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Soooo did a topic about chaos warriors, and got me thinking, industrial elves?? :L
I've seen the likes of the industrial orcs from BTP and thought they were pretty cool
Elves are usually associated with being fancy and schmancy etc etc, so i was looking for something different
Was thinking a sort of rust/autumn like colour scheme,but vanilla elves wouldnt really fit
I know eldar are somewhat the elves of 40K, so was thinking using dire avengers as warriors just fantase 'em up
But stuck on other ideas, maybe take the death korps horses and green stuff some cloaks etc use as princes maybe?
But cant think of many other ideas, any suggestions?
cheers
wolfy

An industrial theme is the opposite of a medieval/Fantasy heme IMHO and destroys the flavour of the setting. Elves specifically are always featured as a race living in harmony with nature, so seem the least fitting race for that theme.

Unless the factories were run by happy thoughts and butterfly sneezes.

You can do it very easily... in a different game:

I can understand that i guess, bit of a long shot to pull it off, what about a greek themed elven army? seems abit closer to reality :L

Industrial elves...Tolkein would turn in his grave

Greek-themed army would definitely work, since the "classic" elves are *somewhat* modelled on European views of the ancient Greeks. They even kind of fight in a phalanx.

 Testify wrote:
Industrial elves...Tolkein would turn in his grave

Tolkien followed one model of elves. That doesn't mean that there aren't other options. My Norse mythology is a bit rusty, but iirc some of the elves in the Norse mythos would have been considered to be quite industrious for the time.

If you wanted to create a "logical" rationale for industrial elves within the Warhammer setting, I'd use something similar to the following explanation -

The elves in question are an offshoot of the Dark Elven nation. Unlike many of their peers, they were less interested in the application of cruelty in all of its myriad forms, and more interested in developing new forms of mechanical devices (such as those marvelous repeating crossbows, and the strange black powder that the dwarves use). That's not to say that these elves couldn't be cruel; rather, this particular group of elves found the constant infighting, backstabbing, and other forms of intrigue to be a distraction from the pursuit of technology. Finally, after one bit of outside interference too many, they boarded their ships (the official explanation was that they were leaving on a raid) and fled to distant shores far south of Khemri. Here they established a new city-state where they could develop their theories without the constant threat of sabotage or poisoning from rival groups (something to be wary of when you're working with gunpowder...). At the same time, they're forced to keep a wary eye on the horizon. The Witch King is a jealous ruler, and isn't happy that this group has fled his domains. The emigrants have already been forced to bloodily repulse his armies once. That battle made it clear that if the Witch King threw all of his strength at the emigrants, he would overrun and destroy them. But that would prove to be an unwelcome distraction from the eventual conquest of Ulthuan. There will be time enough to deal with the emigrants once the Witch King has retaken his rightful throne...

... then the Witch King entered the financial markets and the industry elves were doomed

If the other thread about Romans also gets its way, they would make nice allies: I can see Roman Legionaires driving Chevy Trucks counting as monstrous cavalry! Not sure if the other Fantasy players will be amused though

Eumerin wrote:

Tolkien followed one model of elves. That doesn't mean that there aren't other options. My Norse mythology is a bit rusty, but iirc some of the elves in the Norse mythos would have been considered to be quite industrious for the time.

Norse mythology is undoubtidly interesting, but to the modern western world, Tolkein's elves *are* elves. He wrote the stereotype.

 Testify wrote:

Eumerin wrote:

Tolkien followed one model of elves. That doesn't mean that there aren't other options. My Norse mythology is a bit rusty, but iirc some of the elves in the Norse mythos would have been considered to be quite industrious for the time.

Norse mythology is undoubtidly interesting, but to the modern western world, Tolkein's elves *are* elves. He wrote the stereotype.

The key word being "stereotype." In addition LotR is nearing 70 years in age now. Popularity taken into consideration, I think we can move past the prototype now.

Do you know what Tolkien called industrial elves? "Orcs".

 deathholydeath wrote:
The key word being "stereotype."

They keyword is actually fluff. You can do anything of course, making a tribe of Orcs masters of magic even greater than all the Elves or Slann. Or snotlings who are bigger than Ogres and more sophistocated than Dwarfs. And Trolls who are the intellectual leaders of the free world. But there is a fine line between bending fluff and busting it.

As for industrial elves, I'll just say:

SANTA'S WORKSHOP! Make me some toys, biatches.

 deathholydeath wrote:
The key word being "stereotype." In addition LotR is nearing 70 years in age now. Popularity taken into consideration, I think we can move past the prototype now.

Of course we can, and we have. There's all manner of deconstructions out there.

The question is whether we need to attempt such a thing within WHFB. There's already three different takes on Elves wandering around, do we really need a fourth?

I can actually imagine the Dark Elves being a tad industrious.
In fact, I think I can recall the Dark Elves of norse mythology being really good at smithing.
Then again, the Dark Elves there weren't sadistic monsters...

 CthuluIsSpy wrote:
I can actually imagine the Dark Elves being a tad industrious.
In fact, I think I can recall the Dark Elves of norse mythology being really good at smithing.
Then again, the Dark Elves there weren't sadistic monsters...

Nope. I even referenced them above, though I left out the word "Dark". Unfortunately, the popular conception of the term Dark Elf has been heavily influenced by the Drow, and nowadays it's hard to get people to accept alternate meanings of "Dark" in relation to elves.

Back when WoW came out, it was hilarious to see how many people automatically thought that the Night Elves (a dark-skinned elf race) were just another variation on the Drow.

Eumerin wrote:
Back when WoW came out, it was hilarious to see how many people automatically thought that the Night Elves (a dark-skinned elf race) were just another variation on the Drow.

Probably 90% of the people who played WoW had never heard of drow. It's pretty common to call something based on appearance. If someone said they had "Shimmering Rocks" you would not expect them to be opaque. Nearly every aspect of every language spoken by humans, whether a dead language or not, has appearance as a major determinant for the basis of words. From lightning bugs to tyranosaurus rexes to shotguns. You could never have seen any such things but make a pretty educated guess on what they are based on the name alone. A "dark elf" you expect to be dark in some way, either temperment or coloration or both.

DukeRustfield wrote:

Eumerin wrote:
Back when WoW came out, it was hilarious to see how many people automatically thought that the Night Elves (a dark-skinned elf race) were just another variation on the Drow.

Probably 90% of the people who played WoW had never heard of drow. It's pretty common to call something based on appearance. If someone said they had "Shimmering Rocks" you would not expect them to be opaque. Nearly every aspect of every language spoken by humans, whether a dead language or not, has appearance as a major determinant for the basis of words. From lightning bugs to tyranosaurus rexes to shotguns. You could never have seen any such things but make a pretty educated guess on what they are based on the name alone. A "dark elf" you expect to be dark in some way, either temperment or coloration or both.

Are you serious? Drow may be embedded in pop culture, but it's pretty hard to tool around in the fantasy culture without at least encountering the name.

WoW is a global game. People in mainland China do no know about a word popularized (and perhaps created) by Gary Gygax in a hardcover game that came out almost exactly 30 years ago and that didn't exist in their country. In fact, probably most of the people who know the term drow came at it from some vastly later incarnation. I played the mid-80s D&D where it had the "original" references. At least in terms of fantasy gaming.

Pop culture means people not in a ridiculously small subset of humanity get it. Lady Gaga is pop culture. Mind Flayers are not.

Really man? Why are you bringing up China? Do you really think an American is referring to anything other than Americans or Europeans in regards to WoW?

On topic, no WHFB doesn't need any more variations of Elves. Three is plenty, anything more and you'll be in silly putty territory. Outside of WHFB it really doesn't matter if Elves are the "magical race" or not.

 Amaya wrote:
Really man? Why are you bringing up China? Do you really think an American is referring to anything other than Americans or Europeans in regards to WoW?

That's like saying kung fu is all about blaxploitation movies and Bruce Lee.

BTW, no one cares where you're from on the internet. Everyone's message has a context of [web]. If my post only makes sense if you know I'm sitting here in Bermuda shorts with a pink mohawk at the 48th parallel, then I have made a mistake in constructing it.

Well there's a failed analogy for you. Good day sir.

DukeRustfield wrote:

 Amaya wrote:
Really man? Why are you bringing up China? Do you really think an American is referring to anything other than Americans or Europeans in regards to WoW?

That's like saying kung fu is all about blaxploitation movies and Bruce Lee.

Too bad Chuck Norris is cooler

 Kroothawk wrote:
... then the Witch King entered the financial markets and the industry elves were doomed

If the other thread about Romans also gets its way, they would make nice allies: I can see Roman Legionaires driving Chevy Trucks counting as monstrous cavalry! Not sure if the other Fantasy players will be amused though

I now have Dr Pepper in my nose, thanks