Search the Community

https://www.warhammer-community.com/2023/12/13/mix-and-match-aspect-warriors-to-create-the-deadliest-blades-of-khaine-kill-team/ This is one of the Asuryani kill teams that I've been waiting for. Short description (for those that haven't read the Warhammer Community article - link above) - you can mix and match Dire Avengers, Howling Banshees, and Striking Scorpions, with one Exarch from one of those shrines, into a single kill team. This is the Craftworlders' "veteran" kill team (I don't count the Anhrathe/Corsairs as "Craftworlders"). All I need now is a Black Guardians kill team and I'll have my Aeldari trifecta.

These rules are my personal take on the progression of the Exarchs, as discussed in the How are Phoenix Lords made? discussion, especially starting here. I have made some modifications to my original idea (second link) following feedback and further research. I'll provide the designer's notes separately. The following homegrown rules replace the Exarch Powers rules on pages 105-109 of Codex: Aeldari. EXARCH POWERS The Exarchs of the Aspect Warrior Shrines have long travelled the Path of the Warrior. Their skills honed over countless decades, centuries, and even millennia of war, they are amongst the finest fighters of the Asuryani. If your army is Battle-forged and includes any ASURYANI Detachments (excluding Auxiliary Support and Super-heavy Auxiliary Detachments), then when you are mustering your army, you can upgrade ASPECT WARRIOR units from your army that contains an Exarch model by advancing the Exarch through the Exarch ranks, chosen from those presented here. To do so, select one ASPECT WARRIOR unit that contains a model that has the word ‘Exarch’ in their profile, and select one of the Exarch ranks from those listed here. That unit gains the benefits of that rank and the profile of the Exarch is adjusted as indicated, based on their Aspect. You can also select any CRIMSON HUNTER unit from your army and upgrade that model to be an Exarch at one of the Exarch ranks. When you do so, select one of the Exarch ranks listed here for that model. Make a note on your army roster each time you upgrade a unit to advance its Exarch in rank. EXEMPLAR The unit gains the EXEMPLAR keyword and one Exarch Power. The Exarch’s profile is adjusted to the Exemplar profile shown here. The unit’s Power Rating is increased by 1. If you are playing a matched play game, or a game that uses a points limit, then the points value of the Exarch model is also increased by the amount shown for the selected Exarch Power in the tables here. PARAGON The unit gains the PARAGON keyword. The Exarch’s profile is adjusted to the Paragon profile shown here. The unit’s Power Rating is increased by 2. If you are playing a matched play game, or a game that uses a points limit, then the points value of the Exarch model is also increased by 10 points. REVERED The unit gains the REVERED keyword and one Exarch Power. The Exarch’s profile is adjusted to the Revered profile shown here. The unit’s Power Rating is increased by 3. If you are playing a matched play game, or a game that uses a points limit, then the points value of the Exarch model is also increased by the amounts shown for the selected Exarch Powers in the tables here. ANCIENT The unit gains the ANCIENT keyword. The Exarch’s profile is adjusted to the Ancient profile shown here. The unit’s Power Rating is increased by 4. If you are playing a matched play game, or a game that uses a points limit, then the points value of the Exarch model is also increased by 10 points. ASCENDED The unit gains the ASCENDED keyword and one Exarch Power. The Exarch’s profile is adjusted to the Ascended profile shown here. The unit’s Power Rating is increased by 5. If you are playing a matched play game, or a game that uses a points limit, then the points value of the Exarch model is also increased by the amounts shown for the selected Exarch Powers in the tables here. Your army (or Crusade force) cannot include more than one unit with the same Exarch Power (and no more than one CRIMSON HUNTER model upgraded to be an Exarch). A Crusade force cannot start with any Exarchs upgraded to the Ancient or Ascended ranks, only one Exarch upgraded to the Paragon or Revered ranks, and only two Exarchs upgraded to the Exemplar ranks. To advanced beyond the starting Exarch ranks, you must purchase the appropriate requisitions (Exemplar of the Shrines, Paragon of the Shrines, Revered Warrior, Ancient Warrior, and Ascended Exarch; see later). Note: The “new” Exarch Powers that you see below are all copied verbatim from Psychic Awakening: Phoenix Rising, which was published during 8th Edition. These were chosen because they were different from the three Exarch Powers that are available to each of the different Aspects, most of which have similar names and/or rules to their 8th Edition counterparts. Some of these won’t work under the 9th Edition rules structure, but I’m using these as a starting point. These can be tweaked, replaced, re-named, etc. to give an appropriate amount of variety and work well within the 9th edition rules and Codex: Aeldari concepts. The ideal outcome is that each Aspect has three Exarch Powers that buff the squad and three that buff the Exarch, allowing for tailoring of Exarchs to players’ desires. I’ve omitted the lore portion of each of the “new” Exarch Powers. Note that I have left the Shadow Spectres out, though I hope to explore them later. EYES OF KHAINE, STRAFING ASSAULT, SWOOPING EVASION See Codex: Aeldari page 105. AERIAL PREDATOR When resolving an attack made with a ranged weapon by this model against a unit that can FLY, add 1 to the Damage characteristics of that weapon for that attack. HAWKEYE This model does not suffer the penalty for moving and firing Heavy weapons. AERIAL MANOEUVERING When this model moves, you can pivot it up to 180o before it moves, instead of up to 90o. BRINGER OF DEATH, FOCUSED FIRE, REAPER'S REACH See Codex: Aeldari page 108. DEADLY TOUCH When resolving an attack made with a melee weapon by this unit’s Dark Reaper Exarch, an unmodified wound roll of 6 inflicts 2 mortal wounds on the target in addition to any other damage. LONG-RANGED FIRE Whilst this unit contains a Dark Reaper Exarch, add 6” to the Range characteristic of ranged weapons models in this unit are equipped with. GRIM VISAGE Whilst this unit contains a Dark Reaper Exarch, subtract 1 from the Leadership characteristic of enemy units whilst they are within 6” of this unit. DEFENSIVE STANCE, SHREDDING FIRE, STAND FIRM See Codex: Aeldari page 106. BLADESTORM Whilst this unit contains a Dire Avenger Exarch, when resolving an attack made with a ranged weapon that does not have the Grenade type by a model in this unit, an unmodified hit roll of 6 scores 1 additional hit. DEFEND Whilst this unit contains a Dire Avenger Exarch, when resolving an attack made with a melee weapon against this unit, subtract 1 from the wound roll. AVENGING STRIKES Whilst this unit contains a Dire Avenger Exarch and any models from this unit have been destroyed, when resolving an attack made by a model in this unit, add 1 to the hit roll and wound roll. BLAZING FURY, BURNING HEAT, DRAGON'S BITE See Codex: Aeldari page 109. TANK KILLER When resolving an attack made with a firepike by this unit’s Fire Dragon Exarch against a VEHICLE unit, you can re-roll one D6 when making the damage roll. SWIFTSTEP Whilst this unit contains a Fire Dragon Exarch, when this unit Advances you can roll three D6 and discard two of the results. WALL OF FIRE When this unit fires Overwatch, a Fire Dragon Exarch in this unit equipped with a Dragon’s Breath Flamer can make a wall of fire attack. If he does so, instead of shooting with that model, roll one D6; on a 2+ the charging unit suffers D3 mortal wounds. GRACEFUL AVOIDANCE, NERVE-SHREDDING SHRIEK, PIERCING STRIKES See Codex: Aeldari page 107. DISARMING STRIKE At the start of the Fight phase, you can select one enemy model within 1” of this unit’s Howling Banshee Exarch. Subtract 2 from the Attacks characteristic of that enemy model (to a minimum of 1) until the end of that phase. WHIRLING BLADES Add 1 to the Attacks characteristic of this unit’s Howling Banshee Exarch. If that Howling Banshee Exarch is equipped with mirrorswords, add 2 to its Attacks characteristic instead. DECAPITATING STRIKES When resolving an attack made with a melee weapon by this unit’s Howling Banshee Exarch, an unmodified roll of 6 inflicts 1 mortal wound on the target in addition to any normal damage. EXPERT LANCERS, HEARTSTRIKE, LIGHTNING ATTACKS See Codex: Aeldari page 107. SWOOPING DIVE Whilst this unit contains a Shining Spear Exarch, when a charge roll is made for this unit, add 1 to the result. BLADEMASTER A paragon sabre that this unit’s Shing Spear Exarch is equipped with has a Damage characteristic of 3. SKILLED RIDER This unit’s Shining Spear Exarch has a 3+ invulnerable save against attacks made with ranged weapons. CRUSHING BLOWS, DEADLY AMBUSH, SCORPION'S STING See Codex: Aeldari page 108. STALKER Whilst this unit contains a Striking Scorpion Exarch and is wholly on or within a terrain feature, when resolving an attack made with a ranged weapon against this unit, subtract 1 from the hit roll. SCORPION'S GRASP When resolving an attack made with a scorpion claw by this unit’s Striking Scorpion Exarch, an unmodified hit roll of 6 inflicts 1 mortal wound on the target in addition to any normal damage. WITHDRAW At the end of the Fight phase, if this unit contains a Striking Scorpion Exarch and is within 1” of any enemy models, this unit can make a Fall Back move of up to 6” as if it were your Movement phase. RAPID REDEPLOYMENT, SUPPRESSING FIRE, WINGED EVASION See Codex: Aeldari page 109. RAPID ASSAULT If this unit made a charge move or was charged in this turn, add 2 to the Attacks characteristic of this unit’s Swooping Hawk Exarch this turn. FAST SHOT Ranged weapons this unit’s Swooping Hawk Exarch is equipped with have a Type characteristic of Assault 6. INTERCEPT Whilst this unit contains a Swooping Hawk Exarch, when resolving an attack made by a model in this unit against an enemy that can FLY, you can re-roll the hit roll. SPIDER'S LAIR, SURPRISE ASSAULT, WEB OF DECEIT See Codex: Aeldari page 108. WITHDRAW At the end of the Fight phase, if this unit contains a Warp Spider Exarch, this unit can make a Fall Back move of up to 6” as if it were your Movement phase. FLICKERING ASSAULT Whilst this unit contains a Warp Spider Exarch, models in this unit can pile in up to 6” instead of 3”. SPIDER'S BITE Powerblades that this unit’s Warp Spider Exarch is equipped with have a Strength characteristic of +1 and a Damage characteristic of 2. CRUSADE RULES (The Crusade Rules in Codex: Aeldari remain intact except as noted here.) REQUISITIONS The Exemplar of the Shrines Requisition is replaced with the following: The following Requisitions are also available:

For some of my Inq28 projects, I've been working on some 'alternate' spins on Aspect Warriors and the like - proto-Aspects, different takes on armament and panoply ... that sort of thing. Now, one idea that caught my mind's fancy the other day [after seeing the rose-twined scythe from the Empire Battle-Wizard kit on one of my many, many under-utilized sprues] , was doing up a sort of alternate Dark Reaper . However, other than mention of a "Jade Scythe" shrine of Dark Reapers, I'm not seeing too much citation for scythes in connectoin with the Reaper Aspect. The fluff justification in my head for all of this, was going to be that as the Dark Reapers are thematically tied to the "Destroyer" form of Khaine ... and iif I recall fluff correctly, Khaine found himself somewhat 'imprinted' by the Nightbringer during their confrontation back during the War in Heaven - it would therefore make sense for at least one aspect of Khaine [in the sense of an aspect or form of the DIvinity rather than an Aspect Temple per se] to bear some rather overt hallmarks of the Nightbringer. In particular, one imagines, his scythe. What I basically want to know is ... is this tenable, and have I been getting the fluff right about this? Or is there something I've been missing.

When the Craftworld Eldar as we now know them were first introduced, there were six common Aspects: When the 2nd edition Codex: Eldar was published, we were also introduced to the Warp Spiders. In addition, the lore was expanded a bit: ...and... We didn't see actual Shining Spears miniatures until 3rd edition. The lore shifted a bit here and there through the editions, but remained fairly consistent. Two further additions to the Aspects were the Crimson Hunters and Shadow Spectres, who were introduced in 6th edition (the former via that edition's codex and the latter via The Doom of Mymeara). The Crimson Hunters are pilots and the Shadow Spectres are highly mobile with heavy firepower - mobile tank hunters. In addition, other minor Aspects have been mentioned in the lore, but not really described or released in miniature form. These include the Eagle Pilot(s?) in the novel Shadow Point, the Crystal Dragons in the novel Path of the Warrior, and the Ebon Talons in the novel Asurmen: Hand of Asuryan. The Eagle Pilot(s) are, as their name implies, fighter pilots of some kind (somehow different from the Crimson Hunters). The others, however, are not described (as far as I know - I haven't read either of those novels). At this point, it would be useful to identify each of the known Aspects, their battlefield role/specialism, and their signature weapon(s): Crimson Hunters - air superiority, Nightshade interceptor Crystal Dragons - unknown role, unknown weapons Dark Reapers - long range fire support, Reaper launcher Dire Avengers - general combat, Avenger shuriken catapult (these are the quintessential Aeldari warriors) Eagle Pilot - fighter pilots, unknown craft Ebon Talons - unknown role, unknown weapons Fire Dragons - tank-hunters/anti-structure, fusion guns Howling Banshees - melee combat, Banshee mask and power sword Shadow Spectres - anti-tank, Prism cannon Shining Spears - hit-and-run attacks, laser lance and Eldar jetbike Slicing Orbs [of Zandros] - unknown role, unknown weapons Striking Scorpions - melee combat and stealth, mandiblaster and chainsword Swooping Hawks - airborne infantry support, Swooping Hawk wings and grenade pack and lasblaster Warp Spiders - hit-and-run attacks, Warp Spider jump generator and death spinner What we generally see is that, though there is a degree of overlap, each Aspect is distinct. Prior to the Crimson Hunters, I perceived Aspect Warriors as individuals. With the release of the Crimson Hunters, however, we see that Aspects might also include larger vehicles. This is bolstered by the Eagle Pilot(s). This leads to the possibility that there might be other Aspects that similarly focus on employment of other vehicles - not just flyers, but potentially tanks, walkers, etc. Imagine some Aspect that specializes in enhanced use of the Fire Prism, or another that uses the Vyper (some distinctive Aspect that has two warriors operating as a team), or some Aspect that uses War Walkers. Then, too, there are different roles and weapons that haven't yet been represented on known Aspects. We've seen laser weapons employed by the Swooping Hawks, Shadow Spectres, and Shining Spears (not to mention those mounted on the craft of the Crimson Hunters); we've seen the Dire Avengers use their enhanced Avenger shuriken catapults; we've seen the Dark Reapers with their missile launchers and the Fire Dragons with their fusion guns. The Aeldari are also known for their mastery of sonic (dissonance) weapons, however, yet no known Aspects make use of such weapons (and I'm not counting the Banshee mask in this as that's a unique application, though it is a sonic weapon). Looking beyond these, what if there were an Aspect that specialized in larger vessels - the spacecraft of the Aeldari. Such Aspect warriors would be consummate "pilots" at the highest level. I don't know if such an Aspect would be probable, but they're possible if we extend the interpretation of warfare to higher levels. I imagine that many of the minor/unknown Aspects might be either very unusual, or they might simply be variations on a theme. Imagine an Aspect that takes the tank-hunters role of the Fire Dragons and Shadow Spectres, using dissonance weapons. I've been working on the Void Hornets Aspect, a melee-oriented Aspect specializes in void warfare and boarding actions (both attacking and defending). You can see the rules development here if you're interested. At one point I conceived of another melee specialist Aspect, one that evoked a bestial motif from Aeldari mythology (I had a lion in mind) - using claws. What kind of minor/additional Aspects can you think of?