Shadespyre Intro Post - OWAC VII - 3rd Edition Wood Elves(and friends?)

Shadespyre Intro Post - OWAC VII - 3rd Edition Wood Elves(and friends?)

Introduction Post

In last year's introduction, I explained how I'd chosen to paint 200 pre-slota Dark Elves as the "easiest" option from a list of SEVEN Elf (and Space Elf) armies.

Easiest? I guess we'll see after I've completed them all!

No more messing about - it's time to do a proper 3rd edition army using (mostly) 3rd edition era miniatures, and that means the Wood Elves. And as I'm not sure how many more big army projects I have left in the tank, I'm going to try to do them all in one OWAC! 

Well, I say *all* but actually there are a couple of unit types I don't intend to include this time around, so there's always the prospect of later additions. But not a second OWAC's worth.

I think you all know what Wood Elf armies look like, there have been plenty painted here over the years, and no doubt several more this year. I'm not going to let that put me off, comparison just gets in the way of getting things done. I will *not* be trying to compete with Mariano for quality!

The Army

Every year I put up a smallish, compact list to represent my minimum core aim, and then pop out dozens of new minis month after month. To shake up the format a little, this year I'm going to include pictures of everything* up front... but to keep an element of surprise, I'm going to black out the bonus elements until they hit the painting table. That way you can play guessing games about what might be coming, if that amuses you.

Here we go then, starting with the core troops - lots and lots of archers, mostly:

For the compulsory Archers selection, 2 units of 16 made up from the Oreon's Elf Archers Regiment of Renown (RR7, from 1985). You might have been expecting the *other* Regiment of Renown...

...and here they are, two units of Skarloc's Wood Elf Archers as Lord's Bowmen (RRD4, 1987)

Here's your first small suprise - my Wood Elf Guards regiment is made up of Lord of The Rings miniatures! Not the newer ones, these are the old ME31 Sylvan Elves, of which there are many variants including these sword and shield and bow on back poses which fit the bill nicely.

You've also got to have some characters, I shall be picking from some of these (to augment the Champion Hero in every unit, of course). The classic crescent moon helmet here is where I took the inspiration to use crescent shaped shields throught out the army, so I guess he's the man in charge!

Wardancers, sir! Thousands of them! Well, thirty of them. Excessive, but it's one unit each with two weapons, with weapon and shield and, with big weapons. I already regret how I based that front unit side on, so I can see those going to the back of the pile for a rebasing.

And finally, I really want to include animal handlers again, they add to the character of the army and are a quick paint, so I have small units of Warhounds, Wildcats and Boar to provide some variety.

So far, that's 64 archers, 18 Guards, 30 Wardancers, 12 Animals and Handlers, and 5 characters. 130 miniatures. So at 30 minis a month that should be achievable within 4 or 5 of the months available? So I should have some room to add. And so, skulking in the shadowy eaves of the forest, here are the 

Hidden Reserves

1 - No real mystery here, I would think?

2 - This, on the other hand, will probably be baffling!

3 -There's a converted non-Citadel miniature hidden here, so I don't think anyone will guess this one.

4 - Pretty good chance of guessing these, though.

5 - LOOK!AN ENORMOUS NOB!!

(I promise you that it's not actually an enormous nob)

6 - A vague blob of something or other

7 - A vague blob with a sticky up bit

8. A huge chonk of modern resin

Feel free to submit your wild guesses on a postcard, or maybe just in the comments.

Is that it? Well, just to set the mood, here's some trees I made during the year. These are experiments produced with a cheap PLA 3 d printer (which turns out to be completely unsuitable for almost anything Warhammer scaled) and I think they'll look okay in background shots and so on.

Warlord Offering / Gift Miniature

Gift miniature still to be revealed (or, indeed, chosen!) - I have some ideas but I'm waiting to see what my victim is painting this year.

I had already painted a miniature under the Old Regime, whch I have sent to the originally intended recipient in his winter palace, but I don't seem to have taken a photo of it so it'll remain a secret unless he reveals it!