Road to Bristol: The Art of War! #1

Howdy folks!

So, 2.0 BETA has dropped and PTG is venturing into the unknown and plunging ourselves into the tournament scene. 2018 is a big year for us, and lots of content coming your way you lucky people!

The tournament in question is in Bristol on 18/19 Feb and we are super excited to say that we will be a part of it. This is our first tournament we have ever attended in any format so are not really expecting much except to broaden our horizons and meet some fellow geeks of the 9th Age community. As I said, very excited!

So much so, in fact, that, in true newbie style we have got in touch with the tournament organiser, Callum, to ask a few questions about the set up and everything we need to know. We seem to have made a good impression though, as he has graciously invited us up to play a few games and meet some of his group a few weeks prior to the tournament. Thus, we will be able to get quite a few practice games in using the new rule-set - which is where this series of posts begins.

We will be having a few internal battles to test the rules and our armies out before heading down to scope out the area and opposition with a few external games. Then based on that, we will be polishing off our lists with a few more internal battles against some choice armies before heading out to challenge T9A folks in their domain.

This means that in the coming weeks, we will be releasing several posts based on the lists we are taking and the practice battles in the build up to the tournament - and of course, full coverage of the tournament itself. So watch this space peeps!

To start you off though, we will look at my list that I'm going with - which is of course, my beloved Highborn Elves! This list is subject to change based on our battles and some feedback on the forums, but will for the most part stay the same, due to these being my favourite/best painted models, so its the special items and commands that will change rather than the units themselves. Anyway, here it is:

High Prince, Queens Cavalier, Elven Horse, Lance + Nova Flare, Dragonforged Armour + Diadem of Protection, Shield

Mage, Wizard Master, Order of the Fiery Heart, Alchemy, Dragon, Paired Weapons + Hero's Heart, Shield + Starmetal Alloy, Rod of Battle, Potion of Swiftness

5x Elein Reavers

5x Highborn Lancers

24x Seaguard + Standard: Banner of Becalming

11x Knights of Ryma + Full Command + War Banner of Ryma

Lion Chariot

Giant Eagle

19x Queens Guard

So as you can see, not a lot of models but tries to compete in every phase. Pretty good shooting with the Queensguard/Seaguard combo; Fast combat units with the Dragon and the Knights + Prince, with small support units in the Lancers and Lion chariot - who will also be on the prowl for some monsters; and a good amount of chaff to support (Lancers can double up as chaff if needed). Scoring wise, I have 4 units that can claim objectives and the Mage is designed to be decent in the magic phase - as well as some subtle magic support with the HBE core rules and the becalming banner to help out. Plus, he's a freaking Dragon! I must admit, when the new rules for the Fire Dragon Mage came out, and allowed him to take alchemy and buff his mount when casting spells this was the first thing I put in my list. Pumped to see how he can fare in battle.

Anyway, that will do for now, and hopefully we will have some juicy battle reports with you very soon. We will aim to review how this list changes after every battle and hopefully have a very refined list come submission date - which is 3rd February 2018 - although we will be posting slightly behind when things happen for obvious reasons. So lots to cram into a short space of time, with Hyper-G's Orcs & Goblins as the first test, coming very soon! Excited!

As always, leave your questions and comments below and thanks for your support!

Lucky-Sixes

#4 Dwarven Holds vs. Highborn Elves 2

Welcome back folks to the concluding part of this battle report.

We had over a week to contemplate our next moves in this one so when we resumed we were both raring to go at it!  For the beard! (in my case at least!)

So Dwarf Turn 4 began with minimal movement as most of my interesting units were either locked in combat or already doing vaguely what I wanted them to do anyway.  And so we went almost straight to magic... and I'd been plotting this for some time!

A small bit of magic missile damage...

But the main news was the Rune of Storms that I managed to get through and, with the last Lightning Attacks part taking the final wound, somehow Lucky's Sixes Phoenix rider was no more!  This was despite the ward save and magic resistance!

What a result!

I certainly didn't expect to kill the thing!  My objective in this spell was to maybe do a wound or two, but mostly to stop the Phoenix using its flying movement to either support the Spearmen or hunt down my Anvil.  Still... I'm not complaining!

Lucky-Sixes says...

Well... Damn! I must admit, I thought I could weather the magical storm with my BSB, mainly due to the magic resistance improved ward save but not to be. That really put a thorn in my side and with the Knights held up that bloomin' magical anvil will have free reign to do whatever it wants, and with multiple magic missiles it could really scupper my plans.

Further shooting added insult to injury as this unit of Archers was almost done for

Then it was on to combat...

The Forge Wardens continued to show they weren't just a shooting unit and one further breath weapon to help the Spearmen were finished.  Lucky-Sixes Elf character did survive to run, and get away, but the Forge Wardens were swiftly in pursuit

In what was clearly a hugely well-timed magic phase I'd also made these chaps stubborn and it helped to hold up the Elf General even longer as the Miners threw themselves under his blade but held him in place!

Also, as expected, the grind continued over here with both sides trading their weapons for pillows and no-one being killed!

It had been an incredibly successful turn 4 for me and the Dwarfs, and the complete opposite for Lucky-Sixes and the Highborn Elves.  But they certainly weren't out of the fight yet as that Dragon Mage was very much still looming and with three Bolt Throwers ready to get some revenge turn 5 for them could also be a massive one!

After Elf Turn 5 charges, etc. this was how it looked as the Dragon decided to take things into its own claws and the lone Elf character rallied to find himself staring down the Forge Wardens who'd decimated his brethren moments ago.

With revenge on his mind Lucky-Sixes unloaded with his Bolt Throwers but if the previous turn didn't show that things were leaning my way a minimal amount of Forge Warden casualties confirmed it.

Predictably the Miners couldn't hold on any longer in combat but they'd more than done their job.

Less predictably something did go Lucky-Sixes' way and my Dwarf character failed his break test and ran away!  But the Knights let him go in favour of reforming to dish out Elven fury on the Anvil for all the damage it had caused.

But in the place of one Dwarf character having a blip another stepped up to challenge the Dragon and actually survived too! 

This is how it looked after Elf turn 5 and I couldn't help but begin to hope that I might be able to pull this one off!

Lucky-Sixes says...


Yeah, the spears could not match up to a more elite unite. they had done their part but in the end didn't have the defensive capacity for all that fighting. It had been a mistake to charge them in so early and I had paid the price for it. Although, it was in no small part to my opponent having so many str4 breath attacks - brutal for my fragile elves.

Meanwhile, my other big combat threats had been chaffed up in several combats with several different champions or characters and that had severely slowed their progress. At least I had successfully defended my artillery hill up till now - although, again, it had meant that I hadn't been able to pump any shots into the Forge Wardens until now and now it was too late to have much more impact on them. It was going to be tough, but lets see what I could do to bring back this battle into my favour...

I had a bit of thinking to do at the start of my turn 5 as I felt like I could win this one but I knew there were a lot of points tied up in Lucky-Sixes' Dragon and Charioteer general, both of which I doubted I could do much about.  The Knights of Ryma were also unlikely to yield me any points and therefore I came to the conclusion that I definitely needed to secure the objective.

Instead of charging all the Rangers into a Bolt Thrower I decided to bypass one of them and only go for the other two with my Runesmith.  This allowed the Rangers, one of my few units with a standard bearer to go for the objective in a rather boring outing for them, but potentially crucial!

Something killed the final two Archers, probably some of that awesome Dwarven magic everyone knows and loves!

A more reliable source of death-dealing here though as the Forge Wardens complete their bullying of the Spearmen unit by unloading on the surviving Elf character who didn't last long.

It looks like something also finished off one of the Bolt Throwers... although for the life of me I have no idea what!

And in the only combat of the turn the Dragon finally dealt with the Master Engineer that dared to survive the previous turn, but as can be seen the Forge Wardens had turned around and were ready to frustrate...

Somewhat unfortunately for Lucky-Sixes, he didn't think this next turn coming was his turn 6 and so when that was established it was a bit of a shock for him.  But nonetheless we made sure and it indeed revealed that it was now or never for the Highborn Elves who needed to continue picking up some victory points and also find a way to stop the Rangers from keeping the central objective.

The quest for points began with completing a charge on the Anvil by the Knights of Ryma who were so keen to kill it that they rolled double sixes on the way in.  Don't blame them really!

The pesky Runesmith that had tried to make a run on the Bolt Throwers was shot down for further points.

And the Dragon chewed through some Dwarfs who no longer had anyone left to challenge him.

Revenge?  Justice?  Anvil dead!

Despite all this relative success for Lucky-Sixes the turn had started with his Lion Chariot general failing to charge the central Forge Wardens to help out the Dragon in killing them.  An extremely frustrating end for the Highborn Elf leader in what had been a tough battle for him.

And this was our final picture as Highborn Elf Turn 6 ended

It escapes my memory as to whether the Forge Wardens in the middle were killed off in my final turn or whether they had 1-2 left after the Dragon's final swing but with the Rangers claiming the objective it was clearly down to a count up!

When all was said and done (and counted) the victory points revealed that it was very close points-wise, actually just showing that Lucky-Sixes narrowly had done the most damage.  But of course, in this game of objectives the 10-10 scoreline swiftly changed to 13-7 in my favour and victory was complete!

Overall I was slightly surprised that I hadn't just scraped the victory points as well but it made me even more relieved that I'd managed to claim the objective.  This unique Dwarf list was one I thoroughly enjoyed playing and after that incredible turn 4 that turned the battle my way, I don't doubt I'll be giving a similar list a go again in the future... perhaps in a different gaming version... (spoiler alert!)

MVP for me goes to the Anvil.  Although the Forge Wardens and characters were all important the spells that the Anvil was able to pump out with such success no less were crucial in getting the victory.  Somehow I don't think the Anvil (or Dwarf magic) will stay this strong for too much longer!

Lucky-Sixes says...

In the end, it turned out to be a very hard fought victory for the Dwarfs, but with a little bit of luck the other way and my Phoenix surviving it could have gone all so different! Still a very fun battle, and nice to play a different type of Dwarf list than a standard gun-line or big brick of great weapon wielding brutes!

My tactic to shoot his crossbows I feel was successful, but in the end I didn't show enough respect to the Forge Wardens shooting ability - forgetting that str4 shooting is a massive pain for elves lol. Also, the magic potential the Anvil on it's own brings is insane! Very handy to have and was a real threat all the way through the game. Again, something I should have targeted sooner in the battle.

I was disappointed with my deployment of my lion chariot. he was easily kept out of the game by the multiple small units and in the end was glorified protection for my bolt throwers. Dragon did OK, but he and the Phoenix were limited in what they could damage due to 'Fireborn' on the Forge Wardens. They played their part and helped to clear most of the core/chaff but really they need to be concentrating on the threats. Knights did okay too, but were held up all too easily by the Dwarf character. They did manage to get rid of the Anvil though so probably get my MVP award. In the end, I was quite pleased to get a draw on points with it, but there was no doubt that this battle belonged to the Dwarfs!

The Fire Elves was a fun list, and as Hyper-G says, will be good to get a similar list up and running for future battles.

As always, thanks for supporting and see you soon! :)

#4 Dwarven Holds vs. Highborn Elves 1

Hi all,

It's time for a dedicated battle report with pictures and all!

Lucky-Sixes has recently been trying out his 'Fire Elves' list for Highborn Elves and I was about to begin my rotation through some Dwarven Holds lists.  The stage was set - The War Of The Beard lives on!

This was a 3,000 point battle and although most of my Dwarfs were not the exact units they looked like this probably gets around an 8/10 for proxy due to Lucky-Sixes' 100% non-proxy rating.

As a side note, this could potentially be our last 9th Age version 1.1 battle before we move on to 9th Age version 2.0 (Beta).  Very exciting!

Dwarven Holds (Hyper-G)
Master Engineer (Grum Burlaksson) (Rune of Dragon's Breath, Rune of Shielding, Rune of the Forge, Shield, Forge Repeater)
Master Engineer (Ulfred Spanglehelm) (Rune of Dragon's Breath, Shield, Wyrm-Slayer Rocket)
Thane (Thor Stonebeard) (BSB, Rune of Dragon's Breath, 2x Runes Of Shielding, Shield)
Thane (Durden Drave) (Holdstone, Rune of Steel, 2x Runes Of Iron, Rune of Shielding, Shield)
Thane (Harding Grim) (Rune of Dragon's Breath, Rune of Kinship, Rune of the Forge, Shield, Pistol)
Runic Smith (Torgen Ninefingers) Rune of Dragon's Breath, Rune of Kinship, Shield, Rune of Resolve)
10x Greybeards (Vanguard, Shields, Throwing Weapons)
10x Greybeards (Shields, Throwing Weapons)
12x Clan Marksmen (Handguns, Great Weapons)
16x Clan Marksmen
12x Clan Marksmen (Guild-Crafted Handguns)
10x Deep Watch (Musician, Standard Bearer, Runic Standard of Dismay)
11x Forge Wardens
11x Forge Wardens
10x Forge Wardens
Steam Copter
Attack Copter
10x Miners (Throwing Weapons, Standard Bearer)
20x Rangers (Throwing Weapons, Great Weapons, Standard Bearer)
Anvil of Power (Rune of Storms, Rune of Shattering, Rune of Oaths)

As can be seen my list is quite a MSU (many small units) list and it also has a fair amount of shooting too.  It's unlike any list for Dwarfs that I've ever played going back as far as 7th Edition Warhammer so it's a completely new idea for me to take on.  With 5 characters sporting Breath Weapons it's packing some secret nastiness and I'm interested to see how this is going to turn out... especially when I saw Lucky-Sixes' list...

Highborn Elves (Lucky-Sixes)
High Prince (Ramzha) (Royal Huntsman, Lion Chariot, Great Weapon, Heavy Armour, Lion's Fur, Bluffer's Helm, Talisman of Greater Shielding, Divine Icon)
Archmage (Tai) (Lv.3 Fire, Order of the Fiery Heart, Young Dragon (Saphira), Dragonforged Armour, Hardened Shield, Talisman Of Supreme Shielding, Wand Of Stability)
Commander (Zion) (BSB, High Warden of the Flame, Flame Phoenix (Flareon), Flaming Lance, Potion of Strength, War Standard, Lucky Shield)
Commander (Farryn) (Queen's Companion, Great Bow of Elu)
Commander (Blaze) (Heavy Armour, Shield, Spear of the Blazing Dawn, Daemon Hunter's Helm, Potion of Swiftness)
5x Reavers (Bows)
35x Citizen Spears (Full Command, Flaming Banner)
17x Citizen Archers (Champion, Musician)
17x Citizen Archers (Champion, Musician)
6x Knights of Ryma (Devastating Charge, Champion, Standard)
14x Queen's Guard (Longbows, Standard, Banner of Speed)
3x Sea Guard Reapers (Repeating Bolts)
Great Eagle

The fire theme is quite prevalent and there's also some important Fireborn hanging around on two of Lucky-Sixes big nasty characters so immediately my Flaming Forge Warden shots and Flaming Breath Weapons look less useful (but not useless I'll add!)  The Highborns also have an abundance of shooting meaning that this could quickly turn into a ranged battle but whilst Lucky-Sixes' Elves have the edge in distance he can shoot, the Dwarfs' shots will pack a bit more of a punch.

The Ridden Monster & Monstrous Beast (Phoenix & Dragon) will be important as the Dwarfs may not be able to deal with them especially in their low numbers but with their shooting capabilities they at least don't have to rely on triple marching to get close to their enemies in combat.

I'm really liking the Shield Wall special rule for Dwarfs in 1.1 9th Age and think it could really be a useful addition to make Great Weapon Dwarfs less of an automatic choice.

Lucky-Sixes says...

My Fire Elf list is one I have been trying for 2/3 games now and in each of the previous battles I have made several mistakes, mainly due to not really knowing the army and what I should be doing with anything.

It's a fun list though, and is trying to be a jack of all trades list. Essentially the goal is to use my shooting and offensive magic to whittle away the enemy units enough that I can hit them hard with my hammer units (General chariot and Knights of Ryma mainly), while giving them support with Fire Phoenix, Dragon and Spears. This is obviously in an ideal world and with best intentions of a less than optimal general so not guaranteed to happen by any means, haha!

For the most part, I consider this a good match up for me. Toughness 4 across the board will be tough to deal with, but I can out-range most of his shooting units and have good mobility to get behind him (as he has to move forward to engage me with his shooting/combat units) and for charges. My main issue is that he is Fireborn with his big 3 units and my main shooting/magic that would normally target these units are flaming. So in some respects I will have to change up my targets so that my archers/bolt throwers go for his rare dwarfs while my Queen's Guard and Dragon concentrate on his chaff.

Either way it looks like a very interesting match up and hopefully I can bring in a win for the Highborn! Raise thy Bows... and all that jazz!

Including scouting Rangers, vanguarding Greybeards & Reavers this is how we lined up.  Most of the Dwarfs were set alongside one another ready to move forward and shoot whilst the Elves hugged the hill in the middle that their Bolt Throwers huddled on, monsters looming nearby and Spearmen facing off with the Rangers.

Deployment saw some interesting decisions, or rather just the one as far as I was concerned as Lucky-Sixes placed his Lion Chariot character behind his archers! Happy days for me although I did my best to keep very quiet about this at the time.

I'd tried to be quite coy with my deployment order and choices but Lucky-Sixes seized the initiative dropping his units before I did and getting the first turn.  Our secondary objective was to hold the centre with neither of us sporting a huge amount of standards.

The hail of shots began as my ranged opponent targeted the Crossbow Clan Marksmen shrewdly knowing that they had enough range to shoot back without moving first.

2 Rangers and 2 Forge Wardens also went down in the phase but it was the crossbows that really felt it.  Only 5 remained - that's called bullying!

With this unit depleted there wasn't much I could do in retaliation other than move up my Greybeards to bait a charge and advance with the shooters to get into range.  A few Elves were killed by disgruntled Crossbow Dwarfs avenging their fallen comrades too.

Greybeards moved up to bait the Elves into attacking and I managed to magically buff them with Stubborn too.

With the BSB nearby to provide a re-roll the Greybeards stuck around although the Eagle had prevented help from the Rangers in my next turn.

On the other side Lucky-Sixes' Reavers blocked my advancing Dwarfs whilst threatening Knights of Ryma planned their assault.

Need I mention that more Dwarfs were taken down to arrow shots and the observant amongst you will notice that the Lion Chariot had pushed its way between the Queen's Guard and Archers to also give me concern.

My Ambushing Miners didn't appear for turn 2 but I went on the offensive anyway as I now had some Elven targets in my Forge Warden's sights!

The Dwarfs shoot back killing the Queen's Guard and nearly the Queen's Companion character too.  A ghoulish-looking Steam Copter is also threatening the other Archers near the bolt thrower and the Flame Phoenix (that looks like a Frost Phoenix) has taken a couple of wounds from shooting handguns, hazaar!

Bad Birdy!

Stubborn Greybeards no longer as Lucky-Sixes assesses his turn 3 charge(s)

Reavers didn't stand a chance and the Greybeard unit on the right had Stubborn cast on it to assist in its overrunning fate, which took them well past the Knights of Ryma's front!

For Helves Turn 3 Lucky-Sixes had some decisions to make.  As is usually the case he went with 'charge' as most of the conclusion to his decisions!  The Knights of Ryma charged into Handgun Dwarfs left behind after killing the Reavers without taking any losses, the Lion Chariot general sneaked past his unit of Archers to confront the Greybeards that had overrun a long way whilst the Spearmen and Flame Phoenix kept together to charge the other unit of Handgun Dwarfs.

Shooting for the Elves was not as prevalent as less arrows and harder targets meant that only 2 Forge Wardens and 2 Deep Watch were plucked off the board although a combination of 3 Bolt Throwers finally killed off the nearby Steam Copter with much frustration for Lucky-Sixes that it took all 3 to do so when only one of them actually did the damage!

That's why he's so scary, although the stubborn remaining Dwarf stands firm.

A much more convincing performance from the Spears & Phoenix this time around.

Ryma Knights leave no prisoners either as another Dwarf core unit is decimated.

All the charges were devastating and most of the Dwarf core was now in the dead pile.  But in all honesty this wasn't a huge surprise as they'd all been charged by much better combat units than they were.  But there was plenty of firepower still left in the Stunties!

The Spearmen turned towards a unit of Forge Wardens as Dwarf numbers were depleted everywhere.

Dwarf turn 3 was boosted tremendously by the arrival of the Miners who came on behind the Archers near the building.  The Forge Wardens on the left of the picture above reformed to face the Spearmen wondering if they'd charge them and were joined by the Dwarf general as well who abandoned the smallest Forge Warden unit in doing so.  Meanwhile the Rangers tried desperately to get back in the fight and were aided by a timely magical movement spell.

Between Dwarf shooting and some surprisingly strong magic missiles many Elven Archers met their doom, including the Queen's Companion finally.

More decisions presented themselves for Lucky-Sixes in his turn 4 and having seen off the last Greybeard it was the Lion Chariot general that had the frustrating task of having to go and deal with the Miners.  The bolt throwers were under threat from them without doubt but I personally was delighted in seeing the Helf leader going backwards away from my Forge Wardens and Rangers.

Lucky-Sixes says...
I must admit I debated completely ignoring this unit and sending my lord into his forge wardens. But this was a much farther charge if I did go for that, and the Dwarfs would get a stand and shoot reaction as well as being able to challenge him out and stick around so I wasn't sure whether it was the best thing or not. In the end, I choose to defend my back lines and mop up the minors. This basically meant I would get some points and save my general and potentially my remaining bolt throwers as well, so a much more defensive option - which is unlike me I must say! 

What was left of the Elf shooting finished off the middle Forge Warden unit and also in the picture you'll see that the Spearmen indeed charged the other Forge Wardens whilst the Phoenix reformed.

The Dragon-Mage, who had been fairly quiet, charged this Vargheist-like Steam Copter but killed it with magic before the combat so reformed instead

In my turn I'd moved the Thane with the Holdstone out of the Deep Watch to block the Knights of Ryma.  If he could survive their charge (challenging out their champion) then he could potentially hold them all game... he survived their charge without even a scratch!

Using only one of the two breath weapons the Forge Wardens proved themselves to not just be a shooting unit and churned through the Spearmen.

The Thane with the Miners took a noble decision to sacrifice himself for his fellows and it assisted them to hold secure and annoy Lucky-Sixes' general.

The remaining Miners reformed to face the Lion Chariot although it was doubtful how much that would make a difference.  Due to timings we had to pause the battle at this stage and so I'll end this post with a picture of how things stood overall and also our thoughts on how things were going and would pan out.

Most of how this looks has been covered but to also add there are two remaining Crossbow Dwarfs who somehow survived after the first turn attention they had.  Also, one Deep Watch remains - all huddled near to the Anvil on the right of the river towards the top of the picture.

Even though my dead pile was full of core Dwarfs, a Forge Warden unit, 2 Steam Copters and most of the Deep Watch I was feeling surprisingly okay.  It had so far been a slog of a battle with a lot dying and I was happy with my remaining Forge Wardens and Rangers, with their characters accompanying.  I hoped the Thane with re-rollable armour could keep the Ryma Knights busy for a while and the Anvil magic was proving to be very powerful... strange for Dwarfs really...

Also, I wasn't entirely sure how much thought Lucky-Sixes was giving to the secondary objective to claim the centre...

Lucky-Sixes says...
This was a really tight affair, and a very enjoyable one to boot - even though there was a lot of serious thought and decision making that meant I was actually quite happy for a break on this one. The battle could literally go either way, and as Hyper-G had pointed out, I had really not taken the objective into enough consideration and would now be looking to stop him from getting it rather than win it for myself. The trouble was how? My Dragon mage was the closest contender, but flaming attacks and flaming breath weapon meant his damage output was limited against the forge wardens and there was still some 1-2 model units floating around the Anvil that needed to be taken care of - especially now the Knights of Ryma were now locked in a seemingly eternal grind with a Dwarven Hero... not a character you want to be grinding with to be honest. My Flame Phoenix had taken some wounds but with minimal shooting coming his way and magic resistance (+ ward save) he was looking like the best option to clear the Anvil and units, but that would basically seal the Spearmen's fate as without any help, it wasn't looking good for them - even with a very good spear character aiding their cause. My backfield too was looking vulnerable, with that massive unit of Rangers so I had a lot to ponder at the half way (nearly) stage.

Thanks for reading folks,
Hyper-G

Lucky-Sixes Painting Update #5 - The Finale

Hallo there!

Ho Ho Ho and Mer... what I'm too late!? OK, Happy New Year? Good? OK, cool. Well... Yes... anyway. Ahem.

Right, drum roll please... we have reached the finale of my painting challenge! Thank you, thank you, you can all stop cheering now! As we reach the pinnacle and sad end of this feat, let us first remind ourselves of the previous models that have already been completed...

41x Zombies (Vampire Covenant)
10x Knights of Ryma (Highborn Elves)
10x Wraiths / Spectral Hunters (Vampire Covenant)
1x Frost Phoenix + Rider (Highborn Elves)
1x Elder Dragon Centaur (Warriors of the Dark Gods)
5x Elein Reavers (Highborn Elves)
5x Barrow Knights (Vampire Covenant)
5x Wasteland Knights (Warriors of the Dark Gods)
(1x Lionguard Standard)* - This is not included in total model count but thought I'd add it in for shizzles and giggles

Which is 79 (including the Frosty Rider and not counting the lion standard) for the most astute of you. And now, after several more painting sessions we can add 21 more models to that total and reach that all important 100 model count. YAY!

Before we crack on though, a quick update on some previously painted models. More specifically, the Elein Reavers...

Now, if you cast your minds back to my last post, you will remember me saying that I wasn't totally happy with these models. In fact, so much so, that I couldn't leave them in that state and half way through painting the final models on my list I picked up my Reavers and took my brush to them. And without further ado, here they are:

Effectively I started by giving them a final bit of detail and then stuck some dark wash on them. WOW! What a difference it made, turning these cartoon looking critters into something a lot more realistic. Now the only thing I noticed when I did this was that it actually went the other way in terms of brightness. Originally, they were very bright and you couldn't really see a lot of detail. Add some wash and the detail comes out - but they did go a bit dark. So, I went over the white cloth again to add a bit of contrast and there you have it. I am much more satisfied with them now and even though they aren't my finest piece of work, they have drastically improved from what they were so I am happy.

Anyway, back on to the main event - lets start with the 17x Sea Guard shall we...

So, as you may remember I have started to test out a new technique with the High Elves using a system of paint-wash-paint-wash (and so on). The results of this was seen on the Phoenix Rider and seemed to add definition to the model and give it a much more real feel (ironic I know). Now the only difference between this model and my Lothern was that I added a final stage of white dry-brush to make them a bit brighter to hopefully soften the gap between them and my older models. In hindsight I'm not sure that this was the correct thing to do. Don't get me wrong, I am happy with how they turned out and they would stake a claim for the best painted infantry unit in my High Elf collection, but I can't say I'm 100% satisfied. I think maybe it's because there is much more white on these models (shield/robes) than the character model who is mainly armour. Perhaps one thing I would like to do is learn how to soften the white with wash, etc. - rather than brighten up the rest of the model? However, that being said, I am at least 95% happy with them, and I definitely think they are my best Elven work to date so I shouldn't grumble. And besides, that takes the total to 96, nearly there...

Character models next and let's do a running count down shall we. So, coming in at number 97 & 98 respectively, we have our two fight-y Elven characters - The Noble/Prince & The Anointed of Asuryan!

Both of these came out in a similar fashion to my rider and suffice to say I could not be more pleased with the outcome. I tried to keep them looking as similar in colour scheme as possible with my previous models, and again I'm pretty happy with how they came out - especially the Anointed, who I do think looks like an on-foot version of my rider, which is very handy indeed! I made up the noble/prince with sword and shield, mainly because I think there are some good combos in the rulebook and likely to be the case moving forwards as well. Adding to that a lion cloak, thinking that his role in future could very much be in lists with a 'Chrace' Lord or fight-y character in it, and the sword could easily pass as a great weapon as it is quite big after all. With the anointed, I went with the good ol' fashioned Halberd - as it is the most likely weapon that a member of the 'Phoenix Guard' and/or leader of them would use. Maybe I could add a bit more detail in the faces of both, but I could say that for all my models really, so a learning point there - but overall, as I said, pretty happy with these ones.

Next up, at number 99, weighing in at... I dunno.. 1 pound or something??... and completing the Highborn characters... it's the Mage! Whom I have dubbed as "Zaos the Fire Mage" - for obvious reasons. Not the Zaos part, the Fire part. Anyway, here he is...

As I already had a mage with the same model, I used this as an opportunity to experiment with some different colours than my usual white and blue combo, and I chose to go down the fire route because I like the magic lore / path and the idea of a few fireballs flying out here and there at the enemy. Also it made sense with the swirling magic energy at the bottom of the model, that it could quite as easily be a small ember of fire blazing from beneath him. I really like how it has come out and think it is of a much higher quality than my previous mage, so this, to me, shows I am doing something right. I took a picture of him with my old model (below) to show how much of a difference (in my opinion) this new style has made and helps to show that I am improving as a painter which is nice.

And finally, the last model painted to complete the challenge, presenting to you, the nastiest, filthiest, most undead Necromancer around - Henrich Kemmler...

I do like this model but had a lot of clipping to do to get rid of those annoying bits of plastic that they come with, but overall, this model really didn't take that long to complete. A big spray of black, with a large dollop of black as a second coat, a few details and then a dry-brush of white to highlight and there ya go! Still fun to paint and a cool model/character to have in my army. Can always double up as a normal Necromancer if needed as well so I'm pretty happy to have him as a tool of Undead destruction in my arsenal.

So, with that final model complete, here is a picture of how all the models look together just for you! You lucky dogs...

And there ya have it folks! All done and dusted. Didn't quite make the end of 2017 but a few days over won't hurt, and there was a fair amount of repeat painting which took up some of my time. Also, cavalry models take aaaaaages to paint haha. Overall, I am happy with how my models have turned out and while I need a bit of a break from painting, I'm sure it wont be too long before I put my brush back to work! However, with the release of the 2.0 update and *SPOILER* us signing up to a tournament in February, I am going to be putting my efforts into making some HBE lists and trying them out - SUPER EXCITED!!! More to come on this, watch this space...

Now don't cry too much, as I can imagine this is not going to be the last painting challenge I ever do, especially as I haven't in any way finished my collection yet so please watch this space for more painting updates to come in the future. In the meantime, please feel free to put your hints, tips and comments for anything that you've seen above or even your own experiences with painting models, I certainly would love to hear what you all have to say!

Anyway, as always, thanks for supporting and hope you enjoyed!

Lucky-Sixes