After a very long 8 months of rebuilding the Eldar from scratch we are very happy to announce it is publicly available! Our goals were:
1) Not be a horde army. Given their lighter weight stat lines, even in historical editions, they tend to be rather affordable and spam the field with numbers. This doesn’t fit a dying race very well.
2) Demonstrate their excellent psykers. Most editions have done well in this regard, but we wanted a flavorful distinction compared to other casters in other armies.
3) Build up the Aspect Warriors to be truly lethal machines that have spent centuries honing their specific craft.
4) Make Phoenix Lords actually scary instead of casual leaders. They have become Lords of War!
5) As always, ensure all models are playable, including out of production ones dating as far back as Rogue Trader to the best of knowledge. If you know of models or wargear that is missing please let me know!
So, let’s just jump straight in! Because literally like 98% of the Codex was rebuilt I’m going to go ahead and break down each unit as we go.
We are going to start with Spells, which are consolidated at the top of the Codex for ease of reference. Eldar are designed to be secretive and indirect with their tactics, so we went for lots of utility spells and boost and hamper.
1) Force Lightning is an absolute must because of the Dawn of War 2 trailer. ‘Nuff said.
2) Horrify allows you to cancel enemy Auras! This is incredibly potent, but because of its range and ease of access it allows Defenders to choose which Aura is cancelled. Naturally, another caster can hit the same unit with the spell again and allow you to break potent death balls into manageable targets!
3) Quicken and Restrain is a spell that targets two units in one! One friendly may reroll failed Charges and another enemy moves at half speed in the Movement Phase.
4) Conceal and Reveal is another two-in-one that grants one ally Stealth and an enemy -1 to Cover Saves.
5) Impair Senses drops a 10″ blast of psychic Shenanigans. Instead of being a weapon, it sits there until your next psychic phase. Any ranged attacks that are not cast by an Eldar that pass through the cloud suffers -1 To Hit!
6) Enhance and Drain is another two-in-one spell that grants one friendly unit +1 To Hit in Melee and an enemy Non-Titanic unit suffers -1 To Hit in Melee!
Craftworlds remain the same. These allow you to customize your force with tradeoffs.
HQ
The Autarch is an incredibly versatile leader that can get access to a wide variety of war gear to accompany your units and help them reroll 1s To Hit like most combat leaders.
The Farseer remains unchanged except for the spells they have access too.
The Shadowseer, like all Harlequins, are currently just baked into the Eldar and Dark Eldar Codex. This will change once they have enough models to be considered a stand-alone army and get rules to be taken in Eldar and Dark Eldar armies. All Harlequins are unchanged.
Spiritseers have been changed to support Wraiths more as we switched their identity to be stalwart defenders and less offense. They can grant a 5+ Feel No Pain to a Wraith unit within 6″ now. They are still spell casters.
Troupe Master is unchanged.
Bel-Annath is unchanged.
Eldrad Ulthran has been given a special Spell called Precognition based on his lore that has a 240″ range. It allows a unit to reroll all failed Saves (Feel No Pains are not Saves).
Prince Yriel is unchanged.
Yvraine is unchanged.
Advisors
Bonesingers are unchanged.
All Harlequins are unchanged.
Warlock is unchanged outside of spells.
Illic Nightspear is unchanged.
Visarch is unchanged.
Dire Avengers were rebuilt. For starters all forms of Eldar power armor, including light power armor, has all been moved to W2, with their Exarchs being W3 (almost Advisor levels of experience in lore). Avengers got enhanced to a Sv3+ as well. Their weapons have been all over the place in every edition, but we bumped them up to S4 and gave them their lore Combat Knives so they can also put out some light damage in Melee. They cruise in at 24 points each and are an excellent choice.
Guardian Defenders have received some gear from Rogue Trader and 2e. They now by default have Lasguns (yes, the Eldar variant is supposed to be more nifty but otherwise unchanged from the Imperial design). This allows them to reach out to 24″, or upgrade to Shuriken Catapults. They can also optionally swap for Dual Laspistols!
Harlequins remain unchanged.
Rangers remain unchanged.
Storm Guardians were reworked as well. They are much like Defenders in lore, but better trained and excel in close combat. They do not use power armor, so remain at W1. With the combination of Plasma Grenades being Blinding (old lore that was never retconned), pistols, and swords, they are a moderate and affordable model at 16 points each. They have also received the Serpent Scale Platform for a 5+ Invulnerability, that can be cast on them or a different unit within 6″.
Elites
Fire Dragons remain unchanged. They worked solidly before and are the only aspect warrior to be left alone.
Ghost Warriors are a combined Datasheet, allowing for huge flexibility in their roles. The lore for their cannons and flamers are absurd, so we will come back to find a way for a balanced ruleset regarding what should be Destroyer strength weapons on a unit that cannot work mathematically with the acceptable minimum/maximum damage output for their point performance. Wraiths have all had a W increase (+1 for Monstrous Infantry, +2 for Monsters, and +3 for Titanics) at the cost of WS and BS moving to 4+. We really want them to be tough and reliable protectors of the soul stones they house.
Howling Banshees have been bumped to W2/3 as appropriate. I was having a hard time confirming if they had a light power armor or if it was just like a carapace style like what Defenders wear when after many, many hours of digging I found a reference to it being a “light power assisted suit”. Close enough, but their armor remains a Sv4+ so they need to watch out for Heavy Flamers and such. Embracing their agility, we also moved them from having an Invulnerability Save to a -1 To Hit ability. This tested much better for point for performance on paper and on the table.
Pathfinders are unchanged.
Fast Attack
Shadow Spectres saw their Prism Rifle undergo some mechanic changes. It now grants Heavy +1, Range +6″, and S+1 for each Prism joining fire.
Striking Scorpions are unchanged after much discussion. Changes for them were essentially done through their Phoenix Lord.
Shining Spears saw their Laser Lance shift from AP3+ to 2+ to fill some weak points in Eldar rosters.
Shroud Runners were missed on accident. Not even sure how. They are added now despite GW having a silly idea to put snipers on the back of heavy weapon platform bikes. We didn’t want to just have yet another bike, but with a slightly worse Sv and Stealth. And a Sniper Rifle. So it is all of that, but using modern military tactics where Marine snipers lay down in Blackhawk helicopters to do surprise fly by sniping we came up with their Sniper Rifles ignoring cover due to a surprise factor.
Harlequins remain unchanged.
Vypers remain unchanged.
Windriders were corrected on number of Shuriken Catapults. I could have sworn they used to have 3, not 2. If that is right please let me know and I will add it as an option!
Swooping Hawks were in a weird spot. They are fast and Deepstrike. And fly. Like the 5 million bikes the Eldar have. But no stat boosts from the Bikes to protect them. Once again, found reference to light power assisted armor, so they are Sv4+ with W2. Going on this train of logic, the -1 To Hit fixed their defense problems, but they need to remain very careful of Heavy Flamers and like weapons.
Warp Spiders once again saw lots of testing and ideas. We settled on them choosing to move an additional +2d6″ at risk of Dangerous Terrain Tests. Their weapons were altered as well to account for the monofilament razor wire left behind. We want Eldar to be very controlling of situations, not murder hobos, so their weapons are now Grav! They make excellent early game disrupters.
Hornets are unchanged.
War Walkers are unchanged.
Wasps are unchanged.
Heavy Support
Dark Reapers are unchanged but see different affects from their Phoenix Lord.
Vaul’s Warth Battery is unchanged.
Wraithlord got the Wraith treatment. At W12 and T8 they are very hard to kill! They also now come in Squads of 1-2 to better match Ironclad Dreadnoughts and similar units in other armies. By themselves as an entire Heavy Support Slot they just were not packing enough heat.
Wraithseers got the same treatment as Wraithlords.
Falcons remain unchanged as a giant compilation Datasheet to avoid redundancy.
Lynx are unchanged.
Harlequins are unchanged.
Warp Hunters are unchanged.
Flyers
Crimson Hunters are unchanged.
Hemlock Wraithfighters saw their flamer changed to keep in line with Ghosts. They are not technically Wraiths as they have a hybrid living crew and wraith stone copilot.
Nightwings are unchanged.
Phoenix Bombers are unchanged.
Dedicated Transports
Harlequins are unchanged.
Wave Serpents are unchanged.
Lord of War
Asurmen, and all Phoenix Lords got a massive glow up! Phoenix Lords now have W6, I7, A5, and one of the very rare 3+ Invulnerability Save. Backed by a 5+ Feel No Pain they are very hard to kill! Asurmen boosts all Troop Slots within 12″ so they may shoot as if they were not in Melee, letting vulnerable troops (or whoever is left anyways) stand up to Melee units a bit better. He also throws a 5+ Feel No Pain and Overwatching on 4+ (3+ for pistols).
Baharroth boosts a unit of Swooping Hawks by giving them Hit and Run and Pinning on Ranged Attacks! His unit also does not Scatter when Deepstriking.
Fuegan remains unchanged.
Jain Zar allows Banshees to roll 3d6 for Charge distances, but cannot exceed a total of 12″! Combined with their flip belts they are capable of reaching any foe. He can still force Challenges and choose his target, making him an excellent assassin.
Karandras gives his Skorpions Scout, allowing them to get directly into the free on Turn 1 if so desired instead of waiting for later rounds if the situation calls for it.
Lhykhis was added. She can create a Microrift that allows any Reserve unit of yours to act as if there was a Webway gate within 6″! Isn’t lore neat GW? She also allows Warp Spiders to reroll the “jump” distance.
Maugan Ra now forces enemies to reroll successful Cover Saves against him and his unit’s attacks.
Avatar of Khaine remains unchanged. Eventual plans for previous sculpts to be included (Infantry and Monstrous Infantry) are planned but I don’t have enough information to do so at this time. If you have old datasheets going WAY back please reach out! I want every model ever released to be playable.
Avatar of Ynnead remains unchanged.
Cobra remains unchanged.
Scorpion remains unchanged.
Phantom Titan got the Wraith Treatment.
Revenant Titan got the Wraith Treatment.
Skathach Wraithknight was added. It is essentially a Wraithknight with the Warp Spider jump ability, just a few less weapon options.
Wraithknight got the Wraith Treatment.
Vampire Raiders are unchanged.
Fortifications
Webway Gates are unchanged.
We hope you enjoy these rules. 90% of the effort was to simply make them FEEL more like an ancient dying race that is capable of high performance in various cloak and shadow type combat. If anything is missing please let me know!
Alternate 40k Rules 