Always in favor of subtlety and stealth over raw force of arms, Yenlui's army roster has always been quite heavy on scouts and skirmishers. She has been a long time ally of a shades clan residing in the wilderness surrounding her estate. While actually being poachers on a nobleman's land, the shades were dealt with in quite a different way than is prescribed in the Naggaroth law. Instead of wasting precious time and resources in trying to bring the shades before the swift and sure druchii justice, Yenlui struck a deal with them. She agreed to their hunting parties shaving off the number of wild animals in her domain in exchange for regular shipments of conscripts and information. This agreement quickly proved mutually fruitful and the house Yenlui and the shades clan quickly became something akin to allies.
Unconverted Dark Elf Shades models. I never knew GW made no less than five different models for the shades until, by pure coincidence, I got the five I wanted for my army and realized each one is a different sculpt. I was pondering substituting them with the Mengil Manhide's Manflayers, but the price of these is whopping. Besides, these would be proxy models, which is in fact fine as far as rules go (I don't take part in any tournaments, doubtful if I ever will), but not so fine in terms of aesthetics. And I'm an aesthetics Nazi.
Nobody knows - and nobody has ever asked - what prizes did Yenlui promise and to what lengths did she go to lure the harpies of Clar Karond into her domain - and keep them here. For creatures who crave only flesh and blood, the harpies have shown and unheard-of degree of fidelity to Yenlui and are a sight often seen, circling the spires of her mountain manor and screeching menacingly at whatever visiting parties come into her lands. On more than one occasion the harpies were sent after some specific goal, but what that aim was or where it was located, Yenlui has never disclosed.
Again, unconverted GW Dark Elf Harpies models. The minis are not that bad, it is I who screwed the painting and the bases. I was, at the time of working on these, without any paints other than GW ones and highlighting the flesh from codex grey to elf flesh resulted in a paint layer much too thick for my tastes.
The bases were a major screwup on my part. I don't like the way they turned out one bit and once I get back to redoing this army, the harpies are in pole position.
Drazhar, on the other hand, likes his job done easily and surely. To this end, he has ordered the construction of the druchii artillery pride - the reaper bolt throwers. The design for these is no secret in the lands of Naggaroth, however it takes a truly skilled carpenter to choose the right kinds of wood and shape the planks correctly. The process is a costly and time-consuming affair, however the final product is a peerless piece of light artillery, unparalleled in accuracy, range and the ease of maintenance even by its high elf counterpart. Needless to say, Drazhar found a way to get in touch with the right people for the job.Whomever designed the Reaper Bolt Thrower minis really has a feel for the current dark elf line guidelines. The models are in my opinion splendid, the design really capturing the druchii 'feel'. These babies just have 'wicked and stylish genocide' written all over. Love'em!
That's a wrap - as far as my druchii army project is concerned. As you can see, the army is somewhat themed - no Temple of Khaine units, no Black Guard, no Executioners. Well, I doubt an outcast mercenary army would ever have something in common with the temple of Khaine, let alone king Malekith's personal bodyguard. As for the Executioners, I might include them, just have to figure out a fluffy reason for them being here...Next week - we start with the Vampire Counts army project. To provide you with some aperitif, it is definitely an unorthodox army in terms of models (no vampires!) and definitely my most ambitious project up to date. As per your requests, I will show some work-in-progress shots of the models. I have no idea about the order in which I will present the pieces, I guess the appearance order makes the most sense; after all the army is still unfinished (but getting there!).
See you next Friday!
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