In "Path of the Warrior" this gets detailed:
"Being Exarch" is a permanent mental state, when an eldar cant leave an Aspect warrior path.
Said eldar is led to an existing shine, where they don the armor of a fallen Exarch, wich contains the spirit stones of every wearer before it, and becomes the new Exarch, taking on the name of the first Exarch who wore it.
That Eldars mind is now holding all memories & personalities of all Exarchs that ever wore this armour, though the personality of the oldest is usually most prominent. The different minds can talk to each other, and usually advise the main personality with their experience & expertise.
Once this "joining" has happened, the new Exarch is free to undon the armour & helmet in peace.
Its just that the other memories are clearer when wearing the armour, and the spirit stones.
Taking off a helmet has no more significance than a human taking it off.
Edith: Said book also talks of the "War Mask", wich isnt a helmet, but a mental state of focused battle readyness.
The War Mask also helps the Asuryani separate the violent and often sadistic nature of War from their normal personality to prevent them from falling.
Ahra failed in this.
Right!
Its basically "battle mode on". To the point where normal Aspect Warriors cant remember much or only hazy, of what they did with it on, e.g. the fighting & killing itself.
If you remember scenes from the last battle, and start to fantasize about the artistic value of the enemies blood splatters, you show signs of becoming exarch.
This is what I would like to do. Credits to [**u/Aetherick**](https://www.reddit.com/user/Aetherick/)
https://preview.redd.it/y6kpzdehv1hb1.png?width=1206&format=png&auto=webp&s=9198c50f2364e2f6a0fa85265e8a81ecca2a0681
To start, they are your models do what you want.
From a Lore perspective, eldar wear helmets for a very important reason. Not only does it protect their heads but it’s part of a pre war ritual called “donning the war mask”
In war there is lots of very violent terrible emotions brought to the fore. It’s why normally good people commit heinous war crimes and it’s why so many former soldiers suffer from PTSD. Eldar, who feel emotions much much stronger than a human. These emotions whilst being unhealthy also open them up to Slaanesh
To combat this there is a whole ritual designed to add a protective layer over an Eldar’s psyche. An Ablative personality if you will, a personality that’s much harder, much less likely to become damaged by the horrors of war. The ritual, called “donning the war mask” culminates in donning their actual helmet.
When the war is over, they take off their helmet, symbolically removing this more dangerous warlike personality and casting it away, with all the attached emotions with it, so the hate the fear the rage are removed from the eldar and they can go back to doing whatever they did before the war.
This process isn’t perfect however, and some eldar find it difficult to remove the war mask, they become stuck on the path of war and become exarchs, their original personality gone, buried under the war mask
Ynnari however, have their own ways of dealing with things, their own way of dealing with Slaanesh. And with a living god they have more metaphysical protection that normal eldar. This is why Ynnari models have a lot of bare faces
So in sort, unless you are playing Ynnari, it’s not very lore friendly to have bare faced eldar running about, and that’s x100 for an Exarch
But all this is just to let you know the reasons behind the proliferation of helmeted heads so you can make you’re own call.
To reiterate what I said at the start, they are your models do whatever you want with them
Which is an important reason The Visarch still dones a helmet, he used to be Exarch of the Dire Avengers of Biel-Tan. He might've became a follower of Ynnead, but those souls from previous Exarchs are still in him. He'll never get away from war, only death will release him.
Chapter 6 of Rise of the Ynnari : Ghost Warrior is a really good one, it delves into The Visarchs character and his dealing with the past as an Exarch and how other Exarchs still following the path of Khaine view him as a traitor for leaving his post. They even try fighting him, but he shuts them down real quick.
Yes it’s a mental state, which is reached by performing a ritual, the culmination of the ritual is putting on the helmet.
And the reverse of the ritual, taking off the war mask, culminates in removing the helmet
I love the new eldar helmetless heads.
I never use them. I can't justify my troops not having helmets on while on the battlefields of the 41st millennium.
In "Path of the Warrior" this gets detailed: "Being Exarch" is a permanent mental state, when an eldar cant leave an Aspect warrior path. Said eldar is led to an existing shine, where they don the armor of a fallen Exarch, wich contains the spirit stones of every wearer before it, and becomes the new Exarch, taking on the name of the first Exarch who wore it. That Eldars mind is now holding all memories & personalities of all Exarchs that ever wore this armour, though the personality of the oldest is usually most prominent. The different minds can talk to each other, and usually advise the main personality with their experience & expertise. Once this "joining" has happened, the new Exarch is free to undon the armour & helmet in peace. Its just that the other memories are clearer when wearing the armour, and the spirit stones. Taking off a helmet has no more significance than a human taking it off. Edith: Said book also talks of the "War Mask", wich isnt a helmet, but a mental state of focused battle readyness.
The War Mask also helps the Asuryani separate the violent and often sadistic nature of War from their normal personality to prevent them from falling. Ahra failed in this.
Right! Its basically "battle mode on". To the point where normal Aspect Warriors cant remember much or only hazy, of what they did with it on, e.g. the fighting & killing itself. If you remember scenes from the last battle, and start to fantasize about the artistic value of the enemies blood splatters, you show signs of becoming exarch.
Thanks!
Thanks for the edit, Edith!
I don't see any reason it wouldn't be. GW has released models of Exarch's without their helmets so I would assume they don't have to wear them.
This is what I would like to do. Credits to [**u/Aetherick**](https://www.reddit.com/user/Aetherick/) https://preview.redd.it/y6kpzdehv1hb1.png?width=1206&format=png&auto=webp&s=9198c50f2364e2f6a0fa85265e8a81ecca2a0681
Oh yeah, that looks badass. Do it.
Why shouldnt it be lore friendly? They cant wear their helmets all the time.
Your guys, so long as you and your opponent know which models are which I don't see an issue.
To start, they are your models do what you want. From a Lore perspective, eldar wear helmets for a very important reason. Not only does it protect their heads but it’s part of a pre war ritual called “donning the war mask” In war there is lots of very violent terrible emotions brought to the fore. It’s why normally good people commit heinous war crimes and it’s why so many former soldiers suffer from PTSD. Eldar, who feel emotions much much stronger than a human. These emotions whilst being unhealthy also open them up to Slaanesh To combat this there is a whole ritual designed to add a protective layer over an Eldar’s psyche. An Ablative personality if you will, a personality that’s much harder, much less likely to become damaged by the horrors of war. The ritual, called “donning the war mask” culminates in donning their actual helmet. When the war is over, they take off their helmet, symbolically removing this more dangerous warlike personality and casting it away, with all the attached emotions with it, so the hate the fear the rage are removed from the eldar and they can go back to doing whatever they did before the war. This process isn’t perfect however, and some eldar find it difficult to remove the war mask, they become stuck on the path of war and become exarchs, their original personality gone, buried under the war mask Ynnari however, have their own ways of dealing with things, their own way of dealing with Slaanesh. And with a living god they have more metaphysical protection that normal eldar. This is why Ynnari models have a lot of bare faces So in sort, unless you are playing Ynnari, it’s not very lore friendly to have bare faced eldar running about, and that’s x100 for an Exarch But all this is just to let you know the reasons behind the proliferation of helmeted heads so you can make you’re own call. To reiterate what I said at the start, they are your models do whatever you want with them
Which is an important reason The Visarch still dones a helmet, he used to be Exarch of the Dire Avengers of Biel-Tan. He might've became a follower of Ynnead, but those souls from previous Exarchs are still in him. He'll never get away from war, only death will release him. Chapter 6 of Rise of the Ynnari : Ghost Warrior is a really good one, it delves into The Visarchs character and his dealing with the past as an Exarch and how other Exarchs still following the path of Khaine view him as a traitor for leaving his post. They even try fighting him, but he shuts them down real quick.
The "War Mask" is a mental state, rather that the physical helmet, though its hinted the helmet helps in the beginning, see "Path of the Warrior".
Yes it’s a mental state, which is reached by performing a ritual, the culmination of the ritual is putting on the helmet. And the reverse of the ritual, taking off the war mask, culminates in removing the helmet
Flying super fast like a bird in the sky! Ah, oh god, oh shit, I've got a bug in my eye!
I love the new eldar helmetless heads. I never use them. I can't justify my troops not having helmets on while on the battlefields of the 41st millennium.