Byron's Wrap up - Eälindor's Reaver Corps. (1969 pts)

At the end of each OWAC I try to spend the last month painting up an additional batch of stuff. So for this last month I have painted up a Crotalid Squad - Assault elves.

The unit is made up of a series of simple conversions. I used striking scorpions, wyches, and some dual-wielding RT eldar warriors. They have the usual conversions for the army - breathing tubes and helmet tassels. There are a few head swaps in the unit. Most of the close combat weapons were removed and models were given an assortment of eldar pistol weapons. 

In my head I imagine these guys flying around the battle field like Jango Fett  -pew pew pew and maybe stopping to grenade a tank or something

 

Points 
Eldar w/ mesh armor, refractor field, jump pack, laspistols, frag grenade x7 = 101.5 pts

Eldar w/ mesh armor, refractor field, jump pack, hand flamer, grenade, and chain sword = 17 pts

On to the final pics of the whole army

I now have a proper eldar pirate army to match my finished eldar pirate space fleet. 

The final points tally

I apologize for some of the redundancy of my points tally (especially the warriors). I just went through all of my old posts and copied and pasted all of my point value summaries. 

Leaders

Eälindor, Pelagarch - Eldar Major Hero w/ conversion field, mesh armor, power sword, las pistol, level 1 psyker abilities, 3 level 1 abilities, psi level 10 = 170.5 pts

Eledriel Dreamrain, Farseer - Eldar Minor hero w/ conversion field, power weapon, level 4 psyker abilities, 3 lvl 1 abilities, 3 lvl 2 abilities, 2 lvl 3 abilities, 2 lvl 4 abilities, psi level 35 = 260 pts

Garanferth Greyheart, Warlock - Eldar Minor hero w/ conversion field, power weapon, las pistol, level 2 psyker abilities, 3 lvl 1 abilities, 3 lvl 2 abilities, psi level 20 = 102.5 pts

Doldair, Skyraider Lochiarc - Champion w/ refractor field, mesh armor, power sword, las pistol  = 20 pts

Falcon Squad Lochiarch - Eldar Champion w/ mesh armor, refractor field, Chainsword and las pistol = 14.5 pts

Kelvandar Breezekin, Razor Wing Lochiarch - Eldar Champion w/ mesh armor, refractor field, jump pack, power sword and las pistol = 22 pts

Aedysseil, Warrior Squad Lochiarch - Eldar Champion w/ mesh armor, refractor field, power axe and las pistol = 19.5 pts

Anaflane StarRain, Warrior Squad Lochiarch - Eldar Champion w/ mesh armor, refractor field, shuriken catapult and las pistol =15.5 pts

Squads

Skyraiders

Eldar w/ mesh armor, refractor fields, laspistol and flamer  x 1 = 13 pts

Eldar w/ mesh armor, refractor fields, laspistol and meltagun = 18 pts

Jetbikes x3 = 330 pts

Warrior Squads

Eldar w/ mesh armor, refractor fields, and Las Cannons x 1 = 55.5 pts

Eldar w/ mesh armor, refractor fields, and shuriken catapults x 6 = 75 pts

Eldar w/ mesh armor, refractor fields, and lasguns x 1 = 12 pts

Eldar w/ mesh armor, refractor fields, and lasguns x 2 = 24 pts

Eldar w/ mesh armor, refractor fields, and Las Cannons x 3 = 166.5 pts

Eldar w/ mesh armor, refractor fields, and shuriken catapults x 4 = 50 pts

Eldar w/ mesh armor, refractor fields, and lasguns x 3 = 36 pts

Eldar w/ mesh armor, refractor fields, and autogun x 1 = 12 pts

Falcon Squad

Eldar w/ mesh armor, refractor fields, hand weapons and las pistols x 4 = 46 pts

Eldar w/ mesh armor, refractor fields, hand weapons and las pistols x 2 = 23 pts

Razor Wings

Eldar w/ mesh armor, refractor field, jump pack, lasgun x1 = 14 pts

Eldar w/ mesh armor, refractor fields, jump pack, heavy heavy bolters x 3 =  82.5 pts

Eldar w/ mesh armor, refractor fields, jump pack, heavy heavy bolters x 1 =  27.5 pts

Crotalid Squad

Eldar w/ mesh armor, refractor field, jump pack, laspistols, frag grenade x7 = 101.5 pts

Eldar w/ mesh armor, refractor field, jump pack, hand flamer, grenade, and chain sword = 17 pts

Support

Wave Serpent (grav attack tank, with increased capacity, swapped weapons for a single las cannon, -2 damage, and only a 6+ save.) = 240 pts 

Total: 1969 pts

Miscellaneous 

Cargo drone

Stevedores x5

Standard Bearers

Musician

A repaired copy of the Book of the Astronomican
A Ghostdragon for my Eldar Space Fleet

Regrets

I still have a handful of Eldar left unpainted:

A warrior squad with another pair of shouldered las cannons

the pickup truck

5 jetbikes

A wave dragon tank (3rd ed Dark Eldar Ravager mixed with an Epic Wave Serpent)

Maybe for another time?

What's next?

Next year's challenge is a goblin horde. I've been accumulating a horde of gribbly little goblins. My challenge to myself is to paint enough goblins to cover an entire shelf. We'll see. 

ZeroTwentythree's February Eldar - Rank & File (699pts)

February Eldar:  Bombots, Dreads, War Walker (Rank & File - The Heavies)

The OWAC IV phase of the pirate crew focused heavily on regular troops. This time around I'm still painting rank & file, but focusing on support troops & heavies.

So here we have two Rogue Trader dreadnoughts, a Banshee & a War Cry. I definitely wanted to paint a Banshee as that was the model I had in my original Space Elf force back in the day.

War walker. I decided to go with the same purple as on the support weapon platforms & crew. Speaking of crew, I like the idea of having some dismounted crew figures, so I looked through the infantry bits and got as close as I could to the model on the walker. In hindsight, I should have tried sculpting the hair to match. I added a bit of green on both models to break up all the purple.

As I was prepping for this year's challenge, I saw something in the list that had previously escaped my notice:

Bombots! OK, so there were never any actual figures. I gave it some thought and decided to kitbash some hover-bombots. I got some little plastic craft eggs, carefully cut them up, added some sheet styrene fins, little Eldar gems (Eldar love gems...) with greenstuff, and a bit of wire. I don't think they turned out too bad. I had hoped to convert a bombot "handler" but wasn't able to settle on a conversion, but maybe they will appear in a future month's entry.

I also had one old Epic dread that came in a package with some other Eldar stuff for the OWAC4 project. I thought I would paint it up as yet another (small) spirit warrior; build out to be determined.

Lastly, some bonus material.

Continuing my plan for the Grav-Attack Ranch, I made a quick & sloppy, second model. I need to get some cheap putty to finish the base before priming the new one.

Inspired by the power field walls I did in January, I had a couple of other related ideas for personal or portable power field barriers. One is like a personal power field. A "power mantlet"? The other is like a portable field fortification, inspired by the ability of sappers to build field fortifications in WFB 3rd ed. I'm not sure what the plastic end bits are, or even what kit they come from. Something much newer.

Shown here with (previously painted) Kev, for scale.

So my first two months were the sneaky and the heavy support troops. The next few months will involve some more vanilla troops & weapon platforms, weird aliens, and heroes. I think I'll save the heroes for the end. So that narrows it down a little.

Rank & File

War-Cry Dreadnought        140 pts

Banshee Dreadnought        160 pts

War Walker                         349 pts !!!

5 Bombots                            50 pts

Bonus

T.B.D. Spirit Warrior           0 pts

War Walker Pilot                 0 pts

Terrain                                 0 pts

February Total                  699 pts

OWAC VIII Total          1,311 pts

ZeroTwentythree's January Eldar - Rank & File (612 pts)

January Eldar: Scouts, Farseer, Terrain (Rank & File)

The choice for my first month's entry is the result of several trains of thought. One is that it would be fairly easy to complete, thus ensuring that I would not be eliminated in the first month of the Challenge. The second being that the scouts were unfinished business from OWAC4. Sort of. They were not part of my original plan, but was a late potential "stretch goal."

The Eldar scouts were a later addition to Rogue Trader. I believe they were released just prior to the RT Craftworld list. My pirate force is based on the Eldritch Raiders list in Chapter Approved, White DWarf Articles, and the guides & calculator in the RT book. The latter makes it easy to retrofit the scouts in the the Raiders list rather than than use the Craftworld scouts which are more like 40k 1.5 edition. My Chapter Approved style entry is below. Point values have changed a little since my initial calculations.

Since I had 11 figures, I decided to utilize the scout with the sword as a champion, also using the tables & calculator in the RT book.

Another bit of semi unfinished business from OWAC4 was a Farseer that I picked up while shopping for a few other figures I needed for the original force. I initially bought the figure because I am a huge fan of the sculpt, had the figure years ago when the Craftworld figures were released, and just wanted to paint one again for nostalgia.

But four years ago (plus or minus a few months) as I was painting the first phase of the crew of the Cold September, my mind wandered (as it does) and an idea began to develop. The Farseer became a missionary who has left the Craftworld, escorted by a group of scouts who had worked with the Craftworld for a time. The Seer has, in a sense, joined the Outcasts in order to keep an eye on them, advise and guide them away from damnation, and help bring them back to the Eldar Path.

For this reason (and another) I opted to paint the figure in a camouflage palette similar to the scouts. Again, the stats, points, and equipment have been generated from Rogue Trader. 

Too lazy to make cards for them at this time. So....

Farseer - Eldar Major Hero (426.5 pts)

Psi Level 40, 3xLv1, 3xLv2, 2xLv3, 2xLv4, Force Sword, Energy Scanner, Bio Scanner, Communicator, Respirator, Auto-Senses, Cameleoline, Las-Pistol, C-Field

Scout Leader - Eldar Champion (21.5 pts)

Mesh Armor, Las Pistol, Power Sword, Needle Rifle, Cameleoline, Photo Chromatic Visor, Communicator, Respirator, Frag Grenades

Also painted this month is the traditional Offering, formerly for the Overlord, now for the Old World Army Challenge Revolutionary Coordinator Committee (or something like that?) Fortunately this year my theme aligns with one of the Committee members' theme.

Since I finished painting my core figures (10 scouts plus The Offering) by mid January, I returned to some other unfinished business -- terrain business. Years ago I started a couple of terrain projects, now completed(ish) below. I made one "power field fence" as a test, but never made more. Now I have three. I will probably be building some more. These are very simple to make, just some acetate sheet cut to size, sanded to give a hazy appearance, and glued to craft sticks for bases. because I have other low obstacles, I made these taller.

Initially unrelated I had also started making a terrain piece from the plastic blister packaging from a door latchset. I added some granny-grating and oval shaped googly eyes for some additional Eldarishness. So now I finished painting this, and it feels like this could maybe be the power field generator for the fence. 

One of the other "stretch goals" I started on is a project that I came up with before even deciding to join OWAC8 or return to the Eldar. In November I made a brief stop in Amarillo, TX for work. Just ten minutes from the work site I needed to visit was the Cadillac Ranch. At some point in next few days the idea came to me...

Grav-Attack Ranch

Conveniently I had a couple of deodorant containers stashed away for long running plans for a wrecked Grav-Attack terain peice and Thomas the Grav-Attack Engine (which I still plan on building.) Fortunate timing, I've also scavenged a couple more. So my plan is to get at least three built & painted, but ultimately I'd like at least five to use for terrain. At first it was going to be a single based bit of terrain, but I've changed my mind and will put them on individual bases for flexibility.

Below is the build - a bit of a test piece. A little sloppy, but like the original inspiration (well, 1/2 of the inspiration) I'd like the structure to appear to be deteriorating, and some texture from a lot of layers of paint!

For what it's worth, I did paint on a couple of the Cadillacs, but the wind was so intense that it turned out a mess. I also took a quick drive to get my kicks on Route 66 and stand on the yellow line in the center of the midpoint of The Mother Road!

Alright, enough with the Texas and Americana, back to the Grim Dark Future. Below are my January totals. I've let one surprise out (Grav-Attack Ranch) but hopefully still have a few more to unleash. In fact, February's entry is still a surprise to me. Although I have The Plan, I haven't decided what to paint next!

Rank & File

Scout Squad                      82 pts

Scout Squad                      82 pts

Bonus

Scout Champion             21.5 pts

Farseer                         426.5 pts

Terrain                                 0 pts

January Total                  612 pts

OWAC VIII Total           612 pts

ZeroTwentythree's Eldar Pirates - Intro Post

 ZeroTwentyree's Eldar Pirates

(the sequel)

A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away...

Wait. That's not it. I start over.

In 2021 I went sci-fi for the Old World Army Challenge IV before returning to fantasy for the next two years and then sitting out last year's Challenge. Now I return to the +/-41st century in 2025!

My OWAC4 project was a small RT era Eldar Pirate force, the Crew of the Cold September. It was based on the Eldrich Raiders list from Chapter Approved: Book of the Astronomican and a few White Dwarf articles that expanded that list. A few liberties taken, as explained in my entries from that project, due to the half-baked nature of those old lists.

This year I will expand the crew. There will be additional rank & file infantry, but quite a bit more support -- both troops and equipment -- this time. Strictly speaking I will mostly be sticking with RT era figures, some of them from the later period when the Craftworld Eldar list first came out in WD (like the scouts). And some weird stuff. There is a method to my madness. Or a madness to my method. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Trust me...

The Plan*

2	Dragon Squads	188	376
1	Venom Squads	178	178
2	Scout Squads	67.5	135
1	Zoat Terror Squad	354	354
2	D-Cannons & Crew	96	192
1	Heavy Plasma Gun & Crew	106	106
1	Banshee Dreadnought	268	268
1	War Cry Dreadnought	293	293
1	War Walker	349	349
2	Fishdudes	???	???
2	Probati (Officers/Champions)	25	50
1	Malefactor (Psychic Lieutenant/Minor Hero)	176	176
1	Farseer (A Missionary/Major Hero)	426.5	426.5
	*** redacted ***		???
	*** redacted ***		???
	*** redacted ***		???
	TOTAL		2903.5+

The Pics of the Plan

As you can see, there are some interesting surprises in store! Boy, that *** redacted *** could be difficult, but I think I can pull it off. Wish me luck!

* Based on past years, The Plan is more like guidelines than what you'd call actual rules.

Skål's Dark Pirate Raiders

 Another OWAC in the books. Let us take a moment and toast all of those that took this challenge on and over came all of their personal obstacles. Each of us face challenges throughout the year and at times we forget that we need to spend a little me time as well.

This month I had a little bit of time and really wanted to get a little more painted up, so I knocked out 10 Banshees/Wych's to add a little more variety to my force.

This OWAC I had a goal to make a playable Dark Eldar army for 3rd edition but also make sure that I could fit my miniature selections into a Eldar Pirate army for 2nd edition. 

I also wanted to to add a few missing elements to my Eldar army. Wraithguard and Dire Avengers have been on my list to paint for a while now and being able to finally play them is awesome.

The Incubi and the Talos are going to be beasts on the table for the Dark Eldar and will be fun to field in a Eldar Pirate force. I am excited to drop the Talos on the table as a Dreadnought/Wraithlord.

I had this vision for how I wanted to do my Hellions. I really wanted a Green Goblin vibe to them. They needed to have that dirty smoke plume holding them up instead of the clear flight stand. My buddy Brian (you are the man) printed these off and I am super stoaked with the way that they came out.

Points wise I kept it basic. I matched up the Dark Eldar models with how I would use them in a 2nd edition Eldar Pirate army. The break down is below to include points as well as what I would use them as.

• Archon/Farseer: 170
• Warlock: 51
• 10 Dire Avengers: 220
• 10 Wraithguard: 350
• 10 Incubi/Striking Scorpion's : 260
• Talos/Dreadnought: 160
• 5 Hellion's/Warp Spiders: 205
• 10 Wyches/Howling Banshees: 270
• Grand total: 1686

Till next OWAC I will leave you with a toast

“Here’s to a long life and a merry one. A quick death and an easy one. A pretty girl and an honest one. A cold beer and another one.”

Skål

Skål's Swooping Fluorescent Blacklight Death (rank & file 140 points)

This month was AWESOME! I finally was able to get half of my Hellions painted up. I love these figs. They give me the vibe of the Green Goblin from Spiderman so I went full in with that feel by giving them all smoke trails. I went a little extra by using fluorescent colors that pop under a blacklight. This is hard to photograph but I think it looks really cool in person.

Game wise this unit will be used as Swooping Hawks in 2nd edition games for my Eldar Pirate army and in 3rd they will be Hellions. I think the bummer is in the Dark Eldar book for 3rd edition you are only allowed one unit of these which sucks as I can see painting up a bunch to have them go crazy across the table.

Next month the fun part, the group photo. I am looking forward to putting everything on the table to see how far I have come this year.

Till next month.

Skål