After playing our first game of Dragon Rampant my attention has been split between painting stuff for Dragon Rampant/Lion Rampant and En Garde!…. So less stuff getting done… This is why it’s good to have a plan to focus on ONE THING and stick to it… of course not having a plan and doing what you want is fun too… so…
(All of the figures pictured in
this post are from Games
Workshop. They are © and ™ Games Workshop and painted by myself and
posted here entirely without their permission.)
(Remember: click on the pictures
for a bigger version):
One elf archer.
Yeah, that’s all I got done… but
it’s all I needed to do, because I already had five others:
The whole unit. I painted most
of these years ago (like, back when I was playing Mordhiem - which was a LOOOOONG time ago - before this blog was around!) – though I did do some touching up on a few as I painted the
new guy.
I see elite elf archer/scouts as
the fantastical equivalent of modern Special Ops forces. There is a temptation
to call these guys “Scouts” but scouts are actually crap at hitting stuff.
I guess it would depend on the
role I was expecting them to take in a particular action. If the goal was to be
sneaky beaky and just get from one place to another and avoid contact… then
yeah, maybe I would take them as scouts….
But if they’re more Direct
Action Special Ops they would be better off as a Light Missile reduced figure
unit (2 strength points per figure) with Sharpshooters for a total of 6 points.
That would make them a small group of hard-hitting shooters that can take some
hits.
I was tempted, at first, to give
them “Invisible” but for another three whole points (making the unit NINE
points total!?) it seems a little weak considering all it does is make them
immune to mundane shooting – they can still be targeted by magic and still be
charged by anyone close enough and wishing to attack them.
Coming soon on Tim’s Miniature Wargaming Blog:
More Swashbucklers for En Garde!
or some Elf Elite Foot for Dragon Rampant…
or maybe something completely diffeent!?
Posts
They look superb! My warbands (on my blog) are, unfortunately, a bit light on archers (I haven't got any)...something I need to remedy. Fortunately, as I provide both warbands, it doesn't matter too much.
ReplyDeleteThanks Gordon!
DeleteI've done the same for many years - provided all the miniatures - so as long as there was some balance between my own forces everything works out. I started doing that after a couple years after high school when everyone I used to play with moved away and I found myself with armies with no opponents. I vowed form then on to always do both sides of a conflict so I could always have an opponent. I could get anyone to play the opponent - even people who weren't really into the hobby painting aspect of it.
I really liked that self-balancing aspect of creating both forces. I hate the warhammer method of each player bringing x number of points and doing battle as I always felt I lost before the battle even began as I played against people that were better at figuring out what units were better. I even resented when we were playing Hordes of the things when a few people actually DID start making their own armies - because they would build armies designed to beat mine... what fun.
Of course on the flipside is, after a decade or so of providing for everyone I've started looking back and the thousands of dollars and hours I've put into the hobby only to play with guys that haven't put anything into it and just show up when they've nothing better to do... well... I've grown to resent that a bit too... Which is probably I why I mostly just like playing with my kids now...
Yeah...being relatively new to the hobby I've never met any of those competitive gamer types but my blood runs cold when I hear about them.
DeleteBoth sides is the only way to go given the flightiness of gamers. And yes, points enable awful behaviours.
DeleteI'm really impressed with the consistency in your painting style over the years Tim. I love the aesthetic you get with your figures through the black lining.
ReplyDeleteThanks! I did try to paint the new one to look like the others - though, looking at these pictures, I noticed the leaves on the new one's cape turned out quite a bit brighter and don'e have quite as much definition or contrast between the light and shaded parts... But overall I am happy with how well he fits in with the rest.
DeleteNice muted colours Tim. I can see them hiding in the bushes and preparing to strike when least expected!
ReplyDeleteThanks Millsy!
DeleteExactly how I imagined them too!
I agree about your painting style - you manage to tie all sorts of figures from a variety of manufacturers into cohesive groups that seem to belong together.
ReplyDeleteNice work on the waywatchers, I mean elite elf archers! (I love the look of those figures (have a few myself, from the "old days"), and can easily picture them doing the kinds of things you describe)
Thanks! Part of the "touching up" I did for the others included repainting the bows - as I no longer had the same brown I used on the originals and I do like consistency within units... (and people think ODC is a "problem")
DeleteAmazing leaf effect on the cloaks!
ReplyDeleteThanks Andrew! Honestly all I did was a bit of dry-brushing - they're just really well sculpted figures! the detail is amazing, yet really easy to make look good with some very basic drybrushing...
DeleteAgree with Andrew - those leafy cloaks look really good.
ReplyDeleteCheers!
DeleteVery nice, Tim. Your project choices are great. Those leaf cloaks are cool!
ReplyDeleteThanks Dean!
Delete