WIP Hydra - preparing for the 8th edition

...and welcome back.


First order of business - the hydra for my dark elf army. I have been toying with this project for ages and I thought the dawn of the new edition is a great moment to add this monstrosity to the army. As you can see, I'm going rather unorthodox, partly because I don't like the "official" hydra model, partly due to my love of conversions and partly because the stegadon kit is awesome. You have to give it to GW, every subsequent plastic kit they produce seems to be better than the previous one. I'm dying to see what they come up with after the 8th edition starter kit.

Here's the base, obviously in a very much unfinished state. The only thing I don't like in th stegadon is the ridiculous raised foot. I'm not a good sculptor at all, so I had to go with this tapdancing leg, hence some rocky outcrop to accommodate it...

...like so. Nothing glued yet, aside from the legs themselves. Each comprises of two pieces, I very much approve of the way they are meant to come together. The bands and ropes on the legs will be used as mountings for shields or other decorative elements - druchii like panache and mine are no exception.

The other side. to maintain aesthetic balance the necks will curve to the hydra's left. There will only be three - I know the fable states hydras are five-headed, but I don't quite like it. Three heads are enough to both convey the feel of fantasy and fable and make it intimidating. Besides, with such bulk, I doubt it will need two more heads.

As for the next edition - I'm really looking forward to the thirty- or even more - man regiments and such. This is how I've always pictured Warhammer and I'm very anxious to try it. It's, like, the incentive I needed to start gaming again. Fifty-strong dark elf warriors cohort, anyone?

To wrap things up, you might have noticed I've joined the excellent From The Warp bloggers group - big thanks to Ron Saikowski for having me.

Until next time.