The Aeldari are famed for the intense focus and willpower they command. They can slip into an almost trance-like state, allowing them to use the full extent of their grace and intellect even as bombs and bullets explode all around them. This manifests as a brand new army ability in the upcoming Codex: Aeldari—Battle Focus, and its effects on how they play are profound.
Now, Aeldari armies levy their speed and agility to get the one-up on their opponents with Battle Focus tokens, which they earn at the start of every round based on the size of their war host. Each token can be spent on one of six abilities that trigger when certain units take an action, with each ability able to be used once per phase.
Battle Focus
If your Army Faction is Asuryani, at the start of the battle round, you receive a number of Battle Focus tokens based on the battle size, as shown in the table below.
Battle Size | Battle Focus Tokens |
Incursion | 2 |
Strike Force | 4 |
Onslaught | 6 |
Each time one of the triggers shown in the Agile Manoeuvres section below occurs, you can spend one Battle Focus token to enable the relevant eligible unit to perform that Agile Manoeuvre. A unit is eligible to perform an Agile Manoeuvre if it has this ability and has not already performed an Agile Manoeuvre in the same phase. Unless otherwise stated, you cannot trigger the same Agile Manoeuvre more than once per phase. At the end of the battle round, all unspent Battle Focus tokens are lost.
Popping one or more of these abilities in a turn has your favourite units positively soar across the battlefield, putting their unmatched speed to good use capturing objectives, guaranteeing charges, and being an all-round nuisance to plodding mon-keigh. Have you ever wanted to see a Fire Prism zoom 21” across the battlefield and blow something to smithereens? We have.
Agile Manoevres: Star Engines
Trigger: When an eligible Vehicle unit from your army is selected to make a Normal move.
Effect: Until the end of the phase, add D6+1" to the Move characteristic of models in that unit.
Putting some distance in your Craftworld boots isn’t all your Battle Focus tokens are good for either, as Flitting Shadows twists that turn of speed into a defensive boon all assault armies will be jealous of. With premier close combat troops like Howling Banshees being deadly glass cannons that want to strike without reprisal, and a wide assortment of Deep Strike-capable specialists ready to jump into action, the ability to completely ignore the Fire Overwatch stratagem is worth its weight in wraithbone.
Agile Manoevres: Flitting shadows
Trigger: When an eligible unit from your army is selected to make a Normal, Advance or Fall Back move, is set up on the battlefield, or declares a charge.
Effect: Until the end of the turn, enemy units cannot use the Fire Overwatch Stratagem to shoot at that unit.
Some units, like Guardian Defenders, are more equipped to make use of Agile Manoeuvres than most. Their new Fleet of Foot ability makes attacking them a dangerous proposition, as those troops your opponent is looking to wipe out instead Fade Back towards their objective of choice without spending any of your Battle Focus tokens.
Guardian Defenders: Fleet of Foot
This unit can perform the Fade Back Agile Manoeuvre without spending a Battle Focus token to do so. It can do so even if other units have done so in the same phase, and doing so does not prevent other units from performing the same Agile Manoeuvre in the same phase.
Agile Manoevres: Fade Back
Trigger: In your opponent’s Shooting phase, just after an enemy unit has shot.
Effect: One eligible unit from your army (excluding Titanic units) that was hit by one or more of those attacks can make a Normal move of up to D6+1".
This doesn’t mean that your ability to manipulate the skeins of fate has been abandoned, but those powers now find themselves ensconced within a Detachment designed specifically to enhance the abilities of Aeldari psykers. We’ll be looking into this Seer Council later this week, so stay tuned for more on that.
Where does this leave aspiring Autarchs who are looking to pick up a new Aeldari army when the Codex emerges from the Webway? The many uses of Battle Focus mean the Aeldari faction is still able to fight in every theatre of war you can think of – with both ranged and melee units enjoying the extra speed and manoeuvrability – meaning you can expand your army in whichever direction seems coolest to you.
Agile Manoevres: Swift as the Wind
Trigger: When an eligible unit from your army is selected to make a Normal, Advance or Fall Back move. You can trigger this Agile Manoeuvre more than once per phase (provided a different unit performs it each time).
Effect: Until the end of the phase, add 2" to the Move characteristic of models in that unit.
Agile Manoevres: Sudden Strike
Trigger: When an eligible unit from your army is selected to fight.
Effect: Until the end of the phase, each time a model in that unit makes a Pile‑in or Consolidation move, it can move up to 6" instead of up to 3".
Agile Manoevres: Opportunity Seized
Trigger: When an enemy unit ends a Fall Back move.
Effect: One eligible unit from your army (excluding Titanic units) that started the phase within Engagement Range of that enemy unit can make a Normal move of up to D6+1".
Even towering Wraithknights benefit from Battle Focus, while many of the smaller wraith construct units unlock access to its boons when accompanied by a Spiritseer. The sky is truly the limit, and both durable vehicles get to gun their Star Engines to outpace opponents while elite Aspect Warriors move with acrobatic grace. Make sure to check out the Aeldari’s appearances on Battle Report over at Warhammer+ to scope out the units that match your vibe.
