Editing Guardian (section)

== On the Tabletop ==

[[File:2022Guardians.png|200px|right|thumb|[[Rage| It took us '''''TWENTY-THREE FUCKING YEARS''''' for GW to get us new guardian sculpts!]]]]
[[File:WH40K_-_Eldar_Guardians_(OLD).jpg|200px|right|thumb|And THIS is what we had to put up with until then!]]

Like most Eldar on the tabletop, Guardians are fast but fragile, being only slightly more durable than a Guardsman. And unlike most Eldar units, they don't have a specialized role— this can be a problem in an army that is all about specialization.

The usual armament for a '''Guardian Defender''' is a [[Shuriken Catapult]]. It is assault 2, has bolter strength and AP -1, and possesses a neat ability called Bladestorm that is basically a weaker version of Rending (AP -3 on a 6). As of the 9th Edition Codex, shurikats have *finally* upped their range to 18" after being saddled with a ghastly 12" range ever since 3rd Edition; so about fucking time. To round out their equipment Guardians also have Plasma Grenades (STR 4, AP-1, Grenade D6, Blast) and wear [[Mesh Armour]] for a 4+ save (prior to the 9th edition Codex, the save was merely 5+).

Historically, if you are an Eldar player who needs a unit to hang back and defend an objective, a squad of Guardians has probably been your go-to choice. Ideally your Guardians should still be used in a mobile fashion (after all, being a defensive threat is ''not'' the same thing as being a potato), because when used to close a gap in the line or to contest an objective Guardians can do a pretty decent job of warding enemies off with the threat of very killy dakka if they get too close. Of course, the Eldar also have access to very fast, tough jetbikes that can have even more firepower than Guardians for only a marginal increase in cost (why aren't you using them instead?), or [[Dire Avengers]], a type of Aspect Warrior who are basically Guardians++, with heavier armor, a gun with 50% more range, and access to an Exarch with neat powers and a sword that can insta-gib pesky champions or leader units in melee. Even so, between Psyker support and Guardian-centered stratagems, in 8th/9th edition they can be buffed to be surprisingly durable, with a 4+ Invulnerable save from Celestial Shield that Warlocks can boost to a 3+, and a 5/6++ Feel No Pain, if Farseers are also involved or if part of an Ulthwe army.

However, 9th edition brought in some core gameplay changes that Guardian Defenders didn't take too kindly to. First, the increase to 10 points each is nothing less than a slap in the face to Eldar players. However, the thing that kills them are the changes to unit cohesion and the addition of blast weapons. With unit sizes of 6 or more requiring each model to be within 2" of two other models in their unit, conga-lining Guardians to bubblewrap your backline or characters is a thing of the past. Poorly positioning your guardians can result in a chain reaction of models being lost from cohesion checks even if only a single guardian actually died earlier in the round. Blast Weapons are also extremely effective against even an MSU guardian squad, since they'll always generate a minimum of 3 shots on any squad with 6 or more models. If players (foolishly) decide to take the heavy weapon platform and put the number of models in the squad up to 11, then all blast weapons always generate the highest possible number of shots they'd be capable of (a 2d6 Blast weapon will automatically generate 12 shots). With the pitiful toughness and armor saves guardians have, having the entire squad get blown out of existence from just a few blast attacks is a very likely outcome. They still do have access to the ''potential'' durability afforded to them through psyker/stratagem support, but that'll only get you so far as the new edition's power creep continues continues to grow.

That being said, Guardian Defenders can still make for a surprisingly potent offensive presence in spite of their modest wargear. Utilizing stratagems, Craftworld armies can deep-strike up to two units of Guardians within 9 inches of an enemy unit. In theory, this is well within range of their Shuriken Catapults (in practice, it might be tricky to ensure that all those models are deploying within shooting distance). However, if you can pull this off with two maximum sized blocks of Guardians, that makes for a grand total of [[Dakka | 80]] shuriken shots coming out of practically nowhere. Even if those shots are only S4 with conditional AP, most standard units of infantry and even some lighter vehicles won't be able to shrug off that much dakka. With 8th and 9th Editions also conferring split fire, you're free to divide up all 80 of those shots among a selection of targets and avoid overkilling the bejesus out of just one unit.

If you are really, ''really'' intent on buffing Shuriken weapons, '''Phoenix Rising''' did offer several custom Craftworld attributes near the end of 8th Edition that can achieve this. Of these, Superior Shurikens (add 4" to the range of any Shuriken weapon) and Masterful Shots (a target hit by Shuriken weapons does not receive a save bonus for being in cover) are probably the best options. Many of these custom Craftworld attributes have carried over to the 9th Edition Craftworld codex.

As previously mentioned, for every 10 guardians you can take a Heavy Weapon Platform for additional firepower:
*'''[[Shuriken Cannon]]''': Shuriken Cannons got a bit of a buff, now dealing a flat 2 damage with a permanent AP-1 modifier at the cost of becoming a Heavy weapon. Guardians aren't as mobile as they used to be with this, but it now stands in as your general anti-infantry weapon of choice.
*'''[[Scatter Laser]]''': The long range GEQ hunter, this cheap option does offer some utility for objective holding Guardians who expect to face larger numbers of infantry.
*'''[[Starcannon]]''': The Starcannon has been gibbing MEQs since 3rd Edition. If that's what you need, it's hard to go wrong here.
*'''[[Bright Lance]]''': The Bright Lance is pretty good at mucking up enemy monsters and vehicles.
*'''[[Eldar Missile Launcher|Aeldari Missile Launcher]]''': The missile launcher is arguably the best upgrade for the lone guardian squad parked on an objective. Although expensive, its 48" range guarantees its squad is contributing at least SOME dice no matter how the fight is going.

[[Category: Warhammer 40,000]]

[[Category: Xenos]]

[[Category: Eldar]]

[[Category: Craftworld Eldar]]

[[Category: Harlequins]]

{{Eldar-Forces}}

{{Harlequin}}