Fracture of Biel-Tan Review: Part 5- Formations and Forces of Ulthwe

Welcome to the final part of my Fracture of Biel-Tan Review. This section will look at the new formations that are available in the book.

Ynnari Formations
Triumvirate of Ynnead
This consists of Yvraine, the Visarch and the Yncrne.

The special rules for this formation include Heralds of Rebirth. This makes any non-vehicle unit within 12" of two members of the Triumvirate are Fearless. In addition, if all three members of the Triumvirate are on the table, all friendly Ynnari models are Fearless. This is a pretty potent special rule. Generally, you will have Yvraine and the Visarch together to benefit from their special rules, as the Ycarne generates a 12" Fearless bubble anyway. Making all your Ynnari models Fearless when all models are on the table is also a very powerful bonus, giving you a big incentive to keep them alive for longer.

In addition, if all three models are on the battlefield, you get to add 1 to the special Ynnead rolls that the three new special characters get. This means that Yvraine and the Visarch re-gain a wound on a 3+, or the Ycarne on a 2+ when an Aeldari model is killed within 7" of them. This gives them a very good chance of regaining wounds if your units are getting killed.

This formation is great if you are planning to take all three models, providing them and the army with some very nice bonuses.

Fracture of Biel-Tan Review: Part 4- Forces of the Ynnari

Welcome to part 4 of my review of the new Fracture of Biel-Tan supplement. This section will look at the new fraction to join the 40k universe- the Ynnari. 

This army features a combined force of Eldar, Dark Eldar and Harlequin units to combine into an Aeldari super-force to use on the table. 

Warlord Traits

As is common with many of the 40k supplements recently released, the Ynnari get a new Warlords trait table to roll on if they choose. 

Lord of Rebirth- The warlord gets It Will Not Die. Useful for keeping your warlord alive for longer. Added to the wound recovery methods that the new Ynnari special characters get, this could boost their durability even further, helping to keep them alive for longer. 

Warden of the Forgotten Wisdom- If your warlord is a psyker, you get to choose your psychic powers rather than rolling for them. This is amazing. Given how powerful the Eldar and Harlequinn psychic powers are, as well as the powers in the various other shared disciplines, removing the random nature of the roll and getting to choose the best powers for the situation is brilliant. Do Eldar have access to Telepathy? If so, you now have Invisibility. This would work really well on a level 3 Farseer, allowing you to choose the best 3 powers from the various disciplines at will. 

Walker of the Many Paths- Each turn, your warlord gains a special rule of your choice from Furious Charge, Hit and Run and Move Through Cover. This is pretty awesome too. Hit and Run is an amazing special rule, so getting it guaranteed on your Warlord's unit is going to be very effective in the game. 

Fracture of Biel-Tan Review: Part 3- The Yncarne, Avatar of Ynnead

The third part of my review of the new Fracture of Biel-Tan book covers the Yncarne, the Avatar of Ynnead. 

The Yncarne

The Yncarne is a pretty potent monstrous creature to add to an army of the Ynnead. He is a potent combat character, a powerful psyker and provides some nice buffs to any army that he is a part of. 

First off, The Yncarne has a pretty impressive statline. For combat ability, he is WS9, S6, initiative 10 with 6 attacks. His Relic sword, the Sword of Souls is AP2 with Fleshbane, Armourbane and Soul Blaze. This makes him a pretty potent force in combat. He will be generally be striking before most models/units in the game, hitting on a 3+ and wounding on a 2+ with no armour saves allowed. He will even be able to take on vehicles fairly reliably thanks to Armourbane. As a result, he will have no problem taking on most combat threats with ease, with only good invulnerable saves or feel no pain saves providing him with any trouble. He also gets Fleet, giving you a better chance of getting into combat with your charges. 

Fracture of Biel-Tan Review: Part 2- The Visarch

Welcome to part 2 of my Fracture of Biel-Tan review, looking at the Visarch- Sword of Ynnead. 

The Visarch

The Visarch is a combat character for the Eldar, designed to take on the elite of the enemy army and keep Yvraine safe. 

The Visarch has WS7, I7 and 4 attacks base. This means he will be hitting before most other units and characters in the game and hitting them on 3's much of the time. His Relic weapon, Asu-var allows him to strike at S5 and AP2, meaning he will be able to chew through a range of standard infantry and many characters that lack a good invulnerable save. The sword also has a bonus rule, forcing an enemy unit to use the lowest leadership when within 3". This will be useful for making sure that enemy units flee from combat and giving you a chance to wipe them out in a sweeping advance (thanks to be initiative 7). 

Fracture of Biel-Tan Review: Part 1- Yvraine

Hi everyone, welcome to part 1 of my review of the new Gathering Storm book, the Fracture of Biel-Tan. This book introduces new rules for your Eldar, Dark Eldar and Harelquin units to be used as a single force, and let me tell you, this book gives you some awesome new rules for these forces (not that the Eldar needed any help!). 

This first part will look at the rules for the first of the new triumvirate; Yvraine, Emissary of Ynnead. 

Yvraine, Emissary of Ynnead

Yvraine is a decent psyker with some good combat ability that should be a useful addition to an army. 

She has a fairly decent statline for combat. At WS8, she is going to be hitting most things on 3's, at initiative 8 and 5 attacks (4 base and one for two melee weapons). She wields the Sword of Sorrows, a weapon which is +1S (taking her to 4) and AP3 with instant death. Any characters that are toughness 4 (or 5 at a push) with a 3+ save will generally fear Yvraine in combat. She will generally be striking before them and has enough attacks to make failing an invulnerable save more likely and killing them instantly. She will struggle against those with a high toughness or 2+ save, but should be able to handle herself in combat against most basic infantry. 

She is not the toughest of characters. With 3 wounds at T3 and a 4+ invulnerable, it will not take a lot to kill her. She does gain Eternal Warrior, making it impossible to double her out with S6 attacks or instant death weapons. She also gets a nice special rule, giving her a wound back on a 4+ if any Aeldari model (Eldar, Dark Eldar, Harlequin or Ynnari) is killed within 7" of her. This should help her be a bit more survivable, but any dedicated shooting or combat attacks will still kill her relatively easily. She is certainly not as durable as Saint Celestine or Belisarius Cawl.