Eldar Rumour Titbits

[Mr Mystery]

That's nearly a third of the list.

Alright then:

plague drones of Nurgle
Tomb Blades
Canoptek wraiths
Pathfinder team

All recent, single squad plastic non troops kits. Two of them from this year.

Also worth noting those units have options within their army list. Aspect Warriors, perhaps uniquely, don't. Whilst I think alternate weapons could be cool, it would also detract from the thematic point of Aspects.

[CraftWorld]

I hope for dual kits but can't help feel that should we get them the aesthetic integrity of the Aspects might be marred.

Eldar models, despite sharing a common 'flavour', have always been so very distinct in both fluff and game terms. A blurring of the Aspects would be a detriment to the ideology behind them and a real shame.

On the topic of a MC of some variety I'm intrigued. Even more so after reading Larry Vera's treat-like dive into [URL="http://www.belloflostsouls.net/2013/05/40k-lore-eldar-knights-and-future-codex.html"]Eldar Knight Lore[/URL]. On the other hand the description of the model over on 3++ sounds awful.

I have a sort of unnervingly daunting feeling that we're going to see the largest change to Eldar yet, which hopefully, will be a good thing.

[Kawauso]

I hope for dual kits but can't help feel that should we get them the aesthetic integrity of the Aspects might be marred.

Eldar models, despite sharing a common 'flavour', have always been so very distinct in both fluff and game terms. A blurring of the Aspects would be a detriment to the ideology behind them and a real shame.

Keep in mind that some of the dual-kits lately have gone a long way to making either of the possible builds in them quite distinct.

The first thing that comes to mind are Necron Deathmarks/Immortals and Praetorians/Lychguard. Despite only changing the arms/weapons, heads and half of the torso, the different builds end up with pretty distinct appearances and silhouettes.

I know the armour of Eldar aspects is more divergent than that, but I imagine that there are a couple ways that dual-kits along a similar line as those Necron kits could result in pretty distinctive-looking models.

Either way, I'm looking forward to seeing the Eldar get some love.
I imagine either they or the Tau will be getting a megaforce this holiday season, and I'm hoping to be able to save up for whichever it is.

[CraftWorld]

Keep in mind that some of the dual-kits lately have gone a long way to making either of the possible builds in them quite distinct.

The first thing that comes to mind are Necron Deathmarks/Immortals and Praetorians/Lychguard. Despite only changing the arms/weapons, heads and half of the torso, the different builds end up with pretty distinct appearances and silhouettes.

I know the armour of Eldar aspects is more divergent than that, but I imagine that there are a couple ways that dual-kits along a similar line as those Necron kits could result in pretty distinctive-looking models.

Either way, I'm looking forward to seeing the Eldar get some love.
I imagine either they or the Tau will be getting a megaforce this holiday season, and I'm hoping to be able to save up for whichever it is.

Considering the similar build some of the Aspects have in relation to the others your point has some merit. Dragons and Reapers have a bulky appeal (Well bulky for Eldar anyway...) whilst Scorpions and Banshees err on the more delicate side. If you take into account the fact that stance for each of those two pairs could also conceivably be similar further weight is given to the potential for dual kits.

Like you though, I'm simply looking forward to the change and new additions coming our way and until the day arrives everything about it is simply speculation.

[isotope99]

Could they do dual kits? Yes, a bit of compromise on each aspects individuality and you could get there.
Are the aspects near the top of what the Eldar need right now? No not at all, there are plenty of things the eldar need more.

[Asymmetrical Xeno]

i'm sure the Aspect warriors will get turned into plastic eventually at some point, but for an army release I doubt there will be more than just Shining Spears personally and i can't see them getting more than 5 plastic kits (4 normals, 1 character clampack). There are IIRC six Aspect Warrior infantry squads at current, even if they were "duel kits", that would be 3 plastic kits alone (the size of an entire release).

It's possible in the future they might go a route similar to the plastic monopose clampack characters and do sets of 6 models like that - it would cut the costs down and might make it more worthwhile to do six kits like that. Just pure speculation on my part though.

[CraftWorld]

Are the aspects near the top of what the Eldar need right now? No not at all, there are plenty of things the eldar need more.

Could you elaborate? Are you meaning sculpts or units?

[Power Klawz]

I think that the new high elves really point the way forward in this case. Maiden guard and shadow warriors are totally distinct in appearance despite being based off of the same kit. The basic body suit for aspect warriors isn't terribly unique, its the helmets that really define the silhouette for the most part. Then there's the weapons and back mounted stuff for some of them, but that can easily be accounted for. I suspect you'll see banshees and hawks, with the wings being the extra back bits and two sets of heads along with a bunch of little bonus items and individual arms. You'll probably see spiders and scorpions together, with the spider backpacks being the bonus back bits etc. etc. That leaves dragons and reapers, which are basically the same thing except one has a skull on its face. I see no downside to this whatsoever, as the amount of variety and options you get with a multi-part plastic kit more than makes up for any sort of muddling of aesthetics.

As to whether or not plastic aspects are "needed" well that's purely subjective, they need them as much as anything. In fact a strong case can be made that the eldar ARE aspect warriors, they are the defining unit types for the whole model line. Ideally the eldar strategy and tactics should center around the proper usage of aspect warriors, barring a few wacky builds. They really are the face of the army.

I mean look at "recent' dual kits, they've all been pretty successful and distinct. Lootas and burnas won't be mistaken for each other, even at a distance. Even the raptor/whatever those guys with claws are kit produces two distinct models. It really is the way to go for almost everything. Pathfinders are a good example of where it didn't work, but that's likely because there are really only two actual tau foot troop types, and one of them all ready had a perfectly serviceable plastic kit. Just like you won't see a dual kit with regular ork boys or guardians most likely, you'll just have all the options for those basic troop types.

Specialist troops are the perfect candidates for dual kitting when the army in question has a lot of them and they're all based on the same basic platform, i.e. skinny space elves. The chest and legs are just there to fill in the model, its image is really defined by its equipment and head.

[eldargal]

Shadow Warriors and Sisters share legs, each Aspect has distinct legs and feet. the SW/SoA kit is tremendous but it doesn't help with Aspects. Quoting myself from yesterday

Actually they are all quite different, to take a common example:

Swooping Hawks & Howling Banshees
Different feet
Different configuration of leg plates
Different thigh plates
Banshees have loinclothes, Hawks don;t
Different stomach plates
Different chest plates
Different gemstone configuration on chest plate
Different aspect symbols on chest plate
Different arm plates
Different gloves
Different shoulder plates
Different arms.
Different weapons
Different pouches
Different helmets
Different weapons

Now while it is true the aspect have changed from edition to edition they have always retained their unique looks.

[Bigred]

Interesting, I took a look at that Eldar "big kit" description from 3++, and have been turning it over in my mind.

Eldar Spirit Warrior
wraithlord-war walker mix, trygon base, running bird legs with hooves, huge scaled torso, a dozen poles extend from the back (like wraithlord but three times as much), left forearm replaced with massive lance, right hand holds extra handle on lance shaft or a three pronged swastika blade. Lower back, left shoulder and part of the left arm are concealed by an impressive cloak, head is surrounded by scaled armour plating, large gem at the front, doesn’t bend upward towards the end but downward, whole model leans forward, chest can be opened, female pilot inside.

That sounds a lot like it could be a modernization of the FireGale knight from epic.

In particular, I'm thinking it might be something along the lines of an amalgam of the three top row FireGales in the attached picture. Of course with modern CAD techniques and the larger scale, all that extra detail could be added.

Hmmm....