Paul's Dark(ish) Elves - Wilderness Wild Card Month (846 pts)

"The Blood Dragon met with the Priestess of Khaine just after the midnight ritual, just as you predicted my lord" reported one of Genral Vor'Lach's many spies. 

"By dawn their wildling scouts will have found the secret path up through the Harpies nests on the cliffs. We fear they will discover the Valley of the Sisters much sooner than we'd hoped. Forgive me, lord, but such treachery from the priestess must not go unpunished. I would be honoured to wield the poisoned blade mysel...."

"The Witch's treachery is entirely predictable and will continue to be so. I will turn that to my advantage, just as I have always done" interjected Vor'Lach with a sneer. 

"Tell our own scouts to herd them deeper into the canyons. Any that survive the Sisters' many pets will be worthy sacrifices for the Cult of the Gorgon."

The dark elf lord snapped his jewelled fingers and pointed to his goblet, indicating to a nearby servant that it should be refilled. 

The assassin disguised as his cup bearer had been watching carefully through the window of the tower room for the allotted signal, two brief bursts of dragon fire from out on the water, but it didn't come.... this time. The little packet of poison powder was slipped back inside their sleeve, but this did not go unobserved...

From the shadows of the arched doorway, the assassin serving as one of Vor'Lach's personal guard watched as the 'servant' carefully concealed the poison, slowly exhaling the breath they had been holding for some time, and letting the hilt of their poisoned dagger settle back into it's deadly sheath, but this did not go unobserved...

In the adjacent watch tower, the assassin posing as a member of the Daggerpoint Cityguard took their finger off the trigger of their crossbow, just a hair's breadth from having shot the bodyguard with a poisoned bolt before he could strike the servant. Not tonight then, but soon....  

The final month of  OWAC VIII, 'El Ocho', is upon us and I'm playing my wild card to throw a fun things into the mix of my Dark(ish) Elves.

The Scouts are obviously leading the way this month, making their way through the wilds of the bleak coast, encountering the local wild life.

One of the mantras for this Dark(ish) Elf project is 'no Elf left behind', in reference to my previous High Elf and Wood Elf projects. We've already met the treacherous High Elves of the House of the Blood Dragon, but I also wanted to make use of a few damaged Wood Elf Wardancers, and a random Elf Blitzer from Bloodbowl. I could see them as Elven pirates, used to exploring and foraging on wild shores, fitting neatly into a unit alongside some more traditional Dark Elf Scouts from Daggerpoint. 

One of the Wardancers needed a repair for a missing lower leg, not my best bit of putty work after I realised I didn't get the bend right in the wire quite right before fixing it in place. There was some reshaping of one of the damaged swords, and the Blitzer got an additional Elven looking dagger on his hip. 

The other missing weapons were replaced with cut down crossbows, and they got a little pouch of bolts, with the idea being the pistol crossbow is both more pirate like but also a clear nod to them adopting Dark Elf equipment. 

Another example of the two sets of forces merging are the two Repeater Bolt throwers, which I imagine were mounted on the High Elven ships and now bolster the Blood Dragons forces on land. 

One of the bolt throwers was missing the rear leg piece but again, it wasn't getting left behind. I had a crack at a quick press mould... 

...but was the result was far from usable, so I upgraded my methods with a Lego frame to hold everything in place.

The final result wasn't perfect but it was useable. You can notice one is a lot chunkier and clumsier when you look at them side by side, but that is my first go at casting a structural piece and I learnt a lot from the process.

The crew are a motely combination of a couple more Dagger Point City Guard, along with a Dark Elf warrior learning how to use the Ulthuan variety of the familiar war machine, and a damaged plastic High Elf archer who is now learning to use a crossbow plundered from a Frostgrave Cultists kit.

 

Sadly I snapped both the X-bow strings and my patience in the process of making it fit...

The final result is in line with what I'd envisioned, just don't look too closely at the angle of the arms! I definitely took perverse enjoyment from painting him up in Dark Elf colours like his new 'friend'.

The other two crewmen have run into some trouble with a Giant Scorpion who has been snapping their store of bolts for lolz...

I think I got this from Otherworld Miniatures, which now very sadly no longer seems to be trading! Hopefully they get a second lease of life as they had a really lovely set of wilderness encounter, animal, and monster sculpts. I certainly enjoyed painting this big beastie :) 

Early in the challenge I suggested that the noisome leather used in the armour of the Daggerpoint City Guard would have a local source, and here we have the answer in the rubbery hides and wing membranes of the local monstrous populations. 

The Harpies, Giant Scorpion, and Manticore were painted up in the same colour scheme as the Basilisk I painted in the run up to this year's challenge as a palette tester. 

While the basilisk doesn't have a WFB profile it could proxy as various things if needed, giving me a variety of monster options and showcasing the local wildlife.

Next we have a few shady characters who have been conspicuous in their absence from the Dark Elf ranks so far (and so they intend to remain until the necessary moment!). These assassins are loyal to the cult of Khaine, which will prove interesting in the merging power structures of Khaine worshipping High Elf interlopers and a heretical Dark Elf lord and his forces loyal to the Cult of the Gorgon. 

The two chunky 4th/5th edition era sculpts are fairly uninspiring if I'm honest, and so it was easy to paint them in a way that deliberately blends them into the background of the landscape as well as their host units. No prizes for spotting the ubiquitous Ainur, the Sword of Twighlight Mordheim freebie model from White Dwarf, but I hope you will agree he fits the bill in this band of rogues.  

Last up (for now...) is a Witch Elf Champion. The sculpt is a Ral Partha Blade Maiden Mistress and is still available at a bargain price. The only problem is I don't have any Witch Elves for her to lead, so for now she might have to serve as another assassin 'in game'.

Monthly total:

2 Repeater Bolt Throwers - 200 pts
7 Dark(ish) Elf Scouts - 91 pts
5 Harpies - 75 pts
3 Assassins - 168 pts
Witch Elf Champion - 62pts
Giant Scorpion - 50 pts
Manticore - 200pts

Total for the month: 846 pts

To sign off I will look ahead to OWAC 9 which will have the theme of taking inspiration from a piece of Warhammer art. Alongside my unknown Sorceress sculpt, and the Dark Elf lord on Battle Lizard, I think the Blade Mistress make a good proxy for the trio featured on the front of the Dark Elf Army Book, something which has definitely been an inspiration for this years project.

Tom's Bony Bit

I made it! This is my second completed OWAC. I had lots of fun and I wanted to say thank you all for being so kind with all the positive feedback, I love being apart of the OWAC community it is a pleasure to paint along side fellow nerds :)

This was a short month it was tricky to paint due to the heatwave here in the UK but I still managed to complete my leader month. I am very happy with the outcome in combining the rider from Mierce Miniatures (a present from my Dad) with one of the undead horses from Fireforge Games as his steed. 

I used the same mix of greens and browns I used for my ghouls, to show he's undead even though he is not a skeleton. I used green, brown, and red inks to add finishing touches to bring him all together.

I did not like the axe or whip from the weapon sprue so I decided to use a spear from my collection, the model was very fiddly so I had to ask my Dad for some help, but I'm really happy with the final look. I'm going to use him as a Wight Lord in games of WFB.

Monthly total:

Wight Lord w/ spear on skeletal steed - 68 pts

Total for the month: 68 pts

Thank you for reading. I hope your final months went well, many thanks, Tom :)

Frank's Great Work Continued - A Daemonic Legion of Slaanesh - Rank & File - March

Chaos and mayhem is the theme of my Daemonic Legion project, but alas it is also the theme of recent months in the real world. As a result, once again only modest progress was made. However modest, it is still progress though. I shall begin my report with a curious tale...

Tzeentch's Changeling was once abroad in the world and had recently departed a prosperous market town, having succeeded in great mischief and needing to be away ere his presence was noted. He was passing a farm on the edge of the forest and saw a pair of great hounds chasing a hare through a field. The hounds were betwixt the hare and the woods and the rodent was sorely pressed. Only moments ahead of the hounds, the hare darted into a fallen log and looked to be about to be trapped by the hounds. At that moment perhaps the changeling took pity on the hare, seeing perhaps something of his own recent escapades in the hare's trails, or maybe instead he concieved a great jape to add just a bit more mischief and madness to the world. Regardless of his motive a spell of transfiguration was cast, and the Changeling went on his way. The Hounds arrived at the ends of the log only moments after the hare nipped within it. There they paused, catching their breath and pacing hurridly at each end, knowning their prey was cornered. Then the log shook and this caused the hounds much excitment. One of the hounds, the smaller of the two, forced his head into his end of the log trying to flush out the hare he knew to be within, his comrade waiting alertly at the opposite end. instead of the hare emerging, there was a great roar and thrash, followed by yelps from the hound. The smaller hound backed out of the log, its face now a mess of torn meat. The log heaved again and split revealing the hare much grown since it had entered the log. Its forelegs were now tipped in talons and it was gleefully licking blood from its new claws. The larger hound was stunned, and its fellow completely bewildered, by this turn of events. The hare however, was delighted both by its immediate change of situation and the new tastes it had discovered. It realized that it was also rather hungry, and a different hunt entirely got underway.

Changes continued as the hare fed its new appetites. He rapidly grew both in size and viciousness. It was a creature that seemed to revel in the hunt and rapidly grew to be among the most dangerous of monsters haunting the forests thereabouts. Tales of the wounds it would inflict on its prey were retold in hushed tones by those who had seen. The legend of the "Hare Who Hunts Huntsmen", spread steadily over the next few years. Eventually, the tales of "Rippity Rabbity", were common gossip in every tavern in the province, and over time the knights and heroes who came to make their reputations by slaying the beast were not easily counted. One such hero was a Champions of Chaos. Great Tzeentch had set him the task of collecting the beast, which rightfully belonged to the Changer of the Way, and bringing it North to aid His plots in some unfathomable way. As Tzeentch's Champion understood things, there was a real chance that the creature's bloodlust would attract the Blood God's servants at some point, and the Changer had decreed that Khorne would not benfit from his Changeling's handiwork. The Champion searched long for the "Hare Who Hunts", and upon finding him cast a spell to allow him into its small mind in order to guide and influence it. However, upon contacting the beast, he made an awful discovery. The once-rabbit wasn't grateful and it felt no fealty to its creator. Rather, it simply loved the hunt and the joy it felt when it caught prey. Rather than rage that drove it, its motivation was obsession. The terrible wounds it inflicted on it's victims were expressions of creativity for pleasure rather than bloodlust. Tzeentch's Champion had this demonstrated for him moments later. In the following weeks, the beast was seen in the company of pale beastment, always headed northwards...

Rippity Rabbity was a great model to convert and paint. The base model is a resin cast were-rabbit by Fenris games. I made some minor adjustments to this by adding vestigial wings on his back from a Reaper imp. Then I gave him some proper talons on his left hand, but not on all his fingers. I didn't want him to look too natural. Then I used an extra plastic daemonette claw to give him a serious right-talon. After all this, I made some minor additions to his genetalia, and with a suitable paint job, he was suitably horrifying. I am particularly pleased with his eyes, yellow and bloodshot. When serving in the legion, he is a flexible addition. Taken from the Chaos Creatures allowance, I could buy him as a Jabberwock, or a manticore. I probably wouldn't treat the wings as actually flight-worthy, but I suppose they could be if I needed to blow 50 points. I imagine them flapping maddly like a humming bird to lift such a beast. He could also be included as a simple chaos spawn. He certainly looks the part. And, lastly, he could be bought as an Independent Daemon. I think what I most prefer is the Manticore (without wings) profile. His altered genitalia can stand in for the scorpion tail, and otherwise he looks suitably aggressive and dangerous.

My other addition this month is a unit of a dozen more skeletons for the Unending Revellers unit. The tale of the Revellers was laid out in my January blog entry, and these fellows are cut from the same cloth. As before these models are from Crooked Dice. Their role in the legion is still one of charge absorbing cannon fodder, but their use is a bit different. The melee armed unit are given the task of providing a meat (bone) shield for other units in the legion by moving along in front of them. The archers, on the other hand, will form a static barrier but pelt the enemy with their longbows. Interestingly, Realm of Chaos Slaves to Darkness (page 181) allows a Daemonic Legion to include any missile weapons desired, so long as the models are actually carrying them, at no cost.

This generous price is likely because the vast majority of models on a daemonic battlefield are quite immune to normal arrow fire. However, one can also issue magical ammunition to any model desired. In the case of units they must be armed identically. I will therefore be equipping the Unending Revellers Archers with 'Seeking arrows" as standard. This means the archers will never miss. Mind you, a volley of Strength 3 shots with no armor modifier is not very impressive on a daemonic battlefield, but they will do the odd wound here or there. And, despite the arrows costing just as much as the archers, they are still a comically cheap unit, which will not cause one tear to be shed when they die over and over preventing a charge or soaking up gunfire on an actual unit of my lesser daemons.

Those together are March done for me. A 'grand' total of 15 models completed, presuming, as I am, that Rippity Rabbity counts as '2' for his size. The total point value here is dependant of the profile attached to the "Hare Who Hunts". He ranges from a mere 100 as a Spawn all the way to 810 as an Independant Daemon. I will count him at 200, as this is what a wingless Manticore costs, and that is the most likely profile I will use for him. The Skeletons are much simpler. Each Skeleton is 10 points. I painted 13 of them, 12 of which have magic bows. Together they wiegh in at 250 points. Therefore my total points for March are 450. I am far behind my intended painted count from what I had hoped, but I have avoided the field of bones again none-the-less. Till next time.