Althran's Host
Moderators: The Heralds, The Loremasters
Althran's Host
Hi all you honorable citizens of Ulthuan,
Welcome to my army blog!
Here I will be sharing the painting, planning and battles of my High Elves (and maybe some of their forest cousins).
A bit about me:
My first brush with warhammer was the release of MESBG and a box of numenoreans, and later the mines of moria set, whose remnants still lurk in my parents' attic.
I fell in love with high elves at age 11 (i think) right around the release of 7th edition (hence my profile pic)I swiftly acquired (via christmas gifts) some metal white lions, a white lion chariot, Korhil and a bolt thrower.
Reading the army book and the WE armybook religiously on long train rides, meticulously noting the units and comparing them to my own small collection is a core memory for me.
I am still on the hunt for those books.
I kept painting for a few years, but lost interest once I became (wrongly) convinced that girls would find my hobby a deciding factor in not talking to me, I am sure many here can relate.
After high school I had a shitty and stressful job, and spurned on by the recent release of total war warhammer 1, I went up to the attic and brought back my favorite pointy eared lads.
Painting up those models from my childhood was a an excellent decompression habit after work, and I have been hooked ever since.
Imagine my surprise when I realized that my childhoold army(ies) had all been canned in favor of AOS, so I scoured the internet and slowly grew a small force. My initial plan was to paint at least one unit of each, along with the character models, which I have largely kept.
I tried a few games of AOS proxying my Helves as lumineth which honestly felt a bit depressing as I wanted to experience the lore and storycrafting that comes from playing with an army rooted in the universe of the game. I also had one terrible game of 7th ed against dwarves where I got beaten soundly, if there is interest ill write a humorous account of that.
I have been lurking around here for over a year now, reading many of the excellent army blogs, painting guides and mostly strategy guides following TOWs release.
Special mention to the cavalry prince for some excellent discussions, that really taught me a lot about how to assess our units.
So now that I have long-windedly introduced myself to all of you, its time to get to the business of what models I have painted up, and which I am painting up currently:
I started by painting up some test models for my different units, and as I am frankly a quite slow painter I enjoy taking my time with them:
Swordmaster in the colors of saphery, currently making a unit of these:
Silver helms: A small bolt thrower diorama I made after stripping my childhood paint job off the models: White lion champion and a Korhil mini I painted up for oldendemon, the difference between them is two years roughly:
Regiment of 20 Saphery archers I recently finished: Sister of Avelorn test model:
Whats on the workbench today ?:
I am preparing for a small 1000 pts intro game to TOW with a friend who plays empire, so I have been painting up my namesake.
Tune in for next write up when I share some wood elves, and progress on Althran, and potentially even the results of my first TOW battle.
Thanks for reading this far !
Welcome to my army blog!
Here I will be sharing the painting, planning and battles of my High Elves (and maybe some of their forest cousins).
A bit about me:
My first brush with warhammer was the release of MESBG and a box of numenoreans, and later the mines of moria set, whose remnants still lurk in my parents' attic.
I fell in love with high elves at age 11 (i think) right around the release of 7th edition (hence my profile pic)I swiftly acquired (via christmas gifts) some metal white lions, a white lion chariot, Korhil and a bolt thrower.
Reading the army book and the WE armybook religiously on long train rides, meticulously noting the units and comparing them to my own small collection is a core memory for me.
I am still on the hunt for those books.
I kept painting for a few years, but lost interest once I became (wrongly) convinced that girls would find my hobby a deciding factor in not talking to me, I am sure many here can relate.
After high school I had a shitty and stressful job, and spurned on by the recent release of total war warhammer 1, I went up to the attic and brought back my favorite pointy eared lads.
Painting up those models from my childhood was a an excellent decompression habit after work, and I have been hooked ever since.
Imagine my surprise when I realized that my childhoold army(ies) had all been canned in favor of AOS, so I scoured the internet and slowly grew a small force. My initial plan was to paint at least one unit of each, along with the character models, which I have largely kept.
I tried a few games of AOS proxying my Helves as lumineth which honestly felt a bit depressing as I wanted to experience the lore and storycrafting that comes from playing with an army rooted in the universe of the game. I also had one terrible game of 7th ed against dwarves where I got beaten soundly, if there is interest ill write a humorous account of that.
I have been lurking around here for over a year now, reading many of the excellent army blogs, painting guides and mostly strategy guides following TOWs release.
Special mention to the cavalry prince for some excellent discussions, that really taught me a lot about how to assess our units.
So now that I have long-windedly introduced myself to all of you, its time to get to the business of what models I have painted up, and which I am painting up currently:
I started by painting up some test models for my different units, and as I am frankly a quite slow painter I enjoy taking my time with them:
Swordmaster in the colors of saphery, currently making a unit of these:
Silver helms: A small bolt thrower diorama I made after stripping my childhood paint job off the models: White lion champion and a Korhil mini I painted up for oldendemon, the difference between them is two years roughly:
Regiment of 20 Saphery archers I recently finished: Sister of Avelorn test model:
Whats on the workbench today ?:
I am preparing for a small 1000 pts intro game to TOW with a friend who plays empire, so I have been painting up my namesake.
Tune in for next write up when I share some wood elves, and progress on Althran, and potentially even the results of my first TOW battle.
Thanks for reading this far !
- TyrrenAzureblade
- Posts: 363
- Joined: Thu Aug 06, 2020 11:55 pm
- Location: Seattle, WA
- Contact:
Re: Althran's Host
Phenomenal! Can't wait to see an army shot once you have enough elves painted up.
- Prince of Spires
- Auctor Aeternitatum
- Posts: 8510
- Joined: Wed Apr 22, 2009 1:07 pm
- Location: The city of Spires
Re: Althran's Host
They look amazing. The blue-yellow-white works really well together. I love how it both feels traditional and fresh. So keep the pictures coming! Also, +1 for an army shot
As a side note, I think most people are slow painters. It takes a while to get all the little bits of an elf model painted. There's so much stuff on them. So don't worry about that. If you keep at it, you'll look back at some point and realize you suddenly own 10.000 pts of High Elves... Also, find a friend to play with who doesn't care if all models are painted or not, and who will let you proxie models. That way, you can try out stuff faster than if you need everything assembled and painted.
And I'd love to read the humorous account of your run in with the dwarves. I'd just call it a tactical retreat instead of a loss
As a side note, I think most people are slow painters. It takes a while to get all the little bits of an elf model painted. There's so much stuff on them. So don't worry about that. If you keep at it, you'll look back at some point and realize you suddenly own 10.000 pts of High Elves... Also, find a friend to play with who doesn't care if all models are painted or not, and who will let you proxie models. That way, you can try out stuff faster than if you need everything assembled and painted.
And I'd love to read the humorous account of your run in with the dwarves. I'd just call it a tactical retreat instead of a loss
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.
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.
Re: Althran's Host
Hi All you wonderful fans of all things pointy eared.
@TyrrenAzureBlade and @Prince of Spires thank you for your kind words about my models and the advice on starting to play! I plan to proxy a combo of spears and archers for sea guard for my first game.
I am mostly writing these entries to give a sort of journal to myself about the status of my backlog of high elf and wood elf figures (no dwindling population of elves here).
It is a pleasant surprise that my last entry got two more responses than I expected!
For this entry I have dug out all my painted high elves, since 100% of responders requested an army shot.
I haven’t yet played my intro game of TOW, but for your enjoyment here is a short account of my first and only foray into WHFB 7th ed, or why I learned to stop worrying and dislike dwarfs:
So I had played two intro games to AOS in my local GW store, both of which was me trying to figure out what the hell was going on, and promptly seeing my lovingly painted models get clobbered first by some goblins and then by some ironjawz. The highlight of the second game was watching my flames pyre phoenix get killed by an orc shaman in melee, I think at that point I decided that I did not understand this strange game.
Well the manager at the local GW was a nice guy and even though his intro-sportsmanship skills left something to be desired, he wrote me an email a few weeks later saying that someone had asked if they ever run any WHFB in store. He asked if he could forward my info, to which I agreed.
Now I consider myself someone who has perfectly passable social skills, and I think that this extends to group I regularly paint with. I had read that pick up intro games could be rough but I figured that it couldn’t be that bad….. right ?
So I met up with this guy who was going to run dwarfs 7th ed. He had insisted on 7th edition even though I had the 8th edition HE book, but not to worry he had the 7th ed one for my army as well. “Fine” I thought, “what do I know, its not like I have tried any of them”.
I asked if we could meet for a beer maybe and he could give a run-through of the gist of the game, to which he agreed, which ended up mostly being him rapidly riffling through the rulebook and reading “key parts” out loud. At this point I was fairly apprehensive, but “screw it !” I thought, “at least ill get to play my elves as actual elves!”.
Game day:
We met at the store and our 500 pt lists where a little something like this:
Me:
16 spears
2 eagles
8 white lions
Korhil
Him:
20 warriors
12 crossbows
1 lord
Now a small note of itemisation: I had decided against bringing any kind of wild stuff since I figured I would rather start out by just understanding the game, so no cloak of beards or magic etc. He however had decided that the “abridged” version of the game was plenty and had promptly decked out his lord with some anti magic item, a beefed up hammer that could be thrown (with killing blow I believe?).
Back to the game:
When I saw the layout of the battle I knew the game was rigged from the start. The store manager had decided to let me assault from the sea into a small dwarves village. This meant that my opponent deployed diagonally across from me inside a small fort with a narrow (5 x 20mm) wide entrance, with his missiles on a hill in the back of the walled section.
The game went something like this:
I moved my eagles behind the walls to hopefully fly over them and attack his missiles, while my infantry hurried through the entry. I spent an entire turn messing about that gate ( and getting shot in the process), because I was first advised to move through the gate, but since it was so narrow once I had done 50 % of the move I was told that I had to reform since one lion warrior was taking up exactly enough space such that the spear block couldn’t move through.
So after two turns of playing “Konga-line under fire” I finally got to the point of fighting which meant I charged my spearmen into him, the white lions to the flank, and the eagles to the crossbows hoping to stop them shooting into my units fighting his (a later google search told me that apparently this is not possible apparently). Korhil promptly got killed by his lord in a challenge, and then it was just me rolling a lot of dice which did nothing since all his units where impossibly well armoured, finally ending in my units routing and getting run down. During the slog fest my two eagles also got killed by a single line of crossbows.
So after spending several hours preparing, painting and playing I felt thoroughly demoralised and decided that:
Dont play randoms for intro games, play your friends instead
Research extensively
Adjust expectations I tried to do this by saying “hey man this is my first ever game could we just make it fun and casual ?”, apparently this needs further explaining….
I hate dwarfs
Phew, now that the dirty laundry is aired, here are some painting news:
I finished my namesake! This means that the next model on the bench is a wizard.
Thanks for reading all this way. Tune in next where I show some of our leafy cousins, and report from my first TOW battle.
See you next time !
Done Althran:
Army pics: Next up:
@TyrrenAzureBlade and @Prince of Spires thank you for your kind words about my models and the advice on starting to play! I plan to proxy a combo of spears and archers for sea guard for my first game.
I am mostly writing these entries to give a sort of journal to myself about the status of my backlog of high elf and wood elf figures (no dwindling population of elves here).
It is a pleasant surprise that my last entry got two more responses than I expected!
For this entry I have dug out all my painted high elves, since 100% of responders requested an army shot.
I haven’t yet played my intro game of TOW, but for your enjoyment here is a short account of my first and only foray into WHFB 7th ed, or why I learned to stop worrying and dislike dwarfs:
So I had played two intro games to AOS in my local GW store, both of which was me trying to figure out what the hell was going on, and promptly seeing my lovingly painted models get clobbered first by some goblins and then by some ironjawz. The highlight of the second game was watching my flames pyre phoenix get killed by an orc shaman in melee, I think at that point I decided that I did not understand this strange game.
Well the manager at the local GW was a nice guy and even though his intro-sportsmanship skills left something to be desired, he wrote me an email a few weeks later saying that someone had asked if they ever run any WHFB in store. He asked if he could forward my info, to which I agreed.
Now I consider myself someone who has perfectly passable social skills, and I think that this extends to group I regularly paint with. I had read that pick up intro games could be rough but I figured that it couldn’t be that bad….. right ?
So I met up with this guy who was going to run dwarfs 7th ed. He had insisted on 7th edition even though I had the 8th edition HE book, but not to worry he had the 7th ed one for my army as well. “Fine” I thought, “what do I know, its not like I have tried any of them”.
I asked if we could meet for a beer maybe and he could give a run-through of the gist of the game, to which he agreed, which ended up mostly being him rapidly riffling through the rulebook and reading “key parts” out loud. At this point I was fairly apprehensive, but “screw it !” I thought, “at least ill get to play my elves as actual elves!”.
Game day:
We met at the store and our 500 pt lists where a little something like this:
Me:
16 spears
2 eagles
8 white lions
Korhil
Him:
20 warriors
12 crossbows
1 lord
Now a small note of itemisation: I had decided against bringing any kind of wild stuff since I figured I would rather start out by just understanding the game, so no cloak of beards or magic etc. He however had decided that the “abridged” version of the game was plenty and had promptly decked out his lord with some anti magic item, a beefed up hammer that could be thrown (with killing blow I believe?).
Back to the game:
When I saw the layout of the battle I knew the game was rigged from the start. The store manager had decided to let me assault from the sea into a small dwarves village. This meant that my opponent deployed diagonally across from me inside a small fort with a narrow (5 x 20mm) wide entrance, with his missiles on a hill in the back of the walled section.
The game went something like this:
I moved my eagles behind the walls to hopefully fly over them and attack his missiles, while my infantry hurried through the entry. I spent an entire turn messing about that gate ( and getting shot in the process), because I was first advised to move through the gate, but since it was so narrow once I had done 50 % of the move I was told that I had to reform since one lion warrior was taking up exactly enough space such that the spear block couldn’t move through.
So after two turns of playing “Konga-line under fire” I finally got to the point of fighting which meant I charged my spearmen into him, the white lions to the flank, and the eagles to the crossbows hoping to stop them shooting into my units fighting his (a later google search told me that apparently this is not possible apparently). Korhil promptly got killed by his lord in a challenge, and then it was just me rolling a lot of dice which did nothing since all his units where impossibly well armoured, finally ending in my units routing and getting run down. During the slog fest my two eagles also got killed by a single line of crossbows.
So after spending several hours preparing, painting and playing I felt thoroughly demoralised and decided that:
Dont play randoms for intro games, play your friends instead
Research extensively
Adjust expectations I tried to do this by saying “hey man this is my first ever game could we just make it fun and casual ?”, apparently this needs further explaining….
I hate dwarfs
Phew, now that the dirty laundry is aired, here are some painting news:
I finished my namesake! This means that the next model on the bench is a wizard.
Thanks for reading all this way. Tune in next where I show some of our leafy cousins, and report from my first TOW battle.
See you next time !
Done Althran:
Army pics: Next up:
Re: Althran's Host
Althran hail!
Dude if the amount of focus you’ve piled into these models is in anyway indicative of the stress levels you encounter at work then must be one stressed worker. They’re absolutely outstanding. Beautiful work - thanks for sharing!
I feel your pain with that dwarf game. Take solace from the fact that dwarfs are essentially unhappy people hiding their rage, disappointment and beer breath under those beards.
Let us raise a glass of fine wine to your hobby, and to honourable opponents!
Dude if the amount of focus you’ve piled into these models is in anyway indicative of the stress levels you encounter at work then must be one stressed worker. They’re absolutely outstanding. Beautiful work - thanks for sharing!
I feel your pain with that dwarf game. Take solace from the fact that dwarfs are essentially unhappy people hiding their rage, disappointment and beer breath under those beards.
Let us raise a glass of fine wine to your hobby, and to honourable opponents!
The Cavalry Prince - List Design, Tactics, Battle Reports
http://www.ulthuan.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=76&t=33584
http://www.ulthuan.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=76&t=33584
- TyrrenAzureblade
- Posts: 363
- Joined: Thu Aug 06, 2020 11:55 pm
- Location: Seattle, WA
- Contact:
Re: Althran's Host
Sorry your experience was an un-fun one. That sounds like a bad time, and like your opponent definitely tailored their list away from the "casual and fun" end of the spectrum. I personally wouldn't play that person again. Regardless, your models are looking great! I hope you get some time to read and research your rule books so you'll be better prepared for next time. High Elves play very differently from edition to edition. If you haven't already read through the archives here, there's a lot of sound advice and strategy for High Elves through the history of the game system.
Re: Althran's Host
@Seredain
Lovely to see you here ! I have been reading your TOW tactics discussions with great interest. I am really keen on getting some TOW games in (first one the day after tomorrow, my friend and I are showing up to our FLGS with fully painted armies each.)
I definitely used to be stressed, now my job is more flexible but when I began it was all early mornings and getting yelled at.
Yeah I tried to make it an entertaining read, but the pain must have shone through haha. I agree with your assessment of dwarf players, the grumpy little gnomes!
I raise one back!
@Tyrren
Yeah it was a shitty time but you live and learn. Playing with randoms for intro games is not great haha. Thanks for the kind word on the models, it means a lot! Yes I have been devouring all tactica for TOW about HE that I could find. Currently I am thinking of a list for 1000 pt games that is :
Archmage lvl 4
noble on griffon
20 ish seaguard (mixed archers and spears proxied as sea guard)
bolt thrower
6-7 swordmasters or white lions
white lion chariot
The list is primarily formed by me only wanting to bring painted models and by being a slow painter !
Lovely to see you here ! I have been reading your TOW tactics discussions with great interest. I am really keen on getting some TOW games in (first one the day after tomorrow, my friend and I are showing up to our FLGS with fully painted armies each.)
I definitely used to be stressed, now my job is more flexible but when I began it was all early mornings and getting yelled at.
Yeah I tried to make it an entertaining read, but the pain must have shone through haha. I agree with your assessment of dwarf players, the grumpy little gnomes!
I raise one back!
@Tyrren
Yeah it was a shitty time but you live and learn. Playing with randoms for intro games is not great haha. Thanks for the kind word on the models, it means a lot! Yes I have been devouring all tactica for TOW about HE that I could find. Currently I am thinking of a list for 1000 pt games that is :
Archmage lvl 4
noble on griffon
20 ish seaguard (mixed archers and spears proxied as sea guard)
bolt thrower
6-7 swordmasters or white lions
white lion chariot
The list is primarily formed by me only wanting to bring painted models and by being a slow painter !
- TyrrenAzureblade
- Posts: 363
- Joined: Thu Aug 06, 2020 11:55 pm
- Location: Seattle, WA
- Contact:
Re: Althran's Host
I just had my own less than enjoyable game against a player that had a very snippy and sharp attitude, and misused a lot of rules I was unfamiliar with. After the first turn, I just decided to throw the game to get out of there ASAP. It was a miserable waste of time.
Also, I have ~7 Island of Blood Lothern Sea Guard that are slightly damaged (all the quillons on the spearheads are broken off) I'd be willing to part with to a good home if you can cover shipping! I already have 30, and I don't think I'll be fielding more than that in TOW any time soon, unless maybe the Arcane Journal makes them overpowered...
Also, I have ~7 Island of Blood Lothern Sea Guard that are slightly damaged (all the quillons on the spearheads are broken off) I'd be willing to part with to a good home if you can cover shipping! I already have 30, and I don't think I'll be fielding more than that in TOW any time soon, unless maybe the Arcane Journal makes them overpowered...
Re: Althran's Host
@Tyrren
I am really sorry to hear that your game was shit, but seriously good on you for just calling it after the first turn. That person wasnt worth your time.
That is awfully kind of you, but full disclosure I already have 19 seaguard I just havent painted them and my friend and I have a rule to only bring painted models for the immersion.
I live in EU so it might be a bit too pricey if you are in the US.
And yes I am praying that the Arcane Journal will make the seaguard (and our infantry) in general more viable
I am really sorry to hear that your game was shit, but seriously good on you for just calling it after the first turn. That person wasnt worth your time.
That is awfully kind of you, but full disclosure I already have 19 seaguard I just havent painted them and my friend and I have a rule to only bring painted models for the immersion.
I live in EU so it might be a bit too pricey if you are in the US.
And yes I am praying that the Arcane Journal will make the seaguard (and our infantry) in general more viable
Re: Althran's Host
Hi All you brave warriors of Ulthuan,
As promised I return this week from the field of battle with news of my first triumph in the old world !
I didn’t take pictures for each turn, and since it was both myself and my opponents first game it was a messy affair and I am sure many of you battlefield veterans would have pulled out your gray hair from me missing many many rules.
Anyhow here are the lists of myself and my opponent:
My army
++ Characters [484 pts] ++
Noble [264 pts]
- Lance
- Full plate armour
- Longbow
- General
- Griffon
- Seed of Rebirth
- Enchanted Shield
- Potion of Toughness
- Pure of Heart
Archmage [220 pts]
- Hand weapon
- Level 4 Wizard
- On foot
- Silvery Wand
- Seed of Rebirth
- Sea Guard
- High Magic
++ Core Units [309 pts] ++
21 Lothern Sea Guard [309 pts]
- Hand weapons
- Thrusting spears
- Warbows
- Light armour
- Shields
- Sea Master (champion)
- Standard bearer [Razor Standard]
- Musician
++ Rare Units [205 pts] ++
Eagle-Claw Bolt Thrower [80 pts]
Lion Chariot of Chrace [125 pts]
- Chracian Great Blade
His army:
General of the Empire [166 pts]
- Hand weapon
- Full plate armour
- Pistol
- General
- On foot
- Mace of Helsturm
Master Mage [95 pts]
- Hand weapon
- Level 2 Wizard
- On foot
- Earthing Rod
- Daemonology
++ Core Units [290 pts] ++
20 Veteran State Troops [195 pts]
- Hand weapons
- Thrusting spears
- Light armour
- Shields
- Veteran Sergeant (champion)
- Standard bearer
- Musician
10 State Missile Troops [95 pts]
- Hand weapons
- Handguns
- Sergeant (champion) [Crossbow/Handgun]
- Standard bearer
- Musician
++ Special Units [326 pts] ++
3 Demigryph Knights [196 pts]
- Lances
- Shields
- Full plate armour
- Demigryph Preceptor (champion)
10 Empire Greatswords [130 pts]
- Great weapons
- Full plate armour
- Count's Champion (champion)
- Standard bearer
- Musician
++ Rare Units [120 pts] ++
Helblaster Volley Gun [120 pts]
We started by just randomly placing some terrain and eagerly setting up our armies.
My strategy was to hopefully quickly shoot his hellblaster volley gun and then force him to charge my seaguard block which, aided by my archmage, would hopefully be able to take on his infantry, finally using my griffon and chariot to combine charge either the greatswords or dgk.
Overall we spend some time inching forward in the middle of the field and skirmishing with our artillery and missile troops, to little effect. His demigryphs were deployed far to wide, and he spent the whole game getting them around some terrain to try and rear charge my seaguard. Afterwards we both agreed that he should have just rushed them down the field from the start!
My archmage greatly improved the seaguards survivability by casting walk between worlds a few times. Finally after shooting his hellblaster volley gun crew, I combine charged his great swords, where his general was embedded, with my chariot and griffon. Now both got some kills but his Mace of Helsturm promptly reduced my chariot to 1 W, after which it was killed next turn. However at that point his state troopers had charged my seaguard, who with their superior attacks from the wider formation, and magical assailment, started pushing them back. At this point it was getting late and we essentially made a gentlemens agreement that if I could kill his state trooper block, then I would have been able to take the dgk charge and combined with my griffon this could have won me the game, but if not his flank charge would have overwhelmed my seaguard. So in the final round it was all down to that combat, in which the noble on griffon crushed the state troopers granting me a victory.
Some key takeaways:
The noble on griffon was good, he was tough, killy and fast. I will be bringing him a lot.
The bolt thrower was not very effective, I tired bot multiple and single scot and neither felt very impactful.
Dominating the magic phase gave me a massive advantage
White lion chariot is okay but not the monster on the charge I expected.
We both forgot a ton of rules or simply skipped them to understand the core of the game better:
I forgot about elven reflexes, which would have been huge a few times
I forgot about the lore of saphery, and with vauls unmaking I might have destroyed that mace!
At the end of the day we both had a great time and were motivated to paint up more units, vary our lists, play a campaign, name all our units and heroes etc.
Here is the archmage I feverishly painted up before the battle:
The battlefield from my angle and my opponents:
not johan !
The final moshpit:
As promised I return this week from the field of battle with news of my first triumph in the old world !
I didn’t take pictures for each turn, and since it was both myself and my opponents first game it was a messy affair and I am sure many of you battlefield veterans would have pulled out your gray hair from me missing many many rules.
Anyhow here are the lists of myself and my opponent:
My army
++ Characters [484 pts] ++
Noble [264 pts]
- Lance
- Full plate armour
- Longbow
- General
- Griffon
- Seed of Rebirth
- Enchanted Shield
- Potion of Toughness
- Pure of Heart
Archmage [220 pts]
- Hand weapon
- Level 4 Wizard
- On foot
- Silvery Wand
- Seed of Rebirth
- Sea Guard
- High Magic
++ Core Units [309 pts] ++
21 Lothern Sea Guard [309 pts]
- Hand weapons
- Thrusting spears
- Warbows
- Light armour
- Shields
- Sea Master (champion)
- Standard bearer [Razor Standard]
- Musician
++ Rare Units [205 pts] ++
Eagle-Claw Bolt Thrower [80 pts]
Lion Chariot of Chrace [125 pts]
- Chracian Great Blade
His army:
General of the Empire [166 pts]
- Hand weapon
- Full plate armour
- Pistol
- General
- On foot
- Mace of Helsturm
Master Mage [95 pts]
- Hand weapon
- Level 2 Wizard
- On foot
- Earthing Rod
- Daemonology
++ Core Units [290 pts] ++
20 Veteran State Troops [195 pts]
- Hand weapons
- Thrusting spears
- Light armour
- Shields
- Veteran Sergeant (champion)
- Standard bearer
- Musician
10 State Missile Troops [95 pts]
- Hand weapons
- Handguns
- Sergeant (champion) [Crossbow/Handgun]
- Standard bearer
- Musician
++ Special Units [326 pts] ++
3 Demigryph Knights [196 pts]
- Lances
- Shields
- Full plate armour
- Demigryph Preceptor (champion)
10 Empire Greatswords [130 pts]
- Great weapons
- Full plate armour
- Count's Champion (champion)
- Standard bearer
- Musician
++ Rare Units [120 pts] ++
Helblaster Volley Gun [120 pts]
We started by just randomly placing some terrain and eagerly setting up our armies.
My strategy was to hopefully quickly shoot his hellblaster volley gun and then force him to charge my seaguard block which, aided by my archmage, would hopefully be able to take on his infantry, finally using my griffon and chariot to combine charge either the greatswords or dgk.
Overall we spend some time inching forward in the middle of the field and skirmishing with our artillery and missile troops, to little effect. His demigryphs were deployed far to wide, and he spent the whole game getting them around some terrain to try and rear charge my seaguard. Afterwards we both agreed that he should have just rushed them down the field from the start!
My archmage greatly improved the seaguards survivability by casting walk between worlds a few times. Finally after shooting his hellblaster volley gun crew, I combine charged his great swords, where his general was embedded, with my chariot and griffon. Now both got some kills but his Mace of Helsturm promptly reduced my chariot to 1 W, after which it was killed next turn. However at that point his state troopers had charged my seaguard, who with their superior attacks from the wider formation, and magical assailment, started pushing them back. At this point it was getting late and we essentially made a gentlemens agreement that if I could kill his state trooper block, then I would have been able to take the dgk charge and combined with my griffon this could have won me the game, but if not his flank charge would have overwhelmed my seaguard. So in the final round it was all down to that combat, in which the noble on griffon crushed the state troopers granting me a victory.
Some key takeaways:
The noble on griffon was good, he was tough, killy and fast. I will be bringing him a lot.
The bolt thrower was not very effective, I tired bot multiple and single scot and neither felt very impactful.
Dominating the magic phase gave me a massive advantage
White lion chariot is okay but not the monster on the charge I expected.
We both forgot a ton of rules or simply skipped them to understand the core of the game better:
I forgot about elven reflexes, which would have been huge a few times
I forgot about the lore of saphery, and with vauls unmaking I might have destroyed that mace!
At the end of the day we both had a great time and were motivated to paint up more units, vary our lists, play a campaign, name all our units and heroes etc.
Here is the archmage I feverishly painted up before the battle:
The battlefield from my angle and my opponents:
not johan !
The final moshpit:
- Turion Rilyaloce
- Posts: 375
- Joined: Sun Jan 06, 2013 1:51 am
- Location: Tor Caled (Canada for reals)
Re: Althran's Host
Great looking force!
Take a voyage to Tor Caled and behold Prince Tûrion Rilyalocë and the mighty Laurëdraugnir as well as their Caledorian host.http://www.ulthuan.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=46899
- TyrrenAzureblade
- Posts: 363
- Joined: Thu Aug 06, 2020 11:55 pm
- Location: Seattle, WA
- Contact:
Re: Althran's Host
Congrats on fielding a beautifully painted army and getting that W! Which spells did you roll up with your Archmage? I've found that the Lion Chariot is great for supporting a combat, but unless it's a 5 model unit or something really small, it risks just getting tarpitted. Although I've not fielded one in quite a while, I always love seeing one on the field.
Re: Althran's Host
@Turion: That is big praise coming from you ! I have been admiring your conversion of the Carmine Dragon, where did you get that ?
@Tyrren: Thank you! We have another game this sunday, I will have to deal with those demigryphs in some way, I suspect he will just be rushing them down the field.
I ended up rolling: Walk between worlds, fury of khaine, ward of saphery and corporeal unmaking. I found wbtw to be crazy good and corporeal unmaking a handy tool to swing combat in my favor. I think the lion chariot is better used against his spearmen as a support of a numerically smaller lothern seaguard unit, which would free up space for a ellyrian reaver unit to chase his warmarchines. Using the chariot on the greatswords was too tough a nut to crack.
@Tyrren: Thank you! We have another game this sunday, I will have to deal with those demigryphs in some way, I suspect he will just be rushing them down the field.
I ended up rolling: Walk between worlds, fury of khaine, ward of saphery and corporeal unmaking. I found wbtw to be crazy good and corporeal unmaking a handy tool to swing combat in my favor. I think the lion chariot is better used against his spearmen as a support of a numerically smaller lothern seaguard unit, which would free up space for a ellyrian reaver unit to chase his warmarchines. Using the chariot on the greatswords was too tough a nut to crack.
- Turion Rilyaloce
- Posts: 375
- Joined: Sun Jan 06, 2013 1:51 am
- Location: Tor Caled (Canada for reals)
Re: Althran's Host
It’s the forge world model with some modifications. Then a Dragon Prince was kit bashed with the dragon rider and some sculpting to pull it all together.
Take a voyage to Tor Caled and behold Prince Tûrion Rilyalocë and the mighty Laurëdraugnir as well as their Caledorian host.http://www.ulthuan.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=46899
- Prince of Spires
- Auctor Aeternitatum
- Posts: 8510
- Joined: Wed Apr 22, 2009 1:07 pm
- Location: The city of Spires
Re: Althran's Host
How did the battle go?
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.
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.
Re: Althran's Host
Hi All you lovely toy-soldier enthusiasts,
I return to you with yet another battle report and some more pictures of plastic.
Here is a little lore blurb I wrote for the battle:
Pyrrhic Victory for Averland
After an initial defeat to the Asur, Averland's finest set out to force the elves away from their province, compelling them to take a detour. The two armies clashed again in a forest glade near the border, and this time the sons of the Empire won a narrow victory. A clever distraction in the form of incompetent artillerymen kept the Elven Prince preoccupied long enough for the Demigryph Knights to push the numerically smaller elven army out of Averland, though not without the hand gunners, landsknechts, and state troopers paying a bloody price. By the time the Elven general saw his marines surrounded, the battle was already lost. During the evening's victory celebration, Averland's commander received a report from the east. According to a terrified peasant, darkness was stirring once more in Sylvania. “Leave your night candle on then, and stop bothering your betters,” was the only response given to the pale farmer.
In general it was a fun battle !
I ran roughly the same list as last time but gave my noble a great weapon instead of lance.
I sent my noble to kill his volleygun, but it exploded on the first turn of shooting ! At that point I made my most critical mistake: Instead of sending him back to support my army against his dgks I sent him behind the ranks of my opponent. He did tremendously by killing most of both a handgunner unit and a greatswords unit, but by that time my lothern seaguard and chariot was overwhelmed by the demigryphs and his big block of spears, which cost me the battle. The seaguard did well so did a little 5 man unit of archers, the chariot was not at all capable to take on the chariot, and the bolt thrower was underwhelming. I think getting 10 swordmasters and an eagle instead would be an improvement, I definitely need a warmachine killer while my noble supports my mainline.
I have set the goal of completing the island of blood box by new years, so im painting up the swordmasters first.
Here are some pictures of the battle as well as this weeks workbench:
Thanks for tuning in !
I return to you with yet another battle report and some more pictures of plastic.
Here is a little lore blurb I wrote for the battle:
Pyrrhic Victory for Averland
After an initial defeat to the Asur, Averland's finest set out to force the elves away from their province, compelling them to take a detour. The two armies clashed again in a forest glade near the border, and this time the sons of the Empire won a narrow victory. A clever distraction in the form of incompetent artillerymen kept the Elven Prince preoccupied long enough for the Demigryph Knights to push the numerically smaller elven army out of Averland, though not without the hand gunners, landsknechts, and state troopers paying a bloody price. By the time the Elven general saw his marines surrounded, the battle was already lost. During the evening's victory celebration, Averland's commander received a report from the east. According to a terrified peasant, darkness was stirring once more in Sylvania. “Leave your night candle on then, and stop bothering your betters,” was the only response given to the pale farmer.
In general it was a fun battle !
I ran roughly the same list as last time but gave my noble a great weapon instead of lance.
I sent my noble to kill his volleygun, but it exploded on the first turn of shooting ! At that point I made my most critical mistake: Instead of sending him back to support my army against his dgks I sent him behind the ranks of my opponent. He did tremendously by killing most of both a handgunner unit and a greatswords unit, but by that time my lothern seaguard and chariot was overwhelmed by the demigryphs and his big block of spears, which cost me the battle. The seaguard did well so did a little 5 man unit of archers, the chariot was not at all capable to take on the chariot, and the bolt thrower was underwhelming. I think getting 10 swordmasters and an eagle instead would be an improvement, I definitely need a warmachine killer while my noble supports my mainline.
I have set the goal of completing the island of blood box by new years, so im painting up the swordmasters first.
Here are some pictures of the battle as well as this weeks workbench:
Thanks for tuning in !
- Prince of Spires
- Auctor Aeternitatum
- Posts: 8510
- Joined: Wed Apr 22, 2009 1:07 pm
- Location: The city of Spires
Re: Althran's Host
Looks great and like a fun battle!
And your griffon supporting your main line could have worked (HE work best when you combine units, which is why mobility is such a big deal for us). On the other hand, if left untouched those handgunners could have wreaked havoc on your T3 elves with paper armour... So there's that as well. It's always a tough choice.
The SM should be fun. They're great against targets where they get their killing blow attacks (if I remember I have them at least). And with their high initiative + Elven Reflexes, you go first against many things, even if you get charged. Against other things they tend to fall off a bit unfortunately.
And your griffon supporting your main line could have worked (HE work best when you combine units, which is why mobility is such a big deal for us). On the other hand, if left untouched those handgunners could have wreaked havoc on your T3 elves with paper armour... So there's that as well. It's always a tough choice.
The SM should be fun. They're great against targets where they get their killing blow attacks (if I remember I have them at least). And with their high initiative + Elven Reflexes, you go first against many things, even if you get charged. Against other things they tend to fall off a bit unfortunately.
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.
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.
Re: Althran's Host
Amazing army -- love the freehand on that banner.
Keep the reports coming! Look forward to seeing more.
Kind regards,
Axiem
Keep the reports coming! Look forward to seeing more.
Kind regards,
Axiem
Re: Althran's Host
I definitely should have kept the griffon in closer support, its my only real counter against the demigryphs. I want to paint up some Ellyrians soon so that I can use them as warmachine hunters and hopefully harass the handgunners. The real problem with SM is that their cleaving blow doesnt work on monstrous cavalry, but hopefully some magic might be enough to compensate against dgks.Prince of Spires wrote: ↑Thu Sep 26, 2024 2:44 pm Looks great and like a fun battle!
And your griffon supporting your main line could have worked (HE work best when you combine units, which is why mobility is such a big deal for us). On the other hand, if left untouched those handgunners could have wreaked havoc on your T3 elves with paper armour... So there's that as well. It's always a tough choice.
The SM should be fun. They're great against targets where they get their killing blow attacks (if I remember I have them at least). And with their high initiative + Elven Reflexes, you go first against many things, even if you get charged. Against other things they tend to fall off a bit unfortunately.
Here is a list I put together for my next game. I dont have any eagles or ellyrians painted up yet so I decided to use the phoenix as a warmachine hunter and try and bomb his spears. My plan is to embed the archmage in the swordmasters and hopefulle buff them up and ideally his dkgs with my noble:
===
Althran [1000 pts]
Warhammer: The Old World, High Elf Realms
===
++ Characters [492 pts] ++
Archmage [230 pts]
- Hand weapon
- Level 4 Wizard
- General
- On foot
- Silvery Wand
- Seed of Rebirth
- Warden of Saphery
- High Magic
Noble [262 pts]
- Great weapon
- Full plate armour
- Shield
- Griffon
- Ruby Ring of Ruin
- Seed of Rebirth
- Pure of Heart
++ Core Units [287 pts] ++
15 Lothern Sea Guard [197 pts]
- Hand weapons
- Thrusting spears
- Warbows
- Light armour
- Shields
- Sea Master (champion)
- Standard bearer
- Musician
5 Ellyrian Reavers [90 pts]
- Hand weapons
- Cavalry spears
- Hand weapons (Hooves)
- Light armour
- Shortbows
++ Special Units [146 pts] ++
10 Swordmasters of Hoeth [146 pts]
- Sword of Hoeth
- Heavy armour
- Bladelord
++ Rare Units [75 pts] ++
5 Sisters of Avelorn [75 pts]
- Bows of Avelorn
- Light armour
---
Created with "Old World Builder"
[https://old-world-builder.com]
Here is his list:
Empire of Man [991 pts]
Warhammer: The Old World, Empire of Man
Characters [450 pts]
Wizard Lord [190 pts]
• Hand weapon
• Level 4 Wizard
• On foot
• Ruby Ring of Ruin
• Battle Magic
General of the Empire [182 pts]
• Hand weapon
• Lance
• Full plate armour
• Shield
• Demigryph
• The White Cloak
Captain of the Empire [78 pts]
• Hand weapon
• Full plate armour
• Shield
• Battle Standard Bearer
• On foot
Core Units [281 pts]
24 Veteran State Troops [281 pts]
• Hand weapons
• Thrusting spears
• Light armour
• Shields
• Veteran Sergeant (champion)
• Standard bearer [Griffon Standard]
• Musician
Special Units [140 pts]
2 Demigryph Knights [140 pts]
• Lances
• Shields
• Full plate armour
• Standard bearer
• Musician
Rare Units [120 pts]
Helblaster Volley Gun [120 pts]
Re: Althran's Host
Thank you ! I assume you are referring to the archers haha.
Ill be sure to update the next time I have a battle. Currently I am still painting the swordmasters. I am aiming to paint up the full island of blood set by new years to a high standard
Re: Althran's Host
Hi All you brave anti-druchii lobbyists !
This last month I havent been playing any new games, as both me and my regular opponent have been busy with work and building up our forces!
I finally managed to finish a small unit of 10 swordmasters, which I am quite proud of. The details on these guys is quite overwhelming.
I had a goal of finishing the IOB box, but I will probably be interrupted my a small discord competition over the next months time, before I paint up some reavers.
Here are some pictures of the freshly arrived warriors of hoeth !:
This last month I havent been playing any new games, as both me and my regular opponent have been busy with work and building up our forces!
I finally managed to finish a small unit of 10 swordmasters, which I am quite proud of. The details on these guys is quite overwhelming.
I had a goal of finishing the IOB box, but I will probably be interrupted my a small discord competition over the next months time, before I paint up some reavers.
Here are some pictures of the freshly arrived warriors of hoeth !:
- TyrrenAzureblade
- Posts: 363
- Joined: Thu Aug 06, 2020 11:55 pm
- Location: Seattle, WA
- Contact:
Re: Althran's Host
Very very nice, I like the addition of the ruined Dark Elf shield If you thought these were detailed, wait until you hit those Lothern Sea Guard...
- Turion Rilyaloce
- Posts: 375
- Joined: Sun Jan 06, 2013 1:51 am
- Location: Tor Caled (Canada for reals)
Re: Althran's Host
Looking great! I am definitely an Anti Druchii lobbyist so that is good to hear we have others working the court.Althran wrote: ↑Mon Nov 04, 2024 12:18 pm Hi All you brave anti-druchii lobbyists !
This last month I havent been playing any new games, as both me and my regular opponent have been busy with work and building up our forces!
I finally managed to finish a small unit of 10 swordmasters, which I am quite proud of. The details on these guys is quite overwhelming.
I had a goal of finishing the IOB box, but I will probably be interrupted my a small discord competition over the next months time, before I paint up some reavers.
Here are some pictures of the freshly arrived warriors of hoeth !:
IMG_20241103_132416479.jpg
IMG_20241102_121823095.jpg
IMG_20241102_121811836.jpg
IMG_20241102_121826667_HDR.jpg
Take a voyage to Tor Caled and behold Prince Tûrion Rilyalocë and the mighty Laurëdraugnir as well as their Caledorian host.http://www.ulthuan.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=46899
Re: Althran's Host
Fantastic result. The bases really sell a lived-in world. I also really liked the cream clothing. Love them.
Kind regards,
Axiem
Kind regards,
Axiem
Re: Althran's Host
Thank you ! It doesnt come out from the pictures but I also added a sisters of slaughter mask, a broken druchii sword and a banner piece which is the khaine hand.TyrrenAzureblade wrote: ↑Mon Nov 04, 2024 7:40 pm Very very nice, I like the addition of the ruined Dark Elf shield If you thought these were detailed, wait until you hit those Lothern Sea Guard...
Thank you !
We must all do our part, also against the dwarves
Thank you for the kind words. I got a bunch of bits from the dark riders and witch elves kit from a friend, and I like using them to add debris to the battlefield.
With the cream cloth I was trying to go for a almost scroll-colored look to match their origins from the tower of hoeth and to add contrast to both the dark blue detail and the cold blue of the armor.
Re: Althran's Host
Hello fellow generals of asuryan
I recently had another game of TOW against my regular opponent and it went pretty well ! :
Here a lore blurb :
Decisive victory for the high elves:
Having earned the destructive power of the demigryph knights of the empire, the high elves once again mustered their forces in preparation of an oncoming confrontation with the very same general of the empire which beat them once. Freshly bolstered by a squad of sword masters tasked with guarding the Archmage, Yrandil first lore keeper of the white tower, they lined up for battles in the vineyards of southern Averland.
Still figuratively and literally drunk on their earlier victory and famous local vintages, the men of the empire confidently lined up, their sturdy lines only interrupted soldiers loudly bemoaning the previous nights decisions.
The proud knights rushed forward on their monstrous mounts, assured of the power of their charge. However, the Asur saw their overextension and capitalised on it with preternatural swiftness. With a screech the elf noble crashed into the empire general, his griffon tearing into its smaller cousin. The imperial artillery and spearmen steadily advanced towards the seaboard, with the volley gun ripping apart the elven marines. Likewise the elven bolt thrower and archers peppered the imperial lines, felling scores of spearmen.
A crackling battle of magic commenced between the learned elven mage and a diminutive human wizard, who summoned up unbelievable fonts of power. Fire and lighting flew from the sorcerers and gouged holes in the infantry lines.
Finally the new sword masters, tasked with guarding the mage, charged the demigryph knights. Swiftly the mage and his wardens cut down the knights, but his accomplishment paled at the duel of heroes. Elven ithilmar met imperial steel, and the two monstrous mounts tore into one another. At last the elven hero cut down the general of the empire, routing the imperial army.
I had planned to concentrate all my strength (mage, noble and swordmasters) against his demigryphs accompanied by a general.
Basically my opponent moved his demigryphs up too far in marching column, and I capitalized on this by charging with my noble, challenging his general and following up with my archmage. The archmage (warden of saphery) wounded with killing blow twice and cut down the demigryphs while my noble won the challenge.
In the meantime my seaguard and bolthrower shot 10 ish of his spearmen and I lost some seaguard to his HBVG. He didnt support with his spearmen or charge my seaguard, I think he hoped to get more damage in with his artillery.
On the painting side of things I am still painting up a loremaster of hoeth for a competition.
Here are some pictures of the battle.
Cheers !
I recently had another game of TOW against my regular opponent and it went pretty well ! :
Here a lore blurb :
Decisive victory for the high elves:
Having earned the destructive power of the demigryph knights of the empire, the high elves once again mustered their forces in preparation of an oncoming confrontation with the very same general of the empire which beat them once. Freshly bolstered by a squad of sword masters tasked with guarding the Archmage, Yrandil first lore keeper of the white tower, they lined up for battles in the vineyards of southern Averland.
Still figuratively and literally drunk on their earlier victory and famous local vintages, the men of the empire confidently lined up, their sturdy lines only interrupted soldiers loudly bemoaning the previous nights decisions.
The proud knights rushed forward on their monstrous mounts, assured of the power of their charge. However, the Asur saw their overextension and capitalised on it with preternatural swiftness. With a screech the elf noble crashed into the empire general, his griffon tearing into its smaller cousin. The imperial artillery and spearmen steadily advanced towards the seaboard, with the volley gun ripping apart the elven marines. Likewise the elven bolt thrower and archers peppered the imperial lines, felling scores of spearmen.
A crackling battle of magic commenced between the learned elven mage and a diminutive human wizard, who summoned up unbelievable fonts of power. Fire and lighting flew from the sorcerers and gouged holes in the infantry lines.
Finally the new sword masters, tasked with guarding the mage, charged the demigryph knights. Swiftly the mage and his wardens cut down the knights, but his accomplishment paled at the duel of heroes. Elven ithilmar met imperial steel, and the two monstrous mounts tore into one another. At last the elven hero cut down the general of the empire, routing the imperial army.
I had planned to concentrate all my strength (mage, noble and swordmasters) against his demigryphs accompanied by a general.
Basically my opponent moved his demigryphs up too far in marching column, and I capitalized on this by charging with my noble, challenging his general and following up with my archmage. The archmage (warden of saphery) wounded with killing blow twice and cut down the demigryphs while my noble won the challenge.
In the meantime my seaguard and bolthrower shot 10 ish of his spearmen and I lost some seaguard to his HBVG. He didnt support with his spearmen or charge my seaguard, I think he hoped to get more damage in with his artillery.
On the painting side of things I am still painting up a loremaster of hoeth for a competition.
Here are some pictures of the battle.
Cheers !
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- TyrrenAzureblade
- Posts: 363
- Joined: Thu Aug 06, 2020 11:55 pm
- Location: Seattle, WA
- Contact:
Re: Althran's Host
That looks like a fun skirmish, congratulations on the victory for the forces of Ulthuan! There's nothing like two fully painted armies coming together to duke it out. Great photos!