Fable's Ulthwe Army

[Fable]

And to complete my big update day here is my biketarch:



I tried to give it that X-wing quality by attaching the two wings that had come from the farseer's bike. Just a little touch to make it stand out just that much more. Also I continued my earlier theme of Autarchs standing out from the regular force by the prominance of bone over black for Ulthwe reversing the canopy color of his bike compared to all my other guardian bikes. I was very happy with how the Autarch head swap turned out for this model. Hopefully the other one looks as clean. Also I gave this Autarch the Dark Reaper launcher and replaced one of the Shuriken Catapults with it. The model comes in at 155 pts so he's an even swap with the Avatar. Plus my eventual plan is to use him with a shining spear unit in hopes of pretty much removing units from the table top in one turn rather than having a prolonged battle. And I think it looks cool.



The back banners for this model were probably the biggest pain in the rump to attach. I ended up having to use green stuff just to cement them a bit. I feel like my rune or decal painting has much improved since I've been pushing myself with this force repainting I've been doing:



I made the Autarch's forcefield by chopping up the shimmer shield from a Dire Avenger kit and attaching it to the hand and arm of the actual bike model. I also show off the canopy stamp so you can see how it looks painted.

[Radium]

That's quite the army you've got there!

And the runes on the farseer's bike look great.
I think the autarch has a bit too much bone on him, but it cetainly makes him stand out from the rest of the army.

Keep it up!

[Fable]

I got in a game this weekend against the Imperial Guard. Not only was it my first Victory against the guard since their new codex was released, but it also acted as the announcement to the world that the Biketarch had arrived. He rides in upon his pale bike and hell follows with him. He was single handedly responsible for the wiping out of a special weapon squad, an infantry squad, and a platoon command. He did not win me the game (the victory was truly courtesy of a game changing tank shock that saw two guard squads break and flee and a wave serpent blow up a basilisk and itself). But nonetheless the Autarch was impressive and felt like he was trying to earn all the hard work that had gone into him.

In other news, here is a completed shot of my Rangers:




I made some hoods with Green Stuff because I felt like it made more sense since they're infiltrators. I used the same color scheme that I used on the scorpions on the rangers because I like the way that green/gray looks. I also tried a new basing style which I'm trying to decide if I like it better than what I've previously been doing. I'm using the black ring on the base to make the unit pop a little bit more. Comments are welcome. Currently I'm just using codex gray for the ring of the base. Here's a shot of the arm banner for the squad leader, I opted not to give them a full back banner because the normal backpacks get in the say and because they're more concerned with being hidden. The same argument could be made for the scorpion exarch... but I think the banner harkens back to some of the second edition images where Scorpions had back banners and... I love it:



Lastly I have an update shot of my WG unit in progress. I'm becoming more certain I can finish them up before the end of the month. 5 of them are done (though still need their bases finished) while 5 are about 50% done:

[Fable]

Well, I've finally finished my unit of Wraithguard. I bought all 10 back in the 90's when they were first released for $7 a pop (that's US). I even took 5 of them in a wave serpent to a Grand Tournament in Maryland, but even touching up the original paint job I had done on them still didn't make them feel really done to me. So, when the new dex came out and a new Wraithlord model was released I took to painting it and completing that inspired me to repaint my Wraithguard to match... and their poor balance is why I pushed to get larger bases. I was hoping they would stand more evenly and be less likely to fall and chip. So far I have really enjoyed the result of the bigger bases as it seems more accurate for the heft of the wraithguard and improves their balance tremendously. They are Shadow's Threat and their Spiritseer is Teslen. Here is the entire Wraithforce:



As you can see they are backed up by Wraithlord Fenthir. All of the weapons on the Wraithlord (including the dual flamers) are attached with magnets so I can swap out and make him have a single heavy weapon, or two and go with and without sword.




I do lament that the Wraithlord cannot carry a D-cannon. I still have hope for the future. In other news I think I'm going to switch all my bases to have the black ring as it really seems to make units pop in my eyes.

[Col_Festus]

Oh man.. that black bases look soooo good. It does wonders for the army! great job!

[Fable]

Ok, so I finally finished rebasing the warlock squad. Since I've already got pics up detailing some of the conversion work I did I'm only putting up some shots that show off the dragonforge bases that I put the squad on. I think it really makes them pop as a unit and makes them stand out in the force. I still have some more bases to be doled out to the other guardian squad warlocks and farseers, but I think this unit finally has enough work put in to reflect their high point cost:





In other news I've decided (as I intend to rebase the Gyrinx) that I'm going to do a number of similar unit markers. I've ordered the bits to make a heroic standard bearer for embolden, I'll continue to use my same "enhance" marker and I'm planning on getting an Empire Wizard boxed set so I can make markers for "Fortune" and "Doom" that look like ethereal entities.

[Fable]

Well, I've got some in-progress shots of the markers. I'll start off with a quick pick of the Gyrinx (Enhance) who's getting a new base:



Now onto the new stuff. First are the two powers I tend to cast the most, Doom and Fortune. Both of which I'm planning on painting as ephemeral entities, like luminescent forms and as such I'm strongly considering leaving them both headless. The first is Fortune:



The Scroll in the left hand comes from a high elf unit... I believe it's the bolt thrower. Otherwise it all comes from the empire wizard kit. I'm expecting to paint it in friendly shades of blue. next is Doom:



This one comes entirely from the wizard kit, though I did some swapping on the left hand of the model to create more of the "plague upon both your houses" type drama I wanted from the model's pose. I anticipate painting this model in shades of red and maybe orange to give it that malevolent shine.

Lastly I have the unit I'm probably most excited about in the group... Embolden:



This is fundamentally an Eldar standard bearer. The base is a hero base from the same dragonforge collection as the others I ordered. The legs are from Micro Arts Studios "ranger legs" selection. While the plastic is kind of brittle the model is of good quality and is well sculpted. Those are the legs I'll be using for my Storm Guardians.

The Cape comes from the high elf line (a bolt thrower hero or maybe a spearmen here... some High Elf hero) and the hood comes from the wizard kit while the banner comes from the chariot kit.

[Fable]

This is a WIP shot of what will be my last guardian squad, my storm squad Summer Squall:



I'm cannibalizing some extra squad runnoff from the other squads and some unbuilt models with the legs from MicroArts to make the Storm uint. All three guardian squads will be 15 strong including their warlock. I'm opting for flamers over fusion guns because at BS 3 they just aren't reliable enough for me compared to the auto hit of a flamer. The robes around the legs will be white and in that way the unit will really stand out. I had to delve into my bitz box to really complete this unit, but after GSing the imperfections and small snaps of the legs and pinning in the arms (I hate hybrid kits) I feel they're finally in a state where once I give them some time to set they'll look really good painted. There are a couple surprises mixed into the weapons for anyone that's been collecting Eldar for a long time.

[Fable]

Summer Squall is painted. The only thing not finished are the bases which I will be finishing ASAP. This is pretty much what the unit will look like though as the models themselves are done:



I tried goofing around with a darker background for them and I'm not sure how well it worked yet. Once the bases are done I'll do some close ups and solo shots.

One of the things I really like about this unit is that there are a couple unique looks to the close combat weapons, the idea being that a militia unit can fight better with weapons it is familiar with and some of the members of the unit are bringing relics from long ago campaigns they may have taken part in.

[Fable]

Here are the single shots I promised I'd include now that the bases are done.



I used the old flamers for this unit rather than the fancy new ones because that way I'd have two matching ones. I went with flamers because I see them as more useful than the fusion guns on BS 3 models... even with two of them. One bad turn of rolling can really hobble their purpose, while two flamers simply won't miss.



This is one of the old 2nd edition Eldar Power Fists. Sadly guardians can no longer get power fists so the two I have I will be using as simple close combat weapons. Maybe some day GW will release an all plastic boxed set of storm guardians and maybe open up the option for a couple of random power fists in the unit to let them spice up the squad and give it the possibility of some random punch when they actually get into combat. Until that day it will remain a simple close combat weapon.



The squad leader has the old power axe of the 2nd edition Howling Banshee Exarch which is, again, just a simple close combat weapon... it just happens to look really cool. Like the other guardian squad leaders he has the banner and the guardian rune on the top of the banner pole. Unlike my other guardians I did not add the grenades and ammo attachments to the unit, the primary reason being that the unit cannot get them (a gross oversight in my opinion for Dire Avengers, Warlocks and Guardians, the first and last of which have them for purely aesthetic reasons it seems).



Warlock Thyler is last but not least. I replaced his Singing Spear with a Witchblade and he has his hand cocked back ready to rock some face with Destructor. The main part of the witchblade came from a spare Eldrad model I had, the same one that gave up the rear crest for the Jetbike Farseer. In my quest to have all my Warlocks in my force look unique the antlers on this one were turned down for more of a bullish look.

[Fable]

And the breakneck speed continues. I have almost everything done that I'll be using this upcoming Saturday. The only thing left in my "needs to get done" list is the Scatter Laser turret for one of my Wave Serpents, other than that my whole list is painted up very well. In my "like to get done" I have the bases for Doom Fortune and Enhance and the entirety of Embolden. I'm trying to be confident that I can get all of this done tomorrow, but at the very least I'll get the turret done and be content that everything that's actively participating in the battle is well painted. With no further ado the reason for this update... My pair of Fire Prisms:



The one with the blue cannon is "Mourning Glory" and the green cannon is "Silent Knight". To keep with my theme of visual clues the Dedicated Transports have particular panels bone colored, while the gunships have other panels bone colored, and falcons being the cross breed battle tank has all of those panels bone colored. I even have a close up of the Prism Rune (which happens to be painted on the back of both tanks:



I also have a top down shot of the two cannons:



Enjoy!

[Fable]

A double post from me tonight because I FINISHED MY PROJECTS! Amazingly I finished my needs and likes for my game tomorrow. Mind you that this does not mean my army is wholly and totally complete, but the force I'll be using tomorrow is. I have a handful of units still to go before I can really rest with the Eldar, but in the mean time here is the scatter laser which was the last standard bit of equipment for tomorrow:



And here is the entire force for this game all together, 2k pts:



*edit 3/14
It should be noted that I completely forgot about a unit of Warp Spiders that I had put in this 2000 pt army, and as such I did not pack them with me for the game and forgot about them for the duration of the game. It wasn't until I got home that night that I remembered them. Nevertheless I brought a decisive victory home to the Eldar. The D-cannons, Prisms, and Warlock Squad all acted phenomenally sowing much discord and death amongst the orks. The markers also worked excellent for that game and the game I played the next day (against the space marines) as I didn't forget to cast a power a single time.

[Fable]

And for the second of the two promise posts is the more fun post, the psychic power markers I had promised. I'm hoping these act as constant reminders to cast psychic powers. I apologize that I took the pics of the models before the black rings were done on the bases, but it's done now. First up is the classic Enhance:



Next is Fortune:



I went for a soft blue because it's a "good" color according to light saber shades. The body was made from the Empire Wizards kit and the head is from the old 2nd edition Shadowseer Harlequin model. I added a little bit of green stuff to the back of the hood to trail down the back. The book has little runes on it though I couldn't get a great photo of them.

Next is Doom:



Doom got the red lightsaber "bad" color treatment. Again the body is made from the Empire wizard kit, though the head comes from my favorite 2nd edition Solitaire Harlequin model. The removal and replacement of the head damaged the back of the head of the model a bit, but I green stuffed it and modeled on replacement for the hanging ends of the bandanna and I think they came out well.

Lastly comes Embolden:



This model got one of the hero bases I ordered from dragonforge. It's also got the banner from a high elf chariot, the cape of a high elf model, and the hood from the empire wizard kit, the legs are the last of the micro art studio ones I ordered and the left hand weapon is half of a Howling Banshee Executioner. Also at the top of the banner is the special rune from the top of Asurmen's banner. This model was a lot of work, but I was really happy with how it turned out, and the runes I painted on the banner were probably the best rune work I've ever done.

[Fable]

This is the WIP shot of my entire jetbike fleet. It's got three cannons, a Warlock, and the previously shown Farseer and Autarch. When I use them as a combined unit they roll in just over 600 pts.



The Shuriken Cannon models aren't wearing helmets, meanwhile I replaced the heads on all the standard riders with the ones from the Storm Guardian boxed set. All of the Cannon jetbike riders have gloves on their left hands as well, and I gave each of them a shouler pad and a scarf as well just to give them a sort of dashing 1930's roguish look.

[Fable]

Seeing as I enjoy spoiling this force to an unprecedented degree (no kids) I have gone that extra step and ordered custom dice through Chessex:




If you e-mail their sales dept with the colors you're looking for (I originally wanted bone for the pips, but they didn't have that paint for the pips so I went with plain white) and type of die (rounded corners, sharp corners) and tell them what pip you want replaced (I replaced the "6" with the Eye of Isha as I wanted it to be a good thing when I saw the eye, not a bad thing, which would normally be a 1) and attach the image you want they'll do up a mock for you. It came to about $1 a die not including shipping.

[Fable]

Here's a unit that's been done for a while and I just never got around to finishing up the bases the Warp Spiders. The unit's name is Gossamer Demise" and is one of the most flexible units the Eldar have:




And there is also a couple close ups of Exarch Nylome:

[Fable]

Ok, it's been a while since I have posted but I've been busy doing some writing and working on some other miniatures. However, I have not totally been ignoring my Eldar. With the pending release of the Night Spinner and new Prism it's conjured up the longing for some of the other missing Eldar artillery tanks, which has inspired me to write up rules for a Warp Hunter. A long time ago, when Eldar tanks were shaped like coffins, the Warp Hunter was a falcon sized tank that carried a large D-cannon on it. With newer editions of Epic it has been fazed out and altered into a super heavy by the name of the Cobra (essentially a single Cobra took the place of a multi-tank formation). I, however, wanted to bring back some of that old timey flair and convert one up. I got inspired by ARHicks (you can google that name + Eldar to find his site but I recently learned he posts here on Warseer as chandrila) commissioned piece but thought I'd go more my own way with it and use some inspiration from the Cobra. At the same time I've been working on some Apocalypse PDFs for it and for some other units for my friends forces as a way of rewarding the time and effort it takes to convert something up.

While I have not yet completed work on the Warp Hunter I figured I could release some WIP images of it as it's coming along far better than I expected:







The door is just used while the generator glue is settling. Soon I'll be adding a brace bar to the cannon similar to the one the Cobra has.

Here are the rules I crafted up for it:

[Fable]

Just some updated shots of work done:

[Fable]

I've gotten a bit more work done on the Warp Hunter. It's been slow going as I've been working on getting writing done, but I've finally gotten the major sculpting work done. I switched from greenstuff to another resin putty called ProCreate. It seems to spread easier and is a bit less tacky than GS can be, but it remains to be seen how it cures. At this point I need to do some sanding on all the puttied bits once it finishes drying, and after that I just need to do the bulbs on the warp generator and then I can get to painting. I picked up a Night Spinner, but it will be a while before I get around to painting it. I'm hoping at some point the turret sprue starts appearing for sale without the rest of the tank kit as I'd like to convert my two current prisms to something more balanced and less weighty.

In the mean time, here is how it looks now:

[Fable]

Also, after playtesting the rules I made a small tweak to the cannon. Essentially it makes it slightly more dangerous to vehicles. Still probably overpriced, but less so than before.