Review: Eldar / Aeldari Avatar of Khaine (plastic)

Heralding the second wave of Aeldari releases is the updated Avatar of Khaine model, available for the first time ever in glorious hard plastic. In this unboxing and review, I’ll take a closer look at what you can expect from this magnificent kit.

The classic Avatar of Khaine is such an ancient sculpt that Games Workshop even dedicated a funny video and Warhammer Community article to celebrate the new model. But that’s only half of the truth, as there’ve been two Forge World exclusive Avatar models released around the 4th Edition Eldar codex, one of which I painted for my Iybraesil collection. Rumour was that this Avatar model was meant to be a regular Citadel release, but would have been too expensive and difficult to produce in white metal, so it was handed over to Forge World. We’ll never know for sure, but fast forward to 2022, we now got a fancy new model in plastic.

Avatar of Khaine unboxing

I’ve made this little YouTube short video so you can get a better impression of what is in the box:

As you can see, there is a single extra large sprue and an 80 mm round base. We have three head options – the classic design with the two “antlers”, an alternative “hoplite-style” helmet with ponytail, and a very interesting unhelmeted sculpts that reminds me a lot of Drukhari Mandrakes. The heads each have slightly different neck pieces that connect to the body, so magnetizing doesn’t seem easy.

There are also three weapon designs for the Wailing Doom. A classic Sword option, an axe, and a spear. All of these weapon options are cosmetic and make no difference in gameplay.

Avatar of Khaine old and new comparison

Scale-wise, the new model is very true to the proportions of the Forge World Avatar. The model is standing atop a piece of broken Aeldari masonry, a common theme of the Aeldari range, with flames licking on his body and base. Except for the base piece, the flames are connected with the sculpt and not optional, unless you really go to town with a hobby knife and green stuff. It’s a bit of a bummer, as I could have done without them.

Mediocre Hobbies has made a comparison shot over on Twitter with the new Avatar and the Forge World model:

The new Avatar of Khaine comes on an 80 mm base, in contrast to the 60mm of the Forge World Avatar and the 40mm of the classic Avatar. I wasn’t able to assemble the model yet, but I’ve taken this picture of my Forge World Avatar, the new Guardians and a Wraithlord, so you should get a good impression of his size. The new Avatar isn’t that huge, definitely a bit smaller than most Greater Daemons, but taller than a Wraithlord still.

All in all, a successful update of this iconic Aeldari centrepiece, and the optional heads and weapons create welcome opportunities for personalisation.

Value

With an RRP of £60 / 80€ the Avatar of Khaine doesn’t come cheap, but that’s something Aeldari collectors are used to at this point. The pricing is broadly in line with other similar large models of this size, even though the Avatar kit has only a single large sprue.

You can (pre)order the Avatar of Khaine from our partner stores Wayland Games, Element Games, and Taschengelddieb at a welcome discount. Using our links helps to support Tale of Painters at no extra cost to you, thank you very much 🙂