The Tally

This will be an ongoing post documenting my games with the new codex.  Last night I got in two games, Eldar won both! but unfortunately my opponent was playing Eldar for one of the games.

The basic format will be unit name, games I consider them successful/games played with unit, grade they would get if they were in school, notes

HQs:
Spiritseer, 6/14, B-: Useful powers rolled but lots of failed tests, wraithguard good as troops but battlefield impact not worth the 20 points.  Played an iyanden based list and voice of twilight was very useful but needs an FAQ about the targetting of the blessing.  Generally I'm not finding much value for him on the table top, he is the wraith as troops tax and is worth it.  If you get lucky protect is probably your best power but horrify can be good as well.  Not sure why it hasn't occurred to me before but I would give him the Spirit Stones in an Iyanden list, his rune save doesn't matter much (he will be with wraithguard) and it makes it so he can cast both Voice and whatever he draws.  At the GT gave him the Spirit Stones and they were useful.

Mantle Autarch on bike, 5/8, B+: Survived, won most combats by 2, solid but not amazing, consider giving shards instead of lance, add fusion gun, banshee mask not used in either game, +/-1 reserve modification helpful is very helpful, especially with small jetbike squads and flyers.  Tried version with shard, died to failed rerolled cover saves turn 2.  2 more games with shard wasn't overly impressive.  Instant death did deny a couple of feel no pains, tending to think laser lance is more useful.  I forget about the fusion gun.  Died but disrupted Long fangs for multiple turns.  The only issue with him is that he isn't a farseer.  Has been less useful in the last few games, he is fine but costs more than a farseer and is less useful.

Farseer on bike, 13/14, A-: Died turn 1 along with 6 shining spears.  Psychic defense is horrible compared to before.  Got @$#@%$ by deamon powers repeatedly.  Kept casting guide, called it good.  As in previous edition, his powers add a lot, unfortunately it is now called guide and not doom or fortune.  Increased range is great and if you do happen to get fortune or doom so much the better.  This guy has become a staple of my list joined to shadow weavers.  Typically I roll Runes of Fate, if I get something Doom or Fortune I keep it and take Guide and Prescience.  If the initial power is bad I drop it for guide and take two rolls on Divination for Prescience and something.  I expect him to do nothing but get better as marines join my lists.

Avatar: 1/1, A:  In a Zone Mortalis game, avatar did well,  The new high BS twinlinked his gun taking down a hellbrute.  Punched some terminators.  5++ never was a factor

Illic Nightspear: 0/1 D: Makes pathfinders that are overpriced given the amount of ignore cover out there.  Gun is cool but needs a 6 to be useful.

Farseer- 4/4 B+:  Double guide is good, what more needs to be said.  I've been attaching him to a unit of shadow weavers for the extra protection.  Would still probably give him a jetbike most of the time for the extra toughness and ability to run away if needed.

Karandas- 2/3, B:  Solid, good trait.  I could see running him as a backfield unit to serve as counter assault.  I have been running him as a leader for harlies, which is fine except that assault sucks (see harlies below)

Elites:
Striking Scorpions, 2/3, B: Poor use on my part.  Mandiblasters are worse, had a situation of a skipped initiative step.  Fleet is helpful.  Consider outflanking them in future.  Need a nice LOS blocking area terrain at or near midfield.  Held an objective (mor accurately kept enemy away from objective)

Fire Dragons 1/1,B:  They are fire dragons what else is there to say.

Howling Banshees :  Accidentally deleted this paragraph but to summarize, not impressed

Harlies 1/3, D:  Played versus nurgle deamons, added karandas to units and killed GUO.  Hard game to test them but they performed well.  I haven't had the horrible experience with them getting shot but this edition is so anti-assault a dedicated assault unit just doesn't cut it.  They earn a D for a grade, however they would earn a B if assault becomes needed again.

Troops:
3 man jetbikes: 4/6, B:  Didn't need them in one game, got tempted to use in another.  No issues in a kill point game.  They aren't needed as much this edition because the rest of the army is able to survive, but still a decent backup plan for winning the game.

3 man jetbikes + cannon: 8/16, B-: Didn't need in one game, cannon is definitely helpful, would probably suggest 6 man squads in future, survived in two kill point games.  They are becoming a common element of Eldar lists and as a result people are learning to target them.  At GT they were in reserve every game, cannon was not needed

9 man jetbikes +warlock 0/1, NA: 7 dead turn 1, rest run off board

Dire Avengers, 2/7, C+:  Got shot up early both games, Jeff had some limited success with his vs. me, good game in Zone Mortalis being able to fire and run back behind cover.  AP2 killed a terminator or two which the old squad would not have been able to do.  Tried in wave serpent, wave serpent was good but squad not much use, will try with guardians next.  Did some damage coming out of a wave serpent but had to go run and hide in it again to maintain scoring.

Rangers, 1/4, B+:  Work better when you don't fail 3 out of 3 2+ cover saves.  cheap scoring unit as usual, not much for damage

Wraithguard with flamer, 3/4, B+: Flamers held off harlequin charge, probably need a wave serpent to be truly useful.  Used with a wave serpent and as expected performed very well.  Instant deathed two deamon princes in one round.

Wraithblades 4/9, B-: In a Zone Mortalis game these guys shined taking down a unit of Dark Angel elite terminators and Beliel (with some late help from the avatar).  One attack base isn't much but the toughness and the 5++ save prevented significant return damage.  Did fine in second game but game ended early so they didn't do much, S7/8 did keep enemy warp hunter from getting into a flank position.  Killed a couple of Riptides and have been a solid threat when Wave Serpent not blown up turn 1.

Wraithguard with cannon 9/14, B: Played one unit of cannons and one of flamers in a messenger style mission.  This allowed me to mix and match a little which was great.  4 flamers easily killed a unit of warp spiders, 4 cannons rolled only 1 hit and failed to kill a fire prism.  D-cannons are becoming very useful, only in one situation so far would I have preferred the wraithguard when being assaulted by a riptide  (previous turn I had rolled two instant kills that were both very slightly cocked and rerolled into nothing.) At GT learned that bumrushing with them is very solid.  I can't roll a 6 to wound to save my life but so be it. 

20 man guardians with brightlances, 2/2, B: Warlock was definitely useful even with failed tests.  Took 4 wounds off avatar in one round.  Large squad was unwieldy to use, Conceal better than protect

Pathfinders 0/1 F:  To expensive plain and simple.  Ignore cover wipes them out too easily and is too common to justify 25 points/model.

Wave Serpent, 14/14, A+: They still die to dedicated fire but the shield is awesome.  Ignore cover was big in wiping out units in ruins.  Took 3 in a game and they were amazing.  They continue to outperform and for once the internet is fairly accurate in how good they are.  I'm still on the fence about holofields.  Didn't take holofields at the GT and didn't need them, so many things ignore cover now that they are pointless. 


Fast Attack:
Warp Spiders, 12/16, A: Super speedy, good damage, multi-purpose, overall solid, bad jump back rolls can result in heavy damage so large squad is good.  Jeff used the exarch to good effect vs. me.  In games where they haven't performed it has been because they were targeted early.  God droppodded to death after bad jumps and runs.  At GT so long as I remembered about them they were excellent.  Heavy LOS blocking terrain really helped.

Hemlock flyer, 2/8, C:  Forcing reroll had no effect in 3 games, guns are weak, ended up turboboosting more than shooting them, failed most psychic test (bad luck), in game four finally had a decent impact breaking a unit of chaos bikers that would have been a problem, broke plague marines.  Terrify doesn't work vs. deamon.  But remembering about Terrify is pretty strong.  Can make units fall back out of combat.  I really like my conversion but the plane just make the grade.

Crimson Hunter , 1/2, C:  Better than expected, horrid dice rolls prevented grade from being higher, I'm interested in trying out the starcannon version.  Star cannon tested vs nurgle, killed a flying deamon prince.

Nightwing Interceptor, 2/2, A: What can I say this is a solid plane.

Shining spears, 0/1, NA: Died turn 1

Heavy Support:
Shadow weavers, X/X, A-: 90 points of goodness.  Killed quad gun thanks to AP1, extra strength.  Good place to hide a farseer.  Would like to try 2 units.  I'm not really tracking these guys anymore.  They are good.  Great place to hide a farseer (but still give the jetbike to make T4).  They were the MVP of the GT.

Dark Reapers, 0/2, C-: Vs. non-MEQ overcosted, range was helpful, did decent damage but generally wasn't impressed.

Wraithlord, 3/4, B: Paired with wraithknight they provided solid fire support, swords didn't do much, lack of extra movement tended to leave them behind.  Addition of battlefocus a plus.  I like making one a warlord in Iyanden lists.  Charged 4 deamonettes and died before striking.

Wraithknight (d-cannons), 7/8, B+:  Ended up dead in one game because I forgot about poison on plague swords (until I remember opponent that they were).  Opponent dedicated a lot of shooting at it, sparing the rest of the army.  Missed 3 of 4 shots but speed allowed it to move up and make assaults without much difficulty.  Still more failures to hit, but kept half a table clear of enemies by mere presence.

Wraithknight (suncannon), 11/11 A-:  Sun cannon, scatter laser is awesome.     This guy is becoming my preferred build.  Doesn't need guide help, doesn't need cover.  Biggest reason to keep the base weapon is if you fear AV 14.  Solid performance at the GT.  Died early in one game due to horrible saves but sun cannons wrecked bunched up units.

War Walkers 3/3 B:  Figuring out the weapon load out for these guys will take time.  I am liking the scatter laser + different weapon options.  I like the brightlance/scatter laser combo.  Not as good vs. AV 13/14 as dual brightlance but versatile enough to be useful if heavy armour not on the board.