Faction: Eldar (R40K)

One of the biggest barriers to entry in any game is the preparation. I've created Unit Cards detailing costs, energy, stats, equipment etc that can be printed double-sided, 9-to-a-page. That means getting your games starting quicker and allowing you to focus on the game, not books.

The Eldar are (IMHO) the quintessential specialist alien empire.  They are 14 times cooler than ordinary old Humans, and even Humanity's uber-warriors have a reason, if not to fear, at least treat Eldar with a degree of professional respect.

In converting the W40K Eldar to their Rogue Planet equivalents, I've taken the approach of a baseline Skill of 3 for a standard Guardian's melee and 4 for their ranged fire.  Approaching their defensive ability I've kept in mind their traditional fragility and use of holographic technology.  Granted that there's rarely any mention of personal holo-fields in the current W40k materials, but I've always liked the idea of these exotic aliens utilising energy shields at least to complement the typical layers of space tofu.

With that in mind, rather than just provide Eldar with a DEF boost (or not?) I've included Shields as standard issue gear which, due to Rogue Planet's damage mechanics, makes them marginally less resilient than a shieldless but DEF equivalent enemy i.e. they're just as hard to hit but more susceptible to wounds, especially should they be facing anti-shield weapons namely melee weapons with the 'Axe' Trait, against shooting Units with high RAT or fighting aggressively whilst defending in melee - those failings are reflected by the cheaper cost Credit-wise i.e. using a shield to buff DEF is cheaper than raising the baseline DEF stat by a Point.  Remember: when resolving wounds against LIGHT armoured units, it's the absolute difference between the Attacker's RAT and Defender's DEF.

Keeping with the theme of fragile space pixies, presently I'm resisting setting many of them to Medium, Heavy or even Power Armour.  Furthermore, specialised offensive, not defensive, troops are the name of the game for this faction and that's reflected in their stat-line, gear etc.  And finally, unlike Medium and Heavy armoured Units, Light Armoured troops readily convert into Groups, meaning more miniatures on the battlefield and I just can't resist flooding the field with my favourite faction.

Yes, I'm unashamedly biased.

Eldar Unit Cards - Collection One  (Aug18): 14 individual Cards for three types of Guardians, Dire Avengers, Howling Banshees, Warp Spiders, Fire Dragons, Dark Reapers, Rangers, Striking Scorpions, Farseer/Warlock, and Exarchs for Spiders, Banshees and Scorpions.

Note: the Farseer'Energy Points are overstated by 1 point - l'll correct that when I get a chance.

I'll continue to detail additional Units as they appear in my collection, but as I'm intending on eventually fielding the whole shebang, I'm going to break with my usual paint-then-publish rule and instead describe my stat'ing of most of the models (many of which haven't yet been painted) in my collection - who knows, it might act as an extra incentive to push the painting that little bit harder.

Firstly Guardians have a RAT 4, CQ 3, DEF 4, LIGHT armour with a Shield and Shuriken Catapult (Carbine) as default (34 Credits).

My collection also includes Guardians with Lasguns (Fantasy Ranged @ 32 Credits) and Meltas + Chainblades (Fantasy Ranged with Armour Piercing @ 42 Credits).  I might consider including a 'Blunt' designation on the Chainbladed Units, to give them at least some chance of causing some trouble in Melee, but their CQ of 3 isn't going to do them any favours.

Recently I painted up some Rogue Trader era models that I think make for great Storm Guardians.  Stat-wise, they're the same as other Guardians, only sporting some different loadouts e.g., Flamers, Shuriken Cannons (Machine Gun), Melta Pistol etc.

Painting these guys was very quick - I may go back later and
do a bit of work on them, but something about them just works.

Harlequins (50 Credits) are a flip of Dire Avengers (no pun intended), making them close combat focused with blades and pistols (FX ranged), but not powered weapons, and allocating them the Mobility trait (two Move Actions for one Action Point) makes them distinctive and dangerous.  Death Jester's (72 Credits) heavy cannons (Machine Guns) nicely complement their lighter-armed brethren, especially when using the Bound mechanic.  Note: I'm yet to paint any Harlequins!

Rangers (60 Credits) are armed with Long Rifles (Carbines with Scopes and Extended Range) and Cammo, they're well suited for camping away from the frontline and picking off high value, especially lightly armoured targets, who'd otherwise consider themselves safe behind the front.

Aspect Warriors provide some challenges stat'ing, however, I found that with very few exceptions, the published Rogue Planet Traits etc provide what's required to make each Aspect true to the meta.

My first Dire Avenger - I completed a full Squad December 2018

Dire Avengers (47 Credits).  Giving the Dire Avengers an additional RAT point brings them up to 5, which is 2 more than a Guard's DEF meaning they're capable of wiping out a Guard Squad with 2 instead of 4 Shooting Actions.  Their Avenger Shuriken Catapult (Carbine) provides additional buff versus LIGHT armoured targets and with the addition of a Scope, they become an enemy not to be trifled with and actually make them different enough to be more than just a power-upped Guardian.

Incidentally, the manner in which the Carbine buff is only applied against LIGHT armour and not MEDIUM keeps with the lore eg., I have Space Marines in MEDIUM and therefore that little bit more resilient against DAs.

Howling Banshees (56 Credits) have a psychosonic amplified screams, power swords and shuriken pistols (FX Ranged).  Providing them with the Powered melee weapon trait felt just a tad too much, so instead they've got CQ on par with Harlequins, and whilst they're not as agile, they have Long Strike (need not be in base contact to Melee) and Parry (can follow through with an extra Melee attack on their opponent's failure).

Right now we've got 5 in rotation from this sculpt - I've got another 4 from
the later sculpt which are noticeably taller thanks to their extended helm.
I may paint them quite differently, just to add some contrast to the Force.

Striking Scorpions (70 Credits) swap agility for Armour and hitting power i.e. a DEF increase (DEF 4) and Chain Swords. Incidentally, those Chain Swords make the Striking Scorpions the most expensive non-Exarch Aspect amongst the Eldar, but they do generate 2 Energy Points for the Pool.  I'm thinking of experimenting with them using the Cammo trait as well, however, that would bring their cost up by another 10 Credits...

I've got half-a-dozen 1st and 2nd gen
sculpts, making for some nice variety -
one day I'll get me the 3rd Ed sculpts!

Fire Dragons (57 Credits) have the same DEF as Scorpions, have a RAT of 5 and pick up both Grenades and Flamers - lots of trouble for Groups these guys.

Nice models if not a tad frustrating - those ammo canisters - grrrr!

Swooping Hawks (56 Credits) are designated as Flyers with Grenades, but stat-wise, they're on par with Guardians.  Truth be told, they're quite fragile (DEF 3), but the Grenades pose a real threat to Groups and the fact that they're flying provides from some additional shooting and defence buffs 99% of the time.

Granted this is an Exarch, but I had his picture ready
before that of his (presently) sole nest (?) fellow.
I've very happy with the wings - there's a lot of different hues depending
on the viewing angle.

Dark Reapers (61 Credits)  are armed with Heavy Launchers and a RAT of 5.  I've also given them a Great Shield, improving their odds of survival materially but decided not to increase their DEF beyond 4 - whilst they are the toughest of Aspect Warriors, I want them still fragile relative to other factions e.g., Marines with their DEF of 5 + Power Armour.

I didn't care much for these particular models until they were 3/4's done -
they're actually lovely models despite their big ears!

Warp Spiders (47 Credits) are one of my all-time favourite W40k units and I was impressed that they can be accommodated using the Rogue Planet.  Armed with webspinners (Scattershot) they're tough in close quarters (but not Melee) and with a (house rule) Warp Jump trait, I feel they really capture the essence of the Spiders' design.

I will likely paint up some more Spiders as right now I've got 3 'normals' + their
Exarch.. I should have 4 or 8 to deploy them as one or two Groups.

Eldar Elites, which includes Heros and Leaders are a lot of fun.  Yes, they're typically as tough as the preschooler but what they lack in resilence, they make up for in character.

I've got a couple of models that I've modified, primarily because they were missing bits when I acquired them.  I tend to use them as special Units, reflecting whatever is different about them.  For example, my duel Shuriken-wielding Banshee (loses the Blade and Blade-related Skills but gains a substantial increase in FX-ranged RAT) and Striking Scorpion with a Brightlance (treated as a Scoped Missile Launcher + Lance - because why the hell not!).

For Exarch's I'm simply buffing their primary attack, making them that little bit more dangerous (and pricey) e.g., raised the Hawk's RAT by +1; providing the Warp Spider and Dire Avenger Exarchs with Power Blades, my Scorpion with a Power Claw and Banshees with Power Axes.

Armed with an Axe, the Exarch is able to disregard Shields when attacking.

The Seers/Warlocks have been given Warp Powers, called "Casts" in Rogue Planet and rather than providing them with run-of-the-mill Power Weapons, they've been equipped with Psionic Force Signature weapons, allowing them to do the Jedi bolt deflection trick.  Presently I haven't bothered differentiating Seers from Warlocks, I might do so once I get some more models painted... they could be used as Familiars (a type of Pawn) which would provide bonuses when casting spells.  Note: I've overstated the Energy Points for this model by 1: Psionic Force Signature weapons are not treated as Power Weapons.

I'm yet to really think much about Phoenix Lords are another step up again from the Exarchs.  E.g., Jain Zar has a Power Spear and an extra point of CQ, RAT and DEF.

Wraith Guard have made the Team, and much like the Wraith Lord, I'm still mulling over how exactly to stat them.  For the Lord, I'm thinking Power Fists and (because I've magnetised him) variable weapon loadouts.  I'll probably, no definitely, classify him as LARGE/GIANT and maybe HEAVY, but keep his DEF around 5 and provide a Great Shield?  He'd be a bit overpowered for casual play using the Rogue Planet rules, but might be good for a scenario.  I'm yet to acquire any metal Wraith Guard (one day) but I have got some of the newer plastic models.

I did a nice gloss on the helmet
and freehand runes

This photo is pre-matte varnish - he looks much better matted down.

The old Rogue Trader-era support weapon Eldar including some Light and Heavy weapon Platforms, inclusive of their crews.  I can see them making for great 'Pawns' in the game, maybe as Ammo Grunts (providing 2-for-1 Shoot Actions) or Fire Support (providing RAT buffs).  The crews might make for good Catalysts (allows Casts to target the next nearest enemy) - presently I've around 4 different crew members painted up with another 2 (?) in the wings.

There's a Grav Tank (Wave Serpent) and some Vipers secreted away that I'll get around to making one day... when that day comes I'll see if and how they might be tied into an R40k game... more than likely I'll leave them as scenery pieces in my games as Rogue Planet is Skirmish, not Battle gaming.

Enough painting and stat'ing I say, it's about time I get some proper game time clocked for these elves - they've got some strategic withdrawals to attend to!