Paul and Tom's OWAC VII Wrap Up Post - Wood Elves of Averlorn and the Red Wizards of Thay

OWAC VII is in the bag! This was my 5th challenge and after two years of painting High Elves I set myself the task of painting ALL the Wood Elves* in my lead pile in one. I'd written up two OWACs worth of army lists but I thought that if I stuck to my previous approach of solid prep in advance, early batch painting to get through big units and set in colour schemes and recipes before moving on to more challenging minis, I'd be able to get it done.

There were definitely ups and downs along the way, some paint jobs that didn't quite come off the way I wanted them too, and the classic OWAC last minute switch to Leader month to avoid having to use my first ever mulligan. In short, it genuinely felt like a challenge at times and that is exactly what makes the OWAC feel so worthwhile when you complete it! :)

I also found more inspiration from nature and the seasons than in any previous project, and grew more confident in 'sketching' with paint and less afraid to experiment and risk mistakes, knowing that I can always correct them if needs be. Another year where the OWAC helped me grow as a painter :)

It was also one of the most nostalgic projects I've ever experienced and this definitely helped keep me going through the slow patches. The core of the army was inherited from my younger brother in the mid 90's, around the same time that the Wood Elves made such an impact in the D&D campaigns I played with friends, and influenced characters who are still legend today. Some of the old school white plastic fantasy regiments originally belonged to my BiL and others were added as I got into 'Oldhammer' about ten years ago. 

The deep dive into Trish Carden's sculpts was particularly rewarding, reminding me of when I met the lady herself at BOYL 2019 (she is every bit as lovely and warm and nerdy as you would imagine! :D) and all the other friends I made there. Another year when the OWAC has brought some joy when work has been a drag and I needed some escapism :)

So I guess what I'm really saying is thank you. Thank you to everyone who takes part and makes it such a special even in the hobby calendar, and thank you to everyone who stepped up to help run this year's challenge, especially Byron who bravely took on the mantle of herding this large troupe of cats through months of hobby prep, painting, and perseverance! 

Without the OWAC and the community I wouldn't have the same level of motivation and structure, I wouldn't have another army completed, my pile of shame would be as large as ever, and most importantly I'd have far less excuse to buy yet more minis and hobby supplies! ;) 

Monthly Totals:

Month One Total: 506 pts
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

Month Two Total: 326 pts
21 Archers (Longbow, Hand weapon) -  231 pts
Musician and Standard Bearer - 44 pts
Champion (Longbow, Hand weapon) - 51 pts

Month Three Total: 365 pts
15 Wardancers (20 pts each) - 300 pts
1 Wardancer Champion - 65 pts

Month Four Total: 315 pts
Wood Elf General (steed, lance, light armour) - 166 pts
Wood Elf Sorceress - 59 pts
Unicorn - 90 pts

Month Five Total: 696 pts
10 Scouts (inc. Musician and Standard Bearer) - 192 pts
Champion - 51 pts
Mage - 59 pts
Wood Elf Hero w/ Longbow (I) - 107 pts
10 Way Watchers - 180 pts
Wood Elf Hero w/ Longbow (II) - 107 pts

Month Six Total:  1466 pts
10 Dryads - 350 pts
2 Treemen - 560 pts
5 Warhawk Riders - 150 pts
Giant Eagle - 75 pts
Wood Elf Hero w/Spear on Giant Eagle - 181 pts
Kippine (counts as Griffon) - 150 pts

"Baggage Train" - 0 pts
Black Bear
Giant Barn Owl
Juvenile Unicorn

Grand Total: 3674 pts

In terms of Old World geography, I always envisaged my Wood Elves as not being from Athel Loren, and I still think some of my core units (late summer theme) as my Avelorn contingent for my wider Elven host. As I've mentioned in some earlier posts, I've come to think of my WEs as representing more diverse wild and rural communities and landscapes beyond the cities and regional heartlands of Ulthuan represented by the High Elf units.

As a result you won't see Orion or Ariel in my army. Although I do own a copy of Orion, I just don't like the sculpt and just don't see it fitting with my concept of Wood Elves, so he has been set aside for a future project... but I do have one more mini to share as a grand finale! 

The "Sisters of Twilight" version of the Wood Elf Forest Dragon... Well, I can certainly see why not everyone is a fan of this model! I started writing a cathartic list of all the things I really don't like about this sculpt but that just isn't the note I want to finish on. Instead I'm going to focus on the awesome power of the OWAC to get you through projects that you fall out of love with, the liberating feeling of allowing some things to be "good enough, but not perfect" and the lessons that I learned with this one.

Firstly, if I ever painted this again (I wont!) I would reverse the green and brown portions of the Dragon (but probably keep the green-brown of the wings). There are too many places where the vines snaking in and out of the scales meant I needed to paint green on green and this doesn't let the details pop quite as much as they should. I also think it would be far more interesting to have a mossy green underbelly and a rich variation of polished woody browns for the scales, letting them look like tree bark. It kind of makes sense in my head now as how a Forest Dragon might camouflage themselves in their natural habitat and I think I would have been able to do more with the model if I had reversed the greens and browns. You live and learn!

I came round to the idea of the two riders. I painted them up as Way Watchers and would probably just count them as a single Hero in an army list. I didn't like the suggested positioning of one of them on the Dragon's head though, this looked lopsided on a model already slightly unbalanced in it's mounting on the base so shifting one of the riders o the back made much more visual sense to me. It also risked distracting from the detail of the Dragon's head and overall I left the riders very rough so that they don't steal the show from the Dragon.

In terms of colour scheme, the green and brown and Way Watcher riders tie to that core them of my army, with just enough dark red on one of the imps and the Dragon's tongue to evoke the accent colour of the core units without it dominating (this would look too much like the Caledor Dragon in my HE army). 

I used a rainbow inspired set of colours for the imps, deliberately calling back to the earlier Wardancer troupe (maybe this is where they take some inspiration from for their unit colours?) and emphasising their fey rather than natural forest creatures. The orange-brown of the claws and horns also hopefully ties to the winter/Chrace elements of my combined elven forces, as the orange gorse flowers on the base are also intended to do however I worry when you look at it now these have actually drained some of the orange away from the horns and claws as they seem to pop slightly less in the finished model. 

Never mind... On the whole I'm quite happy with the basing, which took me slightly out of my comfort zone as I knew it desperately some wood and foliage elements to sell the forest Dragon theme, but these are not basing materials I normally work with. A few different height and colour variation tufts along with the flowers make it seem like the Dragon might be bursting out of the edge of the woods onto the battle field, or maybe the added fey elements of the watcher stones, spindly toadstools and a lone skull give a 'fairy glen' type feel? 

I was playing around with some left over green stuff one day and ended up with a strange little mole-toad thing with no eyes and massive nostrils and toothless maw. I liked the idea of adding some wildlife to the base so I painted it up a bit like Fizzgig from Dark Crystal and hid him under the log. Job done. :) 

Close up of random Wood Elves I already had painted/re-painted. Including the mysterious mage with the terrible milliput cloak bought 2nd Hand from the long closed Captain Sci-Fi in St. Nicks Market, Bristol. The nostalgia is strong with this one.

Also, I swapped out the Blunicorn for the more Wood Elfy one I already had painted.

Why yes, that is a Spevna Studios design from OWAC's very own Mustafa Bekir on my 90's style white long sleeve T-shirt. Award yourself 15 Oldhammer points for noticing and then go and order one yourself!

Plans for next year?

* OK, it wasn't quite ALL of my Wood Elves, just like it turned out it wasn't quite ALL of my High Elves in OWAC V and VI. 

When you've been hoarding for this long and building up massive armies you obviously end up with some waifs and strays along the way, damaged and unloved minis, random bits and bobs that don't quite fit, things you swore you had and searched for high and low but must have lost and then turn up again just after you finish the bloody challenge... you now how it goes. 

But don't worry! I've got plans for them. OWAC VIII means "No Elf Left Behind!" but other than that I'll leave you in the dark ;) 

Tom's Bony Bit:

I made it all the way to the end, my first competed OWAC!

Throughout painting my army I have always included the three layers of red to give them the feeling of threat of the Red Wizards of Thay and their undead menacing hordes. The purple is the colour I have chosedn to be the colour of their magical essence. I think all the colours I have used give the army a good look, like they belong together. 

Thanks to everyone who supported me, As a first time OWACer it has definitely encouraged me to do this again next year. I found the task of having to stick to it over the months challenging because there were some ups and downs, such as having to paint over bits of models that had the wrong colour, or fixing broken models, or waiting to paint the things I really wanted to paint...

Sadly, just after I took the wrap up picture I dropped the whole tray of minis while putting them away and had a lot of broken models to deal with - luckily it was after the pictures but it was a real pain!

But... I really enjoyed taking part in the group challenge and I think everyone who completed has succeeded in the task of doing a great OWAC! 

Monthly Totals:

Month One Total: 324 pts
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

Month Two Total: 516 pts
5 Spectres 175 pts
5 Wraiths 325 pts 
2 Skeleton Spearmen 16 pts

Month Three Total: 140 pts
5 x skeleton horsemen (w/ light armour, shield, lance) - 140 pts

Month Four Total: 410 pts
Necromancer Lord - 410 pts

Month Five Total: 144 pts
10 Skeletons w/ light armour, shields, spears (inc. Musician and Standard bearer) - 144 pts

Month Six Total: 200 pts
3 Carrion - 135 pts
Wight (Ghoul) Lord  - 65 pts

Grand Total: 1734 pts

This is Legolas, I painted him up as a reward after completing the OWAC. I'm really happy with hoe he came out. I took inspiration from his outfit in the movie. I used Vallejo Hull Red, Citadel Mournfang Brown, and MP Leather Brown, with Army Painter Strong Tone to get the right look.

Thanks to Tom Young for the Secret Santa mini - it was much appreciated and I enjoyed painting him.

Plans for next year?

I really hope I can take part again next year. I'm looking forward to painting something up for the secret santa entry mini, does anyone like Orcs?

I've been busy building more skeletons for next year as I will be adding to my undead horde. I'm also thinking about adding zombies/ghouls, and some more cavalry.

A new style GW Zombie Dragon bolsters the flank!

Bonus pic with Undead Chariot, Necromancer, and Skeleton Frost Giant (proxy unit filler for 8-10 skeletons)

The whole stinky crew together!

That's it from us for OWAC VII - massive congratulations to everyone who made it to the end. It's a genuinely lovely thing to be a part of. Looking forward to doing it all again with you next year!

Paul and Tom :)