Warhammer 40K: The Original Eldar of 1988
Did you know that Yriel’s Eldritch Raiders first raided our planet in 1988? Take a look at that first Eldar armylist from many Editions ago, and how to recreate it today.
Today we turn the clock back over 30 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 Space 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 Army List
We start off with the history of Yriel’s Eldritch Raiders terrorizing the 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 Rogue Trader era 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! Put a pin in that one.
Page two has the support characters and it from here we get a bunch of guys with flight packs (proto Swooping Hawks vibe), power swords, and psychic abilities all around.
Original Eldar Units
Page 3 has the core squads – and you can see some things that feel like prot0-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 Eldar 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.
Deodorant Speeder – and stolen to boot! Oh yeah!
OG Eldar 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. Note the cunning re-use of many Dreadnought and Support Platform parts to make the Original War Walker. Then note the small “Ghost Warriors” that are the original inspiration for Wraithguard who would arrive over 20 years later.
Original Eldar Artwork
There is also some fantastic late 80s artwork in here. Take a look at this 80s classic. Some of these have returned after 30 years, to the latest 9th Edition Aeldari codex in the form of famed Corsairs.
Welcome to 2024
This oldschool Rogue Trader armylist is a great concept for an Eldar soup list and you can certainly use it as a thematic blueprint. The ingredients would be:
Craftworld Eldar (for some Guardians, Corsairs, and appropriate Aspect Warriors, and vehicles)
Forge World (go on, use the whole Forge World bag of weirdos, especially the funky skimmers and infantry in place of that looted motorpool) Legends be damned… we’re having fun here.
Yriel (they are his Namesake after all)
Last but not least, we’ve been waiting decades and can soon field those Zoat Terror Squads again! If anyone says it’s technically legal in the list, just point them back here.
You all even have the paint scheme and logos up there. Get cracking hobbyists!
Who knows what 10th Edition will bring to Codex: Aeldari – perhaps something else will return from the distant past?
