Picked this off of another site. Thought you would be interested.
Here are some rumours I recently heard at NecronomiCon XXI. The
convention was
visited by Andy Chambers, Alex Boyd and some guy from the Eavy Metal
team. They
had a work-in-progress version of the revised IG-codex but from what
I heard it
was in the final stages of production and no major chages were to
take place.
The point costs might be tweaked with a little bit. So the
IG "rumours" are
pretty accurate. There were also kind of a press conference where
they answered
questions and I managed to get some information about the upcoming
Codex:eldar
- revised. Many of the IG rules from the WIP-codex were confirmed by
Andy
during the press conference as well.
So... On to the numerous servants of the Imperium... The new codex
looked
really impressive. Nice artwork and about 10 pages of background.
After the
background was the wargear pages (yes, pages! ) and all I can say is
WOW! 2
full pages of wargear and vehicle upgrades. Lots of small items to
add flavour
to a character (like the Bionic eye which simply combines an auspex
and a
targeter or the Medal of Bravery which add +1 to a models Ld.) The
wargear
section also sees the return of an old favourite... yes, the vortex
grenade! It
is only avavible to colonels (not captains) and commissars. It cost
30 points
but taking it will also use up a Heavy support choise. It works like
a demo
charge but will only scatter half the number on the d6 and uses the
small blast
marker. Any model completely covered by the blast is destroyed on a
roll of
2+!! (Yes, that's right. DESTROYED! No saves, not even invurnable
ones, no
regeneration, no bionics, nothing!) Any model partially covered (and
vehicles,
since they will not fit completely under the blast) is affected on
5+. Andy
recieved LOTS of questions about this on the conference and stated
that he was
fed up with seeing a single over-powered character kill an entire IG
army by
himself. The guard must have some defences against tooled-up
characters. This
will hopefully reduce the number of over-powered characters people
use...
A new feature in the IG codex is that of skills. These can be used in
two ways.
They are normally available to command squads, characters, veterans
and storm
troopers. In addition, one skill can be applied to the entire army
(but must be
applied to ALL models in the army). There were about 10 different
skills. You
have propably already heard of the Sharpshooter skill which let you
reroll
missed shooting attacks. Apperently this only applies to heavy and
special
weapons. I don't remember the point cost. Then there is the Jungle
Fighter
skill which is pretty much the same as the Deathworld veteran upgrade
from
codex s (+1 WS, count woods as clear terrain, etc...). The coolest
skill is the
Valhallans' Tank Rider skill. This cost 1 point per model and lets
them use any
tank as an open topped transport. They simply hang on to the side of
the
vehicle as it moves. There is also a skill called Fooled Ya! which
lets the
unit re-deploy after both players have set up. Could be really nasty
if applied
to an entire army. On the other hand, it just works on infantery...
There is
also an Inexperienced "skill" which lowers the WS and BS by one but
reduces the
models cost by 2 points... Hello human shields!
Most tanks and unit have undergone very few changes (except thet some
may now
have skills as noted above...). The most notable one is that the
basilisk have
regained it's ability to fire twice in rapid succession like it could
in 2nd
ed. It now fires like a battery of 2 earthshakers (The second
template is place
next to the first in a direction indicated by the scatter dice.). To
make up
for this it is now more expensive and will cost 150 points. (I don't
remember
if this was including the indirect fire cost or not.). IG tanks now
also have
access to lots of cool uppgrades like Loudspeakers which increase Ld
of nearby
troops or Gyro Stabilizers which let a tank move and still fire
ordnance.
Some cool new special characters. I managed to see an unpainted model
of Olof
Piral which is a Valhallan special character which could best be
described as a
viking/russian version of Rambo. He has a bare torso, wears a fur hat
and
carries a heavy bolter IN EACH HAND!! (Apparently they counts as twin
linked...) He is also accompanied by a giant wolf and the model looks
really,
really cool! There was also some Attillan/Mongolian character called
Tsebad
Sinaoo, "the Wind of the desert" which was NOT a rough rider. Could be
interesting...
At the end of the codex was some "appendix army lists" like in the
Chaos codex.
They apply some limitations but basically give the whole army a skill
for free.
Cadians for example can not use Ogryns or ratlings (low tolerance to
mutants...) or Rough Riders but all models gain the Sharpshooter
skill for
free. Valhallans must take Armoured crew compartment for all their
vehicles and
can not take Stormtroopers but all models gain Tank Riders. There is
also a new
regiment called the 1st Larpin "tricksters" which all gain the Fooled
Ya skill
but cannot use commissars or mortar teams.
During the "press conference" a lot of questions were asked about
Codex:Eldar -
revised. Andy was quite secretive but I managed to find out some
goodies. They
may not be as sure as the IG rumours but most of them came directly
from Andy
so they are propably quite accurate. First of all, the codex will be
written by
Gav Thorpe and Pete Haines. Many people were surprised to hear that
Gav would
return to 40K but it is apperantly just for this codex.
To set one thing straigth... the Wraithlord will NOT get a toughness
decrease.
Nor will it get an increased point cost. "It works fine as it is"
said Andy. It
will however get a smaller cousin. The revised codex sees the return
of the
Spirit Warriors (1st ed players will remember theese...). They are
basically a
wraithlord with a smaller head which have only one arm and a weapon
mounted
where the other arm should be. It will have the same stats as a
wraithlord but
will have 1 less Attack and a WS of 3. They will count as an Elites
choise and
will cost about 20 points less then a wraithlord.
The aspect warriors will undergo some changes to make them more
widely used.
Dark reapers will get 3+ save (makes sense since they have the
heaviest armour
according to their background...). Also, the Fast Shot exarch skill
will now
simply let you fire your weapon twice. Now it might be an idea to
equip your
exarch with something else then a missile launcher. The Howling
banshees will
be more flexible. When they charge they will be able to choose if
they will
strike first or strike in initiative order (they now have I6) but
gain +1S for
this round instead. There will also be a new aspect - The Slicing
Orbs of
Zandros. They are equiped with razor sharp Xena-like throwing discs
which can
either be thrown as a R12" assault 2 S5 AP3 attack or used as power
weapons in
close combat. They will also have "alp'rif-tirs deception fields"
(not sure
about the spelling...) which means all successful shooting to-hit
rolls against
them must be re-rolled.
The support platforms will undergo some major changes since nearly
noone uses
them. They will all be able to move and fire due to their grav
platforms. The
will scatter further if they move, however. The crew will also be
able to buy
Eldar Crystal Targeters for +10 points which lets them meassure the
distance to
one enemy unit before firing. It also eliminates the extra scatter
for moving.
The D-cannon will now ignore invurnable saves since it is a warp-
based weapon.
The exodites (basically eldars riding dinosaurs) will not get a codex
of their
own but will be included as limited choises in an Eldar army.
Apparently, Forge
World are currently working on a brontosaurus-type model which "will
make the
Squiggoth look tiny". I guess it will cost a lot...
Andy wouldn't answer any questions about whether the Harlequins will
appear in
the codex. "The Harlequins are a great mystery. They know every trick
in the
book and can fool anyone. You never know wheter they will appear..."
was the
rather cryptic answer we got.
Andy also revealed a rather interesting thing about the Eye of Terror
campaign.
If the eldar manage to defeat the necrons with at least 3 wins for
evey 2
losses, the eldar will gain enough insight in necron tecnology to
allow their
bright lances to work against the monolith. Sounds quite cool. Time
to fight
some necrons!
Andy also mentioned that the phoenix lords will get a boost in
characteristics
to be able to compete with the C'tans and Chaos characters. He didn't
want to
reveal too much but took Maugan Ra as an example. He will have basic
phoenix
lord stats which will be WS8 BS8 S4 T4 W4 I8 Ld10 Sv2+/4+I. In
addition he will
have the Tough exsarch skill which adds +1 to his toughness (even for
instant
kill) and fast shot. The Maugetar (his weapon) is a shuriken cannon
with a
power weapon attached to it. However, he will be able to fire
shrieker ammo
charged with the psychic death screams of his homeworld. They will
wound on 2+
like normal shrieker ammo but will ignore all saves (even invurnable
ones).
Sounds quite deadly considering he will be able to fire his weapon 6
times
using the fast shot skill. At last the phoenix lords will have rules
to match
their background. Can't wait to see the rules for Asurmen.
Here are some rumours I recently heard at NecronomiCon XXI. The
convention was
visited by Andy Chambers, Alex Boyd and some guy from the Eavy Metal
team. They
had a work-in-progress version of the revised IG-codex but from what
I heard it
was in the final stages of production and no major chages were to
take place.
The point costs might be tweaked with a little bit. So the
IG "rumours" are
pretty accurate. There were also kind of a press conference where
they answered
questions and I managed to get some information about the upcoming
Codex:eldar
- revised. Many of the IG rules from the WIP-codex were confirmed by
Andy
during the press conference as well.
So... On to the numerous servants of the Imperium... The new codex
looked
really impressive. Nice artwork and about 10 pages of background.
After the
background was the wargear pages (yes, pages! ) and all I can say is
WOW! 2
full pages of wargear and vehicle upgrades. Lots of small items to
add flavour
to a character (like the Bionic eye which simply combines an auspex
and a
targeter or the Medal of Bravery which add +1 to a models Ld.) The
wargear
section also sees the return of an old favourite... yes, the vortex
grenade! It
is only avavible to colonels (not captains) and commissars. It cost
30 points
but taking it will also use up a Heavy support choise. It works like
a demo
charge but will only scatter half the number on the d6 and uses the
small blast
marker. Any model completely covered by the blast is destroyed on a
roll of
2+!! (Yes, that's right. DESTROYED! No saves, not even invurnable
ones, no
regeneration, no bionics, nothing!) Any model partially covered (and
vehicles,
since they will not fit completely under the blast) is affected on
5+. Andy
recieved LOTS of questions about this on the conference and stated
that he was
fed up with seeing a single over-powered character kill an entire IG
army by
himself. The guard must have some defences against tooled-up
characters. This
will hopefully reduce the number of over-powered characters people
use...
A new feature in the IG codex is that of skills. These can be used in
two ways.
They are normally available to command squads, characters, veterans
and storm
troopers. In addition, one skill can be applied to the entire army
(but must be
applied to ALL models in the army). There were about 10 different
skills. You
have propably already heard of the Sharpshooter skill which let you
reroll
missed shooting attacks. Apperently this only applies to heavy and
special
weapons. I don't remember the point cost. Then there is the Jungle
Fighter
skill which is pretty much the same as the Deathworld veteran upgrade
from
codex s (+1 WS, count woods as clear terrain, etc...). The coolest
skill is the
Valhallans' Tank Rider skill. This cost 1 point per model and lets
them use any
tank as an open topped transport. They simply hang on to the side of
the
vehicle as it moves. There is also a skill called Fooled Ya! which
lets the
unit re-deploy after both players have set up. Could be really nasty
if applied
to an entire army. On the other hand, it just works on infantery...
There is
also an Inexperienced "skill" which lowers the WS and BS by one but
reduces the
models cost by 2 points... Hello human shields!
Most tanks and unit have undergone very few changes (except thet some
may now
have skills as noted above...). The most notable one is that the
basilisk have
regained it's ability to fire twice in rapid succession like it could
in 2nd
ed. It now fires like a battery of 2 earthshakers (The second
template is place
next to the first in a direction indicated by the scatter dice.). To
make up
for this it is now more expensive and will cost 150 points. (I don't
remember
if this was including the indirect fire cost or not.). IG tanks now
also have
access to lots of cool uppgrades like Loudspeakers which increase Ld
of nearby
troops or Gyro Stabilizers which let a tank move and still fire
ordnance.
Some cool new special characters. I managed to see an unpainted model
of Olof
Piral which is a Valhallan special character which could best be
described as a
viking/russian version of Rambo. He has a bare torso, wears a fur hat
and
carries a heavy bolter IN EACH HAND!! (Apparently they counts as twin
linked...) He is also accompanied by a giant wolf and the model looks
really,
really cool! There was also some Attillan/Mongolian character called
Tsebad
Sinaoo, "the Wind of the desert" which was NOT a rough rider. Could be
interesting...
At the end of the codex was some "appendix army lists" like in the
Chaos codex.
They apply some limitations but basically give the whole army a skill
for free.
Cadians for example can not use Ogryns or ratlings (low tolerance to
mutants...) or Rough Riders but all models gain the Sharpshooter
skill for
free. Valhallans must take Armoured crew compartment for all their
vehicles and
can not take Stormtroopers but all models gain Tank Riders. There is
also a new
regiment called the 1st Larpin "tricksters" which all gain the Fooled
Ya skill
but cannot use commissars or mortar teams.
During the "press conference" a lot of questions were asked about
Codex:Eldar -
revised. Andy was quite secretive but I managed to find out some
goodies. They
may not be as sure as the IG rumours but most of them came directly
from Andy
so they are propably quite accurate. First of all, the codex will be
written by
Gav Thorpe and Pete Haines. Many people were surprised to hear that
Gav would
return to 40K but it is apperantly just for this codex.
To set one thing straigth... the Wraithlord will NOT get a toughness
decrease.
Nor will it get an increased point cost. "It works fine as it is"
said Andy. It
will however get a smaller cousin. The revised codex sees the return
of the
Spirit Warriors (1st ed players will remember theese...). They are
basically a
wraithlord with a smaller head which have only one arm and a weapon
mounted
where the other arm should be. It will have the same stats as a
wraithlord but
will have 1 less Attack and a WS of 3. They will count as an Elites
choise and
will cost about 20 points less then a wraithlord.
The aspect warriors will undergo some changes to make them more
widely used.
Dark reapers will get 3+ save (makes sense since they have the
heaviest armour
according to their background...). Also, the Fast Shot exarch skill
will now
simply let you fire your weapon twice. Now it might be an idea to
equip your
exarch with something else then a missile launcher. The Howling
banshees will
be more flexible. When they charge they will be able to choose if
they will
strike first or strike in initiative order (they now have I6) but
gain +1S for
this round instead. There will also be a new aspect - The Slicing
Orbs of
Zandros. They are equiped with razor sharp Xena-like throwing discs
which can
either be thrown as a R12" assault 2 S5 AP3 attack or used as power
weapons in
close combat. They will also have "alp'rif-tirs deception fields"
(not sure
about the spelling...) which means all successful shooting to-hit
rolls against
them must be re-rolled.
The support platforms will undergo some major changes since nearly
noone uses
them. They will all be able to move and fire due to their grav
platforms. The
will scatter further if they move, however. The crew will also be
able to buy
Eldar Crystal Targeters for +10 points which lets them meassure the
distance to
one enemy unit before firing. It also eliminates the extra scatter
for moving.
The D-cannon will now ignore invurnable saves since it is a warp-
based weapon.
The exodites (basically eldars riding dinosaurs) will not get a codex
of their
own but will be included as limited choises in an Eldar army.
Apparently, Forge
World are currently working on a brontosaurus-type model which "will
make the
Squiggoth look tiny". I guess it will cost a lot...
Andy wouldn't answer any questions about whether the Harlequins will
appear in
the codex. "The Harlequins are a great mystery. They know every trick
in the
book and can fool anyone. You never know wheter they will appear..."
was the
rather cryptic answer we got.
Andy also revealed a rather interesting thing about the Eye of Terror
campaign.
If the eldar manage to defeat the necrons with at least 3 wins for
evey 2
losses, the eldar will gain enough insight in necron tecnology to
allow their
bright lances to work against the monolith. Sounds quite cool. Time
to fight
some necrons!
Andy also mentioned that the phoenix lords will get a boost in
characteristics
to be able to compete with the C'tans and Chaos characters. He didn't
want to
reveal too much but took Maugan Ra as an example. He will have basic
phoenix
lord stats which will be WS8 BS8 S4 T4 W4 I8 Ld10 Sv2+/4+I. In
addition he will
have the Tough exsarch skill which adds +1 to his toughness (even for
instant
kill) and fast shot. The Maugetar (his weapon) is a shuriken cannon
with a
power weapon attached to it. However, he will be able to fire
shrieker ammo
charged with the psychic death screams of his homeworld. They will
wound on 2+
like normal shrieker ammo but will ignore all saves (even invurnable
ones).
Sounds quite deadly considering he will be able to fire his weapon 6
times
using the fast shot skill. At last the phoenix lords will have rules
to match
their background. Can't wait to see the rules for Asurmen.
