Path of the Outcast

[Horus38]

Path of the Outcast and a few other ebooks went on sale today. I've been eagerly following the Eldar trilogy and immediately gripped it up. After a semi-thorough skim read I wanted to get other peoples thoughts.

SPOILER ALERT:



First off I've been a huge fan of the exploration of the Eldar through these books, but I honestly have to call complete BS on the ending of this book. Basically the dark eldar are the ones who have lead the human fleet and space marines to Alaitoc, and the final battle culminates with the main ranger character begging the Space Marine chapter master that this has been a big misunderstanding. The imperial commander was actual a renegade/traitor and after killing him the space marines call off the attack and leave the craftworld. Alaitoc is left devastated with thousands dead and really nothing to show for it.

My main beef is the book implies there was no military solution to this invasion and that the craftworld would have been destroyed had the Imperium not been convinced to back off. This is beyond ridiculous. The human forces attacking are predominantly infantry and tanks backed up by space marines, although formidable this would be absolutely face stomped by the Eldar Titan legions and super heavy vehicle detachments being supported by the combined craftworld warhosts, emphasis on the Imperium having a complete lack of titan and super heavy presence during the invasion.

Am I missing something here, I really want to be wrong, but this just reeks of the "so sad, too bad for the Eldar" theme and no gain for all the destruction.

- From a disappointed fan

[Soul Hunter]

Ok here's my thoughts on this,

First off I love how Aradryan and Thiranna were the ones who led them to the Craftworld, the Corsairs were just the means of transport. Secondly the Imperium did have super-heavy units, Warrior and Seer make mention of Titans and Baneblade units and the Sons of Orar utilize Land Raiders in Outcast. And yes the Craftworld would have been destroyed as the Eldar were being forced to fight for every metre of ground, the Eldar methods of war do not work on their Craftworlds because they'd have to give ground and focus on killing the enemy and not protecting their vulnerable civilians and cities. Thus they were being defeated not only by the Imperial advance but by their defensive method of war that they were forced to employ here.

And yes there was a military situation to this but it would mean Alaitoc's death, and that was unacceptable. The Sons of Orar Chapter Master was pragmatic and knew that there were targets more deserving of his wrath and that it wouldn't even be a case of a good last stand, they would be annihilated by the forces of Ulthwe, Saim-Hann and Lugganath combined.

As for the theme its not "so sad for the Eldar" as you put it but its about prophecy and how dangerous it can be to meddle in it. The entire prophecy that Thiranna saw would never have happened if she hadn't clung to it, and when she called Aradryan back she unintentionally made Alaitoc the target of the Imperial Crusade. It was a self-fulfilling prophecy and that is the theme, the danger of trying to affect the future and of scrying the future and present for threats that might never be, because this threat would never have been if the Eldar hadn't seen it.


SH

[Horus38]

The first 3/4's of the book is top notch with lots of insights into the eldar societies (exodite, corsair, harlequin, etc.) so it's a solid read for us Eldar fans. My beef is purely with the ending/climax of this series, and while I can appreciate the "messing with prophecy" angle of the plot it leaves a lot to be desired IMHO. Eldar are all about sacrifice towards a goal, so the fact that this attack blunders in and does a bunch of damage to no gain is just disappointing.

The final battle is inconsistent with previously established craftworld power levels:
* The last Imperial assault against a Craftworld ended as a disaster at the Blood Nebula which saw the loss of an entire sector fleet.
* The Invaders space marine chapter suffers horrific casualties destroying Craftworld Idharae (a non-major craftworld). The SM codex time line implies this was approximately 700 space marine deaths.
* One of the main tendrils from Hive Fleet Kraken is destroyed attacking Iyanden which although severely damaged did survive the event.

So yes, I'm a little skeptical that the resources an imperial commander can call on would be sufficient to carve their way into the heart of Alaitoc and guarantee its destruction.

[Saunders]

Regarding Kraken, it's worth noting that Iyanden was the largest and most populous of craftworlds before the Tyranids fell upon them. The craftworld would also have been destroyed in the onslaught if not for the timely intervention of Yriel and his Eldritch Raiders, one of the largest and most infamous of corsair fleets.

[Soul Hunter]

The first 3/4's of the book is top notch with lots of insights into the eldar societies (exodite, corsair, harlequin, etc.) so it's a solid read for us Eldar fans. My beef is purely with the ending/climax of this series, and while I can appreciate the "messing with prophecy" angle of the plot it leaves a lot to be desired IMHO. Eldar are all about sacrifice towards a goal, so the fact that this attack blunders in and does a bunch of damage to no gain is just disappointing.

The final battle is inconsistent with previously established craftworld power levels:
* The last Imperial assault against a Craftworld ended as a disaster at the Blood Nebula which saw the loss of an entire sector fleet.
* The Invaders space marine chapter suffers horrific casualties destroying Craftworld Idharae (a non-major craftworld). The SM codex time line implies this was approximately 700 space marine deaths.
* One of the main tendrils from Hive Fleet Kraken is destroyed attacking Iyanden which although severely damaged did survive the event.

So yes, I'm a little skeptical that the resources an imperial commander can call on would be sufficient to carve their way into the heart of Alaitoc and guarantee its destruction.

Rebuttal:

* The Blood Nebula Incident is not elaborated on at all. It just says that a Craftworld Invasion cost the Imperium a Sector Fleet. It does not say how big that is exactly, what other forces were attached, whether the Craftworld was breached, whether the Craftworld was destroyed, and what forces the Eldar brought to bear in the conflict. In short an unreliable source.
* The Invaders is a sign of a Craftworld's power yes but it doesn't say exactly how they were lost, perhaps many marines were lost actually getting into the Craftworld and once inside they did the most damage. Space Marines do excel at boarding actions above most other things and a Craftworld invasion would be one big boarding action really.
* Only through Yriel's intervention and the use of the Spear of KTwilight and exploting the Tyranid synapse network to turn the tide. Kraken would have won if Yriel had not returned and not picked up the spear.

The fact that the Eldar gained nothing in this is a sign of how badly the situation had been turned. Thirianna brought about a catastrophe that should never have happened, and Aradryan guaranteed that it would happen in some fashion, either to him directly or to his Craftworld. All that the Eldar gained in this was survival, and the sacrifice they had to make was to allow the Sons of Orar to penetrate Alaitoc as far as they did since only at that point would Achol Nadeus and De'vaque meet and the desired outcome could be achieved. That and the force of the Damned, the Wild Riders and the Craftworld with the strongest ties to the Harlequins would have been too much for the Sons of Orar to fight back against.


SH