Shadespyre's April Post - Rank & File IV - 3rd Edition Wood Elves (+1353 points)

OWAC VII - Rank and File Month (IV) - Pets

April

Month Four, so why not a fourth month of Rank and File fun? A bit boring? Well, okay, I'll throw in another Hidden Reserve for you, if you sit quietly and read the first bit. Deal? Good.

Errrm, let's start here. Continuing the three seasons theme of the Wardancers (from March, pay attention at the back, please!) here are three seasons of pets:

Wild Cat Beastmaster in Spring colours, because cats spring, I guess?

Warhound Beastmaster in Summer colours, because...

...Boar Beastmaster seemed like the obvious Autumn choice. 

No, I still haven't got around to the basing. I do hate the large expanses of empty ground here, so I promise to try and get it done in May. 

I'm not sure how effective these small Beast packs would actually be, but I feel like it's important to include some to capture a proper 3rd edition feel.

Let's also have a proper unit, something with actual ranks and files, maybe?

This is my unit of Guards, mostly using the Middle Earth sylvan elves - a couple have replacement swords, and the standard bearer is obviously converted. I put the unit of 18 together and forgot to consider adding a champion or other character, so maybe a bigger movement tray is a consideration for later.

Meanwhile, here they are in the almost not-green Autumn colours. I also added an owl here - and there will be more - because moon-shaped shields and owls work together, and because owls are cool.

And that concludes the Rank and File units for this army, for this year at least.

Hidden Reserves

I did promise, so here we go. Not in the order that I expected to be presenting these units, but this one proved to be very quick to paint once I had the concept in my head. Hidden Reserve Number 3...

...is my Wood Elf themed Ethereal host, in the form of a Wild Hunt, with Ghost Hounds, Wraith huntsmen and a Spectral Centaur:

The idea is based on the text from Warhammer Armies - "shades of faded Wood Elves" - but I struggled with finding a mounted mini I liked as the leader. Eventually I stumbled upon this Centaur (origin unknown) on eBay and decided he would do for now. I've reposed him several times and he still has weird square shoulders but I got bored of trying to fix him.

I wanted to give an impression of fading, with the strongest part of the spirit being the head and arms of each model fading away to almost nothing. So I painted a greyscale fade across each one and then hit them with a couple of layers of green wash, before a final tidy up with a very pale green-white. By the way, I picked up the hounds cheap off eBay suspecting that they were re-casts and, yes, they are a little tatty, but very suitable for this purpose.

What a stupid looking centaur! But I quite like the way the paint came out. 

Army List Additions:

Scores for April:       1353    points   38 models

3 x Animal Handlers    (Light Armour)                                                                    45 points

3 x Wild Cats                                                                                                                  63 points  

3 x Warhounds                                                                                                               12 points 

3 x Boars                                                                                                                          18 points 

17 x Guards                (Shields, Standard bearer, Musician)                                  304 points

1 x Hero (Level 15)    (Longbow, Light Armour, Shield)                                        136 points 

Ethereal Host:

1 x Spectre with Spectral Mount                                                                                225 points

2 x Wraiths                                                                                                                     300 points

5 x Ghosts                                                                                                                       250 points           

               

Running Total:          4343  points  135  models

Undead are reassuringly expensive, aren't they?

Next Time

Leaders, and proper basing, I hope. And I'll try to include another Hidden Reserves choice, too.

Graeme's OWAC3 Skaven wrap-up

My first OWAC is done! My lead pile is dented (if you look really closely)! My purveyors of pestilence may have got a little carried away though... sorry 'bout that!

Thanks to Iannick for organizing a great challenge and congratulations to all the challengers who overcame some serious adversity to deliver some truly impressive armies! This has been a weird year so far and it's been great to be part of a little community that share the same passion and have provided support, encouragement and the threat of shaming to keep everyone going. Special mention goes to the other members of #teamskaven, Adam and Brendan - together we managed to delivery the vermin triple whammy in the year of the rat. No mean feat.

Okay, on to the final muster...

- Gnawdoom (level 15 wizard), with hand weapon: 144 points

- Clan Chieftain (Level 5 Hero ), with spear and light armour: 31 points

- 1 Clan Chieftain (level 5 hero), with hand weapon, shield and light armour: 31 points

- 1 Clan Skyre Poisoned Wind Globadier, with hand weapon: 25 points

- Warpfire-thrower team: 81 points - Jezzailachis Team: 39 points

- 3 Plague Censer Bearers: 120 points

- 3 Clan Moulder Beastmasters, with hand weapon, and light armour: 31.5 points

- 16 Giant Rats: 32 points

- 8 Black Skaven, with halberds, and light armour: 60 points

- Clan Chieftain (Level 5 Hero ), with halberd, and light armour: 32 points

- 14 Plague Monks, with hand weapons, and light armour: 82.5 points (including extra 5.5 points for the standard-bearer)

- 10 Clan Eshin Gutter Runners, with hand weapons, light armour, and slings: 140 points

- 2 Clan Moulder Beastmasters, with hand weapon, and light armour: 21 points

- 5 Clan Moulder Rat Ogres, with hand weapon: 190 points

And of course the Offering to the Overlord (25 points) isn't shown, as it's already found its way to Iannick.

So here's what my 1060 points of Skaven look like:

I had been planning to paint more in the last couple of months of the challenge, but I lost my focus. I've got about 40 models in progress on my painting desk and a bunch of scenery sitting not far away. I made a start on some banners too. All these mini-projects vying for my attention meant that none got finished... Still, it leaves me something to do in the months before the next OWAC... :-)

Right, I'm off to feast my eyes on the other submitted armies. See you next time!

Graeme's Clan Moulder Marauders for May (213.5 points)

The gap in the defender's lines was small, but enough for the horde to exploit. The masses swarmed forward....

I got off to another great start in May, getting a Clan Skryre Warpfire-thrower and hero done quickly. I experimented with different metal effects this month and was pretty happy with how the barrel of the warpfire-thrower turned out. I finally managed to get the right sequence of inks, washes and verdigris. I tried a similar effect to create a bronze-style blade on the Rat Ogre.

Warpfire-thrower team - 81 points

Clan Chieftain (Level 5 Hero ), with spear and light armour - 31 points

I had admired Brendan's mass of Giant Rats from January and March and set my mind on a big unit of them for May. Real-life intervened again.... my job threw a spanner in the works, then tossed in the rest of the toolbox for good measure.... so the heaving mass of Giant Rats turned into a rather modest unit...

Sixteen Giant Rats - 32 points

One tip for the fashion-conscious rat overlord: your giant rats really shouldn't be seen dead without some earrings this summer... flesh wounds are optional.

Three beastmasters - 31.5 points

One Rat Ogre, to bolster the Clan Moulder contingent - 38 points

All of May's force

Warpfire-thrower team - 81 points

Clan Chieftain - 31 points

3 beastmasters - 31.5 points

16 Giant Rats - 32 points

1 Rat Ogre - 38 points

Total for May: 213.5 points

Total for the army: 1085 points

Even though I've reached the 1000 point target, I'm going to keep going - I want to build some Clanrat or Slave units and finally get a banner or two done, so stay tuned for more next month!

Graeme's Skaven Spearhead Force for April (210.5 points)

After the disease and pestilence had taken it's toll, it was time for the Skaven to throw their elite troops into the fray - to smash through the defender's line and make a gap for the following hordes to pour through....

I got off to a good start in April, getting a couple of Rat Ogres and a handler done quite quickly.

Rat Ogres and handler - 86.5 points
Two Rat Ogres, to help punch through the enemy lines, with a handler to keep them in check. I varied the colour of the Rat Ogre fur again this month - there's not many other options when there are just two poses from this generation to choose from.

Then I turned to a bit of cunning Skaven technology.

This is not the angle you want to view one of these from if you're fighting against them...

Jezzail Team - 39 points
A Jezzail team, to keep the enemy archer's heads' down and provide some much-needed missile support.

Then I moved onto the Black Skaven and the challenge really began. I love these model for all the detail, but that very same detail took an enormous amount of time to paint. So many layers of leather, scraps of plate mail, chain-mail, ragged clothes, coils of rope, pouches and bags, earrings(?!).... There's a lot of depth to the modelling as well, with details tucked in almost unreachable places. It almost broke me - I came very close to taking a Mulligan this month, but just about scraped in. I had been planning to to 15 of these in April, but didn't even get close. I may not do any more for  while to let my eyes recover from the strain....
At least the final result seems worth the effort.

1st rank of the Black Skaven

2nd rank of the Black Skaven

Black Skaven - 60 points

Eight Black Skaven - one of the few shock elites available to Skaven forces. Well armed and armoured with halberds and light armour. A whopping 7.5 points each!
Maybe the command group will make an appearance next month...

Offering to the Overlord - 25 points

A word of thanks to Iannick for the time and effort he puts into running this challenge, especially during these strange, stressful, and for some, very busy times.
The challenge has definitely been a great distraction for me, and I'm sure others will agree and add their appreciation.
Once I chose the colour of the cloak I suspected this would be designated the offering model. Plus, since it was Iannick's birthday month, it seemed suitable timing. Iannick, it will be winging its way towards you this week. Hope the cloak meets your approval :-)

All of April's force:

2 Rat Ogres and their handler - 86.5 points
8 Black Skaven - 60 points
Jezzailachis Team - 39 points
Offering - 25 points

Total for April: 210.5 points

Total for the army: 871.5 points (846.5 points, not including the offering)

Next month the work on building up my rank-and-file troops continues. Probably not Black Skaven, though... maybe the command group.
I did make a start on some Giant Rats in April, but these are such low points cost in 3rd Edition, I'll need something expensive to compensate.
The banners I was experimenting with last month didn't materialize, so I really want to add at least one.

Good luck to the other challengers! The armies are really taking shape now and starting to look amazing.

ZeroTwentythree's February Wood Elves (294 pts)

Much like January, February's challenge was wrapped up fairly quickly. The core was once again 15 archers. This brings the total up to 30 archers, which is a respectable base on which to build a small wood elf force. Once again I'm working with a dark and drab color palette for the most part. Still working on my new photo lighting, needs some improvement to get accurate colors across in the pics.

I'm not counting in character points for champions, etc. but I'm sure the guy leading this band of archers should probably be worth some extra points. Look at all that armour. And his bird. Probably annoys the hell out of the rest of the elves as they're sneaking through mountains and forests, stalking prey all stealthy-like... then there's that one a-hole clanking around like a scrap truck, bird squawking, banging his giant helmet on the tree branches....

15 Archers - base goal achieved

My stretch goals this month ended up being another bear -- one that fits the size I was looking to match from last year! This one is an old Ral Partha grizzly that is still in production at Iron Wind Metals. I also painted up an old dragonette familiar. It's one of several of the old Citadel familiars I've been meaning to get to. This one seemed to fit with a concept I've got for some other figures that may show up later in the OWAC. Lastly, I painted a tribute figure for our Benevolent Overlord. I can't remember if this was mentioned in this years rules, but I'm following what was done last year. I'm keeping the figure hidden (behind the cork) so it is a surprise when it arrives.

February's Bonus Figures - another bear, wood rider standard, familiar, and....

oooh, what could that be hidden behind the cork?

Bear Family Portrait. I now have two bears of similar scale. A bear pair.

That hits my beast handler goal. I'll figure out a good use for the giant in the back.

February's tally:

15 Archers with shields, incl. standard and musician ...... 204 pts.
1 Wood Rider Standard Bearer ........ 40 pts
1 Bear ....... 25 pts
Familiar ....... 0 pts?

Overlord Tribute ....... 25 pts

January Total: 294 pts

OWAC3 Running Total: 572 pts

February total

I also prepped my tentative core painting goal for March: 10 wardancers.

Blue's Wood Elves...The Final Army Pics + Bonus Figure!

What a long strange trip it has been!!  

...But it has been fun and productive...I deem the Old World Army Challenge to be a big success personally.  I've cranked through more figures in the last six months than I have in quite awhile.  I'm a notoriously slow painter and the challenge has really motivated me to be productive.   

I'm already planning next 1000 point force for the next challenge. 

But!  Now is not the time to talk about the future and "other armies!!!" 

Now is the time to talk about what has been accomplished over the last six months!

It was quite an experience to finally fully assemble the army on a proper terrain board and take some pics to share.  I always find army photography to be kind of a pain in the ass...and this time proved no different! (I need to make a dedicated photo set up and terrain board for photography!) But after trying twice I was able to get a decent set of pictures that document this army well.

Here we go!

The Army of Sarthayer the Enforcer.

Sarthayer's small but potent Wood Elf army patrols the fringes of Elven territory in the thick woodlands the Humans call Drakenvald Forest.  This fast moving and hard hitting force protects the northern margins of the forest where the trees fade away into the grass covered foot hills of the World's Edge Mountains.  Calum Pass, the Notch, and other lesser known pathways through the mountains, allow goblin raiders from the other side of the mountains to make occasional forays into Elven territory.  It is the job of Sarthayer and his army to detect these intruders, track them, and if possible destroy them.  Sarthayer's ruthless efficiency as a war leader, and his penchant for grisly war trophies, have earned him the nickname the Enforcer.

Sarthayer the Enforcer

lvl 10 Hero with Warhorse                   98 points

Zolvos the Wise

lvl 10 Wood Elf Mage                           110 points

Hend-o Isha (Eyes of Isha) (Warrior Kinband)

Odannac lvl 5 hero

15 Warriors                                             226 points

Lhun Gurth (Blue Death) (Lords Bowmen)

Ishtar Iron Hand lvl 5 hero

13 Wood Elf Archers                              278 points

Dinen Tir (Silent Watchers) (Wood Riders)

Tholnor the Silent lvl 5 Hero

6 Wood Elf Mounted archers              210 points

RaDag and his Boars (Animal handler)

6 War boars                                               49 points

Asar-o Glam (Wardancer troope)

7 Wood Elf Wardancers                         168 points 

Point Total: 1,139 Points

Qrab's Chaos: The Warband Wrap-up

After many months it's time for my final post for the inaugural Old World Army Challenge. Leading up to this, each month brought the dual pressure of painting the models and blogging about which actually served as inspiration for writing the blog. Whether it was reminiscing about the models selected for the month, my success (or failure) with painting those models, and/or plans for the following month, there was always something to say. Now that the challenge is over, I find myself somewhat at a loss for words. However, I suspect most folks don't care about my ramblings and would rather just see pictures of classic miniatures from the golden age of Citadel. So, let me start with a shot of the entire army painted for the challenge:

Lord Duherst the Master Butcher's Warband

Qrab's Chaos: The Dog Brothers (218 pts)

Greetings!

Another month and another increase in my painting output. For January I painted 10 whole models! (Just never you mind that 8 of those models are chaos hounds).

One option from the 3rd Edition Chaos list that I've always liked is the Beastmasters with Chaos Hounds. Back in the days when I was scouring eBay, I managed to pick up two of the Marauder Miniatures Beastmasters and their Hounds, as well as a bunch of the original (if somewhat smaller) Citadel Chaos Hounds.

When it came time to put together a list for this challenge, it was a no brainer for it to include some Beastmasters. As it happens, 2 Animal Handlers with light armor and 8 Chaos Hounds costs 218 points. Because two or more Beastmasters and their pack can join up, this month's "unit" gives me some flexibility; I can deploy them all as one unit, or split them into two smaller units if needs be. And, with both the handlers and the hounds having T4 and W2, even the small units are relatively durable.

Unfortunately, when I was prepping & basing the models for the challenge, I neglected to position them so they could be ranked up, so for the time being I'd deploy them separately. I have about 10 hounds spare, so there's a project for another day.

To my knowledge, Marauder Miniatures weren't given names like many of the old Citadel models were, so I had to improvise for these two handlers. Because both handlers are the same model, I figure they must be brothers ... the Dog brothers. First up is Iyan and his pack:

Dog brother Iyan with his Black Skaven cloak and Skaven tail whip.