Topic: A Grognard returns: Eldar armies

[Kage2020]

Hi, all.

I'm a quintessential grognard that not only hasn't touched the mini side of the hobby for 30 years but also hasn't touched the fluff for the good part of--what?--10 years? I loved the fluff but, in the end, things had changed enough that it didn't have the draw for me that it once did.

I've come back to the mini side of things so that my son (7 yo) and I could share something creative together. Other than the sticker shock (holy heck!), I've picked up the Craftworld "Start Collecting" set, some Harlequins, a "Primaris Aggressors" set (for my son--thought that it would appeal more), and, because it's me, the "Triumvirate of Ynnead".

Thinking about the Eldar right now, what's the "coolest" Eldar army out there in terms of background and colour scheme?

The colours/runes on the Craftworld beginner box is for Saim Hann, but that's never appealed to me from the lore perspective. Is there anything else out there that's new?

Looking forward to the replies, especially because I don't know what to ask anymore and I'm sure that your responses will inform me how to better ask these questions. Thanks!

Sticker Shock Redux

How do you gals 'n' guys afford this hobby anymore? Just getting brushes, paints, and the (limited) minis that I have? I think that I'm like $500 in.

No need to respond to this. It's all good. I'm just shocked.

[Irisado]

Welcome back .

In terms of choosing a craftworld, I started with Alaitoc because that was the studio army at GW back in the days of Rogue Trader.  I stayed with Alaitoc throughout until I decided to design my own craftworld.  The blue and yellow combination just looks very Eldar to me and I think that it is one of the most aesthetically pleasing colour schemes for the Eldar.

The other option that you could consider is Iyanden.  A Ghost Warrior army is very poignant and the yellow can look very attractive if you have the painting skills to pull it off.  Thematically though, Harlequins fit much better with Alaitoc than Iyanden, which is another reason why Alaitoc looks like a very good choice in this instance.

[Lord of Winter and War]

Welcome back to the Hobby!

Eldar are certainly really cool, and any of the established Craftworlds are fun, have have bespoke rules which separate them from each other in the game. I'd just choose a scheme you think would be fun to paint, or who's lore you think is the most interesting.

Additionally, you could paint them anyway you want and make up your own craftworld, and either use the rules of one of the existing ones, or choose your own rules for your custom craftworld (which is covered in the book Psychic Awakening: Phoenix Rising.

If you want to diversify and run a combination of Harlequins, Craftworlds and Dark Eldar, you can run them as Ynnari, using the characters from that box. It's a distinct way to play the faction, and lets you sort of run whichever stuff you want, which can be nice from a hobby point of view.

I'm primarily a Harlequins player, but I often stick a Ynnari character or two in my army and run them as Ynnari-Harlequins, but I'm working on a small Craftworlds and Dark Eldar patrol so I can run all three!

For the price, I normally budget myself and build slowly. The game I've mostly been buying stuff for these days is Warhammer Underworlds, which is a great two player game, which can be played on a smaller play area and is cheaper to collect than the main games. You might also look at Kill-Team, which is only useing a squad or two of models on a small gaming space, which is cheaper to get into, takes up less space, and is really quick and fun to play.

[magenb]

OK so game wise, its a real roller coaster, the game really changes month to month if you are playing down your local store, to the point it can feel like your playing an early access game(beta). If you are playing at home/friends, then its much less of an issue. If you want a more stable gaming experience then 8th ed will be a solid option for home and be some what cheaper as you can pick up the codexes 2nd hand etc.


Coolest Craftworld... that is just personal preference. I would say that while GW has special rules for different craftworlds, only some of them actually work well on the table, but no one is really painting to match the rule set any more. Paint them what ever colour scheme you want.

Ynnari were rushed in and were super OP, but GW didn't stop hitting it with the nerf bat even after it was dead. Dark Eldar are very very good, followed by Harlies, then CWE (you can still have fun with them), then Yannari.

You will need way more dice than before, seriously it easy to have to roll 40 dice from a single unit.

Pricing.. well being in the US you have a lot of options, you can easily find places that sell it at 20% off. There is an argument to be made for a quality brush.. do you need it when first starting out.. nope. Just grab some from ebay. Facebook buy/sell warhammer groups, remember how I said it's a roller coaster ride... well some people go nuts when an army is on top and then sell it off when the nerf bat drops. You can find unopened boxes, people splitting starter boxes, to stuff that has already been built all the way to all ready painted. I hear some gaming stores in the US do trade-ins so you can actually buy some stuff that way too.

Vallejo's paint line is solid and cheaper than GW paints and is generally easy to get hold off, there are other mini paint lines out there as well, but can be difficult to get hold off.

You can also find cheaper was to do terrain etc on youtube, take a look at Luke's APS. You can also find heaps of how to paint model xyz on youtube now too, I;m not sure how much longer they will leave Warhammer TV (WHTV) on youtube as GW just launched it own streaming service.

[Kage2020]

Not sure how to do multiquote anymore, if there was even a way before, so forgive me for slipping into old habits?

The blue and yellow combination just looks very Eldar to me and I think that it is one of the most aesthetically pleasing colour schemes for the Eldar.

I just looked at the colour scheme and background (hey, it's been a while!) and I can see the appeal.

Oh, and blue for old-school "eldaril" will always get my vote. Wraithbone is... Yeah.

The other option that you could consider is Iyanden.

Another great choice, although as someone just coming back into painting I'm not sure that yellow is something that I can do justice. Of course, putting the models together is a greater challenge than it used to be in the days of pewter and simple plastic models so... yeah.

That and the background on Iyanden reminds me how much I don't like what GW did with the Infinity Circuit and "wraith" units. O.o

Thematically though, Harlequins fit much better with Alaitoc than Iyanden, which is another reason why Alaitoc looks like a very good choice in this instance.

And I did buy that unit of Harlequins!

Eldar are certainly really cool, and any of the established Craftworlds are fun, have have bespoke rules which separate them from each other in the game.

Just trying to find the best combination at the moment because, as above, it's been a while. I always felt most of the lore of the CE was lacking (back in the day), which is why I'm trying to remain on the surface of all of this--what's cool to paint, what's cool to run in an army.

To be fair, it's going to be a while for the playing side of things given that my son is so young. On the other hand, the painting side of things? I'm kind of intrigued with that. Further, I've got a 3d scanner and a digital tablet so that I can sculpt "mods" to characters that I was never skilled enough to do with green stuff back in the day. This makes me kinda stoked for just the painting side of things.

...your custom craftworld (which is covered in the book Psychic Awakening: Phoenix Rising.

I did find this information, but I'm still skimming the surface t at the moment in part because I'm somewhat horrified at how much they're charging nowadays.

If you want to diversify and run a combination of Harlequins, Craftworlds and Dark Eldar, you can run them as Ynnari, using the characters from that box.

Lots of new terms for me.

"Aeladari" seems to be just the new version for CE, but what are the others?

...if you are playing down your local store...

I cannot currently think of a scenario that would have me going into a GW store.

...but no one is really painting to match the rule set any more. Paint them what ever colour scheme you want.

Interesting. Is there any reason for this?

(I would love me some Alatoic with white helms, which is one of the things that I did with Dire Avenger Exarchs back in the day...)

You will need way more dice than before, seriously it easy to have to roll 40 dice from a single unit.

Urgh. When it gets to that point I'll just use a virtual dice roller. Thanks for the heads-up.

Pricing.. well being in the US you have a lot of options, you can easily find places that sell it at 20% off.

I know of no such places. Maybe I just don't know the Google terms, or the kind of places to search?

There is an argument to be made for a quality brush.. do you need it when first starting out.. nope.

$50 in brushes later...

Vallejo's paint line is solid and cheaper than GW paints and is generally easy to get hold off...

My Google-fu has revealed this one to me, at least. Next paint set will come from them rather than GW and the "Warhammer 40,000 Paints and Tools" set that I bought already.

You can also find cheaper was to do terrain etc on youtube...

When I get to this point--rather, if I get to this point--I'll probably be using an FDM printer. At the moment I've got a 40 resin printer coming to me for the virtual "builds" (above), but we'll see how that turns out later on down the line.

Post Merge: September 26, 2021, 02:35:21 AM
In the future, please use the modify button. Double posting is against the forum rules, and for that reason, the system merged your posts.On a personal note, I couldn't help but pick up the "Triumvirate of Ynnead". Wrong forum, but any info would be greatly appreciated.

[Irisado]

In order to multi-quote, just click the insert quote button from all the preceding posts that you wish to quote and they will appear in the order selected in the reply box.

There is no reason why you couldn't paint Alaitoc with white helmets.  Back in White Dwarf 127 and also 138 (I think), they showed alternative colour schemes for all the main craftworlds and I seem to recall that white was one of the alternative colour schemes for Alaitoc.  Even if it was not, it does not matter.  You're not going to be playing in a GW tournament, so you can be creative.

[Sir_Godspeed]

If you want a quick rundown of some terminology changes, here's a few:

Aeldari = Eldar in general.

Asuryani = Craftworld Eldar. But also called Craftworld Aeldari.

Drukhari = Dark Eldar.

There might be others, but I think these are the most important ones. Corsairs are still Corsairs, and I can't remember any recent mention of the Exodites of any significance.

[Kage2020]

In order to multi-quote, just click the insert quote button from all the preceding posts that you wish to quote and they will appear in the order selected in the reply box.

Thank you!

There is no reason why you couldn't paint Alaitoc with white helmets.  Back in White Dwarf 127 and also 138 (I think), they showed alternative colour schemes for all the main craftworlds and I seem to recall that white was one of the alternative colour schemes for Alaitoc.

Oh, boy. It's bee a long time since I looked at WD 127 (Eldar) and 138/139 (more space stuff).

You're not going to be playing in a GW tournament, so you can be creative.

Point well made.

Blue and white FTW.

If you want a quick rundown of some terminology changes, here's a few:

I'm going to find the term that I keep on running into and post it here. Thanks!

Edit: Oh well, back off again. Anon.

[Sir_Godspeed]

Edit: Oh well, back off again. Anon.

What happened?

[Kage2020]

Just the typical heavy-handed non-equity based deliberation by the powers-that-be.

On the other hand, the 3d/SLA printer has arrived so that I can experiment with digital sculpting. That and I have a horrendously expensive bunch of GW models to paint, too. And by that I mean three boxes because that stuff is ridiculously expensive.

[Sir_Godspeed]

Plastic crack bay-BEE

[magenb]

Just the typical heavy-handed non-equity based deliberation by the powers-that-be.

On the other hand, the 3d/SLA printer has arrived so that I can experiment with digital sculpting. That and I have a horrendously expensive bunch of GW models to paint, too. And by that I mean three boxes because that stuff is ridiculously expensive.

Yes, I'm glad I still have most of my models from 20+ years ago, when it was just a couple of hours part time work to get a blister pack. I'm not sure how kids get into the hobby now, its just insane. That said, the new sculpts are generally amazing if some what fragile lol.

For any new models or other armies I have to find split sellers on facebook or 2nd hand sales from people being forced to clear out their pile o'shame. I hear some stores actually buy and sell used armies in the states and the UK. No such luck locally. That said, given the state of 40k, I'm thinking of just selling my other armies, I see GW is only digging themselves in deeper into month pay to win syndrome.

on a side note, Warhammer fantasy battles 6th is fantastic with heaps of printable options

[Kage2020]

What happened?

Just... shenanigans and me being a special snowflake. I came back for a super-special (to me) background discussion even while I've been gluing together my GW minis (for real!) and proxy miniatures).

Yes, I'm glad I still have most of my models from 20+ years ago, when it was just a couple of hours part time work to get a blister pack.

I hear you. Indeed, I was reminiscing with another nerd that I wargamed back in the day with the other day about this. He was, of course, a delusional Squat player while I played Eldar.

Go figure.

I'm not sure how kids get into the hobby now, its just insane. That said, the new sculpts are generally amazing if some what fragile lol.

The 3d prints (as proxies) can be equally fragile. Apparently on some of my favorite proxy minis there can be 1mm of resin holding things together. O.o

*crack*

As I get back into this, I find myself buying GW minis and supporting proxies equally. The latter means that I can mod/customise them because I have zero chance of being able to sculpt things in the real world. In a digital environment? Yeah.

More importantly, my son loves everything. I'm hoping to pull together a local club for the kids so that they can play together. I'm just not a millionaire.