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Uptonius wrote:

Eldar? That codex was so ugly I could barely look at it. I also don't think elves have a place in Sci-Fi so maybe I'm biased.

Funny, I like Eldar in 40k and have no interest in any of the fantasy elves. In fantasy settings I like dwarves, orcs/goblinoids, and halflings.

 Arschbombe wrote:

Uptonius wrote:

Eldar? That codex was so ugly I could barely look at it. I also don't think elves have a place in Sci-Fi so maybe I'm biased.

Funny, I like Eldar in 40k and have no interest in any of the fantasy elves. In fantasy settings I like dwarves, orcs/goblinoids, and halflings.

I like them all to one degree or another, but I like the eldar most, and the old world dwarfs more than ulthuan elves.

At least in the base version of BA, you are allowed to use minis of aircraft but they literally are meant to be fancy tokens.

Only thing I would change with bolt actions forward observer airstrikes is that when you roll a mistargeting, the opponent should only be allowed to designate a victim to a certain distance of the original target, as it can be somewhat upsetting... Although you could argue that considering the shear delete button they can be... That might balance them a bit.

 Hellebore wrote:

 Arschbombe wrote:

Uptonius wrote:

Eldar? That codex was so ugly I could barely look at it. I also don't think elves have a place in Sci-Fi so maybe I'm biased.

Funny, I like Eldar in 40k and have no interest in any of the fantasy elves. In fantasy settings I like dwarves, orcs/goblinoids, and halflings.

I like them all to one degree or another, but I like the eldar most, and the old world dwarfs more than ulthuan elves.

Eldar are, I think, the crowning achievement of GWs creativity in terms of xenos faction design. They blend sci-fi, Tolkein fantasy, and "60's psychadelic-crystal" design together in a really special way both visually and lore-wise.

Biggest drawback to Eldar?

Their early background is harder to find. There’s a solid amount in Codex Titanicus, an expansion to Adeptus Titanicus. But sadly they never got a Realm of Chaos or Waaargh! The Orks to really delve into their culture.

Now, what’s out there now isn’t that far off. It’s just…I’d kill for a modern Waaargh! The Eldar.

 Insectum7 wrote:


Eldar are, I think, the crowning achievement of GWs creativity in terms of xenos faction design. They blend sci-fi, Tolkein fantasy, and "60's psychadelic-crystal" design together in a really special way both visually and lore-wise.

I agree. They're the only faction keeping me engaged with the 40k universe.

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:
Biggest drawback to Eldar?

Their early background is harder to find. There’s a solid amount in Codex Titanicus, an expansion to Adeptus Titanicus. But sadly they never got a Realm of Chaos or Waaargh! The Orks to really delve into their culture.

Now, what’s out there now isn’t that far off. It’s just…I’d kill for a modern Waaargh! The Eldar.

There are the novels Path of the Eldar, which gives an excellent look into the ins and outs of Eldar Craftworlder culture. The only downside is that it's by Gav Thorpe and involves having to read through this awful story of a teenage level triangular romance

 Wyzilla wrote:

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:
Biggest drawback to Eldar?

Their early background is harder to find. There’s a solid amount in Codex Titanicus, an expansion to Adeptus Titanicus. But sadly they never got a Realm of Chaos or Waaargh! The Orks to really delve into their culture.

Now, what’s out there now isn’t that far off. It’s just…I’d kill for a modern Waaargh! The Eldar.

There are the novels Path of the Eldar, which gives an excellent look into the ins and outs of Eldar Craftworlder culture. The only downside is that it's by Gav Thorpe and involves having to read through this awful story of a teenage level triangular romance

I'm not a big fan of those because Thorpe was the spearhead of trying to undo the 2nd ed background of the eldar, from the size of aspect shrines (being massive complexes ala classic kung fu movies with lots of students and teachers) to single dingy dojos with one leader, also devaluing exarchs to the crappy squad leader we have now rather than the actual reborn heroes of legend they're supposed to be, to the crapification of the shuriken catapult.

Thorpe's writing is very much in the 'marines are the protagonists, so eldar can only win temporarily or must die in the process' style, rather than allowing factions to have victories independently. The eldar have been continually flanderised into the dying race that is in decline to literally dying when they try to accomplish anything.

The only representation of eldar in novel form I actually like is Execution Hour and Shadowpoint by Gordon Rennie. Written from a BFG perspective, but with a great range especially in shadow point, the eldar were treated as protagonists that could win without having suffer for it. Those books though didn't tow the company line and aren't really available anymore.

IMO some of the reason eldar books aren't as popular is specifically because they keep getting written with the protagonists suffering and angsting all over the place. Perhaps if they tried writing a bolter porn eldar book where it's just aspects slaughtering their foes readers might pick them up more. But IMO it's the style of narrative rather than the topic of the narrative that makes it less popular.

 Hellebore wrote:

The only representation of eldar in novel form I actually like is Execution Hour and Shadowpoint by Gordon Rennie. Written from a BFG perspective, but with a great range especially in shadow point, the eldar were treated as protagonists that could win without having suffer for it. Those books though didn't tow the company line and aren't really available anymore.

Been a while since I've read those but I got the impression the Eldar were just bumbling along through a timeline they couldn't predict and then an Avatar popped up unannounced and deus ex machina'd the last battle.

 Hellebore wrote:

 Wyzilla wrote:

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:
Biggest drawback to Eldar?

Their early background is harder to find. There’s a solid amount in Codex Titanicus, an expansion to Adeptus Titanicus. But sadly they never got a Realm of Chaos or Waaargh! The Orks to really delve into their culture.

Now, what’s out there now isn’t that far off. It’s just…I’d kill for a modern Waaargh! The Eldar.

There are the novels Path of the Eldar, which gives an excellent look into the ins and outs of Eldar Craftworlder culture. The only downside is that it's by Gav Thorpe and involves having to read through this awful story of a teenage level triangular romance

I'm not a big fan of those because Thorpe was the spearhead of trying to undo the 2nd ed background of the eldar, from the size of aspect shrines (being massive complexes ala classic kung fu movies with lots of students and teachers) to single dingy dojos with one leader, also devaluing exarchs to the crappy squad leader we have now rather than the actual reborn heroes of legend they're supposed to be, to the crapification of the shuriken catapult.

Thorpe's writing is very much in the 'marines are the protagonists, so eldar can only win temporarily or must die in the process' style, rather than allowing factions to have victories independently. The eldar have been continually flanderised into the dying race that is in decline to literally dying when they try to accomplish anything.

The only representation of eldar in novel form I actually like is Execution Hour and Shadowpoint by Gordon Rennie. Written from a BFG perspective, but with a great range especially in shadow point, the eldar were treated as protagonists that could win without having suffer for it. Those books though didn't tow the company line and aren't really available anymore.

IMO some of the reason eldar books aren't as popular is specifically because they keep getting written with the protagonists suffering and angsting all over the place. Perhaps if they tried writing a bolter porn eldar book where it's just aspects slaughtering their foes readers might pick them up more. But IMO it's the style of narrative rather than the topic of the narrative that makes it less popular.

Eh to a point that's just Thorpe being Thorpe though, whoever you are in his novels you get reduced to a conga line of incompetent buffoons getting slaughtered over the dumbest objectives possible with the dumbest means possible. In Path of the Eldar you have the hilarity of a Striking Scorpion getting punked by a tiny sliver of wood flying through his neck. In his Dark Angel books you had the Ravenwing deploying their bikes onto a space station and constantly getting into ambushes with Orcs. I'd remember more but his writing is so dry and bad that's all that sticks with me.