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Made in ca
Fixture of Dakka





Surrey, BC - Canada

CaptainWaffle,

Good luck with the Maugan Ra and the unofficial painting challenge. He does fit the theme.

Cheers,

CB

   
Made in us
Nimble Ellyrian Reaver






Captain Brown wrote:
CaptainWaffle,

Good luck with the Maugan Ra and the unofficial painting challenge. He does fit the theme.

Cheers,

CB


Many thanks Captain Brown. I just finished Maugan Ra and posted the final submission in the painting challenge thread. Win or not, it was good fun and a great incentive during a busy month. Here's Maugan Ra again, and with Dark Reapers in a slightly out-of-focus rock-shot.



Notice the much better images? I got ahold of my wife's new phone. I took the opportunity to retake some images of Jain Zar and the Howling Banshees, which were far too bright and poorly imaged.



With the better imaging and setup I decided to get all my painted Warhammer miniatures for some army/group shots. This is all my painted, finished Eldar, which is about half of what I own. I have a habit of throwing paintjobs I don't like from years ago into Super Clean or somesuch. I used to have everything painted. The long painting project continues, and I much prefer my current scheme.


And here's the Age of Sigmar Order miniatures that are completed.


I have plenty left to work on, some half-finished. Just work on things as I feel the inspiration or need. There's a huge selection of High Elves (Spire of Dawn stuff, especially), Wood Elves, Skaven (more Spire of Dawn), Dwarves, Gobbos, Sister of Battle, Imperial Guard, and more. Maybe someday I'll do more than elves on here, but right now I'm enjoying painting them.

C&C welcome, more images in my gallery, and always take joy in your work. Little bit at a time, don't make it a chore.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2018/10/29 04:24:17


   
Made in us
The Marine Standing Behind Marneus Calgar





Upstate, New York

Nice work on the big reaper! and cool army shots.

   
Made in gb
Longtime Dakkanaut






HATE Club, East London

That is a very nice Maugan Ra. Excellent edge highlighting.

Though guards may sleep and ships may lay at anchor, our foes know full well that big guns never tire.

Posting as Fifty_Painting on Instagram.

My blog - almost 40 pages of Badab War, Eldar, undead and other assorted projects 
   
Made in ie
Executing Exarch





London, UK

Two great looking armies, great job on Maugan Ra too, love the model.

   
Made in us
Walking Dead Wraithlord






Never miss a chance to see a well-painted Maugan Ra, I always say. Nice job!
   
Made in ca
Fixture of Dakka





Surrey, BC - Canada

CaptainWaffle,

The Maugan Ra is excellent.

Well you have a painted Eldar force that is large enough to field. Quite colorful as the Eldar have often been portrayed and how I always have envisioned them.

Cheers,

CB

   
Made in us
Nimble Ellyrian Reaver






Nevlon, fifty, Tyranid, shock, and fellow Captain, many thanks for your kind words. They are motivation for certain. I also welcome any critique. I have plenty left to paint, and you'll see more soon. It was good to get all the warriors out, just to see what I've accomplished since last sending a bunch into a Super Clean bath.

Since it seems you're hinting at it Captain Brown, I do get the Eldar on the table from time to time. I don't get too many gaming opportunities living in the cold northern reaches of the US midwest, but I make them happen when I can. Someday soon I'll get a battle report with images on here. My usual opponent is a good friend that plays very fluffly Blood Angels, mostly Death Company.

No images right now, but soon. Currently I'm working on Swooping Hawks of the Ashen Sky Shrine and six of the modern Windrunners. I need to take a look at what you all have been up to. The last few weeks have been quite busy.

   
Made in us
Nimble Ellyrian Reaver






Quick update to the log on current projects. I've been picking away at those six Windriders. I'm debating adding a diagonal stripe of Kantor Blue across the hull, perhaps with a thin stripe of orange on the three Windriders marked as the second unit, so they don't look so empty. The unit markings are currently noted by the Kantor Blue-colored blocks on the fins (wings? what would you call those?). I might add the Eldar small triangle runes to the sides of the chassis as well to mark units as per Eldar lore. I did the same with the Harlequin Skyweavers and it looks useful on the tabletop.


If I do add diagonal stripes across the hull I'll need to do the same with my Farseer/Warlock Skyrunner (the heads are magnetized, so it's both) and post the results with new, far better images. If anyone has seen similar patterns on a Windrider, other than GW's Saim Hann standard, I'd be interested to see it. I'm concerned it will look too much like a race car, but I won't know until I try.

I also need to cut the ball connections at a bias and attach magnets to those and inside the sockets on the Windrider chassis. This allows the model to be easily removed from the base stem and stored, provides quick dynamic posing, and is what I did with the previously mentioned Skyweavers.

I have a couple Bolt Action items in the mail: the Band of Brothers starter set and an M4 Sherman medium tank. I definitely found these far cheaper than what Warlord Games is selling them for. My Blood Angels friend is a bit of a WWII history guy, having earned an education master's degree with a history focus, and he's been wanting to get into a suitable historically inspired game like Bolt Action. He'll be taking the Germans and I'll taking the United States (hence the Sherman). Just small games with quick paint jobs. More on this after the items arrive and the two of us sit down with it for a time.

I, too, have historical inclinations, having met my friend during undergrad studies in history majors (not a marketable degree, don't do it, treat history as a hobby unless you're a well connected individual). However, my inclinations are more towards the ancient, medieval, Viking eras. My SAGA models haven't seen much paint development due to busy times, but I have gotten a few games in of Vikings vs. Anglo-Danes with one of my brothers over the previous weeks. I'll get a battle report of the next game. We mostly play small, 4 point SAGA games that conclude within 90 minutes. Great fun.

Finally, I've been tinkering with my Monoprice MP Select 3D printer so I can get it running properly again and back to printing. I have a lot of terrain bits for Warhammer and historicals, as well as other ideas, and this thing has been holding me up from printing them. You can read more about my (brief) 3D printer experiences in a previous post.

C&C on anything heartily welcome. Enjoy the hobby, and take your time with it.

   
Made in us
Nimble Ellyrian Reaver






The previous weekend was somewhat productive hobby-wise. I'm looking forward to WWII wargaming with Bolt Action and have been working on sandbag terrain pieces for good soldiers to position behind. The Windriders have been tinkered with. My friend CPT Caine, and I were able to get a game in of WH40k, Eldar vs. Imperial Guard with DKoK flavor mixed in. That battle report, with fuzzy images, is at the end in a spoiler so it doesn't take up so much space.

The sandbags were made using a huge block of $10 air-dry sculpting clay that I picked up from the local Hobby Lobby. I followed the jolly old Terrain Tutor's sandbag terrain directions, which work very well. After three of the larger terrain items I planned (two machine gun nests and a basic, larger wall) I learned a few things. First, pay close attention to the bag seams. Just because it looks like they're staggered from above doesn't mean they actually are. Take a look from the front and side. Second, smush the bags down a bit when placing them so they lay like actual sandbags and naturally fill in any gaps (something I did not do well with on the larger wall). Third, air-dry clay can really dry out your hands, so wash them off frequently and moisturize, otherwise your skin will start to crack. It's a decent first few attempts, and I have plenty more bases ready for sandbags.

The Viking archer is for scale, not historical accuracy!



I made a go at making that blue stripe/line on the Windriders. I still can't decide if I like the style or not, although it does artfully break up the large grey front hull. I'm just not convinced it makes sense with Craftworld Eldar in battle. There's can be art in the war designs, but something that looks like a soda can design? Also, the combination of cold air (it's been around 19 degrees F here) and too-thick blue painter's tape created a ridge on the line that I have to remove. I'm not sold yet, but I'm also not rejecting it yet. Perhaps another go will solidify my conclusion.


Finally, CPT Caine (he's on Dakka, just doesn't use it much currently) and I had a very enjoyable Friday night beer and pizza battle. His Imperial Guard with Death Korps of Krieg flavor against a fast-deploying army of Eldar. We goofed up plenty of rules, or just forgot them a lot, as we kept recalling rules from editions ago and just played it for fun. I know I kept forgetting that units with fly have more mobility benefits that just an (usually) increased movement speed. The mission was rolled as The Scouring, where six objectives are present and after deployment one is randomly determined as the superior (worth 4 points) and another the inferior (worth 1 point). The rest are worth 2 points at the end of the game. We played to the beginning of turn five when, after a few rolls, it was clear who the winner would be. Explore the spoiler below for the report and fuzzy images taken from my phone.

Spoiler:

We battled at 1000 points per army and gathered our warriors:


The Imperial Guard fielded two commanders, four fully equipped guardsman units, three DKoK Heavy Mortars, four DKoK Earth Shaker artillery, and a Demolisher tank that my friend crafted from bits of Vindicator, Leman Russ, and polystyrene sheets. He’s not finished with his army, but he’s making progress and it is very obviously a labor of love. Those Guardsmen looks great on the table, especially the DKoK. It was very enjoyable to battle against such finely painted models.

The Eldar went with a very glass-cannon, deepstriking force. Everything was about speed and hoping to break through lines as quickly as possible to tie down key units. They fielded a Warlock Skyrunner, foot Warlock, six Windriders, a Nightspinner for support, seven Striking Scorpions, seven Swooping Hawks, five Warp Spiders, five Rangers, an Index Autarch with Warp Jump Generator+Mandiblasters, and Baharroth.

The field of battle was set up as an Imperial bunker system that I assume the Guardsmen are trying to defend.


The table I have is 4’x4’, so the deployment was restricted to 6” from each end. This could have potentially really hurt the IG, on hindsight, as if I had gotten first turn they wouldn’t have had their lines set up. They had to all be smushed into their 6” deployment. I’ll adjust that to something larger in future battles. The Eldar were largely not present due to deepstrikes, giving the IG only a few targets for their artillery. Click the images to open larger versions where you can actually read the text!


IG finished deploying first and won the roll off, with Eldar failing to seize the initiative. Guardsmen formed up ranks in front of the artillery, ready to weather the storm, and the artillery fired everything they had at the Windriders on the far-right corner, wiping them out. Ouch! Had they survived, the jetbikes would have been deadly to the Guard. The Eldar responded by deepstriking everything (we ignored most FAQ/Chapter Approved rules unless we remembered them, which we pretty much never did) in front of the lines, hoping to make some charges after laying down heavy fire.




The firepower from the Eldar assault weapons and Swooping Hawk grenades did a great deal of damage, but left enough to charge into. Disappointingly, the Ranger fire left the IG HQ commander with only two wounds remaining. All of the Aspect Warriors made their charges, but none of the Eldar leaders made their charges, leaving their vital support out this turn. The Warlocks did their best buffing and protecting the Striking Scorpions.


I should note again that I did not have access to my wife’s super fancy phone for this battle, so you’re all stuck with my old-school grainy images. I doctored some of them up with blur effects so the background wouldn’t distract from the battle.

The charges resulted in the decisive slaughter of three of the Guardsmen units. There were a few stragglers, notably a single Guardsman that must have been made entirely of steel that bogged down the Swooping Hawks. The intent was to drag enough Guardsmen into each melee so the Eldar would not be targetable by the artillery and tank, but the Striking Scorpions were much too efficient at defeating Guardsmen and were left in the open. The Death Korps fixed their eyes on the Scorpions, obliterating all but the Exarch. The Warp Spiders made quick work of their end, then were blasted and charged at by the Demolisher, beginning a tank versus rigid shell melee that would last the entire battle.



The Imperial Guard commanders ran into the thick of the melee, encouraging (forcing?) the Guardsmen to hold fast against the lightning quick Eldar. They held, with the Guard being forced to take many morale checks through the battle but never failing a single one. The leading commander bravely cuts down the Swooping Hawks.


The Eldar lay down what little ranged fire they have left, mostly just the Nightspinner arcing nets of monofilament across the artillery, slowly wearing them down. Ranger fire couldn’t target the commanders again as they were behind the bunkers, so they slowly wore down the artillery a little more. Charges are declared once again by the Eldar leaders, with Baharroth attempting to bypass the Swooping Hawk battle to lock down the artillery. However, the Phoenix Lord fails and is left in the open. The Autarch cuts his way into the remaining Guardsmen, intending to bog down the artillery, but couldn’t get close enough in the end. The remaining Swooping Hawks, confident in their melee skills and not wanting to attract the attention of the artillery, stay in combat and mange only to defeat the steel Guardsmen. We’re quite certain his commander would honor him at a later time.


At the end of round two, the battle is entirely in the Imperial Guard deployment zone. The objectives are neglected, for now.


Little remains of either force. It was extremely difficult to conclude anything at this point. The Guard has held, but at great cost, and the Eldar fared no better. At the beginning of round three, the Guard fell back with everything engaged with the Autarch and fired, killing the Eldar HQ. The artillery took three wounds off the Nightspinner (not an ideal artillery target, especially when it’s running Alaitoc Craftworld traits), and helped to make certain the Autarch fell. The Eldar responded with Warlocks throwing Singing Spears, Baharroth finally tying down the Earth Shakers, and the Rangers plinking away at whatever they could. Baharroth is a beast in disguise, having skillfully destroyed an Earth Shaker on the charge. A second fell to Singing Spears. Neither exploded.


Imperial artillery focused down the Warlocks, with whatever was left of them destroyed in a massed charge by the remaining commanders and Guardsmen. Monofilament nets from the Nightspinner hit vital mortar equipment, destroying one mortar and exploding it, causing mass wounds to all surrounding Guardsmen and felling the subcommander. The Rangers failed their shots, and had little to shoot at, Baharroth kept the remaining artillery bogged down in melee, and the Warp Spiders continued to spar with the tank in melee, neither able to meaningfully harm the other.


At the beginning of round five, the Imperials had only one chance to at least pull an equal victory from this mess. If the last two Warp Spiders could be ground down by the tank the Eldar would lose a standard objective, and if the Rangers could be driven off the superior objective the Imperials could pull out a victory. The tank failed to crush 3+ heavy Aspect Warrior armor, and even with all the remaining available firepower trained on the Rangers only two fell, saved by their camoleoline cloaks.


It was quickly concluded that the Eldar only had to make basic moves to capture more than enough objectives to win the battle, and the fight was called. The Eldar claimed victory, but at great cost and the death of their Autarch.


A memorable game, and my first against DKoK. Their artillery is something to be feared, and their aesthetics are grand to behold. Many thanks for the game CPT Caine!


Thanks for reading, C&C always welcome. I really do want to read your ideas. Keep at the hobby, giving it its time and nothing more or less. Enjoy it.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2018/11/13 15:44:47


   
Made in fi
Stalwart Veteran Guard Sergeant




Finland

The blue stripe isn't bad! I think it is fine. Their general colorful look doesnt mind that soda can decor.

Those DKoK had dark blue coats? Me like.
   
Made in us
Nimble Ellyrian Reaver






Ilgoth wrote:
The blue stripe isn't bad! I think it is fine. Their general colorful look doesnt mind that soda can decor.

Those DKoK had dark blue coats? Me like.


I messed around with the blue strips more and it wasn't working for me. Then I thought about some sort of craftworld symbol - but not Alaitoc as my Eldar are not Alaitoc (the older ones are just painted that way). The problem right now is that I have no backstory or even name for the craftworld! I happen to like the backstory for most of Alaitoc, and their closeness with Exodite worlds, but I detest their current cheese-ness. One day soon I'll work on some backstory here.

That stated, I opted to leave the jetbike hulls blank for now. When I do come up with a an Alaitoc-splinter craftworld design I'll paint them on there. This decision required me to clean up the test stripe and sand it down until the paint ridge was gone. I'll have a completed Windrider image up soon. I've been busy with finishing this semester of my Masters program, and preparing fro some upcoming surgery that will leave me in bed for a couple weeks.

Cpt Cain's DKoK have sort of a Russ Grey cloak color. It's not quite as "bright" as Russ Grey, though. Also, he goes for a somewhat dirty look as the DKoK fearlessly jump into trenches all day. I think my poor phone camera doesn't do them justice!

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2018/11/21 00:18:22


   
Made in gb
Renegade Kan Killin Orks






Northern Ireland

As far as army back story goes I think you could throw it out the Dakka Fiction forum.
Give us some photos of your minis and some hints of what you'd like and see what the folks over there come up with. It's up to you what you take from those submissions of course (if you get any) but I for one would happily drop in a character profile or a story of a squad. You might be surprised the kind of quality that lurks over there. I've seen it done a couple of times and it's super fun.

   
Made in ie
Executing Exarch





London, UK

I like the stripe on the windriders! I do see you've come across the same problem I had with putting stripes on models, all the tape I used was too thick and I ended up with a thick border and as I pulled off the tape I got a jagged edge. I don't know how to fix that unfortunately!
Saying that though, your blue stripe looks good and it does help a lot to break up the grey so if you manage a fix please let me know!

Like theCrowe says, if you do decide to write some fiction, throw it on the fiction forum!

   
Made in us
Nimble Ellyrian Reaver






Thank you theCrowe and Tyranid Horde for your ideas! Sadly, Tyranid, I did ultimately leave off the stripe. But, they could be back! We'll see what the folks over at the Dakka Fiction forum do with what I gave them. Thank you, theCrowe, for your idea! I used it and I invite anyone interested to head over to that thread and flex your creative fiction muscle. Perhaps, one day soon, this rugged Eldar Craftworld will have a name, backstory, and symbol.

The contemporary Windriders are complete. I have been dealing with shaky hands for a while, so the shade and highlights are not always as straight as I want them to be. Doing six Windriders at once is taxing, and I've been in some soreness and pain due to a hip problem (I'm only 30, it's a unique genetic thing I have, I'll be fine). I won't be posting a painting update on here for at least a couple weeks due to this, as I will have surgery on the hip in a couple days and will be stuck in bed until I can walk and sit up again. Perfect time to work on a backstory! Anyway, no more of the sob story. On to the Windriders!


On my previous Farseer/Warlock Skyrunner I painted the controls green. That works, but it's dull against the grey and blue. The reds and oranges, especially the oranges, I've been playing with definitely look much better. I'll be incorporating more of those on future models.



I'm beginning to wonder if it might be easier to find a darker grey spray to begin with and layer lighter greys over, rather than use targetted Nuln Oil (or similar shades) that have a tendency to flow too easily. Those modern Windriders looks sleek, but they are very stuck in that one biker pose. I kinda miss the utility of the old design (which I have a bunch of) and the modifications possible with it, such as my (admittedly rudimentary) custom Autarch Skyrunner. I'd like to get my hands on some Shining Sears one day and field a wing of zooming Eldar, charging into ranks on their glorious steeds.

I have more things in the cue. Some historical vikings, and definitely more Eldar. But that's all for now. I look forward to your thoughts, ideas, comments, critiques, and so on. If you have the deisre, head over to the Dakka Fiction forums and create something for this Craftworld. Take care out there!

This message was edited 4 times. Last update was at 2018/11/29 05:16:59


   
Made in fi
Stalwart Veteran Guard Sergeant




Finland

They look good.

Good luck with the surgery, hopefully all goes well and recovery is fast and painless.
   
Made in us
The Marine Standing Behind Marneus Calgar





Upstate, New York

Nice looking bikes! The blue/grey is a very subdued palette. On a white background they come across as a bit plain (which if you get time, I think the stripe would help with). Not that that’s a bad thing, I like the sleek, understated elegance. But I’d be interested in seeing them on something like a green battlefield, or a brighter backdrop. I think the contrast with more vibrant colors will make them pop more.

I would love it if they made more variant kits on the bike. We have the seers, but getting plastic spears and an autarch would be much appreciated. Such is the like of the Eldar; we have nice things, but so much of it is old resin/metal.

Hope everything goes well and you have a speedy recovery.

   
Made in us
Nimble Ellyrian Reaver






Thanks for your comments Ilgoth and Nevelon. I'll be back at the brush in no time.

After I submitted the post I realized that white may not have been the correct background for the Windriders, as you suggest Nevelon. I think I'll stick to the black or bluish colors I've been using in other images. I was trying out a new light box I got for about $30, and I just left the white backdrop in it when I took the images.

Agreed with the need for multi-use kits and bits among Eldar items. The Windriders are a kit that is used across Autarchs, Guardians, and Eldar psykers. I would like to get my hands on that Autarch Skyrunner kit.

   
Made in us
Nimble Ellyrian Reaver






December was an oddly productive month. My hip surgery took place right at the start, leaving me in bed for two weeks and able to sit upright for only short periods of time for nearly two weeks more. Not enough time or pain-free sitting to paint. Enough time to pick up a hobby blade and file and build.

The WWII-buff friend wanted to get into Bolt Action, so we ordered the Band of Brothers Bolt Action starter kit. I also ordered a Sherman as it wouldn't be right for his half-track and panzerfaust-equiped Germans to not have armor to deal with. Warlord Games' kits are well-detailed with lots of options, and the armor comes together smoothly. The infantry, though, often require trimming and green stuffing to get firearm-holding arms into place. Beware of that if opting to build these.


Next up was the old Thousand Sons. These were handed down to me by my oldest brother, along with the Sisters of Battle. Traded, really, as he got my large, unused Star Wars X-Wing collection in return. He actually played that, and I actually played Warhammer, so it was a sound trade. I have many fond memories of battling against these Thousand Sons. When I started playing Warhammer 40k, just beginning my Eldar, my oldest brother would field these soldiers. Many evening battles after chores and homework were finished. When I was given them about two years ago I realized just what sorry shape they were in. The paint was poor and chipping, and the models themselves were in complete disrepair. I threw them all in a bucket of Super Clean, and when they were finished and scrubbed nearly all of the foot-models fell apart, the Defiler essentially exploded, and mountains of caked-on epoxy barely holding things together was revealed.

It took a lot of work (and sessions since I could sit only so long without pain), but they are in order again. Roughly 1700-2000 points worth of Thousand Sons, old-style. I really like the new Thousand Sons kits, and perhaps someday I'll expand on this army with them. For now, I'll work with these models and over time give them a decent paint job. Be certain to click the image and zoom in. Dakka's thumbnails make the actual image look low-resolution for quick loading, even when the image really is a higher resolution.




The previously finished Windrider images were washed out by the white backdrop I had used. Since I had the black backdrop out I took another image. Perhaps I'll try a blue one next time. Let me know if it's still off and I'll get it sorted.


Finally, the great folks over at the Fiction forum have given a lot of suggestions, insight, and stories (theCrowe's stories are very enjoyable) in response to my Craftworld backstory request. Take a look at that thread if you're interested. I'm still mulling things over, including the Craftworld name, although I think I'll stick with the name Televaan and the majority of the conclusions. Once I finalize my thoughts I'll write up a backstory here.

As always, C&C and ideas welcome. Enjoy the hobby, and have a wonderful rest of the Christmas and New Year holiday!

This message was edited 4 times. Last update was at 2018/12/29 17:59:45


   
Made in fi
Stalwart Veteran Guard Sergeant




Finland

Most excited for your Bolt Action stuff!
   
Made in gb
Ancient Venerable Dreadnought






Loving the gray on your Eldar, quite a contrast to the usual bright colours you see, but I think it works well!

Your Maugan Ra looks great too nice crisp highlights in the black and smooth transitions on the bone!

Good luck with your surgery and fingers crossed for a speedy recovery!

Goberts Gubbins - P&M Blog, started with Oldhammer, often Blackstone Fortress and Void Panther Marines, with side projects along the way 
   
Made in us
Nimble Ellyrian Reaver






Ilgoth, it'll be a slow burn on the historically-inspired stuff. I'm more of a science fiction and medieval guy. What historicals I have are mostly for SAGA, and it's all gray plastic. The current, cold northern winter prevents spray can use. I do fully intend to give the Bolt Action soldiers a quality tabletop painting ASAP, and to get some small games in. The friend and I are both history buffs, just in different eras, so I can appreciate the Bolt Action draw.

gobert, the gray does subdue the colors a bit. I'll be incorporating orange as a tertiary color to brighten in up with a Spear of Kurnous craftworld symbol. The background discussion on the Fiction forum solidified that. I'll also be using more red on gems, control panels, and ghost/seer blades. The green I've been using is nice, but it's not complimenting the blue well enough. The models look decent, but a bit dull as a result. The healing is coming along well, and thank you for the kind words. I'll be painting again very soon.

   
Made in us
Nimble Ellyrian Reaver






Good Sunday fellow dakkapersons! The surgery recovery is going along well, I'm back to the office for work, and I have a couple more weeks until my final semester of my Masters' studies commences. More build up on the projects this past week, and I'm feeling in a good place with it. Still much too cold to spray paint, and will be for some months, so I'm stuck with building and painting Elves.

Or... DEAD ELVES. Well, worthy, deceased Elven warriors that have had their spirits interred in wraithbone. I'm working on a unit of Wraithguard and a unit of Wrathblades. The base colors are pretty much done on both. Next is recess shading, then highlighting and detail work. Feels great to be able to sit down and paint again since the surgery, for what I can manage.


With the news of the Gloomspite Gitz battletome, and spare time, I've been working at re-basing all my old Battle of Skull Pass gobbos. I sorta painted some many years ago, and sorta primed most many years ago. Younger me obviously didn't care for removing mold lines and conveniently neglected removing all the sprue connecting points. It's been more work than I thought it would be. I've 50 gobbos still left to clean, clip off the old plastic tabs for the old slotta bases, and re-base them on the round MDF bases.


A few of the little gobbos have decent paint jobs from way back when, so I'm going to keep 'em. But, I m going to touch them up in time. I have no idea why I painted the Mad Moon on the banner red.


The past weekend, CPT Caine and I (he's still not all that active on Dakka) had another skirmish. He brought his DKoK IG again, with some adjustments. His army contained a commander, four infantry squads, a Leman Russ, two small DKoK heavy mortar things, and three DKoK Earthshaker artillery pieces. My Eldar army was a Farseer, Warlock Skyrunner, six Windriders, a largish unit of Guardian Defenders with platform, small unit of Rangers, Vyper, Wraithlord, and unit of Wraithblades. The battle was Contact Lost with tactical objectives.

The DKoK form lines with artillery firing from the back.


The Eldar make ready to charge up their left side of the battlefield.


I'm not certain what CPT Caine's plan was, other than get objectives, keep the Eldar from the artillery, and blast the xenos from afar. The Eldar plan was to use the Vyper as support, the Guardians to run around holding objectives/earning tactical objectives, and attempt to smash through the DKoK via the left side with the Windriders and Wraiths. The Psykers threw a couple smites, but spent the rest of their time supporting the Wraiths. Eldar got first turn and began the slow Wraith march. Windriders blitzed, did a little damage to the front infantry, and were blown off the battlefield in DKoK's first turn. Basically summarized by the following image:


Ignore the Nordic-heritage guy with the Nordic shield on the wall in the back.

Ranged fire from the rest of the Eldar's first movements almost entirely whiffed. The Rangers managed to take only one wound off the DKoK commander (who then tactically re-positioned so the snipers couldn't see him). The Vyper hilariously missed everything. The Vyper was eventually blown off the field as well, but before it fell combined fire in turn two took down the Russ. Here's the DKoK staring down the Vyper, mockingly:


At first, it looked like the DKoK had the upper hand. tactical objective pulls were not in the Eldar's favor, and the first turn was basically just a little movement from the Elves. However, the Elves are extremely mobile and the Wraiths extremely durable. I'm not meaning to put the DKoK in a poor light or speak for CPT Caine - it was a very enjoyable battle with a great person. However, I do think the rooted nature of the DKoK's army eventually was its downfall. The Eldar were able to quickly react to the changing tactical objectives and the tough Wraiths posed a very real threat that proved difficult to remove as they lumbered up the battlefield. What began as a battle that looked very much in the DKoK's hands (due to the rolled tactical objectives) quickly turned into an Eldar victory.

The Wraiths made some long charges, crashing into the remaining front infantry squads. The Wraithblades worked through the infantry, and the Wraithlord managed to drag the Russ into the thick of it. The Wraithlord quickly destroyed the Russ with its Ghostglaive.



Before the Vyper was destroyed it reduced the force of the right-side infantry squads, and the Guardians further reduced them and took the hill. The Wraithblades on the left continued into the DKoK backline and pinned the Earthshakers in melee. The Wraithlord began to make its way to the remaining artillery. With that, we decided to call the battle and discussed the aforementioned conclusions.

It was another fun afternoon, and the general conclusion is that perhaps against Eldar some more mobility might be more useful in these tactical objective matches. Target priority might be another concern. Windriders with shuriken cannons can be frightening, but those wraithbone units will destroy a line/armor when they reach them. Windriders can be taken out with common guns, Wraithblades and Wraithlords reliably cannot. Do any of you have any other ideas for the DKoK? Let me know what you think. C&C always welcome. Take your time with the hobby and enjoy it!

   
Made in us
Nimble Ellyrian Reaver






The wonderful folks over on the Dakka Fiction section continue to help with a custom craftworld, and it's been solidified with the creation of a craftworld symbol. Many users helped, and theCrowe took a particular liking to it, having written two tales of my Craftworld Televaan and tossed symbol ideas around with me. Below is Craftworld Televaan, the star-ward spears (among other names).

The first attempts at hand-painted symbols:


Although the new jetbikes are very sleek, the old styles have much more hull room for symbols and designs. The orange symbol is too bright on the light gray and will be changed, but is included here so I know what it looks like having tried it. As I become more experienced painting the symbols they'll look more and more like theCrowe's elegant design. My first attempts are too wide.

Craftworld Televaan's history:
Spoiler:
Disagreement between factions of Alaitoc Farseers began to simmer sometime in late M39, which lead to effective political rifts in small sections of Alaitoc life. The culture of some Alaitoc denizens shifted from the hard-nosed isolationism and what was deemed a reactionary approach to handling encounters to a confused, some would say naive, focus on Eldar tradition mixed with the typical Alaitoc suspicion of anything other than themselves. Some Rangers that returned to the craftworld from their self-imposed exile brought descriptions and tales of times past from Saim-Hann Eldar, sparking a debate over the role of Eldar history in Alaitoc daily life. The new firebrand Farseers claimed that the Alaitoc adherence to vengeance and seething in the shadows did not honor their heritage and uphold their birthrights, in contrast to the strong traditions in the tales from Saim-Hann that affirmed Eldar heritage rather than reacted from it. Farseers that were firmly entrenched in Alaitoc traditions strongly disagreed, stating that the Alaitoc way was the old traditions in action, being upheld in conjunction with the need to survive the grim darkness of their future.

Nothing can truly reconcile such deep divisions. These were not heated arguments over some surface philosophical concept or of a manner of doing things. These were deep disagreements over the very foundations of Eldar life. What does it mean to be of the Eldar? What does it mean to be of a craftworld? Where does one derive their motivations and purpose from?

The majority of the Alaitoc seers did not desire to lose their kin, but the division was so great that the upstarts had to be swept out of the craftworld. These few younger seers and their followers were ordered into a sort of exile from the craftworld. Neither side truly wanted to lose the other, both out of respect and love of their kin and out of the necessity to survive. The firebrands dutifully left their home.

They were not driven necessarily by wanderlust, like many Rangers and Corsairs, and they were not driven by a desire to live a rudimentary life, like the Exodites. They were driven by a common culture, what of the Eldar traditions of old they knew, and a suspicion of the rest of the universe shared with their mother Alaitoc. They formed a craftworld of their own and gave it a crude name: Televaan. The name was thought to embody both the star-stiding nature of their Alaitoc roots and of their heritage of old. The name was, admittedly, very simplistic in nature. The Televaan were aware of their Eldar tales and the at least basic (to the Eldar) meanings attached to them. They did not have the deep experience and culture of maintaining the old traditions, like the Saim-Hann. However, they were confident that as the Televaan matured and interacted more with the Saim-Hann, Exodites, Harlequins, and other groups, they would find their place in this shadowy universe.

Craftworld Televaan was immediately beset upon by strike forces from the Thousand Sons and their Tzeentch minions. In their search for more about their past, the Televaan must have crossed into areas that Ahriman had interest in. These were dire times. The Televaan had barely left the hand of the Alaitoc and had only just set in its arc of flight. But, with careful, precision strikes, and covert help from the Alaitoc Craftworld that still held them dear (largely unbeknownst to the Televaan), that arc went to the heart of their prey. The Thousand Sons were forced away, back to the warp, and have rarely been encountered by the Televaan since.

During these times, the Televaan were a mix of Alaitoc colors and flailing attempts at creating something that fit more with their own culture. Alaitoc colors, designs, strategies, and tactics were employed in many variations. As the craftworld experienced and learned they found their own path. When they struck the heart of the Thousand Sons force, they decided who they were: Craftworld Televaan, the embodiment of the Spear of Kurnous, thrown by the Master of the Hunt. The Televaan dug deep into their Eldar traditions and pulled the Wild Hunt into M41. They revere the old Masters of the Hunt, where they came from, but have found (deemed?) themselves to be the new season's Master.


Multiple Dakka Fiction forum users helped with this backstory. These forum users are epronovost, Bharring, Fifty, theCrowe, and Asherian Command. Thank you all very much for your ideas, narrowing the backstory down to something of a cross between High Elves and Wood Elves mixed with Eldar. The Craftworld Televaan development thread is found here. theCrowe wrote two tales. The first is a story told by a Harlequin Troupe of a Guardian Windrider that performed great acts of valor, titled "The Lay of Curufin the Windrider, Master of the Hunt". The second tells of a Warlock's struggle to convince a spirit in the Infinity Circuit to walk with him again as a Wraith, titled "The Ghost of Taurlineer". Thank you again everyone!

The Wraithguard are still a work in progress. I was getting into painting highlights when I realized that the spray primer blue I had used doesn't match Kantor Blue. That's what I get for starting a unit a while ago and picking it up again far later. At first I thought it might not be noticeable, but the splotches became very apparent. I had to start from scratch on the Wraithguard. They're back up to base coat, shade, and the fabric done. Still dealing with shaky hands.


Life has been busy. Wife and I are working on purchasing a house, we have a kid on the way come autumn, and my Master's program is in its last semester. Lot's to do. Enjoy the hobby everyone. Till next time.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2019/01/27 18:10:04


   
Made in gb
Renegade Kan Killin Orks






Northern Ireland

Wow, congratulations man. Sounds like you're doing life like a pro. If you drop off the dakka radar at some point for a long while we'll understand why. Though some of my best dakkanauting has been done in the Wee hours up with a sleepless baby. All power to you. I hope you find time to hobby when you can between the madness; you're doing some sterling work on these Eldar for sure.
And I'd like to see more reclaimed goblins too. My own goblin reclamation project has been years in the making, about as many years as my kids are old funnily enough!

   
Made in us
Nimble Ellyrian Reaver






 theCrowe wrote:
Wow, congratulations man. Sounds like you're doing life like a pro. If you drop off the dakka radar at some point for a long while we'll understand why. Though some of my best dakkanauting has been done in the Wee hours up with a sleepless baby. All power to you. I hope you find time to hobby when you can between the madness; you're doing some sterling work on these Eldar for sure.
And I'd like to see more reclaimed goblins too. My own goblin reclamation project has been years in the making, about as many years as my kids are old funnily enough!


Thank you for the encouragement! It's been a busy six months, but things are finally settling down. The newborn will be here in ten-ish weeks as well. I'm looking forward to not being able to sleep, but getting lots of painting done.

Here's the results of the last month-and-a-half of work, my finished Phoenix Temple with Ebay-salvaged Dragon Prince/Noble:


I did not include my Flamespyre Phoenix (seen here). Another time I will. Close ups of a couple miniatures:


Fielded all the Phoenix Temple plus my allied Treelord against some beasts of chaos the past weekend. Small battle of 1,000 points. I won through objectives and grinding down the beasts, but not before the Treelord and Phoenix fell. Good times.

My next project is three White Lion Chariots. No progress images yet, still on the sprues. Thanks for reading. C&C always welcome.

   
Made in ca
Fixture of Dakka





Surrey, BC - Canada

Very nice CaptainWaffle.

Cheers,

CB

   
Made in gb
Ancient Venerable Dreadnought






Great looking Phoenix temple, the salvaged dragon lord is a good advert for eBay salvages! Keep them coming!

Goberts Gubbins - P&M Blog, started with Oldhammer, often Blackstone Fortress and Void Panther Marines, with side projects along the way 
   
Made in us
Nimble Ellyrian Reaver






Thank you both, Captain Brown and gobert. I'll need to explore what you and others are doing more on Dakka. My one unit of White Lions are actually E-bay salvages. They were up for sale for about $30, slightly broken, on rough square bases, and needing paint touch-ups. The original owner didn't do a bad "tabletop sorta+" paint job, so that saved some time. I have a few other E-bay salvages somewhere that I'd need to find. I'd like a second unit of White Lions on foot, which will be a project someday. They need a proper Hero unit rules-wise, though. Currently they have to be allied into an army or part of a general Order/Aelf list.

My end goal is to have numerous finished units to build High Elf armies from for Age of Sigmar using the general Grand Alliance Order as the shared keyword. I've done similar with my 40k Eldar, of which I have about 9k points worth built and primed and about half fully finished. I usually field at most 1.5k at a time. The extra finished units give me options. My armies are based around fluff, not tabletop-effectiveness. If a unit's look and lore interest me I add it. I interpret elves as Tolkien elves, not the silly dainty elves that many seem to think of today. I blame DnD for that.

The three White Lion Chariots are in progress. Proof it's all built is this box of the components built in sub-assemblies and primed. The bases are actually completed, so that image is old. I struggled a lot over the previous week or two deciding on a paint scheme. The White Lion Chariots as advertised on GW's site are quite a bright bone color. My goal is to imitate that. However, the brightest bone GW makes, Screaming Skull, does not match that image at all. It's too dark. I also did not want to spend a long time layering bright bones and whites on these three. I painted some swatches to compare options which might be useful to others for their projects and for me in the future:


Acronym Key:
MG: Morghast Bone
UB: Ushabti Bone
FOF: Flayed One Flesh
ZD: Zandri Dust
BB: Baneblade Brown
KS: Karak Stone
SS: Screaming Skull
WB: Wraithbone
CW: Ceramite White
AE: Agrax Earthshade shade
SS: Seraphim Sepia shade (same acronym as Screaming Skull, difference should be obvious)

I just played around with the paints to visualize how they look layered and next to each other. Wraithbone is a high-pigment base paint, and looks a lot more like the advertised chariot image, so I opted for that. Highlights will be done with some white mixed in, then perhaps full-white if necessary. Shades won't really be used as the chariots won't need them apart from the rune designs and the lions are natural, large beasts that should have softer shades. The goal is something like these tests:


GW makes Wraithbone spray, but GW sprays are not primers. So I primed all the parts white using a Krylon matte paint + primer spray. At first, in the interest of saving $20, I tried painting the potted Wraithbone on the white. However, even though it's a base, it was taking a very long time with at least four layers to get a proper coat without clogging details. I called around to what relevant stores nearby might stock the Wraithbone spray and none of them had it. They only had the Grey Seer option. I guess no one in my area wants to paint bright colors. I went to a general hobby store and purchased the closest-to-Wraithbone Krylon spray I could find: Modern White in matte. Here's a comparison with the Krylon Modern White on the left and the Wraithbone painted over most of it on the right:


It's so very close. The lighting is odd in that image, but the comparison should be apparent. Brushing Wraithbone over the Krylon Modern White takes one coat, maybe two in spots. This is saving me loads of time. I still would have preferred the GW spray on white primer, but it's not an option for me at the moment, so I'll make things work.

I also realized that I was using Kantor Blue on my previously finished High Elves. It's too dark for what I want. The Phoenix Temple is finished, so they will stay Kantor Blue. All my future units will use the Caledor Sky paint process. I've begun painting the details on the chariots. No image of that yet. Thanks for reading, C&C always welcome. Take joy in the hobby.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2019/07/20 06:36:48


   
Made in us
Nimble Ellyrian Reaver






Making progress. Completed one White Lion Chariot carriage and have begun work on the lions themselves and the White Lion charioteers' pelt cloaks.


This first chariot is my test run for the other two. I've already identified ways to paint them more efficiently. Once this first one is complete I can batch-paint the other two. I was surprised at how many fiddly details are on these things. I'm used to painting elfish miniatures, but these just seem more fiddly than the average elf model. It's a joy, though.

I planned to be further along, but natural weather cleanup and family slowed things down for a time. C&C always welcome. Enjoy the hobby.

This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at 2019/07/24 04:18:43


   
 
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