The many forms of Wraithlord

Wraithlords are the embodiment of fallen heroes; Exarches, Autarches, Witches, etc of the pass returned to fight for their craftworld again. Each Wraithlord is tailored for that heroes preferred method of fighting.

In total there are 78 different weapon combinations for Wraithlords and over 500 different ways of mounting the weapons, add in conversions and the possiblities are endless.

With so many combinations it can be hard to decide what kind of Wraithlord to make let alone how to model it to capture the style of it's hero's soul.

One way to do it is to select a path to follow and build around that path.

Some of the paths to consider are:

Dire Avenger: Dual: Shuriken Weaponry.

Howling Banshee: Close Combat: Anti-Heavy Infantry and template "screams".

Fire Dragon: Ranged: Heat Weapons and anti-Armour.

Striking Scorpion: Close Combat: Anti-Swarm.

Dark Reaper: Ranged: Missiles and Anti-Heavy Infantry.

Swooping Hawk: Ranged: Lasers and Templates.

Warp Spider: Ranged: Anti-Swarm.

Shining Spear: Dual: Brightlances,Shuriken Weaponry, Wraithswords.

Ranger: Ranged: Single Shot Lasers.

Witch: Dual: Templates and Wraithswords.

Pilot: Ranged: Dual Purpose Combinations.

Autarch: All of the above and any missed.

The Future Avatar of Khaine: my thoughts and Triskele Conversion

Once again I'm talking about ways to improve the Avatar... well not so much as improve, more like balancing him with simular creatures i.e. Greater Daemons

As I mentioned before the no brainer is to replace "Molten Body" with "Eternal Warrior"

however I've been doing some math (shock horror!) and I still don't like the odds against simular daemons in close combat.

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*Numbers Alert*

Chance winning a round of close combat:

Bloodthirster > Avatar by 48%

Keeper of Secrets > Avatar by 14%

Lord of Change < Avatar by 5%

Great Unclean One < Avatar by 12%
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that's without factoring who is assaulting, iniative, wounds or abilities

though being beaten narrowly by a Slaanesh greater daemon makes sense (though if the other factors were included the odds quickly stack against the Avatar) being owned by the Bloodthirster by such a margin does not.

so after doing several pages of math I have come up with the following changes to the Avatar:

Stats change: +1A

Additional Rules: "Always hits on a 3+", "Counterattack"

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*Numbers Alert*

Chance winning a round of close combat:

Bloodthirster > Avatar by 25%

Keeper of Secrets < Avatar by 2%

Lord of Change < Avatar by 16%

Great Unclean One < Avatar by 28%
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that's without factoring who is assaulting, iniative, wounds or other abilities


Conclusion

By doing these changes the Avatar; whilst still the under dog will have a fighting chance against the bloodthirster, be roughly on par (if a little under due to iniative) with the Keeper of Secrets and have the edge over non-warrior greater daemons.

This would also provide more entertainment as the winner will not be so clearly defined before the battle begins.


Additional Notes

For thoses who are curious about my math I used this simple group of equations

%Wounds/Attack = 100(Chance of Hit x Chance of Wound x Chance of Armour Fail)

%Wounds/Round = Number of Attacks x %Wounds/Attack

%Win Margin = Attacker 1 (%Wounds/Round) - Attacker 2 (%Wounds/Round)





Banshee Triskele

I'm currently working on another tutorial, this time for the Triskele. I'll post it when it's done however in the meantime to see my progress so far follow this link:

Custodes Eternal: Banshee Triskele Tutorial

The Future Eldar Codex: My Thoughts Pt 3

Once again I'm thinking... I wonder what qualifications I need to get a job at the big GW?

I've also been thinking Eldar again

more importantly the Avatar

One rule I would drop right of the hammer is the immunity to heat weapons, This isn't warhammer fantasy we don't normally factor in elements with our weapons so this rule should be scrapped.

Instead they should give the Avatar "Eternal Warrior" to be on par with other daemons.

Speaking of daemons I was a little insulted when I read through the greater daemon list and saw that the bloodthirster has a WS of 10 I mean sheesh if I didn't know better I'd say there is a lack of communication between the fluff writers and the rule writers

each greater daemon has it's own aspect of war:

Bloodthirster: Slaughter; large number of high strength attacks.

Keeper of Secrets: Temptation and pain; makes the opponent drop their guard then puts them in a world of hurt.

The Unclean One: Disease and endurance; weaken the opponent whilst taking every hit.

Lord of Change: Magic; Ranged combat, psychic powers,

and

Avatar of Khaine: War Mastery; Skillful strikes and parries, inspiring commander

The bloodthirster has encroached on the Khaine's territory so that is something that needs to be fixed

perhaps always hits on a 3+ can only be hit on a 5+ in close combat regardless of weapon skill? that way Khaine will still keep his war mastery.

Because of his WS this boost is a minor thing and thus combined with Eternal Warrior easily makes up for the loss of his immunity to heat weapons.