Dave's Mages and More (328 points)

With Galadrin's Guardians of the Grove officially completed last month, June gave one final opportunity to add in a few additional models to bring the army above the 1,000 point target. There are in fact many excellent choices to expand the force—the Warhammer Armies: Wood Elves book is brimming with ideas. If I had enough time, I would add in Wardancers, Archers, Glade Riders, Waywatchers and more. Yet, it has also become something of a tradition of mine to use this final month to add more sorcery to support the rank and file. Every army I have previously painted for the Old World Army Challenge has thus included a wizard in the final round, so that each army has exactly two magical characters in the end. Rather than break this tradition, I decided to take this opportunity to paint up the lovely Gary Morley Wood Elf Mounted Mage and Sorceress on Foot, along with a few friends to keep them company.

There is an interesting footnote in the history of Warhammer that relates to the Wood Elves and their use of magic. The Wood Elves army book was released in May of 1996, mere months before the October release of Warhammer Fantasy Battle 5th Edition. As a result, the Wood Elves army book is technically a 4th Edition release. Nevertheless, every copy of the army book I have ever seen says that Wood Elf Mages use Battle Magic (for example, the entry for Mages in the army list on page 65). Not to be confused with the earlier box set from 1992, Battle Magic here refers to the default spell deck that would be included in the new Warhammer Magic box set that was due to follow the release of 5th Edition by the end of the year. Was there a first printing of the 4th Edition Wood Elves army book that does not mention 5th Edition Battle Magic? I would be very keen to find out, but to date I have not seen it. Nevertheless, if you wish to play the Wood Elves using 4th Edition then you can just as easily find their spells described in the 4th Edition magic supplements.

Wood Elf Mages and Mage Champions, according to the 4th Edition Battle Magic box set, may choose Amber and Jade spells, while Master Mages may choose spells from these as well as one additional color. Wood Elf Mage Lords may select spells from any color and may even use powerful High Magic, being the only army outside of the High Elves to do so until the release of the Lizardmen army book. Jade has some excellent and easy to cast support spells, including the surprisingly lethal Drain Life and the ever useful Peace. Amber spells are much more offensive, with many powerful missiles and enchantments for melee combat.

Along with the sorceresses, the final models include an additional two Dryads (the missing  Trish Carden sculpts from the earlier Dyrad regiment) and the Great Eagle, also designed by Trish Carden. The Great Eagle in particular is excellent for march-blocking, war machine and wizard hunting and protection from other flying types.

Wood Elf Mage Champion (Steed) ~ 124 pts
Wood Elf Mage ~ 59 pts
2x Dryads ~ 70 pts
Great Eagle ~ 75 pts

And that is it! The Wood Elves are finally finished, bringing another OWAC to a close. I feel my painting has improved quite a bit over the last three years and although I may never be as skilled with the brush as even half of my fellow challengers, I am personally quite happy with how the Wood Elves turned out. My goal of painting each model to match the 1990's GW studio army has been a really fun experiment and I am now planning on using exactly the same strategy on my next army. And what might that be? You'll just have to wait till next year to find out!