So, the new codex has dropped and I have had a chance to look through it. So, what do I think of it?

Lets start with the negatives.

I said before (with the previews) that I thought the Craftworld traits felt bland. I also can’t help but feel that Battle Focus has been overshadowed by some other codex traits (I am looking at you Death Guard!). Now, don’t get me wrong, there are some advantages. Battle Focus affects everything really, as do the traits. That being said, Battle Focus does very little for Eldar vehicles, due to all their big guns being Heavy (except Shuriken cannons). I just feel this reduces the effect and idea of Eldar fast skimmer vehicles.

The other thing that strikes me is the reduction in options throughout the codex. This is mainly seen with Autarchs and Exarchs. A lot of the weapon and wargear options are gone completely. Spinneret rifles and Sun Rifles for instance. The Autarchs also pretty much have no options available anymore. For instance, an Autarch only gets Mandiblasters if they have Swooping Hawk Wings. On foot, or on a bike and its tough luck. Banshee mask is not an option at all. Granted you can use the index version, but there are rumblings that tournaments won’t allow the index options (I am not a tourney player, but I feel the pain, especially for anyone with conversions or some of the older Autarch models). GW even decided to re-cast and sell some of the Autarch models with options you can’t use in the codex.

Some oldies that seemed to vanish in the index have stayed gone. Eldritch Storm never made it as a psychic power. Holofields are also gone. I figure that they may want to keep them as a more Harelquin thing, but we even had vehicle conversion bits for them.

So, I don’t want to go into an in-depth analysis on units (or my usual rant about shuriken catapults having the same range as a pistol!!!). There are however, two units I would like to reference.

Falcons saw a points reduction, but they still seem to suffer in the trade-off evaluation with the Wave Serpent. They definitely made them a bit more enticing with the points drop, but they still seem to be less attractive as an option to me.  

Warlocks versus Spiritseer. A Single model unit Warlock is only ten points cheaper than the Spiritseer. The Spiritseer has superior casting potential, because they can cast Smite at full effect. The Spiritseer has superior stats and has the Spirit Mark ability.  A Perils result can kill a Warlock on foot while a Spiritseer has twice as many wounds and therefore will survive.

I feel that Warlocks are missing something. I think that they should have an ability to reflect their martial nature. Perhaps allowing units within a certain range to use their Leadership score. This would help Guardian units. They could probably do with an extra wound too, or at least something like a ghosthelm.

Finally, can someone answer this question for me please. Why would I take an Aeldari blade over a chainsword on a Storm Guardian?  Sorry, it just seems like a pointless option and I hate pointless options. (There could be a pun there really, but yeah.. the chainsword seems better, all day, everyday)

So, the positives.

There have been points tweaks all over the codex and a few rules changes here and there for some units (Banshees and Warwalkers get some rules changes). We also get more psychic powers again, relics, Warlord Traits and stratagems.

There are a few new options available in the codex now too. Some new wargear/weapons such as the Star Glaive and the relics. Many units have gone from horribly expensive (over-priced) to something you may want to bring to the tabletop.

The book also have new content and pushed the story-line forward a bit. There is also some lovely new artwork throughout the book.

To sum up.

The Codex is a vast improvement to the index. However, I do feel that some opportunities were missed. A lot of people complained about the lack of new plastic kits to go with it. I understand that GW are trying to get a codex to everyone quickly and this approach speeds things up. That being said, apart from the undeniable age of the models and the sheer quantity of the range that lacks plastic, it now appears that Eldar players have had many options removed as a result.

People complained about Warlocks and Falcons being poor and while GW did reduce their points cost, I don’t think that has resolved the issue. I feel that they need a little extra TLC to make them a more attractive option in the codex (this is not about them being super awesome, but it just seems there are better options there).