Pax Elfhammer

 

Another month of the Odds and Sods Challenge passes, another army complete! You'll have seen Happhyia Siddance previously, here's the rest of his woody kin. They're the happy little treefolk who suffer no high speed rail or crap estate developers to ruin their haven.

Most of the army is a blend of Jes Goodwin elves that somehow survived my "I'm an adult now" toy cull, ex-Grenadier elves from Forlorn Hope and Battlezone and plastic Fantasy Regiments elves. The Jes elves I repainted a couple of years ago. I had been using them as human tribes for my fimir but I thought they deserved a better paint job so I broke my rule on not repainting for them.

There are also some of my own sculpts in here, Oakbound Faw Walkers- an attempt to complement the Jes and Copplestone elves. Not all that successful but they make up the numbers.

I see the wood elves as a very bow-heavy army. If you can even see them (never mind reach them in close combat) that doesn't feel very elfish to me. With the exception of the wardancers of course, who should appear from nowhere, cause havoc and vanish again into the trees.

The regiments elves I picked up cheaply in a few lots. I love them for doing exactly what they were intended for- filling out the units with loads of low-cost troops that have enough variation not too look too monopose.

I was given enough silvan elves to break up the plastic ranks. They'll likely be mixed together when fielded but here they are in a separate unit.

And some of my own archers too.

Here's this month's actual challenge minis, the glade riders. The Copplestone cavalry are great but the actual mounted models are limited on the bow front and I want to preserve the heavy-archery theme. I really don't see wood elves driving headlong in ranks of lancer cavalry intending to run their foe into the ground... not unless they're clearing up the fleeing remnants of a routed foe.

To give myself more mounted archers I have cut the tabs off ex-Grenadier foot archers and bent their legs to fit on the horses. I don't think they look too bad for such little effort. The horses I wanted to give a kind of native American painted look to introduce a bit more colour to an otherwise pretty drab green force. That's entirely appropriate of course, but doesn't pop on the table as much as I would like.  

The command are also adjusted from foot troops. Rather irritatingly I put the champion and standard on the same horse (a Citadel one I think? I actually don't like it as much as the Grenadier ones) and the musician and general on the same horse so the front rank of the unit is two horse sculpts instead of four. Ah well.

No wood elf army is complete without wardancers! A blend of Jes Goodwin and my own sculpts with some 4th edition ones at the back (with substitute heads as I sculpted Anubis heads onto the originals to use with my Egyptian high elves, then switched their allegiance again) and lead by the WHQ wardancer which is one of my favourite models of all time. I don't think I have done him justice, might need to get another one and try again. 

Of course nature is on the side of the elves against stupid humanity. The Mark Copplestone eagles are amazing. I put the riders into other units (find them somewhere above!) as I just didn't think they could actually ride the eagles in the way they are posed. Anyway, eagles by themselves are cool and more multi-purpose.

The flora of the woods is the hidden might of the wood elves. Taking cover behind a tree from the hail of arrows? Sorry, wrong tree! This big fellow is a 6-soul sluagh from oakbound, formerly Bear's Head Miniatures Oggalump.

I seem to have amassed quite s election of treefolk... here's another Oakbound (only a 4-soul sluagh this one, there's a 2-soul one as well, but not in this selection), a RAFM and a Hinchliffe now Broadsword Miniatures (based on an Alan Lee drawing from Faeries... or is it a Brian Froud illustration? I forget).

And, of course, a mighty Trish Morrison treeman. Definitely a birch this one.

Lastly, these two are Alternative Armies. I think I ordered one and then they were giving them away free so I ended up with two. The metal arms (resin bodies) are nicely posable to make them look sufficiently different.

Pax Elfhammer