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I've been playing around with the idea of starting a small elf army. The big problem I have is that I'm not a fan of mantic's design for elves, mainly how they do the armor. The somewhat insect like look is neat, but it's not for me.. It's not a huge problem of course, I mean, there's plenty of other elf designs out there, but I'm struggling to find one that fits what i want.

And part of that problem is that i'm figuring out what i want. I know I want to try something a little different, something that takes the ideas of elves and has fun with it thematically. And I'd kind of like to push myself, design wise! Some various ideas I've had include:

Fungal Elves: Fairly self explanatory: Mushrooms are fun! So based around the idea of elves living in a fungal forest, with mushroom themed bases, vibrant colored armor, and strange creatures accompanying them.

Coral Elves: This idea came from mainly looking at aquarium stuff, always fun for modeling. I'd want it to be visually distinct from deepkin, the idea is more about elves that live on a surface island or such, made of coral, who incorporate it into their armor and weapons. This would also be a lot of vibrant and fun colors.

Barbaric elves: this is a bit more vague, but after playing an elf barbarian in pillars of eternity, i think it's something that could be fun

I guess my main question is, are there any elf minis out there that could serve as a good basis for something like this? And what other themes might be interesting/possible to try?

I'm not wholly certain they'll match what you're looking for, but Wargames Foundry's Casting Room has a line of elves that don't line up with either Mantic's nor GW's aesthetics.

Mantics Naiads seem like they are a head swap away from being coral elves.

Lucid eye has some slightly non traditional elf sculpts.

GW Woodelf bloodbowl team might be a good base for barbaric elves.

JoshInJapan wrote:I'm not wholly certain they'll match what you're looking for, but Wargames Foundry's Casting Room has a line of elves that don't line up with either Mantic's nor GW's aesthetics.

There's some intriguing things in there at the very least. The feral half elves might fit. I'm trying to get away from the "long haired blonde" look for elves and they've got that going for them.

Gallahad wrote:Mantics Naiads seem like they are a head swap away from being coral elves.

Lucid eye has some slightly non traditional elf sculpts.

GW Woodelf bloodbowl team might be a good base for barbaric elves.

I hadn't thought of naiads! That's a really good idea, and one that I'm actually in a position to attempt now. (yes i bought some naiad frames solely for the otters and frogs on them, what of it?) I wonder whether people would be ok with them being counts as elves since they would look so much like naiads...

You've both given me a lot to explore at the very least, so thanks!

Two Idiots Printing have Turco-Mongolian elves and some over-the-top 300-esque elves that might work for Barbarian elves.

 amazingturtles wrote:

I hadn't thought of naiads! That's a really good idea, and one that I'm actually in a position to attempt now. (yes i bought some naiad frames solely for the otters and frogs on them, what of it?) I wonder whether people would be ok with them being counts as elves since they would look so much like naiads...

no one would have a problem with that, as long as it is clear what each unit should be

I'll do my best to make it clear then! I'm going to go with the coral elves/ naiads, because as fun as some of the other elves look, they require me to spend money and i'm trying to do less of that now.

This should be within my ability range too. Get some elf heads, some fun aquarium plants and suchlike. Now, i just hope i actually have elf heads.

An odd sentence but ah well.