Craftworld Eldar - What Broke the Fans?

[@TheOuterCircle]

I make a point of saying that the Eldar have rules that were 12 years old in the middle of the video. say this because the 4th edition codex... is the 3rd edition codex with universal special rules added in, and craftworld specific rules taken out. Between 1999 and 2011, therefore, they basically didn't change rules and points wise! Edit; you don't need to keep commenting about Warp Spiders, the aspect list I rattled off was verbatim what was written on the screen in the rogue trader era slide, I then mention some (not all) of the other aspects described or came later, I showed the Warp Spiders on the screen shortly after, I can assure you that they are NOT forgotten.

[@porcu12345]

"To this day, only 2 additional aspect types have been fleshed out" - sounds forgotten to me

[@Rotheric]

Well, you showed them off in the 3rd edition codex, when they were the big new aspect added to the 2nd edition codex (still got nightmares from how powerful they were back then), while claiming only 2 aspect types have been fleshed out.

[@FrostWolfPack]

I believe that GW is just killing the xeno factions and the eldars are on the main course to be offed from the game as soon as posiblle. As we have noticed maries are stealing their thunder from hover tanks to ultra special units man as eldar fan I think my faction is just going to grave soon.

[@SgtDeath1942]

It is a testament to the original sculptors of the 90s and 2000s that those kits still don't look too out of place on a 40k table. I absolutely would jump on Eldar if their core kits got a refresh, their kits could be so insanely dynamic and awesome to build but will they bother or will they release another 100 space marine kits instead?

[@LoftOfTheUniverse]

The Eldar have a unique vibe to them that some people kit bash to make them more elegant or zen like.

[@davidb3155]

I'm buying models from artel w for some of the aspects and a badass looking farseer.

[@Joetime90]

They'll build 100 new Marine kits first

[@Skeletor_the_Bigg]

The time has come then

[@SamJawBone]

I know Eldar were often broken as hell back in the older editions, but I always really liked them. They had some of the best vehicle models back in the 90's, and an overall beautiful aesthetic, their armies look so unique and exotic. I also think they had really interesting background fluff, with the Fall and their need for Spirit Stones to escape Slaanesh. It made them so tragic - they're such an advanced and cultured people but now they're hanging onto survival in the 40k galaxy by their fingernails, and it's ALL THEIR OWN FAULT. Anyone who wrote off Eldar as 'Space Elves' had no idea about what they were talking about. Whereas Space Marines were derived a lot from the Sardaukar of Dune, Mobile Infantry in Starship Troopers (the BOOK, not the movie), and various warrior cultures in human history (Romans, Mongols, Norse, etc.), it seems to me the Eldar were only loosely based on Tolkienien Elves, and Rick Priestley really took the idea and ran with it, into weird and cool directions. I understand that Eldar are not everyone's cup of tea, but I think they should have a more prominent role in Warhammer 40k's storytelling and marketing, and for the love of god UPDATED MINIS! The Eldar are like a cornerstone of the 40k universe. And yes, it was and always will be 'ELDAR'. Aeldari? Pfffttt, Mon'keigh plz.

[@foxdavion6865]

I'm glade they're back in the spotlight again in the lore.

[@Cordantheman]

Hanging on to the universe by the fingernails...find weapons that they used to have that can manipulate the warp to bring people back to life...honestly to me it seems like they have the technological advantage it's just that they don't have the quantity that other races have. It's just that most of their tech requires the warp in order to use which is bad (cause Slaanesh) and why they locked most of it away and now have it guarded by psychotic clowns. ALL eldar are potential psykers, all of them, it's just they adapt to their aspect roles so if they aren't a Warlock or a Farseer they refuse to practice it. Honestly they are probably on or above the Necron's technological level but only "IF" they could use all that warp tech they use to have. Good luck with how the warp is now and having a lust obsessed god breathing down your neck waiting for you to do it. Oh, and before someone brings up Dark Eldar...it's explained that they were isolated for years and evolved into to an almost different race (Romulans vs. Vulcans) and lost many of there psychic abilities. Which is why they don't use wraithbone weapons and armor anymore cause you can only grow it through psychic means. Add in the fact that they don't want to kill they want to enslave and they kill all psykers they find and it's easy to understand why. Think about the tech they do have though, combine that with the tech we see with the Craftworld Eldar and then think about the tech they no longer use and it's easy to see why they were a powerhouse race...

[@wickysoldier]

Agree, always Eldar.

[@opsimathics]

Even if GW squats the whole faction, I am never touching space marines. Screw them and screw all the other players who expect me to be repentant for how broken 6th edition (initially) was.

[@andrekorenak2417]

For me, as someone who has 10K~ Eldar models now collecting dust...The real answer is they don't play the way Eldar were supposed to play, and used to play. Eldar were supposed to be high speed, elite specialist, glass cannons. The aspects were like space marines, with higher damage output, and lower healthbars. Your infantry couldn't take much of a beating, though your tanks could (holofields OP), and everything was FAST. Tanks, transports and vypers/Jetbikes(!) could turbo boost across whole tables in a turn, disgorge their troops the next, and be in melee top of turn 2. No one else, mostly, could do that. Their infantry all had Fleet and could rush around the table in ways other armies couldn't. Everything Sixth and afterwards was them just losing their uniqueness to other armies. Precision placement of units became more of a gamble due to random charge range. Guardsman can literally run faster than them (move move move). Most other infantry units have nearly (read effectively) the same movement speed (5-6" + run + 2d6" assault). Their tanks aren't really noticeably faster than other army's tanks, and for that matter its usually a shooting war where moving means shooting with less accuracy anyway and Eldar AV weapons are usually possessed of shorter range. For my part anyway I liked playing kinda fluffy armies, obviously for tournies I would abuse holofields and fortune or whatever, but at least those armies had the "eldar flavor" still going for them. Psykers and grav vehicles and specialist infantry. Suddenly the only usable armies (for fun or victory) started to have to abuse these really weird cheeze piles. Flyer spam and Knight spam, and abusing special rules or situations for -1 stacks to hit. Gross. Aspects are totally unusable, and are priced like they're meant to be fodder. Guardians are a mess, simultaneously the most useful infantry and the least fluffy, costed like Guardsmen almost. Eldar melee is literally dead. Autarchs are a joke 'pro strategist and master of war' my nuts. Basically the range is mostly unusable, or unusable in its original fluffy and intended role. Despite the model range holding up well over these years, and despite having a few other armies myself, I just can't bring myself to care about 40K with balance being as bad as it is and so many interesting factions getting ignored, principally my primary faction.

[@andrekorenak2417]

Haha, listening to this after writing all that is really entertaining. My complaints are pretty much in line with the video's analysis, but perhaps a bit imprecisely laid out in terms of timeline.

[@andrekorenak2417]

"Space marines have taken that [specialist dedication] from them" Probably the number 1 reason I quit, aside from not even literally being able to use Aspects despite how cool they are.

[@Venneroth]

And you didn't even need to delve into the lore to make your point, the lore in which the Eldar are the perpetual butt of the joke Remember when the Eldar were the elder race? Now there's Necrons that are even elder-er. Remember when they were the advanced race? Now there's the Necrons, Tau, Golden-Age-of-Tech humans and the goddam orks (looking at you, Beast) to be even more advanced. Remember when they were the psychic species? Well, now the humans are a psychic species too. Remember when they were the army of specialist elites, contrasting the Space marine jack of all trade elites? Now the Primaris do that, too. Remember when the Eldar appeared in stories and they weren't a bunch of stupid inbreds who fuck everything up? That last one was a trick question. The Eldar have never been allowed to be anything else than that. Now, to be fair, the Eldar do deserve it, and we Eldar fans have brought it on ourselves. We too could have the entire franchise revolve around us, if only we had the good sense to play Space Marines. In fact, delete all the other factions. Everyone should just play Space Marines.

[@TheOuterCircle]

Have you considered, I dunno, playing space marines?

[@septicsauce322]

This comment hurts to read because it was the eldar that *really* got me into 40k. It isn't just GW, but as stated in the video: After that one broken codex, everyone hates on the eldar. It doesn't help that people like Bricky then proceed to act like the eldar are such a horrible faction. Hell, I was bullied in a chatroom for having the eldar as my favorite faction. It wasn't a 40k chatroom. I actually thought about buying books of the eldar, but now? After interacting with other fans, reading a bajillion comments (basically reviews), and seeing how GW/community treats this faction. I may not buy any books, games, or movies. Unless they have really high reviews. Honestly, maybe I should just make my own IP.

[@Cordantheman]

Cough cough, old elves in Tolkien were called Eldar...It's not a joke it's a reference...

[@alpharius2omegaboogaloo384]

@@Cordantheman Reference? Michael Moorcock was right when he called warhammer a bunch of “Simple Thieves”.

[@zachelkins1229]

Everyone should play Space Marines you say... *glances at 30k*

[@notani3533]

Even recent Eldar novels are just about them achieving nothing. Not sure how stories like those could get new eldar players or even maintaining existing one.

[@alecatnight1540]

Crumb of win pls

[@nataliealphonse4634]

The eldar books are some of my biggest disappointments in black library, seems they always get the B team

[@radroberts9941]

Even the the "Path of..." trilogy was about Eldar sucking compared to Marines.

[@matthewbentley1236]

If I'm to be honest books aren't what get new players into a faction, it's usually them having new models and them looking cool. People tend to pick their first faction from looking at what they think looks cool.

[@alvaroignacioriquelmezamud7417]

I only recently started my first book, the trilogy of mars, and the first character to appear is an eldar that seems to be heading into massive painful failure.

[@pacecory1]

when i first had warhammer explained to me I was told two things that really stood out to me. Space Marines, good army, did pretty much everything but didn't necessarily master it. Eldar: super specialist units that did specific things better than the rest. I played eighth and neither of these were true.

[@J4MM1E2]

Sad that the ancient advanced faction doesnt feel any more advanced than space marines on the tabletop. They're supposed to be tricky and mysterious but they just fragile with good tanks. Hope they change all aeldari factions to more reflect their lore when their codexes come out.

[@matthewstone1362]

Iyanden are the future of the eldar race. Double wounds for Brkting. 3w wraithguard. Spiritseer guided wraithsight strat. War walkers with scout. Not super competitive but they can hold their own.

[@povilzem]

>aeldari Fake fan detected

[@matthewstone1362]

@@povilzem ???

[@blindlobster]

@@matthewstone1362 I can't speak for Povilas Zemaitis, but I think he is suggesting that "true" fans call the peoples/armies by their original/true names rather than their copyright-benefit names. For example... Imperial Guard instead of Astra Militarum, Eldar instead of Aeldari, Tau instead of T'au. Povilas isn't wrong here.

[@septicsauce322]

@@blindlobster I thought all the new names are cooler. Aeldari sounds a bit my mysterious and alien than eldar. Astra militarum sounds better than Imperial guard because you expect language to change over some thirty to forty odd millennia. Not only do they sound cooler, but they make more sense. Well, this is my opinion.

[@iona2225]

For me, it was not making Ynnead's home Iyanden. The ship is half dead. Nope. They made it Biel-Tan. Where's the rep for my yellow as hell necromantic space pixies? :( It's criminal.

[@schroecat1]

Umm, Iyanden is the closest craftworld the Ynnari have to a "home". They have extremely strong support from the Ghost Houses and Spirit Seers, Iyanna Arienal is openly affiliated with them, and even Prince Reckless is associated. Biel-Tan was destroyed by the birth of the Yncarne, it's not a home in any sense.

[@draen13]

@@schroecat1 We rebuilding kind sir... the CW broke before the Biel Tan did

[@DracoMaverick]

New player who's first army is Craftworld. I didn't pick them because broken OP in previous editions or cheese builds. Just because I really like their looks, the lore making them interesting, and an army all about speed, tricks, and highly specialize units for specific jobs. So here's to hoping for a massive refresh for the space elves. Because Khaine knows that the Monkeigh will have their day.

[@thosewhocando]

For me it was when the nerfed the shuriken catapult. The main weapon of the of an ancient, one of the most hi-tech factions in the 40k universe, is (as described by a GW employee) functionally a SMG. Reduced rate of fire and less armour pentation. Also the range is so low, that you are FORCED to close to assault range to even to hit a target. I still paint the odd one (gorgeous miniatures) but haven't played 40k for years now.

[@mrk2210]

Yeah the biggest issue these days seems to be that the Eldar have zero fans within GW. GW talk alot right now about making the models on tabletop feel like representative of how strong they are in lore, but if you have nobody who thinks a faction is cool or strong on the design/rules team then that won't do any good.

[@oliverp3545]

I dont get how atom sized bullets firing at several times the speed of sound dont have AP but yet melee weapons for many armies do. Oh and let's not forget hail of doom, a Craftworld attribute that for some reason allows the shuriken guns to have AP within 12", like what was done there to make that possible where it wasnt before?

[@stuffandnonsense8528]

I’ve always been an Eldar fan/player. There’s a sort of poetic appropriateness to the way Eldar are neglected (being an old and broken empire). But the Eldar need to be shifted into a more elite position (alongside custodes/knights). It doesn’t make sense to have the remnants of an ancient race throwing their lives away with bodies on the ground, we need to get the wraith knight back into being a scary army destroyer but just get the points right, we should get the Ynnari killing dominoes back but just get the points right. They should be a very small model count army which is painfully elite, then they would finally fit their lore.

[@kairos468]

Back in the 90s a friend's brother had a 2nd edition Alaitoc Eldar army. I reckon that army was what really got me into 40k.

[@loltwest9423]

I actually noticed that for being an OG in the 40k setting, there was a lack of guys playing Eldar in my local GW store, and I've never actually got a chance to play against them. It's sad, actually. The only factions I often saw were some flavor of Heretic Astartes, Loyalist Astartes, Imperial Guard, Knights, and Necrons. I've only seen Orks a few times, Tau like once or twice, Demons once, and Eldar only once, but I didn't get to play them. Personally, I'd really like to see more Eldar, especially since 40k is supposed to be such a diverse and interesting galaxy, on top of its grimdark nature. I don't play Eldar, but I appreciate their aesthetic and the spice they bring to the tabletop, one that is much needed.

[@lokenontherange]

Almost twenty years without a serious update.

[@Archon...]

Make Biel-Tan great again.

[@OGLilNUTT]

TWU

[@Archon...]

@@OGLilNUTT praise cobra's magic

[@adinocc2042]

my craftworld!

[@Karina-winsmore]

We will built the wall and mon-keigh will pay for it!

[@boyanpenev9822]

Make Biel-Tan whole again first! It was a bit sad how after the Ynnari were introduced as a big deal, GW immediately took the axe to multiple major Craftworlds - breaking Biel-Tan and having another major invasion of Ulthwe. Then in Phoenix Rising DEldar invade Saim-Hann and the Ynnari spend the rest of the book running. Craftworlds lore in 8E in a nutshell: your faction is shit, everyone can invade your worldships and you barely survive. Go gawk at how awesome marines are, you pleb.

[@Zharunash]

12" Shuriken range for base units was it for me. Literally the worst basic gun in the game. Since then it just was bandaid after bandaid and no designer had the balls to revert the mistake of Gavin Thorpe.

[@Draxynnic]

It kinda worked at the time when 12" assault 2 actually gave you options that rapid fire didn't, but then the buffed rapid fire so it could fire twice within 12" even if the unit moved. But yeah, while it made sense that Guardians wouldn't use Imperial lasguns, there's not really any compelling reason why there couldn't have been a lower-power guardian equivalent of the lasblaster for when you wanted your Guardian Defenders to have a bit more range.

[@andrewryan1480]

Lets not forget that if you want to start an aspect warrior army it's going to cost you a HELL of a lot of money, I know starting any army is going to cost a lot but when your basic infantry is finecast you know you're in deep shit. Not to mention Howling Banshees were re-released in plastic at a HIGHER PRICE than when they were in Finecast. Wtf GeeDubbs?

[@TheOuterCircle]

Plus building said army is going to suck balls. Failcast, warm days, paint not sticking to resin, all the problems that come with it makes it barely tolerable.

[@boyanpenev9822]

Oh yeah. 10 avengers will set you back more than 10 intercessors and do way less. It doesn't get any easier with the resin aspects.

[@SockPupet]

I still have all the white metal ones.... are the newer striking scorpions finecast? Not that I am likely to play anytime soon if again.... I miss 2nd edition...

[@andrewryan1480]

@@SockPupet Yep, Striking Scorpions are now only available in Finecast. I'm too young to have been around during 2nd Ed, more's the pity

[@SockPupet]

@@andrewryan1480 Hmm... well I think I prefer the older white metal models more. The sleeker more compact armour and weapons of the older models contrasts the high tech of the Eldar against the bulky tech of the Imperium.

[@murgel2006]

Well, I never realized how long I have been collecting and playing Eldar until the internet showed me videos like this one. I have taken a look and found something interesting I only bought 3 boxes with some Eldar in them since 2006. The "recent" - Rise of the phoenix-, the older - Wake the death - and the "OLD" Deathwatch/Eldrad box. I have bought not a single failcast mini but have most of my stuff in metal mostly bought back in the day at my local store. Looks to me as if there is some untabed sales potential. GW, I'm a grown up and have a job, do you not want my money?

[@boyanpenev9822]

Actually, there were a few CWE-only boxes like the Bladehost holiday box and the Wraithhost vanguard apocalypse box.

[@randomcast3183]

GW: "Eldar are not selling. I guess no one plays them anymore. Hey look! More Primaris Marines!"

[@Nyctophora]

You've captured it. You get how it feels, as well as how it works. Thank you.

[@davidpenney2392]

Back in the 80s and early 90's the Eldar were the kings of the battlefield, then they took a massive nose dive, no new models or codex till the 2000's, Forge World took up the mantle and they got good again till the Net listers went appoc with them. They are a beautiful army regardless of the Craft world they are painted in, and will always be my favourite army

[@wanderer2375]

I personally feel like Warhammer is becoming just another basic science fiction like star wars and star trek. I am not even someone constantly stuck on old school stuff. It just is starting to feel lazy and cheap story wise. Just a bunch of super soldiers slamming against one another with no consequence.

[@RogornDal]

I agree unfortunately...

[@ZeroCanalX]

@Ragunito Well they have the license for comic books... so that's not so far out there now.

[@Furzkampfbomber]

This. I never played the tabletop, but I am a massive fan of the universe and the lore and I have become quite the Wh40k nerd over time. And to me, a lot of what happens right now feels like GW is trying to emulate how €A handled so many franchises before. Completely misunderstand what they have here, completely misunderstand why and how this franchise is so immensely loved and successful and then try to mainstream the whole thing in order to get more casual players into it - with the result that the true fans who made said franchise huge and kept it alive for decades get alienated, while the casual players who are now new and supposedly better and more interesting target group maybe give it a look and then can't be bothered anymore, because they are bored and don't understand the law anyway. . And while the Primaris generally suck even from a mere lore-related point of view and for someone never playing the tabletop, how GW now hammered a boring, badly developed woman into the lore, because _of course_ the Emperor could have created the Astarded only with the help of a shtrung an' indupendunt wo-maaan ist actually a lot worse, because it is a sign of GW inevitably and irrevocably going woke. . Same is true for this stupid childrens adventure series. Oh, sure, there are definitely worlds in the Empire of Mankind that are peaceful and nice and where children can have exciting adventures, but that is so _not the point_ of Wh40k. And the idea of children having 'exciting adventures' with the villains/enemies in that universe, like the Nids, the Necron or some Nurgle Plague marines is just... ridiculous.

[@mattwright778]

@@Furzkampfbomber May I please ask to what you are referring with the woman that helped the Emperor? This is new on me!

[@Furzkampfbomber]

@@mattwright778 I am talking about Erda, the newest GW retcon in order to make Wh40k more woke. . SPOILERS FOR THE NOVEL _'SATURNINE'_ FROM THE _'SIEGE OF TERRA'_ BOOK SERIES AHEAD ! ! ! . . . . . . . . . . . Erda appears in the novel mentioned in the spoiler warning. According to the new lore she was/is a Perpetual who is almost as old as the Emperor and who met the Emperor when the human race and human civilisation were quite long. . Apparently she helped the Emperor shepherding humankind towards the creation of the Imperium. Later, she not only helped Big E to create the Primarchs, apparently the Primarchs are _now_ made with her DNA as well, not just with the Emperors DNA. . SPOILER AHEAD ! ! ! . . . . . . . . . . Oh and... Erda apparently was not only unhappy with the Emperor and his vision of mankinds future, but also with what he had planned for his Primarchs. So she too measures to 'safe' 'her' Primarchs... that Vortex that scattered the Primarchs all over the galaxy, quite often sending them into places where they were tormented, twisted and fucked up to the point that the slighgtest push would make them fall for the Ruinous Powers and dooming mankind to an eternity of stagnation, despair and decline? Yup, that was her, that was Erda. . Because apperently sending some infants, no matter how powerful, into the unknown and in more than one case into what can only be described as 'hell' in order to 'save' them _so_ makes sense. . And we all know that the Emperor gives a shit about a single human being, even about his sons, but apparently _for Erda_ he suddenly discovered his soft side and decidid to not punish her for what she did, even though he knew where she was hiding.

[@mdrumt]

During 2nd Ed Eldar had the coolest minis and were scary on the battlefield. 2nd Ed was the best! 💪🏻👴🏻

[@TheOuterCircle]

If all goes right in a few hours time I'll do a post-video live stream and just chat for an hour or so.

[@TheJuggtron]

You nailed the summary - Space marines were a jack of all trades in any squad - now if a tactical squad is in CC you dun goofed - rather than 'made the best choice available at the time' and the loss of uniqueness that the eldar had by being so specialised is to me an indictment that GW just wants to sell cool models to 12 year olds without any thought. I'm not against that, i just wish there was more thought.

[@nathandanner4030]

We are WAY overdue for a WH40k"Rites of War" sequel.

[@povilzem]

Maiden world - those words! Imagine the mysteries, the memories that lie waiting...

[@sullivanmkii]

A bit late, but whatever. Eldar have always been strong, but they needed some tactical finesse to rule the battlefield. But when they got their Ulthwe list (around the cadia summer campaign) the became ultra cheeze. The list had absolutely no fat, 2 guardian squads (10 each), Farseer + council, vehicles for those three units (two shuriken catapults, webcanon) voila. They tormented everything, except the poster bois, and the poster bois in black. I was playing orks at that time, those were the fastest games ever, either you got intp melee range turn 2, or you got wrecked. No questions asked, no reasons given one had to accept it. It was a regular thing during the tournaments we hosted, that they would finish a game in under 30mins. It all depended on the chase roll when the guardians fled. If you didn´t get into contact with the council, or the transport that carried them, it was over... So much about a balanced game...

[@HesteBremse]

Thanks for making this video and summarize the actual status of The Eldar.

[@r3771-n2r]

3:11 what about warp spiders?

[@hailhydra7959]

I’m still waiting to see the Slicing Orbs of Zandros

[@izaakkemp8938]

To be fair, the 1994 Eldar sculps by Jes Goodwin were marvelous. GW hasn't updated the Phoenix lords because they didn't need to.

[@Quole1234]

Before this video even starts... The Aspect Warriors are by far the thing that pisses me off the most. The fact that most of them have STILL not been updated is baffling to me. To make matters even worse they finally updated Howling Banshees and Jain Zar..... only to make them both garbage. On top of that they cost WAAAAY too much money.

[@schroecat1]

You and me both. It's astonishing that the greatest line of models ever designed languish in such an unplayable state. And GW wonders why Eldar don't sell?

[@gerhardvonrabenau1603]

I agree, considering the quality of competing models of the line, games workshop is producing some of the worst Craftworld Aeldari models on the market

[@Quole1234]

You know what's really stupid? Howling Banshees cost more money than a starter set for indomitus does. That set comes with 10 Necron warriors, scarab swarms, a royal warden, a bunch of space marine shit, and accessories. 5 Banshees costs more than that. In fact if you want a full 10 squad of banshees it's over 100$. That's more than a start collecting set. And they are TERRIBLE. Even with the +1 strength on power swords now. That's not even the most insulting though. Jain Zar - the phoenix lord of howling banshees, is arguably worse than a primaris lieutenant. Are you serious? Imagine if Calgar was worse than a nameless Eldar Warlock. And talking about the models some more, I never realized that the Avatar is from 1993. The Avatar. Something as iconic as the fucking Avatar, and it's one of the oldest models in all of 40k. Imagine if they did that with space marines.

[@schroecat1]

@@Quole1234 yup. It's a crime.

[@andrewreilly8791]

I still have WD127 with the army list in. It is a thing of beauty with gorgeous artwork by Jes Goodwin and a fantastic short story.

[@LoftOfTheUniverse]

Can you do a part 2 to this? Maybe recommend how they can fix these issues? Not to mention all of the lore and Ynnari nonsense that screwed eldar up

[@S3lph131]

Eldar was my first ever codex I ever bought back.. When 3rd was out.. It was in two words.. "intimidating" and " inspiring" truely gorgeous painting wise.. It took me 2 army projects before I returned to them XD FW are also slightly.. Kulling the eldar range >,

[@stonehorsegaming]

40k peaked with 3rd edition. Everything since then has been a poorly disguised corporate money grab devoid of the artistic love. I've been playing since 2nd edition, fell in love with Eldar after reading their Codex. Modern models and 3rd edition rules & artwork/imagery is where it is at.

[@McWerp]

4th was decent too. 5th-7th was shite. 8th and 9th have been fun. Some changes from 3rd/4th that I like, some things I miss.

[@stonehorsegaming]

@@McWerp best thing about 3rd edition, the main rulebook had balanced army lists. Every one was on the same page when it came to game design. Later codex's just ramped up the power creep.

[@conormccue2871]

Agreed. I haven't played 40k since half way into 4th edition. The rot that took over this hobby hasn't really faded since.

[@jakew7982]

4th edition was great, I started with 3rd. Stopped after that because they ruined everything!

[@schroecat1]

Nah, 40k peaked in 2nd edition. Every other edition has been but a pale shadow of what came earlier. At least the latest editions (8/9) feel a little closer to 2nd than some of the others, even though the codex is such a steaming pile of trash.

[@imperialpower4508]

That second edition codex front cover art is responsible for hooking me into 40k and the reason why over the years I have thrown a stupid amount of cash at GW, just have to say you echoed my thoughts exactly on the faction and what has happened to it over the years and also Taudar players were never real Eldar players in my opinion.

[@foxdavion6865]

Well I guess this is the reason I never saw Eldar on table top for a decade. The last time I saw them being fielded was sometime in 2002 and even 5hen it was entirely a skimmer army of bikes and speeders, haven't seen walkers being used in games, outside of display cabnets since I was a kid. With that said I haven't played or gone into a GW store in 5 years so I don't know the state of their popularity now. I do recall in the 90s Eldar and orks were super popular and were equally as popular as Space Marines. Then in the 2000s it was all Imperial Guard, Space Marines, Chaos Space Marines, Necrons and Tau; Sometimes you'll meet an ork or dark eldar player who are obviously ork and dark eldar players because they are living memes.

[@CommanderBohn]

Not only the psychic space pixie fairies do not achieve anything of notice, they also renamed them for easy copyright idiocies. Not to mention said renaming sounds horribly cringe since it has a plural version. Aeldari...seriously just thinking of this renaming is cringe. If they renamed them Aeldar, and used the name Aeldar as both singular and plural, then I'd be OK. Also am I the only one who thinks that Aspect Warriors feel like a wasted potential and deserve to be more expanded upon? I also miss when Eldar had radical hairstyles and could wear bitchin leather jackets and longcoats over their armors.

[@ScooterinAB]

Which I don't understand, because GW could trademark the name Eldar. Why did they need a new name? Why do any of the armies need these confusing new names?

[@CommanderBohn]

@@ScooterinAB Eldar appeared in Tolkien's works. So no trademarking it.

[@wraithship]

Between the lore of the Ynnari (especially that whole "could hardly beat a hologram of shelaxi at 1/100th of his power" BS) the abomination that was "Blood of the Pheonix" I'm not that confident abouts Eldar future I just hope this new nid v Eldar war teased will be the refresh both factions desperate need

[@Will-zs9ny]

Fingers crossed

[@LoftOfTheUniverse]

It's literally the worst match up for Eldar. An Infinite, super durable, unreasonable, only wanting to kill against an almost extinct race who even if they win, are going to suffer losses they can't even afford

[@revanruler6404]

@@LoftOfTheUniverse idk the nids got fucked pretty hard too, i mean they were defeated by chaos during the siege of baal, fucking chaos one of the worst matchups for chaos are nids and they still won. Fuck putting in necrons who were established as the best weapon against the nids no let's just put in chaos because fuck xenos players. Gw really pisses me off sometimes

[@adamcline8728]

@@LoftOfTheUniverse Eh, it's already been done. Iyanden vs. Kraken is the second most fleshed out conflict in Eldar lore ever since Prince Yriel became one of the few named characters.

[@ferris928]

The quite obscure Simpsons reference made me smile. :-) The first 5 Halloween episodes are my favorites. Thank you! Cheers!

[@adinocc2042]

Love the Eldar. Loved those scouts too.

[@konradcurzethereturnedandv2845]

My friend had somehow gotten a copy of the 2nd edition codex when we were kids and it blew me away. Its why i love warhammer today, im sure.

[@Jacknic12]

I've been an Eldar player since 3rd Ed ._. Feel my pain.

[@leiziru9642]

F

[@nathanieleck1023]

I may be a newer member to the clan, but I feel your pain my brethren. Breathe easy and rest. For our fight must still rage on, and you will need your strength.

[@MrMViceroy]

I've been an Eldar player since 2nd, and 3rd was heartbreaking it was so bad by comparison. Almost everything that made me love them in 2nd was stripped away.

[@RUTGERMORTENSEN]

I've been an Eldar fan since 1991s eldar attack expansion for space crusade, I win 😭

[@jusnogood1715]

I actually was pretty interested in this taudar thing, I looked it up and most army’s were painted quite nicely

[@matthewbeale5083]

That waa about when the rise of commissioned painting services began. They'd existed before, but they were popularized by tourney players buying the Netlist of the Week and paying someone to paint it for them because tourneys -- especially the big GTs -- required painted armies.

[@Metalgearfox2000]

What broke us was the lack of sequels with torture porn from our liege C.S. goto

[@mecha-narutouzumaki6413]

That dawn of war novel still gives me nightmares. Poor taldeer.

[@jorgejustin461]

FUCKING MULTILASERS

[@mikeb3808]

M U L T I L A S E R S

[@pablosturm6640]

This pleases meeeeeeeee

[@FrstSpctr88]

Razor-Raiders? Ward, Goto and Watson make the despicable trinity

[@Janx14]

Honestly the Necrons feel like they have all the cool ancient race stuff, and feel alot grimer than sexing their way to destruction.

[@Tyro_]

Very cool video; as far as the “magic ship aspect warriors” you could say they just salvage the battlefield for bits n pieces of the blown up fighter

[@oliverp3545]

I hate how the lore now is just Eldar are sidekicks to the plot now.

[@POzziee]

I don't remember the Aspect Warriors being in the Rouge Trader book? I'm sure they we in the Compendium or Compilation White Dwarf books. One had the Aspects the other had Harlequins. Warp Spiders we also added along with Shinning Spears. Eldar we good in 4th too. I stopped playing 40k once 8th landed.

[@schroecat1]

The Aspect Warriors were introduced in the White Dwarf "proto-codex" during Rogue Trader era. WD127.

[@tflwulf69]

When I got into 40k which was shortly after the release of 2nd edition I played Eldar. At the time each unit had a specific job to do, it did the job you won and if it didn't do that job or was stopped from doing that job you lost. Simple as Glass Dagger, stab first or it shatters in your hand. First time I faced off against Blood Angels I was able to bring 9 yes 9 las-cannons to the board which in 2nd were arguably by far the most powerful weapon on the table. My opponent had only faced off against orks and imp guard so was using the same tactics and expected the same. By the end of the first turns for both of us I had destroyed his landraider with all his close combat terminators inside. In fairness lucky roll after that avatar charged it and got a critical damage roll. Prior to that he shot the avatar with a multi melta tarantula - no effect as avatar is immune to heat based. I had then had 9 lascanons that were there to deal with the landraider and the terminators looking for new targets. Needless to say his force commander and librarian had a day as shit as the terminators and land raider. The swooping hawks dropped frags on one tactical squad, the scorpions ambushed the 2nd and the 3rd got truly shot up by dire avengers and dark reapers. By the start of his second turn he jumped his assault troops into charge range of the banshee's - he didn't know what the mask does when they charge and thought marines could tank a charge from banshees. His 6ish devastators and my 5 reapers, 5 vipers, 2 falcons and 2 fire prisms started trading shots. Did not go well for the devs. 3rd turn was mop up the few survivors, never made it to 4th. As the game was over so quick he rejigged his army and we played again. Never did beat the marines again after that even though we had multiple matches. Few years later and I hadnt played for a while but was in a position to start again and picked up a codex could have been 4th or 5th and Las cannons gone. replaced with something 2/3rds of the strength star lance or something. the unique abilties of the units that made them both potent and vulverable gone. They were not a unique army anymore they were IG with less tanks, they were orcs with less models. Since then I haven't played a game again and probably never will, I still collect and paint and becuase I only collect and paint means I can collect and paint anything not just what is in my beloved 2nd edition Eldar Codex.

[@kevinishki]

So ready to buy new eldar models.

[@Eulemunin]

What’s really sad is I started out a squat player and move to eldar. I still remember walking back in to play after a few years off, and curb stomping people. I was so confused, and they angry.

[@dcbluenose1873]

Hey, at least the Eldar are still a faction. RIP Squats.

[@jeffreese6649]

"Huh".. Grimm the squat

[@dcbluenose1873]

@@jeffreese6649 Sadly, one model does not a faction make.

[@NIMMHATVRapBeats]

Wait for 10th. :) rip

[@darko-man8549]

I quite like Ynnari actually - excluding the fact they are just a plot device to bring Robute back

[@newgamer85]

3:10 it's a bit of a stretch to say the crimson hunter are not exarchs because they equipment is destroyed. 1st it's the path they work not the tools they use. 2nd how many dire avanger suits have been tuned into paste by bolter fire. Reaper turned it to nothing but atoms by melta rounds or striking scorpions turned it a puddle of plasma and blood?

[@schroecat1]

As long as the spirit stones are retrieved, it doesn't matter anyway. The armour is just armour, it's the souls that matter.

[@Fenris86]

I would like to play Craftworld Eldar, but most of the sculpts are older than half the players at my GW and many of them are failcast. So I've settled for building an Oldhammer killteam with even older minis XD

[@schroecat1]

Good choice, the original Aspect Warrior models are mostly the best ones anyway (although Dark Reapers are bit... weird).

[@definitelyadarkangel9225]

I've been collecting metal retro Eldar and it's shocking how similar they are to the current range. Then I remembered that theyre not even a decade apart in terms of design.

[@alexhunt7810]

14:10: the Eldar Superheavies were introduced in IA:2 or 3, some years before 2011.

[@TheOuterCircle]

Yes, and popped up again in 2013 in the IA vol 2. But as a primary focus and not as a xenos unit lumped into an IA volume with all other xeno units, it was Vol. 11 which actually looked after Eldar specifically.

[@mathewkelly9968]

Going from the games darlings in 2nd and 3rd edition has hit the Eldar base hard .

[@saltminer7065]

As someone that played eldar in 3rd then came back years later in 8th, I agree.

[@nofuxgivens2797]

I played them in 2nd and loved them. Then made a harlequins army in 8th and now even in 9th they are great. But eldar are in a wierd place because most every unit is something elite and specialist. If you give them anything extra they become way too strong. Also not having that high initiative to punch above their weight hurts their basic stuff

[@Nyctophora]

White Dwarf 127, forever in our hearts.

[@Corvinuswargaming1444]

been looking forward to another one of these for a while. Great commentary

[@demonstructie]

If the start of 9th saw a huge new range of Eldar models instead of Necrons, I'd for sure be starting an Eldar force right now. I don't know whose model range was in more need of a revamp, because the Necron's was pretty shit as well, but the Eldar as a faction are just so much cooler and more interesting.

[@revanruler6404]

agree to disagree, the necrons probably didn't need a refresh as much (they already had immortals and other minis that were pretty recent) also necrons are cooler than eldar but whatever

[@DarkJamis]

Warp Spiders being so bad that nobody even notices they are missing in the aspect warrior list around the 3:00 mark.

[@zeno6111753]

Sold my large Eldar collection a year into 8th edition. Enough was enough. 40k is dead to me now, and I have never felt better about gaming! There are a lot of superior games out there with some really neat minis to go with it. Finally I am free from GWs incompetent clutches.

[@yochaiwyss3843]

Oh boy! It's time to pulp a shard of khaine to show off our new super strong super cool faction! Genestealers taking over a Craftworld? Sure do!

[@Vaultboy-ke2jj]

You forgot Warp Spiders when talking about aspect warriors

[@thomascrabtree]

Some great points, I particularly liked the parts about *[HERESEY]* , and disagreed over the *[HERESEY]* and *[HERESEY]* timeline bits, but otherwise a good *[FORWARD TO INQUISITION IMMEDIATELY]*

[@sjhhej]

Jez Goodwin nailed the image first go...

[@alexlloyd2198]

I recall them saying the orb slicing aspects and there craftworld where destroyed in one of the more recent codexs. Think the scorpion phonix lords where having a fight in its ruines as i recall.

[@pug1184]

Did you miss Warp Spiders, as one of the aspects added post RT.

[@wraithship]

There was a 3rd aspect not on the list Warp spiders! That's why they're one of the aspects without a Pheonix lord

[@TheOuterCircle]

Refer to the pinned comment for my response.

[@sidiouswargaming3971]

Should do a Bretonnia codex video. They essentially in the same as the eldar codex's.

[@Luna832]

Eldar are the type of army I would love to play if they got a full range update. Painting brigth and colourfull minis on nice and clean wraithbone bases would be so nice but I really dont want to use the aincent models when other factions have so much nicer models

[@wickysoldier]

Great review of the history of my first ever models I got to grace the table the plastic Eldar Guardians back in 2000. That beautiful blue codex I've shared some fond memories of, and have always loved my wraith and plastic tanks. I still believe the vehicle sculpts stand up to current builds of the lesser species however the infantry have been criminally neglected and our rules have since 4th edition been playing the game on Hard mode. An unforgiving faction that for its arrogance in the lore needed a headstrong skillful player to wield successfully on the tabletop. Hopefully they give us the AoS treatment of model making and fix our range and bring us up to par against the other factions... however I predict out spotlight will shine for maybe 3-6momths before start all over again in 10th ed....

[@dekai7992]

Eldar in 8th edition broke me, and now, you cannot even play them against 9th edition codexes. That is, you can, but if you don't stick to a certain set of traits and units, it doesn't make any sense. Which is a shame, because most other armies are rather good at making a host of several different combination work. However, the one species that's based on tailoring their army composition to any possible enemy is currently the one that cannot do that in any feasible way. I want to be able to take my beloved aspect warriors and not to be confined to Shining Spears only, otherwise there's no point in even showing up. I love my Howling Banshees. And my Avatars. Also, the models for both of those are 20 years old and more. More than any codex before it, the 9th edition Craftworlds codex will have to turn the whole faction inside out, completely re-evaluating every single existing unit and weapon and piece of equipment. And the models, too.

[@Wraithcannon]

The Slicing Orbs of Zandros have always been my idea of a grenade or grenade launcher themed aspect warrior. Short range, powerful, indirect fire, would that be so hard to do? They do seriously need their remaining Phoenix lords, as well as a new aspect warrior. Back in 2nd edition I had an idea for a plasma gun themed Aspect warrior, but I was laughed off as the very concept of an entire squad of plasma guns being ridiculously overpowered and having no place in this game. Now with Primaris Marines doing that very thing, as well as carrying around long range melta guns and flying autocannons, I feel the vindication flowing through me. The exodites are a particular sore spot, as I have been waiting far too long for my dino rider cavalry. The harlequins are not a fully fleshed out army, they never have been. They have gotten a larger range, which is great, but they still feel so limited, like the original Necron mini codex. They have had elite Mime troops and Master Mime assassins as part of their lore from the start, yet almost 40 years later we have yet to see them on the tabletop. They used to have Harlequins drednaughts, why did those have to go? The range needs so much work it's sad, but all we keep getting is more marines.

[@Raygun9000]

I'm tempted to make a primaris army as if it were Craftworld Eldar. The only aspect I'm missing is... Warp spiders? I guess the flamer blokes are the closest thing.

[@cole8834]

you know, for the most part, changing points costs seems like a way better method of balancing than tweaking every aspect of each unit all the time.

[@mathewkelly9968]

3:14 warp spiders ? The most broken unit of 3rd edition

[@vryusvin3905]

I'm one of those 'old guys' I guess. Started in 1st-2nd edition, left for years because.. life... and now newly back in 8th/9th edition I guess. I went to rebuild my beloved Eldar army only to find everything is plastic now and ... wow ... people love Space Marines and whatever the hell Primarchs are. Oh, and Tau exist? OK. Got it. I actually like the Tau. How this landscape has changed since Rogue Trader and White Dwarf days! Still love it though.

[@martynyoung554]

the 3rd edition craftworld codex was the first to mention ynead

[@schroecat1]

People like to forget this so that they can cry more. XD

[@alexlloyd2198]

I have played eldar since 2nd ed and i can tell you people have always hated them, but then it was mainly marines and eldar have always been good at ignoring there armour in the past lol. We really do need some new mins and something to make us stand out from spacemarines who do seem to be copying our army somewhat lol. That doom book was sadly rubish, i feel they took a story involving chaos or orks and just replaced them with eldar to shoehorn in the lynix and phantom titan along with some space wolfs, the flyers and super heavy tanks had been around for years from what i remember, the shadow specters might have been as well as i remember using them before that book arrived.

[@schroecat1]

They didn't hate us so much during 3rd through 5th because most of our strengths had been removed in the core rules changes. Fixed armour saves really hurt, and the removal of fixed strength on melee weapon profiles didn't help either. Good players still made it work, because the game still rewarded intelligent play, but over time that became less and less relevant.

[@alexlloyd2198]

@@schroecat1 maybe it was just me they hated then lol, I found things like star cannons just deleted tac squads and marine players would just cry how unfair it was eldar units ignored all the game mechanics lol, I did point out eldar where as expensive as a marine but as fragile as a guards man but still they cried about it lol.

[@The_skeleton_king]

When are they gonna release exodites?

[@Pikkabuu]

I dare to say that I don't like that Eldar army. It is after all painted in the colours of Sweden! And no good Finn will say that anything Swedish (Bar some of the women.) looks good.

[@Furzkampfbomber]

Well, so it is a good thing for you that Sweden is about to successfully remove itself from history then.

[@DaneTheInsane675]

As a Dane I must second this statement, no true faction should be in the colors of the swedes

[@szymdzum]

As Polish, I could 't agree more ;)

[@opsimathics]

if you are Finnish then you're going to enjoy the shining spears aspect shrine

[@Mortechai]

Dont fault Eldar, Tau and Grey Knights for what was entirely the Allies Matrixs fault. The allies system in 6th should have never been a thing, and if it hadn't, maybe all the Eldar 'hate' could have been avoided.

[@youn1700]

3rd Edition killed off Banshee and Scorpion melee abilities. They went from being useful melee troops to complete trash.

[@MrMViceroy]

Banshees were still very good at killing MEQs back in 3rd, even if their special rules were a bit crap compared to 2nd. Now they're hot garbage.

[@andrekorenak2417]

I recall using banshees and scorpions with farseers as my key deathblobs back in 5th. Everything after that is just watching the army die by either being forced to run cheese builds or having shit rules for half of everything interesting.

[@Morriaphant]

Wow so in summary, the eldar really did peak to soon

[@havoc569]

Fuck man you're killing me. I'm having flashbacks. I remember painting my 2nd then 3rd ed eldar at my grandma when I was a kid. Was so cool. I played through the entire 5th ed with eldar even tourneys. I think the problem is that the game has just become soulless and hollow. Same happened to the eldar and the artwork.

[@dansden8077]

Please do a video on the harlequins. I would love to know more about their history. Thanks for a great video by the way.

[@darko-man8549]

Is it just me, or is getting ever more frustrating at the speed at which editions are coming out?

[@darko-man8549]

@Equos sadly means more money spent on new editions and not enough to savour a edition etc.

[@Spacefrisian]

What broke the fans....each time when GW improves one unit they break the fans even harder, again and again and again....and lame Autarch with 0 options.

[@ThatGUYthe2nd]

Lmao and now craftworlders have been completely replaced by the Ynnari and they still can't win.

[@lol_no_man]

you forgot me warp spiders! *shakes fist angrily*

[@6shnuggle6]

Started Eldar (and only army) mid 90's. No one played GW at that time really (Australia) and soon fin school and had to go on with life. Got back into GW (Eldar) around 2005. Not much had changed and Codex books were underwhelming at most. After a year I stopped due to the cost of the hobby. Looked into it again after 2012 and didn't bother. Eldar really got shat on. I still have my Eldar army. Mostly unpainted with a mix of non-GW models. Life won't let me paint it. ha. Not much respect for GW. They don't care about the fans.

[@rock_ok]

soulstorm webgate makes the eldar OP

[@CyberSammael]

Interesting video, but kind of disappointing that you entirely ignored the influence that Epic had on the race. Most of the new wave of vehicles were already gettimg a redesign and second version before making any appearance in 40K. Third edition Epic was 1997 and already had the fliers, super heavies and loads more.

[@scoticvsgossage9378]

So this is Australian time. 12:48 AM in my neck of the woods

[@iivarilappalainen9836]

personally i really like the early art work, both in 40k and fb. Maybe its the old skool pnp hobbyist in me who is used to everything being more rough and not so overly professional like we see today.