Paul's Wood Elves of Averlorn - Rank and File #2 - Moar Archers! (326 pts)

It's Rank and File Month Two and if you are Elves that surely means archers! Especially if you are Wood Elves... which these mostly are... sort of. Part time at least. 

We've had the mixed blessing of very mild but wet weather here in the UK, ending with an unwelcome if seasonal cold snap. When I wasn't hibernating and batch painting I have been trudging through muddy woods near where we live, looking for signs of spring (they are there, and probably a bit too early!) 

We were super lucky and managed to get out to the coast for a walk through some very rugged terrain on a beautiful clear, crisp day with the bluest of skies. Why am I talking about the weather and walking so much? Because the February weather and landscape heavily inspired my colour scheme this month - bare brown trees, pale blue skies and grey clouds, a touch of evergreen. If my Rosy Apple Rangers from last month represent late Summer then these definitely represent late Winter in my mind.

This also has the benefit of matching the colour scheme for the Chrace themed detachment of my High Elves, who so far don't have any dedicated archers, so I have based them up to match. This means they can do double duty as either High Elves or Wood Elves. This more austere colour scheme also speaks to the wilder and more elemental or bestial side of nature that I think Wood Elves can also embody.

To the educated eye the archers are obviously the classic (white) plastic figures from the Fantasy Regiments box set. The bodies are all one piece but you have a choice of heads and how to position them. I found them more fun to paint than their later Middlehammer equivalents (these sculpts are not quite as soft) and well suited to batch painting.

The command minis for the unit are all from later 4th and 5th edition releases. The musician is a duplicate of the one I painted last month, but luckily I quite enjoy painting this sculpt and I think he has turned out well in February themed colours.

The standard bearer is from the same 5th Edition era Wood Elf line, but with a variant banner top which I much prefer to the oversized winged heart version. The banner itself will follow, but I suspect it will feature the Champion's shield design of a stylised tree in winter, which has been echoed on the clasps of the archers cloaks.

The stag skull on the standard matched the antlers on the helm of the High Elf champion I had been toying with as my Wood Elf Army General and I decided that this and the Chrace connection to my High Elf army made this a good match of champion to unit in the end.

Total for the month:

21 Archers (Longbow, Hand weapon) -  231 pts
Musician and Standard Bearer - 44 pts
Champion (Longbow, Hand weapon) - 51 pys
I know he is very obviously armoured, but the rules for Champions state they are always equipped in the same way as their units, so the armour and shield won't count when he's a Wood Elf

Total: 326 pts (24 models)

Secret Santa Entry Fee Mini:

Now seems like a good time to unveil the simply wonderful Entry Fee mini my Secret Santa sent me. It arrived last month on a day when I was at a low ebb and provided a much needed smile, not least because as I was opening the package I thought it was something else I had ordered, so it was a genuine surprise. I really appreciated the lovely letter and kind words enclosed too, and the bonus unpainted LOTR Legolas mini which will now go to my son (his favourite LOTR character) but only IF he manages to complete the challenge!

When I came to actually examining the mini my smile kept spreading :D

As you can see it is a classic HeroQuest Elf - something which has timeless nostalgia value for me (The Elf was always the best thing about HeroQuest ;) ) but the paint job is really rich with lots of patterns and textures giving the feel of a fantasy adventurer of some experience and success rather than a generic fantasy warrior. I particularly like the painted base using tiny dots of all the other colours used on the mini, it seems to evoke compressed leaf litter to me and gives some interest to the base without ever challenging or taking away from all the colour and detail on the mini itself.

Top work Secret Santa, you got this one spot on for me! Thanks again :)


Tom's Bony Bit

This month I painted 5 Spectres as well as 5 wraiths. They are both forlorn hope sculpts. I used Citadel and Vallejo paints and AP inks. For my magic colouration I have used light purple and darker purples to really pick out the detail of the sculpts. What was annoying is that they did not pick up the spray paint as well as other miniatures so I had to go back with black over any exposed metal. This slowed me down as I wanted to get on and add the purple in the first few days, but I needed to find a way to make it brighter.

I used grey and white dry brushing so I could get a bit of a pop it really stood out when I used the purple ink and the blue violet Vallejo paint as that is my magic colour for my army.

Skeletons I have decided to add 2 skeletons to my spearmen unit. You will note that used orc and goblin shields to show were my necromancers are getting my troops.

Total for the month:

5 Specters 175 pts
5 Wraiths 325 pts 
2 Skeleton Spearmen 16 pts

Total: 516 pts

Good luck for next month! Tom :)

Well, that is it from us again for another month but we are already underway with our next batch of minis so hope to see you all again soon. Cheers! :)

Next month I promise I will paint minis using more than three colours :p