Eldar Codex and Model Notes

While blogs like mine, BoLS and Faeit212 are being careful not to release photos of the Eldar models, lest we incur GW wrath, they are readily available online.  And all the goodies will be on pre-order Saturday.  For now, enjoy the plethora of notes on the new codex.  It seems Dakka has won this round over Warseer, with two big posts detailing what we will be seeing:

From Powerguy on Dakka:

- 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). 


Also from Superscope on Dakka:

Post from a facebook friend of mine:
White dwarf rules:

- 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).  



There are all the photos posted here.

That shoudl be enough for any of you for now!

Loken

Eldar Release List & Video

The Eldar product list has been making the rounds.  And Eldar fans are in for some great new models, and new versions  of old ones.  The big news is the Wraithknight and the Hemlock Wraithfighter / Crimson Hunter flyer.  And everything hits the streets June 1st!
 
Warhammer 40000: Codex Eldar

104 page full colour, hardback Warhammer 40,000 CodexContains New Artwork, Background and rules whilst showcasing the fantastic miniature range.

Warhammer 40000: Eldar Wraithknight
This box contains a multipart plastic kit that makes one Eldar Wraithknight, this completely new Walker stands a massive 9 inches tall and can be constructed with a variety of armaments to fulfill a range of battlefield roles.

Warhammer 40000: Eldar Hemlock Wraithfighter/ Crimson Hunter 
This box contains a multipart plastic kit that makes either a Hemlock Wraithfighter or a Crimson Hunter, both new Eldar Flyers. The Hemlock Wraithfighter is a Psychicly armed bomber designer to cause havoc among enemy troops while the Crimson Hunter is an all new aspect warrior class whom excel at aerial combat.

Warhammer 40000: Eldar Wraithguard/Wraithblades
This box contains a multipart plastic kit that makes either 5 Wraithguards previously only available in metal or 5 Wraithblades, a new type of deadly close combat warrior.

Warhammer 40000: Eldar Farseer
A plastic Clamp pack containing 1 Eldar Hero in a dynamic mid-casting posse.
 
Reformatted Warhammer 40000: Eldar Battle Force
Contains 10 Eldar Guardians and a Heavy Weapon Platform, 5 Dire Avengers (including the option of making an Exarch), a Wave Serpent and a Vyper Jetbike
 
Reformatted Warhammer 40000: Eldar Dire Avengers
The Dire Avengers squad has been repackaged as a five miniature boxed set (including the option of making an Exarch)
 
New Finecast ReleasesWarhammer 40000: Illic Nightspear·   
A clampack that contains one highly detailed Citadel Finecast resin miniature sculpted by Edgar Ramos. Illic Nightspear is an outcast who has become an deadly assassin armed with the sniper rifle Voidbringer.
 
Warhammer 40000: Eldar Spiritseer· 
A clampack that contains one highly detailed Citadel Finecast resin miniature sculpted by Mike Fores. Armed with a Witch Staff and spirit stone wearing a distinctive eyeless helm.Available While Stocks LastThese Items are highly limited, please request the quantity you require and we will supply you as close to this number as we can.
 
Warhammer 40,000 Psychic Cards: Eldar·
This pack contains 14 reference cards that describe the effects of each of the Primaris Powers and the the six psychic powers available to each area of mastery

There is also a Iyaden Codex Supplement for $ 49.50.  It is unclear of this is a rules supplement or just fluff.  It is also a digital download.

And the obligatory trailer video:

I may now have to pick up some Eldar.  Oh, who am I kidding, I have three Horus Heresy Armies to build!

Loken

More Forge World Horus Heresy Q&A

First, there is a new Horus Heresy forum. 

Check it out and join the conversation.  Plus there is exclusive Horus Heresy Weekender content to be posted there.

Q&A

The following is a list of answers to questions that were asked in various seminars and collected here.

Xenos exist BUT they were pushed almost to the brink of extinction.  Humanity is dominant. Aliens are dead or in hiding and come back in the Scouring when humans are in retreat.

The Horus Heresy is 14 years long.

There will be both Sisters of Silence and Legio Custodes.  Both will be done in Prospero.

Each legion will get characters, doors, shoulder pads and maybe torsos/heads.  Special units for each chapter.

More Mechanicum is coming.  Enough to do an entire army list.

New Dreadclaw will be done.  The old one is too complicated, and the new one will be more practical.  This is in addition to the Kharibdyis Assault Claw.

Bionic upgrades possible - most likely for Iron Hands/Iron Warriors

Castellalan Rhinos (Iron Warriors).  Tony said this would be very difficult.  Doesn't sound like it is happening.

Quite a lot of characters, some will come out later, some will never be made (specifically characters not in the BL books).

Talked a lot about the Storm Bird.  There are many different types of Storm Birds.  Will be a while before they get to this because of its size.

Another Legion Flyer is in the works.

Jump packs are more expensive because they are troops and their speed is valuable.

Stubborn units are slightly more expensive, because not having AKNF makes Stubborn more valuable.

Larger units are cheaper then multiple small units to speed up the game.

The speed of the game is determined by the # of decisions you make.  Less units, less decisions, a faster game.


OK, that is all for now!

Loken

Posting this again because it is so bad ass!

Horus Heresy - Alan Bligh Answers Your Questions

I got to spend 15 minutes with Alan Bligh, the super-nice chief author for Forge World, who has been writing all their books lately.   He answered some questions posted by readers of my blog and the brand new Horus Heresy Forum.

1) When will we see Salamanders?

Next Horus Heresy Book (# 2)

2) The HH:Betrayal book and the IA:Aeronautica book are both recent AND have the Dreadclaw Drop Pod. However, the removed the old Dreadclaw from the FW website. Are they retooling the old mold, making a new one (without the chaos iconography), or what? (Kronk - Dakka)

The Dreadclaw has been discontinued as it was not a very practical model. It is being retooled.

3) When is Mk 8 armour coming out

Errant armour is not in the early part of the Heresy.  It is similar to Aquila Armour. It may be in an Imperial Armour book, but not planned anytime time soon.

4) When will the miniature for Horus be released.

Not set, but Tony Cotrell says "Pretty soon". There is a sense at Forge World that Horus needs to be done quickly.

5) When are Blood angels, Space Wolves, Thousand Sons coming out?
 
See schedule (Posted here)
 
6)     What about the rules, guidance, advice on games with xenos?

The problem is the use of Primarchs and fairness.  So you have to balance the lists.  Discuss with your friend, maybe let him take a Stompa with his Orks if you are playing with Angron. 
 
7)     What about the formations for Apoc?

Probably in the future.
 
8)    What about imperial army (IG)?

They will appear.  VERY diverse.  Not a single list.  Calth will be the first.

9)    Will we see any Heresy-specific terrain?

There is no real Heresy -specific terrain.  Most terrain are cross over pieces


10)     Will all the named IC get their own models eventually?

Assuming named characters in the Black Library books that are then given rules, yes.  But some are not going to be made, specifically characters made up for the FW book.

12)     Where are the MK III Assault Marine squads? There are two versions of the earlier MK II's (normal and Legion) and a set each for IV and V....

Working through it.  There are just a lot of things to get through and this is on the list.

13)     Will we see a Volkite Culverin for the Legion Heavy Support squads ? (maybe even Terminators under "Protoype Weaponry")

YES for Legion Heavy Support Squads, No for Terminators, maybe a Dreadnought arm.

14)     Is the EC Relic Contemptor supposed to be a proxy for Ancient Rylanor or are there plans for a separate miniature?

Would like to do a sperate Rylanor, but not on schedule. 

15)     What are the standard colour schemes for Librarians, Chaplains and Techmarines during the Great Crusade/HH?

Tough one.  Psykers are outlawed so no Librarians.  Red on Techmarines is OK as red = tech priest rank, but should be a minor key  not the entire uniform.

16)     When is Forgeworld planning on releasing the Fulgrim model to the general public? Also are they planning on releasing more Primarchs before this year is out or should we expect about 1 to 2 primarch releases a year?

Not a set schedule want them right

17)     Besides the general timeline for release of the thousand sons, what is fw's vision for them? Kind of what their charachter will be or special units they might have.

This is too long an answer and no one person makes this decision. 

18)     Will posters ever be available at future events or u.s. events?

NO CLUE

19)     When well be seeing the Palatine Blades released?

Next couple months 

20)     WIll there be a complete Mechanicus army list?

Yes, but over the fullness of time.  There will be parts released, and until more units are released the army wont be very diverse.  Mars is the nominal title for the Mechanicus book

21)     Are we going to progress past the Crusade Era power armour marks and see more Mk V and Mk VI characters and special units?

As we go along, but depends on narrative.

22)     What can they tell us about the Night Lords?

In next Horus Heresy Book.


Well there you go!  Thanks to Alan for his graciousness in chatting with me.

Loken

Seminar # 4 - Forge World Horus Heresy Books

Anyone playing Horus Heresy games wants to know when the next Forge World book is coming out and when THEIR favorite Legion gets a book!

Seminar # 3 - Models of the Horus Heresy

After his amazing presentation, I asked Tony Cotrell, the head of Forge World, if it was OK to post the photos of his presentation and he said yes. (He knew I had flown all the way from Los Angeles).

Seminar # 2 - Then and Now (30K vs 40K)

Then and Now (30K vs 40K)  This seminar was interesting as it got to the real diffeences between writing for each era.  The panel was Gav Thorpe, Alan Bligh, Aaron Dembski-Bowden and Dan Abnett.

Seminar # 1 - The History of the Horus Heresy

The History of the Horus Heresy - A panel with Graham McNeil, Alan Bligh, Dan Abnett and Alan Merrett.

Forge World Fulgrim Photos!

The first photos of Fulgrim from the Horus Heresy Weekender program.

Horus Heresy Weekender - It Has Begun!

Day One has started and everyone (almost) was up bright and early to get a go at all the cool merchandise. 

Horus Heresy Exclusive Posters Revealed!

Two Horus Heresy Weekender Exclusives are being sold at the event this weekend.  One is a set of two posters, sold individually for 25£ (about $38). 

Forge World Releases Praetor Models

 

Forge World has just released a photo of its new Praetor Model that will be released at the Horus Heresy Weekender.  

All Quiet on the Rumor Front - London Landing

As I was flying all day yesterday, it was nice to know that there were no new rumors to report, as I was in the air without wi-fi (International flights do not yet have wi-fi, whereas domestic flights all do on Delta).

Horus Heresy: Betrayal FAQ

The first Horus Heresy book "Betrayal" has gotten an FAQ and you can find it here.

If you are building a Horus Heresy Legion, time to download this FAQ.  Most items are fine tuning, and there are even some great designer notes.  

However, I wish they had done a better job with proof reading before they published this.   Couldn't they bring in an entirely new team to proof read the work and make the book close to perfect before they printed the $ 100 book?

Now Alan Bligh also says that a lot of the points of the FAQ is feedback from customers, so I love hearing that.

Still love the work and the commitment of the Forge World team and a great job as always!

Loken

Inflatable Space Marine Mascot?

Courtesy of 4chan's /tg/ board, comes Landmark Creations' Slash Gordon.  At over 25', this inflattable Space Marine knock-off is meant to help sell mobile homes!

London Bound for the Horus Heresy Weekender!

Right now I am blogging from 30,000 feet as I head to Geek nirvana!  The Horus Heresy Weekender is this weekend and is SOLD OUT!  But I will be live blogging all weekend.

Dreamforge Producing New Leviathan Mortis

If you know anything about Dreamforge and Mark Mondragon, the owner, you know it is all about passion and making great models.  Mark made the now legendary resin Leviathan that GW shut down before production.  

 The legendary Leviathan Mortis

Now Mark is making injection molded Leviathans and he is coming out with his second one, named after his previous resin one.


From Mark at Dreamforge:

The Leviathan Mortis is now production ready! This was actually the first of the new generation of Leviathan I designed back in 2002... I still have a soft spot for the Mortis.  Unlike the old resin kits the fingers and scythe will remain completely poseable. Just like the Crusader, the Mortis is highly dynamic, arms move, legs move, waist moves.... great fun and ready for some smack down.

When will this hit retail? About 3-4 months, we hope... We will not make this available until all the Kickstarter backers have been shipped and are well on their way. Stay tuned for updates!

 

 

I have not yet gotten a Leviathan, but will be doing so shortly.  They are perfect for Knight Titans. 

Loken

Dice of War Prepares to Launch!

In two and a half weeks, SoCal's newest game store launches!

Amazing Blood Angel Cosplay!

This is one amazing Space Marine costume!

Newest Eldar Rumor - Weapons

The latest Eldar rumor centers around the Shuriken weaponry.