This is the best quality tactical content in 40k today. I wish more armies had this kind of coverage, since started writing for the necrons, and it makes me miss the days of writing for the old eldar online forums a looong time ago. Keep it up sir
As a new 40k player who decided to choose Eldar as my very first faction, your videos have helped me more than any other resource. Just became a patron and excited to join the discord and meet the community =) Thank you so much for all of your work and information. Amazing job.
Another great vid, I was wondering the same about the maneuvering of all these "slow" melee threat units. I might be seeing Steve later so if he gets a minute I'll see what he says. I had some 4:1 success at the Southampton GT with Ulthwe, but there were 2 eldar that placed about me both melee style custom craftworld, a 5:0 player even beat DA Term spam in the final round but didn't quite make the top cut.
Cegorach’s Rose has quickly become my favorite harlequin relic in my testing. Excellent for tipping through terminators and other annoying 3 wound models
There are other really good melee troupemaster builds (veiled king pivotal role and storied sword relic for example), but I find Aeldari tend to lack damage 3 weapons, so having such a reliable source is too good to pass up.
@@ProxyHammer1 I haven't had to face it yet, but I am far more concerned about Ravenwing than Deathwing spam. The terminators are tough, but I run either Hail of Doom or Ynnari, both of which I find well suited to killing even deathwing terminators, with very high volume 1 damage attacks and/or mortal wound spam. Ravenwing scare me far more, as they can play around Aeldari positioning tricks and potentially pull off an Alpha Stoke. Sadly I will be shackled to my desk until at least the end of the financial year, so I quite possibly won't get the chance to get massacred by OP Dark Angel bullshit 🙂
@@samhunter1205 Haha lmfao I totally feel you on that! My plan for Ravenwing has been to just hem them in with Advanced positions so they can’t move turn 1 :/ doesn’t always work but if I get first turn they won’t be able to move easily
Thanks! I just don't want anyone to feel like I am telling them they should be engaging in the hobby in any way other than the ones that they enjoy. Every now and then one of my tactics video really rubs a casual player the wrong way, and I was trying to head that off. These videos are meant to be enjoyable and helpful, so the occasional angry emails or comments that they generate are disheartening; I try to avoid those if I can.
These videos are absolutely phenomenal! My friends and I have started doing small, five person tournaments recently to learn how to be better players and these videos have helped me SO much. This past January we did 1000 points and at the end of this month we're moving up to 2000.
Nice!! I think that is the best way to learn competitive 40k- with a small cooperative meta of like-minded people. Thanks so much for your kind words about the content!
It's here! The one we were waiting for is HERE! I like your comment about how non-tournament players should at least INFORM their lists by looking at what's effective on high table competitive; in a game where even the filthy casuals tend to do some meta chasing, the best way to prevent feel-bad moments is to at least TRY to defend yourself.
Basically Hail of Doom or Ynnari lists. The other style of list, the Vengeful & Children of Khaine has 1 huge flaw. The additional hits gained from Vengeful do not activate the Mandiblasters, nor the possible additional damage of CoK. This is because the additional hits do not benefit from any bonus the original hits are able to obtain. These days I tend to take 3 Vypers, but in light of what you've stated, may take 5 or 6 for the BEL stratagem.
I agree with your reading of the rules, but it remains true that people have done extremely well with those other list archetypes, even if they are more challenging than Hail, so I think they are clearly contenders.
@@WBConcilio As with many subfactions, some CW's are simply better than others. Of the main craftworlds, even Ulthwe, is only regularly getting a win rate in the low 40% or worse. Some other factions also have this problem such as Orks. Personally, I think each Craftworld or Ork Clan or similar should have its own army list. If a SM chapter of 1000 troops can have its own codex, surely it wouldn't be too much of a stretch to create a personalised army list that's lore friendly.
@@nickthenoodle9206My point was just that- overall win rate aside- if an Ulthwe list can go 5-0 at a 196 person super major, then there are ways to play Ulthwe at the highest level with great success. Nobody has done that with Iyanden, Alaitoc, Saim-Hann, or Biel-Tan since Arcs. I agree that unique army lists and subfaction bonuses are thematic and fun. The issue is that the more there are, the harder it is to create balanced rules for all of them. This is what leads to many years in a row where certain Craftworlds literally never make it to the podium at any big event. The new Guard Codex has totally eliminated subfaction bonuses entirely, which is what makes me think it might be coming in 10th, which is reputed to be much a slimmed down version of the game with many fewer unique strats and rules. But I am just guessing at the end of the day.
@@WBConcilio Thank you for your reply. The problem with CW is not at the top level of play. Eldar have a lot of options to be exploited. Unfortunately few are lore related. Altansar is a totally obvious example. For example, Grim is the most silly trait for CW because it should never occur, because Eldar hordes are silly. Then you have the most inappropriate trait ever, savage blades. Altansar fought Demons for millenia. The Demonic saving throw is not effected by Savage Blades. If at the top level of play, only Ynnari and Hail of Doom lists are regularly making the top table, something is incredibly wrong with CW in general.
I’ve had a lot of fun with a very bike heavy alpha strike setup with the recent price drop for Shroud Runners. Ulthwe really gets to take advantage of SO many cheap units now. Windriders and D-Cannons having the Guardian Keyword makes them very scary. Plus all the support for our favorite Daemonic stompy boy, Khaine? Too much fun.
Fire Dragon are amazing in Biel-Tan. Virtually every opponent I had at LVO was very impressed by a unit with blazing fury. Exploding 6's + fate dice is nasty
Thank's for the upload some interesting stuff for sure. Regarding timespan dont worry about it, 3-4 months is about how often the meta drastically change any way, new editions or not. Cheers!
I think it's worth noting I've seen Box use War Walkers alongside a Striking Scorpion alpha strike. The walkers even engaging in melee to tie up ranged threats that are ill suited to dealing with them in close combat.
Yep. Scout gets removed from my list when enemy list has too much trash for screening, warp gets removed when the enemy has 4+ deny strats etc. Usually either wrath or another kill secondary replaces one of these two. Behind never leaves my list and I've never scored less than 10 vp with it.
Great video, love the insights!!!! Would love to pick your brain on how to deal with Dark Angels right now, seems like no matter how I play my Ulthwe list I am just getting crushed by them haha
Is it Raven Wing? If so, I assume the speed of the bikes is what makes it possible for your opponent to counter you. Generally they can be beaten move blocking the bikes turn 1. Feel free to send me an email
A good video and I appreciate the pivot with the "rumors" of 10th. I definitly fall in to the Beil-Tan followers but I'm not a GT girl. I'll try the suggestions though. As to the farseer and forwarded. Lysander and 5 assault termies dropped in. After forwarded 3 were dead. Twas brutal and khaine approved.
I really hope so. Wraiths are usable for sure, they are just tricky. I do think there are lots of ways to make a Wraith-heavy list that is at least a contender for mid table success. Really highly competitive lists probably cap out Wraiths a 400pts TOPS. The 10th ed rumor is that subfaction bonuses might not even really be a thing, so all Craftworlds might be on even footing.
Nice video sir! I really love to se the Avatar of Khaine doing well in the meta, man love the model and the concept itself. Do you know where can I find batreps of stephen box's list? Really want to see
At the moment, I am building a pure Aspect Warrior Host, one of each aspect, 4 Phoenix Lords, not sure what it plays like still collecting and waiting for Phoenix lord resculpts. 🥰
I’ve been experimenting with how I want to play Aeldari throughout the entire edition. I like mostly shooting with some melee counter punch or trading, and I’m just about to try out the traits Swift Strikes with Hunters of Ancient Relics. I’m hoping the quick mobility with the ability to shoot and do actions will help me rack up secondary points, which I’ve historically struggled with
I think Hunters might be giving too much up considering that Avengers or any unit enhanced with Will of Asuryan can perform an action and still shoot and most actions can only be performed by one unit per turn anyway- also, giving up shooting by a unit of Rangers is not much of a sacrifice, especially compared to what you can get with that second slot. You mentioned melee trading- do you think you might get more out of Vengeful as a second pick?
@@WBConcilio You know, I think I held onto that idea at some point, but I never properly gave it a try. I might do a few games with each, see how much I needed to shoot with actions, what could be covered by Avengers or Will of Asuryan instead, and then a few games with Vengeful and see how impactful the exploding 6s feel. Thank you for the reply, I'll give it a shot!
is their anyway you could do a video on how battle focus and strands of fate properly work. also if you already have videos on this could you point how which one i should be watching
I talk about it in Part 1 of my codex review of the 9th edition codex, but here are the basics: a unit with battle focus can EITHER make and advance move and still shoot a pistol or assault weapon at no penalty OR move D6 inches after shooting in the shooting phase, while suffering a -3 penalty if moving through a ruin. A BF move interrupts an action, like Scout the Enemy. For Strands of Fate, you roll 6 dice before each battle round and retain a number of dice determined by the size of the game- 4 dice in 2k. You may reroll one of the 6 dice for each Farseer you have on the table. A unit that has Strands of Fate on its datasheet can use those four strands of fate dice to auto-generate a roll of a 6 for a particular kind of roll. So if the Strands of Fate dice is a "1", you can use that die as an automatic "6" on an advance roll instead of actually rolling. Here are the others: 2: a single charge die (roll the other as normal) 3: a single psychic text die (roll the other as normal) 4: a hit roll 5: a wound roll 6: an armor save Also, because each individual dice for hitting and wounding is treated as a separate roll, there is nothing to stop you from from have say, a dingle DCannon, use two 4s in the same shooting phase. Hope that helps
thank you also i had one more question cause everyone can't seem to give me straight answer on about the sudden assault ability is it a turn 1 deep strike or is it normal deep strike making it a turn 2+ drop in?
Great content as always, mate! Quick question though: you mention we have lots of options to get into our opponent's deployment zone Turn 1 (windriders, vypers, etc.) to do Scout the Enemy. But, the only viable options I can see are Shroud Runners using their pregame move and Falcon turn 1 deepstrike. The rest fall short in movement to clear 24" (staying alive till Turn 2 for completing the action without rangers is another problem entirely lol). I may be misinterpreting or missing something here... Did you mean in one turn, not turn 1?
There are more options! Rangers, Scorpions, and War Walkers can all start the game 9" from the enemy deployment zone, and all have sufficient movement to get in turn 1. Banshees can jump out of a Wave Serpent 3" in front of your deployment zone, advance 14" more with Strands of Fate, charge another minimum of 7" Strands of Fate, (9" with GHOSTWALK",) Pile In another 3", and potentially consolidate another 3". Even if you only get one of those strands dice, they stand an excellent chance of covering all the necessary ground on turn 1. On maps with diagnol deployment, Vypers and Windriders can just sail in turn 1- on other maps, you just throw QUICKEN on an MSU Windrider squad or Vyper to get there no problem. You can even have a single Warlock Skyrunner move to the center of the table to perform Warp Ritual, and then have another psyker QUICKEN that bikelock into the opponent's backfield turn 1. And also Shroud Runners and potentially Falcons like you said.
So I may be stupid but I’m not understanding why Harlequins or Drukhari units in a Ynnari force can’t benefit from strands of fate? In our book it says for the purposes of the SOF ability, each one of those units is treated as having the Asuryani keyword
The rule you are talking about makes it possible for units that already have Strands of Fate on their datasheets to make use of it because it would otherwise by invalidated by non-asuryani units in the same list. It does not, however, add Strands of Fate to the datasheets of units that don't have it. No Harlequin or Drukhari unit has access to Strands of Fate, it's just that they don't block it
Question... I am considering getting back into the game after a very long time. About to pick up the Aeldari codex and start dipping my toe back into painting. I know the coming 10th edition will impact rules for anything I buy now possibly, I don't want to end up with a completely useless codex that I have just purchased, etc... I don't think that is a possibility but would love some feedback.
I have a video on which units are best for new players, but with 10th ed only a few months off, you probably would do best to start with a Farseer and whatever units are most interesting to you. Currently, my favorite way to run Maugan-Ra is to start him in a Falcon with either 5 Banshees or 5 Dire Avengers to that he can shoot and attempt a charge the same turn he arrives. Ironically, he needs to be able to participate in both shooting and melee to earn his points as a combat character, and he doesn't have the mobility to be anything else.
Hello there!! Great content, thanks a lot. I was planning to go with Swift and Masterful (loved that FAQ for BF after advance, perfect for BEL and for spiders, shroud runners, windriders.. and it's good fun xD), but at the end somehow it feels safer to go Ulthwe, mostly for using the ghosthelm on a warlock on bike for warp ritual (with one FD just a 2+ for undeniable). Do you think it's not really that necessary? Counting that it also would unlock Fate Reader and the +1hit for windriders/D-cannons between other things.. Also, I don't quite understand why so many people seems to pick Scout the Enemy 🤔, when in my opinion it's just worth it with Rangers (and not shroud!) on turn 3 taking them from reserves in the enemy deployment zone (if they are not screened).. is not more reliable RBD? I was even considering a 50p corsairs unit just for that and BEL if possible (probably not even necessary because I have many other tools for it). Sorry for such a long comment, and thanks again!
Okay, so the Ghosthelm is only undeniable on a 3+ because it has to be an unmodified 9+ to trigger. Ulthwe will nevertheless provide a stronger psychic game, especially if you include Eldrad. You can offset the loss in a Swift/Masterful list with the Seer Council Strat and Fate Dice, but it won't be the same. The trade off of course is early game speed and brutality. Both can be strong, so it really it comes down to playstyle. If you want to be in your opponent's face with a big bike unit turn 1, go with Swiftstrikes. If you prefer to play a slightly more conservative game focused on the last two turns, Ulthwe is the way forward. Ulthwe is a more balanced approach. As for Scout the Enemy, remember that any unit can perform the actions, it's just that Rangers are the only ones who complete it on your turn. You can, however, do it with a Wave Serpent out of Line of Sight, or a Vyper, or even Baharroth in your opponent's backfield with his damage gate to keep him standing. It some match ups, Banners IS a better pick- but at least in competitive play, most opponents will have ways to make a trade to steal an objective in your backfield for a turn and pull down a banner, just as Eldar players like to do with Phoenix Lords or Will of Asuryan on some Banshees, etc. If you are a conservative Ulthwe players screening the hell out of your backfield and not coming up against Harlequins, World Eater, Drukhari, Demons, or other Craftworlders, then Banners really might be a more consistently efficient pick- but that is meta dependent. In the global competitive meta, about 80% of the time, Scout the Enemy is outperforming Banners for Craftworlds players at top tables- but that doesn't mean that you aren't 100% right about what is most efficient for your style in your own playgroup.
@@WBConcilio Thanks for your answer! I'm watching all your videos and I really like all your insights. Certainly I think I kinda tent to be more conservative, focus on shooting and hide, screening, and try to secure some secondaries. Scouts when you have to hold a full turn feels risky, but well you're right that you could make it work fairly safe with units like Baharroth or something else hidden, I guess mostly on the last turns 🤔. Banners I was not really considering it that much, but I will as well from now on. What about Retrieve Battlefield Data? No one take it anymore? "Easy" 12p with Avengers etc would be like holding one unit a hole turn 3 times on enemy deployment zone for Scout.. About Ghosthelm well you would also have the +1 for first psychic with Ulthwe, but nevertheless that's counting with using a fate dice instead of using it for other useful powers. Anyway, in competitive play the people never use this and still pick Warp Ritual, right? 😅With the cheap warlock on foot with Quicken it looks like almost guarantee 12 points vs anyone, but without it.. how the people play it consistently? Sorry for keep writing that much, it's very interesting and I'm not a pro but I do like learning and playing as competitive as possible with such a fun army.
@@Larriak You can make Scout a sure thing either with Rangers or durable units out of Line of Sight- it really never scores less than 10 and you can sometimes max it out. Retrieve Data is not popular simply because it requires you to sacrifice units and it can sometimes be blocked or prevented in one quadrant; it's not terrible, just more resource intensive than Scout or Banners for a less-certain payoff. You are right that with Quicken, Warp Ritual is pretty much a guaranteed 12 points. You can quicken a Farseer or Warlock on a Bike 22" back to safety after they perform Warp Ritual, which is why it is generally an auto-include against any list without 4+ auto-deny abilities or a huge bonus to deny.
What would happen in Ynnari if you did choose to all in it's types. E.g. 20-man Hellion squad with toughness 5 and 4++ save with goal of trying to multi-charge. Or big Wych blocks etc. etc.
Those super big units have two issues: the first is that they are hard to keep out of line of sight while you are waiting to get them into the scrum; the second is that they become so expensive, at least the Hellions, that as a trading unit they can really struggle to make a good exchange. It is not impossible to pull off, but in competitive play there will be plenty of match ups where they struggle to earn their points, even if in some they are heroes.
Oh, I think he arrives in a Falcon to offset his mobility issues. He has pretty good shooting and close combat, so if he can get into the opponent's backfield with his damage gates and obsec, he can do some work. He definitely isn't my own first or second pick, but the list proved that he is usable.
Great vid and love your contents! By the way, for peeps with ADHD (like me), would be a GREAT help if you can put bullet points on screen for each topic you are talking about...😓
Yeah, I like those graphics that Auspex Tactics does too- and I do appreciate the suggestion. The difference between me and the Aupex guy is that this isn't my day job. Each video already takes generally 10-12 hours to make, and it's hard for me to improve the production value at this point without slowing content creation. If I ever have enough of a following that the revenue actually makes it possible for me to cut back work hours, I will add graphics with bullet points and more.
I've decided that 10th will be thw time to jump back into eldar after being away since 10th, obviously everything might change. But rn I'm teetering between Biel-Tan/Saim Hann. I have an aggressive playstyle and love very speedy armies with lots of "finicky" rules (having played Emperor's Children in 9th)
I wish samn hann (jetsbikes) or wraith heavy army would come back to meta. Eldar is my favorite army in game but aspects besides howling banshee are my least favorite models
Good video with useful information, thanks. I may have an unpopular opinion though - Hail of Doom shouldn't be a thing. If we had, for instance, a marine chapter where all standard bolters had a good chance of killing all hordes, all monsters, all vehicles, etc to the point where 90% of SM players used that chapter in tournaments you can be certain there would be some grumbling. I understand the need to differentiate between craftworlds and such but not to the point that it starts to break the rock-paper-scissors concept. In addition, on a realism-plausibility scale, small arms are _supposed_ to be hard-countered by armour. HoD simply ignores this logic with basically no drawbacks. A possible rebalance I would suggest is to make it an army-wide ammunition type for shuriken weapons such that you get all the current bonuses but at -1 shots, so Assault 3 becomes Assault 2 etc. All the craftworld special rules, warlord traits and relics need a bit of internal rebalancing that I'm hoping 10th edition will address (not likely though). Ulthwe suffers from being just a little too perfectly good in any situation and against all opponents, whereas all the other craftworlds have fairly situational rules and buffs that may or may not affect a game at all.
Yeah, this is totally fair. Hail lacks nuance and removes a lot of the considerations that are a standard part of the game. Rumor has it that 10th edition might not have subfaction bonuses of any kind.
Mobile fighters and web way warriors 3 Falcons with one unit dire avengers in one banshees other and fire dragons in last one Farseer on foot in with banshees with guide and ghost walk also 2 units of dire avengers in one wave serpent for utility and 3 units 10 guardians with another wave serpent and recycle the gardians in and out of the waves one in one out for the +1 to wound
Is it a lot of people? I do it both ways. I would love to see what happened with D&D happen with 40k in terms of the audience expanding to be less predominantly male, and I think not exclusively talking about the game like it is a forgone conclusion that it is exclusively for dudes might make it seem a little more accessible to women. I think I would be personally less likely to try a hobby in which participants were almost universally referred to with female pronouns. TLDR: I can only speak for why I do it in some videos, but in my case it's because I want more people to play.
@@WBConcilio I see. Indeed one would presume that a wh40k player would be a male. I admire your intentions here. I guess another reason that I feel strange about it because in my native language the word “opponent” has masculine gender.
@@SpiritOfLion Oh, wow! That is so interesting! It has never occurred to me how languages with gendered nouns would create an additional level of complexity here.
So.... If someone is a competitive player... but wants to start a craftworld list from scratch. Would you say 30 Dire Avengers, and an Avatar of Khaine is a good place to start? HAHA.
Not this close to 10th, and I'd max out at 20 if I was you 👌🏼 you'll need at least 1 unit of 5 rangers if you want easy points on scout the enemy and then 4-5 windriders have surprisingly been an MVP in every match of mine since Arks started. You'll also want a wave serpent and falcon for those avengers and Scorpions/Banshees MSU are always solid ☺️
Great video my friend! I’m glad you did this it was great to hear a competitive overview of the several different ways Aeldari can bring the heat!
This is the best quality tactical content in 40k today. I wish more armies had this kind of coverage, since started writing for the necrons, and it makes me miss the days of writing for the old eldar online forums a looong time ago.
Keep it up sir
Woah, thank you!! That's high praise. I am not sure what "writing for the Necrons" means exactly, but it sounds impressive.
As a new 40k player who decided to choose Eldar as my very first faction, your videos have helped me more than any other resource. Just became a patron and excited to join the discord and meet the community =) Thank you so much for all of your work and information. Amazing job.
Another great vid, I was wondering the same about the maneuvering of all these "slow" melee threat units. I might be seeing Steve later so if he gets a minute I'll see what he says.
I had some 4:1 success at the Southampton GT with Ulthwe, but there were 2 eldar that placed about me both melee style custom craftworld, a 5:0 player even beat DA Term spam in the final round but didn't quite make the top cut.
That's awesome- very well done.
Yeah, I would be interested if you do talk to Steve in what he says
Cegorach’s Rose has quickly become my favorite harlequin relic in my testing. Excellent for tipping through terminators and other annoying 3 wound models
There are other really good melee troupemaster builds (veiled king pivotal role and storied sword relic for example), but I find Aeldari tend to lack damage 3 weapons, so having such a reliable source is too good to pass up.
@@samhunter1205 I agree! I found the same thing, especially lately against the terminator meta that has evolved everywhere lol 😂
@@ProxyHammer1 I haven't had to face it yet, but I am far more concerned about Ravenwing than Deathwing spam. The terminators are tough, but I run either Hail of Doom or Ynnari, both of which I find well suited to killing even deathwing terminators, with very high volume 1 damage attacks and/or mortal wound spam. Ravenwing scare me far more, as they can play around Aeldari positioning tricks and potentially pull off an Alpha Stoke. Sadly I will be shackled to my desk until at least the end of the financial year, so I quite possibly won't get the chance to get massacred by OP Dark Angel bullshit 🙂
@@samhunter1205 Haha lmfao I totally feel you on that! My plan for Ravenwing has been to just hem them in with Advanced positions so they can’t move turn 1 :/ doesn’t always work but if I get first turn they won’t be able to move easily
Dont apologize for speaking competitive my dude, it's all valid and feeds to the narrative that trying to be good and win games is a bad thing.
Thanks! I just don't want anyone to feel like I am telling them they should be engaging in the hobby in any way other than the ones that they enjoy. Every now and then one of my tactics video really rubs a casual player the wrong way, and I was trying to head that off. These videos are meant to be enjoyable and helpful, so the occasional angry emails or comments that they generate are disheartening; I try to avoid those if I can.
These videos are absolutely phenomenal! My friends and I have started doing small, five person tournaments recently to learn how to be better players and these videos have helped me SO much. This past January we did 1000 points and at the end of this month we're moving up to 2000.
Nice!! I think that is the best way to learn competitive 40k- with a small cooperative meta of like-minded people. Thanks so much for your kind words about the content!
Really interesting walk through of the Eldar meta. Much enjoyed.
It's here! The one we were waiting for is HERE!
I like your comment about how non-tournament players should at least INFORM their lists by looking at what's effective on high table competitive; in a game where even the filthy casuals tend to do some meta chasing, the best way to prevent feel-bad moments is to at least TRY to defend yourself.
Yup- that's exactly what I was going for
@@WBConcilio I don't care WHAT people say about CT; you're alright! Also that's where Apathy is from...
This is money, Brent. Love the content and information. Keep it up - massive resource for new players and experience players.
Thank you!!
The steven box list is absolutely amazing. It is so easy to max secondaries. Love this list
Basically Hail of Doom or Ynnari lists. The other style of list, the Vengeful & Children of Khaine has 1 huge flaw. The additional hits gained from Vengeful do not activate the Mandiblasters, nor the possible additional damage of CoK. This is because the additional hits do not benefit from any bonus the original hits are able to obtain.
These days I tend to take 3 Vypers, but in light of what you've stated, may take 5 or 6 for the BEL stratagem.
I agree with your reading of the rules, but it remains true that people have done extremely well with those other list archetypes, even if they are more challenging than Hail, so I think they are clearly contenders.
@@WBConcilio As with many subfactions, some CW's are simply better than others. Of the main craftworlds, even Ulthwe, is only regularly getting a win rate in the low 40% or worse. Some other factions also have this problem such as Orks.
Personally, I think each Craftworld or Ork Clan or similar should have its own army list. If a SM chapter of 1000 troops can have its own codex, surely it wouldn't be too much of a stretch to create a personalised army list that's lore friendly.
@@nickthenoodle9206My point was just that- overall win rate aside- if an Ulthwe list can go 5-0 at a 196 person super major, then there are ways to play Ulthwe at the highest level with great success. Nobody has done that with Iyanden, Alaitoc, Saim-Hann, or Biel-Tan since Arcs.
I agree that unique army lists and subfaction bonuses are thematic and fun. The issue is that the more there are, the harder it is to create balanced rules for all of them. This is what leads to many years in a row where certain Craftworlds literally never make it to the podium at any big event.
The new Guard Codex has totally eliminated subfaction bonuses entirely, which is what makes me think it might be coming in 10th, which is reputed to be much a slimmed down version of the game with many fewer unique strats and rules.
But I am just guessing at the end of the day.
@@WBConcilio Thank you for your reply.
The problem with CW is not at the top level of play. Eldar have a lot of options to be exploited. Unfortunately few are lore related.
Altansar is a totally obvious example. For example, Grim is the most silly trait for CW because it should never occur, because Eldar hordes are silly. Then you have the most inappropriate trait ever, savage blades. Altansar fought Demons for millenia. The Demonic saving throw is not effected by Savage Blades.
If at the top level of play, only Ynnari and Hail of Doom lists are regularly making the top table, something is incredibly wrong with CW in general.
@@nickthenoodle9206 oh, no, I totally agree. A bunch of Craftworlds have seriously sub par bonuses. Most factions have the sub faction problem.
I could listen to Brent say the alphabet for 3 hours and still be entertained
I love these comments.
So curious about how Steven is playing this list of his! And kudos once again to an amazing post sir!
Yeah, I am hoping to connect with him- we shall see
I’ve had a lot of fun with a very bike heavy alpha strike setup with the recent price drop for Shroud Runners. Ulthwe really gets to take advantage of SO many cheap units now. Windriders and D-Cannons having the Guardian Keyword makes them very scary. Plus all the support for our favorite Daemonic stompy boy, Khaine? Too much fun.
Fire Dragon are amazing in Biel-Tan. Virtually every opponent I had at LVO was very impressed by a unit with blazing fury. Exploding 6's + fate dice is nasty
I love hearing about people's successes with Biel-Tan!
Thank's for the upload some interesting stuff for sure. Regarding timespan dont worry about it, 3-4 months is about how often the meta drastically change any way, new editions or not. Cheers!
Useful as always thx Brent
Does anyone know of the 2x wraith lord + Avatar of Kaine list that was mentioned in the last minute of the video?
YASSSS! Brent is baaaaaaack! 🎉🎉 Thanks for these videos, sir.
I think it's worth noting I've seen Box use War Walkers alongside a Striking Scorpion alpha strike. The walkers even engaging in melee to tie up ranged threats that are ill suited to dealing with them in close combat.
Oh, thanks Colin- that's really good to know.
Love the content as ever.
Yep. Scout gets removed from my list when enemy list has too much trash for screening, warp gets removed when the enemy has 4+ deny strats etc. Usually either wrath or another kill secondary replaces one of these two. Behind never leaves my list and I've never scored less than 10 vp with it.
New eldar player. This was great
Again love your content and thanks a lot!
my pleadsure!!
Great video, love the insights!!!!
Would love to pick your brain on how to deal with Dark Angels right now, seems like no matter how I play my Ulthwe list I am just getting crushed by them haha
Is it Raven Wing? If so, I assume the speed of the bikes is what makes it possible for your opponent to counter you. Generally they can be beaten move blocking the bikes turn 1. Feel free to send me an email
A good video and I appreciate the pivot with the "rumors" of 10th. I definitly fall in to the Beil-Tan followers but I'm not a GT girl. I'll try the suggestions though. As to the farseer and forwarded. Lysander and 5 assault termies dropped in. After forwarded 3 were dead. Twas brutal and khaine approved.
Engagement for the engagement god, comments for the comment throne!
Excellent!
I've only watched matches but I've always liked swooping hawks. Thematically and how they're used on the board seems to fit me
It'll be interesting what he has for us in store when 10th drops. What archetypes will just disintegrate? Maybe a new one?
thanks
Always doing good work. I was hoping to hear wraiths come up more but maybe 10th will hold good news for Iyanden
I really hope so. Wraiths are usable for sure, they are just tricky. I do think there are lots of ways to make a Wraith-heavy list that is at least a contender for mid table success. Really highly competitive lists probably cap out Wraiths a 400pts TOPS.
The 10th ed rumor is that subfaction bonuses might not even really be a thing, so all Craftworlds might be on even footing.
Nice video sir! I really love to se the Avatar of Khaine doing well in the meta, man love the model and the concept itself.
Do you know where can I find batreps of stephen box's list? Really want to see
Your minis are good painted
I have been thinking about Vengeful and +1dmg for a while now.
Most recent barrier to my CWE fun is guard.
At the moment, I am building a pure Aspect Warrior Host, one of each aspect, 4 Phoenix Lords, not sure what it plays like still collecting and waiting for Phoenix lord resculpts. 🥰
It will be hard to play without a Farseer, but that should be a really fun thematic list
@@WBConcilio I agree entirely but will try it soon.
I’ve been experimenting with how I want to play Aeldari throughout the entire edition. I like mostly shooting with some melee counter punch or trading, and I’m just about to try out the traits Swift Strikes with Hunters of Ancient Relics. I’m hoping the quick mobility with the ability to shoot and do actions will help me rack up secondary points, which I’ve historically struggled with
I think Hunters might be giving too much up considering that Avengers or any unit enhanced with Will of Asuryan can perform an action and still shoot and most actions can only be performed by one unit per turn anyway- also, giving up shooting by a unit of Rangers is not much of a sacrifice, especially compared to what you can get with that second slot. You mentioned melee trading- do you think you might get more out of Vengeful as a second pick?
@@WBConcilio You know, I think I held onto that idea at some point, but I never properly gave it a try. I might do a few games with each, see how much I needed to shoot with actions, what could be covered by Avengers or Will of Asuryan instead, and then a few games with Vengeful and see how impactful the exploding 6s feel. Thank you for the reply, I'll give it a shot!
is their anyway you could do a video on how battle focus and strands of fate properly work. also if you already have videos on this could you point how which one i should be watching
I talk about it in Part 1 of my codex review of the 9th edition codex, but here are the basics:
a unit with battle focus can EITHER make and advance move and still shoot a pistol or assault weapon at no penalty OR move D6 inches after shooting in the shooting phase, while suffering a -3 penalty if moving through a ruin. A BF move interrupts an action, like Scout the Enemy.
For Strands of Fate, you roll 6 dice before each battle round and retain a number of dice determined by the size of the game- 4 dice in 2k. You may reroll one of the 6 dice for each Farseer you have on the table. A unit that has Strands of Fate on its datasheet can use those four strands of fate dice to auto-generate a roll of a 6 for a particular kind of roll. So if the Strands of Fate dice is a "1", you can use that die as an automatic "6" on an advance roll instead of actually rolling. Here are the others:
2: a single charge die (roll the other as normal)
3: a single psychic text die (roll the other as normal)
4: a hit roll
5: a wound roll
6: an armor save
Also, because each individual dice for hitting and wounding is treated as a separate roll, there is nothing to stop you from from have say, a dingle DCannon, use two 4s in the same shooting phase.
Hope that helps
thank you also i had one more question cause everyone can't seem to give me straight answer on about the sudden assault ability is it a turn 1 deep strike or is it normal deep strike making it a turn 2+ drop in?
Great content as always, mate! Quick question though: you mention we have lots of options to get into our opponent's deployment zone Turn 1 (windriders, vypers, etc.) to do Scout the Enemy. But, the only viable options I can see are Shroud Runners using their pregame move and Falcon turn 1 deepstrike. The rest fall short in movement to clear 24" (staying alive till Turn 2 for completing the action without rangers is another problem entirely lol). I may be misinterpreting or missing something here... Did you mean in one turn, not turn 1?
There are more options!
Rangers, Scorpions, and War Walkers can all start the game 9" from the enemy deployment zone, and all have sufficient movement to get in turn 1. Banshees can jump out of a Wave Serpent 3" in front of your deployment zone, advance 14" more with Strands of Fate, charge another minimum of 7" Strands of Fate, (9" with GHOSTWALK",) Pile In another 3", and potentially consolidate another 3". Even if you only get one of those strands dice, they stand an excellent chance of covering all the necessary ground on turn 1. On maps with diagnol deployment, Vypers and Windriders can just sail in turn 1- on other maps, you just throw QUICKEN on an MSU Windrider squad or Vyper to get there no problem. You can even have a single Warlock Skyrunner move to the center of the table to perform Warp Ritual, and then have another psyker QUICKEN that bikelock into the opponent's backfield turn 1. And also Shroud Runners and potentially Falcons like you said.
@@WBConcilio thanks for the reply! Definitely a lot to learn and a lot of options!
I'm considering starting an Eldar army comprised primarily of wraith units.
Nice!!
So I may be stupid but I’m not understanding why Harlequins or Drukhari units in a Ynnari force can’t benefit from strands of fate? In our book it says for the purposes of the SOF ability, each one of those units is treated as having the Asuryani keyword
I agree, I'm pretty sure there was an FAQ or Errata that said that they gain whatever keyword for the purposes of SoF
The rule you are talking about makes it possible for units that already have Strands of Fate on their datasheets to make use of it because it would otherwise by invalidated by non-asuryani units in the same list. It does not, however, add Strands of Fate to the datasheets of units that don't have it. No Harlequin or Drukhari unit has access to Strands of Fate, it's just that they don't block it
@@WBConcilio ah. I forgot it was data sheet ability!
@@YungToguro Yeah, it's a shame because it would be completely awesome to be able to use the auto-6s on those other units
Question... I am considering getting back into the game after a very long time. About to pick up the Aeldari codex and start dipping my toe back into painting. I know the coming 10th edition will impact rules for anything I buy now possibly, I don't want to end up with a completely useless codex that I have just purchased, etc... I don't think that is a possibility but would love some feedback.
I always wanted to start a eldar army, how could I start it? And how could I include maugen Ra on it?
I have a video on which units are best for new players, but with 10th ed only a few months off, you probably would do best to start with a Farseer and whatever units are most interesting to you. Currently, my favorite way to run Maugan-Ra is to start him in a Falcon with either 5 Banshees or 5 Dire Avengers to that he can shoot and attempt a charge the same turn he arrives. Ironically, he needs to be able to participate in both shooting and melee to earn his points as a combat character, and he doesn't have the mobility to be anything else.
Hello there!! Great content, thanks a lot.
I was planning to go with Swift and Masterful (loved that FAQ for BF after advance, perfect for BEL and for spiders, shroud runners, windriders.. and it's good fun xD), but at the end somehow it feels safer to go Ulthwe, mostly for using the ghosthelm on a warlock on bike for warp ritual (with one FD just a 2+ for undeniable). Do you think it's not really that necessary? Counting that it also would unlock Fate Reader and the +1hit for windriders/D-cannons between other things..
Also, I don't quite understand why so many people seems to pick Scout the Enemy 🤔, when in my opinion it's just worth it with Rangers (and not shroud!) on turn 3 taking them from reserves in the enemy deployment zone (if they are not screened).. is not more reliable RBD?
I was even considering a 50p corsairs unit just for that and BEL if possible (probably not even necessary because I have many other tools for it).
Sorry for such a long comment, and thanks again!
Okay, so the Ghosthelm is only undeniable on a 3+ because it has to be an unmodified 9+ to trigger. Ulthwe will nevertheless provide a stronger psychic game, especially if you include Eldrad. You can offset the loss in a Swift/Masterful list with the Seer Council Strat and Fate Dice, but it won't be the same. The trade off of course is early game speed and brutality. Both can be strong, so it really it comes down to playstyle. If you want to be in your opponent's face with a big bike unit turn 1, go with Swiftstrikes. If you prefer to play a slightly more conservative game focused on the last two turns, Ulthwe is the way forward. Ulthwe is a more balanced approach.
As for Scout the Enemy, remember that any unit can perform the actions, it's just that Rangers are the only ones who complete it on your turn. You can, however, do it with a Wave Serpent out of Line of Sight, or a Vyper, or even Baharroth in your opponent's backfield with his damage gate to keep him standing. It some match ups, Banners IS a better pick- but at least in competitive play, most opponents will have ways to make a trade to steal an objective in your backfield for a turn and pull down a banner, just as Eldar players like to do with Phoenix Lords or Will of Asuryan on some Banshees, etc.
If you are a conservative Ulthwe players screening the hell out of your backfield and not coming up against Harlequins, World Eater, Drukhari, Demons, or other Craftworlders, then Banners really might be a more consistently efficient pick- but that is meta dependent. In the global competitive meta, about 80% of the time, Scout the Enemy is outperforming Banners for Craftworlds players at top tables- but that doesn't mean that you aren't 100% right about what is most efficient for your style in your own playgroup.
@@WBConcilio Thanks for your answer! I'm watching all your videos and I really like all your insights. Certainly I think I kinda tent to be more conservative, focus on shooting and hide, screening, and try to secure some secondaries.
Scouts when you have to hold a full turn feels risky, but well you're right that you could make it work fairly safe with units like Baharroth or something else hidden, I guess mostly on the last turns 🤔. Banners I was not really considering it that much, but I will as well from now on. What about Retrieve Battlefield Data? No one take it anymore? "Easy" 12p with Avengers etc would be like holding one unit a hole turn 3 times on enemy deployment zone for Scout..
About Ghosthelm well you would also have the +1 for first psychic with Ulthwe, but nevertheless that's counting with using a fate dice instead of using it for other useful powers. Anyway, in competitive play the people never use this and still pick Warp Ritual, right? 😅With the cheap warlock on foot with Quicken it looks like almost guarantee 12 points vs anyone, but without it.. how the people play it consistently?
Sorry for keep writing that much, it's very interesting and I'm not a pro but I do like learning and playing as competitive as possible with such a fun army.
@@Larriak You can make Scout a sure thing either with Rangers or durable units out of Line of Sight- it really never scores less than 10 and you can sometimes max it out. Retrieve Data is not popular simply because it requires you to sacrifice units and it can sometimes be blocked or prevented in one quadrant; it's not terrible, just more resource intensive than Scout or Banners for a less-certain payoff. You are right that with Quicken, Warp Ritual is pretty much a guaranteed 12 points. You can quicken a Farseer or Warlock on a Bike 22" back to safety after they perform Warp Ritual, which is why it is generally an auto-include against any list without 4+ auto-deny abilities or a huge bonus to deny.
Also... have you seen any lord of wars (scorpion or others) in any competitive list this season?
What would happen in Ynnari if you did choose to all in it's types. E.g. 20-man Hellion squad with toughness 5 and 4++ save with goal of trying to multi-charge. Or big Wych blocks etc. etc.
Those super big units have two issues: the first is that they are hard to keep out of line of sight while you are waiting to get them into the scrum; the second is that they become so expensive, at least the Hellions, that as a trading unit they can really struggle to make a good exchange. It is not impossible to pull off, but in competitive play there will be plenty of match ups where they struggle to earn their points, even if in some they are heroes.
Hey dude, what was the maugan ra lists deal? sorry if i missed it
Oh, I think he arrives in a Falcon to offset his mobility issues. He has pretty good shooting and close combat, so if he can get into the opponent's backfield with his damage gates and obsec, he can do some work. He definitely isn't my own first or second pick, but the list proved that he is usable.
@@WBConcilio that is dope mang, i play a falcon or 2, so could use this. Cheers!
@@WBConcilio PS packing dark reapers or sticking to the tried and tested aspects?
@@abbesieyesauralian7816 no reapers- he should travel with Banshees or Avengers
Great vid and love your contents!
By the way, for peeps with ADHD (like me), would be a GREAT help if you can put bullet points on screen for each topic you are talking about...😓
Yeah, I like those graphics that Auspex Tactics does too- and I do appreciate the suggestion. The difference between me and the Aupex guy is that this isn't my day job. Each video already takes generally 10-12 hours to make, and it's hard for me to improve the production value at this point without slowing content creation. If I ever have enough of a following that the revenue actually makes it possible for me to cut back work hours, I will add graphics with bullet points and more.
I've decided that 10th will be thw time to jump back into eldar after being away since 10th, obviously everything might change. But rn I'm teetering between Biel-Tan/Saim Hann.
I have an aggressive playstyle and love very speedy armies with lots of "finicky" rules (having played Emperor's Children in 9th)
Do you think corsairs with power swords have a place in a melee-focused list?
Vengefull + childrens of Khaine is my go to CW trait for boarding actions. These banshees and scorpions bemcome blenders
I didn't play 8th, what exactly was the problem with Dark Reapers?
The Ynnari rule "Soul Burst" allowed them to shoot twice and you could take them in units of 9 and then Fire and Fade them.
Haven’t played in a decade, trying out my HoD list as the Rocky Mountain Open.
Let’s see how idiot proof it really is ;)
hahahahahaha- hope you have a blast
@@WBConcilio I’m wearing a Dr Doom shirt today and all my shurikens are painted gold.
Round 1 starts in a little over an hour!
@@goodmorningandgoodluck8613 Let's go!!!
How can they index everything when some army’s old just got shit
I wish samn hann (jetsbikes) or wraith heavy army would come back to meta. Eldar is my favorite army in game but aspects besides howling banshee are my least favorite models
Good video with useful information, thanks. I may have an unpopular opinion though - Hail of Doom shouldn't be a thing. If we had, for instance, a marine chapter where all standard bolters had a good chance of killing all hordes, all monsters, all vehicles, etc to the point where 90% of SM players used that chapter in tournaments you can be certain there would be some grumbling. I understand the need to differentiate between craftworlds and such but not to the point that it starts to break the rock-paper-scissors concept. In addition, on a realism-plausibility scale, small arms are _supposed_ to be hard-countered by armour. HoD simply ignores this logic with basically no drawbacks. A possible rebalance I would suggest is to make it an army-wide ammunition type for shuriken weapons such that you get all the current bonuses but at -1 shots, so Assault 3 becomes Assault 2 etc.
All the craftworld special rules, warlord traits and relics need a bit of internal rebalancing that I'm hoping 10th edition will address (not likely though). Ulthwe suffers from being just a little too perfectly good in any situation and against all opponents, whereas all the other craftworlds have fairly situational rules and buffs that may or may not affect a game at all.
Yeah, this is totally fair. Hail lacks nuance and removes a lot of the considerations that are a standard part of the game. Rumor has it that 10th edition might not have subfaction bonuses of any kind.
@@WBConcilio Who the fuck is going to play 10th if it takes all the fun stuff away? It sounds awful
Mobile fighters and web way warriors 3 Falcons with one unit dire avengers in one banshees other and fire dragons in last one Farseer on foot in with banshees with guide and ghost walk also 2 units of dire avengers in one wave serpent for utility and 3 units 10 guardians with another wave serpent and recycle the gardians in and out of the waves one in one out for the +1 to wound
Nice!!!
Give ynnari a 'whirl' 😂
I’ve always wandered why so many people refer to their opponent as to she/her
Is it a lot of people? I do it both ways. I would love to see what happened with D&D happen with 40k in terms of the audience expanding to be less predominantly male, and I think not exclusively talking about the game like it is a forgone conclusion that it is exclusively for dudes might make it seem a little more accessible to women. I think I would be personally less likely to try a hobby in which participants were almost universally referred to with female pronouns.
TLDR: I can only speak for why I do it in some videos, but in my case it's because I want more people to play.
@@WBConcilio I see. Indeed one would presume that a wh40k player would be a male. I admire your intentions here. I guess another reason that I feel strange about it because in my native language the word “opponent” has masculine gender.
@@SpiritOfLion Oh, wow! That is so interesting! It has never occurred to me how languages with gendered nouns would create an additional level of complexity here.
I would like to see charts and diagrams. As a visual guide instead of having to listen through thw whole video
So....
If someone is a competitive player... but wants to start a craftworld list from scratch. Would you say 30 Dire Avengers, and an Avatar of Khaine is a good place to start? HAHA.
Not this close to 10th, and I'd max out at 20 if I was you 👌🏼 you'll need at least 1 unit of 5 rangers if you want easy points on scout the enemy and then 4-5 windriders have surprisingly been an MVP in every match of mine since Arks started. You'll also want a wave serpent and falcon for those avengers and Scorpions/Banshees MSU are always solid ☺️
Nice video. If 10th goes back to Indexes I am frankly not going to bother. It sounds banal and boring.