Some flavor of Eldar coming next Sat.

[me_in_japan]

I think the thing is that GW don't make rules to police player behaviour. They make em for somewhat nebulous "story-telling" reasons, so far as I can tell. This is particularly true of formations and suchlike. Oh, and also to sell stuff. You'll note that all of the core groups in that guardian formation require large amounts (3+ units) of specific types of guardians - units that most Eldar players will have one or two of, but rarely 3. Oh look - let's buy one or two more and now I can use this new formation thingumyjig...

As for Wraith/D-cannons etc being Destroyer weapons, I actually don't see the problem, altho that's probly because I've never played against a Destroyer weapon Fluff wise it fits (even a wraithcannon opens a frickin warp portal inside whatever it hits. That's gonna leave a mark, even if you're a titan) and iirc old school D-cannon had a pretty much auto-wound rule. For what it's worth, I have 15 wraith-things. 10 of them are old school metal models, and as such have d-cannon because at the time that's all they could get. 5 are the newer plastics, who all have swords, which I am quite happy about cos it looks cool. I also have a wraithlord (no gun at all) and a wraithseer, who has the D-cannon that he comes with (although the splendidly-written FW rules list it as a Wraithcannon, despite pointing it as a D-cannon. Anyway, I never use the bugger so it's all academic anyhoo. )

[Primarch]

@M_i_J - You know the guns your Titan has? Your wraithguard now have the same gun (less range and template). I'll leave it to you to look up the rule when you get back from your trip, but suffice to say, it is a significant upgrade in firepower on a unit that was already very, very good at killing anything that was in range.

[me_in_japan]

I can see that they've gotten a boost, fair enough, but iiirc (and I'm genuinely not sure) didn't they used to, basically, auto-kill anything they shot? (I'm talking a few years ago here, not the "current" rules.) they seem to have gone from "will killerate anything they shoot" to "will really really killerate anything they shoot"

Personally, I see the "give all your jetbikes scatter lasers" as being a far larger issue, but I do appreciate that squads of D-weapons wandering around could give one the heebie jeebies, if one was on the other side of the table.

[Primarch]

I think it's the fact that ONE Wraithguard can now potentially kill a Baneblade/Wraithknight/Abaddon/Titan with one shot that makes them scary.

The scatter lasers everywhere thing... I doubt anyone will go to the effort/cost of buying that many new bikes to do it. But yes, giving a highly mobile unit of troops that kind of firepower seems dumb.

[Primarch]

For those unsure of the changes:

Wraithguard Weapons Vs. Infantry:
Before:
S4 AP2. To wound rolls of 6 cause instant death. (But can be prevented by Eternal Warrior)
After:
Roll 1d6.
1 = No wounds.
2-5 = D3 wounds. No armour saves. Counts as S10 for instant death. (The wounds aren't stopped by EW)
6= D6+6 wounds. No saves of any kind. Counts as S10 for instant death. (The wounds aren't stopped by EW)

Wraithguard Weapons Vs Vehicles:
Before:
S4 AP2. Penetration rolls of a 6 cause an automatic penetrating hit.
After:
Roll 1d6. (No penetration roll necessary)
1 = No damage.
2-5 = D3 Hull points gone.
6= D6+6 Hull points gone. No saves of any kind.

A small increase in firepower.

[Lovejoy]

Holy hell! All that seems a bit good.

[Admiral-Badruck]

How I hate Eldar.

[Primarch]

How I hate Eldar.

And now you even have a reason.

Of course, without seeing points values, it's hard to make a fair appraisal, but I'm not looking forward to facing them.

[me_in_japan]

bear in mind though that the version of the D-cannon/wraithcannon rules that Prim is referring too was a serious nerf. Previous to that they were S10 AP2, on a Instant death on a 6.

not saying they aint broke as hell in the new version (assuming rumours are true) just saying that its more a return to form than a massive upheaval of the natural order.

Still think the scatter laser thing will have a bigger effect in most games. The wraithcannon change will kill land raiders, titans etc better, but how often do you see those? the scatter lasers, otoh, will be pumping out R36 4 x S6 shots per jetbike, and those things can come in units of 10. And hey, theyre scoring troops n stuff. 40 S6 shots per turn per unit is not to be sniffed at.

[Primarch]

Right now, I don't know anyone who has 10 bikes with scatter lasers, but I do know a few Eldar players who have 10 Wraithguards or a Wraithknight.
One crisis at a time.