News: No news is good news...

Login  |  Register

Author Topic: The 7th Edition Rules and Latest Codices Make Exodites a Real Possibility  (Read 2220 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Offline Daeron of Lorien

  • Newbie
  • *
  • Posts: 9
  • I *LOVE* 40k Online!
With the introduction, in the 7th edition, of Unbound army lists and the ability for “Come The Apocalypse” allies to be taken as allies, it became possible for me to finally create a wide variety of Exodite units using several different codices.  This series of articles will explore the possibilities of using the existing 7th edition rules to create entire Exodite armies.  In this article, I will explain my approach  and provide a summary of the four codices that can be used with the hopes of inspiring other Eldar players who wish to embark on their own Exodus.  In the following articles, I will walk through each codex and explain how the rules and units can be used to represent Exodites, including some modeling ideas.

Let me admit right up front that many other modelers have demonstrated ways to model Exodites for the Eldar and the Dark Eldar Codex.  I am not claiming to have any new ideas necessarily for the traditional Eldar armies.  However, my goal is to show how to blend the traditional armies with the new Tyranid and Imperial Knight codex to build an Exodite force that can beautifully reflect the stat lines and abilities of the units found in these four armies and offer even more modeling opportunities for all skill levels who wish to explore this aspect of Eldar history.

My Journey to Lorien
My approach may seem strange but I think it will make much more sense if I explain how I got here.

Ever since finding the Eldar in 40k back in the 5th edition days, my imagination was captured by the story of the Exodites.  With years of Elf-loving game mastering under my belt, it was not long before I had created the Maiden World of Lorien (named after a Babylon 5 character, not Tolkien’s Middle Earth history). When the newest Eldar codex came out, I started, in earnest, to figure out how to create an Exodite army using the “counts as” approach so that there would not be any difficulties posed by other players not wanting to play my army based on the fan-based codex available on the web.

Since I love model building and conversions, I was not put off by the amount of modeling work Exodites would probably require.  Unfortunately, before I could get too far down that road, I found that the Eldar codex did not really lend itself well to represent Exodites, at least in my opinion.  Though the Eldar have a few monstrous creatures in the form of Wraithlords and Wraithknights, the lack of beast or cavalry units made it difficult to create a valid Exodite Dragon Knight. 

Similarly, though all of the HQ’s, Striking Scorpions, Swooping Hawks and even the Shining Spears could be a solid basis for several Exodite units, it felt wrong using vehicle stat lines to represent the dragon units.   However, an inspiration from Skyrim and the Warhammer Wood Elf army rounded out my Eldar based Exodites by representing the Wraithguard/Wraithblades as Spriggans using the Dryad models.

The end result was a Exodite-ish army that fell short of my hopes.  I had no dragons and only one real dinosaur unit and though the Exodite fluff makes them out to be generally good at close combat, my army couldn’t capture that feeling.  Still, I enjoyed the mix of Warhammer and 40k miniatures and my local gaming group was supportive of my efforts. 

When I took a look at the other Eldar, the 4th Edition Dark Eldar, I had some further inspiration.  Here, I found the Beastmaster, an almost perfect match for the Dragon Knights who could control other dragons.  Unfortunately, there was no dragon lance type weapon I could fit into that unit.  I was getting closer to my goal but I still felt a long way off.

I finally had the opportunity, at least that’s what I keep calling it, to play my Tau against a Tyranid army from their new codex.  I learned about the concepts of Synapse Range, Instinctive Behavior and the Powers of the Hive Mind.  Later that week, I had a flash that would blow my Exodite possibilities wide open!  Here, in the Tyranid codex were my Exodite dinosaurs (the creatures with the Instinctive behavior), the Dragon Warriors (the ones with synapse abilities or no Instinctive behavior) and even the Flying Great Drakes with magic powers and breath weapons (Winged Hive Tyrants). 

I spent the next few months pouring over the Tyranid units and the possible models for each.  Since my local gaming group allows non-Citadel miniatures in non-tournament games, I had the opportunity to create a mix of Citadel and other models to make the army a reality quickly and buy me some time to find suitable citadel equivalents where I would need them to make completely tournament legal armies.

Part way through this effort, the 7th edition came out and made the Tyranid army a possible ally for the Eldar so the Exodite units I loved from the Eldar codex could be on the table with my dinosaurs and dragon knights.  The final result is an approach to creating Exodites that can satisfy any player from those wishing a heavily converted army to those who would like to add an exodite flavor with minimal or no conversions required.

A Brief Summary of the Lorien Fluff

To see how the different codices knit together to form a whole, let me summarize my Maiden World’s fluff in relation to each codex. 

The Eldar Codex forms the foundation around which the other codices revolve.  The Dragon King, his barons, nobles and knightly orders keep the clans safe from external threats with the help of a few native dinosaurs and what are believed to be either tree spirits or trees imbues with the spirits of departed elder via the world infinity circuit. 

The Dark Eldar Codex represents four independent clans on Lorien that arrived well after the first Exodites but whose traumatic experiences with raiders, pirates and orks spawned a keen sense of venegence and demonstrate some measure of sensual excess while still remaining Eldar.  Though they have settled on Lorien, they are more likely to use vehicles and make their vehicles available to the other clans for use during battle.

The Tyranid codex is the source of most of the dinosaurs, dinosaur riders and all of the dragons.  These represent Exodites who have developed the ability to deeply connect psychically to the various creatures of Lorien.  They ride several types of dinosaurs and command many other types with the help of great winged drakes who also have the ability to control the dinosaurs of the world.

Finally, the Imperial Knight Codex is used to represent the various Exodite Knights used on Lorien.  Exodite fluff is filled with conflicts between the Exodite and Imperial knights and, short of using a titan, this is the simplest way, while being consistent with the fluff, to incorporate  a super heavy walker into your Exodite Army.

Weapons and vehicles are variations on Eldar/Dark Eldar equivalents but the use of wraithbows and wraith crossbows represents many of the standard infantry weapons.

Explaining Allies

With the ability for all armies to ally to some extent in 7th edition, it helps to forge a narrative to help explain the ‘unlikely’ combination of codices in this article.  The House Clans (Eldar) and Independent Clans (Dark Eldar) are Battle Brothers so they need no further narrative. 

The Dragonmasters, however, need an explanation for why they must start 12” from any other unit and stay at least 6” away or risk inaction that turn.  Whereas all of the clans are pretty much standard Eldar, the Dragonmasters have developed an ability not found among the Eldar to control local predators without actually riding them.  This can be unsettling for the typical Exodite as there is always the fear that the dragonmasters will lose control and their dinosaurs will begin to feast on the regular exodite infantry, especially since these same beasts present a very real threat in the Exodite’s day-to-day life at home.  Conversely, the typical Exodite is unable to link psychically with the dinosaurs and is not recognized as anything more than prey to the beast so if they get too close to a non-Dragonmaster model, they face a struggle with their predatory instinct.

The Exodite Knights offered the greatest narrative challenge here.  Eldar don’t have trouble with their own titans or piloted vehicles so it was hard to come up with a reason that the Exodite knights would not benefit from warlord traits or psychic powers.  I have not been entirely successful but since my psykers must choose who benefits form their blessings, I just don’t choose the knight and the narrative is not needed.

Exodites from Codex: Eldar
The Eldar codex provides a very convenient starting place for building an Exodite army with very little conversion work.  This codex can be used to simply add a couple Exodite flavored units to your existing Eldar army following the common narrative of the Craftworlds coming to the defense of a Maiden World.  However, this codex can be used to make an entirely Exodite army.
 
In general, the aspect warriors become “Knightly Orders” with the named HQ’s as their greatest leader.  The psyker HQ’s are the nobility of the Exodites, guiding their destiny as they defend their way of life.  Finally, the guardians are the Exodite settlers themselves, called form their daily life as artisans or herders to defend their way of life from invaders.  Models can be the standard Eldar models leveraging the fact that the Exodites trade freely with their Craftworld kin.  However, with very little effort, some of the Warhammer Dark Elf kits can be used for many these.  The result will be an army that looks like it comes from somewhere other than a Craftworkld.

The vehicles can be used as is or with some slight modeling work to make them look a bit older than the current versions but since the Eldar fled their world with much of their technology in tow, there is no reason to completely avoid using Eldar vehicles.  The two jetbike units are the first place dinosaurs can be introduced.  Riding terradons from the Warhammer kits, Windriders and Shining Spears can be added to the army and instantly transform the look of your entire army.

The most impressive part of the creature side of the Exodite army within this codex comes in the wraith units.  Walking trees, small or large, and large dinosaurs are visually a good match for the stat lines and abilities of each of the wraith units.  The beauty of this is that they are easily modeled using other Citadel miniatures, mostly from the Warhammer line of kits. 

The end result of an Exodite army built form the Codex: Eldar is that you have an Eldar army with a rustic look with a few key units that include showcase creature models that prove your army isn’t the typical Craftworld fare usually encountered on the table.

Exodites from Codex: Dark Eldar

Just as with the Eldar models, it is not a difficult jump to leverage the Codex: Dark Eldar to great effect in making an Exodite army.  Though it is possible to build a foot-slogging Dark Eldar army, I am not sure how effective those armies are so here no apologies will be made for using vehicles with these Exodites even more than with the standard Eldar codex.  The greatest challenge here may be removing some of the “spikey-ness” of the standard models if you choose to use them.  However, I will leave that to personal taste.  The paint job will convey the Exodite feeling regardless of the details of many of the models.

The fact that there are no psykers can be tied to the fact that some of the Exodites are fearful of using these powers as they blame their psychic ability for the collapse of their society.  All of the HQ’s here represent the ruling nobility of the clans.  The only HQ’s that need conversions are the Haemonculous and Urien.  The Exodites are not mutilators but the HQ can represent some of their leaders simply by paying attention to their wargear.

Troops are very simple.  Whether they are shooting troops like the Kabalite warriors or the assault experts like the wyches, these can be easily modeled with the Wood Elf glade guard armed with bows or swords.  Adding in some of the Dark Eldar special or heavy weapons only enhances the impression.

Mandrakes can represent those who are psykers but instead of manifesting powers, they focus their power through their bow.  They are the psychic hunters of the Exodites.  Wracks are the only Elite that I have not written in yet but I am sure I could figure out an appropriate dinosaur that their stats would match. 

Just as with the Eldar, all of the vehicles can be used as is. But the Fast Attack slot includes the first real opportunities to use creatures.  The Hellions can be represented by cavalry, like Glade Riders whereas the reavers can also be modeled with Terradons.  The Scourges are ideally modeled by Hawk Riders from the Wood Elf line of Kits.  Of course, the Beastmasters, as written, can easily represent Eldar that can command dinosaurs.  The Clawed Fiend is a raptor while the Khymaera can be an armoured dinosaur and the razorwing flock can be a “compy” pack (think Jurassic Park 2).

The Heavy support gives two monstrous creatures that have abilities than are not very much like dinosaurs.  However, the exodites used Exo-suits and both the Cronos and Talos can represent these piloted suits exceptionally well to make a very uniquely Exodite unit.
The most important thing to consider in trying to convey an Exodite feel when playing on the table is modifying the descriptions of some of the weapons to they are less torture devices and more like weapons of war.  For example, the Agonizer becomes a poisoned power sword giving you the ability to take down even wraithknights in close combat with a very Exodite-ish weapon. 

Exodites from Codex: Tyranid

I have to be honest that the greatest surprise came when I saw how the Codex:Tyranid could be used to really convey the whole dragon-rider Exodite feel. The Psychic powers are renamed “Power of the Dragon Mind” and because the effects are pretty generic can convey a very Exodite feel especially if you rewrite the fluff of the effect.  The Warlord trait effects already convey a very Exodite feel.  For example, the Nature’s Bane trait making forests dangerous terrain means the Exodites control the plants and smaller creatures of the forests to attack intruders.  The others don’t take much imagination to rewrite their ‘fluff’ to yield the same effect.

The beauty of this codex is that it splits the units into two basic types: those without instinctive behaviors and those with instinctive behaviors.  This allows a framework to use dinosaurs, sometimes with equipment crews, to represent the instinctive behavior models while the rest are elf models.  The most dramatic Exodite feel in this codex can be found in the Hive Tyrant and the Norn Crown.  A winged Hive tyrant with ranged weapons is easily a match to a Flying Dragon.  Its psychic ability matches the dragon’s abilities as well.  Since the draognmaster elves establish psychic links with the beasts, then the addition of a rider to a dragon can be the equivalent of the Norn Crown, causing the combination of the two minds to control their beast host over a wider range.     

The rich depth of the Exodite fluff can easily be modeled in the Synapse and genestealer units.  The Lashwhip & Bonesword stat-line is a great representation of a dragon lance which strikes early and can kill in one blow.  The Tyranid Warriors are the Dragon Knights while the Tyranid Shrikes are Terradon riders.  The Genestealers are a great stat-line matching the fluff for the “Sundered Knights”, those warriors who have lost their beloved mount in combat and are in the throes of extreme grief.

The codex is filled with many units that can be made with dinosaur models.  For example, the Carnifex almost screams “Stegodon” while the Tyrannofex stat-line fits the Warhammer Behemoth model pretty well.  The challenge in this codex is coming up with a variety of large dinosaur models to help differentiate the units on the table.  Citadel does not have many dinosaurs so, if you are not planning on using the units in a tournament and your local game group doesn’t bawk at it, there are some good dinosaur models available from other kit makers that can be used.  A favorite one of mine is the Lindberg “brontosaurus” that I use for an Exocrine.  It fits perfectly on the oval base and just needs to mount one weapon on its back.

In this Codex, just as with the Dark Eldar codex, conveying a convincing army during the game will mean that you rename the weapons.  The biologic names of the Tyranid weapons can dispel the illusion of a rustic elder army pretty easily.  Shooting your “bio-plasmic cannon” using the “stream” profile from the back of your Exocrine isn’t as convincing as firing your Prism Cannon in “focused” mode from your Megadon.    I will go into more detail on this in the Codex:Tyranid article later.

Exodites from Codex: Imperial Knights

The Exodite fluff is full of stories about the Imperial Knights facing Exodite knights and the Wraithknight model is pretty cool.  Though the knight stat-lines do not match the Fire Gale or Towering Destroyer perfectly and the proportions do not allow the Bright Stallion much opportunity, why do we have to assume that there were only three patterns of Exodite knights in the whole universe. 
By breaking away from that assumption, You can use the Games Workshop and Forgeworld profiles for their various knights to make Exodite equivalents.  Since the Exodite knights in Epic and the fluff are taller and more slender than the Imperial Knights, the wraithknight model is an ideal frame on which to base any of these versions.  Just convert some weapons, put it on the larger base and you are all set.  This alos provides the greatest opportunity for conversions of the wraithknight model itself so that it can look even more distinctive than its Craftworld cousin.

Conclusion

I hope that you can see the possibilities afforded us by the new rules and latest codices to create a legitimate Exodite army that captures most, if not all of the fluff available to us.  Hopefully, we will see more Dragon Kings discover the potential of their worlds to rebuild the great Eldar civilization and begin to field their own armies against the great enemy.

 


Powered by EzPortal