Wood elves were not my first army, but the first army I persuaded the neighbor kid to collect. This was way back in 4th ed - where wood elves had a lot of cool models, which was my main interest at the time. I inherited a small army when my neighbor found out how girls smell and quit on the spot.
This is by no means a vintage / OOP project - I’ve liked the “new” models for a long time and plan to use old, new and some alternate minis. The army is a nomadic tribe of elves who live in the shadow land outside the forest’s magical protection - where little grows and elves must ally with other natural forces. Dryads can live out on the plains - but when battle draws close the elves sonjure forth clay golems and other sustainable raw material-helpers to aid them. More on that later.
First up - the bases! I was very excited to test the new technology paint types - here’s a little test. The edges will be painted brown I guess, but other than that I am quite pleased.
Some thoughts on the Bones series: A lot has been said before and there are many good reviews online for these cheap as chips models of awesome.
I did spend some time cleaning the models, mainly because the little mouldlines can not be scraped away like normal. They need to be cut with a knife or gently sanded away - and I am still working on my technique for this. My clay golems are quite rough in texture, so that helps a bit.
I bought a shed-tonne of mdf bases before starting this project - for eagles and treemen mainly. I mounted the golems on the mdf with a strong, “rubbery” glue that has some mass to it - normal super glue was just sucked into the porous base!
I really like the base you made, it fits well with your army fluff of them living nomadic on the plains. And the idea of clay golems is pretty cool, the reaper Bones mini will work perfect I think.
Great start…looking forward to seeing more :cheers
Wild elves and steppe elves have always been my favorite type of elves. So I’m looking forward on seeing some wood elves in a new type of colour and theme. Thanks for this.
I’m a big fan of the reaper series. Cheap miniatures, really easy to cut (so great for conversions) and the paint really sticks nice to it. I did have to use some green stuff for fillings in my minotaurs - but a 2,5$ who cares?
Always nice to post stuff in here, both minis with our without hats.
Having modeled and painted a bit with the Reaper Bones, I can say I like them a lot. You have to do some work on them and they do feel a bit different, but the finished product look good and it is really cost effective.
Speaking of… here are the first golems! Based and base coated for now. I can see they need a bit of fine tuning in the color choices. I want them to blend into the base quite a bit (being made from dirt and all…) but also stand out a bit.
Some models are just so cool that I do not have the heart to cut too much in them, and convert them heavily. The Dark Elf sorceress that came about two years ago is one of my favorite characters, and was an obvious starting point for a lv.4 A minimal conversion with some vines done in green stuff.
This is also a figure I have longed to use in an army - Aenur, Sword of Twilight from Mordheim. Do not know quite what to use it as yet, but as the army will get a lot of waywatchers and hooded elves, he may well end up being used as a Lord on foot. We’ll see what the new book brings …
Finally, one BSB. This wood elf army is a good starting point to use all the cool models I want, without having to play High Elves or (deep breath) Dark Elves. The starting point is a Shadow warrior with a scratch built banner. I imagine that on the dusty wastelands all trees worth a lot to the elves, and a tree may well be a banner.
