Fandom Factions: Ghosts of the Webway

We covered the Drukhari that had declared war on the planet of Ultrus Prime in our last Echoes of Nihilus Fandom Factions article, so it is only fitting that this week we take a look at their Craftworld counterparts that had been lovingly painted by Jim, who coincidentally won first place in the best painted army category in the campaign awards (as voted on by the players themselves) as well as getting joint second place alongside the Slumbering Horror Kabal for the "Big Bad" award, most votes of which incidentally came from the players that actually ended up facing off against him. So with that in mind, if you'd like to find out more about the army that got riled up at the sight of the Drukhari's Pain Engines, then read on!

How many points of tabletop ready miniatures does your army currently stand at?

There are roughly 3,950 points painted as it stands currently, but there are more on the way!

So many Aeldari it needed a split picture!

What inspired you to collect this faction?

Like most hobbyists of my age, I started to play way back in 3rd edition with a couple of mates from school, and I ran Eldar back then. It was fun enough, but none of us were especially good at the game, and eventually we drifted away from it, and I sold my Eldar off. Flash forward to twenty years later, and I'd gotten back into the hobby, initially through board gaming that led to me picking up some Star Wars Imperial Assault, and then somehow ended up playing Infinity, primarily at Hackney Area Tabletop Enthusiasts, the wonderfully named HATE club. 

When 10th was announced, I was vaguely interested due to the suggestion that it would be simpler than past editions, I had heard far too much about the flow charts needed by Adeptus Mechanicus players in 9th for example, and decided it might be fun to paint up some Eldar again, and maybe... just maybe... throw some dice around. I occasionally had played a game of 40k over the years with an old friend of mine loaning me his Deathguard, but this was the first time that I was genuinely interested in 40k again.

Darren then announced he would run a Crusade campaign at the club, I signed up, and I completely blame him for the battering my wallet has taken as I've built up my force! (DJ: Your opponents took more of a battering though I'm sure!)

Wraith units made up the mainstay of Jim's army during the campaign

Can you give us some insight into your colour scheme?

The main reason I picked it was because I haven't really painted yellow before, and I wanted to paint something different. I tend to jump between different armies/games with different paint schemes to avoid burn out, and I figured yellow would be different. 

I also had told myself that I would only build this force if I speed painted and batch painted stuff, not something I had needed to do before with the low model count of stuff like Infinity. I have arranged to do this mostly as well, I have managed to paint all 4,000 points since buying back in at the start of 10th, on top of painting other systems too.  The fact that I think Iyanden has some of the best and most tragic lore amongst the Eldar was a bit of a bonus in picking the faction! 

Jim speed painted his Aeldari and still won best painted army

Does your faction have a backstory?

Not specifically, beyond the fact that it is an Iyanden strikeforce. During the campaign my crusade force slowly shifted away from living models, in some games only have two or three actually living Eldar on the battlefield, which I really enjoyed thematically. 

Fittingly, there were less and less "living" models as the campaign went on

What are your favourite models in your faction?

The Avatar of Khaine - It's such a gorgeous model, and I won a painting competition judged by Duncan Rhodes with it, I am so insanely proud of it!

The Wraithseer - bit of a rarely seen model, and I love how elegant a model it is. In the campaign, there was one game where only one of my living models was killed, a spiritseer, so I said that he had been put into the Wraithseer to seek some vengence. 

Hemlock Wraithfighter - It's a shame that it is a bit rubbish in the game currently, because it's a stunning model, and I am so proud of how smooth the yellow is on it. My Falcon Grav Tank and Wave Serpent I also am quite proud of for their yellow too. 

Beyond that a lot of my characters are conversions, there are two converted Spiritseers, Asurmen, Prince Yriel, Fuegan, Illych, and I have ideas for some more too. 

Jim is immensely proud of his Avatar of Khaine, and rightfully so!

Any interesting facts about your faction?

None especially, beyond the fact that most things are magnetised which was a bit of an effort. I'm definitely not trying to play competitively or to the meta with it, but opponents early on in the campaign definitely struggled against the sheer resilience of the wraith units.

Most of this is magnetised???

So what's next for your faction?

There is a new crusade brewing, and I want to completely reverse my playstyle for it. In the last campaign I went in heavy on relatively slow moving units, a big block of 2 Wraithlords, 1 Wraithseer and the Avatar wandering up the field, or my Wraithguard slowly advancing. This time I want to go fast, nothing left in the deployment zone at the end of turn 1! So the Lynx, Falcons, Wave Serpents, bikes, etc. I also have an unassembled Skathach Wraithknight that is calling to me... yes I would like to deep strike a small titan!

Thanks Jim! If you have enjoyed this article, please be sure to comment down below and let the owner of this army know! And if you would like to be featured in future Fandom Faction articles please email us at dj.driver.theprojectside@gmail.com with up to 6 pictures of your army (including a full army shot if possible) and answers to the 7 headlined questions outlined above in this post. We will endeavor to feature as many submissions as possible, however if there are any issues we will let you know as soon as we can.