[MOC] WH40k: Aeldari Hideout

[Farseer Petriel]

Hello again, Eurobricks!

 

Here is my new work based on the universe of Warhammer 40000 tabletop game. The following story is not a part of WH40k official lore, but my own creation.

 

An exile. He was banished from his own craftworld by his own student. The rescue of a human hive world at the cost of Aeldari lives brought consequences. He had to flee to a distant, forsaken, barren planet that previously belonged to the ancient Aeldari Empire, and there he built a wraithbone tower where he lived as a recluse.

 

Two hundred Terran years have passed. The old friend brought news about the fracture of Biel-Tan. And about the birth of the Ynnari, a new cult of Death God Ynnead that gave a new hope to divided Aeldari (or Eldar, as they were called before) tribes, promising to end Chaos menace once and for all. And the exiled Farseer moved on and understood that his war is far from over. He rallied like-minded Aeldari from his home craftworld and other places, and together they turned his hideout into a base of a small army fighting on Ynnari's side.

The base is built on a deserted, barren planet. The shining structures made of wraithbone, an Aeldari psychically-sensitive material, are raised atop a cliff.

 

The fortress consists of three buildings: the Farseer's tower, the Soul Shrine and the plasma generator:

 

Not far from the hideout a portal to the Webway, the trans-dimensional network of tunnels used by Aeldari for transportation, is located:

Like the road, it existed before the Farseer arrived at the planet.

 

Now the Ynnari use this ancient arch to appear on other planets and strike at their enemies such as Chaos, Necrons or Tyranids:

 

The wraithbone staircase leads to the entrance:

 

The Soul Shrine was erected after the Farseer pledged himself to Ynnead. This building serves as an armory and a training center:

 

Its shape was inspired by Dawn of War video game:

Spoiler

 

The plasma generator provides energy for the base:

 

It looks like an Eldar generator from Dawn of War:

Spoiler

 

A conservatory with air filtration system is located near the generator:

 

Aeldari buildings are white, decorated with lots of gems and stones. A transparent dome rises above Farseer's tower:

 

An ornate spire crowns the tower:

 

Walls with windows - there are corridors behind them:

 

 

Some technical device is located near the Soul Shrine:

 

The Farseer's tower stands on ornate yet sturdy supports:

Б

 

A side view:

 

Now the hideout is attacked by the forces of Chaos, led by Space Marines from Death Guard Legion. The Farseer had to get support from Ynnari leaders and Drukhari to repel the invasion of Eternal Enemy:

 

Yvraine, the Daughter of Shades, the Herald of Ynnead and the leader of Ynnari clashed with a Chaos Lord who worships Nurgle, the God of Rot. She wields Kha-vir, one of ancient Croneswords, and is accompanied by Alorynis, her loyal Gyrinx familiar:

 

Along Yvraine the Visarch fights. He is her mysterious bodyguard who never takes off his helmet. He is armed with Asu-var, another Cronesword, and strikes with it the Plaguebearers - virulent daemons of Nurgle:

 

The exiled Farseer of craftworld Ermyaris leads his followers to battle. He is reading battle spells, holding up his Singing Spear, and his Gyrinx Murzinx enhances the psychic power of his master:

 

Howling Banshees Exarch Eyla - the very same friend who told the Farseer about the Ynnari - strides towards Poxwalkers of Nurgle. She will destroy these plague zombies with her Executioner before they spread their foul diseases:

 

Autarch Xaniele who left Ermyaris by her own will, rides her jetbike, armed with laser lance:

 

Chaos forces advance. They have Chaos Space Marines, ordinary humans and daemons:

 

The attack is led by Pestilens Bubulgor, Death Guard Chaos Lord. Like all Space Marines from that Legion, he bloated due to blessings of "Grandfather Nurgle" and merged with his power armor, through which horns and bones began to protrude. The Chaos Lord is armed with a manreaper scythe crowned by the mark of Nurlge, and a plasma pistol:

 

Chaos Lord is accompanied by Plague Marines - common Death Guard warriors armed with boltguns. Like their leader, they turned into monstrous mutants:

 

Plague Marines are joined by our old friend Nefaros. This Noise Marine from Emperor's Children Legion can now boast with his stylish guitar that can not only make disgusting noises, but shoot bolts and fire! And it bears the mark of Pleasure God Slaanesh!

 

Near the Chaos Marines march the cultists - ordinary people from various planets who are devoted to Chaos. This particular cult is led by an old psyker who worships Tzeentch, the God of Knowledge and Magic:

 

Poxwalkers slowly shamble behind human Chaos followers. These mindless zombies were once Imperial workers who got infested by Nurgle's plague:

Near the Poxwalkers, an ogryn fights. This big and strong, but very stupid abhuman mutant joined the Chaos Cult only because of loyalty to his commanders.

 

Plaguebearers - the disgusting one-eyed, one-horned daemons of Nurgle:

 

United, the Aeldari stand tall against the minions of evil:

 

The Farseer is aided by Drukhari - Dark Eldar who abandoned their vile lifestyles and joined the Ynnari. A Drukhari Reaver jetbike emerged from the Webway gate, firing at Chaos followers from a splinter rifle:

 

This Drukhari squad is led by Archon Teniria who came to Ynnari with the pursue of knowledge:

 

A Drukhari sword master from Incubi order fights with Bloodletters - the daemons of Blood God Khorne:

 

Spiritseer Tillmiele casts her spells, calling to Aeldari souls:

 

The base is defended well. Support platforms with D-cannons that create holes in reality, and Ranger Moyaz shell the enemies from the walls:

The battle is in full swing:

 

The barren battlefield landscape:

 

And here is what the hideout looks inside. I wouldn't have been myself if I didn't make the interior:

 

The entrance hall and corridors are elevated above an underground cave:

 

This large and spacious hall is a good place for meetings and discussions:

 

The entrance hall has a glassy floor:

 

You can see behind it an enigmatic fountain with swirling souls. Even the Farseer does not know what it is. These ruines apparently remained from the ancient Aeldari Empire, and now the soul magics made the plants grow around them...

 

The corridors have high windows and statues of ancient heroes:

 

 

In the conservatory, the Aeldari grow vegetables and fruit for food. It also reminds them of the nature of their home craftworld. And of their ancestors' real homeworld that was utterly lost after the Fall:

The garden is inhabited by Gyrinxes and other animals.

 

The Aeldari grow the seedlings with special lamps:

 

A generator room is placed above the conservatory. Here the control panel for the plasma generator is located. The mechanisms are maintained by a hovering drone:

The Aeldari have forgotten how to make these robots, so they do not use them in combat.

 

The generator's roof with a spinning crystal:

 

Let's move to the Soul Shrine. Here is the Chamber of Wisdom where the Warlocks practice their battle magics:

The female Warlock levitates without CGI. It appeared this way because of here cloak, and I chose to keep this detail.

 

This room contains all for peaceful rest and thoughts - even tea to drink between practice:

 

You can also go to the balcony to see the bleak landscape of the planet:

 

The Chamber of Khaine is located on the next floor. There the Aeldari God of War is venerated. In this halls, Ynnari warriors keep their weapons and do their training:

 

The Chamber is lit by flames in chalices:

 

The next floor is dedicated to the Chamber of Spirits, the place where Spiritseer Tillmiele comprenends the magic of souls and wraithbone:

 

Tillmiele's table is full with artifacts and has a flask with deceased Aeldari souls:

 

In the Shrine's attic the shuriken weapons are stored:

 

The entire tower above the entrance hall contains Farseer's personal apartments. It is the oldest part of this hideout:

 

The interior has a chair near a stained glass window and a cosy bed:

 

Another stained glass window and an exit to the balcony:

 

The Farseer can look through his telescope at the stars... and at the glooming red scar of Dathedian, the Great Rift that tore apart the Galaxy:

 

Near the large purple window, a table with magic equipment, a Singing Spear holder and Murzinx's dish with a fish are located:

 

The thoughtful Farseer and his Gyrinx:

 

The Farseer studies ancient texts at his desk and stops to pet Murzinx:

 

Above the heads of the Farseer and his high-ranking guest, shelves with potions and scrolls... and the vines can be found:

 

Under the dome a pillar of shining soul energy comes, and around it plants with precious gems grow:

The very same phenomenon was observed under the glassy floor. The Farseer cannot explain this magical effect yet.

 

The spire houses a small room with various old artifacts:

Here the Farseer stores his previous Singing Spear and a stasis cell with the spirit stone of Myranna - his deceased sister.

 

Let's move to the dungeons. The Soul Shrine contains the library with many texts about magic and Chaos collected by the Farseer himself:

 

The workshop where the Bonesingers repair the jetbikes after battles:

 

Aeldari engineers use unusual tools such as a psytronome which rests on a table:

 

The refectory - the place where Aeldari cook and eat their food:

 

Cells with beds where Aeldari sleep and live:

 

 

Now, when the tour of the Farseer's base is over, it is time to look at the characters. Let's start with servants of Chaos. The Lord (at center) and two Plague Marines of Death Guard - disgustingy resilient mutants with bone protrusions on their power armor:

The Chaos Lord is armed with manreaper scythe, and the Plague Marines are armed with boltguns. One Plague Marine holds a bell - one of Nurlge's symbols. For this MOC, I changed the construction of Space Marines maxifigures from the previous work, and now their arms do not look like sticks.

 

The back view - here you can see how Nurlge's "gifts" change even the power armor backpacks:

 

Noise Marine Nefaros is a maniac who loves to kill with sickening sound waves. The bright colors of his armor and a guitar-shaped sonic weapon are a reference to old 80s Noise Marine miniatures:

 

Nefaros from the back:

 

Plague Marine and Noise Marine are brothers forever!

Here you can see that a Plague Marine is taller than a Noise Marine even with his "disco" heels. The blessings of Nurgle make his followers bloated.

 

Chaos Cultists:

I had a lot of fun inventing this patchy scum. Their leader is a Tzeentchian psyker so he wields a bird staff. A standard bearer holds a Chaos Star sigil. Ogryn's horned helmet is a reference to old "bone 'ead" Ogryn Imperial Guard sergeants.

 

Chaos Poxwalkers - plague zombies as they are:

 

Lesser daemons of Chaos - Bloodletters of Khorne and Plaguebearers of Nurgle:

 

Now come the Aeldari. Yvraine, the Prophet of Ynnead, the Visarch (it's a title, not a name), her mysterious champion, and Alorynis, her pet Gyrinx:

Yvraine wears a dress back from ancient Empire days, and the Visarch is clad in ornate Bel-Anshoc style armor. They appeal to old ways because they want to restore the former glory of Aeldari race with the help of Ynnead who can defeat Slaanesh and Chaos.

 

Yvraine's dress and Visarch's collar are lavishly decorated:

Yvraine, the Visarch and Alorynis are the only canon Warhammer 40000 characters mentioned in this topic.

 

I have some units in the form of WH40k miniatures, so I can compare LEGO and Warhammer 40000 versions with each other. Here are two Yvraines and two Alorynises:

 

And two Visarchs:

 

The psykers of craftworld Ermyaris - two Warlocks, the Farseer and the Spiritseer. And, of course, Murzinx - the Farseer's Gyrinx and the descendant of Murzion:

Warlocks and the Farseer are armed with Singing Spears and shuriken pistols. The Spiritseer wields a staff and a dagger.

 

Farseers and Murzinxes from LEGO and Warhammer 40000:

 

Spiritseer Tillmiele and her prototype from the tabletop:

By the way, she was a student of Spiritseer Salarian who remained loyal to the current ruling Council of Ermyaris.

 

Warlocks - two minifigures and one miniature:

Now I have a good explanation why my Aeldari do not wear helmets - in canon many Ynnari do not wear them either.

 

Autarch Skyrunner on her jetbike:

She wields a laser lance, and twin shuriken catapults are located beneath the jetbike's hull.

 

Two Autarchs - note that this miniature bike is outdated, so I based the LEGO version on a newer one:

 

Exarch Eyla (at the center) and two Howling Banshees:

These female warriors are armed with power swords and shuriken pistols, and the Exarch wields the Executioner power glaive.

 

Banshees from two different worlds:

 

Ranger Moyaz in chameleoline cloak, armed with sniper rifle:

 

With a WH40k Ranger miniature:

 

Guardians are the civilian militia of craftworld Aeldari. Two of them wield shuriken catapults, and other two operate artillery platforms:

 

Guardians from LEGO and the tabletop game:

 

Vaul's Wrath anti-grav artillery platforms with distorting cannons (or D-cannons):

They are used as defensive weapons of the base.

 

A platform with its prototype from Warhammer 40000:

 

Drukhari (or Dark Eldar) - an Incubi, an Archon and a Wych:

Archon Teniria is a sophisticated person who likes philosophy, so she dresses more gallantly than her edgy brethren.

 

Drukhari Reaver jetbike:

 

The civilians - every base needs maintenance personnel. And, of course, Gyrinxes to catch mice!

 

A bonus frame - an unlucky take or... something more?

 

Thank you for watching and reading! You can see all these photos at my Flickr gallery!

[BardDandelion]

Not that much into Eldars myself but nice to see another WH40k build here. :D

Some of the details are totally nailed - webway portal and turrets - went to your Flickr and left some comments. Really good job.
Did you use some art as a reference to build that main castle-like structure?

Finally, I find minifigs a bit too messy. I know how hard it is to build something 40k-ish and made an entire army of such minifigs but it is possible.
If you choose white and violet for your color scheme for Eldars, you should keep it also with minifigs. Maybe try some NPU and brickbuild helmets for soldiers. Shape of them is very characteristic and that's what would make your builds instantly recognizable as WH40k.

[Farseer Petriel]

Thank you, BardDandelion!

 

4 hours ago, BardDandelion said:

Not that much into Eldars myself but nice to see another WH40k build here. :D

And what faction do you like most? I've seen many Imperial MOCs in your album, but you also have Orks and some Tyranids and Dark Eldar.

 

4 hours ago, BardDandelion said:

Some of the details are totally nailed - webway portal and turrets - went to your Flickr and left some comments. Really good job.
Did you use some art as a reference to build that main castle-like structure?

Thank you very much! That details were clearly inspired by Dawn of War buildings and WH40k miniatures.

As for the main castle, it didn't have direct inspirations and references. The entrance vaguely resembles the Webway Assembly from Dawn of War game:

Spoiler

Vaguely - because I didn't have much room for these wide wing-like structures, but I still managed to do a triangular entrance.

The tower somewhat resembles the left structure from what I think is one of GW's original concept arts, but it still differs very much from it:

Spoiler

I also refreshed my own old picture, especially the tower on the right (it is actually the Farseer's tower in the craftworld back when he wasn't an exile):

Spoiler

And the least expected source of inspiration is Floop's castle from Spy Kids movie from which I borrowed (or trazyn'd) the layout of Farseer's room windows and the stained glass:

Spoiler

 

Here you can see one large window in the center with smaller ones on the sides, just like in my MOC:

 

 

4 hours ago, BardDandelion said:

Finally, I find minifigs a bit too messy. I know how hard it is to build something 40k-ish and made an entire army of such minifigs but it is possible.
If you choose white and violet for your color scheme for Eldars, you should keep it also with minifigs. Maybe try some NPU and brickbuild helmets for soldiers. Shape of them is very characteristic and that's what would make your builds instantly recognizable as WH40k.

Maybe you're right, but I personally like helmetless Eldar more to show their "human-like but different" nature. To be honest, when I first saw them in Dawn of War in 2005 (that was the start of my long relationship with 40k), I couldn't think of them as of space elves and thought that they're some reptilian humanoids who breathe methane and don't take off their helmets in oxygen atmosphere. So I deliberately chose to stick to canon helmet only with the Visarch because he isn't my character and his helmet is a plot point.

And as for the color scheme, I would be glad to see more purple and violet torsos but don't recall somebody other than Dumbledore and Joker whose bodies don't fit Eldar warriors. Danju from Knights' Kingdom 2 was good but his torso was plain. So I took mostly white with several crimson touches to represent the Ynnari.

Edited July 10, 2020 by Farseer Petriel

[BardDandelion]

@Farseer Petriel
Thank you for such extensive answer. ;)

I have built plenty of Ork figures and vehicles. Going to do the same with Imperial Guard.
From time to time I build something from different faction - SM, SoB, Chaos, some Xeno. I think I will jump to Eldars at some point. Just to have something in my collection. I think I will go for DoW2 Farseer look but with something extra on the back. The wings thing Farseer from DoW had should work.

Also started my adventure with WH40k with Dawn of War. :D

About color scheme - you could just swap white arms of all clones/stormtroopers to violet/purple/whatever and then you would get the effect. Wouldn't be cheap but would give nice results.
Going to swap all black hands of my Guardsmen to dark tan myself. Fortunately hands in this color got more popular this year. :D

[Farseer Petriel]

On 7/17/2020 at 11:48 AM, BardDandelion said:

I have built plenty of Ork figures and vehicles. Going to do the same with Imperial Guard.
From time to time I build something from different faction - SM, SoB, Chaos, some Xeno. I think I will jump to Eldars at some point. Just to have something in my collection. I think I will go for DoW2 Farseer look but with something extra on the back. The wings thing Farseer from DoW had should work.

I like your approach in building what you like regardless of a faction. I strongly disagree with GW's policy of preferring only the Imperium and mostly Space Marines (here I prefer StarCraft or even Warhammer Fantasy Battles where factions are treated more or less equally). And, as an Eldar fan, I'll be glad to see some of your mysterious and advanced space elves.

 

On 7/17/2020 at 11:48 AM, BardDandelion said:

About color scheme - you could just swap white arms of all clones/stormtroopers to violet/purple/whatever and then you would get the effect. Wouldn't be cheap but would give nice results.

A good idea, thanks! It looks like I even have the necessary amount of purple/violet arms: several Jokers, several old school Dumbledores etc. If only I were crueler in dismembering LEGO minifigures...