Warhammer 40K: Meet 1988’s Original Eldar Corsair Armylist
Did you know that Yriel’s Eldritch Raiders first raided our planet in 1988? Take a look at the original Eldar Corsair armylist from many Editions ago.
Today we turn the clock back over 35 years and go back to the early days of the game. Before Aspect Warriors, and the Eldar Path – there were Space Elves. These earliest incarnation of the Eldar arrvied in Rogue Trader and got their first armylist in Chapter Approved: Book of the Astronomicon from 1988.
The initial Eldritch Raiders army list came in Chapter Approved, alongside the first White Scars, Rogue Trader, Imperial Army and Ork lists! We’ll cover those another time.
The initial list laid down the foundation for the fast, fickle thieving Elves we all know and love to this day. This is the proto-list that would one day split into both Craftworld and Dark Eldar, and you can see early outlines of them laid down in it. Let’s dive in.
The Original Eldar Corsairs List
We start off with the history of Yriel’s Eldritch Raiders terrorizing Kolarne system. Even from these early days, we get the strict caste and levels of aristocracy within the Eldar, alongside the serpent theme and emphasis on cunning and cruelty. We get the exotic mercenary vibe set up here – and even talk of some Tyranic creatures pressed into service of the Eldar. Note that one could consider that original Imperator model to be the original incarnation of Yriel himself, or at least one of his senior officers. Also note – that Imperator could be up to Level 4 Psyker!
Page two has the support characters and it from here we get a bunch of guys with flight packs (proto Swooping Hawks vibe) and power swords and psychic abilities all around.
Page 3 has the core squads – and you can see some things that feel like proto-Guardians in their setup. Of course let’s all sit back and appreciate the AWESOME that is mercenary Zoat Terror Squads – with lots of Melta weapons to go around. After that we get Jetbikers on stolen Imperial jetbikes, who would one day evolve into Windriders/Reavers in later editions.
Page 4 is where more of the thievery comes in, with stolen Imperial speeders adding to the Eldar Dreadnoughts and deodorant anti-grav tanks.
Oh yeah!
Minis
Now we get to the original metal Space Elves from way back in the day. We see both the more familiar Shuriken Catapult on Cmdr. Swifteye, and the older “crossbow” style design on the color image. 40K still had banner bearers and musicians back in the day and Kelos Longfinger is always popular with his battleharp. On the rare occasions these minis still see the battlefield, they are commonly used as Guardian Defenders and Storms. Down below are the original War Walker and Dreadnought.
There is also some fantastic late 80s artwork in here. Take a look at this 80s classic:
Welcome to 2024
This is a great concept for an “Original Eldar Corsairs” list that you may just be able to pull off with the latest Aeldari Index, and some adidtional units as spice. You can certainly use the original as a thematic blueprint. The ingredients would be:
Craftworld Eldar – for some Guardians, appropriate Aspect Warriors, and vehicles.
Eldar Corsairs – go on, use the new Corsairs and whatever minis you can cobble together from old funky Forge World list.
Throw in some of the old-school Forge World Corsair vehicles to reflect the ramshackle vibe of the army.
Yriel – they are named after him after all.
The Muscle – Last but not least, don’t forget about those Blackstone Fortress Zoat Terror Squads again!
You all even have the paint scheme and logos up there. Get cracking hobbyists!
We want pics!
