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| Photo courtesy of Razyel and CoolMiniOrNot |
See my Eldrad coverage here
To me, the Autarch was in a weird spot for the last couple editions - not bad, not great, and outshone and overpriced compared to nearly all of the other options in the Eldar HQ section. His Reserves Manipulation was tragically weak compared to Formation bonuses, and just about anything offered by other factions, and it was all he had going for him to justify his points.
Enter 8th Edition, where he comes in with a near identical profile, but with the now-standard Aeldari 7" base Move, hits on 2+, and has been upped to 5 Wounds with the same Saves and Wargear options. Still sticking with the 3+ Save and the 4+ Forceshield Invulnerable save.
All Autarchs also come with "The Path of Command," which allows you to re-roll 1's to-hit for any friendly Asuryani units within 6" of the Autarch. A very nice improvement over the old rule, especially since it works in Shooting and in Combat, and applies to him as well!
Flavors-
The Autarch still comes in four flavors: Base, Skyrunner, Hawk Wings, and Jump Generator.
The Skyrunner offers a 16" base move, +1 Toughness, an extra Wound and automatic 6" Advance and the Fly keyword for 29 points extra. Plus the 4-shot Shuriken Catapult from the Jetbike and access to the Laser Lance*, which is the best close combat weapon an Autarch can take at the moment.
The Skyrunner is, simply put, real good. Offering the best combination of speed, durability, and the extra oomph of the Laser Lance and stock Catapult. It's expensive, but if you're putting any points at all into an Autarch, consider this version. Especially since the models and kit bash options are amazing ;)
Hawk Wings offer Skyleap, Deep Strike, the Fly keyword for 20 points extra.
Skyleap makes the "Haw-tarch" actually the fastest of all the options, since he can re-deep strike every single turn, and has a base move almost as long as the Skyrunner at 14" base vs. the Skyrunner's 16"
Another super sweet model, and the ability to be anywhere on the battlefield in any turn is really nice, especially on bigger tables. Being only 9 points cheaper than the Skyrunner hurts, but since you're likely to put fewer, cheaper upgrades on him, it's actually a bigger points difference than it may seem.
The Warp Jump Generator comes in at 12 points extra, making it the cheapest mobility option. During movement, the "Jump-tarch" may move 7+4D6" and gains Fly until the end of the phase, for the cost of not being able to Advance or Charge that turn.
At only 12 points, this is a nice budget option, and one to consider if your army is already using Warp Spiders - but note that the random move can just as easily be 11" as 31", and you may far outstrip, or be left behind by, your spiders depending on who moves first.
The Jumptarch is probably best as a budget gunboat - Jump Generator, Reaper Launcher, and call it a day. Other builds will struggle to initiate combats, over invest in gear they won't use, or get little to no use out of the WJG.
One thing that all of the above builds do offer (if I'm not mistaken on the WJG), is that they grant the Fly keyword in the Movement phase - which means any non-base Autarch can Retreat in the Movement Phase and still shoot. A super nice perk considering how awesome he can be in shooting.
Base is the cheapest of course, putting him in the lower end of Aeldari HQ options, still granting the re-roll Aura, and filling the HQ slot nicely. He's pretty cheap, and a worthwhile force multiplier, so you can keep your options open here.
Points-
The Autarch has had a nice points discount from the old version, being in the mid-70's at minimum builds, and topping out around 150 for a Lance/Reaper Launcher Skyrunner. But the discount is most noticeable at the higher end, because most wargear options are considerably cheaper.
Wargear-
All four options can take a Mandiblaster or Banshee Mask, a Fusion Pistol, a Melee Weapon (Scorpion Chainsword, Power Sword or Laser Lance*), and Ranged Weapon (Fusion Gun, Reaper Launcher, Avenger Catapult, or Death Spinner)
A Banshee Mask makes the Autarch always Fight first, regardless of who Charged that turn.
Both are free at zero points. Of the two, the Banshee Mask is just better. A 6+ is rare, and although it happens in every Fight phase, the Mandiblasters far less reliable than the Banshee Mask - pass.
Unless of course you want to be thematic with a bunch of Scorpions, more power to you :) the new Mandiblasters are terrifying with a unit of Striking Scorpions, dishing out up to 10 Mortal Wounds a turn for free, but it doesn't translate for the lone Autarch.
*Update: There is a case to be made for Mandiblasters. That is, the Banshee Mask rarely triggers with the Skyrunner with Lance, because either whatever you charge is dead, or you Retreat in the following round. Either way, you're not staying in Combat for those subsequent rounds where the Banshee Mask would matter at all. With that in mind, the Mandiblasters don't seem as crazy.
Of the Close Combat weapons, the Scorpion Chainsword offers +1 Strength and is the cheapest at 2 points, followed by the Power Sword at 4 points and Rend -3.
The Laser Lance is only available to the Skyrunner, and comes in at 9 points. While it's more than twice the cost of the Power Sword, it is simply better. On the Charge, it's S6, Rend -4, 2 Damage. Off the charge, it has the HUGE buff of still keeping the same Rend and Damage, but being the Autarch's base Strength 3.
But, it also works as a gun with the S6 profile. Just find the 9 points ;)
For ranged weapons, it's a bit more of a tossup. The Avenger Shuriken Catapult offers an extra 6" shooting range, which with the Autarch's to-hit rolls and the price point is nothing to sneeze at, and it's an Assault weapon, so the Autarch can Advance with it and still shoot with 3+ to-hit, and on 6's to-Wound it becomes Rend -3.
But, it's also 7 points. For 2 more points, coming in at 9, you can get a Lasblaster, for 24" range and Rapid-Fire 3, but at a lowly S3, so you'd better be facing hordes - although the Autarch's to-hit is so good, and the to-Wound chart is more lenient than it was, so it's not the worst choice.
Backtracking a bit, 8 points gets you a Death Spinner, at 12", S6, Assault 2, and where the Catapult becomes Rend -3 on 6's to-Wound, the Death Spinner goes to Rend -4. Pick a hard target with a Farseer's Doom on it, and the Death Spinner can do some work - although it still only does 1 damage.
Next up, my personal favorite, at 17 points you get the Fusion Gun, which is 12", Assault 1, S8, Rend -4, and D6 damage. Plus, if you're at 6" or below (half range) you roll 2d6 and take the highest for how much damage it does. Devastating!
Last, but not least, the Reaper Launcher rolls in at a hefty 31 points, offering two 48" firing modes with either 1 shot at S8, Rend -2, and *3* damage (yikes), or two shots at S5, Rend -2, 2 damage. A gun made to do damage at long range and no joke. It is, however, by far the most expensive, and it's a Heavy weapon. Since most Autarchs want to move, that makes it a tricky choice, unless you're very sure you want to stay on the back field or don't mind hitting on 3+ when you do move. Still, 3+ with re-rolls of 1 is gnarly, so this is a strong contender - if you have the points.
The ability to Advance and Shoot makes the Fusion Gun a winner in my book, especially on a Skyrunner who can also make full use of his Laser Lance and Shuriken Catapult at 6" range - but your mileage may vary, of course.
The final option is the Fusion Pistol. It's 9 points, only 6" range, and has the same profile and rules as the Fusion Gun, but if you use it, you can't shoot any of your other guns. Which sucks - but the reason you take it is because you *can* still shoot it in Close Combat. Gnarly.
Faction Rules-
An Autarch can be either a <Craftworld> Autarch and use Battle Focus, to Advance and Shoot as if he hadn't moved (except Heavy weapons, lame). While it can be good, Advancing with a 22" Jetbike move and spraying fire on a 2+ is very potent - the fact that it doesn't affect Heavy weapons makes it a very limited benefit.
A <Craftworld> Autarch also has Ancient Doom, which is a +1 penalty to Morale Checks when within 3" of any Slaanesh units, but also you can re-roll to-hit if you Charge or were Charged by a Slaanesh unit that turn.
The other option is Ynnari, trading Battle Focus and Ancient Doom for Strength from Death - which is STUPID good. Sure, your Craftworld bro can fly in 22" and let loose with his Shuriken Catapult, Laser Lance gun, and Fusion Gun all hitting on 2+ -
But your Ynnari version can fly in 16", shoot at the same 2+, then if he kills something, shoot *again.* Or, barring that, Charge, murk something, and then either Fight twice, Shoot, or move that 22" wherever the heck he cares to.
Strength from Death is REALLY good, and a gunboat Autarch benefits from it much more than most - being fast, tough (ish) and very hard-hitting, he's an ideal unit to SfD all day long.
Builds-
I have a custom kit-bash model that fits my favorite build to a T: Skyrunner, with Banshee Mask, Laser Lance and Fusion gun. He makes an ideal unit to charge around the battlefield hitting things where he can do the most damage, then rocketing off to do it again. He's kitted entirely with Assault guns, so he can move 22" or 16" and still shoot all the things. And, if he moved 16", Charge and make some use of that Laser Lance, which really is devastating now.
If I have the points to spare, I also throw in the Fusion Pistol. For only 9 points, it can make a huge difference in a prolonged combat, but it's not always necessary.
Alternatively, I would built a Warp Jump Autarch with Reaper Launcher and probably a Scorpion Chainsword. This is the guy you keep out of Combat, but he'll do the work at range, and for a decent price point. He can Jump to reposition, and rocket out of combats whenever you need him to.
Final Thoughts-
Having played a few games with my Autarch, he is a whole different animal than in previous editions. The increased speed, addition of multi-damage weapons, advantages of Fly, changes to Rend, Pistols, added ability to Split Fire, to fire all weapons and still charge, and - of course - Strength from Death have combined to turn the Autarch into a terrifying combatant.
This is an HQ that finally matches the fluff, rocketing across the battlefield and almost casually raining precision death on the enemies of the Aeldari.
Where Autarchs have somewhat struggled in previous editions is getting stuck in combat where their Lance went limp, or being a little bit too slow, or just having the damage they dealt shrugged off and getting gut-punched in return. The basic changes to 8th have fixed their major weaknesses, and supercharged their strengths in ways I hadn't fully realized until I got them on the table!
That's all for now! I hope my breakdown of the Autarch has been helpful :)
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