New High Elf army project

Want tips? Have tips? Have pictures even? Well, post them here!

Moderators: The Heralds, The Loremasters

Message
Author
User avatar
Prince of Spires
Auctor Aeternitatum
Posts: 8249
Joined: Wed Apr 22, 2009 1:07 pm
Location: The city of Spires

Re: New High Elf army project

#31 Post by Prince of Spires »

It's really becoming a great looking army. I love the banners from the SM especially. And it's great to see the upcoming batches of models. You've got a lot of stuff lined up :)
Rhelyk wrote:but was utterly mind numbing to do the same figure over and over and over again
I feel for you. I get the same thing when working on larger groups of models. I try to switch things up a bit by usually painting smaller units. Though this was perhaps easier to get away with when I started in 7th edition, where a unit of 10 SM or WL was a terrifying prospect. I always find single models like characters, monsters and chariots very satisfying to paint. Lots of variety on the model and no need to do the same thing multiple times.

I always wonder how horde army players manage. The prospect of having to paint 50+ models for a single unit of skaven slaves is pretty daunting. Though I guess the painting is very different from HE, in that you have a lot less detail on the model and go for acceptable more then perfect.

Rod
For Nagarythe: Come to the dark side.
PS: Bring cookies!

Check out my plog
Painting progress, done/in progress/in box: 167/33/91

Check my writing blog for stories on the Prince of Spires and other pieces of fiction.
SpellArcher
Green Istari
Posts: 13841
Joined: Sat Sep 13, 2008 11:26 am
Location: Otherworld

Re: New High Elf army project

#32 Post by SpellArcher »

Great Archer conversion, simple but very effective.

Currently grinding my way through an O&G army. Happily their 8th Edition lists tend not to feature hundreds of models but as an Elf player my unit of 30 Orcs for example seems really big.
User avatar
Olthannon
Posts: 304
Joined: Tue Jan 22, 2019 3:26 am
Location: UK

Re: New High Elf army project

#33 Post by Olthannon »

Army is coming along nicely! Great looking swordmasters unit, keep up the great work!
One foot in the hobby
User avatar
Prince of Spires
Auctor Aeternitatum
Posts: 8249
Joined: Wed Apr 22, 2009 1:07 pm
Location: The city of Spires

Re: New High Elf army project

#34 Post by Prince of Spires »

SpellArcher wrote:Currently grinding my way through an O&G army. Happily their 8th Edition lists tend not to feature hundreds of models but as an Elf player my unit of 30 Orcs for example seems really big.
Definitely this. 30 models would be a huge, key unit for me (except for spearmen / LSG I think).

(Night) goblins go for 3ppm, so you can get some large units of those. Playing a goblin based force would lead to a lot of little buggers needing to be painted. Still, they do draw on me. I might give in some day...

Rod
For Nagarythe: Come to the dark side.
PS: Bring cookies!

Check out my plog
Painting progress, done/in progress/in box: 167/33/91

Check my writing blog for stories on the Prince of Spires and other pieces of fiction.
SpellArcher
Green Istari
Posts: 13841
Joined: Sat Sep 13, 2008 11:26 am
Location: Otherworld

Re: New High Elf army project

#35 Post by SpellArcher »

Prince of Spires wrote:except for spearmen
Good point. Maybe because the Orcs are bigger and have larger bases?

:)
Prince of Spires wrote:Playing a goblin based force
That way lies madness Rod...
Shannar, Sealord
Very Helpful Elf
Posts: 4031
Joined: Sun Jun 06, 2004 2:10 am
Location: Patroling the Sea Lanes

Re: New High Elf army project

#36 Post by Shannar, Sealord »

Prince of Spires wrote:Playing a goblin based force
That way lies madness Rod...
This is true. My goblins have not progressed beyond various Mordheim gangs with warmachine support. I'm having enough of a struggle to finish 18 scarlocs. 100s or goblins sounds painful.
User avatar
Rhelyk
Posts: 14
Joined: Thu Jan 31, 2019 11:33 pm
Contact:

Re: New High Elf army project

#37 Post by Rhelyk »

Yeah, I made the mistake of buying some orks for 40K some years ago. They're still in a box in my closet with a "someday" label on them. Maybe if I ever live as long as an elf I may get around to actually doing that army. Units of 30 ANYTHING generally aren't something that I approve of!

Regular life has not been playing well with my hobby time, making it difficult to paint, but I did get some models built and primed. Also got a couple more Vanguard games in, so that's always a plus!

Image

First game was Light the Beacon, we rolled up and Norther Alliance decided to attack. Odd setup where the beacon is on a hill near my edge and most of my models need to be 12" away. After setting up we realized the defender only gets 175 points for this mission, so I removed the 2 elves next to the river on my left side before we began. Northern Alliance needs to light the beacon fire by ending a turn having a model in B2B w/ the beacon while no elves are in B2B defending the beacon

Image

End of the first turn, not much happened, just ran more people in to guard the beacon and prepare to counterattack while the northerns pushed up the board. I end the turn w/ 2 spearmen and the Shambler protecting the beacon, a citizen levy behind, my prince taking cover behind a pillar near the right building and my mage & archer on the 2nd story walkway overlooking the main attack run

Image

Turn 2 went very, very badly. He ran the Bear Cavalry right into center of board and said "Come get some!". My Prince activated and got a glorious charge attack , the charge-of-charges! Boosted the attack, exploding "8"s go off, 6 hits at Crushing 2 (-2 to the armor save) and he rolls absolute fire for his saves, only takes a single wound of his 4. Worst yet, his counterattack does 4 wounds to my prince knocking him to the ground and even with a reroll I fail the don't-die-check, and my prince dies on his own activation! My heavy-hitter is down and the Bear Cavalry is Bear-ly scratched. Enemy mage moves up the board and I charge in w/ the Swordmaster (Tallspear w/ extra Greatweapon), who wounds but doesn't kill the mage. His half-elven berserker then charges my Swordmaster and goes full frenzy, carving him into bit-sized chunks of ithilmar armor and blonde hair. Archer does a poor job guessing range and misses, mage fails to do much with a lightning bolt. Bad times, boys.

Image

Mage blasts a few nobodys for light damage, but the enemy champion and a friend charge up the hill and take out the Tallspear and Levy. Berserker charges the Guardian Shambler who mostly shrugs it and smashes the berserker in retaliation, then stomps on the corpse to make sure it stays down.

Image

Turn 4 turns into a mosh pit on the hill with the ranged and casters cheering on from the rafters. Elven mage got to live the dream an tossed an empowered lightning bolt into an unengaged dwarf that splashes to all his friends, so I took a couple extra pics of that:

Image
Image

Didn't do a whole lotta damage in the end, only killed one dwarf and did some wounds to the chieftain, but I got to roll a whole bunch of dice at least so that felt great! Just need to hold out one more turn and...

Image

Derp. Chieftain rolls up into combat aided by the 2 surviving dwarves and they manage to overwhelm the Shambler and light the beacon at the last minute, winning the match for Northern Alliance. Many "Gondor calls for aid!" jokes were made and it was an amazingly close game considering how quickly my Prince died

Game 2 as more of a demo game for another player and once we got his list set up and deployed, we only had time for a half-game before the store closed. Game 2 was "Secure the Portal" against Varanguard (Mortals of Chaos, complete w/ marks of the gods. You earn points by ending a round w/ models in B2B of the portal, but there's a chance to get sucked through it into the Abyss. It's only on D8 roll of 7 or 8, but that wound up being more like a 50-50 chance in this game...

Image

Setup for first turn

Image

End of first turn, mostly just moshing in the middle. It's at this moment I realized I've made a huge mistake and that only Command and Spellcaster models earn extra VP for being B2B with the portal, Support models do NOT earn you extra points. At this point I looked at my opponent and said "well, that means he's going to get sucked through the portal and I'm going to lose a 35 point model for nothing". My opponent has known me for many years, and knows my luck, and replied "Oh Yea, he's a gonner, you've doomed him to an existence of eternal agony". Remember, you ONLY lose a model on a roll of 7 or an 8, so the odds are actually pretty good that he won't get sucked through the portal

Image

Which means I rolled an 8 and he got sucked through the portal. I might have been upset if I hadn't seen it coming the moment I realized Support models don't earn extra points.

Image

End of turn 2, where we had to call it. Rather bloody affair, where my prince cut down a Bloodsworn (Chaos Warrior) only to be charged by a new one, who would be charged by a Tallspear that killed the Bloodsworn, who would be charged by a Bloodsworn killing that Tallspear, who would be charged by a Levy (killing that Bloodsworn) etc etc etc. I think 5 models were taken out in the back and forth and a few more wounded. I ended the turn (and the game) runnin my Mage into the portal, knowing full damned well that he's get sucked through. Sure enough, rolled a 7 and down the mage went. I began singing "I want it now!" in my head as I pictured him diving right in after his beloved arcane construct like Varuca Salt's father in Willie Wonka.

I technically won that game 6-4 because of that, but mostly it was just to show how the game plays soe we can get a third player and maybe start an actual campaign.


On the modelling front, I got another 10 Spearmen converted up. Need 5 more for the full unit of 20 (the first 5 are already painted). Need to figure out what to do for the unit champion, the sword arms I have that look right wonn't actully work on a model that needs to rank up, and the ones I have that will rank up don't match the style of the rest of them. The Anointed of Asuryan has been built for a while, just got him primed today since the weather was nice, and built 4 more Ellyrian Reavers to fill out a unit of 5. I need to do a full unit of 10, but I'm not looking forward to that one. Hoping to get some paint on models this week

Image

Image

Image
User avatar
Prince of Spires
Auctor Aeternitatum
Posts: 8249
Joined: Wed Apr 22, 2009 1:07 pm
Location: The city of Spires

Re: New High Elf army project

#38 Post by Prince of Spires »

SpellArcher wrote:
Prince of Spires wrote:Playing a goblin based force
That way lies madness Rod...
I know, I know. Which is why I've been able to resist the lure. But they still whisper to me. I might give in some day... (though I first have to get all hobby stuff sorted etc).

I like the vanguard games. They read like loads of fun. And the terrain is great! it does sound like you need to start making some serious sacrifices to the dice gods though. Although Terry Pratchett did teach us that 1-in-a-million chances tend to occur about 9 times out of 10. So there is that... ;)

Rod
For Nagarythe: Come to the dark side.
PS: Bring cookies!

Check out my plog
Painting progress, done/in progress/in box: 167/33/91

Check my writing blog for stories on the Prince of Spires and other pieces of fiction.
SpellArcher
Green Istari
Posts: 13841
Joined: Sat Sep 13, 2008 11:26 am
Location: Otherworld

Re: New High Elf army project

#39 Post by SpellArcher »

Prince of Spires wrote:And the terrain is great!
Dig those yellow trees! The games seem quite bloody.
Rhelyk wrote:Spearmen
These are looking very promising.
Botjer
Posts: 347
Joined: Fri May 14, 2010 11:49 am

Re: New High Elf army project

#40 Post by Botjer »

Im having trouble with heads for my archers.
Right now im pondering taking spears and heads from seaguard, to put on dreadspears, then taking the dreadspear heads and putting on archers XD
I want a simpler solution.
As in just getting heads from somewhere.
Wallack
Posts: 15
Joined: Mon Jun 24, 2013 3:57 pm

Re: New High Elf army project

#41 Post by Wallack »

Sorry for the necropost. I want more pictures!

I always thought of using the eternal guard as spearmen but that was before the new dreadspears came out, and then I thought I could use them as spearmen (even as archers but that's just me). So I'm happy to see them both here.
User avatar
Rhelyk
Posts: 14
Joined: Thu Jan 31, 2019 11:33 pm
Contact:

Re: New High Elf army project

#42 Post by Rhelyk »

Quite the hiatus, but we're back! My friend and I finally decided that board games were just not enough and we needed to get real minis back on the table again and actually play with the stuff we've been talking about for the last few years, so he pulled his Dwarves out of their dusty case and I got my Elves...playable enough... and we threw down about a month ago. Played 3 games of 6th ed WHFB and have a 4th planned next week since then, and it's gotten me painting High Elves agani for the first time in 3 years

Army ready for game 1. Some lat minute stand-ins as I have lost a repeater bolt thrower and crew, never finished the spearmen unit, and filled out the units with some ebay rescues for Silver Helms
Image

First game ever with the High Elves. Went pretty well, although my kitchen table is only 3' deep so we had short deployment zones and had some extra units fleeing off tables than we should. Close game, but Helves snatched a solid victory!. And then a second solid victory after a reset and go-again.
Image

3rd game a couple weeks later, this time at the FLGS for a full table.
Image

Played a Resurgence mission with an odd deployment, another close game that could have gone either way, but Helves cinched a 3rd victory of the dirty dirty dwarves, and I decided I should really REALLY be painting these guys again, so I did. Got the archers and proper bolt thrower crewmen painted up, depsite the archers being useless. I think they averaged 1 kill per game against the dwarves. Hopefully being painted will increase their effectiveness. Painted the Eagles next, which were quick, and then spent the last week converting the 4th rank of spearmen and painted 3 ranks, so that's 10 archers, 15 spearmen, 4 crewmen and 2 eagles done. Bolt throwers are primed and ready for paint tonight.
Image

Image

Image

Still need to convert 8 more Silver Helms from Dark Elf riders and then paint all the cavalry, not looking forward to that, but they're looking good so far
SpellArcher
Green Istari
Posts: 13841
Joined: Sat Sep 13, 2008 11:26 am
Location: Otherworld

Re: New High Elf army project

#43 Post by SpellArcher »

Rhelyk wrote: Quite the hiatus, but we're back!
Welcome back Rhelyk.

:)
Rhelyk wrote: Played 3 games of 6th ed WHFB and have a 4th planned next week since then, and it's gotten me painting High Elves agani for the first time in 3 years
Hurrah!
Rhelyk wrote: Helves cinched a 3rd victory
Well played.
Rhelyk wrote: Hopefully being painted will increase their effectiveness.
Very likely, in my experience and I love the spear unit!
User avatar
Rhelyk
Posts: 14
Joined: Thu Jan 31, 2019 11:33 pm
Contact:

Re: New High Elf army project

#44 Post by Rhelyk »

Bolt throwers and the mounted Noble done, just leaves 18 cavalry to paint

Image

Image
SpellArcher
Green Istari
Posts: 13841
Joined: Sat Sep 13, 2008 11:26 am
Location: Otherworld

Re: New High Elf army project

#45 Post by SpellArcher »

Rhelyk wrote: Sun Aug 28, 2022 8:24 amNoble
I like the colour balance here, the gold, blue and darker metal work nicely.
User avatar
Prince of Spires
Auctor Aeternitatum
Posts: 8249
Joined: Wed Apr 22, 2009 1:07 pm
Location: The city of Spires

Re: New High Elf army project

#46 Post by Prince of Spires »

Great to see you back again. And great to get some games in.

The painted models look pretty great. You've really pulled off the traditional blue-white scheme, and you've got some crips and clean models. And the cream bases work really well.
Rhelyk wrote: Fri Aug 26, 2022 5:30 pm Got the archers and proper bolt thrower crewmen painted up, depsite the archers being useless. I think they averaged 1 kill per game against the dwarves. Hopefully being painted will increase their effectiveness.
It sounds like your archers and bolt throwers are just as blind as mine. :)

I think the smaller table may have played a role in it the first two games. I've played a few on a similar sized table, and you tend to very quickly get face to face with your opponent. Firing lanes are also blocked more easily, which doesn't help with the accuracy. And finally, I think the dwarves are probably one of the worst targets for light shooting. Everything is armored and T4 or higher. So even if you do hit, your opponent has a pretty decent chance of saving. You're at best probalby looking at 4+ to hit, 5+ to wound and a 5+ or better save (for regular archers). That's something like a 10% chance of doing a wound.
Rhelyk wrote: Fri Aug 26, 2022 5:30 pm Painted the Eagles next, which were quick, and then spent the last week converting the 4th rank of spearmen and painted 3 ranks, so that's 10 archers, 15 spearmen, 4 crewmen and 2 eagles done. Bolt throwers are primed and ready for paint tonight.
Well done! That's a lot of stuff painted. Keep us updated on the progress.
For Nagarythe: Come to the dark side.
PS: Bring cookies!

Check out my plog
Painting progress, done/in progress/in box: 167/33/91

Check my writing blog for stories on the Prince of Spires and other pieces of fiction.
User avatar
Rhelyk
Posts: 14
Joined: Thu Jan 31, 2019 11:33 pm
Contact:

Re: New High Elf army project

#47 Post by Rhelyk »

Thanks guys, appreciate the positive feedback
It sounds like your archers and bolt throwers are just as blind as mine. :)
Just the archers actually, my bolt throwers do so well that my opponent complains about them being too powerful. A Dwarf player, who brings an organ gun every game, thinks elven bolt throwers are overpowered because they can shoot 6 times at S4 :D I tried not to laugh in his face, I really did. I failed, but I tried :P

We have another game planned for this Saturday, his first game using Empire. Hopefully the archers will fair better between the new paint and T3 humans. No idea what he's bringing, or even what I'd change if I did know, so I'm just trying to get as much done as I can in the meantime. Got the unit of Dragon Princes about half done, hopfully finish base coating and washes tonight, highlights and basing tomorrow. If the week goes very well then maybe get the other 4 Ellyrian Reavers done too, but that may be pushing it.
Post Reply