DIY Eldar Corsairs band

[Ioldanach]

I've begun working on an eldar kill team for Shadow War: Armageddon. I found a bunch of OOP Space Elves/Eldar (1st/2nd edition) minis that I'm using, so though the rules are for a craftworld eldar kill team, the appearance and lore are going to be that they are eldar corsairs. I'll probably expand the kill team with actual eldar corsairs minis (i.e., craftworld eldar guardians with the Forge World eldar corsair upgrade bits). If you are interested in the kill team, you can see the list here.

In the meantime, I'm working on the lore development and what-not. That will be posted in the Liber Xenos forum when it's done.

For now, I'm considering color schemes. In a bid to differentiate my eldar corsairs from any others that I've seen, and because the Soul Drinkers [chapter of the Adeptus Astartes] color scheme is so cool, I'm tentatively considering a mostly purple with bone scheme at right.

[Ioldanach]

I tweaked the color scheme. First, the bone color (difficult to make out in the image above) has been replaced with white. Also, some of the minis I'm using have crests and I want the crests to be purple. So I've changed the helmets to white. And to make the corsair rebreather masks (and the embossed face on one of the OOP Space Elves models!) stand out better from the white, I've replaced the silver with gold. I've used Auric Gold in the image, but I may use a darker gold on the actual minis (has to balance between contrasting with the white helmets and being distinct from the purple of the bodies). And the eyes have been changed from Yriel Yellow (contrasts nicely with the purple) to Wild Rider Red (contrasts nicely with the white).

As for the other imagery of the corsairs, I'm probably going to take a lot from the old high elves imagery. I recall a hawk badge that was frequently used, and that might find its way onto some of the models (at the very least, the corsair prince might get an old fashioned back banner with that image on it).

[Ulfast]

Looks really good. Go for it :) 

[Ioldanach]

Thanks. To be honest, I'm very excited about this little kill team. I don't think I've been this excited about a force in a long time. It's too bad that there isn't an official set of rules for an eldar corsairs kill team (though I might try my hand at creating one).

I did a little more thinking about the colors and decided that a bit more was needed (especially after seeing some of the very nicely painted corsairs that Google showed me). So I'm making the wings yellow, as at right. All of the wishy-washiness about colors isn't too bad, though, as I imagine that corsairs, being the non-conformists that they are, don't necessarily follow a strict uniform. So some may have purple helmets or other variations from the "norm" that I'm showing.

And I was thinking about the background for this army and I'm tying it to the fracture of Biel-Tan. The corsair coterie existed before that cataclysmic event, but the rise of the Ynnari is the catalyst for the lore I'm working on now. That will be in Liber Xenos, though (once I get my head wrapped around it).

[Ioldanach]

It's been a long time since this went on hold, largely driven by Shadow War: Armageddon no longer being supported and the new Kill Team game replacing it. In the meantime, I've been working on the background for my eldar corsairs coterie. I've stayed with the Biel-Tan connection, and that drove a revised color scheme. The concept is that an autarch from Biel-Tan craftworld, after the events of the Fracture of Biel-Tan, leads a warhost that has essentially become an eldar corsair fleet. Though independent from Biel-Tan, he remains loyal to the craftworld's ethos. He is the classic haughty aeldari, looking down upon all lesser races.

I've had to adjust my plans with the shift from SWA to KT, though the Commander expansion has helped in that I can take my corsair prince/baron (autarch/farseer) and void dreamer (farseer/warlock). I can also take ghostwalkers (rangers). I still can't take corsair jump pack flying/jumping guys, but that's okay.

So here are some images showing the new scheme and ideas I'm trying to work on for conversions. From left to right you can see two corsair reavers (one in the common helmet and another in a helmet inspired by the concept art for "Eldar Pirates"), two felarchs (one with the common helmet and one showing his past as a member of a fire dragon aspect warrior shrine), and the baron (once a member of a dire avenger aspect warrior shrine):

I may have some dark eldar bits mixed in, but the lore for my coterie is that they remain loyal to the Biel-Tan craftworld cause and don't make common cause with the dark kin, so dark eldar bits will be few and far between.

Colors shown approximate Citadel colors (mostly Runefang Silver and Kabalite Green), but I expect the green to be a glaze over the silver, for a metallic green appearance. I'm still working through incorporating the thorn motif, which will definitely be present.

I expect the finished army to look a lot more eclectic than the images above, with individualization in spades.

I just need to hammer out the Kill Team command roster before I start converting.

[Brother Tyler]

Nice scheme. I think the purple had some pizzazz to it, and purple Eldar aren't common. Of course, silver Eldar aren't common either, and the new scheme makes sense with the background you're developing.

 

Your Corsair Baron/Prince (Autarch) can be given a jump pack.

 

I'm looking forward to seeing this kill team.

[Ioldanach]

Your Corsair Baron/Prince (Autarch) can be given a jump pack.

Hot damn! 

 

I don't know how I missed that in the entry. Now it's time to get to work on that Golden Daemon winning* corsair baron.

 

 

 

 

 

 

* It's only "Golden Daemon winning" in my head. Afterwards, it's a candidate for "Nailed It!" and epic fails.

[Dosjetka]

What tool(s) are you using for your Eldar colour schemes?

[Ioldanach]

What tool(s) are you using for your Eldar colour schemes?

Paint and Photoshop. It's a very inefficient method.

 

I started by finding images of the eldar corsairs schemes from The Doom of Mymeara. I then used Paint to draw the outlines and erasing everything else. I then used Photoshop to break all of the pieces and parts down, with multiple layers for things. For example, there is a layer for an armor panel, and a layer with the outline of the armor panel. For things like the lenses and the gems, there is also a layer for the light qualities.

 

I then found similar images for various other aeldari and created similar layers for the pieces and parts that I wanted, like the shimmershields, helmets, etc. Each of these is multiple layers in Photoshop. Helmets, for example, usually consist of layers for the main portion, mask, eyes, fittings, eye light qualities, and the overall outline.

 

I then use the Citadel Colors chart (again, found on the Internet) to pick certain colors. I'm not limited to those colors, of course, but have chosen them as an expedient. I use the eye dropper tool to pick a color in Paint, and then figure out its RGB values, then pick that color in Photoshop and use the paint bucket tool to color an area. It can be a tedious process, but the results are okay.

 

Finally, I crop the images and reduce the dimensions since the image looks too artificial at full size.

 

I'm considering adding some shading levels, but I'll need these for each of the layers rather than a single shading layer.

 

I'm still working on adding more layers to get different appearances. I've found lots of images for aeldari, both asuryani and drukhari, that I can use to create new layers for more variation. This works very well for my anhrathe, who incorporate elements from both of those other factions. If I get enough additional layers, though, it would be possible to use this "painter" to make pure craftworld or dark eldar schemes. I just don't know if I'll ever get that far.

 

As it stands right now, the file is a 5.83 MB file, and it will become 3 or more times as large if I get it where I want it.