This is your complete guide to Warhammer 40k Avatar of Khaine. Everything about the dark gods past, present, and a little of the future is contained in this guide below.
Avatars are manifestations of Kaela Mensha Khaine, the Eldar War God. Following the demise of the Eldar Gods, Khaine fought with Slaanesh immediately after his birth during the Fall of the Eldar. Khaine’s essence was dismantled during the conflict and scattered across the galaxy, settling in the hearts of the remaining Eldar Craftworlds.
A wraith artefact was made wherever his spirit landed, allowing future Eldar to call him as needed. The Eldar Craftworld‘s Avatar is at the centre of everything.
Contents
- 1 – Avatar of Khaine
- 2 – Ritual of the Young King
- 3 – On the battlefield
- 4 – War Gear
- 5 – New 2022 Model Coming
Avatar of Khaine Warhammer 40k
Every Craftworld has its own Avatar, a manifestation of Kaela Mensha Khaine, the Bloody-Handed God of the Aeldari. The Avatar, summoned from his smoldering iron throne, leads his Craftworld’s troops into combat. The Avatar is a god embodied, the personification of the Aeldari ethnic spirit, and a formidable opponent for even the most powerful Chaos forces in the warhammer age.
During the Fall of the Aeldari in the 30th Millennium, it is believed that after the birth of the Chaos God Slaanesh, “She Who Thirsts,” she fought and destroyed the old Aeldari gods one by one in the Immaterium, taking their essences into her own much as she did the souls of the Aeldari themselves. Khaela Mensha Khaine, the God of War and Strife, however, was far too powerful to be destroyed forever. As a result, Khaine’s spirit dispersed across the Infinity Circuits, the psychically-reactive Wraithbone hearts of the remaining Aeldari Craftworlds, fleeing the Warp.
A Wraithbone artefact in the form of a magnificent statue of the deity was erected wherever his essence landed, allowing future Aeldari to summon a fragment of Khaine’s spirit back into the Materium to defend his race when a Craftworld suffers a particularly terrible crisis.
The Aeldari from the Infinity Circuit can bring these parts of his spirit into realspace in times of grave danger to occupy a corporeal body that will battle on their behalf. The Avatars are a solitary fragment of a real Aeldari god. In times of severe need, the Craftworld’s Aeldari summon the Avatar by sacrificing an Exarch to Kaela Mensha Khaine on the eve of battle. Following the blood sacrifice, the Avatar transforms into a flaming, animated incarnation of the god and leads the Aeldari troops into war.
Ritual of the Young King
When the Craftworld Aeldari need to go to war, they honour the sacrifice of the old mythological Aeldari cultural hero Eldanesh, who chose to be slaughtered by Khaine rather than serve the war god and bring all of the Aeldari under his control. As the call to arms rouses the Aspect Warriors and Guardians, a Craftworld’s Infinity Circuit will channel all of its denizens’ excess psychic aggression and hatred into Khaine’s Avatar’s metal body, empowering it for eventual possession by the God of War and Strife’s soul shard that lies dormant within every Craftworld’s Infinity Circuit.
The Young King’s Ritual is the last stage in persuading the fragment of Khaine to enter his Avatar’s body and march off to war. It varies slightly from Craftworld to Craftworld, but the gist is the same: one of the Craftworld’s Exarchs will take on the role of the Young King Eldanesh when he rejects Khaine’s offer of sovereignty over the cosmos. The god fragment in the Craftworld’s Infinity Circuit will be so enraged by this horrific reminder of his greatest failure that it will enter the prepared vessel and slaughter the impudent mortal once more.
A Chaos Space Marine is confronted by a furious Avatar of Khaine.
This occasion is highly ritualised, as is everything among the Aeldari, to avoid any psychic overspill attracting Slaanesh’s attention. The Exarchs will first choose the Young King from among themselves. From Craftworld to Craftworld, the technique of selection varies. Some have the Exarchs rotate through the position over a set period of time, while others have the Exarchs determine who will get the honour immediately before the awakening through ritualized fighting.
When an Exarch is chosen, he or she takes the title of Young King. Because she embodies Eldanesh, a girl will still be referred to as the “Young King,” despite the fact that Eldanesh was a man. The other Exarchs will gather in the antechamber of Khaine’s shrine and form a circle around the Young King, gently chanting, when the Ritual of the Young King reaches the point of awakening the Avatar. They’ll help the Young King remove his or her Exarch Armour, which will be lovingly restored to its Aspect Shrine.
After that, the Young King will stand tall, arms spread wide, and head bent backwards in devotion, while the most senior Exarch of each Aspect carves the rune of its Aspect of War into the Young King’s back. A golden cup known as the Chalice of Criel is held to the small of the Young King’s back to collect his blood on some Craftworlds, while it is permitted to flow freely on others, anointing the ground of Khaine’s shrine.
The Exarchs will bring forth the Suin Daellae, the “Howling Death,” the giant spear or blade that serves as the weapon of the Avatar of Khaine, once all the runes have been etched into the Young King’s back. The Suin Daellae will be taken by the Young King while the remaining ornaments are brought and placed on him; the most common of them are a cloak and a modest flower garland.
If the Chalice of Criel is used in the ceremony, it will be delivered to the Young King, who will accept the cup after taking a sip of his own blood. The doors of the shrine’s inner sanctuary will be opened once the preparations are complete, and the Young King will stride forth carrying the Avatar’s weapon. The Exarchs will sing a song of praise to Khaine and appreciation to the Young King for his or her sacrifice as the doors close behind him.
Nobody knows what happens in the inner sanctum since no Young King has ever lived to tell about it. However, the doors will certainly open again after a few moments, and the Avatar, fully empowered, will march to war. There will be no trace of the Young King, except possibly the flowing blood on the Avatar’s hands…
Kaine On the Battlefield
The Avatar towers above the Eldar warriors on the battlefield, instilling in them memories of their great past as well as a vicious bloodlust, making them more fearless fighters. He is fearless, and he frequently leads the Eldar charge, slaughtering his adversaries with The Wailing Doom, a famous weapon that may be wielded as a sword, axe, or spear. Even from a distance, the weapon can smite his opponents, immolating them with a nimbus of searing psychic energy as soon as it tastes mortal flesh. Avatar crushes its opponents in melee with the powerful Hand of Khaine, a molten metal gauntlet perpetually soaked in the still-warm blood of a young Aspect Warrior.
Avatars are super-tough beings made of super-heated iron with a molten lava core at their core. Due to the nature of his physiology, heat-based weaponry are rendered ineffectual against him. Most projectile weapons, even bolters fired at point-blank range, will be cremated before impact, and the handful that do pierce the body will meet a similar fate before exploding. An Avatar’s essence regenerate in the Craftworld’s central chamber even if he is destroyed, allowing him to return to continue the endless battle against those who oppose the Eldar.
Khaine’s War Gear
The Suin Daellae, the Wailing Doom – Each Avatar of Khaine wields a powerful weapon known as the Suin Daellae, the Wailing Doom in the Aeldari Lexicon. As the Avatar advances to combat and reaps a cruel harvest at close quarters, this huge blade shrieks as it licks mortal flesh, screaming and crying and unleashing murderous bolts of force. Ancient runes writhe on its surface as they try to break free from their enslavement, as though tortured by the heat of the Avatar’s grip. The Wailing Doom is a manifestation of a dark and sinister god — a part of the Avatar imbued with his divine power — rather than a mortal weapon.
New 2022 Model Coming
Games workshop have created all the best models and have decided to partake in an unexpected journey of producing a new model of the warhammer legend Avatar of Khaine.
According to the warhammer community site the only noticeable alteration in Khaine model is a minor shift in his stance, with his arms slightly canted rather than parallel. The blistering on his knees was also redesigned with a shimmering fire effect.
We can’t see the base, but we might be able to expect some form of (tactical) corpse; we’ll have to wait and see.
Upgrades
For an extra 70 points (rumored to be 270 from above), he sees upgrades across his entire statline, with everything getting better (except the WS and BS which were already at 2+)
Ranged attacks
His ranged assault gains a significant power boost and a “shoot over” effect akin to Mortarion’s pistol, which damages models that pass over. Which, thanks to the attack’s improved numbers, makes it a lot better overall.
Melee
In melee, he has the choice of two profiles for concentrated and multi-target assaults. The focused hit is extraordinarily powerful, with a base of 7 attacks at 14S, -5 AP, and an average of 5 damage. The sweep, on the other hand, has 14 attacks at 7S, -2 AP, and 2 damage, making it a simple space marine squad wiper, with each wound removing a whole model.
Invulnerable save
His invulnerable save has been updated to a 4+, and it now now decreases damage by half! His auras were also somewhat altered; now, instead of auto-passing, “moral checks” simply disregard modifiers, which is great. His re-roll charge aura’s range was decreased to 6 inches. Both auras, like the auras of every other upgraded faction, exclusively affect CORE units. He also acquired an explosion on 6s when destroyed, which is good, and is in keeping with the motif of the Avatar’s violent departure.
Downside
It was almost too good to be true, there is a new downside, which restricts him to not being able to take a Warlord Trait or Relic, which seems completely fair seeing as this guy just got upgraded all the way up to a mini-Mortarion for a fraction of the cost!
