40K Tough Love: We Need a Heart to Heart About Eldar Aspect Warriors
Craftworld Eldar have always had a special place in my heart – but it’s 2020 and the range is tied to a boat-anchor of ancient minis that need to go.
Believe me – I LOVE the Eldar. They were my first true 40K love and I still send them out on the tabletop to this day. I’ve got a giant army ranging from the original Rogue Trader “Eldar Pirates” all the way to Wraithknights, a Cobra superheavy, an Armorcast Revenant and the brand spanking new Jain Zar. It’s a mixed bag, but it gets the job done.
It slices, it dices. But Wait, THERE’S MORE!
But as I was marveling at the amazing skill and technology that makes the recent Rise of the Phoenix minis possible – it’s getting hard to ignore the Eldar infinity-elephant in the room – the Aspect Warriors are WAY WAY past their prime and are weighing the entire range down.
I’m going to date the existing range by the first Eldar codex they appeared in and figure out how old they are. It’s not super exact, and some of the minis are slightly older based on then the miniature itself was introduced..
Codex Eldar -2nd Edition (1994)
Codex Eldar – 3rd Edition (1999)
Codex Eldar – 4th Edition (2006)
The “Recent Aspects”
A bunch of the aspects got new metal minis alongside the 4th Edition codex – replacing their original incarnations going back to Rogue Trader.
Howling Banshees – 2019
Still warm off the injection molding machines, the new Banshees and Jain Zar offer a glimmer of hope to the dying race. However, we really need more than 1 updated aspect each decade. At the current rate, the last Aspect will be showing up in plastic in the year 2098, and I won’t be here for it.
Dire Avengers – 2006
The other “new” aspects – only 14 years old. These plastic minis are great and shore up the most common of the Aspects. DAs are the most iconic aspect so it made sense for them to get the modern plastic treatment first. The rest of these got metal – now resin minis.
Fire Dragons – 2006
Swooping Hawks – 2006
Striking Scorpions – 2006
Dark Reapers – 2006
Shining Spears – 2006
I told you I was “venerable”…
The Old Guard
These are the minis who can legally be US Congressmen. These are over 26 years old now and it shows.
Warp Spiders – 1994
Phoenix Lords (minus Jain Zar) – 1994
Avatar of Khaine – 1994
People used to be afraid of me…
Solutions?
A lot of solutions are possible – from a new boxed kit for every aspect to various combo boxes. Some of the aspects are somewhat similar and may be able to be redone with common kits and head-equipment swaps. For example:
Scorpions – Dragons (heavy segmented armor, multiple head-weapons)
Warp Spiders (and their Pheonix Lord PLEASE!) – Dark Reapers – (chunky armor, multiple heads, weapons/backpacks)
Swooping Hawks – Shadow Spectres (lighter armor, “floaty posing”, multiple heads, weapons/equipment)
Shining Spears (and their Pheonix Lord PLEASE!) (upgrade sprue for Guardian Skyrunners)
Some of these might be harder than others – but it’s possible and the Craftworld Eldar really need it. Because let’s be honest… When I can shell out my hard earned money for minis that look like this:
Eat your heart out Lelith!
It’s a much harder sell for these:
And these have a really fantastic paintjob to help hide their age.
~How would you replace the Eldar Aspects, and in what order.
