Introduction: Old Introduction
I am no stranger to W40K projects. Sometime in 2003 I swore to myself I would never play Eldar unless they were Exodite or Corsairs - that was sworn on Rogue Trader inherited from my uncle.
Forgeworld has been paying extra attention to Corsairs and with all the rumour hype of IA11 and the current corsair units that have been released, Im starting my own Eldar army.
For many years, the Eldar Corsair has captured the imagination of Eldar players. Till now, there has been no Corsair codex or army list. Then came Imperial Armour 11.
I am building an army that can be played as Craftworld Eldar, Eldar Corsairs and Dark Eldar. One army, three army lists.
To this end, I have been using CWE units, Forgeworld conversions, Dark Eldar units, and quite a number of kitbash conversions and some green stuff conversions to come.
Watch this page for the Eldar stalkers of the void.
Background: IadannaCorsairs are Eldar who have left their Craftworlds to walk the Path of the Corsair, neither Outcast, Damned or Craftworlder. They are cultural icons of adventure, exploration and many Eldar youth will leave the sanctuary of the Craftworld to travel the stars with a Corsair band. Most return but many are insatiably attached to the Path of Corsair becoming professional Corsairs.
Corsairs will always flock to where the next Eldar great war is waged like locusts to a corpse. Such coalitions are usually temporary and Corsair bands are known to fight each other. The Eldar Corsair treads a spectrum of shifting allegiances, and level of corruption. Some are practically an extension of their Craftworld, like Yriel's Eldritch Raiders is to Iyanden or Xian's Black Raiders is to Uthwe, while others are freelancing pirates who hold no allegiance to anyone and merely seek to sate the thirst for bloodshed and the joy of stellar exploration.
Coalitions of Corsairs have appeared at major Eldar events since the Fall. An armada of Corsairs fought with Eldrad Ulthran at Haramarash against the forces of Chaos, another at Bentalis with Alaitoc and Mymeara. The coalition of Corsairs is an ubiquitous timeless formation composed of myriad Corsair bands.
This is just one coalition...
The Void Dragons tread the dangerous twilight between the Dark Kin and the Eldar. Their power and competence in battle is respected by both and they are hired as mercenaries by Kabals, Craftworlds and even humans. They are not above outcontracting their dirty work and supplementing their own forces with alien mercenaries. Their fleet has participated in countless battles and is never idle. The Void Dragons are forever raiding Imperial settlements for slaves to trade and attacking Imperial convoys for their materials. Their fleet is estimated well above 3,500.
The Sky Raiders is the second largest Corsair warband. Their level of violence and bloodthirst is perilously close to that of the Dark Kin and they are regarded with some suspicion. However, they make useful allies if only to tap into their vast manpower. They were decimated in the aftermath of the Bentalis campaign.
The Sunblitz Brotherhood is actually an improper translation into Gothic, for Sunblitz is a complex Eldar concept that human minds cannot grasp. The Sunblitz Brotherhood is a very well armed Corsair warband that has thrived from trade with the Craftworlds. They are a close ally of Alaitoc and fought alongside Alaitoc forces and Rangers for many centuries.
The plight of Iyanden at the hands of both Hive Fleet Kraken and WAAGH Rekkfist has been a call to arms to the Eldar, causing many to flock to its aid. Biel-tan and Alaitoc have notably sent aspect warriors to bolster Iyanden's defence. But the greatest contribution to Iyanden was the timely arrival of Yriel's Eldritch Raiders. The Council of Farseers convened following the siege and decided to reinstate Yriel as High Admiral of Iyanden along with all the trappings of an Autarch. His Eldritch Raiders corsairs were given new status too. Iyanden desperate for any manpower would not shun away such a potent force, the Raiders had already shown their valour, skill at arms and initiative. Thus they were instated as the proxy expeditionary fleet of Iyanden. Quasi-privateer and military venture entrepreneurs, the Eldritch Raiders wander the Saggitarius Arm sometimes with their legendary leader at the helm hunting the remnants of Hive Fleet Kraken and plunder Mon'keigh. Their colour scheme is a dark blue with secondaries in yellow (helmet, kneepads etc) with black tiger stripes to break up and disrupt. Dark blue is a natural camouflage at night, when they often strike, it is a terrifying and shocking sight as a blur of barely understandable flashes of yellow descend upon the foe; little else is visible. They use Iyanden military equipment, lent, bought or acquired by some means, which remain in the traditional colours of yellow and blue and display the decal of Iyanden.
Units:Built:20 Corsairs (Eldritch Raiders)
10 Corsairs (Void Dragons)
10 Kabalite Warriors
4 Wasp Assault Walkers (Eldritch Raiders)
Yriel
8 Warlocks
1 War Walker
3 Wave Serpents
6 Fire Dragons
5 Dire Avengers
1 Vyper
8 Stormies
13 Voidstorms
10 Bladesworn (5 Winged, 5 Foot)
3 Corsair Jet Bikes
1 Fire Prism/Nightspinner
1 Warp Hunter
1 Hornet
1 Duke Sliscus/Dark Corsair Prince
1 Corsair Prince/Autarch
1 Void Dreamer/Farseer
Longer Term List:Rangers
Hornets
Warp Hunter
Ravager
Reaver Jetbikes
Wych EQs
Commorite Mercenaries
NB: This is one big WIP, so expect updates over a long period of time as I phase in new units to my army.
Inspirations:Before I start the long road of updates and work, let me share my inspirations.
Other pages of interest (the three FW Corsair models - so far):
forgeworld.co.uk/Warhammer-40000/Eldar/ELDAR-CORSAIR-CONVERSION-KIT.html
forgeworld.co.uk/Warhammer-40000/ELDAR-WASP-ASSAULT-WALKER.html
forgeworld.co.uk/Warhammer-40000/ELDAR-WARP-HUNTER.html
Updates:07/10/11 - Corsair Conversion Kit and first Wasp has arrived this afternoon. Will begin work once the rest of my kit arrives. The Wasp is pretty damn good quality and will look awesome once my kit arrives.
11/10/11 - GW still has not delivered the Battleforce and my modelling kit (should have just bought it from the store >.<) However, Ive spent a good few hours working all the pieces out, how I will paint them and so on.
Edit: It arrived later today. YES! Finally.
Edit2: Accidentally lopped off a bit too much off the weapon mounts. Improvised.
12/10/11 - Rest of Eldar army arrived, currently assembling, painting undercoat black. The Warhost GROWS!
13/10/11 - Wasp and 6 Corsairs finished. 2 of them are "Dire Avenger" parts.
14/10/11 - Will model a War Walker today and compare with the Wasp.
17/10/11 - War Walker finished. See image for contrast vs Wasp.
31/10/11 - Wasp took an umpty dumpty fall and his weapon improvisation mounts broke off. Fixing it is a bit of a nightmare but after many hours in the wee hours of the morning itsnearly done.
02/11/11 - Dire Avengers nearly done. Wasp fixed. Malefactor Warlock done. 2 Wasps arrived today in the post.
03/11/11 - Whoever was on quality control for my new Wasps was clearly drunk or asleep. The lower leg joint was filled with resin, and Im missing half the resin kit.
04/11/11 - DAs done just 5 of them.
05/11/11 - FW is sending me a new kit. Completed 2nd Wasp. The Wasp Wave Serpent-style weapon mounts are EXTREMELY fragile. Because they are resin and the weapon attachment bit is off axis it is very weak. Broke it again on the second Wasp and had to perma-glue the weapons to the Wasps... Very disappointed.
07/11/11 - FW Customer Services sent me a priority package today. Invoice read 1p. An ENTIRE free Wasp + war walker parts kit.... :O
22/11/11 - I havent forgotten, Ive been pretty busy IRL, and recently with Skyrim
. Entire army photo uploaded
08/01/12 - Work resumes after being away for a month.
17/01/12 - Corsair Venom in Void Dragon colours finished
22/01/12 - Additional corsair squad, Voidstorms, and Bladesworn built but unpainted.
Photos of Completed Units:For photos of works (once) in progress, scroll downPhase 1 complete. Note: Iyanden military equipment is painted in Iyanden colours (Shurican and WW) but piloted and manned by corsairs.
War Walker (Iyanden) vs Wasp Assault Walker (Eldritch Raiders). The Wasp is only taller because of the custom fit legs. The WW's yellow is in fact a different shade to the Iyanden Darksun used on the Wasp. Blues are the same. Manned by Corsair pilots.
The Dire Avenger weapon equipped Corsairs. Probati on the left.
Razorwing/Serpent Corsairs (some corsairs have different arm bands. Green signifies they came from Biel Tan, yellow from Iyanden. Its basically to denote batch numbers as I used different techniques for each batch)
I am very happy with the execution of the colour scheme. With the right lighting and angle all you can see is the yellow bits in confusing shapes and sizes and the rest are indistinguishable. Would be pretty terrifying to have these guys launch an aerial assault at night. I will definately get the Heavy/Special Weapon Corsair kit with EML, Shurican, Flamer and Fusion gun.
The Malefactor, Corsair Warlock
Corsair Venom in Void Dragon colours
Entire Army Photo [OUTDATED]:
Eldritch Raiders Army on Skyrim MapTop left: Wave Serpents
Top right: 3 Wasps, 1 War Walker, 1 Vyper
Bottom left: Farseer + Warlock Council, 10 Stormies + Warlock, 5 Dire Avengers
Bottom right: 6 Fire Dragons + Yriel, 14 Corsair Razorwings + Support Platform, 5 Warp Spiders
Missing: 1 Wasp, 11 Stormies, 1 Vyper, 2 Fire Prisms
Corsairs + Warp Spiders
My two favourite corsairs, one with fusion gun, the other with shuriken cannon., Note the shuriken magazines on the base of the gunner.
Fire Dragons + Yriel + their Wave Serpent
3 Wasps + War Walker + Vyper
Darklight Butchers "Trueborn Mercenaries"
Blasterborn
Shardborn
Voidrazor Dragonwing
Works While-In Progress Photos:My workplace on a normal day:
Broken Wasp:
Painting on sprue
WIP. Forefront are the 95% complete Corsairs with Heavy and Special Weapons
Corsair Prince in progress
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Corsair Venom with Shuriken Catapults and Shuriken Cannon (Corsair Gunner)
Heres how I did the under mounted Shuriken Catapults. Take the Splinter Cannon, cut it two thirds along, it produces a perfectly fitting pivot for the twin linked shuriken catapults found on Wave Serpents.
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The useless Veteran Corsair Voidstorms - just being abusive to my lads.
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And the much better loooking (and therefore better on board!) Bladesworn. If only there were Incubi equivalent.
These will all have jetpacks eventually.
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Duke Sliscus/Dark Corsair
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These four are my custom Trueborn with Blasters, Shardcarbines, Close Combat weapons and Scourge helmets. Bases are Fantascape.