Elves of the Rhana Dandra

Those were the last days

The Ancient Gods wore their masks and danced again, one last time

and to their silent music we moved carelessly to our doom

We welcomed darkness in our souls

and walked in the shadow of Khaine

until our hands turned red with the blood of our beloved ones

and our hearts became black and empty as the void beyond the world

But we were the sons of Aenarion

and before the end came for us we shone brighter than the stars

So that when the new cycle will begin 

our deeds will not be forgotten

while you and your race will fade into oblivion

Hey guys!

As promised, an update!

After my issues with GS became evident, I decided to go back to some of my old projects... Some of you might be familiar with my Aestyrion, I posted them on warseer last year.

When End Times Khaine came out I felt struck by some of the narrative in it. I mean, we all know it was not the best written fluff piece of all times, and many people disliked the huge change of direction they took with the elves, but I for one found it really interesting while wh elves never really captivated me before. The part of Tyrion betrayal, the Shadow of Khaine and the tragedy of the fall of their race inspired me to make an attempt to infuse these elements into some models.

The result was somehow surprising to me, through a very simple conversion I managed to obtain a quite distinctive style for high elves, bringing them closer to how I always envisioned them, an ellenic inspired culture with elements of ancient Greece and a hint to a quite "alien" origin that ties them to the Eldar in 40k.

Now I know most people dislike this vision of the elves and think of them as more anglo-saxon mythological creatures, but that is how I've always seen them and so was quite happy with the result in the first batch of conversions...

The experiment went on well, I managed to convert and paint around 6-10 of them (which are now lying in my old flat in Turin, sorry, no pictures of them with me) but then stopped when I lost motivation and started other projects... Since then AoS arrived and I now decided to give them a new purpose and make them into a small elven warband. Round bases always suited me better and I am planning to add a mounted hero to guide them, a couple more spearmen and a chariot.

The effect I was after with these models was a noble yet ferocious look, since during the End Times they followed Prince Tyrion they all walked in the Shadow of Khaine and committed murderous atrocities in the name of the bloody-handed god. A spartan theme seemed appropriate for them, I wanted to reflect the warlike aspect of elven culture but also give a hint to the sadness and melancholy of their souls. Therefore I chose a very limited palette of gold, red and black.

Gold/bronze make them look like ancient warrior statues and tie them to the greek feel I was after, red represents the blood they have spilled in the name of their warlike god while black indicates the Shadow of Khaine they all walked under.

All their shields bear the same colours, a white blazon, indicating their ancient family and their lost heritage, over a blood red field with a black patch at the bottom representing the all consuming shadow of Khaine. A Cynaith rune is carved there, with the meaning of Chill, Death, Silence, Loneliness and representing the suffering of their prince and their people and the shame they feel for what became of them before the end.

The conversion was actually really easy, Phoenix guards bodies with bits from the dragon princes, dark elves shields and helmet crests taken from the Eldar Dire Avengers... et Voilà!

I am currently working on their bases and I am making various experiments... I plan to use the new 32mm round bases and paint them in bright and pale colours to contrast with the quite rich palette of the elves.

So, what do you think of them?

EDIT: I managed to finish the base tonight... quite a simple job but I really like the result! It matches well the colours and gives the mini the high fantasy vibe I was after this time.