How Useful is the Eldar Wraithknight in a 40K Game?

There is little doubt that the star of the recent 6th Edition Tau Codex is the the XV104 Riptide.

The Riptide is a great model. It has a great variety of weapon-options, all of them useful in one way or another. It is hard to find a Tau army without a Riptide these days.

With the Eldar Wraithknight, Games Workshop tried to one-up themselves: Bigger, Badder, Better.

I am not sure if they succeeded.

Painters around the world clearly have fun with the miniature (and it is big!), yet the Wraithknight struggles (at least by my casual observation) to make it into the majority of 6th Edition Eldar army lists. No matter how often I go over the Codex entry, I always come away a bit underwhelmed.

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#1 – Eldar Wraithknight Basics

The Wraithknight is a Jump Monstrous Creature (and the Tau Riptide a Jet Pack Monstrous Creature… I wonder what is next?). It’s worth keeping the following things in mind.

• Monstrous Creature: The Wraithknight obviously gets all the perks of a Monstrous Creature, such as Hammer of Wrath, Smash or the ability to shoot two weapons (though the Wraithknight can actually carry up to four weapons, which is a bit of a waste).
• Very tough, poor saves: The Wraithknight is very tough and has a lot of wounds, though it comes without an invulnerability save by default. This makes the Wraithknight very hard to take  down with “regular” firepower, though it is surprisingly vulnerable to things that specialize in killing high-toughness targets. Grey Knights would love to hunt this one down.
• Very large model: Stating the obvious, I know. The Wraithknight is fairly mobile, but your table would need spectacular terrain to give the Wraithknight good cover options. With only a 3-up save and no places to hide, those Krak-Missiles will surely follow it on every turn.
• No Vehicle Equipment: Eldar are far more stingy with their upgrades than the Tau. Wraithknights (like the new Eldar Flyers) cannot go shopping in the Codex armoury.

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#2 – Eldar Wraithknight Weapon Options

The Wraithknight essentially comes in three main variants:

1. Two Heavy Wraithcannons (default)
2. Ghostglaive and Scattershield
3. Suncannon and Scattershield

The default Heavy Wraithcannons – to me – lacks the “wow” effect of the alternatives. Though Str. 10 shots are nothing to scoff at, things like Bright Lances are easy to find in the Eldar Codex. The Wraithcannon’s Distort rule means less on a high-strength weapon and, ultimately, two Heavy Wraithcannons are only two shots a turn.

Good enough, if you plan to use the Wraithknight to draw fire away from the rest of your army. Not good enough – relative to other ways to spend these points in the Codex – for the killing-potential.

The Ghostglaive and Scattershield option adds a much needed 5++ (though it is worth remembering that the Scattershield will blind your own troops too). The Ghostglaive itself is a bit of a head-scratcher, as they Wraithknight already has Str. 10 and ignores armour saves. The Master-Crafted re-rolls are the main (and only) benefit to the Wraithknight.

Now the it can chop things. Given how vulnerable the Wraithknight is in close-combat against things like Instant Death Power Swords however, he still can’t compete in its own point-cost class.

I wouldn’t use a close-combat Wraithknight. For such a big sword (miniature-wise), something more unique would’ve been nice.

The Suncannon and Scattershield appear to be the best fit, though it is also the most expensive option. The Suncannon gives the Wraithknight an extra 12″ range over the Heavy Wraithcannons. The Scattershield at range helps make up for the (likely) scarcity of cover saves.

Of course, at the end of the day, the Suncannon is just a fancy Plasma Cannon, and you’re spending close to 300 pts. to get it into the list and it clearly pales in comparison to the (nearly 100 pts. cheaper) Ion Accelerator Riptide.

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#3 – Verdict

I am clearly biased by how much fun the Tau Riptide is. That said, Games Workshop themselves suggested the comparison. Both vis-a-vis the Riptide and compared to other Eldar Codex entries (the Heavy Support section is packed!), the Wraithknight comes out surprisingly lacklustre.

The Wraithknight probably isn’t as bad as .. say .. Mandrakes or Mutilators. It is oddly underwhelming for a new unit though, and I doubt it will see a lot of use on the table for its rules (as opposed to for its miniature. Unlike Mutilators, the Wraithknight has that going for it, at least).

• Do you agree? Disagree? Did I miss something obvious?
• Would you use the Wraithknight in your army? Or even two?
• If so, how would you equip it? In what role would the Wraithknight work best?

Leave a comment and let me know what you think!

Z.