Where the bulk of the Aspect Warriors are found, as well as the deadly Wraith-units, the Elites section is where you start to see the specialisation that Asuryani excel at. With 5 options, each unit is great at it's purpose and bad at everything else.
Howling Banshees
Classically, this unit has struggled with it's Strength 3. In 8th Edition though, that can now hurt a wider range of units. A unique quirk is that Toughness 4 and 5 are the same, both requiring a 5+ to wound. They are armed with Shuriken Pistols and Power Swords, making them a nightmare for heavily armoured troops. They will struggle against units with multiple wounds and Storm Shields, like Terminators and Custodes though.
Where they shine is delivering their killing strike to the unit you want. Move 8 and the ability to Advance and still Charge gives them quite a threat range. When they do this, not only can they attempt to charge units up to 15" away, but they get +3 to the roll. That gives them a combat distance of 11+3d6! This even combos with Battle Focus so they can still fire their Pistols. Their masks nullify Overwatch and the Exarch give opposing units -1 to hit in combat. Establish a target, Charge the target, remove the target.
In the Index, the Banshee Mask let them always strike first. I think the Codex version of ignoring Overwatch is much stronger, allowing them to make a mess of T'au battle lines. They were at their strongest in 2nd Edition though, denying their opponents attack dice on the turn they charged, as well as stopping Overwatch.
Striking Scorpions
They attack at Strength 4 in shooting and combat, allowing them to pick apart Toughness 3 troops with ease and pressure Toughness 4-7. The Exarch can even strike at Strength 6 with a -3 AP and Damage d3, with no penalty to hit and extra attacks on 6s. Their Mandiblasters cause Mortal Wounds at the start of combat, allowing them to take on units much larger than them. The icing on this cake, and what defines their role is the combo of Deep Strike and +1 to hit units in cover. They excel at hunting your opponent's backfield units. Just put these guys in Reserve and wait for the time to strike.
These guys haven't changed over the years. They have always been about a combination of combat prowess and ability to cause extra wounds from the Mandiblasters. In this edition though, use of Reserves is important for getting to strike the units that would normally try and hide, while denying your opponent the Alpha Strike against such threatening units.
Fire Dragons
The truest masters of their art, and the best at it in the game. They carry Fusion Guns, all of them. The Exarch can even upgrade to a longer range one. This gives them 1 shot each at Strength 8, hitting on 3s. Battle Focus allows them to do this while Advancing, increasing their threat range. The Exarch also re-rolls 1s to hit at range. They have an AP of -4 and do d6 damage, rolling 2 dice and choosing the highest at half range. Finally, to make sure they destroy the target, if shooting a Vehicle of Monster, they get to re-roll 1s to wound. Get them to a Vehicle or Monster and make it die.
They really need a way of getting to the target though. I recommend a Wave Serpent, though there is an argument to be made for the Webway Strike Stratagem to Deep Strike them in. Which ever method best suits your play style.
Here is a familiar refrain - These guys haven't changed. The heavy focusing of Aspect Warriors doesn't give them a lot of room for change, plus it really fits the flavour of the Paths that they are unchanged this far in the game across 8 editions now.
Wraithblades
The first of the Wraith-units is close combat based. They have been increased from Toughness 5 to 6 from Index to Codex. They also have 3 Wounds each and a 3+ save to help them survive. 2 Attacks plus an extra 1 when they Charge, from Fires of Wrath, gives them a lot of hitting power. These guys are for taking on in combat the units that are too heavily armoured for Banshees.
They have two load out options. You can either give them Ghostwords for a 4th attack and essentially a Strength 6 Power Weapon. This is for hunting and killing Terminators, possibly retaliation after they Deep Strike. The other give them a 4+ Invulnerable Save for more survivability, and a Strength 7 weapon that has -3 AP and d3 Damage. This is for taking on Dreadnoughts, Monsters and other Vehicles in combat. They get -1 to hit with this Ghostaxe, but you can easily mitigate that with a nearby Spiritseer with Enhance.
Wraithblades were introduced in 6th Edition, presumably to give Iyanden a more flavourful close combat unit. While they are effective once they get to combat, they are both slow and expensive. They suit a more defencive style of play, while Banshees are more about aggression.
Wraithguard
These have always been about bringing relatively short-ranged death to whatever you can point them at. They replace the combat abilities of the Wraithblades with Implacable, allowing them to Fall Back and still shoot, should your opponent try locking them down in combat. Even their, at Strength 5 they have -1 AP and d3 Damage, so they aren't terrible. This also allows them to finish of a Vehicle or Monster if their guns fail to do the job.
They have 2 options. Firstly is the much maligned (by their opponents) D-Scythes. Only 8" Range, but Strength 10 and -4 AP. Only 1 Damage, but d3 shots each with no roll to hit. They make a mess of heavily armoured troops that get too close, and are a nightmare on Overwatch. The second (and my preferred) is their traditional Wraithcannon. Similar stats, trading the auto-hit for +4" range, and the d3 shots for 1 shot but d6 Damage instead. They are a nightmare for Monsters and Vehicles, especially if they don't have an Invulnerable Save. Again, an expensive unit, but as an Iyanden player I'm not concerned.
The D-Scythe appeared in 6th Edition, alongside the plastic models. Still not sure what the reasoning behind bringing this weapon to the game was. 8th Edition is the first edition where the Wraithcannon hasn't had the ability to instantly remove models from play, something they had long before Strength D became a universal special rule.
That brings Part Six to an end, Part Seven will be a look at the Fast Attack units.
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