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".

Celebril the Elven Knight - GW Swordmaster of Hoeth (1995)

My first PC in WFRP was Gelmir, a regularly rolled Sea Elf Bodyguard, tough as a nail and covered in mud and shit as befits WFRP PCs. For my second PC I wanted something more epic, and in agreement with my GM, I created Celebril Lostirion, High Elf noble, second son of a Caledorian Lord. Having grown up listening to the tales of the great elven heroes and knights, young Celebril left his golden cage in Ulthuan, with his loyal squire Elemir, and travelled to the Old World looking for adventure. Soon enough he found plenty of adventure, and in no time, using his courage and charm, he became a Knight Errant (aka Free Lance), offering his lance and sword against the forces of Chaos in exchange of hospitality and a warm meal.

Celebril turned out to be a great character over the several years that I played him. From recovering the Bowl of Oblivion in Grimminhagen, thus earning the gratutude of the Chirch of Morr, to defending Nuln and Talabheim from cultists of Nurgle trying to spread a plague, to recovering the Seven Keys of Arianka and freeing the Goddess of Law. After the last great feat, Celebril settled in Praag where he received a minor noble title by the king and dedicated his time exploring the Mountains at the Edge of the World and trying to build an alliance between Kislev and the local Dwarfs and Dragons.

The funniest part of playing Celebril was that he had outrageous ideas, overly idealistic and completely at odds with social and political relations, but somehow he often managed to realize his plans just by bewildering his contacts. How do you argue about being practical and realistic with a High Elf knight from Caledor looking for adventure on the borders of Kislev?

To represent him I chose a High Elf Swordmaster of Hoeth, made by GW in 1995. I'm not sure who is the sculptor, but these figures are very good and indeed they survived into production until the mid 2010s. Celebril wears a full metal hauberk of elven making, with a tall helm. His sword, a weapons sacred to the forces of Law, is the Gayvenderel or Crystal Sword, particularly good in punishing servants of Chaos. He also carries a great horn from the dragon Drorrg, killed by him and his valiant companions in the last days of 2505.

Celebril Sirdaryan, High Elven Diplomat - GW Lothern Sea Guard Champion (1999)

This miniature dates from 1999-2001, freshly bought in a blister at the Games Workshop shop in Milan. We are talking at the Lothern Sea Guard Champion issued in 1999: no idea about the sculptor, unfortunately: if you know, leave me a comment.

The figure is good. Sadly, while still painting it it fell to the ground, resulting in the sword losing its tip. Still, I was quite proud of it, when I painted it as Celebril Sirdaryan, one of the NPCs of my WFRP campaign.

Unfortunately, I didn't have much technique at the time and, looking at it today, I find it appalling. That's why I decided to repaint it a few months ago. What was wrong with it? For a start, it's too white: it was primed white and painted with a single white layer, then washed in black. It's plain, dull and dirty. The base is too simple, making he figure look even flatter.

A few words about Celebril. He's an interesting NPC, with a potential to become a PC. Born in the outer realm of Cothique in Ulthuan, Celebril came from the minor nobility, an ancient family that had not been relevant in politics for several thousand years, ruling over lands covered mostly by woodland and populated by hunters and loggers. Last of five brothers, Celebril spent a childhood listening to the stories of famous ancestors who had been seafarers and explorers and dreaming to live up to their glory, one day. Lacking connections and means, Celebril studied hard and worked harder, exercising his natural talents in talking and listening, slowly making his way up in society with recommendations from his teacher, then from a merchant of Armille, then a prominent nobleman and finally from the very king of Cothique, whom he served as envoy, inspector and tax collector. It was Falanor IV that recommended him for the service of the Phoenix King, in Lothern, where the young and ambitious Elf was put to service in a special bureau in charge of collecting delicate information - the Ears of the King. Celebril travelled all over Ulthuan and the colonies of the New World talking to traders, officials and nobles, assuming different identities depending on the need of the moment. Celebril was good, perhaps too good.

One day, it happened that his supervisors recommended him for a very delicate position: he was to be sent in the service of a Sea Elf adventurer, Gelmir of Dralas, who had gained himself a position of power in one of the Border Princedoms in the Old World. Posing as an expert in diplomacy, Celebril would support Gelmir, an unofficial ally of Ulthuan, and at the same time he would spy on him sending regular reports to the Ears of the King. Celebril had been immensely excited to travel so far from home, and very proud of the opportunity, but only until he learned that all the other "experts" travelling with him had been sent to Dralas as a mean to get rid of them. There was a pedant bureaucrat, an effemminate archmage, a creepy loremaster, a rowdy musician with a human mother and a painter with a tendency to be excessively promiscous. Still, Celebril tried to make the best of his opportunity, serving Gelmir as best as he could and, at the same time, becoming the best friend of everybody at his court so that he could learn all the secrets worth to be shared with the Ear of the King. This, until Gelmir seriously started to doubt Celebril and decided to send him as an envoy to his main rival, Prince Ettore Malatesta of the mountainous and wild land of Artesia...

Celebril is young but ambitious, smart and exceedingly skilled in talking. He dresses in elegant and precious clothes as befts an envoy of the Regent of Dralas, but he can keep a low profile when needed. He can fight, of course, and carries a sword, but he is always mindful that words can be deadlier than a blade, if spoken to the right people at the right time. He is, most of all, one that dreams big, and tries to make the best of every opportunity, something which has won him the sympathy of Gelmir.

I decided to limit the repainting of this figure to the minimum, by simply adding blue to the overcoat. The white undercoat and other white elements were painted grey and then highlighted in white. The skin was washed with red ink and then highlighted with skin colour. Similarly, metal was blackwashed and highlighted again in the same basic metal colour.

To add some complexity, I covered the base with sand and repainted in green, and added, as a final touch, some gold on the covercoat representing precious embroidery.

It's amazing how much can change with some simple improvements!

Review: GW High Elf Prince and Noble (2/2) - The Noble

A few month later, we conclude the Review on GW High Elf Prince and Noble, talking about the second miniature of the box, the Noble (the link to the first part is here).

Like the mounted Prince, also the Noble is highly customisable with different heads, shields, banners and weapons. And that's very good.

One thing is clear from the beginning: besides being sculpted by the same guy, Martin Footit, this figure is very different in two interconnected elements. First, whereas the Prince is a very dynamic sculpt, the Noble is extremely static: feet to the ground, arms to the side, looking forward, almost waiting for a faraway enemy to approach. It reminds me of the very old '80s High Elven infantry of the early editions, in a way, and it's obviously related to them. To me it's not so enticing: Elves are supposed to be nimble, fast, not statuary, but that's me.

Second: the Noble is as solid as rock. Once you put it together, it's unlikely that it will break or snap, like it happened several times with the Prince. It's plastic alright, but it withstands manipulation and this makes me very happy since I'm planning to use this figure in my next D&D game as a PC.

The PC in question is my Noble Elf Fighter (right, what a surprise!, you might say). Valandur Isirmo of the House of the Ivory Tower of Elventown in the Mountains of the Stars.

Don't you recognize me by the colours of my livery?

Valandur is a young Elf. Not young by Human standards but, as Elves reckon, he's just entered that age when young Elves discover the world and act naively and stupidly and recklessly and just as a Human male on the last year of high school or the first year of university.

Valandur is a nobleman, of course, from a prestigious house of a prestigious city of the most prestigious race, the Elves. The Sun Elves, of course, not the other lesser ones. But in spite of his origins he's not a cunt like everybody else where he comes from. 'Right, not as much as everybody else in Elventown. In fact, Valandur is on a quest to prove himself.

It so happened that he quarreled with another young Elf of his age, the odious Prince of the Elves, none other than Legoland the Handsome, son of the King. If you look on an elven dictionary at the word pharagrand (high elvish for "cunt") you will see Legoland's portrait. He's just this guy. Valandur hates him.

Long story short, one day as Legoland was coming back from a hunt with a dead wyvern as trophy, and people were throwing rose petals at him from the balcony, words escalated and Valandur said killing wyvern was for noobs, and that he could easily slay a dragon. Legoland's reply was a slap on the offender's face with his pailette-covered white glove. Challenge issued.

Young Valandur had no choice but to go, especially since the episode happened right in front of Morwen Elentilas, the proud lady whom everybody was courting and whose attention none was getting.

And so Valandur hit the road, and he started a life of adventures along with other valiant companions - Rothgar, a Dwarfish barbarian; Negal, a halfling assassin; and Loras, a half-elven rogue. It was a hard life of travel through the wild lands and battles with monsters and outlaws. But it was fun, and soon Valandur developed a reputation for being as easy to provoke a challenge as he was in spending all the money he had. Offering toasts at all the patrons of inns was one of his favourites, especially right after a bar-fight. Expensive clothes, fine food and wines, fancy accomodations and the expensive love of an elven princess-turned courtesan, Ahlahna of Neverwinter, made sure he money never stayed long in his pockets, but everybody knew his name, though, and that was the important thing!

At last, the party met a Dragon, a green one, and by sheer luck they slew it. Valandur had the head preserved by a taxidermist and turned homewards. As soon as he arrived in Elventown, he was welcomed by the people with cheers. He rode on a cart, covered in shining armour and garish clothes, the Dragon head behind him held by a stuffed Owl-bear. He threw coins at the crowd getting even more cheers.

Legoland didn't like it, and liked it even less when he got his own glove thrown at his face. The King had to accept the gifts graciously and commended the valour of Valandur. It was the elf's moment of glory, but it wasn't finished: the elder Elves, less interested in showing off and more into power-mongering, made it so that Valandur and Legoland were both candidated at the position of Speaker to the next Great Moot of Elves. And how would they settle the opposition? By vote? By a speech? By a gallant joust?

It is SO on.

Valandur and Legoland were so high on testosterone that they could only choose a fight. The two rivals met each other in the Arena, each covered in tight, bright garments, shiny pieces of armour and battle make up (rimmel, phard, bright-red lipstick and random hearts and spades drawn on cheekbones). Their nervous, darting muscles had been oiled with the special glitter-oil of the Elves.

Valandur was obviously better with the spear, his fighting technique mimicking a dance, but Legoland was a spellcaster and could strike at his opponent without even touching him. But eventually it was Valandur who had the upper hand, and Legoland found himself disarmed. Proudly refusing to yield, the Prince choose to fight without a weapon: in return, Valandur threw away his spear and jumped at him with his bare hands - well, not so bare, since he had Gloves of Ogre Power. A few good strikes, and Legoland was thrown to the ground, where he bit the dust.

The crowd exploded with cheers. Valandur was raised and paraded around the Arena by his supporters. When even Morwen threw her scarf at him, he jumped on the terraces and rewarded her with a full kiss that drew even further cheers (and a few deadly stares by her relatives).

And so the legend of Valandur began.

It wasn't easy to capture the full razmatazz of a character like Valandur with a static miniature like this. I decided to go for few, bright colours - white, blue and green, with some touches of yellow. The first hand was disappointing.

Even though I started with dark and dull colours, the figure isn't really helping to look lively. It needs a certain effort. I painted the armour in metal with black details, decorating some elements in green (the green dragon). The clothese are blue and white. In order to avoid too many colours I kept the gems as mily opals and onlu added some ochre yellow here and there. But before the end I had to add some gold here and there to brighten up the whole.

After a general wash and at least two layers of highlight, something started to come out. But it was the third highlight layer that did the job.

Final vote: 7/10. Good, but not great - there a lot of better miniatures for Elves, even in the GW range. I really do hope that AoS will refresh the image of the Aelves by more than adding an "A" in front of the name, but looking at what they're doing lately, I must say I am very hopeful. We shall see!

Gelmir the Adventurer - Citadel Silvan Elf ME31 (1985)

This miniature couples with that of Lamshâr, so there's not much more to say. They look similar indeed, except for the head, and they are Jes Goodwin sculpts released in 1985 as LotR Silvan Elves and, later, in 1989 in the Late Summer Catalogue.

This miniature, though, was painted with the nemesis of Dark Elf Assassin Lamshâr: the Sea Elf Hero Gelmir, my first WFRP PC whose origins were briely touched in this earlier post.

So here goes, very briefly, the first part of the great tale of Gelmir, Harpist of the Gates, Chosen of Quesshan and Regent of Dralas, which covers possibly four intense years of gaming between 1996 and 2000.

Gelmir was the son of poor Sea Elf settlers in the Wasteland, living in the village of Grilm. His father died at sea when he was infant, and the mother was slain by Goblinoids when little Gelmir was but a child, hiding under the bed with his siblings. Survivors of the pillage of Grilm, Gelmir and his siblings made a living as street urchins and beggars in the nearby town of Zeaburg for a few years until one day they were found by another Sea Elf, Elmerin, who brought them to Lothern and adopted them as his own.

Gelmir came back to the Old World when he reached adulthood, on a trip to revisit his past and perhaps find Brandir, his brother who had been lost before Elmerin found them. He travelled to Marienburg and then along the Reik until Nuln, where he found a job as bodyguard of Counsellor Oldenhaller. At this time, together with some companions, he uncovered a net of warpstone smugglers covering a good part of the Empire: this criminal organisation was led by Skaven Champion Boneface. With the help of three mysterious Old Slann spectres, the heroes vanquished the organisation and chased Boneface to Marienburg where they killed him, finding out he was the reincarnation of a fourth Slann spectre. They four undead were in possession of a piece of music which could expand or reduce portals to the Warp: Boneface was bent on expanding the Northern Warpgate with it (reached by a convenient portal), but Gelmir just in time played his harp and brought back the Gate at the original size - no less. This was the first feat of Gelmir as a hero, and one that put him on the list of the servants of Chaos as an enemy, and as the possessor of a piece of the Melody of the Gates. 

Begore disappearing, the four spectres indeed prophesised that one day, not far away, the representatives of the Free Peoples of the World would have the chance to close the Warpgates. This was a key event in Gelmir's life, who believed from that day that he had a destiny to fulfill and save the world, a belief that later, after a number of failed Coolness Tests, developed first into Megalomania and then into Heroic Idiocy.

With his newfound Slann blade Myrmidag, Gelmir left the Old World and travelled to Lustria, looking for someone who could translate some Old Slann books which had been owned by the four spectres. In Lustria he found a friend, the scholar Balgar, but also a lot of enemies. Balgar was kidnapped and brought, ironically, to the Old World, where a group of Malalite Dark Elves were trying to tackle with a Moon Gate, an alternative to Warp Gates. Gelmir chased the kidnappers but could not save his friend. In a fit of rage, Gelmir killed his assassin but also broke his blade, already weakened by thousands of years of exposure to Chaos radiations.

Back went Gelmir to Lustria, carrying the body of Balgar, the untranslated books and the pieces of Myrmidag. Again he found somebody willing to help, but not openly as the Church of the Snake-god Quesshan, the main religious organisation of the Slann, was not kind to foreigners and those who owned artefacts which they considered their own. It was at this time that, frustrated by his inability to find allies, Gelmir defied the laws of the Slann and travelled inland into Lustria, reaching incognito the capital Aztelcahuan: captured and risking death, he managed to pass himself as a pilgrim delivering gifts to the Great Emperor - the Old Slann books. Awed by the precious gift, the courtesans of the Emperor allowed Gelmir an audience with the Lord of the World, where he was kindly blessed and then sent back to the coast, but not without hearing legends about Myrmidag being part of a trio of ancient swords, sacred to Quesshan.

In coastal Lustria, once again Gelmir was attacked by Chaos servants, this time the Champion of Slaanesh Lamshâr who stole the Melody. One again, Gelmir gave chase, helped by other heroes, finding the enemy at Karak Azul. Here, with a portal, they reached the Souther Warpgates and stopped the Dark Elf from becoming a Chaos Prince. 

This trip allowed Gelmir to talk with Dwarfish smiths about the properties of the legendary mithril steel and the reforging of Myrmidag. Gelmir then went looking for the ruins of Boneface's underground lair where he thought he could find more about Old Slann lore, but there he found contemporary Slann, also looking for the same answers! Fighting his way out, Gelmir discovered to be on the enemy list of not only Chaos followers, but also the great Slann archmage Anguissh, who believed the Sea Elf was withholding secret Slann lore and, quite correctly, that he had the pieces of Myrmidag. The wizard was looking forward to collect the three blades of Quesshan because together they would have merged into the Sword of Quesshan, an ultimate weapon destined to be wielded by a Champion of the Slann against Chaos.

Gelmir travelled far and wide the Old World and over to Ulthuan to put together information about the swords and reforge Myrmidag, always chased by minions of Anguissh. Gelmir and Anguissh's champion met in a final showdown in Tilea, where the three swords were finally collected in the same place: ironically, when the three swords merged into the legendary Quesshandag, the sword refused to be wielded by the Slann and instead accepted the grip of Gelmir, who slew all his enemies except for the archmage, who beat a hasty retreat. It was this event that convinced Gelmir even more that he was the Chosen One of Quesshan, that he was the Hero of the Free Peoples against Chaos.

Committed to the prophecy of the Slann spectres, Gelmir made peace with Anguissh and invited him at a Council in Nuln, where all loremasters from the Old World and Ulthuan would gather to discuss a plan to close the Warpgates. Together, these great minds were able to complete a larger part of the Melody and then divided into groups to further study different aspects of the plan.

But a Hero can not fight Chaos alone: he needs an army. And to sustain an army, he needs a kingdom, thought Gelmir. So he started looking for one, in the Border Princes. It took him months of preparations and several failed attempts but, at last, he was able to sneak into the port of Dralas and hold hostage his Prince, obtaining his sister in marriage and the title of Regent.

That was the start of Gelmir's life as a nobleman, and another chapter of his tale...

Review: GW High Elf Prince and Noble (1/2) - The Prince

This is the first pure plastic miniature I purchase and may I say "I do miss the metal ones".

I mean, what are the benefits?

Are they cheaper? No. They cost exactly the same as before, if not more.

Are they more handy? No. They have almost no weight and are easy to topple.

Are they stronger? No. They break at any gentle pressure.

Are they durable? No. Try to remove the paint with some acid and you'll remove the plastic too.

Are they more environmentally friendly? Granted, lead was poisounous, resin was a bit better, but don't tell me plastic, a byproduct of oil industry, is green.

For the consumer there are really no benefits. There are, of course, a lot of benefits for the seller. First one, plastic is way cheaper if manufactured in large quantities. A plastic moulding machine is expensive, but plastic itself is really cheap; there are huge fixed costs, but the variable ones are almost nothing. And that's why small companies are still using resin, and the giants like GW moved on to plastic. The second benefit is that plastic is really light, and that matters when you ship stuff abroad.
 

But here we are, opening the box of the High Elf Prince and Noble (Product Code 99 12 02 10 008, year 2013). Inside the box there are two sprues, containing all the pieces for two miniatures. The first thing I really like is that there are a number of double pieces, namely heads and weapons, but also cloaks, to let you customize the miniature. This makes a lot of difference, and I really like it.

I'll be starting with the mounted Prince and leave the Noble for a later time.

It takes some time to put together the final thing, but at last we get there. On one side, the horse; on the other, the Elf Prince. It takes a long but pleasant time to paint this miniature: there are plenty of small details and the structure makes it relatively easy and fun to paint them. Well done, Martin Footitt! But then one thing happen: the horse breaks. For the first time.

The thing is that this bloody horse is jumping, and is connected to its base by a single leg, a plastic leg. If you hold the base with a finger and the tail of the horse with another, no matter how gently, snap! It's broken. So it's glued again.

I decide to keep it simple and use red and white as the primary colours of my Prince, modelled after one of the PCs of my Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay, Celebril of Caledor, Knight-Errant, Noble and Bane of Chaos. I paint the armour as shining metal, with a steel base and silver highlights, using gold on details. The horse will be white as well, with a light golden tail, replicated on the helm of the hero.
 

The interesting part is the blade. In the WFRP campaign, Celebril wields a magic sword, the Gayvenderel or Crystal Sword. To give the effect of crystal, I painted many layers of glaze going from black to white with a glass colour in the middle, a mix of Vallejo Pastel Green and Grey Blue. I finished with some parallel strokes to represent the uneven structure of crystal. Overall, considering it's a first try, I am quite pleased. Less pleasing are the spikey grasses I add on the base - could have been better, but at least they match the colour of the horse's tail.
 

Isn't it a beauty? It is, after I glued the leg of the horse twice more.

Final judgement? The miniature looks great, but it is so weak I am really afraid when I hold it, and also I will never let my kids (or clumsy friends) near it. Using it in a game is out of question. This kind of miniature can be only kept on a shelf for display, and that goes against my idea of having miniatures. So it's a 5/10. If it was metal, it would be probably an 8, but the stupid fragility of the thing is unforgivable. Dear GW, make your miniatures in metal again or, if you don't want, consider avoiding jumping poses. I know I will, with your future products.