Snazzy's 40K Dark Elves

[Snazzy]

Participating in The Good, The Bad, The Aeldari event got me back in the head space to paint orange again.  I've had this army for a long time, and getting around to finishing it means going back to 5th edition where it all started.  This is a largely drybrushed army, as was the style in the heady days of the mid 2000s.  We as a community have moved on from heavy drybrushing.  But, this army is going to be a relic.

 

Similarly, this army is in some ways a tribute to the Warhammer Fantasy line of Dark Elf models that helped me to fall in love with that now defunct setting.  This plog is mostly pictures, but also historical ramblings and experimentation.  I'm an older hobbyist learning new techniques and using new materials while still using a retro style for a retro army....

 

I'm currently finishing up the small details on the Succubus for one of my custom Wych Cults.  She will make an appearance alongside her counterpart in their rival custom Wych Cult in the future.  

 

 

The Splinter Pistol she currently wields is just a placeholder until i can get ahold of another Blast Pistol. 

 

Next on the bench...

 

[WarriorFish]

Good to see them get their own topic, orange is a nice colour but works particularly well on DE I think :) There's nothing wrong with dry brushing, all techniques are valuable tools in the painting armoury :P

[MithrilForge]

Dark Eldar and Orange are very welcome here !!, please continue and we will ooh & ahhh from the audience!!
This will be like an arena of paint and you are the challenger ...., impress us please  

Mithril

Edited November 25, 2020 by mithrilforge

[Snazzy]

Getting around to finishing up my first three Reavers.  I've hit something of a wall in regards to the remaining black portions of the jetbikes.  I'm going to put these away while i dwell on the solution.  They will make an appearance when the rest of their unit is finished.

 

 

 

Reavers are some of my favorite models, as they have such a direct comparison to my favorite WHFB DE unit, Black Riders.  They have similar roles as harassers, troubleshooters and light shooting.  Drukhari Combat Drugs give Reavers an adaptability Dark Riders could only dream of.

 

I went with the left arm of these riders to better differentiate them from a future unit of Reavers that will be part of my other Cult.  As it stands, this Cult, The All Hollow use the Berserk Fugue and Slashing impact traits from Rise of the Phoenix.  The other Cult does not use Slashing Impact.  Thus, weapons to signal the difference between the two Cults.  Future riders will have a mix of Hekatarii Blades and some of the gaffing pikes from the Raider crew set.

 

(photographing large areas of orange without contrasting black bodysuits sucks.  I will have to review my process.)

[WarriorFish]

These are great, I'm thinking of adding some stripes or something for some of my models - probably the vehicles, as the contrast is nice especially for lighter coloured armies. Is it worth standardising some pattern bits to help make life a bit easier?

[MithrilForge]

They look great !, I was thinking a bone colour might work with your scheme ?!.. be it block areas or stripes or Drukhari slash patterns...

I bet your looking forwards to the codex  

Cheers Mithril

Edited November 25, 2020 by mithrilforge

[Snazzy]

I bet your looking forwards to the codex  

 

Sort of.  It is always a little concerning to have your Codex drop so early in the edition.  Drukhari aren't Space Marines.  Chances are, there will be no course correction mid edition.  I also have an unconventional Drukhari collection in that i run a Footdar horde.  I have Raiders and Ravagers.  I'm just not interested in building, painting or fielding them.  I might be forced to in the event that horde is no longer tenable.  Small changes, like Power From Pain could impact the entire concept.  There's some worrying rumors about Beasts being dropped.  That concerns me, as someone who regularly fields 4 Clawed Fiends and has a pile of Khymerae.

 

Then, there are other little things, like relics.  My Succubus was modeled to have The Helm of Spite relic.  Who knows if that will even be a thing in the future.  All i know is that i paid $18 to get a helmet off an AoS model.

 

(I know restraint isn't really a thing in AoS.  But, really?)

 

This uncertainty has stalled me out.  I wanted to start painting some Kabalites, or begin my magnetization project for my Hellions.  Everything is going to be up in the air and i will be conservative with what i'm modeling or painting.  There has been a lot of flux around Wych Weapons in editions past.  I don't want to make any modeling choices until the new Codex spells everything out.  Instead, i'm going to have a flashback series where i dig up my old models and update their paint scheme to current standards.

[Snazzy]

FLASHBACK

 

It is 2010, and i am in possession of Codex: Dark Eldar.  Phil Kelly's reimagining of the most triangular army in 40K got me on the hook.  In particular, i fell for a special character named Duke Sliscus.  He hit all the right notes for me; an underpowered character with rules that provided a boost to the rest of the army.  There wasn't a model for this character, and never would be.  I set about making my own version out of the metal Archon model:

 

(The man himself.  Inspiration for the army)

 

I hate this model.  At the time i thought i was clever to combine parts from the Dark Elf Black Ark Corsairs.  The armor was even more eye searing than my standard orange, as this was my test model for the army.  The orange was tamed by being framed by the blue cloak.  But, i knew it was too loud, even for me.

 

Another part of the old rules for Sliscus was that he gave out more potent poison to a unit of the army.  I wanted this unit of Kabalites to stand out from the rest of the army, so i used the sea dragon cloacks from the same Black Ark Corsais (now found in the AoS Anvilgard collection).

 

Again, at the time i thought i was clever.  These were harder conversion than i would have wanted, as i had no tools other than an Exacto knife.  The color scheme "worked", and this was the most progress i had made on a unit in this army prior to The Good, The Bad, The Aeldari.

 

These are what I am currently working on.

 

 

There are 6 more of these devils who will make future appearances.

 

Here's what is going on with "Sliscus"

 

 

His armor had been coated with the same Hot Orange as the rest of the army.  He will still stand out from the rest.  I am ok with that.  "Sliscus" is being converted into a Legends Archon.  The option to take a Blaster on an Archon is something i have cherished ever since 5th edition.  No matter what happens with the upcoming Codex release, i will have this guy ready if updated options are not as good.

 

Speaking of uncertainty, i've noticed a real run on Blasters on the secondary market.  I anticipate a shortage of these weapons after the Codex drops.  In the meantime i've been experimenting with Blue Stuff molds.  I've found the one part of the Blaster that is hard to capture is the detail on the fluted barrel.  So, i tried making a Green Stuff Blaster and chopped off a spare Blaster barrel from the Reaver Jetbike sprue.

 

 

It is a little bit bigger than the barrel of the Kabalite Blaster.  But, i think it will work if i absolutely have to make it work.  Working with Green Stuff details like the piping on the underside of the gun is hard with just an Exacto.

Edited December 6, 2020 by Snazzy

[MithrilForge]

great stuff, nice trip back in time (those sea corsairs got me started into dark elves way back when...i even did a few units)

i love your orange colour and always look forwards to seeing updates 

 

hope to see more when the dex drops and you sort your force out good n proper 

 

cheers, Mithril

 

p.s. The new  Lelith would look really good in your orange... 

[Snazzy]

Thanks, mithrilforge.  I was excited to dive into some more conversion work.  I got some new tools over Christmas that will reduce the fatigue of Exacto work and sculpting.  Then, my furnace went, and my hands are too stiff paint.  So... i am expecting an update some time next week.

 

As for Lelith.... we'll see.  She's always been more of a bark over bite character in my eyes.  If she is a beast in this new Codex, i will consider it.  I have a 3rd edition Lelith model sitting around that i am attached to, despite how out of place she would look in a modern Drukhari.  It also depends on how the subfaction rules work, too.  Being forced to use Cult of Stryfe in order to use her is not my favorite.

[Snazzy]

Some IRL things happened that distracted me from painting.  Then, i got comfortable.  But, a new Drukhari Codex looms.  The forces of The Dark City must be prepared to take the field in orange finery.

 

I'm about 90% done my Legends Archon.  That is a threshold you will frequently see on my WiPs, as i tend to get bored with the last 10%.

 

 

Archons may change in the new rules.  But, hopefully the Legends version with Blaster remains a decent choice for the points.  If not, that's just a really long Blast Pistol.

 

I've been doing more modeling that painting lately, even though the impending Codex can mean the dreaded weapon swap.  These changes are not great, because often with Kabalites the existing weapon is at least partially glued to the shoulder guards.  Below is an example of a Kabalite that used to have a Splinter Cannon being converted into a Blaster carrier using my green stuff and Reaver Blaster.  It is an example of weapon swap attrition, having lost both front halves of it's shoulder guards.

 

Side by side comparisons with actual Blaster.  Might look passable if they aren't in the same unit.

 

 

I've begun work on my second Wych Cult detachment.  This one uses Test of Skill, and i came up with a background of the Cult leader being an Exodite that came to Commorragh and used their knowledge of beasts to defeat monsters in the arena.  This also gave me an excuse to integrate some more of the WHFB Dark Elf line to represent that the more primitive influence of the Succubus on down.  I was also fascinated by the Dark Elf tendency in WHFB to rule over their beasts with the whip, rather than empathy and trust.

 

 

I'm holding off the head and weapons for now.  I will get that figured out in a few weeks when the Codex spells out the new options.  He is also going to be my tallest model.  Here he is with my Archon and other Succubus.

 

 

The legs are from the Blood Bowl Naggaroth Nightmares kit.  I was hoping that kit would have made for promising Wyches to fill out his Patrol requirements.  But, the scale of Blood Bowl is at the same time too thin and too bulky.  Even the skinniest Runner model is still huge in comparison with a Wych model.  Integrating Wych weapons just looked ridiculous.  This Wych Elf model is the only thing that was salvageable, and i still can't overlook the boots.  Maybe, just maybe this can function as a Hekatrix.

 

 

However, the sprue came with many lizard scale pelts and drappings.  I think those will be easier to decorate Wyches than scale down Blood Bowl models.

[Dread]

Looking great. Im about to get back on mine. I encountered a same type situation. I wanted to use the hair from a witch on my whych serbarite. FAIL! Anyhow cant wait to see your progress.

[Snazzy]

A little preview of what is on my new, and improved workbench:

 

 

I'm about to jump back into playing IRL next month.  There is going to be a scramble to the finish in order to field 2,000 points.  More updates forthcoming.

[Captain Coolpants]

So many fly bois! Its good to finally see them getting some play. Just hope they don't nerf them in some way

[Snazzy]

So i rushed lots of my models in order to be eligible for a few tournaments.  Holding steady at 3-2 in competitive.  I'm sure that will get better as i feel more comfortable in 9th.  i will be posting some of my progress of their painting in the next few days.

 

 

Anyway, i finished my Succubus for the Cult of the All Hollow.

 

 

I'm not 100% on the hair.  I might seek out something shorter, but still breezy.

Edited August 26, 2021 by Snazzy

[WarriorFish]

Good to see you working on your DE still, mine must wait for my current focus on nids and Sons to be completed. I think the hair is good, I agree that being a bit shorter would probably work better so it doesn't feel like it obscures too much. Don't forget to keep us updated :tu:

[Dread]

I like the hair. It has a great ombiance to the model imho. The model as a whole is such a great kit bash. Good job now get to paintung.

[Warbringer]

Gosh this looks great what a job!

[Snazzy]

Gotta admit, the dataslate changes and the point adjustments stopped my interest in Drukhari dead.  I'm only now getting close finishing the Bloodbrides meant for my Precise Killers/Test of Skill Patrol.  Too bad Bloodbrides are all but useless now.  I may end up just using this unit as standard Wyches, albeit as just 5.

 

 

[WarriorFish]

Good to see you're getting some work done :tu: I decided to look at my DE again in 10th after all I heard, so I'm out of touch with details. What have the changes done to the list/army, is it GW knee-jerking too much?