Thanks, guys. Great video. I have kept all of my codexes/army books, mainly for all the lore. I collected all of the books, even for armies i didn't collect, as I wanted to know how to defeat them.
Very much enjoyed the video, I'm not really a 40K player, being a Fantasy Battle player back in the day and my only real contact with Warhammer nowadays is running two editions of WFRP, but it's great to see an exploration of some of the classic codexes and army books 🙂👍
great video. I don't overly love Eldar but I had that book as a kid and it was sensational. A great point about the writing style. The way they put the introduction of the race as they are, thens lowly dig backwards I think makes you feel like you are uncovering secrets. The first Dark angels book does the same, it feels like you know something you shouldn't because it seems to set out the front stage, then slowly let you dig deeper instead of burying the leads. You are never taught to do that when learning to write, even non linear stories aren't like that and it works uniquely in these type of books. I can see why the much more trained writers of the modern era just can't do this.
I think the Fall of the Eldar due to decadence probably owes more to Moorcock than Tolkien, especially with the Chaos connection; unless I’m mistaken, decadence leading to downfall is something that happens in the Elric books, whereas the sin that dooms Tolkien’s elves over and over is hubris (which admittedly is something the post-Fall Eldar have in spades).
You know, it is a challenge for them now when I think about it. The Codexis would have to repeat basically the same fluff again and again for 3 years to match up to this style book and it's end to end coverage of them. I wonder what proportion of the people who purchase books are existing players, and if so they don't need to quite do it the same way. I think maybe there should be the modern game book but also a starter book, with digestible lore and bright layouts that could come in the battle boxes. Onboarding is an issue for gaming atm so that would be interesting.
Re: Banshees, don’t recall if it was present in the fluff in 2nd, or if it’s something that was added in a later edition, but one thing I find interesting is that male Eldar can actually become Banshees, but to do so they adopt a female identity, which implies that all Eldar might actually be gender fluid or some other similar non-binary gender identity to some degree (don’t recall the exact wording, but fairly sure the wording suggests they genuinely do identify as female while walking the Path of the Banshee and it’s just not them crossdressing).
@@JordanSorceryPodsI think that was in the lore at the time or maybe added in the 3rd Ed codex. The same thought crossed my mind while watching and early third is where my Eldar lore knowledge ends. I don’t remember them specifying if it worked the other way or if any of the other aspects had a gender associated with them to begin with.
that sounds like casting modern sensibilities on it. The fact that they do this while undertaking an activity that has them setting aside their entire natural personality, probably means it's a statement on how fully they accept the new persona, not a commentary on general practices of the eldar.
Possibly an unpopular opinion, but personally I’m not that big a fan of Blanche’s work (or more specifically his signature Blanchitsu style); think Gibson and Goodwin blow him out of the water when it comes to doing art for codices and army books. Where I think Blanche shines is more in background books; eg in Liber Chaotica his art fits the role of that of someone being driven insane by Chaos and I can easily believe his work as being in-universe. But other than that, it just doesn’t click for me for some reason most of the time. 🤷🏻♂️
I can totally see what you mean. My own journey with Blanche’s work has been a long one as I didn’t love it nearly as much when I first started in the hobby. It became something quite special to me over time though!
I knew it couldn't just be me! Agreed, I can appreciate Blanche artwork in the context of visions of Chaos, but Mark Gibbons' work will always be the better medium, especially for the clean lines of the Eldar/Aeldari
It's the difference between illustrators and artists (in the art on display sense). Blanche paints emotive atmospheric works and treats 40k like other artists treat the real world Everyone else that produced work for GW were illustrating specific models so were very precise.
Thanks, guys. Great video. I have kept all of my codexes/army books, mainly for all the lore. I collected all of the books, even for armies i didn't collect, as I wanted to know how to defeat them.
Very much enjoyed the video, I'm not really a 40K player, being a Fantasy Battle player back in the day and my only real contact with Warhammer nowadays is running two editions of WFRP, but it's great to see an exploration of some of the classic codexes and army books 🙂👍
Excellent video. The artwork on the cover has a very special place in my heart, as it was also the cover of my first White Dwarf, 171.
Dude, you're spoiling us, the recent videos are amazing !
great video. I don't overly love Eldar but I had that book as a kid and it was sensational.
A great point about the writing style. The way they put the introduction of the race as they are, thens lowly dig backwards I think makes you feel like you are uncovering secrets. The first Dark angels book does the same, it feels like you know something you shouldn't because it seems to set out the front stage, then slowly let you dig deeper instead of burying the leads. You are never taught to do that when learning to write, even non linear stories aren't like that and it works uniquely in these type of books. I can see why the much more trained writers of the modern era just can't do this.
I think the Fall of the Eldar due to decadence probably owes more to Moorcock than Tolkien, especially with the Chaos connection; unless I’m mistaken, decadence leading to downfall is something that happens in the Elric books, whereas the sin that dooms Tolkien’s elves over and over is hubris (which admittedly is something the post-Fall Eldar have in spades).
Very good point
Do Eldar bakers have specialist schools for different types of pastries?
There are no Eldar bakers, their dough tends to... Fall 😞
You know, it is a challenge for them now when I think about it. The Codexis would have to repeat basically the same fluff again and again for 3 years to match up to this style book and it's end to end coverage of them.
I wonder what proportion of the people who purchase books are existing players, and if so they don't need to quite do it the same way. I think maybe there should be the modern game book but also a starter book, with digestible lore and bright layouts that could come in the battle boxes.
Onboarding is an issue for gaming atm so that would be interesting.
Re: Banshees, don’t recall if it was present in the fluff in 2nd, or if it’s something that was added in a later edition, but one thing I find interesting is that male Eldar can actually become Banshees, but to do so they adopt a female identity, which implies that all Eldar might actually be gender fluid or some other similar non-binary gender identity to some degree (don’t recall the exact wording, but fairly sure the wording suggests they genuinely do identify as female while walking the Path of the Banshee and it’s just not them crossdressing).
That’s very interesting, I might try and find more on that
@@JordanSorceryPodsI think that was in the lore at the time or maybe added in the 3rd Ed codex. The same thought crossed my mind while watching and early third is where my Eldar lore knowledge ends. I don’t remember them specifying if it worked the other way or if any of the other aspects had a gender associated with them to begin with.
that sounds like casting modern sensibilities on it.
The fact that they do this while undertaking an activity that has them setting aside their entire natural personality, probably means it's a statement on how fully they accept the new persona, not a commentary on general practices of the eldar.
Possibly an unpopular opinion, but personally I’m not that big a fan of Blanche’s work (or more specifically his signature Blanchitsu style); think Gibson and Goodwin blow him out of the water when it comes to doing art for codices and army books. Where I think Blanche shines is more in background books; eg in Liber Chaotica his art fits the role of that of someone being driven insane by Chaos and I can easily believe his work as being in-universe. But other than that, it just doesn’t click for me for some reason most of the time. 🤷🏻♂️
I can totally see what you mean. My own journey with Blanche’s work has been a long one as I didn’t love it nearly as much when I first started in the hobby. It became something quite special to me over time though!
I knew it couldn't just be me! Agreed, I can appreciate Blanche artwork in the context of visions of Chaos, but Mark Gibbons' work will always be the better medium, especially for the clean lines of the Eldar/Aeldari
It's the difference between illustrators and artists (in the art on display sense). Blanche paints emotive atmospheric works and treats 40k like other artists treat the real world
Everyone else that produced work for GW were illustrating specific models so were very precise.
Perhaps the guardians don't have boobplate because only eldar with larger cup sizes find themselves being called to the banshee path