Galentil Wavesinger - Citadel Wood Elf Horn (1991)

These days I just can't get enough of Sea Elves, so I'm painting a lot of them: the aim is to build a warband and eventually a small army to bring to conventions. 

This particular figure was issued by Citadel in 1991 as part of the Wood Elf Command, under the name Horn 2 and the code 074213/28C. It was sculpted by Jes Goodwin. It bears many similarities with an earlier figure, part of the Skarloc's Wood Elf Archers (1987) and was possibly built with parts of that.

This Sea Elf represents a character, born in the early 2000s as a character for WFRP: Galentil. It was the last character I played before stopping for many years, and I have a relation of love and hate for him. Galentil's story goes more or less like this: he was very young and hailed from a family of dirt-poor Sea Elves from the coasts of Yvresse; shy, contemplative and possessed of a strong sense of justice, he left home looking for fame and fortune and ended up on a ship that travelled most of the Known World in several adventures. During this time he met an Elf girl, a wandering rogue and entertainer named Lilegon (another PC), who stole his heart. The two had a very intense love affair that ended quite badly as elements of Lilegon's past surfaced: unbeknownst even to her, the girl was the daughter of a Slaaneshi Dark Elf and a Wood Elf Witch; abandoned by the father and losing the mother to the Inquisition, she had been brought up by travelling artists. Finding her mother reincarnated in a lynx was the beginning of an emotional roller-coaster for the girl and a train-wreck for Galentil. When Lilegon decided to explore the heritage of her parents, Galentil left her heart-broken and became a hermit, sailing the seas on a small boat with only the company of the winds and the waves, making strange music with shells and horns. Eventually, he became a priest of Mathlann, the elven Sea God, and acquired many powers over water and weather.

After reacquiring a new balance, Galentil has taken up adventure again, hiring himself to Sea Elf crews in need of blessings and protection from ill fortune.

Citadel C025 Fimir Fianna Fim (1988)

 

Fimir are one of the few original things in the Warhammer setting. They were created, in fact, to be exactly that, at a moment when GW was dealing with the loss of rights over IP from their old suppliers. The credit for creating them goes to Graeme Davis and Jes Goodwin, who in turn inspired themselves from Alan Lee's Fomorian.

Truth be told, the effort to come up with something original was hardly monumental. Fimir had stronger limbs and an ankylosaurus-like tail to be used as a weapon. And that was it. Bryan Ansell probably found out too late, and Fimir became a thing. 

Now, Fimir could really have become popular, if Nick Bibby, the sculptor charged to turn the concept art into miniature, had not botched spectacularly the size of the monsters, which in fluff were slightly heavier than humans, but in lead were Ogre-sized.

This meant that they were heavy and expensive to make and to buy, but in game terms they were not really strong: a line of few large Fimir was easily overcome by a line of smaller creatures. So Fimir didn't became popular, and eventually the Skaven filled their role, and became Warhammer's iconic monster.

Still, in the hearts of fans Fimir always had a place, and among Oldhammerers they remain a collector item, bought at dear price in eBay and other online markets.

I had this miniature for some time and I only managed to paint it because I wanted to test the new Contrast paints by GW. Well, what do you think? Not half bad I'd say, if you consider it took me less than half of the time I normally spend on a miniature this size.

Citadel Wardancer "Elrim" (1991)

Wardancers are one of the specific things of the Warhammer setting. I don't know from whom the original idea came from, but certainly there was a big influence from punk iconography, much like with Trollslayers, with a heavy sprinkling of glam. Admittedly, David Bowie and Iggy Pop would not look awkward among a crowd of Wardancers. In a way, not even Syd Vicious and johnny Rotten from Sex Pistols, or Paul Stanley and Ace Frehley from Kiss wouldn't be out of place. 

Glam is all about androgynousness and gender confusion, and who better than Elves can play with that? Add some tight and colourful clothing and the trick is done. Truly, Wardancers are fun to paint.

So meet Siwai'em Ké, Sea Elf Wardancer (that's right, up until WFB 3rd edition Sea Elves also had Wardancers). Part-time member of the crew of Euphrosine the Cormorant, part-time boyfriend of Thalia the Cormorant, Euphrosine's sister, and survivor of the great raid of the Shrine of Rigg. Also known as "the Bastard" among Thalia's friends, with no reference to his known or unknown parentage.

The miniature is one of the great 1987 Wardancer sculpts from Jes Goodwin, referred at least in one catalogue as "Elrim".

Citadel TSR Elf MU Low Level (1985)

In 1985 Citadel launched a range of AD&D figures, co-branded with TSR. It was an interesting concept as heroes were sold in sets of three, representing low level, middle level and high level characters. This post's miniature is the low level tier for the ADD16 Elf MU (Magic User).

Figures painted by Kev Pump @ http://solegends.com/rsadd/add16/index.htm

The sculpt is obviously Citadel, and namely Jes Goodwin's. What's interesting is that the scale is different from regular Citadel minis. Or perhaps there was a conscious decision to scale down Elves according to D&D lore vs. Warhammer lore, which was influenced by Tolkien. Whatever it is, you can compare this piece with Marauder figures of the same era (sorry for the messy picture).

I painted the sculpt to represent a short Sea Elf Magician, so I kept my usual Sea Elf cold colours, and added some pink for variety. The base also ties him in with the rest of his companions.

The Red Knight - Citadel Chaos Warrior (1989)

 

Evil Warriors are an archetype of Fantasy. Like Dragons, or Dwarves, or Magicians, or Barbarians. Every single setting will have a Evil Warriors clad in fancy armour with dreadful helms covering their faces: call them Ringwraiths, or Drakkarim, they are all the same. Darth Vader is one of them, as is Verminaard, as is the Death Dealer from Frazetta. His many brothers decorate the covers of every album from Manowar.

Warhammer, as usual, made use of the archetype declining it into the general setting as the Chaos Warrior, surely one of the most enticing elements of the setting, something which would survive into the 40K offshoot as the Chaos Space Marine.

Today we look at one of many, dated 1989, displayed in the 1991 Red Catalogue as "Axe - 073103/42". The figure is "designed by the Citadel Design Team with Jes Goodwin".

The figure, acquired from eBay, had seen better days and many details were damaged by stripping. I decided to paint it with the colours of Khorne, and give the armour a dull red hue, like that of blood, contrasting with the metal of weapons and the Chaos star.

You can see the painting here, but I can't possibly show you how fun it was to paint this miniature. It really is, and there's a lot of potential for variations and personal touches. I decided to keep it simple, though, and not even find a shield for him (not yet).

The Red Knight roams the wild areas of the Border Prices, with his following of warriors. They are happy to fight for whoever pays them, but lacking commissions they eagerly attack caravans and villages. It is said that the Red Knight never removed his helm, because his face is that of bloodlust and would kill anybody who see him. It is also said that his company of soldiers changed many times: his followers don't last long, and in many a battle he was the only survivor, and yet the winner. The Red Knight is wanted in many princedoms for mass murders and the Inquisition is also looking for him. Yet, his fame is such that no law enforcer still found the guts to go after him, and if he did he certainly didn't come back to tell about it.

Vos'hark, Champion of Tzeentch - when things go right

Sometimes things go right, and you end up painting a model of which you are really satisfied. Sometimes is today: the last model painted in 2017 and the first model finished in 2018.

I got this on ebay, and I am not 100% sure of its origins. Unlike most Citadel miniatures of its time, this had no slotta and the base had been filed smooth: it probably came from the cast with a simple metal spike to be fitted within the base, a disk of Tzeentch. Now, I wasn't able to date exactly this model, which was commercialized both as Disc Rider and with a regular base as Champion of Tzeentch: I would guess somewhere between 1988 and 1991, the first year I find this in a Catalogue. But at least I can be sure the hand which sculpted it is the excellent Jes Goodwin.

What do we have here, then? A true Champion of the God of Change with all the lovely attributes: bird head; hunch; three arms, each hand holding a curved dagger, a scroll and a wand; one foot covered by plate or carapace armour; long robes with feathered collar.

I decided to go full chaotic and do some experimentation with colours: namely try to blend azure into blue into violet. I first painted the spots of three colours, lihtly blended them by mixing colours in strategic spots, then washed them and finally blended again with the highlights. It was astonishingly simple, although a bit time consuming.

I broke the coldness of colours with details in bright pink and yellow. It took me about four months to do this, from August to October, and most of the time was spent looking at the figure and trying to decide which colour to use. When it was finished, I didn't like it: I couldn't come up with a proper base. Until December, when I casually acquired the missing piece, from a spare sprue of AoS Sylvaneth. And everything fit into place.

The hunched position of the figure suits well the curved tree, and it seems almost like he is hiding or emerging from hiding. It adds a secrecy to the scene that goes very well with the general mood of the miniature. I painted the tree with surreal colours - bluish wood, pink leaves except for one, bright yellow.

Fluff, you say? Still in development. Working name is Vos'hark, nome de plume of Heinrich Vogler, a Tzeentch cultist with a passion for gambling and taking risks. He acquired a lot of power, several gifts from his God but also a binding to a Lord of Change, Flartassh, the Timegazer. From him he learned certain scrying skills to be used across time, so that when he meets somebody he usually is able to tell their past and their likely future. His main task, as servant of Flartassh, is to find certain special people and prevent them from eventually becoming trouble for his master. Most of his victims have actually no idea about who he is, nor any connection to him: their only fault is to have a high chance to become enemies of Tzeentch.

Of course Vos'hark has a darker side, too. He hates his master and tries constantly to escape his servitude but weaving his own patterns in time, so that somebody may turn out to be his saviour: and thus he may even be a help for PCs. And Vos'hark has a number of enemies, too, especially Champions of other Gods, so that he must always take careful precautions when walking the world of mortals. There are many eyes on him and, naturally, on those who associate with him, whether knowingly or not this does not matter.

That's all folks, as they say. I am very, very happy about this piece, which I regard as my best so far. I wish you all a great 2018 of painting and gaming!

Brandir the Adventurer - Citadel Elf Warrior (1987)

Some NPCs are so good they eventually become PCs. This is the story of one of them, Brandir.

Brandir's story begins with that of his older brother Gelmir. The two are born, together with a third sister, from a poor Sea Elf family living in the miserable village of Grilm, on the coast of the Wasteland. Father dies at sea when the children are young. Mother is slain by Greenskins during a raid, while the kids hide under the bed. The three survive by begging and stealing.
 

Then, at some point Brandir's story takes a different turn, a grimmer one than his siblings who will eventually get saved and adopted. Little Brandir, while in the gutters of Zeaburg, is lured with an apple by a smiling man and invited into a private house. He gets a hit on the head and drops unconscious. He is taken away. The man is a thief and smuggler, and he also, in his own way, adopts Brandir, but he is far less kind than Elmerin. Brandir learns to steal and stab and trick and becomes, willing or not, part of Johann the Lame's band of footpads and cutthroats. They spend most of their time in Marienburg but travel the Wasteland when times are hard and the guards are on their trail.

Years pass, and eventually Johann the Lame gets old. Brandir has little love for him and, at the first good chance, he takes over the band and offers the old man a kind choice between retiring to a dilapidated country hut with little to no pension, but alive, or retire at the bottom of a canal of the Kruiersmuur, with no need of any pension. Johann makes the wise choise.

A few members of the band, the old ones, leave, but new ones join and soon Brandir's band increases its business substantially. The Elf is young and less cautious than Johann, taking risks that offer high returns. He seems blessed by Ranald, and his reputation grows, until one day he is introduced to an ascending merchant, going by the name of Johann Hess.

In order to make his family rich, Hess has his fingers in many pies, including illegal ones. Smuggling is one of them and, with his activities growing, he needs to outsource the extra job to smart people. Soon Brandir starts making a lot of money, especially with those new shipments of closed crates coming from Norsca. All marked with a red X and solidly nailed so no one can spy their contents.

It is when some members of his band start displaying strange signs of mutation that Brandir decides to do what he has been explicitly asked not to do: open one of the crates. It is full of shards of black, iridescent stone.

That is his last delivery. He goes to see Hess and tells him he's not feeling well and wants to leave the business for some time. But Hess guesses Brandir knows more than he says. The same night, coming back at his band's den, Brandir finds assassins. He barely escapes with a few men, but loses all his savings. At dawn he silently navigates the marshes on a rowboat, headed at Lame Johann's hut. It's empty, the old man must have died years ago.

Enraged at Hess's betrayal Brandir plans revenge, but he decides to wait - too many people are looking for him in Marienburg. He spends some time in the town of Bokel, across the frontier of Nordland, but he soon finds out the Warpstone has tainted him: he has started losing all the hair on his body.

It is several months after his flight that Brandir returns to Marienburg. By now he has become completely glabrous, even losing his eyelashes. He wears a hood over his head or, sometimes, a wig. He calls himself Gelmir, the name of his lost brother. Working isn't easy when nobody knows you and, desperate for money, Brandir enters a gambling house planning to get something to start again. But the games are rigged, and the house belongs to Hess. Soon he has an outstanding debt, and Hess's thugs are on his trail once again.

With two companions he boards a ship bound for Erengrad, where he hides for a while. It is here that his brother finds him: hunted by Hess, the real Gelmir find the impostor, recognizing him as his long lost, and now mutant, brother. Together, they vow revenge on Hess and on his network of warpstone smuggling, funded by the Skaven. And so it begins Brandir's life as a PC.

 

The miniature I choose for Brandir is no. 9 in 1988 Citadel Catalogue, Elf Warrior Category. It is marked as "Elf" and dated 1987, so it probably debuted on an earlier White Dwarf, The line is designed by Jes Goodwin and Aly Morrison: it's not clear who sculpted this particular figure but my guess is Jes Goodwin.

There are lots of things to like in this sculpt. The simplicity first of all. Lots of empty areas to freely paint. Then the shady look - there is something thievish with this hooded Elf, shield raised and sword reared, leather jacket, bag across the shoulder and a rope hanging from the side.

Missing the original shield, I recycled a 15mm Medieval shield which looks enough like a buckler, where I painted the device of Liria, a free city of sea merchants on the eastern borders of Tilea.

Comments? Did you also happen to turn NPCs into PCs? Leave some feedback below!

The Merry Mariners - back from 2001

Towards the end of 2000 our WFRP group was exhausted. We had played for four intense years but, for a number of reasons, several members had dropped out of the group and only three were left. We found a fourth member and we took turns in GMastering sessions, creating a new party interly composed by Elves, brought together by being members of the crew of a ship.

It lasted less than one year, but it was fun. At some point I painted miniatures for all four PCs, and last night they were found in a jar at the house of my friends, so I took some pictures - forgive the light, it was night and the kitchen lighting was not ideal for photography.

Without further ado, I give you Fanirrlan, Sea Elf pirate. Greedy, adventurous, curious. Raised in the Old World with the healthy principles of survivalist Elves living among Humans. In Lustria, he learned about the Turtle-god Washoon, living under the Sea and emerging occasionally as a moving island - and he became its follower, hence the turtle pattern on the shield.

This miniature is a Jes Goodwin sculpt from Citadel 1987 Elf Warriors, and identified by the name Kaledon.

Then there is the other Sea Elf, Galentil of Breataine, from the stormy coasts of Cothique. Introverted, contemplative, melancholic, Galentil finds peace only at sea and away from people. He can, at times, become actively aggressive and utterly anarchic when confronted by crowds and civilization. A devotee of Mathlann, he finds himselfs very confused when he falls in love with Lilegon (see later), having puberty hitting him very hard.

Another Jes Goodwin piece, this belongs to the Citadel 1985 Silvan Elves for Lord of the Rings, later re-released in 1987 as Warhammer Wood Elves (074213/1). A very fine sculpt, if you ask me.

Now we come to Lilegon: daughter of a Wood Elf witch and a Dark Elf champion of Slaanesh, Lilegon grew as an outcast and quickly learned to survive in a hard world and only trust herself, resulting in a very introverted character and melancholic nature. She and Galentil are basicly dynamite, attracted by their common traits and plagued by bad communication and unspoken words.

I had lots of fun painting this Bob Naismith sculpt from Citadel 1986 C09 Dark Elves, the "Death Maiden". To be true Citadel has always been short of female figures, except for Dark Elves. The original had a spike on her tiara, which I removed to lighten the figure.

Lilegon always went around with a pet Wild Cat, Grinn, who later turned out to be a reincarnation of her witch mother.

This piece by Jes Goodwin is from Citadel 1987 Elven Beastmasters.

Lastly, we have Neferet, an Elf from Astartis, a house-made kingdom set in the deep Dark Lands, with an egyptian mood. Curious to see the world, Neferet was famous for her disdain of "barbarians" as well as her promiscuity, which made Fanirrlan very happy.

This is a fine Bob Naismith piece from Citadel 1986 RRD11 Regiments of Renown: Mengil Manhide's Dark Elves, named specifically as "Witch Elf". When I ordered it, I didn't notice the womanskin on her back, which hardly fits the PC, but then again it was nice painting it.

To be frank I am quite surprised by the quality of my brushwork from that time, considering I only had a dozen colours and a very lousy brush. But then my eyes and hands were probably better, and I had a lot of time to paint.

It's nice to see these pieces emerging from the past! Will post a couple more in the next days.