With a hideous tearing sound, the corpse strewn battleground cracks and glows white, a towering form bursting from the blood soaked earth amongst an ectoplasmic storm. The Yncarne has come, bane of lesser races and icon of rebirth for the mighty Aeldari.
The Yncarne is a new Monstrous creature available to the new Ynnari faction of the Eldar. What makes this being so interesting is that any eldar force (Harlequins, Dark or Craftworld) can select to add it as a Lord of War despite its faction being Ynnari. He brings a fantastic set of rules, stats and a reasonable points value for what you get as well! Lets take a closer look…
This incarnation of morbid energies drifts towards its prey amongst a vortex of deathly whispers, a roaring psychic hurricane ripping the life from those who earn its ire. Mortal foes find their doom closing in, as unstoppable as the night. Those not turned to dust at the Yncarne’s gaze or sent tumbling to the ground as soulless husks are sliced in two by the sword of souls, a quicksilver blade that can change shape at need.
With a statline that makes most other models blush with envy, matched only by other greater daemons for the most part, the Yncarne is certainly not lacking in the profile department. Boasting a proper armour save on top of his daemon special rule (with an invulnerable save included) and a suitable toughness value and higher than average wounds, should anything survive his attacks as his super initiative, the Yncarne should survive most reprisals. With eternal warrior added to the mix (sorry Khaine!) the Yncarne is a match for most foes.
What makes the Yncarne so interesting is his other special rules. First off, we have deep strike – something that helps its low mobility (being a basic monster). It also boasts fleet to give it a little extra movement and slightly better odds on charge ranges. It also boasts preferred enemy daemons of slaanesh as well (a situational boost at best). Where things get interesting are Mastery Level 3 Psyker rule as well as its own special rules – Avatar of Ynnead, Inevitable Death and Ynnead Stirs.
Avatar of Ynnead allows the Yncarne a chance to regain a wound that it had lost earlier in the game when an Aeldari (eldar) model is slain within 7”. This is no small thing when combined with the Yncarnes already increased durability. This rule triggers WHENEVER a model is killed. This means it can fully restore its wounds quickly.
Inevitable Death is a unique way of deploying the Yncarne. Essentially, it must be deployed via deep strike reserve but when it does, it automatically arrives when a unit (friend or foe) is slain at least 1” away from where the destroyed unit was but as close as possible to it. It may not charge in the same turn it deploys in this fashion but note that this means player turn – not game turn. This rule also triggers EACH time a unit is slain – but its option in its use. This gives the Yncarne the ability move about rapidly – far more than you might first assume. Where models die, the Yncarne will follow!
Ynnead stirs rounds out the trio of new rules – granting fearless and feel no pain to Ynnari faction models within a reasonable range. This buffs also extends to the Yncarne itself – even more durability!
Those Ynnari who fight alongside this creature are invigorated by a cold and chilling power, lent the icy determination of the reborn.
The last part of the puzzle for the Yncarne is its weapon and psychic rules. The Sword of Souls, or Vilith-zhar, is a weapon of not inconsiderable potency. Ap2, armour bane, flesh bane and soul blaze is a great mix of rules, allowing the Yncarne to engage any foe (though hilariously the Avatar of Khaine is immune to the Yncarne thanks to soulblaze!).
For psychic powers, the Yncarne being level 3 mastery and having access to the Sanctic and Revenant opens up even more options for this model. Sticking with Sanctic, access to hammer hand, sanctuary, cleansing flame and vortex of doom all work well in the Yncarnes hands. Gate of Infinity is less useful thanks to the way the Yncarne moves about thanks to Inevitable Death but it can help get it about later in the game.
Looking at Revenant, Spirit hook gives the Yncarne an ok shooting attack (something it lacks) while storm of whispers gives you an elite killing nova to contrast the horde killing cleansing flame. Unbind souls and Gaze of Ynnead are both again ok shooting powers for different reasons – Gaze thanks to the supreme killing hit it has (ignoring all saves!) but sadly not being focused while Unbind souls will help trigger soul bursts as you only need a single kill to trigger it. Word of the phoenix is a fantastic power – good range and triggering soulburst. Combined with the way the Yncarne deploys, this power is a great way to help push support up the table or add more fire support while you close. Ancestors Grace also deserves a special mention – a relatively short range but giving +1 WS, BS, I, A, LD and the adamantium will special rule to a non vehicle unit (again including the Yncarne itself) can make some units truly terrifying. Combine with Word of the phoenix and an assault unit!
For its price, the Yncarne is pretty good – solid stats, rules and most importantly, flexibility. It should slot into most armies directly and support them easily. Obviously it will work best with other Ynnari forces (via a reborn warhost commonly) but thanks to the rules allowing to be added to any eldar detachment with space, you can drop it into pretty much any eldar list.
I certainly am keen to try mine out (once I finish building the darn thing!)