This Saturday’s upcoming Aeldari pre-orders feature updated classics in the Shining Spears and Rangers, alongside new favourites like the zippy Shroud Runners. We sat down with Warhammer Studio heavyweights Jes Goodwin and Ben Johnson – who’ve already shared their insight into the new Avatar of Khaine, the Guardians and Warlocks, as well as the Aspect of Destruction – to learn how these new designs came about.
Jes Goodwin: I've been working on the Aeldari since the late eighties. When we started designing Warhammer 40,000, we looked at the fantasy range and tried to figure out what was going to be popular. I was relatively junior in the studio, so I got a lot of the jobs that the other designers didn't want to do – and since there wasn’t a massive amount of enthusiasm for the ‘Space Elves’, I got them! I've been working on them ever since.
I don't have favourites,* but I've been working on Aeldari and their aesthetic for 36 years! We’re now able to do things in plastic that we never could before, so we have such an amazing opportunity to flesh out those ideas and make the models as good as I'd always wanted them to be. Unfortunately, because they've been around so long, I now work with people who grew up on them – it makes me feel ancient!
Jes: The main issue with the Shining Spears was that they were sitting on regular Windrider jetbikes. They didn't have a particularly interesting helmet, and didn't stack up with the other Aspect Warriors – who all have a fancy hat and an iconic weapon. So we went to work on the jetbikes, giving them a cutout for the lance and prominent fins at the back.
Ben Jefferson: I think the design solutions were relatively obvious, like making the bike a bit longer to look sleeker and faster. Silhouette-wise, you want to make a real difference between them and the Shroud Runners, who get a stubbier, more agile bike.
Jes: The helmet needed to look good as a profile element. We gave them a parallel crest in order to make them feel fast, and the swooping shape ended up looking fairly Greek-inspired, like one of the Avatar of Khaine’s new looks. The Exarch needed a helmet and weaponry that would differentiate them even further from the rest of the unit.
Rather than sculpting another pole with a wire down it, we went back and designed a more refined lance. We wanted to imply that the tech was all inside it, as befits a technologically advanced race like the Aeldari. The tip of the star lance has a crystal that references the Fire Prism’s weapon.
Jes: The design for the Shroud Runners had actually been sitting around for ages. When I was sketching the modern Windrider bike, I always imagined it as one of a set the Aeldari used, rather than them having a one-size-fits-all model. Although it's the third (technically fourth, as the Harlequins have one)** Aeldari bike to appear, it's actually the second one I designed. Counterintuitively, I thought it'd be cooler if it had a much shorter carapace than the others – like Ben said, it conveys agility more than outright speed, designed for much tighter turning circles. I love the idea of Rangers going into an almost trance-like state and shooting accurately on the move – inspired by Japanese horse archers, rather than functioning like modern-day snipers.
Ultimately, we wanted something in there that no one had seen before. If you're not careful, you either draw in elements of imagery from existing sources, or you keep singing the same old ‘shall we do a new Aspect?’ song. There’s so much more room in the Aeldari arsenal besides new Aspect Warriors, and that's why we went down this route.
Ben: The last Autarch we made, with the Swooping Hawk wings, was a bit limited in the number of weapons it had, so Jes and I were both keen to make sure that this new one was a kit with lots of choices. That variety really reinforces their archetype as a master of war, and it happens to be great for the hobbyist, too.
Jes: Yeah, making it compatible with the previous Autarch was important. It was about doing these figures justice. It has what you might call a neutral pose. First, because they’re a commander and can’t be leaping about all the time, and second because it means you can get all the different weapons into useful positions.
Jes: There was also the opportunity for a new design for the Warp Spider jump generator and the deathspinner, so I had to have a crack at that – they hadn't been looked at for quite some time. You also have the classic horsehair crest helmet, combined with the Howling Banshee mask.
Jes: For the Rangers, getting the rifles nice and long was a big deal. In terms of easter eggs, I’m particularly fond of the back sheathes. Rangers can break their rifles into pieces for transport, so we had sheathes and packs that were able to hold all these parts. Some of them even imply that they carry spare barrels or scopes, spare focusing tips… spare everything, really.
Ben: Their new equipment has two things a Ranger would benefit from – a shield and a shroud. I also really liked the shrine, because the idea of them being watched over by the god of the hunt suits them well.
Jes: The statues were a cool idea, but we found that if you're not careful you end up making statues of Phoenix Lords, and at that point you're just creating even smaller versions of existing models. Instead, I looked into which gods or figures they’d pay their respect to.
Jes: There was a lot of work done on the posing to make them feel elegant, like they're stalking. Even when they're walking, there's a certain confident swagger.
Ben: There's a great one posed with a sheathed shuriken pistol while holding another. It's a sort of gunslinger archetype, like it's the Aeldari version of Billy the Kid.
Jes: It'll one day come out that I don't like science fiction at all, I just like westerns… They're outriders, literally living on the edge of their society, and that's where the gunslinger fits in! We even made the coats they wear look like a cross between a duster and a wood elf cloak.
Thanks guys! You can see all of this design work up-close and personal when the next wave of Aeldari models go on pre-order this Saturday, alongside the monstrously powerful Avatar of Khaine – which Jes and Ben also had a few things to say about.
* This is, reports claim, exactly what the Emperor said before appointing Horus as Warmaster.** Technically fifth, if you’re counting Drukhari Reavers.