The war-host of Maloran Brightblade

The incursions were the worst in living memory, and living memory is a long time for the elves of the Great Forest. They had begun as the first snows of winter fell, and gained in strength as the land froze. By the spring the enemy was three days' march from the Sacred Grove. With his father absent at the Grand Council it fell to Maloran Brightblade to rally his people and sally forth with his warband and protect the heart of the realm.

At his side was his father's trusted advisor, the old seer Silfeth. Maloran's personal cavalry guard, friends from childhood all, rode out with him. The scouts from the deep wood came, and the falconers from their craggy homes at the forest's edge. A troupe of wardancers consented to stand with them. And his father's people gathered their spears and their great bows and turned their faces towards the foe. The time for great deeds was at hand.

Last year Snickit's Tail suggested a new dad/slow painter challenge to paint a 1000 point army. Some folk on the Oldhammer Australia Facebook group suggested doing something similar. I decided to have a go and picked wood elves. Elves were my favourite race back in my RPG days and as I love Jes Goodwin's sculpts I'd picked up a fair few in the last couple of years.

About 10 months later, it's all done and I have my first ever painted army!

The war-host ready for the fray

I chose a pale, desaturated (is that the right word?) palette as I've always like that subtle lookmon miniatures. I went with lots of greys, purples and blues to suggest the shadowy depths of the forest. Models-wise I wanted an army that I think of as quintessentially wood elf - lightly-armoured and mobile, using hit-and-run tactics. I didn't want to have to buy too many more models so I limited my choices choices a bit that way too.

The wardancers were the first unit I finished. This range is my favourite set of elf sculpts, and I remember looking at the ad for them in a White Dwarf and being blown away by them. They do have  shields and light armour, which doesn't quite fit my lightly armoured plan, but they suffer no movement penalty so I think I can get away with it! Plus 20 points a model is an investment I need to protect! Their blue and grey colours are my favourite combo in the army.

You put your right hand in...

I think the scouts were next. These are a fluff unit - I'm not sure of they'd serve a useful purpose in an army this size, but I think any wood elf force needs its elite woodsmen, er, woodselves. Unarmoured, because I can't imagine scouts clanking around in armour, which means I can't see them lasting too long if I try to use them to screen other troops. The red blotches on the bases are leaves made using a leaf punch from Green Stuff World.

Deadly accurate cannon-fodder

 Next to be painted were the cavalry. These are the only shock elites available to the wood elves. I'd have been quite happy to have them with less armour, but I didn't feel like removing the shield bosses so they have light armour and shields. Three of the models had their heads swapped for more wood elfy ones, including the standard bearer, who started life as a silver helm I bought back in the day. I found the riders curiously unsatisfying to paint - I think because they're rather fiddly.

Half a league, half a league, half a league onwards...

I'll call it a day there - to avoid overly-long-post-syndrome I'll cover the rest of the pale, pointy-eared ones next post. Thanks for stopping by!