+ inload: Dire Avengers +

+ inload: While You Were Sleeping +

+ Astropathic communications have been disrupted recently, but I hope you'll forgive the quiet here on Death of a Rubricist: since I last inloaded, I'm pleased to announce I've married the girl of my dreams and have been away on honeymoon in exotic Hawaii! +

+ Now I'm back, I'll be getting back to the serious business of toy soldiers. I thought I'd kick off with my Eldar, who'll be getting a breath of fresh air for the PCRC's latest campaign, which I discussed a few weeks back. + ref inload 117 Mysterious Craftworlds of Gold + +

+ While the campaign itself will be a bit more freeform (and keep an eye out for some Inquisitorial and Chaotic figures from me in the future), we're kicking off with an inversion of our usual approach. Rather than building up new armies and having a big game at the end of the year, this time we're kicking off with a big linked game across a number of boards; to show how An-Angau got depopulated in the first place. We'll then explore the drifting hulk of the craftworld throughout the year. +

+ Anyway; my Eldar occupy a strange position for me. I'm very proud of some of the models, but others are very rushed or unfinished. The Dire Avengers are some that I'm happy with, and they'll be forming the first line of defence in my part of the battle. 

+ The Dire Avenger models are a nice kit, if a little under-equipped. I would have liked to see more variety in the poses and some different head and arm options. That said, they're very easily altered and adapted. The following pictures show what can be achieved with some simple conversion work and kitbashing. +

+ The pointing arm here is from the Exarch. I simply trimmed away the shuriken weapon (catapult? pistol?)on top using a craft knife. +

 + The Dark Eldar range shares many of the same fittings as the Eldar range, so they're easily used for kitbashing. Here I used a Scourge head. Note also that I've cut and reglued the shoulder scope thingies on the Avengers, so that the scope follows the same direction as the head. The Eldar are supposed to have psychically-linked advanced technology, and little bits like this really help strengthen the pose. +

+ Some simple trimming and reposing here put the Avenger into a slightly more dynamic pose. More subtle work like this helps to 'blend' the standard static pose with the very dynamic poses I used elsewhere in the unit. This, along with the uniform, helps the group work together convincingly. +

+ An example of the more dynamic poses I've added. Eldar are supposed to be agile and graceful creatures, so some Scourge legs (trimmed to round off the toes and remove studs and spike) seemed a nice way to suggest this. +

+ Some more standard Dire Avengers. Note the scopes following the gazes, and the slight reposing in the legs on the left-most one. These were a simple case of trimming and hot water reposing. +

+ The remaining members, including the Exarch. +