First Ellyrian Reaver

Whoever at GW had the brilliant idea to sculpt 17 point figures more detailed than a regular champion or hero model of any other faction in Warhammer Fantasy... Good job! 

I managed to finish my first Ellyrian Reaver yesterday, and it only took me 2 full evenings and a few extra minutes here and there in the morning before work. I think in total this figure took me 6 and a half hours of painting. Madness!  

But yes, it's a beautiful sculpt, I think everyone can agree with me on that. 

Many many gems, coloured metal pieces around the horse armour, and even a decorative,  triangulated pattern on the straps that are hanging from the helmet. 

I painted the Ellyrian Reaver in almost the same colour scheme I used for a first Silver Helm test model in the past, I think it works pretty well for Cothique.

 

Only 4 to go now! As I said, madness. Not sure I can paint the probably most intimidating model of my Warhammer collection afterwards, the Prince on Griffon... But I really want to finish my Elven half of the Island of Blood box! Let's see.

Anyway, I hope you like my first cavalry model for the army! More to come soon, if Asuryan grants me the time and nerves :P

All the best

Lucas  

Lizardmen Colour Test

And now for something completely different!

Well, once again, the hobby squirrel with a attention span of only a few seconds has prevailed: I was distracted by a new, exciting topic :D
It's really bad at the moment.

Anyway, when I'm not able to pursue my hobby, I always come up with new projects in my head and then buy miniatures for them rather than actually painting them... 

But this one could be truly epic!
All I can say is that the story and setting take place in the Southlands of the Warhammer world. 

And since there are lots of lizardmen there, I had to paint a few... I'll tell you much more about the project later, but here's a little teaser in the form of an even smaller skink.

I stole the colour scheme from Total War: Warhammer III, where the lizardmen of Tiktaq'to are coloured like this. I think I'll try to get to 1000 points here first, and then we'll see.
The army will consist of 90% Skinks, with only a small troop of Temple Guardians containing Saurus.

The painting hasn't turned out 100% well everywhere, as I unfortunately tried once again to find a quick solution with Contrast Paints... I just can't do it. So I painted over everything again normally.
I hope you like it anyway! 

All the best

Lucas  

First game with my High Elves

Dark clouds gathered in the sky. Calandril looked down over the hill into the valley, at the edge of which the dark shapes of Chaos followers were already gathering. No birds could be heard anymore; the dark aura of the creatures had put all life to flight.

In the middle of the valley, which was bordered by forests, rose a dark ruin that might once have been a temple of the old gods of this region - now only death and despair reigned here. The statue in its interior had strangely glowing eyes, as if it were staring at Calandril even from this great distance and warning him against approaching.

But the elf did not waver. They had not marched over so many hours of travel only to turn back now. Chaos had to be driven from these lands, whatever the cost. The winds of magic flowed through him once more, and the High Elf mage took new heart. He raised his staff, and the small army of elven warriors set itself in motion.

 

Last night, finally our first game of Warhammer Fantasy 8th edition took place!

After months of preparation and reading the rules book, my High Elves had their first test of battle against some blood thirsty Chaos warriors and a pretty brutal Chaos beast!

The battle started with both sides  rolling for reinforcements. My army deployed in its entirety on the battlefield from turn 1, the Chaos warriors had to wait for a turn.

 

 

My elves had the first turn, so I marched onwards to meet the foul creatures in battle.

Unfortunately, I completely forgot about the guardian in the temple. I moved the Lothern Seaguard on the right flank too near towards the temple, and 4 men got killed by yellow beams of light. I can still hear the cries of the poor souls... 

Nothing to shoot and nothing to cast, so the enemy turn began. He also moved forwards, but had no shooting attacks either. 

The Chaos hounds moved behind the wood, probably for a nasty attack from the rear.

Round two, and my elves moved nearer. Cold hatred for all things Chaos burned in the Seaguard, so they charged into combat with the Chaos warriors. Or at least they tried, as they rolled too low and stopped a few inches before the enemy unit. What a pity!

My mage had then the chance to cast a spell, but did not roll high enough either. My already struck unit of Lothern Seaguaard on the right changed direction and tried to counter the Chaos hounds. 

Then it was the enemys turn again, and they attacked with brutal charges. My big unit of Seaguard was attacked from two sides, and I could not do anything about it...  

 

The combat was pretty brutal, flank attacks are pretty nasty... But I managed to kill a few warriors as well. Very close in the end, but I lost the combat. Luckily I rolled very good on my leadership test and the unit stayed in combat and did not flee. 

Next turn, and my Swordmasters charged into battle, as did my other Seaguard unit. My mage tried to cast a spell on the now arriving Chaos warriors, but once again rolled too low... Not a good day for Calandril!

 

As you can see, I lost quite a few elves this turn... But I managed to kill the Chaos hounds, and also did a lot of damage to the enemy in general. 

I think I don't have anymore images of the battle, but it was very bloody. I guess it's Warhammer after all! My mage tried to cast once again on the Chaos warriors, rolled a double 6, lost control and became stupid and did not remember any spell... Oh well :D 

My swordmasters killed the Chaos demon, but also got killed by the big fresh unit of Chaos warriors. The champion of the big unit of Lothern Seaguard got killed in a duell with the Chaos champion, but the champion got killed by the many spears of the Seaguard... In the end, only my mage and the Chaos warriors were alive:

In the end it was a very close victory for the elves. But what could they do? Most of the army had been slaughtered, Calandril was a drooling idiot with no memory of his magical abilities... It was a disaster! 

The game was incredibly fun. For my first game of Warhammer Fantasy, I got into it pretty well. Of course, the many special rules take time to learn, but I think it will go faster next time.
I'm definitely excited and can't wait for the next game!

The Warhammer atmosphere was definitely incredibly cool. 
It definitely motivated me to paint the next units for the elves! Today I already primed the first riders, let's see when I'll finish them... If only they didn't take so long to paint! 

All the best

Lucas  

 

 

 

 

Haldir finally joins the ranks of the wood elves

After promising to paint him for a few months now, this week I finally finished Haldir. A lovely figure, although the casting was once again not the best.

Especially the face is pretty flat, but from the side you don't recognize it.  

I choose a slighty different colour scheme on him, a bit darker than the rest and with more grey. More similar to the movie outfit than the GW paintjob I think... But it was hard to get the colours right!

 

And here is the full warband for the Lothlorien scenario. And to be honest, they were so much fun... Maybe I will do a few more :D 

A little Lothlorien army would be nice. I also have tons of the classic armoured Galadhrim, but I guess they would be better for a future Two Towers project. There are enough iconic miniatures in the Lothlorien range, the Wood Elf Sentinels for example, or the fantastic banner bearer. 

 

 

 

I also painted a plastic wood elf a while back... I think these models are some of the most underrated in the whole Lord of the Rings range. Sure, the details are pretty blurred, the faces are not the best (but look at the metal ones), and they are tiny compared to the command sets and heroes. 

But there is something in this set for me I just can't explain properly. They are exactly what I imagined back when I was reading the Hobbit for the first time: 

"Behind the arrows a thousand or their spearmen leapt down and charged."

Well, maybe I will paint this box in 2026... Would love to have it completed. 
 

And yes, the face really is not the best, but maybe my paintjob was not the best either. 

I will try again when I have the full set. I once had it, or maybe my brother, I am not sure... But now it's incomplete, half painted in thick coats of yellow and red, and pretty much unusable. Maybe I can find a complete box soon on ebay or something.

 

Well that's it for today, I hope you like the new figure!

All the best

Lucas