Striking first?

One of the defining features of Wych Cults has always been their incredibly high initiative, enough to reliably strike before even other eldar. It was always part of our speed: we might not have struck as hard as space marines, but we always struck first and that is not an edge to be overlooked.

So, that gives an interesting question: Should Cult units have a similar Always Strikes First rule to the Emperor's Children?

Initiative has been translated to movement, so i'd say no.

Noone would ever dare to ask for Genestealers to always strike first in this edition. Because they don't actually need to, and have a far better advantage : insane speed. And since wyches are supposed to be as fast as genestealers (comparing old Initiative values), i'd rather see them advance and charge, and possibly rank up to mvt 10, than gain the Emperor's children power.

Mppqlmd wrote:

Initiative has been translated to movement, so i'd say no.

Noone would ever dare to ask for Genestealers to always strike first in this edition. Because they don't actually need to, and have a far better advantage : insane speed. And since wyches are supposed to be as fast as genestealers (comparing old Initiative values), i'd rather see them advance and charge, and possibly rank up to mvt 10, than gain the Emperor's children power.

I agree with this. I believe there is more versatility in improving the speed of our units versus an 'always strikes first' ability. I do get the rationale, however.

I think there are a multitude of ways that Wyches can/should be enhanced...I have high hopes for our codex, particularly after the Ynnari nerf...I think wyches will see some love there.

FuelDrop wrote:

One of the defining features of Wych Cults has always been their incredibly high initiative, enough to reliably strike before even other eldar. It was always part of our speed: we might not have struck as hard as space marines, but we always struck first and that is not an edge to be overlooked.

So, that gives an interesting question: Should Cult units have a similar Always Strikes First rule to the Emperor's Children?

Serious question - does anyone ever charge your wyches?

I'm not trying to be facetious or anything, it just seems like there's no reason for an opponent to charge wyches at all - all they'd be doing is letting them have their invulnerable save.

Don't get me wrong - I think it would be a nice ability fluff-wise (although I'd read the Emperor's Children rule carefully - if your opponent only charges one unit then they don't actually get to strike first).

However, I don't think this is the main thing holding wyches back right now. So, we'd probably be better off giving them something more meaningful as a Cult Ability.

You could maybe tack this onto Lilith or the Succubus as an aura though.

Quote :

Serious question - does anyone ever charge your wyches?

Yeah, considering how much more vulnerable they are to shooting attacks, if you can charge wyches, you could just as easily (even more easily) kill them at range.

And with their current offensive power, it's not like attacking first is going to kill enough enemies to change the result of the fight. So i'd roll for more offensive power, perhaps more mobility, and then they'll be fine without any ASF rule.

To me, Wyches are one of the worst fluff conversions to rules in the game. They are a unit of gladiators that play with their prey before ducking between their guard and filleting them with a beautifully place knife blade. Killing their prey in a perfectly executed dance of death.

Instead we get a unit which is able to dance out of the way of a lot of elite units, but who can't use their knives to save their lives, finding even the weakest of prey a chore to deal with

LordSplata wrote:

To me, Wyches are one of the worst fluff conversions to rules in the game. They are a unit of gladiators that play with their prey before ducking between their guard and filleting them with a beautifully place knife blade. Killing their prey in a perfectly executed dance of death.

Instead we get a unit which is able to dance out of the way of a lot of elite units, but who can't use their knives to save their lives, finding even the weakest of prey a chore to deal with

On the other hand, we get a pretty accurate representation of a bunch of unarmoured women who chose to bring knives to a gunfight.

That's true. No matter how good you are with a knife... if your enemy has power armor and plasma rifles, and you got dodging and blades... you're not at an advantage.

Kudos to anyone that manages to shoot my wyches. It’s really hard to hit models that stay on the shelf.