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Hello denizens of Dakka Dakka. I've been a long time observer of the forums and postings here on the website. Recently I found it within myself to finally become a member and begin this thread in the project logs. The others who have posted here have been a great inspiration to get back into the gaming universe. That being said, my old standby for the Fantasy universe are the High Elves.

The Emerald Marines were inspired by the newest edition and the fine modeling of the Lothern Seaguard. I decided to begin a force based around the concept of a squadron of elven galleys hailing from the Shifting Isles and led by Prince Oberon. I'm sure I'll find more back story in my head at some point in the near future. With that much being said, however, its clear to me that the army probably will not consist of any Dragon Mages or dragons for that matter, as any astute sailor would see the hazard in bringing so much explosive, fiery power on board a fleet of wooden tinderboxes, even elven tinderboxes.

I had a number of the new models painted some months ago and plan on restarting the process. With good fortune and wind in my sails, I may even do some converting to the final state of Oberon himself. Right now, the standard prince on a griffin will have to suffice.

I also play WH40k and have always been a Space Marine neophyte. I won't be painting much of those until I order, receive and use an airbrush in the future. That's my near term goal for the Maelstrom Guardians. They are based around a second founding chapter of the Imperial Fists and are tasked with the security and order of the space near the Eye of Terror. Chapter Master: Lord Mormont . I'll develop that one later. They use the iconography of their sister chapter, the Black Templars, but follow a red, black and cream color scheme more akin to the Blood Ravens. Unlike the Black Templars, they also utilize Librarians instead of shunning that potential combat multiplier.

Alright, on to the photo shoot.

Thanks again, Dakka Dakka.

Lord Mormont

Fifteen minutes later...

Take not that a lot of these images are WIP and all the models won't be based until I'm satisfied with them. I'm in this for feedback! Lay it on thick and heavy.


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Sorry about the quality of the photos. I have but one camera.

I personally prefer the High elves but both batches of minis are really well painted Look forward to seeing more.

Love those High Elves! Great colors, very skillfully done. I'm very interested in the tiger griffon.

Thanks. I'll say I've always enjoyed painting fantasy more than 40k. I have a list together for the elves, but I'm going to attempt to finish what I have before I go galavanting about ebay buying up halves of the Isle of Blood set.

Oberon on his griffon is a very slow WIP. I paint him when different sets are drying, or I did. But his griffon is definitely going to be Sheir Khan. Maybe he purchased the beast from traders out of Cathay on one of his many voyages onboard his flagship "Albatross".

I've been mulling about how I am going to base the soldiers and really create an ocean-going feel to them, outside of the seaweed and sea serpent shields...

A couple of ideas I had this afternoon was designing their bases as if they were forming up along the beach as the tide was coming out or in. The moment after the Marines and Swordmasters leapt from their galleys into the surf. To get the right effect, I will definitely need to practice, because I have never worked with the faux water mediums in modeling before. But the idea is that if the unit is ranked up, then the front rank will be dry beach, but each successive rank will have more water, until the rear rank is sloshing about in sea foam. I need to shop around for some ocean bits, like miniature seashells and starfish. I was going to have Oberon simply flying above the waves. As befitting a prince, his ship would have three banks of oars and lie lower in the water, therefore he couldn't beach his own galley; unlike the other warships of his squadron.

Also note that none of the faces are complete either. I am leaving that as a final detail. I just want to get them into a good tabletop position first.

High elves are more difficult than some races to really personalize, because they are so civil and orderly. I don't think you would see a lot of swashbuckling or swagger as we, lowly humans, might imagine.

This makes me think more about the story behind the Emerald Marines... We have Prince Oberon, a prince of Ulthuan, a relative of the Phoenix King. His domains are poorer, since they are only small islands, but he generates wealth through trade and seamanship. He is the Warden of the Shifting Isles, a first line of defense against incursions from the domains of Men.

Lord Absalom is his foremost vassal. He hails from the eastern most isle of Evenfall. The Emerald Marines are his sworn swords. They are the backbone of the Prince's fleet and arms. I am interested to see how it might play out in a game, since there will be 40 to 50 of them. Thats a lot of spears and a lot of bows (and a lot of other things).

Then there is Enosh and Enoch, twin mages from the White Tower. They have left the tower as acolytes in order to travel and further their understanding of the wide world. During this time they found themselves in the service of Oberon's court and have since become some of his favorite advisors. The ability to tap into the winds of magic is also beneficial, especially for a merchant prince. The twins also travel with a guard of Swordmasters as befitting their station as acolytes of the White Tower.

At the moment, I also have a unit of Phoenix Guard, but I haven't quite logically fit them into Oberon's force outside of a gameplay standpoint. Perhaps they seek the bones of former heroes or lost relics of Khaine that were despoiled by the incursions of Goblins. They are simply known as the Grim Company.

My fast cavalry is made up of a band of hotheaded young noblemen, seeking adventure. They audaciosly name themselves the Swiftspurs. We'll see if they can outrun the death that shadows all fast cavalry...

I may paint up some archers too. They would be nameless sailors put ashore to support the main attack.

Then there is the Gale Force. Its an ancient, magically blessed Reaper Bolt-thrower taken from the deck of the Albatross and brought ashore when battle calls.

This is a great source of motivation.

Really liking the griffon so far. The box set high elves are excellent models, and your choice of bright green makes them even more striking than usual. Really cool.

I'm not an elf fan normally, but your background is really nice.
Props for the username, too!

I'm placing designs together for the Battle Standard Bearer. I want to have the link between the Shifting Isles and Tor Yvresse clear in the standard for Prince Oberon. Does anyone have any links to the actual heraldry of Eltharion the Grim? I was going to have a black heart with a sword passing through (for Yvresse) over a quartered field of green/orange hand (Oberon is a servant of Yvresse) and blue/white moon or stars (to mark the royal ties).

Painting will commence sometime this week. I just placed my order for a bunch of new brushes.

I haven't updated in a while and thought I would show some progression. I put this thread up and then promptly didn't continue to paint. The WIP I am displaying is actually just from the last two weeks. I'm excited though, because I think they are shaping up nicely and the final units for my High Elf force are in the mail as we speak! I also and reconsidering the water effects and may just go with a slate basing (representing the cold hard rocky shore of the shifting isles or a raiding force landing in Chaos territory). When its all done (hopefully in this life) I'll have this for 2500 pts:

1 Prince Oberon w/ Griffon
2 Lvl2 Mages
1 BSB

40 Seaguard
15 Swordmasters
15 Phoenix Guard
10 Archers
5 Ellyrian Reavers
1 Reaper

Obviously all the fancy tricks aren't listed here. I'll post the WIP Reavers and Prince.

And yes, Lord Mormont is one of my favorite characters in the Song of Ice and Fire. Sandor Clegane is my favorite.

I like it!

Figuring this thing out all over again! Let me know what you think of the tiger striped griffon and Oberon overall. I think he's shaped up nicely; then I look on here and see the soaring heights others have reached before me!