Anhrathe (Eldar Corsairs) in Kill Team

[Brother Tyler]

I don't think that either the additional gunner/heavy weapon or improved armour options will hurt (in terms of balance), but I don't think that they're necessary.

 

The thing that really sets the Corsairs apart (from the Asuryani and Drukhari) to me is their flexibility. They can take more heavy/special weapons than their Asuryani/Drukhari counterparts. They have lower Ld, but that is offset somewhat by their special rules. They look and play like a ragtag mob of Outcasts, rather than the disciplined Asuryani and the specialist (with the Wyches) Drukhari.

 

It might not hurt to playtest either/both options, but my gut reaction is that neither offers any significant distinctiveness that is absolutely necessary.

[Ioldanach]

Version 8:

 

File has been revised. See this post for current version.

 

Substantive Changes:

• Corsair reavers have the option to take heavy mesh armor (improves Sv to 4+).
• Voidstorm corsairs have the option to take a voidplate harness (improves Sv to 3+).
• Voidstorm corsairs increased in cost by 1 point.
• Added witch staff to the void dreamer options.
• Void dreamer void sabre cost reduced to 3 points (from 5 points).
• Void dreamer corsair jet pack option reduced to 15 points (from 20 points).

Minor Changes:

• "Corsair Reaver Felarch" changed to "Felarch."
• A few cosmetic changes in the lore and names.

The substantive changes (and any previous changes that haven't been resolved) are in red text in the images.

 

At first I was just going to give the corsair reaver felarch the option to take heavy mesh armor, but that didn't make sense to me. The problem I was having was that it seemed to me that a squad designed for heavy fighting would allow the entire squad to take the better armor, rather than just giving it to the felarch. So I broadened the option to all corsair reavers. Giving the corsair reaver squad the option to take heavy mesh armor is as close as it comes to incorporating the concept of the balestrike corsairs (heavy weapons specialists). This option doesn't really hurt at all. It makes a corsair reaver cost the same as a voidstorm corsair, but doesn't give them the additional Attack or melee weapons options that the latter enjoys. The only real practical use is to allow for maximum heavy/special weapons in an Anhrathe kill team that is otherwise composed entirely of felarch/voidstorm corsairs. Since the option improves the felarch to the same statline that the voidstorm corsairs have (see below), the heavy mesh armor was given a cost of 1 point.

 

If the voidstorm corsairs are given the option to take a voidplate harness, there's no reason to limit which models have the option. Giving the voidstorm corsairs the option to take a voidplate harness simply aligns them with the rules in the second edition of The Doom of Mymeara. My concerns about giving the voidstorm corsairs a voidplate harness option were allayed after reviewing Codex: Craftworlds - more than half of the aspect warrior squads have a 3+ Save. Drukhari incubi also have a 3+ save. I wasn't sure what cost to apply to the voidplate harness. An improvement to a 3+ save is noticeable, but the overall (new) statline isn't necessarily on par with the dire avengers or wyches. Wyches cost 8 points, while the dire avengers cost 10 points (but come with avenger shuriken catapults). I could see either 1 or 2 points for the upgrade to a voidplate harness - I've gone with 1 point for now.

 

Looking more closely at the difference in the felarch and voidstorm corsair stat lines prompted an increase in the voidstorm corsair cost. The key difference was in the Save score - the felarch had the normal 5+ while the voidstorm corsairs had 4+. Lore-wise, the voidstorm corsairs are a bunch of felarchs. I'd ignored the difference in the Save score when making the voidstorm corsairs cost the same as the felarch. With heavy mesh armor costing 1 point, now, it seemed appropriate to increase the voidstorm corsairs accordingly.

 

I opted to not include an additional heavy weapon/gunner in the corsair reaver squad. The anhrathe already have double the heavy weapons of other Aeldari kill teams, so it didn't seem necessary to increase that gap further.

 

I also included the option for the void dreamer to take a witch staff, aligning with TDoM. I assigned the witch staff a cost of 5 points. So a void dreamer with a witch staff costs the same as a warlock with a witchblade (the void dreamer has a worse invulnerable save). It's difficult to quantify the psyker powers, but I can see more decisive tactical results from the void dreamer's powers than those that the warlock has (which are more generalist in nature). The rules for the witch staff are verbatim from Index: Xenos 1 and Codex: Craftworlds. The cost of the void sabre scales with how a singing spear costs more for a farseer than a warlock. I imagine that many players that already have void dreamer models have them equipped with a witch staff, so this seems appropriate. In retrospect, I can't believe I left the witch staff out in the first place.

 

I also reduced the costs for two options for the void dreamer - the void sabre was reduced from 5 points to 3 points and the corsair jet pack from 20 points to 15 points. In this, I followed the precedent of the farseer/warlock and the (adeptus astartes) captain/lieutenant costs, where the lower level commander sees a reduction in cost for the same item that the higher level commander can take. With the adeptus astartes commander, a power sword costs 7 points for the captain and 4 points for the lieutenant; with the aeldari psykers, a singing spear costs 7 points for the farseer and 5 points for the warlock. This was made a bit difficult by the fact that the void sabre costs 0 points for the corsair prince/baron, so I estimated. Part of the equation for the void sabre (such as it was) was the cost of the witch staff at 5 points. The void sabre (power sword) has an AP of -3 and does 1 Damage, but the witch staff always wounds on a roll of 2+ and does 2 Damage. From a theoryhammer perspective, I figured that the witch staff was slightly better. With the corsair jet pack, 15 points seemed like a decent scale from 20 points, though that might be too high (the power weapon for the adeptus astartes commanders sees a 40% reduction in cost and the signing spear for aeldari commanders see about a 30% reduction in cost (I've only gone with a 25% reduction - lowballing it at a 30% reduction would put the cost at 14 points).

 

The change from "corsair reaver felarch" to "felarch" was a simplification. Preceeding "gunner" with "corsair reaver" or "voidstorm corsair" is necessary in order to differentiate the two types of gunners and avoid confusion. The felarch, though, is only a corsair reaver upgrade, so the additional text isn't necessary.

 

The cosmetic changes were very minor - removing a comma and rearranging the block text about names.

 

All of these changes are experimental (the witch staff will remain an option for the void dreamer, though its cost may be adjusted; the armor options may be adjusted/removed based on playtesting results).

 

At this point, my feeling is that these rules are close to being finished. We just need to fine tune these last few things.

[Brother Tyler]

I think that increasing the cost of the Voidstorm Corsairs was probably a smart move. It made giving the Corsair Reavers heavy mesh armour viable (otherwise, you might as well have just taken a basic Voidstorm Corsair for the same price).

 

I'm neutral on the subject of keeping/getting rid of the (new) armour options. As you described, there are plenty of Asuryani and Drukhari units that have similar armour levels, so the option doesn't break the theme. I'll have to see it in playtesting.

 

I think that the witch staff was a no-brainer for the Void Dreamer (and can't believe that I missed that before). I don't see any problems with the cost reductions for the Void Dreamer's void sabre and Corsair Jet Pack.

[Brother Tyler]

I was playing around with building command rosters for comparisons and I think the flamer and fusion gun may be too expensive. If your intent is for a Corsair to cost the same as a Guardian, those two weapons need to be reduced in cost by 1 point each (to 3 points).

[Ioldanach]

Ah, good catch. I've fixed it in the draft for the next version. Thanks.

[Brother Tyler]

You missed a key portion of the brace of pistols rule. There is an asterisk in the Strength column, which usually means that there's something special in the Abilities column for how the weapon wounds. That's missing.

[Ioldanach]

You missed a key portion of the brace of pistols rule. There is an asterisk in the Strength column, which usually means that there's something special in the Abilities column for how the weapon wounds. That's missing.

I was hoping to get here and post a correction before someone else caught that. 

 

Yes, the correction abilities for the brace of pistols should be:

When firing this weapon, roll once to determine how many shots this model will fire in a given phase; this weapon always wounds on a 4+. Each time you make a Wound roll of a 6, that wound is resolved with an AP of -1.

That's not sufficient for a new version.

 

In basic playtesting, the anhrathe match up fairly evenly against the asuryani and drukhari. My focus was on "like" lists. Aside from that omission in the brace of pistols rules, is there anything else missing? Has anyone found any issues in playtesting that need to be fixed?

 

I'm leaning heavily towards calling these rules done and posting them for download, barring any other discussion.

[Ioldanach]

I made the correction identified above.

 

After playtesting, I can't find anything that stands out as needing to be changed, so I've finalized the rules and made them available for download. If anyone finds anything that they think needs to be changed, hopefully they'll post their ideas here for discussion and, if agreed, subsequent changes.

 

You can find the file for download here (it's a .pdf).

[Ioldanach]

I'm going to expand this with some Elites choices. I thought I was going to include the corsair jet packs, but that doesn't follow the precedent of the official factions. So I guess I'm going to look elsewhere. I wonder if the Corsair Nobles would be better as an Elites choice...?

 

I'm open to suggestions.

 

Also, the adeptus custodes provide a model for a faction presented in its entirety. So I guess I'm going to be rearranging the file somewhat.

[Brother Tyler]

The Necrons and T'au have non-Commander models that have the FLY and JUMP PACK keywords in the Elites book. 

[Ioldanach]

Oh, I hadn't caught that. Perhaps there is room for some corsair jet packs after all.

 

Thanks for the heads up. 

[Ioldanach]

Version 10:

 

File has been revised. See this post for current version.

 

Substantive Changes:

• Coterie specializations were added as the anhrathe sub-faction rules.
• Ghostwalkers were re-introduced.
• Corsair malevolents were introduced as an Elites option.
• Voidstorm corsairs were turned into a hybrid Core/Elites option by having the option to take a corsair jet pack.
• Organization was adjusted to match template of adeptus custodes (Commanders first, followed by other units).

It's up to 11 pages now (1 page for the coterie specializations and 1 page for the two new units). Yes, I skipped version 9 (that was the working version of the Final Version 1).

 

The substantive changes (and any previous changes that haven't been resolved) are highlighted in green in the images.

 

The ghostwalkers were returned, hopefully pretty much as they were before. The difference is that they now have access to corsair jet packs*. This makes them a hybrid Core/Elites choice.

 

Voidstorm corsairs stayed mostly the same, but now have access to corsair jet packs*. This makes them a hybrid Core/Elites choice.

 

The corsair malevolents were added. These were a new unit option in the second printing of The Doom of Mymeara. They're sort of like an aeldari version of the Death Company. Their cost was based on the special rules basically equating to a level 3 Zealot (progressing through the right side of the tree). Though highly potent, they have a negative impact on other aeldari (all aeldari, not just anhrathe) nearby. I probably should have imposed a 1 model limit. I have a niggling feeling in the back of my head that I didn't calculate their cost correctly, simply applying the cost for a level 3 specialist (for some reason I'm getting doubts that the costs for level 1 and level 2 should have been added in, too). These can be fixed in the next version, I suppose.

 

The coterie specializations were all lifted from existing sub-faction rules. Three came from asuryani craftworlds, two came from drukhari obsessions, and one came from the Imperial Fists chapter tactics. The names for the coteries and the coterie specializations were all derived from existing terms, whether obsolete eldar corsairs units from the first printing of The Doom of Mymeara, names from the Rogue Trader era (mostly from The First Book of the Astronomican), or my recollection of terms and symbols important in aeldari mythology. The lore/descriptions were mostly lifted (with some tweaking here and there) from both versions of The Doom of Mymeara.

 

* For the non-Commander units that have access to the corsair jet packs, I removed the Faolchu's Talon rule (that allowed models to deep strike). So all the ghostwalkers/voidstorm corsairs/corsair malevolents get are the increased Move stat and the keywords. As a result, I reduced the cost from 15 points to 10 points, though this might need some adjustment.

 

As always, any feedback is appreciated.

[Brother Tyler]

My chief concern is that now almost everybody can take the Corsair Jet Packs. Granted, you significantly diminish the size of your kill team if you do that, but no other faction has that option. This might be offset by increasing the cost of the Corsair Jet Packs (for non-Commanders) from 10 to 12 (or so). You might even implement that cost increase while removing the option.

 

Or we might look at Corsair Jet Packs as one of the defining aspects of the Eldar Corsairs and give them to everybody (definite cost increase if you follow that option). I'm not sure that is in keeping with how GW wants the Kill Team factions to be, though, so that would be a very controversial decision.

 

I think that you calculated the cost of the Corsair Malevolents correctly (with regard to their rules equating the Specialist level). The Core Rulebook doesn't say that level costs are cumulative, so it looks like each level (2+) equates to 4 additional points per level.

 

If you reduce the availability of the Corsair Jet Packs, I recommend keeping them on the Malevolents and Ghostwalkers. The Ghostwalkers aren't that powerful - they're really nothing more than Asuryani Rangers with a few basic weapons tweaks and the option to take Corsair Jet Packs. The Malevolents look interesting. I don't know how they stack up next to their WH40K 7th edition counterparts since I don't have that printing of Imperial Armour Volume Eleven - The Doom of Mymeara. The whole "no claiming objectives" piece is really interesting, and their affect on other Aeldari is interesting. Based on those two things, I'd limit them to one per kill team. Their whole suicidal thing is really interesting. Perhaps you should treat them differently, not allowing them to take advances, but allowing them to be replaced for free - or something like that. I'm not sure if that meshes with their lore, though. What's the story on these guys?

 

The Coterie Specializations don't look bad, though I'll need to ponder on them some more. You might consider tweaking some of the names a bit, though I don't have any suggestions right now (I need to ponder on that, too).

[Ioldanach]

Here's the flavor text for the malevolents from The Doom of Mymeara (2nd Printing):

The trackless expanse of realspace is a cruel refuge, with few havens from the ever-hungry gaze of She Who Thirsts and a myriad of other terrors. The raucous and violent abandon of the Corsairs is a fragile cover for the fear that eats away at them, and when this fails, they are gripped by a dark and terrible malaise. Despised by their fellows, these unfortunates are sealed away until battle looms - where their suicidal fury is unleashed upon their foe.

These guys are employed as a "corsair malevolent band" of 5-10 models.

 

Their whole suicidal thing is really interesting. Perhaps you should treat them differently, not allowing them to take advances, but allowing them to be replaced for free - or something like that.

That's an interesting idea. They are already pretty much voidstorm corsairs with a level 3 specialization. I'm not sure if the idea of replacing them for free would work, but not allowing them advances is probably safe.

 

As for the corsair jet packs, I'm starting to think that everyone should have access to them. Practically speaking, they are part of the signature appearance and employment of the anhrathe - it's difficult to imagine an eldar corsairs army [in 7th edition] that wasn't composed largely of models with corsair jet packs (along with some jumpy walkers and really fast vehicles). I know that it goes against the limitations of the official factions, but it's really a signature thing. The only way I can think to make it work would be to make it expensive, so the increase (to 12 points?) would probably be necessary.

 

As for the names of the coterie specializations, the army list for Crangor's Buccaneers in The Book of the Astronomican included lightning squads and thunder squads (both composed of eldar mercenaries); and the army list for the Eldritch Raiders in the same book included serpent squads and dragon squads. I wanted to incorporate those into the coterie specialization names. I also took the balestrike and blade sworn names from units in the 1st printing of The Doom of Mymeara. I'm certainly open to changing the names (including the descriptive names) of the specializations or shifting them around if there are better matches with the rules. I wanted to use the coterie specializations from the 2nd printing of The Doom of Mymeara, but they didn't work for kill teams; so I just stole the name "coterie specializations" for the concept of anhrathe sub-factions.

[Brother Tyler]

As for the corsair jet packs, I'm starting to think that everyone should have access to them. Practically speaking, they are part of the signature appearance and employment of the anhrathe - it's difficult to imagine an eldar corsairs army [in 7th edition] that wasn't composed largely of models with corsair jet packs (along with some jumpy walkers and really fast vehicles). I know that it goes against the limitations of the official factions, but it's really a signature thing. The only way I can think to make it work would be to make it expensive, so the increase (to 12 points?) would probably be necessary.

The counter to this is that Summoning and Deep Strike are central to the identity and tactics of Chaos Daemons, but they don't get to use those [WH40K] rules in Kill Team.

 

As for the names of the coterie specializations, the army list for Crangor's Buccaneers in The Book of the Astronomican included lightning squads and thunder squads (both composed of eldar mercenaries); and the army list for the Eldritch Raiders in the same book included serpent squads and dragon squads. I wanted to incorporate those into the coterie specialization names. I also took the balestrike and blade sworn names from units in the 1st printing of The Doom of Mymeara. I'm certainly open to changing the names (including the descriptive names) of the specializations or shifting them around if there are better matches with the rules. I wanted to use the coterie specializations from the 2nd printing of The Doom of Mymeara, but they didn't work for kill teams; so I just stole the name "coterie specializations" for the concept of anhrathe sub-factions.

That's a nice nod to the original Eldar that appear to have inspired the Eldar Corsairs of Imperial Armour Volumne Eleven - The Doom of Mymeara. My primary concern is potential duplication of names, especially those that might already be used by the Eldar in some way. It looks like you've avoided duplicating any known Eldar Corsair groups (by design, I'm sure). Looking a bit more closely, the only one I can find that is the "Shadow Hunters" Coterie Specialization description. One of the ships of the Eldar fleet [in Battlefleet Gothic] is the Shadowhunter, a class of escort. Also, "Terror Walkers" sounds a bit weak. My suggestion is to change "Terror Walkers" to "Terror Stalkers" (sounds a bit more intimidating) and change "Shadow Hunters" to "Shadow Walkers" (works well with the power).

[FlyingScoots]

The counter to this is that Summoning and Deep Strike are central to the identity and tactics of Chaos Daemons, but they don't get to use those [WH40K] rules in Kill Team.

 

 Considering that GW have seemingly hand-picked models for certain factions (for example looking at the Craftworld Eldar and also at how limited Deathwatch is) to make them almost deliberately weaker, whilst also introducing either extreme flexibility for already popular factions (like vanilla Space Marines, or T'au having access to their battlesuits) or straight up extremely powerful factions (why are Custodes even here?!), all seemingly to skew the balance of things, I am pretty sure "but this might be going against GW's vision" is not a substantial argument, given that said "vision" is seemingly bankrupt of impartiality or even clarity for what they want to do. Of course, this bit is opinion.

 

What's a bit more objective is the fact that they're just lazy with their bloody rules. I mean Daemons have no subfaction benefit for going monogod, and it doesn't look like they'd bother update their rules with stuff from Elites or Commanders. So... should we really follow GW's choices to a T, especially since these are fan rules to begin with, so it's not like you're going to be playing in tournaments or your FLGS using these?

 

Either way, I wholeheartedly agree with Ioldanach. Corsairs should have relatively widespread access to jetpacks (sure, make it cost more, no problems with that), otherwise, why even bother. The very soul of them as an army was the fact that literally everything could have jetpacks or otherwise was a hover vehicle and you rode the wave of speed. Taking that away leaves them a hollow shell of their Craftworld cousins sans all the aspect warriors.

[Ioldanach]

I'm honestly pretty torn on this. With a typical battlefield (as defined in the Core Manual) being 30" x 22", having a whole army with 14" movement is a bit extreme - they can basically cross the battlefield in 2 turns. The only way I could see to give the corsair jet packs to everyone would be to change their rules a bit. It should be noted that The Doom of Mymeara didn't give models equipped with corsair jet packs additional movement except via the Thrust Move rule. I think that the Kill Team FLY keyword sufficiently duplicates the 7th edition Skyborne rule.

 

The rules that I created for the corsair jet pack were just a copy of the swooping hawk wings for the asuryani autarch. Swooping hawk wings did grant additional movement in 7th edition (18"). So perhaps the solution is to change the corsair jet pack rules.

 

The FLY keyword works well enough, so all we really need to do is change the movement. Thrust Move allowed for a 2d6" movement during the Assault phase (if the model wasn't locked in combat or charging). We could apply a modification of that rule, removing the randomness and reducing the distance.

 

The vanguard veterans are a good example, though, and there's no limit on them (aside from the normal points limit). Their jump packs only adjust their movement to 12" (though a normal adeptus astartes Movement score is 6" vice an aeldari Movement score of 7"). More importantly, although adeptus astartes jump packs effectively double their Movement rate, they only cost 6 points, making an increase for the corsair jet packs unlikely - actually, a decrease is more likely.

 

I think that the safer alternative is to duplicate the Thrust Move rule. It might look something like...

 

• This model may take a Corsair jet pack. If it does, it gains the FLY and JUMP PACK keywords.

Faolchu's Talon: Corsair Prince/Corsair Baron/Void Dreamer with Corsair jet pack only. During deployment, you can set up this model in the skies instead of placing it on the battlefield. At the end of any Movement phase, this model can descend - set it up anywhere on the battlefield that is more than 9" away from any enemy models.

 

(I'll probably move Ancient Doom, Dancing on the Blade's Edge, Reckless Abandon, and the rule below to a separate page, much the same way the Drukhari Power from Pain is codified on a page and all Drukhari entries point to it. The rule in the unit entry will state that it applies only to models equipped with Corsair jet packs, following phrasing similar to Faolchu's Talon above.)

 

(Cool rule name to be determined "Elusive Raiders?"): ANHRATHE with Corsair jet packs only. During the Assault phase, if this model is not within 1" of an enemy model and it did not make a Charge move, it may make a normal move as if it were the Movement phase.

 

 

 This almost duplicates the current rule (adjusting the model's Movement characteristic to 14"), but applies restrictions. It offers different tactical advantages, though, allowing the anhrathe to move, then shoot, then move again (presumably into cover, out of range, or to an otherwise more advantageous position) that the simple increase in movement [that an adeptus astartes jump pack provides]. This might be especially advantageous with special/heavy weapons. For now, I'll leave the cost at 10 points, though this might be adjusted based on playtesting/feedback.

[Brother Tyler]

When you consider the Fire and Fade tactic, the Anhrathe with Corsair Jet Packs are looking at the potential for up to 21" in movement for a turn. Granted, there are the limitations (more than 1" away from any enemy model, didn't charge, CPs), but that's still exceedingly powerful, especially in missions with objectives.

Perhaps a two-fold adjustment:

• Change the Fire and Fade rule wording so that it allows the model to make a normal move (don't specify the distance as this will vary depending upon how the model is equipped).
• Have the Corsair Jet Pack adjust the model's Movement characteristic to 9" (or somewhere in that area).

That might allow you to reduce the cost to 8 points. It still gives the Anhrathe an increased mobility from their Corsair Jet Packs, but keeps the overall distance they can move limited so that they aren't so powerful on the tabletop. With the Fire and Fade rule that's now a potential for 18" movement vice 21" - still a lot, but probably a lot more acceptable to opponents.

 

Keep in mind the effects of the FLY keyword - a benefit in and of itself.

The limitations (more than 1" away from an enemy, did not Charge) might be retained, but will require some word-smithing. I don't know that they're really necessary, though, unless you really want to try to duplicate as closely as possible the 7th edition version. If that's the case, instead of granting them a full 7" move, perhaps the model rolls 2d6 and chooses one die as the result for the distance they can move during the Assault phase?

[Ioldanach]

On the subject of the corsair jet packs, I think I’ve been going about it all wrong. The key is that it’s a corsair jet pack, not a jump pack. The double movement thing (adeptus astartes vanguard veterans and asuryani autarch) is the result of having a jump pack (the swooping hawk wings are treated as a jump pack, conferring the JUMP PACK keyword). Models that have the JET PACK keyword, meanwhile, only have slightly enhanced movement (+2” in the case of the t’au). If we treat the corsair jet packs in a similar manner, things look a lot more palatable.

 

Another consequence of this is that the cost for the corsair jet pack should decrease considerably.

 

In addition, the Faolchu’s Talon rule should probably be removed from the commander options.

 

Version 11:

 

File has been revised. See this post for current version.

 

Changes:

• The JUMP PACK keyword for the corsair jet pack was changed to JET PACK.
• Instead of increasing a model's Move from 7" to 14", the corsair jet pack only increases the model's Move to 9". Such models get the FLY and JET PACK keywords.
• The Faolchu’s Talon rule has been removed from the commanders.
• The Phantasm anhrathe tactic has been replaced with the Swift Raiders anhrathe tactic, which mirrors the t'au Stealth Fields tactic (see Elites). Note that the t'au JET PACK models have a Move of 8", so the tactic forces them to be deployed 1" further from enemy models than they can reach using a normal Move; so I've changed the distance to 10" for the anhrathe, preserving that 1" buffer.
• The cost of the Corsair jet pack for the corsair prince and corsair baron was reduced from 20 points to 10 points, and for the void dreamer it was reduced from 15 points to 7 points. Other corsair models pay 4 points for it. All of these costs are notional and will be adjusted based on playtest feedback.
• The "Terror Walkers" coterie specialization was changed to "Terror Stalkers" for the suggested reason. The "Shadow Hunters" coterie specialization was changed to "Shadow Walkers" for the suggested reason, and also because the phoenix lord Karandras (of the striking scorpions) is also called the "Shadow Hunter." That's too much duplication.
• The ghostwalkers were reverted to their v6 version, with the exceptions that they are now limited to 1 ghostwalker gunner and can no longer take special weapons (blaster, flamer, fusion gun, shredder). This keeps the ghostwalkers as shooty types, differentiating them from the other choices, especially the Malevolents who are stabby types.
• The corsair malevolent no longer has the option to take heavy mesh armor (it seemed counterintuitive that someone in the throes of a suicidal fury would seek better protection). The Shunned rule was added to the corsair malevolent, removing their ability to be specialists, join fire teams, and gain experience. Lastly, there is a limit of 1 corsair malevolent in a kill team.
• The keywords affected by the corsair malevolent's Curse of the Void rule were changed from "anhrathe, asuryani, drukhari, or harlequin" to "aeldari" in order to keep it simple.
• The units were shuffled around, putting the corsair reaver and voidstorm corsair (the basic units) on the same page and the ghostwalker and corsair malevolent (the elite units) on another page.
• A "back page" was added, providing some information on uniforms and what-not and re-introducing the color schemes for some corsair fleets (I borrowed most of the information on this page from the rules I made for Shadow War: Armageddon, but I removed my DIY Mourning Blades). That additional page makes 12 pages total, which works well to make the entire file a total package front and back (I doubt that anyone is going to print it in booklet format, but they can). I'll probably adjust page 12 - the current version is a placeholder.

As always, feedback is appreciated.

[Brother Tyler]

Changing the Corsair Jet Pack movement to 9" sounds reasonable.

 

Considering the difference in effect, you might have the cost of the Corsair Jet Packs too high. If Adeptus Astartes jump packs cost 6 points and give an additional 6" of movement, you could probably drop the Corsair Jet Packs to 3 points for mooks, 6 points for Void Dreamers, and 9 points for Corsair Princes/Barons. Some playtesting might be in order to validate things, especially since the Eldar Corsairs will usually have longer ranged weapons than the Vanguard Veterans.

 

I recall at one point there was discussion about the Ghostwalkers (before you removed them) where one of your goals was to allow for the older Eldar Ranger models and how some of them had shuriken pistols and swords. Have you considered allowing those this time around? You could make the shuriken pistol/spar-glaive the basic combination, then allow lasblasters/aeldari long rifles as options (potentially reducing the model cost by 1 point to offset the lasblaster cost).

 

I like the Swift Raiders tactic. Between that and Fire and Fade, the mobility of the Eldar Corsairs is captured fairly well.

[Ioldanach]

I'd forgotten about that. For anyone that needs to catch up, you can see a decent summary here.

 

In the absence of other official minis (aside from anyone lucky enough to have the FW conversion kits), I suppose making the rules fit the models would be appropriate.

 

In order to make the options match the minis, I think we're going to have to make the brace of pistols and the spar-glaive the basic weapons, resulting in a cost reduction by 1 point. Models can then add a lasblaster or aeldari long rifle (or a heavy weapon for the ghostwalker gunner).

[Brother Tyler]

Have you considered allowing a LEADER character for the Ghostwalkers? The swords on the models look like power swords. If you add a LEADER, that character might be able to take a Void Sabre. Other factions' elites unit additions usually have LEADERs (e.g., both the Striking Scorpions and Howling Banshees have their Exarchs).

 

On a side note, have you considered writing an Index Xenos article for the Eldar Corsairs? The color scheme art you use would work well, and it would be a decent way to give a homegrown (mini-?)codex.

[Ioldanach]

Have you considered allowing a LEADER character for the Ghostwalkers? The swords on the models look like power swords. If you add a LEADER, that character might be able to take a Void Sabre. Other factions' elites unit additions usually have LEADERs (e.g., both the Striking Scorpions and Howling Banshees have their Exarchs).

Ghostwalkers didn't have a leader type of character in TDoM.

 

On a side note, have you considered writing an Index Xenos article for the Eldar Corsairs? The color scheme art you use would work well, and it would be a decent way to give a homegrown (mini-?)codex.

I've definitely thought about doing that, but I haven't figured out the right voice. If I make it an Index Xenos, then it will have to be limited by what the Imperium knows. If I use a different voice, I might have different limitations. I've definitely focused my thoughts on this more on my DIY, with other corsair bands included as a sort of appendix. A lot of the images I made were in preparation for an Index Xenos type of article (or whatever it ends up being).

[Ioldanach]

Adjustments to the ghostwalkers:

• Up to 2 models may be ghostwalker gunners (in the 2nd printing of TDoM, a ghostwalker squad could be up to 10 models, and for every 5 models, 1 could take a special weapon).
• The base weapons/wargear are a lasblaster and plasma grenades.
• Any ghostwalker model may replace its lasblaster with an aeldari long rifle.
• Any ghostwalker model may take a spar-glaive.
• Any ghostwalker model may take a brace of pistols.
• The option for ghostwalker gunners to take the heavy weapons was removed and replaced with the special weapon (blaster, flamer, fusion gun, or shredder)(this aligns with the weapon optoins in the 2nd printing of TDoM).
• ghostwalker specialists can also take the Combat specialty (the shifting from heavy weapon shooty to special weapon shooty and stabby turn the ghostwalkers into snipers and stabbers).
• The cost for ghostwalkers/ghostwalker gunners remained at 11/12.

I haven't made any other changes yet, so I'm not posting an update.

 

I think that the major remaining questions are:

• Are the costs for corsair jet packs okay?
• Does the Swift Raiders anhrathe tactic work? (This tactic was basically copied from the t'au, so I don't expect it to be problematic.)
• And obviously, do the changes to the ghostwalkers (listed above) work? These represent a sort of throwback to a cross between versions 5 and 6 of these rules and are intended to allow players to use the various versions of eldar rangers while remaining true to how the ghostwalkers were presented in the 2nd printing of TDoM.

Anything is up for discussion, but I think those capture the main ones.

[Brother Tyler]

Out of curiosity, would Ghostwalkers without long rifles look like other Eldar Corsairs? I'm just wondering what models players would use. It sounds like anyone wanting a consistent look for their Ghostwalkers wouldn't be able to mix and match (lasblaster/special weapons/long rifles) without some sort of conversions. Granted, that's probably how it was for using them in 7th edition.