Warhammer 40K: Psychic Awakening – Aeldari Civil War
Games Workshop is teasing what’s in store for the kick off of Psychic Awakening – It’s the Aeldari on deck!
So the new Psychic Awakening Website is up and running. There isn’t much to go off of…yet. GW did say we’d have to wait until Monday for the big news – but it ain’t Monday yet! That said, we’re going to take a closer look at the map and talk about what GW could be planning for the Aeldari Race ahead. And yes, it’s looking like it’s an “internal” squabble of the Aeldari and not the return of Fulgrim (hey, I said it was a long shot and it’s not Monday yet).
via Psychic Awakening Website
We’ve got mentions of all the major Aeldari factions in this text: Asuryani (Craftworlds), Drukhari, Harlequins, and the Ynnari. No mention of the Exodites – but no one was expecting them to show up anyhow. We also get a big reminder that the Aeldari are a psychically sensitive race and that is going to be a big clue moving forward.
The Aeldari also have a lot of factions with a lot of different leaders all pulling the entire race in different directions. They (as a race) can be notoriously stubborn and when you combine that with their longer life spans you get a lot of “self-righteous leadership” ingrained in their culture. “Remember that time you were wrong and I was right?” “That was 200 years ago, won’t you ever let that go?” No, no they won’t.
From a Lore standpoint, this could be the plot-push that really brings all these conflicts to the front. It would be nice if the Aeldari did find some more common ground and became a more cohesive faction in the lore. Why? Because the Imperium is MASSIVE and has been the dominant force in the galaxy for a long, long time. They have been the driving force behind the major plot points while the Aeldari have generally been in the background pulling the strings. Sure, they’ve had big parts to play, and even in the Gathering Storm they were basically poised to be the saviours of the galaxy. And then they just sort of went dark.
We were expecting more from these three moving forward. Where did they go?
But now, with the Imperium basically split in half, it could be their chance to rise up and turn a new leaf. Maybe stop with the whole “dying race” thing and start with the whole “we’re rising from the ashes and we’re here to hold back the tide of chaos!” That seems like something a phoenix would do. And besides, this would be a great time to relaunch/redo a bunch of the Aeldari line. Off the top of my head, I’d love to see a new Avatar of Khaine, a new Vect, and some more Harlequin *stuff* in general. Oh and all the Phoenix Lords desperately need new models. And Aspect Warriors – pretty much all of them. And…well, I think you get the idea.
More like “SAD-vatar” of Khaine, amirite?!
With this first campaign on the way, we could see Phoenix Rising as the reunification of the Aledari as a much stronger faction. I’m not looking to wipe the slate clean and have a single massive Codex: Aeldari. But I would like to see something happen to them as an overall faction to put them in the same neighborhood as the Imperial juggernaut – and it needs to be more than a single psychic power or army ability that takes them from “okay” to “game breakingly OP” in an instant. Looking at you Ynnari.
The Aeldari are NOT a weak army currently. They just aren’t on the top right now. They had a good run while it lasted but, with the prevalence of Knights and the abundant strength of Imperial Soup, they aren’t what they used to be. They got hit hard with some nerfs in the last major pass for sure – some of it justified. Maybe with Phoenix Rising GW can tweak that dial and get them “just right” with this event.
Games Workshop has promised us a massive galaxy changing event. We’re hoping for a big shift away from the “Status Quo of Warhammer 40k” and it looks like the Aeldari are the guinea pigs.
What type of changes are you hoping for as the Aeldari get the first campaign of Psychic Awakening?
