Xenos on Crusade: James' Craftworld Eldar - Part 3

Well, this one's a bit behind schedule, isn't it?

Month 3 of our Xenos Crusade has come and gone, and for me, that meant a sizeable increase to my Craftworlds force (well, relative to how tiny it started). Over the month, I managed to complete another squad of Wraithguard, a Wraithlord to provide some much-needed fire support, and a Farseer to offer some additional psychic support to my Spiritseer.

In addition to the painting, I also managed to get my first games of Warhammer in around 6 months! This was a very welcome thing, as I'd very much been feeling the grip of a hobby burnout as a result of not getting to use my models. A man can only paint for so long before he needs to roll some dice. So then, please read on to have a gander at my recently completed models, as well as some quick write-ups on how my first few games went (small teaser - not very well).

To start off the month, I finished off the Wraithguard that I had leftover from previous. This was a quick little project, as I was most of the way there. But, nevertheless, it was nice to have them done and added to the army.

Unsurprisingly they don't look too radically different from the previous unit. The only change was me trying to variate up the poses a bit, a challenging task for these guys. After this, it was onto another of the lovely Eldar characters - a Farseer!

I absolutely love this model! I feel that every Farseer GW has ever made has always been a gorgeous piece, and this plastic update was no different. Unlike the Wraithguard, there's a lot of fabric on this model, so I tested myself to generate a nice gradient on these areas. Otherwise, it was a lot of the same as on the Spiritseer in terms of colour selection. The only real difference is that I chose to do some freehand in yellow on the Farseers robes, just to add a bit of contrast as well as single her out on the battlefield. 

There are a few areas I'm incredibly happy with on this model, notably the helm. I took my time with this as I realised early on it would be one of the real centrepieces of the model. The gem I spent a bit of time working on, and it's really paid off! It naturally draws the eye, and I'm chuffed with the smooth blend on the highlights. I also tried my hand at generating some psychic aura on the Farseer's hand, as though she's just beginning to summon forth a punishing blast of psychic energy. I'm not sure how well this has worked, but I'm content enough to leave it on the model.

With another mighty brain added to the force, it was time to bring in the brawn and, for me, that meant Wraithlord Caerlion!

For the Wraithlords in my army, I didn't want to use the kit straight out of the box, as I feel that it's a bit bland and doesn't gel well with all the newer sculpts the Eldar have received. To that end, I set about work with my trusty hobby knife and saw. The results are a model that I think possesses a bit more character and presence on the battlefield, even if all I did was repose a leg and alter one hand. 

The idea for this is something I've had for a while, as it's not the first time I've re-posed a Wraithlord. I like the final feel of the model, as I believe it gives it the sense of surveying the battlefield, turning his ancient mind toward the art of war. 

When painting Caerlion, there were a few areas I ran into a bit of difficulty. Translating a paint scheme from infantry up to larger models like vehicles and monstrous creatures doesn't always go smoothly, and it wasn't something I'd put much consideration into when approaching the army initially. The problem I encountered was simply the much larger "canvas" I had to work with. The Eldar are known for their smooth and untarnished visuals, but in the case of the Wraithlord, this meant several flat, unremarkable areas. To correct for this, I just added bits of freehand lines to these points. Once I've got a Craftworld rune determined, I'll then go back and add it into a few areas to further increase visual interest.

The other core pain point came from the Ghostglaives. My initial plan was to paint them in a TMM style, just to differentiate them from the Witchblades wielded by the psykers in my army. That, however, turned out looking pretty darn ugly; so it was back to the drawing board! 

I spent plenty of time trying to avoid painting the swords in the same manner as Witchblades, as I honestly didn't believe I'd have the skill to pull it off. Eventually, I just bit the proverbial bullet and went for it. The end result surprised me, as I think they're the best ones I've painted to date. It was definitely a bit confidence boost seeing how well they came out in the end. 

So that's my Month 3 update! My armies coming along pretty well now, and I've got a decent little force assembled and painted.

Now then, what does it play like on the table?

To say I was excited to finally get back to playing some Warhammer again was an understatement. I was overjoyed at the idea! As enjoyable as I find painting, the lack of games had started to eat into my motivation, and that feeling sucked. Playing some games was just what the doctor ordered. 

As I'd only painted 29PL by the time our little group was ready to start gaming, I started small and only fielded my 2 Wraithguard squads, my Spiritseer and my Farseer. The end result of these games was that my force had really well-defined strengths. The Wraithguard were immovable in most games, able to shrug off most anti-infantry weapons with little issue. It was only once those dedicated heavy infantry guns hit the table that they started struggling. That is assuming those units could survive the Wraithcannon shots coming their way. Whilst the guns may be short-ranged, they do indeed pack one hell of a punch. Watching units melt once I finally made it in range was very satisfying. That'll teach those foolish enough to stand against me!

But, as much as I love the army, boy, does it have some significant downsides. For starters, it's so painfully slow. 5" move may not seem too bad, but when you can't start shooting until you're within 12", that lack of mobility suddenly becomes a real issue. A lot of the time, my opponents would just slowly chip away at my Wraithguard until they just didn't have enough shots left to reliably threaten any larger units, which in most cases, meant removing only 2 or 3 models from a squad. As well, this army is exceptionally vulnerable to anti-vehicle firepower. A Lascannon to the face is a risky prospect for any model with an invulnerable save. For my Wraithguard, it's an almost guaranteed death. No invul save means I'm relying on my opponent to fudge a roll and, frequently, that strategy is not one worth depending on. 

So how will I go about alleviating these issues?

There's not much I can do about the lack of invulnerable save after all the model doesn't have that option so I can't do much on that front. One potential fix is to take Fortune on my Farseer instead of Doom, which will provide one squad with a bit more longevity when being attacked. Re-rolling wounds against a unit won't matter much when almost everything I fire at gets wounded on 2's anyway!

To combat the lack of firepower in my lists the Wraithlord I've just added was a good start. Two Shuriken Cannons and Flamers goes a long way towards horde control, and I'm currently painting a squad of sword-wielding Wraithblades and their many attacks to my army. 

In terms of the lack of mobility, well for that fix you'll just have to wait and see.

If this all sounds like I'm down on the army, make no mistakes, they've been a joy to play so far! I've had some real highlights in my games, most of which have involved the Wraithguard introducing enemy commanders to the might of their Wraithbone fists. They've managed to out-duel both a Drukhari Haemonculus and Archon in close combat (though the Archon did manage to pass 6/7 6+ FnP checks from their initial duel, the lucky chap), something I was quite bemused by. 

I think I've rambled on for long enough so I'll close out this article now and get back to some painting. There's a big push to get more on the table as our Crusade continues, and I won't have the Craftworlds being left behind!

Until next time,

James