The brand new Codex Aeldari for Warhammer 40k 10th Edition has arrived and it arrives in style with a host of new plastic miniatures in tow. The Codex and each of the new kits are up for pre-order today and we’ll be reviewing it all below. We’ve also got a video up on our channel which you can see below (or over on YouTube) where we take a close look at each of the kits.

Thanks again to Games Workshop for sending us a copy of the new Codex Aeldari and the new miniature kits to review. If you would like to support the site then why not order yours through our affiliate Element Games and save yourself some money too?

Before we dive into the Codex review proper let’s first take a look at each of the new kits. To accompany the new Codex Games Workshop have released not one, not two, not three…but four brand new Phoenix Lord models, including a brand new character, Lhykis The Whispering Web, Phoenix Lord of the Warp Spiders! Alongside the Phoenix Lords themselves we also have new kits for the Fire Dragons, Swooping Hawks and the Warp Spiders. It’s crazy to think back on how old some of these original models actually are, with the Warp Spiders and individual Phoenix Lords themselves dating back to the 90’s! Let’s take a closer look at the kits now.

First up with have Fuegan and his Fire Dragon Aspect Warriors. Fuegan himself is a really impressive centerpiece model standing atop a lovely ruined Eldar shrine. It’s a really heroic looking model and I like the way he his hold his axe almost at rest whilst he surveys the battlefield. This is a really nicely executed upgrade on the original model. The Fire Dragons themselves provide a lot of flexibility in how you put them together with various helm options for the unit itself and the full compliment of weapon load outs for the Exarch and even a couple of torso options for the Exarch itself.

Baharroth likewise has an imposing silhouette when fully assembled, leaping high of some Eldar ruins with wings outstretched. His unit of Swooping Hawks again allows for various build options, with multiple helms for the regular warriors and additional options for the Exarch. The Swooping Hawk Exarch has access to a new pistol and can be modeled wielding it alongside a sword which I think looks great.

Wow, where has this missing Phoenix Lord been hiding all these years! Lhykis is a really dynamic looking model when fully assembled with lots of interesting details. She looks fantastic alongside the new Warp Spiders which were perhaps the Aspect most in need of a refresh model wise.

The new Warp Spiders look fantastic though, the Exarch in particular able to be built with a variety of different weapon load outs.

Finally we have Asurman and this model is perhaps most in keeping with his original model and taking inspiration from some iconic Eldar art of old. I think Eldar players everywhere will find a lot of enjoyment in building and painting these new kits!

Aeldari Codex Review

Combat Patrol

Let’s now dive in and look at the new rules starting with the Combat Patrol. Kygharil’s Protectors are your the new Aeldari Combat Patrol and looks like a nice little force to get started with, featuring a Spiritseer, Dire Avengers, the new Warp Spiders and a unit Wraithblades. Battle Focus is here too (more on this later) albeit with a reduced selection of Agile Manoeuvres to select from.

The two objectives on offer see you nominating an enemy unit for destruction at the start of the battle with extra points available if Kygharil the Spiritseer survives. Alternatively you could select the “Recover the Spirit Stones” objective instead for a more defensive take and hold play style.

There is a nice balanced set of Stratagems here which grant some mobility tricks, a small buff to your shooting and a nice defensive ability to help your units weather enemy shooting.

The Rules

Strands of Fate has been replaced by a new version of Battle Focus as your Asuryani faction rule. At the start of the battle round you’ll generate a number of Battle Focus tokens (dependent on the size of the game) which can be spent to perform certain Agile Manoeuvres actions. There are six actions you can select from, such as “Swift as the Wind” which allows a unit to add 2″ to their movement characteristic until the end of a phase or”Flitting Shadows” which prevents the opponent targeting the unit with overwatch. Each action has a specific trigger which indicates when it is eligible to be activated – “Opportunity Seized” for example triggers when an enemy unit ends a Fall Back move and allows a unit that was in Engagement Range of said enemy unit to make a Normal move of D6+1″.

I really like this mechanic, it provides a really useful set of tools for an Eldar player to exploit during a game to catch their opponent off guard with that famed Aeldari swiftness and trickery!

Detachments

There are a whopping eight Detachments contained within the new Codex (including both a Harlequin and Ynnari option) providing players with a great selection of play styles. Before we dive into each though it’s worth pointing out that Harlequin units can be added to any army despite the fact that they do not have the Asuryani keyword.

Warhost

The Warhost Detachment provides a nice buff to the Battle Focus mechanic, granting additional movement to the various manoeuvres and providing additional Battle Focus points. There are four enhancements on offer providing a balance set of rules. The Phoenix Gem allows it’s bearer to cheat death on a 2+, remaining in play with its full compliment of wounds (and jumping out of engagement range if applicable). Timeless Strategists further boosts your Battle Focus mechanic providing even more tokens for you to spend over the course of a battle. Gift of Foresight is a nice pick on a character joined to one of your key units, allowing the Command Re-roll Stratagem to be used for free on that unit. Lastly we have Psychic Destroyer which boosts the damage of ranged Psychic weapons equipped by the bearer.

Stratagem wise we first have “Lightning Fast Reactions” which provides a nice defensive bonus to a unit targeted by a shooting attack. “Skyborne Sanctuary” is a very nice pick and allows a unit to embark upon a transport at the end of the Fight phase – useful for protecting a vulnerable assault unit who may have been left exposed following a round of combat or even to disengage with a unit you’d rather not remain in close combat. Feigned Retreat allows a unit to Fall Back and still shoot and charge. Blitzing Firepower bestows the Sustained Hits 1 to a unit that is shooting within 12″ range as well as an improved Critical Hit chance. Fire and Fade provides the iconic ‘move-shoot-move’ capability Edlar veterans know and love and finally “Webway Tunnel” allow a unit to leave the battlefield and enter Strategic Reserves.

Windrider Host

This is one of my favourite Detachments which provides a really unique and interesting play style. Firstly, all Windrider units in your army gain the Battleline keyword. At the Declare Battle Formations step you can select any number of “Asuryani Mounted” and “Vyper” units to enter Reserves to be brought onto the battlefield as Strategic Reserves with the bonus that they count the battle round number as being one higher than it actually is! But that’s not all, during the battle you can remove an number of “Asuryani Mounted” and “Vyper” units from the battlefield and place them back into Strategic Reserves! Your opponent will be chasing shadows the whole game!

There are some nice Enhancements on offer as well providing some defense for your units from enemy shooting, buffing the strength of your mounted Psykers and even a CP generation ability. I really like “Firstdrawn Blade” which grants the bearer and their unit the Scouts 9″ ability to further overwhelm your opponent with mobility shenanigans!

As you’d expect, all the Stratagems available to a Windrider Host Detachment target “Asuryani Mounted” and “Vyper” units and in some cases interact with the whole Strategic Reserves mechanic. It’s possible to buff the attack power of units that entered play from Strategic Reserves that turn or allow a unit in Strategic Reserves to deploy a bit more flexibly on the battlefield when they do arrive. Elsewhere we find options for further boosting mobility, increasing armour penetration and finally granting a 4+ invulnerable save against shooting attacks.

Spirit Conclave

This is your ‘Iyanden’ flavoured Detachment and allows you to build an army of Wraith constructs! “Sheperds of the Dead” is your Detachment Rule and you’re going to need even more tokens, this time of the “Vengeful Dead” variety. Each time a model in your army is destroyed by the enemy unit, ‘that’ unit will gain a token. Each time a “Wraith Construct” unit from your army targets a unit which possesses one or more of these tokens it will add 1 to both the hit and wound rolls. This is quite a powerful mechanic, punishing the enemy for basically just playing the game! Wraithblades and Wraithguard units in your army gain the Battleline keyword and Psykers in your army allow nearby Wraith units to benefit from the Battle focus ability. This seems like a really strong combination of Detachment rules.

All Enhancements on offer here are limited to Spiritseers but allow the bearer to buff nearby Wraith units in some way – be that granting movement abilities, improvements to shooting attacks and defenses. I really like the “Light of Clarity” Enhancement which allows a Spiritseer to buff the Objective Control characteristic of a nearby Wraith Construct each turn – this can be really useful for gaining an advantage at critical points during a game and to catch your opponent off guard.

There is a strong suite of Stratagems for Spirit Conclave players. There are options such as “Seer’s Eye” and “Wraithbone Armour” which reduce that damage of incoming attacks and allows the unit to ignore any Armour Penetration and Damage modifiers. “Blades from Beyond” and “Crushing Strides” bestow the “Devastating Wounds” and a mortal wound ability to a Wraith unit’s attacks. Lastly we have “Soul Bridge” and “Spirit Token” – the former allows the unit to count as in range of a Spiritseer allowing them to claim the Battle Focus ability and benefit from the Spiritseer’s inherent “Psychic Guidance” buff. “Spirit Token” allows you to continue to claim an objective after moving a unit away from it – useful when your elite Wraith heavy army is likely to be outnumbered by your opponent’s units.

Guardian Battlehost

This Detachment provides various tools to allow you to build an army themed around a Craftworld’s Guardian based units. Dire Avengers, Guardians and Guardian crewed war machines all gain +1 to hit whilst within range of an objective marker – a simple and effective if somewhat unimaginative mechanic.

On the Enhancement front we have “Craftworld’s Champion” which provides a significant buff to an Autarch’s Objective Control characteristic. The other options boost the effectiveness of your various Guardian units in someway. “Ethereal Pathway” for example allows you to bestow the Infiltrators ability on up to two Guardian units whereas “Protectors of the Paths” allows a Dire Avengers or Guardian unit lead by the bearer to utilise the “Fire Overwatch” Stratagem for 0CP and reduces the hit requirement to 4+ whilst the unit is within range of an objective marker.

The majority of Stratagems here target a flavour of Guardian unit or Dire Avengers and there are some interesting options. “Warding Salvos” and “Shield Nodes” either boost your own wound rolls or reduce the effectiveness of the enemy’s ability to wound and trigger based on whether your unit is within range of an objective or the enemy is. “Vaul’s Vengeance” allows a War Walkers unit to shoot out of sequence against an enemy unit that has just destroyed one of your Guardian or Dire Avengers units. “Cost of Victory” is an interesting Stratagem which allows you remove a Guardians unit from the battlefield and add it to Strategic Reserves, returning all destroyed models when doing so!

Ghosts of the Webway

This Detachment allows you to build a Harlequin force, bestowing the Battleline keyword on all your Troupe units and improving the Objective Control characteristic of those models to 2. You’re also able to include more Death Jesters, Shadowseers and Troupe Masters in your army. The Detachment rule is an interesting one, basically allowing your Harlequin units to move through enemy units when they make a charge.

There are a mix of Enhancements on offer which between them can be given to the various leader options for the Harlequins. There is the “Mistweave” which allows a Shadowseer and their unit to infiltrate for example, or the “Murder’s Jest” which allows a Death Jester to really punish a damaged unit, turning any hits into critical hits when making attacks against a unit at half strength.

Stratagem wise there are some ‘tricksy’ picks, fitting for the Galaxy’s jokers! “Staged Death” allows you to return a Harlequin character to the battle with half their wounds remaining. “Trickster’ Retort” allows you to move a Troupe unit in your opponent’s Movement phase (with a few restrictions), I really like this one and can see it being a useful tool to contest objectives or cut off reinforcements etc. Continuing on the theme of hijacking your opponent’s turn, “Bloody Dance” allows you to declare a charge with one of your own units in your opponent’s charge phase!

Devoted of Ynnead

This Detachment allows you to build a Ynnari themed force however you must include either Yvraine or The Yncarne in your army. This Detachment also allows you to include the various Ynnari keyworded units in the Codex, ie. Dark Eldar Wyches, Warriors, Reavers, Incubi and the various Dark Eldar character and vehicle options such as the Succubus and Raider transport. The Detachment rules are really nice too. “Lethal Intent” allows you to move one of your units at the end of the opponent’s shooting phase if one of your units has been destroyed. “Lethal Surge” modifies the “Fade Back” Agile Manoeuvre allowing you to move into Engagement Range of the ‘triggering’ enemy unit. Finally there is “Lethal Reprisal” which gives one of your units the “Fights First” ability in each Fight phase.

There are four Enhancements available to use in your army. “Storm of Whispers” is an interesting pick for any Warlocks in your army, forcing Battle-shock tests on an enemy unit that was hit with one of its ranged weapons in the shooting phase. “Borrowed Vigour” is a straight forward pick which adds an additional two attacks to one of the bearer’s melee weapons.

There are some interesting Stratagems on offer as well. “Pall of Dread” works like other ‘sticky objective’ style stratagems but you can target units that have been destroyed. “Macabre Resilience” can be used to improve the resilience of any non-Wraith Infantry and Monster units in your army, reducing wound rolls by 1 for attacks that target the unit. “Death Answers Death” is another example of a Stratagem which allows you to act in your opponent’s turn, this time allowing you to shoot with a unit at the end of your opponent’s shooting phase if it suffered any casualties in that phase.

Seer Council

This Detachment brings back a revised version of the Strands of Fate mechanic. As before you’ll roll a number of ‘Fate’ dice at the start of the battle but instead of using these dices to substitute in rolls during the game you can instead use them to reduce the CP cost of the different Seer Council Stratagems.

The “Lucid Eye” Enhancement allows you to modify the results of ‘Fate’ dice during the game, allowing you to try and ‘fish’ for a result that matches a Stratagem you may wish to make use of. The other Enhancements all enhance the psychic abilities of the various characters in your army, bestowing a useful 4+ Feel No Pain ability on the Psyker and their unit or improving the range of any Psychic weapons. Lastly there is the “Torc of Morai-Heg” which can be used to increase the CP cost of your opponent’s Stratagems when they target a unit within range of the bearer!

There are some cool Stratagems here too, such as “Psychic Shield” which can offer some protection against ranged attacks, forcing the opponent to move within 18″ of a target before they are able to shoot them. “Isha’s Fury” is a straight forward offensive Stratagem allowing you to inflict a number of mortal wounds on an enemy unit within range of one of your Infantry units. “Forewarned” is a really strong pick, forcing the enemy to subtract one from both hit and wound rolls when targeting one of your Infantry units.

Aspect Hosts

The Detachment rule for your Aspect Hosts army is simple but effective. Each time you select one of your Aspect or Avatar of Khaine units to shoot or fight you can choose to either re-roll hit or wound rolls of 1. This is a great buff for your Aspect Warriors especially, allowing them to make the most effective use of the already specialised ranged and melee attack profiles! There is even an Enhancement for your Autarchs which allows them and the unit they lead to benefit from both effects at once!

Such an army obviously favours a heavy Aspect Warrior focus and I like that many of the Enhancements can be used to buff these units and not just the bearer. In addition to the “Mantle of Wisdom” described above you also have “Shimmerstone” which applies a -1 to wound debuff on enemy units that target the bearer and the unit of Aspect Warriors they lead.

There are some extremely strong Stratagems here too. “Warrior Focus” allows an Avatar of Khaine or an Aspect Warrior unit to ignore any and all modifiers to their Ballistic Skill, Weapon Skill, Strength, Armour Penetration Damage and Hit rolls when making an attack! “Preternatural Precision” and “To Their Final Breath” both interact with the new “Aspect Shrine” mechanic (more on this later), bestowing a ‘fight on death’ bonus for the former and a variety of bonuses such as Lethal Hits and Ignores Cover for the latter.

Datasheets

First lets take a look at the Epic Heroes present in this edition of the Aeldari Codex. The Avatar of Khaine and all the Phoenix Lords are present and accounted for with the exception of Karandras – I can only assume that Karandras will return at some point down the line with a new model perhaps? To sweeten the deal somewhat we do get a brand new Phoenix Lord, Lhykis the Warp Spider, so it’s not all disappointment. Eldrad returns but Illic Nightspear and Yriel have been removed.

The Avatar of Khaine itself is a solid unit, with 14 wounds, a 2+/4++ save and some fantastic melee and ranged profiles. It reduces all incoming damage by half and provides a nice +1 to advance and charge rolls for nearby Aeldari units.

Asurmen, represented here with a fantastic new model, is able to lead a unit of Dire Avengers and bestows a nice ‘move-shoot-move’ ability upon them. He is no slouch at range or in combat either with a nice set of attack profiles and a once per game ability to boost his damage output for a single phase.

Baharroth has some fantastic mobility, with a movement characteristic of 14″, Deep Strike and the ability to leave the battlefield with his unit of Swooping Hawks and re-enter from Strategic Reserves as close as 3″ to an enemy unit! When redeploying in this way he gets a nice critical hit boost as well.

Fuegan is an impressive unit, with two solid ranged attack profiles, either Assault, Melta 1, Sustained Hits 2 or Assault, Melta 6! He really buffs his unit of Fire Dragons though, increasing the range of their weapons by 6″. He also has a really nice return to life ability as an added bonus.

Jain Zar is another fairly mobile unit, with an 8″ move and a auto 6″ advance ability. She is quite the assassin, able to re-roll wounds against character units.

Lhykis, oh boy what a unit! Again this is a very mobile character, with a straight 12″ movement characteristic, Deep Strike and a rule which allows her unit of Warp Spiders to charge after they make a “Flickerjump” move. In effect this means you have a charge range of 36″, and her and her Exarch companion are no slouches in combat! She also has a fantastic ability in “Whiserping Web” – if Lhykis lands a hit on an enemy unit in the shooting phase all other shots from all other Aeldari units that target that unit inflict critical hits on a 5+!

Maugan Ra rounds out the Phoenix Lords and adds a nice ‘explosive AOE’ effect to his unit’s ranged weapons allowing them to inflict damage on enemy units who might be standing a little too close to the primary target. In addition he is able to force Battle-shock tests with a -1 modifier on targeted units as well.

Eldrad has a nice profile, able to lead a unit of either flavour of Guardians or a Warlock Conclave. He provides a nice little CP bonus for the army and comes armed with the powerful “Doom” psychic ability which grants a +1 wound bonus to all attacks that target the selected unit.

The Farseer and Farseer Skyrunner both possess the “Branching Fates” ability which allows them to, once per phase, substitute a single hit, wound or damage roll for a 6. The Skyrunner variant also has access to “Misfortune” which inflicts a -1 to wound debuff on a target enemy unit within range. The regular Farseer instead has “Guide” which allows friendly Aeldari models to add 1 to all hit rolls targetting a chosen enemy unit.

There are three varieties of Warlock, a single model unit able to lead units of Guardians, the Conclave consisting of between 2 and 4 Warlocks also able to lead units of Guardians and the Skyrunner. The regular Warlock has a nice “Fortune” psychic power which inflicts a -2 penalty to the charge rolls of enemy units that declare a charge against the Warlock and his unit. The Conclave instead has the “Protect” power which can impair the wound rolls of an attacking unit (so long as you have a Farseer attached to the Conclave). Lastly the Skyrunner has the “Runes of Battle” power which grants them and their unit the Ignores Cover ability. All the Warlock units share the “Psychic Communion” ability which can be used to boost the attacks and strength characteristic of their “Destructor” weapons.

There are two flavours of Autarch, the regular footslogging version and one with wings. The former is able to join Guardian Defenders and Storm Guardians as well the different Aspect Warrior units with the exception of Swooping Hawks and Warp Spiders which the Skyleaper version can join instead. Both units possess the “Path of Command” ability which provides a discount to the CP cost of any Stratagems that target their unit. The Skyleaper also has a nice “Battle Focus” refund ability that procs. on a 3+ whereas the regular Autarch instead provides free re-rolls to any Advance or “Agile Manoeuvre” rolls made by their unit.

Now let’s take a look at the various Aspect Warrior units. All these units have a cool “Aspect Shrine Token” ability which allows you to make use of the cool little shrine models included on the sprues. For every five models in the unit it gains one of these tokens which can be spent to change a single hit or wound roll to an unmodified 6, a small bonus but situationally useful. All Aspect Warriors also posses a 5+ invulnerable save.

Dire Avengers then are a nice ranged unit which gain the “Sustained Hits 1” ability whilst within half range of an enemy unit. Swooping Hawks look great, super mobile and with a nice mix of ranged weapons for their Exarch. Their “Grenade Pack Flyover” ability allows them to inflict mortal wounds on a nearby enemy unit when they move, advance or set up on the battlefield.

Fire Dragons look like a super strong ranged unit, every regular model having access to the “Dragon Fusion Gun”, a 12″, strength 9, AP -4 D6 Damage weapon with the Assault and Melta 3 abilities! The Exarch themselves can be equipped with either a Melta 6 version of this weapon, an 18″ ranged version or a flamer weapon. Their “Armoured Destruction” ability allows them to re-roll all hits, wounds and damage rolls against vehicles and monsters – wow!

Howling Banshees are also very fast with an 8″ move and the ability to advance and charge. As you’d expect they have some mean melee weapon profiles (with anti-infantry 3+ across them) and a 4+ invulnerable save in melee.

Warp Spiders look absolutely terrifying now. Super mobile with the ability to ‘Flickerjump’ up to 24″ (albeit with a small chance to suffer mortal wounds). They have some nice looking ranged weapon profiles which all possess the “Torrent” ability. Surprisingly the Exarch themselves can also pack a bit of a punch in melee, their “Powerblade Array” profile granting 10 attacks at strength 4 and AP-2.

Dark Reapers provide a solid long range option able to trouble light vehicles and elite infantry alike. This unit ignores all modifiers to both their Ballistic Skill and hit rolls which means you’re opponent’s only real defence is to stay out of the line of fire (and even this may not protect you from their Exarch!).

The Shining Spears provide a mobile anti-vehicle unit, their melee weapon profiles having a nice spread of anti-monster and anti-vehicle 3+ abilities. The Exarch possesses a 4+ invulnerable save which may give the unit a small measure of protection as they zoom across the battlefield.

The Crimson Hunter gives you an accurate and highly mobile flyer and vehicle hunter with a nice selection of ranged weapons. Its “Skyhunter” ability allows it to add 1 to all hit and wound rolls when targeting flyers however it should have no problem dealing with tougher land based targets either with its Bright Lances, Pulse Lasers and Starcannons.

Finally Striking Scorpions give you another melee focused unit, this one possessing the “Infiltrate” and “Scout 7″” abilities. In melee they each inflict a Critical Hit on a 5+ and the Exarch themselves have access to some nice AP-2 and AP-3 weapon profiles.

Guardian Defenders are a nice generalist unit, able to complement their average Shuriken weaponry with a variety of platform equipped heavy weaponry. They have the “Fleet of Foot” ability which allows them freedom to utilise the “Fade Back” “Agile Manoeuvre” even if it has already been used by another unit (and they don’t even need to spend a “Battle Focus” token). Storm Guardians are more melee focused, with access to a 5+ invulnerable save and a ‘sticky objectives’ ability. Finally Windriders provide a more mobile Shuriken based weapons platform with a cool ability that lets them re-roll hit rolls of 1 against the closest enemy unit.

Rangers and Shroud Runners possess the “Infiltrate” and “Scouts 9″” abilities respectively and nice 36″ range Long Rifles. This coupled with their innate mobility means they should have no problem getting into position to threaten the enemy. The regular Rangers possess an ability that allows them to move away from encroaching enemy units which is a nice tool to keep this otherwise vulnerable unit safe. The Shroud Runners have a nice ability which allows them to prevent an enemy unit from receiving the benefits of cover for the remainder of the phase.

There are three ‘heavy’ weapon platform profiles – the D-Cannon, Shadow Weaver and Vibrocannon. Each of these platforms can join a Guardian Defender unit granting some measure of ablative wounds for the weapon itself. The D-Cannon has a terrifying, albeit short ranged, profile which allows it to threaten elite infantry, monsters and vehicles alike should the venture into range, able to re-roll damage rolls of 1 (or the entire roll if targeting a Titanic unit). Each platform makes D3, Strength 16, AP-4, Damage D6+2 attacks! The Shadow Weaver has a much longer range and is best suited for targeting regular infantry or hordes of light infantry and has the added bonus of ‘snaring’ its target, forcing the opponent to sacrifice some mobility else risk suffering mortal wounds. The Vibrocannon is an interesting weapon, taken on its own it is easily overshadowed by the other two options but include multiples of these weapons in your army and target the same enemy unit and they benefit from improved strength, armour penetration and damage characteristics.

War Walkers provide an alternative mobile heavy weapons platform with the full complement of general Eldar heavy weaponry. They are great force multipliers though, able to buff the Armour Penetration of attacks made by other Aeldari who target a unit that the War Walkers fire at earlier in the phase. Vypers fill a similar role with similar loadout options and an ability to ‘supress’ a target unit so that they must subtract 1 from any hit rolls.

The Falcon is a nice hybrid gunship with a small transport capacity able to effectively engage enemy infantry and vehicles alike with it’s compliment of weaponry. The “Fire Support” ability allows a disembarked unit to re-roll wounds against a unit targeted by the Falcon itself. The Night Spinner and Fire Prism provide more specialised options, the former providing a mobile artillery piece able to deal effectively with hordes of infantry whereas the Fire Prism provides highly accurate long range fire power to punch through vehicles and more heavily armoured targets.

The Wave Serpent provides your mainstay transport capability with a decent selection of heavy weapons to provide some supplementary firepower. Its Wave Serpent Shield ability provides some defence against incoming fire, making it more difficult for an enemy unit to land a wound.

The Spiritseer is an important unit to include if you decide to lean heavy into the various Wraith units. They gain the “Lone Operative” ability whilst within range of a Wraith Construct unit which gives them a bit of protection. They also provide various buffs such as “Sustained Hits 1” and the ability to heal wounds to nearby Wraith Construct units. The Wraith Guard and Lord units also benefit from proximity to a Spiritseer, gaining Weapon Skill, Ballistic Skill improvements and other bonuses.

Wraith Guard and Wraith Blades are both super resilient and possess strong ranged and melee weapon profiles respectively. Wraith Blades have a nice fight on death type ability and Wraith Guard are able to shoot after performing a fall back move. Wraith Lords possess a nice mix of heavy ranged weapons and close combat prowess with a cool ability to nominate a unit type and gain a re-roll hit and wound rolls of 1 ability against said targets. The Wraithknight comes in two flavers, the regular Wraithknight can be equipped with a Suncannon and Scattershield, Heavy Wraithcannon and Shimmershield or two Heavy Wraithcannons. The Heavy Wraithcannon is solid, with a strength of 20, AP-4 and 2D6 damage profile! The other Wraithknight comes equipped base with a Ghostglaive and Scattershield but can swap the latter for a Heavy Wraithcannon which gives it a strong ranged attack option. The Ghostglaive itself has two profiles meaning you’re able to deal with a variety of target types. Finally the Hemlock Wraithfighter rounds out the ‘ghostly’ roster. This is a psychological threat able to inflict Battle-shock penalties on nearby units.

Corsairs also make a small appearence in the Codex, their Kill Team unit is here with all the various model and weapon loadouts supported.

Then we come to the Harlequin contingent and here you’ll find the Troupe Master, Shadowseer, Death Jester, Solitaire, Troupe, Skyweavers, Voidweavers and Starweavers. Harlequins overall seem to be quite an interesting subfaction, with high mobility and access to “Battle Focus” they are easily able to cross the battlefield and engage up close where they excel with their powerful melee and short ranged weaponry. I really like the Troupe units “Dance of Death” ability which allows them to select from one of three abilities at the start of the Fight Phase giving them options to improve their hit rolls, wound rolls or inflict a -1 to hit penalty on an opponent.

Finally we come to the Ynnari and here get an expanded roster which include a large number of Dark Eldar units such as Archons, Succubus, Warriors, Wyches, Reavers, Incubi, Raiders and Venoms. Yvraine, the Yncarne and The Visarch are also present and able to lead your Ynnari units into battle.

Crusade

As expected we get a substantial set of Crusade rules as well with the usual accompaniment of Agendas, Requisitions, Battle Traits et al. I found the overarching Crusade mechanic to be very thematic and interesting. Your challenge is to try and manipulate the threads of fate, either to avert a specific threat to your Craftworld or to perhaps exploit and opportunity or retrieve a lost treasure. At the beginning of your Crusade you’ll roll on a table to generate ‘Thread of Fate’ which will have it’s own set of objectives to achieve. As you play through your Crusade you’ll accumulate ‘Threat’ points and should this tally reach 13 before you’re able to achieve your objectives you’ll fail in your endeavour and there are various rewards and penalties to unlock depending on how successful you have been.

Summary

Firstly I’m really impressed by the new miniatures Games Workshop have released alongside the new Codex. It’s really hard to choose a favourite but I’m certainly a big fan of Fuegan and his new Aspect Warrior models. I also appreciate the variety of build options across the Aspect Warrior sprues which means if you did want to include multiple units of the same type you can still build a really nice and varied looking force.

On the Codex and rules side I think the new Battle Focus mechanic will turn out to be a powerful tool in the hands of Eldar generals and opponent’s will find themselves often wrong footed by the sheer mobility of the Aeldari army. Aspect Warriors in particular look deadly in this Codex, especially when lead by a Phoenix Lord but I think a Guardian flavoured force will also prove interesting to play, the though of big units of Guardians with D-Cannons and Warlocks attached is something I want to experiment with.

Codex Aeldari and the full range of new kits are up for pre-order today (24th of January). Thanks again to Games Workshop for sending Sprues and Brews a copy of the Codex and kits to review.

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