Anhrathe in Kill Team (KT 2021) 2021 December 31

I got excited when I saw the rumors about the update to the asuryani/craftworlds, especially the bit about the possible inclusion of the corsairs, so I decided to update my anhrathe rules for the 2021 version of the Kill Team game. I'm skeptical about the rumors (though I'd love to see them come true).

This is currently a preliminary version. These are changed substantially from the version I developed for the 2018 version of the Kill Team game. For the most part, I've limited the options to what players might create using the Eldar Guardian models and the Eldar Corsairs upgrade kits from Forge World. This means that most of the options from the drukhari have been removed. I don't know if that was a good idea, but it's what I'm going with for now (we'll see what the feedback shows).

Areas of concern:

• Corsair Reaver and Voidstorm Corsair options allow for both melee and shooting loadouts (with both icons orange). If this is thought to be too powerful, I'll break them out into shooty and stabby units.
• Heavy and special weapons have been limited to those available to the asuryani (previous version followed The Doom of Mymeara in allowing both asuryani and drukhari weapons).
• Weapon options for felarchs are extremely limited, largely based on the upgrade sprue options.
• The malevolent has been removed from this version. I'm considering adding them back in as a stabby unit.
• The Strategic Ploys, Tactical Ploys, and Equipment are mostly cherry-picked from the Compendium (from the Craftworld, Comorrite, and Harlequin sections - only those that I thought were appropriate to the Corsairs).
• Corsair jet packs are an equipment choice, but they get expensive (2EP/model that gets them). I originally had them as an ability for the Voidstorm Corsairs, but made them equipment after deciding to use the Forge World images (everybody is wearing a Corsair jet pack).
• Images are limited. I'm using the ones from Forge World, and a few are just reversed so that they can be used multiple times. If someone has decent representative images (with white backgrounds), I might use them. Otherwise, I'll replace these at a future date when I have decent models converted and painted.

I kept a modified version of the back page from the previous version, giving players that aren't familiar with the anhrathe some background. I'm considering adding in the name charts, or perhaps giving new versions to expand the options (if players have the old ones).

*** 2021 December 11 Version ***

• The lasblaster and brace of pistols have had their special rule changed from Rending to Ceaseless.
• The version is now shown in the top right corner.
• Minor formatting improvements have been made (nothing substantive).

*** 2021 December 15 Version ***

• Added Drukhari weapons.
• Added name chart.

*** 2021 December 18 Version (Rogue Trader) ***

• Removed Ghostwalker fire team
• Corsair Reavers become shooty, Voidstorm Corsairs become stabby (neither is a veteran level)
• Added Corsair Malevolents. One Corsair Reaver fire team and one Voidstorm Corsair fire team can take a Corsair Malevolent in place of a Corsair Reaver/Voidstorm Corsair. The Corsair Malevolent can only take chainswords (1 or 2), spar-glaives (1 or 2), or a power glove (with either a chainsword or a spar-glaive). The end result is that you might be able to take up to 2 Corsair Malevolents in your kill team.
• Ghostwalkers become an optional upgrade that replaces a Corsair Reaver Gunner/Voidstorm Corsair Gunner. A Ghostwalker can be equipped with an Aeldari long rifle, lasblaster, or shuriken catapult. The end result is that you might have up to 2 Ghostwalkers in your kill team.
• Fists replaced with Corsair blades, which are mundane knives. Most models have these along with a brace of pistols.

*** 2021 December 26 Version (both variants) ***

After looking at the previous two versions and some of the official lists in the Kill Team Compendium, I decided to standardize the structure of both variants.

I liked how the ghostwalker was an alternative to the gunner (in both fire team types), so I extended that concept. After seeing that the gunners in The Doom of Mymeara were limited to special weapons and that only the balestrike bands, a heavy support choice, had heavy weapons, I adjusted the Kill Team faction rules accordingly. Since other factions don’t have heavy support fire teams, however, I made the balestrike corsair an alternative to the gunner, but only in the corsair reaver fire team. I made the corsair malevolent an alternative to the gunner in the voidstorm corsair fire team. Both the balestrike corsair and corsair malevolent are limited to one per kill team (not fire team). The corsair reavers and voidstorm corsairs are very flexible, with options to be either shooty or stabby, so I wanted the alternatives (ghostwalker, balestrike corsair, corsair malevolent) to force choices.

The voidstorm corsairs are effectively a fire team of felarchs, but with slightly fewer options than the actual Felarch. Since the previous corsair reaver felarch and voidstorm corsair felarch operative datacards were identical (minus the names), I consolidated those into a single datasheet, simply called “Felarch.”

In both lists, most operatives have a brace of pistols and Corsair blades. A brace of pistols is basically a bunch of pistols, while Corsair blades is basically a bunch of knives.

I’ve added the OUTCAST keyword to all of the operatives in both lists. This doesn’t haven’t any impact on these variants, but is based on what I’ve seen with the bespoke factions (e.g., Octarius and Chalnath). Each of these is similar to the counterpart lists in the Kill Team Compendium, but has unique rules and slightly different keywords. The OUTCAST keyword simply facilitates future efforts on some bespoke lists.

The difference between the two variants (other than the images) is in the weapons:

• The Doom of Mymeara variant preserves the drukhari weapons.
• The Rogue Trader variant replaces the drukhari weapons with their asuryani counterparts and also allows hand flamers, power axes, and power gloves.

I also created a new orange skull icon for the faction keyword and changed the abilities and special rules text to size 9 font. Both of those changes will be in the updated faction rules template (which will be uploaded once I get the portrait frame image elements separated for those hobbyists that don’t have Photoshop).

The Doom of Mymeara variant supports those players that collected the more recent version of corsairs, including those that may be represented using drukhari miniatures. The Rogue Trader variant supports those players that are using the Warhammer 40,000 1st and 2nd Edition eldar miniatures.

The key problem, mostly relevant to the Rogue Trader variant, is the need to convert – there aren’t any man-portable bright lances or scatter lasers. I could see using 1st edition harlequins for their power axes and power gloves, and the old 2nd edition sprues have power gloves (not to mention that some of the 1st edition models have power gloves and/or hand flamers). Some players have these models/bits, though, so the Rogue Trader variant might work for them. For those that have more recently joined the eldar corsairs fan club, The Doom of Mymeara variant, the Forge World upgrade sprues and drukhari kits will provide the bits that you need.

If the rumors have any truth to them, we’ll see the corsairs in the future, at which point I’ll update these to match the models (assuming GW doesn’t give us Kill Team rules for them right away). At that point, I may keep some of the more exotic stuff for bespoke anhrathe variant lists. We should have shiny new models if the corsairs are brought back, so those will drive the options (though some conversion opportunities may be provided by other models in the aeldari ranges).

*** 2021 December 31 Version (both variants) ***

• Removed chainsword
• Corsair blades changed to array of blades (identical to Comorrites)
• Brace of pistols changed to laspistol (see Astra Militarum) with fusillade ability
• Shuriken pistols and splinter pistols (latter only in DM version) added as alternative to brace of pistols
• Changed the celestial shield (equipment) to a shimmershield

*** 2022 January 7 Version (both variants) ***

• Streamlined the weapon options. – operatives no longer come with a brace of pistols, array of blades, and additional weapons. Instead, they typically come with an array of blades (or some other melee weapon) and a ranged weapon. This is in line with the operatives in the official factions in the Compendium.
• Removed the blast pistol from the felarch (Rogue Trader version only). The RT version wasn’t supposed to include drukhari weapon options, so the blast pistol was an error (probably a cut and paste error). The blast pistol remains an option for the felarch in the Doom of Mymeara version.
• Removed the shimmer shield (equipment). Only a few of the official factions have an invulnerable save, so it was inappropriate to add it here when it wasn’t in the sources upon which both of these variants are based.

See the support topic for details.

I appreciate any feedback that players might provide in improving these rules.

Note that the Rogue Trader and Doom of Mymeara versions are separate variants. choose whichever one meets your collection limitations based on the notes above.