A few years ago, Games Workshop finally began taking unprecedented steps to update one of its following models: warhammer 40,000‘s most popular faction: the Aeldari caste, lithe elven aliens who have been in tabletop gaming for nearly 40 years. But even with these important updates, the Aeldari model line still had some of the oldest miniatures Games Workshop still sold…but next year, that’s finally going to change in a big way.
as part of Special preview event in advance of future plans warhammer World Championship, today’s Games Workshop revealed upcoming revisions to the Aeldari rulebook for the latest 10th edition. warhammer 40k. In addition to the updated rulebook, a series of new miniatures will be added that focus on one of the unique elements of Aeldari culture. They are the Aspect Warriors, a special clan of elite operatives dedicated to a particular martial philosophy, and the legendary leaders of the Phoenix Lords.
Even though these units and heroes are important elements of Aeldari lore and are often the fundamental pillars of the Aeldari army, players of the faction are not satisfied with the way Games Workshop sells the game to people. I’ve literally spent decades running Aspect Warrior on the same model, watching it grow and grow. New Space Marine. Until relatively recently, many of Aeldari’s primary models were based on engravings that had been in existence for two decades. The earliest of these models were those of the eight major Aspect Warrior archetypes: Howling Banshee, Striking Scorpion, Swooping Hawks, Dire Avengers, Warp Spider, Fire Dragon, Dark Reaper, and Shining Spear. Many of these models are so old that they were still cast in metal or eventually in resin, but Games Workshop has been updating them bit by bit over time. I did. Howling Banshees received a model overhaul in 2019 (replacing models from 2006), Dark Reaper and Shining Spear were updated as part of the 2022 line overhaul (replacing models from 2006 and 1999, respectively); Striking Scorpion has been updated this year. Spend the year through small skirmish games kill team (Replacing the model again from 2006).
Today’s news brings almost all other Aspect Warrior classes to modern plastic miniature standards. Fire Dragon, Swooping Hawks, and Warp Spiders all appeared in 2006, 2000, and 1994respectively. In addition to these main forces, the company also announced an update to their accompanying Phoenix Lords, an elite hero unit that is the leader of each aspect. , this is the first time that Rikith, lord of the Warp Spiders, appears in miniature form, alongside Athurmen, lord of the Dire Avengers. All of these other miniatures were replaced with 1994 “current” models, with Rikis set aside as a brand new character.
It should be emphasized that Games Workshop charges the same pricing for these virtually ancient miniatures as modern miniatures, despite their increasing age, and the Aeldari The players were simply supposed to deal with it and watch as other players. Each faction regularly received new miniatures and updates. As a lifelong faction player, it was very exciting in my on-and-off journey. warhammer 40k As an adult, I’ve been playing with the same miniatures since I was 10 years old when I first started playing tabletop games. And it took most of my life for that to change.
But now it has finally happened. The Dire Avengers of the Aspect Warriors have also not been updated since 2006, at least among the Aspect Warriors, and Striking Scorpion leader Calandras currently remains as the last remaining Phoenix Lord not to have been updated. 30 years old (almost). Once new rules for this faction are announced in 2025, we hope it won’t be long before we see these remaining alien legends receive the shiny new plastic treatment they deserve… And hopefully these new models will be as nice as they look now in 2024, which isn’t yet on store shelves in the 2060s. After all, the dark and bleak future of the 21st century requires us to constantly buy new plastic soldiers.
Want more news from io9? Find out when the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek movies will be released, what’s next for the DC Universe in film and TV, and the future of Doctor Who Check out all the things you should do.
