Taking the Dark Path

Last year I made a heavily converted Skaven Blood Bowl team to take to the NAF 2013 Blood Bowl Tournament in Nottingham. Next year, the tournament falls on 17/18 May and I've been working on a new team to play with; this time it's Dark Elves.


I don't believe that either the Perrys' 2nd edition Dark Elves or Gary Morley's 3rd edition Dark Elves make the grade, especially when compared against Jes Goodwin's 2nd edition Elves.

1988 Dark Elves. Just a little dumpy and short-legged for my taste!

Mid-1990s Dark Elves, more dyanmic, but with rather large feet & hands.

1988 Blood Bowl Elves. Just fabulous!

The one exception to this rule is the fabulous Tuern Redvenom Star Player, sculpted by (surprise, surprise), Jes Goodwin.

Look at this guy. I wouldn't want to mess - would you?

I've long thought that it was possible that I could do something interesting to Jes' excellent 2nd edition Elves to make them fit alongside Mr Redvenom. The project is now around 4 months old, and this is how things stand:


Blitzers
I like Tuern so much, I've effectively used him four times in the squad:

1. Unaltered.
2. Mask replaced with a Great Harlequin mask, legs from a Wood Elf Champion.
3. Mask converted into a hockey-style mask, arm from a 1988 Dark Elf Thrower, plus a ball from my bits box.
4. Mask from an Elf Blitzer, pointing arm from an Elf Thrower and legs from another Wood Elf Champion.

Blitzers

Witch Elves / Runners
If you're still 'Old-Bowling' Witch Elves are a new addition to the team roster, while Runners are effectively non-throwing Throwers (make sense?). I had a lot of fun making these 3.

1. Witch Elf A: Harlequin legs, torso & head from an Avatars of War Dark Elf Sorceress, gloves from my bits box and sculpted belly armour.
2. Runner: torso from an Elf Kicker, legs from an Elf Blitzer.
3. Witch Elf B: body from an Elf Cheerleader, hand and head from a plastic Dark Elf Sorceress.

Witch Elves & Runner (centre)

Linemen
Hopefully once painted, these guys should look distinctively different from the source models. Linemen 1, 2 and 4 are all variations on the same conversion - an Elf Lineman with heads and extra pads from the Perrys' 1988 Dark Elves. By sculpting on some breastplates and creating boots, I think these guys make pretty decent Dark Elves. The final Lineman is a variation on the theme, but this time converted from a Wood Elf Wardancer. I'm still debating whether to give him a loincloth like the others to tie him in visually.

Linemen

Now the converting's done, I need to work on the bit I'm slowest at / dislike most...painting!