40K According to Al - Part 3

Now we come to the Xenos races meaning we are nearing the end of this series of articles on my opinions on 40K; which is unfortunate seeing as there is a lot of lore I could've dived into but then these articles would take about 10 years to read. Today folks, we're going to look at the Xenos species in the 40k Universe.

What can I say about Xenos? They have some of the coolest models in the game, and have some of the the most unfair armies to face in any 40K competition. That being said, their lore is just as interesting as the Imperial and Chaos factions and you can draw a lot of parallels between the overarching trifecta.

Xenos Factions

1. Orks
2. Necrons
3. Aeldari
4. Drukhari
5. Harlequins
6. Leagues of Votann
7. Tyranids
8. Genestealer Cults

If This Were A Book It Would Be: Too many to choose from

If This Were A TV Show It Would Be: Are you kidding? I'd be here all week trying to list comparable TV Shows

If This Were A Movie It Would Be: Pass, next question

If this were a Country it would be: I suppose the Vatican would be a good example I suppose.

Al's Opinion

Play Xenos if you want to look like you're "different" from every other 40K player, of course sarcasm is difficult to get across in written form. Genestealer Cults have been a dominating force at global tournaments with other Xenos factions following in close pursuit. These factions are for one of three people, Meta Chasers, 40K Hipsters, and the crazed plastic crack addict. I only have Tyranids because I was given them as part of my 40th Birthday, I do have some Orks but they ARE EXEMPT AND DO NOT COUNT as no one who is serious about the game plays Orks. Orks are just there for fun. If you're looking to get into the tabletop game I'd recommend the Tyranids as they as probably the easiest Xenos faction to run, plus their models usually look the biz.

Orks

"'Ere we go, 'ere we go, 'ere we go!"

-Common Ork War Cry

I dare you to find a fan of Warhammer 40K who doesn't like Orks. They're big, they're loud, they're obnoxious but they are fun. The Orks are that little ray of sunshine on a grim dark day, they are the comic relief in a universe where war is the norm and they are only ever in it for a good scrap. There really isn't a lot to Orks at the end of the day. Eat, Sleep, Krump, Repeat. That is the Orks in a nutshell. The only things you have to remember with the Orks is:-

1. They love to fight
2. Grots are expendable
3. The bigger they are the more important they are
4. Grots are nasty little buggers with a Napoleon Complex
5. They have a squig for almost any need
6. Colours are very important to them
7. They really love to fight

See, simple. If you have to think about Ork "kulcha" then I'm afraid your about as smart as an Ork with half a brain and a fungus beer hangover.

What is great about the Orks, and GW is doing everything they can to ruin this, is they run on the power of belief. Orks generally believe colours have special properties and that if they believe something hard enough then it must be true. Their belief is in part due to the intrinsic psychic field that Orks are connected to known as the "WAAAAAAAGH" which also happens to be their word for any kind of war and a war cry. It is pronounced War as if you were a cockney and not wah or wag. It is long believed that if you hand an ark a pipe and tell him it is a gun then he'll shoot you with it.

The Orks have two gods, and like them the gods are incredibly simple. Gork and Robin Williams Mork. One is brutally cunning, the other is cunningly brutal. What this means is one punches you in the face and the other punches you in the back of the head.

Orks, like any 40K factions, are divided into Clans, each with their own specialisms, colours, and unique characters.

Ork Colours

Orks believe colours are magic, taking colour theory to a whole new level. What the colours do are as follows:-

• Green: Green iz da Best
• Red: Red fingz go fasta
• Blue: Bloo iz da lukkiest
• Yellow: Yellow makez biggur boomz and lotz of Teef
• Black: Blakk iz da tuffest
• Purple: Purpul iz da sneekiest, who ever saw a purpul Ork?
• Pink: Pink Orkz? Hoodya fink we ur?
• White: Dis Ork iz ded

Ork ClansKlanz

Bad Moons: The Bad Moons are the 1 Percentorks. The richest Ork Clan due to their uncanny ability to regrow teeth at an incredible rate. The Orks use "Teef" as currency and no clan has more Teef than the Blood Moons. Bad Moons, typically known to rise, wear a lot of yellow. Their clothes? Yellow. Their Squigs? Yellow. Their sunglasses? Yellow. The yellow helps their ability to regrow their teeth a Bad Moon Ork could rip out all his teef out, down a squig beer and then rip them out all over again. Never trust a Bad Moon Ork who asks you to look at something on the ground, chances are he's going to knock your teeth out. The Bad Moons favour ranged combat over melee and have a signature unit amongst their numbers, the Flash Gitz (see below).

Notable Orks

Kaptin Badrukk - The leader of the Freebooterz was once a Bad Moon who had too many teef for his own good

Blood Axes: Blood Axes were once a mighty and feared Ork Klan, to hear the name Blood Axe was to fast make peace with your maker. But not anymore. Blood Axes today are probably the least Orky Orks to ever Ork the Ork. Blood Axes are *thump* Da Bludd Aksez ur no Orkz, dem gitz work wif da 'oomiez and spend teef on 'oomie tekk. Da Bludd Aksez run away from a skrapp if da enemy haz too menny gitz ta krump *gunshot* Sorry for that. Yes the Blood Axes often trade with Imperial Rogue Traders and have on occasion worked with the Imperial Inquisition. This is only made worse by the fact that if the enemy possesses a greater number of troops and the Blood Axes have no actual way of winning they will retreat, which is a cardinal sin in what passes for Ork Religion.

When not in combat or trading supplies with Rogue Traders, they can be seen playing Scrabble with Aeldari and giving the Drukhari tips on interior design. Many young Blood Axes have been spotted protesting for equal rights for Grots and against the eating of Squigs, these Orks have often been known to be sent into battle first to try and open up a dialogue only to be met with a hail of stubber fire. On the battlefield, Blood Axes prefer to use the aerial unit Stormboyz (Orks with a jet engine strapped to their backs) and Kommandoz (the sneaky ones who often paint themselves purple).

Notable Orks

Snikrot - Snikrot the Stalker, Snikrot the Papparazork, the Scourge of the Steel Legion. Snikrot is one of the few Kommandoz that rise to warboss status and is frequently a thorn in the side of Armageddon. His battle tactics have led to other Orks giving him a bad reputation as he and his band of Red Skulls strike from the shadows when the Imperium least suspects. His plan is to do what even the mighty Ghazghkull couldn't do, conquer Armageddon. Currently he stalks the equatorial jungles stealing picnic baskets from unwary campers drawing the ire of local park rangers. There are many women who use Snikrot's name as a way to get their kids to go to sleep "Go to sleep or Snikrot will steal your nose."

Deathskulls: It is often said that the Blood Axes do not deserve their reputation given their use of guerrilla warfare and tactical retreats. The Deathskulls do deserve their reputation. The Deathskulls are known to be backstabbing gitz. Do you happen to have a nice weapon? Not anymore. The moment you turn your back the Deathskulls swoop in and steal it. Among the poorest Klans financially given their habit of stealing anything not nailed down, the Deathskulls are treated with a large degree of disdain from other Ork Klans. The hate for the Deathskulls is so bad that most Orks would rather work with the Blood Axes than this lot. Blood Axes, often used as a bogeyman/boogeyman on Armageddon, would have no interest in stealing someones nose, the Deathskulls would have it off in an instant. During the annual Ork Grand Prix (pronounced Grann Pricks), the Deathskulls team constantly ends the race with a DNF, all due to the pit crew stealing the wheels and body off the car as it pulls in for a pitstop. The Deathskulls have more Gretchen in their ranks than any other Klan, this serves the dual purpose of the Grots creating a diversion and being used to steal what it is they are stealing. Think of them as the Ork equivalent of Oceans 11

Notable Orks

Mad Dok Grotsnik - If any Ork in 40K is the Orkish equivalent of Doctor Jekyll and Mr Hyde it is Grotsnik. Starting out his career as pain boy for the Deathskulls, and a talented one at that, he rose to prominence as the personal physician of Ghazghkull Thraka. It was Snikrot who introduced the Prophet of Gork & Mork to his supa-cybork body. On the battlefield Snikrot is a whirlwind of pain and blood, and that is before he reaches the enemy. This blood crazed Ork loves nothing better than cracking open the enemy's skulls to see what makes them tick. When needed, Snikrot can dial back the insanity and perform "surjery" if needed. He has a particular fondness for grafting things that don't belong on an Orks body to said Ork, and loves to sit down with a good squig beer whilst adding to his needlepoint collection

Evil Sunz: Blink and you'll miss them. Reigning champions of the Ork Grand Prix, the Evil Sunz love to go faster than any Ork could ever go. With an entire armada of red painted vehicles (Da redd wunz go fasta), these fast and furious Orks take to the battlefield in a sea of green and red. They attack the enemy, and sometimes friend, in a blitzkrieg assault. Warbikez, war buggiez, deff koptaz, trukkz, battlewagonz, fightaz, bommaz. If it moves fast, guaranteed they'll make it faster and run the enemy down before they get a chance to retaliate. The Evil Sunz utilise a large number of Mekboys, Speed Freeks, and Flyboyz. It is rumoured that if you add up the total number of these units in every other Ork Klan together, they still wouldn't equal a quarter of what the Evil Sunz have. Evil Sunz have been known to paint their spaceships red and a few in the Ordos Xenos claim that they paint their underwear red so that they can conduct routine bodily functions faster than your average Ork.

Notable Orks

Gorgutz 'Ead 'Unter: There aren't an awful lot of notable Evil Sunz, and probably because most of the notable Orks end up as a smear on a canyon wall or as a skidmark on the ferrocrete. Gorgutz was a warboss of an Evil Sunz Klan until her ran into trouble on the world of Lorn V, upon escaping the Imperial Guard, he built up his WAAAAAGH and once again took to the battlefield only to be smacked around by the Blood Ravens. He is currently rebuilding his WAAAAAGH at the same time as rebuilding his Kustom Boosta Blasta, apparently the last of "Da Vee Atez."

Wazzdakka Gutzmek: Da sirunz iz screamin' an' the firez iz 'owlin' way down in da valley t'night. Derz a git in da shadows wif a shoota in 'iz eye an' a stabba shinin' oh so bright. Der iz WAAAGH! in da air an' der iz funder in da sky, An' a killa iz on da bluddy streetz. An' down in da tunnel where da Orkz iz risin', Oh, I swear I saw a wee grot down in da gutta 'e woz starting to foam in da 'eat

Goffs: The Goffs are the largest and toughest Ork Klan by far, how tough you ask? They use stikbomz as toothbrushes. Granted it is their opponents teeth they are brushing with them, but they carry an arsenal of stikbomz (grenades) down their boots, on their belts, clipped to their jackets, and down their pants if the Ordos Xenos is to be believed. A Goff squad is usually 20 Boyz as standard and no fewer than 100 Boyz in any Goff horde. What sets Goffs apart from most Ork Klans is that they take care of their gear "Dis Slugga is ma slugga. Lotz of Sluggaz look da same but dis wun is mine" can often be heard from the average Goff Infantry when they're not cracking skulls open. Being the largest Klan, Goffs have a wide variety of units on the field. They utilise Infantry, Dread Mobz (Ork Dreadnoughts), Blitzboyz (Fast Attack), Stormboyz (Air Assault), and Meganobz (Ork Terminators). When not in battle, Goffs can be found drinking Squigsinthe and listening to Da Kure, Wiffin Temtashun, 'im, and Makbeff.

Notable Orks

Ghazghkull Mag Uruk Thraka - Da Prophet of Gork and Mork, Da Prophet of Da WAAAAAGH. The big cheese, Yarrick's biggest fan, the Master of Disaster. The 6 Million Teef Ork. Ghazghkull started off as a lowly Goff Infantry Boy but a series of battles and accidents later led him to being installed into a custom built robot body by Grotsnik. Imagine an Ork version of Metal Beard the Pirate from the lego Movie but in Ork form with bigger guns and a massive power klaw. Ghazghkull is the head of the biggest Ork WAAAGH since the days of Ullanor, and everywhere he goes he is accompanied by his faithful Grot, Makari. Makari is said to be the luckiest Grot in the universe, Ghazghkull enjoys nothing more than sticking Makari in his gun and firing him at the enemy walls (this of course is a complete fabrication but it is the Orks we're talking about)

Snakebites: The Snakebites are perhaps in the vast Grimdark universe of Warhammer 40K to be a bit backwards. Whereas all other Klanz can't wait to have the newest piece of reversed engineered technology; the Snakebites shun the use of advanced technology, or what passes for advanced technology amongst the Greenskins. They prefer the simple life of shootaz, sluggaz, and choppaz, and have been known to employ a large number of Squigs and a variety of poisonous creatures in their campaigns. By utilising poisons and venoms from their household pets, the Snakebites invoke a tradition of testing them first in order to build up an immunity. Snakebites enjoy riding Squigs and Squiggoths into battle and take extreme pleasure in hearing the bones of their enemies under the foot of said Squiggoths.

Notable Orks

Zodgrod Wortsnagga - If ever there was an Ork that looked as bad as he smelled, Zodgrod is that Ork. Zodgrod started out as a Runtherd which is the Ork equivalent of a Shepherd, but instead of herding sheep he was herding Squigs and Grots. He and his Grots eventually ended up in the spacelanes as Zodgrod lived out his dreams of being a pirate and becoming a Freebooter. Despite many claiming his Grots to be "Un-Orky" there are many a Warboss who hire his services when things go Pete Tong.

Freebooterz: Imagine Jack Sparrow and Blackbeard as Orks, and you get Freebooterz. Freebooter Klans are hives of scum and villainy, whether or not they are wretched is anyone's guess. Freebooterz don't start out as Freebooterz, in fact they usually start out as one of the other Ork Klans who end up either being shunned for not being Orky enough or they want "da shiniest gubbins" leads them to joining one of the piratical Freebooter Klans that enjoy waiting for opportunity. Freebooterz often sell their services to other Klans and fill the role of Hired Muscle only so they can nab the best loot before any other Ork can get there grubby green hands on it. Freebooterz are often seen sporting peg legs, mechanical hook hands, and bionic eye patches which is all ramshackle at best as the freebooterz do not use Painboyz or Mekboyz. To enter into a contract with the Freebooterz is to wear a target on your back seeing as they would stab you in it to meet their own ends.

Notable Orks

Kaptin Badrukk - The most famous Freebooter who ever Freebootered. Commander of the Da Blacktoof and wielder of a weapon so deadly that standing near it is considered a death sentence. His gun, known as Da Choppa, is a modified Ogryn Stubber that now shoots unstable canisters of Plasma. To shield himself from the radiation, Badrukk wears a lead lined greatcoat. Anyone who sees him knows that if Badrukk doesn't kill them then the radiation poisoning will. Among the Ork Klans of the universe there is a pool of Teef running for who guesses the day Badrukk's gun kills it's owner.

If This Were A Book It Would Be: Catch-22

If This Were A TV Show It Would Be: Blackadder Goes Forth, a parody on the life of soldiers in the trenches during the Great War.

If This Were A Movie It Would Be: Tropic Thunder. A parody of war movies parodying the Vietnam War.

If this were a Country it would be: USA, Gunz iz gud

Al's Opinion

Orks are fun, anyone who says they don't like Orks need a high five to the face with a hand grenade. Orks really are the only real good guy in 40K, not because they are doing good things but because they are simple and honest aboiut what they want.

Necrons

Ask any 40K fan to describe the Necrons in one sentence and you can bet your bottom dollar they'll say Undead Egyptian Terminators, or words to that effect, which wouldn't be far off the mark. Their leaders are known as Phaerons, the repair bots for the tomb worlds are scarabs, their monoliths have a pyramid vibe, and their subsections are known as Dynasties. Most of the named Necron Characters even sound like Egyptian rulers.

The Necrons are quite possibly the oldest race in the game having been the instigator for the War in Heaven which pitched them against the Great Old Ones (possibly Cthulhu and Chums, probably not). The Great Old Ones responded by making the Eldar, the Krorks (what the Orks used to be before their degeneration).

But before we get into the War in Heaven, let us first look at the painful origins of the Necron race.

The Necrons started out life like most races, beings of flesh and blood, known as the Necrontyr. The Necrontyr were pretty advanced for a civilisation with stellar flight capabilities having an empire that spread across the galaxy. Their advanced civilisation however had it's Achilles heel, each of the Necrontyr were dying of cancer. The radiation from their parent stars caused the Necrontyr to develop radiation sickness and as a result genetic cancer meaning no matter how far from the radiation causing stars they were, they would never escape the cancer inflicted upon them. To overcome this life threatening condition, the Necrontyr approached the Great Old Ones and asked for them to grant them immortality. The Great Old Ones being a bunch of assholes said no. As a response the Necrontyr declared war on the old Ones which prompted the GOO to create the Eldar and Krorks. They would also sow the seeds for the race that would later become humanity.

After the war in heaven; the Necrontyr came across beings known as The Star Gods who promised them immortality, of course they hoovered up this offer without a second thought. They were instructed to make each of the Star Gods a body for them to inhabit. The Necrontyr built wondrous bodies made from a material known as Necrodermis, the Gods loved their new forms. Sticking to their word; the Star Gods, now known as the C'tan, taught the Necrontyr immortality. They guided them to build machines that would turn the Necrontyr into a being of mechanical Necrodermis and the C'tan stole the souls of all Necrontyr who underwent bio-transference.

Reborn in bodies of living metal the Necrontyr turned on their C'tan overlords for their deception, breaking them into shards and sealing many away in tesseract vaults. This led to Szarekh the Silent King dropping the Tyr from their names, now they were just The Necron. Szarekh then commanded his people to go to sleep and wait for the day they would retake the galaxy. Point of note, anyone of importance to the Necron as in named characters, were allowed to keep their memories and personalities, whereas all the serfs and common folk were turned into mindless drones.

The Necron are now beginning to awake.

Before we look further into the Necrons lets take a look at the C'tan, the Harbingers of the Necrontyr's Doom.

C'tan

Aza'Gorod the Nightbringer: The surprisingly buff Grim Reaper. The Nightbringer is responsible for the awakening of the Necrons in the 41st Millennium, thanks to a corrupt planetary governor. When not working on his abs, he can be seen cutting the grass on many a Tomb World or debating with Mortarion who has the bigger scythe.

Mephet'ran the Deceiver: The brains behind the Bio-transference of the Necrontyr. I mean how stupid do you have to be to take advice from someone who's epithet is The Deceiver? It would end badly for Meph and his buddies when they were shattered into shards and sealed away for eternity. Of all the models of the C'tan on the tabletop, his is by far the goofiest looking.

Mag'ladroth the Void Dragon: Quite possibly the coolest model on the tabletop, honestly check it out. The Void Dragon is believed to be the Dragon of Mars, which is the AdMech's supposed "Machine God." It is said that the Emperor had sealed a shard of the Void Dragon beneath Mars before the Age of Strife. You would think an incredibly powerful psyker who can see the future would know what a bad idea that was. The last thing a fledgeling Imperium needed was a bunch of C'tan worshipping cyborgs.

N'phoran the Spiral Flame: A lesser known member of the galactic death metal group, the Settlers of C'tan. Was used by Nemesor Yharduz against the Tyranids, who by the way have no intentions of consuming soul-less automata.

Nyadra'zatha the Burning One: The C'tan responsible for showing the Necrons how to access the Labyrinth Dimension and how to access the Webway via Dolman Gates.

Zarhulash the Potentate: The C'tan that powered the Powered the Pharos Beacon on the world of Sotha and president of the Anti-Belisarius League after Cawl tricked him into helping him.

Llandu'gor, the Flayer: Llandu'gor is perhaps the embodiment of flipping someone off. Llandu'gor is one of the few C'tan to be completely obliterated by the Necron but in his last act of defiance he infected the Necron race with the Flayer Virus.

Emberresh the Suneater: A Z-List known C'tan who is used as a weapon by the Xonthar Dynasty in between their day job of being a reality TV star.

Iash'uddra the Endless Swarm: Another Z-List C'tan. Described by the Silent King as a being who deserves everyone's hate, so as you can imagine edgy hipsters love him. Currently, Trazyn the Infinite is in possession of a shard of Iash'uddra.

Kalugura the Silent Cry: A horrific engine of destruction, a bit like an old F1 Engine, who was entombed by the Silent King himself.

Og'driada, the Arisen: A Z-list so far down the list their name has been eroded by time

Thyssak'lha, the Walking Blight: A C'tan that was tricked into walking through the inevitable Gateway and found itself broken up into shard in the void beyond. Also, a big fan Bryan Adams

Tsara'noga, the Outsider: A C'tan who enjoys cannibalism just a little too much. You could say he's mad for it.

Yggra'nya, the World Shaper: A C'tan with the power to, you'll never guess, break worlds apart and reshape them into a form that pleases him. This explains why on the outer edges of the galaxy there are so many banana shaped planets.

Zul'channec: The C'tan who put his faith into a bunch of Crypteks, a little misguided as the Custodes and the knights of House Krast paid the world of Trynnect a visit to snuff out the Crypteks and to put an end to Zul'channec's awakening.

The Crimson God: A C'tan currently in service to the late 60s Rock Band King Crimson Novokh Dynasty and their Crimson King.

Necron Dynasties

As you can imagine with an Egyptian inspired race, there are a lot of references to the culture of Ancient Egypt. The Necron hierarchical pyramid is made of branches known as Dynasties. Each dynasty has it's own leaders and sub factions.

Agadagath Dynasty: The Necron Black Lace cover band

Atun Dynasty: This nostalgic Dynasty currently rules the space where the Necrontyr originally came from

Charnovokh Dynasty: One of the few soviet Necron factions, most of their tomb worlds were either destroyed by Hive Fleet Behemoth or the Imperium trying to stop the Hive Fleet.

Maynarkh Dynasty: The right hand of the Silent King, this Dynasty has rendered the Orphean Sector nothing but a memory on the pages of the Imperium's history books

Mephrit Dynasty: Do you ever look at the "Exterminatus" meme and wonder if it is true? For these guys that is 100% the case. Planet being too unruly and defiant? Erase it from existence.

Nekthyst Dynasty: About as trustworthy as a politician. Considered by other Dynasties to be turncoats and traitors

Nephrekh Dynasty: These guys really love solar power and sunbathing

Nihilakh Dynasty: These guys love to keep to themselves and prefer not to voyage beyond their own borders. This has led to them having one of the largest armies and when they descend upon the enemy, they leave nothing left alive.

Novokh Dynasty: Big fans of murder

Ogdobekh Dynasty: Masters of all things mechanical, there is nothing quite like an Ogdobekhian alarm clock

Oroshk Dynasty: Plagued by the Flayer Virus

Oruscar Dynasty: Enemies of the Sautekh Dynasty

Sautekh Dynasty: One of the most powerful Necron Dynasties. The Sautekh are harbingers in the rebirth of the Necron by shovelling as many bio forms into the Biotransference furnaces as possible. Can you imagine a tyranid Necron?

Sekemtar Dynasty: Servants of the Stormlord and the Sautekh Dynasty

Thokt Dynasty: If your Geiger counter is clicking you better start running

Vralekth Dynasty: This Dynasty has a thing for swimming. It is said that their Doomsday Arks look like Bathyspheres

The Necrons are ever watchful for telltale signs of corruption amidst their own ranks, like the galaxy's other factions, the Necrons have two "corrupt" subfactions":-

The Flayed Ones - When Llandu'gor was destroyed he uploaded the Flayer Virus to the Necron Internet, any Necron who is infected with said virus becomes a skulking menace that is the Flayed Ones. The Flayed Ones exist in their own pocket universe and have a constant desire to consume flesh and blood which is ironic given they can't consume food. Like a lot of Chaos war bands, they drape the skins of those they slay with their knife like talons over their bodies. Only when necessary do other Necrons ally with the Flayers.

Destroyer Cult: Necron don't always emerge from their 65 million year nap intact. Some Necrons are lost to time due to faulty stasis crypts, some find time has destroyed their body forcing the Necron to be repaired or rebuilt. There are those who emerge strong of body but have lost their minds, their engrammatic pathways lost to the tides of time. These Necrons become nihilistic and view all life, including their own, as pointless. Thus they rebuild themselves in a manner most Necron find abhorrent and become part of the Destroyer Cult. Destroyers don't care who they fire their Gauss Cannons at for it is their mission to eradicate everything they see. Destroyer Lords are often hired by other Overlords when the time for Necrons to wage war.

Notable Necrons

Szarekh the Silent King - The defacto ruler of the Necron race, in his haste to have his revenge against the organic races of the Great Old Ones put his race to sleep for 65 million years. His biggest mistake was to erase the command protocols from his memory. He has spent his time in the void between galaxies waiting in penance, at least until the Hive Fleet known as Leviathan came towards him. Seeing the threat, Szarekh did his neighbourly job and warned Dante of the Blood Angels.

Imotekh the Stormlord - The current Phaeron of the Sautekh Dynasty and the most successful Necron Overlord in the 41st Millennium, or at least he believes he is. Starting his Necron career as a Nemesor, a general to you and me, he'd rise through the ranks to become Overlord. Phaeron Imotekh is a master strategist, no one who is in combat against the Stormlord knows if they are his main focus or just part of his bigger plan. As you would expect he's incredibly good at Chess and near impossible to beat at Connect 4. Imotekh is currently at odds with the Silent King, the Silent King wants to return his race to their organic forms whereas Imotekh wants to convert the universe into a Necron universe, which isn't a bad plan as it ensure the survival of the species given the Necrons cannot make babies.

Anrakyr the Traveler - An Overlord who awoke early and took it upon himself to awaken as many Tomb Worlds as possible, hoping to unite the Necron Race under one banner and one dynasty. When not waking up or waging war, he likes to play the banjo and brew moonshine which he sells to those planets that he would classify as "in the boonies"

Illuminor Szeras, the Architect of Bio-transference. The C'tan brought the Necrontyr the knowledge of Bio-transference, Szeras handed the C'tan the souls of the Necrontyr. Szeras is the one who made it possible for Necrontyr to become Necrons, and many would think that he doomed his race in the long run. In his downtime he watches Home Alone and throws ball bearings at shadows.

Orikan the Diviner - A Cryptek, a Necron Tech-Priest, with the ability to predict the future and manipulate time. He is the best friend and nemesis of Trazyn the Infinite.

Trazyn the Infinite - The Overlord of the Prismatic Galleries and the living embodiment of memes. Trazyn has expanded the galleries of Solemnace from preserving Necron history to interesting pieces from across the galaxy. He has a Krork, a perfect clone of the Primarch Fulgrim, and Ursarker Creed the former Castellan of Cadia. Loves playing practical jokes on his BFF Orikan and playing Pokemon GO 40K Edition.

Nemesor Zahndrekh - Sautekh Necron Overlord of Gidrim and one of Sautekh's mightiest generals. What set's Zahndrekh apart from his contemporaries is that he suffers from a sleeping sickness. During his long sleep Zahndrekh's memory engrams were stuck in Necrontyr Mode. Zahndrekh believes he is still flesh and blood. During combat he makes sure to capture the enemy Commanders and treat them as honoured guests, giving them comfortable quarters and plenty to eat. Many in his Royal Court wish to remove Zahndrekh from his position. In his spare time Zahndrekh can be seen in his vineyard, carefully cultivating the crop that will create the greatest wine known across the galaxy.

Vargard Obryn - The Baldrick to Zahndrekh's Blackadder

If This Were A Book It Would Be: The Kill Switch by Tom Clancy and Steven Koontz

If This Were A TV Show It Would Be: Battlestar Galactica 1978 version

If This Were A Movie It Would Be: Terminator & Terminator 2: Judgement Day (there is not, nor has there ever been any other Terminator films). It couldn't be anything else given that in early editions of 40K their reanimation protocols were known as 'Will Be Back.'

If this were a Country it would be: Egypt, if Egypt were on Cybertron

Al's Opinion

The Necrons are cool and there is no doubting that. But Necrons are also absolute [expletive deleted]. Not only does their Living Metal allow them to regain wounds during the game but Reanimation Protocols bring back dead warriors. Some of their weapons are absolute nuts for instance, the Doomsday cannon on the Doomsday Ark has D6+1 attacks, hits on a 3+, has strength of 18 meaning it will be wounding on either a 2+ or 3+, has AP-4 forcing you to save on your Invul save, and does 4 damage. One hit, seven kills. Necrons are one of those armies that make you wish you hadn't bothered showing up. Still, they look cool.

Aeldari

Space Elves, Superiority Complex Society, Absolute [Expletive Deleted]

Perhaps the oldest race created by the Great Old Ones and despite being a race in decline, are a bunch of absolute snobs.

Their story begins with the War in Heaven against the Necrons, and how did they celebrate their victory? By birthing a Chaos God, and not just any Chaos God. They had birthed the Dark Prince themselves, Slaanesh.

How do you go from being a noble elder race to a bringing about the birth of She Who Thirsts? That's where things get interesting.

After the War in Heaven; the Aeldari spread far and wide across the galaxy through the use huge ships known as Craftworlds and through the use of the Great Old Ones' invention known as The Webway. This enabled them to travel quickly between their worlds and a trading post was established in the Webway, a port city known as Commoragh.

Being a naturally psychic race, the Aeldari make use of the Warp not just to use their magic powers, but they craft the very substance the Warp into a material known as Wraithbone, they make just about everything out of Wraithbone much like the Wakanda use Vibranium in Marvel's Black Panther series. How do they turn the Warp into Wraithbone, they have specialists known as [insert giggle here] Bonesingers.

The Aeldari are perhaps a warning to others, both in the lore and IRL, for they reached a point of technological prowess that they wanted for nothing. Spending their days in absolute boredom they decided to dive deep into the well of desire and debauchery. No desire would be denied.

It started out innocent enough with sex and food, then they brought in drugs. Soon it was bondage, orgies, sadism, and a whole lot of torture. This led straight to murder-sex where at the height of ecstasy they would kill their partner, or each other, or the person they had chained up in the corner.

No vice went unfulfilled, body modification, and many a horror was their way of life.

There were those that didn't want to take part in this hedonistic lifestyle and left the Aeldari Craftworlds to live a simpler life. More on those later. Being a psychic sensitive race, their hedonistic lifestyle accumulated as a storm in the Warp, Slaanesh was ready to be born. When Prince of Pleasure was born, they ripped a hole in space that became known as The Eye of Terror and began hoovering up the souls of the Aeldari not protected by the Webway or by other means and thus began the Fall of Eldar, including those on Craftworlds in the general area of the Eye.

The Aeldari come in 5 distinct flavours:-

1. The Asuryani - AKA Hermit Elves AKA Craftworlders. Those who live on continent sized space ships who try to live an honest life completely without emotion for Aeldari emotions feed She Who Thirsts. These Aeldari are the "I'm so superior snob" type of Space Elves who live boring and meaningless existences, well most of them
2. The Exodites - The Exodites left the craftworlds when they no longer wanted to be part of the debauchery that their fellows were heavily into. They exist on what are known as Maiden Worlds that are proverbial gardens of Eden untouched by any who would plunder it's natural resources. They live generally in harmony with the native population and get to ride frikkin' dinosaurs, essentially 40K Space Elf Flintstones.
3. Ynnari - An Aeldari faction who are trying to awaken the slumbering God Ynnead, the Eldar god of Death and Rebirth. It's a faction that saw a lot of hype in 9th Edition to be nearly forgotten about in 10th. If not for Yvraine, the resurrection of Guilliman wouldn't have been possible. They are almost at odds with other Space Elves because they want to link all Craftworlds together to form one big Infinity Circuit, and then kill all Aeldari at once. This plan is to force-feed Slaanesh to make them spew up the souls she has devoured. This would be save the Aeldari race from annihilation, but not every Eldar wants to take part in on the off chance it doesn't work.
4. The Harlequins - On/off romances of the Joker and often thorn in Batman's side. Whoops, wrong Harlequin. The Harlequins are a weird sort of Aeldari, they worship the Laughing god Cegorach, what he finds funny is open to speculation. They draw their numbers from all across the Space Elves spectrum and the vast majority are the defenders of the Black Library, slaying anyone who is not worthy to read the books published by Games Workshop learn of the forbidden and sacred knowledge within. The Black Library is a bit like the British Library merged with Wikipedia. Others can be found aiding their fellow Space Elves, or what is really strange, can be seen helping "people of interest"
5. Corsairs - These are your Aeldari Outcasts, Renegades, and Pirates. They are just that, Space Elf Pirates

Aeldari Craftworlds

Alaitoc: The strictest of all Aeldari, and by strictest I mean most boring. They make sure that all inhabitants follow the path of Asuryan and stave off the temptations of Slaanesh, those who are a little more free spirited walk the Path of the Outcast and become Rangers, much to the chagrin of Islanders fans. In combat, the Alaitoc prefer stealth tactics and misdirection which is a strange choice for a people that have bright yellow helmets atop their midnight blue armour.

Notable Aeldari

Illic Nightspear - Ranger from the Craftworld Alaitoc. The master cartographer of the Webway and super sniper. His long rifle named Voidbringer will put a las-round through the skull of a target before they've had time to blink. In his spare time he watches Byker Grove and eating pop tarts.

Biel-Tan: The Aspect Warriors of Biel-Tan favour Scorched Earth tactics when it comes to warfare, burning their enemies to ash before they begin shooting them. Biel-Tan are an aggressive and Martial people who constantly take the fight to the enemies of the Aeldari, for a race that doesn't want to express emotion and feed Slaanesh, they do a good job feeding Khorne instead. Many Biel-Tan have taken it upon themselves to eliminate non-Aeldari from Exodite worlds and Maiden Worlds. On the battlefield their armour of white with green helmets which when considering their main warfare doctrine is a bit of a clash. Their emblem looks like something from Jojo's Bizarre Adventure. When not burning everything to a crisp, they can be seen enjoying a nice day out on the 121st day of the Imperial Calendar, which to us is May Day (or Beltane if you are of a Celtic religious belief system)

Notable Aeldari

Avele Swifteye - Known as the Duke of Asteri Reach, Avele Swifteye leads a Corsair fleet out of Biel-Tan and has sworn an oath to protect the Maiden Worlds from settlement by lesser races. Swifteye has been known to display the greatest compassion to his defeated enemies so long as it pleases him to do so. Has been known to be decent stand up guy who keeps his promises. In his spare time he cosplays as Jack Sparrow and conducts raids on the nearest branches of Oddbins.

Iyanden: The largest Craftworld in the remnants of the Aeldari Empire and a shadow of it's former self. It's diminished population faced extinction at the hands of Hive Fleet Kraken if not for the timely return of the outcast Prince Yriel. These days if Iyanden has to take to the field, albeit begrudgingly, they use massive wraith bone constructs that house several spirit/soul stones which are used to enable the the massive construct to carry out its intended purpose. The warriors of Iyanden have a yellow armour and blue helmet combo, which highlights their fashion sense. Being a spiritual people, their craftworld symbol is effectively a Torii shrine with a fire burning beneath it.

Notable Aeldari

Prince Yriel - Autarch (Leader) of Craftworld Iyanden. Yriel is the epitome of jack of all trades, master of none. Yriel has tried walking many paths but failed to follow through on any of them with the exception of Path of the Mariner, rumour is he likes hanging around docks and wharfs, this experience led him to being elevated to the rank of Autarch. He is known across Aeldari space for his Billy Ocean tribute act and his collection of pickles

Saim-Hann: These Aeldari have a need, a need for speed. Specialising in swift Lightning Assaults, these Space Elves spend their days speaking exclusively in Top Gun Quotes and polishing their jet bikes. Their primarily colour is red, which if you remember makes things go fast, with a white helmet giving them a lightning aesthetic. Their symbol is of a snake with an infinity loop as a crown. When not involved with all things speed, they enjoy dressing up and going trick or treating on other craftworlds (Samhain is the pagan new year or Halloween for the more modern people)

Notable Aeldari

Eliac Zephyrblade - Eliac Zephyrblade is an Autarch of Saim-Hann who led a warhost of Aeldari and invaded Gnosis Prime in 786.M41. Claiming the world as their own until Santa Claus Logan Grimnar and his Space Wolves Chapter arrived in the Gnosis System. When they found the doomed world, it was all but a graveyard. The Great Wolf vowed if he could not save the people of Gnosis Prime, he would avenge them. He attacked the Aeldari on Gnosis Secundus but was unable to slay Zephyrblade when the Autarch dodged a blow from the Axe of Morkai. This was after Grimnar cleaved the jetbike's engine in two with his axe, Zephyrblade used his elven agility to get a backie from a passing jetbike. To this day, Grimnar receives spam texts from Eliac inviting him to a maid cafe in the Halo Stars.

Ulthwe: Craftworld Ulthwe has the unfortunate pleasure of being the only craftworld to orbit the Eye of Terror, leading many to believe that they are tainted by the Warp. Ulthwe is renown for it's high level of powerful Farseers and other psychic units. Their power has resulted in them being admired by other Aeldari Psykers. In combat, Ulthwe use a combination of shock assaults and psychic attacks, essentially hit & run followed up by brain melting warp shenanigans. Their colour of choice is black, with beige details (many would argue that they are cream coloured) and their symbol is pretty much the Eye of Horus (Egyptian Horus not 40K Horus)

Notable Aeldari

Eldrad Ulthran - Farseer (fortune teller) of Craftworld Ulthwe. One of the most potent Psykers among the Eldar and genuine nice guy. Ulthran tried to warn Fulgrim of the betrayal of Horus Lupercal only to be rejected as Fulgrim was already corrupted by the Aeldari best friend. Slaanesh. In recent years he has tried to awaken Ynnead only to be foiled by the Deathwatch. The ritual of awakening would've been a huge blow to the forces of Chaos but Watch Captain Artemis is a bit of jobsworth.

Aspect Warriors

Aspect Warriors are the bread and butter of the Aeldari Army. Those who chose the Path of the Warrior are destined to become one of the many Aeldari Cannon Fodder. Each Aspect Warrior Shrine represents an aspect of the God of War, Kaela Mensha Khaine.

Those who walk the path are at risk of being lost in the journey, those that do become Exarchs. Exarchs are so far down the path that they’ve forgotten the way back. But it isn’t all bad news as they get nifty antique armour and a promotion to High Priest of Khaine.

Dire Avengers - The Dire Avengers are the Aspect Warriors that embody the noble warrior aspect of Khaine as well as his merciless side. They will fight fair but only to the death. On the battlefield they can be picked out by their blue armour and white helmets. They use a modified version of the Shuriken Catapults, which is a rifle that shoot ultra sharp mono-molecular discs of plastic crystal. When not in combat, the Dire Avengers can be seen meditating and re-enacting their favourite episodes of the 1961 tv show The Avenger, some say Asurmen himself plays the role of John Steed.

Dire Avengers Phoenix Lord: Asurmen the Hand of Asuryan, the Left Foot of Khaine. The First Phoenix Lord and the Founder of the Path of the Warrior and creator of the Asur, the Dire Avenger shrine. Being the great warrior that he is spends his time trolling Paul Hollywood on Twitter.

Howling Banshees - The warriors who embody Khaine’s ability to instil fear into his enemies. The warriors of the Howling Banshees are all female that embrace the myth of the Harbinger of Woe. They specialise in melee combat which pairs greatly with their banshee aesthetic. Their armour is a cream colour with green highlights and red crests. Their choice of colour leaves a lot to be desired but don’t underestimate these beige banshees as they get the ‘Fight First’ keyword meaning if you charge them during the charge phase they get to stab you before you can stab them.

Howling Banshees Phoenix Lord: Jain Zar the Storm of Silence, the Non-Speaking Ninja. Asurmen’s first apprentice, Jain Zar is feared and awed by the Aeldari, the Night Lords currently have a bounty on her head for the death of their Prophet Talos Volcoran.

Striking Scorpions - Throughout history of human life there has always been those who, like Iron Maiden, have a fear of the dark. Rightly so. What lurks in the dark goes by many names; the Bogeyman, Spectres, Nosferatu, Vashta Neradha but all of these are wrong. What truly lurks in the dark are the Aspect Warriors of the Striking Scorpions. When it comes to melee specialists, the Striking Scorpions are without peer. Embracing their inner Chaos, the Striking Scorpions have been tempered into a finely honed blade that blends their desire for blood with the virtue of patience. They specialise in stealth attacks preferring to sneak up and take out their prey without being noticed, which is fine if you are on a verdant jungle world given their green armour. What is even more astonishing is the fact that their weapons of choice are chainswords. How do you sneak up on someone whilst wearing bright green armour and wielding what is effectively a large chainsaw? In their down time they can be found in your local supermarkets sneaking up on little old ladies and putting jumbo packs of condoms and ky jelly in their baskets.

Striking Scorpions Phoenix Lord: Karandras the Shadow Hunter, the Creeping Death, the Fear in the Dark - Karandras is the the second Phoenix Lord of the Striking Scorpions. As Exarch he trained under the original Phoenix Lord Arhra but when it turned out his boss was tainted and forced to flee, Karandras took over the role and proved he could do better. One of his personal weapons of Karandras is Arhra's Bane which comes with A5 WS2+ S8 AP-3 2 Damage stats.

Dark Reapers - Moving across the battlefield with the speed of a rampaging glacier, the Dark Reapers believe in the mantra "When in doubt, empty the magazine." The Dark Reapers embody Khaine's aspect of the Destroyer but prefer to shy away from rushing in like a rhino in a minefield preferring to assault the enemy with portable artillery. As befitting a unit with a Grim Reaper motif, their armour is black with skull faced off-white helms. Their Missile Launcher is A1 BS3+ S10 AP-2 D6 Damage, and the vast majority of their weapons ignore cover. To add to the rain of missiles coming at you, the Dark Reapers can also field the Tempest Launcher which despite being weaker than the Aeldari Missile Launcher and Reapers Launcher, does 2D6 attacks and gets the indirect fire keyword meaning they can still hit you even if they can't see you.

Dark Reapers Phoenix Lord: Maugan Ra - The Harvester of Souls, Hawkeye McGreen-Arrow. I have said that the Necrons have some of the coolest models in the game but I always forget just how cool Maugen Ra's model is. It's nothing really special but it just exudes awesome. Cloaked in a black robe with a skull face helm, this Grim Reaper of the Galaxy picks off his enemies one by one with his customised Shrunken Catapult, Maugetar (hmmm, that name sounds familiar). In his spare time Maugen Ra can be spotted as the drummer in a Swedish Death metal band called Prohonigun

Fire Dragons - The Fire Dragons embody Khaine's destructive aspect and specialise in turning enemy armour and structures into ashes with their Fusion Guns and Dragon's Breath Flamers and Melta Bombs. They look like walking flames with their red armour and yellow helms and are often savage in their approach to warfare. To them the only good enemy is one who is charred so badly that their descendants have to apply burn cream. On the tabletop the Fire Dragons' fusion gun has A1 WS3+ S9 AP-4 D6 Damage which means you are likely to be rolling for an invul save if your unit has one. In their downtime they enjoy bubblebaths and slumber parties.

Fire Dragons Phoenix Lord: Fuegan the Burning Lance - Fuegan is the living embodiment of fire. Wherever he walks, all who bar him find themselves ablaze. His goals are to burn all the enemies of the Aeldari to nowt but ash and to bind the Aeldari Dragon of myth to his will during the Eldar's version of Ragnarok. He is known to collect hotel matchbooks and is an amateur art historian.

Swooping Hawks - Look up to the sky; is that a bird? Is that a plane? No! It's Superman the Swooping Hawks. The Swooping Hawks are the Aeldari answer to the Elysian Drop Troops. They swoop in, shoot some people and blast of like Team Rocket. There isn't much to say other than that they provide Recon for Aeldari forces as well as hit and run aerial assault, you could say they are Aerialdari. Most are equipped with Lasblasters (super imaginative name) some get to wield Cloudsweepers which is just a Lasblaster that fires three shots instead of one. Their armour is mostly an icy blue colour with a white helm, which if you ask me is so they can blend into the sky. What a lot of people don't realise is that the Swooping Hawks are really, really big fans of the superhero, Hawkman. Honestly look at the Swooping Hawks banner and tell me they're not Hawkman fans. When not flying high and swooping down low, they enjoy watching University Challenge and American Gladiators.

Swooping Hawks Phoenix Lord: Baharroth the Cry of the Wind - Maugen Ra's best buddy and Asuremen's finest student. Destined to die during the Rhana Dandra and thus lives life to the fullest by pulling of as many HALO jumps possible.

Shining Spears - The Shining Spears are the the type of Aeldari you'd see at medieval fairs or those cheesy medieval themed restaurants. Their method of warfare consists of jet bikes and laser lances (pushing naming conventions out the park this lot). Embodying the spear of the Khaine, these warriors clad in white are put to good use as an Aeldari lawnmower, mowing down infantry or breaking open shields with their high speed attacks. When not in battle they build and race custom jetbikes, often trying to outdo each other. Currently the best bike award goes to the Shining Spear Brit-Ainy. Her custom bike, named El Brillante, has 16 turbochargers, 4 heavy shuriken catapults, 4 stage afterburners, 6 disc minidisc player, and fuzzy dice made from Tribbles. The turbo lag is unbearable, but when those turbos kick in; Brit-Ainy is but a speck on the horizon.

Shining Spears Phoenix Lord: Drastanta the Tempest of Starlight - He apparently travels from shrine to shrine, craftworld to craftworld spreading the good word tales of the Shining Spears but no one really knows if that is true. More enigmatic than a Harlequin Masque; some say if you tune your radio to 1.21 Gigahertz you can hear him talk about Time Travel, others say his favourite food is Leaf-Cutter bees. All we know is he’s called The Stig Drastanta.

Shadow Spectres - Specialists in Anti-tank warfare, the Shadow Spectres lie in wait until the enemy's armour rolls past and then they strike, using their patented custom Prism Rifles. These prism rifles cut through the hull of a tank like a samurai sword cuts through a sandwich, they cut a nice hole in the side and then boil the occupants like a bag of rice. Stealthy beyond belief, the Shadow Spectres utilise Apperceptive Hoods and Presentient robes to help them blend in with their surroundings. Your average guardsmen won't even know they were there until it was too late. When not being sneaky, they enjoy playing pranks on one another and making crank calls to Necron tomb worlds. Many a Necron has gone insane when they've wakened from millennia long slumber to answer the phone only to be treated with 'I'm looking for Hugh Jazz."

Shadow Spectres Phoenix Lord: Irillyth the Shade of Twilight - Thankfully his title bears no relation to that [insert adjective here] [insert opinion here] book and film series. Currently a page in the annuls of history as no one has seen Irillyth in aeons leading many among the Aeldari to believe he is lost. What a lot of people don't realise is that he's currently in a safe house on Terra listening to Santana and Los Del Rios.

Harlequins

The enigmatic dancers of the harlequins enjoy nothing more than to tell you a tale and then stab you when you're too enraptured to defend yourself. They tell all kinds of Aeldari tales, just ask them to regale you with the Aeldari tale of Orean and Galuë, a tale of two star-crossed lovers from different Aspect Shrines on different Craftworlds, who despite being told not to love do it anyway only to end up dying in a battle against the Orks. Harlequins unlike many Aeldari, do not wear Spirit Stones. Harlequins have learned a trick that prevents their soul from being feasted upon by Slaanesh and they are not willing to share. Harlequin troupes are often referred to as Masques and each member of the Masque performs a unique function in both art and war. Each Masque is made up of Troupers and other specialists. Each of the Troupes in the Masque will select one of the follow attributes to embody:-

Light: The more honourable Harlequins. They sing about Aeldari bravery and charge head first into battle

Dark: Harlequins of a Dark troupe are far more sinister and vindictive than their Light Counterparts. in battle they enjoy ending their opponents in a display of cruel flamboyance.

Twilight: Capricious and obsessive. No one knows what the Twilight troupe are trying to achieve until it's too late

What makes up a Masque?

Well anything really. Papier Mache, wood, metal, clay. Masques are made up of the following types of unit:-

1. Troupe Master - The commander on the battlefield and the lead actor on the stage. They portray the Laughing God, Cegorach, during their performances.
2. Shadowseers - Powerful psykers that sow confusion on the battlefield and act as a storyteller during their nights at the theatre. Shadowseers know when all Aeldari are fated to die, including the Harlequins. Their masks are a smooth polished mirror and when one looks upon them, the face reflected back is not necessarily theirs.
3. Death Jesters - These units look the business. In battle they are snipers who use their patented Shrieker Cannons to sow fear into the enemy. The shrieker cannon fires a single shot filled with an acid that causes the target's blood vessels to expand, resulting in an exploding target who showers their comrades with blood and viscera. On the stage they play the role of Death, often mimicking Christopher Lee's portrayal in The Colour of Magic
4. Troupers - The Harlequins frontline troop. On the stage they portray the character that their mask portrays, look out for the trouper with a green mask because he's smokin!
5. Skyweavers - They provide the role of fast attack with their custom 2-rider jetbikes. During a performance they perform death defying stunts and aerial acrobatics.
6. Voidweavers - The Harlequin equivalent of a tank. Manned by either Skyweavers or Troupers
7. Starweavers - Part jetbike, part magician, part APC. The star weaver relies on speed and misdirection to win the day, with a rear mounted ramp they can ferry Troupes across the battlefield
8. Solitaire - These are the outcasts of Harlequin Society for they portray She Who Thirsts AKA Slaanesh when they're onstage. They wander the galaxy alone and only joining a Masque or a battle when it is needed for not even their fellow Eldar like them. In battle they a flurry of noise and colour, a spectacle to be seen and deadly to their foe.

Notable Harlequins

Sylandri Veilwalker - An enigmatic Shadower who has brought messages to the likes of Prince Yriel and Belisarius Cawl. Known fan of British pop group, Madness.

The Spectre of Despair - A rather ominous title for a Solitaire. This maverick stalked a planetary governor across an entire star system during the Noctis Aeterna. Eventually he ended up blowing himself, the governor, and an Eversor Assassin to smithereens.

Ynnari

Deep in the Aeldari Pantheon between the bloodthirsty Khaine, the encapsulated Isha, and the third Chuckle Brother Cegorach lies the snoozing god Ynnead (methinks there’s an Iliad reference there).

Currently still forming in the Warp, Ynnead spent his early days as just a conscience in the Infinity Circuits of the Craftworlds. When Eldrad Ulthran conducted a ritual that began waking up Ynnead until a certain Deathwatch Captain ruined things. Now he’s relying on Yvraine and her friends convincing the Aeldari that Plan B is the best option.

Notable Ynnari

Yvraine - The Daughter of Shades. Ynnead’s IRL emissary and bearer of the Sword of Sorrows, Kha-vir, and leads a quest to gather the remaining Sacred Swords.

Yncarne - Khaine has his Avatar and Aspect Warriors, Asuryan has his Asuryani, Cegorach has his Harlequin. Ynnead has the Yncarne, the Avatar of Ynnead. Yncarne has one of the coolest models among the Aeldari. Wielder of the Sacred Sword of Souls, Vilith-zhar.

The Visarch - Former Drukhari Incubus and now guardian of Yvraine. He wields the Sword of Silent Screams, Asu-var.

If This Were A Book It Would Be: The Eldraeverse Series by Alistair Young

If This Were A TV Show It Would Be: The Shannara Chronicles

If This Were A Movie It Would Be: Avatar, the Na'Vi are pretty much Exodites

If this were a Country it would be: Great Britain, a once great empire that spends it's days reminiscing about the good old days.

Al’s Opinion

The Aeldari are an interesting choice but they tend to be a bit squishy. They have some cool models, Maugen Ra, but they could do with an update. They get an annoying skill known as Strands of Fate, essentially giving them auto pass on some failed dice rolls. Similar to how the Battle Sisters have miracle dice. In 9e the Harlequins had the Luck of Cegorach, giving them free re-rolls on wound rolls, hit rolls, and save rolls. Thankfully they’ve been nerfed a little. Still, they are an effing pain to fight, especially as an AdMech player. Good range of melee and ranged, and a Flintstones sub faction. It’s a rule of cool army

Drukhari

During the height of the Aeldari’s period of excess and ecstasy, the most debauched decided to turn the port city of Gommorah Commorragh into a haven for hedonism.

During the fall when Slaanesh hoovered up a vast majority of Aeldari souls and a few of their gods, those who resided in the Dark City were saved from doomsday as Slaanesh couldn’t breach the webway.

The residents of the once vibrant port city soon discovered that if they died they would end up being fed to She Who Thirsts, in order to save their souls they discovered that by torturing people they could feed of their suffering and live forever. Thus was born the Drukhari.

The Drukhari are masters of interior design, sports, and medical sciences. By that they love turning slaves into living furniture, enjoying knocking the shish out of each other in as evil a fashion as possible, and they enjoy body modification. You want 4 arms or 6 breasts? Go see a Drukhari Haemonculi. Fancy being buggered by a four foot bladed baseball bat? Go fight a Wych in the arena. Life in Commoragh is always interesting.

Like any good faction; the Drukhari are no stranger to inner conflict and bitter rivalries. Anyone who is anyone is always vying for position and prestige in the dark city. These can be as simple as a straight up assassination of a sub-faction leader, or arranging for your opponents to find themselves in the Arena against a Wych.

CKabals, Cults and Covens

Kabals are the largest of all Drukhari organisations, meritocratic and labyrinthine. One part Mafia, one part Pirate, one part Army. Kabalite Warriors make up the bulk of any Drukhari force and spend their days in the dark city trying to screw over other Kabals. The bigger the Kabal, the larger a target on their back. Some Kabals have a target on their back so large even a Stormtrooper could hit it.

The Kabals are run by an Archon, Commoragh's answer to a Mafia Don, who will spend their days weaving a weblike tapestry of alliances, betrayals, and shady deals. Nothing happens in Commoragh without an Archon knowing about it, typically because they're responsible. The others in the Kabal will spend their days forming ranks for raiding parties, trading slaves, and doing drive-bys with Tommy guns out the window of a Studebaker.

Notable Kabals

The Kabal of the All Seeing Eye - A Kabal so secretive that even it's members aren't sure if it actually exists.

The Kabal of the Baleful Gaze - One of the Great Kabals and another mysterious Kabal, the only record of them is their assault on the world of Durondas II.

The Kabal of the Black Blade - A notable Kabal that was erased from history when it assaulted the city of Heraclad only to meet the business end of the Raven Guard's weaponry. No known connection to Castellan Crowe’s Black Blade of Antwyr but there is a rumour that their Archon goes by the name of Elric, but that's about as reliable as a Haemonculi's handshake.

The Kabal of the Black Heart - When you're a kid you want to join NASA or your favourite sports team, the large number of children who grow up to be disappointed that their dreams of scoring a goal for Scotland at the World Cup haven't come to fruition could fuel Commorragh for an eternity. Children in the Dark City grow up wanting to join the Black Heart. This Kabal has everything you could ever need or want. The Black Heart is such a big Kabal that the rank of Archon is the equivalent of a Sub-Archon in lesser Kabals, all of them under the gaze of Azdrubel Vect. I hear you ask "Just how big is the Black heart?' Well the answer isn't truly known but it is described as being bigger than some of the top ranked Kabals put together, and given the duplicitous nature of the Drukhari there is every chance that a Kabal may be working for Vect without actually knowing.

Kabal of the Black Sun - A notable Kabal whose claim to fame is that they captured the essence of a reviled cryptoscientist by the name of Vorsch in a prism. Vorsch being the mad scientists he was, turned himself in to a beam of light and as he soared through space and time was captured by the Black Sun in a prism trap. The Black Sun then used Vorsch's technologies to terrorise the Naiad Republic.

Kabal of the Black Tear - Of the few Kabals led by a female Archon, gained fame by poisoning the entire planet of Tybor 3 in M36. Gaining recognition from Vect; she has allied her Kabal with his and now trains deadly courtesans in her Cult of Lhamaea.

Kabal of the Blades of Desire - Another of the Kabals ran by a female Archon. The BoD are known to have a large number of Wyches, but also a large number of Hellions and Reivers. The history of the BoD is one full of deadly double deals and back-stabbing. Almost ended when Xelian was gravely wounded in a routine training exercise with her Wyches.

Kabal of the Bloodied Claw - Known for their sense of humour and shark-like teeth. Like Billy Connelly with Jaws' Teeth (From the Spy Who Loved Me)

Note: Female Archons are technically called "Archites" but I'm ignoring that.

Cults are predominantly made up of Wyches (shouldn't that be Covens?) and despite being part of a larger organisation, such as a Kabal, they often operate independently. The Cults main job is to train Wyches but they also provide the entertainment for Commorragh. They have put on spectacular plays but are known for their gladiatorial ballet dances. Wyches make the sport of tormenting their victims, they can drag out their suffering and delaying an inevitable death. All cults are led by a Succubus who not only lead their fellow Wyches to victory on the battlefield but will display unparalleled acrobatic and athletic skills when entertaining their fellow Drukhari.

Notable Cults

Cult of the Cursed Blade - From the Nhexus Arena; the Cult of the Cursed Blade are notorious for their treacherous deeds, many an Archon has invited them into their palace only to wake up with a slashed throat. Followers of the Darwinian principle of Natural Selection; they ensure that their ranks are only made of the fittest and strongest Wyches. Known for their turquoise and gold attire, these deadly ladies love nothing more than to weave razorflails, poison barbs, flickblades, or even a snap sword hidden within the ornamentation they decorate themselves with.

Cult of the Flayed Hand - In the closing years of M41, the Flayed Hand aided the Kabal of the Wraithkind in fending off the Orks of WAAAGH! Rekkfist. Iyanden had suffered from an attack from Hive Fleet Kraken. Proving that not all Drukhari are hedonistic sadists.

Cult of the Red Grief - "The Best Defence? No be there" Mr. Miyagi. The Wych Cults of Commorragh have this tenet as pillar of their combat doctrine. The enemy can't hit what isn't there. The Red Grief take this to a whole new level. They employ fast attack craft such as Reavers, Venoms and Hellions when they assault their intended victims. When the squadrons of aerial craft near their target, the Red Grief drop from the underside and rain hell upon the unlucky people. When not hanging from the fuselage of an aircraft, they enjoy putting on a display of aerial prowess in their arena, aptly named The Pit. The Pit is an arena with no floor, just a series of floating platforms suspended over, would you believe it?, a pit.

Cult of Strife - The most popular and influential Wych Cult in all of Commorragh. The best of the best of the best strive to be part of the Cult of Strife. Anyone aspiring to be a Wych want's to be one of the esteemed Strife Wyches. Why? The Cult of Strife is home to the Queen of Blades herself, Leith Hesperax. The Wyches of the Cult of Strife strive to embody the diamond at the centre of their crown that is Lelith. They subtly blend their feminine wiles with sheer brutality. Thanks to their Patron, the home of the Cult of Strife, known as the Crucibael (as if that weren't obvious), is the most lavish and spectacular in all the Webway. Those who try to challenge the Cult, often meet the end of a blade wielded by the Kabal of the Black Heart, as Asdrubael Vect himself sees Lelith as the most important Wych in the Dark City.

It's confusing in the Dark City, Cults are home to Wyches, and Covens are home to Haemonculi. These Haemonculi are not the artificial "small humans" seen in Alchemy, nor the "sins" seen in FMA. These Haemonculi are masters of genetic manipulation, flesh crafting, and cloning. If you can afford the services of a Haemonculi, you can cheat death when you accidentally get yourself killed. The Lords of Pain provide a vital service in Commorragh. Do you have slaves that you are bored of? Take them to your nearest Coven and have the Haemonculi turn them into a living armchair. Are you tired of only having two arms, the Haemonculi have a solution for you. The Haemonculi are quite literally the embodiment of mad scientists, for them Frankenstein is a documentary on how not to make a person out of corpses. Dr Moreau is a visionary, and the Quartermass Experiment wins the Academy Award for Best Picture every single year. Covens despite being more of a service and support role, are no stranger to the political machinations of Commorragh. They jockey for power just as much as the next deranged lunatic to call the Dark City home.

Notable Covens - No Agatha Harkness please, the Drukhari aren't big on magic.

The Altered - A lot of people will buy clothes for a specific function, wear that one time and never let to see the light of day again. The Altered are like that but for them its appendages and not clothing. Your best friend might have 3 arms and seven penises today, but tomorrow he could have wings and no penises, that's the fun of being a Haemonculi in the Altered. Wake up and decide just how you want to look today on a whim. The Altered's specialty is however, in poisons, venoms, and toxins. You want a custom toxin that makes it appear like your victim committed suicide? Go see The Altered. They will turn an entire population of a Hive City down to a pulp to distill a single vial of poison, and they love setting their Talos Pain Engines loose on unsuspecting victims, who needs a scalpel when you have a lawnmower?

The Black Descent - These guys are the Vietcong of the Drukhari. They love setting traps and waiting for the unfortunate sucker to bumble in and set one off. To cross the Black Descent is to invite death. Try to attack them and you'll meet the business end of a Wrack's needle, tearing yourself apart as hyper adrenaline flows through your system. Fail to pay for services rendered, you wake up with more than just a horse's head in your bed. Those who manage to survive the the Krypton Factor of traps will earn themselves the reward of becoming a Wrack.

The Coven of the Twelve - Less a Coven and more of a Conclave of Haemonculi. Currently there are eleven members, the Coven is saving the twelfth spot for Urien Rakarth, should he accept their invite to join the Coven for all sorts of fun activities such as bingo and pin the tail on the Talos. The Twelve believe that they are the best practitioners of the Dark Arts and many up and coming Haemonculi try their best to get a spot in the Twelve but the only way to become a member is to render a current member dead in a manner that no Haemonculi would be able to revive them, because Haemonculi love cheating death.

The Coven of the Thirteen Scars - The Coven that educated Fabulous Bill himself in the art of flesh crafting. However, Bill went off and taught his own disciples which would incur the wrath of the Coven who invaded a derelict Aeldari Craftworld the Emperor's Children were using as a base. After a lengthy scuffle, Bill lost and was bound by his word that he would live so long as he never taught flesh crafting to another being.

The Dark Creed - A coven who love the art of the indirect kill. Even their Wracks love a good esoteric murder. The Dark Creed employ a large number of custom Chronos Parasite Engines that generate a huge amount of negative energy. So much energy that they can kill without striking a single blow, giving those in the Dark Creed a boner or two.

The Prophets of Flesh - Urien Rakarth's home Coven. The Coven everyone wants to join. If you successfully join the Coven you start off your service as a Wracks. Do a good job and your appendages will be replaced one by one from the flesh tanks of your master. If you are lucky enough to have all your parts replaced, you become a junior member of The Prophets of Flesh.

Notable Drukhari

Asdrubael Vect - The Archon of Archons, Don Corleone of the Dark City.

Lelith Hesperax - The Queen of Knives and taker of lives. Devoted follower of Yvraine but also chief mistress of murder in Commorragh.

Urien Rakarth - The pin-up poster that adorns the walls of the Hellraiser Cenobites, master flesh crafter and Haemonculi Supreme.

Drazhar - The Master of Blades. Drazhar is the Incubi equivalent of the SAS. Incubi are like the Drukhari's version of the Marines and Drazhar is the best.

Baron Sathonyx - The Lord Hellion, proof that if you exile someone you want to make sure they're dead

If This Were A Book It Would Be: The Dark Elf Trilogy by R. A. Salvatore

If This Were A TV Show It Would Be: The White Queen

If This Were A Movie It Would Be: Hellraiser, as if it would be anything else.

If this were a Country it would be: Iceland, turns out Icelanders enjoy a bit of hedonism.

Al's Opinion

If I had money I would be running a Drukhari army, they have some of the coolest vehicles. The Ravager looks like it came straight out of Return of the Jedi. Honestly, there is little about this army that I don't like. Yes they could do with a model refresh, as the Kabalites just look like edgy Aspect Warriors, the Hellions honestly scream bargain basement Green Goblin and the Wyches don't have that blend of deadly athleticism and alluring beauty. Once GW is done with 'The Year of Chaos' maybe they could refresh the Drukhari. If I hadn't just bought a box of Tau Pathfinders off Vinted I'd be investing in Drukhari. If you like sadistic elves who love a bit of BDSM then the Drukhari are the army for you.

Tau Empire

Space Communist Fish Weaboos

Games Workshop have a history of drawing inspiration from all kinds of fiction sources, whether it be the Dune Ornithopter inspired Archaeopter or the Terminator Necrons os 2nd/3rd Edition. GW have also drawn inspiration from the Land of the Rising Sun, Japan.

The Aeldari/Drukhari draw heavy inspiration from Feudal Japan, the Phoenix Lords carry their banners on a pole mounted on their back. If you want an army that represents modern Japan look no further than the Tau.

The Tau are not just a Modern Japan/Anime inspired army, they are an allegory for the march of progress that Eastern Nations have achieved in a relative short space of time.

Tau Castes and The Greater Good

The Tau really lean into their Space Communism; for the majority of the Tau, including their version of the French Foreign Legion, believe in the Tau'Va or Greater Good. Everything they do, from the farmers to the warriors, is done for the benefit and advancement of the Tau Empire. If they have to wait a hundred years to conquer a world, they will.

What is super on the nose with communism is the Caste system and a heavy belief in "The Needs of the Many outweigh the Needs of the Few." A Tau is born into the caste of their parents and it is forbidden for two Tau from different castes to have a child. The Ethereals do not approve of given young Tau a choice about what caste they serve the Greater Good in. Imagine Divergent except if you try to choose Dauntless when you are born into Erudite you get shot. Those born in a particular caste, die in that caste.

Each Caste is based on a different elemental aspect and despite the differences between the Castes, they all share the same Ranking System and they all benefit the Greater Good. The Ranks are: -

• 'saal - Lowest Rank
• 'la
• 'iu
• 'vre
• 'el
• 'O - Highest Rank

Fio: The Earth Caste - The manual labour force. The Earth caste is where you find the farmers and the engineers, but also artisans and scientists. So it's not all bad. If you live on a Tau planet and have a nice home, chances are it was built by the Earth Caste. Eating food on a Tau planet? Grown by the Earth Caste. They may seem like the Space Communist version of peasants but they play a vital role in the maintenance of Tau society. The Earth Caste ranks are made up as follows:-

• Fio'saal - Menial Apprentice
• Fio'la - Small Violin Worker. Fio'la and Fio'saal make up the vast majority of the Earth Caste's work force.
• Fio'ui - Senior. The workers that have been around for a long time, they know everything including how to avoid getting promoted seeing as it means more work and responsibility.
• Fio'vre - Overseer.
• Fio'el - Engineer. Note, you don't have to wait to be promoted to Fio'el to become an engineer, it's just the name of the rank. Farmers would be Agricultural Engineers and Engineers would be Engineering Engineers.
• Fio'O - Planner. The folks who run the Earth Caste show.

Shas: The Fire Caste - The Fire Caste are the Tau military. They begin training from birth and never, ever stop. Teams in the Fire Caste are often raised and trained together to ensure that the unit fights effectively and cohesively regardless of where they get sent. Before getting drafted into the Tau Military, all new recruits must pass a brutal final trial, the Trial by Fire, those who do not have the strength nor the intelligence to pass the trial are never heard from again (do not ask the Tau where they get their fish fingers/fish sticks from). The Fire Caste live by the Code of Fire which emphasises a life of maintaining honour, martial arts and discipline.

The Fire Caste ranks are as follows:-

• Shas'saal - Underling, Cadet, Greenhorn, Newbie, Bullet Sponge. The rank all Fire Caste start off as, if you see one of these guys on the battlefield would indicate the Tau war machine is in a bad state.
• Shas'la - Warrior. The Tau equivalent of Battle Brother. The main force of the Tau is made up of units called Fire Warriors, however 99.99% do not feature in their own video game.
• Shas'ui - Veteran, the Sergeants of the Fire Caste
• Shas'vre - Hero. A somewhat ambiguous title, the equivalent among other factions would be Lieutenant. When I build up my Tau Army I will be giving all my Shas'vres a cape and mask (I have a secret technique that I learned from Youtube)
• Shas'el - Knight or Noble. The equivalent of Captain. A little strange for a Japanese inspired army, you think Shas'el would be Shogun or something else Samurai related.
• Shas'O - Commander. As far as Fire Warriors are concerned, these guys are the bees knees. They have the best gear and rarely are seen outside of their war suits.

Like all factions, with perhaps the exception of the Orks. Fire Caste troops are organised into specific units.

La'rua - The Fire Caste equivalent of a Fire Team, but can also function as a Squad Equivalent.

Kau'ui - Cadre. Cadres are made up of a group of La'rua and function like a Company in the Guard.

Tio'vre - Contingent. Contingents are basically just Regiments.

Kavaal - Commune. Communes are temporary forces made up of different contingents, the real world equivalent would be group.

Por: The Water Caste - Merchants, traders and diplomats. The Tau equivalent of a Snake Oil Salesman. Ever heard the expression "Could sell sand to an Arab?" That embodies the nature of the Water Caste. A Water Caste senior would be able to trade a handful of dung for master crafted Plasma Gun, or convince an Ork to kill their Warboss. The Water Caste also feature as the Administrators of the Tau Empire, they are responsible for making sure everyone get's paid and that the resources are distributed evenly according to the idiom of 'The Needs of the Many.'

Water Caste Ranks are as follows:-

• Por'saal - Assistant. Those who couldn't score at an orgy.
• Por'la - Bureaucrat. The vast majority of Water Caste Administrators. The Tau equivalent of the Civil Service
• Por'ui - Envoy. Those who are representatives of the Tau Empire, somewhat important but nonetheless expendable.
• Por'vre - Magister - Senior civil servants that oversee the administration
• Por'el - Diplomat. Not only do they act as emissaries but also function as spies, like a real diplomat.
• Por'O - Ambassador. The really important people that get sent out to broker peace with a prospective culture with aims to subjugate them without them knowing it. The kind of person who will convince you that life in the Tau Empire is the best.

The majority of senior Water Caste folks are part of the Tau version of military intelligence, a secretive unit known as "the Hundred Eyes"

The Water Caste also employs a branch that act as Criminal Investigators known as the Kar'tyr.

Kor: The Air Caste - The Air Caste maintain the Tau Interstellar Aspects. All merchant and military vessels are operated by the Air Caste, as well as Space Stations, Orbital Defences, Satellites and even Air Defences. Air Caste Tau rarely step onto the soil of a planet and prefer to live in Orbital Cities. They are known for being the most slender of the Tau having developed to live in Zero/Low Gravity environments. They also have skin flaps to glide on air currents and thermals.

The Air Caste ranks are:-

• Kor'saal - Deliverer, the Tau version of the Postal Service
• Kor'la - Messenger, remember those bike messengers? These are the Tau bike messengers.
• Kor'ui - Carrier. These are the Tau that would run an equivalent of FedEx or UPS.
• Kor'vre - Pilot. Do I need to really explain what a pilot does? Can you really imagine having to become the equivalent of a Lieutenant to be able to fly anything? Well I suppose in reality most military pilots are officers.
• Kor'el - Underwater flora Captain. If James T. Kirk was a Tau he would be Kor'el Kirk.
• Kor'O - Admiral. 'Nuff said

Aun: The Ethereal/Celestial Caste: The Caste that rules the Tau Empire. Before anyone thinks that the Tau striving for the Greater Good is like the Federation from Star Trek, you might want to look a little closer at the Ethereals. The Ethereals control the populace not with good manifestos and altruistic gestures. No they control their people by subtle use of Pheromones. The Ethereals when forced to make a decision that impacts Tau society as a whole they will seek council with the senior 'Os of each Caste, giving the Tau a sense of democracy. The Ethereal has the overall decision. The way Tau society works with everyone born into specific Castes and there can be no intercaste breeding is because the Ethereals don't want someone born into the Earth Caste having the choice to join the Ethereal Caste. Imagine a lowly farmer being part of the ruling elite? Sound familiar?

The Ethereal Ranks, which are massively unfair, are as follows:-

• Aun'saal - Lord. Yes the lowest rank in the Ethereal Caste is Lord.
• Aun'la - Prince. Imagine being a Lord IRL, where do you go from there? Prince is clearly the most obvious choice.
• Aun'ui - The Bored Prelate. This is where the Ethereal ranks make no sense, so far we have Nobility-Royalty-Clergy. That would be like Prince William hoping to become a Bishop when King Charles' reign comes to an end.
• Aun'vre - Remember the time when the Prince became a Bishop? Well now he's back but he is now a King. Because the natural progression for a royal family is prince, bishop, king. I wonder if the Tau took their naming conventions from Chess Pieces?
• Aun'el - Holy One. We're back to switching between monarchy and ecclesiarchy. So far we have Noble-Royal-Bishop-Monarch and now we have Pope because the King always dreams of becoming the Pope.
• Aun'O - Holiest of Holy. What's higher than the Pope? Super Pope of course.

This raises the "What If there was a Tau who was able to reject control by the Ethereals?'

There was one Tau who saw how the Ethereals strived for the Greater Good; realising they used pheromone control and giving the the other Castes the illusion that they chose to work towards the benefit of the Tau Empire. This particular Tau flipped the proverbial bird to the Ethereals, most Tau only have 3 fingers and a thumb, much like the Simpsons but without the twenty years of steady decline in quality. Who is this wondrous Tau that said no? None other than Commander Farsight, the founder of the Farsight Enclaves.

What are the Farsight Enclaves?

The Enclaves are a group of Tau that left Tau space and settled a world on the far side of the Damocles Gulf. Here they built a society that believes in the Tau'Va but they want to strive without "guidance" from the Ethereals. Predominantly led by members of the Fire Caste, the Farsight Enclaves are a little outdated in their equipment given that it's been a few centuries since Farsight defected. Now and then the Enclaves roll up in sparkly new gear leading many to believe they have spies on the inside of the Empire stealing secrets and/or supplies.

Tau Combat Doctrine.

The Tau have two approaches to combat; they have Kauyon (The Patient Hunter) and Mont'Ka (The Killing Blow). Kauyon is all about waiting right until the last minute to mop the floor with your opponent, all the while keeping them at a distance with your guns. Mont'Ka is all about swift surgical precision and killing the foe as quickly as possible.

Tau Battlesuits

The reason anyone starts a Tau army

• XV15 Stealthsuit - Pretty much just stealth armour, nothing fancy
• XV22 Stealthsuit - Sleek and feminine in design, this is the go to armour for Commander Shadowsun. The only problem with this suit is the helmet, it looks like Shrek when he's pretending to be a knight.
• XV25 Stealthsuit - Ever wanted to be the Predator? Get yourself an XV22, with it's light bending technology it can sneak up on the enemy, pull their pants down and then run away before they know what's happening. Most XV22s are used for espionage, infiltration, sabotage. Despite this goofy looking suit resembling something from WALL-E strapped to a pair of legs.
• XV8 Crisis Battlesuit - The bread and butter battlesuit for the Tau.
• XV8-02 Iridium Crisis Battlesuit – Utilising Iridium armour to protect Tau commanders, as far as I know the Tau have yet to discover Tungsten.
• XV81 Crisis Battlesuit - A Crisis Suit with SMART Missile racks.
• XV84 Crisis Battlesuit - This one has more advanced targeting gear.
• XV85 Enforcer Battlesuit – The Tau equivalent of Char's Zaku II
• XV86 Coldstar Battlesuit – A Crisis Suit made to fight in space.
• XV89 Crisis Battlesuit - The Bunker Buster.
• XV88 Broadside Battlesuit - This suit is awesome. It is guns and missiles. It's Heavy Rail Rifle comes with R:60" A:2 BS:4+ S:12 AP:-4 D:D6+1 stats which pretty much guarantees your opponent will be using their invulnerable saves or Feel No Pain saves.
• XV9 Hazard Battlesuit – An advanced suit with advanced close range weaponry. The Ethereals hate it, the Earth Caste love it. Powered by a Dark Matter Nova Reactor it wields two short ranged Pulse Submunition Cannons which shoot exploding pulses of plasma.
• XV95 Ghostkeel Battlesuit - The Ghostkeel is a bit of a marmite suit, you'll either love it or hate it. I love it, especially when in a 2v2 match my team mate parked his Ghostkeel in the middle of the board during deployment and then had his army wiped in Turn 1. Unlike the smaller XV25, the Ghostkeel doesn't use light bending technology instead relying on a sophisticated suite of electronic warfare equipment and auspex counter measures, achieving stealth the same way Airwolf did. They are known to emerge from nowhere and tear their targets apart before vanishing.
• XV104 Riptide Battlesuit – The Riptide is perhaps the most Gundam of the Tau Battlesuits. It has a big gun, it has a shield generator mounted in a shield, it has mounds of missiles and a huge mother frikkin' jetpack. It screams Tallgeese, all it is missing is a royalty free laser sword.
• XV107 R'varna Battlesuit - Powered by a Dark Matter Nova Reactor it wields two short ranged Pulse Submunition Cannons which shoot exploding pulses of plasma.
• XV109 Y'vahra Battlesuit - This suit is designed to assault the enemy's frontlines.
• KV128 Stormsurge - Have you ever wanted to just sweep an enemy from the field along with the field itself? The Stormsurge is the suit of choice to accomplish that. It has a Cluster Rocket System that fires 4d6 shots and it's Pulse Blast Cannon has R:24" A:2 BS:4+ S:24 AP:-6 D:12 stats. With stats like that you can pretty much guarantee that you are murdering your opponent swiftly.
• KX139 Ta'unar Supremacy Armour - Designed to combat threats that don't actually exist. The Ta'unar is an example of Tau foresight at work. It is the Tau version of a Gundam, and very costly indeed at over £200. The Heavy Rail Cannon Array comes with R:120" A:2 BS:4+ S:26 AP:-5 D:16 stats which is Cillit Bang territory.

French Tau Foreign Legion

The Tau have a habit of "bestowing" the Greater Good upon worlds in their ever expanding empire. So far the Tau have at their disposal are:-

• The Kroot - Not sentient trees but birdlike humanoids that form tribes in jungles or ruined cities. They are primitive by Tau standards and enjoy feasting on the flesh of their opponents. They can even evolve their bodies by eating specific flesh, such as learning to speak a different language.
• The Vespid - Flying insectoids from planet Vespid.
• Gue'vesa - The Humans that have signed up to be part of the Greater Good.

Notable Tau

Shas'O Vior'la Shovah Kais Mont'yr - Or as he is better known, Commander Farsight. Founder of the Farsight Enclaves and wielder of the Dawnblade. The Tau equivalent of Renegade Astartes having rejected "The Greater Good" and established his own system of Government. In reality he said no to chemical brainwashing and wanted to strive for the greater good in his own way. Dawnblade in hand, he takes to the field in a customised red XV8 Crisis Suit, his Dawnblade, is a relic from either the Necrons, the Great Old Ones, the Aeldari or Chaos. It predates human civilisation and bestows Farsight with the remaining life force of the foes he slays with it. He has lived longer than any Tau should biologically be capable ofHis name and rank can be translated into Farsighted the Blooded Skilful Fire Caste Commander from Vior'la, but all his friends call him Char.

Aun'shi - An Ethereal who longs for peace but knowns peace can only be obtained by blood. A skilful warrior who is idolised by the Fire Caste as everything a warrior should strive to be. He's the Tau version of Sly Marbo. Currently, Aun'shi is leading an expedition to give Farsight a good spanking and bring the Enclave back to the Tau Empire

La'Kais - Shas'la T'au Kais or thee Skilful Fire Warrior from T'au. A fire warrior born into the T'au Sept, went on to be the star of his own video game, Tau Fire Warrior on the PS2. After his adventures, Kais was interred in a Tau mental hospital for PTSD. Although the Doctors believe he could make a full recovery, his future remains uncertain.

Aun'Va - Aun'Va is the Aun'O of the Tau Empire and it's holiest of figures, he is the Super Pope mentioned above. His model looks stupid IMHO

Shas'O Kais - Kais beleive it or not is the Tau version of the name John, it is everywhere. There is much speculation but little evidence to support this, Shas'O Kais is the same character Shas'la T'au Kais. It is rumoured that he got better and got promoted but that is all up in the air speculation.

Shas'O Or'es'Ka - Tau Commander in the Dawn of War: Soulstorm game

Shas'O R'Myr - Commander Longknife took part in the Taros campaign which saw him on the Imperial Mining World of Taros. TLDR, not much happened but Longknife's boss, Aun'vre, took a hit from an Eversor Assassin that was aimed at Longknife.

Shas'O Shaserra - AKA Commander Shadowsun. Very few Tau commanders are held in such high esteem as Shadowsun and Farsight. Both studied under Commander Puretide, which in itself is a big deal. She has been declared the Hero of the Third Sphere Expansion and as the Spearhead of the Greater Good. I could go on for ages about Shadowsun but I won't. She is deservedly a Big Deal among the Tau. Like Farsight she has had a model refresh, which looks cool although not as cool as Foresight's new model. Whatever you do, do not put that goofy helmet on her model.

Aun'El Shi'Or'es - Part of the Dawn of War: Dark Crusade game, pals with Shas'O Kais

If This Were A Book It Would Be: Mecha Samurai Empire by Peter Tieryas

If This Were A TV Show It Would Be: Mobile Suit Gundam and every other Mecha Anime

If This Were A Movie It Would Be: Pacific Rim and only because there is no decent Live Action Gundam movie, there was no film released in 2000 by the name of G-Saviour

If this were a Country it would be: Japan, the home of giant fighting robots.

Al's Opinion

Admittedly I was sceptical about the Tau, always seeing it as a flagrant cash grab for Anime fans. Their previous models were also uninspiring as hell, who thought beige was a good colour for an army. With the army refresh, the battlesuits look cooler and I can't wait to start building my Tau army. Me being me, I won't be sticking with convivial paint schemes, I'm going full Gundam when I get some battlesuits, maybe not so on the nose if I happen to pick up Farsight. If you like anime, big guns, or just a fan of Space Communist Fish People, you'll love the Tau. Best way to win with Tau? Park your big guns at the back and sweep the board clean

Tyranids

Biological Borg, Ulamog and the Ceaseless Hunger, Elvis and the Presleys, George Thorogood and the Destroyers, The Hive Mind Experience, Bunny-less Bugs.

What would a science-fantasy universe like Warhammer be without a hive mind army that consumes all. Halo had the Flood, TNG had the Borg, Starcraft had the Zerg. 40K has the Tyranids, and boy are they hungry.

Hive Mind and Hive Fleets

The Tyranids are no mere mindless killing machines, well for the most part, they are all synaptically connected to an entity known as the Hive Mind often called The Shadow in the Warp. Tyranids, and the names of their units, actually come from Imperial Designations. From their discovery on the planet of Tyran, to the Zoanthrope. All nids are classified like insects. The nids are not native to the Milky Way, we have no idea what Galaxy they are even from. All we know is they were attracted to our galaxy by the Astronomicon and the Pharos Beacon. Some in the Imperium theorise that they are running away from danger, what the nids are scared of is not something we would want to imagine. Most scholars agree that is more likely that they are moving from galaxy to galaxy like a plague of Locusts. As a swarm army they do nit descend upon the galaxy en masse; no there are different "factions" by way of the Hive Fleets, each Hive Fleet bringing something new to the battlefield. At first the Hive Fleets followed an alphabetical naming convention similar to how the met office designates hurricanes, IMHO they should just name all hurricanes Hawker, these days however it seems to be a case of writing names on the pub dartboard and having a game of blindfolded darts. Rumour has it they name them after great beasts from mythology.

Hive Fleets

Behemoth: The OG Hive Fleet, the scourge of Tyran Primus. Behemoth was the first Hive Fleet to ever wander into the Milky Way, and continued to be a menace until long after the first discovery on Tyran. After a lengthy battle, a combined force of the Ultramarines and White Scars with a little help from the Navis Imperialis, sent them packing. But it wouldn't be until the Battle for Macragge that the first Tyrannic War was over. In 9th Ed, Behemoth's style of play was catered to brutal and unending onslaught. Their faction ability was Hyper-Aggression with their specific traits and powers being tailored to the "We are big f***ing bugs and you can't stop us" mentality. These stylish nids can be seen treading the catwalk Milan in their spiffy Blue Carapace and Red Flesh combo.

Kraken: A hive fleet that is still causing problems despite the Second Tyrannic War being officially "over." Kraken assaulted the galaxy from the eastern fringes, as if it's that simple to apply cardinal points to an ever rotating interstellar mass. Whereas Behemoth was about Hyper Aggression, Kraken was about outflanking and outmanoeuvring the enemy. With uncanny psychic powers that gave the "psykers" of the Hive Fleet the gift of Prescience, but I must stress that in no way shape or form should you seek a Kraken Fortune Teller. Kraken sports a red carapace and white flesh kit when they are playing away games. When playing a home game they tend to opt for ballgowns bedecked in a billion sequins.

Leviathan: Leviathan hit the galaxy hard, it not only infested the Octarius Sector but a tendril of the fleet invaded Baal. Leviathan saw the start of the Third Tyrannic War, a war that saw Inquisitor Kryptman become an Exterminatus Addict. His plan to allow the Orks and the Tyranids to just fight among themselves backfired because the Orks now have a never-ending fight on their hands and the tyranids have an infite supply of biomass. Currently there is a blockade around the Octarius Sector, anything that escapes get vaporised. The Invasion of Baal however, that was an interesting one. The Blood Angels beat the nids back with the help of the Sanguinary brotherhood and the Daemons of Khorne led by Ka'Bandha, the daemon Sanguinius fought on Terra. Leviathan wasn't a hive fleet to let this defeat go unpunished, no this was a hive fleet with a grudge. Amassing yet another huge fleet, Leviathan struck into Imperium Sanctus and started the Fourth Tyrannic War, or Hive Fleet Leviathan 2: Tyranid Boogaloo. Leviathan's specialty was Synaptic Nexus. With all Tyranid bio forms connected to a singular synaptic network, they are able to buff units in combat or prevent them from failing battle-shock, or a variety of other special abilities. When people think of nids, they think of the purple and beige wee beasties. Leviathan's colours are that, purple and "white."

Ouroboris: Hive Fleet Ouroboris is somewhat of an enigma, no one is really sure if they existed or not. It is suspected that they were encountered as early as M36. Early imperial records state of an encounter with a xenos species that resembles the tyranids. In battle, Ouroboris favours air warfare by deploying large squadrons of Gargoyles and Harpies. All nids in this hive fleet are named either Rob or Ross, and are strut their stuff in their Armani Black Carapace and Blue Flesh.

Tiamet: This Hive Fleet is an early entry into the The Imperium Animal Husbandry Guide. Located solely in the Tiamet System, what makes them special is that they didn't devour all biomass in the system, instead they set up a rudimentary hive, which they defend ferociously in their boring grey and white colour scheme.

Hive Fleet Cthulhu Dagon: This minor Hive Fleet invaded the Jericho system in M41, it gave the Deathwatch and the Imperial Navy a headache as no matter how many times they try to examine the nids of this hive fleet get interrupted by the Shadow in the Warp, the avatar of the Hive Mind. Currently the fleet still causes contention in the Orpheus Salient area of the Jericho Reach and use it as an impromptu space port for other hive Fleets.They take to the battlefield in a sea of Black and Burgundy.

Gorgon: The biological and chemical warfare specialist of the Tyranids. They invaded the Tau Empire in M41 and devastated an area that is now known as "The Cone of Silence." Each bioform in Gorgon has an organ that excretes toxic fluids and they are highly adaptable which caused the Tau no end of problems. When the fleet was thought to be wiped out it reappeared on the Plague Hulk Vomnivorax where they battled the Mouldering Claw Warband, initially they were driven back before they adapted and began spewing toxic spores that the servants of Nurgle couldn't withstand. Where they go, none dare to follow. Avid Celtic Football Club fans, Gorgon arrive in waves of Green and White.

Hydra: Hydra is a scary hive fleet, the hive mind almost appears as sentience throughout the fleet. Hydra is the personification of survival of the fittest. They send out swarms of bio forms and whether they win a battle or not, they swoop down and hoover up everything they can to study the how their bio forms did in battle, they iron out any weaknesses before spawning new forms and releasing them into battle to repeat the process. It is theorised that Hydra is attempting to create the ultimate bioform that will allow the Hive Mind to conquer the Milky Way. They are coloured in a Blue, Black & Purple colour scheme and have been seen formation marching in the style of the SS.

Notable Tyranids

Sarah Kerrigan The Borg Norn Queen: The Norn Queen is perhaps one of the rarest and almost unique bioforms of the Hive Mind. If the Hive Mind is Skynet, the Norn Queen is the assembly line that makes the T800. Inside the Hive Ships of each Hive Fleet there is a Norn Queen who is mass producing these monsters. From Carnifex to Ripper Swarm, this royal pain in the apse is the mother to all monsters. If you can kill it; you have a good chance of crippling that Hive Fleet as the Queen also functions as they wifi router for the Hive Fleet's synaptic nexus.

Ol' One Eye: A unique variety of Carnifex. One Eye was the Bain of Ultramar at the head of Hive Fleet Behemoth. A scout sergeant by the name of Telion managed to bullseye One Eye in one of it's eyes, devastating the socket and given the Carnifex it's dashing Appalachian. The fate of Ol' One Eye is unknown, there are multiple sights of a one eyed Carnifex appearing throughout Ultramar and beyond. If this is the same creature, he has been killed more than a dozen times and won't stay dead.

Death Leaper/Mist Reaper/Von Ryan's Leapers: Leapers are unique strains of the Lictor bioform. Each of them is a deadly encounter waiting to happen. Think Predator and Alien put together, no I do not mean those films that shit all over the franchises

The Parasite of Mortrex: A unique Winged Hive tyrant with the ability to bite down on the their victims and infect them with Ripper Parasites.

If This Were A Book It Would Be: Ender's Game Series

If This Were A TV Show It Would Be: Star Trek, any series that features The Borg

If This Were A Movie It Would Be: Cloverfield

If this were a Country it would be: Australia, the land where just about any biological life can kill you.

Al's Opinion

Don't get me wrong, I appreciate the Tyranid Army and owned a 500 point army at one point. Like Relentless Energy Drinks, I'm glad I tried them once. The nids are a choice for anyone who likes swarm armies like Orks and Guard, but want to be that one "edgy" kind of swarm army player. IMHO the models are relatively well designed but they stimulate that part of my brain where my arachnophobia resides and that isn't really want I want from an Army. Nids players are like Necron players, they try to overwhelm you with overpowering forces and just when you think they were dead they come back. Play Nids if you fall into the old "I like to play the armies no one ever plays" mentality or you are the type of player with a secret Entomology fetish.

The Leagues of Votann

The Mighty Midgets, Dwemer and the Dweebs, The Squat Thrusters, Kinsman: The Golden Rule. What sort of fantasy setting, albeit a space fantasy, be without Dwarves? There are Orcs, Goblins, Elves, Trolls and Ogres in the 40K universe one way or another, so why not Dwarves?

The Votann believe it or not aren't actually the dwarfs but the "Ancestors" which are AI Constructs that are remnants of old Imperium STCs. The actual Leagues are made up of abhuman clones that refer to themselves as Kin. Unlike their distant human cousins; the Leagues are relatively advanced technologically speaking, having ignored the Imperium's edict of "Thou shalt not Innovate or Invent new technologies" and have invented technologies that. make life in the core easier and as profitable as possible. For what is a dwarf without profit?

Kindreds, Holds, and Leagues

Every Kin belongs to a Kindred, who would've guessed, upon emerging from their crucible they live, train, work, drink, and bet on races in their Kindred's home Fortress or Hold. Holds are not just a fortress; the Kindred have been known to turn their holds into bustling cityscapes with military and industrial districts. No matter how powerful a Kindred is, when compared to a League they are but a drop of water in the ocean.

When multiple Kindred come together and form an Alliance, or Confederation if they lean that way, they create a League. A kindred may belong to more than one league; doing so allows them to trade resources and technology easier as well as providing military support and guild management.

Notable Leagues

Like any good Sport, the Votann are divided into Major Leagues and Minor Leagues. The classification of the Leagues is down to size in terms of political influence, military power and industrial economy. Minor Leagues are just smaller in all these aspects and may often act like a sub-League within the Major Leagues.

Major Leagues

Greater Thurian League: The GTL are pretty much a military force, their attitudes to war and combat are as ruthless as their material and resource acquisition. They are skilled warriors, ruthless expansionists, and pragmatic problem solvers. The biggest of the Leagues, Kin across the Leagues dream of one day being able to say they are part of the GTL. When not being ruthless, the GTL are known to tread the boards as the Votann's foremost Gilbert & Sullivan Light Opera Society and entertain the other Leagues.

Kronus Hegemony: If you ever have a problem, whether it be a problematic jar of pickles, a lecherous teacher, or crippling debt. The Kronus Hegemony have a simple solution, Hit it with an Axe. The Kin of the Hegemony could be said two embody two things, the 40K equivalent of AoS' Fyreslayers and the song "Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap" by AC/DC. They enjoy running headfirst in to battle, the greater the odd against them the better. They will literally fight a one sided battle solely for bragging rights should they win. They are known for making the strongest ale know across the galaxy; just the scent of it can fell an Ork.

Trans-Hyperion Alliance: The Trans-Hyperion Alliance are the League that travel further than any other League; they maintain outposts in what they call "Far-Space" (I see what you did there GW) and manage the trade with non-Votann races, such as Aeldari, Imperial Rogue Traders and T'au. they do not trade with Necrons and Tyranids for obvious reasons. They do not trade with the Orks because the Orks just want to destroy everything. On their downtime, the THA enjoy a good movie night, with the Kindred divided between The Sound of Music and Universal Soldier.

Urani-Surtr Regulates: The URSR are the embodiment of resiliance among the Votann. They have suffered hardship upon hardship but have stood stoic and steadfast against the onslaught of badluck. Their numbers may have dwindled but their resolve hasn't, thay have a deep hatred for waste and make sure that nothing they do or use isn't a benefit to the league. They are the only known distillers of Vodka across the galaxy, Vodka so alcoholic that it can clean a Baneblade's engine.

Ymyr Conglomerate: The Ymyr are the 1% League, they are elitist snobs that beleive every other league and the galaxy as a whole is beneath them. They have to have the best of everything; their ships must have the most up-to-date technology, their void armour has to be the most exquisite. Unlike other leagues who brew booze and perform musicals, the Ymyr are too busy polishing their armour to care about other leagues.

Minor Leagues - The Partick Thistle of The Votann

Balor-Attal Conglomerate: The BAC are a league on the decline, a bit like the Kannapolis Intimidators or the Jacksonville Jaguars (I say this knowing I am a fan of hopeless causes the Jags), as a result of the decline of their Votann. When a Votann degrades, it becomes little more that a Fane which is how the special psyker Kin interface with the Votann and the ancestor core. The BAC are one such league where their Votann is all but useless, rendering them unable to commune with anything other than Ask Jeeves.

Grand Orion Compact: What would a Dwarf be without a grudge? The GOC have held a longstanding grudge with the Orks of WAAAGH! Morbok and the customer services department at Jenners. For five-hundred years, the GOC committed themselves to purging the Ork Warband of every single greenskin, and to never step foot in a department store again. The forces of Morbok (which sounds like a rejected Star Trek villian) destroyed the GOC's Votann which to the Leagues is like shaving off the beard of their fantasy counterparts.

Grendl Dominance: The fans of Beowulf are much like the Kronus Hegemnony, they solve problems by hitting them with any weapon in their hands.

Ghulo Industrial Complex: This minor League has aspirations of becoming a Major League by creating a network of industrial mining worlds and trade routes. Known to have the largest taxi company across all the leagues.

Jotun-Erydani Combine: A minor League known for their craftmanship and technological masterpieces. All their equipment comes with a 1500 page instruction manual, printed on the highest quality taurox hide.

Kapellan League: A League in decline after the Fane of Koryn's Kindred became self-aware and had become aggressive in it's desire for knowledge and raw materials. Koryn's Kindred left the league with a few other kindreds to form the Kronus Hegemony.

Tethys Expanse: The Tethys Expanse are known for their potent singularity based communication system and they charge an exorbitant fee to use their services, much like Sky and Virgin Media.

Pan-Telluric Commonwealth: This minor league is more egalitarian than the Ymyr Conglomerate. They own the Votann's equivalent of Savile Row.

Serantile-Tok Mercantile League: Known for trading with the T'au. They love rhyming and poetry.

Sigma-Drakoni Union: A league that treasures honourable combat over everything else. They have a thriving re-enactment society that seems to imagine history's greatest wars but from the aspect of a Samurai. You should see their Battle of Thermopolyae re-enactment.

Typhon-Styx Protectorate: Despite being a minor league, the TSP are known for their formidable strongholds and defensive structures. Known to be divided between two fanbases, The Iron Typhons secretly worship Perturabo whereas The Imperial Styx are fans of Rogal Dorn.

Being a technologically advanced civilisation; the Votann have a vast array of weaponry that the Imperium could only dream about, infact they introduced the T'au to Ion Weaponry. Not being one to shy away from AI; the Votann can be seen accompanied by Ironkin, sentient robots that have a variety of uses. The Ironkin aren't treated like tools or servants but like flesh & blood, for they afterall Kin.

If This Were A Book It Would Be: The Slayer series by William King. Gotrek is the man.

If This Were A TV Show It Would Be: Record of Lodoss War. It's difficult to find a TV show that doesn't feel like an invasive look into the lives of people with dwarfism.

If This Were A Movie It Would Be: The Hobbit, there aren't many films that focus solely on dwarves that isn't Snow White, and if you ask mne that shouldn't count because they look more like Gnomes than Dwarves.

If this were a Country it would be: Chile, for their mining industry.

Al's Opinion

If money and storage were not an issue, I would have a Votann army. I like the look of these hardy space Dwarves toughing it out in the galactic core. I love the look, blending Dwarven culture with the hi-tech grimdark futurism of 40K. They have one of the best looking armours in the game, the Exo-Armour which looks like it was pulled right out of Starcraft. It also has defensive butt cheek plates, I'm not joking, the Votann like having buns of steel.

They are fun, interesting and a good alternative to the T'au. The Heavy Magna Rail Cannon boasts an impressive S18 A1 AP-4 D6+6 stats, which is nuts. It may only fire once but you're guaranteed to be wounding on 2s and 3s, as well as forcing your opponent to rely on invul saves, feel no pains or any stratage that can render the attack useless.

Genestealer Cults

Lock away your Levi's, bag up your Bugle Boys, stash your Sergio Valentes. The JeansGenestealers are here to play.

Genestealers themselves are the infitration unit of the Tyranid hive Fleets. They will make their home in a Space Hulk and lie in wait for some unlucky passerby to investigate. When the unwary investigators come a knocking, they spring from the shadows and infect their prey. Those who put up a fight end up torn to ribbons. Those who are infected return to their daily life unaware they are patient zero. They return home and do what most people do, breed.

When an infected has kids; that kid is born with two things, a mutation and a connection to the Hive Mind. This process continues and over the period of several generations of infecting and breeding, a Purestrain Genestealer is born. The aim of the game is to spread their influence and convert the whole planet they are on. Once the Hive Fleet arrives they begin turning everything into biomass and at this point the link to the Hive Mind is severed and as they are about to die they are filled with regret for the actions they a have committed in the name of an uncaring god.

The GSC are an interesting, their preferred meathod of fighting is Guerilla Warfare. Sabotage, subterfuge, and stealth are the top 3 tactics in their playbook. At the start of the game, the GSC can set up their troops in ambush. Whilst in ambush the unit is immune to rapid ingress and other stratagems, and at the end of your opponents movement and reinforcements phase you can set up a unit that is in ambush at least 9" away from an enemy unit. Whilst this can be a way to pressure your opponent, it can make valuable troops a sitting duck during combat phases.

Cults

Cults can appear on any world, from Hive Worlds to Agri Worlds. Each cult is usually just a branch of one overarching cult but whether it be a major cult or just half a dozen dudes in a shed, they all serve the same master. The cults love nothing more than weaseling their way into imperial society and slowly manipulating things from the shadows. Each cult typically serves a Genestealer Patriarch who acts as their node to the Hive mind. Imagine ET if he were on Earth to convert it for his people and poor Elliot's family were the first cult memebers.

Major Cults

The NFL had the Arena Football League. The NBA has the G League. The MLB has Minor League Baseball. The English Football Leagues have the Vauxhall Conference National League, and the Scottish Football Leagues have Partick Thistle and Dunfermline Athletic. The GSC likewise are split into major and minor cults.

Bladed Cog: When the AdMech decided to conquer the world of Feinmister Gamma they created a disgruntled populace, who knew that oppressing a native people could cause a problem? When a hulk delivered a purestrain genestealer, the native saw that there was life beyond the stars and this stealer offered them a chance to worship a new god. Once again a populace turns to religion instead of science and reasoning, well maybe not reasoning. The Bladed Cog sprang up and subtly began shifting the allegiance of the people. Known fans of Takeshi's Castle and Red Dwarf.

Hivecult: This cult is an example of a cult spreading like wildfire. On the world of the New Gidlam twelve of the thirteen Hive cities had been besieged from below by the cult. The last standing city is a bulwark against the mutants of the Hivecult. On weekends they've been known to don in leather and whip each other.

Innerwyrm: A cult on the Abbatoir world of Fleishgate, they have a knack for using the equipment in the slaughterhouses to mow opposition down. When not subverting society, this cult plays a lot of Chess.

Pauper Princes: All over the slums of Chancer's Vale, promising the downtrodden and forgotten a way off world if they receive the Genestealer's "Kiss." One of the few cults to make it to Vigilus. You don't want to know what these folks do in their free time, trust me.

Rusted Claw: An almost Nurgle-like cult that worship Entropy. They see tarnished coins and rusted vehicles as the divine gifts that their Patriarch bestows. Currently they are located on the mining planet of Newseam. They enjoy restoring classic shopping trolleys at the weekend.

Twisted Helix: Quite possibly one of the most dangerous cults in existence. On Vejovium III; they have managed to worm their way into the medical facilities that manufacture medicines and ship them off world, this has not only spread the cult through the system but also beyond it's borders. The Magus of this cult has been able to extract a key gene from a Genestealer and infected specific medicines with it, resulting in aberations and metamorphs popping up wherever these medical supplies are found. Known fans of philosophy, they spend their free time debating the existence of the universe, popular theories include The Coin Collection Theory and The Moon is actually made of Anchovies.

Cult of the Four Armed Emperor: Quite possibly the biggest cult in the galaxy, despite the intervention of the Deathwatch. Originally from Ghosar Quintus, they have spread their malign corruption far and wide. Fans of Diane Lane, big fans of Diane Lane.

Cult of the Second Son: The cult that causes problems on Necromunda, as if Necromunda didn't have enough trouble as it was. The Hive lords have tried to eliminate the cult by bombing the $h!t out of the hives they were infecting but you can't keep a good cult down, they have persisted and moved on to other hives. Fun fact, they have many different choirs that sign hymns for charity, unfortunately no one told them that choirs different voice ranges resulting in choirs purely made of bass' and sopranos.

The Brotherhood: A cult that was part of Hive Fleet Kraken. Wiped out of existence thanks to the machinations of the Inquisition and the Ultramarines. Who cares what they were in to, they're dead.

Minor Cults

The B-Side Cults, the GSC equivalent of Forfar United and Scone Thistle.

Behemoid Undercult: A small cult that skirts the fringes of Ultramar, flipping the proverbial bird to the Ultramarines. AThe cult not only worships their patriarch but also the Carnifex Ol' One Eye.

Bringers of Enraptured Joy: A cult on the lam, pursued by the Deathwatch in a manner similar to Smokey and the Bandit.

Cult Veridian: Infected the jungle world of Moraz III until the Sweaty Beefcake Squadron Catachan Regiment stopped by and mopped the floor with the cult and it's Patriarch. If you ever need an alien threat extinguished, just call the Expendables.

Cult of the Star Saviours: On the world of Evergrind, this cult was reduced to leaderless rabble when the Imperial Navy turned the planet into Mad Max Land, killing both the Patriarch and the Magus. Now the dwindling cult survives by making anyone daring enought to land on Evergrind regret their actions.

Cult Tendricul: A cult that barely managed to survive being slaughtered wholsesale by the Aeldari. Thanks to the intervention by the Black Templars, the cult managed to escape near death and continues going strong.

Voidbrood: Proof that religous worship can be a bad thing. These over-zealous idiots helped a tyranid hive fleet devour the Tarensi System beleiving they were helping their gods as the devout servants they beleived themselves to be. What they don't realise is that they are infact just a light snack for any hungry nids nearby.

Cult Tenebrous: Normally the tyranids are immune to the ruinous powers of Chaos. The gods can't manipulate the Hive Mind or sway the synaptic nexus that controls all tyranid bioforms. Chaos however, can manipulate the minds of mortals. Cult Tenebrous were corrupted by the forces of Nurgle and once they realised just what the Hive Mind had instore for them, they were transformed by the Grandfather of Plagues and set loose upon the galaxy once more to bring the galaxy into the smelly bosom of Papa Nurgle. Promoted from food to slave, can't say that's much of an improvement.

Sons of Jormungandr: A cult that worships the Hive Fleet of the same name. Their chosen tactic to infect new worlds is to fill asteroids with mycetic spores and carpet bomb them.

Starchosen: A cult wiped off the face of the galaxy by Marneus Calgar when he determined the planet was only fit for Exterminatus.

Star Kindred: The cult that worships an unknown Hive Fleet with a bioship so large it eclipses the sun. The religous nutjobsfanatics decorate their vehicles with the eclipsed sun iconography, how imaginitive.

There are other minor cults, some still active, others a forgotten memory. At the end of the day; the Hive Mind will eventually turn their devotees into biomass for the next generation of Tyranid. The cults effectively are hastening their own demise.

If This Were A Book It Would Be: The God of the the Hive. It's all there, cults, govermental subversion, murder and ritual sacrifice.

If This Were A TV Show It Would Be: The Clearing

If This Were A Movie It Would Be: The Wicker Man, the original for sure. I think Nick Cage being Nick Cage spoiled the remake

If this were a Country it would be: Brazil, it is second on the list for religous diversity and what is a cult but an unorganised religion? Couldn't use the USA as the are already backing the Orks

Al's Opinion

I like the GSC, in fact I am hoping at somepoint in what life I have left to at least get 500 points worth. I like most of the models, and I like their guerilla warfare tactics. The lore however I am undecided on. I understand the lore but how much psychic manipulation does a woman have to put under when giving birth to a kid with three arms, or an aberrant? The nerd in me is like "It's all part of the Hive Mind's Plan" but the IRL me is like "Whoa! That's messed up!" See what I mean? A source of conflict. If you are trying to be that "edgy" player who plays the "niche" faction you might want to miss the GSC. They often dominate at tournaments and lets be honest, they're no longer the "niche" faction. You want to be different from everyone else? Play AdMech

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