In Search of Ynnead
By Glorious Spacenoid
Some places on the internet are more savory than others, that is but a basic truth. However, the shadier places can bring about fair points and think of things some of us light-dwellers wouldn’t dream of. In those such places our search of Ynnead begins. Upon scrolling through the Warhammer 40,000 general thread on a renowned four-leaf-clover website that which will not be directly named, I came across something I had been pondering.
To put it bluntly: “Where does a Ynnari Codex fit in?”
Where We’re At
By now, we have a near-complete view of the releases to come for the remainder of 2018. Those releases even venture beyond the end of the year. There is a lot of calendar space that can still be taken up by any manner of release. To-date I haven’t seen nor heard anything related to the Eldar followers of the newly arisen God of the Dead. This is coming from a person who has seen multiple rumblings of Space Wolves rumors as early as May.
Now why does this matter? Well, even as an aspiring Eldar Craftworlds player, I’m not blind to the horrid imbalance that combining Craftworlds with Ynnari causes. I, and a lot of other players I know personally or otherwise, are looking forward to the Post-Adepticon FAQ. With baited breath, that wait is a beacon of hope to mayhaps shake things up for the current meta-intensive Aeldari lists you find at tournaments and events.
The Path Laid Before Us
However, if this FAQ doesn’t address an update to how these two factions interact, we have an issue. We may very well be looking at nerfs to Craftworld units instead of updates to Ynnari. That which, at the moment, would not fix the inherent problems. Something is bound to replace Dark Reapers and/or Shining Spears, especially if either takes a hit with the nerf bat. While that means a power loss for Craftworlds, I know plenty of units in the codex that outperform and run circles around other factions. Especially so when buffed by Yvraine and her ilk.
Now the reason we might need to hedge our bets on an FAQ band-aid to this pointy-eared problem is as follows. Mind you this is just speculation and nothing more, but a Ynnari codex just seems altogether unlikely. Discovered in my perusing and to quote a Warhammer Community article back when 8th was fresh I present the following:
“You’ll want to keep hold of your index. Codex: Space Marines doesn’t include rules for playing with Blood Angels, Dark Angels, Space Wolves, Deathwatch or Grey Knights armies, so you’ll still need Index: Imperium 1 to play with those. You’ll also need it for using some of the more unusual models such as the 30th Anniversary Space Marine, the Legion of the Damned and the Terminus Ultra Land Raider.”
Signs on the Path of the Ynnari
Now, it can be argued that this was the case for Codex: Space Marines. The 30th Anniversary Space Marine was a part of a special event. It is no longer available through the Games Workshop site. Legion of the Damned have historically received their own codex anyway (though I can’t see that happening again, either, truthfully). The Terminus Ultra has always more-or-less been an ‘official conversion’ within the faction. It has rules and origins (and even an actual box) from back in the era of 3rd and 4th Edition. Coupled with the fact that the Space Marines; ever being the poster children of 40k, have a massive Codex as it stands. With these things in mind, it can be easy to brush thoughts of Ynnari receiving a codex away.
However, this does set a precedent.
A Tickle of an Idea
At the time of writing this, we are on the cusp of the release for Dark Eldar. The Harlequins release was unveiled at Adepticon. Now, while Yvraine and her crew definitely have had dealings with these factions in the lore, such important figures no doubt would be made the focus of whatever codex they should appear in. At the moment, such focus has not been found as the case.
As well as because of the fact that the Ynnari Soulburst is, by and large, a Craftworld trait much akin to Ulthwe and the others, it’s also hard to see a line of models to release alongside such a codex. The Ynnari model line as it stands is the model line of all other Eldar, save for their three characters. Even Thousand Sons received Tzaangors and The Vortex Beast from Age of Sigmar to pad out their small, albeit awesome, roster.
Glimmers of an Answer
Now, just as I can speculate endlessly on how a codex seems unlikely the opposite is true. I realize one can speculate for a codex in the same way and even with the same reasoning, models permitting. But truly, if such models were to release, one has to ponder if they would be too similar to lines that already exist. Maybe much akin to Genestealer Cults, we’ll see a small line of new models coupled with multiple upgrade sprues compatible with existing Eldar models, but otherwise, I can’t fathom what they would be, myself.
If you can, however, think of how the Ynnari codex and models would look like, I know my superiors and I would love to hear about it. They would probably enjoy seeing you call me out, in general, in which case, feel free to contact us at [email protected], at our Facebook Page, or by commenting below.
Glorious Spacenoid, signing off.