The Host of Tor Elithis - A Tale of the Elithesi

[Anduil of Elithis]

Hi everyone,
with TOW having brought me back to this board - which I was only allowed to witness in its twilight years, sadly - I wanted to open a thread about my high elves to showcase my progress. Since I rarely get to play these days, I felt the painting area might be the most appropriate place, even though there is a place for blogs in the battle reports section.

I started to play high elves and WHFB back in 6th edition and was always interested in the elven colonies, which led me to declare my own army as hailing from the Isles of Elithis.
Most of my gamed were played in 6th and 7th edition and since then, the miniatures spent their time safely stored away.

Warmaster and a friend with a 3D printer brought me back to the Asur last year and now with TOW in the wild I want to develop my army again.

Expect a mixture of TOW and Warmaster pictures here with background bits about the elves of Elithis, or Elithesi, as they call themselves.

Atrached are some pictures from my first TOW game in February (the full painted turqoise elves).

Cheers,
Anduil of Elithis

[Anduil of Elithis]

"In the year 254 of Bel-Shanaar the Explorer's reign, the Sea Claw, a falcon ship of the Asur, sailed around the islands of Elithis south of the later Nippon and east of the jungles of Khuresh for the first time. On board was the noble Quendil from the House of Elithis, who had been commissioned to undertake this expedition by the Phoenix King himself in order to discover parts of the world as yet unknown to the Asur. Quendil quickly realized that these island groups were land masses comparable to the size of Ulthuan if they were added together. So, after mapping the islands from the outside, he hurried back to the Phoenix Court to report and request an expedition.

The news of the discovery of these new lands and their size spread like wildfire at court and soon numerous elves and princes came forward to undertake their own ventures there with the blessing of the regent. But Bel-Shanaar realized that the young, ambitious Quendil would serve his purposes better than the descendants of the great noble families already established at court. So he promised him and his house the title of prince and the right to name the islands if he conquered them for the Phoenix Court."

Spindrift seer Ildian of the House of Tirnith - The Chronicles of Elithis I: Discovery and Settlement of the Isles of Elithis

---
This is the humble beginning of the story of the Elithesi. I have more bits and fragments saved to post these together with other images of my miniatures. Always feel free to point out things that might interfere with official lore. There isn't much available on the Isles of Elithis, but there is always a chance that I might have missed something.

Cheers,
Anduil of Elithis

---

Image: The Elithesi host circa 2014

[Anduil of Elithis]

"Under the protective hand of Bel-Shanaar, Quendil prepared the expeditionary force that was to claim the newly discovered islands for the Asur under his leadership. A large part of the force was made up of the troops of his house itself, consisting mainly of units of Sea Guards and Silver Helmets, as the seat of the Elithis family was located in the noble Eataine. However, other elven houses - lured by the promise of glory and property - also sent their own units and ships to support Quendil's army. Heroes and soldiers came together from almost all of Ulthuan's realms.
Until the fleet set sail in the year 256 of Bel-Shanaar's reign, Quendil of Elithis still had to survive numerous intrigues, which the princes of the realms unleashed in order to gain command of such a lucrative expedition themselves. It is not known what the decisive factor was that earned the House of Elithis the protection of the Phoenix Crown at this time and protected its lord Quendil from the selfish ambition of other Ulthuan nobles, but the House's rise came at a time when Bel-Shanaar wanted to expand the realm of the Asur and change it for the good of all. In this respect, Quendil of Elithis was cut from the same cloth as the Phoenix King, so the latter may have seen in him a protégé who would support his policies and enforce them against the petty self-interests of other princes. When the expedition finally set out, it numbered almost three dozen ships of various sizes and several thousand Asur warriors sailed under Quendil's leadership towards the new lands that needed to be secured."

Spindrift seer Ildian of the House of Tirnith - The Chronicles of Elithis I: Discovery and Settlement of the Isles of Elithis

---

Picture: Reavers and a mage of the Elithesi on a diplomatic mission in Bretonia.

[Prince of Spires]

Those are some lovely miniatures. Your army examplifies the deadly, regal, and elite look of the Asur. Clean and crips and organized. And it's a large force. How many points can you rougly field? The bits of fluff are also great. I love how they add depth to a story. I do love how a "diplomatic mission" usually involves putting pointy sticks in people...

As for where to put your blog, here is fine. Mine is in the Painting and Modeling section as well (it's linked in my signature). If I have a larger battle report I just post that in the battle report section and link to it from my blog. And if I have some larger pieces of story I put that in the Storytelling forum (and again link it in my blog).

How did you find TOW? I liked it, though it's not all that balanced. But I found that if you play it as a "beer and pretzels game" then it's great.

[Anduil of Elithis]

Those are some lovely miniatures. Your army examplifies the deadly, regal, and elite look of the Asur. Clean and crips and organized. And it's a large force. How many points can you rougly field?

Thank you, I am glad to hear that. As a very rough calculation I have around 6k points in painted models without any special rules or magical items bought. Core would be the limiting factor for legal lists, with only roughly 1.6k points before upgrades.

I do love how a "diplomatic mission" usually involves putting pointy sticks in people...

Better be prepared when travelling less civilized parts of the Warhammer world

How did you find TOW? I liked it, though it's not all that balanced. But I found that if you play it as a "beer and pretzels game" then it's great.

My first impression was good. But the game needs a lot of issue solving between the players, which GW should have avoided with better ruleswriting.

[Anduil of Elithis]

"After many weeks at sea, the troops landed in the southwest of the archipelago in a conveniently located bay inside an extinct and flooded volcanic crater. Here Quendil of Elithis thrust his banner into the ground and claimed this island for his house and here, after the successful conquest of the island, the first permanent settlement of the Asur on the islands of Elithis was to be established - Tor Elithis. Under Quendil's command, Ulthuan's warriors established a bridgehead camp from which further exploration and development of the interior could be pursued. Scouts were sent out on foot and on horseback in all directions to gradually improve their knowledge of the island. It soon became apparent that the island was dominated by dense rainforest, which covered large parts of the island. However, there were also fertile grassy plains that the elven farmers in Quendil's entourage found suitable for growing food. The climate was noticeably warmer and wetter than in Ulthuan, but the fresh sea winds mitigated this effect.

It was noticeable that apart from naturally occurring fauna, no other creatures seemed to have colonized this first of the islands of Elithis so far. On none of the explorations did Quendil's troops come across traces of other civilizations, and so the warriors of the expeditionary fleet had to deal primarily with the native beasts. In particular, various forms of cold-blooded lizards lived in the deep forests, while monsters similar to those in the Annulli Massif could be found in the mountains. Thus, Quendil of Elithis was able to send word of the first island's occupation of the Phoenix Throne to Ulthuan just a few months after setting foot on the first island of the archipelago. Though what lurked in the deepest jungles was still unknown. "


Spindrift seer Ildian of the House of Tirnith - The Chronicles of Elithis I: Discovery and Settlement of the Isles of Elithis

---

Picture: A expeditionary force in the early phase of the expansion onto the Isles of Elithis.