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Another brilliant addition to the force! For some reason, seeing the two "sisters" together makes me think you should add a third one, who is all twisted, bent and crone-like. So the three of them have a certain "Sisters of Fate" thing going on.

Just a stupid idea, off the top of my head...

 KrautScientist wrote:
Another brilliant addition to the force! For some reason, seeing the two "sisters" together makes me think you should add a third one, who is all twisted, bent and crone-like. So the three of them have a certain "Sisters of Fate" thing going on.

Just a stupid idea, off the top of my head...

I don't think that's a stupid idea at all. I second this motion. You can never have too many Haemonculus boobs in one thread!

I've been spending some time on assorted tasks that generally improve the condition of the army. Sticking the Raider Crew I painted a while back onto their Raiders, pose adjustments, fixing chipped paint on bases and other minor repairs, that sort of thing. Basically all the things that I've been putting off because they're not an exciting new model!

However, one thing I did that I found pretty satisfying was some improvements I made to my troops tray. Even through the tray could have been custom cut to fit the models exactly, I chose not to go that route because I thought it would be a pain to have to put away all the models in their exact slots. The downside was that the models were free to move around a bit too much. The compromise I've come up with is to use pluck foam pieces to create two level slots for the models. Most of the spaces are general enough to hold most models and yet still stop them from moving around. Also, nothing needs to be glued down so I can always change the layout.



Finally, so far I've had a couple people say they'd be interested in contributing towards a Tantalus for the Haemonculi sisters and their Grots to ride in, putting us at $30 of the $130 goal. I'll keep this open until the end of June but would be grateful for any early indications of interest .


@KrautScientist: I really like that idea! Any thoughts on base models?

 Mechanicum Jon wrote:
@KrautScientist: I really like that idea! Any thoughts on base models?

Hmm, that depends upon the look you're trying to achieve, of course, but let me just shoot some ideas your way:

- possibly the easiest way would be to use Urien Rakarth as a base model and work from there, since the model already had a very twisted and deformed look
- there are several WFB plastic models that might also work as a base model: the plastic Necromancer that comes in a clamshell? or the Necromancer models from either the Coven Throne or Corpse cart?
- some of the vestigial arms from the Talos/Cronos kit look extremely withered and deformed. I'd use those as extra limbs.
- a rather crazy idea, perhaps, but the WFB plastic Banshee might be worth a look...
- and, finally, if you need twisted and creepy arms, hands and bodies, the Crypt Ghouls are always a safe bet.

Just a couple of initial ideas -- hope this helps!

There's always my Haem-favourite - which is the Wood Elf Dryad as a base:

Little sculpting work to bring the coat / clothing more in line with the rest of your models aesthetic, and it could work nicely.

I posted this a while ago in a discussion forum but it didn't get much play. I still think it's an interesting question so I'd like to see if any of the regular readers out there have any thoughts. I decided that it wasn't wildly off topic for a P&M blog because it helps me think about what would look good together as an army on the table or in a display. Before I initiate the wall of text I'd like to thank KrautScientist and Ovion for their suggestions. I'll have a hunt around the surviving bitz sites.

So, I happened to do some navel-gazing about Dark Eldar fluff and would be interested in what people think about these questions:

What is the most out of character army list you can think of for a Dark Eldar army?

What about the most in character list?

Since the Dark Eldar tend to fight as raiding forces with extremely idiosyncratic leaders there might not actually be a what you could call a “archetypical” Dark Eldar army build.

Not at least in the way that an Ultramarine army made up mainly of 10 man Tactical Squads in Rhinos with a healthy sprinkle of Terminators, Assault Marines, Devastators, Land Speeders and Predators would probably pass inspection by even the most zealous fluff inquisitor without having to provide any extra background explanation.

That moved me onto wondering if I could come up with a completely out of character army list which would need a really awkward background story to explain. I assumed no allies and gave no thought to game-play performance other than it had to be a valid list at 2000pts, one force org chart. I also tried to mainly take wargear choices that would make a visible WYSWIG difference on the tabletop since I wasn't trying to build the worst possible army (that's another discussion):

After some noodling around I came up with the following three lists:

“Special Snowflakes”
Here I tried to make everything as different as possible and not have much that hung together in terms of background. However, strangely enough I think this list would have the best chance out of the three in a Best Army category because it could look pretty good on the tabletop.


“Homogeneity”
Surprisingly you can make a 2000 point Dark Eldar army using almost identical units. The Archon has invisible wargear so he's less noticeable.


“Some of These Things Are Not Like The Others”
Finally I came up with a combination of the two lists above, a core of blandness with some really awkward looking additions. My vote would go to this one for being the hardest to explain.


I'd be interested in your thoughts on this. But please put any text walls or lists in spoiler boxes so we don't nuke the thread .

One army you might be interested in is the list that won the Victorian Masters here last year
basically 9 venoms filled with trueborn and warriors, max blasters, triple ravagers
it was an 1850 points list methinks
it is kind of in character for dark eldar, being a MSU 'death by a thousand cuts' thing
also brutally powerful, point and click, no skill required list

Sadly, I can offer zero input when it comes to army lists, seeing how I violently suck at all the rules stuff, but I still want to give you some input regarding that first list, because it instantly sparked an idea for an army theme:

To me, it sounds like a sinister circus troupe: Think of what the rich and powerful of Comorragh would find entertaining and mesmerising, beyond the usual slaughter in the arenas (or, as it were, as little appetisers between main courses of slaughter and gladiatorial battles).

Bring in the clowns!

In the first list, your Scourges are not a legal unit - you need 5 models to take the special weapons.

The second list is interesting, though incredibly static - an alternate would be giving the Trueborn + Archon Blasters (maybe a second Archon, for 2 squads of 5 blasters?, maybe in Venoms or Raiders, just for practicallities sake), then the Warriors with pairs of Splinter Cannons each.

The third list, seems massively lacking in anti-tank, with tons of base warriors.
Also, you can't take a Venom on a unit with more than 5 models, and a Raider on a unit with more than 10.

@Ovion
you can still take a venom on a 10 man unit and a raider on a 15 man
you just can't start in it/enter it until you are reduced to 5/10 respectively
you can ALWAYS buy dedicated transports even if your unit size won't fit

Page 91 of the Dark Eldar Codex:
Dedicated Transports:
"Note that units may not select a Dedicated Transport if the number of models in the unit is higher than the Transport Capacity of the Vehicle"

I'm having exactly the same problem as you, but everyone seems to have picked all the good blue colour schemes *cough* you *cough* so I don't know ah too do without ripping off someone's hard work, my Kabal is the Kabal of the blue sun, if you could help me, I'd greatly appreciate it

Thanks, smiggle

Love this blog, read it from start to finish today.. i now have urges to get some Dark Eldar. I wonder why?! Great Job!!

One of the reasons why I decided to go for a weathered look on my Dark Eldar was to avoid having to do so much edge highlighting. With my skills at the time it seem like it would be incredibly frustrating to highlight them neatly. However, now when I look at some of my older models up close they lack some of the visual pop of my newer stuff. They still look great on the tabletop but could use a bit of extra work so they fit in with the rest of my army. While I was at it I also painted some glyph patterns on the front.

I've been highlighting the Reavers as one big batch but decided to finish one first to see how it looks. It's not a dramatic difference but I'm happy with how it provides a bit more visual interest to the model.



Wow, you guys sure jumped on me for army list errors . I wrote those lists more an an exploration of the visual look and background of a Dark Eldar army rather than anything I would think of fielding in a game . I thought that KrautScientist came up with some rather brilliant fluff for the first list though. I wrote that one mainly to try to cram as much unrelated stuff together as possible but he made it actually sound pretty cool.

@Smiggle: Feel free to "borrow" any parts of or even the whole scheme ! I use sports teams colors all the time 'for references.

@Bengo2105: Glad you had a good read. Now get out there and paint up some new Kabalites!

Very nice, you should do a comparison shot though so we can see the difference!

That is cool

I think it looks great Jon, well worth your time.

A quick comparison shot to show the the extra detailing on the Reavers I'm doing. Keep in mind that the Jetbike on the right is a bit more weathered to begin with.

hooly gak the difference is massive

If you had to do them from scratch, would you highlight and then weather or vice versa?

Whoa, the highlighting has really added another dimension pal! Nice one.

I agree with Typhon and Casey's Law.

Thanks for the encouragement guys! But you all liked the original Jetbikes fine when I posted them a few years ago ! Actually I did too but it seems that I've raised the bar on myself!

Here we go! Three refurbished Reaver Jetbikes! The hardest part was coming up with designs to paint to the Jetbike "hoods." I tend to try and paint designs that somewhat ignore the sculpted details of the model because I think it makes the Jetbikes look more streamlined. What makes it tough is that you can't ignore the sculpt completely because then it just looks like you painted some random designs. I've been looking at a lot of runes and tribal masks for inspiration, as well as my own vehicles!

Oh yeah, the second half of this post's title isn't really relevant, I just went with the alliteration and ridiculous made up word from a video game title.



@Nivoglibina: If I were to do them from scratch, I'd paint everything including the runic designs and highlighting and then weather once that's done. You can take a look at some of the previous posts in this thread on how I paint my vehicles if you'd like some examples.

Man those are stunning Jon. Yep, you raised the bar yet again!

Thanks!
They look stunning! I'm surprised at how much difference it makes to an already great paintjob.

I especially like how you change the positions of the runes for each model.

What do you use for your bases?

Hello!

Just wanted to check in with everyone to let you know what's up! I've still been highlighting Reavers but the pace has fallen off a bit due to: 1. The Tiny Tina DLC for Borderlands 2, 2. The Steam sale which means I am catching up on a huge backlog of games and 3. I'm leaving for Tokyo today for a vacation and have been spending a lot of time reading up on what to do! So, basically the Kabal is on summer vacation playing video games and visiting exciting foreign destinations .

Of course I'll be visiting some hobby shops in Tokyo to see what interesting tools and paints they have. I bought my first MIG weathering powders on a trip to Tokyo 3 or so years ago and they've been used to weather my whole Kabal!

@Foolish_Hyena: The bases are made of Milliput putty rolled out into flat pancakes and then broken up into slabs once dried. You can find some step by step tutorials a ways back in this thread.

Enjoy your downtime, Jon!

What / how did you go about making those haem conversions? I would really like to replicate those It think they are incredibly good D: