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

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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

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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

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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

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

[Anduil of Elithis]

Treasure!

I dug through my old bits and did indeed find some old high elf models from the Blood Island box that might be salvaged. On the Sea Guard I wanted to try some different colours many years ago and my daughters tried their hands on the Swordmasters. I think some repriming and these models could be repainted. With some unfinished White Lions, these are the few WHF models left for me to paint before I can claim the holy grail of a fully painted army

For my Warmaster army, however, there are a lot more models to paint...

[Prince of Spires]

these are the few WHF models left for me to paint before I can claim the holy grail of a fully painted army

No! It can not be! Quick, buy some more models...

Kidding. It does sound like a very impressive collection you have there. Even with 1.6k models for core, you could still build a 6.4k army. Which would look massive and awesome on the table. I think I can get to about 4k fully painted. And if I stretch it, maybe roughly 5k. Though that was 8th ed. points, I haven't added up the points for TOW.

[Anduil of Elithis]

these are the few WHF models left for me to paint before I can claim the holy grail of a fully painted army

No! It can not be! Quick, buy some more models...

Well, I still miss a Skycutter and a Phoenix in the army, but without owning a gold mine, these are difficult to come by these days. Maybe this will change once GW re-releases them for the Arcane Jounal of the High Elves.

Kidding. It does sound like a very impressive collection you have there. Even with 1.6k models for core, you could still build a 6.4k army. Which would look massive and awesome on the table. I think I can get to about 4k fully painted. And if I stretch it, maybe roughly 5k. Though that was 8th ed. points, I haven't added up the points for TOW.

I think that is still a really impressive painted force you own as well. Do you have any army shot at hand?

[Prince of Spires]

I still miss a Skycutter and a Phoenix in the army, but without owning a gold mine, these are difficult to come by these days. Maybe this will change once GW re-releases them for the Arcane Jounal of the High Elves.

Finding a gold mine might be easier than getting affordable versions of them. Though I indeed do have good hopes that GW will simply re-release them for a good price (well, good for GW standards at least).

I spotted a single sort of affordable Skycutter on ebay: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/296393312249 though with 4 days left in the auction, I think that will rise some more...

I think that is still a really impressive painted force you own as well. Do you have any army shot at hand?

I don't actually. Good point. I do have a few battle reports floating around with photos in them, but no recent army shot. I'll add it to my todo list

[Anduil of Elithis]

Finding a gold mine might be easier than getting affordable versions of them. Though I indeed do have good hopes that GW will simply re-release them for a good price (well, good for GW standards at least).

Looking at the prices of other re-released models for TOW, this is probably the best we can hope for. While none of these have been cheap, they seem less expensive than units in AoS or 40k. Fingers crossed this will continue for the high elves release.
On German ebay Skycutters usually go for 150+€, which is more than I am willing to pay.

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Now, back to the Elves of Tor Elithis!
While designing the army's background, I decided on a few core concepts that connect the Elithesi to or differentiates them from the Asur of Ulthuan, some of which I would like to sketch today. Very curious to hear your thoughts on these.

Geography and climate:
The islands of Elithis can be roughly compared to the location of the island states of Southeast Asia, e.g. Indonesia, the Philippines or Papua New Guinea, due to the connection of the WHF world to our world. I therefore see Elithis as being characterized by the interplay of the sea, subtropical climate, volcanism and dense jungles. All of this has an influence on the culture of the elves there. The realm cannot be completely traveled by horse or foot, which makes seafaring is even more essential than on Ulthuan. Like the Annulli Mountains of Ulthuan, the volcanic peaks and deep forests create many areas that could hardly ever be permanently controlled by the elves of Elithis. The elven civilizations are therefore concentrated on the coasts, while the inland leaves room for other cultures and creatures in many places.

History and relationship with Ulthuan:
For a long time after their colonization in the Age of Bel-Shannar, the elves of Elithis stood firmly at Ulthuan's side and were part of the Phoenix Throne's domain. With the edict to abandon the colonies after the War of the Beard, however, they parted ways. Like the Asrai, the Elithesi defied this order and even renounced their membership of the Phoenix Court after a dispute with Ulthuan. Ulthuan could not risk a military confrontation far from the weakened homeland and subsequently chose to isolate Elithis. The passage of Calith was denied to ships from Elithis, as was contact with the remaining colonies in southern Lustria. This ushered in a phase of separate development that would last for close to three thousand years until Ulthuan would once again turn its gaze to the far east. Only under later phoenix kings such as Bel-Hathor was there a rapprochement again, although by then the culture of the Elithesi was able to take its own path. The current connection with Ulthuan is strong again.

Religion:
The Elithesi continue to follow the elven pantheon, but as in the cultures of the Asur, Asrai and Druchii, the realities of life have a decisive influence on the positions of the deities in the pantheon and on their primary aspects. The most important deities on Elithis are Addaioth, whose fire lifted the islands of Elithis out of the sea and thus made life possible, just as it shapes life there, and Mathlann, who as lord of the sea connects the island kingdom, creates the food base and can protect and punish with his storms.

[Anduil of Elithis]

Some weeks of silence, but I have not been idle. It's just that I spent time painting my AoS version of the Elithesi. For some time, I had drafted a rough idea of some of the Elithesi having escaped the destruction of the World That Was in some magical mirrors and were freed again in Ghyran to form a new elven realm. I am not sure whether I will keep that thread alive, but on the other hand, it allows for some continuity in the story of the Elithesi.

Once these are done, I will look at painting the old Swordmasters above.

[Prince of Spires]

I love the paint jobs on these models. It's reminiscent of the traditional blue and white elven paint scheme, but in a more mature way (if that makes sense). They're also lovely models (even if they have silly helmets).

[Anduil of Elithis]

I love the paint jobs on these models. It's reminiscent of the traditional blue and white elven paint scheme, but in a more mature way (if that makes sense). They're also lovely models (even if they have silly helmets).

Thank you for the compliments. It is an evolution of my old WHF paint scheme, which was designed around turquoise, black, gold and some pink spot elements.

When I started my Warmaster and AoS versions of the Elithesi, I wanted to keep the idea of that design, but change it to work with GW's contrast paints and to get rid of the black elements. This is the result and I am quite happy with it. It can be applied reasonably quick, even with highly detailed miniatures like elves tend to be and the result works on the gaming table.

[Prince of Spires]

It's a paint scheme to be proud of

Reasonably quick to apply is a great bonus. When painting my High Elves, I always feel like I'm spending way too much time on them. Especially when finishing off all the ridiculous details. The last rounds of painting always end up being a game of "hunt the gem"...

[Anduil of Elithis]

Oh I know that "game"... the spearelves above have about 15 gems per model

[Anduil of Elithis]

Work has commenced on the old Swordmasters. Man, those are a lot quicker to paint than the Lumineth Spearelves. And it feels a bit nostalgic to be painting those old models after so many years...

[Prince of Spires]

Work has commenced on the old Swordmasters. Man, those are a lot quicker to paint than the Lumineth Spearelves. And it feels a bit nostalgic to be painting those old models after so many years...

And I already found them slow to paint...

I love some of the older HE models. They have a simplicity compared to the newer models that gives them a more regal feel somehow.

[Anduil of Elithis]

And I already found them slow to paint...

It's all about those contrast paints...

[Anduil of Elithis]

Somehow the Swordmasters had to take the backseat again. These Lumi... eh Silverhelms were requested by the Elithesii court instead, so I had to start painting them

[Prince of Spires]

Damn those Silverhelms charging in from the flank, swooping away all attention... Those Swordmasters have worked hard at gettting ready to die valiantly, getting ready to earn their paint!

They are lovely dinamic models though, and I'm looking forward to what you can do with them! Keep us updated.

[Anduil of Elithis]

No painting done these past weeks, but I have just signed up for a three round narrative campaign at our annual hobby weekend in February with a group of tabletop and boardgame players. I enjoy these meetups a lot and am looking very much forward to it!

List building will follow soon!
This will be a campaign with increasing army sizes (750, 1500 and 2250) and the following army building restrictions:

Rules for 750 point armies

• At least 1 unit of infantry with unit strength 15+
  + Addition for 1500 points and 2250 points armies (i.e. the second and third 750 points): ...without ranged weapons with a range of 12 inches or more, which is not deployed as skirmishers.
  For the first army (i.e. 750 points), army restrictions of 0-1 per 1000 points (from the army list in your book) count as 0-1 per 750 points. From 1500 points, these count again as 0-1 per 1000 points.
  Maximum 0-1 per 750 point army for the following unit types and rules:
  - War machine (spear throwers and war machine-like firearms for infantry count as 0.5)
  - Unit or character with the unit type chariot/with special rule Flying
  - Magic projectile (determine all spells simultaneously, then discard, then select if selectable), maximum each magic vortex 1 time in entire army (2250)
  - Monster (Behemoth or monstrous creature)
  - Each datasheet (so no duplicate units in 750 point armies)

Rules for the entire armies (no matter at which point level)

• No Wizard level 3 or 4 (in the whole army)
  Maximum 1 monster with special rule Flying in entire army (2250 points)
  Maximum 400 points per unit/model
  Maximum 40% of points for characters (may be higher in the second and third army as long as total points equal 40%, i.e. after 1500 points in the second army and 2250 points in the third)

[Anduil of Elithis]

Got a bit of painting done this evening. I guess I need to build a routine again to get more done.

[Turion Rilyaloce]

Looking good

[Anduil of Elithis]

Looking good

Thanks! None of the two are finished yet, but I've been making good progress this evening.

Maybe I should bring one of the Warmaster spearelves in the background to the same painting stage, so one can see how the same colour scheme works on the different model sizes

[Turion Rilyaloce]

That would be pretty cool

[Anduil of Elithis]

That would be pretty cool

As requested

Difficult to make useful pictures of so differently sized miniatures

[Anduil of Elithis]

Kids playing outside with friends - good time to pick up the brush!

[Turion Rilyaloce]

Kids playing outside with friends - good time to pick up the brush!

Great time. Have fun!

[Anduil of Elithis]

Got some more work done on the Swordmasters. The last larger surface paint will be pink and then it is time for a few smaller details before I do the bases.