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Topic says all. O_O

500 million or 3 billion. We are not sure.

It went from High Billions to 100 milllion+

Too many.

Throw some more artillery at them.

Considering that they've been a "dying race" for what, over fourty thousand years, I'd say they have plenty of Eldar left.

It's part of the reason I don't in any way buy the "dying race" crap.

I wouldn't call them the dying race, but instead the "numerically challenged". As long as their farseers can continue to steer them away from huge disasters, their numbers will remain stable.

And probably gradually increase over time.

Yeah. Eldar can't really count... You never see them using math. I bet a guardsmen is better at math than the Entire Eldar race.

Asherian Command wrote:Yeah. Eldar can't really count... You never see them using math. I bet a guardsmen is better at math than the Entire Eldar race.

They need to be. They are like omg we lost 100 million plus on Armageddon, and hell they don't even know the Eldar are to blame for it. And what the Eldar lost what a hand full setting it in motion? There is no need to count when when there are others to do the counting for you.

Yeah. But I beat one farseer is like counting her guardians and speaks.
"There are only 5 of us!"
Guardian "Uhh I count 1500."
"NO its 5! don't be silly! stupid guardians always thinking your so smart!"
Guardian looks pissed.

Actually, the fact that they haven't been wiped out yet by others is proof that they ARE dying. There are becoming so few of them that it's just plain impossible to find their craftworlds over the entire void of space. Were they growing, they would be getting easier to find and destroy, which they're not.

Plus, eldar reproduction is strange, and so taking any casualties is really hard to replace. Add on top of that the entire rest of the universe+a chaos god devoted to destorying them, and you can see why the only few, sparse remnants survive solely by hiding.

Eldar have been engaged in a long slide for a long time. The fact that they're not quite all the way dead yet doesn't change this.

Not really. it just means that they've managed to hide their craftworlds relatively well.

I don't think Eldar will go extinct anytime soon, but I do think they're in a long, slow decline as a race that will eventually see them fall into a state of perfect stagnation (IMO). They will survive, but can no longer go forward racially, culturally, militarily, etc. Like a brain dead patient hooked up to life support; yes he's not in danger of dying anymore from whatever hospitalized him but its not like he's going to do anything again, ever.

Haven't read the new fluff but one could argue the DE are there already, they've given up trying to rebuild past glories / build new ones, and they're content to hide out in the webway sacrificing others so that they may survive.

But I DON'T think the craftworld Eldar are like that. They really are trying to move forward, it's just that they're also being chased by Slaanesh the entire way so it makes it rather difficult.

Melissia wrote:But I DON'T think the craftworld Eldar are like that. They really are trying to move forward, it's just that they're also being chased by Slaanesh the entire way so it makes it rather difficult.

With a Monster nipping at your backside, the only way to go is Forward. But eventually you will find a hole in the wall small enough to where only you can fit, and deep enough to where the monster can't reach you. From there you'll either starve in the hole after the monster leaves because you fear that it's waiting outside for you, Or the monster will collapse the whole wall on your head.

This is how I think it's going to end for the Eldar. Not literally crushed by a giant wall or the entire race starving in the same hole( they would probably eat about half of the population of Wall dwelling Eldar first then use the bones to make some tools to dig through the wall in that case) but something like that.

Melissia wrote:But I DON'T think the craftworld Eldar are like that. They really are trying to move forward, it's just that they're also being chased by Slaanesh the entire way so it makes it rather difficult.

I agree with you. I think the craftworld eldar won't go quietly into the night, and are fighting tooth and nail to preserve and advance their race. Its just that they've lost too much, are scattered and beset by numerous enemies, AND have a hungry God chasing after their souls that make their goals hopeless. They're in survival mode, but are trying to reconquer their old empire at the same time, it won't work imo and harms them more than it helps. (Like fighting over maiden worlds for example, they should just abandon them its not like they're in any position to start founding new static colonies.)

Actually I think if the Eldar were willing to compromise, to set their sights lower and 'settle' so to speak, they'd have an excellent chance of surviving and thriving. Like, ally with the Tau and resettle within the Tau Empire. Exchange tech for mutual defense and protection. Or give up trying to recreate the past Eldar empire and make a new one in some isolated corner of the galaxy. Not as munificent to be sure but a hell of a lot more sensible / sustainable.

Problem is of course that would NEVER happen, because 1.) we are Eldar and the rest of you are little better than civilized bacteria! and 2.) its not grimdark

"Actually I think if the Eldar were willing to compromise, to set their sights lower and 'settle' so to speak, they'd have an excellent chance of surviving and thriving. Like, ally with the Tau and resettle within the Tau Empire. Exchange tech for mutual defense and protection. Or give up trying to recreate the past Eldar empire and make a new one in some isolated corner of the galaxy. Not as munificent to be sure but a hell of a lot more sensible / sustainable."

I do believe that you are right that Eldar are in a surviving mode, but i have to disagree that Eldar would ever ally themselves with a lesser race. They have a better chance in alling themselves with their cousin and rebuliding their mighty empire.

mrblacksunshine_1978 wrote:"Actually I think if the Eldar were willing to compromise, to set their sights lower and 'settle' so to speak, they'd have an excellent chance of surviving and thriving. Like, ally with the Tau and resettle within the Tau Empire. Exchange tech for mutual defense and protection. Or give up trying to recreate the past Eldar empire and make a new one in some isolated corner of the galaxy. Not as munificent to be sure but a hell of a lot more sensible / sustainable."

I do believe that you are right that Eldar are in a surviving mode, but i have to disagree that Eldar would ever ally themselves with a lesser race. They have a better chance in alling themselves with their cousin and rebuliding their mighty empire.

Eldar are practically space elves- the aloof, all for the good of elves, what suits us best mentality.

Remember: Their entire race is haunted by the prospect of being devoured by the Chaos God Slaanesh. The fact that they are scattered across something the size of the Milky Way, hounded by most other races with appreciable military power, and fighting both their fallen brethren (infrequently) and the forces of Chaos- it shouldn't be a suprise that their racial motivations for survival are strong. That they do not think themselves ascendant anymore is a mature if fear-filled sentiment.

Even if the number of Eldar are in the billions (and hell, let us say perhaps tens of billions at most), we are talking about a race that has to cover the broad expanse of a dark universe, hunted by Tyranids, Chaos demons, the Imperium of Man on a bad day, and Orks who like to kill for the pleasure of it.

Short version, even if the number of Eldar left teems in the billions, it is a small number compared to the amount fielded by other more prolific species like Tyranids, Orks, and Humans.

Actually at the end of my post I did say that'd NEVER happen Eldar pride of the First and all that

Re: allying with DE, I hope the new codex adds a more subtle layer to the Eldar - Dark Eldar relationship. Make it more than simple mutual hatred, we have that in WHFB already. If you think about it, its not like they ever had a civil war of annihilation, they just went separate ways after the Fall. So when some people tell me they'd never ally and want to destroy one another it doesn't completely add up in my head.

Path of the Warrior has a really cool sub-plot IMO, which I hope gets developed further. For those who don't know:


The rest of the book was alright, but that alone made it worth reading for me.

Eleventy bazillion. How else can you explain that their forces are made up of hair dressers and phone repair men given a flak jacket, sling shot that can't reach the enemy, and no training whatsoever.

The question was how many Eldar, not how many Guardsmen.

11

Who the hell reads Eldar and think Imperial Guard?

[

syanticraven wrote:Who the hell reads Eldar and think Imperial Guard?

DarknessEternal wrote:Eleventy bazillion. How else can you explain that their forces are made up of hair dressers and phone repair men given a flak jacket, sling shot that can't reach the enemy, and no training whatsoever.

Sounds like he was describing Guard to me.

Probably something around 10 million+ for every surviving craft world, so they likely do have a large race still, but its a race thats dogged by a god, humanity, planet devouring insectoids, and a plethora of other dangers that the other races dont have to worry about because they replenish at a more exponential rate.

Compared to every other race, they are pretty tiny faction. The only reason they are still a hug influence on the galaxy at large is there technology, prophetic ablities, webway travel, and unparalleled knowledge of the galaxy and its horrors they once brought to heel. Really at this point GW makes there fluff a race of survivors just trying to hold out till the scales tip more in there favor.

It doesnt matter how people "see" the eldar. The fact is that GW labeled them the dying underdogs and writes there fluff in such a matter. Read path of the warrior. Great book but it definately showes how even one of the larges most militaristic (Alaitoc) craftworlds is fighting an uphill battle to stay alive.

This is how I like the eldar personally. We are the underdogs, tragic heros, us against the galaxy. Our victories and losses mean that much more when every life lost or saved actaully amounts to something.

So as far as numbers goes Exodite+craftworlds+dark? Prolly billions of eldar still left. But like I said compared to the imperium, tyranids, orks, legions of chaos, they are like a grain of rice. Now compared to say the tau they are prolly pretty even #s for #s. The necron is a bit of a mystery as we dont know there exact numbers but id wager they outnumber us poor eldar by a good margin.

I'm willing to bet that there are more humans on Holy Terra then there are Eldar left in the galaxy. As has been said, the only reason they're still a factor is that they know the galaxy pretty dang well, they want to fight Chaos, and their master of both psychic abilities and technology means just a few Eldar can have as much influence as a whole Imperial Guard battlegroup.

Edit: Well, Guardians basically are Guardsmen with a slightly better gun and pointy ears, so its not THAT much of a stretch in that one respect.

ChrisWWII wrote:
Edit: Well, Guardians basically are Guardsmen with a slightly better gun and pointy ears, so its not THAT much of a stretch in that one respect.

Woe woe woe there Chris.... In table top terms maybe. But fluff wise guardians are eldar who have lived hundreds of years longer than a guardsman, have trained at one of the many aspect shrines till they turned warfare into an artform, then moved on to a civilian path but was called to war again because of there old experience. BS 3 is BS.... du du tishhhh

I am pretty sure he understands that he was just talking stats wise.

Yeah, I was just talking stats wise. Yes, in fluff terms they're way different....but are they all former aspect warriors? My understanding was that Guardians were a militia force made up of civillians, not a reserve army made out of veterans.