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Cross-posted on Warseer

So I am now the proud owner of a plastic Farseer and a box of Dire Avengers. I am intending to make a small 1000pt Allied Detachment, so I figure I should get to making my own homebrew fluff for my Craftworld to fight alongside my homebrew Space Marines in a rather (uneasy) alliance. So I figure I ask about for those more knowledge about the Eldar lore to help me design their fluff.

-I like Aspect Warriors very much. That’s the main draw of the Eldar for me and my Allied force will consist solely of Aspect Warriors. Do other Craftworlds make use of the same Swordwind-style forces as Biel-Tan does? My own Craftworld would be a small, minor craftworld on the edge of Imperial space.

-What’s the government structure of a Craftworld? I was thinking of having my craftworld led by a High Elf-style monarchy as a throwback to the Warhammer Fantasy High Elves.

-I plan to call my craftworld Morall’tach, after the legendary sword of Diarmuid Ua Duibhne in Celtic mythology. As GW drew from Celtic mythology for the Studio Eldar I plan to do so with my force.

--I’m still trying to make up some sort of unique ‘’quirk’’ or trait that every army seems to have. Ike how Iyanden uses Ghost Warriors or Yme-Loc produces war machines. I know Biel-Tan already has a Aspect-Warrior theme, but I’m trying to find different reasons for my Craftworld to make them stand out.

Any other advice or suggestions is welcome. Xenos lore is not my strong suit.

Who are your Eldar allied with? That bit of information would have a significant impact on your backstory.

A Craftworld that will openly and consistently ally with Dark Kin is significantly different from one that occasionally works alongside an Imperial Faction or the Tau. A Craftworld that will deal with Chaos is undoubtedly a rogue and a pariah to their Craftworld brethren.

Are there particular aspect temples you favor? That could shape and define your Craftworld's character.

Farseers typically guide Craftworlds in a kind of elder council consensus system. If you want to go with a lay-monarchy it changes the dynamic from one of guided consensus to a more focused and centralized royal court, presumably with attendant intrigue and politics.

It looks like your Craftworld might be married to pre-fall Eldar traditions, laws and customs and less obsessed with the Eldar Path system than some other Craftworlds. If so, other Craftworlds might look on them as being on the brink of a fall to Chaos.

Such a Craftworld might, for example, be more accepting of Exarchs (including non-combat Exarchs, trapped on and excelling in a single path) as part of a wider society than your bog-standard Craftworld. It might even call on a council of Exarchs as advisors to the monarch.

From the little we know I'd guess your Craftworld is probably more active and interventionist than other Craftworlds, mostly because the monarch has no need to build consensus before acting. I'd guess your Craftworld would be very subject to the quirks and strength of character of the reigning monarch and his/her advisors - a strong and capable monarch would be very effective indeed. A weak and vacillating monarch would be ineffectual or dominated by string minded councillors, or perhaps his/her court would be riven by political jockeying and intrigue.

Some ideas for your consideration.

Gree wrote:
Cross-posted on Warseer

So I am now the proud owner of a plastic Farseer and a box of Dire Avengers. I am intending to make a small 1000pt Allied Detachment, so I figure I should get to making my own homebrew fluff for my Craftworld to fight alongside my homebrew Space Marines in a rather (uneasy) alliance. So I figure I ask about for those more knowledge about the Eldar lore to help me design their fluff.

-I like Aspect Warriors very much. That’s the main draw of the Eldar for me and my Allied force will consist solely of Aspect Warriors. Do other Craftworlds make use of the same Swordwind-style forces as Biel-Tan does? My own Craftworld would be a small, minor craftworld on the edge of Imperial space.

-What’s the government structure of a Craftworld? I was thinking of having my craftworld led by a High Elf-style monarchy as a throwback to the Warhammer Fantasy High Elves.

-I plan to call my craftworld Morall’tach, after the legendary sword of Diarmuid Ua Duibhne in Celtic mythology. As GW drew from Celtic mythology for the Studio Eldar I plan to do so with my force.

--I’m still trying to make up some sort of unique ‘’quirk’’ or trait that every army seems to have. Ike how Iyanden uses Ghost Warriors or Yme-Loc produces war machines. I know Biel-Tan already has a Aspect-Warrior theme, but I’m trying to find different reasons for my Craftworld to make them stand out.

Any other advice or suggestions is welcome. Xenos lore is not my strong suit.

Other craftworlds can certainly make use of Aspect Warrior-heavy forces. Guardians, despite what we see on the tabletop, are supposed to be soldiers of last resort, with Aspect Warrior-heavy forces being the norm for most Eldar Craftworld forces. Ulthwe, Iyanden and Saim-Hann are more exceptions than the rule, IMO.

Biel Tan's quirk isn't necessarily the fact that they make heavy use of Aspect Warriors - that is more of a side-effect to their being very xenophobic, expansionist and imperialistic, and generally having a strong Aspect Warrior contingent as a result.

Craftworlds are generally lead by a council of seers, though Biel Tan also has a council of Exarchs known as the Court of the Young King, which may have some input on governance.

Honestly, Craftworlds can be very diverse in terms of quirks and traits that make them fairly unique, as long as you stick to the general tenets of how the Craftworlders operate - they live by the Path system and they shun excess. For example, if you're looking for an excuse for an Aspect Warrior heavy force, how about a Craftworld that reveres Asurmen, or even the Phoenix Lords as a whole, due to some kind of heroic rescue in the past? Or a Craftworld that operates in (more than usual) dangerous space and has come under regular attack by hostile forces, leading to a larger proportion of Eldar taking up the Path of the Warrior but for polar opposite reasons to those from Biel Tan? You've got plenty of options and it's kind of difficult to be wrong as long as you know the basic rules all Craftworlders tend to follow, really.

One more thing: Eldar absolutely do have nobility, some of the Commoragh noble families go back to before the Fall, and the Craftworlders could easily be the same (Prince Yriel is a thing, after all). A monarchy is certainly not out of the question.

I would say I might ditch the whole monarchy idea, given that it might conflict with the Path system to some extent, even though nobility evidently exists among the Eldar. I think I might go for a mixed Council of Autarchs and Farseers.

I think I might rework the Craftworld as such.

-It has the particular misfortune to lie within an area of space that is often under attack by Dark Eldar pirates and Orks raiders, along with the more recent threats of recently reawakening Necron dynasties. As such they have developed a greater emphasis on Aspect Warriors, seeing them as the most noble of Paths. In essence they would be more of an inverse of Biel-Tan, with a strong martial aspect due to defensive reasons.

As a consequence of this they are more accepting of Exarchs. It’s seen as less of a necessary evil and more of an honored sacrifice.

-I would be interested in putting the most emphasis on the Dire Avenger Aspect as it is my favorite Aspect and the only one I happen to own at the moment. Fire Dragons and Striking Scorpions are also a possibility. However given the size of even a minor Craftworld, every Aspect would have at least one Shrine on the craftworld.

-The interest in allying in humanity I think could be rewritten to be more the fixation of one particular Farseer, the one that I intend to use on the tabletop. I intend to call him Indrik Silverhelm, a distinguished Farseer of many centuries who frequently leads forces from the Craftworld.

-Lacking numbers even in comparison to the main Craftworlds, Indrik prefers to utilize the local humans on the Imperial Sector as catspaws and pawns. This is not done out of any kind of affection or trust in the Imperium but rather out of practicality.

As far as monarchy goes, I'd adjust it to have one Autarch or Farseer as a defacto leader whith a seer council and junior Autarchs as supporting advisors. Works in a similar way to a monarchy with a single person in command but with it being more of an elected position than one gained through hereditary.