Craftworlds?

[Yarbicus]

Early in 8th, I bought a ton of Aeldari intendeing to build an Iyanden list.  Never went anywhere and now, in 9th, my son has decided he wants to build his own Death Guard army so I have been finally building my army.  Reading up online and, oh lawdy, are Iyanden really THAT bad?

So, what do I do?  My current "fix" is to just do a custom Craftworld to keep from totally sucking.  What other options?

[Lyraeus]

Just now, Yarbicus said:

Early in 8th, I bought a ton of Aeldari intendeing to build an Iyanden list.  Never went anywhere and now, in 9th, my son has decided he wants to build his own Death Guard army so I have been finally building my army.  Reading up online and, oh lawdy, are Iyanden really THAT bad?

So, what do I do?  My current "fix" is to just do a custom Craftworld to keep from totally sucking.  What other options?

I would just play what you find interesting now and build on that. Craftworld are in a sore spot as they have issues playing to what 40k is now mission wise and that is a lot of back and forth trading of units. 

 

Dont let that get you down. Based on what happened to the Drukhari for their release, there is a LOT of hope that Aeldari will get a huge boost and be back to annoying everyone with their shenanigan's! 

[PumpkinHead]

Death Guard being near the top makes it a rough match up for Aeldari right now. Who knows what will happen once all the armies get their books. 

Other options are to go harlequin heavy.

[Munkie]

Craftworlds have unfortunately been left behind. Like pre-9th Ed drukhari book, they are very much designed for 8th edition. They're best when taking multiple detachments, encouraged in 8th but discouraged in 9th.

Secondly, with the Primaris takeover, the game has changed. There is a pretty clear demarcation between 1 damage/1 wound units and those who offer more. They don't have the quantity of attacks to make up for the lack of quality. 

But most of all, 9th is an edition where objectives are nearly everything so taking them and holding them requires the trading of assets. The age-old concept of "making your points back" is alive and well. 9th is more like chess than 40k has ever been. You position units not expecting to win the game with them, but to tempt your opponent into losing the game in moving to take your pieces. If you keep trading up, you will likely eventually win.

Iyanden will make that tough on you. Their signature units are expensive. The good news! A battalion in 9th has 6 Elite slots for some reason, so you can take all the wraith[blanks] you want. I'd stay away from ghost axes and d-scythes though. Both are more expensive and less good than the other option.

Custom traits are absolutely the way to go. Expert Crafters is the best there is, and actually works well for Iyanden units. With low quantity and high quality attacks, it makes sure that quality is pushed all the way through.

Wave serpents with 5 constructs in each would be where I'd start and MSU everything else to get the most bang for your buck with Expert Crafters.

[Brother Glacius]

I'd say based on the praise that the Drukhari book has gotten in 9th compared to its power placement in 8th, I think you will just have to wait for the 9th ed version. It seems GW has learned that if you make everything in an army decent, then they sell more models. So I say play with what inspires you, and hopefully when the book comes out, you'll still have a decent army.

[Lyraeus]

1 hour ago, Brother Glacius said:

I'd say based on the praise that the Drukhari book has gotten in 9th compared to its power placement in 8th, I think you will just have to wait for the 9th ed version. It seems GW has learned that if you make everything in an army decent, then they sell more models. So I say play with what inspires you, and hopefully when the book comes out, you'll still have a decent army.

If Drukhari have not taught that lesson there may be no hope for GW