Harlequins Compiled PDF Preview

All right all you Juggalos and Juggalettes! It's time to queue up Insane Clown Posse and Wicked Clowns as today sees the preorder of the new Harlequins Codex.

As usual when a Codex goes on preorder there is a bunch of new eye candy to take in including new images as well as excerpt previews from the Black Library website and the Apple's iBooks Store. I've complied both the iBooks and ePub previews into a single PDF for your viewing pleasure. I also have all of the images reposted here so you can view all the new stuff in one place. I'm not really down with the clown, but this Codex has some of the best artwork I've seen coming out of GW (including the above image I stitched together in Photoshop from the iBooks preview).

View the images and download the PDF preview after the break.

Starweaver/Doomweaver leaked (aka Clown Car)!

I've never been a big fan of the Harlequins (unless we're talking the Joker's chick), but I know people really dig them so I'll repost them here for everyone. I have to say, the models are pretty cool. Probably not something I'll pick up, but I like the action poses on the minis and I especially like the look of the Starweaver/Voidweaver.

Pics of the models and rules after the break.

Tournament Aftermath

Solidsnizzle invoking
the Gods of Chaos.

Last Saturday was the 40K Tournament at Adventure Games in Dixon City, PA. Turns out that Jawaballs and Fritz didn't show, but there was a good turn out nonetheless. I didn't want to do my Blood Angels a disservice and play my first tournament with only a primed army, so I decided not to play.

Solidsnizzle (another member of DED 'ARD) ended up playing as the ringer in the Tournament and was loaned the use of Farseer Frank's Chaos Army. Solidsnizzle ended up ahead of the entire field at the end of round 2 and just needed a victory to win the whole Tournament. In a surprising turn of events, he ended up playing Farseer Frank and was thwarted by his Eldar in the 3rd and final round.

I wanted to scream at times watching Solidsnizzle's games because he missed a lot of key assaults, but for someone that has been playing 40K for less than a year and was using an army he never played before (he's only played Imperial Guard), he did really well and I was very impressed.

Farseer Frank preparing to
command his smug Eldar

The Tournament victory didn't stay in the DED 'ARD family unfortunately, but was won by Jim Benson who had a really well painted Sisters of Battle Army. He seemed like a really nice guy and played some solid games from what I saw, so kudos to him on winning an extremely close tournament. Next time, maybe DED 'ARD we'll be able to bring the trophy home. All in all, it was a great first tournament at Adventure Games with a good turn out and hopefully they'll be a lot more tournaments in the future.

The next tournament at Adventure Games will be on July 24th and will be a Two Headed Giant Tournament featuring 2 vs. 2 games at 2,000 points. I'm really mad I didn't play in this tournament, so there is no way I'm missing the next one. Expect to see a lot of painting posts in the coming weeks as my Blood Angels get ready for the coming battle.

Here's some more pictures I took throughout the day. Once I have the proper DED'ARD website completed at http://www.dedard.com, we'll be able to have real photo galleries and I'll be able to post a lot more pics.

 

Next time I'll talk a bit about my new commission service and I'll be doing some spring cleaning and posting a bunch of eBay auctions. Watch this space for some sweet deals.

Till then,

–The Harrower

Specialize vs Generalize: What's your approach?

Recently I've seen a flux of small point value lists (I consider 1500 small for reference) and I've been taking particular note in how some people like to run/equip their various units. For example, a common build I've been seeing a lot recently for tactical marines is a missile launcher and a flamer. Delving deeper, the common reason is "well, it can shoot a tank and toast a horde of orks!" And this build pattern repeats itself in the army where they'll have 3-4 squads each with an anti-infantry and an anti-tank weapon. As a matter of fact, I think the Assault on Black Reach marines come built like that. But, is it the right move?

I can understand wanting to have that old boy scouts motto of being prepared be applicable to everything you have, but shouldn't that be something you have applied to your army in general? Not the individual units? I'm a big fan of specialization, and I will admit that the habit does stem from playing a specialist army (Eldar), but that doesn't mean to say that the same mistakes can't be made. For example, the community recognizes Dire Avengers as being one of the best shooty infantry units in the game, but the Exarch has melee build options. Why? Well, first off, it's a hold over from 3rd and 4th, back when mech was something noobs did. Second, I think a lot of people perceive putting a power weapon in the hands of one model makes it a viable assault unit. In reality, I'm just going to laugh off any Eldar assault lead by a power weapon toting exarch. S3 + T3 + power weapon x= assault unit. Or even a unit that is capable of handling whatever situation is thrown at it. Honestly, I almost feel like the Dire Avengers having any assault options is a misleading joke that GW just throws in there, and I don't understand why people fall for it. As I always say, to succeed with the Eldar, use their units for what they're designed to do.

If you can find a double use for a single build though, well, now you're thinking ~_^. For example, Fire Dragons are excellent tank hunters, but their S8 AP1 weapons also happen to be good at roasting Tyranid monstrous creatures, and War Walkers with a scatter laser build not only make hordes run in fear, but 24 S6 shots outflanking makes almost any tank quiver in its treads. Dual purpose builds rock and should always be taken advantage of.

Anywho, back to marines. So let's say Jimmy wants to run four tactical squads, and wants to make sure he has good tank hunting and a horde contingency available. He decides to go the way of the Salamander and use meltaguns and flamers, but how should he equip the units? Following an emerging trend, he would put one multi-melta and one flamer in each squad. But here's the rub for me. Jimmy may think he's covered, but what if he was a monstrous creature and a horde of gaunts in front of him? A flamer is worthless versus an MC and the squad of gaunts will just laugh off a single melta shot. And here's the kicker, let's say it's critical that he needs to take down the MC. Jimmy may end up firing all four squads at the MC just to get the melta shots in, and everything else, from bolter shots to flamers just go to waste, and now the guant squad can swarm him. How do you remedy this? By combining your special weapons together.

Plague marines are fantastic at this. I dedicate each squad to either flamers or melta guns, and then on top of that, I'll give each champion a combi-weapon to match. So, if I were to use the same scenario, I can bury 6 melta shots in to the MC and 6 flamers in to the gaunts, which is much more efficient.

-FF

Pie Plate Woes aka Fire Prisms, What's the Point?

Every so often, I like to go back and reread units to make sure I feel like I'm taking full advantage of everything my Codex has to offer, and sometimes I have a revelation. Most times though, I feel like I made a good call in never using something, like Fire Prisms (and the Night Spinner counterpart). And it's not just Fire Prisms either. I feel the same way about most tank choices that rely on a single gun with a large blast template to own face, and this includes vindicators and defilers for example, but at least they're already Strength 10 with a good AP. Fire Prisms though...just yuck. Sure, some people may tell you "dat's why you link 2 or 3 of 'em up and get a betterer gun to do da shootin' wit..." Congratulations on having a 500 point gun that automatically has a 50% miss built into it. Every time I watch a batrep on YouTube and see an Eldar lose and gt a confused look on their face because their Fire Prism didn't do anything, I just chuckle to myself.

There are so many things wrong with the Fire Prism, and for a proof of concept, compare it to a Falcon. The Falcon is the same point cost, has access to the same upgrades, and you can get 3 Strength 8 shots as opposed to the single Strength 9 shot (Strength 5 if you use the large blast). For a real kick in the teeth, the Fire Prism arbitrarily has BS4, but since it's a scatter weapon, you get the same hit chance as BS3...same as the Falcon! The last important note is that the Falcon is also troop transport. So not only can I blast you at long range with Strength 8 weapons, but I can hold an objective as well. Fantastic.

So what brings on this rant? Just so many "famous players" on YouTube who use this and seem to advocate it, but I've never really seen them do well with it consistently. In my opinion, check out War Walkers. These guys are my bread and butter, and every battle, tournament, league, etc, they've been by MVPs. My lists usually tend to include 2 3-model squads of walkers, each decked out with dual scatter lasers, and a Falcon with holo-fields that I keep a 5 man dire avenger squad in.

In closing, I'm not the only one on DED 'ARD who's gotten fed up with pie plate guns. A few of our marines players won't touch vindicators, and one who did own 3 of them, dumped them because of how little they performed for him. IG players have it a bit easier though since they can run their template producing vehicles in squadrons for better cost. I'd be very interested to hear if you have had similar experiences with your blast template vehicles, or if you even think I'm completely off the mark.

-FF

Jump Infantry: Love 'em or Hate 'em

Recently I've been spending a lot of time with my Warp Spiders - hanging out at the beach, volleyball, all you can eat crab leg buffets, and the like, and it's been a fun time. Ever since I first heard of jump infantry in my neophyte days, I was smitten. I was warned though and told that they were never as good as they seemed, so I stayed away. From casual players to more experienced tournament players with an affinity for sci-fi testicles, there was a general advice of not going with the ever-so-cool looking jump packs. Well, then I started my CSM army (yes...I have more than just Eldar), and I decided that I really wanted to convert my own raptors, and that's when I began to think about how to best utilize these under appreciated unit types.

Moving infantry across the board without a transport is a bit taboo these days, and, honestly, I think for good reason. Without debating the finer points of foot vs mech, I think we can all see the troubles one may have with foot sloggers (save for Orks and Nids of course). And, as far as I'm concerned, jump infantry are basically foot sloggers that can move 12", so how are they best used?

For starters, don't lead with them. As a matter of fact, don't start them on the board. My experience has taught me that leading off with them, or even putting them on the board, immediately makes them a target. Jump infantry aren't usually strong enough to initiate an assault without support, or, better yet, should only really be assaulting to support another unit. Put them in reserve, but not to deep strike. Deep striking is just not worth all the trouble unless you have the tricks to make it work for you consistently.

With the unit in reserves, you now have a contingency that can counter your opponents offense, or if you're ready to hit him where it hurts, send the infantry in to seal the deal and guarantee (as best as RNG will let you anyway :P) the victory. For my Eldar, the Warp Spiders have proven invaluable as far as clinching victories with their strong fire support. Often, they have even stopped an opponents offensive plans by coming in and popping a rhino, speeder, or similar, strength six fearing target. Warp spiders may seem unique in how they're nicely suited at dealing with both infantry and light armor, seeing as how the Eldar is an army of specialists, but they're still true to the Eldar methodology. Their specialty is providing rapid, ambush style supporting fire. They complement a bladestorm very well, and if you give your Exarch powerblades, you can probably take out a marine or 2 very easily if need be.


And this is true for all units. I'm a big fan of dedicating your unit to a particular role, and when I get a little further along with my CSM, I plan on adding those raptors, 2 squads to be specific. One will specialize in anti-armor/MC combat with melta guns and a power fist, while the other will run flamers and lightning claws for dealing with infantry.

Not all jump infantry is made equal though. For example, gargoyles I'm just having a hard time making sense of. I'm sure more experienced Nid players can offer a simple strategy on how to use them. What makes them different is sheer size. You can afford to start off with these guys on the board as long as losses can be tolerated, but if you lose your synapse connection, you may just watch your entire unit go to hell because you've lost control of them, where reserves prevent this from happening, at least for a bit.

That's it for now. I'd love to hear your thoughts on jump infantry and whether or not you love 'em or hate 'em.

-FF

Bringing Eldar into the 5th Edition - HQ Choices

First, let me start off by apologizing for the length of time between this article and the first part. Shortly after writing the first one, there was a significant change in work and my schedule was thrown all out of whack, but this is a 40K blog, so on to the Eldar...

Based on my own experiences, not too many armies have their entire functionality depend on one HQ. Sure, they can have builds which revolve around a particular named HQ (for example, flamer/melta heavy Vanilla Marines list that use Vulkan), but if those HQs didn't exist or were taken away, the army wouldn't be irreversibly damaged to a point of unplayability. Of course I'm speaking generally, and not about particular army lists. After playing Eldar for as long as I have, it is in my opinion that we do have this problem. Thankfully, the truly viable HQ choices we do have are awesome and definitely makes the Eldar codex competitive.

Before my head gets taken off or I start to hear about the fluffy lists out there, my perspective is based entirely on tournament winning lists or lists built for winning a game, not to lose in style. If you're going to respond to my post and whine about how I have Eldrad in my list and no Storm Guardians, this isn't going to be a blog for you!

To keep this particular article short, I'm going to cut right to the chase: farseers win all. So many Eldar players are upset that other armies are getting psychic powers that close to being on par with Eldar powers, but we still have the best psykers in the game by a long shot! The farseer units add both army wide utility and offensive power without having to actually be on the front lines. For example, a farseer can be left inside of a wave serpent and use his fortune power on units outside, or he can doom enemy units in much the same fashion, while units like Lysander or Marneus Calgar (sorry to pick on Marines, it's just that they're the army I'm most familiar with outside of Eldar) are only fully appreciated once they get into an assault.

That being said, with farseers winning the day as far as HQ choices go, there is of course Eldrad Ulthran. Eldrad is truly a powerhouse of the 40K universe. He can cast 3 psychic powers per turn, 2 of which can be the same power (but not more than one shooting attack, remember that), and he has a stat line that makes him something to be respected in close quarters, along with his power weapon that always wounds on a 2+. The real strength behind Eldrad is definitely his ability to cast 2 of the same powers per turn. Powers like doom and fortune are nasty enough on their own, but when you can affect two units with it, there's trouble brewing for your enemy. Eldard is a must have in my opinion for any army list that is greater than 1500 points (anything 1500 points or smaller, you should really just use a regular farseer).

When building a regular farseer for your army, there are a few basics to consider: what's his purpose and what will he be attached to? The typical build I like to run is Doom, Fortune, Spirit Stones, and Runes of Warding (if Eldrad isn't the list already). Runes of Witnessing are a waste and shouldn't be bothered with (while increasing the number of successfully cast powers, they also have a nasty side effect of causing more Perils results). Just like any other specialist unit in the Eldar army, build your farseer to suit your purposes. There's a myriad of different strategies for farseers, and maybe I'll write a more specific article in the future concerning this, but for now, I'd like to discuss the second choice for Eldar HQs, Autarchs.

Autarchs are rather underwhelming as far as how much they bring to the table for the army. They're second to the farseers, and that's a pretty distant second. Despite their variety of build options, I definitely find it best to go as minimal as possible and to just use the Autarchs for their Master Strategist rule. Personally speaking, I prefer to run 2 farseers for my larger point games, but if you had a build that depends on reserving your entire army list every single match, then having an Autarch might be the choice for you, and it should be fairly apparent that I think Yriel is a waste of points by now as I prefer any Autarchs in my army to be stripped to bare essentials.

As for the other HQ choices, I'll try to sum them up fairly quick.

The Avatar is good for a fluffy build. He's a powerhouse to be feared, but only if he makes it across the board. He offers nothing else than being a monstrous creature with a melta gun and an invulnerable save. The fearless thing is neat, but not very practical as the trend of the 40K game is now all about mechanization, and the thought of foot slogging fearless guardians seems rather ridiculous to me. If I was playing against an Eldar list using an Avatar, I would just use my transports to move away from it and ignore it the whole game.

Phoenix Lords are just a big travesty right now. They offer nothing to the army in terms of utility, partially because of the aspect themes and that any utility they would provide only apply to their particular aspect, and since there are a few aspects that just bite the dust in 5^th edition, their Phoenix Lord counterparts do pretty much by default. The Phoenix Lords are essentially cut from an elfy version of a mold of the Lysander variety. Big, super-expensive power houses that only have their full potential appreciated in close quarters, but even then that's iffy. Take for example Asurmen: a true close combat contender. He can make mince meat of any target he sets his eyes on, and is almost as durable as a terminator with a storm shield, but he's a Dire Avenger aspect. I want those guys to stay as far away from close combat as possible! For as much as I want to berate every individual Phoenix Lord, I'll just close here with they need to be reworked thoroughly, are dramatically over-costed, and suck in the competitive bracket.

In closing, farseers are definitely the way to go for your army, and Autarchs if you have a build that works around their Master Strategist rule (they don't offer a whole lot else). I know some may have a love for the Phoenix Lords, but they are so flawed that in my mind, they're unplayable, and Avatars should remain in fluff lists for now.

As always, for true success with Eldar, use the units for what they're designed for.

Next up, Troops choices!

-Farseer Frank

Bringing Eldar into the 5th Edition, Part 1

Now, I must assume that because of the title some of you will scoff at the timing of such an article. However, I still see many people focusing on builds that would've been completely devastating in 4th edition Warhammer 40K games but are only capable of functioning on a mediocre level in the 5th edition. Predominantly, there's a lot of builds that utilize the concept of indestructible grav tank spam which tries to transport a nominal amount of infantry with the hope that 200 point wave serpents will be capable of killing their enemy so that their fragile troop of 5 dire avengers will never even have to see the board.


Unfortunately, this just will not work anymore for various reasons. In particular, as the game evolves and with new trends developing, the previous thought of more upgrades equating to increased durability are only proving to be marginally correct. In my opinion as well, I sense a desire for versatility when looking over some Eldar lists, which contradicts the core concept of the Eldar being specialists in their chosen path.


With this series of articles, I hope to help people move away from certain concepts that made the Eldar an unstoppable force in previous editions and to understand that their precious space elves are still very viable and very competitive in the new edition.


As these articles progress I want to focus on the various Force Organization Chart choices available section by section (HQ, Troops, Elites, etc). But the very first thing I want to get on the table is the concept that Eldar are over-costed and uncompetitive due to this since we have to pay a "premium price" on all of our units. The Eldar codex is fine. Yes, I said it. The Eldar codex is FINE.


Sure it can use a bit of a face lift, but what doesn't in terms of codices that have survived into 5th edition from previous editions? I'll post my thoughts on what units are "stinkers" and which ones are winners in the follow ups to this first article but what I want to get right out there is my opinion that the Eldar codex is fine and very competitive. I have defeated many many players to prove this point, almost all of which are using codices that were recently revised or released, including many Space Marines players.


That being said, I want to start my first discussion outside of the parameters I originally mentioned because I personally feel that this is where a lot of people get stuck on the idea that Eldar cost too much to be competitive. That's our main transport unit: Wave Serpents.

Now, the most common comparison that is drawn between Wave serpents and other transports is that of the wave serpent (WS) vs the Space Marine rhino, which is roughly costed at 35 points. I continually hear complaints that our WSs cost way too much to be competitive that there should be a cost reduction because other armies can transport their troops for less than 50 points.


I also see a lot of people contradicting their own complaints by stacking on upgrade after upgrade and they end up with a transport that costs nearly 200 points! If you're going to complain about the cost of your transport, why make it more expensive? Maxed out, with a twin linked bright lance, spirit stones, additional shuriken cannon, vectored engines, and star engines, we have a 190 point transport that's only marginally more capable of surviving than the 100 point version.


For starters, get the notion out of your head that a rhino and a WS are comparable by any means. Rhinos are 11/11/10, can move 12" max, have a storm bolter and can give themselves cover once per game using smoke launchers. The rhino is little more than an iron box on wheels that can travel from point A to B, as long as B is no more than 12" away. Then of course there's the risk of running over difficult/dangerous terrain or having to worry about manipulating other units in the way.


The WS is fast skimmer that can ignore any cover in its path and eschew dangerous terrain tests so long as you don't land in it. It also has an increased armor value of 12/12/10 with energy shields that allow it to ignore additional die effects (ordinance, melta, rending, etc) from shooting attacks. On top of all of that, it also comes equipped with a S6 Heavy 3 twin linked gun making this not only one of the most effective transports in the game (if not the best already) but a gun boat as well.


To close the argument of WSs being too costly or the debate of the rhino vs the wave serpent, it is apparent that the WS is capable of out performing any transport capable of being fielded in the 40K game. As an Eldar player, ask yourself the last time you've actually felt threatened by an enemy transport aside from it delivering its cargo. The wave serpent is a transport that flies from point A, bypasses point B while rolling down the window and tossing you the bird, and lands on point C.


Next, let's take a look at upgrading a Wave Serpent. In my opinion...don't! I know, I know, I must be crazy since so many tacita writers say that items like star engines are basically required. This all goes back to the concept that taking a unit that's already well costed and adding on upgrades to make it more costly for less effectiveness is just a bad idea. First off, weapons. What weapons should you upgrade your shuriken cannons to? Well, there's Scatter Lasers, Eldar Missile Launchers, Star Cannons, and Bright Lances. Keep in mind that a WS is only BS 3, twin-linked or not, and the foremost function of the WS is to be a transport, and when you have a transport that can move 24" you better be taking advantage of that mobility. That being said, when you flat out, you obviously cannot fire your main weapons so if you're someone who just had to have those 45 point bright lances on your WS, you're now left with a very expensive gun you can't shoot. Not very practical.


This solidifies a concept with the Eldar that will always ring true: to succeed with Eldar, you must use each unit to accomplish whatever task it was specifically designed for. This piece of tactical advice comes from the core rule book, not the Eldar codex. Wave serpents are transports and should rarely be used other wise. That aside, I've killed many marines and destroyed many rhinos with my off the shelf shuriken cannons. Our increased mobility give us the ability to take advantage of an opening and get into the side arc of vehicles like vindicators and easily lock them down from shooting because of the decent volume of twin linked shots coming from your 10 point gun.


The next upgrade for me that I see very little point in is star engines. In a normal game, you're playing on a 72" x 48" board. If you can't maneuver your forces into position with a 24" range then something is just being done wrong. To be quite honest, I think most people use them incorrectly because of disinformation from articles I've read in the past. You cannot use Star Engines after you disembark/embark troops. Period. Check the FAQ. So the idea of kicking out troops on an objective and then jetting out 36" across the board to contest an objective just doesn't work. And here's some food for thought, if you spent fewer points on upgrading your transports, you may be able to afford one more WS with another squad of infantry to send after that elusive objective.


I have a very similar opinion on vectored engines. I have never, ever been in a situation where I have vehemently wished that I had either of these upgrades. Sure, I've lost WSs that have flatted-out and were immobilized, but we're talking about a 15 point upgrade that probably wouldn't even come into effect due to the cover save you have on the wave serpent. Makes little sense to me. Do you know what's cheaper than upgrading your wave serpents with all of this stuff? Put a farseer in there with fortune. Now wish your opponent good luck as he's trying to get past your fortuned cover save and 12 armor value.


Last but not least are spirit stones. I have no bias for or against this upgrade. If I happen to be left with points left over I may add spirit stones. They're not a bad upgrade but they're not exactly one that'll make or break your game. If I do take spirit stones, I make it a point to only upgrade the WSs that are most aggressive in my line up (i.e. a WS carrying fire dragons for example, or striking scorpions).


As a closing comment, don't think that you should never upgrade your wave serpents. Always adapt your lists to your own playing environment. My suggestions should only be treated as general guidelines because there are times I will put scatter lasers on a couple of my WSs for the increased range and extra shot. But if you're someone who runs pimped out wave serpents and really feel that you're not putting enough on the table, slim them down. As 5th edition progresses and armies evolve, the game is now about how much you can put on the table rather than the single strength of an individual unit.


Next up, HQ choices!


–Farseer Frank with contributions and proofreading by Alfonzo