The Ynnari in Kill Team

[Ioldanach]

I took a quick break from the <<<REDACTED>>> project to work on something that I couldn't push out of my mind - rules for using the ynnari in Kill Team.

These are still in progress, but the rules are essentially finished (barring changes made after review).

The process was very simple - the ynnari faction allows for models from both the asuryani and drukhari factions. I ignored the Harlequins because, though some Harlequins fight alongside the ynnari, they don't appear to have joined the ynnari. Similarly, I left the anhrathe (aeldari corsairs) out because we don't have any official rules for them, just homegrown versions. All of the models replaced their normal faction keyword with YNNARI. They then replaced their normal faction rules with Strength Through Death and Reclaim the Galaxy, both re-written from the WH40Kified version that appeared in White Dwarf and Phoenix Rising to a Kill Team version (e.g., replaced "unit" with "model").

Version 1 obsolete. See Version 2 here.

Areas of concern/notes are highlighted in yellow/red.

The reason I combined the Guardian Defender, Storm Guardian, and Kabalite Warrior into the single "Reborn" entry was to save space. One thing I'm going to change there is the Reborn Gunner > Heavy Weapon Platform thing. The asuryani faction can take a heavy weapon platform and two storm guardian gunners, so I don't see a need to limit the ynnari more than that. Also, I'm trying to figure out if there might be a characterful name for the basic squad leader types. The guardians (defender/storm) don't have such characters, but the kabalites have the sybarite. Since I incorporated that character into the reborn, I'd like to find a better name than "Leader" for it.

Combining the Autarch and Archon into the "Ynnarch" was also done to save space. For the most part, the model is still limited to represent either of the originals, though some funny things can be done with regard to the armor and shield (forceshield/shadowfield). As for the "ynnarch" name, I followed the precedent of the ~arch titling for aeldari leaders (autarch, exarch, felarch) and simply combined it with the "ynn" prefix that this sub-faction uses (Ynnead, ynnari, yncarne). I had originally used "soulbound" until I saw that name used for the host that the Visarch leads.

Where the asuryani often use WARHOST as a keyword, I replaced that with either BLADEHOST or SOULBOUND VANGUARD to represent the hosts led by Yvraine and the Visarch, respectively. I lumped the dire avengers, wyches, and incubi into the soulbound vanguard based on the 7th edition detachment featuring those units, and the others were given the bladehost keyword. Frankly, I don't know if these keywords are even necessary, and it seems likely to me that Yvraine's Bladehost includes dire avengers, wyches, and incubi (and the converse for the Visarch's Soulbound Vanguard); so I'm considering removing those keywords. I left the wraithguard, wraithblade, and spiritseer with the SPIRIT HOST keyword due to the spiritseer's tactic.

* For the Revenant psyker powers, I looked through and identified a power that I thought would be unique to each of the different psykers. Each then has one psyker power that it shares with one of the other psykers. Each of the powers was re-worded for Kill Team (i.e., replaced "unit" with "model"). I'm pretty sure that the warp charge points need to be changed.

Aside from that, there's nothing really fancy in these rules. Now I'm just working on the hard stuff - the lore for the introduction (I don't want to plagiarize GW's work ), and the background/mission/squad quirk/specialists' demeanors tables (I point to the other faction tables for names).

Any input you may provide will be appreciated.

And now that I got that off my chest, I need to get back to work on the <<<REDACTED>>> project.

Edited February 18, 2020 by Ioldanach

[Brother Tyler]

The Ordo Xenos may want to have a word with you.  

 

With regard to the elements in red, I would follow the precedent of the WH40K rules. Beyond that, it looks like a fairly intuitive rendition and execution. The combination of the Guardians/Kabalites into a single unit and the combination of the Autarch/Archon into a single unit were an interesting choice. The Reborn look fairly simple to me - I doubt that anyone will have any problems there. The Ynnarch, on the other hand, is a bit more complicated since the original characters have different stat lines. Since the Commanders expansion isn't widely used, though, I doubt it will really be problematic. The "Ynnarch" name makes sense, and I can't think of anything better, so you might as well go with it (until someone smarter than me has a good suggestion ).

 

You might want to double check the choices to which you've given the Reclaim the Galaxy rule. The WH40K rules only allow Troops choices to have this rule. From that, I would only give it to the choices that came from the Kill Team Core Manual or which are Troops choices in WH40K.

 

I don't see the BLADEHOST or SOULDBOUND VANGUARD keywords providing any value. And as you said, it's likely that each of those sub-factions comprises members representing the entire range of the Ynnari. I'd just drop those keywords.

 

Have you considered using "Soulbound" for the Reborn <Leader>?

 

There is inconsistent use of the "Strength From/Through Death" throughout the rules. The Index Xenos article rules used "Strength from Death" so I recommend using that. Note the variation on capitalization in those rules. The rule header is "Strength From Death" (all capitalized) while the abilities in the units is "Strength from Death" ("from" isn't capitalized).

[Ioldanach]

Thanks for the feedback. Here's the latest version, incorporating a number of changes.

• I filled out the introduction page, taking elements from the Index Xenos article, The Fracture of Biel-Tan, and Codex: Craftworlds. I rearranged/re-worded things, but it's pretty much what we've already seen in those three publications.
• I also filled out the background/mission/squad quirk/specialists' demeanors charts. I cheesed out and reduced the first three to six choices (D6). All I did was find results from the asuryani, drukhari, and harlequin charts. The Ynnari names piece simply directs players to refer to the other factions' charts.
• I standardized "Strength from Death" and rearranged the two powers (Reclaim the Galaxy being the other) alphabetically on page 3.
• "Soulbound" works for the Reborn <Leader> (unless/until we find or are given something better).
• I removed Ancient Doom from any models that don't have that rule in their parent faction (i.e., the drukhari models).
• I removed Reclaim the Galaxy from any models that don't appear in the Kill Team Core Manual.
• The wraithblade and wraithguard retained Strength through Death since it appears they benefit from it in WH40K.
• I filled out the weapon and points charts. This forced a re-structuring as it added a page.
• I need to go through and standardize "Agonizer" (American English vice the "Agoniser" of the Queen's English ).
• With regard to the psyker powers, I think that the conversion from WH40K to KT ("units" changed to "models") works. In addition, the pattern for Aeldari psyker powers has been that their warp charge cost is reduced by 1 from the WH40K version (with one exception). I've implemented that here.

Page 3 (Ynnari Kill Teams, Ynnari Tactics)

Page 4 (Reborn, Ranger)

Page 5 (Dire Avenger, Wych)

Page 6 (Howling Banshee, Incubus, Striking Scorpion)

Page 7 (Wraithblade, Wraithguard)

Page 8 (Ranged Weapons rules, Model points, Other Wargear points)

Page 9 (Melee Weapons rules, Ranged Weapons points, Melee Weapons points)

Page 10 (Ynnarch)

Page 11 (Succubus)

Page 12 (Farseer)

Page 13 (Warlock)

Page 14 (Spiritseer)

Since most of this is just lifted from official factions and given a slightly different skin, there are only a few issues remaining (assuming my logic is sound).

• Is the Reborn balanced? Compare to Guardian Defenders, Storm Guardians, and Kabalite Warriors.
• Is the Ynnarch balanced? Compare to Autarch and Archon.
• Do any of the psyker powers need to be evaluated in terms of their warp cost? Do the power assignments work for the various psykers in terms of representing their lore and distinguishing them from each other?
• Are there any other issues I'm overlooking? Does my logic fail anywhere?

Again, thanks in advanced for your feedback.

[Brother Navaer Solaq]

feedback:

 

I don't play much 40k so I am not certain about this "Strength from Death" rule.

"Strength from Death" - couldn't you make it simple and say all models in kill team get a +1 to hit in shooting or fight phase after one model is taken out of action. If you remove the heavy weapon platform then it would prevent abuse of people sending off sacrifical guardians so that the heavy weapon can be buff by comms and faction ability.

[Brother Tyler]

feedback:

 

I don't play much 40k so I am not certain about this "Strength from Death" rule.

"Strength from Death" - couldn't you make it simple and say all models in kill team get a +1 to hit in shooting or fight phase after one model is taken out of action. If you remove the heavy weapon platform then it would prevent abuse of people sending off sacrifical guardians so that the heavy weapon can be buff by comms and faction ability.

The Strength from Death rule, as written, is virtually identical to its WH40K counterpart. One change is from "unit" to "model" in order to adjust for the scale of the game. This matches the changes made to various other rules - Asuryani examples being Ancient Doom, Battle Focus, and the psyker powers. In that, Strength from Death is the Ynnari replacement for the Asuryani Battle Focus. Another difference, and this one is questionable in my mind, is that the WH40K rule as written in Psychic Awakening: Phoenix Rising (the most current version of the Ynnari rules) applies "When a unit is destroyed..." whereas the version that Ioldanach has written for Kill Team applies "When a friendly unit is destroyed..." There are some other changes, too, from the current WH40K rule. I'm not sure if this is a deliberate change, perhaps intended to limit the applicability for perceived balance, or if it is based on the original Gathering Storm: Fracture of Biel-Tan version (my copy is on the shelf somewhere). Or if it is just an accident.

 

Ultimately, the default should be to follow whatever precedent GW has established in translating other factions' rules from WH40K to Kill Team. The presumption of balance is implied by GW's usage.

 

As far as sacrificial guardians go, an Ynnari kill team that deliberately sacrifices models in this way will soon find itself outgunned.

[Ioldanach]

I'm not sure how I screwed that up. 

 

Re-wording from Phoenix Rising, it should look like:

 

When a unit model is destroyed, units models from your army with this ability draw strength from death until the end of the turn.

 

If a unit model is drawing strength from death, that unit model fights first in the Fight phase, even if it did not charge. If the enemy has units models that have charged, or that have an ability that allows them to fight first in the Fight phase, then alternate choosing units models to fight with, starting with the player whose turn is taking place.

 

When resolving an attack made with a melee weapon by a model that is drawing strength from death, and that made a charge move this turn or has another ability that allows it to fight first in the Fight phase, add 1 to the hit roll.

 

[Brother Tyler]

Should you replace "destroyed" with "killed" in the first line?

[Ioldanach]

Should you replace "destroyed" with "killed" in the first line?

I think so. I'll go through the rulebook and check their verbiage, ensuring it matches. Thanks for pointing that out.

[Ioldanach]

I'm pretty sure that these rules are final-ish, meaning that the basic method of copying appropriate units from the other aeldari factions and replacing their faction rules with the ynnari faction rules is safe. The only risky things I've done, as far as I can tell, is the combined basic reborn (kabalite warrior, storm guardian, guardian defender), the combined ynnarch commander (autarch, archon), and the assignment of the psyker powers. If anyone finds areas that need to be changed, I'm open to changing them.

 

In the meantime, I've made these rules available as a final version for download here.

[Brother Tyler]

That's a nice use of your Eldar Corsair painter. 

[Ioldanach]

Thanks. I wanted some images to spruce things up a bit. Eventually, I plan on expanding this to be a sixteen page booklet. I need to paint some minis up first, though. Alternately, I need to find some nicely painted ynarri minis that can be featured. The expanded version will include a front and back cover, both showing some painted miniatures. The content won't change unless I get some compelling feedback.