Count Adhemar's (Yet Another) Dark Eldar Homebrew Codex

Been having another look at this and have made a few changes.

Firstly, the Hellion Skyboard has been changed to: Models on Hellion skyboards have the Jump Infantry unit type. Hellion skyboards also confer a 5+ Armour Save, the Jink special rule and are armed with splinter pods. Models on Hellion Skyboards roll an extra d6" each time they move, including their normal move in the Movement Phase, Run moves, Thrust moves, Charge distance and Falling Back. In all cases they move using the Skyborne rules.

In addition, I've changed Vect's Cunning Plans ability to a suite of lesser abilities that add some tactical flexibility.

At the start of the game, after both armies have deployed but before any Infiltrate deployment or Scout redeployment, Vect may choose to move any one objective up to 12". The objectives final position may not be within 6" of a table edge or 12" of another objective, nor may it be inside a building or fortification. This ability may not be used in The Relic mission.

At the start of each of his turns, after generating Tactical Objectives, Vect may choose 2 Maelstrom objective markers. The locations of those objectives are immediately switched with each other. The objectives remain in their new location for the rest of the game (unless Vect chooses to move them again).

At the start of each of his turns Vect may choose up to D6+1 units. These may be friendly, enemy or a mixture of both. He can then either grant them the Objective Secured special rule (friendly units) or remove the Objective Secured special rule (enemy units). The effects last until the start of Vect's next turn.

When a Mysterious Objective is identified (by either players army), roll twice on the Mysterious Objectives table. Vect may choose which result to apply.

Added Squadron options for Razorwings, Ravagers and Voidravens (1-3 of each) and I'm having a think about special rules for including 3 in a squadron, along the lines of Predators, Whirlwinds, Vindicators etc in the SM Codex.

Count Adhemar wrote:

Added Squadron options for Razorwings, Ravagers and Voidravens (1-3 of each) and I'm having a think about special rules for including 3 in a squadron, along the lines of Predators, Whirlwinds, Vindicators etc in the SM Codex.

Maybe for the ravagers, allow rerolls to hit and/or wound/armor penetration directed towards a specific target chosen at the beginning of the game , as per the 5th edition ravager fluff (they have a mission to take out a specific target first and foremost)

Added squadron benefits to Razorwings, Ravagers and Voidravens (respectively). Might need to change the names as I've lifted them wholesale from other 40K units

Razorwing: Linebreaker Bombardment: If this unit contains three Razorwings that can all fire one or more missiles with the Large Blast trait at the same target, the squadron can fire a single Linebreaker Bombardment instead of firing normally. To do so, nominate one model in the squadron as the firer; the firer’s missile changes its type from Large Blast to Apocalyptic Blast and gains the Ignores Cover special rule. Each Razorwing in the squadron counts as having fired one of its missiles for the purposes of how many other missiles remain

Ravager: Killshot: Whilst this unit includes three Ravagers, all Ravagers in the unit have the Monster Hunter and Tank Hunters special rules

Voidraven: Rearm and Refuel: Whilst this unit includes three Voidraven Bombers, when vehicles from this squadron re-enter the table from ongoing reserve they do so with any damage repaired and with all missiles and bombs replaced

Linebreaker Bombardment still feels a little weak. Perhaps have it count as an ordnance barrage, so it doesn't require LOS (after all, you're bombarding an entire area rather than specific targets), forces pinning checks, etc. That would give it something that can't be achieved by just firing normally.

Otherwise, I'm not sure why I would do this rather than just have the squadron fire one or two missiles each - at least that way, the wounds from multiple templates landing could stack, and I'd be able to fire the Razorwings' other weapons.

Well, Ignores Cover is pretty powerful, especially against Hordes, which are of course the preferred target for most of the Razorwings armament. Also, a single Apoc Blast covers roughly 1/3 more area than 3 large blasts and there's less chance of scattering completely off target.

Will consider the Ordnance Barrage option though.

Currently working on a Decurion-style meta formation.

Space wolves can now move 12" and disembark. Your move, Dark Eldar.

Leninade wrote:

Space wolves can now move 12" and disembark. Your move, Dark Eldar.

Yep, already got that covered:

AERIAL ASSAULT
The crew of Dark Eldar vehicles are considered insane even by Dark Eldar standards but they are also the most amazingly skilled pilots and gunners, capable of targeting their foes with incredible accuracy at speeds that other races cannot even comprehend
For the purposes of determining how many weapons a vehicle may fire at full BS, a vehicle with this special rule that moves at Cruising Speed counts as moving at Combat Speed. If moving Flat Out it counts as moving at Cruising Speed. Models may embark/disembark from the vehicle if it has moved 12” or less in the movement phase but the vehicle may not then move flat out that turn

Just as a general thought, wouldn't it make sense if we had more options for Deep Strike? That might be a little bit too much for your particular homebrew but I always thought that things like Scourges, Raiders, Venoms or Ravager should have a lower scatter distance (either just half the distance or allow rerolls). Not pinpoint as the WW portal itself, but better than what other factions get. Perhaps at additional point cost.

Also, DS on Taloi for 20pts per model would be sooo messing with your opponent. And taking this even further, Grisly Trophies could force enemies to take a fear test once they arrive out of deep strike.

The Strange Dark One wrote:

Just as a general thought, wouldn't it make sense if we had more options for Deep Strike?

The formation special rules I'm working on at the moment include several options for 'deep strike' to represent striking from the webway. Hopefully get something on here tomorrow with more details.

Added Shrouded to the Voidraven's rules to represent it's vaunted "Stealth Warfare Suite". Combined with Night Fight, that gives it a 4+ cover save without needing to jink and 2+ if it jinks (regardless of Night Fight).

Can't say I like the Razorwing's Linebreaker Bombardment rule there, it's feeling less and less like a jet fighter and more like a bomber. How about twin-linking it's main weapons or giving them Tank Hunter instead?

I wish my group didn't insist that Dark Eldar were OP. It'd be nice to use this.

Imateria wrote:

Can't say I like the Razorwing's Linebreaker Bombardment  rule there, it's feeling less and less like a jet fighter and more like a bomber. How about twin-linking it's main weapons or giving them Tank Hunter instead?

Well, to be fair, the Razorwing has always been a better bomber than the Voidraven (and vice versa). Don't forget though that Dark Lances are changed to Assault 2 and Shatterfields to S8, AP-, Assault 1, Armourbane in my codex so you're already getting way more firepower out of a Razorwing than the current version. I'll see if I can think of something that would be more fighter-y. I like the twin-linked idea. Maybe something like a targeting matrix for squadrons of 3 that gives all missiles the twin-linked rule?

Jimsolo wrote:

I wish my group didn't insist that Dark Eldar were OP. It'd be nice to use this.

Are they horrendously bad players or are you just that damn good?

I have yet to actually playtest any of this stuff so my version might be massively OP anyway but with the seemingly never-ending power creep in official releases it will only be a matter of weeks until the next monstrosity emerges from Nottingham to eclipse my codex.

Added in formations. Some of these are culled from the Apocalypse formations (as that seems to be what GW does these days) but I've taken a new look at the special rules and benefits they give to the units. Others are new formations that hopefully give incentive to take them. I might tinker with them a bit as I worry that there's no Objective Secured in there but I'm also not entirely sure that ObjSec fits with the whole theme of lightning-fast raiding parties anyway!

COMMORRITE RAID
The Commorrite Raid is a special type of Detachment that can be included in any Battleforged army. Unlike the Detachments shown in Warhammer 40,000: The Rules, it has a Force Organisation Chart whose slots are a combination of specific Formations and Army List Entries instead of Battlefield Roles. However, it still has compulsory and optional elements, as well as Restrictions and Command Benefits, just like any other Detachment.
Although units cannot normally belong to more than one Detachment, units from a Formation that is part of a Commorrite Raid are an exception. They count as part of both their Formation and the Detachment, and have all associated Command Benefits and special rules. If your Warlord is part of a Formation or an Army List Entry that makes up part of a Commorrite Raid, that entire Commorrite Raid is your Primary Detachment.
RESTRICTIONS:
This Detachment must include between one and three Core choices. For each Core choice you must include between one and ten Auxiliary choices, in any combination, and you may also include up to three Command choices, in any combination. Only the datasheets listed here may be included in this Detachment.
COMMAND BENEFITS:
Webway Assault: At the end of the Dark Eldar players first turn place three blast markers (2 small and 1 large) or suitable terrain pieces anywhere on the battlefield to represent Webway Portals. Portals may not be placed within 2" of an enemy model or another portal. From then on, any of your units arriving from reserve may move onto the board from the portal marker's edge instead of entering as normal (it does not matter whether these units were intending to Deep Strike, Outflank, simply move on from their own table edge, and so on). The portal counts as impassable terrain and cannot be destroyed. Vehicles may only enter via the large blast marker.

CORE CHOICES (1-3)
Kabal of the Dark City
• 1 Archon (or Vect)
• 3+ units of Kabalite Warriors
• 3+ units chosen from Incubi, Kabalite Trueborn, Scourges or Mandrakes (in any combination)
• 0-1 Ravager Squadron
• 0-1 Court of the Archon
Restrictions: None
Special Rules
Arterial Strike: All units in the formation must start the game in Reserve. They enter play in the Dark Eldar players second turn, arriving automatically with no dice roll required. To represent the element of surprise, in the Shooting phase of the turn they enter play, all units in this formation may re-roll failed To Hit rolls.

Wych Cult
• 1 Succubus (or Lelith)
• 3+ units of Wyches
• 3+ units chosen from Bloodbrides, Hellions, Reavers or Beastmasters (in any combination)
• 0-1 Voidraven Bomber Squadron or Razorwing Jetfighter Squadron
Restrictions: None
Special Rules
Overdose: All non-vehicle units from the formation gain the Combat Drugs special rule. A unit that already has Combat Drugs rolls an extra dice on the chart when determining which combat drugs are available, and applies two of the results generated instead of the usual one (reroll any duplicates)

Haemonculus Coven
• 1 Haemonculus (or Rakarth)
• 3+ units of Wracks
• 2+ units chosen from Grotesques or Pain Engines (in any combination)
Restrictions: None
Special Rules
Pain Amplifiers: All non-vehicle enemy units within 12" of a Pain Engine from this formation have their Toughness characteristic reduced by one. In addition, friendly units chosen from Codex: Dark Eldar (or Haemonculus Covens) that are within 12" of at least one model in this formation have their Feel No Pain special rule improved by one, for example, Feel No Pain would become Feel No Pain (4+). This is cumulative with any other modifiers to Feel No Pain, but cannot improve their Feel No Pain beyond 3+.

AUXILIARY CHOICES (1-10 per Core Choice)
• Kabalite Stormsurge
• Dark Olympiad
• Ravager Titan Hunters
• Terror Squadron
• Incubi Shrine
• The Shadows of Aelindrach
• Blades for Hire
• Void Raid  
You may also include any of the formations from the Haemonculus Covens supplement, each counting as a single Auxiliary Choice

COMMAND CHOICES (0-3 per Core Choice)
• Scions of the Dark Muses (1 Lelith Hesperax, Drazhar or Urien Rakarth)
• Unholy Triumvirate (1 Archon, 1 Succubus and 1 Haemonculus)
• Supreme Overlord’s Court (Asdrubael Vect, 1-3 Archons, 1-4 Courts of the Archon)

Kabalite Stormsurge
• 1 Archon
• 3 units of Kabalite Warriors or Kabalite Trueborn
Restrictions: All Infantry models in the formation must begin the game embarked in Raider or Venom transports
Special Rules
Stormsurge: All units in the formation are not deployed at the start of the battle. Instead, in the movement phase of their first turn the vehicle in which the Archon is embarked is placed anywhere on the table, and then all other units are placed within 12” of the Archon’s vehicle. All units must be placed on open ground and more than 1” away from any enemy models. Any models that cannot be deployed for any reason are removed as casualties.
Vehicle models in the formation have the Strafing Run special rule and are treated as Zooming Flyers until the beginning of their second turn, at which point they revert to their normal rules.
Terror Reigns:  Enemy units within 12” of a unit from this formation during the Kabalite Stormsurge players first turn must subtract 3 from the Leadership characteristic on their profile until the end of their next turn.

Dark Olympiad
• 1 Succubus (or Lelith)
• 2+ units of Wyches
• 0+ units of Bloodbrides
• 1+ units of Hellions
• 0+ units of Beastmasters
• 1+ units of Reavers
Restrictions: None
Special Rules:
Orgy of Scarlet: All models from this formation gain +1WS and the Rage special rule. If the model already has Rage they gain +1A

Ravager Titan Hunters
• 1-3 Ravager Squadrons
Restrictions: None
Special Rules:
Command Vehicle: Nominate one Ravager as the Command Vehicle of the formation.
Shadow Dancing: Any unit in the formation within 12" of the Command Vehicle (including the Command Vehicle itself) has the Shrouded special rule.
Shadow Ray: The Command Vehicle has a shadow ray built into the heavy weapon on its prow in addition to its other armaments. This is treated as being part of the heavy weapon on its prow in all respects, and is fired in addition to the heavy weapon when it fires.
Resolve the shadow ray's attack first, before any other shooting attacks are made by the formation.
If the ray hits a target, then for the rest of the turn, any subsequent hits inflicted on that target by any Ravager in the formation will ignore the effects of all Void Shields, Scattershields, Barrier Shields, Ion Shields, Ionic Flare Shields, Power Fields, Eldar Titan Holo-fields and Improved Holo-fields. The shadow ray has the following profile:
Range S AP Type
36” 1 - Assault 1

Sickle Squadron
• 1-3 Razorwing Jetfighter Squadrons
Restrictions: None
Special Rules:
Sicklewing Fields: In the Movement phase, the Sickle Squadron may attack with its sicklewing fields. Pick one non-vehicle enemy unit that was moved over by at least one model from the formation. Units that are locked in combat may not be selected. The target unit suffers D3 Strength 8 AP3 hits for each Razorwing from the formation that moved over it this turn. Furthermore, you may allocate a single Wound caused by this attack to any single model in the enemy unit for each Razorwing from the formation that moved over the unit this turn. The rest of the Wounds are distributed using Random Allocation.
Evasive Manoeuvres: All models in this Formation have a 4+ cover save. If a model in this
formation chooses to Jink, it can re-roll failed cover saves until the start of its next turn.

Terror Squadron
• 1-3 Razorwing Jetfighter Squadrons
Restrictions: None
Special Rules:
Terrorfex Fields: Once per game, in the Movement phase, the Terror Squadron may attack with its Terrorfex Fields. Any unit, friend or foe, that was moved over by at least one model from the formation suffers 1 automatic hit with the Soulfright special rule.
Evasive Manoeuvres: All models in this Formation have a 4+ cover save. If a model in this formation chooses to Jink, it can re-roll failed cover saves until the start of its next turn.

Void Raid
• 1-3 Voidraven Bomber Squadrons
Restrictions: None
Special Rules:
Shock and Awe: At the start of the first player turn of the battle, even if the enemy has the first turn, all vehicles in this formation enter the table from the Dark Eldar player’s table edge, moving at Cruising Speed. Each vehicle performs a Bombing Run and then leaves Combat Airspace in the first shooting phase of the game (even though flyers are not normally permitted to leave the board on the same turn that they enter). After this is completed, the flyers then arrive from reserve in the usual way. The Bombing Run uses up the Voidraven’s Void Mine but this can be replaced if the squadron benefits from the Rearm and Refuel special rule.

Incubi Shrine
• 3 units of Incubi
• 0-1 Drazhar
Restrictions: Each unit must include a Klaivex
Special Rules: All models from this formation gain the Precision Strikes special rule. The Klaivex in each unit (and Drazhar, if included) gains the Dismembering Strike special rule.
Dismembering Strike: Each unsaved wound caused by the Klaivex or Drazhar in a challenge severs a limb from his opponent, reducing the opponent’s Attacks characteristic by 1 (to a minimum of 1) and destroying one of his melee weapons (determined randomly, grenades do not count). The destroyed weapon may not be used for the remainder of the battle.

The Shadows of Aelindrach
• 3 units of Mandrakes
Restrictions: None
Special Rules: All models from this formation may assault on their first turn even if they have Infiltrated. Furthermore, they gain the Rending special rule on their first turn.

Blades for Hire
3 units of Hellions, Reavers or Scourges (in any combination)
Restrictions: None
Special Rules: All ranged weapons fired by models in this formation count as twin-linked. In addition, all models in this formation gain the Hatred special rule

Jimsolo wrote:

I wish my group didn't insist that Dark Eldar were OP. It'd be nice to use this.

I have run into this from time to time as well. I thought they were just so shocked that they lost to DE that they become temporarily brain damaged, but if you have experienced it also...

When I first started playing DE I was regularly tabling my opponents in 3-4 turns and they were complaining that DE were unbeatable etc. Those were the days!!

Looking pretty good. It'd be interesting to see how the changes coming in Death From The Skies changes the Sickle Squadron and Void Raid. A few notes and suggestion if I may:

Webway Assault: I think placing markers anywhere on the board might be a little over the top, especially considering just how close to the enemy that could be. Hell, that could be behind enemy lines. I think thats a little TOO powerful. It just seem to easy to put three portsals right there in the middle of the enemy deployment zone, or right on top of three main objective markers. I realise we as Dark Eldsr would love to be overpowered for a while, but I think an eye to balance is best.
MAybe if their deployment was subject to some limitation, such as the rules for Infiltrate? Or having to be deployed by units on the ground? (Or dropped as bombs? )

Core Choice: You’ve listed these as 1-3. Traditionally Core choices in main armies are 1+, letting you take as many as you want. The only ones which set an upper limit are the spinoff armies, such as a few Space Marine chapters. I’d suggest for a core Dark Eldar army, it be the traditional 1+.
(I did a breakdown of the contents of most Decisions in my campaign proposal thread here, about halfway down the first post: http://www.thedarkcity.net/t13686-homebrew-dark-eldar-campaign-desadaria)

The Shadows of Aelindrach: What do I have to do to get you to add a Decaptitator-esque champion into there?


Otherwise it looks decent.

Count Adhemar wrote:

Overdose: All non-vehicle units from the formation gain the Combat Drugs special rule. A unit that already has Combat Drugs rolls an extra dice on the chart when determining which combat drugs are available, and applies two of the results generated instead of the usual one

You may want to note specifically that if you get duplicate drug results, that you need to reroll until you don't have duplicate results, assuming that is the intent.

Quote :

COMMAND CHOICES (0-3 per Core Choice)
• Scions of the Dark Muses (1 Lelith Hesperax, Drazhar or Urien Rakarth)
• Unholy Triumvirate (1 Archon, 1 Succubus and 1 Haemonculus)
• Supreme Overlord’s Court (Asdrubael Vect, 1-3 Archons, 1-4 Courts of the Archon)

Do the Unholy Triumvirate and Supreme Overlord's Court Formations get any formation abilities?


I've always thought that the Ravager Titan Squad felt a little weak. Its ability to negate shields is contingent on 1 BS4 shot, and even if it's successful, I'm not sure that a handful of dark lances with no other buffs seems suitable for 'titan hunting'. Granted, this might interact with your revised rules for ravagers to make this better.

Squidmaster wrote:

Looking pretty good. It'd be interesting to see how the changes coming in Death From The Skies changes the Sickle Squadron and Void Raid.

Yeah, I'd already written most of this before the news started leaking about DftS so it may need some revision once the rules are fully known.

Quote :

Webway Assault: I think placing markers anywhere on the board might be a little over the top, especially considering just how close to the enemy that could be. Hell, that could be behind enemy lines. I think thats a little TOO powerful. It just seem to easy to put three portsals right there in the middle of the enemy deployment zone, or right on top of three main objective markers. I realise we as Dark Eldsr would love to be overpowered for a while, but I think an eye to balance is best.
MAybe if their deployment was subject to some limitation, such as the rules for Infiltrate? Or having to be deployed by units on the ground? (Or dropped as bombs? )

I actually copied that straight from the Apoc formation and I don't really feel that it's too much, especially given that the portals can be blocked off by surrounding them (although skimmers etc can still come in as they ignore intervening models when moving. When we also consider the current shenanigans with the SM psychic powers, automatic 1st turn assaults after Infiltration (Genestealer Cults) etc then I don't think it's OP and it has a certain risk/reward element to it.

Quote :

Core Choice: You’ve listed these as 1-3. Traditionally Core choices in main armies are 1+, letting you take as many as you want. The only ones which set an upper limit are the spinoff armies, such as a few Space Marine chapters. I’d suggest for a core Dark Eldar army, it be the traditional 1+.
(I did a breakdown of the contents of most Decisions in my campaign proposal thread here, about halfway down the first post: http://www.thedarkcity.net/t13686-homebrew-dark-eldar-campaign-desadaria)

I based this on the Craftworld Warhosts, which are 1-3/0-3/1-12 Core/Command/Aux. There's nothing stopping you taking more than one Commorrite Raid if you wish though and I think you might struggle to fit in more than 3 core choices in most battles if you want anything else to play with too.

Quote :

The Shadows of Aelindrach: What do I have to do to get you to add a Decaptitator-esque champion into there?

Okay, okay! I'll have a think. I dunno. We spend all of 5th and 6th editions moaning about him and then when he's gone we all miss him! mutter, mumble, rhubarb....

Quote :

Otherwise it looks decent.

Thanks!

krayd wrote:

Count Adhemar wrote:

Overdose: All non-vehicle units from the formation gain the Combat Drugs special rule. A unit that already has Combat Drugs rolls an extra dice on the chart when determining which combat drugs are available, and applies two of the results generated instead of the usual one

You may want to note specifically that if you get duplicate drug results, that you need to reroll until you don't have duplicate results, assuming that is the intent.

Good catch. I'll reword that.

Quote :

Do the Unholy Triumvirate and Supreme Overlord's Court Formations get any formation abilities?

No, they're just a way of getting extra HQ units on the table or, in the case of the Scions, of getting one of the named characters without having to either take a CAD or use one of Core choices that you wouldn't otherwise be taking.

Quote :

I've always thought that the Ravager Titan Squad felt a little weak. Its ability to negate shields is contingent on 1 BS4 shot, and even if it's successful, I'm not sure that a handful of dark lances with no other buffs seems suitable for 'titan hunting'. Granted, this might interact with your revised rules for ravagers to make this better.

Under the new rules, each Ravager is usually going to be firing 6 dark lance shots and, with 3 in a squadron, they can have tank hunter. If you ignore shields that should be enough for a full squadron to easily take out a Knight in one volley (3 glances and 6 pens by my calculations). Without the shadow ray, a full squadron does 1 glance and 2 pens, so a single 3+ roll to effectively triple your firepower seems pretty decent.

I've just edited that to include Scattershields, so those pesky Wraithknights don't get excluded from the fun!

By the way, I hope my responses aren't coming off as "I'm right, you're wrong". I just wanted to explain my thinking behind what I'm doing and if anyone debunks my thinking then I'm happy to change it!

@Squidmaster - how about this?

The Shadows of Aelindrach
• 3 units of Mandrakes
Restrictions: All units of Mandrakes must include a Nightfiend
Special Rules: All models from this formation may assault on their first turn even if they have Infiltrated. Furthermore, their melee attacks gain the Rending special rule on their first turn.
Kheradruakh, the Decapitator: One unit of Mandrakes from this formation may upgrade their Nightfiend to Kheradruakh, the Decapitator for an additional 90 points

Kheradruakh, The Decapitator

WS BS S T W I A LD SV
6 5 5 3 3 6 4 9 -

UNIT TYPE:
Infantry (Character)
UNIT COMPOSITION:
1 Unique
WARGEAR:
• Baleblast
• Close combat weapon
SPECIAL RULES:
• Daemon
• Fear
• Fleet
• Infiltrate
• Move Through Cover
• Night Vision
• Power from Pain
• Shrouded
• Stealth
Shade Stalker: Kheradruakh and his unit may assault on the turn in which they use their Shadowmeld ability
Hunter of Heads: Nominate one enemy Independent Character at the beginning of the game as the unfortunate whose skull the Decapitator intends to take. Kheradruakh has the Preferred Enemy rule against that model and any unit the model has joined
Shadowmeld: Once per game, at the start of any friendly Movement phase, Kheradruakh can remove himself and his unit from the table, even if they are locked in combat. They then immediately arrive anywhere on the board using the rules for Deep Strike
Altered Physique: A unit containing one or more models with this special rule determines what special rules they benefit from as the result of the Power from Pain special rule as though 5 more unsaved wounds had been inflicted. This is cumulative with the Agonising and/or Architect of Agony special rules
ARTEFACTS OF CRUELTY:
• Decapitator: This is a power sword which causes Instant Death on any To Wound roll of 6

Would be awesome if our razorwings could do this!



All kinds of options for what the smoke would do.

Maybe even poisonous gas or different types of smoke.

next game turn you roll for wind or something....

Great stuff here count.  You put your app in at GW yet?

I really like some of the new content you've come up with in this homebrew, Count. I particularly enjoy the changes which add some much needed 'terror tactics', such as the trio of portals opening turn one, the automatic bombing runs, deep striking with our fleet acting as zooming fliers etc..

I do have a few points of note for you.

Count Adhemar wrote:

Haemonculus Coven
• 1 Haemonculus (or Rakarth)
• 3+ units of Wracks
• 2+ units chosen from Grotesques or Pain Engines (in any combination)
Restrictions: None
Special Rules
Pain Amplifiers: All non-vehicle enemy units within 12" of a Pain Engine from this formation have their Toughness characteristic reduced by one. In addition, friendly units chosen from Codex: Dark Eldar (or Haemonculus Covens) that are within 12" of at least one model in this formation have their Feel No Pain special rule improved by one, for example, Feel No Pain would become Feel No Pain (4+). This is cumulative with any other modifiers to Feel No Pain, but cannot improve their Feel No Pain beyond 3+.

The first part of the special rule reminds me of the Mechanicus' radiation based toughness reduction. It works for them as their guns have a strength value, but almost all of our ranged weapons operate on poison anyway, so there's no synergy in the shooting phase with the toughness reduction (except for instant deathing Ork Warbosses or Chaos Daemon Princes with Lances )

As for melee synergy, as all our Coven units are already S3, S5 or S7 base, the lowering of Toughness actually doesn't help any of them in combat against the average T4 enemy, except Grotesques, who are already wounding on 3's, rerolling. I think any buffs the formation doles out need to help Wracks find some purpose; when was the last time we included Wracks in any list?

Perhaps you might consider changing toughness reduction to lowering weapon skill or initiative of nearby enemies - all our coven units are usually WS4/I4, and would benefit substantially if the MEQ it usually clashes with is reduced to WS or I to 3. This would give the Wracks an edge in the ensuing combat as they hit first and easier.

I think the FnP buff would make Dark Artisans even more notoriously common - 3+ FnPs, rerolling 1's - we're pretty much Tzeentch Daemons at this point. I wonder if buffing or providing IWND, might be worth considering. The Covens book only gives IWND very late into the game, whereas FnP and many of it's associated buffs are available immediately for Coven units.

Count Adhemar wrote:

Ravager Titan Hunters
• 1-3 Ravager Squadrons
Restrictions: None
Special Rules:
Command Vehicle: Nominate one Ravager as the Command Vehicle of the formation.
Shadow Dancing: Any unit in the formation within 12" of the Command Vehicle (including the Command Vehicle itself) has the Shrouded special rule.
Shadow Ray: The Command Vehicle has a shadow ray built into the heavy weapon on its prow in addition to its other armaments. This is treated as being part of the heavy weapon on its prow in all respects, and is fired in addition to the heavy weapon when it fires.
Resolve the shadow ray's attack first, before any other shooting attacks are made by the formation.
If the ray hits a target, then for the rest of the turn, any subsequent hits inflicted on that target by any Ravager in the formation will ignore the effects of all Void Shields, Scattershields, Barrier Shields, Ion Shields, Ionic Flare Shields, Power Fields, Eldar Titan Holo-fields and Improved Holo-fields. The shadow ray has the following profile:
Range S AP Type
36” 1 - Assault 1

To clarify, can we can take a single Ravager as a squadron, and have only that one squadron in the formation? As in, any Ravager can simply opt to become it's own commend Ravager for it's own, one man squadron?

Either way, if you're taking away Scattershields, please make it also negate, or add a -2 multiplier, to Serpent Shields!

Just food for thought.

hydranixx wrote:

The first part of the special rule reminds me of the Mechanicus' radiation based toughness reduction. It works for them as their guns have a strength value, but almost all of our ranged weapons operate on poison anyway, so there's no synergy in the shooting phase with the toughness reduction (except for instant deathing Ork Warbosses or Chaos Daemon Princes with Lances )

This was another straight copy from the Apoc formation and it seems to be aimed at melee rather than ranged attacks. It does however have the useful effect of bringing SM bikes back down to T4 and letting our darklight ID them and avoid their ridiculous FNP abilities.

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As for melee synergy, as all our Coven units are already S3, S5 or S7 base, the lowering of Toughness actually doesn't help any of them in combat against the average T4 enemy, except Grotesques, who are already wounding on 3's, rerolling. I think any buffs the formation doles out need to help Wracks find some purpose; when was the last time we included Wracks in any list?

I'm not sure I understand what you're saying about not helping in melee? Against a T4 enemy, anything with S5 or less will benefit from the Toughness decrease. So basically anything that isn't a Talos! Also, I boosted Wracks to S4 so they would now be rerolling wounds. Wyches get a 50% damage boost!

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Perhaps you might consider changing toughness reduction to lowering weapon skill or initiative of nearby enemies - all our coven units are usually WS4/I4, and would benefit substantially if the MEQ it usually clashes with is reduced to WS or I to 3. This would give the Wracks an edge in the ensuing combat as they hit first and easier.

In view of the above I think I'm happy with the -1T

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I think the FnP buff would make Dark Artisans even more notoriously common - 3+ FnPs, rerolling 1's - we're pretty much Tzeentch Daemons at this point. I wonder if buffing or providing IWND, might be worth considering. The Covens book only gives IWND very late into the game, whereas FnP and many of it's associated buffs are available immediately for Coven units.

That's a very good point. I will need to have a think about the whole PfP mechanic for the Covens book. I quite like the IWND idea though. Might give it to friendly models within 12" and if they already have it, make them pass on a 4+.

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To clarify, can we can take a single Ravager as a squadron, and have only that one squadron in the formation? As in, any Ravager can simply opt to become it's own commend Ravager for it's own, one man squadron?

Yep, if you wanted to you could certainly do that.

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Either way, if you're taking away Scattershields, please make it also negate, or add a -2 multiplier, to Serpent Shields!

Much as I would love to stick it to Wave Serpents, this ability is really aimed at Gargantuans and Superheavies. I've tried to identify any energy/camo field that such models possess and list them as being ignored by the titan hunters. Might need to add in some caveat like "or any other protective field or shield possessed by a GMC or Superheavy Vehicle".

WhysoSully wrote:

Would be awesome if our razorwings could do this!



All kinds of options for what the smoke would do. [

Maybe even poisonous gas or different types of smoke.

next game turn you roll for wind or something....

Ooh, now I like that idea a lot! I might actually replace the sicklewing fields with something like that. Possibly have any unit that the Razorwings pass over suffer the effects of a torment grenade launcher (Ld test, taking wounds for each point it's failed by, plus pinning).

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Great stuff here count.  You put your app in at GW yet?

Thanks very much. Not sure I'd be able to work at GW as I'd be too keen on punching whoever came up with the rules for the new formations and codexes!