Swordmasters

After my recent game of TOW, I decided to paint up some very old Swordmasters. Just because really.

Very characterful scuplts. I decided to go for the classic scheme for these. I do want my High Elf army to be from all the kingdoms.

10 all done. Not sure what to work on next. Tempted to do some old school ogres as allies for my beleaguered High Elf forces in the badlands. Not sure.

Anyways, thanks for looking. 

Prince Iltharis of Lothern

I still have been plugging away at my High Elves for the Badlands campaign. We have done two turns so far, and I have not done so well with the Elves. Hoping that my luck might be better in the next turn.

That said, I did finish another general for one of my three armies with a bit of background.

Prince Iltharis of Lothern

An experienced seafarer, he is more at home on the deck of a ship than with the fops at court. A master swordsmen who with his ships company, The Storm Riders, have a reputation for ruthless boarding actions against their dark kin. One such foray rendered Iltharis blind at the hands of the Druchii, however his loss of sight has not dulled his expert navigation skills, or his skills with his blade, 'Blood Prow', which cuts through his foes like the bow of a ship, and leaves behind a wake of death.

I also remembered to take some photos of the game against the Beastmen, so will write something up soonish.

Thanks for looking, Cheers!

Tiranoc chariot

Got super productive and assembled, primed and painted an old 5th edition era High Elf Chariot, very rare to have such a quick turnaround!

I was really dreading painting this one, as I remember painting High Elf chariots in my old army, and I remember them being quite a pain and labour intensive.That said, this one was a breeze to paint, and it was nice to focus on another elven kingdom while painting on it. As it was Tiranoc, I went with the yellow as the Kingdom colour, and painting it reminds me of summer and the beach. Great vibes!

Anyways, here is the journey.

Great model.

Next up is more High Elves. Unsure what though, though I am tempted to paint either more Sisters of Avelorn, Silver Helms or another chariot.

Thanks for looking!

Sisters of Avelorn - High Elf update for The Old World

Finished this unit! Very pleased with how they turned out. They along with the Handmaiden, some Silverhelms and a chariot make my initial 500 pts for the Badlands campaign.

I do have two more boxes to assemble of these sisters, though unsure if I will be working on them until after my initial 1000 points is done. We shall see. 

I am working on some army markers for the campaign, and having the fellas around on Friday for our first game turns. I am very excited, though I am unsure if i will get my final model done before then.

Anyways, thanks for looking!

Alithair - Handmaiden of the Everqueen

 Total War Warhammer 2 really sucked me back into collecting and painting High Elves. Great campaign, amazing music score and seeing all those blue bolts from the sisters of Avelorn hit into enemy ranks and delete them was a thing of beauty.

So with the start of this new Blood in the Badlands Campaign, I decided to go for the Asur, and naturally had to start with a Handmaiden of the Everqueen.

I have has this model for a long time, so it was good to put some paint on it. It did require some fixing and bending as it is a finecast model, but I think it turned out alright.

She led a contingent of Sisters in their first 500 point game on Monday. I was mightily impressed by the sisters, whereas the 19 Swordmasters charged, hit like a wet fish, broke on a double 6 and got ran down. The sisters though, got charged, killed more than the Swordmasters and ran them off. So needless to say, they are on the painting table. 

To be a bit cheeky and build the narrative, I sent this poem to the Skaven player that destroyed my High Elves.

Beneath the silvered moon I tread,
A vengeance burning deep, unsaid.
My bow is taut, my arrow sharp,
I seek the mark where shadows harp.

Long years have passed, yet still I feel
The wound that time cannot conceal.
The trees have whispered of your sin,
And now the hunt begins again.

You, who mocked my sacred grace,
You, who left me in disgrace,
With every breath, I track your lies,
And in the end, your soul shall die.

The forest trembles with my rage,
Its whispers turning to a cage.
For vengeance calls, as swift as light,
And all shall burn beneath its bite.

The stars above shall witness this,
The moment when your heart does miss.
For I, the last of ancient kin,
Shall take the blood that’s mine to win.

No mercy shall my hand bestow,
As shadows fall, and winds do blow.
The years may pass, but fate shall find,
That vengeance is a mark, well-kind.

And when your ashes kiss the earth,
I’ll stand, at last, in solemn mirth—
For in this world, so torn and vast,
It is revenge that holds me fast.

- Alithair, Handmaiden of the Everqueen

Thanks for looking!

From the skies! High Elves from Ulthuan.

The last of my updates from painting this year that I forgot to blog. A High Elf on a Pegasus. I painted this model for the intention of playing some linked narrative games linked to Grom's invasion of Yvresse. 

Unfortunately, I got distracted by the Templar's, however, some chance occurrence has meant that once again fantasy is back on the menu with a decent number of people interested in The Old World. Provided interest stays high, we will be delving into a campaign using the 8th edition book, Blood in the Badlands. 

I have decided to take the Elves, as I need an excuse to paint them (the Dwarves were tempting,a s was Warriors of Chaos and Empire). 

Hopefully this model will come in handy as a noble on a great eagle.

Kept a classic scheme for this model. Need to do a banner pennant at some stage, once I work out the dimensions. 

Anyways, thanks for looking!

The Silverest of Helms

Finally I have something to post! I have been working on these on and off for about a month, and finally have them at the stage where I can share.

I just wanted to finish off the basic unit of Silver Helms, so I have a minimum unit of five. Plus I also painted up an old oop High Elf Hero. I think it is one of those that came out for one of the old campaign packs on 5th edition, though I am not certain. I made him from Eataine, along with the Silver Helms. I got the inspiration for the unit colour scheme, from the old 8th edition High Elves Uniforms and Heraldry book. It is such a shame they only did it for three races, as they were a veritable host of inspiration and information. Still, I am lucky to have that book for the High Elves, Skaven and Empire.

 The shield is from the sprues from the old 4th Edition box.

 Old 5th Edition Silverhelm Champion.

 Old 5th Edition musician.

 The finished unit!

And with added hero.

Not sure what to work on next. Might be some Ellyrion Reavers, some Kill Team, or maybe some Napoleonics. We shall see.

Thanks for looking!

The Battle for Maugthrond Pass, the battle concludes!

This is the second part of the old scenario, The Battle for Maugthrond, from the old 4th edition boxed game. For the first part, please return here.


The goblin hoard has severely depleted the forces of the elves, with now only the archers that came as reinforcements on.

Goblins Turn 5

Blacktoof swoops and lines up on the victorious elven archers.

The spearmen valiantly take the final charge from Grom and the trolls.

The giant stares down the archers from the north tower. Surely one elf can take off the last wound?

Alas the spearelves are wiped out before their archer kin.

Elves Turn 5

Eltharion, like a thunderbolt from the sky, streaks straight into Grom, ready for revenge!

In the magic phase he gets off a Hand of Glory on himself, and manages to put Glamour of Teclis on the giant.

The archers are slammed by a big unit of goblins and Blacktoof.

The Glamour of Teclis saved the archers, who got off some more shots, only to fail to wound!

Eltharion finally has his revenge! Grom is down! This fight with 5th Edition special characters was especially close. Eltharion has no protection aside from heavy armour and mounted, and Grom has little armour, other than regen. However, Eltharion has a monstrous attack profile, taking away one of Grom's attacks, wheras if Grom can land blows, it will hurt. This challenge went on for two turns, but finally Eltharion (and lady luck) came through.

Unsurprising, Blacktoof and the goblins manage to eliminate 3 elf archers.

Elf Turn 6

Eltharion swoops towards Blacktoof, as that was the only way I could make up on the victory points. If I can kill Blacktoof, then I win the game! Plus if I can get the Glamour of Teclis off on Blacktoof, then I am in a good position to attack him in the last turn.

Archers line up. I still fail to kill the giant...

Goblin Turn 6

Blacktoof charges Eltharion!

Giant, with a taste now for elven archers, goes for some more.

After a brutal combat, which sees Eltharion severely wounded (1 wound left, he saved this with his armour save roll of a 6), and Stormwing severely wounded (2 wounds left), Eltharion kills Blacktoof! Only for him to use the magic card "escape"! The wyvern is driven off, and in the pursuit, Eltharion collides into another unit of goblins.

Even heavily wounded, Eltharion issues a challenge, and butchers the goblin big boss.

The archers were minced by the giant, so my last unit of elven archers from the west, shoot and finally kill the giant! It has been on 1 wound since Turn 1!. When it fell, it nearly fell on the escaped Backtoof!

Game!

Goblins: 18 Victory Points

Elves: 13 Victory Points

Goblins for the win!

This was a very one sided game...until Eltharion turned up. Not being getting the signal fire off, and having everything come a turn later was quite the impedement. Plus my elves busy having their breakfast was not great! That Swordmaster unit was meant for greater things, not being clipped and run down! But all swings and roundabouts. Eltharion was quite the hero, and making some very lucky saves for him, ensured he survived the battle and unlike most 'new paint syndrome', he did some damage!

As for what is next, my friend and I are in discussion as to whether we are going to do the whole Eltharion and Grom campaign. We have roughly broken the Eltharion story from the old High Elves book down into 6 or 7 games, including Maugthrond. 

So will keep you posted!

Thanks for looking!

The Battle for Maugthrond Pass, the battle commences!

The scene is set. We embarked on this massive game of nostalgia, but with renewed vigor. I must admit, it took me a little bit of time to get my head around making an army list for 5th, plus a lot of the magic cards were most certainly a trip down nostalgia lane. At the time I played Skaven,  and my main opponent was Chaos, who would regularly thump me. So I had to be sneaky and use items like van Hostmans, and shards that lock them in time. Great times. Still, It was quite nice, plus I was looking forward to using the White Lions special rules, which I was very keen to do.

So without further ado, the first part of the battle!


The armies

High Elves 2000pts 5th Edition army book, items and Magic

Eltharion on Stormwing
The Fangsword of Eltharion
The Helm of Yvresse
Talisman of Hoeth

Thronduin Lv 3 Mage
Black Amulet
Chalice of Sorcery
Skull Staff

4 units of 5 archers with longbows and light armour

20 Spearelves with a standard with the Banner of Defiance and musican

18 Swordmasters with full command and the Ruby Chalice (-2 to shooting, -1 to hit in close combat after first casualty) on the Champion.

15 White Lions with standard and musician with the Banner of Might ( +1 to hit)

Repeater Bolt Thrower


Goblin Hoard of Grom 2000 pts 5th Edition army book, items and Magic

Grom the Paunch
Grom's Axe
Horn of Urgok

Goblin Master Shaman on Wyvern (Blacktoof)
Staff of lightning

Wolf rider Goblin Big Boss with the Crown of Command

2 x Goblin Big Bosses with Great Weapons

2 x 20 goblin archers

10 goblin archers

2 x 24 goblin spears, shields, standard and musician

6 x river trolls

Giant

Bolt thrower

catapult

The battle

The scene is set in the ancient village of Maugthrond. Thronduin is glad they made it back to his ancestral estates to ensure it wasn't despoiled by the loathsome goblins. He feels very confident that they will not come, especially as this place is quite far off the beaten track. Still, to play it safe, there are archers in each of the watch towers, plus a repeater bolt thrower in tower facing east. The elves, have there breakfast, confident the sharp eyes of the lookouts will warn them of any encroaching dangers.

The spearelves, White Lions and Thronduin's Guard of Swordmasters, break camp and have their delectable breakfast. We couldn't decide whether it was Lembas bread or Magic Jelly.

The goblin hoard deployed in the mist, to get close to the village.

With the mists rolling off the Annulii, being dispersed before the cruel goblin hoard of Grom, the goblins catch the elves of guard and have the first turn and move forward, making as little noise as they can. Despite the orders from Grom, one of the goblin units starts arguing over who has the pointiest spear for killing elves.

Elves Turn 1

The goblins take the elves completely off guard. The archers, leave the protection of the tower, with one of their number attempting to light the signal fire, which would warn Thronduin and the other watchtowers. Alas, the wood is too wet, and doesn't take the flame.

The repeater bolt thrower lines up a shot on the giant and does 3 wounds, while the archers do another 2 wounds.

Goblins Turn 2

The rest of the goblins move up. Blacktoof arrives on the field, and flies close to the waystone, ready to sap its energy. The injured giant charges the watch tower.

The giant smashes one of the elves, while his comrade, not used to such violence legs it.

Nothing happens in magic.

The elves are still happily and jovially having their magic jelly.

The end of the Goblin turn sees the goblins get closer, with the elves failing to warn their kin.

Elves Turn 2

With the warning not been given, the elf turn is very quick. Only the 5 archers can do anything.

The archers, line up their shots on the giant, hoping to remove its last wound. However, the tough hide of the monster holds.

Goblins Turn 3

The giant, charges into the archers, who despite getting a few hits, cannot penetrate its tough hide to take the beast down.

The trolls make a charge against the Swordmasters, clipping the last model. The combat sees the elves suffer too many losses, especially when enjoying their magic jelly. They break and are run down! Thronduin, using the escape card from the magic phase to jump into a portal and deploy elsewhere on the field.

Elves Turn 3

The elf spirits are very low! It was only a moment ago that Thronduin and his Swordmaster guard were enjoying their breakfast, the next they were beaten and eaten by trolls! No one knew the fate of Thronduin himself, so they cast aside their magic jelly and formed ranks to oppose the trolls.

The last remnant of the bolt thrower, rallies and steals himself to take out a giant but the hill.

And in he charges! He only has to do 1 wound, and he reclaims his glory!

The elves form ranks, ready to face the trolls.

Thronduin himself, casts some magic, to teleport to the rock lobber, and dispatches the crew in short order.

Alas, the brave elf meets his end, and gets picked up and thrown into the signal fire. At least now its lit.

Goblin Turn 4

The trolls, line up and charge into the elves, with the hoards of goblins not far behind, ready to burn the ancient home.

Grom, seeing his chance to get into combat, goes for a long charge into the spearelves. Needing at least an 11, he gets a 12 for a charge!

The elves, sandwiched between the trolls and Grom, prepare to sell their lives dearly.

Blacktoof, moves up to the waystone and steals its magic, thus scoring 10 victory points!

The charge takes a terrible toll in lives. With the elves failing their fear checks making little mark on the trolls or Grom.

Unsurprising they flee, with the brave White Lions being run down. The spearelves just make it away.

The battlefield at the end of the Goblin turn. The elves only have 1 unit left, and it is fleeing.

Elves Turn 4

The elves get reinforcements from the other watch towers, who appear at the north, west and south table edges. The spearelves, rally in the face of Grom and the deplorable trolls.

The elves coming from the south, charge into the goblins, ready to spill goblin blood! While the archers from the north and west, line up and attempt to slay the one wound giant, to no avail!

The elves from the south watchtower, slaughter the goblins, run them down, and panic off the goblin unit behind them.


This concludes part one of the Battle fot Maugthrong Pass. Stay tuned for part 2, coming soon!

Will the elves come back from the precipice of defeat? Will Eltharion be able to make enough of an impact to save the day?

Thanks for looking!