Citadel Dark Elf Legion Leader with Mace (1988)

Dark Elves... look at those beauties!

I got this on eBay together with the Norsemen of the previous posts, but this is a proper vintage Old Citadel figure. It belongs to the issue of 1988, the first Dark Elves with slotta bases. The Catalogue of that year identifies this as 074252/29, "Mace".

Now, this is one of my favourites miniatures from that issue, and in general as well, just because it is so alive. Look at the guy, advancing and ducking at the same time, like it is under enemy fire, or maybe he just risks being spotted as he stealths forward; and at the same time, he glances back and gestures at others to move on. This is a fantasticly dynamic figure, I'll tell you. All thanks to Bob Naismith, iconic sculptor of Citadel/GW who is now still in business as a freelance.

I painted in a quite straightforward way: steel armour with golden/brass decorations and leather straps, toned down with heavy blackwash. Dark leather boots and gloves with lighter leather trims and decorations. Additional copper on weapons to create a variation on metal parts. Purple tights and crimson tunic. Finally, a bright red tail attached to the mace, just to break with the general gloomy feel.

Dark Elves figures are in general quite heavy with decoration and using bright colours risks to make them look like clowns. That's why I tried to stick to realistic, dark colours. To add on that, I used gravel on the base to represent some rocky terrain, a mountainside, the bed of a stram or a stony beach.

I've got a bunch of other Dark Elves, from later issues, that will match with this guy as an assault force. Look forward to paint them soon!