The fluff about Guardians is very cleare on one thing. Guardians are ordinary Eldar civilians that have been called up to defend their Craftworld in times of dire need.

The standing military force of a Craftworld are in it's Aspect warriors, these are the guys dedicated to the pursuit of war in all it's many forms. Most 4ok scenarios are small scale engagements between opposing strike forces.

Seriously, who uses militia in a strike force? A general would send trained troops from his standing military, the aspect warriors with some armour support if need be. In my Craftworld background, all my Eldar are trained as guardians and fight as such when called, however I only use Pathfinders in my army lists. These represent Eldar who never left the Path of the outcast but still serve the Craftworld, not ordinary Eldar called to service.

The Ulthwe are different, their fluff indicates a standing army of Guardians, I would imagine other Craftworlds could do the same for various reasons. I would suggest that guardians would only be used in large scale engagements or desperate defences.

I'm not trying to dictate to people what they should or should not include in their armies, just I've always wondered why the Eldar would use militia on such a large scale, considering they are a dying race.

I think your point is well made and i agree which is why the guardians are so weak compared to many races standard troops such as the Tau, orks, etc
each to there own in army choice but at least you can field rnagers and pathfinders and jet bikes as troops and wraithguard at times so we arent too tied to troop choices

The reason Guardians are used is because the Eldar are a dying race. They are constantly loosing more of their numbers every day, and it takes many many years to train to become an Aspect warrior. Thus aspects are rare, and so the Guardians are called upon to fight instead.

I actually disagree with you, and think that aspects should only be used in larger scale battles, guardians being put out there first. A Farseer would likely prefer to keep the precious aspects for the larger scale more important fighting, rather than send them out every time. Guardians are more numberous, and more sacrificable. aspects are just too important to risk to trivial battles, unless it is of high importance.

Also remember that the Deffender Guardians would likely only be called to arms to deffend the Craftworld. Storm Guardians are more likely to be sent out in strike teams and such.

Finally, I hate guardians on the battle field with a passion and only field aspects, but I just disagree with your fluff reasoning behind your point. And I'm moving this topic, as it is a fluff discussion.

Cal

I agree with Cal fluff wise. Guardians are used because they need to be. There are jsut too few aspects to form significant armies for the Eldar, and Guardians are needed to bolster their numbers.

Game wise, I couldn't disagree with Cal more, but this discussion has been done before so I'll leave it now...

Interesting topic...forgive the Necro-post (I am fairly new here)

In my opinion, Guardians are not just your common folk but they are your teachers, craftsmen, scholars, etc. Thier value can not be distilled to the battlefield alone. The Eldar are a dying race this is true, it is also well said that it takes time to become an aspect warrior; however, I feel that the Farseers would work very hard to ensure that the scholars of thier generation are not lost to war. In order to rebuild the civilization the Eldar need more than just warriors.

On a side note, I see storm guardians as guardians on thier way to a path, they are more dedicated to war then the defenders and have not yet achieved thier chosen path or indeed may not yet have even decided.

Thus it is for the Eldar of Rio-Tal.

Rhomdruil

I play Ulthwe so if i go by fluff they are my standard army units. After all they were once full trained soldiers until gw Nerved them.

yes im starting an Ulthwe' craftworld as well so guardians will be forming the backbone of my list.

And you have the 2 types:defender guardians and storm guardians

Storm guardians seem to me to be Elder getting ready to choose a fighting elder path to take.

Defender guardians are only fighting because it's necessary for the survival of their race.
Sort of like our Army reserve (Australian) the train and learn the basic skills needed and can be called on in times of need, but they have more important civilian matters to attend to.

then we have guardian jet bikes: i believe they are elder who have already decided which aspect they are going to and they are learning the basic skills before moving on.

so i don't think guardians should be in most armies (Ulthwe' excepted)
you have dire avengers as troops so they should be used as such.
I much prefer themed,fluffy armies than the WAAC army list.

I guess Iyanden shouldn't have to many Aspect warriors as well. Maybe a healthy balance between Guardians and Wraithunits. (Seems a nice fluff list)

yes another craftworld that would utilize guardians. only because their is so little of them left.

Im pretty sure most players will build their army around a specific craftwold.
Im guessing their wouldn't be to many players making a generic list.
(unless they are making a WAAC list)

yeah your right, i do agree that from a fluff prospective the're a stupid field chioce, but i always came to think of defender guardians as more than just militia, they maybe ordinary every day citizens of a craftworld who must do there duty to save there home, to me there more like willing conscripts minus the conscription. storm guardians on the other hand are pointless to me when fielding them in an army, id rather just use defenders all the time, because tthey embody the willingness to help and to me show the true nature of an eldar of eldan.

i dont like using storm guardians or avengers, because of this eldan only use defender guardians, we employ no jet bikes of any kind, and rely heavily on vypers and war walkers as well as the addition of a squad of tau fire warriors, an etherial and a hammer head if my oponent will allow it, this is how i get around the whole guadians being ordinary eldar sort of thing.

but then again as i mensioned before guardians are the embodyment of courage in an eldar army, so i guess i actually dont agree with what your saying. even though they may be scholars, artisans and historians, they show that eldar are diverse and will do anything to protect their home.

you may think otherwise, but thats my view.......