Dark Elf rumours (now includes pics of all 2nd wave models)

Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you:

No adverts like this in the forums anymore.
Times and dates in your local timezone.
Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance.
Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely.
Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net.

If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

**Sabotage!**

Kroothawk wrote:
On the Warriors (with the bleaknames): I was expecting and hoping for something like the Warhammer Online design:

Instead we got something resembling the silly outdated design:

This is their competition: 30 restic Gamezone miniatures for 25.50 € (about the same as 10 of the new GW ones AFAIK):

I could not agree more, I wish they would have went with the Warhammer Online design for the warriors (and the Blackguard as well, but the description sounds anything but).

Oddly enough the Gamezone Minis you posted are the spearmen I've decided on : ), great value for a much better aesthetic.

**MeanGreenStompa**

A good release.

I'm not sure how dynamic other folks want their regiment of spearmen, personally, I want them to be able to rank up and to integrate well with prior aesthetics whilst bringing more detail than their predecessors due to improved molding and sculpting work. i think these did that well.

Witch elves are excellent, not sure about their 'alternative' versions with the masks and whips, but it occurs to me as a Cryx player for WM, that I can use a mix up of these for Satyxis raiders and save a few dollars... assuming these plastics are actually cheaper than PP's metal infantry.

The Cauldron of Blood with steps is a direct tribute to how they appeared in the WAR game. I love this model in both incarnations and the medusa/gorgon is excellent.

The hydra/karybdis kit... It's ok, the pose looks odd and unnatural/uncomfortable and the hydra's heads are a let down for me, I'd consider using something else, perhaps a big tyranid head or something from the lizard men army. I also think this big monster suffers what the other very large monsters suffers from, the variables are all minor detail without options for changing the silhouette, this means at range they look the same. The skaven HPA, the big chaos thingy and the tombkings monster all suffer from this as well. If I bought this kit, I'd only use it for one creature, likely the karybdis and source a hydra from elsewhere with a different look... Or avoid it altogether and use a merwyrm as a stand in for the karybdis.

**StarFyre**

Need that Medusa...well 2. 1 I'll turn into a mythic/epic yuan-ti in d&d. Also need those large snakes for my lizard men...hopefully I can find bits on eBay..

Sanjay

**MeanGreenStompa**

Kroothawk wrote:

I'm very interested in these. I am concerned about detail though, this picture of white resin makes the heads look 'soft' on detail.

That said, given they stand behind your front rank of well painted and detailed characters and command, and die in droves... how detailed do I need my rank and file now we're into horde-units of them...

Automatically Appended Next Post:
Also... ummmm, think I've found my hydra here...

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QTZij_pG3xI/UgYH0PB1vGI/AAAAAAAAC8A/o4PKE4A4PeA/s1600/_MG_0256-1.jpg

**jah-joshua**

i would be careful with the Warzone minis...
everyone i have from them is a great sculpt, but a horrible cast...
very rough, and don't go together well...
invest in Greenstuff...

i really like the stairs on the Cauldron...
the added dimension over the previous incarnation is nice, and it doesn't look as barebones as the fisrt wheeled version...
i think it's a nice improvement...

i really like the Gorgon, but the more i look at her, the less i like all the blood dripping from her...
might have to carve all that off, and not looking forward to it!!!

cheers
jah

**Creeping Dementia**

The only ones I don't like are the Spear guys. What is it with GW and super thick spears and huge hands, it just ruins it for me. I do like more dynamic poses, but its not practical in Fantasy (which might be a reason I dropped Fantasy...), so the posing might be as good as it gets without becoming a tangled mess.

The Witch elves seem great, sort of a mix between their 40k counterparts and the Raging Heroes versions. Of all the kits these are the ones I could see actually using (kitbashed into 40k though).

I do like the Cauldron from a modeling perspective. Is it practical as a warmachine? of course not. But it does look cool, and I'm not into Warhammer for realism. Would be a good painting project.

The big monsters look fine for what they are, I usually don't go for big monster kits so it's not for me, but it does seem like a good kit.

**Kanluwen**

Those hands are far from huge. Look at the current High Elf/Dark Elf Spearmen to see "huge hands".
Really not seeing the whole "super thick spears" thing for myself, but eh.

**Therion**

lord_blackfang wrote:
Not GW's strongest release this year.

The warriors are terrible, the cauldron has nice details but is pretty bad overall, the hydra is a great design but has the most amazingly awkward pose I've ever seen on a miniature. Only the witch elves are really on the level of other recent offerings.

I agree. I think these models are by far below the standards atleast I've become used to. All the girls look nice (and that's a big plus since GW's track record with female models is very poor) but the rest of the stuff not so much. I wouldn't say the models overall are terrible, but they aren't good either.

**Commander Cain**

Wow, those are some great looking kits! I had a pretty good idea what they would look like based on the Dark Eldar from a year or so ago but they still impressed me.

I don't like how the cauldron of blood thing is now on wheels and the seemingly huge torso of the avatar fella but apart from that I can't find a single problem with this release...

**Andrew1975**

So this is kinda like when they don't screen movies early. Pretty disappointing so far.

**Siege40k**

Could the medusa like thing be converted into a herald of Slaanesh?

**streetsamurai**

Siege40k wrote:
Could the medusa like thing be converted into a herald of Slaanesh?

converted ???

I think that you can use her as is, and it would be perfectably acceptable. At least, that's what i,ll do (i might add a pair of clawed arms)

**Warboss Imbad Ironskull**

Kroothawk wrote:

Never been much of a fan of the DE but I've got to say I absolutely LOVE the Kharibdys and Medusa models

**Lucarikx**

Do my eyes decieve me? Female models from GW that don't look like men?

Its a miracle!

Lucarikx

**streetsamurai**

Aren't the next wave supposed to be in the new army book that comes out in october ?

If so, It means that we'll know how the executionner, BG, chariot and dark riders look like in a few days

**Aerethan**

Well the book doesn't drop until the 5th, so the WD won't likely show the models early, otherwise we'd have seen them already.

If the new models aren't in the new book then GW has their head further up their ass than I thought.

**Andrew1975**

The more that i look at the cauldron, the more I want to rat rod Ratfink style it with a giant engine and spinning rims.

**finnan**

I'm seeing lots of possibilities for Eldar and Dark Eldar kitbashing here : )
Cauldron of Blood = hello Eldar Avatar
Shadowblade = Harlequin Solitaire
Sisters of Slaughter = DEldar Wyches
Witch Elves = Banshees...?

**Laughing Man**

Yep, definitely looks like I'm using the Bones hydra if I get into DE...

**catharsix**

jah-joshua wrote:
,,,

i really like the Gorgon, but the more i look at her, the less i like all the blood dripping from her...
might have to carve all that off, and not looking forward to it!!!

cheers
jah

I totally agree. It's annoying that there is the blood sculpted on, since you have to either make it like they do, or try to carve it off, but doing that will probably loose some good scaly texture, on top of being a pain in the butt.

-C6

**The Shadow**

Wow, these are some fantastic kits! It's almost embarrassing how much better the Cauldron and the Hydra are compared to their current equivalents, though the Hydra's pose is a little OTT and I don't like that colour scheme.

**NoggintheNog**

Well, I think it's a decent release, the troop boxes are reasonable if not spectacular, the big kit is what it is, with the bonus of being an excellent source of alt sculpts for other armies, and after building the base chariot it looks very easy to magnetise so you can have either version, which cuts down on waste as well.

The monster dual kit though, well, I can't really comment on the hydra because it is painted so badly it is simply impossible to look past the derpy grin. And by badly, I don't mean technically bad paintwork, I mean bad it its base level, the choice of colour scheme that accents the lips to look like huge teeth is just insane on a promotional mini, who the hell approved that, it must have gone through 2, maybe even 3 levels of management before that picture of that mini ends up on the box and in white dwarf. And not one looked at it and said 'painting the face like that makes it look bad'.

Sadly, I think underneath what it looks like on the pics there is probably a really nice model, the alt version is a weird thing but it looks great as a monster. Astounding that something so obviously wrong can get all the way to the public like that.

**angelofvengeance**

Not sure about the Hydra- too much collagen in the lips there lol. Needs snake like fangs. But the Charybdis looks like a nasty piece of work! Really like the Cauldron and Shrine. As a Dark Eldar player I smell potential Wych conversions!

Automatically Appended Next Post:
Really liking the restic Dark Elves warriors too I might add..

**Melcavuk**

That medusa model is awesome, I just need to plan a 40K army to integrate some of these into.

**angelofvengeance**

Melcavuk wrote:
That medusa model is awesome, I just need to plan a 40K army to integrate some of these into.

Dark Eldar Slyth merc for your Court? I'd say she fits into that category fairly well.

**CthuluIsSpy**

Got a teaser video. Sorry if someone beat me to it.

Anyone else getting a Fist of the Northstar vibe from that one line?

Also, that new Hydra model looks nice. Not sure I like the wyches though. They look a bit static for me, which is ironic considering how they are in motion.

**Laughing Man**

I finally realized my problem with the Hydra: He's a bowtie and a pocket protector away from being the entire cast of Revenge of the Nerds.

**Kroothawk**

Rules tidbits from WD, posted by Jossy over at the Plastic Krak blog:
http://plastickrak.blogspot.co.nz/2013/09/dark-elves-rules-leaks.html

Dark Elves rules leaks
The lads over at kiwihammer podcast have managed to get their hands on a White Dwarf a little bit earlier than most. They report the following:

New Releases

The DE Army book is written by Matt Ward
The largest dual kit is the Cauldron of Blood which allows you to make either a Cauldron of Blood or a Bloodwrack Medusa. You can also use this kit to make the special character Crone Hellebron.
The next dual kit is Witch Elves and the Sisters of Slaughter – Sisters of Slaughter are apparently the lost daughters of fallen noble houses and look great.
The new DE Core box allows you to make your warriors with Spears, Swords and Shields or Repeater Cross-bows.
The Dual Hydra/Kharibdyss kit looks pretty good, there are pictures of the Hydra with different paint schemes that actually look a lot better than the leaked photo we’ve already seen.
The Special Character Shadowblade is a single pose figure that will come in a clampack
There is a Lore of Dark Magic Card set being released.

Army Special Rules/Points Cost

Dark Elves now have the armywide special rule of ASF (unsure if this will apply to monsters/cold ones)
Dark Elves also have Hatred but presumably only in the first round
Black Guard have eternal hatred
New Rule called murderous prowess allows Dark Elves to re-roll 1′s to wound. Unsure if this will extend to shooting and magic.
There is a new Beastmaster Lord Level Character which costs 300 points when naked on a Manticore
Witch Elves are core and 11 points per model. They can also take magical banners.
A unit of 30 Spear Elves and of 30 Xbow Elves with Full command costs 390 points. Unsure what options were used but that means the warriors were 12 points per model.
A DE Sorceress Hero looks to be 80 points
Cauldrons of Blood still come out of Hero slots and look to have increased in points. They can join units and one of their powers allows a unit to re-roll to wound. In the Batrep a unit with a Cauldron and this buff up deletes a unit of Sobunz.
Bloodwrack Medusas are rare and have a shooting attack called Bloodwrack Stare. Not sure what it does
Hydras can now regain wounds in a manner similar to the Slann with the regen power of the old ones. They are now 180 points, have monster+handler but have to buy their breath weapon.
Lore of Dark Magic – The attribute is called spiteful conjuration and does extra wounds to enemies that have spells cast on them. Unsure of how the mechanic works but could be similar to Tz lore attribute?
Lore of Dark Magic – Only spell mentioned is called Word of Pain and it reduces WS/BS/I
A Dreadlord with Heavy Armour and a Shield on a Black Dragon costs 449 points.
Cold Ones are 30 points and have 2 Attacks, unsure if the cold ones themselves have ASF

**CthuluIsSpy**

It seems they are going for a more aquatic theme with the Dark Elves, judging by the fins and what not on the new monsters. This should be interesting.

**AlexHolker**

Witch Elves are core and 11 points per model.

Witch Elves £35

Stay classy, GW.