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Lore wise - do aspect warriors always carry the same color scheme regardless of craftworld? Every image i see of them in the source books has them all the same. Banshees are white, scorpions are green, etc.

Or is this just GW being too lazy to paint up different ones for different armies?

Lore-wise, yes. Shrines generally (according to GW) have long selected colours which represent their aspect's shrine. Fire Dragons for instance would routinely be in colours that are indicative of fire or flame, etc. This doesn't mean you have to do this, but it is lore-friendly.

I believe white is the Eldar colour of death and that was one of the initial reasons Banshees wore cream/beige/white aspect plates. Swooping Hawks are often coloured to represent the sky (this being the easiest one to do whatever you want...because the sky can be damn near any colour, particularly on alien worlds).

This is from some of the first materials ever put out regarding aspect warriors (in...89/90?)

In the more recent codexes, you'll see examples of alternative color schemes for aspect warriors. Aspect warriors sort of kind of use their color schemes and the symbolism behind their aspects as a sort of focus for the philosophy behind their shrine. So, as elbows pointed out, certain colors tend to be popular for certain shrines because of the symbolism tied to those colors. Plus, craftworlders are big on tradition and the continuity of culture, so they're probably pretty happy sticking to the same color schemes they're used to.

So you can absolutely paint your aspect warriors however you want, and it will make sense in-universe. Just think about what that color scheme might be symbolic of. Maybe your Iyanden shrine splashes in some yellow or blue to show their strong ties to your craftworld. Maybe your Shining Spears have strong ties to the Ice Whisper clan and throw winter blue stripes on their bikes to show it. If you're ynnari, maybe you've got a splash of sanguine red or black or white to show your reborn allegiance. Maybe your scorpions are painted up white and blue as an allusion to the story of Kurnous lying in wait outside a beast''s cave during the winter so that he'd be poised to strike when it first sluggishly emerged from its cave in the spring.

Or just paint whatever you think looks cool. My fire dragons are getting painted black and purple with green highlights because the Maleficent reference makes me giggle.

 Elbows wrote:
Lore-wise, yes. Shrines generally (according to GW) have long selected colours which represent their aspect's shrine. Fire Dragons for instance would routinely be in colours that are indicative of fire or flame, etc. This doesn't mean you have to do this, but it is lore-friendly.

I believe white is the Eldar colour of death and that was one of the initial reasons Banshees wore cream/beige/white aspect plates. Swooping Hawks are often coloured to represent the sky (this being the easiest one to do whatever you want...because the sky can be damn near any colour, particularly on alien worlds).

This is from some of the first materials ever put out regarding aspect warriors (in...89/90?)

Shrines have the same colour scheme regardless of Craftworld but may wear sashes or tabards in the colours of the Craftworld or more recently to show their allegiance to the Ynnari.

The standard schemes you see are the major shrines but alternate colour schemes are there for lesser known shrines or shrines that don't have as wide a reach.

I'd say Fire Dragons colours are pretty easy to wave away, I mean, in a world of space magic and races using pathways through hell as shortcuts I think there's an argument to be made for not all firee being yellow or orange. Even just on Earth in the real world stuff burns in different colours. In the grim darkness of the far future there's a lot more stuff to burn.

The overarching theme is that Aspects wear different colors from Craftworld colors, aside from that all color schemes are fluffy especially if they feature some traditional colors here and there. You can see Banshees in black armor from Ebon Witch Shrine and Hawks in grey armor from Ashen Sky Shrine in 2015 Codex for example.

I think there's an argument to be made for not all firee being yellow or orange

They represent dragons from Eldar mythos, not just fire. Eldar clinging to their ancient folklore is an established thing since the beginning.

As with anything related to 40k lore, you can handwave just about anything you want as being a heretical/splinter sect.

I like this part of the Eldar Lore. Armies with unified paint schemes tend to look best, but sometimes you want to try other schemes and this allows CWE players to do so without "breaking" the overall scheme of their army.
It's one of the reasons I picked Eldar as my main army (that and Jetbike Troops, RIP).

Also of note, it seems Dire Avengers tend to get the most variety of schemes, since they are the most common by far. So it never seems as out of place for DAs to be in the CWE scheme or Ynnari scheme as the other Aspects

Now if GW could just release Aspects in plastic so we could have a more complete model range that doesn't require conversions or trying to find expensive after-market metal models.

My craftworld fluff (developed 20+ years ago, when I had little idea about such things) was that they had a big caste issue amongst the aspects and the rest, which ended in a civil war. The result was that all aspects took on the colours of the craftworld, to better show their new, united front. Of course, they still had snazzy suits and weaponry to tell them apart!

Not sure if I will continue with this idea when I return to them, but it's what I had imagined back as a teenager

SirWeeble wrote:
Lore wise - do aspect warriors always carry the same color scheme regardless of craftworld? Every image i see of them in the source books has them all the same. Banshees are white, scorpions are green, etc.

Or is this just GW being too lazy to paint up different ones for different armies?

I prefer my Eldar units to have the same army colour otherwise they look like a ragtag force like the Orks did in 2nd 40K. The only models that will get the shrine colours in my force are the leaders from the respective shrines.

 Strg Alt wrote:
The only models that will get the shrine colours in my force are the leaders from the respective shrines.

Yeah, I do the same. Only the Exarchs are Shine colors, but the regular Aspects are my army colors



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Wow! That is some impressive painting and modelling.

Aspects have traditionally had different colors from guardian units because aspect warriors hold an allegiance to their shrine, and wear its heraldry. Some shrines include more craft world colors, and others wear variants. This was super helpful when you look at the early models for Dire Avengers, which look very much like guardians aside from the helmet crest. Modern models are more distinctive, so color is not as necessary to differentiate.

How you depict your army is up to you. Outside of a few exceptions, such as Astartes, color schemes aren’t written in stone. And even when they are, they’re your models!

Remember the Path of the Warrior is often seen as necessary but decidedly "uncool" by a lot of the normal Craftworlders. While there are various paths, one of the most dangerous to tread is the Path of the Warrior. There is a reason why Aspect Warriors, even when their "mask" is not upon them tend to socialize amongst themselves, etc.

They portrary it pretty well in the Path books by...Thorpe? The Shrines tended to be rather distant, some even somewhat secretive and difficult to find. There's one instance I enjoyed when the characters were out socializing (I don't recall if the main character had begun the Striking Scorpion Shrine or not....) and they see a handful of Dark Reapers walking by in the market (not in full war regalia) and it gives them a spook. That was an exceptionally cool moment. Something about other Eldar thinking "Damn...look...Dark Reapers..."

I am not sure if there is any fluff (that I can recall) indicating that one Shrine would have a presence on multiple Craftworlds. I got the distinct impression Shrines were rather small, and simply waxing/waning on each individual Craftworld. The shared aesthetic, and wargear would have been a result of the Phoenix Lords founding them on various Craftworlds - not that a particular shrine had branches.

Keep in mind the Shrines also more or less compete with eachother as a matter of pride. Some disappear for a while when everyone dies and the Exarch suit goes dormant. Some shrines seem to be small, while some are large. If I recall some shrines even compete for candidates.

While the miniatures are different enough, I think actual Aspect-appropriate schemes are a bonus when explaining Eldar to your opponent. My buddies can more or less pick out which squad is which - and the colours probably help. I don't find anything wrong with the variety of colours in the Craftworld army. In fact I love it. It really says "hey cute Guardians...we're here to do the real work" (although Guardians are arguably better than most aspects in this edition...something I dislike immensely).



In my Craftworld army, some of my Aspect Warriors are from different shrines, where as some aspects I have only one shrine. My Dire Avengers for instance are three separate shrines, while my Striking Scorpions are all from the same one. Even my non-Eldar literate friends know that the blue fellas are Dire Avengers vs. the large wave of purple/white Guardians.

Eldar lore is arguably some of the best thought out and written in the game - one of the driving reasons behind my attraction to them since the mid-90's. It's solid, pretty logical, plenty of room for innovation and personalization. As a painter...it's actually a great army because you get to experiment with any number of schemes instead of doing an entire army in a cohesive scheme (which gets boring pretty fast).

Aspect Warriors and Harlequins are like Bretonnian knights in fantasy.

In any other army, all those different colours would look totally off. But in those armeis, as they are so thematic, its just look so good.

 Galef wrote:

 Strg Alt wrote:
The only models that will get the shrine colours in my force are the leaders from the respective shrines.

Yeah, I do the same. Only the Exarchs are Shine colors, but the regular Aspects are my army colors

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The colours really pop. Well done. Where have you gotten all the plumed hats? Are they from the RT era? They look terrific.

Here is a link to one of my albums but it only includes Karandras. Anyway, painting Eldar gems is a pain in the butt. Though once you start, you can´t stop:

https://ibb.co/album/cBhULa

If you can find a 6th ed.(?) Craftworld Codex, it has alternate color schemes for the Aspect Warrior Shrines. The Dark Reaper Shrine "Crystal Death" had a Black and Electric Blue scheme that I really dig. So as others has already said, paint them what looks good to you.

(In 3rd. ed. I was planning to build a "counts as" Ulthwe army. So my Aspects were going to be in black and copper with a touch of the traditional primary color of the Shrine. Sold the unassembled figures off a few years ago. More interested in Necrons now.)

 Strg Alt wrote:
Where have you gotten all the plumed hats? Are they from the RT era? They look terrific.

Thanx. They are just the regular Guardian heads with the Dire Avenger Exarch plumes (the one that go on the unhelmed head). I had some in my bits box, so I just glued them on an used Greenstuff to smooth the joint into a solid helmet

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 Elbows wrote:
Remember the Path of the Warrior is often seen as necessary but decidedly "uncool" by a lot of the normal Craftworlders

Depends on a Craftworld. I don't think Biel-Tan thinks like this. And Saim-Hann in Thorpe books doesn't trust Seers, so they get only 1 vote in all meetings compared to Chieftains.

Frankly that part of Thorpe lore in my opinion contradicts Eldar lore, because Asurmen brought the Paths which saved Eldar from decadence, so I don't see how they can be treated with anything less but respect or even reverence; and Alaitoc is also known for its strict adherence to Paths. Yet even Phoenix Lords can't get a rest when it comes to Craftworlds bickering in Thorpe books (Jain Zar got some in her book from Ulthwe). You're surrounded by enemies from all sides, young races take your gak and Chaos wants to eat your souls, and you're like "hurr, aspect warriors"?

I'd say either Alaitoc are just a bunch of wussies or Thorpe sucks at writing Eldar. I prefer to think the latter.

 Shadenuat wrote:

 Elbows wrote:
Remember the Path of the Warrior is often seen as necessary but decidedly "uncool" by a lot of the normal Craftworlders

Depends on a Craftworld. I don't think Biel-Tan thinks like this. And Saim-Hann in Thorpe books doesn't trust Seers, so they get only 1 vote in all meetings compared to Chieftains.

Frankly that part of Thorpe lore in my opinion contradicts Eldar lore, because Asurmen brought the Paths which saved Eldar from decadence, so I don't see how they can be treated with anything less but respect or even reverence; and Alaitoc is also known for its strict adherence to Paths. Yet even Phoenix Lords can't get a rest when it comes to Craftworlds bickering in Thorpe books (Jain Zar got some in her book from Ulthwe). You're surrounded by enemies from all sides, young races take your gak and Chaos wants to eat your souls, and you're like "hurr, aspect warriors"?

I'd say either Alaitoc are just a bunch of wussies or Thorpe sucks at writing Eldar. I prefer to think the latter.

I'd go for the second one too. It makes the Ynnari rubbish easier to buy.

 Shadenuat wrote:

 Elbows wrote:
Remember the Path of the Warrior is often seen as necessary but decidedly "uncool" by a lot of the normal Craftworlders

Depends on a Craftworld. I don't think Biel-Tan thinks like this. And Saim-Hann in Thorpe books doesn't trust Seers, so they get only 1 vote in all meetings compared to Chieftains.

Frankly that part of Thorpe lore in my opinion contradicts Eldar lore, because Asurmen brought the Paths which saved Eldar from decadence, so I don't see how they can be treated with anything less but respect or even reverence; and Alaitoc is also known for its strict adherence to Paths. Yet even Phoenix Lords can't get a rest when it comes to Craftworlds bickering in Thorpe books (Jain Zar got some in her book from Ulthwe). You're surrounded by enemies from all sides, young races take your gak and Chaos wants to eat your souls, and you're like "hurr, aspect warriors"?

I always interpreted it as Aspect Warriors themselves were respected/revered, but if you have never been one, you didn't want to become one.
The "Touch of Khaine" is something that is almost inevitable for a good number of CWE, but if one can avoid it, one can say (in the most Arrogant Aeldari way) that they are "untainted" by the bloodlust of their ancestors. But for those who do feel that bloodlust, the Path of the Warrior is a way to channel that "need" and compartmentalize it into a "Warmask" of your psyche.

So it's complicated, basically. But indeed Alaitoc strictly adhere to many Paths, which is why they have the higher proportion of Outcasts.

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IDK, if the whatever part of lore where Eldar were created to fight C'Tan is somewhat true, they're basically race created for war and war should be as natural to them as breathing. Most of their style is also based on warlike ancient cultures which even had fighting castes or a fighting class (Celts, Greeks & Japanese elements being incorporated into Eldar).

I would understand if Eldar wanted to run away from Khaine or whatever if they managed to achieve peace in the Galaxy, but 40K is opposite of that. When even very isolated Craftworlds populations have something close to 100% drafting capability (otherwise they won't survive against more numerous races) you don't really get a "want".

Perhaps uncool is not the right word.

I get the distinct feeling that while war is obviously an honourable pursuit, the Eldar (who may have even walked the Path of the Warrior themselves) see that path as a necessary evil. You're basically tempting fate by partaking in one of the "vices" so to speak that helped bring down the Eldar originally. You're also obviously increasing your chances of losing your soul and having your spirit stone eaten by a Chaos Daemon, etc. If you're walking the Path of the Potter...you're probably not risking much.

Add the chance of becoming an Exarch and slowly melding into an ancient suit of armour, and I think there is definitely a spookiness to it. I agree some of the cultures are far more pro-warrior...but I think a normal Craftworld isn't rushing to risk everything that often. Saim Hann is probably one of the most risky ones, while Biel-Tan is a close second.

Eldar fell into decadence because there was no war and no struggle, none could oppose them. It is a classical behaviour of Empires irl too. That's the whole point of Exodites - they actively searched for harsh environments so struggle would be part of Eldar everyday life and they won't decide to pursuit their artistic needs by blowing up suns or bathing in blood or whatever you can imagine happened and lead to the Fall. And then who was the only one who standed up to this gak while others were eaten? The so much feared Khaine. (Because at that point most Eldar probably were far from being warriors, I consider the fact that he wasn't defeated instantly and turned to dust but survived in a sense proof of Eldar natural affinity to war, but that's just a random thought)

Of course, if you're going aspecting and fighting daemons your chances of being souleaten increase, but there aren't actually many examples of Path of the Warrior leading to something similar to Fall with the exception of Ahra. On the other hand, there's ton of examples where Eldar were screwed by Path of the Seer and their reliance on some obscure prophecies, or whole Craftworlds being destroyed by some sort of infiltration of Chaos (or even Genestealers, lol Thorpe) because they were too isolated or self righteous or other (melo)dramatic reasons.