40K Tough Love: Can We Take A Minute to Talk About Eldar Aspect Warriors
The Eldar Craftworld army has always been popular – but it’s 2019 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. It’s a mixed bag, but it gets the job done.
But as I was marveling at the amazing skill and technology that makes the 2019 Gloomspite Gitz range 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.
Dire Avengers – 2006
The new guys – only 13 years old. These plastic minis are great and are the brightspot in the line. DAs are the most common 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
Howling Banshees – 2006
Striking Scorpions – 2006
Dark Reapers – 2006
Shining Spears – 2006
The Old Guard
These are the minis who can legally be US Congressmen. These are over 25 years old now and it shows.
Warp Spiders – 1994
Phoenix Lords – 1994
Avatar of Khaine – 1994
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 – Dark Reapers – (chunky armor, multiple heads, weapons/backpacks)
Banshees – Swooping Hawks – (light armor, dynamic in-motion posing, multiple heads, weapons/equipment)
Shining Spears (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:
It’s hard to justify opening my wallet for these:
And these have a really good paintjob to help hide their age.
~How would you replace the Eldar Aspects?
