[Eldar] Interstellar travel

[horizon]

Isn't it so that Eldar stay away from the warp itself because their old friend Slaanesh is awaiting there?

Also: there is a lot of new GW info in the new Daemon codex. They now state that the easiest way for a daemon to enter realspace is through the webway. That's why the Eldar sealed so many entrances.

From BFG (Doom of the Eldar) we know that Eldar have several wraithgates around their Craftworlds big enough for whole fleets (10-20 warships).

[Malika]

That new piece of fluff doesn't make sense whatsoever...it's GW's attempt to make their latest product look cooler which most of the times means that the Eldar become the scapegoats in this. The Dark Eldar hid in the Webway because Slaanesh couldn't just enter there. Chaos always had a hard time entering the Webway, which was also why the Eldar used that more instead of purely travelling in the Warp.

But yeah...that little fact gets thrown right out of the window to make the latest product look "cooler" because other methods are completely non-existent....right.... 

[Zizada]

Just some ideas to get out

Who created webway/warpgate network - I think that we should agree that the original warpgate network was a prduct of the Old Ones (most people seem happy with that).  My own personal thought is the webway is a refinement of that network (miniturisation at its best!) and completely seperate as it is based on the Old Ones work not an extension of it.  The Prefall Eldar realised the effectiveness of warp travel but found the inconsistentcy in travel times to disruptive.  They then set up a warp tunnel network between all the existing worlds within the Empire.  Traditional warp travel and FTL travel was used to help colonisation (find a new planet seed a webway entrance and have people arriving quickly to populate, cultivate etc.).  This tunnel network was probably found to be supremely useful during the war with the Necrontyr as the largest ships could jump to a location with a small network gate onboard and it could disgorge the army without need for large amounts of troop transports.

How extensive is the Webway -  NB -this is all conjecture- Well within certain sections of the Galaxy it literally has a gateway on every planet capable of habitation.  There may be 'core' tunnels that extend into major star clusters that had the capacity to expand the empire into and running to every Craftworld.  There would probably be secondary tunnels that run from Craftworlds to habitable planets that each Craftworld has been past during the ten thousand years since the Fall (a precusor to reconstruction of the Eldar Empire!). 

I'll post something about the FTL travel as soon as i think of something

[Kage2020]

Who created webway/warpgate network - I think that we should agree that the original warpgate network was a prduct of the Old Ones...

Erm, that's what we have been working on from the get-go, i.e. it's what I've been working on and one thing that I'm not willing to compromise on.  I really don't see the need to keep on emasculating the Eldar and making them little more than a sidekick race, as appears to be the tendency in the current rendition of the 'fluff.'

As to extensiveness...?  One could offer another argument that everything within the original core of the 'star empire' has almost all been destroyed (read: Eye of Terror), and that beyond that it was pretty spartan.  Of course, this assumes that the Eldar are incapable of producing more gateways, which I would personally argue is erroneous, but there we go.  The primary limitation to this is, of course, getting where you want to put a portal.  It's the same issue as with real world hypothesis on wormhole networks.

Kage

[CELS]

I rather agree that this "new information" that states daemons frequently enter the Matterium through the Webway is a barrel of dung, if interpreted as daemons entering the Webway at will. However, I do think that we could tweak it a bit so it makes more sense. After all, we already know that the shockwave from the Fall damaged the Webway, making many sections inaccessible for different reasons, which is why some Craftworlds have been "trapped" in regions where the connection in the Webway has been broken. Of course, I do agree that the Eldar should be capable of creating new Webways, but I don't think that it should be an instant process. So basically, there might be areas of the Webway that the Eldar have stopped using, because they have been invaded by Chaos. That doesn't mean the entire Webway is unsafe, rather the contrary, but it just confirms and builds on the old idea that certain parts of the Webway were damaged after the Fall. And of course, if daemons managed to enter some parts of the Webway, they might be able to exit through the same "portals" as the Eldar once used for those parts of the Webway, though only very temporarily, since they wouldn't have any anchor in the Matterium.

Example: The Webway once had a passage from Tir'asur to the world Bingo VII, but after the Fall, this passage was damaged, along with its wards and shields. Thus, the Eldar would close the passage to Bingo VII, which means there would be no way for daemons to use this passage to attack Tir'asur. However, the world Bingo VII would still be surrounded by a broken passage, and there would still be a gate on Bingo VII leading to this passage, so daemons could potentially use it to attack Bingo VII. Again though, unless the daemons had some kind of anchor on that world, it would be little more than a "Hello and goodbye" invasion, giving them just enough time to say "Tremble, mortals" before disappearing in thin air.

[Malika]

By the way, I was curious how Craftworlds Travel, do they have Warp engines or some other way of superspeed. I'm asking this because...well if we look at the galactic map we see several Craftworlds which are located on the other side of the galaxy from where the Eldar homeworlds are located. So this means that they either have been travelling there for hundreds of thousands (if not millions) of years, or that they have faster than lightspeed engines on there!

[Addinarr]

I rather agree that this "new information" that states daemons frequently enter the Matterium through the Webway is a barrel of dung, if interpreted as daemons entering the Webway at will. However, I do think that we could tweak it a bit so it makes more sense. After all, we already know that the shockwave from the Fall damaged the Webway, making many sections inaccessible for different reasons, which is why some Craftworlds have been "trapped" in regions where the connection in the Webway has been broken. Of course, I do agree that the Eldar should be capable of creating new Webways, but I don't think that it should be an instant process. So basically, there might be areas of the Webway that the Eldar have stopped using, because they have been invaded by Chaos. That doesn't mean the entire Webway is unsafe, rather the contrary, but it just confirms and builds on the old idea that certain parts of the Webway were damaged after the Fall. And of course, if daemons managed to enter some parts of the Webway, they might be able to exit through the same "portals" as the Eldar once used for those parts of the Webway, though only very temporarily, since they wouldn't have any anchor in the Matterium.

Example: The Webway once had a passage from Tir'asur to the world Bingo VII, but after the Fall, this passage was damaged, along with its wards and shields. Thus, the Eldar would close the passage to Bingo VII, which means there would be no way for daemons to use this passage to attack Tir'asur. However, the world Bingo VII would still be surrounded by a broken passage, and there would still be a gate on Bingo VII leading to this passage, so daemons could potentially use it to attack Bingo VII. Again though, unless the daemons had some kind of anchor on that world, it would be little more than a "Hello and goodbye" invasion, giving them just enough time to say "Tremble, mortals" before disappearing in thin air.

There's a problem with that though, in that daemons are essentially without number. If there's an easy opening that allows them to enter reality more easily than usual, you can be sure it would be flooded by vast numbers of them. That kind of thing would be noticable after a while.

[CELS]

By the way, I was curious how Craftworlds Travel, do they have Warp engines or some other way of superspeed. I'm asking this because...well if we look at the galactic map we see several Craftworlds which are located on the other side of the galaxy from where the Eldar homeworlds are located. So this means that they either have been travelling there for hundreds of thousands (if not millions) of years, or that they have faster than lightspeed engines on there!

As mentioned in my last post, GW has suggested that at least some Craftworlds use the Webway itself. But yeah, considering the speed that the Craftworlds have moved (there is even one map showing the movement of one craftworld from the Ultima Segmentum back to Segmentum Obscorus, which means it will have travelled maybe a hundred thousand light years or more in about fifteen thousand years), it seems impossible that the Craftworlds utilise standard sub-light propulsion.

There's a problem with that though, in that daemons are essentially without number. If there's an easy opening that allows them to enter reality more easily than usual, you can be sure it would be flooded by vast numbers of them. That kind of thing would be noticable after a while.

Not really, it just depends on how easy it is. Even if it's easier to possess a psyker than other sentient creatures, that doesn't mean they're constantly assailed by countless daemons, making it only a matter of time untill they break.  For a daemon to break into the Matterium without any anchor is almost completely unheard of. Thus, even if it's easier to break into the Matterium through the Webway, that doesn't mean it's easy or common.

[Zizada]

Sorry Kage, I was just sumerising what others had said for that one.

I did say that habitable worlds would have had a 'seeded' Webway gate as the Craftworlds passed by since the Fall.  I refuse to even contemplate that they could not create more gateways!

As far as Craftworlds actually entering the Webway.  How would they do that?  They tow behind them several (and very large) webway gates that allow the fleets to enter.  Wouldn't it make more sense to say that the Craftworlds use the static (in stellar terms) warpgates originally used by the Old Ones?  Or that they are capable of making warp jumps.  Afterall the Craftworlds wraithbone is home the crystal spiders who (if memory serves)eat any non Eldar 'soul' that gets into the wraithbone.

About FTL travel.  I had a thought that they would use it, even within a star system, but unlike the Necrons they have squissy bits that don't really like inertialess drives (relativistic speeds create seat pizzas) so they would need gravity couches or something like that to stop them dying.  Personally i think that the Eldar ships have low masses compared to equivalent vessels from other races.  This combined with contra-grav technology (minimise/cancel gravity well effects of stellar masses) allows them exceptional accelerations and speeds compared to any other race bar the Necrons.

[Exthalion]

Forgive me for posting in such and old thread, but if I may I would like to post my take on this issue.

I would first like to answer the two basic questions posted:
As to the origin of the Webway I believe the Webway and the Warp Gate Network should be considered separate systems.

1. Unique Warp Gate Network and Eldar Webway

Here is why I believe this:
* If Warhammer fantasy battles is to be believed then Portals with a connection to the Warp exist in the form of large floating Gates.
* While Eldar are known to build large Webway gates, as illustrated by those on Craftworlds and some of the larger structures in the Dawn of War series of computer games, none have been observed to float.
** While the Eldar have been observed with anti-gravity technology a floating Webway Gate would not not be as useful as a grounded one.
** Most of the Eldar warmachine is ground based or floats not very high above the ground.
** If the Webway network was built to facilitate travel within their Empire then ease of access would also suggest placing the gates on the ground.
* The Warhammer gate suggests one of two things based on its size and location.
** It was used for movement of fleets.
*** This makes the north pole of a planet an unlikely location as ships would have to escape the gravity well.
** It was used for large scale movement of troops and equipment supplemented by large transport ships or platforms of some kind.

Taking this into account I believe the Warhammer gate is an example of the Old One Warp Gate Network.

As a justification I offer the following.
* The Warhammer planet contains Elves and Orks which are known to have been involved in the War in Heaven.
* Armies by these races are best assembled, trained, maintained, etc. on a planet.
* The War in Heaven would require movement of large numbers of forces quickly from their supply bases to the battlefield.

If these assumptions are true the the Warhammer planet was once used in the War in Heaven as a supply base, training area, or other place where large numbers of troops not in combat were assembled. When they were required they would embark on large transports of some kind which would depart through the northern Warp Gate to emerge much closer the the field of battle. If one such gate exists there are likely more. Thus the Old One Warp Gate Network makes use of large fixed gates designed to move troops of the younger races from supply non-combat areas to combat areas as efficiently as possible.

The Eldar Webway does not exhibit these characteristics. The facts I am assuming include:
* Webwey gates are for the most part invisible.
* They are shown to be much more accessible.
* They are located in multiple locations on single worlds and are placed to facilitate travel within the Eldar Empire.

These to me suggest that the Webway is a separate structure from the Warp Gate Network.

However the similarities are to glaring to be called coincidental. Based on the Timeline of the War in Heaven I would guess that the Warp Gate Network predates the Webway and was used primarily for the War. The Webway was constructed after its end.

While I do believe that the Eldar had assistance from the Old Ones I believe that the Webway represents the Eldar development of the Warp Gate concept into a more flexible and expansive system.

2. Nature of the Webway and Warp Gate Network

As presented above there is some debate over what exactly the Webway and Warp Gate Network are. I do not mean to contradict anyone's personal theories, but I will present what appear right to me.

If some theories of reality and spacetime are right, then wormholes are a natural part of the structure of the Universe. I propose that the Webway and Warp Gate Network make use of some similar facet of the nature of reality in the Warhammer 40k universe.

It has been shown through the fiction that:
* The Webway can be expanded
* Connections to the Webway can be made from the Materium.
** These connections must be reinforced in some way that involves psychic technology or ability in order to become permanent.
* The Eldar have the ability to move through the Webway on foot or in vehicles.
* Travel time in the Webway is comparable in speed to Imperial Warp travel.
* The birth of Slannesh damaged the Webway
* Demons can enter the Webway
** There is debate on whether this is through Webway portals in demon infested areas or directly from the Warp to the Webway.

Based on the above I submit the following as the nature of the Webway. The Webway exists partially in real space and partially in the Warp. More precisely it represents an element of the structure of the Warp/Real Space Barrier. The Warp and the Materium have been shown to be able to overlap in areas such as the Eye of Terror. Also, the fact that demons can manifest in the Materium through phykers and that emotions effect the Warp shows that even in apparently normal space there is some form of Materium/Warp connection.

My theory is that the Webway exists in this connection and that the structure of the connection defines the Webway. When a new Webway like is made, it must burrow from real space into this blended zone. In a way, the Webway is a tunnel of real space in the Warp.

As the Emperor's experiments with the Webway show, these connections are vulnerable to demons when they are unshielded and they are unstable. This is I believe where Wraitbone comes in.

Whatever its origin, be it nanopolymer or solidified Warp Energy, it is known to be psychicly reactive, a psychic insulator, and considerably stronger then known human materials including Adamantium. (The second effect is why the Craftworld Eldar survived the birth of Slannesh) If this is true then by bracing the tunnel with Wraithbone the Eldar physically shore it up, and prevent demons from entering it.

However if this structure becomes damaged then enough might remain to prevent a total collapse, but not enough to insulate against demons. A damaged section of the Webway is an area of real space with the Warp pouring in. Thus it would be an environment like the Eye of Terror.

This I believe also explains why the Dark Eldar are secure in the Webway from Slannesh. They have reinforced their city with enough Wraithbone to insure that it is sufficiently isolated from demons.

To finish off with the Warp Gate Network, we have not seen travel through it. It might be similar to the Webway in structure, or it might resemble other fictions Warpgates and allow near instantaneous travel. The birth of Slannesh is I believe the event that damaged it and it the reason that Chaos is pouring from it in the Warhammer world. If my theory of its origin is correct then it might not have been designed with  defense against the Warp or demons in mind.

3. Extent of the Webway and Warp Gate Network

If I am correct as to the nature of the Webway then it could potentially extend everywhere. However as stated by others it most likely does not. Thus a few assumptions have to be made about the Eldar Empire.

It is known that:
* It was centered on what is now the Eye of Terror.
* It seeded worlds in preparation for colonization.
* Craftworlds (though smaller then) took several years to make a complete trip.

I would speculate that the Webway extended to all Crone and Maiden worlds. Other gates would most likely be in areas of strategic importance, extensive resource distribution, or exploratory areas. If the analogy of a web is used, then the Eye of Terror would appear as a dense and interconnected center with increasingly thin and simple connects extending outwards. Thus the closer to the Eye the more links are likely to exist. However I believe that there are at least space gates present in the far end of the Segmentum Obscurous built in preparation of eventual colonization and in case of millitary need.

As to the mobility of certain gates, I would assume that the path of the Webway is fixed to a certain extent but due to the nature of the Warp gates can move a great amount without straining the length of the path. Also, the mobile gates might shift the path to some degree, moving their collection along more stationary links much like moving along a length of rope while always keeping a grip on it.

If my idea concerning the Warp Gate Network is true, then it would exist with exits only at fixed gates in Real Space.

If as speculated above that that Warp Gate Network is the backbone of the Webway then one of two effects might occure.
* The major Webway links will follow the structure of the Warp Gate Network
* Larger gates might not be designed to be traversable by ground based forces. Thus gates used by fleets to travel might not be traversable to ground forces.

4. Eldar Non-Webway FTL Travel

If the Eldar make use of Warp skimming like the Tao then they would have some degree of protection due to the Wraithbone hull of their ships.

If however they stay in Real Space as I believe then their sails are I believe the method their of. What we see based on Battlefleet Gothic rules is the the Eldar ships "solar sails" allow them to move directly toward the sun. This should be impossible if they function like normal solar sails. It is possible that their sails are actually reactionless surfaces like the wings used by the Xeelee of Stephen Baxter.

If this is true in the combat conditions we see them in the sails are for the most part retracted to allow them move at speeds where they can hit the enemy.

If however for FTL motion the sails are extended then they could gain sudden speed without making use of the Warp. In Eldar Codex 3rd addition I believe the Biel-Tan Craftworld is shown with a mass of sails near its front. Because as stated above Craftworlds are capable of FTL travel then either these sails allow FTL motion, are reactionless to allow motion in interstellar space, or Webway portals large enough for a Craftworld exists. Seeing as Craftworlds are the size of small planets, I am disinclined to believe there are portals that large.

Also in the fluff Eldar ships cannot approach to close the Craftworld to avoid its gravity. If the Eldar are capable of  breaking orbit (which their fighters clearly are) this cannot be the only reason. I propose that because the Craftworld is moving faster then light its escorts must also. If this is so, then their sails would be extended far more then traditionally depicted. Thus the injunction against going to close to the craft world is due to the possible miles wide spread of each vessels sails.

Thank you for your patience in reading this. I welcome any commentary or criticism you feel necessary or that you wish to give.

Edit: My apologies for the lengthy section on the Eldar and the Avatar. I wrote that for the Avatar thread and had it copied. I thought I only had a small section at the end but all of it was there. I have removed it because it does not pertain to this discussion and is already present in the Avatar thread.

[Dragon Lord]

On your section 1:
To be honest I think this is of limited relevance.  You seem to have based the entirety of your hypothesis on the warhammer world, which is, as stated many times by GW, and a policy we tend to stick to at Anargo I believe, completely separate from the 40k universe, with its own background.  If you could rework it without the basing on the warhammer world then I think it could be interesting.

On your section 2:
Now this I do think is interesting.  The idea of the webway being a network of realspace tunnels spread through the warp, supported by wraithbone, much as a mine shaft is supported by metal or wooden beams is a very nice idea.  It does nicely encapsulate how an Eldar, or other being, can traverse it otherwise unprotected on foot and also how sections of the webway can be damaged such that they are no longer safe.
I think this concept can be extended to warp gates however, perhaps warp gates/stable warp routes are channels in the warp that have been partially supported by wraithbone (or another such material) and thus are 'quieter' than the bulk of the warp, however they have not been completely enclosed and so it is still necessary to have protective measures, such as Gellar fields when travelling through one.  Particularly I can see that the largest warp gates/stable warp routes might be/have been unfeasible to completely enclose in wraithbone, it strikes me that gates capable of admitting a craftworld would likely fall under this category.

I largely agree with what you have said about the extent of the webway, the analogy of a spiders web with the centre at the Eye of Terror is, I think, quite apt.  Of course now, with the presence of the Eye, it is presumably missing a fair chunk of that 'centre'.

On your section 4 I'm afraid I disagree.  I believe that any faster-than-light travel by the Eldar would be by way of the Warp, whether it be by way of the webway or simply Imperial-style warp travel.  I agree that moving the immense bulk of a craftworld through the webway might be somewhat difficult, but this could also explain the dramatic difference in the distances travelled by some of the craftworlds.  Presumably tunnels capable of admitting a craftworld are few and far between, so those craftworlds that have been nearer longer stretches of such tunnels will likely have travelled further.
The fact that the Necrons are often described as using FTL other than warp travel irritates me somewhat.  One of the things I like about the 40k universe is that the Warp can be used to account for almost every instance of breaking the laws of physics within the 40k setting, thus when something breaks the laws of physics outside of warp-based technology/phenomena it tends to irritate me.

I largely agree on you presumptions about the warp, though I would point out that you need to be careful when you consider daemons as the result of coalescences of emotions becoming self aware.  The subservient daemons of the Chaos Gods, if you consider them to be separate entities from their patron god, are self aware daemonic entities that are not themselves directly the result of self awareness of coalescences of emotion, they all stem from the same emotional pool and are created by their patron god rather than spontaneously achieving self awareness.

I will discuss the Eldar related points in the avatar thread.

[Malika]

Holy crap...I thought this forum to be dead and then we get an intense post such as this! Ok...I have to hand in my thesis tomorrow after which I will be getting really drunk, hence I will probably comment on it on saturday...with a hangover!

[Kage2020]

Well, I'm slowly bringing myself back into this project, which would be useful as the titular head of it.  Still hoping that members will share the information that they have on it (i.e. worlds) so that we can get back up to speed, but that's a long haul process.

With regards to Threadomancy, on this project that's not a bad thing...

If Warhammer fantasy battles is to be believed then Portals with a connection to the Warp exist in the form of large floating Gates.

One thing that we have to be careful about is the stated disconnect between the two game universes in the current materials.  With that said, I believe that drawing from Warhammer Fantasy Battles is necessary, especially in the context of the history of the game universe.

* While Eldar are known to build large Webway gates, as illustrated by those on Craftworlds and some of the larger structures in the Dawn of War series of computer games, none have been observed to float.

We do, however, have references to portals in space, i.e. outside of a planet.  One would imagine that it's just easier to build on the ground when creating a portal on a world rather than having to use anti/contra-grav technologies, etc.  The whole K.I.S.S. principle.

** Most of the Eldar warmachine is ground based or floats not very high above the ground.

I think that it's also important to remember at this juncture that the wargame limits us in a number of ways, including being essentially a 2D game in a 3D environment.  Adding in height was never that successful.  Indeed, before I gave up on the wargame the most obvious example of this were the Swooping Hawks from WD 127.

I do not believe that the game has really added this extra-dimensionality in subsequent editions but, as someone that doesn't read the wargame rules... Well, something radical could have happened. (Likely, perhaps not so much... )

In short, though, I'm suspicious about the whole argument that Webway portals are necessarily on the ground.  That just seems easier, as you point out, rather than necessary.

Taking this into account I believe the Warhammer gate is an example of the Old One Warp Gate Network.

I would agree with that assessment.

If these assumptions are true the the Warhammer planet was once used in the War in Heaven as a supply base, training area, or other place where large numbers of troops not in combat were assembled.

Or just that for some reason the Old Ones decided that they were going to go to that world.

* Webwey gates are for the most part invisible.

Other than the physical anchor, of course.  Not necessary outside of a gravity well as evidenced by the background on Eldar starships, but there we go.

These to me suggest that the Webway is a separate structure from the Warp Gate Network.

The Anargo (current) assumption is that the Webway is built on top of, or otherwise utilising, the remaining fragments of the Warp Gate Network so as to smooth the discrepancies between the editions.l

However the similarities are to glaring to be called coincidental. Based on the Timeline of the War in Heaven I would guess that the Warp Gate Network predates the Webway and was used primarily for the War. The Webway was constructed after its end.

This is a part of the canon.  The Eldar are described as taking up the perfection of "warp technology" and going beyond the Old Ones.  Ergo, the Warp Gate Network predates the Webway.

While I do believe that the Eldar had assistance from the Old Ones I believe that the Webway represents the Eldar development of the Warp Gate concept into a more flexible and expansive system.

If by assistance you mean that they studied the technologies of the Old Ones then that too would be a part of established canon.

* Demons can enter the Webway

This being, of course, a means by which the Eldar cannot have too privileged a communications channel.

Based on the above I submit the following as the nature of the Webway. The Webway exists partially in real space and partially in the Warp. More precisely it represents an element of the structure of the Warp/Real Space Barrier.

You will note that the Layered Warp approach argues that the Webway is found within the "lower manifold," which essentially acts as the barrier between the warp and the matterium.

In a way, the Webway is a tunnel of real space in the Warp.

Possible.... You could also argue that it is a no-space, but we're getting into quirky theories when you get to that.

As the Emperor's experiments with the Webway show, these connections are vulnerable to demons when they are unshielded and they are unstable. This is I believe where Wraitbone comes in.

The "Imperial Webway" doesn't really find a lot of favour here, or at least with me.

If this is true then by bracing the tunnel with Wraithbone the Eldar physically shore it up, and prevent demons from entering it.

I personally find the idea of "wraithbone tunnels" to be tenuous at best.  Admittedly this is based on preference more than anything.  The protection that the Webway offers seems to be more a product of the nature of the Webway rather than any materials that are used.

This I believe also explains why the Dark Eldar are secure in the Webway from Slannesh. They have reinforced their city with enough Wraithbone to insure that it is sufficiently isolated from demons.

Alternately one can work with K.I.S.S.--the Webway is generall secured against Chaos, ergo the Dark Eldar are also secure against Chaos.  The whole "draining" thing might be the product of something else.  (The project has a suggestion about this as well, but there we go.)

To finish off with the Warp Gate Network, we have not seen travel through it. It might be similar to the Webway in structure, or it might resemble other fictions Warpgates and allow near instantaneous travel.

Instantaneous travel would probably be a problem, but at the same time we're never too sure about the "physics" of travel in the Webway.  It is possible that it involves some form of negotiation between the structure (Webway) and the person (or group) making the journey.

* Craftworlds (though smaller then) took several years to make a complete trip.

Several generations, potentially.  Of course, this isn't a statement about speed of transportation, merely the preferences of those in the original Craftworlds.

I would speculate that the Webway extended to all Crone and Maiden worlds.

Part of the Empire, attached to the Empire.  Not unreasonable.

If my idea concerning the Warp Gate Network is true, then it would exist with exits only at fixed gates in Real Space.

I'm not sure that's entirely that surprising, but I might have missed something in the above discussion.  If that was the case then please forgive me.

* Larger gates might not be designed to be traversable by ground based forces. Thus gates used by fleets to travel might not be traversable to ground forces.

That depends entirely on how the gate is opened.

If the Eldar make use of Warp skimming like the Tao then they would have some degree of protection due to the Wraithbone hull of their ships.

The nature of the Tau interstellar drive is another thorny issue.  My only preference is just to make them calculated jumps and leave it at that.

If however they stay in Real Space as I believe then their sails are I believe the method their of.

This is an old theory that suggests the sails are "warp sails."  There is little evidence for this, though, and the 'fluff' actually argues against it.  Of course, that same 'fluff' is somewhat confused, but there we go.

This should be impossible if they function like normal solar sails.

Incorrect... Maybe.  The justification used is that they "tack" towards the sun.

If this is true in the combat conditions we see them in the sails are for the most part retracted to allow them move at speeds where they can hit the enemy.

I'm presuming that you're arguing that these speeds would be sublight?  Again, too little evidence in the background.

Because as stated above Craftworlds are capable of FTL travel then either these sails allow FTL motion, are reactionless to allow motion in interstellar space, or Webway portals large enough for a Craftworld exists.

Craftworld FTL is not something that is mentioned in the 'fluff,' only ship FTL.  On the other hand the 'fluff' does exist that talks about Craftworld-size portals regardless of the size.  Of course, we have a logic trap right there... why would the Eldar have allowed Craftworlds to grow to the size that they couldn't use their means of travel?  It would be akin to making all luggage larger than the vehicle that is used to transport them.

Also in the fluff Eldar ships cannot approach to close the Craftworld to avoid its gravity.

That's a new one to me.  Do you have a source for this?  If anything it merely argues for a gravity-based explanation for Eldar sublight trave.

Thus the injunction against going to close to the craft world is due to the possible miles wide spread of each vessels sails.

Seems a bit tenuous, don't you think?  If you work from the models then it would be fairly easy to approach the vessel--just miss the sails.

It does nicely encapsulate how an Eldar, or other being, can traverse it otherwise unprotected on foot and also how sections of the webway can be damaged such that they are no longer safe.

As above, I'm going to disagree with this.  I really don't see how this supports the 'fluff' from, say, Harlequin.  Arguably, as soon as you begin to go down this route then you have to define the length of the tunnel.

Kage

[Dragon Lord]

As above, I'm going to disagree with this.  I really don't see how this supports the 'fluff' from, say, Harlequin.  Arguably, as soon as you begin to go down this route then you have to define the length of the tunnel.

Fair enough.  Not having read Harlequin I can't comment on that, but I'll take you word for it on contradicting the background, as I know you are something of an Eldar fan I'll presume you know more about it than me.  I don't think it particularly necessitates define the length of the tunnel though (the tunnel must have a finite length obviously, but within that I don't think it has to be absolutely constant.