Aspect Warrior

The majority of an Eldar Army is composed of Guardians. These are not professional full time soldiers, but rather just civilian militia.

The Eldar do, however, have specialized warriors known as Aspect Warriors

Their focus themselves to honing martial abilities by following the way of the warrior which, due to Eldar anal-retentiveness, can lead them to become utterly obsessed with their job and incapable of doing anything else (such warriors are known as Exarchs, and they lead squads of Aspect Warriors). All Aspect Warriors fight according to one of the aspects of Kaela Mensha Khaine. Each Aspect was founded by a warrior known as a Phoenix Lord, who serves as the ultimate embodiment of that Aspect.

Aspect Warrior Types

Dire Avengers

Basically upgraded Guardians. The original founder of their temple was Asurmen, the first Phoenix Lord. They are good all-round troops, with the ability for their Exarch to be upgraded with a power weapon or Diresword, or some sort of miniature void-shield. They are given Avenger Shuriken Catapults and Aspect Armour, which gives them a decent save in comparison to other Eldar, and an increase on the range of their Shuriken catapults.

They represent Khaine in his aspect as a noble warrior.

Striking Scorpions

Eldar answer to Khorne Berzerkers and Ork Boyz. Their founder was Arhra, but he was corrupted and Karandras took his place. Sneaky dudes with chainswords, shuriken pistols and some sort of energy emitter on their mouths. The Exarch can take a bigger, badder chainsword which gives a +1S for every hitting blow or a powerfisty Scorpion's Claw, but don't try to use it to smash Metal Boxes, you're not an Ultrasmurf.

They represent Khaine in his aspect as a silent hunter.

Howling Banshees

Once Morai-Heg, crone goddess, wanted to drink her own blood. She had Khaine cut off her hand and she gifted him with this aspect, led by Jain Zar. They carry power weapons and shuriken pistols, while the Exarch can take twin powerblades, a power sword and boomerang or a badass executioner. High initiative (as much as Slaanesh-marked Chaos Space Marines) and good WS make them trouble for weak or armor-save-reliant units with no invulnerable saves.

They represent Khaine in his aspect as a doom bringer.

Fire Dragons

If they get within 12 inches of anything AV14 and below, it's going to blow up within the turn. They have meltas and meltabombs but oddly, the Exarch can take a big flamer instead of his big melta. You should not want. Fuegan is the bestest tank destroyer out there, better even than railguns and Leman Russ Vanquishers. He's also a beatstick in CC, carrying a burning axe that lets him fight like a monstrous creature.

They represent Khaine in his aspect as a careless destroyer.

Dark Reapers

Something like a hybrid of a Dire Avenger and Fire Dragon. Use them to kill MEQs and AV10-all around vehicles. The Exarch can take a big missile launcher of the type only seen on support platforms or Wraithlords, but with More Dakka. Phoenix Lord Maugan Ra founded this aspect.

They represent Khaine in his aspect as a inescapable killer.

Shining Spears

They are the fastest Aspect, striking at ridiculous speeds and withdrawing in a flash. Nobody knows their Phoenix Lord. Regular bikers have a Laser Lance (unusual power weapons). While the Exarch can take a Star lance for a more powerful stat line.

They represent Khaine in his aspect as a light-speed blade.

Swooping Hawks

Played properly, there are arguments to suggest that in the current format the once shunned Hawks have found a home as the untouchable Aspects. Using ongoing reserves to prevent ever being shot at. In dire moments they also carry Haywire Grenades for anti-tank assaults that few units can match. Also since they always hit at 4+ when slapping them on vehicles they are the bane of skimmers everywhere. Their Phoenix Lord is Baharroth.

They represent Khaine in his aspect as a careful predator.

Warp Spiders

The Eldar's premier jump infantry. Warp spiders use the warp to teleport from place to place, allowing them to strike at their enemies from virtually any location in the blink of an eye. Their guns are called "Death Spinners", which shoot out a mist of monomolecular threads that expands and slices through flesh and light infantry armor on contact with little effort. While this makes the spiders fairly unreliable against power-armored armored units since the spinner's threads can't penetrate it properly, they are never-the-less a frightening foe against the likes of Guardsmen and gaunts. Their Exarch is given two death spinners which is attached to the back of his armor for mobility and two power blades which he holds for close combat, though on the tabletop, he's generally outclassed in assault by any unit that can melee better than a guardsman. Nobody knows their Phoenix Lord.

They represent Khaine in his aspect as a powerful defender.

Shadow Spectres

The Shadow Spectres are a newer Aspect, thought lost until the armor of their Phoenix Lord, Irillyth, was recovered from an Imperial world, as chronicled in Forge World's Imperial Armour Volume Eleven: The Doom of Mymeara. They fly around on jetpacks and wear holofields, making them look kind of like ghosts, if ghosts also shot prismatic lasers of doom. Their weaponry is fairly high-strength as infantry weapons go (especially for Fast Attack infantry), and they can combine their beams into a super-beam of death that gets more powerful as more of them join it (in fact, the technology is the same as the Fire Prism's main cannon). Between their ghost-like appearance and name, and their tendency to become Wraithguard after they die, they represent Khaine's aspect as an eternal warrior, even after death.

The Unknowns

Whether these are actually Aspect Temples, have been retconned out, or were once supposed to be something, nobody knows.

• Slicing Orbs of Zandros: The strangest aspect to ever be named.
• Crystal Dragons: Probably became the Fire Dragons.
• Eagle Pilot: Some kind of fighter pilot.