My Dark Elves are, actually, one of the closest armies I have to completion.  At this point, the collection is merely waiting on the remainder of the Black Guard, the Lord on the Dragon and the Lord on the Manticore.  Of course, there are still a few extra miniatures to be completed (like a third group of Cold One Riders), but I venture to say it has a good shot at being the first "completed" army in my book and this could happen in 2009, since they play a central role in several of my current campaigns.

 

Most of my "serious army building," or the time I gathered most of my models, was during the 4th Edition of Warhammer Fantasy (during the 1990's).  At this time, I was really unhappy with the horrible state of the Dark Elves.  Most of the models were bad sculpts and many of the units didn't even have any models!  Thus, rather than hand money over to Games Workshop for bad sclupts, you'll find much of my Dark Elf army is made up of models other than Games Workshop.

 

Collection Stats

347 Models

291 painted (83%)

Largest legal force I can play with entirely painted models:  6,385 points

Estimated goal strength for the collection when completed:  8,500 points

 

This Dread Lord on a Dark Pegasus is a conversion consisting of a Cold One rider and Morathi's Dark Pegasud (along with other assorted bits).  The Dread Lord on a Dark Pegasus is often my choice for the army's General as he makes a great War Machine hunter, but can also get to where his superior leadership is needed.

 

Following up te Dread Lord are this Battle Standard Bearer and an unassuming Hero.  Both were painted by Donny Furbush, although I glued a color banner from an old Dark Elf book onto the metal flag and changed the skin tone.  The Hero character usually fills in as an arbitrary unit champion (when one isn't available) or functions as the stand-in for my Dread Lord when the Dark Pegasus gets shot out from under gim.  (I think that's Donny's old painting trademark for the shield emblem).

 

The Witch Elf Hag Battle Standard Bearer is converted from a Confrontation model.  Originally planned as regular Witch Elves (or unit Champions), these models were a bit tall for the rest of the unit.  Therefore, they sat in semi-retirement until I decided I needed a Battle Standard Bearer (Hag) that could join my Executioners.

 

I have 2 generations of Cold Ones in my collection.  The older metal models are based on my own paint scheme while the 5th Edition "fat ones" are from Josh Lyons.  I painted this mount to match Josh's paint scheme since this Supreme Sorceress is riding a "fat one."  It was hard to be inspired to do much more with the miniature itself, especially since I rarely use her on a Cold One.  She is pinned on and is more often mounted on a Dark Steed where she is more nimble and not subject to Stupidity.

 

This is one of my earliest painted Dark Elf models where I put a lot of time and emphasis on getting the pale skin tone just right.  It is a Ral Partha model (whose casting has since been used by Mage Knight) as I have seen it molded in plastic for the Mage Knight game.  At the time I purchased him, he was with the rest of the spearmen who were converted to Dark Elves and given the bleached Bone breast plates.

 

One of my favorite models when it came out with the 4th Edition Army Book, this Sorceress was the orignal Morathi model before she was given a Dark Pegasus mount.  I used the original art work as a basis for the paint scheme.

 

The newest addition to my Dark Elf characters is this Sorceress (originally an Elf model by Wargames Foundry).  She was pressed into Dark Elf duty since I couldn't picture a good elf holding a skull!  Since most of my lists consist of only 2 Wizards in the army, her addition has supplanted the old RAFM Sorcerer described below.

 

I'm not sure where this figure originated from- I believe it is a RAFM model.  Because of the hand crossbow, it functioned as a typical Drow Elf from my D&D days.  He has since taken on different roles within the army and currently functions as an assassin when I choose to field 3 of them.

 

Another old RAFM model, this Sorcerer isn't used as often since I added the second Sorceress to the line-up.

 

 

The Dark Elf Cauldron of Blood is a 5th Edition model painted by Donny Furbush.  I tried something different with these banners by scanning them from my 3rd Edition Army Book and colorizing them using computer software.

 

The two most frequently used assassins in my current collection.  The model on the left is a Games Workshop model from the Mordheim series that I used for Shadowblade in an earlier campaign.  The model on the left is an "Elf Killer" model from some other game system (Hordes, I believe).  It had "Dark Elf Assassin" written all over it all the way down to the crossbow slung over his back.  Because of the limited color pallet (and much of him is covered in black robes) I spent more time emphasizing his skin tone dirt stains around the base of the robe).

 

 

There was a time when I believed the Dark Elf Repeater Crossbowmen were the must have unit in the army.  Unhappy with the 3rd Edition metal Dark Elves, I sprung for 40 models made by Harlequin miniatures.  The models are so similar (and so old) that most people think these are actually original GW miniatures before they came out with the plastic models for 5th Edition.  Each unit had the trim of their uniforms painted a different color (in order to distinguish them) and I also added a random character model by Ral Partha to function as the unit Champion.  About half of them (usually the second rank models) have also had shields slung over their backs since they make effective close combat troops with hand weapon & shield once the enemy gets too close for comfort.

 

 

 

 These spearmen are all Ral Partha models.  They were released to be High Elf warriors, but their armor and physical features had "Dark Elf" written all over them.  As a departure from more traditional paint schemes I opted to paint their armor in bleached bone to give them some sort of "other worldly" appearance.

 

Here is a close-up of the command group.  The Champion on the left is a vintage Wood Elf model painted by Josh Lyons.  The standard bearer is a RAFM model converted to hold a banner that was scanned from an army book and colored in pencil.  The musician is from the original Ral Partha figure line.

 

The second unit of Dark Elf spearmen is painted in blue.  The Ral Partha models are bolstered by some spearmen from the Harlequin range (they are holding their weapons in their left-hand while the Ral Partha models hold theirs in their right).  For this reason, all of the Harlequin spearmen are on the right-side of the formation.

 

Here is a close-up of the command group for the blye spearmen.  With the exception of the spearman on the far left, all models are from the Harlequin range.  The banner is a colored banner scanned from a Dark Elf Army book.

 

This standard bearer is another from the discontinued Ral Partha line.  He originally played the role of Battle Standard Bearer until I picked up the limited edition model from Donny Furbush.  He is now slated to join the unit of Alternative Armies spearmen.  The banner is a color scan from a Dark Elf army book.

 

This original batch of Dark Elf spearmen are from the Alternative Armies collection and were painted by my brother Duncan around the time of the 3rd Edition game.  At that time, he painted all High Elves in purple garb so that they could be used as either Dark Elves or High Elves.  Eventually the skin tone was repainted and they made their way into my collection when he liquidated his Fantasy collection.

 

The Dark Elf Corsairs are the center of any raiding army (and Dark Elf armies in campaigns tend to be frequent raiders).  For this reason, I have 2 units of 20 with additional (new) models purchased with hand crossbows to bring them up to date.  One of these units (in the foreground) was painted by Josh Lyons.  Seeing how we used the same color pallet and techniques, it is hard to differentiate them besides the bases.

 

This is the command group from Josh Lyon's unit.  He had several of the Champion models and converted the model on the left to add the trident.  The banner is a color scan from a Dark Elf army book.

 

This is the command group from the unit I painted.  This group had a metal banner to which I glued a color scan from the army book.  The model on the right is an old Ral Partha character model that I decided to add to the unit.  The detail on the cape is painted on to match the dragon cloaks for the rest of the unit.

 

Dark Riders are the most viable core unit in the current army since the current rules set places a lot of emphasis on Fast Cavalry.  In addition, they are the best unit to represent Dark Elf raiders besides the Corsairs.  Currently, 3 out of my 4 units are completed.  These were the first Dark Elf models by Games Workshop that I actually liked and found they looked great even with a minimal amount of color variation on them.

 

 

My Dark Riders were originally a single unit of 10 that included a full command group.  The original unit has since been split into 2 smaller units.  This is the group with the originally command section.  The banner is a color scan from an army book.

 

The second group is made up exclusively of regular Dark Riders armed with spears and crossbows.

 

The third group has the 6th Edition standard in it (that looks like a giant halberd).  It is usually used as just another Dark Rider with spear.  The nature of Dark Riders with crossbows is for them to harass opposing units and escape without being charged.  Thus, it is recommended that all units have a musician to assist with their rallying rolls.

 

These harpies are all Ral Partha models, bought back when the Games Workshop harpies looked like the current Furies.  (I wanted to keep them pure to their Dungeons & Dragons origins).  I opted for the dark skinned women since these tended to transition better with the black feathers than an old, Greek, pale-skinned variety.

 

 

The most relevant unit in the Dark Elf Special section are the Black Guard.  Games Workshop WANTS you to buy these models!  They used to be 16 points and a 0-1 Rare Unit Choice.  Now, they are only 13 points, the 0-1 restriction has been lifted, they are no longer a Rare Choice and each model has 2 attacks.  As one of the last units in my army to be painted, I struggled with how I wanted them to look.  I opted to vary the color of their tabbards depending on their region or unit of origin, gave them a black overcoat representing the Black Guard and painted the armor in a bronze metallic to match the elite status of Josh Lyons' Cold One Knights, rather than the Bleached Bone scheme of lesser troops.  Half of the unit is completed (as shown here).

 

Unhappy with the Games Workshop Executioner models, I chose to use the old 4th Edition Black Guard to take on the role as Executioners.  Their giant axes seemed more appropriate for Executioner's Axes than the lightning bolt-looking blades that the newer models wield.

 

At the time, I don't believe the old Black Guard even had a command group.  If they did, I must have been dissatisfied with the models.  The command group for my Executioners is being pieced together from other sources.  The Standard Bearer on the is actually the standard bearer from Menghil's Flayers back in the 3rd Edition of Warhammer.  The Champion on the left and Musician on the right are models from the Confrontation range.

 

Until recently, there were no Shades models for the Dark Elf army.  These are all RAFM models acquired during the 4th Edition days of the game.  The exception is the Champion model, who is a Witch from the Dark Eldar 40K range.

 

Like the Corsairs, the Witch Elves are in two units; one painted by Josh Lyons and the other one by me.  Most of the models are a mixture of 5th Edition Witch Elves and Harlequin Witches (who tend to have more armor).  There are also a few of the larger, 3rd Edition Witches mixed in.

 

This first command group is made up of newer generation models by Games Workshop (except for the 4th Edition model on the right).  They were all painted by Josh Lyons who used the Bleached Bone armor technique first applied to the spearmen above.

 

This second command group shows the variety of figures.  The one on the left is a Harlequin model. The 3rd Edition Witch in red usually acts as the Hag in charge of her unit (since she is easier to pick out).

 

These two Cold One chariots are the work of Josh Lyons.

 

Josh Lyons also did the work on this unit of Cold One Knights.  At the time they were intended for his own army (otherwise, I would've stayed with the Bleached Bone theme for their armor).  Never the less, with the introduction of this theme into the elite units of my army, I carried it over to the Black Guard years later.

 

The Command group from Josh's unit.  The Champion is the Maleus Darkblade model (with severed head removed).  This is the same model I used for my Lord on the Dark Pegasus at the beginning of this section.  I added the heraldry to the standard by applying a clear, black-outlined decal and painting it.

 

The older Dark Elf Cold Ones unit is made up of these 3rd Edition models painted by Donny Furbush.  I added the penants to the lances and shields from the Ral Partha spearmen. 

 

This close-up of the Command group shows the flesh banner added as a back-banner to Donny's champion.  I added a scanned, color banner to the standard bearer and painted up a Dark Rider's champion to function as the unit musician.  A horn from an old chariot model was added to complete the conversion.

 

 

 Another model that Games Workshop WANTS you to have is the War Hydra.  It has been souped up to be quite a fighting machine and it's ability to regenerate keeps it in the battle for most of the game.  Never the less, Games Workshop continues to be inept at sculpting a decent Hydra model.  The newest 7th Edition model is not much better than the horrendous 5th Edition piece that looked like some one had rolled together with modeling clay.  I have a preference for the Reaper Miniatures sculpts.  This is the older model that has served as a hydra for many years, assisted by a pair of GW Beastmasters.  Donny Furbush painted these models, although I had to go back and change the skin tone of the Beastmasters.  Reaper has since released a new hydra model that I picked up for my second hydra in the army.

 

Although I was never that fond of these 4th Edition Bolt Throwers, their unique design is what distinguished them from the Bolt Throwers of other armies and, therefore, mandated their purchase.  The Reaper Bolt Thrower is also a mainstay for the Dark Elf army and I will probably end up purchasing two of the newer, vertically mounted models, to usurp these two (except when I wish to play with 4 bolt throwers in a game).

 

This Phase Spider is an old RAFM monster painted by my brother Duncan (probably) two decades ago.  The model still lurks in the back of my Dark Elf army as a Rare Unit choice (to be added to the Allies & Mercenaries list).  Any spider-like creatures fit in well with this army because of the Lolth, Spider Queen background given to Dark Elves by Dungeons and Dragons.