Post by Joelercoaster on Jul 10, 2016 10:59:34 GMT -6
So we have fancy new (ish) Eldar, fancy new Corsairs, and... less fancy, less new Dark Eldar. It happens.
The idea behind this thread isn't to re-write the codex or suggest specific unit changes per se, but more to get some ideas on where you think the army should go in terms of general feel, maybe an idea for an army wide special rule or theme, etc, to separate them from their kindred and putting them on par with the current "level" of armies.
Examples.
I think Corsairs did a very interesting thing with turning squad leaders into miniature HQ's - CWE kind of have this with the exarch, but are more specialized to their role (per their fluff). I think a similar idea could be incorporated with DE, and it also makes sense in terms of each squad leader being the true "gang leader" of his/her group, and an aspiring Archon (maybe). It would also in general bring together the idea of Eldar (of all types) being led by pretty hardcore dudes, which is kind of cool. Points heavy, for sure, but cool.
Power from Pain, I think, works pretty well now in terms of being easy to keep track of, and offers a nice army-wide bonus as the game progresses. In a similar vein, I always thought the Soul Trap was awesome, but its current incarnation is a little sad due to being reliant on challenges and such. I would like to see more wargear along the lines of "kill a character, get +1S", or more vampiric gear for mid-game heals, or in general more push toward the "taking captives/souls" idea and getting a boon for doing so. Very flavorful, IMHO, and with mechanics like the blood token system for Khorne and the past (if clunky) PfP, these sort of things are out there.
The soul trap itself could, for example, be a sort of storage mechanism... as souls die within a radius of it, you get a certain amount of points, which can be spent on things. Or whatever. Long story short, more focus on the soul vampirism.
More of a "Raid" feel. DE aren't meant to be fighters of attrition - hit hard, hit fast, get what you want, get out. But very often this game is won by just the opposite. A couple of potential options spring to mind. The ability to have more control over how many game turns there are could be a powerful (very, very powerful) factor. More rules allowing us to go very, very fast, and still shoot lots of things (the old aerial assault was a great thing). Imagine if the models on a Raider could move 12", still fire, and the transport could still flat-out. Ultimate speed and maneuverability (and, frankly, right now we don't have the fire power to make that super super scary beyond being just really fast). Things like that are supposed to *be* Dark Eldar - our jetbikes had the first ever flat-out move in the game... now they're bog standard. Fleet was an Eldar rule - now everyone runs. I'm not saying the Run rule is bad, at all - but DE are slowly losing what made them really special. We used to run circles around things, and now we're just a touch faster than *most* things. Eldar, actually, are just as fast, while still being more durable and potentially toting more guns. Not asking for the world, just something to set DE apart.
To that end... more effects like the old Reaver Jetbike move? Where you got to boost around and literally attack while moving (turning our speed into a weapon). We kind of have that idea with Chain Snares on vehicles, but it's not effective in its current version so you just don't see it. Most vehicles and some units could really stand out by having that style of attack be "their thing".
More martial prowess - it kills me that when you look at an Archon and an Autarch - the Archon is supposed to be the better fighter with better stats, while the Autarch gets army-bonus special rules (fair trade, generally speaking). But then you factor in weapons/gear, and the Autarch is just a better fighter, by and large. So gear is a large part of this, but also I think DE HQ's could all (baring Heamy's who actually have one) do with some special rules. Even if we're just talking about giving them preferred enemy or rage or whatever, to make them better at simply killing things, rather than army buffs (but in fairness, I think the Archon is more of a strategy HQ that's also a great fighter, and army buffs would make sense).
3 HQ's... heamy is the "survivable" and "PfP buff" one... Succubi make a murder-death lawnmower with USR's like Rage/Rampage/etc... Archon more reliant on gear to be good in combat, but also offering maybe some martial buff to the army or some bubble effect or something to represent the control that they have? Kind of gives each one a "place" other than just a different gear list. Shrug?
Who knows. Anyone? Thoughts? Ideas? Ramblings? Stuff?
The idea behind this thread isn't to re-write the codex or suggest specific unit changes per se, but more to get some ideas on where you think the army should go in terms of general feel, maybe an idea for an army wide special rule or theme, etc, to separate them from their kindred and putting them on par with the current "level" of armies.
Examples.
I think Corsairs did a very interesting thing with turning squad leaders into miniature HQ's - CWE kind of have this with the exarch, but are more specialized to their role (per their fluff). I think a similar idea could be incorporated with DE, and it also makes sense in terms of each squad leader being the true "gang leader" of his/her group, and an aspiring Archon (maybe). It would also in general bring together the idea of Eldar (of all types) being led by pretty hardcore dudes, which is kind of cool. Points heavy, for sure, but cool.
Power from Pain, I think, works pretty well now in terms of being easy to keep track of, and offers a nice army-wide bonus as the game progresses. In a similar vein, I always thought the Soul Trap was awesome, but its current incarnation is a little sad due to being reliant on challenges and such. I would like to see more wargear along the lines of "kill a character, get +1S", or more vampiric gear for mid-game heals, or in general more push toward the "taking captives/souls" idea and getting a boon for doing so. Very flavorful, IMHO, and with mechanics like the blood token system for Khorne and the past (if clunky) PfP, these sort of things are out there.
The soul trap itself could, for example, be a sort of storage mechanism... as souls die within a radius of it, you get a certain amount of points, which can be spent on things. Or whatever. Long story short, more focus on the soul vampirism.
More of a "Raid" feel. DE aren't meant to be fighters of attrition - hit hard, hit fast, get what you want, get out. But very often this game is won by just the opposite. A couple of potential options spring to mind. The ability to have more control over how many game turns there are could be a powerful (very, very powerful) factor. More rules allowing us to go very, very fast, and still shoot lots of things (the old aerial assault was a great thing). Imagine if the models on a Raider could move 12", still fire, and the transport could still flat-out. Ultimate speed and maneuverability (and, frankly, right now we don't have the fire power to make that super super scary beyond being just really fast). Things like that are supposed to *be* Dark Eldar - our jetbikes had the first ever flat-out move in the game... now they're bog standard. Fleet was an Eldar rule - now everyone runs. I'm not saying the Run rule is bad, at all - but DE are slowly losing what made them really special. We used to run circles around things, and now we're just a touch faster than *most* things. Eldar, actually, are just as fast, while still being more durable and potentially toting more guns. Not asking for the world, just something to set DE apart.
To that end... more effects like the old Reaver Jetbike move? Where you got to boost around and literally attack while moving (turning our speed into a weapon). We kind of have that idea with Chain Snares on vehicles, but it's not effective in its current version so you just don't see it. Most vehicles and some units could really stand out by having that style of attack be "their thing".
More martial prowess - it kills me that when you look at an Archon and an Autarch - the Archon is supposed to be the better fighter with better stats, while the Autarch gets army-bonus special rules (fair trade, generally speaking). But then you factor in weapons/gear, and the Autarch is just a better fighter, by and large. So gear is a large part of this, but also I think DE HQ's could all (baring Heamy's who actually have one) do with some special rules. Even if we're just talking about giving them preferred enemy or rage or whatever, to make them better at simply killing things, rather than army buffs (but in fairness, I think the Archon is more of a strategy HQ that's also a great fighter, and army buffs would make sense).
3 HQ's... heamy is the "survivable" and "PfP buff" one... Succubi make a murder-death lawnmower with USR's like Rage/Rampage/etc... Archon more reliant on gear to be good in combat, but also offering maybe some martial buff to the army or some bubble effect or something to represent the control that they have? Kind of gives each one a "place" other than just a different gear list. Shrug?
Who knows. Anyone? Thoughts? Ideas? Ramblings? Stuff?
