Paul's Wood Elves of Avelorn: Rank and File 1: Archers sir, thousands of 'em! (506 pts)

Boom! A productive first month despite some additional obstacles away from the painting table. I decided to throw myself into the biggest unit straight away, or at least half of it at first, so I could start with some very basic plastic monopose sculpts. At the beginning of the month it honestly felt like all I was capable of painting through the post Christmas cheese fog, and it also gave me a chance to settle on a colour palette before I get to my elites later on. 

This strategy seems to have served me well as I was able to move on to the second half of the unit (which at one point was scheduled to be February's entry) and the command minis, as well as my entry fee mini (see below).

The colour scheme has ended up having a few themes or inspirations. I've continued with black undercoat, yes, even for Elves, which has resulted in slightly muted tones even when electing for bright colours as I have in green, red, and golden brown.  This has worked OK in my mind as I get the sense of a turning of the seasons and if we were going for a seasonal thematic (as many do for Wood Elves) then these are probably late Summer/Early Autumn, with the deep wine red reminding me of the nearly translucent red leaves you see at that time of year. 

The strong red and green for this main unit of the army was a slightly organic but not unwelcome tie in with the Caledor theming of my larger High Elf army. Still, I can't help thinking they look like "Rosy Apple" boiled sweets, which are also a blast of nostalgia so I don't hate that association either :)

I was considering just adding some red and green pennants to the standard and getting it finished this month, but I've decided I want to do some proper banners, so I will return to that later in the challenge.

Total for the month:

32 Wood Elf Archers (Hand weapons, Longbows) 11 pts each - 352
Wood Elf Archer Standard Bearer and Musician 22 pts each - 44 pts
Wood Elf Archer Champion (Hand weapon, Longbow) - 51
Wood Elf Mage (Hand weapon) - 59

Total: 506 pts

Entry Fee Secret Santa Mini:

My entry fee mini is a Wood Elf Musician circa WFB3. Up until very recently I thought it was a duplicate of the musician from the old Scarlok's Archers regiment of renown, who will make an appearance later in my challenge, but on closer inspection it seems that the sculpts may be related, but are not quite duplicates. It seemed the perfect entry fee mini given the number of Wood Elf armies being painted this year.

I've painted him in the same late summer/early autumn colour palette as the rest of January's output, but have hopefully made him a bit brighter and bolder with his green hair and red boots. I do like the process of painting up a mini for someone else, and think it really adds something to the OWAC., so he was painted with love and will be in the post to his new home soon :) 

Tom's bony bit:

This month I have  finished two refurbished units of Skeleton Warriors,  and created 2 new  skeletal beastmen. I found making them quite challenging (sticking the cheeky things together!) but I found choosing my own bits to create my own skeleton beastmen very fun. 

I've included beastmen because I want to show all my Dad's armies I've defeated and used to raise my skeletons, so I also plan to use High Elf and Orc and Goblin parts later in the OWAC.

I have used a mix of Vallejo and Citadel acrylics and contrast paints using the dark red as one of the theme colours for my OWAC project to match my undead giant and dragon which I painted last Summer.

Next month I shall be painting my Wraiths and Ghosts as I will need a break from my cheeky skeletons ! :)

Total for the month:

16 Skeleton  Spearmen inc. musician and standard bearer (w/ spears and shields) - 180 pts
14 Skeleton Warriors inc. musician and standard bearer (w/ hand weapon and shields) -  144 pts

Total: 324 pts

Good luck for the next month,

Tom

Well, that's it from us. It feels great to get the first month under our belts, but boy has it been a tough month away form the OWAC. The hobby has been a real refuge this month and I have really felt the benefit of bonding with my son, therapeutic batch painting, and the generosity of the group in the form of my Secret Santa entry fee mini arriving on a day when I really needed a boost. 

Thanks as always to everyone taking part and keeping it thriving, it really is a great thing to be a part of and this is just the beginning! :)