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Hi Folks, My Curiosity/Interest/Call-it-like-you-want has been activated some weeks ago when Valrak's runoured that the Eldar Corsairs could have a kind of extended release of new units forming a new xenos' faction. Incredulity was my first feeling. Indeed, my references, or at least what comes to my mind when Corsairs are mentionned, is the army list published in FW Imperial armour book vol.11: The Doom of Myrmeara. Since that time, the Drukhari evolved in such a proportion that many aspects and archetypes of the Corsairs have been litterally been eaten by the former. So, what would be the case really? Getting another faction, intermediate between the Aeldarii and the Drukhari and pumping out some redesigned ideas from each army? It does not sound reasonable at first sight. Yet the recent update of GW webstore marking the Warwalker as being "Sold out Online" mad (voluntary omission of the "e") me think it twice. Indeed, if the Ynnari fqction remains included in the Aeldarii Codex and if Ynnari accessible unit coming from the Dark kins are also inside, I imagine that the codex will need to be reduced in some way. It cannot be that big and includes as much DS as the SM codex, or can it? I wouldn't mind a big fat Codex... Yet, let's imagine that some stuff will be phased out and eventually been resurrected latter in a Corsair faction: the war walker could be one of such units disapearing from the Aeldarii standard units to come back as a WASP version FW used to have. It would not be the worst idea on earth. What else did the Corsairs get in this Imperial Armour book that may be a base for a decent hypothetic future new faction? (wow, this is a words collage) Beyond the batch of special rules it used to have, I will evacuate the flyers such as the Phoenix of the Nightwing - I do feel that the current trend in miniature release indicate a lack of love for such units. Some other lighter half antigrav/half flyers vehicles such as the Hornets could yet come back though. I will also evacuate the characters as they may essencially be upgraded counter-parts of some of the specialists already included into the VoidScarred KT boxed set. Either as minor characters or as upgraded versions. The other historical units are probably some of the most interesting entries to be revised one by one for their potential: Reavers - we basically already have them through the alternative assembly of the Void Scarred BUT, these could have jetpacks before as equipment. And in that case we start having an interresting unit, not really a Swooping hawk unit as troop, but almost. Ghost walkers are the ranger like troops - it could be something similar to the Aeldarii rangers or the sniper inc. into the Void Scarred; thus a little bit redundant with the Crafworlder exiled. As such, even if fluffy, it would overlap, except if these get a darker touch through rules or characteristic features to make them different in use or tactics. Cloud riders are archetype jet bike riders. Jet bikes are good for any pointy ears faction. So the Corsair should get some; with the evolution of the kit under its ultimate released version, the tactical role of the Jetbikes has evolved from mounted infantery to mobile HW platform. These even eclipsed the Vyper in that role, making the latter more or less useless. The cloud dancer get access to distinct weapon but their tactical use would be very similar to the Craftworld bikers. Not really an issue, but if they were instead a shock assault bike squad, itcould be a nice touch, with a more feral salvagery that might fit to the Corsairs' better. For what's worth my opinion... Transports are using either Flacon or Venom as standard vehices, through some borrowing to black and white space elves´ usual factions. It could stay like this or not, depending on the trends, but I feel like Corsairs should be a fast moving army deserving a more adapted transport than these in order to work at full squad size, and without being deep striking. This ultimate tactical feature should remain a Dark kin specificity while Corsairs would eventually be better as a fast deployment, fast insertion and rapid redeployment force. More Elite units such as Voidstorms or Malvolents looked like prototypes of Incubis and... something else hard to classify. They never got models in fact. I do not know what to think about the Malvolents and they might eventually be erased from the history. These are so weird... Vypers squadrons could come back as a thing but, as commented in the previous jetbile entry, these should in that case be distinct from what we know. Very very distinct from what we have now... Their role has been covered by other jetbikes now and the only reason to get some vypers is getting access to Laser lances, Plasma gun or ML*. Is it enough to justify the datasheet? I really love the model but I must admit it is outclassed and that except within the hypothesis of a serious extra weaponization and specific rules, it is better to get first bikes and only after Vypers if you really like/need HW redundancy on fast movers. It would not be that different in the setting of Cloud dancers as they used to be. Balestrikes are a Devastator squad made Eldar. And if they get a jet pack they start to seriously look like Scourges. Another overlap. Other Corsair vehicles are in general based on Falcon chassis variants. Could a warp hunter come back as a signature Corsair unit? Would be fun, nope? It is a lot of potential units and a new faction does not necesarilly need that much. Some cleaning up migh help. But not too extreme as a new army characteristic/archetype shall emerge in the end. And it should be a playable characteristic, not a fluff one only. So what? We have a bunch of (historical) units that are dramatically close to stuff already existing in a way or another in the dark Eldar and Eldar armies. Would the currently available combination options be reduced (because, for example, future Ynnari rules will limit what you can gather form both sides of the eldars under the banner of Ynnead), then some alternatives might be offered by the Corsairs. But is it really necesary getting so many hues between the different Asuryanii factions? The tactical specificities of the Corsairs should I guess be worked on to make these worth not playing any of the 2 formers and neither Ynnari. Starts being a real challenge in term of design to bring on the table top something worth it and different enough to be interresting. But I often lack of imagination. Yet a good trick might be giving access to specific units included in the past as aeldarii branded ones but making them exclusive now: Warwalker, Warphunter, some Hornets... This is a first possible step that would allow perpetuating collections while introducing in the pipe new stuff. And in any case, a second step would be focussing on the Reavers that must be revised rules wise. As the Reaver set already exists and as recuts are unlikely, these lads must be worth being fielded; if compared with Guardians or Kabalites these latter two are in general always superiors. If you field Reavers only because you have no alternative choice in your aemy list, well, OK, but it is not IMHO a winning formule. Especially at the current price for this set: a filler unit at 50 bucks is a luxury none should be ready to accept. Third step, would be getting a big focus on the historical jet packed army, which looks like being a good niche to develop a new tactical archetype. Looks like the rumored input from Valrak may go in that direction; it might be a very good idea to get something linked with the traditional eldars and dark ones without playing in the same way. But, again, the KT Reaver set does not fit so well in that perspective. But these lucubrations and opinions of mine have a very limited value. It is interresting how and where a "Sold out online" tag can bring you if you let your mind divagate a little bit. Probably that I have too much free time. That´s what is called going off the tangent. See you folks. * but cloud dancers had access to dark lance too

View File Anhrathe in Kill Team (KT 2021) I got excited when I saw the rumors about the update to the asuryani/craftworlds, especially the bit about the possible inclusion of the corsairs, so I decided to update my anhrathe rules for the 2021 version of the Kill Team game. I'm skeptical about the rumors (though I'd love to see them come true). This is currently a preliminary version. These are changed substantially from the version I developed for the 2018 version of the Kill Team game. For the most part, I've limited the options to what players might create using the Eldar Guardian models and the Eldar Corsairs upgrade kits from Forge World. This means that most of the options from the drukhari have been removed. I don't know if that was a good idea, but it's what I'm going with for now (we'll see what the feedback shows). Areas of concern: Corsair Reaver and Voidstorm Corsair options allow for both melee and shooting loadouts (with both icons orange). If this is thought to be too powerful, I'll break them out into shooty and stabby units. Heavy and special weapons have been limited to those available to the asuryani (previous version followed The Doom of Mymeara in allowing both asuryani and drukhari weapons). Weapon options for felarchs are extremely limited, largely based on the upgrade sprue options. The malevolent has been removed from this version. I'm considering adding them back in as a stabby unit. The Strategic Ploys, Tactical Ploys, and Equipment are mostly cherry-picked from the Compendium (from the Craftworld, Comorrite, and Harlequin sections - only those that I thought were appropriate to the Corsairs). Corsair jet packs are an equipment choice, but they get expensive (2EP/model that gets them). I originally had them as an ability for the Voidstorm Corsairs, but made them equipment after deciding to use the Forge World images (everybody is wearing a Corsair jet pack). Images are limited. I'm using the ones from Forge World, and a few are just reversed so that they can be used multiple times. If someone has decent representative images (with white backgrounds), I might use them. Otherwise, I'll replace these at a future date when I have decent models converted and painted. I kept a modified version of the back page from the previous version, giving players that aren't familiar with the anhrathe some background. I'm considering adding in the name charts, or perhaps giving new versions to expand the options (if players have the old ones). *** 2021 December 11 Version *** The lasblaster and brace of pistols have had their special rule changed from Rending to Ceaseless. The version is now shown in the top right corner. Minor formatting improvements have been made (nothing substantive). *** 2021 December 15 Version *** Added Drukhari weapons. Added name chart. *** 2021 December 18 Version (Rogue Trader) *** Removed Ghostwalker fire team Corsair Reavers become shooty, Voidstorm Corsairs become stabby (neither is a veteran level) Added Corsair Malevolents. One Corsair Reaver fire team and one Voidstorm Corsair fire team can take a Corsair Malevolent in place of a Corsair Reaver/Voidstorm Corsair. The Corsair Malevolent can only take chainswords (1 or 2), spar-glaives (1 or 2), or a power glove (with either a chainsword or a spar-glaive). The end result is that you might be able to take up to 2 Corsair Malevolents in your kill team. Ghostwalkers become an optional upgrade that replaces a Corsair Reaver Gunner/Voidstorm Corsair Gunner. A Ghostwalker can be equipped with an Aeldari long rifle, lasblaster, or shuriken catapult. The end result is that you might have up to 2 Ghostwalkers in your kill team. Fists replaced with Corsair blades, which are mundane knives. Most models have these along with a brace of pistols. *** 2021 December 26 Version (both variants) *** After looking at the previous two versions and some of the official lists in the Kill Team Compendium, I decided to standardize the structure of both variants. I liked how the ghostwalker was an alternative to the gunner (in both fire team types), so I extended that concept. After seeing that the gunners in The Doom of Mymeara were limited to special weapons and that only the balestrike bands, a heavy support choice, had heavy weapons, I adjusted the Kill Team faction rules accordingly. Since other factions don’t have heavy support fire teams, however, I made the balestrike corsair an alternative to the gunner, but only in the corsair reaver fire team. I made the corsair malevolent an alternative to the gunner in the voidstorm corsair fire team. Both the balestrike corsair and corsair malevolent are limited to one per kill team (not fire team). The corsair reavers and voidstorm corsairs are very flexible, with options to be either shooty or stabby, so I wanted the alternatives (ghostwalker, balestrike corsair, corsair malevolent) to force choices. The voidstorm corsairs are effectively a fire team of felarchs, but with slightly fewer options than the actual Felarch. Since the previous corsair reaver felarch and voidstorm corsair felarch operative datacards were identical (minus the names), I consolidated those into a single datasheet, simply called “Felarch.” In both lists, most operatives have a brace of pistols and Corsair blades. A brace of pistols is basically a bunch of pistols, while Corsair blades is basically a bunch of knives. I’ve added the OUTCAST keyword to all of the operatives in both lists. This doesn’t haven’t any impact on these variants, but is based on what I’ve seen with the bespoke factions (e.g., Octarius and Chalnath). Each of these is similar to the counterpart lists in the Kill Team Compendium, but has unique rules and slightly different keywords. The OUTCAST keyword simply facilitates future efforts on some bespoke lists. The difference between the two variants (other than the images) is in the weapons: The Doom of Mymeara variant preserves the drukhari weapons. The Rogue Trader variant replaces the drukhari weapons with their asuryani counterparts and also allows hand flamers, power axes, and power gloves. I also created a new orange skull icon for the faction keyword and changed the abilities and special rules text to size 9 font. Both of those changes will be in the updated faction rules template (which will be uploaded once I get the portrait frame image elements separated for those hobbyists that don’t have Photoshop). The Doom of Mymeara variant supports those players that collected the more recent version of corsairs, including those that may be represented using drukhari miniatures. The Rogue Trader variant supports those players that are using the Warhammer 40,000 1st and 2nd Edition eldar miniatures. The key problem, mostly relevant to the Rogue Trader variant, is the need to convert – there aren’t any man-portable bright lances or scatter lasers. I could see using 1st edition harlequins for their power axes and power gloves, and the old 2nd edition sprues have power gloves (not to mention that some of the 1st edition models have power gloves and/or hand flamers). Some players have these models/bits, though, so the Rogue Trader variant might work for them. For those that have more recently joined the eldar corsairs fan club, The Doom of Mymeara variant, the Forge World upgrade sprues and drukhari kits will provide the bits that you need. If the rumors have any truth to them, we’ll see the corsairs in the future, at which point I’ll update these to match the models (assuming GW doesn’t give us Kill Team rules for them right away). At that point, I may keep some of the more exotic stuff for bespoke anhrathe variant lists. We should have shiny new models if the corsairs are brought back, so those will drive the options (though some conversion opportunities may be provided by other models in the aeldari ranges). *** 2021 December 31 Version (both variants) *** Removed chainsword Corsair blades changed to array of blades (identical to Comorrites) Brace of pistols changed to laspistol (see Astra Militarum) with fusillade ability Shuriken pistols and splinter pistols (latter only in DM version) added as alternative to brace of pistols Changed the celestial shield (equipment) to a shimmershield *** 2022 January 7 Version (both variants) *** Streamlined the weapon options. – operatives no longer come with a brace of pistols, array of blades, and additional weapons. Instead, they typically come with an array of blades (or some other melee weapon) and a ranged weapon. This is in line with the operatives in the official factions in the Compendium. Removed the blast pistol from the felarch (Rogue Trader version only). The RT version wasn’t supposed to include drukhari weapon options, so the blast pistol was an error (probably a cut and paste error). The blast pistol remains an option for the felarch in the Doom of Mymeara version. Removed the shimmer shield (equipment). Only a few of the official factions have an invulnerable save, so it was inappropriate to add it here when it wasn’t in the sources upon which both of these variants are based. See the support topic for details. I appreciate any feedback that players might provide in improving these rules. Note that the Rogue Trader and Doom of Mymeara versions are separate variants. choose whichever one meets your collection limitations based on the notes above. Submitter Ioldanach Submitted 11/30/21 Category Kill Team  

I've been bitten by the Aeldari Corsairs bug. First, a big "thanks!" to @Ioldanach for helping with the nifty color schemes. Note that some of the images below are from his gallery. When Ioldanach was working on his rules for using the Aeldari Corsairs in Kill Team, I semi-hijacked that topic starting here as I mused my own fleet. Looking through the old Rogue Trader (1st edition) era stuff, I found a badge that I liked: The caption reads "Alai-myan Alliance" and it appears to be an alliance between two other groups shown in that picture, the Alai Mercenary Corps and Myan's Agents of Silence. You can see the full image below (click on the image for the full size version): That image appeared in Warhapper 40,000 Chapter Approved: Book of the Astronomican, which was published in 1988 (and I'm pretty sure that, like pretty much everything else inside, that article was reprinted from an earlier issue of White Dwarf Magazine). I liked that image, so, after some fiddling around, I updated it to: (click on the image for a full size version) Fun fact: After I posted an earlier version of that rune back in September 2019, apparently someone liked it because they incorporated it into their own fan art depicting an Aeldari Corsair, presumably of the Alai-Myan Alliance. If you're interested, you can cut and paste the URL below into your browser to see the image. https://www.webstagramsite.com/media/B4pYMWrgg1ZIt's cool that someone liked the rune enough to use it. At the time, I couldn't find anything else about the Alai-Myan Alliance (or the Alai Mercenary Corps or Myan's Agents of Silence) other than something I read on one of the wikis, and, lacking citation, I found the information suspect. So I was working on my own color scheme. And then it was pointed out to me that the Alai Mercenary Corps did have a color scheme shown back in the Rogue Trader era: (click on the image for a full size version) That looks like a kind of sea green with pink - not atypical for the era. Ioldanach was kind enough to whip up an updated version of that scheme using his Corsair Painter: (click on the image for a full size version) I think that the colors he used were Kabalite Green (lighter green), Incubi Darkness (undersuit), and Emperor's Children (pink). He suggested a possible update to turquoise, which I agreed to: (click on the image for a full size version) He used Terradon Turquoise for the blues (two different colors from different portions of the swatch) and Magos Purple for the purple. Something else I'd been looking at prior to learning that the Alai Mercenary Corps actually had a color scheme was orange. There was a picture of a Fire Dragon Aspect Warrior from the Living Flame Shrine in the 6th edition Codex: Eldar, and I've always liked it: (click on the image for a full size version) With that, he whipped up the image below: (click on the image for a full size version) So now I'm left to decide between the three schemes. If I go with either of the Alai-Myan Alliance versions, then I'll obviously go with the Alai-Myan Alliance as my fleet. If I go with the orange version, then I have the freedom to create my own fleet or use some fleet that we know only by name. My plan is to create a kill team, most likely using the Asuryani rules (though I'll probably use Ioldanach's homegrown version in friendly games). I'm being kind of wishy-washy about the scheme, but it's time to make a decision. I'm partial to the last two schemes, so one of them will (hopefully) be shown here on an actual model. Make that a whole Command Roster's worth of models.