“You may as well try to catch starlight as bring the Eldar to battle.”
   –Naval Saying, Codex Iyanden

Even after the Fall of the Eldar, Craftworld Iyanden remained a stalwart, brilliant light in the darkness. Now this Craftworld is but an eerie shadow of what it once was, home to more dead souls than living. Yet in the long-lost Herakon Cluster lie ancient Maiden worlds, Spirit Stones, and wraith-wrought Artefacts that might enable you to rekindle Iyanden’s flame of glory. Fate has brought you to Forbidden Stars. 

Today’s preview introduces you to the rapid starships, menacing Wraithguard, and quicksilver tactics of the Iyanden Eldar. Merciless war awaits you in the Herakon Cluster, and if you want to dominate the galaxy once again, war is your only hope.

Armies of the Dead

On Iyanden the boundary between life and death is blurred. Wraithguard containing the spirits of deceased fighters enter combat alongside living Aspect Warriors, united by the determination to triumph in war. You begin a game of Forbidden Stars with Aspect Warriors, a unit of Wraithguard, and two Hellebore Frigates. No other faction begins the game with two starship units and these swift, torpedo-armed vessels have the most firepower of any ship at their command level. They not only enable you to move your troops easily throughout the Herakon Cluster, but also to perform devastating Orbital Strikes early in the game. 

Only the Eldar are as dangerous in the void as they are on the ground. If you choose, you can purchase heavily armed, swift Void Stalkers, the pinnacle of Eldar starfaring technology, to soar, swoop, and strike alongside your Hellebore Frigates. Of course, your warriors do not need to rely upon starships for conveyance, but instead travel the labyrinthine, ancient Webway. Whenever you resolve the dominate order, you may use the Webway to transport a unit to another friendly world anywhere in the Herakon Cluster. In planetary battles, nimble, silent, sleek Falcons fire terrible lasers upon the unsuspecting enemy while conveying troops to and from battle. Most terrible of all are the immense Warlock Titans that contain within their Wraithbone armour the deceased spirits of potent Eldar psykers. Technology that has been honed over aeons amplifies the strength of these spirits and uses them to fuel extremely deadly psychic weapons. Under any circumstances, a psychic lance obliterates enemies’ minds and leaves their scorched corpses smoking on the ground. Backed by the farseeing spirit of a Warlock Titan, this innovative weapon becomes even more lethal and powerful.

Farsight and Stratagems

While unparallelled technology makes the Eldar ruthless on the battlefield, the guidance of Farseers and Spiritseers enables them to outmanoeuvre the enemy and escape from defeat time and time again. One of the basic Eldar combat cards is Hit and Run, which enhances your firepower and allows you to withdraw a unit from the battle safely (it only takes a single unit to conquer a planet). By playing Spiritseer’s Guidance, you can rout a single unit to prevent the rest of your forces fighting in that battle from suffering any damage that execution round, and perhaps win the battle because of that unit’s strategic sacrifice.

Eldar Event cards offer similar strategic advantages. The Farsight Scheme allows you to flee from combat unharmed, leaving behind only the damage that you have brutally and swiftly dealt to the enemy. The Outmanoeuvre Scheme grants you the singular ability to manipulate your timing. Once all orders have been placed, play this card to look at an order you issued and change when it will occur. This may let you deploy new units just before an enemy assault, or perform an orbital strike after an opponent has moved his forces into your system. The Eldar are known for their brilliant and devious manoeuvres, so use the strategize order frequently in order to access these stratagems.

Outcasts Returned

Ever since exiled Prince Yriel and his Corsairs abruptly returned and rescued Iyanden from the ravenous savagery of the Tyranids, Iyanden has retained an alliance with those Eldar who live apart from the Craftworld. In Forbidden Stars, Corsairs and outcasts prove as deadly to your foes as they once did to the Kraken Hive Fleet. The Outcasts Returned Event card brings a Hellebore Frigate to any uncontrolled void in the Herakon Cluster, from where you can rain down destruction upon a vulnerable enemy occupation.

With the Corsair Raid order upgrade card, you gain the singular ability to execute Orbital Strikes immediately after a battle that you initiated with an advance order. This means you can always use your starships’ sophisticated weaponry to annilhilate any foes that your warriors and Wraithguard couldn’t eliminate. Corsairs and Outcasts may choose not to dwell among the disembodied spirits and empty hollows of Iyanden, but their loyalty allows the Iyanden Eldar to continue their quest to regain supremacy among the stars. 

The Phoenix Rises

A tantalizing new frontier has opened up, promising staggering riches and a powerful future to whoever conquers it. The Iyanden Eldar are armed with awe-inspiring weapons technology, swift starships, incisive farsight, and wily tactics, and suppoted by undauntable Corsairs and myriads of restless dead. But they need a magnificent, cunning leader who can guide the fearless Aspect Warriors and vengeful Wraithguard to victory. Are you the commander who will lead the Iyanden Eldar’s conquest of this unclaimed sector? 

War is your only hope. Pre-order Forbidden Stars from your local retailer today.