High Elves and Vampire Counts P-Log.

[wilsongrahams]

Well I've now finished all the bases on my Swordmasters, Archers, Bolt Throwers, IoB Griffon and started on my old Spearmen unit.

Speaking of that old spearmen unit, I've finally started redoing the shields on them as I didn't like their fancy designs. I'm also neatening up the armour and white areas as I do these so will be slow - the standard is pictured below.
The standard for my newer spearmen unit has also been repainted - pic below.

There's also the base on my IoB Mage to look at which I did a few days back, and I've just finished building my new Phoenix Guard unit (Which will probably get painted before my metal one, lol). These were awkward to rank up but I have managed to have only one or two models touching each other. You can also see a pic of one I converted to avoid having multiple champion bodies with that sword in scabbard they give you to use.

Would anybody be interested in seeing a full army shot of my models? You'll see how much I have left to assemble and paint then!

[DarkMark]

Really nice HE you've got here. An army shot would be good. Any chance of a side by side of the SMs, and PGs with their newer counter parts?

On the painting side of things I think you may have been better off blu-tacking the PG to check for ranking, then painting the arms separately. I reckon its going to be quite fiddly getting at those chest plates and gems now!

[wilsongrahams]

Really nice HE you've got here. An army shot would be good. Any chance of a side by side of the SMs, and PGs with their newer counter parts?

On the painting side of things I think you may have been better off blu-tacking the PG to check for ranking, then painting the arms separately. I reckon its going to be quite fiddly getting at those chest plates and gems now!

Sure I can do that... Will be taking some shots monday morning so will do the size comparisons for you then. There is about 2-3mm difference in height to the top of where the heads would be (ie not helmet) which I figure is about 6" in real life terms - I'm over a foot taller than my partner which is far more than this so on the whole the size difference isn't a problem. It's more extra bulk that the new models have rather than height alone.

For ranking - I assemble a rank of five and then attach them to bases, but it was more the models themselves that are really awkward - certain models physically cannot be placed next to each other or behind each other due to their cloaks and how far some have their halberds forwards at the bottom - these things need to match up with the folds and gaps on the models. The other issue is how close the helmets are to the halberds of the models and their neighbours - not a great choice for GW putting giant wings on them I think, still they look good!

As for painting - won't be an issue - there's plenty of room when you look at them in person, and I assemble almost all models including shields before painting. In fact the only models I can think of that I didn't fully assemble before painting was my HE Lord to paint the sword behind the shield, Chaos Khorne Lord for same reason, and any Space Marine Guns and Backpacks which I leave off til after.

Currently assembling my metal White Lions - they do look slim after building the new Phoenix Guard!

Also pm me please if you have one of the new plastic White Lion banners spare and available for sale.

[wilsongrahams]

Hi guys, first of all some scale comparisons with new and old swordmasters, phoenix guard and the IoB sea guard with a spearman.

Forgive my photos as I was in very bright light, and had a fingerprint on my camera lens so they're greyed out (Blame my 1 year old son doesn't respect technology for this!).

[wilsongrahams]

Again, bad camera and lighting, but by the time I downloaded the pics I'd put the army away again.

It looked very impressive lined up on my windowsill.

What you see arrayed before you from left to right is:
IoB Griffon.
20 Metal White Lions.
20 IoB Sea Guard.
24 IoB Swordmasters.
16 Archers.
20 New Phoenix Guard.
19 Metal Phoenix Guard and Caradryan.
20 Metal Swordmasters.
Prince Tyrion.
Mounted Lord.
Mounted Mage.
Dragon with Lord.
2 Mages.
20 Spearmen.
20 Spearmen.
Prince.
Archmage.
Battle Standard Bearer.
5 IoB Ellyrion Reavers.
5 IoB Ellyrion Reavers.
5 Metal Dragon Princes.
2 Nobles.
Korhil.
2 Repeater Bolt Throwers.
6 Shadow Warriors with Alith Anar.

What wasn't shown:
24 Spearmen (unbuilt).
12 4th ed Spearmen (unbuilt).
20 4th ed Archers (unbuilt).
2 Great Eagles (in paint stripper).
2 Tiranoc Chariots (In pieces on painting table).
1 Lion Chariot (unbuilt).
30 IoB Sea Guard (unbuilt).
5 IoB Ellyrion Reavers (unbuilt).

I will also be adding 20 of the new plastic White Lions and 10 plastic Dragon Princes this Christmas to round things off.

As you can see there's still quite a bit to add and a lot to paint! The only unit I don't have is any Silver Helms at the moment.

[wilsongrahams]

Just a couple shots of those standard bearers with their units.

As you can see I'm still in the process of doing up my old spearmen unit (blue trim) and need to grit the red trim ones and finish bases on both units. Old spearmen also need their shields doing like the standard bearer for the unit. I think I may do a lihter colour highliht on the feathers on helms of the red trim guys - they look very dark at the moment.

To check I'd cleaned my camera properly I took a pic of some other models I happened to have close to hand after basing so here's some Chaos models to compare with. I think in future I'll stick to taking pictures in the evening as this pic turned out okay! (And not let my son check if music sounds better with my phone inside his mouth).

Let me know what you think. I'll try getting a better army shot in the future with more models assembled and painted. And one day I'll get a game in with them!
The army is perfectly legal with all the core and characters choices etc, and also pretty well balanced once the unbuilt stuff is added in. Anyone fancy a 7000pt game?

[DarkMark]

Wow thats quite a collection. I probably have about the same for my lot, but on the dark side! I may grab some of the new kits for conversions for my eldar, if I have any spares I'll let you know. No cost warhammer dads wtf

I think you need to visit that evil swedish store, and sort yourself out with a cheap cabinet.
http://www.ikea.com/gb/en/catalog/products/10119206
It'll set you back just a bit over the cost of those new PGs. It pins to the wall for safety and doesn't actually take up too much room, very family friendly.

Two Harrys, thats just greedy

edit: thanks for the side by sides, the difference is pretty big as I thought.

[Desert Rain]

Impressive looking army. Makes me want to do the same with my own high elves.

[Caphalor]

@ Desert Rain: What's keeping you?

And yes, it's looking pretty impressive already! Can't wait to see it all painted!

One day i hope to posess such a big army of myself... *dreams away*

[Desert Rain]

@ Desert Rain: What's keeping you?

A LOT of models, and lazyness. Actually those might be related in some way...

[wilsongrahams]

Wow thats quite a collection. I probably have about the same for my lot, but on the dark side! I may grab some of the new kits for conversions for my eldar, if I have any spares I'll let you know. No cost warhammer dads wtf

I think you need to visit that evil swedish store, and sort yourself out with a cheap cabinet.

Two Harrys, thats just greedy

Ooh thanks, always willing to buy extras if it's stuff I need at a good price.

As for a cabinet - they're stored in a cupboard at the moment but it's too dark for photographs so I move things away to take pictures. I am running out of space though, what with a Night Goblin army and a Skeleton based Undead army too!

Ps, what's No cost warhammer dads mean? I'm slow... I'm also 27 years of age if that makes a difference to what you were saying.

As for two Harry the Hammers - one is my wife's. She loved my model and bought another and told me how to paint it. Hers is the one with the iron trim rather than the gold like mine.

As for having a large army Caphalor, this has been in the collecting for quite some years, and I give detailed christmas present lists! My family all know that I'm happiest with Elves than adult stuff!

Desert Rain, you really should gather them all together and take a shot. It's really impressive - better than in pictures. When I imagine the other units in there aswell it makes me giddy fielding them in battle. I do actually have a detailed deployment plan and battle plan for them all for when I finally do get a huge game in.

Recently I started working nights and have a lot of free time there so am currently getting a lot of progress done sop it may be realistic to see the army painted before I'm 30! And still a lot younger than Harry!

[Ramius4]

Makes me want to start a High Elves army seeing all those models Good luck getting it all painted wilson!

[DarkMark]

I think once you're a father you appreciate your toys a little more, time for hobby, and life in general. Some of the kid's moaning on here is staggering to be honest.

The cost of a stamp, and a bit left over is a minor. I wouldn't think to ask money for such things. Well, maybe a pint if ever saw you

Keep up the good work.

[Desert Rain]

Desert Rain, you really should gather them all together and take a shot. It's really impressive - better than in pictures. When I imagine the other units in there aswell it makes me giddy fielding them in battle. I do actually have a detailed deployment plan and battle plan for them all for when I finally do get a huge game in.

Challenge accepted!
I won't be able to gather all of them since some stuff is broken and I don't fancy repairing them, and some stuff is not glued together yet. But I will gather as many minis I can.

[wilsongrahams]

Thanks Ramius, I will be trying my best, and seeing some other people's armies on here has often made me want to start an army but so far I have resisted and only started ones I want to.

DarkMark, I know exactly what you mean, I have seen so many complaining at having to wait til their friends build a unit before they can play a game etc and that not gaming every week is the end of the world to them. On a positive side, a GW employee I know and get on with just quit his job so will have more time free when I do to meet up for games so I may even get one in per month! Yay! Also, I would always cover costs at the very least and prefer to pay the going rate for bits to be fair, and accept that offer of a pint (and a game) if I get the chance to travel 'up norf'.

Desert Rain, just gather what you can (I didn't use everything myself cos a lot is in boxes or pieces) and it's quite inspiring to just look at, and see the power your general commands.

[Red Rider]

Some really good work here. Those WOC characters are amazing!

Keep it up!

[wilsongrahams]

Thanks Red Rider. I bought these models purely to paint rather than to game with so took a little longer over them. As painting pieces they are fun and detailed, with many varied colours. I have bought two WoC Warriors units and a unit of Knights so that I can make them up to 1000pts for small evening games if I ever get round to any. I will have done the same with my skaven, having added Stormvermin to an IoB box set. This way I get to have some cool models to paint that aren't a waste in money gaming wise as they can still be used. I may have a higher budget than some, but I'm still on a budget so feel I have to justify all expenses.

[tominator]

Really great painting, wish my High Elves looked this good.

[Daniel36]

Ugh... Your High Elves look beautiful! I was going to say you ought to do something with your bases, as unpainted basing tends to look too realistic and also chips more easily, but those last pictures look like you did something with them... Am I right?

Spellcaster looks magnificent!

[wilsongrahams]

Ugh... Your High Elves look beautiful! I was going to say you ought to do something with your bases, as unpainted basing tends to look too realistic and also chips more easily, but those last pictures look like you did something with them... Am I right?

Spellcaster looks magnificent!

Yes Daniel well spotted, for a long time I hadn't decided how I wanted to do my bases, but I finally got round to painting them, and I'm going through the army doing them properly. Just my first spearmen unit to do before I'm caught up to date with base painting. I will be sanding the bases before spraying in future too rather than after fully painting the figure.


Tominator - I've had many years to practise. My first models were hideous, so don't worry if you still feel like a beginner. It doesn't take long to improve drastically.