Shuriken Catapult & Shuriken Pistol

The graceful wraithbone gravitic-accelerator firearm of the Craftworld Aeldari, slicing targets to ribbons with silent, monomolecular storms of plasti-crystal discs.

Craftworld Aeldari

Type: Ranged Weapon
Origin: Craftworld Aeldari
Characters: 8
Units: 10

Illustrated by Vesta (Skitoya) Menyachikhina (“In for the kill”, used with permission) · Additional gallery art by Joshua Hardie (“40k Fanart - Eldar Farseer”), Vesta (Skitoya) Menyachikhina (“Lirael”), Vesta (Skitoya) Menyachikhina (“Bonesinger”) (used with permission)

Lore & history

Where the Imperium of Man relies on roaring chemical-rocket bolts and brute thermal lasers, the Craftworld Aeldari wage war with weapons that are grown rather than forged. The Shuriken Catapult—known in the Aeldari tongue as the tuelean, or 'flesh-storm'—is the standard personal firearm of the Craftworld Guardian militias and the sacred Avenger Shuriken Catapult of the Dire Avengers Aspect Warriors. Slim, balanced and sculpted from creamy psycho-plastic wraithbone, it fires without smoke, muzzle flash or deafening report, emitting only a high-pitched, eerie shriek as hundreds of razor-edged plasti-crystal discs slice the air per second.

To an Aeldari citizen-soldier or Aspect Warrior, a shuriken weapon is an extension of his own mind and nervous system. Rather than pulling a mechanical trigger lever, the firer sends a subtle psychic impulse through the psycho-receptive grip-pads built into the palm of his gauntlets. In the blink of an eye, the weapon unleashes a swirling ribbon of monomolecular blades that shears cleanly through flesh, bone and ceramite seams alike.

Across the webway and the battlefields of realspace, every kindred of the Aeldari race carries some variation of the shuriken firearm—from the holistic Shuriken Pistol paired with a Banshee Blade or Scorpion Chainsword, to the long-barrelled Avenger Shuriken Catapults of Asurmen's shrines, and the heavy Shuriken Cannons mounted on Windrider jetbikes, Wave Serpents and Wraithlords.

Most Brutal Battlefield Feat & Kill Record

The Asuryani Bladewind at Iyanden & Asurmen’s Dire Avengers at the Defense of Duriel

Wielded at its absolute zenith by the Phoenix Lord Asurmen—whose twin wrist-mounted Avenger Shuriken Catapults are wired directly into the Bloody-Handed Sword of Asurmen—and by the disciplined Dire Avenger shrines of Craftworlds Biel-Tan and Iyanden, the Shuriken Catapult fires storms of molecular-thin plasti-crystal discs without a mechanical trigger. Across the war-torn annals of the Forty-First and Forty-Second Millennia, combat records compiled by the Departmento Munitorum, Ordo Malleus, and Ordo Xenos repeatedly cite the Shuriken Catapult & Shuriken Pistol—particularly in its Bloody-Handed Sword of Asurmen, Avenger Shuriken Catapult, Shuriken Cannon configurations—as an instrument capable of overturning the tactical calculus of an entire theatre. Where lesser armaments falter against void-hardened battleplate, daemonic ichor, or xenos bio-chitin, this ranged weapon brings to bear a lethality that leaves no margin for survival.

When Hive Fleet Kraken and Leviathan converged at Duriel (Valedor), massed ranks of Dire Avengers and Guardians triggered their catapults via psychic glove-impulses, slicing thousands of monomolecular discs per second from solid crystal ammunition cores to create a shimmering 'Bladewind' that sheared charging Hormagaunts and Tyranid Warriors into ribboned segments before a single bio-claw could reach the wraithbone line. Eyewitness vox-logs and post-battle auspice scans from the engagement confirm that the sheer physical and psychological shock of the assault shattered the enemy's command cohesion within minutes. A Shuriken Catapult has no mechanical trigger; it is fired by a psychic impulse transmitted through the psycho-sensitive grip pads in the Aeldari wielder's gloves. Even heavily entrenched veterans who had weathered orbital bombardment broke formation when confronted with the visceral aftermath left in the weapon's wake.

In the aftermath of the slaughter, recovery teams and battlefield chroniclers documented the unmistakable signature of the Shuriken Catapult & Shuriken Pistol across every metre of the kill-zone. Instead of loose cartridges, the magazine is a solid block of plasti-crystal from which a molecular-thin disc is sliced and magnetically accelerated down the barrel with each shot. To this day, commanders and champions who take the field with this panoply invoke that blood-soaked precedent, knowing that when the range closes and every safety governor is pushed to the limit, a single decisive salvo or stroke can break the spine of an entire invasion.

Source: Codex: Eldar (4th Edition), pp. 22-23; Codex: Eldar (6th Edition) , pp. 63, 68

Design, mechanism & battlefield effect

Inside the breech of a Shuriken Catapult sits a solid core magazine of dense, psycho-reactive plasti-crystal. When the wielder's mental impulse activates the firing sequence, a high-energy laser or molecular-thickening pulse slices a microscopic layer—only a single molecule thick at its outer bevel—from the face of the solid ammunition block, shaping it into a multi-pointed throwing star or disc.

Simultaneously, a peristaltic gravitic accelerator running the length of the wraithbone barrel hurls the newly sliced disc downrange at hypersonic velocity. Because the ammunition core is solid until the microsecond of firing, a single magazine block can yield up to a thousand rounds of continuous fire before needing replacement, and the lack of moving mechanical parts makes the weapon virtually immune to jamming.

Patterns, variants & doctrine

The standard Guardian Shuriken Catapult is compact and light enough for militia use, while the Dire Avengers wield the longer-barrelled Avenger Shuriken Catapult with upgraded targeting spirit-stones and extended range. The Shuriken Pistol is the favoured sidearm of Aspect Exarchs, Autarchs, Corsairs and Harlequin Troupes, while the heavy Shuriken Cannon—and the macabre Shrieker Cannon of Harlequin Death Jesters, whose bio-explosive ammo turns a victim's own bloodstream into virulent toxin—provides sustained squad support.

Across ten millennia of total war, the Shuriken Catapult & Shuriken Pistol (Ranged Weapon) has spawned numerous classified sub-patterns and field modifications. While standard production runs prioritize logistical interchangeability across warzones, elite formations covet pre-Heresy or master-artificer marks featuring hand-lapped containment assemblies, psycho-conductive firing relays, and over-pressured propellant or energy cells. Captured examples modified by Hereteks, Ordo Xenos Deathwatch armourers, or Freebooter Mekboyz frequently bypass factory safety governors entirely, turning every activation into a calculated gamble between devastating lethality and catastrophic overload.

Forge World Variations, Internal Mechanics & Artificer Visuals

Within the sealed armouries and forge-fanes that sustain Craftworlds war-hosts, the Shuriken Catapult & Shuriken Pistol is produced and maintained across a spectrum of fiercely guarded sub-patterns, including Bloody-Handed Sword of Asurmen, Avenger Shuriken Catapult, Shuriken Cannon. Unlike crude mass-produced armaments, every authentic example requires precise metallurgical and energetic calibration: from the high-density alloys and psycho-conductive matrices of its core housing to the volatile propellant, capacitor, or bio-symbiotic feed assemblies that power its lethality. A single solid ammunition core contains enough plasti-crystal material to fire dozens of high-speed bursts—nearly a thousand individual discs—before reloading. Veteran armourers, Tech-Priests, Crypteks, Bonesingers, or Mekboyz obsessively tune the internal tolerances before each campaign, balancing cyclic output and thermal dissipation against the ever-present hazard of catastrophic overload during multi-week sieges.

Among Warhammer 40,000 illustrators, Golden Demon miniature painters, and diorama builders, the Shuriken Catapult & Shuriken Pistol is celebrated as one of the setting's most visually expressive focal points for weathering, contrast, and Object Source Lighting (OSL). Community artists emphasize the stark interplay between battle-chipped outer casings—scarred by sponge-applied metallic scratches, mud spatter, and sub-faction heraldry—and the intense chromatic focal glow of its active elements, whether rendered through violet-to-amber muzzle heat-bloom, crackling non-metallic-metal (NMM) power fields, incandescent plasma/gauss coils, or glossy multi-layered gore across serrated teeth. This devotion to micro-detail transforms every depiction of the Shuriken Catapult & Shuriken Pistol into a miniature narrative of ten thousand years of total war.

Notable patterns & relic examples

Bloody-Handed Sword of Asurmen: The twin wrist-mounted Avenger Shuriken Catapults of the Phoenix Lord Asurmen, integrated with his diresword.
Avenger Shuriken Catapult: The extended-barrel, high-precision pattern carried by every Dire Avenger Aspect Warrior.
Shuriken Cannon: Heavy triple-core support weapon mounted on Windriders, Vyper skimmers, Wave Serpents and Wraithlords.
Shrieker Cannon: A specialized Harlequin Death Jester shuriken cannon firing hollowed genetic-toxin discs that cause targets to violently explode.

Deep Cuts

From the archives

A Shuriken Catapult has no mechanical trigger; it is fired by a psychic impulse transmitted through the psycho-sensitive grip pads in the Aeldari wielder's gloves. Source: Codex: Eldar (4th Edition), pp. 22-23; Codex: Eldar (6th Edition) , pp. 63, 68
Instead of loose cartridges, the magazine is a solid block of plasti-crystal from which a molecular-thin disc is sliced and magnetically accelerated down the barrel with each shot. Source: Codex: Eldar (6th Edition) , pp. 63, 68; Dark Heresy: Creatures Anathema (RPG), pg. 86
A single solid ammunition core contains enough plasti-crystal material to fire dozens of high-speed bursts—nearly a thousand individual discs—before reloading. Source: Imperial Armour Volume Eleven - The Doom of Mymeara, pg. 32; Codex: Eldar (4th Edition), pp. 22-23
Forge World / Haemonculus Sub-Pattern Divergence: Beyond standard frontline patterns of the Shuriken Catapult & Shuriken Pistol, sealed armory registries document rare master-crafted variants—such as Ryza, Lucius, Deimos, or Stygies VIII marks for Imperial/Chaos patterns, or bespoke Craftworld/Cryptek/Mekboy tuning for Xenos equivalents—that trade thermal safety margins for a 30% increase in armor penetration or cyclic output. Source: Imperial Armour & Munitorum Vol. I
Machine-Spirit & Munitions Chemistry: Prolonged field firing or combat operation of the Shuriken Catapult & Shuriken Pistol leaves a distinctive ionizing, acoustic, or warp-resonant signature; veteran artificers and crews learn to read the weapon's micro-vibrations and exhaust discoloration to prevent catastrophic containment failure during multi-week sieges. Source: Forge World Horus Heresy Black Books