Aeldari Army - Warhammer 40K 8th edition - Part One

 

Following the rediscovery of my Rogue Trader era Eldar army, I was delighted when Games Workshop launched the Aeldari Craftworld codex for the 8th edition of Warhammer 40K. It would seem that despite a number of years passing, many of the sculpts remain the same 20 years on. Therefore I didn't think it would be too much of a leap to bring some of the units I already own to form part of a newer army that had a Craftworld unifying colour theme to them. As you can see from the Farseer model above (still some touch ups to do - is any miniature ever finished?), I decided to go for a bone white/cream with a rich purple. More on that later.

I had a bit of spending money and decided to get the Codex, 'Start Collecting' set and a Wave Serpent to get me going. I later swapped the Triumvirate of Ynnead box set for a Hemlock Wraithfighter as I didn't realise the Ynnead weren't a part of the Aeldari Craftworld, as I just bought it on the basis I liked the miniatures!

Once I had put the Farseer together and tested out the colour scheme, my next job was to build the Wraith Lord. 

Wraith Lord

I had bought a range of magnets (1mm x 1mm, 2mm x 1mm and 2mm x 2mm) all N52 high grade neodymium disks so that I could cater for all the weapons on both the Wraith Lord and the Wraith Guard/Blades.

After carefully cutting out the pieces on the plastic spru with both cutters and craft knife, and then removing the flash and spru cuts, I set about positioning the Lord on his base.

Putting together the torso was easy, except the shoulder guards refused to knit neatly together (partly overcome by melting the area with plastic glue so it's not so obvious!). I then added the largest magnet to the neck/under the head so that it could be posed easily.

Next came the fiddliest bit - the arms, hands and weapons. Because I didn't really know what opponents I would be facing, and I didn't really know what weapons were affordable, and frankly I didn't think I would be off to buy lots more Wraith Lord models, I decided magnetising was the way forward - plus, I had never done it before and had heard a number of people mention it in various Facebook groups.

The main adversary was how accurate I was at drilling, and how deep I could drill without coming out the other side of the model. On the wrists I drilled quite deep into the forearm and deposited 2 magnets inline, which makes quite a strong connection to the hand. The side of the forearms, and the shoulder mounts, each took 3 magnets - I figured that a larger surface area would mean the weapon wouldn't wobble off at the first touch or jolt.

It does mean that I have to paint all the weaponary and arms combinations and keep them along with the Lord itself, but I tested the various poses and it seems to work nicely. The 'weakest' part to the model are actually the arm/shoulder joins where, ironically, the biggest magnets went. The surface of the magnets are quite smooth so the arm did pivot a little, but since painting they all remain steady when posed and don't flop down.

I've since primed him with Halfords white & grey primer spray paints, undercoated with Zandri Dust spray, washed/shaded with Seraphim Sepia, and touched up with Zandri Dust via a brush. Like the Farseer I will then layer with thin coats of Ushabti Bone and highlight with Screaming Skull so the Lord will look far paler than it does currently. Frankly though, there was enough paint to get it on the table top for the Welwyn Wargamers club that started early 2018... my first foray into 40K since 2nd edition back in 1995.

Still work in progress!;

Warlock Conclave

The miniatures that probably made me plump for the Eldar (now Aeldari) in the first place were the Warlocks. When I saw a conclave of metal miniatures on eBay I couldn't help myself (this was before the 8th edition codex!). They had already been primed in white, and they were crying out to be painted. I since learnt that the Warlock Conclave aren't really a competitive unit price for punch, but I'm sure I would incorporate them into a larger army.

Some photos demonstrating the progress of the painting and the stages;

The Warlocks (already primed white) were given a thin coat of Zandri Dust by brush and then washed in Seraphim Sepia, and then given thin coats of Ushabti Bone and highlighted with Screaming Skull. The purple was basically Xereus Purple with lighter Genestealer Purple and a shade of Druchii Violet to give it depth.

As you can see below, I tried going with the purple-ringed model bases, but I took on some feedback from Facebook that it detracted from the miniatures themselves...

...so I went for a dark brown instead which I think works nicely and makes the models pop;

I also picked out the gems and took a little time on them. I wasn't sure in retrospect, but the photo suggests I used Wild Rider red, with Fire Dragon Bright orange, and a pin of white for the light point. The Rune Armour was given a coat of Ghenna's Gold and highlighted with Auric Armour Gold with a very feint tinge of Runefang Steel. The miniatures were then spray protected with Munitorum varnish and the gems given a coat of 'ardcoat to give them a gleam.

As you can see I still have quite a few troops to do, let alone rebasing some of the original Rogue Trader era army;

However, the Warlocks had taken it out of me, and I wanted a quicker win... so I built the Wave Serpent...

Wave Serpent

I started by painting the pilot, mainly because if I didn't then it would be really difficult to get to once glued to the inside of the vehicle. Easier to paint it and stick it in later, and build the rest of the Serpent around him; 

Like the Wraith Lord, the Wave Serpent needed the same painting approach... just enough to get it on the table top. However, I decided not to magnetise the Serpent's weapons. I simply clipped certain elements into place, however, the shielding on the turret weapon had to be plastic glued against the Shuriken Cannons. I can still take the Cannons off, and put another weapon int it's place, but they won't have the shielding. Oh well, I'm sure I will survive!
Although the glass canopy is shown open here, I'm seriously thinking about glueing it down because it is just annoying when it comes out. I'll try and hunt for an alternative, but it doesn't stay in place even though it is meant to. I still have to add the 6 bone-limbs to the front wings, and I will paint them purple to got with the Craftworld scheme, but I will do that later.

Sneaking in at the back there are some Rangers which I primed, but won't do anything further with until later.

Dire Avengers

The DA Exarch is probably up there with my favourite miniatures, certainly from the 1990's. I decided to try something else I hadn't done before, and that was to get a rock outcrop effect using cork boards (found on the internet - couldn't find any in the various DIY stores... apparently cork flooring is soooo passé!). Some trial and error from tearing etc, and plenty of PVA glue, and I got the shape I wanted. Furthermore, I haven't done what I believe you should do which is pin the miniature - ie drill a couple of paper clip wires into the models feet and plunge into the cork board. Instead, I cut off parts of the on the miniature tab/bar beneath its feet turning them into spikes, which were then glued in place.

 The Dire Avengers were then primed, and base-coated...

 ...shaded and highlighted...

 ...with a dab or two of green wash on the rock to look like moss... and the joins will be doubly hidden with the addition of flowers (still WIP)...

 ...and then I realised that one squad of DA's was not enough, so I bought another unit from eBay to go with the Phoenix Lord Asurmen. I've not got a recent photo of the unit on its own, but they are all now base-coated, again, with just enough paint on them to get them on to the table top.

 And finally, the Aeldari force so far;

I've also redone the base for my Avatar (ie its brown as opposed to 1990s Goblin Green!). So far I've magnetised one measly Wraith Guard/Blade... 4 more seems like a lot of work and superglue on fingers! I've also got Jain Zar ready for table top too...

I even managed to field some of them against a similarly work in progress Chaos Marine army! I seem to struggle against Space Marines, but this is only at 750 - 1000 point armies so far... we are increasing as we paint more!

Hopefully Part Two will be a few more up close shots of the finished articles, but my focus is currently on just getting models built, prepared, primed, base-coated and shaded to get them on the table. Plus I'm trying to avoid distraction of Blood Bowl teams and Necromunda gangs!! :)

I hope this provided a good enough glimpse into the effort that's gone in so far. Just need to keep the motivation going, while balancing a busy family/work life! Thanks for reading. Any feedback welcomed. Feel free to share etc.