RE.Lee's "Record of Lost Colonies"

[Si'anelle of Avelorn]

Absolutely stunning skirmishers! I love the posing and the colours; - I can almost hear that Elf skimisher saying, 'If I was you I'd clear off chum...'

Brilliant model making

[RE.Lee]

Thanks for the kind words! He's totally versatile as well - he can point the finger towards the enemy in the "This is were we fight!" mode, point towards my army in the "This is Sparta!" mode, or to the side in the nicely put "If I was you I'd clear off chum..." mode

They are the only plastic mini's in my new army so far, so tend to be viewed with suspicion by the other troops - maybe this will change once I paint the remaining 10

[Inthildir]

Yes, the, "This is my pointy finger of DOOM!" guy is awesome.
It's amazing what you can do when you mix and match all of the plastic kits.
Look at some of the bitz in the Bolt Thrower kit and some of the parts in the new Tiranoc Chariot.
You can really make some great looking and unique warriors.
One of my Lothern Seaguard units is comprised of parts from all of the kits and I love them.
Keep 'em coming, R.E.

[RE.Lee]

The new plastic kits are something I've been thinking about lately. It kind of messes with my "all-metal" army concept, but I guess some of the parts are just to cool to miss out. I almost got my hands on parts from both the hero and mage sets - I was already starting to create a Belannaer conversion in my head using the book and various other parts but I didn't bid high enough. Doing that model is still one of my long term goals, though, since I just love that character. I wonder if I should wait for my greenstuff skills to improve and do him with the attention he deserves.

The chariot set is ever tempting as well

BTW, there's some progress in the Conversion Corner, if anyone was following it a while back

[RE.Lee]

I've realised that this page doesn't have any pictures yet! Its about time I posted one of the most famous units of the Nikaian Empire - the Varangian Guard. These White Lion miniatures were among the first to be repainted in my new colour scheme so forgive the occasional sloppiness :





Now a couple of close-ups on the command group. I used the banner from a bretonnian knights of the realm regiment. I like the bit very much and I'll try to give it to every unit in the army. Unfortunately I've only got 2 so far - one here and another one was given to the Swordmasters. The remaining units (LSG on the previous pages included) have to wait their turn:





Comment are welcome as always!

[Si'anelle of Avelorn]

My word how well those colours suit your Varangian Guard. I love the banner with the 'world dragon' symbol too.
Something tells me that folk are going to be searching for that Bretonnian KotR plastic banner because it looks so downright good and makes a refreshing change from the 'bedsheet on a washing line' type banner.

[RE.Lee]

I'm glad you like them! I went for bronze/golden armour this time to undeline their elite status - here's some more photos I found, my favourite rank and file warrior and the champion. The lighing is better I think. The pics are a bit older so the bases are simple goblin green:

[Cyrannoc]

nice army blog RE Lee, you have a very consistent and delightful painting style - not too showy and utilizing some very nice colour pallettes!

I like the byzantine theme, it gives you lots of opportunity to use deep rich colours and lots of golden armour - all your stuff so far looks great!

I particulalry like your old 5th ed Tyrion model with the dark grey/black cloak lining - very nice colour scheme, quite inspirational actually! - I have an old one of these models knocking about in my collection and have been looking for the right way to intergrate him into my armies, I just wasn't sure which one he would be best suited to, but seeing your model made me realise that if i tried something similar he woud fit perfectly into my Tiranoc themed army , as soon as Ive got a weekend free im gonna try and get him all set for painting up! - thanks for the inspiartion, and keep it up, keep em coming!!

(I can't yet afford to get myself a decent digital camera, but as soon as I manage to get hold of a nice one ill definately start up my own army blog and share some of my model collection with anyone whos interested)

ill keep checking in here to see how things are going with your blog! - nice stuff.

[RE.Lee]

Ooops, it took me a while to respond - Easter business I had to take care of

Thank you very much for the comment - I'm looking forward to seeing your Tyrion painted - as well as all the other works of yours! I've just finished the details on mine a couple of minutes ago, I'll try to post some more close ups soon

In the meanwhile, here's some, rather blurry, photos of my Swordmasters - 18 are 6th edition, two are from 4/5th - you can see one's back in the second picture - I'll add individual pictures later:

[RE.Lee]

Like I said, here's some more pictures - the champion, musician, standard and 2 old edition Swordmasters. On a side note, I got a new camera from my sister yesterday so maybe the quality of my pictures will improve somewhat in the near future

[RE.Lee]

The converted BSB, finished finally:





You can see some of the units already posted in the background.

[RE.Lee]

Studying for the USMLE step 1 doesn't leave me much time to do painting, but I try to do 1 miniature a day, I finished the maneater some time ago (posted him in the maneaters thread) and now started the shadow warrior conversions. The previous 6 elves are on the 2 page of this topic, here's two more - one using a bretonnian hawk, the other inspired by Soulbilghter from Myth:



Comments are welcome as always

[RE.Lee]

Well, its been 4 (!) years since I've updated my little blog. How time flies! Anyway, this new edition is a perfect moment to start High Elves again (I have to admit I've mostly been playing/painting Skaven the last couple of years).

I've only bought the armybook and magic cards so far and tried to put together a list that I liked. So I came up with this 1600p army:

Loremaster, Blade of Might, Shield of Merwyrm, Book of Hoeth
(Surely my favourite character in the new list. In larger battles I'd use him as a support caster and focus more on the fighter aspect. Here he's a balanced general, with a nice spell selection and decent combat skills. He'll be joining the spearmen for Ld10 - useful for holding the line and also for Spirit Leech!)

25 Spearmen, Standard of Discipline
(A solid unit of spears is where my every army starts with - here they will form an anvil, hopefully using buffs from the loremaster to their benefit)

BSB, Reaver Bow, Crown of Atrazar
(An must have. I'd like to mention how disappointed I am with the handmaiden's inability to carry a banner - she'd be perfect for this build.)

15 archers
(These will form a shooting platform as well as acting as the BSB's parent unit - with a 5x3 formation and ASF they should be able to deal with any light threats)

21 White Lions, BotWD
(A solid shock unit and probably the most balanced of our elites, benefiting from the extra rank of attacks as well as lowered cost. In a larger battle I'd consider Phoenix Guards - a very solid bunker unit perfect for the kind of war of attrition I have in mind)

RBT
(Finally a lower cost)

Eagle
(I'm tempted to include some of the upgrades, but I'm not really sure if there's any point as it will be sacrificed most of the time anyway)

Frost Phoenix
(Even though the models suck, the new birds are a fantastic addition to the army. Both are tempting choices, but I'll go for the frost one for now - the debuff it grants will be invaluable in helping my infantry units to grind their opponents)

First opponents will most likely be Skaven - I'm really looking forward to casting 2 flaming magic missails at that Abom!

[Elessehta of Yvresse]

Oh yea~
I looked at the Loremaster and went, "This guy is perfect for all those 1500p games where people say a lvl4 is too cheesy"!

The list looks tough.

[RE.Lee]

First game with the list played and I'm pretty satisfied with the result. Opponents were Skaven, led by a Grey Seer. 2 units of clanrats with WFTs and 2 units of 40 slaves formed the core of the army, while the Doomwheel, Abomb and some rat darts buzzed around.

The Skaven advanced, while we exchanged fire - the rats probably came out on top as I lost almost all the spearmen and archers to some sort of long range damage. I did manage to take down the Abomb and seriously damage the Doomwheel, though (hurray for being able to cast dual flaming magic missiles!). The storm banner meant my phoenix couldn't maneuver as much as I'd like.

As the lines joined combat it turned out I was left with only the White Lions (led by the loremaster) and the phoenix. Conveniently, the Skaven were left with no real means of hurting me thanks to the BotWD. I was fed slaves for a couple of turns and that was it...

Couple of comments:
- the loremaster was a decent leader (putting him in a unit with the standard of discipline seemed like a clever idea but the unit was destroyed rather quickly), fighter (although he didn't really encounter meaningful opposition) and caster (Book of Hoeth + a wide and sure selection of spells makes for a very reliable, if unspectacular, magic phase)
- the frost phoenix was a bit of a let down, due to the storm banner limiting its movement. I was thinking he should get rid of light chaff in the first couple of turns and then combo charge with the lions into crucial combats, but this didn't really work out...
- BotWD is massive. Being all but immune to warpflame rocks!

[RE.Lee]

For the last battle for my frost phoenix I used this pretty model:



Its painted pretty badly right now (though in a suitably blueish colour scheme), but I'll be redoing it if it serves me well.

Meanwhile, I played a rematch using the armies mentioned above. This time it was a clear victory for the elves.

Again the opening turns saw a fierce magic duel between the grey seer and the loremaster, with the former reducing the spearmen to 7 elves and the latter successfully sniping the abomination with Spirit Leech. Shooting played its part, too, despite the storm banner, and I managed to kill the warpfire throwers before losing the entire (!) archer unit to the damned rocket.

In combat the White Lions, were fed some slaves again, although they did find the time to chew up the Seers unit as well, with some help from the phoenix. My favourite part of the battle involved my remaining fistful of spearmen, led by the Loremaster, hold a unit of 40 slaves. With Wyssans cast on the unit it felt like Spartans holding out against Persian hordes!

Next time I'll be trying out some Phoenix Guard and Silverhelms.

[Elessehta of Yvresse]

Ye gads that's an amazing old model!

[RE.Lee]

Yeah, the 5th edition Imrik is quite the thing. I'll post mine as soon as its finished.

In the meanwhile, I've been following a lot of the threads regarding playing styles with the new book. There's loads of great discussions from veteran tournament players as well as interesting input from people trying something new (like this one, regarding beast lore synergies: http://www.ulthuan.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=66&t=46572). Having played most of 7th edition having infantry as my main fighting units, I was surprised to see the great successes people were having with cavalry buses (either silver helm based ones - like Seredain, or using dragon princes - like Mallosar). This inspired me to build my own list of 2400 points.

Prince, barded steed, ha, giant blade, enchanted shield, dawnstone, pot of fools
(A pretty standard cavalry prince I guess. I might consider the OTS instead of the PoF - we'll see how it turns out in practice)

Loremaster, BoH, Shield of the Merwyrm, Blade of Might
(Jack of all trades perhaps, but I love the concept and I've had good experiences with the reliable magic phase he provides. The combat output and survivability are so so, but hopefully he won't be seeing fights against dedicated opponents much)

BSB, barded steed, lance, shield, ha, dragon helm, crown of atrazar
(A lot of people prefer to equip him with some more combat oriented stuff, but I'm paranoid about losing him )

25 spearmen, full command, banner of discipline
(The loremaster bunker, should be decent tarpit for a couple of turns)

15 archers
(Chaff clearers, emergancy bunker)

12 Silver Helms, full command
(a small cavalry bus - most of the time they'll be running without heroes though. I'm hoping for good synergy with the frost dragon - they might be a reserve tarpit that way, too)

12 Dragon Princes, full command, BotWD, Star Lance
(The main bus, good hitting power, magic protection etc)

2 eagles
2 RBT
1 Frost Dragon (Phoenix)

I hoped to strike some sort of balance between the fast moving shock force and a decent steadfast/shooting/casting base:

The first group should do ok - there are 2 cavalry buses that can work independently or together depending on the opposition they face. If there is need I might split the characters between the squadrons or even put both of them into the helms (if the DPs get nuked in some way). The fliers will help out where they can - the frost dragon in particular seems very flexible - he might start of by clearing chaff and threating flank before joining a crucial combat and allowing me to take advantage of his powerful debuff.

The second group is more vulnerable but at least the Loremaster does not have to babysitted - he will be quite safe in the spearmen I hope, buffing them if needed (earth blood in particular should be useful - protecting the unit and healing himself). If things do get ugly he'll be escorted by the archers. 2 RBT's should be a worth addition (even though a lot of people are still complaining about their cost-effectiveness).

Thoughts?

[Shannar, Sealord]

Yeah, the 5th edition Imrik is quite the thing. I'll post mine as soon as its finished.

And by the rules these days you can put him on a 40x40

[RE.Lee]

Its been on that base since 1997!

Seriously though, I guess when used to proxy for a phoenix it should be mounted on a 50x100 base. Hopefully it won't get flank charged much.

[Shannar, Sealord]

Its been on that base since 1997!

Seriously though, I guess when used to proxy for a phoenix it should be mounted on a 50x100 base. Hopefully it won't get flank charged much.

I moved mine to the larger base when they did the 6e base chart. If I were to go to a tournament I'd put him back on a 40x40 though. After all I'd hate to break the rules

They are the only plastic mini's in my new army so far, so tend to viewed with suspicion by the other troops -

It's a known fact that plastic minis are easier to kill. Much like unpainted ones not managing to hit anything.

[RE.Lee]

I've made some changes to the list. Having only one really threatening unit sucks and in order to add more steel to the list I was forced to drop the phoenix.
The army now looks like this:

Prince (Giant Blade, Dawnstone, Enchanted Shield, barded steed, heavy armour)
Loremaster (Book of Hoeth, Shield of the Merwyrm, Blade of Might, heavy armour)
BSB (Star Lance, Dragon Helm, Pot of Fools, barded steed, shield, two-handed weapon)

10 Silver Helms, full command
2x15 Archers, banner, musician

12 Dragon Princes, full command, BotWD
28 White Lions, full command, BoEF

2 RBTs
2 Eagles

Seems like a much tougher list, though I miss the Phoenix a bit. The loremaster joins the White Lions and pushes forward along the DP bus, buffing as much as he can (Earthblood should keep him and his unit alive). Dragon Princes turn flanks and generally try to do as much damage as possible. The Silverhelms guard the shooting base - I'm tempted to split them into 2 units of 5 for more versatility.

Meanwhile, here are some shots of the troops, most are still in boxes (having been moved from my parents house recently), but this bunch found their way out!









You can see the yet to be assembled Frost Dragon in the last picture

[RE.Lee]

My June pledge is finished - after 4 years of on-off painting I've managed to get my spearmen done. I'm still unsure whether I should add a motif of some sort to the banner. Ideas?

[Elithmar]

I like the spearelves. All of the scale mail makes them look much better than the current models. I think the banner looks quite good as it is. Maybe add a rune to the centre just to make it look even better.

Bravo!

[RE.Lee]

Thanks, will consider a rune for the banner - would you do it in golden? blue? I wanted something more spectacular (a bird or something) but I'm not very good at freehand and I'm afraid to ruin it...

Next up is the frost dragon - I'll start assembly tomorrow. I actually dropped it from my most recent list, but I know it will be back soon

BTW - I've recently made a wet palette for the first time. Incredibly useful stuff!

[Jimmy]

Wow, so clean. Love the Banner, very 'land of the rising sun-ish'.

[RE.Lee]

Seems I'll be keeping just the sun motif unless I get a really great idea

I've started assembling the Frost Dragon. It really is a pain - the big metal elements are quite hard to get together firmly. Anyway, the humble beginnings:

[Elithmar]

Haha, what Jimmy said about the banner makes that dragon look even more oriental!

[RE.Lee]

A little bit of an oriental look is precisely what I'm looking for

Some progress on the dragon. I've tested 3 colour schemes for the belly scales - highlighting from blue, gray and brown. In the end I've decided on the brown-beige one - goes in line the rest of my army nicely and gives some warmer tones to the otherwise cold palette (it was supposed to be a Frost Dragon, though, hmm...).

Anyway:

[RE.Lee]

More WIP. I'm kind of stuck on how to paint the horns and claws - I'm thinking deep red to tie the monster with the rest of my army somewhat. Ideas?