2015-07-27

Trip down Memory Lane

The current state of my Wood Elves army: simple yet tidy coloring, huge clown eyes, missing parts. This used to be my battle standard bearer.

It was 1992 when I got started on Warhammer Fantasy Battle (WHFB), my first tabletop strategy game. Blood Bowl was the delivery truck that had me and a few friends pick the Empire, High Elves, Dwarfs, and Wood Elves in my case. I played WHFB until 1998 when I figured that I should start being serious about my life. When I got back into the hobby in 2008, my local meta was filled with 40K, so my Wood Elves continued their dormant life. I never felt compelled to unearth them until the release of Age of Sigmar (AoS) when Games Workshop rebooted the entire game and did quite a few things right:

  • free rules
  • simpler rules
  • modular army building
  • compatibility with all existing models
  • free app

Granted, I haven't played a single game of AoS yet, but the feedback in the local community is promising. Plus I look forward to breathing life into my old models again. They were purchased between 1992 and 1998 and so far I haven't found an unplayable model yet.

The following is an overview of the painted parts of my Wood Elves army. I have virtually no clue  how many points are still sitting in boxes. However, right now I want to get started on AoS as soon as possible.

Cavalry


My plan is to redo my cavalry first while I play AoS using my infantry.

My Forrest Dragon in pieces after years in storage.

I want the overall color scheme of my revamped Wood Elves Army to be yellow and green to get an impression of autumn colors.

He's gonna be my general again and will look even better.

I plan on stripping the riders with acetone while I paint over the horses. The horses were among Games Workshops first models to come in plastic and significantly reduced the overall weight.

My general on a horse. He'll be repainted, too, to bring out the details.

Same goes for my wizard on a unicorn. According to the AoS Wood Elves conversion chart, the unicorn has to be played as an ordinary horse, however. (the unicorn used to give a protective aura against enemy spells) Oh, I also have to find the upper body of the cavalry's musician.



My airforce marked the point when I quit the hobby, so they are literally halfway done. I painted the war hawks as great eagles (because great eagles were more expensive and I was a high school student), so I'll strip them and paint them as hawks again - especially since I also added drybrushing and inking to my list of painting skills since 1998!

Infantry


My infantry is what I will use to play AoS until my cavalry is done. Once the cavalry is ready to hit the playing field again, the infantry will be redone piece by piece.

My Wood Elves archers.
 
Most of them look really uniform because Games Workshop introduced those "exciting" new boxes with plastic models that were way more affordable to build large units. Problem was the minis had only one static pose. I am not even sure if I'll redo them or just throw them away.

The first row of this archers' unit is where the minis shine as they are still the old metal models in various poses.

Musician, standard bearer, and hero.


My Waywatchers. They are still my favorite unit and I will repaint them just to have them benefit from my improved painting skills.

Their backs are painted in the Swiss camo pattern.

My Wardancers, my second favorite unit after the Waywatchers. I'll also redo them just to have them benefit from my improved painting skills.

I even had attempts at freehands. Didn't get any better in the meantime though. ^ ^


Various characters


Do you still recognize him? It's Games Workshop's original Durthu. I bet when I show up at the game store people will think this is an illegal 3rd company product.

Beyond being a far superior paint job by Terry, the current Durthu model also looks quite different.

If I want to play with my infantry first, I also still need a general.

To the left we have Skaw the Falkner (out of production, is being played as a simple Glade Lord with Hunting Falcons) and to the right a wizard on foot.

I already put these two onto round bases (something I was looking forward for a long time because I find them more aesthetically pleasing) to paint them up next for my games.

Existing problems


I still got to find my Wood Elves bits box somewhere deep down in my cellar.

Also Games Workshop is hoping for big sales and a huge success from AoS, but I am afraid they won't get that without me. My current budget for miniatures is comparable to what it was when I was a high school student, but these aren't the times anymore when you could get a Forrest Dragon for 45 CHF. Furthermore I still have two moving boxes of unassembled and unpainted Wood Elves, so I have still enough Elves to work on for years to come - and that's the case for every Games Workshop army I own. Not sure how Games Workshop wants to make big profits with me again. However, as long as the rules are free, I'll be definitely motivated to advocate the game by playing it.

Well, I found the bits box, so that's good. In it you can see Skaw's missing falcon, the cavalry musician's missing upper body, the army standard bearer's missing standard, and the hawk riders' missing spears. Plus two cool character models. :D

Also got these nice bases at the game store. Can't wait to put everything on round and bike bases.

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