[Dark Eldar Color Scheme Generator
Kody Coste
The old color scheme, in-between Saim Hann and UltweeThe original color scheme was black and red and if I remember correctly my brother wanted it to be a kind of mix between saim han and ultwe. For this renaissance, I wanted a fresh new color scheme a lot less dark than the previous one. I did try many combinations using the excellent color scheme generator avalaible here: Color Scheme Generator (Edit: it seems that the site has been shut down since then). Here are some tests of various color schemes.
Some tests of eldar color schemeI was quite indecisive for some time. Then I saw the movie Oblivion and I was very impressed by its aestetics. I really like the white/glowing blue contrasting very well with a brown dusty ground.
An exile. He was banished from his own craftworld by his own student. The rescue of a human hive world at the cost of Aeldari lives brought consequences. He had to flee to a distant, forsaken, barren planet that previously belonged to the ancient Aeldari Empire, and there he built a wraithbone tower where he lived as a recluse.
Two hundred Terran years have passed. The old friend brought news about the fracture of Biel-Tan. And about the birth of the Ynnari, a new cult of Death God Ynnead that gave a new hope to divided Aeldari (or Eldar, as they were called before) tribes, promising to end Chaos menace once and for all. And the exiled Farseer moved on and understood that his war is far from over. He rallied like-minded Aeldari from his home craftworld and other places, and together they turned his hideout into a base of a small army fighting on Ynnari's side.
Now the hideout is attacked by the forces of Chaos, led by Space Marines from Death Guard Legion. The Farseer had to get support from Ynnari leaders and Drukhari to repel the invasion of Eternal Enemy:
Yvraine, the Daughter of Shades, the Herald of Ynnead and the leader of Ynnari clashed with a Chaos Lord who worships Nurgle, the God of Rot. She wields Kha-vir, one of ancient Croneswords, and is accompanied by Alorynis, her loyal Gyrinx familiar:
Along Yvraine the Visarch fights. He is her mysterious bodyguard who never takes off his helmet. He is armed with Asu-var, another Cronesword, and strikes with it the Plaguebearers - virulent daemons of Nurgle:
Howling Banshees Exarch Eyla - the very same friend who told the Farseer about the Ynnari - strides towards Poxwalkers of Nurgle. She will destroy these plague zombies with her Executioner before they spread their foul diseases:
The attack is led by Pestilens Bubulgor, Death Guard Chaos Lord. Like all Space Marines from that Legion, he bloated due to blessings of "Grandfather Nurgle" and merged with his power armor, through which horns and bones began to protrude. The Chaos Lord is armed with a manreaper scythe crowned by the mark of Nurlge, and a plasma pistol:
Plague Marines are joined by our old friend Nefaros. This Noise Marine from Emperor's Children Legion can now boast with his stylish guitar that can not only make disgusting noises, but shoot bolts and fire! And it bears the mark of Pleasure God Slaanesh!
Near the Chaos Marines march the cultists - ordinary people from various planets who are devoted to Chaos. This particular cult is led by an old psyker who worships Tzeentch, the God of Knowledge and Magic:
The Farseer is aided by Drukhari - Dark Eldar who abandoned their vile lifestyles and joined the Ynnari. A Drukhari Reaver jetbike emerged from the Webway gate, firing at Chaos followers from a splinter rifle:
You can see behind it an enigmatic fountain with swirling souls. Even the Farseer does not know what it is. These ruines apparently remained from the ancient Aeldari Empire, and now the soul magics made the plants grow around them...
In the conservatory, the Aeldari grow vegetables and fruit for food. It also reminds them of the nature of their home craftworld. And of their ancestors' real homeworld that was utterly lost after the Fall:
Now, when the tour of the Farseer's base is over, it is time to look at the characters. Let's start with servants of Chaos. The Lord (at center) and two Plague Marines of Death Guard - disgustingy resilient mutants with bone protrusions on their power armor:
The Chaos Lord is armed with manreaper scythe, and the Plague Marines are armed with boltguns. One Plague Marine holds a bell - one of Nurlge's symbols. For this MOC, I changed the construction of Space Marines maxifigures from the previous work, and now their arms do not look like sticks.
I had a lot of fun inventing this patchy scum. Their leader is a Tzeentchian psyker so he wields a bird staff. A standard bearer holds a Chaos Star sigil. Ogryn's horned helmet is a reference to old "bone 'ead" Ogryn Imperial Guard sergeants.
Yvraine wears a dress back from ancient Empire days, and the Visarch is clad in ornate Bel-Anshoc style armor. They appeal to old ways because they want to restore the former glory of Aeldari race with the help of Ynnead who can defeat Slaanesh and Chaos.
Some of the details are totally nailed - webway portal and turrets - went to your Flickr and left some comments. Really good job.
Did you use some art as a reference to build that main castle-like structure?
Finally, I find minifigs a bit too messy. I know how hard it is to build something 40k-ish and made an entire army of such minifigs but it is possible.
If you choose white and violet for your color scheme for Eldars, you should keep it also with minifigs. Maybe try some NPU and brickbuild helmets for soldiers. Shape of them is very characteristic and that's what would make your builds instantly recognizable as WH40k.
Some of the details are totally nailed - webway portal and turrets - went to your Flickr and left some comments. Really good job.
Did you use some art as a reference to build that main castle-like structure?
Finally, I find minifigs a bit too messy. I know how hard it is to build something 40k-ish and made an entire army of such minifigs but it is possible.
If you choose white and violet for your color scheme for Eldars, you should keep it also with minifigs. Maybe try some NPU and brickbuild helmets for soldiers. Shape of them is very characteristic and that's what would make your builds instantly recognizable as WH40k.
Maybe you're right, but I personally like helmetless Eldar more to show their "human-like but different" nature. To be honest, when I first saw them in Dawn of War in 2005 (that was the start of my long relationship with 40k), I couldn't think of them as of space elves and thought that they're some reptilian humanoids who breathe methane and don't take off their helmets in oxygen atmosphere. So I deliberately chose to stick to canon helmet only with the Visarch because he isn't my character and his helmet is a plot point.
And as for the color scheme, I would be glad to see more purple and violet torsos but don't recall somebody other than Dumbledore and Joker whose bodies don't fit Eldar warriors. Danju from Knights' Kingdom 2 was good but his torso was plain. So I took mostly white with several crimson touches to represent the Ynnari.
@Farseer Petriel
Thank you for such extensive answer. ;)
I have built plenty of Ork figures and vehicles. Going to do the same with Imperial Guard.
From time to time I build something from different faction - SM, SoB, Chaos, some Xeno. I think I will jump to Eldars at some point. Just to have something in my collection. I think I will go for DoW2 Farseer look but with something extra on the back. The wings thing Farseer from DoW had should work.
Also started my adventure with WH40k with Dawn of War. :D
About color scheme - you could just swap white arms of all clones/stormtroopers to violet/purple/whatever and then you would get the effect. Wouldn't be cheap but would give nice results.
Going to swap all black hands of my Guardsmen to dark tan myself. Fortunately hands in this color got more popular this year. :D
I have built plenty of Ork figures and vehicles. Going to do the same with Imperial Guard.
From time to time I build something from different faction - SM, SoB, Chaos, some Xeno. I think I will jump to Eldars at some point. Just to have something in my collection. I think I will go for DoW2 Farseer look but with something extra on the back. The wings thing Farseer from DoW had should work.
I like your approach in building what you like regardless of a faction. I strongly disagree with GW's policy of preferring only the Imperium and mostly Space Marines (here I prefer StarCraft or even Warhammer Fantasy Battles where factions are treated more or less equally). And, as an Eldar fan, I'll be glad to see some of your mysterious and advanced space elves.
A good idea, thanks! It looks like I even have the necessary amount of purple/violet arms: several Jokers, several old school Dumbledores etc. If only I were crueler in dismembering LEGO minifigures...
You have probably heard the following craftworld names before: Alaitoc, Biel-Tan, Iyanden, Saim-Hann, and Ulthw. The chances are these names conjure an image of what you would expect to see in an army from any of these craftworlds, and what it might look like. This is the result of branding. Each of these craftworlds has a very specific set of units associated with it, a playstyle, and a paint scheme. While it would be possible to play an Iyanden army that was coloured entirely red and included no Wraithguards or Wraithlords, most people would not identify this as an Iyanden force (and may even argue with you that it is not). When designing your own craftworld, think about the image, the units, and the fighting style that would represent it.
While the five major craftworlds mentioned above have the advantage of print media publication, making them recognisable throughout the gaming community, whereas your craftworld probably will not receive such a benefit. This means that your craftworld is going to need some distinguishing characteristics if you want people to recognize it when they read about it in your article. Furthermore, unless your craftworld descends from one of the 'big five' craftworlds, it will need something to set it apart, so that others do not mistake it for one of those forces.
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