Topic: Eldar Corsairs, Pre-Heresy Dark Angels + World Eaters

[Aurics Pride]

Great work again Cav, those Wave Serpents look super clean compared to the Predator and Storm Eagle though! haha
Actually really like the Alternate colour scheme on the Predator, it really stands out.

[Cavalier]

@Saim-Dann- lol... bro you got me. I can't escape all the red jokes! Damn you! lol so funny man. Whats really funny about it, is I actually never see the joke coming... which says something about my red obsession. Dude... wait till you see the Wych Cult I'm going to choose. You're gonna laugh your rear-end off. Lol... Anyway glad you like it my man. Thanks as always for your funny and awesome comments my man. 

@Ynneadwraith- Thanks so much bud. Yeah the recipe is a bit different from how I did it on the Terminators + Marines. Its Army Painter Bone primer, big heavy dry brushing of Rakarth Flesh, deep Reikland Flesh wash, then I a big heavy dry brush of Screaming Skull, then another layer of drybrush and highlight with Pallid Wych Flesh. Thanks about the weathering too... thats a tricky part. Also that weathering is Eshin Grey scorches, Mithril Silver (the old mithril silver) and then Typhus Corrosion over it. Thanks again my man. Glad you dig it.

@Auric's Pride- Thanks AP. Glad you like the Predator, I know it may be a bit weird to have 2 different color schemes within the same army but its something I always liked. I guess its an old 2nd edition thing. But I am glad you like it. I know its not the "coolest" scheme but I like how it mixes up the look of the army. Especially since the Predators are complimentary pieces in the army, having them be a contrasting color works (at least IMO). Anyway thanks man... and also if you could please give me some feedback on the dilemma below.

@Everybody- Well guys I'm beyond stoked for the new dex. The stratgems are EXACTLY what I was looking for. That and the "Quickening" power offered by the Warlocks... for me its a dream come true. For me their are some super strong units, but overall the codex is more tricky and strategic than powerful which is what I really like.

So I was beyond thrilled when the Alaitoc attributes were revealed because my Shadowstrike Coterie was modeled after them. With Illic, the Rangers, my Scorpions and Dark Reapers being my night fighting, infiltration, assassin/sniper specialists.

However... I DO want to stick to my new fluff of having a Ynnari force and splitting them up has been difficult.

I basically want to run 2x Battallions. One filled up with Rangers, the other being a Ynnari/Corsair battalion with 3x Corsairs.

So I'm trying to figure out how I want to configure my force and I'm really struggling! The thing is... I want to keep a Ynnari wing for fluff purposes. Especially since I just finished those Corsairs. But I also want to have an Alaitoc wing led by Illic and my Rangers. However... the key being the units that I want to pair my stratagems are not painted in black... namely the Guardians I just finished!







Just finished unifying 2 different squads into a single unit. Gonna do markings on them so I can separate them again in the future.



So what I was thinking... was basically running my Ynnari... as just Corsairs and Dark Eldar units. With all my Craftworld units being Alaitoc led by Illic and 3x Rangers, the Scorpions etc. I'd prefer all the Alaitoc stuff to be proper black... but it doesnt feel like to much of a cheese out especially considering the battalion is accomplished through the Rangers, Illic and a Warlock painted in black (working on that Warlock right now).

I'm running up against some majorly competitive lists, so I want to keep pace. But I dont want to go back on having a big Ynnari element in my army either. So I figure the Visarch, 3x Corsairs, Incubi and Wyches is pretty strong fluff commitment.

With Illic, Warlock (painted in black), Rangers x2-x3, Scorpions, Dark Reapers (all in black) with a big unit of Guardians, Wraithguard and perhaps a Hornet or 2 being the only red units. I'm also strongly considering stripping 2 of my 5 Hornets and painting them black to better match the fluff... So let me know if you think its too much a cheese out. I'd love to know.

So let me know what you guys think. I really do agonize about this stuff... so do let me know. Anyway thanks guys talk soon!

[Aurics Pride]

Ok, so my 2 cents.......
Fluff wise I don't see any issue with combined forces as long as there is something that links them together.
Alaitoc is very well known for working alongside bands of Corsairs, with the high quantities of Rangers and Pathfinders sent out by the Craftworld it's not unfeasible to think that they would have links with Eldar who already know the area of space that they are operating in etc. If anything Alaitoc is probably the most likely to ally themselves with Corsair bands as Rangers/Pathfinders are treading the path of the outcast anyway, much like Corsairs!
As for the Ynarri..... Corsair bands have been known to embrace Dark Eldar like societies (as shown very well in the last FW book for them). It'd be no stretch for Corsair bands to take onboard the Ynarri philosophy.
I really don't see it being too much of a powergamer thing to be using Craftworlds and Ynarri together, it's not like the old Superfriends lists from the old edition or the imperial soup lists where they are taking everything good out of various books without any sort of theme.

However.... The inner slightly anally retentive side of me would definitely want things painted up accordingly in each battalion i.e all the Alaitoc in Black and all the Corsair/Ynarri in Red. But that's definitely just me.

I could definitely see Hornets fitting in very well with the Shadowstrike Coterie, a unit that is capable of lightning quick hard strikes.
Also, I think I want to request that you look at making up some Shadow Spectres. I would love to see how you'd Kitbash and paint those guys!

[Cavalier]

You know what AP? I gotta agree with you man. You either got run it all as one thing (All CWE or all Ynnari) or have the different detachments painted differently. Appreciate your honesty bro. Thats what I'm gonna do.

This weekend I've got a game coming up and I'm gonna run them all Ynnari (I wont have the book by then).

But my next game I may experiment with running them all CWE.

I think even when running them Ynnari I'll still have access to the juicy psychic powers like Quickening, so if I wanted to run a battalion (hell I could almost run a brigade) I could still chuck that 20 man brick of Guardians up the table super quick. No stratagems hurts, but I can still manage.

But for my buddy with the hyper competitive Conscript spam he's getting both barrels of the new CWE dex!

Yeah part of the thing with Ynnari Corsairs... is that Yvraine was actually a Corsair Princess (before becoming a Succubus) and its the Corsairs that got them out of Comorragh at the beginning of the GS:II. They even repeatedly mention the Corsairs sticking with them throughout the book.

So in terms of my army, my Corsair Prince's primary Coterie (The Lions of Asuryan) are long time allies to my Shadowstrike Coterie led by "Illic" (he needs a name). So there is a good bond there.

What I'll have to do is just paint up a big brick of 20 Guardians all in black and strip some of my Hornets and I'll have everything painted up properly for a double brigade of Alaitaoc style CWE (all in black) and then a brigade of proper Ynnari Corsairs (all in red).

Anyway thanks so much AP! You are the man a true battle bro! Appreciate it man!

Now on to the minis!

So I've been ferociously painting up reinforcements for my Eldar. Not only did I re-detail all those Guardians I painted up a couple Warlocks to help bolster my forces. Check them out!










I've got a 3rd one on the way and I'm really happy about it. I eventually will convert up more kitbashy type dudes but I want to have some decent looking models and not just use my Farseer + Void Dreamer who are a little too fancy to really be "mere" warlocks. Anyway hope you guys enjoy and thanks AP for the super awesome response!

[Irisado]

That's great work on everything, but my favourite is the Warlock accompanying the Rogue Trader Farseer.  You always manage to get those red robes and all shading just right.  Fantastic.

[magenb]

use my Farseer + Void Dreamer who are a little too fancy to really be "mere" warlocks.

Its craftworld Eldar, fancy is what we do

The white really pops off all of those model great work.

[Looshkin]

Love the group shots Cav. I particularly like that Warlock too. I've always been fond of the model; I think he was the 2nd Elder model I painted when I got back into the hobby in 2005/06.

I love the idea of the black Eldar representing Alaitoc forces and the red being Ynnari/Corsair. I think the 2 groups look distinctive and cohesive and your opponent shouldn't have a problem at all with you running them as proposed.

Awesome bud!

[Partninja]

I think you might have a problem fielding Ynarri and CWE units in the same army Cav. While I'm not completely certain on the wording, a review I was watching made it seem as though any army that has Ynarri units, turns off the CWE bonuses. I'll see if I can find that review again to confirm.

Edit: would love to see a Cav-torial on how to do black armor based models like you have above.

[Cavalier]

@Irisado- I'm right there with you Irisado. I love that Warlock. I remember when he was new! Thanks for your feedback as always Irisado. Always looking forward to sharing some work on retro models with you.

@Magenb- Too true! Thanks bud!

@Looshkin- Thanks so much my man. Glad I got a true Alaitoc player seal of approval! Also yeah these are my old school 2nd ed models I bought back in 98' I believe! I love them too, though I do want to kitbash some original guys soon. But these guys are a joy to paint. I just love the way the cloth was sculpted. Perfect for painting. Anyway thank bud!

@Partninja- Sweet Ynnead, Partninja in the project logs, this is an event! lol Just kidding man, thanks so much for stopping by. Always love to read your posts. Any time you post I'm always sure to check in and get some good tactical info!

Yeah I'm pretty sure the combo I was thinking of is possible. I remember an FAQ came out awhile back stating that you could have Ynnari in a seperate detachment and still field some CWE alongside them. But that was awhile ago...

However, if you are correct its no big deal really. I'll just run them using CWE rules sometimes, Ynnari others... though I must admit I'd love to be able to run them together. Not for cheese purposes just to match the fluff of my two Corsair Coteries.

Also for the black its SUPER easy. Chaos Black Primer, highlight with Eshin Grey, highlight with Dawnstone and thats it! I've got a fledgling Pre-Heresy Dark Angels army that I painted the same way with 30+ Tac Marines + 10 Terminators painted the exact same way. I wouldn't paint black armor any other way. You dont need to go over it Abaddon Black or any of that. My only other advice would be to hit it with a coat of Nuln Oil if you want a matte finish or Nuln Oil Gloss if you want a sort of Viynl look (I've done that on commission Yvraine's bodysuit in the past and it looks cool). 

Anyway DEFINITELY check in and let me know if you get ahold of that article or FAQ. And dont be a stranger down here! I'd love to see what you are painting and how you are organizing your army for games. Thanks for stopping by bud I was stoked to see you drop me a line!

[Ynneadwraith]

First thing's first, those jet-black Corsairs look mean. Said it before, but it warrants saying again Warlock looks stunning too love that model as well. I've been thinking of trying to convert up some plastic Warlocks but I'm struggling to make them quite as perfect as the old metals...

I'd have no issues with your black-suited Corsairs providing close battlefield support and working closest with a red-suited band. As far as I see it, your whole force is one unified army anyway, and it makes sense for your various arms to be supporting each other.

Actually, one of the things I've always thought fitted Corsairs pretty well is a piece of fluff I read about how Alpha Legion operate. Basically, they've got their covert operations commando-type thing going on, but they've also got another force that are basically as gaudy and ostentatious as possible creating as much mayhem and carnage as possible to distract the enemy from the covert teams' mission. Reading that had me picture your army with your bright red flashy Corsairs supported by your midnight-clad infiltrators if that's their MO, then it would make utmost sense for each squad of infiltrators to be working closely with a brightly armoured mayhem-squad

Ooh, here's an idea about integrating Ynnari into your dudes. I've always been a fan of having ideologies, especially ones as radical as Ynnead-worship, as fluid and varied things. If you think about it, the Ynnari are very new on the stage. It's a radical, controversial and dangerous new ideology. People are going to have markedly different views on it, especially Corsairs who have got a lot to lose if they get it wrong.

Perhaps your Corsair empire is divided on the matter, and/or in the process of converting. The Faith has taken root in many among your corsairs, but many still remain skeptical. Tension runs high between advocates of each path (that of Asuryan, as their namesake, and that of Ynnead). Of course, these are put aside on the field of battle, but there's an underlying tension there in these fraught and dangerous times.

I don't know, feel free to completely disregard that! I just tend to like stuff that feels dynamic and alive when it comes to beliefs as borderline insane as pledging yourself to your race's lovecraftian Warp-God of Death (the eldar don't exactly have the greatest track record with gods they've created. Khaine tried to genocide them twice while the rest of them stood by, and Slaanesh in all likelihood has succeed in genociding them...but hey...this God of Death guy...maybe he's alright...)

Ok I'll stop rambling now!

[Partninja]

I've been lurking your project for a long time

The new codex has a little blurb about mixing CWE and Ynarri. Sadly I still can't figure out which youtube review mentioned it (they actually read the paragraph). They're also quite long videos...

Edit: because you said it, I might just start a project blog. I just sold a lot of my old embarrassing models in a big lot to a newbie (the previous version scorps, Banshees, reapers metal prisms etc). I'm rebuilding most of my collection with newer current models and updated painting. Hard finding the metal versions of the current sculpts.

[Cavalier]

@Ynneadwraith-

Actually, one of the things I've always thought fitted Corsairs pretty well is a piece of fluff I read about how Alpha Legion operate. Basically, they've got their covert operations commando-type thing going on, but they've also got another force that are basically as gaudy and ostentatious as possible creating as much mayhem and carnage as possible to distract the enemy from the covert teams' mission. Reading that had me picture your army with your bright red flashy Corsairs supported by your midnight-clad infiltrators if that's their MO, then it would make utmost sense for each squad of infiltrators to be working closely with a brightly armoured mayhem-squad

Thats it buddy! You nailed it! Thats exactly what I'm going for. When I decided to do my Rangers in black instead of read... I started to go down this track mentally. But Once I read all about the Coterie system in IA:11 with all the various alliegances it was set in stone and I then went about converting up my Scorpions, the War Walker and I had planned Shuriken Cannon Jetbikes as deep jungle monster hunters. You totally know what I was going for.

Also yes! The whole Ynnari thing is exactly what I was thinking too. In the fluff of my army my Corsair Prince actually venerates all the old gods and has inkling that perhaps they can be resurrected (perhaps with Ynnead's help). The reason I did them all in red and gold was to sort of give them a Pre-Fall sort of majestic look... which is exactly what they talked about 9 years later when Gathering Storm II came out. And what do you know? The Ynnari's colors are red and gold... so its a nice tie in there.

Anyway great stuff Ynnead I love it! Thanks for your awesome feedback my friend.

@Partninja- lol... a lurker no more!  Yeah I'll go back and listen to WintersSEO breakdown because I think I know the blurb you are talking about. I think its the Lethal Alliance thing. I believe it says basically if you lose CWE traits etc. when you have a unit with the Ynnari keyword in your DETACHMENT. But it may be ARMY which I would assume would go across all detachments. I'll go back and listen to WintersSEO and I'll report in. I've got some mega painting to do today so I'll give it a listen again and let you know if I discover anything. Thanks though bud!

Also yes! Do start a project log. I find its so much easier to understand where people are coming from in terms of tactics, advice etc. when you have a better understanding of their collection, some insight via bat-reps into how they play and their sort of goals as a player which I like to wrap up into my project log (which is why its so ungodly huge). I'd LOVE to see what you are working on and your plans because I almost always agree with your assessment of things and your rules interpretations. So fire up a plog bud I think people would really enjoy it!

[vonny]

I just love those massive group shots Cav.

[Cavalier]

@Vonny- Thanks Vonny, really appreciated because those group shots are hard to take. Gonna give a bunch of this stuff a whirl this weekend so wish me luck!

@Everybody- Well I thought I had an awesome update for you guys, but Vonny's update CRUSHES. Go look at Vonny's plog immediately! Now then alright after you are done having your mind blown there, I hope you like this!

This is my count-as Yvraine! I got a mini from Raging Heroes with the fan and all that but man... the sculpt was rough. Was really anticpating a knock-out miniature from them considering all the hype around them but gotta say I was pretty disappointed. So I picked up a Dark Elf Sorceress and matched her with DE legs and some Sylvaneth bits and this is what I came up with!







Despite loving the ACTUAL Yvraine model, I just wanted something different. The other one I just have a hard time imagining on the battlefield. I'll eventually get the actual Triumvirate set and I'll paint a helmeted Visarch (with the lion bits added of course) Y'vraine as she is (but in these colors) and the Yncarne in a unique scheme (though not too different).

So there we are! Hope you guys like it. Been using my Farseer as a counts-as Yvraine for quite awhile and was HATING do that kind of proxy for such an important model, but now I have something I'll be quite happy to put on the tabletop.

Hope you guys enjoy! Got a big game coming which I will bat-rep so stay tuned and talk soon!

[magenb]

Raging Heroes have so many nice models now, I've been eyeing a cuple of option for female Incubi in their kick starter. Disappointing to hear they are not up to scratch. I would have thought the Lady Kashala or Asharah models would have been a good fit for Yvraine.

[Ynneadwraith]

I like her! Much closer to what I'd imagine she's actually look like (Yvraine is Malys as far as I'm concerned).

The Sorceror torso fits really nicely with the Wych legs as well. So much so that I didn't notice until you mentioned it.

Also, I love it when headcanon is prophetic

[Aurics Pride]

Not gonna lie I wouldn't have guessed that was a kitbash at all. Looks very natural and the paintjob is pretty damn awesome as usual! Although it's such a different model to the Visarch you've managed to keep a similar sort of feeling between the two of them through the same colour palette.
Love the details on that model, even down to the eye-shadow!

[vonny]

indeed, I hadn't noticed the kitbash either until it was mentioned. It does have a bit of a fantasy feel for me, but maybe that's just because of the connections my mind makes to the original use of the model.
But they look nice, especially together. The Visarch really looks like this imposing big brother figure when he's standing behind her like that... actually he looks like ian nottingham from the first 7 or so witchblade comics. And that is high praise!

[dog_of_war]

Nice kitbash. Like everyone says, it looks seamless. Now that you have a Yvraine are you going to get her a grynx?

[Dread]

I love your count as Yvraine. I wish I had finished mine. Maybe soon. It all looks fantastic as always bud.