Dread hunt of Naggaroth

[szlachcic]

Hello all, I have been playing Dark Elves since 5th edition, but have never had a fully painted army. I decided to change that when the new book was released, but have had a hard time finding a color scheme that I liked. As you will see below I went with a "royal" looking scheme with the purple armor and white/cream cloth. The army will include:

Sorceress on Dark Pegasus
Sorceress on foot
Master BSB
Master on Cold One
Assassin
20 Dark Elf Warriors
10 Crossbowmen
10 Dark Riders (two groups of 5)
10 Harpies (two groups of 5)
2 Cold One Chariots
5 Cold One Knights
2 Reaper Bolthrowers
War Hydra

Originally the army was to be a raiding party which collect the various beasts the Dark Elves use, hence the inclusion of cold ones, harpies, and hydra. The list previously had two hydras to match the "beast" theme, but after using them in a few games I quickly dropped the second. I also have a large group of 20 Black Guard which will be the very last thing I paint as I usually only use them in a tournament setting.

Below you will see some pictures of what I have been working on over the past two weeks. None of them are completely finished, but a few are close. The purple armor came out somewhat messy looking in some of the pics, but in real life it looks much darker and more solid. The main goal with this army was to get a tabletop quality army that could be painted fast as I lose interest in one particular project if I am not careful .

Sorceress on Dark Pegasus:



Bolthrower:



Harpy:

[szlachcic]

Hydra Beastmasters:


Chariot:


Crossbowmen:


Cold One Knights:

[npow34]

Great looking army thus far. I really like your color scheme. The white cloth and purple armor look really good with eachother. Nice subtle conversions on the bowmen. Very original scheme on the COs. Look forward to seeing more!

[Lord Azoth]

nice conversion with the sorc , the AoW head fits well in the gZ body!..

Like the overall look of the army, maybe a freehand in the CO banner?

[szlachcic]

nice conversion with the sorc , the AoW head fits well in the gZ body!..

Like the overall look of the army, maybe a freehand in the CO banner?

Thanks, and yes there will eventually be some freehand on the CO banner.

[BlazeXI]

Those elfs are turning out really nicely.
Funnily enough the boobs on the sorceres are highlighted so it looks like she has been sunbathing in a bra and has teken it just off to reveal a tanline.

[Steam_Giant]

Stunning conversion and great painting too.

Subscribed

[LocaLicious]

Great work on the Cold one Knights. I like the colors you chose. Working on some right now my self actually

[minitrol]

I love the contrast that the blue gives your models. Will you also use it in other elements such as shields?

Keep it up very inspiring!

[Atoom]

Nice work on the paint buckets - Very solid

That pegasus looks like it is stumbling on the column. Suggest that you pin it on the back leg in stead of the front leg.

[LocaLicious]

if I may ask, which colors exactly were used for the scales on the dinos? Some kind of Snakebite/bubonic/Bleached bone? Looks rly splendid

[sharky 10]

Love the vibrant blue on the cold one. The sorceress is fantastic.

[szlachcic]

First of all, thanks for all the comments guys, I hadn't checked my plog in a while, so sorry for the slow reply. I have taken a small break from my last batch of Dark Elves to work on some FoW stuff, but I should be getting stuck back in shortly!

Those elfs are turning out really nicely.
Funnily enough the boobs on the sorceres are highlighted so it looks like she has been sunbathing in a bra and has teken it just off to reveal a tanline.

Haha, I didn't notice that at first, but you are totally right! We will just say she takes off her chainmail bra (don't all female fantasy characters wear one?) right before battle to distract her opponents.

I love the contrast that the blue gives your models. Will you also use it in other elements such as shields?

Keep it up very inspiring!

The idea was to keep the blue mainly on the monsters in my army. I am still playing around with some ideas though. My spearmen for instance are converted from the corsairs kit and will have blue on them as well. Maybe I will do the symbol on the shields in the blue to tie things together. Thanks for the idea!

Nice work on the paint buckets - Very solid

That pegasus looks like it is stumbling on the column. Suggest that you pin it on the back leg in stead of the front leg.

I have to agree with you. I may re-pin it at some later point, but I think I am going to work on getting the army painted first. I had actually meant to pin it to the sloped side of the column, but for some reason did not when actually executing it.

if I may ask, which colors exactly were used for the scales on the dinos? Some kind of Snakebite/bubonic/Bleached bone? Looks rly splendid

The scales on the cold ones were actually very easy. I used Menoth Base from the P3 range, but Bleached Bone would work fine. This was put on as a base color and then washed with Devlen Mud from GW. The teeth, claws, and head/back spines on the cold ones were then highlighted with Menoth Base again to bring the color back up and then a final highlight of Menoth Highlight (bleached bone + skull white). It is as simple as that. Actually most of this army uses a similar painting technique to keep things moving quickly.

[phoenixguard09]

I must say the Sorceress and especially the Cold Ones look brilliant. Can't wait to see more. Subscribed.

[Sadesuteku]

Is that sorceress on Pegasus the gamezone one?

I really like you're cold ones, very nice and clean.

[logan054]

Nice bright DE army, you might want to tone the highlights down slight and perhaps put a wash over the skin, i really like the color scheme!

[brendino]

Those elfs are turning out really nicely.
Funnily enough the boobs on the sorceres are highlighted so it looks like she has been sunbathing in a bra and has teken it just off to reveal a tanline.

hahaha yeah, bikini tans FTW!! loving the purple laquered armor on the knights, looks really good and fits well with the army. Look forward to see more of this.

[Cragum]

such a nice highlight job you have done on these models. really brings them out.
by any chance we aint gonna see my favourite model of this army, the hydra in this army are we?

[szlachcic]

Nice bright DE army, you might want to tone the highlights down slight and perhaps put a wash over the skin, i really like the color scheme!

Thanks for the compliment, the colors are actually much different in real life I promise. I took these pictures on a very bright day, so everything looks very bright and washed out. The skin is highlighted in multiple layers and actually gets a tan/purple wash early on to make it look more livid. There is also a much greater contrast between the purple armor and the light blue, cream cloth, or pale skin when viewed IRL.

such a nice highlight job you have done on these models. really brings them out.
by any chance we aint gonna see my favourite model of this army, the hydra in this army are we?

Thanks as well , the Hydra has been sitting at about 90% completed and I have to agree with you, it is a great looking model. I will post pics of it in the future, but if you want an idea just look at my Cold Ones and think bigger.

Is that sorceress on Pegasus the gamezone one?

I really like you're cold ones, very nice and clean.

Yes, that is the gamezone sorceress. The pegasus itself is a great model, however the sorceress looked like a bad cast as mine had very poor detail. I made due and it turned out ok, too bad I don't see myself running the model under 8th with those sniper cannons though . Maybe with the pendant she would be fine...

As for updates to the army it looks like I will be postponing my Dark Elves until I A) Find a list I like and B) Work on my Empire army some. I am one of those painters that has a hard time working on one project for too long, so I just needed a change of pace. I am attempting to fast track my Empire army and so far it has been working well. I will probably be posting a new painting log for them within the next week or two. After I work on my Empire models for a while I will come back to my Dark Elves with fresh eyes and decide what I want to do with them. It currently looks like I am going to have to convert/paint a lot of Dark Elf warriors.