The Screaming Jaguars of Tezcatlipoca
Back in the days of 2nd Edition, I had a lot of Allies. As I like using themes, I wanted to link them to the Fighting Tigers. Rather than paint the allied troops in tiger stripes, I based each unit's theme on similar animals: lions, jaguars, leopards, etc. 

The Screaming Jaguars of Tezcatlipoca are not an army but an all-female Elite unit usable in Eldar armies or with the Fighting Tigers (see Optional Rules below).

Background
The Screaming Jaguars are a subsect of the Howling Banshees and were found only on Craftworld Tezcatlipoca (destroyed). The Craftworld, crippled after barely escaping Hive Fleet Ravana, drifted into the Regulus system shortly after the Tigers had fought off the Warband Bloodcomet. Realizing that the Tigers were in no shape to battle even a wounded enemy, Rajas Surya Ashoka and Shrendi Vashtar proposed an alliance. 

The Eldar survivors were allowed to settle on the seventh planet of the system with the understanding that the world would remain under Imperial control and that the Eldar would have to help defend the system. The Jaguars have fought alongside the Tigers on numerous occasions (notably against the Saracens, the second incarnation of the Warband Bloodcomet). Lately, however, the working relationship between the Tigers and these Eldar has cooled considerably, and the alliance is almost certainly doomed. What will happen is unknown--the Tigers will certainly move against the Jaguar base, and the Eldar are sure to call upon allies from other, nearby Craftworlds. 

Philosophy
Even more than other Howling Banshee sects, the Screaming Jaguars believe in speed and agility in battle (see Optional Rules below).

Squad
Each squad contains five to ten Screaming Jaguars (see Howling Banshees from Codex: Eldar). Jaguars are armed with shuriken pistols and power weapons. Each squad can be joined by an Exarch (see Howling Banshee Exarch from Codex: Eldar).

Modeling and Painting
As I did with other Fighting Tiger Allies, I  kept the paint scheme simple and not too flashy so as not to draw attention away from the Tigers (can't have your allies dressing better than your main force you know!). 

I used Howling Banshee models and painted the armor Chaos Black. I painted the face mask and loincloth Sunburst Yellow and the eyelenses Glittering Green (okay, they don't make Glittering Green anymore--use Jade Green). I painted weapons Dwarf Bronze and picked out the gems with Blood Red.

Just as tigers need stripes, jaguars need spots. Don't slap on spots willy-nilly: if you do, you wind up with polka dots (trust me, I found out the hard way). I went back to the real animal and took a good look at it. The basic pattern of a jaguar's pelt is a tight cluster of five small black spots, each spot the same size. Once I had practiced for a bit, I carefully painted the jaguar pattern on the masks and loincloths. For variety, I used Skull White instead of Sunburst Yellow on the Exarch.

As I had only intended to use the Jaguars as Allies, I didn't try to make them look radically different from Banshees (plus, that made them easier to explain to my opponents). You could try converting them to look more like jaguars, but unfortunately, Games Workshop doesn't make a lot of "big cat" bits. Perhaps you could use bits from Warhammer Lizardmen figures (to accentuate their "jungle" image) or Leopold's Leopard Company (Dogs of War unit).

General Tactics
Like Howling Banshees, Screaming Jaguars are nothing more than close combat monsters who should get stuck in as fast as possible.

Optional rules
Allies: A Fighting Tiger army may include the Screaming Jaguars. They are a specialized allied unit that is very familiar with taking commands from the Fighting Tigers and do not need an Eldar HQ unit to lead them. If you decide to take them, they count as one of the Elite choices for the army.

Very Fleet of Foot: Screaming Jaguars do not use Banshee Masks, but they are fast even by Eldar standards. When using the Fleet of Foot ability, Screaming Jaguars may roll 2d6 and pick the higher die to see how many extra inches they may move.
 

Related Pages
Hive Fleet Ravana
Other Fighting Tiger Allies
Other Eldar Themed Army Ideas
 

Like what you've seen? Then vote for the Jungle in the "Top 100 40K Sites"

© Copyright Kenton Kilgore, January 2000. 
 

Top