Codex: Exodites

[Ambience 327]

It's been about seven months since I originally posted my Eldar Exodite codex here for feedback. I have done some more work on it, revising some things as suggested and adding in the special characters I had planned to do. At this point, the codex is basically done - it just needs a modelling/painting section (which I will add when I get around to modelling and painting my Exodites!) and for the Table of Contents to be completed with page numbers. Of course, it also needs a bit more playtesting to be sure it is well and truly done!

My primary goal in the creation of this Codex was to create something fresh and new. Rather than just "Eldar who ride dinosaurs" (as a lot of the Exodite lists I see usually are), or "Wood Elves in Space" (as my earlier attempts turned out to be), I have endeavored to give the Exodites a distinctive culture and playstyle that will make them both fun and challenging to play with or against. I believe that I have met that goal. Wheras Craftworld Eldar use their elite specialist units and high mobility to out-maneuver their opponents, my Exodites rely on heavy cavalry charges, backed up by small hordes of not-quite-reliable beasts and a smattering of monstrous creatures thrown in for good measure.

There are two options for downloading the codex. You can get it from either Scribd.com or Box.com


EDIT - New version uploaded 04/16/2012. Click the above link to see the latest version.

[Ambience 327]

No comments? I know the list isn't perfect yet! In fact, I've revised several things based on feedback from another site, so I thought I'd update here to let anyone interested know...

Below is a summary of the changes in this version:

- Removed Stealth from the Jungle Born special rule - it was just too much
- Reworded the Blade of Vaul's special rule to be more clear as to what happens
- The Dragon King and Dragon Prince have had their points costs increased slightly
- All of the Artifacts of Vaul have had their points costs increased
- Dyann Al'Athar has had his points cost increased by +25
- Lir'Kurom Furte has had his points cost increased by +40
- War Walker Kindreds are now 0-1 choices

[Ambience 327]

Further updates (the new version of the Codex is available at the link in the first post):

-Added the rules for the Herdwarden's Drake Arrows, which had been left out by accident.

-Added Swarm Arrows to the Herdwarden's arsenal.

-Added the "Way of the Hunter" special rule for Herdwardens to make the Dragonwarders more attractive, and to give the Exodites one more ranged anti-tank option without making the other Dragonwarders' shooting less effective.

-Fixed the Megadon's Army List Entry, replacing "Furious Charge" with the intended "Thunderous Charge"


Basically, the Dragonwarders just weren't a very exciting option, and now they have a few more choices to allow them to be a bit more versatile and a more useful unit overall.

[Ambience 327]

Another round of updates (the new version of the Codex is available at the link in the first post):

-Added Sailback/Firemouth Unit Entry
-Added Sailback/Firemouth Army List Entry
-Updated "Exodites in Competitive Play" to include Sailbacks/Firemouths
(Sailbacks and Firemouths were added for three reasons:
1) The Exodites lacked anything in Heavy Support that wasn't a Monstrous Creature
2) The Exodites lacked any kind of barrage/artillery type weapon
3) In my opinion, the more species of dinosaur-like creatures I can get into this list, the more interesting it will be.)

- Removed the "Reference" section altogether. It was becoming unwieldy. Maybe I will try to add it back when all is finished. (Possibly as an image.)

- Added "Hit & Run" to Drakes. They were still lacking something to make them a tryly attractive option. This now gives them a bit more versatility, and means they might get to use their Fiery Breath more than once in a battle. (They tend to get bogged down, which can be a good thing as they are swarms and this can serve a useful function, but this lets them choose to bog down their opponents, then slip away only to return and cause even more havoc by burning them again, then charging again.)

- Increased the Strength of Drake Arrows to 8 to be in-line with other Melta-type weapons. They just weren't strong enough to do their job properly. Now they are a very viable choice.

- Added "Pinning" to the profile of Swarm Arrows. They just weren't worth 10 points on their own, especially with being "Heavy" type. I wanted to keep the "move and fire Wriathbow or sit and fire Swarm" aspect, but make them attractive enough to consider taking instead of Drake Arrows.

- Updated the wording in the options of the Kindred Guard so that Dragonsingers can take Dragon Helms and upgrade their Dragon Lance to a Laser Lance. This was how it was always intended to be - the wording was just in error. (I don't want the Spiritsinger to be able to do so, but the Dragonsinger should, just as they are allowed in the Noble Knight kindreds.)

- Lowered the cost of the Dragon Prince to 50. He was just a bit too expensive, and taking a Dragon King instead was just too much of a no-brainer, especially when you consider that a Dragon Prince with a Hunting Drake was the same cost as the Dragon King, but still had -1WS, -1BS, -1W, -1Ld and no Sovereignty. The cost now should be just about right I think.

- Reworked Lir'Kurom Fürte's background a bit, making him both a Dragonsinger and a Dragon King. Added the special rule "The Beastcalmer". His cost has been increased to 190 pts to accommodate these changes. This was done to give him a bit more character, and to better explain how he was able to tame and ride a Carnosaur when no other Exodite has managed that feat.

[aeoglas]

You have a very rule oriented mind. keep it up. you are doing a good job.

[Ambience 327]

Thanks. Too bad I don't have much time for modelling & painting right now. I have basically a whole army of Exodites ready to be assembled and painted, but very little time to do it! It gets frustrating doing my playtesting with proxy models, but at least it works.

Until then, I'll just keep chipping away at these rules and making them the best they can be. Then, when I finally have a painted force ready for action, I'll have something I can really be proud of.

[Cheeslord]

Respect to the effort involved in making such a comprehensive and well written codex! I have not time to read it all right now but it seems well thought out and fairly balanced.

Mark.

[Ambience 327]

Thanks, glad you approve.

I'd love to hear more specific commentary if and when you have time to actually sit down and read through it.

[Ambience 327]

New version uploaded! (It's been a while, hasn't it?) Links in the first post.

Update Notes:

Numerous bits of fluff and rules were given minor clarifications. These are largely simple fixes and better explanations, and will not be listed separately.

Exodite Beasts/Dragonsinger interaction range changed to 18" to allow a bit more flexibility in movement/deployment. Ballad of the Beast range changed to 36" as well.

Armour of Vaul changed to a 2+/3++ save. The Invulnerable Save based on Ld was just too good. To keep some of his considerable resilience, however, he may now re-roll ALL failed Armour and Invulnerable Saves if he has the full Relic set. Cost dropped slightly.

Added the Rending rule to the Blade of Vaul to give it a bit more oomph. Cost raised accordingly.

Dragonsongs and Instruments increased in scope from "own unit" to 6"-12" range. Costs increased accordingly. (This allows for more unit synergy, where Exodite units will support one another, making the whole greater than the sum of its parts and encouraging different song/instrument builds.) The idea here is an "orchestra" of intertwining special rules, meaning a multi-charge from several units would be increasingly devastating (as well as resilient morale-wise) based on the number of dragonsingers involved.

Base range of the Prelude of Fate increased from 6" to 12".

The Dissonance Harmony has been reworked to distance it a bit from the Eldar Farseer's Runes of Warding. It now forces re-rolls of successful Psychic Tests by Psykers within 12" of the Spiritseer.

The Refrain Harmony has been reworked to distance it a bit from the Eldar Farseer's Spirit Stones. It is now possible for the Spiritsinger to cast all of their powers each turn, but only as long as they succeed in casting their Melodies, and at increasing difficulty. (This plays well with the Chorus Harmony, making it a bit of a gamble to use as it causes automatic failure if you are out of range, killing your chances of using Refrain to cast more.)

Added a new special character, Mei'nly Kirum-we, the Drakesinger. She is an upgrade character who enhances a unit of Dragon Knights quite well, and becomes more cost effective the more Dragon Knights you include in her unit.

Changed Swarm Arrows from Heavy 6 to Assault 6.

Drakes and Great Drakes now count as having offensive grenades.

Carnosaur Strength increased from 6 to 8. They just weren't deadly enough!

Sailbacks & Firemouths overhauled. BS fixed to 3 (it was 0 - an oversight). Firemouths clarified to have Poisoned (3+) RENDING weapons in combat. Corrosive Venom & Firemouth Corrosive Venom altered to be Assault 1 (from Heavy 1). (This allows them to at least partially keep pace with the speedier elements of the army, staying in range of Dragonsingers and keeping mobile.) Their cost has been raised slightly to compensate.

Added the Furious Charge rule to the effects granted by the Spear of Kurnous.

Added the option to take a Knight Suit as a 0-1 Heavy Support choice.

Moved the Great Drake from Heavy Support to Fast Attack to help balance the Force Organisation lists.

[Orthodox]

The conventions of having redundant units and equipment types, like the hero and slightly weaker hero, or the eight types of lance, and of describing units as 0-1 are outmoded and take up room that can be used for more distinctive inclusions.

It's interesting that there are so few guns. I expect that exodites could manage some lasblasters when it comes to things like ork invasions. Of course, every army is a bunch of models with guns, so it's nice forgo them.

[Ambience 327]

I have to disagree with your first point. Codex Space Marines has Masters and Captains. Codex Grey Knights has Grand Masters, Brother-Captains and Brotherhood Champions. Space Wolves have Wolf Lords and Wolf Guard Battle Leaders. Tyranids have Hive Tyrants and Tyranid Primes. These are all 5th Edition Codex books, and they all have examplesw of lesser "leaders" for lower point games. (The fact that most of them are Space Marines should simply be swept under the rug and ignored. La la la la. Not listening.)

Anyway, I feel that it is warranted here, as the Dragon King is sufficiently different in terms of stats, options and rules, and requires a decent investment of points to really get the most out of him. If you aren't going to bother with all the upgrades, taking the Dragon Prince instead can save you a bit on points without sacrificing much in terms of effectiveness. As far as "room for more distinctive inclusions", I can't really think of anything they need or could really use that isn't already there without breaking with the overall theme I am going for. Do you see any glaring holes in the list that need to be filled by an HQ unit?

As to the three (not eight) types of Lance, I don't think that is really overboard. You have the basic workhorse Dragon Lance, the slightly upgraded Laser Lance for elite units and unit leaders, and the much more rare Drake Lance which is for characters only. If anything, the number of different weapon types in my Exodite army is fairly low in comparison to many other armies. (Just look at the Dark Eldar for example. They have TONS of different weapons for both CC and shooting.)

On your 0-1 point, you may be on to something there. I hadn't really noticed the trend away from that. The closest thing I could find in recent Codex books is the "Unique" descriptor, which is rarely applied outside of named characters. (I could only find it on the Officio Temple Assassins in Codex: Grey Knights.) So I may think about lifting those restrictions. Thanks for the insight! (If I do so, I may still have to keep some sort of restriction on only having a single model with the "Dragon King" descriptor, be it the basic King or a Special Character, as it makes absolutely zero sense to have more than one, even in Apocalypse, as the Dragon Kings look only to their own worlds basically.)

And yes, the lack of longer ranged weapons on most units is fairly intentional. If you are going to be facing hordes, and want to shoot them down, bring along some Warwalkers and Megadons. (Or against Orks, just make sure you hit them with a well-timed charge from a few units of coordinated Dragon Knights. They can be pretty devastating if used properly.)

[mcfishstick]

I like it.

As mentioned, changing the 0-1 to unique is the only thing that stands out, since newer codexes don't use the 0-1 thing anymore.
Could maybe move Sundered Knights to Elites and drop the 0-1.

I do like the direction you've taken it

[Ambience 327]

Thank you for the input.

I am planning to look into the 0-1 situation when I next update the Codex. I will also consider moving the Sundered Knights, though I don't know if allowing you to take even two or three units is really in keeping with the fluff I designed for them. They might stay unique even if moved.

Got any other comments or criticism? (I'm a big boy, I can take it. ) I love getting feedback (positive or negative) on my work, as it helps me hone it into the best it can be!

[mcfishstick]

Well honestly the 0-1 limits are the only things that stand out. Games Workshop took has been removing them. It lets you theme your army if you so wish lol. Maybe you could start thinking of some sort of flyer for when 6th edition rolls around? Large Pterodactyl? Maybe large razorwing style swarms? Just throwing out some ideas

[Ambience 327]

I've been thinking that if 6th Edition does indeed become flyer-friendly, I might just rework the Great Drake into a flyer equivalent. It isn't like the list is lacking in Monstrous Creatures after all...

The idea of a larger pteradon type deal, with Exodite crew like the Megadon, does have a certain appeal as well though.