Jeff McC's Dark Elves - Wrap Up (1097 points)

Alright, another OWAC complete!  I'm already looking forward to OWAC III next year.  Having a deadline is wonderfully helpful for getting things done, and painting miniatures is no exception.

A quick review is in order:

JANUARY

5 Dark Riders & Level 5 wizard on Cold one (210 pts)

FEBRUARY

5 Dark Riders with Standard, and Ogre Mercenary (190 pts)

MARCH

Mulligan (Apparently designing and painting sets for the kids' school 

play and painting miniatures is too much painting for one month...) 

APRIL

4 Ogre Mercenaries (232 pts)

MAY

10 Witch Elves with extra hand weapons & poison, Ogre Champion (250 pts) 

JUNE

5 Hell Drakes with Lances (215 pts)

And here's the completed force for OWAC II, weighing in at 1097 points

The Dark Elves pose with their Dread Overlord

As I had hoped, combining the dark elves I painted for OWAC I with OWAC II's output and upgrading a couple of unit leaders to champions and promoting a couple of heroes allows me to put a 3000 point army in the field:

19 Warriors with standard and musician - (231)
Warrior Champion - Hero 10 with light armor, double handed weapon - (92)
10 Dark Riders with standard - (142)
10 Witch Elves with extra hand weapons and poison (140)
10 Witch Elves with extra hand weapons, crossbows and poison (170)
5 Hell Drakes with lances (215)
11 Crossbowmen with standard (156)
Crossbow Champion - Hero 10 with light armor and crossbow (93)
12 Crossbowmen with standard (169)
Hidden in unit - Assassin 10 - with light armor, extra hand weapon and crossbow (94)
2 Whelp Masters (30) leading 5 Chaos Hounds (115)
2 Repeater Bolt Throwers (116)
5 Ogre Mercenaries with heavy armor and double handed weapons (290)
Ogre Mercenary Champion (Hero 5) with heavy armor and double handed weapon (110)
Chaotic Host - Hydra (200)
General - Hero 20 with barded warhorse, shield and light armor (181)
Wizard 10 (118)
Wizard 15 with Cold one and protective runes (235)

Total: 2997 points

Technically not completely legal per Warhammer Armies, as I'm short 20 warriors, but that's more like guidelines anyhow...right?

Closing words : 1st edition of the OWAC

Last summer I met with Chris, to play a game of Oldhammer. IT was then we discussed the idea of an Oldhammer painting challenge. I was searching for my Oldhammer mojo, with me working on different projects like Epic, skirmish Sc-Fi, etc. and I wanted it back. Some kind of peer pressure activity would surely help, right?

It also happens that I love painting challenges (I'm part of the Analogue Challenge every winter). You get to help one another, meet new gamers, gain inspiration and, most importantly, THEY ACTUALLY WORK. Yes, where motivation (and lazyness) is often the issue for us gamers, painting challenges are a proven remedy, and apparently nothing lights a fire under a miniature painter's ass more than competition (and facing the shame of his peers). 

Officially slated for a few gamers, 12 at most, it just snowballed from there and before I knew it we were 36 and I had to refuse people! It turned out like an international event, too, with people from Italy and Ireland all the way to Japan!

The beginnings were a lot of work, to explain the concept and all, but also because many members were "Facebook" people and never used Blogger. Starting a challenge with that many people wasn't easy. 

But then challengers started getting in a groove, and it ran more smoothly. It got real fun, even if challenging. And, if after the 2nd months I got a bit afraid of our drop-out rates, it stabilized after that and I'm real proud we got 26 challengers at the finish line.

So was it a success? Hell yeah it was. Beyond my wildest expectations, in fact. I love seeing the (now) OWAC veterans already planning their next challenge, thinking about their armies, etc. and I hope the challenge eventually becomes a special moment of the year for all involved. As I mentionned on Facebook, there's a guaranteed spot for every victors of the challenge next time around.

Now, I did take notes, and there's gooing to be a few changes for the next round, although nothing major. 

I want to thank Clarence for the logo, Thomas, Chris and Colin on the Admin jobs., and all of the challengers who participated in the challenge, whether you reached the end or not! This fun 6 months ride was possible because of all of you!

See you all in November, December or January (I haven't made up my mind yet), and get ready for round 2!

Keep painting,
Your benevolent Overlord
Iannick