Warhammer 40K: What the Heck Happened to Ynnari, the Grimdark’s Forgotten New Army
The Ynnari stated with a bang, but have mostly been forgotten.
When they were introduced at the tail end of 7th Edtion, the Ynnari were supposed to be a significant player in the game. This brand new faction combined all the various bickering groups of Aeldari into one death god worshiping group. They were a major development for the Aeldari, not only advancing the race’s storyline but for the first time in over 10,000 years giving new hope to the faltering people. On a larger scale, their initial involvement in galactic events had massive ramifications and promised tantalizing new storylines. Since then, however, the Ynnari have more or less fallen by the wayside without major involvement. Let’s take a look at what happened, and why it’s so disappointing.
Rise of the Ynnari
In early 2017 the Ynnari faction was introduced as part Gathering Storm. This was a major development, in many ways as important as the return of Guilliman or the opening of the Great Rift. Without the Ynnari, Guilliman could not have returned. It was also one of the few times in recent memory we’ve seen a major plot development for the Aeldari. In a story that has increasingly focused on the Imperial vs. Chaos narrative, to the exclusion of all else, the Ynnari plot was a glimmer of hope for Xenos players. It hinted at major transformations for three popular factions and the possible introduction of a real new faction. The Ynnari’s rise, the birth of a new death god, and their involvement in Imperial affairs point at major plans.
All Quiet On the Ynnari Front
After a big introduction and taking part in galaxy shattering events, the Ynnari storyline was mostly quiet for nearly three years. This once promising faction languished, sadly underused. Aside from a few Black Library novels, which mostly flesh out their backstory, they haven’t been involved in the major events pushing the Galaxy forward. Vigilus, the major moment of 2019, was lacking a Ynnari presence even though other Aeldari factions had a role to play.
Remember me – I like Yvraine!
Aside from offhand mentions in some Codexes, they don’t seem to be playing a major role in most of the mainline novels. Indeed, they’ve been kind of written out of them, with the team of Guilliman and the Ynnari barely mentioned and seemingly no longer ongoing. Since their introduction they simply haven’t done much or had any new major developments that are obvious. Back at the start of 2018, I talked about the need to advance the Ynnari/Aeldari storyline and years later nothing has happened.
Falling Asleep Instead of Waking Up
There was a brief glimmer of hope for Ynnari during Psychic Awakening, when it was announced that the very first book would feature them. However this turned out to be a letdown. The story didn’t advance the Ynnari plot at all, instead it mostly told of events that had taken place prior to the current 40K setting, and was about a fairly unimportant conflict between the Ynnari and Deamons. Nor did they get revitalized with new rules. While other Eldar factions were buffed, often in ways that made you want to run them as mono-faction not Ynnari, the Ynnari got no expanded rules or anything.
GW Can Do It If They Want
So here we are, years and editions later, and the Ynnari really haven’t moved forward at all. They remain a 3 character model faction with strange rules, that bounce back and forth between broken and useless. Their lore has stagnated and their seemingly central role in the main plot hasn’t gone anywhere. And it’s really frustrating. More than that, its clear that GW could fix this if they wanted. Just look at some other factions. over in Age of Sigmar.
The Lumineth Realm-Lords have gotten a whole large (something like 27 kit) lineup released in under a year, giving us new takes on classic Elves, which is just what the Ynnari need. In 40K both Necrons (a Xenos faction) and Marines saw huge releases in the past year, each of them getting upwards of 20 new units announced in a single go (and then slowly released). The capacity to do it is there. More than that, GW should do it, not only would it fulfill the promise of the army, but it would allow them to add some much need creative juice into 40K, it should be a win-win.
Let us know what you think should happen with Ynnari, down in the comments!
