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Hello everyone, it's that Badmen guy again to pester everyone.

I'm just wrapping up my first big project Indomitable Boars , my Space Marine Chapter and going to be moving onto another, possibly even bigger project. This one took me basically a month to accomplish but I'm fairly confident I can improve and do better on this next one.

The idea is constructing a Craft World and Eldar Society fitting the current Path System but possibly having their own philosophy to help distinguish them from other Craftworlds. My main fear is creating a bland Craft world with the same ole folks you'd find in other places.
Tips on where you think one should begin to help build the foundation for said Craft world would be amazing and maybe other pointers to avoid blending in with other Eldar.

Another small thing that's bugging me is I can't find a definitive number of Harlequin Troupe sizes or overall Masque size and general composition. If anyone could enlighten on either or both conundrums, that would be excellent.

Just so you all know, I welcome all idea's and own philosophies regarding the Eldar. This is probably going to be a journey in itself that will easily take me months to finish. So please, don't leave out any details that come to mind. If you do look at my Boars, you can see I try to flesh out as much as humanly possible but you don't have to look at them.

I look forward to reading your responses and please, please don't torch me for heresy. Hehe

Best place to start I think is where you situate the Craftworld in the galaxy. A lot of what defines Ulthwe is that it's on the edge of the Eye of Terror, Iyanden's on the eastern edge where Hive Fleet Kraken invaded and Mymeara was heavily isolated for a very long time.

From there, consider the general philosophy of the Craftworld and maybe the type of enemies that it's going to face most regularly. Biel-Tan and Iyanden both set themselves out to try and rebuild the old Eldar Empire but are very different craftworlds, Biel-Tan is dominated by the Aspect Shrines with Autarchs having more say on the ruling of the Craftworld than Farseers do adn are extremely agressive, attacking any none Eldar that goes anywhere near the old Maiden Worlds. Iyanden, in contrast, focused almost entirely on attacking Chaos.

After that it's detail work, what kind of units are you most likely to see your Craftworld field, wht type aren't they going to field?

I don't think there is a definetive Troop size or Masque composition. The codex points to a "classical composition of a Masque" with a Solitaire (on the rare occaisions that one decides to join a Masque), a Death Jester, a Shadowseer, 3 Troopes (representing Light, Twilight and Darkness) 2 Skyweavers and a Voidweaver (this pretty much matches up with the Masque Detachment). The problem with this is that the fluff has Troops being small squads whilst the codex points out that Harlequins are coming out in ever greater numbers and getting involved in bigger conflicts, making the previously mentioned Masque composition rather useless. It also makes no mention of a Great Harlequin, the leader of a Harlequin Masque.

 Benny Badmen wrote:
Hello everyone, it's that Badmen guy again to pester everyone.

I'm just wrapping up my first big project Indomitable Boars , my Space Marine Chapter and going to be moving onto another, possibly even bigger project. This one took me basically a month to accomplish but I'm fairly confident I can improve and do better on this next one.

The idea is constructing a Craft World and Eldar Society fitting the current Path System but possibly having their own philosophy to help distinguish them from other Craftworlds. My main fear is creating a bland Craft world with the same ole folks you'd find in other places.
Tips on where you think one should begin to help build the foundation for said Craft world would be amazing and maybe other pointers to avoid blending in with other Eldar.

Another small thing that's bugging me is I can't find a definitive number of Harlequin Troupe sizes or overall Masque size and general composition. If anyone could enlighten on either or both conundrums, that would be excellent.
ust so you all know, I welcome all idea's and own philosophies regarding the Eldar. This is probably going to be a journey in itself that will easily take me months to finish. So please, don't leave out any details that come to mind. If you do look at my Boars, you can see I try to flesh out as much as humanly possible but you don't have to look at them.

I look forward to reading your responses and please, please don't torch me for heresy. Hehe

The only hard numbers I recall were in Masque of Vyle, where two-dozen Harlequins was apparently a reasonably powerful Masque - albeit one without any bikes or vehicles. This seems to fit with some of the other fluff portrayals of Harlequins that we've seen in other books such as Atlas Infernal or Path of the Outcast, which, while not giving any hard numbers, did not give the impression that there were many more Harlequins than that.

The artwork for them is a lot different, of course, showing hundreds of Harlequins in battle at once, but I'd also note that the codex makes multiple mentions of Masques banding together in certain situations, which could be what the artwork is showing.

I would say that, based on the fluff depictions, your average Masque can usually field anywhere between 24-36 Harlequins, while more powerful and notable Masques like the Veiled Path can likely field more.

If you're wanting personalization, I'd look for it in their interactions with outsiders, or their primary motivations as a community. The Path system is pretty similar between worlds for a reason: it's rigid focus is the only thing that keeps the CWE from damnation.
Definitely figure out where in the galaxy they are, who their neighbors are, and how they view/interact with one another. Likewise, how do they view Harlequins/Corsairs/the True Kin? Those interactions are important as well.

As for Harlequins, those numbers are deliberately vague. A troupe is roughly single unit sized, while a masque is force sized. So long as you start inside that you should be good.

As said before, you need to consider their motivations and their own traditions, since every Craftworld functions differently from one another based solely on these; Alaitoc, for example, follows the Eldar path extremely rigorously to squash out any chance of hedonism and deviation. This leads straight into their fighting style and unit composition as they have the most Outcasts of any Craftworld that return to fight in times of need as Corsairs, Rangers or even as experienced Pathfinders unique to that Craftworld. Kinda ironic really...

And as for Masques, it really doesn't matter - the Harlequins are deliberately secretive towards both sides of their kin, and often have no reason not to even divide their Masques up and send Troupes around the galaxy to assist Eldar and Dark Eldar operations as they believe necessary. So you can expect a hundred to turn up to the party just as likely as a single Solitaire; they flow through the galaxy as they please, and their numbers are not of concern to anyone but them.

Start your foundation at the beginning I suggest - what was the Craftworld like before the fall; was it built solely to escape what was to come, or was it a mighty trading ship of old and glorious times? This can help you form the attitude of the generations of Eldar on board. Next, determine their role both in and out of combat. If they used to be traders, it would suit them to be exploring on the Eastern Fringe perhaps, away from the grasp of the xenophobic Imperium (and hopefully not too close to the Great Devourer), and perhaps their army would reflect this with more Guardians and light vehicles such as War Walkers. Finally, pick a leader who reflects these beliefs and attitudes, and who is convincing enough to lead an entire swathe of Eldar who need guidance in the dark times ahead.

Hope this helps you come up with some good ideas

G.A

I think that you could find inspiration taking a look at the pilosophies and background of the existing craftworlds. As I view these are:

-Ulthwe: Black guardians, Powerful psykers and Anti-chaos fighters.
-Saim-ham: Medieval and nomadic, with a hit and run style in war. (Eldar White Scars)
-Alaitoc: Extremly dogmatic and ortodox followers of the paths. But with more young outcast and rangers than any other craftworld.
-Biel-tan: Their motivation is the rebirth of the eldar empire. More militarized and beligerant than any other.
-Iyanden: Devastated, forced to use the dirty necromancy to survive. Veterans of the tyranid wars.

And there are other minor craftworlds that are drawed lightly:

-Altansar: Returned from the eye of the error. Mistrusted by their allies and maybe corrupted by the long influence of the warp.
-Mimeara: Isolated. They believed that they were the last surviving eldar.
-Yme loc: Expert bonesingers. Powerful army of titans.
-Lugannath: Close ties with harlequins and corsairs. Prepared to leave the reality.
-Ybraesil: Matriarchal. Strong temples of Banshees.
-Il Kaithe: Veterans fighting against chaos.

May be your craftworld has a unique temple or path that define it, like Mymeara. May be they are expert fighting some aliens (Bieltan and the orks, Iyanden and the Tiranids) or Chaos (Ulthwe, Altansar, IlKaithe...).

And you could take a piece of lore and buy a craftworld around, like Malantai.

For example, the craftworld could have a relic for the War of Heavens (Necrons vs Old ones), maybe the Craftworld protects a imprisoned fragment of an unkknown C´tan.

Maybe they use exodites in combat, with dragons and carnosaurs. May be the prey Kurnous and the Avatar is not Khaine, but Kurnous (with Wood elves miniatures)...