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This is the painting log for my high elf army that I started in early June.
For the first time I am using non-GW models to represent the army, I decided to use the Byzantine Successors range from Kingmaker Miniatures for High Elves because they seem to have the armour that the high elves have.
A few years ago I started writing a fantasy novel and ended up creating a world of my own, a world that I still use as a back drop too my Warhammer games and DnD campaigns.
The novels are set in the northern part of the world but most of my new stuff seems is set further south including the latest DnD adventure where the party are trying too save one of their friends from a coma by getting him too a healer after he was warped and mutated (seriously he is little more than a pile of melted flesh at the moment) in a recent adventure. The nearest place where they can find someone who has a shot at healing him is the city of Samara.

So here is the Fluff concerning Samara. (if you don't want to read it just skip too where the text stops being in bold.)

Samara is a medium sized city that sits on an old road called the “Imperial Highway” which allowed an emperor control a large area of land by moving his troops along the road to swiftly fight his enemies. The city is a mixture of elves and a small population of humans. The majority of the fighting force is made by the smaller elves who compensate for their diminished size with their superior training and tactical genius. Occasionally humans will join the Samaran Guardians but such instances are rare as the humans are too worried with their own personal gain to help the greater good of the city.
They are also unaware of the great wealth of knowledge contained within the Samaran Library which is maintained by the all elven Brotherhood and the greater schemes of the Brotherhood.
The Brotherhood of the Samaran Library maintains it's own fighting force from within it's ranks of scholars and does it's best to remain politically neutral, but it's own members have their own in house rivalries and schemes. But when the High Scholar calls the members of the Brotherhood to war, all arguments are put to the side and the Brotherhood removes the Obsidian swords from the hidden armoury in the dungeons below their library and rallies too the High Scholar's banner.

Samara is not the only elven colony in the area, the nearby woods and hills are the hunting grounds of the Jorrolo, a tribe of Elves who strive too become closer too nature and shun the trappings of the material city. Jorrolo are hunters with great strength and endurance, who stalk their prey through the forests before finishing them off from range with their bows. Chief among them are the Night Kin who are capable of hunting even in the darkest of nights, when there is no moon. A Night Kin can be easily identified by his or her pale skin and bright white hair, which are rumoured to be linked too their ability to see in the dark.
Where the Samaran Guard are professional and clean shaven warriors, trained to be as clinical and efficient as possible, the Jorrolo are passionate warriors who let their hair and beards grow free, who believe that war is the only way to preserve the woodlands and hills they love.

Samara maintains a constant guard and several of it's noble houses maintain personal armies as a means of achieving their own ends. When the King of Samara, King Uovil Ghimilo, calls his army to war, all the noble houses must rally to his banner and be ready to defend the city or march too war.
It has been over a decade since Samara marched to war, but King Uovil Ghimilo ensures that the weapons of his people are kept sharp, even in times of peace.

Another of King Ghimilo's achievements has been maintaining the relationship between Samara and Jorrolo. He has visited the leaders of both the Night Kin and the Jorrolo personally on several occasions and too this day considers them to be good friends and trusted advisers in war and peace time but has been forced to micro manage the events in Samara. As a sign of friendship too the Jorrolo he has asked his cousin Amar Ghimilo to act as the envoy between the two people.
Amar has become enamoured with the people and even taken a Night Kin as his wife, such is his devotion to his beloved Emiloa that he does not care about the stares of his city born Kin as he walks barefoot and unshaven into the banquets and parties of his noble cousin.
His strange new fashion has started a small spiritual revolution within the upper class of Samara, many see him as an example of spirituality and a freedom that they have never experienced. Some of the younger and more adventurous nobles have begun exploring the Jorrolo way of life, something that King Ghimilo is happy to encourage, knowing that an intertwining of the two people will build a stronger Elven nation that he can rule.
Amar plays the role of statesman and envoy well, his genuine love of both his Samaran Kin and Jorrolo wife making his work easier than any other noble in the area. However his obligations to both sides of the elven people mean that he has never truly settled in one camp. While he enjoys the freedom of the Jorrolo, he maintains his clinical Samaran mind. His unshaven beard, symbolising his embrace with nature, is contrasted by the heavy armour he wears (a practice shunned by the Jorrolo).

Amar seems to be the pin that holds together recent events, a crossroads in the road of Samaran history. His actions both present and future will shape the lives of Samarans for years to come. Uovil recognises this and realises that it will make Amar famous, if not popular, and a worthy successor too his throne as he has no children of his own and his time is almost upon him, as fore told by the prophetic reading of a witch, undertaken in secret almost a century ago.

Never has Amar's role in recent events been more evident than the night of King Uovil's anniversary celebration as king. After a hearty meal and great celebration the guests of the King were enjoying some socialising. Amar was at his cousin's side, enjoying pleasant conversation with a group of dignitaries when a member of the Night Kin told him of an attack on one of the outlying defences in the forest by a horde of savage men who had fused with beasts. The attack could reach the Jorrolo settlement by midnight.
Amar asked Uovil to take care of his pregnant wife so that he could ride out and deal with the attack himself.
With Emiloa safe in the city, Amar took a battalion of warriors into the woods, riding hard on borrowed horses too reach the forest in time. Once their he gathered a group of Night Kin to lead him into the forest to fight off the attack of the Beastmen.
Amar's tactical genius, as well as his good relationship with the Jorrolo ensured victory as he played too the strength of his force. Engaging the enemy head on with their spear units while using the Jorrolo's skill with a bow to whittle down the horde before breaking it with a daring counter charge that he personally lead.

Amar was regarded by many as a hero, but his Cousin saw much more. In a single night he had been a husband, father to an unborn child, statesman, envoy, commander and warrior. Uovil greeted his brother with open arms and promised him the throne when the time came.

However Amar was not willing to rest on his laurels and wait for the throne to come to him, he still had much to prove and the energy to pursue his goals, thanks to his youth. He has made a point of defending the Jorrolo forest and personally seeing off every attack on his spiritual brothers. A duty he attends with ever growing frequency as the Beastmen hunger for vengeance against the elves in the forest and the city.

Did you enjoy story time?
Trust me when I say that what you just read is nothing compared too some of the fluff I have churned out in the past. (At some point I plan on finishing the 10,000 word story I wrote to justify my unit of slayers with grey skin.)
But what it all basically translates too is that I have fluff to take spearmen, archers, sea guard, swordmasters, shadow warriors, nobles, mages, princes and a few other units in my army.
The paint scheme of the city of Samara is a leathery green for the armour, white cloth, shining silver metal and pale skin (plus some red feathers). This contrasts too the brown hues of the Jorrolo hunters who have white/cream cloth, tanned skin, brown hair and a darker colour of brown for their wooden bows. Sea guard are going to be more like an elite guard with the main colours I am using being shadow grey and bronze armour on a range of Greek hoplite models.

Since a picture speaks a thousand words here is a tester of the Spearman:
Front
Back
I think the cream/white cloth could do with another highlight (bleached bone maybe?).

Next up is the tester bolt thrower crewed by the personal guard (sea guard in the rule book).

Front
Back

The highlight is a mixture of Shadow Grey and Dheneb Stone but today I bought Spacewolves Grey (and that's all I got from my local GW thank you very much!) and will be using it too re-highlight them. I am thinking of keeping the majority of the cloth Shadow Grey and only doing space wolves grey on the extreme edges as it is a rather light colour.

All of these pictures are WIP and I still need to fix the details like highlighting the hair. I am thinking of mixing Bestial Brown and Bleached bone for a highlight, what do you guys think of that?

Tell me what you think and stay tuned for an update because now that I have bases for the models I can actually get them painted!]]> http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/301046/1680811.page http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/301046/1680811.page GMT