Typically I leave the rumors to Bell of Lost Souls and Warseer. This time though I been made privy to some great news from a reliable source (at least he thinks he is reliable hehe) concerning the Dark Eldar. These rumors are a mix of new, along with greater clarity of old. So without further ado here is what I gots…
Three new skimmers
Vyper/Razorback hybrid transport with many weapon options.
“Fighter” designed to take out other skimmers.
“Bomber” designed for well bombing…
Mandrakes are in and have scout (duh)
Melta & Lance weapon confirmed str 6 12″ range.
Talos is in, specialized in killing Walkers.
Combat drugs are in and are “streamlined”
Army wide ability which is a cross between Red Thirst and Epidemius tally power (revolves around casualties inflicted)
No vehicle will have an AV higher than 11 (keeping with past editions)
Dark Eldar are a designed as an Alpha Strike army. If you can survive the first turn you will have a good shot of beating them.
Expect a Sept-Nov release. So put away your Nemesis Force Weapons they are not coming till Jan 2011 at the earliest.
As a reminder my site has never done these kinds of rumors before so take that as a warning. As well GW does change it’s mind on a whim. If this information does pans out expect more otherwise I will return to my regularly schedule douchery.
I haven't seen anyone outright shooting down these rumors so they look good so far. One thing that strikes me as odd is the S6 Melta Lance Weapon with a range of 12". That seems REAL situational. On average it will penetrate anything you shoot at - 6 + 2d6 (average of 13) vs. Armour 12 - but that is only at 6" (given that the melta range works at half distance.) To me the Dark Eldar are not a close range shooting army - they are a long range shooting army and a close range assault army. I hope this isn't a Heavy weapon - that just wouldn't fit in very well. If it is an assault weapon it will be one of the more powerful close range anti-tank guns in all of Warhammer 40k. This could definitely fit in nicely with an assault squad.
Something else that doesn't fit very well is the idea of building an entire army book around the Alpha Strike - this is just too easy to counter. Your opponent just has to hold everything in reserve and it really messes up your ability to use this tactic effectively. One rumor that I have seen floating around is that you can reserve your entire Dark Eldar force and have them all show up on the same turn using one reserve roll - this would help the army more consistently be able to use the Alpha Strike strategy.
Anyone else see anything interesting the rumors above? Any other juicy rumors floating around out there? Let us know in the comments.