Eldar Corsairs Kill Team

[Ioldanach]

I was able to play some Shadow War: Armageddon recently, a solo game in which I pitted some Black Dragons Space Marines against some dire avengers. I had a great deal of fun, so I've decided to build a "proper" "Craftworld Eldar" kill team. My original intent was to use some Rogue Trader era space elves with some 2nd edition eldar, but I found a mother lode of eldar minis in my garage this afternoon, so I've replaced some of those more characterful space elves with other 2nd edition eldar guardians (I'll turn those space elves into character models and veteran corsairs at a later date).

Rules-wise, this will be a straight up craftworld eldar kill team (which means dire avengers, with some guardian defenders). The models will be painted up in my DIY eldar corsairs coterie colors (along with a larger full WH40K eldar corsairs army later, of course).

You can see the army list here (if you're interested in that sort of thing).

The "dire avenger exarch" (felarch) will be represented by an OOP farseer model. His rune armor represents the aspect armor and shimmershield well enough, and I figure a patient explanation that his "avenger shuriken catapult" is a proxy for some sort of psychic attack (so I guess he's a froggy void dreamer felarch) should do.

The first "dire avenger" (eldar corsair) will be represented by an OOP guardian defender. He's pretty straightforward, and this mini is often used to represent more archaic style dire avengers, so no explanation should be needed.

The second "dire avenger" (eldar corsair) will be represented by another OOP guardian defender. This one, too, is pretty straightforward and often used for dire avengers by players, so no problem.

And the "guardian defender gunner" (eldar corsair gunner) will be represented by an OOP eldar gunner. This one is really straightforward.

Not shown is the OOP grav gun (scatterlaser).

I've decided to use a dark purple for two reasons. First, I haven't seen a lot of eldar armies, craftworld or corsair, painted purple (yes, I've seen dark eldar painted purple, but I'll get over it). Second, going back to the Rogue Trader lore, the eldar pirates and mercenaries favored dark colors, including purple. Note that I'm not aiming for a necessarily "uniform" appearance. While I'm aiming for a more mercenary type company of eldar corsairs (as opposed to the sadistic eldar pirates from 1st edition that were turned into the dark eldar in 3rd edition), I want them to look more like a crew of individuals. I'll do my best to apply some element of cohesion in terms of the coterie's color, purple, and its rune, but I want it to look more like a gang of pirates and less like His Majesty's Royal Navy.

You can see the (hopefully final) basic color scheme at right. The orange bits on the jump pack vanes are the thorn motif of Biel Tan. I'm not set on the color yet (I've used Trollslayer Orange in this one). The intent is to add some visual break up, introducing a pattern on a relatively flat area. The lore-based reason has to do with the coterie itself, which operates as an ally with Biel Tan, with many of the corsairs, including the corsair prince, hailing from Biel Tan. Of course, the Ynnari have screwed that all up, which adds some interesting background elements.

I have something in mind for the "autarch" special operative (corsair prince), but nothing for the wraithguard/wraithblade (since the eldar corsairs have no ghost warriors within their coteries). Since the "autarch" comes with swooping hawk wings, though, I'll need to convert up some suitably fancy corsair jump pack vanes for a conversion. That will take some time, so I'll stick to the initial kill team for now.

[Kierdale]

Lovely old models :tu:

Looking forward to seeing them painted, and to reading some battle reports :)

[Ioldanach]

I've made one change to the lineup. I plan on using the OOP farseer as a void dreamer in my (eventual) eldar corsairs army, so I've replaced that model with another of the OOP "guardian" models for my dire avengers exarch:

He's clearly holding a diresword and shuriken pistol, and there is a shuriken catapult slung on his back. The only thing I'll have to add will be a shimmershield.

These are old lead/pewter models, though, so I need to file down the mold lines before I get to painting.

[Grotsmasha]

So good to see the old stuff getting some lov'n :tu:

[Jukkiz]

You gonna add the runes on them or the soulstones?

[Ioldanach]

Each of the models I'm using for the kill team has a waystone on his chest, with one or two of the models having additional stones. Since this coterie remains somewhat aligned with its craftworld past, each of the corsairs will have at least one stone. Most of the corsairs will have only one stone, though, as they are still outcast and I want to maintain that visual difference from their craftworld cousins.

One or two of the models will also sport the rune, though there won't be a standardized placement or color. While I want the kill team (and the eventual corsair army) to have some visual coherence, one element I want to promote is the individuality of each member. This is like a street gang, with each member sporting the gang's colors to show their loyalty, but each still dressed differently to show their own personality. Some of the members will have very decorative elements on their armor, while others will be much more plain.

That's the plan, anyways.

[Ioldanach]

I've been slacking on this since the new Kill Team game was announced, but now that I have it in my grubby little paws, it's a go. And I'm even more motivated because I'm trying to get the team ready for a league that will be starting soon.

Once I digest the new Kill Team rules, I'll figure out what changes I'll be making to the roster.

One thing I'm pretty sure of is that the following minis will most likely be members:

That guy on the left is just a storm guardian gunner with a fusion pistol, and the guy on the right can be a dire avenger (exarch) or a guardian defender with a shuriken catapult. And I have some old eldar rangers around somewhere - lots of ghostwalkers.

[Ioldanach]

Okay, my previous plan to build an eldar corsairs kill team for Shadow War: Armageddon still stands, but is taking a back burner to a kill team for Kill Team. While I’m still refining the command roster, I have a tentative plan. Models and bits have been arranged. There are a few that might be adjusted based on feedback, but there are (quite?) a few that I can move forward with.

So here’s the [tentative] plan…

Warlock (level 2) Commander – this guy will be pretty much stock, though I may add a topknot from one of the storm guardian heads. Lore-wise, he’s a void dreamer.

Guardian Defender (Leader) – this guy will be stock. Lore-wise, he’s a felarch.

Ranger (Leader) – this guy will be stock. Lore-wise, he’s a ghostwalker

Dire Avenger Exarch (Combat) – yes, that’s an older howling banshees exarch (I didn’t want to use the original axe-wielding version). The only “conversion” I might make to this model is to add a pistol grip to the holster. Alternately, I might use some plasticard to make a shimmershield. That will depend upon feedback in the combat roster discussion I linked above. Lore-wise all of the dire avenger fighters are bladesworn.

Dire Avenger Exarch (Veteran) – the sword in the forward hand will be replaced with a shuriken catapult for a dual avenger shuriken catapult exarch.

Dire Avenger – this guy will be stock. It might be worth mentioning that models with crests/mohawks will generally represent dire avengers, the lone exceptions being the guardian defender model above (and the autarch/corsair baron that I’m not showing yet because he’s a conversion, but the lore behind him is that he was a dire avenger at one point in his life).

Dire Avenger – I might be removing the shuriken pistol/catapult and replacing it with a true shuriken catapult, just so that there’s no confusion.

Dire Avenger – this model will be stock.

Dire Avenger – this guy will remain stock.

Storm Guardian with Aeldari blade – this model will remain stock. The only potential point of confusion is the shuriken catapult slung low on the model’s back, but I think common sense will prevail. Lore-wise, all of the storm guardians and guardian defenders are corsair reavers. Some of them served at one point or another in one of the aspect warrior shrines, so they may bear some gear that looks familiar.

Storm Guardian with chainsword – yes, that’s one of the original striking scorpion aspect warriors. I’m on the fence about replacing the head with one of the Forge World eldar corsair helmets. The original helmet is close enough. The only possible sticking point is the mandiblasters that are clear. I might drill them out to better approximate the vents on the sides of the eldar corsairs helmet (and save a helmet for another conversion).

Storm Guardian Gunner with fusion gun – this guy will remain stock (or I may remove his head and replace it with a Forge World eldar corsairs helmet – but I really like the stock model).

Storm Guardian Gunner with fusion gun – yes, that’s one of the original fire dragon aspect warrior models. His helmet will be removed and replaced with a Forge World eldar corsairs helmet (and I’ll be using that helmet for a felarch/corsair baron/corsair prince conversion later).

Storm Guardian Gunner with flamer – the only real difference is that one of the Forge World eldar corsair helmets will be used instead of the standard craftworld storm guardian helmets that is shown. Aside from the autarch/corsair baron conversion, this is the only model that is all plastic/resin.

Storm Guardian Gunner with flamer – I’ll probably replace that firearm in the forward hand with a flamer from the old 2nd edition sprue.

Guardian Defender (Comms) – the model also has the higher vanes on the back, representing his communications specialism.

Guardian Defender – this guy will remain stock.

Heavy Weapon Platform with Aeldari missile launcher – yes, the image shows a bright lance, but I couldn’t find an image with the aeldari missile launcher.

Ranger (Sniper) – this guy will remain stock. This is another ghostwalker.

Storm Guardian (Leader) – this is an alternative to the ranger option. I want to have two leader options, and I want them to be different. Since my leader will probably sit back, I want him to be shooty, so this storm guardian with aeldari blade alternative is less likely. What I might do instead of the ranger is use the dire avenger exarch with dual avenger shuriken catapults as my leader option. This would give me another model option somewhere, replacing the existing dire avenger exarch with dual avenger shuriken catapults.

I’m eager to overcome my usual procrastination and get to work. I think that most of the choices are safe from a modeling perspective, with only a few models being at risk. For example, if I replace the ranger leader with the dual Avenger shuriken catapult version of the dire avenger exarch, that ranger model might merely slip down to be a regular ranger, or to have the scout specialism instead. I anticipate some of the models gaining specialisms. Like the two non-leader guardian defenders, though, I want at least one to be a non-specialist. That will give me some flexibility in the kill teams I can compose from the command roster.

Anyways, that's the plan at present.

I've also adjusted the color scheme based on some lore changes. You can see the new scheme to the right (the "white" is a bright silver and the green is metallic - layers of green washed over the silver). Other examples can be seen here.