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During Yriel's exile before coming back to save the Craftworld Iyanden he was leading a corsair fleet.

From a lore perspective -

Background:

He is not of Iyanden descent, and as an Autarch (Believes in self rule - I believe this was the design idea behind the Autarch http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autarch) runs his own show. None of the design principles of Eldar Craftworlds (as far as color/history/army list) apply to the Yriel list during his exile. And in no way can it relate at all to Iyanden (Furious, he vowed that he would never set foot upon Iyanden again - From Eldar Codex PG52)

Please keep in mind a 1500pt and 2000pt list - Fun but can win games.

If I want to build a Yriel (not Iyanden) "while in exile" corsair fleet, please give input on the following things:

Eldar List Type:

Mech / Foot

I believe Mech is closer since it was his own Corsair Fleet? Wave Serpents and Fire Prisms?

But if someone can bring supporting lore for a Foot Corsair list please do, I only have what I know from the Codex.

Desktop Color:

I think any sombre colors with bright highlights.

Base Coat:
Black, Grey, Dark-Blue - Show's the sadness, Exile, Distance from the Craftworlds?

Highlights / Washes:
Yellow - Independence, Skill
Red - Anger, Hatred
Blue - Royalty, Solidarity

Im not good with color's but there is a representation in color that needs to cover the following feelings and emotions:

Exile
Sadness
Anger

Skill
Martyr (From the lore he believes that he should sacrifice himself)
Sacrifice

Maybe some additional thoughts from you guys on emotions/feelingss to add?

The army should look indimidating on the tabletop, play well and still be a fun list to field, filled with lore and possible model customisations.

Please provide your inputs.

Sorry I can't be too helpful since I don't know the lore too well but for what it's worth I think the Storm Guardian models could make good corsairs.

Obviously a fair amount of vehicles since they're pirates ARRR!

Harlequins and rangers could probably fit

Other than that it's hard to think of units that would fit well since guardians, Aspect Warriors, Farseers/Warlocks, and wraith units seem very tied to craftworlds

If you want to emphasize concepts like sacrifice, martyrdom, etc than a lot of high risk-reward units would fit, so maybe a fair amount of CC and light vehicles

Again sorry I can't be more useful

The reason I believe any aspect will work is because as an AWE inspiring leader, any aspect will follow the amazing Yriel, yet Yriel is no longer bound to any Craftworld. But i like the high-risk-high-reward idea.

I agree any of the wraith-like units don't make sense since there aren't any psykers to control them. And they have no reason to follow a loan Eldar outcast.

Thanks for the feedback.

I do not know the eldar color scemes very well, but you could start with a Lyanden paint scheme and then deface it in some way. It is what some of the CSM do.

I would go with a mech army. The mass of skimmers is more of a fast hitting pirate force than a foot list.

Competitively the only issue will be not having a farseer as they are a huge force multiplier for the Eldar army. I think that most of the top eldar lists have one, but I do not know if it would fit this fluff.

I would say that you can use aspect warriors. They would be Eldar who were so drawn into thier aspect they wanted more chances to fight and test their skill than simply staying on a craftworld and not fighting as often.

Have you considered the Dark Eldar codex? I am not sure if it would work. In the Eldar codex the equipment that Yriel has is after his return, ie his spear. You could make some kind of counts as Dark Eldar army with a Dracon being Yriel with his outcast equipment. This would definatly give you the fast pirate feel, and then just don't include the more "tortured" or "pained" stuff like Hemis or grotesques.

Good idea man, thats how my eldar is pretty much set-up, no guardians, all aspects all fast, no wraith units, wave serpents x2, 1 prism. Rock n Roll. prob the bestr eldar army out there, little bit of mech, little bit of foot, whole lot of fun, without being cheesy.

If I am correct then the Iyanden colors are Main-Yellow, Detail-Blue.

Maybe swapping the two colors. Using blue primarily with yellow/red/black detail to show the Iyanden perversion possibly.

I think the way the list plays should reflect the lore feeling, so maybe having multiple Skimmers would help.

Maybe a list along the following lines:

Iyanden

Fire dragons x 5
Wave Serpent

Fire dragons x 5
Wave Serpent

Dire Avengers 10
Wave Serpent

Dire Avengers 10
Wave Serpent

Guardian Jetbike Squad or Shining Spears

Fire Prism
Fire Prism

Feels like a strike force, has some competetive elements?

Seems pretty good, but typically people also take an exarch with their dire avengers for bladestorm (the exarch uses dual-catapults), and guardian jetbikes are definitely better than shining spears, and I will illustrate why in a moment, but I need to do something IRL first.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
OK, so Guardian Jetbikes are better than Shining Spears for a number of reasons. First and foremost, is that Guardian Jetbikes are troops. They are also cheaper than Shining Spears, for the same amount of durability, and it people seem to believe that Shining Spears have limited uses, as they simply can't survive in prolonged combats, and they can't shoot either.

I was leaning towards the Guardian Jetbike squad. Probably without a warlock.

Farseer does not fit into the fluff, and I don't really believe the Warlock does either.

I am pretty happy with the list playability, I just need to work on the lore/color portion now.

Thanks for all the comments so far.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Ok so here is the list i came up with (credit still due to Akaen for all the help via PM):

HQ
Yriel

Elite
Fire Dragon x 5
Wave Serpert TL Shuriken Cannon

Fire Dragon x 5
Wave Serpent TL Shuriken Cannon

Troop
Dire Avengers x 10 - Dual Catapault, Exarch, Bladestorm
Wave Serpent TL EML

Dire Avengers x 10 - Dual Catapault, Exarch, Bladestorm
Wave Serpent TL EML

Guardian Jetbike Squad x 8 2 x Shuriken Cannon

Heavy Support
Fire Prism
Fire Prism

Total Points 1485

Or a slight variation:

HQ
Yriel

Elite
Fire Dragon x 5
Wave Serpent TL Shuriken Cannon

Troop
Dire Avengers x 10 - Dual Catapault, Exarch, Bladestorm
Wave Serpent TL EML

Dire Avengers x 10 - Dual Catapault, Exarch, Bladestorm
Wave Serpent TL EML

Guardian Jetbike Squad x 8 2 x Shuriken Cannon

Pathfinders x 8

Heavy Support
Fire Prism
Fire Prism

Total Points 1497

Yriel's raiders used a similar theme to the craftworld colours.
Yellow-blue, but blue was the main colour (a bluey grey according to the colour plates from "CA: Book of the astronomican" from whence the army list comes, but that could just have been colour print issues as blue is one of the colours that won't print exactly the same each time) of the armour and the helmets were yellow.

'Tiger striping' was also not uncommon on the helmets/armour.

Warlocks and farseers do not fit into the fluff for the corsair fleets. There are no aspect shrines - which is where the warlock's armour is kept when he does not wear it. The temple of his last aspect prior to the witch path - on board the ships, as a Warlock is an eldar who ONCE walked the path of the warrior who has developed psychic abilities that have a useful battlefield role.

Harlequins (Harlequins will work for ANY eldar not in league with the ruinous powers - any of them, not just slaanesh - Dark Eldar, Corsairs, Exodites or Craftworlders) and rangers though, WOULD be used, although I doubt more than a single unit of either. A single (max size) troupe of Harlequins or a full squad of rangers/pathfinders. Rangers/Pathfinders would use the corsair fleets as transport between their various ports of call on their 'mission' (Rangers, although 'outcasts' as they walk that 'path' are still working for their craftworld, and are used for more than just scouting missions.)

Along with "guardian" or "storm guardian" squads (The original list had "serpent" and "dragon" squads for these roles) as well as jetbikers. These would be from the bulk of the "corsair" crew, and be more numerous. If the corsair fleet had 'recruits' from Saim-Hann, their crew would still prefer their mounts to going on foot.
A 'fluff' justification for a "warlock" in a storm squad would be to give them the "enhance" power to represent the superior training they have over the 'regular' craftworld guardians. Perhaps 'Dire Avengers' as the aforementioned shooty squads (sans exarch) to represent their better BS over their militia cousins? (The original Eldar guardian veterans didn't look too dissimilar to the dire avenger with their helmet plumes.)

chromedog wrote:Yriel's raiders used a similar theme to the craftworld colours.
Yellow-blue, but blue was the main colour (a bluey grey according to the colour plates from "CA: Book of the astronomican" from whence the army list comes, but that could just have been colour print issues as blue is one of the colours that won't print exactly the same each time) of the armour and the helmets were yellow.

'Tiger striping' was also not uncommon on the helmets/armour.

Warlocks and farseers do not fit into the fluff for the corsair fleets. There are no aspect shrines - which is where the warlock's armour is kept when he does not wear it. The temple of his last aspect prior to the witch path - on board the ships, as a Warlock is an eldar who ONCE walked the path of the warrior who has developed psychic abilities that have a useful battlefield role.

Harlequins (Harlequins will work for ANY eldar not in league with the ruinous powers - any of them, not just slaanesh - Dark Eldar, Corsairs, Exodites or Craftworlders) and rangers though, WOULD be used, although I doubt more than a single unit of either. A single (max size) troupe of Harlequins or a full squad of rangers/pathfinders. Rangers/Pathfinders would use the corsair fleets as transport between their various ports of call on their 'mission' (Rangers, although 'outcasts' as they walk that 'path' are still working for their craftworld, and are used for more than just scouting missions.)

Along with "guardian" or "storm guardian" squads (The original list had "serpent" and "dragon" squads for these roles) as well as jetbikers. These would be from the bulk of the "corsair" crew, and be more numerous. If the corsair fleet had 'recruits' from Saim-Hann, their crew would still prefer their mounts to going on foot.
A 'fluff' justification for a "warlock" in a storm squad would be to give them the "enhance" power to represent the superior training they have over the 'regular' craftworld guardians. Perhaps 'Dire Avengers' as the aforementioned shooty squads (sans exarch) to represent their better BS over their militia cousins? (The original Eldar guardian veterans didn't look too dissimilar to the dire avenger with their helmet plumes.)

Thanks so much for this info. Helps with the background and lore. I have been thinking about using Harlequins in the army, just don't have the skill to build a list with them in yet. I believe the second list in the previous post captures the Rangers and Guardians on Jetbikes feeling. The Dire Avengers and Fire Dragons help to make the list slightly more competetive on the table top.

Were there any specific colors for the tiger striped units?

There's an example of the tiger striping on the dreads below.


The Raiders had their own markings and symbol, too (and banners).

These are for skimmers (left) and dreadnought/War walker (right).
Although this army list predated the creation of the Falcon and Vyper kits (both 2nd ed), they also had access to "grav-attack" (skimmer tank) craft and dreadnoughts (which were piloted by living eldar) and war walkers. The older metal 'wraithlords' can conceivably fit a pilot into that 'head' carapace). So Falcons and vypers are also viable according to fluff.

I also recommend reading the Battlefleet gothic writeup on the corsair fleets (for how various units will fit into it).