The Wailing Doom

40K3 conversion by Tom and Erik Setzer; Based on 40K2 background and rules by Mike Freeman

Recently, the powers that be at GW reasoned that because the Avatar is "very angry", he can't parry. I've heard some feedback on this issue, and heard many different sides. One thing I discovered from some Old Guard Eldar players was that the Avatar's mighty weapon is actually a shapeshifting type thing. This idea seems very cool to me. Imagine, the metal statue of a living god strolling towards your enemy's battle lines, screaming and thirsting for battle. In his, or her hand is a great shimmering blade which cuts bloody swathes through the foe. It changes with the Avatar's mood, being a sword one minute, a spear the next. I like it. Well, such a god deserves not only to parry, but to have a truly might blade, not some sword slash meltagun that he's too angry to use properly! So, submitted for your approval comes some alternate rules to the Avatar's mighty blade.

The Suin Dallae

As it is well known throughout the known galaxy, at the heart of every Craftworld sits a might incarnation of the Eldar war god, Khaela Mensha Khaine. This answer to the daemons of Chaos is easily more than a match for almost any foe in the cosmos, wading through the enemies of his people like a scythe through wheat. When the Avatar leaves his mighty Throne of Iron, he carries the Suin Dalllae, the Wailing Doom in the language of man. It is called so because it is incribed with many runes with writhe and shriek in pain and anger. This mighty weapon is far superior than anything the technology of any race reproduced, because it is a peice of the weapon of a god. The way this revered blade came into existance is a tale of the anger of a raging war god.

The Forging of the Blade

When Khaine triumphed in the War of Heaven, he chained Vaul, the Eldar smith god to an anvil. Although he had beat his nemesis, Khaine realised the immense skill that this crippled smith possessed. His infamous sword, Dawnlight, caused many a greivous wound to Khaine, and almost turned to tides of battle. Thus, he forced Vaul to forge him the mightiest blade for the mightiest god. At first, Vaul was reluctant to forge such a weapon for Khaine, as with it, he would become nigh-unstoppable. But, Khaine made him a promise. If he forged the weapon, he would not kill Lileath and Kurnous, his sibling gods. So, faced with such a choice, Vaul set to his work. By forging the very essence of the Warp into a truly massive weapon, capable of chaning if the War God so wished it. At a thought, it could become a scythe, an axe, or a spear. Khaine was please with it, and kept good on his promise. Lileath and Kurnous would not perish by his hand. To finish the blade, he dipped it is his own blood. From that moment on, it has always been smoldering, and eternally dripping blood.

The Battle with Slaanesh

When Slaanesh was awakened by the decadence of the Eldar, he destroyed all the Eldar gods except two: Khaine, and Cegorach the Laughing God. Upon facing the foul Prince of Chaos in the warp, Khaine's Wailing Doom took a form nobody had ever seen before. It appeared as a utterly huge sword of black obsidian, cracking with warp energy. Constant howling came from it, and blood poured from it's surface. Such a terrible blade was given a proper name: Taigenak, the Blade of Fury, essence of Khaela Mensha Khaine. With this sword, Khaine maimed Slaanesh horribly, but he ultimately retired to his Avatar forms on all the Craftworlds. However, the essence of the god was carried with him, along with his mighty weapon and all it's shape shifting abilities. Although the pure rage of Khaine at the time he fought Slaanesh will problably never be equalled, it is said that when the fury of an Avatar reaches higher points, his Suin Dallae becomes the favoured weapon of Khaine, War, Rage, Vengeance, and Fury given shape, the sword that is the mighty Taigenak.

New Rules for the Wailing Doom

Hmph, I bet you skipped my little Legend there. Well here we go.

The blade the Avatar carries is not any mortal weapon, but the actualy essence of the War God given shape. It fights for the Avatar with almost human intelligence, and can be given the shape to suit the Avatar's senses and rage. The way it works goes like this. Roll a d6 at the start of the Eldar player's turn, and consult the chart below. What form it takes depends pretty much on the thoughts of the Avatar, and so it may take the shape of a spear, axe, sword, etc. The d6 roll is what the weapon is until the Eldar player's next turn. The state of the Avatar's rage also affects the shape of the blade. The madder he is, the better he wants his weapon! The effect of this is that a +1 modifier can be added to the dice roll if a, the Avatar has killed any enemies in the previous turn, or the Avatar has been shot at it the last turn, or c, if more than 3 Eldar have died within 8" of him. The effect of the weapon varies as the weapon type changes, so one turn the Avatar may be able to parry, another he may not. Unless specified, the weapon acts as a power weapon using the Avatar's Strength.

D6 Roll	Form of Weapon
1	Gauntlets of Khaine: Large spikes appear on the Avatar's arms. He gets an extra attack this turn.
2	Claw of Khaine: The Bloody Hand of the Avatar elongates and becomes a sinister claw of destruction. Anyone who is hit by the Claw suffers a -1 penalty to all saving throws, as the claws are incredibally sharp.
3	Spear of the War God: Khaine can use this spear to channel his rage into a mighty blast of death. The Spear may be used in close combat or thrown as a ranged weapon (Range 18", Str. 6, AP 1, Assault 1).
4	Sword of Rage: The Wailing Doom takes the form of a mighty blade, allowing the Avatar to swipe at his foes. The Avatar may parry, which forces one of his opponents to reroll one of their to-hit rolls in close combat.
5	Axe of Khaine: The Avatar holds a mighty Rune Axe, which glows with his utter fury. While he loses an attack, all hits he inflicts are counted as Str. 8.
6	The Scythe of Destruction: The Wailing Doom takes on the form of a mighty Scythe. From it hangs skulls that scream and shout the doom of all people before the Avatar. It counts as having a Str. of 6. Any unit that loses a combat to the Avatar suffers a -2 to their Ld test in addition to any other modifiers.
7	Taigenak, the Blade of Fury: Khaine unleashes his most unstoppable weapon for his Avatar to use in his indescribable anger. This blade is forged with the pure essence of the Warp, and is the mightiest weapon known in the galaxy, and is rightly feared throughout it. Any hits inflicted with the Taigenak automatically wound.

Now I understand that it's a little scarey to have a D-Cannon type sword, but consider this. To get the Taigenak, you have to kill a whole bunch of people, then roll a 6.

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