Can you become passionate about an imaginary people?

Years ago, while browsing through the Eldar Codex version available at that time, I read the fascinating story of Eldar survivalists. They were called Exodites. They had been introduced in very early versions of the Eldar culture and always had been part of the history of this race. I wasn't playing Warhammer 40'000 then, but if I had, I knew they would be my faction of choice. As time passed and my modelling skills evolved, I realized that I had a challenge at hand. Why longing for missing miniatures when you can create them yourself?

And since there was no official army list for Warhammer 40'000 Exodites, it was a wonderful opportunity to close this gap, too!

An Exodite Primer

Visionary, rebellious or just craving for a different way of life, some Eldar rejected the degenerated civilization of their peer before the Fall. Perhaps some of them guessed the forthcoming demise of the Eldar; most were simply horrified by the excess of most of the citizens in their crumbling society and wanted another existence, challenging but rewarding. Those Eldar offbeats departed and settled primeval planets called Maiden Worlds at the fringe of the galaxy. Life was harsh there; competing with dangerous species in an untamed environment proved hard for members of a race used to the pursuit of pleasure. Survivors eventually adapted to their new living conditions and a new order finally emerged.

Mostly covered by lush jungles or dry savannah and bursting with life, young planets settled by Exodites were not as paradisiac as they seemed. Various saurian races lived there, sometimes gigantic in size - and sometimes carnivorous too. Ranging from the bipedal hunter, a fast running saurus living in plains, to the gargantuan herbivorous Megasaur or the dreaded Carnosaur preying on all living creatures, those beasts were collectively known as Dragons. Using genetic engineering, it didn't took long for settlers to create new species.

At the same time, Bonesingers designed Knight Combat Suits - best described as huge, single-manned exo-armors, but smaller than Titans - to let their people fight on par with local predators and to herd saurian cattle. Those expensive artifacts became increasingly rare as the Eldar population expanded faster than Bonesingers' ability to create or repair them. Carefully given from landlord to heir, they soon became mark of power and status, attributes of an emerging nobility. Bound by honor ties, leaders took oaths to protect those living on their land. While Exodite society progressively turned to feudalism, warfare among noble houses evolved into ritual fights.

Eldar psyche easily outmatching the primitive mind of Dragons, it didn't took long for gifted individuals to tame several Saurus species. Some provided a welcome workforce while others became mounts, creating a new class of lesser noble clans. Sharing life and death with their creatures, Eldar were not afraid to lead them in battle.

Exodite Eldar became a vital part of the Eldar future during the Fall. So far from the Eye Of Terror, the birth of Slaanesh had little physical effect on them - but urged a sense of solemnity through every inhabitant of their planets, since they were, from that point on and along with Craftworld Eldar, the only remnants of their civilization. To escape from the Great Enemy, Exodite Seers designed their own version of the Infinity Circuit, the World Spirit.

With the rise of Humanity, human explorers spred throughout the galaxy. Some reached worlds inhabited by Exodites or coveted by them. Eldar could do little to hold in check the ever-expanding Imperium of Man. These invaders found many uninhabited planets to settle. Far from the light of the Astronomicon, human settlers soon reverted to feudalism. They mimicked Eldar Exodite society, only lacking the ability to ride tamed Megasaurs. Through trade with nearby Forgeworlds, they obtained their own version of Knight Suits in exchange of Saurus proteins. But after many battles, those two people sharing the same way of life eventually came to respect each other. Now, they have more in common than with Craftworld Eldar or the Imperium, respectively.

Eldar Exodites are fierce and independent. They share some interest with Craftworlds and trade with them, but consider their way of life dangerously close to the one that led to the Fall. They'll fight mercilessly to repel any invader; other causes of battle usually involve colonization of a new world, blood feud, or commercial disputes.

Exodites in the game

Exodites are nearly as old as Eldar in Warhammer 40'000 background. They are still preserved in the latest incarnation of the Codex:Eldar, even if as usual their existence is only limited to several lines of text. At least, it seems Games Workshop hasn't decided to close the door yet.

In earlier editions of the game, Exodites were a distinct possibility for Eldar players since there was so much flexibility in army composition. Eldar race started merely as an alien pirate force in Rogue Trader; those pirates could well have been Exodites, an Harlequin Troupe, or anything else. In the second edition of Warhammer 40'000, creating an Exodite force was still possible after a bit of renaming. The Exodite Knight existed as a troop choice in the Codex:Eldar, with rules and profile. It became a lot harder with third and fourth editions, since profiles and army composition were more and more restricted.

Naturally, each player had to convert his own miniatures. A couple drawings from John Blanche and the famous Exodite Knight conversion from Mike McVey gave very precious indications over what an Exodite should look like.

Excerpt from Epic 1996 Citadel Miniatures Catalog.

It would not be true to write that no official Exodite model was ever released. Few have been - at Epic scale. In the very last days of Epic product line, four different Exodite miniatures were anounced: Exodite Lord, Exodite Knights, Horned Ones and Pteradons. Although they probably never reached store shelves, a batch was sold through UK mail order. A second batch found its way through US web site in fall 2003, but it was the last public appearance of Exodite miniatures. Since then, those Jes Goodwin sculpts have disappeared forever, as their molds have been destroyed (as told in a written reply from Games Workshop after I asked for their eventual return).

Thanks to the generosity of fellow gamers, I nonetheless managed to get some of those rare Epic miniatures. It proved invaluable to help me design Exodites minatures at Warhammer 40'000 scale.

The Project

Exodites are fascinating for many reasons - their dynamism, their way of life, the conversion opportunities offered by mounted dinosaurs, the creation of a truly original faction. At any rate, Exodites are a breath of fresh air in the doomed and warn-torn universe of the 41st millenium. Those alone are excellent reasons to build an Exodite army, but they're not the only ones.

Creating such a force is also a mean to appropriate the game again. I first planned to field them using the marvellous "count as" rule: deploying an official Exodite army in a tournament would have been the icing on a cake. That's the beauty of the "count as" rule: providing some basic guidelines are respected, you can choose virtually any army list for your creations. Unfortunately, no existing Codex was really compatible with what I had in mind - even if some of the most versatile ones, like Chaos or Tyranids, came close. Not completely discarding this option, since a suitable army list may appear at any given point in the future, I opted meanwhile for the creation of my own Codex.

Of course, each player has his own view over Exodites. I'm not the first one to walk this path, and no Exodite project could pass on Agis Neugebauer's work. It provided much inspiration. Mike McVey's wonderful Exodite conversion, shown below, was naturally another reference.

The famous "Duel" diorama featurig an Exodite knight facing a Space Marine Chaplain.

Many people consider Exodites as "space wood elves": primitive folks living in forests, armed with bows and spears or similar low-tech weapons accordingly to 41st millenium standards. I've seen more than one "Exodite" conversions consisting only of a Fantasy Wood Elf with a lasgun of some sort. In custom army lists (for NetEpic game for example) technology is supposed to lie in the hands of a Royal Clan, the most potent noble house of a planet, while other factions have nothing but mounted dinosaurs to protect them.

While each one is entitled to his opinion, I haven't read anything in Exodite background telling that they shunned technology. They had different cultural values than their fellow citizens and fewer wraithbone available, but nothing specific against technology itself - much like a 21st-century rebel can perfectly accomodate a cell phone. In fact, the first Knight Combat Suits have certainly been state-of-the-art Bonesinger creations.

It doesn't mean that Exodites should necessarily become an Über-army with hordes of dinosaurs backed up by an armored might of Falcons and Fire Prisms. Warfare designs have certainly evolved differently among Craftworld Eldar and Exodites. There are plenty of excellent reasons why latter ones would not use the same weapons than their space cousins, like maintenance, scarcity of material, or just ease of use in wilderness.

My Exodites would be high-tech - rightful heirs to the Eldar Empire. I planned to mix technology with saurian creatures but differently from the Adeptus Mechanicus members, who are more or less cyborgs. My creatures would rather be improvements over living flesh (think "exoskeleton" rather than "mechanical limbs".) The relation would be symbiotic, not destructive, reflecting the respect Eldar have for their mounts.

Since today Eldar mind is no different than the one that led to the birth of Slaanesh, every member of the race has to find a way to fight his wildest instincts. Craftworld Eldar created a new society based on a succession of Paths; Exodites didn't, as they already had another answer. To me, Exodites dominate their psyche through an abundance of rituals and an extremely rigid social order, associated to their harsh living conditions. For this reason, my Exodites would be deadly serious and disciplined on the battlefield, once again far from the more informal "space wood elves" variant.

Following articles describes, or will describe, how I created various parts of my Exodite army accordingly to the concepts presented above. I planned to build an average force (1'500-2'000 points) true to the spirit of Exodites as I see them. This series will end with the (unofficial!) Exodite army list.

Happy reading!
published on 01 May 2007
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