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I'm new to 40k and was wondering if anyone could help me out with the background of the Eldar Rangers.

Elder rangers are elder who have left their craft world and go begin the path of the outcast, looking for adventure and such. Many of these elder later return and resume their previous path later on.

Thanks for the help.

No problem

 Space Yak wrote:
Elder rangers are elder who have left their craft world and go begin the path of the outcast, looking for adventure and such. Many of these elder later return and resume their previous path later on.

Short, sweet, and accurate. Exalted, good sir!

For the craftworld of Alaitoc, they tend to be made up of the "teenagers" of the craftworld (bearing in mind that eldar can live for hundreds of years, the troublesome teen years would be old age for contemporary humans ... )

They crave adventure, excitement - always their minds on the future not on where they are ... They lack discipline and - at least in the case of Alaitoc, chafe at the discipline needed for the path system.

It's kind of a "wilding" ritual in a way. They get to go out and get it out of their system - whilst performing a needed function for their homes. They seek out lost eldar artifacts and spirit stones of the fallen.

Its like an army of Elven Indiana Joneses with sniper rifles.

They leave the craft worlds for long periods of time, alot of them return after experiencing the world but, lacking the strict discipline of the other Eldar Paths, some fall to chaos. Fluff-wise one of my favorite units.

SirSweetroll wrote:
They leave the craft worlds for long periods of time, alot of them return after experiencing the world but, lacking the strict discipline of the other Eldar Paths, some fall to chaos. Fluff-wise one of my favorite units.

Some of them also become Corsairs, decide to live with the Exodites, or even fall in with the Dark Eldar. They very much are the "wayward teenagers" of the craftworlds, looking to explore and experience life outside of the Craftworld and the regimented path system. Like wayward teenagers, their craftworlds still care about them, and they usually still care about their craftworld, which is why they fight together on the tabletop and the fluff. Where the metaphor gets a little muddled is that Rangers also work like the shady police informant who has info on the criminal underworld. They learn things and make connections wandering that the other Craftworld Eldar don't, and that is sometimes valuable.