EMPIRE DRAGON

By Nick Bayton

MODELLING

Due to my general incompetence as a general, my Empire army has a history of losing most of its games here at Warhammer World. So it was that I was looking for something with a bit more bite to add to it when the new High Elf Dragon box set was released. After some thought I concluded, what has more bite than a Dragon? After a quick scan of the Empire Army Book, I realised that the answer was Karl Franz on a Dragon (which he has the option of riding instead of a Griffion)!

The conversion itself was remarkably straightforward – I ordered the Emperor's body (the one that usually sits atop Deathclaw) and weapons sprue from Mail Order, and simply placed him where the High Elf Lord would normally sit. A small bit of filing was required to make him sit flush on the saddle, which is easy enough with the new Citadel files. I did not included Karl Franz's ornate banner pole; it simply would not fit! Any overtly Elven paraphernalia was filed down or cut off and the conversion was complete!

PAINTING

The Empire background suggests that the Dragon kept in the Imperial Zoo of Altdorf is red, so I wanted to remain faithful to that. The Dragon's skin was basecoated with a mix of Mechrite Red and Dark Flesh, then highlighted with Mechrite Red. Finally, Bronzed Flesh was added to the mix for the final highlights. The scales were basecoated with Mechrite Red, then painted Blood Red and highlighted with Fiery Orange. The armour was kept Chaos Black to help disguise its elven appearance and the wings were highlighted from the skin tones up to Dheneb Stone.

At 700 points, Karl Franz on a Dragon is one of the Warhammer World's most powerful heroes – he has helped swing quite a few games in my favour already!

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