *Long reflective sigh* June can't get here soon enough.

 

 

Eldar Rumors 2013.5.21: First-hand Comments on the Eldar White Dwarf

Copied and pasted from the Eldar Rumors thread on DakkaDakka. Looking pretty good. Seems tricky and there are lots of psychic options here. Not to mention versatility which is very important to me. Basically double powers if they all have two modes. The artifacts look obscenely powerful, Wraith units sound appropriately durable, the army as a whole sounds fast. Holy cow I can't wait!

Powerguy wrote:
Got a sneak peek of the White Dwarf today, managed to dig out some actual rules from the battle report, preview teasers and a couple of tiny pages from the codex that were printed in the WD that I managed to read. Not many stats on offer but still a reasonable chunk of rules. I'm probably mis-remembering the names of some of these rules but here is what I picked up in no particular order:

- From what I saw all the non Wraith infantry have the run/shoot shoot/run ability (the rule was called Battle something). Avengers definitely do (from the report) and Rangers definitely do (from tiny printed profile in the WD) as well. Not sure if its just for Shuriken weapons (Rangers do have Pistols I guess).
- It looks likes all Eldar have the 'Ancient Foe' special rule, no idea what this does but I suspect its something like Hatred Daemons of Slaneesh (don't think it was Necron related as the report was against Crons) since all Eldar appear to have it (including the Wraith units).
- There are 14 Eldar specific psychic powers from 2 different charts, Runes of Battle and Runes of Fate. However it looks like several of the powers are 2 in 1, i.e they have a buff mode and a debuff mode, so there are actually HEAPS of powers. I.e the Primaris for Battle is Conceal/Reveal (as a single card/roll etc), Conceal gives you Shrouded and Reveal removes Shrouded from an enemy. The 1 on the Battle Chart was Destructor/Renew(?), Destructor being the same as before with Soul Blaze added and Renew allowing you to restore a wound to a friendy model within range (18" I think). Primaris for Runes of Fate was Guide, which is now 24" range but is otherwise the exact same as before. Very surprising to see this as aside from the range it is far worse than the Divination Primaris (although I guess you could take both and effectively Guide two units). The 1 on the Fate Chart was a terrible Focuses Witchfire power. Fortune and Doom are still options (the Farseer in the report had them) and appear to have the same effects.
- The Avatar has Fleet. Also one of the psychic powers increases your movement speed/charge range somehow
- The Wraithknight is insanely huge, it is literally twice the height of a Wraithlord, and the sword option it can take is basically the size of a Wraithlord as well. It can take up to 2 Suncannons, which are S6 AP2 Heavy 3 Small Blast or up to 2 Wraithlances(?) which are presumably the heavy anti tank option. Sword replaces one of the big guns I think (they are arm mounted like the Titans). This is in addition to the two shoulder mounted heavy weapons (I saw Scatters and Starcannons, so presumably the normal range of heavy weapons are available)
- Wraithguard and Wraithblades look good, think scaled down Wraithlords. They looked a bit bigger than the old ones, but I think it was partly just the added range of motion in the poses on 40mm bases (similar to the old 25mm base Terminators vs the newer 40mm base ones, they are bigger but the better poses help as well). Wraithguard can now get either Wraithcannons (which from the fluff descriptions seemed to still be single shot and very powerful) or D Scythes which were described as a multi shot weapon but it could still Pen vehicles on a 6. Wraithblades are only 1A base (sadly) but looked like they could go either 2 CCW (no idea on stats of their weapons, but they appeared to have sword/axe options) or 1 CCW + Shield gen arm.
- Wraithguard are definitely S5 T6, Lord is almost certainly not T6 (a full unit of Destroyers shot one in the report and did nothing, which suggests T8 or some other equivalent buff). No idea on the stats for the Knight.
- It looks like Aspect Warriors have the same base profile, include Exarches with Ld9
- Reapers have Slow and Purposeful
- Rangers have WS4. They also have a character (not sure if he is upgrade or HQ) who has a 120" range Sniper Rifle.
- One of the fliers has 2 Heavy D Scythes on the wings and a psychic based main gun. The other has 2 Bright Lances and a Pulse Laser.
- Saw stats for what looked like special weapons for characters, might have been for Special Characters as well since the 120" range sniper was in there. One weapon was +2S, AP- Melee, Rending, Fleshbane, Instant Death. Another was +1S AP3, Soul Blaze, and if you killed anything with Soul Blaze then every unit within 6" of that unit would become effected by Soul Blaze as well. There was also a one use only piece of wargear, which you could use when the character died. On a 2+ you place a S4 AP3 template over the character, hitting both friend and foe, but if you cause at least 1 wound then the character stands back up with 1 wound. Last one I saw was an item which gave the user Fearless, Shrouded, Stealth and re-roll cover saves but they lose the IC rule, which gives people a way to make a Solitare (the name was something to do with the Laughing God).

Eldar Rumors: A Double Take at those Prices

I posted these prices yesterday at the tail end of my break. I was rushing to put it up at the time so I couldn't really say anything about them. Let me repost them below and then comment afterward.

Oliver Beinlich May 20, 2013 at 12:57 PM
Eldar Codex - $49.50
Eldar LE Codex - $100
WH40K PSYCHIC POWERS: ELDAR ENG - $7.50
Farseer - $20
Wraithknight - $115
Wraithguard - $50
Hemlock Wraithfighter - $65
Dire Avengers (5 pack) - $35
Battleforce - $115
Windrider Jetbike Squadron - $40
Spiritseer - $19.25
Illic Nightspear - $19.25
IYANDEN: A CODEX ELDAR SUPPLEMENT - $49.50
IYANDEN CODEX SUPPLEMENT SPECIAL EDITION - $85

Let's assume for one terrifying second that these figures are accurate. Now hold your ears as I shout THAT'S F&$#ING BANANAS! Limited Edition codex for $100? Full codex price for the Iyanden supplement? Wraithknight for an unbelievable $115? I never imagined! My friend told me I was crazy for calling the Wraithknight a $95 kit. I must be crazy for thinking nothing in the GW range ought to cost that much!

And could someone explain to me what the limited edition codex could have in it that makes it twice as expensive? I don't know if it is just the book itself or if there is any kind of bonus material--art, a code for the digital download, gold f%&$ing nuggets perhaps?

The Battleforce goes up $25. The Dire Avengers box is cut in half , essentially doubling the cost of the unit. The Wraithguard actually got cheaper and so did the Jetbikes if those figures are right. And assuming 5 Wraithguard and 3 Jetbikes in their respective boxes. But then it also depends on how points change, doesn't it? Right now you'd be hard pressed to put more than ten WG in a list. I'll bet that with the Iyanden supplement and the dual kit with the CC variant, it will be possible to field at least another $100 worth of them.

I was just saying on the Facebook page I need to post about beer and sandwiches sometime this week because I haven't had much positive to say at all. There is plenty to say that's good about the Eldar release. I'm ecstatic about that sniper character that popped up in these release lists. I'm just getting caught up in what I think ought to be the standard reaction. I hope it is and I just don't know. The only way GW will stop bleeding us dry is if we stop walking into their knife. When it affects sales is when they'll stop raising prices with each release. For my part, I'm not going to go nearly as overboard as I wanted to. I've been saving a long time for this, but I just can't fork over all that cash in good conscience. I'll make a few reasonable purchases in addition to the codex. I'm sure I'd spend a lot more if each individual purchase were cheaper, though.

Anyway, I'll have to post about something positive another time, it seems. For now I'll leave off with Duvel and pastrami on rye. Absolutely delicious.

Eldar Rumors 2013.5.21: Release List (2 of 2)

In the link here you can find other lists in the comments. These fill in some holes that are somewhat surprising and confusing. The surprise to me in Natfka's list was the missing Jetbikes that I pretty much assumed to be a given. The confusing part to me was the missing Iyanden supplement which we've had confirmed by the White Dwarf leak.

First poster with an alternative list:

Oliver Beinlich May 20, 2013 at 12:57 PM
Eldar Codex - $49.50
Eldar LE Codex - $100
WH40K PSYCHIC POWERS: ELDAR ENG - $7.50
Farseer - $20
Wraithknight - $115
Wraithguard - $50
Hemlock Wraithfighter - $65
Dire Avengers (5 pack) - $35
Battleforce - $115
Windrider Jetbike Squadron - $40
Spiritseer - $19.25
Illic Nightspear - $19.25
IYANDEN: A CODEX ELDAR SUPPLEMENT - $49.50
IYANDEN CODEX SUPPLEMENT SPECIAL EDITION - $85

Those prices look suspiciously high to me, so I'm not exactly sure what to make of that list.

Second poster's alternative list:

Ian Johnson May 20, 2013 at 2:46 PM
List just published by my FLGS as what is available for pre order
Confirmed Eldar releases for June 1st
Codex Eldar Eldar Psychic Powers Deck
Farseer
Wraithknight
Wraithguard (plastic!!!!!)
Hemlock Wraithfighter
Windrider Jetbike squad
Spiritseer Illic
Nightspear
Autarch on Jetbike upgrade
 The Iyanden supplement appears to be June 15th release

Again I see a discrepency between the Iyanden launch date listed in White Dwarf and the one he is proposing here.

If Eldar don't launch with Jetbikes I doubt I'm going to just jump on an Iyanden bandwagon and buy stuff I hadn't planned on. It would be really disappointing, but at least it would save me loads of time and money. I hope some happy middle ground exists among these lists where we just get ALL THE TOYS. =)