Wraithknight

HELLO I AM HUGE. Seriously, Games Workshop's tagline for this model is "And you thought the Riptide was BIG..." They also add "Please note, the Eldar Guardian is shown for size comparisons only. Honestly, the Wraithknight really is that big!"

The Wraithknight is an extremely large Wraithbone war-construct, similar to but far more massive than Wraithguard or even the mighty Wraithlord. The left arm can mount either a Wraithcannon or a Scattershield, while the right arm can mount choose from either another Wraithcannon, a Suncannon, or a huge Ghostglaive. It also has shoulder-mounted secondary weapons, consisting of either a pair of Shuriken Cannons, Scatter Lasers, or Starcannons.

A Wraithknight is, of course, the direct Eldar equivalent of the Imperial Knight. It is an enormous model and a lethal one, making it a massive fire magnet in a more literal way than usual.

Like other wraithbone constructs, Wraithknights are animated by souls of dead Eldar. Wraithknights are special because they also have pilots; in particular, the pilot should, but not always, be the twin of the soul animating the machine. It seems that the designers must have been watching FAR too much Evangelion (Yes, the whole thing, including the movies) the night before designing the Wraithknight. Conversely, when in Saim-Hann colors as seen on the right and on the model's boxart, it takes its design cues straight from Space Runaway Ideon, down to the bright green spirit stone/Ide gauge.

A historical note: one of the GW staffers who worked on Codex Eldar: Craftworlds spake thusly:

The Wraithknights... well, that was a thing. The Eldar codex was designed at a time when we were told to make things a) exciting and interesting and b) reflect the narrative at all costs. So D-weapons, right? Because that's clearly what the weapons are. So we did it, and we tested them loads, and the points values shot up (I think the Wraithknight was about 450?). Then they went to review, and someone in a position of authority (who has since left) said "I love it, but don't increase any points values".

Because, obviously, that means people need fewer models, see?

So I said "Ok, so I'll put the rules back to how they were," and was told "no, keep them, just don't change the points values".

Makes me wince, just thinking about it.

In Previous editions

While its WS and BS were kind of meh (both 4), it's was a Jump Gargantuan Creature with S 10 and 5 attacks and I 5. It was impressive in defense but not too much: T8, 6 wounds and 3+ armour; also the option of a 5++ blinding anyone at 6" each time it saves this way, plus Feel No Pain.\

Wraithknights liked to get fortune to forever laugh at all small arms fire and turn a one in three chance to successfully invulnerable save to a one in half chance, concealed, and renewed, but sadly could not have their armor saves enhanced. Having said that, at the notoriously high T8 and being classified as a Gargantuan Creature, it was virtually immune to non-anti tank or opposing D-Strength weaponry (for the new kids on the block, if your model's toughness was twice or more than the value of the incoming attack's strength, those attacks straight up could not inflict wounds) and Poison was nearly useless against it. Plonk one on a skyshield and place fortune on it would allow you to sneer at the very concept of dying. Forewarning and Sanctuary used to be options, too.

The Codex Eldar: Craftworlds updated Wraithknights, which became 295-point Jump Gargantuan Creatures (cue outrage from everyone), and the Wraithcannon and Ghostglaive became Strength D. This is in contrast to Imperial Knights which cost 370 or 375 points a model and have only one Strength D weapon (the Reaper Chainsword) at the time. Eldar players celebrated, while everyone else was wondering what the hell GeeDubs was smoking to think that buffing an already overpowered unit further still could possibly be a good idea (- see above). On the bright side, this thing became a LoW, and has stayed there since. So in a Combined Arms Detachment, you would get a maximum of 1 in your list, but in the Craftworld Warhost detachment, you could have up to 12 for each Guardian Battlehost, one of which costs about 500 points base. MOTHER. FUCK.

When 8th Edition dropped, this thing took a huge and deserved (arguably necessary) beating with the nerf bat, both with the system change-up and Index/Codex. Everything can wound everything now, so Bolters and Lasguns and other small arms can finally do something to it if your opponent throws enough of them at it, and split fire is universal meaning your opponent can just point his lascannon holding Marine at it while his boltguns focus on the much squishier infantry. It lost its inherent Feel No Pain and immunity to Poisoned weapons since Gargantuan Creatures are no longer a thing, as well as its ability to deepstrike. Like anything with more than 10 wounds, the Wraithknight also now suffers from a degrading statline that renders it progressively less effective the more damaged it is. In addition, when the Index and original Codex dropped, this set you back over 500 points for the sword and board variant, and it has a very similar statline to an Imperial Knight, which is now cheaper. As of Chapter Approved 2019, GW realized that since it was nerfed it no longer warranted the 500+ point tag, and priced it a bit over 330 points for the Sword and Board variant.

Weapon-wise, the Destroyer rule is kaput as of the end of 7th, no more bypassing Invulnerable Saves with them this edition. The Heavy Wraithcannons are still S16 AP-4 d6 damage and have the assault rule. the Titanic Ghost Glaive gives you only four attacks at S16 AP-4 doing 6 damage each. Unfortunately, by using its titanic wraithbone feet you instead get 12 attacks at is base strength of 8 with AP-2 and d3 damage a piece, which is statistically better against everything other than T9 and above units (essentially, it's only useful against other titans).

9TH EDITION

The Wraithknight, for all intents and purposes, is still struggling to properly get back on its feet after the shinning it took in 8th edition. While it's still not as expensive as it originally was when 8th first started, it still took another point bump to 325 before weapons are loaded onto it. However as of mid-9th it has now been lowered again to 315, with no point reductions on any such weapons. An indirect buff towards monsters in general now allows the Wraithknight to fire all of its weapons while it's in melee combat, but the likelihood of a surviving, non-Titanic unit just charged by a Wraithknight that will willingly elect to remain in melee combat until your next shooting phase is ludicrously minuscule. Their primary competition, the Imperial Knight, continues to outclass Wraithknights in virtually every non-melee regard and will continue to do so effortlessly unless Wraithknights receive a significant tune-up in the upcoming 9th Edition Eldar codex.

That's not to say they're entirely useless. Wraithknights are still a deadly force to field in the right circumstances and can perform if properly supported. That said, for the investment needed just to field one (which is now 3 CP, or 1 if it's from the same craftworld as your warlord is for the single LoW slot plus the point cost of the WK), you likely won't be seeing a very compelling reason to take one of them in lieu of a couple Fire Prisms.

Note that while Wraithknights are extremely tough, each army usually has at least one way of beating it. Given the lack of a native invuln, you can get a fair bit of work done by just spamming anything with more than 3 AP on it for guaranteed damage. Unless your opponent takes it with the suncannon or ghostglaive, which will grant the thing a mere 5+ invuln. The spam will work still, given there's still only 1/3rd of the chance to save any shots heading towards it. If you also have any source of mortal wounds you can crap out onto the thing, those will completely cut through any of its defenses too. As a general rule, if you're somehow not up against the Iyanden Craftworld, and if you cannot kill it in one shot, you can try and take as many wounds off of it as possible to degrade its statline, making it perform poorly as the battle drags on.

Or you can just ignore that handicap and kill the real enemy units. It's an overpriced cousin of Imperial knights, but it lacks the absurdly overpowered houses, has no particularly relevant stratagems, can't take relics or warlord traits and has very limited access to healing support, especially since the Bonesinger has been moved to legends. In a tragic twist of fate, even Spiritseers struggle to support them, as the only psychic powers that can directly affect Wraithknights anymore are the Guide and Fortune powers from the Farseer's runes of fate. In a sense it's a knight that is weaker and more expensive at the same time. If your opponent added it to their army list consider getting a couple hundred points courtesy handicap presented to you.

Skathach Wraithknights

And when I pointed at them, they all turned to finely minced meat paste.

If anyone thought that there cannot be anything more OP than a Eldar Wraithknight, then these people were wrong.

Introduced by Forge World, the Skathach Wraithknights are even rarer than the vanilla Wraithknights, and equally more powerful as it is rare, the Skathach were designed to travel the Webway and exterminate everyone and everything that isn't Eldar and who has the balls to trespass into the never-ending pathways.

Skathach Wraithknights are powerful ranged units thanks to their weapons of choices. They can either choose Deathshroud Cannons or Inferno Lances. The first is probably the largest Monofilament Weapon in the Eldar arsenal that is designed to leave gore and carnage whenever a Skathach shoots, while the latter is the evolution of Fire Dragon Fusion Guns and Lances but much more devastating due to their sizes.

Apart of weapons, the Skathach are additionally equipped with Webway Shunt Generators. Very complex pieces of Eldar technology that allow them to enter and exit the Webway at will.

Much like the original variant, the crunch in 8th edition knee-capped these guys severely. As it stands in 9th, they have three advantages over a regular Wraithknight; they can teleport on and off the tabletop as you need and they can more freely mix and match their main weapon loadouts as you see fit. Those weapons come at a premium, because at 395 points minimum, you're looking at slightly more than the cost of a normal wraithknight. Their Deathshroud cannons are... interesting, at best. The dispersed profile did pick up the blast keyword and is auto-hitting, albeit only at a 12" range and with no inherent AP making it one hell of a beefed up flamer. You'll wanna point it at blobs of guardsmen or orks, something that this thing can actually get in range to do thanks to the inherent deepstrike. The focused profile is better due to it also having blast, but also four times the range, an extra point of strength, 2 AP and 2 damage make it far more appealing against 90% of targets you might run across. Anything with a half-decent save will get it completely negated on wound rolls of 5+ granting it -4 AP. The Inferno Lances made out better in the new edition, but two will spike your Wraithknight to a staggering 455 points. They're pretty much really big fusion guns or bright lances, though you get D6 shots from both of them, 24" of range and also the buff of D6+2 damage if you're within half that range. You can also replace either weapon with a scattershield for the sake of giving it an invuln too. And of course, much like the normal Wraithknight it can use its feet or fists in melee, something that this thing'll actually be capable of doing if you deepstrike it in.

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  Do you even pose Mon'Keigh?

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  Get in the fucking robot, Shinji!

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  Size comparison.