Help Me Pick a Craftworld

[ElectricPaladin]

I've decided to take the plunge: when I sell my buddy's Orks (pm me if you want to buy some Orks, btw), I'm going to use my cut to buy his Eldar.

The question is, which Craftworld?

Any Eldar experts out there want to help me pick?

I really don't know much about Eldar, so this is your chance to influence a new Eldar player right at the start. I like the color green. I like fast and mobile armies. I find wraith constructs fascinating. And despite all that, I'm flexible and have many varied interests.

Questions? Recommendations?

[Learn2Eel]

If you are fascinated by wraith constructs, then Iyanden would be a good choice - they use Wraithlords and Wraithguard more-so than other Craftworlds.
Because you like the colour green, Biel-Tan is another one to consider - they rely more on Aspect Warriors, however. They are also very fast, something you like.

I guess it comes down to what kind of Eldar army you think you would like to play. Foot-slogging? Mechanized? Wraith-centric? I'm not too clued up on how Eldar fare in general in 6th, but from what I can tell their foot-slogging armies pack quite a punch now, as do Wraith armies. You could always go a mix, but be aware that it can be difficult to do that with Eldar due to a lot of the options being over-costed and not meshing with each other. Mind you though, Eldar are amazingly rewarding tactically - the best players I play against usually have an Eldar (or Dark Eldar) army and are very experienced with them.

On another note, Wraithguard are better than they were, what with the changes to hull points and the like. Some other units to consider are the Nightwing - considered by many as arguably the best flyer in the game - and the Wraithseer from Forgeworld. Do you want 4+ Feel No Pain on an entire squad of T6 +3 armour bodies? You know you want it.

[Lunar Camel]

Ulthwe.

Because its fun to say "Ulthwe".

[Houghten]

It's pronounced "Ulthwé." ;)


But given your combined love of green and Wraith-x, I'd say make one of your own up.

[Iyandagar]

I made my own up. Never looked back either. The aspects are all painted accordingly to their schemes but the guardians, vehicles, Wraiths and Seers are all painted how I wanted them. Admittedly my Craftworld sounds very Welsh but it's all good.

[fuzzbuket]

dont do yellow, after like 3 months of painting if i hate the colour yellow and it is a terrible thing and i hate all yellow things.

from my experiance eldar are quite fun to do in a 2 tone scheme, so the armour 'skin' is one colour and the plating on top is a diffrent colour.

oh and bone colour always looks good on eldar, and its a great excuse to try more colourful schemes.

[imperialpower]

From what you have said if you pick one of the mainstream Cratfworlds you are going to have to give up one or more of the things you like either that or you can paint them up in the colour scheme of one of the main craftworlds you like and ignore what the Craftworld is renouned for, Iyaaden-wraiths, Beil tan-aspects ect. If you really want all the things you mentioned in your army then just make up your own craftworld but I would suggest painting up a couple of models and playing a few games with different styles of army before you decide to spend the cash as always.

[Defenestratus]

Just make up your own craftworld.

I did because I didn't want to conform to any one color scheme and I hate an army that looks "the same" throughout.

Then I just made up some BS fluff to why my tanks and walkers and vehicles are painted completely differently than my other troops. :P

[Mr.Pickelz]

If you don't find a Craftworld you like, you could always do Exodites or Harlequins. Both these forces would give you ample conversion pieces/opportunities and would definitely bring something unique to the table-top. ;)

[Phototoxin]

Ull-th'-wee, sam-hane, eye-ann-din....

Personally I'd decide what fluff and build type you like (ie lots of wraithlords etc, lots of jetbikes, lots of rangers or lots of aspect warriors) and then go from there. Or pick what colours you like.

[ElectricPaladin]

So, allow me to sum up the advice of BoLS:

1) Iyanden does wraith constructs (but they're yellow, which is a pain in the butt to paint).
2) Biel-Tann is green (but they're also white, which is a pain in the butt to paint).
3) Ulthwé is funny to say.
4) I can always make up my own Craftworld or play exodites or harlequins.

Some follow-up questions:
• Given that I'm not going to get everything I want, let's just throw the field wide open. What are some awesome, good-looking Craftworlds. Tell me about your favorite! Also, it's worth noting that there are no wraith constructs in the army I'll be buying, so unless I want to buy a lot more models, I may as well let that interest fall by the wayside for now...
• What can you tell me about exodites and harlequins?

[Mr.Pickelz]

Harlequins are like a Neutral Eldar force, they deal mainly with the Black Library and story telling (aka the costumes and such), their combat focus is centered around Close Combat, so if you were to do an army of pure harlequins it would lean towards the Assault Phase. Something interesting though, is that as they go around telling stories about eldar history and performing different acts. There is only one person who will ever play Slanessh (the chaos god who eats eldar souls) and he (or she) doesn't carry around a soul stone. This is called the Solitaire, and he (or she) and will often shunned because of his role, and is seen as a "Damned" person. Also to note, is their godly affiliation, the Laughing God is their patron and is hiding the webway somewhere along with the Black Library, Where as Khaine fell to pieces and is represented through his Avatars, the Laughing God is too fast and witty to be caught in the webway, however he (or she) doesn't have enough power to directly combat Slanessh. So the Laughing God acts more like Tzeentch, concocting plans and acting unpredicably. Harlequins also harbor the most Knowledge of the Webway, it's twists and turns, and act as a first line of defense for the Black Library.

It is noted that few (if only a couple) of humans inquisitors of the Ordo Malleus (think Grey Knights) have ever set foot inside the Library, however they were under the careful eye of the Harlequins, and the only reason this came to pass is because of the greater threat of Chaos which the Harlequins as well as other Eldar view as the greatest threat to the universe.

Edit: As a neutral force, the Harlequins will also visit the Dark Eldar forces and actively (for what ever reason) work/ fight with them against a foe, be it Human, Chaos, or Ork.

[Anggul]

There's no reason playing Biel-Tan would stop you from taking Wraiths. Just because Iyanden are known for having loads of the things doesn't mean you wouldn't see a Biel-Tan army with a fair number of them. Biel-Tan wouldn't have all-Aspect-Warrior forces all of the time. That's the ideal scenario yes, but is by no means always the case. People are getting far too stuck to the general theme of the known Craftworlds and forgetting everything else, like Blood Angels players who think everything has to have a Jump Pack and they shouldn't have Tactical Squads and such. They're still going to use a lot of the same stuff as the others.

To be honest, I would advise you to wait until the next codex before venturing into the Eldar. I have played them for quite a long time now, and I can say with sincerity that right now they are at their worst. There are a couple of decent units pulling all of the weight, with the vast majority of the codex being sub-par. Forgeworld stuff does help to alleviate this, but what if you want to use more of the codex units than you do the Forgeworld ones?

My Eldar are taking a break from their long and glorious service in 5th ed while I play around with my Tyranids. I'm sure they'll come right back out as soon as the next codex arrives or whenever people are fine with me play-testing my attempted fix of the codex.

[Kirsten]

that one! that one over there! no, not that one, don't be stupid. over there

I would do alaitoc personally, I love the rangers

[-Tom-]

So, allow me to sum up the advice of BoLS:

1) Iyanden does wraith constructs (but they're yellow, which is a pain in the butt to paint).
2) Biel-Tann is green (but they're also white, which is a pain in the butt to paint).
3) Ulthwé is funny to say.
4) I can always make up my own Craftworld or play exodites or harlequins.

Some follow-up questions:
• Given that I'm not going to get everything I want, let's just throw the field wide open. What are some awesome, good-looking Craftworlds. Tell me about your favorite! Also, it's worth noting that there are no wraith constructs in the army I'll be buying, so unless I want to buy a lot more models, I may as well let that interest fall by the wayside for now...
• What can you tell me about exodites and harlequins?

1) Yes, but you could have similar fluff for any CW you made up. Iyanden is meant to be 'wrath-heavy', but really there are no special rules for specific craftworlds at the moment. Mymearra/Murrmurmur/however it was spelled, in IA11 may also be argued to have a nice wraith presence, as they feature the FW wraith seer - they have a nice blue/black colour scheme.

2) Yep, white is a pain in the butt. There are some alternative Biel-Tan schemes shown in an older codex.

3) Ulthwé is black/yellow though, and yellow can be a pain in the butt to paint.

4) Yes, and it's not an 'or' really either, you could have exodites or pirates/corsairs showing up as 'allies' to a craft world, but just saying 'counts as'. 2nd Ed book used to have Exodite dragon knights, and Eldar pirates as specific listings, but not in codex at the moment, so people have done a fair few 'counts as' conversions - just google for Eldar Exodite Conversions if you wanted ideas for 'showpieces' in the future.

Harlequins will have their own standalone colour scheme, as they're really a bunch of eldar circus folk who travel around all the time. Also, bear in mind that the craftworld colour will largely be for guardians/vehicles/weapon platforms but that aspect warriors tend to maintain a colour scheme based on the aspect rather than the craftworld colour.

[eldargal]

Also remember that you don't have to follow the archetype for a craftworlds 'playstyle' if you don't care for it but like the colours and background. Saim Hann may be famous for its wild riders but that doesn't mean it wouldn't feel an infantry force. Likewise Iyanden might rely on wraith constructs but that doesn't mean they wouldn't use elite aspect warrior forces if they could avoid disturbing Those Who Have Kicked the Bucket.

[Emerald Rose Widow]

Also if you are looking for a craftworld with another set of interesting colours, including green, here is one for you.

Il-Kaithe

The Eldar of Il-Kaithe constantly crusade against the forces of Chaos. Their talented Bonesingers are said to be able to practice their art even in the heat of battle. This talent is also extended to the manufacturing of eldar war vehicles. The craftworld is known far and wide for their expertise in constructing the venerable Wave Serpent and its cousins. The colour of Il-Kaithe is green accompanied by purple or crimson red accompanied by blue.


That is just another example for you, if that helps at all.




I am with everyone else though, find a colour scheme you like, go with it, and who cares what it means on the table. You can explain anything away with the fluff if you are just creative enough with it and know the lore well enough.

[ElectricPaladin]

I have narrowed it down to three options:

1) Craftworld Mymeara

They have an interesting blue-teal-green color scheme that would be fun to play around with, and it's a good excuse to play with shadow spectres, who look like they are both tactically fun and represented by very pretty models.

2) Craftworld Il-Kaithe

Green with purple highlights is also interesting, and since I like to play mechanized armies and tanks, there's something pretty cool about playing the bonesinger craftworld.

3) Make One Up

Thoughts so far? I'll call them Tamm-Lyn (:D), because my wife is quite fond of that particular myth, give them a green and gold color scheme, and... no other ideas yet.

Thanks for your insight so far. Any further ideas?

[Kaiserdean]

I've always wanted to make, "wood eldar." I know that's basically Biel-tan, but I'd give the troops brown bodies, green helmets and guns, and tan faces.

I wouldn't know what to do with play style, but I think I'd like paint the models with that scheme.

[-Tom-]

Thanks for your insight so far. Any further ideas?

Not really a further idea as such, but perhaps a couple of handy links for resources, etc.

http://eldar.arhicks.co.uk/miscellaneous/paint_scheme_templates.php <-- templates to try out a colour scheme on
http://eldar.arhicks.co.uk/miscellaneous/eldar_runes.php <-- runes/symbols and meanings

(I think the guy who owns the site may be a member here even? Or on Warseer maybe... I found after I came up with the idea of adding wire trees to my Ranger bases that he had also already done it, and there's various other cool conversion projects blogged on there!).

[ElectricPaladin]

I've talked to my creative consultant (wife) and she recommends Il-Kaithe. My consultant is never wrong, so Il-Kaithe it is! I'll post an army list later.

[ElectricPaladin]

I'm going to go ahead and repost the list I already posted elsewhere, as my first 1500 point Eldar list I'm going to start building towards. I admit that it's a repost, but I've got your attention here, and you're all so helpful :D.

HQ
• Farseer on Jetbike w/Runes of Warding & Witnessing, Singing Spear, Spirit Stones, 2 Powers

Troops
• 10 Dire Avengers, Exarch w/Two Catapaults & Bladestorm Power
° Waveserpent w/Scatter Lasers & Shuriken Catapaults
• 10 Dire Avengers, Exarch w/Two Catapaults & Bladestorm Power
° Waveserpent w/Scatter Lasers & Shuriken Catapaults
• 10 Rangers w/Pathfinder Upgrade

Fast Attack
• 5 Shining Spears, Exarch w/Star Lance & Hit-and-Run Power

Heavy Support
• Fire Prism w/Holo-Fields, Shuriken Catapaults
• Fire Prism w/Holo-Fields, Shuriken Catapaults

I can build this list with what I'm buying from my friend with minimum purchases and conversion (I've got to turn a guardian jetbike into a shining spear, a falcon into a fire prism, and a waveserpent into a fire prism). I like that it's basically a mech list, but I also get to play with rangers and shining spears. I think that with their lances, a farseer boosting them with divination powers, and hit-and-run, the shining spears could do a good job of mopping up units depleted by my shootier elements, but don't have to worry about being bogged down in combat if they don't want to. To expand this list to 1850 (the typical game size in my meta) I have a lot of options. Maybe some wraithguard in a third waveserpent? Maybe some warp spiders (already own those)? I dunno...

What do you think about this list as a place to start?

[Defenestratus]

I'd ditch the runes of witnessing (they make it easier to get a perils) and also I'd ditch the holofield upgrades on your prisms. Give them spirit stones instead and shuricannons (same for the Serpents too) since they can move 12" and fire both weapons.

You're not going to have much luck in the anti-tank department as you really only have the prisms (which are mediocre anti-tank) and the farseer (who USED to be good anti tank but is now just barely passable as AT)

The Spears, while pretty, and sound cool, you'll find that even when fortuned, die easily then run away (usually off the table edge) after sustaining 2 casualties.

[ElectricPaladin]

Runes of Witnessing and Spirit Stones vs Holofields noted.


The Spears, while pretty, and sound cool, you'll find that even when fortuned, die easily then run away (usually off the table edge) after sustaining 2 casualties.

I'm going to give them a shot, but I've heard that critique before. Well... it's not like I'll be spending any money on them (other than what I've already decided to spend by buying the entire lot), so I'll have a chance to see it for myself.

I'm having a hard time figuring out where to put a farseer. A jetbike farseer sounds good, but shining spears are too fragile. A melee farseer sounds like a good fit for a squad of striking scorpions or howling banshees or something, but Eldar don't have any assault vehicles for them to ride in. Where do you recommend putting a farseer? Just... riding along with some dire avengers? It seems like a missed opportunity, and leaves me without a real hammer or any appreciable melee unit. What do you do with your farseers?

[ElectricPaladin]

Also, a question about Shining Spears:

Why are they seen as so fragile?

We've got a unit with 3+ armor saves. As a marine player, I know that that's a tough nut to crack - it's not terminator armor, but it's pretty tough. They've got Toughness 4, which is good for an Eldar. They can ignore terrain and make a 2d6 jump in the assault phase, which I know as a Tau player can make a unit pretty hard to kill if you finesse it properly. If you buy the Skilled Rider power, which now has the side-effect of improving the jink save - they have a permanent 4+ cover save if they move, 3+ if they move flat out.

So, basically, you can build a unit of fast-moving MEQs that can jump-shoot-jump and carry around their own ruin. This doesn't seem fragile to me. The only weirdness is that they only cary 6'' to 12'' weapons (maybe 24'' if you buy the shuriken cannon upgrade), which somewhat limits the utility of their jump-shoot-jumping, but I'm planning to use them as an assault unit anyway, which means I'll be using the jump-shoot-jump to keep them out of trouble on their way to combat, anyway. I can see a couple of things wrong with that unit, but they don't seem fragile to me.

[Emerald Rose Widow]

yay, it would be really cool to see some il-kaithe eldar, its not something I see very often.

I will say this much, this meq list sounds really cool, but you seem to not be making use of aspect warriors, which might be limiting your options.

[ElectricPaladin]

yay, it would be really cool to see some il-kaithe eldar, its not something I see very often.

I will say this much, this meq list sounds really cool, but you seem to not be making use of aspect warriors, which might be limiting your options.

Well, I also will own several striking scorpions and warp spiders (as well as a bunch of guardians, but they're not relevant here). The thing is, I'm not sure how to use them. Which aspect warriors do you recommend?

[Emerald Rose Widow]

Well, I also will own several striking scorpions and warp spiders (as well as a bunch of guardians, but they're not relevant here). The thing is, I'm not sure how to use them. Which aspect warriors do you recommend?

I have seen striking scorpions in action, my brother uses them almost in every list he runs, and to this day them with a biting blade exarch wreck face the majority of the time they hit the table. They often as not die on him despite efforts to the contrary, but still they wreck face and pay for themselves two times over (with the exclusion of the one game). They were a gift I got for him, and I am glad because he has made good use of the bloody things.

As for warp spiders, cool models, and their rules seem really awesome, but I have yet to see them in action.


As for the rest of the aspects, I cannot say as I have little experience with them myself, but scorpions and dire avengers are two really rock solid choices.