A Sassanid war elephant by John Blanche, from "Wargaming with Elephants" by Peter Tickler in Miniature Wargames magazine no 8, 1983. Blanche had been converting and painting miniatures and illustrating for Games Workshop since the 1970s but he didn't become their full time art director until after 1986. Eventually his name became synonymous with his grim-dark "Blanchitsu" style.
I have some old 15mm Sassanid Persians and Late Imperial Romans to touch up and rebase, and it's always useful to have clear painting references like this for the more colorful historic armies.













