I started my Craftworlds army a little more than eight years ago when I made a brief attempt at getting back into Warhammer 40,000. I didn’t end up playing many games then, but I did enjoy painting a small army. The main reason I had decided to go with a Craftworld army then was because I liked the idea of having a mix of aspect warriors in the army so that it had a bunch of different color schemes.
Two years ago, when I decided to start playing again with 8th edition, one of the first things I did was finish painting a few eldar units that had been sitting in boxes for a few years. They are one of my favorite armies to play thanks to their high mobility and the variety of units in the army. I currently have about 1500 points of Asuryani making them one of my bigger forces.
Background
Rael-kann craftworld is a smaller craftworld that is currently located in the Segmentum Obscurus. Prince Sashaere and Farseer Khaelas have been directing raids across a wide region to better understand the Great Rift and use misdirection to lure the forces of Chaos into regions where they will face overwhelming firepower from the Imperium.
The guardians of Rael-kann wear white armor with bright red helmets, and their vehicles are a mix of bright and dark red. Thanks to the red helmets, the Astra Militarum soldiers who have encountered Rael-kann’s guardians in battle have nicknamed them redcaps after bloodthirsty goblins of ancient legends that soaked their caps in the blood of their victims.
There are numerous aspect warrior shrines within the Rael-kann craftworld. The warrior paths have flourished thanks to the militant nature of the craftworld’s residents, and the craftworld’s raiding parties almost always include at least a few aspect warrior units.
Rael-kann Army List
- Battalion Detachment
- HQ: Autarch w/ fusion gun, scorpion chainsword, mandiblasters
- HQ: Warlock w/ witchblade
- Troops: Guardian Defenders (10) w/ missile launcher
- Troops: Dire Avengers (10) w/ dual shuriken catapult on the exarch
- Troops: Rangers (5)
- Elites: Fire Dragons (6) w/ firepike on the exarch
- Elites: Striking Scorpions (6) w/ scorpion’s claw on the exarch
- Fast Attack: Windriders (3) w/ twin shuriken catapults
- Fast Attack: Vyper w/ starcannon, twin shuriken catapult
- Heavy Support: War Walker w/ brightlance, scatter laser
- Heavy Support: Wraithlord w/ ghostglaive, bright lance, 2 flamers
- Dedicated Transport: Wave Serpent w/ twin missile launcher, shuriken cannon, crystal targeting matrix, spirit stones
- Dedicated Transport: Wave Serpent w/ twin scatter laser, twin shuriken catapult, crystal targeting matrix, spirit stones
- Supreme Command Detachment
- HQ: Farseer w/ witchblade
- HQ: Warlock w/ witchblade
- HQ: Warlock w/ singing spear
Playing the List
When playing my eldar, I like to use the autarch, Prince Sashaere, as my warlord. I generally give him the Mark of the Incomparable Hunter warlord trait that allows him to use his fusion gun to target characters. Being my warlord is also necessary for his Path of Command ability to allow some command point refunds. I group him with the fire dragons and a warlock inside one of the transports to use as a strike force against an enemy vehicle or elite infantry unit. All together they pack a powerful punch with their numerous fusion guns enough to kill most vehicles in a single salvo, especially if the farseer is close enough to help out with his psychic powers.
The other transport usually carries the dire avengers to get them safely into firing range. They are great at shooting through infantry units and thanks to the better AP on 6’s to wound can even do a good amount of damage to elite infantry like space marines.
I prefer the warlocks split up rather than playing them as a conclave so that they have the character keyword and can use support psychic powers on multiple units each turn. I most often use Conceal/Reveal, Protect/Jinx, and Quicken/Restrain as their psychic power choices and find myself boosting my own units far more often than I target enemy units with them.
I like that my army has a wide range of units that can fill different roles. The striking scorpions are great to deep strike into enemy territory to claim an objective. The rangers are great at holding an objective near cover. The war walker and wraithlord can use their bright lances to get a few wounds on enemy vehicles and monsters at range, and the wraithlord is terrifying up close with its twin flamers and ghostglaive.
Latest Battle
The most recent battle that I played with Rael-kann was a small 700 point game against a coworker who was playing my Fulminators primaris space marines. It was a close game that I ended up losing by a couple of victory points. The wraithlord was the star of the battle – it killed a redemptor dreadnought, a captain in gravis armour, a primaris lieutenant, and a few intercessors. Meanwhile, I felt like my rangers underperformed – they held an objective, but I think they only managed to score a single wound against intercessors.
What’s next for Rael-kann?
I’m very excited for Phoenix Rising, the first book in the Psychic Awakening campaign. According to previews, it will come with a lot of new options for Craftworld eldar including a system similar to space marine successor tactics to give more options for craftworld attributes. I have been using the Biel-Tan craftworld attribute when playing my army, but I’m interested to try out some new combinations and see what I can come up with for Rael-kann.
Howling banshees will also be available as plastic miniatures for the first time, which means that I’m eager to pick up a squad to add to my army. I hope it isn’t too long of a wait to get other aspect warriors in plastic since I’d also love to add swooping hawks, warp spiders, dark reapers, and shining spears to my collection but I don’t really want to deal with any more finecast models.
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