Planning a new eldar army

Lately I've been thinking about what xenos army to do next. Originally I was thinking of building an Eldar force to run with my Dark Angels, but since I am building them as Angels of Vengeance, I'm shying away from that idea, both because the AoV are super anti-xenos, but also because I'm most interested in the cast of characters from Altaioc for my Eldar, who are in open war with the Imperium currently. I've settled on a compromise: My Dark Angels will get their own allies, an Ordos Xenos inquisitor who has partnered with them to wipe out a certain alien threat, possibly a bunch of Altaioc Eldar.


Now, my Eldar concept has started to take form as well. Slightly ironically, I'm not planning to do Alaitoc exactly now. Instead, I went looking all around for a color scheme that I find inspiring and came away with the perfect option. I am going to build a corsair force! Specifically, I am going to run Alaitoc allies, the Sunblitz Brotherhood, allowing me to use some craftworld units, paint them appropriately, and have them as part of the force. This also gives me the ally option I want and plan for every army: Dark Eldar. Corsairs regularly employ Dark Eldar, I'm definitely going to have a ton of options with this force!


But. There's always a but. The Corsairs Army List in IA 12 is in many ways very different from the craftworld book, particularly in that it is primarily a jump list, although it can be run mech. That means my target is mech eldar/dark eldar. The reason for this is pretty self explanitory: I always want my IA armies to be playable with normal codex rules. Most people around me don't use IA rules or Forgeworld at all, so I am always hoping to primarily run the list with codex rules. I think Eldar and Dark Eldar work well to create some version of Corsairs.


First off, both have flyers that work well with the theme, the Razorwing Jetfighter looks a lot like the Nightwing (with the wings back mode), but of course I prefer the bomber. I will therefore convert the Razorwing closer to the Nightwing, but also magnetise it to run as a Voidraven in normal missions. I am also planning to get a Crimson Hunter, which in a pinch could be magnetised to run as a Voidraven, although the front profile doesn't really match. I do like the idea of having flexible options in how I run these guys.


This sort of flexibility is the only way to get the most out of an army. I have 3 Reaver Jetbikes from the late 90's that I am planning to cannibalise. They will become a Farseer on a Jetbike and 2 Warlocks on Jetbikes. I am planning to use half the new plastic Farseer with the Shining Spear, attached to some old Dark Eldar legs. This will represent my Void Dreamer, I know they don't have a jetbike option in the Corsair book, but I really like this model and depending on wargear choices can either be a buried HQ, or a spell casting nuisance, jetting around the table and casting up a storm. I may need to do some work to get this looking alright, particularly greenstuffing the old legs with robes, and possibly tracking down a different head that matches the void dreamer aesthetic. I have a metal Warlock that I am planning to use, but I actually made a mold of his upper body with Instant Mold and am hoping I can make 2 of the torso and head, allowing me to build the other 2 reavers into the rest of my Primary HQ choices.



The plans is for this list to be bike and vehicle based, with at least 2 units of 6 Windriders (who will be serving as Corsair Jetbike Squadrons), however since I am not a fan of the ancient Eldar Jetbike sculpt, I am planning to hijack the new Reaver kit, and use 12 of those with some modifications for my Corsairs. I think this is fitting, since Corsairs would have access to tech from both sources. If I can get some corsair helmets (and really I just need 1 if I keep up my success with the Instant Mold) and guardian bodies on ebay, I can make the riders look comfortably different from Reavers. I'll probably also leave off some of the sharp bits.




This covers my mandatory HQ and 2 troops, plus 2 flyers, but what else? Well, as I said I want Dark Eldar allies, and for that I will do a bit of "counts as." I think this idea works pretty well, I am going to run an Archon as my Dark Eldar HQ, and put him with a squad in a venom, to represent the Corsair Prince and his Retinue. I know it would make more sense to have the Prince as my Warlord instead of the Farseer, but honestly I can't fit an Autarch in points wise, and having to justify a 3rd HQ in the list (since the Farseer is a must in my opinion) doesn't really feel right. Now, I've run into a sticking point here, so indulge me.


Basically, I want to use a Venom because they are a dedicated transport in the Corsairs book, and I'd eventually like to have a few, since I hope to run it as a pure Corsairs list from the IA book at some point. More on this later, choice wise. Anyway, when it comes to representing the retinue, I can't decide whether to build the Archon as a Blaster lord and load him up with a unit of Trueborn with blasters, and magnetize him to run with different armaments when I use a codex book, or equip him for close combat and run him with Bloodbrides in a venom. One seems like it might be a bad investment (blaser lord and trueborn in the easily destroyed Venom platform) and the other seems too paper thin (Archon + Bloodbrides eat it in explosions, that is for sure). Even still, I am going to be buying a box of Wyches for my Death Cult Assassins anyway, I should have 4 left over to run with the lord, and I'm planning to get 3 boxes of Warriors, so I should easily have the bodies I need to run both. Sadly I couldn't fit any more Venoms into the list, due to another choice...


Raiders! It turns out you can take Kabalite Warriors in your list, and frankly I've always completely loved Raiders with 10 Warriors and splinter racks. Twin linking and you don't have to shoot the same target as the Dark Lance? Potentially brutal, especially against the flock of Monstrous Creatures that 6th edition has brought with it. That will round out my Allies slot, at least until I get antsy and add some Hellions (that I can also run as standard Corsairs).



Now, I'm not at a 2000 point list yet, and this is where I run into a challenge. I would like some standard corsair units in my list, but their primary transports are Falcons and Venoms...so how to run them with craftworld, where Guardians come in a minimum squad size of 10? I think I have figured out the best way to manage this, and admittedly its a compromise. My plan is to take guardian squads and heavy weapons in 2 Wave Serpents, buying the Wave Serpent box, but then purchase Falcon turrets 2nd hand, and hopefully I will be able to magnetise the rear extension that makes the Wave Serpent bigger to hold more occupants, if not I will leave on the extension and have slightly fat Falcons. I can then drop the squad size down when running these units as corsairs. I can even make some custom corsair jump packs, allowing me to magnetise them for different ways of playing them.


There's only one thing left for the list, and frankly its only in it because it can keep up hoofing it and is my favorite of the current eldar line: the Wraithknight. God this model is gorgeous. Anyway, since its a Jump MC it will be able to keep pace with my army, and it does bring a certain imposing utility to the table. My only real conflict with the model is how to paint it. Probably the proper approach would be to paint it Alaitoc colors, but I feel as though it would be out of place, as I'm not planning to paint any other units as Alaitoc, the only I'd really consider are the Warlocks, and maybe the Crimson Hunter, assuming I opt not to convert it to a Nightwing. It seems like a stretch to have 1-2 off slot choices come from a craftworld, but maybe if I do 2 Warlocks, a Crimson Hunter, and a Wraithknight it will look in place enough. This is a down the road decision as this list isn't exactly cheap! I am likely going to be getting pieces of it on ebay starting in a few months (I'm about to move and deal with paying double rent for a few months).