Update: Southern Kindred Elven army for Kings of War
Here’s where I am with my Kings of War Southern Kindred elves:
I finalized the color scheme – beige, brown, bronze, and, wait for it, purple. I considered all kinds of accent colors: blue, green, red, teal, orange, but none seemed quite right. I was also balancing the fact that I don’t want my minis to get lost in the basing which had originally been slated to be sand colored. That got changed to “red sand” for contrast, but then the accent color had to account for that. Hence, I settled on purple.
I’ve been painting up my chariots. I had two models which is the minimum for a regiment. Since everyone thinks they suck, I’m determined to make them work. I’m thinking of combining them with my Gladewalkers and some Sea Guard to get a lot of units out there on the table that can both shoot and fight. It’ll need a lot of tuning, but I want to try it. The models themselves are probably 10 years old at least; until this last month, I’m not sure when I last bought a fantasy miniature. They were partially painted, and probably had been through the last two moves. My skill level with painting wasn’t too bad; my skill level with modeling left something to be desired however. Specifically, I apparently hadn’t really worked out the importance of flash removal (grimace). And I’m not redoing the lot of them so my elf army will definitely be “table quality.” As of “press time”, the chariots and elves are painted and washed, but the horses are only about a third done and the base is only primered. I’ve set myself a deadline of Sunday – we’ll see how that goes. Once it’s done, I’ll try to post a couple pictures here.
I’ve primered the Lord-on-a-Dragon and I know basically how I want to do him up. I’m thinking I want to blend the horns from basically a brown at the base, through purple, to lavender at the tips. That’ll take a wet pallet, but I think it is do able. Not sure how I’m going to give this guy a standard, or the chariots either for that matter. Anyway, this guy may be next, or…
It could be my Gladestalkers. They are almost all primered (GW Shadow Elves) and were originally the theme for this army in its WFB incarnation. I really like these guys and I want them to look like they always did in my head. That said, I think I will largely omit the accent color and I may try to make them blend into their bases a bit more – stealthy forest hunter types and all. I’ve even thought of flocking their cloaks and then maybe using less red on the base flock. They are the old metal mini, not the new (and slightly more attractive plastics of later GW manufacture) if that helps with visualizing them.
I should note here that a problem I encountered with the chariot horses (and expect to continue to encounter) is one of switching from single-based WFB units to multi-based KoW units. The horses were on rails that I had (well and truly) glues into their bases. They were not popping out easily at all and going after it with clippers would have been a nightmare. So I got an Army Painter hobby saw from my local store and that worked like a dream. It sawed right through the plastic, separating the horse from the rails easily. I haven’t had to work with my metal minis yet, the 22 Sea Guard and the Shadow Elves, but I’m hoping they can be broken free of their stands more easily than the plastics were. If not, the saw is supposed to cut metal, but I have to assume it’ll be harder going.
I also have a regiment of Kindred Archers primered and ready to paint, so they also could be next. Finally, the Sea Guard is also primered and could be painted next.
Model-wise, I am acquiring three more chariots. Two of them will make my second chariot regiment though I can’t decide if it’ll be with horses or lions pulling it – it has both options. The last one will be my Noble Chariot upon which I plan to place the artifact to make it inspiring. These three units will then operate as a group on my flank. They can shoot and harass or punch hard enough to be a flanking force, and that’s how I plan to use them. If I want to weight that flank, I can put my Lord on a Dragon with them. Otherwise, he can stay with the main body or go hunt other characters/war machines. That’s about it for my tactical thinking at this point.
I had initially said that I was not going to be collecting with this army; only playing with units I already have, and I’m trying to stay with it. I am however, seriously tempted to acquire a third bolt thrower and 2-3 fire breathers. The fire breathers fit with my tendencies perfectly. Everyone loves bolt throwers – no one takes fire breathers. I want to turn it on its head. And, if my Gladestalkers do well, I’d love to get a second regiment of them.
I do have 14 Silverhelms that are destined to be two regiments of Stormwind. Combining them with the chariots makes for a stupidly heavy cavalry force (and to a large extent they fill the same role), but it might be interesting. If I field them, I like the idea of holding them closer to the main body (possibly as troops even) to protect its flank, though I am also curious what they could do if fielded as regiments and put on the opposite flank from the chariot force.
I also am eyeing my White Lion minis who are destined to be Palace Guard, a more elite infantry unit. (I also have a mixture of Phoenix Guard and Swordmasters to form a second unit of Palace Guard with.) They are also candidates to back up the main body and work flank protection. I think the lions will look neat in the desert scheme I’m running.
Other than that, I have a bunch of vanilla spearmen and archers, something like 10 of each. I already mentioned I have another regiment of archers. I also have a regiment of guys that can be more Tallspears or more Sea Guard. What I do with them depends on how trials with my existing Sea Guard come out. And I have a small handful of characters who can be mages, princes, standard bearers, and the like.
All in all, it’s coming together nicely. I think that if I were to field it all, it would be reasonably balanced force, though if I fielded all the Sea Guard I could, it might end up a bit balanced towards shooting. But it is an elvish force, so that’s not too out of genre. However, that’s more than 2000 points (which seems to be a standard game) and any sub-force is likely to be more slanted or at least less balanced. For example, if I went with a force that was the Lord on a Dragon, the Gladestalkers, the Chariots, the Sea Guard, and the Fire Breathers (a force of everything that is unpopular except the dragon), it would be a bit shooting heavy. I could also go thematic and call it a recon force and leave any infantry except the Gladestalkers behind. That would be interesting to play though I expect that an experienced opponent would eviscerate any force so lopsided. Either way, I’m avoiding the all flying or flying+shooting elvish list that seems to be the force de jour at the moment (meaning the net considers it overpowered.) Thus, the one unit I don’t see me acquiring in the near future is Drakon Riders (flying heavy cavalry).
I am also expecting to get my second game in this weekend, so that’s a plus. Otherwise, I’ve been involved on the Mantic forums as much as I can without having a lot of experience to draw from. Mostly they seem to be a good bunch, and I am trying not to be too obnoxious.
The next post will update on the progress with my other armies.
I finalized the color scheme – beige, brown, bronze, and, wait for it, purple. I considered all kinds of accent colors: blue, green, red, teal, orange, but none seemed quite right. I was also balancing the fact that I don’t want my minis to get lost in the basing which had originally been slated to be sand colored. That got changed to “red sand” for contrast, but then the accent color had to account for that. Hence, I settled on purple.
I’ve been painting up my chariots. I had two models which is the minimum for a regiment. Since everyone thinks they suck, I’m determined to make them work. I’m thinking of combining them with my Gladewalkers and some Sea Guard to get a lot of units out there on the table that can both shoot and fight. It’ll need a lot of tuning, but I want to try it. The models themselves are probably 10 years old at least; until this last month, I’m not sure when I last bought a fantasy miniature. They were partially painted, and probably had been through the last two moves. My skill level with painting wasn’t too bad; my skill level with modeling left something to be desired however. Specifically, I apparently hadn’t really worked out the importance of flash removal (grimace). And I’m not redoing the lot of them so my elf army will definitely be “table quality.” As of “press time”, the chariots and elves are painted and washed, but the horses are only about a third done and the base is only primered. I’ve set myself a deadline of Sunday – we’ll see how that goes. Once it’s done, I’ll try to post a couple pictures here.
I’ve primered the Lord-on-a-Dragon and I know basically how I want to do him up. I’m thinking I want to blend the horns from basically a brown at the base, through purple, to lavender at the tips. That’ll take a wet pallet, but I think it is do able. Not sure how I’m going to give this guy a standard, or the chariots either for that matter. Anyway, this guy may be next, or…
It could be my Gladestalkers. They are almost all primered (GW Shadow Elves) and were originally the theme for this army in its WFB incarnation. I really like these guys and I want them to look like they always did in my head. That said, I think I will largely omit the accent color and I may try to make them blend into their bases a bit more – stealthy forest hunter types and all. I’ve even thought of flocking their cloaks and then maybe using less red on the base flock. They are the old metal mini, not the new (and slightly more attractive plastics of later GW manufacture) if that helps with visualizing them.
I should note here that a problem I encountered with the chariot horses (and expect to continue to encounter) is one of switching from single-based WFB units to multi-based KoW units. The horses were on rails that I had (well and truly) glues into their bases. They were not popping out easily at all and going after it with clippers would have been a nightmare. So I got an Army Painter hobby saw from my local store and that worked like a dream. It sawed right through the plastic, separating the horse from the rails easily. I haven’t had to work with my metal minis yet, the 22 Sea Guard and the Shadow Elves, but I’m hoping they can be broken free of their stands more easily than the plastics were. If not, the saw is supposed to cut metal, but I have to assume it’ll be harder going.
I also have a regiment of Kindred Archers primered and ready to paint, so they also could be next. Finally, the Sea Guard is also primered and could be painted next.
Model-wise, I am acquiring three more chariots. Two of them will make my second chariot regiment though I can’t decide if it’ll be with horses or lions pulling it – it has both options. The last one will be my Noble Chariot upon which I plan to place the artifact to make it inspiring. These three units will then operate as a group on my flank. They can shoot and harass or punch hard enough to be a flanking force, and that’s how I plan to use them. If I want to weight that flank, I can put my Lord on a Dragon with them. Otherwise, he can stay with the main body or go hunt other characters/war machines. That’s about it for my tactical thinking at this point.
I had initially said that I was not going to be collecting with this army; only playing with units I already have, and I’m trying to stay with it. I am however, seriously tempted to acquire a third bolt thrower and 2-3 fire breathers. The fire breathers fit with my tendencies perfectly. Everyone loves bolt throwers – no one takes fire breathers. I want to turn it on its head. And, if my Gladestalkers do well, I’d love to get a second regiment of them.
I do have 14 Silverhelms that are destined to be two regiments of Stormwind. Combining them with the chariots makes for a stupidly heavy cavalry force (and to a large extent they fill the same role), but it might be interesting. If I field them, I like the idea of holding them closer to the main body (possibly as troops even) to protect its flank, though I am also curious what they could do if fielded as regiments and put on the opposite flank from the chariot force.
I also am eyeing my White Lion minis who are destined to be Palace Guard, a more elite infantry unit. (I also have a mixture of Phoenix Guard and Swordmasters to form a second unit of Palace Guard with.) They are also candidates to back up the main body and work flank protection. I think the lions will look neat in the desert scheme I’m running.
Other than that, I have a bunch of vanilla spearmen and archers, something like 10 of each. I already mentioned I have another regiment of archers. I also have a regiment of guys that can be more Tallspears or more Sea Guard. What I do with them depends on how trials with my existing Sea Guard come out. And I have a small handful of characters who can be mages, princes, standard bearers, and the like.
All in all, it’s coming together nicely. I think that if I were to field it all, it would be reasonably balanced force, though if I fielded all the Sea Guard I could, it might end up a bit balanced towards shooting. But it is an elvish force, so that’s not too out of genre. However, that’s more than 2000 points (which seems to be a standard game) and any sub-force is likely to be more slanted or at least less balanced. For example, if I went with a force that was the Lord on a Dragon, the Gladestalkers, the Chariots, the Sea Guard, and the Fire Breathers (a force of everything that is unpopular except the dragon), it would be a bit shooting heavy. I could also go thematic and call it a recon force and leave any infantry except the Gladestalkers behind. That would be interesting to play though I expect that an experienced opponent would eviscerate any force so lopsided. Either way, I’m avoiding the all flying or flying+shooting elvish list that seems to be the force de jour at the moment (meaning the net considers it overpowered.) Thus, the one unit I don’t see me acquiring in the near future is Drakon Riders (flying heavy cavalry).
I am also expecting to get my second game in this weekend, so that’s a plus. Otherwise, I’ve been involved on the Mantic forums as much as I can without having a lot of experience to draw from. Mostly they seem to be a good bunch, and I am trying not to be too obnoxious.
The next post will update on the progress with my other armies.
Comments
The dragon is going great though.