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The armies of mankind account for a solid three quarters of the Milky Way galaxy (or it seems that way) and corrupted humans–and demons–make up the bulk of the Warp, occasionally making forays into the Materium. But what else exists out there? If you’ve read the Getting Started in Warhammer 40k Lore article then you have a pretty good idea. It’s the Xenos, otherwise known as the aliens. Not human, not demon, but something else entirely, and they, like everything in Warhammer 40k, are always at war.
Aeldari/Harlequin/Ynarri
What are the Aeldari? What are the Harlequins? What are the Ynarri?
The funny thing is if you had asked this question just a few months ago these would be three separate entities, and they would be entities that were hotly debated because they had been so long ignored. Games Workshop has some old models they’re still selling, but perhaps none are older than some of the Aeldari–also known as the Eldar (also known as the Space Elves).
Long ago, the Aeldari were created by The Old Ones (if you need a refresher in who the Old Ones are, read Getting Started in Warhammer 40k Lore) to help them in their fight against the Necrons and the C’tan. The Aeldari were a highly psychic race, and, when the great galaxy-spanning war ended, the Aeldari were just about the only thing left. They became magnificent, conquering worlds and developing new technologies. The Aeldari had access to the Webway–the pathway to go faster than light but avoid the Warp–and they made great use of it, keeping the daemons as a distant worry.
The problem is that the Aeldari simply became too great. They had no one left to conquer, and they began to take pleasure wherever they could find it, and that pleasure that started as lust and gluttony and greed soon turned into leacherousness and torture and deparvity. The Aeldari were a race that was out of control, debauched and foul.
And then came the cataclysmic Fall of the Eldar. The Warp, see, is a composite of all the emotions that exist in the Materium–the material world. Anger and vengeance spawned Khorne the God of Blood. But all of the wretchedness of the Aeldari–that spawned something, too. Slaanesh burst into existence, and when a Chaos God bursts into existence everything gets really bad for both the Immaterium and the Materium. Slaanesh, known the the Aeldari as “She Who Thirsts”, was the God of Excess. And they were gluttonous indeed, because they wanted to consume all the souls of the Aeldari.
Some of the Aeldari had foreseen this and had escaped prior to the Fall of the Eldar–the Exodites, who live isolated lives on lonely worlds–but the majority of the Aeldari who survived the initial destruction fled as they could into the Webways with their Craftworlds. Craftworlds are giant world-sized spaceships made of Wraithbone, which absorbs the Aeldaris’ souls when they die, thus preventing Slaanesh from consuming them.
There are several large Craftworlds, and many small ones. The Aeldari are far less powerful than they were in their glory days, but they can still put up a fight–often utilizing the Wraithbone as the cores of giant robots–the Wraithguard or the Wraithknights. The Aeldari warriors break down into differet Aspects which determine how they will live and fight.
Then we come to the Harlequins. I admit to having a very soft spot in my heart for the HArlequins because they were the first box of Warhammer 40k miniatures I ever bought as a kid.
The Harlequins, which are sometimes called Space Clowns, are known for their acrobatics and their garrish cricus-like clothes. But the Harlequins are far from a joke–they are essentially the living historians of the Aeldari who guard the ancient lore. They are performers when called upon to relate the tale of past lives. And, on the battlefield, they can be absolutely deadly.
The Harlequins fight in small squads called Troupes but they have their unique characters–the Solitaire who is a solo assassin–and the Death Jester, who wears the Death Masque and is a famed sniper.
Now, the Ynarri. Who are the Ynarri? The Ynarri are a religious group of sorts who have the belief that if all the Aeldari die, they will be able to vanquish Slaanesh once and for all. The Ynarri are complex and the rules are admittedly a puzzle. But the gist of it is that they can field Aeldari, Harlequins, and even Drukhari (we’ll talk about them in a minute) altogether.
What Books Do You Need to Play Aeldari?
Until very recently I would have said that these are three different factions who all have their own rules, but the new, beautiful 200-page Codex: Aeldari was released and it brings them all under one umbrella. What this means for the Ynarri’s special rules, I’m not sure, but all of them can fight together as the smae army–not as separate detachements. It’s a very big change that was a long time coming.
What Models Are There For The Aeldari?
The Aeldari still has a very attractive Start Collecting box if you can still get your hands on it, but they have recently released a whole host of new models. New Dark Reapers, new Farseers, new Corsairs, even. For the Harlequins, they still have their Troupes (Buy from Amazon), and the Ynarri only had one unit to begin with: the Triumvirate of Ynnead. You can also still get the initial Aeldari/Chaos box that launched the new Aeldari release (Buy from Amazon)
Drukhari
What are the Drukhari
The most basic explanation is that if the Aeldari were the Eldar, the Drukhari were the Dark Eldar. The Drukhari have never given up their lecherous and vile ways and they exist for one reason alone: to attack worlds and gather slaves who they will torment endlessly until they’re finally allowed to die. We’ve talked about how some of the armies in Warhammer 40k are close to being the good guys (Salamanders?) but the Drukhari are 110% the bad guys.
What Book Do I Need to Play the Drukhari?
The Drukhari had a new Codex: Drukhari released with 9th Edition, so they’re sitting pretty. They’re (currently) at the top of the meta and have been nerfed a couple of times but they contionue to win because of seriously maniacal units like the Succubuss. Speaking of which…
What Models Are there For the Drukhari?
The Drukhari have some very cool-looking units–everything in every unit is covered in spikes, and that’s epitomizes in the Raider (Buy from Amazon). They also have a Drukhari Combat Patrol which contains 1 Archon, 10 Kabalite Warriors, 5 Incubi, 1 Ravager, and 1 Reaver (Buy from Amazon)
Necrons
What Are the Necrons?
Let’s take our story back to that famed War in Heaven that was a clash between the Old Ones and the Necrons and C’tan. The Necrons and C’tan won the war, and through some really magnificent maneuvering, the Necrons–who are souls trapped in metal bodies–were able to overtake the C’tan (Star Gods) and shatter them. This all took an enormous amount of effort, but in the end the Necrons were left, very tired and nearly dead, holding onto shards of the C’tan.
They harnessed this power, and then put themselves into cryosleep in Tomb Worlds where they would remain dormant for the next 60 million years. If we’re making comparison in Warhammer 40k to the Warhammer Fantasy universe, then the Necrons are surely the Tomb Kings. They rise like the undead, stumble around like mummies, are followed by swarms of scarabs, and even their names are Egypitan-sounding.
What Books Do You Need to Play the Necrons?
When Warhammer 40k 9th Edition launched, the Necrons became the new Big Bad, and they got a major and long-needed range refresh. They also got a brand new Codex: Necrons which has all sorts of great units in it.
What Models Are There For the Necrons?
Oh, we’re living in a wonderland of a time for the Necrons. The bog standard units are the Necron Warriors (Buy from Amazon), which may seem like a regular troop choice, but they’re actually pretty spectacular, and there are a load of cool HQ units like The Silent King (Buy from Amazon) and cool stuff with the C’tan (Buy from Amazon). They also have a really great Combat Patrol box (Buy from Amazon)
Tyranids
What Are the Tyranids?
The Tyranids have no Warhammer Fantasy comparison, but they’re not entirely strangers from science fiction. They are essentially giant bugs, eating machines, who travel the galaxy in Hive Fleets consuming everything in their path. The Tyranids have a hive mind, which allows them to work together, but they don’t appear to have any plan other than EAT, EAT, EAT. The more they eat the more they gain biomass, which allows them to spawn more of themselves. But this is also the only way that you can beat the Tyranids: you need to make them lose more biomass than they gain. They’ll see it as a losing bet, and they’ll break off the fight–for now.
The scariest part about the Tyranids is that as big and menacing and threatening they are, and as many Hive Fleets as they have, it’s thought that they might just be a scouting party ahead of the true Fleet, which is traveling through deep space from outside the galaxy.
What Books Do I Need to Play the Tyranids?
The new Codex: Tyranids was just announced in Spring of 2022. It hasn’t come out yet, but should be soon.
What Models Do the Tyranids Have?
The Tyranids are really in need of a range refresh as most of their stuff is aging. And, the fact that they announced the new Codex and only introduced one new model, the Parasite of Mortrex. There was also announced the new Combat Patrol box, which features a Hive Tyrant, 36 Termagaunts (did we mention they’re a swarm army?) and 3 Tyranid Warriors (Buy from Amazon). And, of course, the ever-present Genestealers (Buy from Amazon)
Genestealer Cults
What Are the Genestealer Cults?
One of my personal favorite armies, the Genestealer Cults are what happens when the Tyranids infect your world and try to take it down from the inside. A Genestealer, one of the multi-armed baddies of the Tyranids, will land on a populated world, make their way to the underground part of the cities and infect someone with Genestealer DNA. Then begins the process of generational mutations: the first generation is extremely alien, then the next generation is more human, but still alien, and on and on until they can fit in perfectly with the humans and have infiltrated human society.
The reason they’re referred to as “cults” is because they worship the Genestealers and especially the Tyranids, and they want to do everything in their power to call the Tyranids to come to their world. Essentially this is all a big scouting program as a beginning for invasion.
What Books Do You Need for the Genestealer Cults?
The Genestealer Cults have the Codex: Genestealer Cults.
What Models Are there for the Genestealer Cults?
The cool thing about the Genestealer Cults is that, because they live underground and are effectively the scum of the earth, they have the worst possible jobs for humans in Warhammer 40k: they’re miners and sanitation workers and the people who keep the massive cities running. So all of their models reflect that. The Goliath Rockgrinder is one of their vehicles (Buy from Amazon) that is a mining platform, and instead of fancy sci-fi stuff they drive motorcycles–some of their best models (Buy from Amazon) and carry weapons like shotguns. They have a Start Collecting Box which contains 1 Acolyte Iconward, 5 Acolyte Hybrids, 10 Neophyte Hybrids, and 1 Achilles Ridgerunner (Buy from Amazon)
Orks
What Are the Orks?
The Orks are, well, the 40k version of Fantasy Orks. But they’re also one of the oldest and most fleshed-out faction in the game, and they have a flavor that is uniquely thier own. Yes, the Orks are big and mean (their gods are Gork and Mork, one of which is brutal but cunning, and the other is cunning but brutal), but they’re also played for laughs as much as anything. They have Cockney accents and they use absurd technology that only works because (literally) they believe it works. Yes, the power of the Waaagh! is such that if you get enough Orks together, and they all believe in something, then that something comes true and Orkish miracles can happen. Oh, and also the Waaagh! is when they reach critical mass and go charging into battle, reckless and fearless.
What Books Are there For the Orks?
The Orks just went through a massive range refresh and got all sorts of fun new toys, including a brand new Codex: Orks.
What Models Are There For the Orks?
There are SO MANY, because the Orks have been around for so long. You could start out with the biggest and baddest Ork of them all, Ghazghkull Thraka (Buy from Amazon), or one of their bizarre mechanical creations that seems to make no sense, like the Gorkanaut/Morkanaut (Buy from Amazon) and they just got a Combat Patrol which contains 1 Warboss in Mega Armor, 20 Ork Boyz, 3 Deffkoptas, and 1 Deff Dread (Buy from Amazon)
T’au Empire
What Are the T’au Empire?
The T’au are an interesting race because they are another who kind of skirts the “Are they really bad?” line. They believe in doing everything for “The Greater Good” and they don’t necessarily exterminate other races (which is why they’re an empire and not just the T’au). But if you don’t agree to their idea of the Greater Good, then, yes, they’ll exterminate you.
The T’au are also noteworthy for being the least grimdark of the grimdark armies. Their suits of powered armor are more like Gundams with their slick clean lines and lack of grime. They are an incredibly shooty army, with very little in the way of close combat and everything in the way of murdering you before you can touch them.
What Books Do I Need to Play the T’au Empire?
The T’au Empire have a new Codex: T’au Empire with new rules as of 2022.
What Models Are There For the T’au Empire?
The T’au are fun. They have a lot of big robots and mechs, but also have infantry with exposed blue skin. Their Big Bad is the KV128 Stormsurge (Buy from Amazon) but new rules have recently made the Hammerhead Gunship a very attractive option (Buy from Amazon). They had a recently released Kill Team set (Buy from Amazon), and they have a Combat Patrol which features 1 Ethereal, 1 Cadre Fireblade, 1 XV95 Ghostkeel Battlesuit with 2 Drones, 10 Fire Warriors with 2 Drones and a Support Turret.