Login |  Register |  FAQ
   
Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 4 posts ] 

Comment on the Craftworlds

 Post subject: Comment on the Craftworlds
PostPosted: Tue Jul 14, 2020 2:24 pm 
Brood Brother
Brood Brother

Joined: Fri Jul 10, 2020 1:59 am
Posts: 24
Hello. I'm new here. As part of my COVID cleanup of the house I ran across all of my old epic stuff. I hadn't played since the 90s so I was thrilled to see that there still was a community and the community was so healthy.

As a 'new' player one of the hardest things to wrap my head around was the copious craftworlds and what each one was trying to do. I was able to dig into lists and based on points figure it out. Would it be possible to attach or name each list based on what the focus is in addition to the craftworld name? IE: Iyanden (Wraith unit focus). This would tell the new player the design direction of the list and may make it easier for noobs.

it is 100% possible that this already exists somewhere and I missed it because my point of entry was the NetEA Tournament pack. If so just let me know and I'll lurk more. Thanks.


Top
 Profile Send private message  
 
 Post subject: Re: Comment on the Craftworlds
PostPosted: Wed Jul 15, 2020 3:27 am 
Brood Brother
Brood Brother

Joined: Tue Feb 22, 2011 11:43 pm
Posts: 2556
Location: UK
The newer less mainstream lists do tend to have a “statement of theme” but this is a fairly recent phenomenon l.
The craftworld eldar lists predate that though. In general lists are usually either simply representing a faction and their style of war according to other sources in the 40K canon, or sometimes something more specific than that, like a particular deployment or campaign, but not always obvious. In the case of the eldar lists, they are really just representing the equivalent organisation and composition of the craftworld from the lore. So bike tan are focused on aspects, Ulthwe seers and black guardians, iyanden are mostly dead since the craftworld was all but annihilated, alaitoc have lots of rangers, saim Hann love jet bikes. The yme loc and mymaera craftworlds are heavy on tanks. That’s pretty much all there is to it, but it of course means that each one plays very differently because the army structure (core vs support, formation composition) and omission of certain units predisposes them to work well in particular strategies. That is ultimately the main driving force behind most (well designed) Epic Armageddon lists - that the structure of the list and a small number of simple special rules makes them play on the table in a way that’s consistent with the style of the army. Eldar dance around out of sight and then smash you in the face, Tau bring the high tech ordinance but fall apart in close quarters, marines are few and need mutual support but have great staying power, etc etc

Having said that, the biel tan list is probably the most flexible and generic, it plays very well with air, land and webway deployment and has almost all units available somewhere. The iyanden list is probably the most different just because of all the small, fearless units. Even then, it still feels quite “eldary”.

_________________
Kyrt's Battle Result Tracker (forum post is here)
Kyrt's trade list


Top
 Profile Send private message  
 
 Post subject: Re: Comment on the Craftworlds
PostPosted: Wed Jul 15, 2020 4:09 am 
Brood Brother
Brood Brother

Joined: Mon Feb 02, 2009 12:23 pm
Posts: 76
Location: Australia
The Lexicanum page on Eldar Craftworlds gives some good info on the fluff and in-game characteristics of the different craftworlds.

While 'official' GW-published army lists originally came in books with plenty of fluff and descriptive detail (see here for Biel-Tan Eldar as published in Swordwind), the TP only contains the essential game-relevant information for each list. This keeps clutter to a minimum and is great for smooth gameplay, but I agree that it isn't the most approachable for new players looking to learn what the different lists mean. I suppose the assumption is that most people interested in Epic will be coming from 28mm 40k and so will already know that Saim-Hann have lots of jetbikes, Imperial Fists do siege warfare, Black Legion have daemons while Iron Warriors have tanks and artillery, etc etc.


Top
 Profile Send private message  
 
 Post subject: Re: Comment on the Craftworlds
PostPosted: Wed Jul 15, 2020 8:59 am 
Brood Brother
Brood Brother

Joined: Tue Feb 22, 2011 11:43 pm
Posts: 2556
Location: UK
Yes this is a big assumption made in Epic, and TBF there are great online sources for information about all the factions. The only other thing to add is that most lists originate from a document shared on this forum before being copied into the tournament pack when the list is “approved”, so those will have the most info, but the info will tend to be focused on any specific representation of the army (eg a planetary drop list) rather than the generic info about the army. One thing I have done in the past when interested in an army that I was never exposed to in 40K was to buy an old cheap version of the 40K codex, as these always have detailed background.

Aside from the official Armageddon and Swordwind books there were also a couple of community supplements produced (Raiders and Siege)

_________________
Kyrt's Battle Result Tracker (forum post is here)
Kyrt's trade list


Top
 Profile Send private message  
 
Display posts from previous:  Sort by  
Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 4 posts ] 


Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 7 guests


You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot post attachments in this forum

Search for:
Jump to:  


Powered by phpBB ® Forum Software © phpBB Group
CoDFaction Style by Daniel St. Jules of Gamexe.net