#khaine posts

[idiotcat-affectionate]

Right, first bunch of peeps for a narrative campaign are built and at least partially painted. Tomorrow should be bringing a trip to see what hobby shops in town are even open and how many bright colours they have. The cybergoth queer femdom murder rave is coming.

#daughters of khaine #age of sigmar #warhammer #wip minis #having fun documenting these actually tbh #yay i found a thing to make original posts about

[unidentifiedfroggy]

blending my current hyperfixations into one delicious smoothie that caters to me and me alone

#dc #homestuck #this post was made about how i keep trying to trollsona the batkids #timsteph moiraillegiance real #or. blueblood timety drakken and his bronzeblood moirail steffi brunel #who is flushing hard for purpleblood kassya khaine #or something along those lines #while timety mopes over hemoanon konnir luthir

[leareadsheresy]

Fulgrim (the book, and not the other book also called Fulgrim but with a subtitle)

This post contains spoilers for Fulgrim, by Graham McNeill, originally published as a novel on (as nearly as I can tell) July 2nd, 2007. It does not contain spoilers for Fulgrim: The Palatine Phoenix by Josh Reynolds, published in October 2017.

Fulgrim is the story of Fulgrim, the Palatine Phoenix, Primarch of the Emperor's Children Legion of Space Marines, and his fall to Chaos during the leadup to and events surrounding the initial steps of Horus's rebellion in the Istvaan system as told in Galaxy in Flames. Like Flight of the Eisenstein, it starts by covering events significantly earlier than Horus Rising, beginning with the the Emperor's Children prosecuting a war of extermination against an alien race called the Laer.

Here's a plot summary:

The Emperor's Children exctinctify a species of sneople called the Laer and steal a magic sword from their central temple; the temple is very clearly (to the reader) dedicated to Slaanesh, one of the four big Chaos gods, the one that's all about sensation and excess and has become less and less about sex over time as GW realizes that gets in the way of parents leaving their kids at GW stores. Fulgrim takes the sword as a trophy; it starts talking to him but because he doesn't know what Chaos is he just assumes it's intrusive thoughts. Also the artists and documentarians ("remembrancers") who travel with the fleet go down to document the glorious conquest etc. and when they go to the big Slaanesh temple they all get obsessed with pursuing sensation and excess, kicking off a B-plot that'll be important later. Also also, the Emperor's Children's chief apothecary, Fabius, gets inspired by the Laer to invent cool new combat drugs and enhancement surgeries, which he sells Fulgrim on with the help of Fulgrim's evil sword intrusive thoughts.

Then the Emperor's Children fight a fleet of divergent humans called the Diasporex who have some aliens working with them; during this they meet up with the Iron Hands Legion and their Primarch Ferrus Manus who has literal iron hands on his flagship the Fist of Iron. The book talks about how Fulgrim and Ferrus Manus are bestest of best friends who each wield a weapon forged by the other, so Ferrus Manus has a big hammer made by Fulgrim and Fulgrim has a flaming sword made by Ferrus Manus. The Emperor's Children and Iron Hands wipe out the Diasporex. During this campaign, Fabius's combat drugs get widely adopted by the Legion and they start being less about pursuing perfection and more about pursuing combat highs.

Then the Emperor's Children explore a region of space where lots of ships disappear and find a lot of unsettled paradise worlds, and are approached by a space elf named Eldrad Ulthran who warns Fulgrim that Horus is going to turn traitor. Fulgrim's evil sword intrusive thoughts tell him this is a lie and Eldrad needs to die so they fight. Fulgrim kills an Avatar of Khaine and then gets mad and goes around virus-bombing all the unsettled paradise worlds they found.

Then Fulgrim takes the fleet to meet with Horus and is like "You're not planning to turn traitor, are you?" and Horus is like "So what if I am?" and the evil sword Fulgrim's intrusive thoughts go "Horus is awesome, if he does turn traitor you should totes follow him" and Fulgrim thinks "That seems reasonable" and says "I suppose if you were going to turn traitor I'd side with you" and Horus goes "Well, I am turning traitor."

Fulgrim then goes off to try to convince his BFF Ferrus Manus to join with Horus while the majority of the Emperor's Children stay behind and do the Istvaan III Atrocity, as told in Galaxy in Flames and the middle part of Flight of the Eisenstein. It does not go well, Ferrus Manus is like "I could never betray the Emperor, you're not my brother" and they fight, and then Fulgrim goes "You'll always be my brother" and wins the fight but doesn't kill him, hoping they can reconcile later. Fulgrim does have his fleet blast the shit out of the Iron Hands fleet, though.

Fulgrim then returns to the Istvaan system and, by Horus's order, spends a couple of months fortifying Istvaan V for a followup operation, during which time elsewhere a very angry Ferrus Manus and his Iron Hands (and also his iron hands), along with the Raven Guard and Salamanders, get ready to serve as the first wave of an assault on Istvaan V, to be followed up by a second wave consisting of the Alpha Legion, Night Lords, Word Bearers, and Iron Warriors. Just as they finish fortifying the planet, the Emperor's Children attend a musical concert called the Maravaglia put on by those Slaanesh-crazed remembrancer artists, which ends up being one of those King in Yellow dealios where the play performs them, a bunch of demons are summoned, everyone in the audience goes crazy and sexmurders each other (well, all the non-space-marines, anyway), and Noise Marines get invented, though later on when 30k gets its own game the 30k-era Noise Marines will be called Kakaphoni.

Finally, the Iron Hands, Salamanders, and Raven Guard launch their assault on Istvaan V, followed by the Alpha Legion, Night Lords, Word Bearers, and Iron Warriors who land behind them and then open fire on the first three because it turns out those second four are also secret traitors. Ferrus Manus is on the planet charging towards Fulgrim to have a duel when he sees this, gets extra mad, and they fight again. Fulgrim really doesn't want to kill Ferrus Manus but his intrusive thoughts goad him into it, and as soon as he cuts off Ferrus Manus's head he realizes that his intrusive thoughts have actually been the demon sword all along and that he's damned himself, at which point it starts laughing at him. He tries to stab himself, but it's like "No, you shouldn't risk doing that, because who knows what agonies of regret your spirit will suffer after death; you should let me give you oblivion instead" and then Fulgrim in his moment of despair accedes to this, at which point the demon in the sword just possesses him and shoves his consciousness into the back of his mind to watch and scream forever as the demon pilots his body around for the rest of the Heresy. The end!

So Graham McNeill seems to be improving. In part this seems to be him developing as a writer and in part it's that he's just... writing fewer arguments. There are a few arguments in the book and they are just as stupid as every argument he wrote into False Gods and "The Kaban Project," but they take up less space. I... don't know if it's good? It clarified an order of events for me, and it continues to hammer home the theme that Chaos works quickly and destructively, like it's not subtle at all, you start out going "There's no harm in touching this sword" and then you're cutting off people's faces and stapling them to your knees in no time flat, and in the meantime murdering anyone who isn't inclined to degrade as fast as you.

I dunno, it's decent for what it is. It's not aggravating the way his earlier works were. I liked it, I guess? This is not high literature.

There are some peculiarities, four of which stick out to me.

First, uh... there's a bit where some remembrancers are talking about how they wish they could go down to the surface of Laeran more freely to document the Emperor's Children victory, but are being prevented from doing so because there's "still resistance" on the surface, and then in the very next paragraph they mention that the Laer have been rendered extinct. So... did the sneople have vassal species? Robot drones? It'd have been nice to hear about them if so but I guess not.

Second... the decision to have Ferrus Manus know about Horus and Fulgrim's treachery seems to cheapen the events of Flight of the Eisenstein a bit. Like the whole thing with the Eisenstein is supposed to be that it's the last, desperate hope of the loyalists doing an Odyssey to get news of the Horus Heresy back to Terra in time to counterattack, which tragically results in the Istvaan V Dropsite Massacre when Horus turns out to be one step ahead of them, but here it kind of comes across as that all would have happened even if the Eisenstein hadn't escaped. Dramatically it's an odd choice. I might have written it so that Ferrus Manus comes out of that first fight convinced that Fulgrim is a traitor but not knowing Horus is or something, that feels to me like it would have worked better.

Third, and this is specific to me: At some point during the book Fulgrim is introduced to the work of ancient Terran poet Cornelius Blayke, who is clearly just William Blake, and starts quoting him. Like he has him say "He who desires but acts not, breeds pestilence." And that works well for the book... but I've played Devil May Cry 5. Anybody else who's played DMC5 will understand the effect this might have -- and indeed does have -- on certain dramatic moments.

Fourth, this is less important but I think very funny... okay, so the book establishes that Ferrus Manus and Fulgrim, when they first met, had a crafting competition -- Fulgrim made a big hammer and Ferrus Manus made a flaming sword. At the end of it, each of them proclaimed the other the victor, and they swapped weapons and that's why they became BFFs. And during the first fight, they're fighting with the weapons they made each other, so Fulgrim's got the sword and Ferrus Manus has the hammer. Fulgrim breaks the sword and then takes the hammer when he wins and leaves, and later Ferrus Manus fixed the sword. So when they fight again on Istvaan V at the end of the book, Ferrus Manus has the flaming sword and Fulgrim's got the Laer blade, but when he sees that Ferrus Manus intends to fight him with the flaming sword he made, Fulgrim stows the Laer blade and spends most of the fight using the hammer, so it's an inversion of the previous fight, with each using the weapon the other used last time, the ones they made themselves instead of the ones they gave each other. It's honestly pretty neat!

GW sells minis of these two characters, and they're meant to serve together as a diorama of the fight on Istvaan V as well as serving as minis to use in games of Horus Heresy. Fulgrim's got the Laer blade, which, fair, that was what he was using at the end of the fight, but Ferrus Manus has the hammer, because he's a hammer guy and his game rules are for fighting with a hammer. And I get it, if you're making a Ferrus Manus mini he'd better be wielding his big hammer! But if you put the two of them together as a diorama that means Ferrus Manus is wielding the weapon that his opponent was wielding in the fight that it's a diorama of. I am choosing to interpret this as symbolic of the way the Horus Heresy's status as a commercial product will forever be in tension with the artistic aspirations of the people who work on it.

#horus heresy #Fulgrim #warhammer 30k #lea reads heresy #read along #spoilers

[aroacewxs]

click for better quality

hi omg I've never posted art that wasn't related to fandom here before so buckle up. This is my oc khain she's been real since 2021 and has gone through many many transformations since then

she's aroace, uses he/she, and is a grand manifestation of all of my teeny tiny issues

some things about khain:

18 years old, but tbh he grows with me

struggling artist

pretty talented at cooking, helps run family owned restaurant

scared of people

is in firm belief that his life outside of his room is merely a performance art

has like 2 friends

harshly high expectations for herself

a bitchy bastard

eating and body image issues

#jay does a think #my artwork #my art #original character #oc art #oc sketch #artists on tumblr #digital art #digital doodle

[selfkelp]

Some fancy party outfits for dark heresy, right before The Khaine Incident happened. These fits are both LONG destroyed in game, that suit in particular can be seen over on this post

#kelp portrait #dark heresy #saltpeter

[tearofisha]

Best Laid Plans. (2/?)

On the Imperial planet, a sort of martial law had been declared. Civilians were quickly and roughly ushered back inside their homes to allow only the military personnel on the streets in search of the would-be assassin. Squad by Squad, street by street with armoured support and parade ground discipline the Mordians hunted Rishaeron Wayfinder like shepherds protecting sheep from a baying wolf.

But the wolf was not to be found, careful planning, training and a Cameleoline stealth cloak kept the Aeldari hidden from the troopers, transports and battle tanks that roamed the streets. Twenty-six standard minutes after the first shot was fired, Rishaeron entered the labyrinth of bunkers beneath the city. Designed to resist the heaviest of orbital bombardment, the bunkers lay beneath the city like arteries and carried all the supplies, equipment and space for the military and social elites to survive comfortably below ground. As a result of this, the tunnels designed to evacuate such personnel lead perfectly to the Command Post.

A further ten standard minutes later and Rishaeron had his feet on the ladder, one hand brandishing his Shuriken Pistol and the other with his hand on the hatch that would see him in the heart of the chicken coop.

He went over the names and faces in his mind, who must live, who must die and who must be injured but not slain. A prayer moved on Rishaeron's lips as he prepared himself, though not a religious man he found prayers to the dead Gods to be an effective way of creating focus.

"Asuryan, lend me your wisdom. Kurnous lend me your patience. Isha lend me your mercy." He swallowed hard, it was believed using the last name so casually invited disasters.

"Finally, Khaine, lend me your fury."

He popped the hatch and burst through.

#Rishaeron

[venturing-into-the-garden]

Been a bit since I posted, so here's my Avatar of Khaine! There's a few details I want to work on someday, but I'm still pretty proud of how he came out!

I'll most likely end up posting more eldar in the future as I work through my pile of shame

#gardener's ramblings #warhamer 40000 #craftworld eldar

[voidwerks]

With the winter storm, I was so hyped by the prospect of getting the day off because it'd freeze the bridges (meaning I couldn't go in to work), I didn't consider that the power could go out.

So I've been without power all day. Not too bad all things considered, we've got plenty of blankets, and I've been able to catch up on sleep and a bit of painting. But I would deff enjoy a hot meal and a bit of ambient noise. Can't play music or browse online too much since I have to conserve power.

#me #i must've activated a monkeys paw somewhere #if we're gonna have no power at least give us some snow please #i could sit and watch snow falling for hours #i'll post painting progress once I have power or a wifi connection to use #been doing Magnus on commission and recently got some Daughters of Khaine since my DnD group went full Warhammer #does me a happy to see them enjoying themselves with the hobby that has brought me so much joy

[viktormaru]

i was posting this on my alt twitter but I'll post it here too bcs no character limit

but my 3 main dnd characters are kinda sad dsijsjdf... they all have a common main theme of feeling like they are uncapable/unworthy of loving and/or being loved

Bastille, my warforged, built themself a whole disguise to hide who they are underneath and they try to hide their past at all costs, out of fear that if anyone saw what was underneath they'd treat them as a meaningless thing.

Khaine is so sure his unworthy of being loved despite how much he loves the world. So he's always doing "good" things, and being "good" and trying his best to look good so that he somehow attains a position of being deserving of love.

And Evegniya just stopped trying. She doesn't really think anyone should love her and she doesn't try to love anyone back. She feels a sense of duty to her mother that isnt really held up by any emotional attatchment. Just something she owes to the person who raised her. And she doesnt think anything of herself outside that

#i could dwelve deeper into any of those but i wont unless ppl ask #also yeah thats an issue i also deal with but exploring things through characters is a nice way to think abt things isnt it

[panicking-skywalker]

I was wondering about doing a face reveal because I recently had a lot of new followers and also my blog has gained some traction (thank you btw, you have no idea how much people liking my aspec and nonbinary related posts, and helping me with my questioning and journey of self discovery).

So yes, this is the face behind the blog 😅. My name's Rachel, and I'm nearly 22. I use they/them pronouns mostly, but I'm not opposed to a she/her now and then. I'm a queer, nonbinary demiromantic asexual person. I also use the labels: arospec, greyromantic and myrromantic (feel free to ask me about these).

I work in student voice at my local university (also the university I graduated from last year), and from time to time, I write. Since starting this job I've found I have less and less time to work on the book I'm writing, but I try to do bits now and then. I'm from the UK (not sure if that's useful or important, but it might explain a few spellings and cultural things lmao).

My girlfriend is @captain-khaine and she's the most wonderful person on the planet 🥰.

#me #selfie #face reveal #asexual #ace #aromantic #aro #demiromantic #arospec #greyromantic #myrromantic #nonbinary #enby #queer #lgbtq+

[artofelves]

Hello everybody,

I am @artofelves and what I love to do is share some artworks about my favourite fantasy race, the elves. As you can see I always credit the artists and if you like their work don’t hesitate to support them directly (I always link the source).

I am also on Imgur https://imgur.com/user/ElvenLibrarian/posts and I wanted to take the same pseudo here but it was already taken. I know I started a bit late here but better late than never eh?

Anyway now I’m here and I’ll try to make daily posts about elves, though I’m quite new to the site and I don’t know which tags to use so a bit of help would be welcome. I don’t know if I can also make a taglist here.

Have a nice day Tumblr!

#elf #elves #fantasy #dungeons and dragons #dnd #dnd art #d&d #elven #elvish #wow #warcraft #art #digital art #skyrim #sharing #new #new to tumblr

[spikeybits]

Latest From Black Library: Space Wolves, Dark Elves, & More The latest Black Library releases focus on Space Wolves, Daughters of Khaine, and Malus Darkblade all headlining the lore side of things this week. Keep tabs on your favorite factions Read More The post Latest From Black Library: Space Wolves, Dark Elves, & More appeared first on Spikey Bits . https://spikeybits.com/2021/08/latest-from-black-library-space-wolves-dark-elves-more.html

[ghoultyrant]

Craftworld Context stuff

I first got into 40k primarily via Dawn of War, the relevancy to this post being that I was initially not even aware Warhammer Fantasy was a thing at all. Furthermore, even when I did become aware of Warhammer Fantasy being a thing and in fact 40k is first and foremost Warhammer In Space, I wasn't terribly interested in digging into it, as the things I found most striking about 40k had no chance of being replicated in a more traditional fantasy context.

More recently, however, Total War: Warhammer caused me to become fairly significantly familiar with Warhammer Fantasy as a setting. (Among other points, the Total War framework made certain aspects of the setting really obvious from right off the bat, like that Warhammer Fantasy is very directly fantasticalizing the real world, including much of the geography paralleling reality and assorted political entities being Real Nation But Wacky Fantasy Version)

This has, in turn, caused me to see what the root cause of an element in 40k that's bothered me basically the whole time: the way Craftworld Eldar tend to be written by secondary and tertiary materials. (ie novels, video games, fanfic, etc; basically anything that isn't a Codex)

See, I've always seen people broadly describe Craftworld Eldar as High Elves In Space, in the same way they describe Orks as Orcs/Greenskins In Space, or Tyranids as Lizardmen In Space. (And Crossed With The Starship Troopers Bugs) Before I had relatively direct exposure to Warhammer Fantasy lore, this seemed reasonably natural and logical, and the handful of times I bothered to look up factoids about the High Elves this seemed to be born out, such as how High Elves and Craftworld Eldar both have much of their fighting force as essentially reservists rather than professional soldiers. This, in turn, made it difficult to pin down exactly why it bothered me that Craftworld Eldar tended to be written as, well, fairly close to High Elves. (Or more precisely as a very specific subset of High Elves, but that's a whole other thing)

With more direct, significant exposure to Warhammer Fantasy, it's become obvious to me that this is... more or less completely missing the point, in a manner that suggests to me that the majority of people writing Craftworld Eldar are either entirely unfamiliar with Warhammer Fantasy or are technically familiar with the relevant bits but completely failed to contextualize the implications of drawing these connections to Craftworld Eldar.

First of all, the Craftworld concept is, itself, Black Arks In Space. That's a Dark Elf-proprietary concept, note, not a High Elf one, and even more glaring is that Eldar Corsairs are a thing, using the same terminology as Black Ark Corsairs and associated with Craftworld Eldar. This is some strong meta-signaling right there that Craftworld Eldar aren't High Elves In Space at all, so I'm genuinely baffled why I've never seen it pointed out.

Second of all, Khaine. Playing Dawn of War and reading up on Eldar lore made him sound like the overall Eldar god of war, and when I saw references to him existing in Warhammer Fantasy as well they tended to also make it sound like he was the overall Elf god of war.

Um, no. Khaine is a god of murder. Like, that's not me going 'war is murder' or something, I mean that it's literally the case that Khaine is all about killing people in general. Killing in combat is an option, the one we see lore on most heavily, but that's because Warhammer Fantasy is a wargame, not because it's a particular focus of Khaine's.

Furthermore, he's one of the 'Cytharai'; in Warhammer Fantasy, Elven gods come in two sets, with the other being the Cadai. The Cadai are the Good Pantheon, worshipped by High Elves. The Cytharai are the Evil Pantheon, known to exist by High Elves but only openly worshipped by Dark Elves. (Also Wood Elves in later editions, but shhh)

Put another way, Khaine is an Elf Satan figure, literally an evil fiery god in charge of the underworld pantheon.

Warhammer 40k doesn't do anything to signal that its Khaine is particularly different from Fantasy's Khaine, either, and indeed explicitly retains major backstory moments of being a terrible person, like murdering a fellow god, blood eternally dripping from one hand as not-even-a-metaphor blood on his hands.

Which means Craftworld Eldar worshipping Khaine, using him as the basis of literally their entire warrior system, is a clear meta-signal that Craftworld Eldar approach war in a deeply concerning way, and is also consistent with the broader undertone of Craftworld Eldar codices that they are a people driven to desperation by their circumstances, which is to say they're doing terrible things because they feel they have no other choice.

This all makes blood sacrifice to summon Avatars of Khaine a pretty concerning thing to be part of Craftworld Eldar toolkit, but it gets even worse if you dig into the details. The 40k backstory for Avatars of Khaine is that back in the day Khaine got beat up so bad him and his sword -Widowmaker- exploded into a bazillion itty-bitty pieces, where a fragment is used as the basis of summoning an Avatar. Back in Warhammer Fantasy, Khaine's sword is an actual physical object within the setting that is credibly believed to be capable of destroying the world if drawn, and there's this whole thing where an Elf by the name of Aenarion wielded it for a bit back in the day so now his entire lineage is cursed for, apparently, eternity. So, uh, Craftworld Eldar periodically summon a literal murder god's avatar using, in part, his cursed sword of the apocalypse.

That's very metal, but it also makes it pretty clear Craftworld Eldar are not a good and gentle people who do their utmost to be moral or the like. They clearly have a distressing amount in common with Warhammer Fantasy's Dark Elves.

This kind of thing also puts a whole different spin on the Exodite Eldar really, really disliking Craftworld Eldar. I'd been given the impression, historically, that this was more like 'take your technology away from our Amish community'. Now I'm pretty sure it's more like 'The only reason we're not killing you Satan-worshippers on sight is because our people are already so few... but if you give me an excuse I'm getting my shotgun regardless.'

Notably, when you dig into the army lists themselves, the Craftworld Eldar-Dark Elf connection continues to exist. For example, Howling Banshees are basically Witch Elves In Space, in terms of female (-presenting, in 40k's case) melee berserkers worshipping Khaine. (Less blood-drinking and whatnot, admittedly) There's not a clearly equivalent unit on High Elf lists.

Third of all, an element of Craftworld Eldar that tends to be downplayed or ignored by secondary materials (Again, including fanfic) is that using Soulstones to run their war machines is considered to be an act of necromancy, basically calling the dead back from their slumber. Broadly speaking it makes sense to me this doesn't tend to get people villainizing Craftworld Eldar -it's viscerally less repellent than conventional necromancy, for starters- but Warhammer Fantasy is quite consistent that necromancy is Very Bad, and every time 40k deliberately invokes the comparison it's once again treated as Very Bad.

This is, of course, another example of Craftworld Eldar driven to terrible actions by how desperate they feel their situation is, which certainly sets a different tone than Dark Elves revelling in suffering for its own sake and all...

... but for one thing 'driven to desperation' is more a part of Dark Elf character than I usually see people acknowledge, with their lands being a miserable hellhole filled with monsters and not a lot of arable land and so on, among other issues.

More importantly, this ties fairly directly into my point about why I've long been frustrated by secondary materials depicting Craftworld Eldar: everything the codices tells us, explicitly and more implicitly via callbacks to Warhammer Fantasy, is that Craftworld Eldar are, as a collective people, driven to a dark edge by deep desperation, with an extra layer of miserable to the whole thing from the fact that they have to stoically control their emotions because if they vent about how much everything sucks this may literally get their soul eaten.

Which is thematically consistent with 40k as a whole! There's a reason 'grimdark' can be traced to 40k; it's supposed to be pretty widely a darker, more terrible place than Warhammer Fantasy.

Nonetheless, secondary materials are strangely prone to writing Craftworld Eldar as more like rich dilettantes, their lives secure and the most stressful thing they have to deal with being a feeling of aimlessness. Which. What?

Even when I’ve seen fanfic that hated Craftworld Eldar, they’ve stuck with Snooty Bored Dilettante Eldar!

It’s not like the bored dilettante angle makes for more interesting societies or characters...

#wh 40k #Craftworld Eldar

[lontau]

Hi, I recently discovered one of your posts on some Dark Elf/Daughters of Khaine models and wanted to ask how you painted the skin?

Hey! The method I used is as follows. The minis were primed first with GW Chaos Black, with a second coat of GW The Fang sprayed over that. Alternatively, you can just apply The Fang via brush.

I then airbrushed on a highlight of GW Russ Grey, concentrating on the uppermost surfaces of the mini. Face, top of arms, chest, top of legs, etc. You can also paint it on, just keep some of The Fang showing in the recesses or parts of the mini that’d be most shadowed.

After that, I decided to play with the shadows/blend the two blue-greys. For that I used GW Guilliman Blue, and did a sort of recess shade with it, keeping it to all the nooks and crannies, as well as where skin meets clothes/armor. This is way less stark than a full-out wash and also helps to bring the colors together if you brushed on The Fang/Russ Grey

Hope this helps!

#delayedscorpion #lontau paints #age of sigmar #daughters of khaine #the temple host of khar telva

[segersgia]

Looking back: Part 3 - Craftworld Aeldari

The Psychic Awakening event was kind of a disappointment. Nothing really major happened within these books and the focus of most of them involved stories about Space Marines. The Xenos factions got it very bad in most of these books, but none as bad as all of the Aeldari.

I feel so sorry for what Aeldari players have to deal with in the hobby. Most of your range is either still in finecast or in metal, and you haven’t had a major model release in about 8 years. The entire Craftworld range definitely needs an update.

I must be honest; I don’t care that much about the Aeldari. I’ve never been particularly interested in elven races, save those that go full ahead with the nature aspect. This is why I prefer the Wood Elves and Exodites, over races like the High Elves or the Lumineth Realmlords. 

So I will put a disclaimer on this post; Aeldari lore is not my strong suit. In fact, I find it sometimes quite confusing. I might make mistakes or misinterpret the lore of these units. I hereby apologize for this. 

Let’s begin...

Spiritseer:

Aeldari Spiritseers are Warlocks specialized in the preservation and care of Aeldari souls. They are the ones that guide Aeldari spirits inside of Wraith Constructs. In some way, you could call them a form of necromancer.

They walk the “Path of the Seer”; one of the most dangerous Paths for the Aeldari to walk. On this path, they develop their psychic abilities and learn how to control them. They’ve also (if I’m correct about this at least) previously walked the “Path of the Warrior”, which gave them the necessary experience to control their impulses and emotions.  

This Spiritseer got released alongside the Wake the Dead box-set, which pitted the Spiritseer Qelnaris and the forces of Saim-Hann, against the Ultramarines. I can’t find what the conclusion of this battle was, but guessing from the way that the Eldar have been treated this edition, I would say they probably got stomped by the Ultramarines.

Normally, this Spiritseer is not something specifically to write home about, as he looks as you would expect a Spiritseer to look like. However, looking back upon their older model, I can see that this new version is quite an improvement. The pose is way better and the proportions seem to have been fixed in this version. 

My favourite thing about this model is the mask. I love when Eldar in any form look otherworldly and alien, and these domed masks work perfectly for that. 

8/10

Howling Banshees:

Howling Banshees are a form of Aspect Warrior; Aeldari who walk the “Path of the Warrior”. As an Aspect Warrior, the Howling Banshees embody a certain aspect of Khaine, the God of Murder. Specifically, the aspect of aggressive close quarters combat.

As the name would imply, their Aspect is inspired by the mythical Banshees, who, with their wails and cries, heralded doom and death.  

They go into battle carrying Shuriken Pistols and Power Weapons (mostly swords), and they certainly know how to use them. Howling Banshees are freakishly fast and precise, but what makes them unique is their Sonic weaponry. The mask they wear is called a Banshee Mask, and it amplifies their war-cries into some sort of psychic screech. Those that hear this become disoriented and paralyzed because their nervous system can’t handle this amount of psychic energy. 

The Howling Banshees are what I think of first when someone mentions Eldar. It would only be fair that they became the first Aspect to be updated. From what I see, it doesn’t disappoint so far. They remain faithful to the source material and the poses are overall better compared to their predecessors. They also have a more decent proportioned waste now. 

The inclusion I most of all like is the separate Aspect Relic, and I believe it is an effigy depicting Morai-Heg, The Crone Godess. The website encourages you for using it as an objective marker. I love it when the designers give us these little extra’s that can be used as set pieces. I hope every new Aspect Warrior gets a symbol like this in the future. 

9/10

Howling Banshee Exarch:

Exarchs are Aspect Warriors who specifically have become lost and trapped within the “Path of the Warrior” and become the High Priests/Guardians over their specified Aspect Shrine. Think of them as teachers who train their squad in the way of their Aspect.

Their armour is more ornate than the rest of their squad and they’ve forgone their Shuriken Pistol in favour of going fully melee focused. They then can carry either two Mirror-Swords, an Executioner Power-Glaive or, they can mimic their Phoenix Lord and carry a Triskele (the three pointed boomerang-thingie). Their overall skill- and power-level is way above that of anyone, probably capable of dueling the best warriors that the Imperium could throw at them (if GW wouldn’t be so biased in their campaign books).

The Exarch kit contains a seperate head that doesn’t wear the mask. This apparently is an Ynnari Exarch, who walks a way different path than that of the Craftworld Eldar. I can’t find much information about this, but it is at least interesting that the Ynnari don’t need to wear their War-masks.

I’ve seen discussions and complaints about the way that the maskless face looks and let’s just say a few things.

Men can become Howling Banshees, though will still wear the same type of Aspect Armour (which includes the breast plate).

Women don’t need to look feminine when they are actively at war, and it doesn’t make them any less feminine.

If the Mechanicus can have non-binary members, then the Aeldari most certainly can have them as well. 

These are technically part of the Howling Banshee kit, so the same points can be applied to these two. I do think that the Glaive looks way better on this model than the Mirror-swords. The Exarch looks a little “out-of-balance” when dual wielding. I did wish though that they got some more weapon options. The Triskele isn’t in the kit, and I also saw a concept piece for an Eldar Power-Axe, which the Aeldari just deserve to have in their arsenal. Give Howling Banshees Power Axes. That would look so cool.

8/10

Jain Zar:

Phoenix Lords are by far some of the most ancient and powerful members of the Aeldari race. They were former Exarchs who have fought for so long, that they don’t have an Aspect Shrine or Craftworld left to protect. Instead, they wander from Craftworld to Craftworld and arrive to fight alongside their kin when the need arises the most. 

Whenever a Phoenix lord falls in battle, their soul is transported inside of the spirit stone of the suit. Then, another Eldar warrior will don the suit and become possessed by the original Phoenix lord. Most Phoenix lord armour contains the souls of dozens of Eldar, all who’ve sacrificed their lives in order to resurrect their respective Phoenix Lord.

Jain Zar is of course the Phoenix Lord of the Howling Banshees. In fact, she is the founder of her Aspect and according to legend, became the first Exarch. This makes her the second Phoenix Lord to come into existence, with the first being Asurmen. She is considered one of the most active Phoenix Lords to roam the galaxy and has an active hatred for Chaos. After the rise of the Ynnari, she became one of the biggest advocates of their cause.

Jain Zar carries the Jainas Mor and Zhai Morenn. The Jainas Mor is the Three bladed Triskele, which is “Sharper than any mortal blade”. The Zhai Morenn is her Power-Glaive, and it is a relic from before the Fall of the Eldar. Her Banshee Mask was the first of its kind and every Banshee mask that has followed is a copy of hers.

During the Psychic Awakening, Jain Zar protected Yvraine from Drazhar and pursued him. This proved fatal and got her sliced in two.  A new Exarch donned the armour and Jain Zar was reborn. She then got a rematch with Drazhar and became victorious. Eventually the infamous battle of Iathglas happened, where she, together with Yvraine and the Visarch barely managed to defeat a HOLOGRAM?!? of Shalaxi Hellbane. (goddamnit Geedubs).

Jain Zar’s new model is such an improvement over her older one that I am excited to see what any of the other Phoenix Lords might look like in the future. I love her proportions, her pose, her appearance... everything is so good. I’m not even bothered by the hair and I don’t care that it is too long or impractical in combat. 

One thing I would’ve preferred though is that they would’ve kept her original paint scheme. I prefer the black/red paint scheme over the white/red one. I get why they changed it, because it fits better with the scheme of her Aspect.

10/10

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While the Craftworlds didn’t get much this edition, what they did get has been very good. I’m excited for what may come in the future for the Aeldari.

Games Workshop. Could you just make more Eldar models? People have been begging you to update them for over a decade now. Listen to them. Most of the Aeldari range is still finecast or metal. 

Next up: Primaris Vanguard Infantry

previous posts: Primaris Mainline Infantry, Death Guard Infantry

#warhammer 40 #warhammer 40000 #Aeldari #Craftworlds #8th edition #Eldar #Aspect Warriors #Jain Zar #Howling Banshees #warhammer #Range overview #rating

[warhammergoldenera]

ENTRY #2: ELDAR (PART 1)

“I watched the Forging of the Widow Makers, the 12 swords of Kaine, I watched as one was stolen and hidden far away.”

Eldar. The ancient Race, one time masters of the Galaxy and Seers without equal.

ELVES IN SPACE! SPACE….Space….space…

Believe it or not there is quite the history to this race outside of the typical hum drum of being the most powerful psykers, or, dumbasses who gave birth to Slaanesh. The history of the Eldar and their varied kin goes all the way back to Rogue Trader, and their lore has seen many an interesting tale told. The question is, do you have what it takes to make something out of it all?

Will you follow the Path of Asuryani?

Become a Exodite?

Mayhap an Outcast?

Or have you followed the path of Damnation?

#1 Study the history and model scope of the Eldar

As much as I love poking fun at any Knife ear, and their fans, I admit to a love of how otherworldly GW have made the Eldar over the years.

Going all the way back to the RT era, when the eldar where mostly but Corsairs and Enigmatic Xenos who seemed to materialize from the ether and sow discord for some unknowable reason, to the Golden Era of GW where these space elves where given a giant and truly inspiring background of triumph, a fall, loss, and desperate measures taken to keep their now dying race alive in the face of a hostile Galaxy.

For this reason I suggest to anyone interested in Eldar as a faction, to go back in time and visit some old books and codexes, as well as the classical ranges of minis.

Eldar once looked the part of eerie and almost frightening Alien creatures from a time before man crawled forth from his birthworld.

#2 Throw out the meta

First things first. Many of us probably grew up knowing the Eldar in their Post 2nd ed form. From 3rd ed’s chopped down Codex, to the easily abused expansion, and finally culminating in the 4th/5th ed incarnation of what has basically been the Eldar mold in modern times.

Hordes of Aspect warriors, spam grav tanks, spam Wraith-units, Spam Psykers and yes now a days, Spam Wraith Knights.

Or if you lean to the dark side, ummm Spam Raiders. Yeah just, Spam Raiders.

To put it blunt, Eldar meta is probably the most boring of all git-tastic play styles in the game of 40k, challenged perhaps only by Tau.

Throw it out. Read the lore. Apply it.

Eldar don’t have Hordes of ravening Aspect warriors to send in waves at their opponents.

Raiders are cool, if you can afford to have them and risk losing them in a raid. And your not likely to toss your most veteran Kalabite warriors into an attritional grind against Mon’kei gaurdsmen.

Wraith constructs are a nigh unthinkable resource to ever waste, and oh yeah did we mention not every fucking Eldar Force takes an Avatar of Khaine as it requires a heavy cost in order to even summon one of those things?

The Aldaeri have an interesting and sophisticated way of waging war, and they have highly advanced tech and powers in order to over come their foes, even if your actually trying to put some theme into it.

Lets discuss some interesting ways to look at your Eldar, seperating them into the 2 official factions, as well as ways to whip up an Exodite army or Corsair force.

#3 Craftworld Eldar.

Craftworld eldar are the main stay of the Aldaeri race, and the one lots of people tend to flock to when it comes time to game. And why not? Aspect warriors? Wraith Constructs? Tons of psykers and Autarchs? Whats not to like?

So how does one go about making a CW Eldar army worthy of a true hobbiest?

First things first, find a theme that digs deep into the lore. Are you;

-A Craftworld Defense force, using the might of your titanic space fairing world’s militia forces to fight off attackers. Squads of Guardians/Storm Guardians, backed by mobile weapons platforms and War Walkers. Your troops sailing into combat aboard Wave serpents and Viper Attack craft, all under the covering fire of punishing Heavy weapons platforms? Remember that all Eldar serve in the defense of their CW, and guardian and basic military based tech in an Eldar army is still some of the best around ( The best in certain editions).

-A Specialized Craftworld force, highly trained in a certain area of combat? Crack open the old 3rd ed Codex Craftworlds sup. And find some excellent ways to theme an army based off the major worlds, or perhaps mix and match certain styles in order to create your own world, with a unique color scheme, heraldry and history streching back to the fall, or even farther. House rule in the various advantages and limits of the old CW sup. And enjoy playing with the different styles of balance. (Just do your friends a solid, don’t abuse it.)

-A Doomed host heading into the Eye of Terror? Many CW Eldar have made the perilous if not downright suicidal journey into the Eye. Within that hellish realm, the Crone Worlds lay, the ancient now consumed home worlds of the eldar. Within them are many secrets, Spirit stones and other relics the Eldar greatly desire to have returned to them. Is your army such a quest? A brave Warrior Autarch, or Visionary Farseer having gathered those warriors of the Aspect temples to fight through the horrors of Chaos and retrieve something of unimaginable value?

-The Fist of Asuryani mayhap? The biggest and most powerful weapons the Eldar can bring to bear, hammering their opponents into submission by sheer might of their advanced fire power? Fire Dragons and Dark Reapers scorching the earth and slagging enemy armor, while Prism tanks and War Walkers streak and sprint ahead unleashing salvos of lance and Shuriken firepower into the enemy ranks. Batteries of Heavy Platforms annihilating units from a distance all the while the ground infantry providing cover support to your valuable aspect squads.

-Perhaps the Quick Death is all you need. After all what is more fast and fleet than the Eldar? Eldar on fast moving grav vehicles of course! Jetbikes and Vipers, Falcon tanks combined with the Shining Spear Cavalry and swift Swooping Hawk and Shadow Specter Aspect warriors to run circles about your slower more primitive opponents, cutting and blasting them to pieces before they have a chance to react.

-Maybe you watched Predator one too many times and have a thing for Stalking and killing your enemy from the Shadows or from unexpected angles. The hidden strike is a component suited to the crafty Eldar race, able to hit opponents with Striking Scorpions and teleporting Warp Spiders. Speedy hard to hit Harlequins and deep striking Autarchs and Hawks can be used to to tie down valuable enemy units while Rangers pick off targets of value from the safety of range and cover.

However you manage it, always remember that the eldar war machine is a finely crafted tool, with all units having a value within the force, not just the big OP units that so many others enjoy spamming.

Choosing a backdrop for your army is an easy way to find what units to select for thematic purposes, from Militia, to Seer guardians, Maiden World security forces to simple insertion armies meant to retrieve something stolen by lesser races or eliminate a target of future threat seen by the visions of the seer councils or Lost Wraith Engines on a distant barren world, awakened by a roaming warlock and his followers. Any unit in your army can become a core idea for your force’s history and reason for fighting. Thats the beauty of an army whose whole design is one of unique characteristics and fighting styles.

#4 DARK ELDAR

The Dark Kin, The Damned Path, The Drukari.

Dark Eldar are certainly a far cry from their CW kin, yet they have lost none of the potency and ancient power of their race, and indeed are far more arrogant and vicious.

However, different as though they may be, finding a unique concept in the Dark Eldar may come with a bit of a challenge.

In the earliest days of 40k, the Eldar where a unified faction, and in so much where a bit of a melting pot of all of what we see today across their various sub armies. The Dark Eldar seem to have been born out of GW’s need to mirror the High/Dark Elf style of WHF, and so sliced away the more destructive and often times treacherous and debased acts of the RT-2nd ed Eldar and formed a faction that, while having its own unique character is a bit on the smaller and often mashed together side. But there is unpicked fruit in the thorn covered garden of ideas for Dark Eldar. Lets have a look at ways you can theme and structure your own Kabal, Coven or Cult, or an unholy alliance of the three.

-A new Kabal rises: An excellent theme often over looked by most players is the concept of a new and young Kabal, lead by an aspiring Archon, only just starting to take his/her place in the dark city. This lends an interesting way to re-model an army and veer away from the typical spam of Elite warrior units and raider craft and focus more on the unique character of each unit. Basic Warriors making up the core of your force, backed up by the toughened meat shields of Wracks, sent into battle by a Haemonculus that has attached himself to this rising star. Meanwhile your Archon sits secure in his own personal Raider the only one at first in the army, directing the flow of battle as he sends in payed off Street gangs of Hellion riders and Scourges to do the work he himself would not dare put himself at risk for, waiting until the enemy is bruised and bloody before descending down from his craft to feast on the pain, guarded by alien mercenaries kept for ease of their greed and less ambitious minds.

-Mayhap you enjoy the idea of just going full gang? An entire force of wild eyed crazed Reavers, Hellions and Scourges mounting up on wings and craft, screeching across real space in thuggish raids to secure flesh and power to rise about the lower scum of the city streets. The various elements banding together for mutual greater gain before fighting over their spoils giving rise to powerful Leaders that take the street alliance higher and higher into the spires of the Dark City.

-If lowly gangs and young archons don’t suit, then perhaps Highborn power and elite warrior code is more the poison of choice. Few can match the ferocity and skill with a blade that the dark kin possess. An army that worships the blade, made of Incubi, Veteran Wyches, Succubus’ and maybe even a powerful Archon, much a Swordsmen in their own right as any proud member of the Incubi Temple. Holding to a code of seeking out the greatest challenge to sharpen their blades against, engaging enemies head on with raider and Venom craft to quickly close and slaughter their way to infamy and higher praise in the ranks, shunning the pathetic court intrigue and power plays of the  other Kabals and cults, seeking only gain and perfection through bloody handed combat and death. A good alternative to the often typical Wych cult raid.

-Or the More Esoteric route? Haemonculus covens are all well and good, but do even these twisted flesh shapers come close to delving into the darkness that lies within the heart of the dark city? From the depths may rise an even more infernal and mysterious force for you to command. Born of the Beast masters who bend the creatures of the warp to their will, and the dreaded Mandrakes, sinister daemonic dark eldar who creep from the shadows and snatch their victims away. Truly an army lead by a Coven leader, so immersed in the dark arts of arcane science and flesh would be a terrible enemy to all sane life. Unleashing webway portals in the hearts of peaceful worlds, or worse, the middle of crowded hive cities for the vile things of the dark kin to reap bloody carnage on, dragging victims back to the benighted realm for sacrifice and experimentation too horrible to consider.  

-Take to the air perhaps and rule the skies above worlds who fear the dread shadow of your lightening speed craft as it passes over. An army made of Raider, Ravager and Fighter/bomber craft, even it’s troops never setting foot on the ground except to reek carnage in it’s aftermath, once all has been pulverized by shockwaves of horrifying munitions and bombing runs, the enemy position reduced to smoking craters of gore and blinded wreck. Their ears ringing with the echoing screech of your craft’s engines as they sore across the grim skies.

-Or maybe the final and most deadly of all weapons. Fear. Does your army not even dine to soil its hands in the proud defenses of your enemies? Do they instead send forth the most hideous and perverse works of the dark kin to shatter the mind, and break the soul before the body is even touched? Floating Talos and Chronos pain engines, their sanity blasting bodies shrouded by the dark wings of Shrikes and raider craft filled with wracks and beastial creatures ready to be unleashed once the damage is done. Medusae and other strange contraptions born of the Dark Eldar’s crazed intellect striding alongside Archons wielding the most horrifying weapons to inflict the worst possible trauma on a foe.

To quote the 3rd ed. Dark Eldar Book. The Dark Eldar are not nice. Not nice at all.

When considering the theme and characteristic of your army, not unlike your CW Eldar, ask yourself, what is the history of each unit on the table? Then consider what perversity and malign goals have brought them forth. Then, multiply that by something ten times worse. Are even a thousand Imperial souls merely an appetizer for your Archon who has fallen to such depths of need he must draw out even the most simple act of pain infliction to its most perfected measure?

Does your haemonculous make it a private goal to break and torture Astartes? His ambition to see the very limits the super enhanced minds and psychologies that a Space marine have can endure? Do they prefer the sweet meat of psykers, or the flesh of their more noble kin? Nothing, and I mean NOTHING, is bellow a Dark Eldar and their arrogant quest for self sustaining torture and arrogant aggrandizement.

To be continued in PART 2 (Exodites and Corsairs)

#warhammer 40k #warhammer #eldar #eldari #dark eldar #drukari #xenos #aliens #lore #background #gaming #insperation #hobby #miniatures #a word in your ear