The more I play the new Codex and understand better how to use the Units in the book, the more I think that perhaps the Eldar are back to being overpowered... The 2 big things that worry me about this are: Marines are next, and if this is a power spiral, then that bodes ill for the game itself. And the LAST time the Eldar were what I thought of as overpowered, they spent more than 2 full editions in "penance mode" with a severely crippled and craptastic codex. I hope that neither of these happens again, but not holding my breath.
Don't get me wrong, the Eldar do not come off the shelf with the plug and play answer to every situation out there, but I do believe they have access to the tools that will make them able to stand against ANY other army out there currently and easily take apart a good number of them. Most of them in fact. There are only a few that I would hesitate to take my standard "All Comers" list against and be confident that at the least I will have a fighting chance against. SO much (almost) Rending, D Weapons, re-rolls/twin linking and Ignore Cover firepower in everything that it just feels like I have a FAR better force than my old standards of Wolves or Fleshtearers. GK and IG are I think likewise out shot and more importantly outmaneuvered by the MUCH faster Eldar forces.
Even my ancient Scorpions are getting back onto the field. They are actually REALLY good these days, though require a lot more finesse than say, the Death Company :-)... My Swooping Hawks are also quite good. Not 2nd Ed good, but using them as Light Cavalry to harass a flank, assassinate something specific hiding in the rear, or even Score on some missions... For 106 points? NOT bad at all. Mind, not like the FT's Vanguard Vets, but I think overall more useful.
Looking forward to testing out a Crimson Hunter. I think that upgrading to the Exarch will be a good thing for the called shots, re-roll on AP against fliers, etc... Not sure if the 5+ to call the shots will be useful in the short term, longer term as the massed Flier armies fade, I do think it will be. Being able to call shots against say, the Apothecary in the Draigo Wing's Paladin Squads might well be something to consider...
Overall, I think that the Eldar Codex is a VERY powerful one in the right hands, just hoping it is not TOO powerful for TOO many people.
Getting the Apocalypse book read now. Sad to see how many damn formations I CAN field without proxies all at once. No clue the actual number of points I can field, but it is going to be a LOT over the 6+ full armies I own. Only one Titan and one Super Heavy Tank (Eldar Tempest Class, no longer exists of course...), but still... When the lads gather and march, might be needing a cargo vehicle to haul them all... Looks like fun, but the potential for forever games seems there...
I played against them for the first time the other day and was rather worried too. I was playing a Chaos Space Marine army with a mixture of fast assault elements and Plague Marines to hold objectives. I got shot to bits, couldn't hide in cover (barrage weapons are mean as is the Wave Serpent) and neither could I close the gap to assault because of all the rending weapons. Only managed to scrape a draw because my opponent had deployed badly and I was basically fighting only half his army. Scary really.
ReplyDeleteBetween this and the new Tau I'm not sure how to adapt my forces. I have a big collection to draw on but I don't know what will work. I feel almost as if I was back to playing the old CSM codex in terms or relative power level.
It does seem that a number of the more recent Codexes (Codii?) are really overly focused on killing an army of 3+ save Troops. I don't play them, but overall I really liked what they did with the Chaos book... The Heldrake being the one thing that was sticking out as seriously broken. Mind, just my opinion of course as a player of several 3+ save armies, something that simply ignores EVERYTHING I pay lots of points for, and I cannot easily deal with it on even footing? :-) TT is my definition of broken. And that single piece made a LOT of my armies completely unplayable... Wolves, BA (Fleshtearers), etc...
ReplyDeleteHaving said that, the Wave Serpent with it's ability to roll onto the field 12" and fire it's 2 real weapons, likely being both twin linked and the d6+1 weapon yeah, that is also in the broken range. The "Mechdar" of old seem like a VERY viable force with the ability to throw out SO MANY high Str shots, really only Terminator or really heavy Mech seems to be something I cannot easily deal with. Even then, I roll out a lot of SC wielding Troops, and the vaunted Paladins of the Grey Knights will have a hard time making that many saves in a turn.
'course, just my opinion and experiences playing locally, YMMV...