Dark Eldar – First Impressions

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Warhammer 40K – Over the weekend I picked up the new Dark Eldar codex. At first glance I do have to say I'm very impressed. The past year has been pretty much dominated by Malifaux so I haven't had much time to indulge in 40K. I'm thinking that might change, this book updates an army that had huge potential but never really saw it. The old models had some interesting sculpts but most of them were pretty ugly and dated looking. I sold off my old Dark Eldar force 5 years ago, assuming that a new codex would never see the light of day.

The new release adds a ton of background information (especially considering the existing info was a little pamphlet) and almost the entire range has been updated. I'm seriously considering picking up the force. But before I do I'm going to have to read and reread the book to find a list that I like and stick with it. Unlike my marine army which can change and be different every time I play, the dark eldar strike me as a force that you find a list that works for you and you play it over and over trying to figure out the tricks. 

I'm really tempted to use the special character that makes Hellions troops and do a them list with that. When the scourges come out I hope they look cool, the drawing in the book is very odd. It's a shame they didn't do the Archon in plastic, it would have been a great way to build the special characters from one kit.

One thing that concerns me is transporting the raiders and other models on flying stands, It seems like there are plenty of bits that can break off during transport. So custom cut foam is probably going to be the best option which should be considered when pricing out the army.

 

 

Special Guest Painter

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My daughter, Elizabeth,  has always been fascinated with the hobby. Since she's been old enough to pick up a paint brush she's wanted something little to paint from the game store. Of course she started out just globbing on the paint how she wanted and refused to take any hints. As she's grown and watched me paint, she's developed a pretty steady hand and has begun becoming interested in techniques to help her improve.

A few years ago she found some articles about the Harlequins from 40K. Immediately she asked if she could get one of the models to try and paint "good." Needing to pick up some stuff from the store anyway, I conceded and let her get a model. I set her up with her own painting station and showed her how to paint. Eventually she decided she wanted her own army and has several boxes of Eldar that we got from various sources. We developed a simple paint scheme that she could easily reproduce and set about painting several squads.

 

 

Of course being 9 at the time she lost interest and up until recently they sat in a box. Out of the blue she asked about painting again and has discovered the beauty of washes. She's just about finished with that first Harlequin now and asked if I'd post it up on my site. 

Summoning some daemons

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Warhammer 40k – So I've been pretty consumed by Malifaux as of late.

So it's time to take a short break. Prior to August 2009 I was really excited about the 5th Edition Rules for 40K. I've had my Space Marine list pretty close to completion for a while now and eventually will get around to finishing up the tanks and characters I have left. I'm really proud of my Twilight Ravens, chapter. Each marine has there name applied to a scroll on the base (which are all scientific names of birds) and each unit has specific markings and campaign badges. I've kept them very generic so I can use whatever codex suits my needs at the time. For the most part I like to use the White Scars rules or the Raven Guard rules.

When I first designed my chapter they were based around the Index Astrates: Raven Guard article. I had acquired a toolbox full of random marines as partial payment for a commission, and wanted to build a force with them. At the time the Chaos marine codex was running rampant at every event I attended as well as in my local play group, so the bonuses against Chaos were a big deal. I also had a Witch Hunters list that paired well with the Marine ruleset I was using.

Then 4th edition came out and 40K died for my play group and any stores that were running events. So my loyal marines were shelved unfinished. After jumping headfirst into Warmachine and subsequently being turned off by the direction the game was headed. I returned to 40K excited about the possibilities available. Unfortunately I had sold off my Wordbearers, Sisters of Battle, and a good chunk of my Black Legion ... leaving me with just my Emperor's Children and the piecemeal Twilight Ravens. The current Chaos Marine book left me with a bad taste in my mouth, my heavily daemon based biker army wasn't viable any more and all the custom work I did to create an all Slaanesh force didn't seem like a viable option. So my marines got the spotlight and became my list of choice.

As I was cleaning up and organizing my game room I realized that I had enough Slaanesh Daemons to field a force on their own. So I dumped them all into a Simple Green soak and stripped them down to bare metal. And then began repainting them, until August 2009. Then Malifuax came out and it became my game of choice, 40K got shelved again. And my daemons sat partially assembled and painted.

Needing a break to do something different I recently brought my daemons back out to work on them. I began with the Ultraforge Pleasure Daemon. This model was a pleasure to assemble after the nightmare that was the Khorne Daemon Prince I recently put together. The pieces were simple to assemble and there were no huge chunks that needed to be removed. The only problems I found were a large gap in the arm assembly, and the slight "miscast" along the arms that required a bit of sanding and green stuff filler. The model isn't as detailed as the Forgeworld pieces, but it's still very impressive and fits the theme of my force. Once it is finished it will fill the roll of my Bloodthirster of Slaanesh.

The Blood God is coming....

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The Forgeworld Daemon Prince of Khorne and it's herald are now finished, you can see more photos in the gallery section of the site. These were painted as a commission for tabletop quality. Fun to paint since there's just so much detail that it doesn't take much to make them look really great.

On the painting table...

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I've been pretty busy with several commissions as of late. First up is a full double-sided board. My client wanted a 3'x3' Malifaux board. On one side is a "cobblestone" texture and the other is generic dark earth with grass. I just finished the forest pieces. They consist of several oddly shaped areas that are between 3" and 6" in diameter. The nice thing about this design is they can be pieced together to create a larger feature if need be. Also the odd shapes make it slightly more difficult to judge distances.

Also on my painting table is the Forgeworld Daemon Prince & Herald. This is a beautiful kit, but like anything that comes from Forgeworld, tons of clean up and tiny pieces to glue and pin. This thing is such a pain, most of the teeth on the skulls are separate pieces. And as with all Forgeworld stuff, your directions consist of a bad photo that obscures the most relevant details. These kits are definitely for experienced modelers. 

I've assembled both the prince and the herald, as well as primed and base-coated both models. Since the clinet for this job just wants tabletop quality, I've started the process slightly differently than I usually do. For this project I've taken the base colors and applied them to all the relevant areas. So for the price, that's red for the skin, ivory for the skulls, brass and silver for the metal bits, black for the armor, and brown for the leather. Ofter this has dried, I use GW Devlan Mud  to coat the entire piece. After it has finished drying, all the necessary shading has been accomplished. At this point all I have left to do is to go in a pick out the highlights.

I'm also working on a Pandora crew for Malifaux.

This consists of the Legion of Sorrows box set, Teddy, and the Doppleganger. They are based on Dragonforge Designs bases. I've basically only had time to block in the base colors and do some washes. Again the GW wash is pretty amazing. 

How I felt

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Finishing – It's important to me that my models be complete. You spend so much time painting and basing your models, why would you leave the bottom of the base plain? For me I use a compass cutter and some self stick felt to complete the base. Not only does this give your model a finished look, the felt will help to keep them in place on the battlefield.

Finishing – It's important to me that my models be complete. You spend so much time painting and basing your models, why would you leave the bottom of the base plain? For me I use a compass cutter and some self stick felt to complete the base. Not only does this give your model a finished look, the felt will help to keep them in place on the battlefield.