It's time for a double whammy of Warhammer 40,000 Conquest from Fantasy Flight Games this week and with the coming of more Dark Eldar from Games Workshop it made sense to add them in alongside their Eldar kin!

Dark Eldar

In this preview, we will be taking a look at the sadistic ways of the Dark Eldar and their core set warlord, Packmaster Kith!

This week’s teasing card fan, we get to see a bit of what the Dark Eldar are all about.

Within the fan we get a clear image of the Incubus Warrior. A two cost army unit with 3 attack and 1 hit point that is a cheap heavy hitter, but susceptible to easy destruction with low HP. Next is the attachment card, Suffering. This card attaches to an enemy army unit causing its total attack value to decrease by two points, giving you a foretaste of the soft control that the Dark Eldar will carry into battle. The remaining cards are mostly covered but we do get a small hint of the ranged unit, Sybarite Marksman.

At the forefront of your Dark Eldar deck will be the warlord, Packmaster Kith!

Packmmaster Kith has your standard 7/7 resource setup with an attack value of 2 and hit points at 6 making her deal moderate damage on her own while being rather weak in the hit point department. Her warlord ability is a reaction that puts a Khymera Token into play at the planet that she is committed to. This ability will allow you to create free units to terrorize your opponents with.
The main army units in Packmaster Kith’s signature squad are the Kith’s Khymera Masters.

Kith’s Khymera Masters are a two cost unit with one attack value and two hit points with the ability to create a Khymera token at the planet that the unit is deployed to. This ability coupled with Packmaster Kith will allow you to flood the board with free token units to overwhelm your opponents.

Next up in the signature squad is the support card Khymera Den. Khymera Den is a one cost support card with the ability to move any number of Khymera tokens you control to a target planet as an action. This allows you to move you Khymera tokens to where they are needed most or to save them from a deadly AoE attack that may cripple your plans.

The event card in the signature squad is Pact of the Haemonculi. Pact of the Haemonculi is a two cost deployment phase action that allows you to sacrifice a unit to discard one card at fandom from your opponent’s hand. Then, Draw two cards. This card, in my opinion, is the best card out of the signature squad. Card draw is very important in most card games and any ability that allows you to do so should be coveted but this card actually one up’s that with discarding a card from your opponent to possibly pull an important card that he/she may have been holding onto.

The final card in Packmaster Kith’s signature squad is the Agonizer of Bren. This attachment card gives the army unit it is attached to +1 attack for each Khymera token you control. This card in combination with a heavy token presence can make any unit’s attack value reach dizzying heights.

Overall, the Dark Eldar with Packmaster Kith at the helm look to be a swarm deck that will flood the planets with token units and cheap, high damage, low hit point units to destroy your foes. Time will tell how potent this deck will be but it has potential for devastating damage output.

Eldar

In classic form, Fantasy Flight Games has released a card fan with just a taste of what the Eldar can bring to the table.

In the Eldar card fan, you do not get nearly as much exposed cards as some of the other factions that have been previewed but you do get a full view of one of the most powerful cards spoiled to date in Doom. Doom is a 4 cost event that allows you to destroy all non-unique units in each player’s HQ during the deployment phase. This is a wildly powerful card and can reset the game state if you are falling behind or level the playing field if you just experienced significant losses at a planetary combat. I expect this card to be a mainstay in nearly all Eldar decks and probably allied decks as well.

Of course, the lynchpin of the core set Eldar faction, and this preview for that matter is Eldorath Starbane.

Eldorath Starbane comes with your typical 7/7 resource and card draw setup with 1 attack and 7 hit points. Eldorath Starbane’s warlord ability is a reaction that allows you to choose a non-warlord unit at a planet that he commits to and exhaust that unit. This is quite possibly the most powerful of the previewed warlord abilities yet. With the ability exhaust units, you are giving yourself control of the battle field as well as control over command struggles by exhausting the units with the most command icons.

Starbane’s Council is the premier unit in Eldorath Starbane’s signature squad. A 3 cost army unit with 3 attack and 3 hit points it already packs a punch and has moderate survivability but its ability really brings it to the next level. Starbane’s Council has the static ability to gain 2 attack when attacking an exhausted unit. This in conjunction with Eldorath Starbane’s warlord ability will give this unit 5 attack to a unit of your choice. This is a very powerful ability that makes a good unit a great unit.

Next is Alaitoc Shrine. Alaitoc Shrine is a support location at 1 cost that allows you to ready an Eldar unit that has just moved to a planet after exhausting the support. This is very powerful within the signature squad because it allows your Starbane’s Council to travel with your warlord from your HQ and be ready for battle within the first combat round but is not exclusive to just Starbane’s Council. This ability will work on any Eldar unit giving you flexibility in the combat phase to destroy your opponents.

The event card within Eldorath Starbane’s signature squad is Foresight. Foresight is a 1 cost event that allows you to commit your warlord to a different planet after committing it to the initial command phase planet. This is an important card and very powerful because it allows you to double trigger the ability on your warlord. This gives you even more flexibility in the command phase to shut down your opponents’ resource acquisition from planets in the command phase while committing your warlord to a more important combat planet in the planet lineup.

The final card in the signature squad of Eldorath Starbane is Mobility. This attachment gives an army unit the mobile keyword. Mobile allows you to move the unit with mobile to an adjacent planet in the beginning of the combat phase. This is a very important keyword because it allows you to bluff your opponents by deploying units to different planets to have them win a command struggle at a planet and use its mobile keyword to participate in a key battle.

Eldorath Starbane and his signature squad are all about flexibility and controlling your opponents units into more favorable positions for you to succeed in your plans. With exhaust effects and mobility, you will be looking to create the most advantageous situations at all planets with the ability to change your commitments on the fly with Mobility and control. I can see the Eldar being a very powerful faction for the foreseeable future.