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I was speaking to my friend about his wraithlord and how he basaically copied my Daemon prince's base by sticking dead stuff below it , and then i said " it does'nt even suit eldar " but re then replied with " my craftworld is babaric and keeps trophy racks " , " a bit chaos-y " i said .

Are eldar even chaotic and keep bodies of their enemies as trophies ?

I read that Saim Hann are pretty barbaric at times (although not sure on the taking of trophies). However casualties of war on the ground is not that much of an indication of barbarianism.

Exodite Eldar are Eldar who ride dinosaurs and live in deathworlds and stuff. See if there's a Lexicanum article about them. I know a few folks here have armies of em.

Exodite Eldar are the most barbaric according to the Eldar.
Sami Hann are very barbaric
Same with Swordwind They are barbaric as well.

His armies arent those its Biel tan or something ( the white ones with green heads )

I havent read much lierature on the Eldar, but there is no indication in their codex of barbarism. Personally, it doesnt make sense to me. The Eldar are highly advanced, intelligent, high cognitive capacity, advanced weaponry, it makes no sense for them to be barbaric.

Element206 wrote:I havent read much lierature on the Eldar, but there is no indication in their codex of barbarism. Personally, it doesnt make sense to me. The Eldar are highly advanced, intelligent, high cognitive capacity, advanced weaponry, it makes no sense for them to be barbaric.

Yeah i would of thought when the kill someone they would dispose of the body

Maybe he just killed those things on his base. It's not a trophy rack, it's just battlefield detritus.

Element206 wrote:I havent read much lierature on the Eldar, but there is no indication in their codex of barbarism.

Oh yeah painting their bodies with blood and and rumors of drinking blood from eachothers wrists isn't an indication of barbarism at all

Exerp from the old Craftworld Eldar Codex: "We have found the attitude of other craftworld eldar interesting. They consider the Eldar of Saim-Hann feral and barbarous in many ways,..." Quite fitting as the same passage also mentions how Saim-Hann maintains ties to Exodite worlds and still have duels and a feudal hierarchy. The Biel Tan craftworld also seem to be warlike in the extreme. However actual trophy racks are more indictive of DE rather than Craftworld.

DarknessEternal wrote:Maybe he just killed those things on his base. It's not a trophy rack, it's just battlefield detritus.

Nah the kid said ' blah blah blah trophy racks blah ' ethier way he still copied me

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

Barbarism isn't the same as cannibalism. Barbarism implies a point of view that the other culture is of lower standing. By today's democratic standards the human society of warhammer 40k is excessively barbarian, while even the more barbarian Eldar cultures would fit less into that role.

Saim-Hann are barbarians only in comparison with other Eldar (and possibly Tau), but this in the meaning of a primitive, honour-driven, culture rather than cannibalistic trophy hunters.

Keep in mind that Eldar really can't afford such indulgences, even spending too much time honing ones wrath and fury leads to the Eldar mind invariably lost on the path of Khaine.

The eldar were based on the Celts, and the celtic Sidhe (elves)

Look at the craftworld names

Saim-hann- Samhain- celtic holiday
Beil-tan- Beltaine- celtic holiday
Ulthwe- Ulthwe - witch from celtic myth
Alaitoc- Alaiiitoc- celtic tribe
Iyanden - That one i'm not so sure about- several possibilities

The court of the young king stuff is right out of celtic myth.

The celts were both very civilised and very barbaric by modern standards, as well as being pretty technologically advanced for their time period.

It's possible to be 'barbaric' by another culture's standards and be advanced at the same time

We would probably consider the Romans 'barbaric'

The Noise Marine wrote:His armies arent those its Biel tan or something ( the white ones with green heads )

Swordwind armies are Biel-Tan Aspect forces.

Mahtamori wrote:Barbarism isn't the same as cannibalism. Barbarism implies a point of view that the other culture is of lower standing. By today's democratic standards the human society of warhammer 40k is excessively barbarian, while even the more barbarian Eldar cultures would fit less into that role.

Saim-Hann are barbarians only in comparison with other Eldar (and possibly Tau), but this in the meaning of a primitive, honour-driven, culture rather than cannibalistic trophy hunters.

Keep in mind that Eldar really can't afford such indulgences, even spending too much time honing ones wrath and fury leads to the Eldar mind invariably lost on the path of Khaine.

Who said anything about cannabalism?

Aspect Warriors, especially those of Biel Tan, can be very brutal. However, again, Trophy head eldar are more of a DE thing. However you could always put them atop a mountain of bodies to show how badass this Wraithlord is in the afterflife.

Warboss Imbad Ironskull wrote:Who said anything about cannabalism?

I was searching for a word to describe head-hunting and trophy collection and other implied savagery. Cannibalism is not correct in it's meaning but suffice to convey the spirit of what I was trying to communicate.

Nothing wrong with ritual cannabalism. Pretty common theme in a lot of religious/spiritual cultures.

Trophy-taking ditto

Trophies are percieved as much more civilized than cannibalism though, as you still see it as a symbol of accomplishment in the modern world (albeit for animals, but then again we are basically apes to Eldar). Cannibalism will likely get your ass in solitary, or the chair nowadays. Plus, it's completely different than what we're discussing about (only Dark Eldar stoop to actually eating their own kind).

'even i'm eatable, but that, dear children, is called cannibalism, and is frowned on in most civilized societies..'


I see no problem with trophy taking eldar. They don't HAVE to be sleek emotionally-repressed elf-drones

My wife's Saimhann have nid and ork trophies hung from their bikes etc


'I was searching for a word to describe head-hunting and trophy collection and other implied savagery. Cannibalism is not correct in it's meaning but suffice to convey the spirit of what I was trying to communicate.'

I think Barbarism (as used earlier in the thread) would fit.

There's always Eldar Corsairs, who are basically craftworlders who embrace the good, wholesome "raping and pillaging" thing the DE have going on.

But without looking like punks that raided a ship full of leatherwear for the discerning customer (Adeptus Sororitas)...

Ascalam wrote:
I see no problem with trophy taking eldar. They don't HAVE to be sleek emotionally-repressed elf-drones

My wife's Saimhann have nid and ork trophies hung from their bikes etc

So do I, my Autarch has Ork and human skulls on either side of his saddle and more recently a Kroot skull (got it from a freinds DE Raider or whatever you call their big transport ). He also has a fur cape he wears skinned from a Fenrisian Wolf and a necklace of Tyranid teeth. Oh and his teeth are filed into fangs (I used the HE Lion Chariot head) and he was blood warpaint on his face.

Yup he's barbaric.

Also I think it depends on how you look at "barbaric". I mean if you only associate it with taking some bodily trophy of some defeated enemy then that's kind of a narrow description of being barbaric. Eldar who wipe out perfectly peacefull humans just because they live on a Maiden world could be considered barbaric. Raising the spirits of the dead to enhabit artifical bodies instead of letting them rest in peace can be considered barbaric. Fighting with a weapon that's just a glorified chainsaw is barbaric.

The Noise Marine wrote:

DarknessEternal wrote:Maybe he just killed those things on his base. It's not a trophy rack, it's just battlefield detritus.

Nah the kid said ' blah blah blah trophy racks blah ' ethier way he still copied me

And you copied everyone else whose put a body on a base. Don't be so snotty.

DarknessEternal wrote:

The Noise Marine wrote:

DarknessEternal wrote:Maybe he just killed those things on his base. It's not a trophy rack, it's just battlefield detritus.

Nah the kid said ' blah blah blah trophy racks blah ' ethier way he still copied me

And you copied everyone else whose put a body on a base. Don't be so snotty.

How is that being 'snotty' he even told me

Avatar of khaine related stuff seems pretty barbaric

It is

It's based on the celtic mythology surrounding death, rebirth and life (and sacrificing someone now and again )

Put up a book of celtic mythology at the library and give it a read. Interesting stuff.

It also helps take the space-legolas vibe off the eldar (lot of new eldar players around my old club, and they all wanted to be able to field an army of good, wise and noble space elves. FIne by me, but i like my fluff a bit darker and bloodier

Beil Tan is the Swordwind. Thats the Name of its Strikeforce And the Beil-Tan have a Nasty habit of Aiding Imperial forces then slaughtering hem shortly afterwards. That why there dead guardsmen on my wraithlords Base. It's not really copying

"Barbaric" may be a term that could attributed to some Exodite Eldar. But those don't live on Craftworlds. Voluntarily abandoning that high-tech lifestyle is why they became "barbaric" in the first place.

I'd say the two themes just don't match very well.

The aforementioned Eldar Corsairs might fit better, if force composition and the manner of "decoration" could be tweaked slightly towards their direction.