In September of 1988, I'd just turned 13, and was in the 3rd year of my time at High School.
By this time, I was in the wargaming hobby, but had yet to buy myself an army, but with the release of that month's White Dwarf, that was to change, and a life long obsession with one particular race began...
White Dwarf 105 for me, is in many ways as important than the now classic White Dwarf 127 (more of that later).
From the moment I saw the cover, with the beautiful Dave Gallagher artwork, I knew I was hooked.
A hoed figure leaping over a stern faced clown with a skeletal-clad warrior hiding the foreground? All the colours, contrasting with the death-like figure, weapons blazing at an unseen enemy... this was an army I wanted to find out as much as I could!
The article on the Harlequins began to tease at the fate of the Eldar, the fight between the Laughing God and Slaanesh, the god created by the excesses of the Eldar Race in ancient times, how the Harlequins told the tales of the doomed race through a dance, which whilst beautiful was both tragic and deadly...
It also told of the Craftworlds which the Harlequins visited, the immense space ships upon which the remaining Eldar lived their lives, floating across the galaxy, desperately trying to avoid the fate which befell their ancestors.
The Army its itself was a thing of great fun - as was the case with most armies at the time, it made for brilliant skirmish level forces, with each Troupe member having a role to play (plus extras which haven't made it into the modern day such as the Great Avatar, the Warlock and High Warlock), and was fun to use.
However, a spark was lit in me- I wanted to know more about the Craftworlds - who were these Eldar?
White Dwarf 127 gave us the answers.
Much has been written about this seminal issue, by writers greater than I - and I strongly recommend you visit
Gav Thorpe's Blog for an interview with Jes Goodwin to read more on how the Eldar came to life from the main designer himself.
Needless to say, from both the artwork, the models, and the accompanying stories I was hooked - a doomed race, living life by a strict code in order to avoid repeating its past, the colourful Aspect Warriors who fought alongside the rank and file of the Guardians, the Farseers and Warlocks, and the Godlike Avatar... here was my army.
The question was, which Craftworld would I choose?
Shortly after the release of the Aspect Warriors and the army list, Games Workshop released a new set of Eldar Guardians - a hybrid metal / plastic kit, this made adding Guardians to your army quite simple.
Both the box and the accompanying White Dwarf article used a scheme which I was familiar with and liked - blue bodies, yellow helmets, which was to become the colour scheme of the Craftworld Alaitoc.
I chose this colour scheme to be my own, and now, over 20 years later, I still use this scheme - here's some of the units that I currently have in my army:
Classic Eldar Guardians, used in my current army as Storm Guardians - the arms and weapons are plastic, the bodies metal - a real pain to build, but so full of character!
A Farseer and Warlock Conclave. The Farseer and several of the Warlocks date back to 1990 when I bought them, stripped and repainted recently.
Wraithguard - a relatively new plastic kit, one that's full of character and a joy to build and paint!
War Walkers - I've also got a squad of three of the original metal Walkers to add to the army shortly!
Vyper Attack Bikes - fast and deadly!
Wave Serpent Transport
And a variant of the Wave Serpent - this was the original Forgeworld Kit before Citadel released the all plastic Kit - I prefer this one I have to say, and wish I had more of them!
Forgeworld Hornet light attack skimmer - very much like the Vyper, the Hornet is fast and packs a punch!
I'll be showcasing more of the units, and the stories behind them in coming posts - in the meantime, please let me know what you think of them, and your favourite Craftworld!
