Issue #21 of Combat Patrol brings our third Combat Patrol: The Aeldari. This issue gives us our first Aeldari model, the iconic Farseer. The issue also provides an overview of the Eldar and the Warp. As always, thank you to Goonhammer and Hachette for the opportunity to review these models, magazines, and materials. Let’s dig in.
Narrative Materials
The issue starts off with “Aeldari, the Dwindling Flame” which introduced the Craftworld Eldar to the readers. The magazine, in stark contrast from how it described the Imperium, is fairly glowing in its praise of the Aeldari. They are “an ancient and proud people who have beaten the odds to survive to the present day. They are kept safe by the bravery and fortitude of their warriors, the skill and wisdom of their seers, and the superiority of their technology and weaponry.”
The issue then discusses the Immaterium. It is a “hellscape” that conveys ships and information across long distances but also holds many terrors. The Warp isn’t overly well understood and has “many strange things…hidden within its labyrinthine regions”. Under “Tides of Madness” we learn how space travel works in the warp, “A Voice in the Wilderness” explains astropathic communication, and “What Dwells Within” is about Daemons.
The last narrative article is a story called “Mind War,” which follows a Farseer through a crypt of other former, crystalized Farseers. She begins her meditations, and forsees the approach of Chaos. She knows that soon Wraith constructs will be deployed, and the Spiritseers are bringing them online. She tries to psychically attack the Chaos Lord, but he repels her attack. She tries again and successfully scans the Chaos Lord, learning that he is a Meathead. Unfortunately for her, he’s a psychically aware meathead and is able to block her. This makes her mad and she decides to shred his mind. He fights back but she wins…and realizes that her attack has begun her transformation into crystal.
In other words, she farseered around and found out.
Hobby Materials
This issue has the 2012 plastic Farseer and a paint guide. The model itself is relatively intuitive to build, with a scenic base as part of the model sprue. I don’t know if this is necessarily the best matchup in Combat Patrol, because except for the Wraithlord all the bases are plain GW bases. Furthermore, ComPat has not seen fit to give out texture paints yet.
The Paint Guide for the Farseer instructs the reader to paint the Farseer (and presumably, the rest of the Combat Patrol) with Mephiston Red, then paint the head with Wraithbone. This is Craftworld Biel Tan, and it’s a striking color scheme. That said, I started painting the Farseer in Ulthwé colors because 1) Eldrad is the Ulthwé leader and 2) Alice is going to paint her Aledari as Ulthwé, which she will touch on in one of her forthcoming Roads to LVO and 3) I picked up some Speedpaint Markers from the Army Painter and wanted to give them a go and my Farseer was dry brushed with White to give it a midtone and highlights. Unfortunately I was not able to complete the model by the time of publication, and so will be giving this a bit more elaboration come Road to LVO Part 4: The NoVa Connection.
Gaming Materials
This issue comes with an additional copy of the Combat Patrol Magazine playmat, with one side being the grid and the other side being an alien world. It also has the datasheet for the Farseer. It’s a T3, 4 wound, 4++ model that can be attached to Guardians with a bunch of different psychic weapons These include a Singing Spear, Shuriken Pistol, and SPACE MAGIC. It can also give itself or another Aeldari unit a buff to subtract 1 from the enemy’s wound roll.
The issue also contains Scenario 17: Behind Enemy Lines where the Farseer has to evade some Termagants. The Tyranids will spawn in two Termagants in one of two corners of the map, while the Farseer tries to get within 3 inches of the three objective markers. The goal is for the Farseer to get intelligence from two or more objectives and survive to the end of the Fourth Battle Round. The Aeldari go first.
The idea here is the Farseer needs to move. The Farseer does not have the number of shots needed to survive against even Termagants, so she can either prune them when they come to close. They can also simply choose to evade her.
It’s an interesting scenario that lets a new player get a taste of the Aeldari strengths and weaknesses.
Final Verdict
From a model perspective, this model is a $40 and the Magazine that offers it is $15. That’s a steal. The issue it comes with isn’t half bad, as it gives an overview of what the model is and how if fits into the greater Warhammer 40K mythos. Plus, by giving the new copy of the magazine’s mat, we get a new starting point for Combat Patrol players. So yeah, pick it up and enjoy it!
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