So if my calculations are correct you could take a completely legal army consisting of: 2 squads of 10 black guardians & 1 seer council; consisting of 2 farseers and *checks notes* 114 warlocks
I mean, there is a bit in the 9th Ed necron codex. An eldar poem about how the C’tan got killed and, in the margins, notes from a tech priest, who is progressively more fascinated by the necrons, then gets unexisted by the inquisition halfway through the book. Nothing like the old codexes though. This is basically it for the in-universe lit stuff for that book.
This is the reason I enjoy warhammer fantasy lore a bit more than 40k lore. It goes more in depth into the cultures, societies, and in universe fictions and other boring shit of factions, as well as small details that nerds such as myself enjoy reading about.
"So it's difficult to shake the idea that everything in [The Craftworlds Addon] is like, the stuff they forgot to put in the main codex, packaged along with some fluff and pictures and put out as a separate product." Not something they forgot, rather something they deliberately left out as a design compromise. According to Gav Thorpe's Designer's Notes the Eldar codex was written specifically to model a Guardian-based Craftworld Eldar army first and other kinds of Craftworld armies a distant second, based on the reasoning that Guardian-based armies would be the most common type of Craftworld army and so should be the baseline. Think how Codex: Space Marines models codex-standard Chapters and leaves the non-codex Chapters for other books. The writers adopted the same approach here, leaving the specialist organisations for a separate book (though they did include a prototype Swordwind list in the White Dwarf covering the 3rd edition Eldar release) Another bit of trivia is that the Guardian kit showcased in the Craftworlds book WAS released at the same time as the 3rd edition Eldar codex - it's showcased in the same issue of White Dwarf and featured in the debut Battle Report for the book. Presumably the GW Photography Studio wasn't able to get enough examples of the new plastics in time for the photo deadlines so subbed in the 2nd edition Guardians (they did the same thing for Tactical Squads in the Space Marine book). This was a problem that was common in 3rd edition 40k books, persisting until at least the Tau release in late 2001. But with my nitpicking done and out of my system, well done on another fine video about the 40k game I play and love.
It's weird because I don't think I've ever seen Guardians on the table. I can't say I played against Eldar that often, but when I have it's usually Wraith Constructs, Aspect Warriors and Rangers. I've never actually seen Guardians. Personally I kind of hate Guardians, they're just so generic. Aspect Warriors have a whole style and individual themes, Guardians are just dudes in mesh armor with really short range guns. They're a horde unit for a race known for being on the brink of extinction, it just doesn't make sense. It would be like if you made a new unit for Custodes and it's just a Guardsmen Squad equivalent.
I Love the Guardians, they're probably my favourite Eldar infantry unit, and certainly in my top 3 Eldar units in general. Along with Support Weapon Batteries, (another top 3 Eldar unit for me) they perfectly embody the heart and soul of the Eldar as spiteful alien marauders wielding the scavenged post-apocalyptic remains of their tremendous former space empire - much like the Pyramids in real life, they're so awesome that it's easy to forget that they're just the broken remnants of what used to be there. I love Vipers for similar reasons. To all the other 40k powers they're these sleek agile blisteringly advanced attack craft, but for the Eldar... they're Technicals. All the Eldar armies I plan invariably start out with some solid blocks of Guardians, just as Gav Thorpe intended. It's actually the Aspect Warriors I like least, and I always have to really force myself to include any more than just a squad or two of them.
This was the edition that ruined eldar First the Avatar became weak compared to other greater Daemons( he used to have superior WS&BS as well as Initiative BUT Moreso the shuriken catapult In the 11 first years of 40k it was the most desired and expensive basic weapon upgrade(inquisitors /rogue traders/etc had access to them) WHY??? Basic weapons were 24” The best was the storm bolted with 1 sustained fire dice and -1 save….THAT IS except for the Shuriken Catapult24” range 1 sustained fire dice AND - 2 saving throw modifier…carried by just any Eldat civilian which was superior to even Armed Terminators Ofc a dwindling race would have long range guns Ugggh now since 3rd edition the Eldat throw their most valued commodity right into the maw of death HOW STUPID
I can say without reservation that this series are one of the most beautiful and wondrous creations I have ever seen. It's loss would be a calamity not only for nostalgic wargamers but for all of RU-vid.
Dog! adorable! Also I have a thank you to say as this series has inspired me and my group to try out 3rd ed which we are really enjoying. I used your 3rd ed space wolves video as a guide to help me plan my first list before I bought the book irl. This wolf lord thanks you Snipe and Wib! May your sagas grow ever more legendary!
"The fact that it's taken us four years to cover this tiny niche of a niche, suggests we're going to be at this for quite a while." Job security, am I right?
Every time someone mentions that Squats are coming back I do a little dance!! I'm a little bit excited (I played them back in the early 90s in both 40k and epic)! Great video!
I'm speaking to you as a newbie to the Warhammer franchise, and I popped off hard when I learned the Squats were coming back. The feeling's mutual, man.
That book wasn't the first instance of rules for a specific Craftworld. The same month the Eldar codex was released, an early version of the Biel-Tan Swordwind list was included in White Dwarf, much as a set of bike-centric White Scars rules (written for then-Editor of White Dwarf, Paul Sawyer for a battle report) had appeared in an issue a couple of months earlier.
That makes sense, although we were not trying to imply it was the first occurrence of such things, only that the main codex didn't have them and this added them into the game in a full and proper capacity.
@@TheBobbytables Didn't he make a bunch of tracked dreadnaughts for that white scars army, so he could justify them being speedy? that memory just dredged itself up from the depths...
@@TheBobbytables tbh, i can't remember if he'd done it or if it was a column about how he wanted to do it, as part of keeping the speedypants theme of the white scars. I think it mentioned concepts such as flatbed rhinos that you could stick a dred on the back of for fast deployment as well as the tracked dred concept. If i somehow manage to dig up the reference or pictures of it I'll try to post here about it...
My claim to fame. I am part of the reason for the black & bone Ulthwé colours. In 1997 I decided to do bone bodies and black helmets for a squad of Ulthwé Guardians because I had an army of undead for Warhammer, I loved painting bone and I could never get yellow to look good enough on the Guardians. I even did a Falcon Grav-Tank in this. The Falcon being released in '97 which is how I remember when I made this paint scheme. I even started to paint my Tyranids in more bone too, mainly plastic Genestealers from Space Hulk games that I'd collected for cheap. The GW shop manager of the Bedfore store saw my 'Elite or Veteran Guardians' as he called them. He said the concept was great but a little too much Wraithbone for his liking. 2 years later the new Ulthwé colours were on display that had switched my colours around. I asked the Manager and he said he had passed on my colour scheme idea onto the big guys at the top. And the rest 6 editions later is history. Never be afraid to experiment and show off your ideas. I was never the best painter but by just having a good idea I helped give the Ulthwé Craftworld a new look. Sometimes I wish I hadn't sold everything.
Always love the compliant videos, its brilliant seeing people struggling with the pronunciation of craft world names when the pagan holiday samhain exists as a reference.
Neat to see another supplement on the channel. I really loved the imperial guard supplement episode, although I'm still hoping we get a base codex guardsmen episode at some point
The Guard had a lot of specialization options baked into their 3rd edition codex, but I think that codex was later in the edition than orks or eldar though.
The second Guards codex did, the first one was kind of stale. Chaos got a similar treatment, where they got a second 3rd edition codex that was a big improvement on the first one (though it did bring with it some serious balance problems)
Love the in-universe-lore framing devices - I feel like 3rd edition was really the era for that (unless my memory's playing tricks on me, and it's just that what I read stood out), nothing transforms a dry infodump into an immersive experience quicker for me. (And thanks for the Squats.)
You eventually need go do the 3e harequins list from White Dwarf to truely wrap out the 3e eldar stuff. It didn't make it to Chapter Approved as far as I can trll, so might be hard to track down, but I'm sure you have better odds than I.
Two craftworlds are just names of months in Irish, and Eldar did just speak Irish in the Inquisitor Draco novels, so the crack about English people on holiday getting stuff offensively wrong is entirely accurate.
@@Arquinsiel How so? The Eldar are partly based on Irish (or, more accurately, Celtic) culture and mythology. But fantasy and sci fi draws on historical world cultures all the time, 40k especially so. There are actually four craftworlds based on Irish/Celtic festivals: Biel Tan = Beltaine, Saim-Hann = Samhain, Lugganath = Lughnasadh, Yme-Loc = Imbolc. I do think GW leans a bit too heavily on the Irish-ness of the Eldar sometimes (sometimes Welsh, too), particularly in the novels. But there are hardly any good Eldar novels, anyway. More's the pity.
@@robertwareham8466 How so? Because it just is. Go read the novels, throw the "Eldar" quotes into Google translate, and watch as it gets it wrong because it's just idiomatic Irish. Literally just old proverbs with one word switched out. Lugganath and Yme-Loc are about ten years and two editions later, but also "Lúnasa" is just "August" in modern Irish, along with Bealtaine and Samhain being May and November.
@@Arquinsiel Ah yep, sorry, I jumped the gun and replied before I saw that bit in the video. And yeah, I don't like them just straight up speaking Irish, it's lazy. Then again, GW aren't going to employ a writer who's going to make up an entire language for Eldar, as someone like Tolkein would. More's the pity. That said, I have no problems with the Craftworld names as they are based on the ancient Celtic festivals, not the modern Irish months. The fact that modern irish is so close to the ancient celtic shouldn't be a bar to using celtic influences. Like I say, ancient cultures are used as influences all the time in modern fantasy and sci fi.
Back in the day a friend of mine used this list to create a Biel-Tan army made completely of Dark Reapers. It was the scourge of our local shop, because if he got the first turn, he won XD
When Renegades and Heretics and Eldar Corsairs didn't get proper updates for 8th by the time second codices were out, I joked they'd bring back squats before my favorite armies... and now I cry.
I was super excited when this book was released. I really appreciated how they made the armies unique by swapping units around as well as the force org.
Technically there's also the 3rd Ed Harlequin rules from the Citadel Journal you could cover if you want to truly get through all of the Eldar stuff for 3rd.
Have you really covered everything Eldar Codex related in 3rd Edition though? Have you? Really? What about Gav Thorpe's (drink taken) 'Experimental' Harlequin Codex in Citadel Journal 39 (expanded in journal 44) - I'll get my coat:)
That is actually a very good point. My way of weaseling out of that is that since it's not a published solo-codex it doesn't technically count, but that is very much weaseling hah
I just paused the video to say I need a Gaming table build video measured entirely in this Assassins Codex scale. Perhaps a new series dedicated to Wood working projects entirely measured out in Codex's?
I loved this codex when i got into 40k for all the lore, and it made Czevak into a legend in my mind. When Atlas Infernal came out 10 years later with him as the main character i instantly connected with that novel. Very unique and fun read!
It's one of the shortest, but certainly one of my favourite Codexes ever. I spent hours and hours poring over those 20 pages and writing 3rd edition army lists. It's so full of character that even later books have been struggling to match (the 9th edition Codex is the first to have achieved that, IMHO, although that one is a very clunky book). What it did so well on so few pages was set the foundations for developments in the fluff that came to fruition during the Eye of Terror campaign and the Gathering Storm, as well as establish the visual aesthetic and colour schemes of the Eldar faction in general. It's probably the most impactful Eldar book apart from the 2nd edition Codex, and both the game design as well as myself owe a lot to it. Thank you so much for bringing those memories back!
As someone who played in my local Gdubs when this codex hit. Alai-toc or however you spell it. Ranger disruption rules in a 750-1000pnt game. Remember most things cost less points back then.So this was an average in store game. Ranger disruption could effectively decider the gam before the first turn. Results could mean units starting the game pinned or having to deploy in reserve. At this size game spamming 3 strong squads of pathfinders and rangers was very effective.
I would love for individual Craftworlds, Ork Clans, Marine Chapters, etc... to all get their own codexes. I've always thought that more visual differences beyond colours should be represented in the tabletop, like each Space Marine chapter having a particular helmet/armour model tied to them, like the Raven Guard using the Corvis pattern and the Blood Axe Orks having an aesthetic more like the Orks of 1st and 2nd Edition.
Yay new codex compliant, and more Eldar! Also a nice bit of emotional blackmail at the end, can’t not like right 🤩😁 Thanks guys, always appreciate, codex compliant are my comfort videos
‘Translator’s note: “Saim-hann” should actually be pronounced, “hehehehehehe this is really going to annoy somebody”; we’re not sure why, but our sources assure us that it is correct’
GW obviously saw your Objective Model Review series and reckoned that if they didn't at least attempt to resurrect the squats, *_then there would be consequences beyond their wildest imaginings..._* :3 (but still, I'm quite chuffed they are coming back) 5:52 That is surely the most terrifying thing anyone in the 40k setting has ever seen on any battlefield. This craftworld wants to the see the Mon'keigh's manager.
People lost their mind at the council back then, difficult to believe. Also I think that the court of Exarchs was to allow you to deploy the alternatively equipped exarchs.
I remember the Seer Council was absurdly powerful for the time. It wasn't uncommon to see 400-500 points put into them, and they would rampage the table. When Codex: Necrons came out a couple years later the reaction of myself and several friends to these new Pariah things was "This unit was made to kill the Seer Council."
How apropos as I just rediscovered all of my metal Eldar from 3rd edition with my dozens of ranger models. Alaitoc forever! Also my crappily converted Falcons as Wave Serpents since there was no model for it for some time. I hated it so much when the 4th edition codex erased this book and returned to vanilla eldar. Bah!
for such a thin codex the reshuffle in the force org to put emphasis on one unit type was what made it so cool. shame they did away with this in subsequent eldar codexes. council of exarchs to accompany an avatar sounds awesome to this day.
I went to like the video after the politics in my Warhammer joke, but I had instantly liked the video already lol. I remember fighting Eldar from this codex. One guy was a super cheater and had those super rangers for all of his units. I was too young to realize I was being had! Love this codex, love this channel!!
That was the very first mention of Ynnead, wasn't it? IIRC, it was just dropped in as a dangling thread for someone to pick up later, without any intended context.
Love the Ceefax joke! Exactly appropriate for your target demographic Man, what I'd give for a 3rd edition Ork Clans book! Also, wouldn't mind a pivot to this being entirely a dog channel
I distinctly remember the Ulthwé list being a bit of a problem army back in the days, primarily because of the seer council which was just too efficient for its own good, causing them to be really overrepresented at the top tables of tournamnets. The black guardians were also pretty nasty though considering guardians were not really a top tier unit to begin with, I guess the bump they got did not really make them all that bad, all things considered.
I didn't use this Codex at all back in 3rd. Just the regular Eldar Codex. I was aware of it, and had looked it through, but hey, own Craftworld, you know. Oddly enough, I decided to paint my Eldar Guardians in boltgun metal, which, yeah...
Life is like a swordwind, on the Craftworld! Jetbikes, lasers, shurikens! It's a sword-blur! They are a mystery, regret their history... SPACE ELVES! Wu-hooh! Every day they're out there being SPACE ELVES! Wu-hooh! D-d-d-danger lurks behind you, She Who Thirsts is out to find you! But you can always count on... SPACE ELVES! Wu-hooh! Not Tolkien elves or Christmas elves, but SPACE ELVES! Wu-hooh! _Sorry..._
