High Elf Army

This week sees me putting the final nail in the 1000 points of my High Elf army for Warhammer Fantasy Battle 6th edition. I plan on expanding the army, but I'll probably try to get a few games in and squeeze in some other projects before expanding it.

The army in all its glory.

I'm really happy with how this all turned out, and the whole project has been a great mix of old and new sculpts to work on. 

The commander model is a classic Jes Goodwin sculpt. I love the balance here of elegant elf-y-ness with an almost
Celtic barbarian-ness.

On the other end of the spectrum is this High Elf mage who takes advantage of every modern part separation trick
to create a wildly dynamic model.

A unit of Lothern Sea Guard, which is one of the best sculpted incarnations
I think GW has produced.

These Sword Masters of Hoeth are great rendition of otherwise classic designs. 

This archer unit brings back some more classic sculpts by Jes and the plastic guys just have a special place in my
cold, black heart.

And the Reavers... well... we love the Reavers anyway...

So there it is. My little host is ready to march to war - against some invading goblins and their ilk, it looks like. Blow the horns of war and make ready your swords! We seek our glory or our doom!

Cheers!

A Sensitive Bit of Horseflesh!

On most projects I work on, there is always a kit or unit that I leave for last. Usually, its because it looks like a nightmare to build or a pain to paint and most times I'm pleasantly surprised that it wasn't the chore that I thought it was going to be. For my High Elf army that unit was the Ellyrian Reavers. And man, was I NOT pleasantly surprised. This unit was a chore from start to finish, but they are thankfully done!

Unlike the rest of the High Elves I've been working on, these guys were a nightmare to assemble AND
to paint. I don't know if was that I just wasn't in the mood to paint cavalry or what, but I could have
done a better job if I wasn't so hell bent on just getting them done.

This did lead to some re-working of my original army list, as I had factored for a full command with the Reavers and those sculpts weren't part of the set. That free'ed up some points and I now have room to add another Hero to the army. I think the army will benefit from the leadership boost and the extra melee attacks.

I'm using a classic Jes Goodwin sculpt for the Hero. I've still got to sort out a shield and
his base and then he's ready to lead my army to battle!

So now as it stands, my army list is as follows:

Heroes

Hero - Mage upgrade to Level 2 - 130pts
Hero - Commander w/heavy armor and shield - 76pts

Core Units

Archers - 10 w/standard and musician - 148pts

Lothern Sea Guard - 12 w/shields and command - 179pts

Special Units

Ellyrian Reavers  - 5 w/ bows - 120pts

Swordmasters - 15 w/command - 225pts

Rare Units

Bolt Thrower - 100pts

Total - 978 w/22 points for magic items

I should be able to finish up the Commander this week, then I'll take a few army shots of them all to show off. For all intents and purposes, though - I've finished up my first 1,000 points for Warhammer Fantasy Battle 6th ed. Hopefully, I'll be able to get some games in soon.

Cheers!

Moar Elfy Goodness!

I'm within striking distance of finishing the first 1000 points of my High Elves for 6th edition Warhammer Fantasy Battle. I've shifted my list around just a bit which means that I'll need to paint another three or four guys, but its nothing huge.

I finished up the command group for my Swordmasters, so they are pretty much ready to go. I still need to make some
banners for the Archer unit, though.

Over the course of the week, I finished the command section for my Swordmasters, bringing me to three playable units! Then I turned my attentions to a few quick units to finish this weekend. First on deck is a classic Repeater Bolt-thrower. I loved these when I was younger, and I still need to scour eBay for another.

"Hurry up and load! I want to shoot over there!!"
"I know, I know! Shut up Gary!"

Then I cranked out my General at this level - a High Elf Mage. This model was a lot of fun to work on, but I think I still miss some of the old models who are throwing out devil horn gestures. So, it may be back to the Bay of E to hunt for one of them as well.

Surf. Is. Up.

To close out the weekend, I finished up a test model for the final unit in the army - the Ellyrian Reavers. I found these models to be a nightmare to assemble and I know painting them is going to be a slog. I find I usually need to really be "in the mood" for painting cavalry, and I'm regretting saving these until last. But, 1/5 of the way done, I suppose!

So much whiteness...

If I can dig deep and keep working on the cav for the week, I should be able to put a pin in this project by the end of next weekend at the latest. Here's hoping!

Cheers!

Seaguard and Swordmasters, Oh My!

Work continues apace on my High Elf army for 6th edition Warhammer Fantasy Battle. I've continued to build momentum with project pretty easily. I owned a reasonably big High Elf army for the 4th and 5th editions of Warhammer, and revisiting the range has been a ton of fun. I'm aiming to complete a 1000 point list within the next month or so.

Over the last week, I finished up the Lothern Seaguard unit's command section.

Stalwart spearmen AND archers, the Seaguard is really versatile unit. 

I always find that when approaching any kind of project army lists help me to plan purchases, maintain focus and dole out little "rewards" to myself in form of characters and war machines. Here is the list that I'm working off of for this project:

Heroes

Hero - Mage upgrade to Level 2 - 130pts

Core Units

Archers - 10 w/command - 160pts - DONE

Lothern Sea Guard - 12 w/shields and command - 179pts - DONE

Special Units

Ellyrian Reavers  - 5 w/ bows and command - 155pts

Swordmasters - 15 w/command - 225pts - IN PROGRESS

Rare Units

Bolt Thrower - 100pts

Total - 949 w/51 points for magic items and such

I've only got about 13 models to finish up the whole first leg. Later I'll add more units to bring it up to a 2000 point army at some point.

The Swordmasters of Hoeth have been a real pleasure to work on. I've loved their design for a long time and the latest (last?) incarnations of them are just as great. I still need to finish the command group, but that should be easy enough to do over the course of the next week.

Big hair and big swords - I'm looking forward to these guys smashing some face.

One of the things I'm doing with these guys is magnetizing their bases. The movement trays are going to be cut from sheet metal, so I keep a nice low profile for the bases.

I found a sheet of magnetic material with an adhesive backing. It was
just a matter of cutting it up into 20mm x 20mm squares.

Once attached,  it just takes  sharp blade to trim up everything
nice and neat!

I've got to assemble the Ellyrian Reavers once I finish up the Swordmaster command. Before tackling the cavalry unit, I'll probably take some time on the Mage as a break. With any luck, I'll be done with this force and playing some games by the end of the month!

Cheers!

Guns, Dorfs and Elfs!

The last two weeks have been a really eclectic painting line up for me. I managed to knock out some long-waiting kits and start on some others that have been sitting on the periphery of my painting queue. Adding a second Vindicator to my Imperial Fists was the first project that came all together. I've always intended to do a siege warfare theme for them and this ties that up in a bow. I've now got a little over 3,000 points to play with and I'm itching to get some more games in with these guys.

Beeeeg Badda-Boom. Two of these in a big game should give my opponent serious headaches. I almost considered three, but that just felt over the top. 

Next in line was a Grundstock Gunhauler for my Kharadron Overlords. I had gotten the model with a "Start Collecting" Box and had put it on the back burner as I wasn't too impressed with its rules. However, the scuttlebutt around the Games Workshop page tells me that the Overlords are seeing an across the board points decrease, so I'm sure I'll need it to fill out some new room in my army.

Another fun kit for this army. If nothing else, it'll be good support for my Frigate.

I'll say this for the Gunhauler - its got a lot of balls.
Cannon balls.

Finally, something of an oddity jumped into the front of the paint queue this week. I had the High Elf contents of an Isle of Blood box sitting in my cabinet forever, and I've finally decided to start painting them. Long ago, I owned a High Elf army for Warhammer Fantasy Battle and loved them dearly but time and tide have seen those models off to greener pastures. The plastic Isle of Blood models are the ultimate rendition of that old line in my opinion and I've wanted to paint them for a while.

A unit of Lothern Seaguard in progress. I've still got to do the Champion, Musician and Standard Bearer to finish them.

I also scoured eBay and found these original plastic High Elf archers, which I have an
inordinate amount of nostalgic love for.

When I started this project, I wasn't really sure what game I would base the High Elves for; but a buddy is working on a Goblin army that he was basing for classic Fantasy Battle so I decided to go that route. After some discussion we settled on using the 6th Edition rules for Warhammer as it was hands down my favorite edition and there is a lot of stuff available for it online for dirt cheap. We are both trying to  focus on armies that are going to give a fun, close game; rather than world crushing army lists. My hope is to capture some of the old school feeling of Warhammer where it was a story-telling device rather than a competition game. I'm aiming to have a 1000 pt list done in the next month or so. Wish me luck!

Cheers!