Paul M's High Elf Host (part the second) - OWAC VI Intro post

So.... this was me at the end of the last OWAC. Look how smug and self satisfied I am!

This is what I announced back in July 2022:

"Here is what I still have to go before I'm 'finished' with my High Elf Host:

22 Caledor Archers, inc. full command (refurbished unit)

22 Yvresse Archers, inc full command (refurbished unit)

22 Lothern Archers, inc full command

2 Caledor themed Repeater Bolt Throwers 

10 Silver helms, inc full command

2 Mounted Heroes

Mounted Mage

Mage on foot

BSB on foot

20 Phoenix Guard (Dragon Guard?)

Phoenix/Dragon Guard Hero on foot (converted from a metal Charioteer)

2 Chariots (both older metal ones, but one Tiranoc themed, and one Chrace themed)

Newer edition of Imrik on Dragon"

(listen, it gets worse...)

"That's more than enough for another OWAC, but I really don't want to do High Maintenance Elves two years in a row, so I'm going to try and blitz that before the end of the year and focus on something else for OWAC VI. Wish me luck!"

Actually, Mr. Narrator, that is not entirely true, but I certainly didn't paint any more high Maintenance Elves for the rest of the year... until this very week when I finally got my arse in gear and started on those refurbished archer units as a warm up for OWAC VI.

I also said this back in July:

"I've still got stuff to paint and I need the adrenaline and risk of humiliation amongst my peers! It just isn't the same without it!" 

I was right about that at least! I'm delighted to be back for what will be my fourth OWAC having previously completed a Nurgle Beastman army for OWAC II and a Border Princes force for OWAC III as well as last years High Elves. It really is the mainstay and highlight of my hobby calendar and I can't wait to see what everyone else comes up with! :D

Having eaten some crow, and also having already painted my Battle Masters minis as part of my Border Princes force, I will be keeping things traditional despite this being the year of the OWAC Special Edition. Here then is my starting list for OWAC VI:

22 Lothern Archers, inc full command

3 Yvresse Archer command

2 Caledor themed Repeater Bolt Throwers 

10 8 Silver helms, inc full command

2 1 Mounted Heroes

Mounted Mage

Mage on foot

BSB on foot (converted from a metal Charioteer)

20 Phoenix Guard (Dragon Guard?)

2 Chariots (both older metal ones, but one Tiranoc themed, and one Chrace themed... but not with lions)

Newer edition of Imrik on Dragon

Here are some pictures of (most of) the minis with seasonal December frost for dating purposes:

The eagle eyed among you will spot a problem. Some of my units already have partly painted bases! OWAC rules indicate that bases can be prepared/textured/undercoated, but there shouldn't be any colour on the models. I'm very grateful to Overlord Iannick for allowing this one time only exception to the rules (and only on the basis that they were legitimately based up within last year's OWAC, but were a stretch goal to far at the time) and will be adopting a self imposed penance of having to paint one whole extra mini as part of the monthly minimum for every 5 pre-painted bases used (so on average I will be painting 12 minis instead of the minimum 10)

And this is the second chariot that I new I had but couldn't find until this morning- phew!

And this cheeky chap is going to be the Overlord's Offering (High Elf refurb units WIP in the background not part of OWAC VI) :)

It's a Goblin Vampire (B) from Macrocosm's Bonefields line, although I think it could do excellent double duty as both an alternate Vampire or Goblin Shaman in WFB, or even a Werebat in D&D :)

I think that just about does it for now. Time to read everyone else's intro posts now and get all sweaty and excited about your OWAC VI projects ;)

Good luck all!

Paul's Border Princes Months Five and Six (798.5 pts)

Having taken the difficult decision to cash in my first ever mulligan in May (having been quite proud of not missing a month throughout the whole of  the last challenge) I'm happy to say the decision paid off and I've finished off two months worth of minis and completed my OWAC III challenge (bar the wrap up post and obligatory Bryan Ansell impersonation photo. Obvs.)

Even though I took my mulligan in May it still makes sense to me to treat these as two months worth as they were very much tackled in two distinct batches.

First to be finished (though not first to be started) were a mixed race unit of Greatswords made up of 4 x metal 4th Ed Empire Greatswords, 6 Plastic Warlord Games Landsknecht Zweihanders, and 4 x ex-Short Wars Conquistadwarfs (hopefully soon to be available again via Macrocosm Miniatures) and the Bob Olley sculpted Champion. These may become their own Dwarf infantry unit once I can up their numbers, but for now I thought including them in the Greatswords made the unit more viable and brought out the diversity of the Border Princes force that I had been seeking.

First to be started (though not first to be finished!) were the Shortwars Halfling Halberdiers. Their all metal components provide loads of detail and I'm not sure I got the posing quite right for the unit ranks. To be honest these ended up being quite intimidating as time seemed to drain away and looking back I probably should have split it up a few each month, but that hasn't been my approach this time round, going more for batch painting whole units. This posed a problem as the detail and size of the Halflings demanded some time and attention and I just didn't have the gumption for them throughout most of May. It was these little blighters that took the wind out my OWAC sails and led to me taking a mulligan. I'm glad I did though because once I got my mojo back the detail on the sculpts really repaid a little bit of TLC.

Here they are as a complete unit with the unit command and other Halfling characters I painted up in a previous month. Now they are done I feel like I can love them again. I'm done with puff and slash for a while though, that's for sure.

Month Five Total

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

Total for the month = 335.5 pts

On to month six then and it was finally time for the cavalry to arrive!

First up were 10 x Halfling Goat Riders from TT Combat's Warlords of Erewhon range. I'll be using them as equivalent to Kislev Horse Archers, so they'll be armed with shields, bows and hand weapons but no armour. Pretty much exactly what you see on the models except the spears will have to count as hand weapons as Horse Archers aren't allowed to take them. Booo!

I'd love to be able to recommend these minis to others but I just can't. They are made of a pretty poor quality resin (in my view) with so many casting faults and bubbles it really hampered my enjoyment of putting them together and painting them up. Plus the resin hates paint even after a good wash and a thorough undercoat. The only plus side in all this was that I ended up bashing them out pretty quickly as I knew they were never going to be great, so it let me move on to the more prestigious heavy cavalry and my army general...

The Knights' Panther have also been a real prestige unit in my mind. The rich blue and exotic animal skins on otherwise fairly standard Medieval style knights seemed the perfect marriage of historical and fantasy and the studio paint job jumped off the box art in a way that always made them catch my teen aged eye. They were not originally part of the plan for this army, although I had a couple knocking around and was thinking of adding some Battle Masters plastic knights to make up a slightly rag tag unit of heavy cavalry on the cheap. However after a trade for some BM knights feel through and some opportunities came up to get some actual KPs for a reasonable price... well my head was turned and I splashed the cash. I'm very glad I did as I feel lke this unit really gives the army some presence and some hitting power. The simple shield designs are in the colours for the whole army, and loosely echo some of the designs used on the unit banners.

Having the unit of Knights' Panther also made sense given my plan for the army general as I wanted my Border Prince to be a renegade Grand Master, returning from one of the southern crusades and deciding he would rather set up his own little kingdom and enjoy the spoils of war rather than cart it back to pay tithes to Sigmar and the Emperor. Obviously a few of his retinue decided to stay with him, and painted their armour red to emphasise their break with the order, which then becomes the army colour for his new forces.

To pay respect to the challenge and all my fellow challengers who helped me along the way with encouragement and motivation, I decided to make the moto on his shield read OWAC. I hasten to point out this is not proper freehand. It was done with a 0.5 Micron pen and still took two attempts not to look awful. the shield itself is embossed plastic, I think from a later Bretonian Knight(?) but it seemed to fit the general perfectly.

Month Six Total

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 month = 463 pts

Combined total = 798.5 pts

So there we have it, my OWAC III Border Princes army is finished and I can finally look at some of the other models on my desk without feeling guilty. That said I'm probably going to paint up some Halfling Villagers and livestock, and possibly the start of a baggage train to flesh out the background scenery a bit.

Now, where did I put that mullet wig ready for the final army showcase picture?