3e Dark Eldar vs 5e Dark Eldar. What changed?

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**Nagashek**

There has been much discussion over fluff changes for the Grey Knights, the Blood Angels, and especially the Necrons, over the various editions, but most notably during their 5e incarnations. I know a few of the things for these other armies that changed (most notably the Necrons) but I had also heard that the Dark Eldar backstory had been retconned somewhat. Can anyone confirm this? If it changed, is there a place I could go to read the previous backstory, or should I just look for the 2e Revised codex? What do people think about the changes (if any?) Good, bad? Did it soften or harden the relationship between the Eldar and their dark kin? Was it merely a clarification of previously amorphous backstory? Thanks.

**Veteran Sergeant**

You mean 3e. Dark Eldar did not exist in 2nd Edition. Like, at all, lol.

The 3rd Edition Dark Eldar Codex and army came about as a result of a perception of "player demand" because there were a fair number of "Chaos Eldar" armies that would show up at tournaments (using the standard Eldar list), and people pointing out how there were Dark Elves, but no Dark Eldar.

Couldn't tell you the subtle differences off the top of my head and I don't have the books handy right now.

**Nagashek**

Yep, my mistake. 3rd. The book had a big "Second Edition" stamp on the cover that really just meant second printing and that threw me off.

Fixed.

**Kroothawk**

What changed? Dark Eldar actually got a background exceeding the old 5-6 pages of "arrrrgh, need more slaves to torture".

**Nagashek**

So... a fleshing out rather than a Retcon? The sort of thing Necron players would have preferred over... well... what they got?

"Yknow all those slaves they got? This is why we need them. Y'see that guy on his pimp wagon? This is why he has naked slave girls on his ride. Y'ever wonder why the Dark Eldar can survive without psykers or spirit stones? Here ya go!"

**Ascalam**

Pretty much.

They ditched the Disney villainess, changed/re-emphasised the vibe from S+M assless chaps and thongs to something closer to the Unseelie Court from Irish myth (eeeevil elvses....) and made all the models a million times cooler looking, though still with options for looking like a drunken teen clubber if you want

Mandrakes are apparently Daemons these days, as are Kymerae (warp beasts...always were, but hey..), and they re-emphasised/expanded on the fact that the DE are based on three seperate but intertwined subcultures.

The Coven, the Cult and the Kabal.

They also fleshed out the scale of Commoragh as being somewhere absolutely unfathomably huge, not some dinky, dingy nightclub in space.. I forget the original descriptions (it's been a while) but i quite like the new ones.

The codex is a decent read, fluffwise, unlike some other recent offerings i've read that make me want to take a big dose of Retcon (TW reference there..) and forget all about them ever existing. It has a few goofy moments, but all in all, not bad.

Almost every unit in the dex is worth having also. Sadly the mandrakes, not so much. Pretty to look at, but mostly harmless..

**Celtic Strike**

Yeah, they did a real service to dark Eldar with the new fluff. They expanded it and went much deeper into the culture. It's really good, solid fluff and great rules.

They didn't really 'Change' that much from 3rd to 5th, just gave them greater depth and back story.

They've had pretty good treatment of Xenos in 5th ed, mostly, except for Cruddace and the 'Nids who was very 'close' to having a good Codex before swerving very badly to the side as he got near the finish line.

It's a good codex. I like it

**Laughing God**

Not to turn this into another bash thread but I would just like to point out the author difference between the changes people favor over those that just seem stupid. With DE we didnt get much change just more depth. With BA we got Space Marines bro fisting Necrons, with necrons we got the death of 10 years of established fluff (C'tan, pariahs) and the gift of tomb kings in space, and with Grey Knights the idea of one noble GK against gaint and uncountable unspeakable horrors to: my marines are better than your marines who butcher other imperial forces and bathe in there blood because we still arent good enough.... and don't get me started on the fan fiction of draigo.

**-Loki-**

Ascalam wrote:The codex is a decent read, fluffwise, unlike some other recent offerings i've read that make me want to take a big dose of Retcon (TW reference there..) and forget all about them ever existing. It has a few goofy moments, but all in all, not bad.

That's what happens when you let Phil Kelly do a xenos book. He thrives on xenos books. The silliness he puts in that stood out like a sore thumb in the Space Wolves book actually works in a xenos book. They should have let him do Tyranids and let cruddace take Space Wolves. Kelly would have been doing a project he liked and Cruddace could have done his 'OMG LOADS OF OPTIONS' thing with the blandness Marine players wanted.

**Kroothawk**

Let's not forget that Jes Goodwin himself had a good share of WRITING the background, because Eldar and Dark Eldar are his children. The description of Commoragh was quite complex and poetic, the flavour lost in translation so I bought the English Codex. Certain other backgrounds are less complex

**Nagashek**

I'll bet the Swedish translation of the SW codex is a good read...

And the real problem with Draigo v Mortorian is actually one of translation, too. Try reading it in the original Swiss.

Sour, cheesy, and full of holes.

**rabidaskal**

The best thing about the 5e DE codex was that it established them as a legitimate threat and a power in the 40k-verse. Prior to this I'd argue that even the TAU were more powerful than DE, at least they had a (small) empire, the DE were a bunch of BDSM yahoos raiding out of a single city. With the new fluff the DE are portrayed as not just surviving, but thriving and growing, and the true heirs of the old Eldar empire as opposed to their backward repressed craftword cousins.

**CthuluIsSpy**

Nagashek wrote:I'll bet the Swedish translation of the SW codex is a good read...

And the real problem with Draigo v Mortorian is actually one of translation, too. Try reading it in the original Swiss.

Sour, cheesy, and full of holes.

What do you mean by the original swiss?
Isn't GW a British company?

**Ascalam**

Swiss as in the cheese.

It was a joke