Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

So, liek, I've been having issues finding answers to these questions:

1) Do we know how many Eldar Craftworlds there are?

2) 1d4chan makes references to Craftworld Biomes, is that a thing?

3) Do Aspect Warriors always have the paintsceme shown in the codex, or does it vary from C'world to C'world?

4) How would a Craftworld function if most of its Eldar were on some form of Warrior Path?

5) Do Eldar switch between Warrior Aspects?

Tyvm :3

Aspect warrior colors are technically standard throughout. The eldar aren't huge on individuality and each aspect follows the same teachings and customs.That being said, there are probably are differences because of the different craftworlds.

Most of the craftworld residents aren't warriors. There are many paths besides the path of the warrior. Theres paths for artists, merchants, and every other job or occupation in the craftworld. The only exception is that anyone not in a warrior path could be called up as a guardian squad. Guardians act as a kind of militia and help build up the numbers of the specialized warriors.

Most eldar change paths every so often. It's part of their efforts to avoid excess and corruption. It's feasible that an eldar could go from 1 aspect, to another path and then move to another aspect. The only eldar who don't are ones who become stuck on the path like farseers and exarchs. They don't switch aspects.

Aspect Warrior colors are typically the same between Craftworlds. However different variations exist in shrine to shrine and craftworld to craftworld. My own homebrew Craftworld has their Aspect Warriors painted in Craftworld colors.

In short, people tend to paint their Aspect Warriors however they wish.

 Selym wrote:
So, liek, I've been having issues finding answers to these questions:

1) Do we know how many Eldar Craftworlds there are?

2) 1d4chan makes references to Craftworld Biomes, is that a thing?

3) Do Aspect Warriors always have the paintsceme shown in the codex, or does it vary from C'world to C'world?

4) How would a Craftworld function if most of its Eldar were on some form of Warrior Path?

5) Do Eldar switch between Warrior Aspects?

Tyvm :3

1) No.
2) There are areas with different environments if that's what you mean.
3) Different Shrines have different schemes.
4) Pretty unlikely that would happen on such a scale it would have an effect.
5) Yes. That's kind of the point.

Echoing Gree, paint them however you like - the codex shows a couple of (slight) variations and one or two significant variations (black Banshees, grey Hawks / Spiders, but that's really just a drop in the ocean for possibilities.

The Path of Command (i.e. the path Autarches are on) is unusual in that it has pre-requirements. Most paths can be embarked upon without having tread any other paths, but to be an Autarch the Eldar must have been on the Path of the Warrior at least once - often the indicator that an Eldar should walk the Path of Command is finding themselves repeatedly coming back to the Path of the Warrior (usually not to the same aspect though). It doesn't necessarily mean that an Eldar that has been in more than one Aspect must become an Autarch though.

We don't know how many craftworlds there are, it's intentionally vague to allow people to invent their own.

Had to google "biomes" - larger craftworlds will have many, many different bio domes, not just be made up of a single type of terrain. Some of these will be quite small (deserts, other inhospitable environs), others (gardens, forests etc.) will be larger and more common. Different Aspect Shrines will often be located inside smaller examples, using the differing terrain for training (swamps, etc.).

 Selym wrote:
So, liek, I've been having issues finding answers to these questions:

4) How would a Craftworld function if most of its Eldar were on some form of Warrior Path?

5) Do Eldar switch between Warrior Aspects?

4) Only a few Eldar from each Craftworld are on the Warrior Path at any given time, and even fewer Autarchs are dedicated to that path. In fact, most Craftworlds rely on their "citizen militia" in times of war - the Guardian Defenders - as every single Craftworld Eldar is trained in the ways of war and can take up arms at any time.

5) As long as they don't become Autarchs, Eldar can switch between the shrines present on their Craftworld, though I believe this is both rare and not recommended as it increases the chances of Eldar overindulging themselves and putting their souls at risk from She Who Thirsts.

G.A

You've got great answers here already so I will just add;
Don't let the fluff limit you! Come up with your own craftworld, as the idea of the fluff is that it is unknown. Like space marine chapters, they really only list the first and second foundings, and even leave some of that open. Part of the hobby is coming up with your own background and creating a theme for your army. (although there is also a really cool aspect in taking one of their backgrounds and bringing it to life on the table). My friend took the ghost army to the extreme, and created an offshoot Hulk concept in which the craftworld was partially destroyed in some cataclysmic battle, and the few survivors had no choice but to go to the warrior aspects for survival since they are now drifting helpless through "enemy" territory. He of course went heavy into the Wraith type soldiers...
Its all open to you, as long as you stay close to the basic Eldar history.

My original idea, though potentially fluff heresy, was essentially a craftworld that had a significant percentage of its population drawn to express various aspects of Khaine. Possibly causing the economy of the craftworld to suffer, and possibly causing Farseers from a couple of other craftworlds to work together to avert the fate of this errant populace.

Que lots of murder, intrigue and illogical war.

Do Craftworlds have much of an economy? I've not actually read anything of them actually using currency.

pm713 wrote:
Do Craftworlds have much of an economy? I've not actually read anything of them actually using currency.

Never read anything about economy aboard the Craftworlds either; I'd personally assume that either the Eldar have ditched any form of economy in favour of surviving as a Craftworld together, or that being the crafty sods that they are have come up with some system that works even better. I'd go with the former myself.

@Selym - there isn't really a set "limit" to how many Eldar are on the Warrior path at one time; Craftworlds in constant war such as Iyanden most likely have most of their population that are alive on the Warrior path because of necessity. Other Craftworlds such as Biel Tan may have many Aspect Warriors because of their motivation to rebuild the Eldar empire by force. Still other Craftworlds like Alaitoc are very strict in their lifestyles and most likely limit the freedom of their inhabitants to change paths as they wish.

I would just say for simplicity that the Craftworld that you are creating is currently locked in a grievous conflict that necessitates more able Warriors than Guardians (not that Guardians are bad in any stretch of the imagination) - if you take this further to a collection you could field plenty of Aspect Warriors alongside Guardian Defenders and Ghost Warriors (as the Craftworld will need everything it can get)

Hope this helps your questions.

G.A

The impression I got from the Path books is that from the civilian perspective they just take it and they have servants for most things. They don't seem to need currency...

pm713 wrote:
The impression I got from the Path books is that from the civilian perspective they just take it and they have servants for most things. They don't seem to need currency...

Haven't read those books myself - should probably read them sometime. I guess you could theorise (if it hasn't been said elsewhere) that a lot of Craftworlds have resorted back to more manual labour to prevent the Eldar in them from becoming lazy and therefore indulging themselves; perhaps the Eldar who work these jobs want some kind of tangible recognition, even if Craftworlds have something as simple as a rationing economy.

G.A

 General Annoyance wrote:

pm713 wrote:
The impression I got from the Path books is that from the civilian perspective they just take it and they have servants for most things. They don't seem to need currency...

Haven't read those books myself - should probably read them sometime. I guess you could theorise (if it hasn't been said elsewhere) that a lot of Craftworlds have resorted back to more manual labour to prevent the Eldar in them from becoming lazy and therefore indulging themselves; perhaps the Eldar who work these jobs want some kind of tangible recognition, even if Craftworlds have something as simple as a rationing economy.

G.A

They have a Path of Servitude so it seems that they have things like servants and farmers for the same reason they have warriors.

pm713 wrote:

They have a Path of Servitude so it seems that they have things like servants and farmers for the same reason they have warriors.

Good to know

Come to think of it, an economy is probably an unlikely idea, as I can't imagine the Craftworld's warriors receiving a salary at the end of each month

G.A

I was more thinknig along the lines of "Economy = structured working system to keep the C'world running". So this train of thought would indicate that a Craftworld *could* in theory run out of farmers or what-have-you.

But then again, they have the technology to automate their entire lives, so...

Still, having a mind-sickness that keeps drawing the Eldar of my Craftworld to the Path of the Warrior without necessity, and causing excess bloodshed and hand-cropping sounds like a way to go.

 Selym wrote:
I was more thinknig along the lines of "Economy = structured working system to keep the C'world running". So this train of thought would indicate that a Craftworld *could* in theory run out of farmers or what-have-you.

But then again, they have the technology to automate their entire lives, so...

Still, having a mind-sickness that keeps drawing the Eldar of my Craftworld to the Path of the Warrior without necessity, and causing excess bloodshed and hand-cropping sounds like a way to go.

Whatever floats ye boat my friend, but I would say it would be more simple to attribute many Eldar on the Warrior path to the Craftworld being locked in a conflict that has no desire to end soon.

G.A

 Selym wrote:
I was more thinknig along the lines of "Economy = structured working system to keep the C'world running". So this train of thought would indicate that a Craftworld *could* in theory run out of farmers or what-have-you.

But then again, they have the technology to automate their entire lives, so...

Still, having a mind-sickness that keeps drawing the Eldar of my Craftworld to the Path of the Warrior without necessity, and causing excess bloodshed and hand-cropping sounds like a way to go.

Another thing you could go for would be a problem with the Craftworld's Avatar. Generally speaking, the avatar actually begins to stir and awaken even before the Craftworld is for certain going to be in war. And, as an added bonus, the Avatar even just stirring drastically effects the ability of most in the Craftworld to function. If I recall, the Path books said that it caused a nagging, nebulous anger and rage to pervade everything. The whole craftworld was on edge. The aspect warriors pretty much went immediately to their shrines, probably because they would be more suceptible to the call and began to express their chosen aspect of Khaine much more strongly.

So, if your craftworld's avatar is more active, for whatever strange reason (potentially including being injured in a bizarre manner), that could very easily cause the effect you are leaning towards. And the large numbers defaulting to the path of the warrior could be caused by the craftworld's citizens desperately trying to cope with the aura of rage that would begin to pervade every aspect of their lives.

Hell, if the avatar was active or damaged enough, there is nothing saying it might not effect the craftworld's infinity circuit.

But that is just my two cents. You do you.

That is an excellent idea! Tyvm

And Biel-Tan is noted as the Craftworlfd with the highest number of Aspect warriors. It generally hangs near close to the Maiden/Exodite worlds and protects them against Ork invasion. This stirs more Eldar to action and other Craftworlds see them as having a youthful fire about them.

As for Aspect warrior color, there is variation from shrine to shine, but typically the "basic" scheme is there. For example, Dire Avengers are blue with white helms, but a shrine might adopt a midnight blue with bone helm, or aqua with a light grey helm. It's entirely possible for the bulk for he Aspect warriors' color to match the Craftworlds, yet have slight highlights to note it's Aspect.

 Galef wrote:
And Biel-Tan is noted as the Craftworlfd with the highest number of Aspect warriors. It generally hangs near close to the Maiden/Exodite worlds and protects them against Ork invasion. This stirs more Eldar to action and other Craftworlds see them as having a youthful fire about them.

As for Aspect warrior color, there is variation from shrine to shine, but typically the "basic" scheme is there. For example, Dire Avengers are blue with white helms, but a shrine might adopt a midnight blue with bone helm, or aqua with a light grey helm. It's entirely possible for the bulk for he Aspect warriors' color to match the Craftworlds, yet have slight highlights to note it's Aspect.

Don't forget the other thing that the Biel-Tan spend a large portion of their time protecting Exodite and maiden worlds from: human colonists.

Biel-Tan are fixated on bringing the Eldar Empire back (except presumably without all the Slaanesh spawning shenanigans that caused its downfall in the first place), while most craftworlds think that ship has sailed, and are just trying to ensure that the race survives. Hence, Biel-Tan are more warlike than most chapters and have more Aspect Warriors.

The old 3rd Ed codex actually showed some variant color schemes for Aspect Warriors. They tended to be variations on a theme. Fire Dragons are some combination of red/yellow/orange, Dire Avengers are some combination of dark blue and a high contrast color like white or yellow, Striking Scorpions are various shades of green with a high contrast color like yellow or orange, etc. Of course, you can come up with a fluff reason to paint your aspect warriors however you want.

A craftworld driven into a war-frenzy by an unstable Avatar? This is such a delicious idea.

So the craftworld's Avatar never seems to rest. This causes more Eldar than usual to answer the call of Khaine and makes the craftworld more bloodthirsty as a whole. The leadership of the craftworld cannot pacify the Avatar. They have tried and failed to force their citizens onto peaceful paths, but the madness keeps slowly growing. More and more roles need to be automated as fewer Eldar walk their paths. Portions of the craftworld are falling into disrepair as there are no longer enough bonesingers to maintain infrastructure in the face of increasing demands for weapons and war engines.

As the madness permeates the craftworld, they find themselves engaging in more and larger wars. They fight when diplomacy, assassination, or subterfuge would have done the task. This begins a cycle of violence that spirals out of control. The craftworld's rash actions lead to enemies seeking retribution, and the craftworld's seers find themselves launching more and more military campaigns to head off destruction.

At this point the farseers are certain the craftworld will die, it's only a matter of who will finally come to kill them. The Imperial Inquisitor who has taken notice of their tendencies and is seeking the craftworld's location, trying to raise a crusade against it? The innumerable orks in the area who are only growing stronger as they fight? A daemon incursion, the threat of which is following the craftworld like sharks following a wounded whale? Or even their own kin, who have begun to see the craftworld as a rabid dog in need of putting down?

Even the most optimistic seers believe the craftworld will burn itself out within a century unless changes can be made. Anger and distrust are brewing and civil war is not out of the question.

So many good stories here.