Okay, so I had intended for this blog to be an incentive into painting more often, specifically I had wanted to do one miniature a day. Unfortunately a few things happened. I had a lot more responsibility dropped on me at work, and a few months later I was injured on the job in my back to the point where I have been off straight up to now and cant stay in any one position for too long. This injury of course meant that for a long while I could not paint or even draw. Now many procedures later things are moving in the right direction.
In this time, I have not been completely idle however. In short bursts with lots of support and icing and treatment I have been able to get some miniatures done. Mostly, I have actually made a small dent into my high elf army's basic troops finishing my archers, and also my spears.... though without their shields.
The archers here were all fairly quick to do. Now, obviously, these are not the most amazing paint jobs in the world. Individually they may not look like much, buuut, when amassed together from above the table they do the job well. Like a lot of my army these are mostly single pose plastics from 4th or 5th edition. Some survivors from my brothers, and others my brother found in a large lot at a flee market that he bought to get me started back into the hobby. The standard bearer is a single pose spearman with a few added bits from some plastic kits from 7th edition and a hand drawn banner I had drawn over a year ago now.
Accidentally these guys turned out looking like the Keebler elves and so are affectionately called the Keebler Squad now... My brother thinking I should have made them a cookie banner..... That may still happen at some point.
Yeah, Still can't believe I accidentally did that....
The spearmen were the ones I first started painting up for this new army. I didn't really have a plan for a theme at the time. I started with red for the armor and blades, mostly because it just happened to be the colors on hand. I also unlike many people am very attracted to the "red era" of White Dwarf. Its what I grew up with, and when I think Warhammer that is what pops into my mind.
Again, most of these are monopose plastics from the same era as the archers. These are mixed with a couple metal ones of the same pose, a chariot spear, and some plastic multi part elves from later editions. These were also done pretty quickly and are not really meant to be viewed individually. the look good in a block and when the whole army is done I think it will all go rather well together.
Now, eventually I would like to theme this army around the idea of an elven colony around the regions of Cathay and Nippon which means changing up certain elements. I think some Tengu minis from
Reaper Miniatures and a few others would make a unique group of Shadow warriors for the theme. I may also paint up my lion chariots with jade lion statues come to life, or as an arcanine. I think either would look nice. I have also done some drawings around the idea of what I imagine these elves would look like. Mixing in elements from these other cultures with their own.
The first, and fastest drawing I did was this Sword Master. The basic idea being that he has some samurai elements mixed into the basic armor shapes of the elves.
The next was this Spearman. I wanted it to look a bit more native so to speak. Furs and fabrics from local artisans adorn the armor. Plates resemble more of what you would expect to see on the humans of the region, though decorated in the fashion of the elves. I also decided here that I liked the idea of this stripe of face paint across the eyes adding a more wild look to them, as if they were not quite as "refined" or frankly stuck up as their Ulthuan relatives.
Here we have the equivalent of the White Lions in the army here. Still hunters in the wilds. They seek out creatures and beasts that would be causing trouble amongst the villages and forts near by. They are more varied in appearance then those who came before them, choosing individual great weapons that fit their personal fighting style best. Many are adorned in furs of the Kitsune and various other spirits creatures. Early on the elves in their desire to eradicate any near by chaos beasts mistook the creatures for demons. They nearly wiped out the local population of such beings before realizing their mistake. This has caused their to be a long standing animosity between the two races even today many generations later.
This is my most recent piece, and a practice at working fully digitally. He is a basic bowman, borrowing style of dress from the Cathay, with elements similar to the spearman as well to help unify the troops. Jade falcon skulls adorn the armor showing a higher rank. He tracks a trail of blood across the snowy winter forest.
Well, I hope you have enjoyed this journey through thoughts, and future plans. Hopefully as things move forward I can possibly convert up some elves to more properly match my vision.
- Andrew Thurston
