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Aspect Warrior

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Dire Avengers Aspect Warriors

The real military strength of the Eldar armies derives from their highly specialized Aspect Warriors. These Eldar are walking the Path of the Warrior. Once an Eldar has chosen to tread this path he joins a specific Aspect Shrine. There, Exarchs train them in a specific aspect of warfare.

Each Warrior Aspect represents one, very specific aspect of warfare. As Kaela Mensha Khaine is the god of war, each Aspect embodies a facet of the god. Each shrine was founded millennia ago by a single Phoenix Lord. It is impossible to say how many different Aspects there are. The most common Aspects have shrines on most Craftworlds, while some Aspects are unique to a particular Craftworld - such as the weirdly terrifying Slicing Orbs of Zandros, which are confined to a single shrine on a single craftworld.[2]

Overview

Name [Known] Phoenix Lord Battlefield Role
Dire Avengers Asurmen, The Hand of Asuryan General combat
Howling Banshees Jain Zar, The Storm of Silence Melee combat
Striking Scorpions Karandras, The Shadow Hunter Melee combat, stealth
Dark Reapers Maugan Ra, The Harvester of Souls Long-ranged fire support
Fire Dragons Fuegan, The Burning Lance Tank-hunters, anti-structure role
Swooping Hawks Baharroth, The Cry of the Wind 'Death from above'
Warp Spiders "Aggressive defense", hit-and-run attacks
Shining Spears Drastanta, The Tempest of Starlight Hit-and-run attacks
Crimson Hunters[6] Air superiority
Shadow Spectres[5] Irillyth, The Shade of Twilight Highly mobile warriors with powerful Anti-tank weapons
Eagle Pilots[1] Amon Harakht Fighter Pilots
Crystal Dragons[3]
Slicing Orbs of Zandros[4]
Ebon Talons[7]


The Aspects in Closer Detail

  • Crimson Hunters are rare aspect warriors that pilot Eldar aircraft and excel in dogfighting and air combat.
  • Dark Reapers represent Khaine in his aspect as a destroyer, and specialize in long range firepower.
  • Dire Avengers are the most common of all the warrior aspects - they are also the most tactically flexible and least specialised. They are armed with Avenger shuriken catapults, an improved version of the Shuriken Catapult. It is an effective if somewhat short-ranged weapon.
  • Fire Dragons: Modeled after the mythical dragons, the main role of the Fire Dragons is to destroy enemy war machines and strongholds. They are superbly equipped for this task with Fusion Guns and Melta bombs.
  • The Howling Banshee aspect represents enraged close combat, and is named for the banshees of the Eldar Myth Cycles - a harbinger of woe and death whose cry can lure an Eldar's soul from a Spirit Stone to their doom in the warp.
  • Shadow Spectres are the Eldar warriors who take Khaine's embodiment of the Eternal Warrior. Burning tank chassis are the constant reminder of the power of their Prism Rifles. Fallen Shadow Spectres are often put into wraithbone bodies.
  • Shining Spears represent the aspect of Khaine that embodies the single perfect killing blow.
  • Striking Scorpions represent the aspect of Khaine that embodies strength, toughness, and the surprise attack.
  • Swooping Hawks represent the aspect of Khaine that embodies combat in and from the skies.
  • Warp Spiders represent the aspect of Khaine that embodies taking great risks to defeat the enemy. This is represented by their use of Warp Generators to jump through the warp, an act that puts their souls in danger but allows them to make surprise attacks.

Exarchs

Main article: Exarch

Exarchs are former aspect warriors who have lost themselves upon the Path of the Warrior and are unable to ever leave it again. They become Exarchs: simultaneously priests of Khaine, caretakers of individual shrines, and trainers, teachers, and instructors of the respective aspect. They are equipped with very ancient weaponry and armour. Each aspect has its own particular kind of Exarch. On the battlefield, an Exarch commands an individual squad of aspect warriors. Exarchs are formidable warriors, and most of them can use their abilities to help the whole squad of aspect warriors under their command.

See also

Sources

Uncited