Shadespyre's July Post - OWAC VII Wrap up - Guardians of the Moonglade - 3rd Edition Wood Elves (7902 points, 228 models)

OWAC VII - Wrap up - Guardians of the Moonglade

July 

Another OWAC completed, my fourth and possibly my favourite. Why? Because it's a decent match to the picture I had in my head when I started, and also it never quite became a chore despite there being so much of it. It's actually my biggest OWAC to date, if only by around 10 minis. And it might get bigger.

Straight into a couple of army pictures. I can't really get enough light in this room, and my poor old camera doesn't really have enough resolution, but they give an idea of the size of the project.

And because some of the earlier units I painted weren't based immediately, here's a pictures of the Spring, Summer and Autumn groups of Elves. Hopefully this gives an idea of how I tried to use different combinations of the same basing materials to give a slightly different feel to each faction.

Expansion Plans?

I haven't actually painted anything extra since June, but I still may be adding to the army in the near future. Having bemoaned the lack of miniatures to include any dedicated melee units just last month, I immediately managed to acquire enough extra Elves to make that possible!

I also have a unit of possible "Winter" Elves which I'd really struggled to find a good colour scheme for, but as some people seem to like the Winter hero from June I may just try and paint them like that. It'll probably be easier to find my way with the time pressure taken off.

This would all add another 40 or so miniatures to the project, making it my biggest army since The End Times came - for comparison, my 7E/8E Vampire army is around 450, while my 6/7/8E Middenheim Empire army is over 600 minis, but is nowhere near as pretty.

Reflections and Regrets

This one went pretty well. I hadn't really defined my colour scheme before I started and had to feel my way towards something that I liked, but I think once I'd done that it all flowed quite well. The moon theme arrived a little late, and perhaps that shows in the somewhat simple banners, but those are probably the only thing I'd want to change very much. Oh, the 3d printed shields aren't quite as neat as I'd like, but I don't think it matters en masse. And where was I going to get a hundred of the original crescent shaped ones?

I like how the basing looks but it took forever and cost a lot (though I have plenty left over), but I think it's my favourite basing scheme across my OWACS so it was all worth it in the end.

One final self-criticism - once again, the army is bigger than it needs to be! Every unit of 16 Elves could have been 12 or even 10, and there could easily be half as many Zoats and Halflings and it would still express the same themes and ideas and be a useable army. I think I said this about OWACs VI and V as well so I don't know if I'll ever learn...

OWAC VIII

I'll definitely take part. Will it be a big project or a small one? Fantasy or 40k? I don't know yet, and to be honest I don't think I'll think about it much before October.

Paul D's army shot for the end of OWAC V

Having reviewed my efforts whilst taking these pictures I'm coming round to the idea that my struggles with getting them finished - was me, rather than the army choice, my mojo just simply evaporated in the last couple of months, and the only thing that got me there was sheer bloody grit (obviously, that's the Scot/northerner in me). So on with the show - a few close-ups of individuals and units to show off all my shaky brush work and casting lines I didn't file away.

First up, a general shot of the army without my face looming over it.

Ashigaru, hopefully, when it comes to actually playing with these chaps they'll provide a steady stream of bowfire.

One of my Samurai units - to slice and dice

A second Asigaru unit - you can never have enough bows

The mounted samurai to provide a mobile reserve

More ashigaru carrying more bows

A second unit of samurai to hold the other flank.

Finally, a photo of the army with my army pose!

Oh, and if you look very carefully, you might even find a ninga, good luck.

Next year for the tenth BOYL, these boys and girls will be playing the part of the rescue party of a big game, played over the course of the weekend, I've been planning for a number of years. So, if you're going to be there and want to play the part of a chaos wizard (wishing to commune with his god), a hard bitten Imperial captain (hoping to survive, until he retires), an ogre mercenary (looking for work), a gang of giants (looking for trouble), a family of trolls (on a camping trip), a band of wolf riders (escorting the wizard and his entourage), a clan of barbarians (bent on revenge) or an army of black orcs (playing the part of the local heavies), the choice is yours and if, the wizard makes the appropriate sacrifice there might even be a demon horde (next years OWAC), let me know? All will be catered for, with individual missions and targets over the course of the weekend!

My challenge for next year a Chaos undivided lesser demon horde, who could  show up in the game, if, the rescue party doesn't do their job! All inspired by previous entries, see you all next year.