Dark elf warriors and my reasons for not liking them.

How to beat those cowardly High Elves?

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The_vicar
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Dark elf warriors and my reasons for not liking them.

Post by The_vicar »

Okay its the minis not the rules, the rules are fine, well other than the fact that the crossbowmen can't take a magic banner, they're cheap, dirt cheap and support the more elite units to a good standard. Its the minis i don't like never have never will, the spears are to thick, the hands look like dave seamans, the helmets are ugly, they look like twisted versions of high elf spearmen, they're the ugliest minis in the current range i think. Under closer inspection they're not the best bu they could do, but they're still ugly. I do have a plan for making them better uhh well for my army lol, i'll share it when the conversion is finished.
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Re: Dark elf warriors and my reasons for not liking them.

Post by Dreske »

the_vicar wrote:Okay its the minis not the rules, the rules are fine, well other than the fact that the crossbowmen can't take a magic banner


So you could give them what? The banner of cold blood? If they did have the option to take a banner, it wouldn't be for one more than 25pts and of the 3 banners they would get to choose none of them would be all too useful.

The mini's themselves, while not the most aesthetic, aren't that bad.
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Post by Rabidnid »

Well, they are twisted high elf spearmen. I agree with the spears though which is why all of mine are shielded RXB. with that stupid spike removed, they are quite presentable. I didn't think much of the helmets either initially, but they have grown on me.
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Post by The_vicar »

well aside from warbanner, the commands are diff, they're not terrible i just don't like them, they sem a bit bulky, short and bland when compared to the rest of the dark elves.
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Post by Nagathi »

The models are among the better of 6th edition plastic. Before GW invested in their new high-definition sculptor machinery. Compared to the 7th edition plastics, they're not great. But they're certainly not bad either.

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Post by Lonely shade »

Agreed, they really aren't that bad. I think the real reason behind you guys not liking them is that they don't fit your conceptions. To me, warriors are 70% of Druchii population. Everyone is a warrior in reserve, some choose to be warriors full time. But they aren't rich, and God knows that the higher-ups don't give a damn about their shitty equipment (pardon my language). Their helmets are crappy, but that is because the military isn't going to pay for anything better-crafted and better-looking. Their spears are odd and bulky, but they can be used to stab people which is all they really need to do. And rxbs.....well the crossbowmen have to be able to fight back somehow. Wouldn't the natural reaction to someone charging at you be to thrust whatever is in your hands forward? No one would think about drawing the short sword attached to their hips, they would try to block the attack. Having something stabby at the end of the crossbow means that thrusting motion might actually DO something. That is the way I look at it.

And for all those wondering why I just said all of that, I had to play devil's advocate; I hate the warrior models too! :P
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Post by Lord_jimmy_ »

I dont mind them. I dislike the helmet that looks like it has a silly pair of glasses on it. Other than that I'm satisfied.
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Post by Vonkrieglitz »

I like them overall. I think they are one of the better plastic kits that came out of 6th (as Nagathi said).
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Post by Crawd »

They might don't have any special rules but I think they have an hidden options with them: "Sacrifice me!"

At 7 points each, with the Shields, a Sorceress with a Sacrificial Dagger may have lots of fun killing some cheap warriors to amplify her casting. You can also make them as "Power Stone" if you don't even give them the shield, for 180 points you can have 30 warriors with no shields ready to die for the Sorceress :twisted:
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Post by Iyagd »

Well, there are few issues here: Rules, Use and Look.

About the Rules - they are Core, what kind of rules they need to have? They are cheap, may take Magic Banner and quite useful (can be sacrificed, boosted with CoB and carry an assasin, RXBs have AP rule) - where You can find Core, bulk troops with better features? In 7th ed they are even better than ever. In the terms of Rules they are really good.

Use - well, there can be said a lot, now more than ever they are really useful as mentioned above, they may form a maistay of battle line, can be fielded as detachements, can deliever a lot of static CR, and so on, event not touching the tip of iceberg when it comes to their usefulness.

Look - they indeed don't look too modern, set is old and it shows up. But they are not as bad, I would personally scrap few helmets - the most hated visor one at first sight. They have all they need, rank up easly, all options available, also versality within whole set is achived. They poses may be indeed look better, but honestly - how spearmean can look different than other spearmen? What is main difference between them and HE or Empire ones, despite they look Druchii? They are armed with the same weapon, style of fighting is similar, what'd You expect? Ninjas bouncing on spearheads? Anyway remeber that they must rank up nicely, so it determines how they are sculpted and posed. If someone don't like current models, there's nothing preventing from creation of new, unique ones. We seen Warriors made of RBT crew, 4-5 ed ones, converted from BG or Execs and lot of 6th ed with few simple additions granting them better look, it is easier now when we finally got more plastic sprues.
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Post by Lonely shade »

OMG! NINJAS ON SPEAR TIPS!!! I'm building a nippon army (more correctly preparing to once I finish up a few other projects I am working on right now), and that would be such a great way to model them! Thanks for inadvertantly giving me a great idea iyagd. now back on topic... *cough cough*

Definitely great rule-wise, and what is better than a cheap screen that puts out 2 volleys of deadly arrows? Not much for their low point-cost.

But those glasses helmets...Ugh...

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Post by Evilelf »

Dude, (the Vicar) you so need to invest in a Sorceress with the Sacrifical Dagger and about 30 DE warriors. I can see it now..."I'm going to sacrifice a warrior for an extra power dice." Opponent: "But you've already cast all of your spells!" The Vicar, "Yeah, but I'm not finished killing my crappy warriors so shut up and take the free victory points! God I hate these models!"
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Post by Kinslayer »

Nagathi wrote:The models are among the better of 6th edition plastic. Before GW invested in their new high-definition sculptor machinery. Compared to the 7th edition plastics, they're not great. But they're certainly not bad either.

~ Nag


quoted for agreement.

remember back to all the 6th edition plastic kits for empire, dwarfs, vampires, chaos, high elves and whoever else got new plastics, and the dark elf spearmen suddenly dont look so bad.

I quite like them as it is, especially the crossbows and helmets, though i admit the spears are 'chunky'
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Post by Crawd »

EvilElf wrote:Dude, (the Vicar) you so need to invest in a Sorceress with the Sacrifical Dagger and about 30 DE warriors. I can see it now..."I'm going to sacrifice a warrior for an extra power dice." Opponent: "But you've already cast all of your spells!" The Vicar, "Yeah, but I'm not finished killing my crappy warriors so shut up and take the free victory points! God I hate these models!"


You're incorrect on one thing.. to be able to use the dagger, you must have roll at least 1 power dice because you can only use it after the casting roll is done.

Which is: You attempt to cast Chillwind with 1 die. After the roll, you can choose to sacrifice a warriot to add another die to either successfully cast the spell or try to get a better casting value.

You can't use them to cast spell.
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Post by Mordru »

I used black guard models converted to spearmen all throughout 6th editon. So far in the several games I have played with the new 7th editon list I've used them as spearmen. I will play a game soon with them as blackguard. I don't actively dislike the spearelf kit any more than any other plastic kit.

Typically, save horses, if its not metal it doesn't get fielded in my army. I use some plastic components, spear tips, shields, etc. in conversions.

The newer plastic are changing my mind. Starting really with the new HE plastics and continuing through to the new Corsairs and CoKs the quality of the plastics are very high.
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Post by Monkeylord »

I, for one, agree with the original poster. Frankly, I thought the Dark Elf warriors were really disappointing when they first arrived. Their hands were too big, and some of the helmets look like costume party masks. Some of the helmets look rather good, don't get me wrong... and I like most of the spear designs, and the fact that there are female warriors in the kits, too. I also like the shields quite a bit. Don't care for the standard bearers, however.

Considering how far the plastic kits have come, I'd really, really like to see an update. The depictions of the warriors in the new book look very, very good... If I had my druthers, I'd like to see a front rank of spearmen posed more aggressively, ready to strike (see pages 43, 44 of the new book. Sorta reminiscent of the Spartan phalanxes from 300), with helmets like those on pg.10, that look a little more Corinthian in style. Those look *very* nice, and I think our warriors should reflect that.

Mordru wrote:The newer plastic are changing my mind. Starting really with the new HE plastics and continuing through to the new Corsairs and CoKs the quality of the plastics are very high.


QFT. Just tonight, I sat here comparing the Dreadlord's Cold One with the Plastic CoKs, and I have to admit, the plastics have just as much detail, yet don't have any warped parts... and the detail is generally a little more crisp and sharp. (Likely a result of the 3-Up process for plastics).
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Post by Mordru »

Its really a missed opportunity in the marketing department not re-issuing the warriors done to the same standard as the corsairs. The metal corsairs are still very nice models. New plastic warriors would have had everyone buying them. Regrettably, the new corsiars are not sufficiently good enough rules wise (points costs mostly) to motivate mass purchases. I've got the 10 from the spearhead that I'll do something with but they are not nearly as useful as warriors for the points.

Just the combo of 6 or 7 pts per model the new sacrificial dagger and some beautiful new sculpts would have sent sales rocketing up (at least in terms of DE sales a small sliver I know). It will never be space marine numbers but could have been more.
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Post by Riverrat »

i feel that warriors kit is actually quite good among the 6th ed plastics. Sure now its getting a little dated, but its not that overwhelmingly bad (unlike the horses =/ ). i understand if some don't like the visor "party masks" helmets, but the others are quite good i think. Much better that HE coneheads.

has anyone tried of combine plastic & metal corsairs together to see if they don't look too weird/ uncohesive?
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Post by Heldrak »

Frankly, I've never been happy with the 6th edition Dark Elf Warrior plastics (or with their cousins, the 6th edition High Elf Archers & Spearmen) since the day they came out. Their huge catcher's mitt hands and stiff poses are most unaesthetic...(I don't have a problem with the helmets others than you don't get a large enough variety of them and no bare heads/dedicated Command heads).

In my own army, I've been quite happily using the previous edition all-metal Spearmen with no problems. I've also seen some attractive conversions using the beautiful current edition Black Guard in place of Warriors (armed with spears instead of halberds). Of course in these days of the indispensible Black Guard, that may be a more problematic option.
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Post by Arquinsiel »

I quite like them myself, and I've seen some beautiful things done with them being made into nice Dark Eldar Warriors for HQ units with arm and head swaps.
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Post by Stormbringer ruler »

Rule wise they are ok, a cheap block of sacrifices for the sorceress. :lol:

Models wise, their design are quite good, specially for the spears and the helmets, but their body proportions are awful. Thats the main problem. Although i like´em.

There were a lot worst plastics in 6th, and all more modern. For ex, the high elf spearmen, with awful design and awful proportions, the ridiculously affeminate HE archers, the mounted lizardmen, all the skaven stuff... and i could go on.

One option ive been considerating is convert a unit from the new corsairs, after seeing the sprues i think it couldnt be so hard.
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Post by Lord temnir »

I am alright with the look of the spearmen. Okay, the ones of the last edition look better but all in all they look great at least if you look at the miniatures of their time and compare them.

On the other hand, all our other stuff looks great, so why to rant?

But I'm looking forward to your conversation ;)
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Re: Dark elf warriors and my reasons for not liking them.

Post by Darkmark »

the hands look like dave seamans


I never thought I'd see the legend that is Spunky compared to DEs :lol:

I think that the best that can be done with them is giving a good basing and some decent freehand on their shields to distract from those glasses.
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Post by The_vicar »

There hands are massive, they are like harpy swatters...lol. Its not so much a rant but more of a disgruntled sigh, the one you get when its 0730 on a wet monday morning sitting in a packed bus where its all hot and humid and a baby starts crying, the loud high pitched one and you're thinking 'why did i bother getting up'...sigh....

When i see the minis i just feel like i've been let down, imagine you're at the gym and you're on the treadmill and in front is a lycra clad peach of a backside, and you're thinking good form, nice legs, keeps fit and she turns around and you see Fearn Britton...lol..its like..ohh thats not worth the effort. I get that same feeling, or when you meet you're child hood hero you think its ace but its not i remember meeting banana man at school and i felt very much underwhelmed by the episode.

I don't mind the rules to much i never really complained about them, well i don't think, the points are differen and other than the banner its okay good actually. they're as cheap as human core and are better in every department, that i don't mind to much.

Entertainment is simple if it entertains you it works if it does not then well its failed, films like miis do the very same thing, i hate teen horror films i'd rather do nothing then watch them, they don't entertain me but they may well entetain any of you on here. The dark elf warriors don't entetrain me i don't like them, they're bland and boring in my opinion of course. I don't want anything busy but they could have chains hooks charms and fetisheson them, of course converting is an option but i feel the mini is not worth the effort s i'll try somthing new.
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Post by Calibisto »

As said before, compaired to the earlier version of the DE warrior:
"The look at me, I'm sticking my sword up like a lightning-rod" these models aren't too bad. I personally find them an improvement compaired to some older metal models also. They struck me als "bulky"

If you compair the warriors to the newer DE models they aren't the best looking, but I still think they are o.k. I'm actually considering exchanging some of my older spearman for the newer warriors.
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