Codex Review: Avatar

Image from Forge World

Next up on the agenda is the Avatar of The Bloody Handed God, a strong unit, however is limited severely in army selection choices, requiring a very particular army to be used effectively.

TACTICAL VALUE

The Avatar has one particular niche which it fills, namely the primary HQ choice for a Footdar army, particularly Guardian Spam, compensating for low leadership by making them fearless or acting as supporting units in assault, ensuring that he does not get bogged down in horde type armies.  Generally, you should try to cram as many units in as possible within his 12” Fearless bubble, however does increase the damage of template weapons, which can damage not only the Avatar himself, but several other squads at the same time, who will have fairly low saves and toughness levels.

The Avatar himself is highly resilient however, particularly for his points value, though being considered a Daemon, the new Grey Knights codex has numerous units capable of circumventing many of his defensive benefits.  Thankfully, as MEQ has dominated the meta game, very little armies seen in competitive play will have Daemons, thus reducing the likelihood of seeing very situational units facing you. 
His resilience allows him to act as a fire magnet, distracting them from a possible offensive by numerous Guardian squads or other foot based units.

So, for all FootDar armies, the Avatar is a very effective HQ choice, in fact can almost be considered essential for such armies.  Personally, I do not like to use the Avatar in my own lists, such as my Exodites, mainly because I feel that if an arm is built around one essential unit, then if it is taken out early in the game the list crumbles quickly, examples being Ninja Tau, Fateweaver and, to a lesser degree, Chenkov lists; however this choice is entirely due to personal preference, with many others criticizing my own lists for omitting him.

In a Mech or Hybrid army, I do not recommend choosing the Avatar under any stretch of the imagination, often leaving him unsupported and a fire magnet, whereas no units benefit for his 12” Fearless bubble and also often will be left behind by the fast Eldar vehicles in a Mech list.

THEME

For a Craftworld army, the Avatar is a very fluffy choice, being awakened during wars of significant importance, with one residing within each Craftworld.

Interestingly, the Avatar also can be used in an Exodite list, but representing Kunerous rather than Khaine, just substituting the Avatar’s model with Orion from the Wood Elf range.

PAINTING AND MODELLING

The Avatar’s modeling options are entirely limited to resin in this day and age, being either a boon or a burden, depending on your opinion of the new Finecast range.  The GW model, while being somewhat expensive and small, is still very attractive, though is showing its age when compared to the other Eldar sculpts, not quite fitting in with the visual aesthetic of the Eldar models. 

The Forgeworld model however is truly beautiful, shown at the top of this post, being a truly breathtaking piece despite its hefty cost. 

Painting the Avatar leads to some interesting choices, with some opting to use reverse highlighting in the model, with bright yellow within the cracks developing to a dark, burnt colour, to simulate lava; whilst others prefer to take other methods, from a red colour to the Craftworld’s colour scheme.  This choice is entirely up too personal preference.

Image from Bell of Lost Souls

Thoughts, criticism or unfathomable rage?
Comments be they accepting or contradicting (boo!) are welcome!

Read more »

Codex Review: Autarch

To kick this bad boy off, we begin with the unloved Eldar Autarch.  It's not that his stats are bad or anything, quite the opposite in fact, rather that the Farseer tends to chew up our points and HQ slots, being far more crucial to Eldar armies.

TACTICAL VALUE

His most useful asset by far is the Master Strategist rule, increasing the chance of your reserves turning up quickly, something which has been increasingly important in 5th Edition.  He is also highly adaptable, with equipment choices to fill the majority of roles presented to him, though these can quickly raise his price to higher levels than desired.  

Unlike the Farseer, however, he does not give any buffs as such to other units, being less subtle.

The Farseer is almost always the primary choice for HQ's, so I only recommend choosing him for games >2000 points, otherwise your points are going to be consumed far faster than usual.

Here is a list of some of my main configurations for him

Firstly a Warp Spider stylised one.

• Warp Jump Generator 
• Fusion Gun/Deathspinner
• Power Weapon
• Mandiblaster

This guy is designed to join a Spider squad, with high mobility and good short range fire power, much needed in an Eldar force.  The power weapon can be swapped out for a Scorpion's Chainsword, a build I do not personally like, mainly because 4 attacks with the PW at WS6 is deadly against MEQ.

Next comes the standard jetbike build, a fairly common one, particularly in Saim-Hann armies.  

• Jetbike
• Laser Lance
• Fusion Gun
• Mandiblasters

Essentially, throw him in with some jetbikes or spears, if you're crazy enough to take one that is, point, click and attack.

Finally, the foot Exarch, similar to Dire Avengers in many regards

• Power Weapon
• Avenger Shuriken Catapult 
• Mandiblasters

A cheap and somewhat effective Autarch designed to be thrown in with some Avengers and shoot the enemy to death, particularly with Bladestorm and Guide being thrown on them.

The shuriken catapult is a cheap'n'cheerful upgrade, being very little points, a rare commodity in Eldar armies, and being quite useful as well.

Theme

These guys are some of the best HQ choices available to reinforce a particular theme within your army, be it dedicated to a single Aspect or splinter factions, mainly due to his high degree of customisability, able to be designed to reflect numerous leaders of almost any Eldar army, such as a Harlequin Troupe Master or a Croneworld Leader.   

You may also wish to use one to reinforce the Biel Tan style Eldar, who have a vast number of Autarchs; regardless of what you're after, he can be built to fit it, provided they don't rely on the Warp too much, but that's what Farseers are for!

Painting and Modelling

Painting one is relatively easy, just wearing Craftworld colours and some extra bling, however modelling can be difficult.  I recommend saving the construction of one till after a decent core of your army has been built, as the kits available are somewhat limiting in choices, requiring you to mix and match components, quickly building up expense.

By saving the purchase of this kit until last, hopefully you have amassed enough bitz to build one using a single model, without having to by other kits just to complete one.

One kit is also available in Finecast, which I actually like, being more expensive, but easier to assemble and convert; however your opinion on said material may cause you to loathe the mere thought of purchasing the kit.  

Well there we have it, our first Codex Review! 

What do you guys say, Yay or Nay?

Thoughts, criticisms, unfathomable rage?

Read more »

Craftworld Eldar Codex Analysis: An Introduction.

Hey guys,
This is the beginning of what will hopefully be the beginning of a somewhat regular column, which will be, as implied by the name, a analysis of the Eldar codex.
Each unit will have it's own dedicated post, where I will cover several major areas, Tactical Value, Theme, and Painting and Modelling.

I'll begin fairly shortly with the HQ choices for Eldar, however, I will group the Pheonix Lords together into one post,starting with generic characters and working my way through the Special Characters.

Any thoughts, criticism or unfathomable rage?

Read more »