Jungle Juice: May 2007  by Patrick Eibel
In my efforts to catch up on Jungle Juice requests, I came across this e-mail from a while back:

I am just starting an Eldar army, but I am having a hard time working out the fluff. The idea for the army is that they follow almost all of the Eldar gods except Khaine and the Laughing God. I do not want to use Phoenix Lords, Harlequins, and Warp Spiders. The reasoning is that Harlequins would not fight alongside someone that does not venerate the Laughing God, while warp packs (and the chance they could kill the user) are anathema to the craftworld’s ideal. No Phoenix Lords because they all worship Khaine to a large extent, and would not fight alongside anyone who did not. But I still want to use the Avatar, so I think it might be an embodiment of the spirit of Kurnuos, Eldar god of the hunt. 

I would like a strong emphasis on Striking Scorpions and Rangers. Otherwise, every model is open to be used. My colors are white, silver, and black, with red on the vehicles, and green and blue on the elite infantry. My usual opponents are Tau, Tyranids, Orks, and Dark Eldar. I only have a thousand points so far, and it is mostly in tanks and guardians. Money is not a big issue, because I intend to use this army for a long time. Thank you for your time.

Scott

Getting Started
I like the idea of basing the army around the idea of a hunting party (using the Avatar as a representation of Kurnous, the god of the hunt – more on that later). One bit that does not fit in Scott’s e-mail is that the Phoenix Lords worship Khaine: actually, they worship Asuryan. Scott is free to not include Phoenix Lords because they are somewhat overpriced; I just wanted to get the facts straight.

Going with the hunting idea, what other units would fit the theme? Certainly speed and stealth would be useful assets, and any unit that gets Fleet of Foot has potential. To make the army more interesting, I think it would be cool to prohibit vehicles, including jetbikes, to go with the whole stealth idea. Anyone who has ever played a Sabotage mission knows the vehicles, even Eldar vehicles, are noisy. Now, having said that, I am going to allow one exception – the War Walker. The difference being that walkers are treated as infantry, and even though bikes are treated as infantry as well, jetbikes are a different animal entirely. I am also not including Wraithguard or Wraithlords because I just don’t see a hunting party hanging out with a bunch of ghostly dead guys.

Modeling
It seems that Scott already has his color scheme worked out, so I will just address some modeling ideas in this section. Instead of using the Avatar figure to represent Kurnous, I suggest using the Orion figure (below) from the Fantasy Wood Elf Line. This will spark some visual interest and really set army apart. 

Other Fantasy figures could also be used (particularly Spellsingers for Warlocks, Wardancers for Harlequins, and possibly Warhawk riders for Swooping Hawks), but I will let Scott decide if he want to go further down that road. While “counts-as” armies are very distinct, they also can be a pain as you continually have to answer the question, “What is THAT supposed to be?” Just using Orion will keep it simple for now. 

Army Selection
By restricting the choices available to choose from, I think a real character for the army can be developed. Here is a possible list:

• HQ: Autarch – may not select warp jump generator. Could use Wood Elf Lord figure with some conversion
• HQ: Farseer and Warlocks – I would field as a unit with Warlocks supporting the Farseer.  If you use Eldrad, could be very potent in close combat
• HQ: The Avatar of Kurnuos – model as described above
• Elite: Stiking Scorpions* – Exarch must take Stalker ability
• Elite: Fire Dragons*
• Elite: Howling Banshees*
• Troops: Rangers – must have at least one unit
• Troops: Guardians*
• Troops: Dire Avengers*
• Fast Attack: Swooping Hawks
• Heavy Support: War Walkers

Conclusion
I think the army may be challenging to use with the limitations I have described, but with careful use of terrain and some clever tactics could be a lot of fun. The main thing is that the theme will be really evident, especially with some conversions and fun modeling. I hope that Scott like the ideas and I wish him good luck as he hunts his opponents.

If you would like me to develop some ideas for you, check the introduction page of this series for the e-mail address.
 

Related Pages
More Jungle Juice

Posted May 2007. Used with permission.
 

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