Oldhammer Elves: How Night Elves became Dark Elves

The Drow/Dark Elf forces on my blog are getting some reinforcements...  of the Oldhammer kind.
I just painted up a dozen Citadel C09 Dark Elves.
OK, some of them are Marauder.

After a little bit of internet research, it seems that the pre-slotta Night Elves, were replaced by the slotta Dark Elves.  I believe the pre slotta figures are sculpted by the Perry Twins and are some of their earliest work.  But the slotta figures are done by Bob Naismith.  I love both, but this post is about the Naismith ones I just painted...

Lets bring out the ladies...

 In the old 80s catalogs, the center figure is listed as Mace Girl.
You dont want to take her on a date!
When they tell you she carries mace in her purse, its not the spray kind.

The tagline in the ad for these Dark Elves in Citadel Compendium 2 reads:   
"Cruel warriors and evil sorcerors from the black, haunted forests of the Dark Elves."

 The figure in the center is called Death Maiden. 
Im betting she listens to Death Metal while out partying all night with the girls. 
But on the drive home, she puts on some Iron Maiden, just to relax.

In my 1st edition white book there are no Dark Elves mentioned yet.
There are Sea Elves, High Elves, Wood Elves, and Night Elves! The entry under the stats for the various elves reads:

"Citadel Elves are available as C9, and the Night Elves are available as a boxed set.  Citadel also produce the award winning Ral Partha Elves under license as P2."

also:

"...Night Elves are evil perverted Elves and do not cause Fear, they Hate other Elves."


But looking through the Forces of Fantasy supplement, the term Night Elves has been replaced by Dark Elves.  So the change was pretty early on.

On a sidenote, its interesting to see Ral Partha actually listed in a Warhammer rulebook.

 On the left we have Sword Maid, in the center is Guard Maiden, and on the right is a Marauder Whelpmaster. 
I dont have the warhounds for her to give commands and/or treats to. 
But Im sure I can scrounge up a monster or two in the meantime, while she waits for appropriate oldhammer puppies to arrive.

Look at that big hair, except for the one on the left.

In the Collecting Citadel Miniatures Collectors Guide, the following is written:

"Citadel Dark Elf miniatures owe a lot to traditional Dungeons & Dragons Drow. They are frequently painted with blue skin in early Citadel catalogue material and there is a higher percentage of female models in the Dark Elf line than any other, reflecting the matriarchal nature of Drow society."

The pre-slotta Night Elf Patrol is a 10 figure set with more released through the Fantasy Tribes line.  Most of the artwork for Elves in the 1st edition box set and the Force of Fantasy expansion are of this Night Elf Patrol.  I really want this and will hunt for them until found.

And here they are as a unit.
I love me some stunties like all good oldhammer aficionados, but these Drow Girls are a treasure to me.

~~~~~

These girls will not be showing up in the Shire campaign, they are being reserved for battles on the other side of the Misty Mountains.

They came all the way from Menzoberranzan, under the Mountains of Mourn, just to find out that the "Annual Rhosgobel Gargoyle-Wing Competitive Eating Festival and Championship" was cancelled due to wizardly emergency.
Well, the ladies dont want to hear any excuses from Radagast and are determined to find him and make him pay for their costly trip.

Oh, also forgot to mention that these Oldhammer figures are noticeably smaller than my Reaper Dark Elves.  But thats to be expected from modern scale creep.  Again, I will have no problems putting these classics along with the modern figs on a gaming table.  Those Reaper Elves eat more wholesome foods in Moria.  Perhaps they need to start attending the Rhosgobel eating contests!

Will Alyssa, the Mother of Dragons, be kind to these new She-Elves?
Or will she feed them to her pets?

Stay tuned, true believers~!