The over-sized weapons of the Wraithguard allow each of them to focus a portion of their psychic power upon a fixed target. The arcane beams of these weapons open a localised rift between Warpspace and the material universe for a fraction of a second. Though every Asuryani craftworld will at some point be forced to call upon the souls of their fallen heroes to fight once again, one of the craftworlds particularly noted for using large numbers of Ghost Warriors and necromantic Spiritseers is Iyanden. Many of the Asuryani wear highly polished Waystones upon their chests. At the precise moment an Asuryani dies, the wearer's soul becomes captured within this stone -- which is then known as a Spirit Stone. To add to this boxed set, we’re going to add a few extra units that’ll give the army a bit more play (especially onto Space Marines).

Exarch powers are now the Asuryani’s paid upgrade option, with three choices for each Exarch shrine that you can buy for points. Same deal as always with these – each unit can only have one, each one can only be included in your army once, and an extra rider here that you can only ever upgrade one Crimson Hunter to be an Exarch, because they are very much on the naughty list after what they did in 8th Edition.I probably wouldn’t lay any money on seeing Wraithlords jump up to the top tables this coming season, but I don’t think I’d bet against it, either- they have a lot of things going for them and it’s very possible that we’ll see some sort of shift in the meta or breakthrough list that will push them into the spotlight. They’re definitely one of the many units in the Craftworlds codex that you should keep an eye on, because it’s very possible that they will make their presence known in a big way at some point in the future- and maybe you’ll even use them in a list of your own. Let’s take a hypothetical Dreadnought versus Wraithlord comparison. As I said, they cost about the same overall and are armed with similar weapons- two Bright Lances vs Fist + Twin Lascannon is an obvious comparison, but there are plenty of other loadouts that work out to be pretty similar as well, so I think the juxtaposition is very apt. Now, right out of the gates, the Wraithlord has one higher toughness- that makes it not only resistant to small arms (which, having only a 3+ save on both models, is a nontrivial factor) but also to Autocannons, Plasma weapons, Missile Launchers, and many others. However, let’s set that aside and look at the issue of the degrading profile itself. From the stoic ranks of the Wraithguard to the towering war machines known as Wraithknights, the formidable Ghost Warriors are only used in times of desperation -- for there is a greater darkness about them. They are a walking reminder that, for the Craftworld Aeldari, death offers no release from war and bloodletting. The Gate creates a little bubble around it Asuryani wear the Spirit Stones because they believe that if their souls make it into the Infinity Circuit then they will be safe in death from the hunger of Slaanesh. It is therefore considered a great sin to draw these spirits from out of their ever-lasting sanctuary into the real world once again, where there remains a risk of their Spirit Stones being shattered in war and their souls forever lost to She Who Thirsts.

A Wraithlord, also called an Iron Knight, Wraith-giant and by the Imperium an Eldar Dreadnought, is a Craftworld Aeldari robotic combat walker known as a Ghost Warrior that contains no living pilot; rather, it is merely a robotic shell, a repository of the animating soul of a dead Asuryani hero. Wraithlords are graceful but mighty giants that dwarf their smaller Wraithguard Ghost Warrior cousins. Wraithlords are lithe but mighty nobles that dwarf even their Wraithguard cousins. These statuesque robotic constructs are extremely precious to their craftworlds and, due to their wraithbone construction, have a supernatural toughness that surpasses even that of adamantium. They deploy a combination of powerful psykers who read the skeins of fate to predict the outcome of combat, soldiers who have walked martial paths that grant them skills beyond human ken, hardy walking constructs piloted by the souls of long-dead warriors, and lightning-fast anti-gravity bikes and tanks. The name Skathach is possibly a reference to Scáthach, a legendary Scottish warrior-woman who trained the hero Cú Chulainn.Drop. Pod. Falcons. That’s the big news here – the Falcon Grav Tank is no longer an anonymous middle of the road tank that’s sometimes good when it’s undercosted. Oh no. Now it’s a drop pod, with all that entails – it can deep strike turn one, and disembark what’s inside it when it does. Given that one with its pulse laser (a cool two shots at S9 AP-3 Dd3+3) and two shuriken cannons only runs 150pts, that seems extremely good, and if Fire Dragons or Reapers get there, this is probably how. Just bringing in six Dire Avengers to RND while shooting is really potent too. You, a fool: “Games Workshop makes new kits overpowered just to sell them.” Me, an intellectual: “This new Codex unleashes the true power of 1997 design classics the Falcon Grav Tank and the Vyper” (and, as an incidental point, Blood of the Phoenix looks like a hell of a box a mere 18 months later – if only we’d known). It’s been a while since I painted Biel Tan minis (what with last year mostly being a year of skeletons) but happily the last one I put together is one of my very favourites, and shows off my current technique nicely. Autarch. Credit: Wings Autarch. Credit: Wings The Asuryani soul drawn from the Infinity Circuit resides within the wraithbone construct until such time as its power begins to fade and it can no longer function or it is destroyed, the spirit within tragically lost to the Warp and the hunger of Slaanesh. Hail of Doom – automatic wounds on 6s to hit with Shurikens, which count as 6s to wound as well (so trigger extra Shuriken AP).