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Dark Eldar 6th Ed FAQ

Saturday, June 30, 2012


I think it's great that GW has already released a first wave of FAQ's in an attempt to bring all the armies up to speed with the launch of 6th edition. However, I'm left scratching my head after reading the Dark Eldar FAQ...

For those who thought that the latest DE codex was written with 6th edition in mind, I'm afraid you're sorely mistaken (see the very first note under Amendments).

Reavers get to use their improved Toughness which is nice, and 6th edition jetbike rules gave them a nice boost as well. We'll definitely be seeing more of these guys on the table.

Clasped Demiklaives are now AP 2 but I'm not sure that makes up for the nerfed power weapon the rest of the Incubi are carrying. And the lack of grenades seriously hampers them. Drazhar looks a little more appealing in 6th as he'll be a beast of a character for all things under the new Challenge rules.

The Decapitator still sucks :(

Interestingly, the Void Mine can be used and "does not count towards the # of weapons a Voidraven Bomber can fire that turn" (going against the new bomber rules in the rulebook). I'm hoping we see a model for this in the next wave of flyer releases!

Here's where things take a turn for the worse:


Can someone help me out with the first one? I'm not sure how Dark Eldar units that would be eligible to use a Webway portal could ever be in 'ongoing reserve'... I've gone back through the 6th ed rulebook and all I've found is that models can't voluntarily leave the table (unless they are a Flyer, in which case they can't use a WWP). Stretching my imagination, only a unit of Scourges that mishaps while attempting to Deep Strike could ever find themselves in this situation. Did that really require its own Q/A? I'd rather they clarify if Lady Malys' Precognisant rule allows her to redeploy units back into reserves if it exceeds the new 50% army limit on how many units can be held in reserves.

The second one sucks, but I have a hard enough time fitting all the Dark Eldar units I want into a 2000 point list, so not sure how much I'll be using Allies in the first place. Power from Pain doesn't have an impact on Allies, they can't use our portals... and after you read the 3rd one, you probably wont want your own Dark Eldar units using a WWP!

This 3rd Q/A is the worst. It takes one of the greatest strengths of a Dark Eldar WWP list and completely crushes it. In fact, the main purpose of a WWP was so you could get your fragile assault units across the board and into close combat unscathed from rounds of shooting they would have had to endure had they started on the board. This rule change is just terrible... it removes the ability to alpha strike for an army that DEPENDS on alpha striking in order to have a chance against some tough army match-ups.

I had hoped that 6th edition would usher in a return to assault-based armies having a shot against all the mechanized gun-line armies that dominated the game in 5th edition... it might be a little too soon to say, but 6th looks like it'll favor shooting over combat even more than 5th :(

Dark Eldar have the tools to shoot with some of the best armies in 40k; I was just building mine for close combat and will have to rework some things. How are the revelations of 6th edition and this new FAQ affecting your Dark Eldar armies?

The Times They Are A-Changin'

Friday, June 29, 2012


Well, I'm almost finished with my first read through the 6th edition 40k rulebook! It's a lot to process and too early to say anything definitively, but I can at least offer some initial thoughts. First and foremost (not having played with the new ruleset) I do think the game will be fun. This of course depends on your definition of "fun" within the context of 40k -- what you enjoyed about 5th will most likely not be what you enjoy about 6th (or may not even exist in the new edition). Personally, I'm ok with random situations to an extent, this is a game played with dice after all. But there are some new restrictions I'm not quite following...

Updated FAQ's could fix some of these, but until then here's a few things that are giving me the most heart burn:

1) No charges allowed on the same turn you arrive from reserve. We're all used to not being able to assault after Deep Striking, that's not what I'm talking about. Disallowing assault after arriving via regular reserve or Outflank, that's what I mean. So no more outflanking biker command squad coming in to smash face... No wyches, beasts, etc. coming in from a Webway Portal and assaulting...
That just doesn't seem right, now does it?!

2) Also affecting both my outflanking bike army and mostly reserved WWP dark eldar, now only 50% of your army can be held in reserve. WTF!? Sure, I can make some changes to these lists and adapt, but I guess the big question is why? I must be missing something because I just can't find a reason or understand the rationale behind this change.

3) I'm all for close combat weapons having an AP value, I think it makes sense. But I think they dropped the ball with Pistol weapons; Pistols can be used as weapons in close combat, but for some strange reason you don't use the AP and S of the pistol, you use some generic (terri-bad) stat line. Missed opportunity here to keep with the 'realism' that is apparent in other rules updates.

4) Infiltrate. Closely tied with #1, what's the point? Start the game close enough to get shot up, even during Night Fight, but aren't allowed to do anything about it? No thanks. Scout bikes, I may not ever finish you now. Sorry Mandrakes, I really wanted to use you :(

While I was shocked at some (or all) of the above, it's not all doom and gloom. Monstrous Creatures are looking to be awesome in 6th, so my 2 Talos are definitely happy. Some other improvements are Jump models as well as DE Reavers... better cover save than marine bikes, insane mobility (4ft), and impact hits at I10 when they assualt, very nice! Beasts are still pretty solid even if they can't assault out of portals for now.

I think there are some key changes that will make the game more tactical with more emphasis put on making solid decisions and coordinating attacks while still injecting pleanty of randomness throughout in a way that removes the 5th edition auto-win training wheels builds. The change isn't all bad, there are definitely some good & not-so-good updates that may end up changing again once we get army specific FAQ's. I also can't really say much till I've had more time absorbing the rules and taking them for a spin on the table. Despite the negatives listed above, I still remain optimistic that the game will be fun overall for most players and that armies will be more balanced in general over what we saw in 5th. That's all I have for now. Enjoy going through it. If you don't have it yet, it releases everywhere in 5 minutes ;)

Not Another 6th Edition Post

Friday, June 22, 2012


It's hard not to read rumors about 6th edition this close to a release since every other blog out there reposts the same "leaks" that are up on every other site. Veracity aside, reading into a snippet of rules outside of the context of the entirely new rules set / framework is pretty futile. Don't get me wrong, I think theoryhammer & wishlisting is fun too, but the amount of rage-quitters and blowhards piping up before the book is physically in anyone's hands is comical and hopefully has hit its peak. We get the new White Dwarf tomorrow which should shed a little more light on things, then the whole truth and nothing but the truth a week later. As for me, I'm going to try to focus on hobby related things this week. I want to finish up the units I've been working on regardless of what their fate may be come next week.

Anyway, last thing I'll mention about 6th (since this wasn't going to be a post about that!) is the collectors/gamer's limited edition sets. I gave some serious consideration as to whether I should invest in one of these sets or not since the opportunity only comes up every half decade or so. Ultimately, I ended up pre-ordering the regular book, and at a pretty good discount I should add! With all that extra money saved, I decided to go ahead and pick up one of the new Stormtalon Gunships!

When these first came out last month I was so/so on the overall look of the model, but the more pics I see of it the more it grows on me. Beyond aesthetics, I'm really intrigued by the rules for this flyer, namely 'Escort Craft' which allows you to attach it to a unit in reserves and will arrive at the same time you roll said unit in from reserves. This lends itself well to an outflanking list in my opinion and I'm looking forward to trying this out in my bike list. It just seems like the kind of thing you'd expect to see in a White Scars or Raven Guard army, so hopefully it plays out well on the table. Has anyone had a chance to try these out yet? Any thoughts on weapon load-out and how you would use one of these in a list?

The Dark Templar's 40k Giveaway!

Tuesday, June 19, 2012


If you haven't done so already, head on over to The Dark Templar blog. Not only is there great content to be found here on a regular basis, but now you can even win some fantastic 40k miniatures featured on the blog by participating in the 40k giveaway contest. It's yet another thing to get excited about while we all await the upcoming release of 6th edition!

Necron Snow Bases Round 2

Thursday, June 7, 2012


So the first attempt at snow bases didn't go so well -- I placed patches of PVA glue on the base then applied some dry Gale Force 9 snow basing flock. After the glue dried, the coloring of the snow turned to a bleak shade of gray:


Not what I was going for. So I did a little research and came across this great how-to guide from MiniArmyHugeTimeSink. I never thought about making a wet mixture with the snow before then applying it that way, but I think they turned out great. Here's some of the army awaiting the second snow fall (as I get the mixture ready):



I simply applied the new snow mixture to the previous patches of snow from the first attempt using a toothpick. It's best to have a bunch of mini's lined up when you do this as it doesn't take much material and you can fly through a decent number of models and make sure your mix doesn't go to waste.




After the mix had been added, I sprinkled some more snow flock on top to give it that dusty snow look.





I let the bases dry overnight, then began to plan out the display board. I have a few ideas but first wanted to make sure that the 2000pt list would fit.




This isn't going to be the layout, but at least now I know what kind of surface area I'm working with and how much 'free' space I can expect. This lot doesn't include the remaining court models or the other 5 man Immortal squad, so space will be a little tight unless I can come up with a better way to arrange all those extra Scarab bases that are there to be spawned by the Spyders. I'm working on the last batch of models and hoping to have them built & primed this weekend so I can proceed with the display board. I'd like to have this army finished up quickly so I can begin on the new Dark Eldar toys that came in the mail this week!