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[PLOG] The Lost Colony

Posted: Fri Dec 14, 2012 9:20 pm
by Rowena
As I have said in my introduction post, I am starting a Dark Elf army with my boyfriend, me as the converter and painter and he the one playing it. We are both completely new to the Warhammer world and are slowly making our way through.

We have set as our goal to find a different approach to Dark Elves and make them less "dark and evil". This means our army will be converted beyond recognition and will have its own fluff.
In short, we are not really Dark Elves, even though Dark Elves themselves are the only ones who take our word for it. :)

We started as a High Elf colony founded around the time of Aenarion's court in Nagarythe and were isolated from Ulthuan during the following war with Chaos, before the civil war and the split between High and Dark elves. We still remember Malekith as the perfect future king and are quite confused about the current situation.
The long wars and no contact with homeland also made us forget great part of our roots and our present warrior culture emerged from the new home and lifestyle that was forced upon us.
There are two distinct parts of our society: followers of the old lunar cult, loosely based on Celtic culture, and followers of the new way, calling for order and unification and using the imagery of sun.

(we are still working on the fluff, so please consider is as an introduction of an idea rather than anything too official)


But to get to some pictures, here are the first Dark Elf models I have painted. They are our spearelves and belong to the armoured and disciplined solar part of the army.

Image

Image

Shields are not yet done (but I'm working on them) and nor are the bases, the greenish stuff is only holding the models in place.

Now, I hope I haven't forgotten anything...

Posted: Fri Dec 14, 2012 10:19 pm
by Calisson
Very nice conversions & painting. Compliments.


The best fluff is the one you make yourself.

However, if you base your army on the fluff, chances are that it will not fare well against armies based on efficiency.
Example, some people want a "corsair" army or a "khainite" army, but either struggle to make it efficient, or accept that only half of their army abides by the fluff.


There's a solution to have both the fluff and the efficiency:
It is to decide about the fluff and about the army in total independance.
Next step, you'll find out that some units (most of them) don't fit the fluff.
See if tactic-wise, their role can be filled up by another unit.
If not, keep the unit, but convert the models in order to fit the fluff, and tell your opponent that "these models" count as "that unit".


See herean example of this philosophy, used to create a corsair list.
For example, the COB is very efficient and must be taken. But the Khainite fluff is opposed to the corsair fluff so it cannot be taken. Solution: customize a corsairish chariot which "counts as" a COB. And so on.

Posted: Tue Dec 18, 2012 3:07 pm
by Saori_nightstar
Loving those cloaks! Nice paint work. Nice to see a bit of fluff along with the army :D keep posting pics :)

Posted: Tue Dec 18, 2012 5:21 pm
by Rowena
Thanks for replys, both of you. I'm really glad you like the models.

Calisson: Thanks for the advice, I will pass it on to my boyfriend, who is in charge of the army list (as he is the one who will end up actually playing the army)

I think I shouldn't have too many problems, though. We're not using the official Dark Elf fluff and all (or almost all) our units will be converted anyway, to fit our vision and naturally our fluff. The only problem I cam at this point imagine running into are connected with keeping the balance between the "solar" and "lunar" parts of the army and even there we should have some manouvering space.

Posted: Tue Dec 18, 2012 5:25 pm
by Pil0din
I love the conversions, thumbs up!!

In my opinion, the corsairs heads will looks beter then this, but it´s only my problem:)

Posted: Tue Dec 18, 2012 6:13 pm
by Rowena
I have considered using those, but the corsair heads looked too wild to fit our view of this unit. I don't think these are perfect, but, alas, they are the bestI have been able to find.

Anyway, thanks for the comment. :)

And you will see the corsair heads, as soon as I finish this unit and get to the corsairs. :)

Posted: Sat Dec 29, 2012 5:03 pm
by Rowena
A mini-update.

I have finished shields for my five warriors.
Image

My boyfriend suggested to put some kind of eagle on them. At first I was afraid it would look too high-elvish, but then it set me thinking. We were High elves once and even though I am not sure about our present relationship, we have never had a civil war. So... why not? Especially if it is modified and the original source already forgotten.

So I took this:
Image
(Probably not an official symbol, as it seems to be from warhammer fantasy roleplay, but I like it anyway and it suited our purposes)

and turned it into this:

Image

This is simplified version for the shields, but the same symbol should appear on standards as well, in a more complex form.
I basically changed it into a real bird, turning the flames into feathers. I think it still looks a bit too High elven, though, and hope it won't be too big a problem.

I have also made a first base. We want to set our army in their once-great and newly reclaimed city (yes, they are city folk, which is the main reason they are not wood elves), so...

Image

This is my first attempt to do marble, so I hope it works. I will probably not stay this plain, but that is something for the future.

Posted: Sat Dec 29, 2012 6:07 pm
by Saintofm
GFood job so far. The heads give them a noble feel to them.

Posted: Tue Jan 01, 2013 3:48 pm
by Rowena
saintofm wrote:GFood job so far. The heads give them a noble feel to them.

Thank you, that's exactly what we were aiming for. I'm glad you like it. :)

Also, if anyone's interested in what's coming next, here is my boyfriend's thread about the army list: Death or glory - 500 pts newbie list
(Yes, he uses the same account, but we're active on different subforums)

Posted: Wed Jan 02, 2013 2:09 am
by Druchiishootlord
From where did you get those capes? I'm just curious. Are they Phoenix Guard?

Posted: Wed Jan 02, 2013 6:28 am
by Rowena
DruchiiShootLord wrote:From where did you get those capes? I'm just curious. Are they Phoenix Guard?

Yes, Phoenix Guard capes + corsair armour and legs. Well-spotted. :)

Posted: Fri Jan 04, 2013 7:37 pm
by Rowena
Another figure to show off. :)
I got this model for my birthday and have enjoyed painting it very much.

I have painted her to be my avatar and she seems perfect for the position: books in her hand, similar hairstyle and dress I would still be under some circumstances willing to wear (basically the most revealing outfit I would consider) She is slightly smaller than the warriors and maybe also plainer than most of the planned models, which is both fine with me. :)

Image

back view:
Image

My plan for her is to be a cute girl standing nex to the army general (if we ever get one, representing my boyfriend :) ) on the display board I may make one day. She belongs to the lunar side, to balance the solar leader and because I am rather intuitive and chaotic myself.
Other than that, I just like the model and don't really care if it gets used in the army (she isn't going to be the sorceress-general we plan for the army), but if we need an extra special character, here she is. :)

Still no base, but that is to come soon.

Posted: Fri Jan 04, 2013 10:24 pm
by Tyrannus deathbringer
Cute :P

Posted: Sat Jan 05, 2013 9:36 pm
by Rowena
Tyrannus Deathbringer wrote:Cute :P

Thank you, that was exactly my intention. :)

Posted: Sat Feb 16, 2013 12:50 pm
by Rowena
After long time spent dealing with non-warhammer issues and the miniature exchange over at Asrai.org, I have finally made some progress with the Dark Elves. The finally have shields and bases and their number has grown from five to ten. That means I have a half of the first unit... and should probably speed up if I want to see them in action any time soon. :-D

Anyway, here they are, ranked up:
Image

The designs on the shields are printed on a transpacent sheet, painted gold from the back side and glued to the painted shields. I am however searching for a less messy way of doing it, as I'm not really happy with these.
Hopefully, these guys will stay hidden behind the first two ranks I have yet to paint...

Re: [PLOG] The Lost Colony

Posted: Mon Feb 25, 2013 9:10 am
by Loran
Hey hey hey,

First off, welcome to the "dark" side, even if the fluff marks the army as something completely different :P On the fluff note, I love it! The best army themes and background fluff come from the players themselves. Writing within the canon is always fun and good, but these kind of steps outside the "normal" fluff are great! I still remember one fluff bit about a High Elf maiden who was captured by a Black Ark and through mutual attraction between her and the Corsair Lord, they took off in the Black Ark. Very romantic and doesn't really fit the style of the DE army, I know, but it was something very different that the author personally liked. And that is, in my opinion, what is the most important about the hobby: It's your army, so do as you damn well please with it :D No one should ever comment "You can't do that!" to a conversion or army idea or whatnot :)

On the models: AMAZING! The conversion idea is great, and makes for very distinct models that still fit in the theme. The Corsair bodies tie them well to the Druchii look, a heritage of lost Nagarythe, no doubt. At the same time, the Phoenix Guard cloaks tie them to the High Elves. Great work! The eagles on the shields are a bit more High Elf than Dark Elf, but that fits perfectly with the fluff you have thought up. Awesome free-handing, by the way ;)

The Sorceress (or the army general's girlfriend, if you prefer :P ) looks great! The shading and high-lighting is done very well and the model looks very natural. Like Tyrannus mentioned, cute! Great work! :D

Can't wait to see more! Keep it up :)

- Loran

Re: [PLOG] The Lost Colony

Posted: Mon Feb 25, 2013 11:10 pm
by Dalamar
If you're having trouble finding balance between the lunar and solar parts of your army (which I think is a great idea by the way). I think you can start by looking at your army book (not list) and putting each unit into either lunar or solar part. It may not end up even but I don't think it's necessarily a bad thing. As an example:
Lunar:
Sorceresses
Cauldron of Blood (I can already imagine some great statue to praise the moon!)
Corsairs
Harpies
Witch Elves
Shades
Hydrae

Solar:
Dreadlord/Masters
Assassins
Warriors (both spearmen and crossbowmen)
Dark Riders (they could be Lunar as well, but I think it takes a lot of drilling and order to perform a successful feigned flight)
Executioners
Cold One Knights
Cold One Chariots
Bolt Throwers

I really like the marble effect on the bases. I seem to fail at painting any marble other than black.

Is the sorceress from Custom Made Miniatures? I have one that looks like they could be twin sisters!

As far as transferring the designs goes. I'm sure you can get a water transfer paper that can be used in laser printers somewhere. Then it's just print, cut out and water transfer. The end result will be:
You will have the design printed in full color, so no need to add the thickness of the paint.
Water Transfers are naturally sticky so no extra glue to add to the thickness of the emblem.
All around better results. The hard part (though I'm sure not that hard... give me a moment... Here!) would be finding the transfer paper but I just did on Amazon ;)

Re: [PLOG] The Lost Colony

Posted: Tue Feb 26, 2013 11:15 am
by Rowena
Loran:
Thanks for the compliments, they mean a lot to me. *blushes*

We (my boyfriend and me) enjoy making our own fluff. It allows us to create more than just the models, tailor everything to our own ideas. And we have some more interesting things planned... ;)

I'm very glad you like the models. That was essentially our intention, to blend the Dark Elf and High Elf style to create something dark but elegant, nd the sorceress was meant to be cute. :)
I try to paint all the models to the best standard I'm able to achieve, spending ages on blending, which means I'm very slow. So I'm very glad it shows.
Thank you. :)

Dalamar:
The solar and lunar parts of the army started when we were searching for a way to explain Witch elves and their choice of clothing. :D We like what it has evolved into, though, and I think it can make for great stories in the future.
And your list is very similar to what we plan to do, even though some things may still change as we decide on the final conversions.

The sorceress is indeed from Custom Made Miniatures (and yes, I have forgotten to include this info, I thought I always do :oops: ), nicely spotted. :)
The marble is actually very easy to do. I followed a tutorial I found somewhere and I can try to find it again for you.
EDIT: Here it is. :)

And thanks for the info on the water transfers. Do you have any idea if they can be made metallic gold? It's probably not necessary (I think black for instance would also fit very well into what we plan to do), but I've grown quite used to the idea. Anyway, I can definitely try it out. Thanks again. :)

Re: [PLOG] The Lost Colony

Posted: Mon Mar 11, 2013 10:31 am
by Rowena
This is the first time I have tried painting a unit and it's very apparent. I'm growing tired of the same model over and over again and I'm worried it will affect quality of my paint.
This means it will probably take a bit longer until I get the whole unit of twenty spearelves finished, but meanwhile, I have first of the command squad, the musician:

Image

His hand has been cut and glued too many times for it not to show (and glueing the two halves of the horn to a spearelf arm was very messy), but I think it was worth it. I prefer this horn over the one from the warrior kit, but wanted to keep the arms the same in the unit.
The horn was originally supposed to be connected to a strap across his shoulders, but I didn't find a way to make it work with his cloak, so I suppose it goes on his belt instead. I have also given him a sword from the Corsair kit to fight with, as it would bother me to leave him defenceless. :)

Image

And look, a shield that I think doesn't look too terrible! :)

Image

(Also, direct sunlight doesn't seem to be the best for taking photos, but I was happy it wasn't too dark for a change.)

Re: [PLOG] The Lost Colony

Posted: Mon Mar 11, 2013 2:05 pm
by With hatred ...
I really like what you've done so far, great fluff, nice shield designs and an attractive lady. Can't go wrong.

If you're struggling with the spear unit, have a change do something different and then come back to them, it works for me.

Re: [PLOG] The Lost Colony

Posted: Mon Mar 11, 2013 3:00 pm
by Thetosh
I agree with 'With Hatred', the trick with this is do it in batches, say 5 or 10 Spearmen then reward yourself with something else (I tended to reward myself with a character or large model like a chariot) then do another 10 spearmen.

Repeat as needed :)

Re: [PLOG] The Lost Colony

Posted: Mon Mar 11, 2013 7:20 pm
by Rowena
Thanks, that's exactly my plan. Now if only my models would arrive already! :roll: :D

At the moment I'm usually painting three at a time (or, rather, bits to assemble three, as it's much more comfortable for me to paint them before assembling) and this seems to be the most I can do at once and still enjoy it and feel that I'm doing my best on each and every one.
I'm pretty confident that a different model will help, though.

And thank you, I'm really glad you like them. *blushes*

Re: [PLOG] The Lost Colony

Posted: Mon Mar 11, 2013 7:26 pm
by Jarvax
I'm growing tired of the same model over and over again


Oh, I know this feeling all too well. :D

Even though I prefer my Dark Elves "dark and evil", I must admit that for the fluff you've given, you have done the perfect conversions, the perfect color selection and the perfect painting job. I'll be very satisfied if I ever reach your level of blending.

I'll have to agree with With Hatred and Thetosh. Go paint (or even model/convert) something else and then come back to this unit.

Re: [PLOG] The Lost Colony

Posted: Mon Mar 11, 2013 11:19 pm
by Kalisthenes
Very nice concept, conversions and painting! Everyone else has pretty much said everything I was going to say, all in a good way. The part I found particularly interesting (for me at any rate) is how easily your theme and conversions fit into the concept of a Melnibinean army. These could easily be dispossesed Melniboneans returning to Imyrr the Dreaming City to take back their heritage from the reavers of the young kingdoms.

Re: [PLOG] The Lost Colony

Posted: Tue Mar 12, 2013 2:18 pm
by Rowena
Thank you both for the lovely compliments. :)

Kalisthenes: I would like to ask, what is a Melnibinean army? I'm afraid I'm still very new to the Warhammer universe, especially as this army is something very different, and I'm certainly interested. :)