Book Review: The Fracture of Biel-Tan

I’ve spent my reading time this week looking through the content of Gathering Storm I and II, and I must say that I am very impressed with the work in these two books. The scale of the conflict GW is creating is staggering, and for the first time we are seeing named characters put into mortal peril. The combat has also been well-written, which is rare for Warhammer 40,000 publications. Today, I want to take a closer look at Gathering Storm II: The Fracture of Biel-Tan. WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD!

Our book starts off in the pits of Commorragh, where Yvraine is fighting as a gladiator in Lelith Hesperax’s pits. While there she suffers a fatal wound, and the timing of her death coincides with a ritual Eldrad Ulthran was attempting to complete. Together, these events lead to the birth of Ynnead, the Eldar God of the Dead. Yvraine is resurrected by his power, and begins to walk the world as the first among the Ynnari, those Eldar who seek to bring about the full birth of Ynnead.

Yvraine’s rebirth, however, causes a Dysjunction with Commorragh, and the failing Gate of Khaine breaks open in the bowels of the city, unleashing a demonic invasion on its denizens. Asdrubael Vect abandons the city and consolidates his power elsewhere, as his rivals fight for their lives in an attempt to stop the demonic tide. Without some unifying influence, however, their infighting and refusal to work together leaves the Dark City on the brink of complete destruction.

Meanwhile Yvraine meets the Visarch, an old mentor from her days on Biel-Tan. Together they hit the webway and escape from the Dark Eldar fate, moving to their ancient homeworld. At the same time, the Swordwind is engaged against a joint force of Slaanesh and Khorne Demons. The Masque has realized the danger Ynnead poses to her master, and as a result has goaded Skarbrand into joining her in a war against the Eldar. Her ultimate goal is to open the way into Biel-Tan, in the hopes that she can find Yvraine and kill her before Ynnead is fully awakened.

This series of events leads to a massive demonic invasion of Biel-Tan, with Skarbrand and the Avatar meeting one another in a battle that ends with their mutual destruction. Meanwhile, the Masque invades the infinity circuit and begins the process of destroying the souls that reside within.

Yvraine arrives in the midst of all this, as the Spiritseers are desperately trying to save their ancient souls from destruction. Yvraine then reaches within their infinity circuit and draws forth one of the ancient Croneswords, weapons that were crafted from the finger bones of Morai-Heg. Together, the legend says that they will provide awakening for Ynnead, and bring about Slaanesh’s doom in the Rhana Dandra. Drawing forth this sword awakens the Yncarne, who erupts from the infinity circuit and causes Craftworld Biel-Tan to begin breaking apart. Only through the efforts of their Seers are the Eldar able to keep the Craftworld together, though it is a shell of its former glory.

Yvraine is able to convince the Biel-Tani, however, that this is the way forward they have fought to achieve for so many years. While many refuse to agree with her, others flock to her cause, and the armies of the Ynnari continue to swell.

Throughout the rest of the book Yvraine and her forces travel to Ulthwe, gathering many of the famed Black Guardians and the freshly exiled Eldrad Ulthran to their cause. From there they move to the Crone Worlds, in search of the final swords. There they meet battle with a large force of Haemonculus Covens who do not want to see them bring about the God of the Dead, and must also do war with a large contingent of Slaaneshi Demons. In each of these engagements, the presence of the Yncarne proves to be the tipping point in the Eldar’s favor. However, they must retreat after recovering only one of the blades.

Combat continues in the webway as Eldrad leads the Ynnari toward a distant frozen world he has foreseen. They face off with Ahriman and his Thousand Sons, nearly facing annihilation before the intervention of the combined might of all the Phoenix Lords. At long last they are able to reach their destination, where they meet with St. Celestine and the survivors of her crusade in retreat from destroyed Cadia. The Ynnari are able to drive Abaddon and his Black Legion back so that they can rescue the surviving Imperials, beginning tense negotiations that lead to their decision to bring back on of humanity’s greatest heroes from the brink of death. The Eldar know they need allies to stand with them against Chaos, who is now in the ascendant and ripping the galaxy apart with uncontrolled Warp storms. To do this, they know the resurrection of Roboute Guilliman is their best option.

The story in this book was fantastic to read. This is one of the first times we have had continual, prolonged access to an Eldar point of view, and the campaign read as one of the great battle epics from thousands of years ago. The Ynnari are fully committed to changing the Eldar’s course of fate in the galaxy, which is a refreshing change of pace from their stagnant “waiting for death” approach that has been their modus operandi for so long now. I enjoyed reading of their exploits, and actually found myself rooting for them, in spite of my Chaos fanboy roots. The cause of salvation in the face of seemingly overwhelming odds was beautiful, and gave me new reason to appreciate the Eldar race within the framework of 40k.

The rules didn’t disappoint, either. Soulburst is a very interesting rule that will take a lot of play time to master. It will also force an opponent to seriously consider the ramifications of their target selection. At times, you may have to bypass the destruction of a unit you really need to remove, simply to prevent its destruction from chaining and making things worse elsewhere. The combined forces of Aeldari will take some getting used to as well. With their different approaches to war, I think the differing factions will function well together. It is simply a matter of learning the best ways to use them in concert.

I like the steps they took with the Ynnari formations to make some subpar units (like Wyches and Incubi) more efficient, but I still worry that it isn’t enough. When I consider my plans for an Ynnari faction in the near future, I don’t think I will use many of these formations for long. I plan to give them a try to see how they work on the tabletop, but I think in the long run they will be consigned to the shelf while I carry on with the Reborn Warhost. You get the vast majority of their benefits there, in addition to a very flexible army list with a ton of formation options.

If you play any of the Aeldari factions, Fracture of Biel-Tan is for you. The book is worth the price of admission for the fluff expansions alone, even if you don’t care to try the Ynnari faction. Yet for the new approaches it brings to the Eldar race, I think most Eldar players of any stripe will end up giving it a go in the future.

Leave your comments below; what experiences have you had with the Ynnari to date? If you haven’t seen them in action, what are you expecting from them?