DE: We are finally One

We are together again.

One of the things that I enjoy the most right now is looking at all of the options in the Aeldari faction and studying them for use in my Dark Eldar army.  This shouldn't be completely new to anyone who's familiar with allies in the last couple of editions, but the big standout here is that you can no longer do completely broken things with them.  Certain transports can only transport in-faction, and psyker spells or character auras only affect specific or otherwise, in-faction units.  I think this is a great thing because while we are now one faction, it still offers this individuality that makes each sub-faction unique and flavorful, all the while not making things too broken.

Don't get me wrong, there are still a couple of combos in here that I find rather interesting.  Things like the Hemlock's Mindshock + Horrify + PGL can make for some crazy leadership bombs, all the while getting even crazier if it's Turn 5 and you're playing Dark Eldar main and Power from pain is in full effect.  I'm sure combos like this exist throughout all the factions in the book currently, but these are often stars-aligned scenarios where everything must be just perfect in order for something big to happen.  This is the extent of something on the cheeky side, as GW put in specific keywords and rules to prevent further shenanigans.  Hell, even Guide can only work on Eldar units while Shadowfields can no longer be re-rolled for any reason.  I can't even put my Trueborn with Blasters into Starweavers because those seats are taken by Masque units only.  On one hand, my competitive side is a bit upset, but on the other I see some wonderfully thought-out balance while keeping sub-faction flavors in full bloom.

I'll tell you one thing though:  I really think Dark Eldar will benefit the most from being Ynnari.  There's just way too many instances where Strength from Death and out of sequence movement, shooting and fighting is so strong.  Dark Eldar units are also perfect for dying, and killing things with lethal efficiency, so in actuality they're probably the best sub-faction of Aeldari (it's going to take a while for this word to stick) to capitalize on triggering these events.  Small fragile units tend to die hastily, so even a unit of Blasterborn dying out of anguish will trigger another squad nearby to annihilate something.  Even someone like the Solitaire will get plenty of action out of this because he can possibly attack multiple times a turn.  At this point, you can basically assume that most of my DE army lists will be Ynnari.  They just make sense for me for many reasons:  The first being that I think the Eldar faction has finally come together and accepted their fate, and I can also use it as my reasoning for including seemingly random Aeldari units in my primarily DE army.  The fact that I think their flavor bonus is much more flexible and powerful than Battle Focus, Power from Pain and Rising Crescendo is just icing on the cake.

I don't think I've been this excited to play 40K since Dark Eldar got their book in 5th.  My first game will be early next week, and I'm busting out the Ynnari.  I'll keep you guys posted.