Graeme's Wood Elves - OWAC 9 Introduction Post

 

Graeme's Wood Elves - OWAC 9 Introduction Post

Back in the OWAC saddle again!

After the embarrassingly swift trips to the Field of Bones in my last few OWAC attempts, I'm back with my Wood Elf army.

If many of the figures look familiar, it's because many were in my line up for OWAC V, and the rest were in my original plan for OWAC VI, before I defected to #teamskaven! Yes, they've been languishing in a cupboard for almost four years. If you're interested, you can check out the posts here:

OWAC V: https://oldworldarmychallenge.blogspot.com/2021/12/graemes-owac-v-introduction-post-wood.html

OWAC VI: https://oldworldarmychallenge.blogspot.com/2022/12/graemes-owac-vi-introduction-post.html

Hopefully I've learned from some of my previous mistakes - this year I have enough figures fully prepped for the full OWAC, and then some:

My goal for this OWAC is to focus on completing the mandatory 30 archers for a 3rd edition Wood Elf army, and to build from there.

Since OWAC 9 is based on selecting a pice of old GW art and theming the project around it, I'm going for the box art for Skarloc's Wood Elf Archers Regiment of Renown:

In my 30+ years of collecting, I never actually owned a Skarloc RoR box! This year I managed to buy a lot of Wood Elf archers with the front and back covers of the box, which is where I got the photo from. I plan on getting it framed and hung up somewhere for inspiration for the challenge.

I'll not be following the colour scheme too closely, as I'm going for a combination of a summer palette with a weathered and ancient look for these Wood Elves, but it's definitely a good reference to work from.

Now for a closer look at the army.

The bulk of the army will be made up of archers, and archer elites.

Archer unit one:

Archer unit two:

Archer unit three:

Archer unit four, made up of the figures from Skarloc's archers Regiment of Renown, with a small conversion of Glam, to make him look a little more like the illustration on the box. I'll be treating them as regular archers for the challenge, rather than scouts. This means I should be able to hit the compulsory archer minimum number for the force.

Archer unit five:

You'd be forgiven if you're getting bored of seeing Elven archers by now, so there's a few units of non-archers too.

A fairly large unit armed with spears. At this point they only have spears, but I'm looking for suitable shields to add somewhere, to match the 3rd edition army list. If anyone has added shields to these figures, either slung on the back, or attached to the arm, I'd be really interested to see how you did it! My attempts so far haven't looked very convincing.

Beastmaster with bears:

A small unit of Wardancers, armed with two hand weapons. There are a couple of conversions in there, for the sharp-eyed:

Finally, some wizards to lead the army:

I've converted a few of these models, just for some variety, and am quite pleased with how they turned out.

There are a handful of heroes, more infantry troops, and some bonuses in the works, but we'll have to wait and see if I find the time to finish the prep and include them in this year's challenge.

Just for the book keeping, here's an estimate of points for a 3rd edition WFB army, based on what's prepped:

Characters

1 Wood Elf Sylphseer (Level 15 wizard) - (206 points)
Equipped with a horse, and hand weapon

2 Wood Elf Spellsingers (Level 10 wizards) - (236 points)
Equipped with a hand weapon

2 Wood Elf Woodfeys (Level 5 wizards) - (156 points)
Equipped with a hand weapon

1 Wood Elf Guardian Wardancer (Level 10 hero) - (103 points)
Equipped with light armour, and two hand weapons

Total: 691 points

Troops

10 Wood Elf archers - (110 points)
Equipped with longbows and hand weapons

10 Wood Elf archers - (110 points)
Equipped with longbows and hand weapons

10 Wood Elf Guards (+2 missile elite) - (150 points)
Equipped with longbows, light armour, and hand weapons

7 Wood Elf archers - (110 points)
Equipped with longbows, light armour, shields, and hand weapons

5 Wood Elf Glade Runners (scouts) - (80 points)
Equipped with longbows, and hand weapons

20 Wood Elf Warrior Kinband - (180 points)
Equipped (for now) with spears, and hand weapons

1 Wood Elf Beastmaster - (15 points)
Equipped with light armour, and a hand weapon

5 Bears - (100 points)

6 Wood Elf Wardancers - (138 points)
Equipped with light armour, and two hand weapons

Total: 993 points

So, currently not quite enough archers to hit the minimum compulsory number for 3rd edition, but I'm still planning to add some models to the archer units, either with troops, or musicians and standard bearers. If I don't manage that, the Guards will be demoted to regular archers, and I'll update the points values.

It's a bit daunting seeing all these Wood Elves together on my worktop. I'm going to be realistic, and state right from the start that there's no way I'll get all of these painted - I'm just too slow. I'm going to start off painting them in batches of three or four, and see how far I get.

Nice to see some great looking armies in the works for OWAC9. Fingers crossed we make it to the finish line!

Good luck to everyone!

 

Byron's Hippy Wood Elves - Wrap up Post

 First things first, I have a few additional models painted up for the wrap-up post.

First, Elrobic Ripesight. He is a wood elf hero. He has been lightly converted from a pointing finger to a hippy peace sign and flowers around his head. 

Next, Dolbriele Windprancer, a hero on great eagle. He is also mildly converted to wield a spear from a 4th ed glade rider champion. (When he came into my possession his spear was broken clear off, so this wasn't a conversion of preference so much as necessity.) He rides a grenadier eagle. 

Bears. That's it. Just a buncha bears. None of them are citadel bears. They come from a few sources: ral partha, grenadier, foundry. I wasn't able to find the time to paint up some beastmasters. 

Finally, I added pennants to my Elven Lords. I really like pennants on cavalry. 

Now for the poses with the entire army. 

The obligatory Ansell Pose. 

Reflections and what not

This year I challenged myself to paint only using cheap craft paints. I was surprised at some of the results I was able to achieve, but I don't think I will willingly go back (unless I want to paint more Wood Elves in matching colors.) The yellow, Orange, and Green colors were frustrating to work with. I found myself doing a lot of cheats by painting the models white and washing surfaces with thinned down paints. I made do and am ultimately happy with the general results. The old craft silver paint on the other hand is the best silver paint I have ever used. Two thin coats and it looks like its burnished aluminum. 

There were a lot more models I wanted to paint, but life kept getting in the way. I now have a tub of wood elves for a second wave - monopose archers, wild cats, dryads, spearmen, way watchers etc. One day. 

Next year, I have planned an Eldar Pirate army. It's mostly RT and 2nd ed Eldar, with a few 3rd ed Dark Eldar and maybe some 4th ed parts in there. I've got two scratch-build vehicles ready to go. My kids play 4th ed, so I have made a Pirate Eldar Codex so I can use my models with them. 

But I might have to bow out of OWAC 8 to focus on sculpting some dwarves and mixed hobbying priorities. (I still owe Quinton his Giant). 

Paul's Wood Elves of Averlorn - Wyld Carden! (1466 pts)

This month I have been mostly painting trees and birbs. Also a bear, and a baby unicorn, or "Babycorn" if you will.... 

What do you mean you won't!? Stop throwing those rotten vegetables! 

Listen, ignore the puns and focus on the minis and you might notice a theme. That's right, it's my "Wyld Carden" month! :p

OK, just that one last pun, but it was totally worth it in tribute to the one and only Trish "Mother of Monsters" Carden (nee Morrison) who sculpted nearly everything I painted this month... and what a genuine pleasure that has been!

A fellow OWAC veteran gave me a sound piece of advice in relation to the amazing Treeman sculpt from Trish's Harrowhyrst range from Footsore Miniatures. Pick your base wood colour, then get a light dry brush on it early in the process to reveal the detail. Simple but very effective advice and something that really pays dividends with so many of Trish's models from across the last 30+ years. These are sculpts that really reward careful dry brushing and generous inking and shading. Trish has already done the work with her blades and shapers and these minis are so packed full of character and detail that they really do start to 'paint themselves' once you have got stuck in, with new details seemingly emerging with each new step of the painting process. 

I've used red where I can get away with it, so the impish sprite is obviously a "red cap" and the lovers initials are in a russet red heart. The little owl is indeed painted as a "Little Owl" as one of our native UK species, even if scale wise it is closer to a Brown Owl.... so it's obviously a 'Giant' Little Owl! :D 

Something I really came to love and appreciate is the consistency of the details and textures on the tree-beasties across multiples time periods and miniature lines, which allowed me to blend them all in to one force by effectively use the same paint recipes for bark textures, knots and gnarls, mossy growths, fungal protrusions, and thick thorny claws.  

The Middlehammer era Dryads are supplemented by some juveniles and an elder, both sculpts from the current Harrowhyrst range, and I really like how their inclusion hints at a life cycle of the tree folk. The two different sizes of treeman add to this organic variation which is something I enjoy. 

Deep red was used to signify blood stained wood on the claws of the 'mature' dryads, and to emphasise  the danger of the snapping heads of the juveniles and the antler like crown of the elder, as well as being a strong tie to one of the theme colours for a large part of my army. The slightly sickly orange was chosen to emulate the Chicken of the Woods bracket fungus which is common in the woods local to us and picks up on one of theme colours for the other half of my army. 

Finally for the tree-folk the equally iconic Marauder Treeman, a chunky beaut of a sculpt that was a must have for Wood Elf armies when I was growing up. This one has waited nearly 30 years to be painted, so I hope I've done it justice by choosing to accentuate the Chrace/Winter colour scheme from the established tree-folk colour pallet. 

Keeping the theme of being inspired by local wildlife I decided that my Warhawks would in fact be War-buzzards, the Buzzard being the most common bird of prey in the British Isles and a regular sight in the skies over the woods near our house.

The riders are inspired by Dexy's Midnight Runners again, as Wood Elf Sky-jockeys definitely seemed like the sort who would go for double denim. I finished painting them after returning from a family holiday in Brittany, where we also saw lots of birds of prey, so they ended up having French accents in my head, and then for some reason I kept thinking of Jean-Claude Van Damme, who is not French but is definitely into double denim...

Actual image of a Wood Elf Sky-jockey. Just look at the hair and cheek bones.

Standing by a menhir on the NW Atlantic coast I was struck by the sense of connection of the ancient megalithic cultures of the western coast and this lent some inspiration when I was back at my painting table, so the shield design is a very poor freehand attempt at the 'Triskelion' design common in Brittany, and the basing is intended to be more 'coastal' which will hopefully tie them in with both the Ellyria/Tyranoc (as will the blue and yellow colour scheme) and Lothern elements of my High Elf force.

"In Brittany the Triskel is still widely present, a symbol of regeneration, it represents independence and autonomy and is worn for protection and good luck"

A truly ancient motif it has had many meanings over the years, but this one works in this instance as it fits with how I am beginning to think of my Wood/Coastal Elves as representing more rural or remote peoples of Ulthuan within my High Elf army.

Despite having started this year with enough Wood Elves for two OWACs I nevertheless acquired some more along the way, mostly because inspiration struck me when I saw a second Giant Eagle sculpt and an old school Wardancer with her tab already cut off going for a reasonable price on one of the trading groups. Turns out this combo will also pass as a good proxy for Master Mage Thalandor riding Gwandor the Black, and wielding the Spear of Daith. 

Sadly my mojo ran out before I could bring myself to sculpt on the Talisman of Qwarr, but I might go back to add in the magical war paint in the future to complete the not-Thalandor look. Gwandor is painted in the style of a White Tailed Eagle as the easiest native eagle colour pattern to darken down to 'black', but it is also fitting as it is the British Isles largest bird of prey. 

The other Giant Eagle has been painted in the style of the Golden Eagle, also native (and more common) to the British Isles, a theme which is continued with the Giant Barn Owl (not a Trish Carden sculpt this one, but available from Otherworld Miniatures 'Wilderness Encounters' series). I think I will do some more work on the base in the future, and as the first element of my Wood Elf 'baggage train' I fancy adding some bundles or nets full of supplies for the owl to be swooping in to pick up or drop off.

Also from Otherworld (and part of a lovely Father's Day gift so painted up in record time to be included here) is this Black Bear. A satisfyingly chunky lump of metal. More work needed on the base again, but it will do for now. 

My final Trish sculpt of the month, this juvenile unicorn has such a cheeky and mischievous expression I've named it "Rascal". The unusual blue and orange colour scheme and two tone coat is intended to signify that Rascal is the offspring of my other two Unicorns. I suspect that Rascal eats more of the supplies than they help carry :P 

Last but not least we have the 'Kippine' a a forest creature from D&D which I will use as a proxy Griffon for my Wood Elves. This is a 3D print that was a gift from a very good friend (even if she does collect thrice cursed Dark Elves!) and it took me far too long to paint it, but it deserved to be part of a big project like this. The base was completed first as it allowed me to test out my bark recipe before painting the tree-folk, and it was only after I painted the giant Barn Owl that I decided on a similar colour scheme for the Kippine itself.

Total for the month:

10 Dryads - 350 pts
2 Treemen - 560 pts
5 Warhawk Riders - 150 pts
Giant Eagle - 75 pts
Wood Elf Hero w/Spear on Giant Eagle - 181 pts
Kippine (counts as Griffon) - 150 pts

"Baggage Train"
Black Bear
Giant Barn Owl
Juvenile Unicorn

Total:  1466 pts

Tom's Bony Bit

For my wildcard month I painted some carrion from forlorn hope miniatures. I wanted to use contrast paints on my carrion so I started with a zenithal highlight of wraith bone and then use red, purple and bone, the same colours as my zombie dragon.

They needed some drilling and pinning to stay on their stands so that was something to learn about with my dads help. The bases were fun to do because I could use some shields and a part of a skeleton horse to add some detail. 

The riders turned out well but the purple was a bit to much on the swords. I liked using Rakarth Flesh on the wings to add some sickly highlights.

This is the ghoul king from the zombie dragon kit that I painted up separately and will count as a wight lord for warhammer 5th edition. I experimented with slap-chop painting to get the highlights painted in first, then I used a blue ink for the  underside to make the shadows darker and a green ink on top to make the highlights pop. I used skeleton horde for the bones and rags and Tamiya clear red for the blood effect. The bone and red tie him to rest of the army but the sickly green is a new colour for zombies and ghouls if I add them to my army.

Total for the month:

3 Carrion - 135 pts
Wight (Ghoul) Lord  - 65 pts

Total: 200 pts

That's it from us for the final month of OWAC VII - congratulations to everyone who made it this far, we'll see you next month for the wrap up with our best Avenging Dark Destroyer poses ready!