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I was looking through the other thread, and nearly everyone pointed out that they hate the current DE sculpts. On the "best of GW" thread, many, many people posted that they loved the GK Terminator models. I was one of them - the poses are dynamic, and I'm a sucker for halberds.

Back to the main topic though. What is it about the current models, specifically, that evince such hatred? Full disclosure: I don't play DE or even like them so I'm not trying to like, win converts or something. Frankly, between you and I, I hate elves in all settings of any kind. I'm just looking to explore what makes for pleasing aesthetics in a mini.

Models I agree are terrible - Urien Rakarth (what's wrong with his face?), Wyches (just poorly done), Mandrakes (moobs),

Models I sort of like - Dark Incubi (I like the helmets), Talos (like the scorpion thing), and the Warriors - I don't quite LIKE them, per se, but they don't seem more offensive then say the average Chaos Marine.

I think the plastic warrior ruined it all
( and them been the core troop and such... its a major factor )

I think its the wierd factor. We know they're alien, but not THAT much. They're stranger than NIDS!

Concrete elements for DE hate:

Curves! Everywhere!
Decade old minis!
Stoopid plastic!
Worst mechas in the game!
Worst, weirdest weapons in the game: flying shuriken MACHINE-GUNS!!
They have thousands of years of combat experience, lose to a lucky SM...

I'll stop there, ok?

LunaHound wrote:
I think the plastic warrior ruined it all
( and them been the core troop and such... its a major factor )

Really? I rather like their plastic models (warriors, raiders, ravagers)

The bondage/S&M angle is kind of offputting, but can be done well. Unfortunately, the models are fugly. The quality of sculpting is really poor, and compared to a lot of other sculpts from the time, they've aged horribly. Their proportions are out of wack, and they have uniformly awful faces. They also lack detail, although Raiders are nice. It's a hard army to relate to, and the models just haven't aged well at all. While some models age like wine, getting finer with age, Dark Eldar age like milk - they just end up lumpy.

Models are even inconsistent within the line. "Fat" wyches, skinny haemoculi, heavy armored incubi and everything else being very light armor.

Warriors suck:
- Ridiculous hair styles. Either the never ending top knot or the crazy 80s rock style.
- Spikes all over. I always got these caught on clothes in game which meant they grabbed on to my sleeves and then fell from a few feet above the table. They also make it difficult to transport in GW's own container products, often getting bent or breaking off completely.
- Relatively flat minis with little or no dynamism.
- Helmets suffer from the Eldar conehead syndrome

Talos:
- I've had two of these and neither fit together properly. Poor casts, and a 'passenger' that is hard to figure out what it is, let alone paint.

Hellions:
When I played in 3rd these guts sucked in game. They're too expensive in dollar cost for what you get.

Wyches:
Have flat, but round faces. The male models are much thinner than the female models.

Vehicles:
I really dislike the core design, but like the warriors with spikes, these are very hard to transport, have sharp points that easily grab onto things, their guns are easily broken off and one needs to pin the models onto the model which is difficult with such a thin base. Having a flat rather than ribbed deck would make it easier to have these models not require pinning.

Heroes:
I think only the Impaler model (? the one with the two downward pointing blades) is a good model. The rest suffer from some flaw whether it is the Conan type helmets, the feet, or some other feature.

I never bought mandrakes so can't comment on them.

The wychesare just repulsive... I mean, DE Witch Elves are awesome yet the Eldar Wyche sculpts are just crap. Plus, the DE Lord model, with his huge head and claw, and tiny arm is just stupid looking.

I think GW may have rushed the DE without really developing the look enough. Most armies goes through many iterations before they stop looking stupid and start looking cool (The tyranids anyone?) but they just gave in with the DE instead of going through the usual evolution (probably to make more MEQ Monies)

I think the warriors are ok as well as their jabba sailbarge ships. But the puter models are were the lose comes in. And the super saiyan hair of 3rd ed didn't help either.

I think it's mainly that the fluff for DE relates them to being as cruel and vicious as the nastiest demons... but their models look like 14 y/o emo punks. Their models should inspire fear, and all they do now is make you giggle at their emo rage.

Turbo10k wrote:
Curves! Everywhere!

WHERE!? The raider is more spiky than a traitor rhino!

Although the main reason I don't like the current molds is that they don't match up with the artwork, I know, most of the models don't, but the Dark Eldar especially so (What happened to the warrior helmets in the transition from concept art to plastic!? and how come their armor has to look so weird on the model?)

They aren't sleek enough, in my mind the Dark Eldar should have sleek armor and shiny black transports, crewed by Eldar in sleek aerodynamic armor, not a dude with an insect helmet. The RBJ just looks bad, I'm sorry but it does. Dracon and Incubi are alright, but show their age. Also, I think since the time those models were made, modeling techniques changed, and got better, but the dark eldar were left with their old sculpts. Which is why if I ever play Dark Eldar, all my warriors are going to be converted Dire Avengers.

models are old- more specifically people are tired of seeing the same sculpt for the past what 12 years? Even a really well done sculpt will go down in appeal if its been around forever.

Models are mostly 2-d. Yes the models are really 3-d but the poses are not dynamic and are mostly only in 2 planes with the 3rd plane just being the thickness of the model. This is mostly apparent in the metals.

Heads- somehow the heads are a cross between eldar heads and chaos dwarf helmets, but usually not in a good way. The hair bits look unnatural.

Spiky bits- Honestly they are too thick, which makes them look chunky instead of sleek and deadly.

Weapons- The splinter rifle honestly doesnt look bad, splinter cannon isnt bad either, the blaster / shredder / dark lance are boring. They lack detail typical of eldar/elf and look thrown together. The warrior models dark lance and assault weapon poses like very unnatural and inorganic, and not in an oddly appealing way.

wych weapons- oversized, the sculpts herald from an era when CC weapons were oversized to make them stand out more, cc weapons since then have been scaled down slightly to be more on par with the models (save for chaos..)

Raiders / Ravagers- actually kinda cool but the spiky bits are overdone,t he models end up taking up more space than a land raider to carry around and are much more breakable. If the model had an awesome statline and was expensive this wouldnt be so bad, but as it is the model is the standard troop transport and cheap so if you want to tote 6 around you need 2 carrying cases just for them with a ton of foam.

grotesques- these look like terrible sci fi versions of the 1993 citadel zombie sculpts (which actually were awesome)

Special characters- Honestly I still think drazhar is one of the better models in the entire gw range personally, vekt isnt bad, lelith is ok but the weapons are overdone, and kruellagh looks terrible, she looks like a club kid who cant dance.

scourges- The wings. Are terrible. The wings. OMG. The concept art in the codex is awesome, there was a GD second or third place winner that did a conversion of a scourge based on those wings that looked like it used wraith(necron) back parts that looks stellar. But the wings on the scourges. omg.

Talos. This model would like much better if the skulls and helmets were filed off it, its actually not bad tho.

Take a look at Eldar Guardians in their current form. Pretty good models for basic infantry. They look muscular and relatively tough. Look at them in their 2nd edition form when were skinny and weak looking. That is more or less the era that the current DE minis came from. Consequently, DE look weak and skinny. Compare current guardians with DE Warriors and you'll easily see the difference age makes. DE Warriors are superior to Guardians yet they look far less capable. The old Eldar helmet used to be taller but it has been scaled down to a more decent looking small point. DE helmets are just plain ridiculous. The DE commanders look horrible. Even back in their prime they were the worst looking commander of any army. Mandrakes are 2 dimensional and boring. Wyches are 2 dimensional and exaggerated. The single vehicle chassis has a tail fin that is out of control, along with other jutting prominences which just get in the way. Grotesques were a bad idea from the start. The Talos is supposed to be the DE Wraithlord, but it's more like the Wraithlord's slowed cousin with literally zero customization options. Scourges are just Warriors with ridiculous looking wings. Ms. Vile is 2 dimensional and boring but there's no reason to play her since she is worse than the average Archon.

I like Splinter Rifles. They have a wicked, jagged look to them, but even they look out of date and frail. Hellions are okay but their faces are hideous and their weapons dumb. Incubi look alright. Reaver Jetbikes look good, except for the riders. Drazhar looks alright. Lelith looks alright.

OOOps, I was thinking about the Eldar...replace 'curves' with 'spikes' and you get it!

The warrior models look goofy and disproportionate. The wyches have goofy faces and horrible facial expressions except for the female wych with hydroknives. That model was actually pretty well done and looks out of place amongst the rest. If you put her in a unit of fantasy witch elves she fits right in proportion wise. The mandrakes are the worst models, they are scrawny looking and bad proportions and horrible detail. I personally like the raiders and the incubi just fine. The talos is another horrific model. The helmets on the front look bad and the concept in itself is pretty dumb. On par with thunderwolf cavalry in idiocy. I'll post a link to my thread on a DE army with fantasy models as opposed to 40k: http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/268367.page

I haven't put up pics yet but will soon.

The DE Warrior models were very shortly followed by the Eldar Guardian models. Time-wise, they're about the same.

Yep it gives "we're SO subpar compared to Space Marines sales-wise they hurried us!!"

Plus, JohnHwangDD's avatar reminds me of christmas presents...not delivered by Santa...MMM