Shadespyre's June Post - Wildcard Month - Guardians of the Moonglade - 3rd Edition Wood Elves (+955 points)

 OWAC VII - Wildcard Month - Guardians of the Moonglade

June

The final month. To be honest, having completed everything in the original plan and so much of the reserves it was a bit hard to get going again for a final effort. But once I did get back to it I enjoyed ticking the last few units off my list.

Let's start with some extra Elf heroes. I'm very aware that by concentrating on unit after unit of archers, I have missed out on painting some of the great Elf minis of the period, so here are four of them:

I would have loved to include a unit or two of these guys for some proper melee potential, but the sad truth is they are difficult and expensive to collect in numbers, possibly because they are so cool that no-one wants to part with them. The champion with the orc head, and the one with the sword above his head, are iconic members of this range, but the Elf with the two handed sword has always been my favourite, so I wanted to paint one.

These guys represent my Autumn, Spring, Summer and an experimental Winter colour scheme. I really like how the latter looks, but he doesn't feel very "Wood Elfy" to me, so maybe this is a starting point for a High Elf army...

And now for some completely unplanned, bonus miniatures.

 

Once I realised that the Owl theme was going to be a thing, I went fishing in my collection to find thisold favourite. This dapper chap is a Citadel C29 Giant Owl from back in 1985. The code makes him part of the "Monsters" range even though he is a total sweetheart. I elevated him on a grassy tump to make him a little more impressive next to the Elves. It might be possible to pop a rider on him but I'll be including him as part of a Monstrous Host.

Also unplanned, here is a Blunicorn of unknown origin, pinched off Ebay for a fiver. Is it even a Wood Elf army without a Blunicorn? I feel like everyone else in Team Wood Elves has one, now.

Sadly, without a suitable Elf maiden to ride her, Bluey will have to stay as a mascot rather than a points scoring unit.

Back to planned bonus miniatures, now.

Hidden Reserves

These vague blobs were numbers 6 and 7 on the list

And now I can reveal that the vague blobs are hiding lots and lots and lots of... Halflings!

Everyone loves halflings, right? There's an Ally list for them in Warhammer Armies, and Wood Elves (along with Empire, Brets and Dwarves) are allowed to make use of them. But I didn't want to use the chubby, chicken munching, cook pot wearing Citadel Halflings (even though I have collected one of each of all the 80s and 90s ranges) here, I wanted more rugged looking, serious minded Halflings who might live in the outer forest, farming and hunting and foraging and tussling with wolves and goblins and beastmen. And that meant Mark Copplestone's halflings, currently available via North Star Miniatures.

After rushing to convert a command group back in December, I revisited these poor efforts and am much happier with the newer version.

Now painted and complete with their 6th Edition Empire plastic hats. The oak leaf standard is again made from cheap jewellery, which is a gold mine of little metal bits and bobs, it turns out. The standard bearer has goofy buck teeth, so we haven't entirely left the comedy halfling trope behind. 

As well as some very cheap BS4 missile fire, this unit also contains three characters and the option to carry a magic standard and a magic weapon.

The rest of the halfling contingent is made up of skirmishers with slings. Skirmishing Elves always seem like a bit of a waste of points as they are decent close combat troops, whereas these little fellas have no business tangling with anything bigger than a Goblin.

And finally (?)

Hidden Reserve No 8

The funny shaped blob conceals the Forest Dragon, Quercus.

And here is my painted version.

Although this is a brand new resin model, and not produced by GW, there is a proper connection to Oldhammer because the sculptor is Trish Carden who sculpted about a zillion Citadel, GW and Forgeworld minis starting way back in 1984.

You can get your own Quercus from Footsore Miniatures, who are casting and distributing Trish's growing HarrowHyrst miniatures range. 

Army List Additions:

I'm not considering the heroes or the blunicorn to be part of the army list, but it's not like I'm short of points is it?

Adding Champions to the halfling slingers doubles the cost of each unit, but also gives them a surprising combat boost in the form of three WS4 attacks which might swing a fight with enemy skirmishers.

Scores for June:       955    points   71 models

1 x Autumn Hero                                                                                                                   

1 x Spring Hero

1 x Summer Hero

1 x Winter Hero    

                                           

1 x Blunicorn                                                                                                                        0 points 

Halfling Allies List:

1 x Halfling Contingent Commander                                                                             77 points

1 x Ally Standard Bearer                                                                                                   73 points         

22 x Halfling Militia     (Champion, Musician, Bow, Light Armour, Shield)         144 points

10 x Halfling Militia      (Champion, Shield, Sling)                                                     84 points         

10 x Halfling Militia      (Champion, Shield, Sling)                                                     84 points

10 x Halfling Militia     (Champion, Shield, Sling)                                                      84 points  

10 x Halfling Militia     (Champion, Shield, Sling)                                                      84 points 

Monstrous Host:

1 x Giant Owl (counted as Giant Eagle)                                                                      75 points

1 x  Dragon                                                                                                                       250 points 

                    

Running Total:          7902  points  228  models

STOP THE PRESS!

I just received this glorious Ral Partha Cloud Giant, an absolute classic old mini by the great Tom Meier, painted for me by our OWAC pal Chris Howell. Thanks Chris, he's fantastic, and such a generous gift! 

NEXT TIME:

Some army pictures and reflections on the project.

Bill's Defenders of Vogelburgh

Here we are again, OWAC VII! I sat out OWAC VI, and went to the Field of Bones the year prior, but I’m back with more orcs and goblins to cont...wait a minute. Wait. These stout little guys lack the ears and noses to be goblins. And these are clean, well-armored human beings, not orcs. What gives here?

 

Yes, I’m taking a break from the Waaaagh to pursue another, smaller project this year. Every year I’m blown away and inspired by Jaeckel’s absolutely brilliant armies, with their strong narrative focus and thoughtful unit selection to support that narrative. And I’m still in awe of Byron’s stunning “Army of Güsseldorf” from OWAC V. Between these influences, I decided I wanted to challenge myself to build an army that tells a story, that has a tight focus, with unit selections that make sense within that story. And I wanted it to be fairly light-hearted and whimsical, an army rich in puns and cheeky winks at the audience.

 Going through my pile of opportunity, I realized I had a goodly amount of Halflings from Old School Miniatures that I had started painting and stopped work on years ago. After a bath in stripper they were as good as new. A 3rd edition Empire army with Halfling allies sounded like it would be a nice change of pace from the orcs and goblins. Looking at what else was on the market that I could bolster these halflings with, an idea for a narrative began to form…

***

Vogelburgh is a small, sleepy community in the Imperial province of Averland, nestled in the foothills of the World’s Edge Mountains, two or three days’ ride north of the fortress-town of Grenzstadt. It is bothered occasionally by wandering bands of orcs (usually survivors of failed invasions through the Black Fire Pass), and more rarely by beastmen, but for the most part is a peaceful place where nothing particularly exciting happens – which is exactly the way the inhabitants prefer it. “We’re a quiet town, for quiet people,” as Burgomeister Livorno Nebelhorn is fond of saying.

The closest thing to a claim to fame held by Vogelburgh is its unusual poultry. Under the eccentric husbandry of Amber Wizard Harlund Sandorsz, Vogelburgh’s chickens grow to prodigious size, with the largest being the size of ponies. Sandorsz’ giant chickens have been investigated three times in the last five years by the Cult of Sigmar for any evidence of Chaos’ influence; in all cases, the inquisitors have returned to Altdorf satisfied (and almost a stone heavier than when they’d arrived in Vogelburgh) that nothing untoward is happening.

Some point to Sandorsz’ chickens as the reason why Vogelburgh hosts one of the largest populations of halflings (relative to the village’s overall size) outside of the Moot. When asked about this by travelers, community elder Bobo Sweetbread responded solely by licking his fingers and grinning.  

Vogelburgh hosts a small garrison of Imperial halberdiers, but is otherwise defended in times of need by a rowdy (and often wholly-drunk) militia and the village’s huntsmen and mountaineers, bolstered by a mustering of halflings. If travelers’ tales can be believed, Sandorsz has even driven the biggest and most aggressive roosters of his flock into battle, allowing the belligerent birds to kick and peck would-be invaders.

***

Yes, chickens! I spotted the Halfling Chicken Riders offered by The Assault Group and was so amused I had to incorporate the idea of giant chickens into my army, and it quickly grew into a theme. Given that this is a 3rd Edition Empire army, I opted for War of the Roses historicals (rather than the 30 Years War vibe that later became standardized for the Empire) for my State Troops and archers, with reissued Citadel C2 and C4 mercenaries from Wargames Foundry to represent my drunken militiamen. Characters came from Satyr Art Studios and Old School Miniatures, and a few further odds and ends came from Midlam Miniatures, Knightmare Games, Lucid Eye Publishing and the stunning Dunkeldorf line of Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay-ready civilians from King Games in Denmark.

Here’s the army list I’m currently working with:

 

The Defenders of Vogelburgh

 

Characters (365 pts)

Burgomeister Livorno Nebelhorn – Level 15 Hero, Light Armor, Shield: 83 pts

Master Harlund Sandorsz – Level 10 Wizard: 85 pts

Karl Hendl – Level 10 Hero, Army Standard Bearer, Light Armor, Shield – 108 pts

Captain Peter Totleger - Level 10 Hero, Light Armor = 57 pts

Sergeant Gerhard Nebelhorn - Level 5 Hero, Light Armor = 32 pts

 

Rank and File (457 pts)

Imperial Army Garrison, “Totleger’s Carvers” – 18 Helblitzen, Standard + Musician = 180 pts

Conscripted Mountaineers - 10 Bergjaeger = 130 pts

Vogelburgh Militia, “Peggy’s Paramours” - 19 Ersatzsolder, Light Armor, Standard + Musician = 147 pts

 

Allies (281.5 pts)

Elder Bobowicz “Bobo” Sweetbread - Halfling Contingent Commander on Pony = 80 pts

"Yeggs Benedict and the Double-Batter Boys" - 12 Halfling Militia, Standard + Musician, Champion = 88 pts

"Shandy Kleer's Pluckers" - 9 Halfling Scouts, Champion – 113.5 pts

 

Monstrous Host (48 pts)

8 Giant Roosters (count as Boars) = 48 pts 

 

Misc. (0 pts)

Der Bierwagen - Baggage Train = 0 pts 

 

Points Total: 1151.5 pts 

 

Now, obviously, this is a very “low level” army – having a Level 20 or 25 Hero leading the defense of this tiny little podunk town didn’t feel right, and I similarly couldn’t justify making Sandorsz a very high-level wizard. There will probably be a few other figures given individual names along the way; for example, the barmaid overseeing the Bierwagen is the Peggy all the militiamen are besotted with. Time permitting, I may add a unit of Halflings mounted on giant roosters to my allied contingent; they're not on the ally list provided in the Warhammer Armies book, but I've statted them up based on the numbers on the main rulebook for 3rd edition.

Since this year we’re adding boasts as an additional self-imposed challenge, I’m committing myself to learning how to apply decals and make them look good as part of the Old World Army Challenge. I’ve got a sheet of heraldry decals with a row of roosters, and ideas of where I can apply them throughout the army – the Burgomeister’s shield, atop the Army Standard, etc., so I'm hoping I can make this work. As you can tell from the 4" steel pins used as standard poles for the Army Standard Bearer and helblitzen unit, I'm intending to go big and dramatic with the flags as well.

And finally, my Entry Fee figure; a classic Citadel C2 Fighter, painted as a tester to see how I like combining contrast paints with normal layering and highlights. I think he came out very well, and I'm looking forward to sending him along to a to-be-determined recipient!

 Good luck in January, everyone!

AdamH’s OWAC VI July wrap up post

Another year, another OWAC under the belt!

For a few reasons this year was a tough one for me, mostly travel and restricted time related but also motivation and indecision as well. However overall I am happy with what I got completed, there were a few things I would probably change if I painted a couple of the teams again but I think I will leave them as they are for now in the interest of working on something new.

I also started working on a 3D printed pitch, which I was hoping would be my wildcard month entry but I never found the time to do more than the test section. However, I have brought it out now for the final pictures of each team! I also finished the bases of each team which I think sets them all off nicely.

First up are my favourite team, no prizes for guessing that it is Skaven!

Since posting these guys last month I have gone back and painted some more yellow on them in the form of everyone now has a yellow left shoulder pad, and the Skaven emblem on their chests are also now yellow. I think it helps break up the brown and makes the team look a little more unified:

My next favourite team is the Chaos team, I also went back and touched up a couple of mistakes on these guys but nothing significant:

Next up is another Chaos team, of the stunty variety:

More shrimps and one big leafy boi, I think this is the team that I enjoyed painting the most, and one that I think turned out well however I don’t really like the models:

Finally elves, this is a team that exists and now I own. I guess they are OK:

I am still working on my pitch so hopefully that should be finished in a month or so but after that I will be taking a break from Bloodbowl for a while and thinking ahead to next years challenge. I am very tempted to finish my Skaven army with a third entry, but I have a few other contenders that might sneak in at the last minute.

Anyway I hope everyone enjoyed the challenge this year, there were some wonderful armies and it was great seeing the specialist games making an appearance, I vote for this to make a come back in a future challenge please oh great overlord!

This is AdamH signing off for this year!

AdamH’s OWAC VI March Post – Half-pint Herbalists

Month three, “troop” number three. No business trips means I could plan a full month of painting, and thus decided to tackle one of the more taxing teams I planned.

Not only did I go for the team with the most models (that I own), but also decided to push myself to paint more than just block colours. So I present the Half-pint Herbalists, my halfling team:

Nothing too crazy, hopefully you will agree that the blue and yellow compliment each other nicely and will stand out on the pitch. I tried to keep things further unified by painting the head gear mostly in a burnished metal scheme.

Not too much more I can say about these little guys since pretty much all the models look the same but I like how they came out.

Next month I have yet another business trip but not too long this time so I am hoping I can smash out another full team but we will see, I also have a backup plan should that start to look like it is not going to work out.

Anyway, keep on painting everyone, we are halfway through!

AdamH’s OWAC VI Intro Post – It’s Sportsball time; Go team!

Anyone that knows me, knows how much I love all things sports! With the running and the balls etc. so much fun…

OK maybe not so much, but I do like models and games so I guess I can give this Blood Bowl thing a try at the least. I never really got into BB back in the day, however it seems to have had a bit of a resurgence recently (or maybe it never really went away, I don’t know).

The thought process I had when picking which teams to do was:

1. Pick the teams of the armies I have already (i.e. Skaven, Chorfs, Chaos)

2. Pick the teams of the armies I think I might do next (Delfs)

3. Pick Halflings because treeman

So that is how I have ended up with the following:

Normally I would post up the list and points values of what I am planning to paint during the challenge but I am actually not sure how Blood Bowl points work yet, I should probably get on that and learn before my Jan post.

Finally here is where I should post my overlord offering:

(I'm so good at the memes, definitely not a case of "hello fellow kids")

Yea, work decided that I didn't need to spend more than a week of December in the country, I am currently writing this blog post from my hotel room. So with agreement from our glorious overlord I have been given special dispensation to provide pictures of this during January’s post. I can’t help but feel I was given this leniency after having painted three horde armies in a row of the OWAC.

So anyway that is me for this year, should be fun getting to paint lots of different colour schemes, and as always I am really excited to see what other challengers get up to. 

Good luck everyone, let the painting commence!

ZeroTwentythree's April Undead (250 pts)

 April Entry

Wild Card Month!

I've been after a Citadel Plague cart for ages. I gave up trying to get one for a reasonable price and decided to make my own. I used some Citadel wheels, various skeletal bits & skulls, plasticard & rod, and I sculpted the yoke. I had started sculpting a driver but before I got very far a package from Shadespyre arrived, containing (among other things) a driver from the Citadel model!

 

 

The face was a bit of a joke and I hadn't intended on keeping it. But it's grown on my so I haven't painted over it. Yet? Maybe it will stay there forever.

I bought some new flower tufts for the cart, hoping to mimic the use of marigolds (flor de muerto) in Dia de Muertos celebrations, offrenda, etc. As I understand it, one reason for their use is for the scent of the flowers to guide the spirits of the dead back home. So here we have a more sinister version -- the cart driver, summoning the poor spirits back to their skeletal remains to be re-animated.

 

 

I also painted a wraith and some more home decor for the Liche's tumulus/party pad. Trophy heads on spikes, I think they came with some Foundry Gauls.

 

The wraith is translucent Reaper Bones figure. After reading how others had used clear acrylic medium or varnish and ink washes & such to shade the translucent figures I gave that a shot, but it didn't work AT ALL. So I ended up painting her with solid colors, as I would any other figure. Sort of an odd figure, more flesh and less robes than most other wraiths. Supposed to be some sort of "sexy" wraith, I guess? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

I also painted an ancient carved stone monument. Its origins are a bit of a mystery. Although hobbits have only settled the Little Country and expanded into the Wasteland in relatively recent times, some say this stone monument is an indication that their ancient ancestors may also have had settlements in the region.

Speaking of Reaper Bones figures, I have had a zombie dragon sitting around prepped but unpainted for a couple of years. I had planned on painting it for a Deadcember painting challenge, but never got to it. I was hit by a sudden inspiration and painted it this month, as part of my April entry for no reason other than it needed painting. I had originally thought the figure was just OK, but after painting it I really like it! Not strictly "oldhammer" but I think it still fits the vibe of the rest of my largely oldhammer undead.

Interesting discovery: 3rd. ed. undead didn't have dragons. (In spite of the awesome Tom Meier zombie dragon figure that was available at the time.) I didn't have a full undead army back then. When we moved from playing RPG games to experimenting with various fantasy wargames to finally settling on doing big armies with WFB 3rd, I traded off my undead (and elves, goblins, etc.) to focus on bulking up just a couple of core armies. I think most of us avoided the big monsters most of the time anyway, I'm not sure why. At any rate, I get a big 0 points for the dragon this month, but I'm not really concerned with my points count anyway.

Lastly, I have we have unfortunately lost two more OWAC participants to the Field of Bones. But all is not lost. They shall fight, and paint, on in the eternal army of The Liche! Samuel will dual-wield hand weapon and paintbrush, same as those previously raised from the Field of Bones.  Bill, on the other hand, brings the heavy two-handed paint brush for those large and brutal painting needs. These two seriously look like undead versions of heroes from a fantasy novel cover. But with paint brushes. "Swords Against Unpainted Lead" or something like that. ;)

We had a brief but comfortable weekend of nice weather, so I managed to get some yard work done. Naturally, there were priorities...

 

 

Undead flamingos! The bunny ears fell off the skeleton in the background, who is pretty much a permanent fixture in front of our house since Halloween. The ears and the Easter basket were put away. Looking for a wreath of flowers or something else suitable for the next change in season.

FYI, the little fella to the right is Godzilla eating garden gnomes. A gift from my sister-in-law a couple years ago. The first of the flowers are starting to bloom, but the deer have unfortunately been trampling through the garden and eating them. I would love it if the undead flamingos scare them off, but unfortunately I think they may have the "immune to psychology" trait.

I'm trying to prep figures for the remaining two months. Expect to see more cavalry, some carrion, The Liche himselves (yes, plural) and a few more of his entourage!

April Wild Card Month
 

1 Plague Cart....... 100 pts
1 Wraith.............. 150 pts

1 Dragon.............     0 pts

Terrain...........          0 pts

April Total: 250 pts

Grand Total: 1133 pts

 

Paul's Border Princes Wrap Up Post

Well, 2020 might have been a complete global disaster, but at least my Border Princes force turned out pretty much as I'd intended, although it has certainly grown from the original 1400 pt list in my Intro Post

I know we are supposed to impersonate Big Bad Brian, but I went more HG Wells on this one ;)

Here's the monthly run down.

Month One:

10 Human Archers -100 pts
10 Human Archers - 100 pts
9 Human Crossbowmen -90 pts

Total for the month = 290 pts

Month Two:

Halfling Hero (Light Armour, Pistol, Hand weapon) - 69 pts
Halfling Wizard - 56 pts
Halfling Halberdier Champion - 34 pts
Halfling Halberdier Musician - 13 pts
Halfling Hot-pot Catapult - 50 pts

Total for the month = 222 pts

Month Three:

Human Hero (Light Armour, Flail) - 68 pts
11 Human Halberdiers inc. Standard Bearer (Light Armour, Shields, Halberd) - 120 pts
Dwarf Hero (Light Armour, Sword, Pistol) - 110 pts
10 Dwarf Thunderers (Light Armour, Hand Weapon, Handgun) - 130 pts

Total for the month = 428 pts

Month Four:

Human Cannon and 3 crew - 100 pts
Dwarf Cannon and 3 crew -110 pts
Human Wizard - 56 pts

Total for the month = 266 pts

Months Five and Six:

26 Halfling Halberdiers (inc. Standard Bearer) - Light Armour, Halberds (6.5 pts each) = 175.5 pts
14 Mixed Race Greatswords - Light Armour, Two Handed Sword (9 pts each) = 126
Great Sword Champion (Light Armour, Two Handed Sword) =  34

10 x Halfling Goat Riders (proxy for Kislev Horse archers) - Shields, Bows, and Hand weapons (16 pts each) = 160 pts
5 x Knights Panther - Barded Steed, Heavy Armour,  Shield, Lance, Sword (39 pts each) = 195 pts
Army General - Barded Steed, Heavy Armour,  Shield, Sword = 108 pts

Total for the months = 798.5 pts 

Grand Total = 2004.5 pts

And the close ups (apologies for the pictures on the potato phone) 

"What, no Ogres!?" I hear you cry... alas not, but they are definitely something to add in the future. However, I have made a start on a baggage train/civilan contingent with these halfling villagers and livestock I picked up from Foundry at BOYL last year (*sniffs* I'm sat here typing this on the weekend we should have been nerding it up in Newark :( )...

...with a view to fielding this guy! :D

WIP for August - he'll be painted up in the same red-cream-brown colour pallete as the rest of the army

Who said the OWAC was dead!? Long live the OWAC!